Chapter 647

The assassin’s eyes widened in shock, his body convulsing as if struck by a jolt.

Gradually losing focus, his pupils were filled with questions.

‘When, when did he…?’

That was the last thought of the assassin.

Darkness consumed him, and his body fell limp.

Dead.

From behind the lifeless assassin, a dark shadow arose.

It was Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol looked at the assassin’s dead body with cold eyes.

This was the last of the assassins hiding in the reeds.

Now, no living soul remained in the reed field.

Pyo Wol stepped out and headed towards the Silver Lotus Hall.

A significant force was stationed around the old Silver Lotus Hall area.

They were not members of the Golden Heavenly Hall, but martial artists dispatched from Heavenly Martial Sect.

The Heavenly Martial Sect martial artists were meticulously monitoring the area, not missing a single ripple in the water.

It seemed almost impossible to break through their surveillance.

After looking at them for a moment, Pyo Wol went down to a nearby stream.

A terrible stench emanated from the stream that ran through the city.

Pyo Wol knew the reason.

All waste from the Silver Lotus Hall was discarded into this sewer stream.

Following the sewer stream, he quickly found a pipe leading to the Silver Lotus Hall. It was used to dump waste.

The waste outlet had metal bars, no thicker than a child’s arm.

Amazingly, these bars were made of the expensive ‘Ten Thousand Year Iron’, famous for its strength.

Most people would cringe at the idea of using such an expensive piece of iron to block a sewage drain. But it was a necessary evil.

Nobody was willing to guard a waste disposal pathway. Thus, instead of human guards, they relied on these iron bars to deter intruders.

While the ‘Ten Thousand Year Iron’ was known to be the most robust material, it couldn’t withstand the force of concentrated qi.

Pyo Wol pulled out the Soul Reaping Thread and sliced through it like a hacksaw.

The bars of iron were sliced off as if they had been made of corn.

After cutting off one of the bars, Pyo Wol squeezed through the narrow opening.

And just like that, he easily entered the underground passageway, and peered inside

Inside the corridor, various traps and mechanisms had been set up.

Triggering even one would immediately send a signal inward.

Even though the Silver Lotus Hall now belonged to the Golden Heavenly Hall, the traps stayed the same.

Before coming here, Pyo Wol got details about the traps from Hong Yushin and memorized them.

Pyo Wol carefully navigated, avoiding every trap and mechanism.

As he walked, the knee-deep waste splashed, making the putrid smell stronger.

Even with the strong smell, Pyo Wol kept going, unaffected.

Such a foul smell was no match for him.

The underground passage was dark and maze-like. Yet, Pyo Wol reached his destination without getting lost.

It was a place where people dumped their filth.

Swoosh!!

Silently stepping out, Pyo Wol surveyed his surroundings.

Fortunately, there was no one around.

The manor was deserted and quiet.

He had successfully infiltrated the Silver Lotus Hall.

Instead of heading straight to where Jang Cheon-hwa resided, Pyo Wol made his way to a well.  His intent was to wash off the stench that clung to him from the underground passage.

Pyo Wol fetched water from the well and splashed it on himself several times before channeling his internal energy.

Whoosh!

The moisture, along with the stench, evaporated instantaneously.

With the smell completely erased, Pyo Wol moved on.

The interiors were heavily guarded. Unlike the exterior, however, there were plenty of places where He could conceal himself.

Pyo Wol moved with the utmost stealth.

Despite the many guards stationed inside, none detected Pyo Wol’s presence.

In an instant, he had crossed the outer wall and infiltrated the inner courtyard.

At the very heart of the inner courtyard was Jang Cheon-hwa’s dwelling.

Jang Cheon-hwa’s abode was said to be completely isolated from the outside.

It wasn’t originally there but was built after the Golden Heavenly Hall took over the Silver Lotus Hall.

Using towering walls and moats, they achieved a perfect isolation between the inside and outside.

Even while at Heavenly Martial Sect, Jang Cheon-hwa had chosen isolation.

By nature, he was a true martial arts fanatic.

He entrusted all responsibilities of the Heavenly Martial Sect to his confidants and Jang Mugak, focusing solely on martial arts.

This didn’t change even after he came to the Silver Lotus Hall.

He wanted a place to be isolated from the world, and he got it with the help of moats and high walls.

Jang Cheon-hwa was likely engrossed in refining his martial arts techniques.

For a genius like him to be so hardworking was extraordinary.

No one truly knew the extent of his achievements.

As Pyo Wol cautiously advanced toward Jang Cheon-hwa’s abode,

Whooosh!

A powerful surge of qi emanated from ahead.

The source was an old man seated in the middle of the inner courtyard.

He radiated an aura almost as powerful as Jang Cheon-hwa, but it wasn’t him.

Jang Cheon-hwa had regained his youthful appearance through a rejuvenation technique.

The old man was the elder of Heavenly Martial Sect, Neungyu Hwan, known as the Soul-chasing Scythe

Neungyu Hwan’s reason for sitting at the heart of the inner courtyard was singular.

It to guard the dwelling of his lord, Jang Cheon-hwa.

Most of Heavenly Martial Sect’s elite had been deployed to the war.

Even the elders of the Elder Council had joined, leaving him as the sole elder remaining.

Though his age excused him from the battle, in truth there was only one reason he stayed behind.

It was to protect Jang Cheon-hwa.

It seemed absurd to guard Jang Cheon-hwa, whose martial prowess far exceeded his own. Yet when considering loyalty, such actions weren’t unthinkable.

Neungyu Hwan sat meditating with two sickles next to him. Each sickle had a thin chain, as thin as a child’s finger, that was over ten meters long.

This meant that everything within a ten-meter circle around him was under his control.

With half-closed eyes, Neungyu Hwan vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

Even though he looked straight ahead, he noticed every small change within tens of meters.

At that moment…

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a killing intent emanated from ahead.

Swish!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Neungyu Hwan hurled his sickle towards the source of the threat.

Who the adversary was didn’t matter.

The audacity to show such intent in front of his lord’s dwelling was what mattered.

The chain swiftly unraveled.

Thud!

The sickle stuck into the chest of the person exuding the intent.

Only then did Neungyu Hwan looked closely to see who the bold martial artist was.

“Huh?”

For a moment, bewilderment painted his face.

The silhouette struck by his sickle began fading like a mirage.

“An illusion?”

Such a sophisticated illusion that could deceive his senses…

What’s more, he could feel it through his scythe.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed such a realistic illusion existed.

“Then, where’s the real body?”

It was then…

Silently!

From behind him, a shadow rose.

It was Pyo Wol.

He had used the Demonic Shadow Exchange to bewilder Neungyu Hwan’s senses and then moved stealthily behind him.

He realized this too.

“Futile.”

Though momentarily deceived by the illusion, Neungyu Hwan hadn’t completely let his guard down.

As the grand elder of the Heavenly Martial Sect, he quickly sensed Pyo Wol behind him and tried to defend. However, he couldn’t swing his sickle completely.

Sting!

A sudden pain pierced his ankle.

Unconsciously looking down, he saw a snake with red scales biting his ankle.

“What is this?”

The pain intensified, blazing from his ankle and rapidly coursing up to his chest.

Instinctively, Neungyu Hwan recognized it as poison.

‘What poison?’

His face instantly turned ashen, and his tongue stiffened, unable to form any words.

The venom had quickly permeated his heart and brain.

While he wasn’t completely resistant to all poisons, he had the internal energy to resist a thousand kinds.

Normally, he could quickly expel any common toxin from his body, a testament to his cultivated internal power.

Yet, he couldn’t resist the venom of the snake that had bitten him.

The red snake biting his ankle was “Gwia.”

The venom from Gwia was so strong that it quickly killed a top martial artist like Neungyu Hwan.

He collapsed, bleeding from his mouth.

Pyo Wol carefully caught his body, ensuring it made no sound.

Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have used Gwia so recklessly.

However, in this assassination, speed and stealth were of the utmost importance.

Fighting a master like Neungyu Hwan would create a noise, letting Jang Cheon-hwa know someone entered the Forbidden Zone.

To prevent this, Pyo Wol deceived Neungyu Hwan with the Demonic Shadow Exchange and assassinated him using Guiwa.

Gwia, who had killed Neungyu Hwan instinctively returned to Pyo Wol, but he repelled it.

-If you stay in my arms, you might get hurt too, so stay hidden until this mission is over.’

On hearing Pyo Wol’s command, Gwia hesitated for a moment.

But soon, after an intense stare, it disappeared into the underbrush.

Pyo Wol moved on, feeling much more at ease.

No one was near the entrance to the Forbidden Zone.

It seemed they had entirely relied on Neungyu Hwan and had withdrawn all other guards.

As he approached the entrance, a shiver ran down Pyo Wol’s spine.

A formidable presence came from inside, raising the hair on the back of his neck.

“…”

Chills covered his skin.

He had never felt this way before.

It felt like being stranded alone in an endless ocean.

He hadn’t felt this even when trapped underground, fighting alone against enemies, or facing top martial artists.

At that moment, Pyo Wol realized.

‘He knows.’

He realized that his opponent was already aware of his infiltration into the Old Silver Lotus Hall.

As if to confirm his suspicion, the barrier around the Forbidden Zone disappeared.

It was unmistakably deactivated from within.

Creak!

Following this, the doors to the Forbidden Zone opened.

Pyo Wol, after briefly staring at the Forbidden Zone, took a step.

There was no turning back now.

Regardless of the hell that might await him inside, he had to enter.

Boom!

As Pyo Wol entered, the doors of the Forbidden Zone closed behind him.

Without looking back, Pyo Wol walked forward.