Book 28 Chapter 19

The twin of the flame [炎].

-Days plus days?

"Hyojin Shinmaga, I've heard of your reputation. Please be gentle."

The fifth Hyojin, her hair framed by a dark amethyst-encrusted headpiece, laughed coldly as she took the reins.

"I, too, have heard of Shinmaga's reputation. Please be gentle this way."

Binggum replied with a stony expression.

He found her laugh very uncomfortable. It wasn't a coy laugh like Gal Hyo-hye's; it was an openly fleshy laugh, a grim threat rather than a laugh.

"Do all the women in Shinmaga laugh when they're angry?

I had my suspicions, but it turns out that wasn't necessarily the case.

"You don't have to be gentle, you always have to go all out in a fight, and being gentle is just insulting your opponent!"

The fourth Hyorin, whose hair was neatly tied up in crimson silk, frowned.

"Hmm, the Fourth Zen Master is of the same mind as me, I'll never be gentle with him, so don't worry!"

Yidao exclaimed, and he was even more clueless than Binggum.

The fourth, Hyo-lin, stood side by side with the fifth, Hyo-jin. The two women, each as beautiful as a peony, stood side by side, and it was impossible to tell who was who except for the shape of their hair.

"As you can see, we're twins, and it's easier for us to fight together than it is for us to fight alone. What do you say, we take two sides, and we'll fight to the death?"

Hyorin's suggestion made Yeomdo cringe.

"I would rather be stabbed to death by the Fourth Lady's sword than play with this icy bastard."

Binggum was just as disgusting.

"I, too, would not join hands with such a bombastic man. I'd rather fight the two good men alone."

"You two really don't get along."

"Leave him alone. Do you think a young lady like you would want to fight with a frozen corpse like this?"

Yeomdo grumbled.

"Well, don't you think that anyone who would fight a guy like you, who's covered in blood, is mentally ill?"

Binggum retorted, as if he couldn't just listen.

"What, because I'm actually going to see you!"

"What are you going to do when you see me again and again, and again, and again, and again, and again?"

"Why not?"

Bam! Almost at the same time as Yeomdo drew his dao, Ice Sword also drew his sword.

"You two don't even want to fight women like us."

At this rate, those two are going to fight first," said the lesser Hyojin.

"Of course not, I'm just saying that there's no way in hell I'm doing a joint with him!"

"That goes for this side too."

The two men turned away from each other like children. There was no sign of Kang Ho's distinguished peak mastery anywhere. Frowning, Hyorin shook her head and summarized the situation.

"Well, let's do it this way: all four of us fight at the same time, so whoever wants to join us does, and whoever doesn't want to fight with us doesn't, and that's fine with you guys, right?"

"Oh, that's a great idea."

"Whatever."

Yidou and Binggum were quick to agree with her.

"Okay. So you're saying that whether you two hold hands or not, we don't have to say no to joining forces?"

These two were looking down on them a bit, so the answer came quickly.

"We don't really care, let the good guys do what they want."

Binggum replied on their behalf.

"Ho-ho, that's great."

A chillingly cold voice came out of Oma Hyojin's mouth.

"Yeah, that's great."

Samae Hyorin nodded in agreement. Yeomdo's eyes narrowed.

"What went well?"

Then the two women answered at the same time.

"And, of course, we're free to wipe out the hypocrites who came to save the day!"

The flesh that exploded out of the two women instantly made Yeomdo and Ice Sword cringe.

"Phew, how shameless of them to come to the rescue of that evil bastard!"

Cold venom shot out of Oma Hyojin's mouth.

"Hateful partisans, aren't they all cowards anyway, doing cowardly things like raids while screaming justice with their mouths?!"

Samae Hyorin's voice was burning with anger.

Salt and Iceblade were dumbfounded as the women, who had been relatively calm just moments before, suddenly screamed like they were hell's nunchucks.

"There must have been some misunderstanding!"

Binggum explained, knowing it would be useless. Then Hyojin sneered and spewed venom.

"Gee, why don't you guys just shut up and leave that crap to the other side?"

"You, you……! Shut up, you……! Don't you think that's a little harsh?!"

Yindo protested with a chuckle, and Sae Hyorin's eyes sharpened as she looked at him.

"What's worse is your mental state! Where the hell do you think you're going, crawling in here? This is the front yard of the Black Heavenly Blind, carefully cultivated by Wu Qiang, the Great Oracle! How dare you tread on this ground with your filthy, hypocritical feet! Little brother, let's cut off your stinking feet first!"

"……!"

Bing'er and Yeomdo were stunned and speechless.

"Yes, big sister, I'm going to have to cut your tongue out to keep you quiet!"

The fifth, Hyojin, replied, smiling broadly.

Salt and Iceblade were stunned as a flood of venomous words poured out of their brightly colored mouths, sending chills down their spines.

Gradually, however, they could not help but tremble with rage; for it was not they whom they feared, and they had no intention of suffering this insult in silence.

"That's enough, both of you ladies. I will not stand for this any longer!"

"Gee, what are you going to do if we don't put up with it, are you going to stab us in the back like your brother?"

Oma Hyojin asked sarcastically.

"Don't worry about those……, I'll deal with them the right way, you two sages!"

Hearing Ice Sword's cry, Samae Hyorin sneered and whispered to Hyojin.

"Ho-ho, did you hear, they're going to play fair."

"Hmph, those white knights are all talk. You gotta watch your back, sis."

At their words, Yeomdo exclaimed in disbelief.

"What do you think we are?! I say again, there is no such cowardly man in the White City!"

"What do you mean, I've always admired the reputations of Yeomdo and the Ice Sword, but when I saw the way you were acting like children a moment ago, defending them without any basis, I realized that you were no better than them, that you were childish hypocrites of the White Sword!"

Hyojin's words were meant to be sarcastic, but they held a sharp point.

"That's one thing, this is another, and we're about to find out where we stand!"

Further conversation was unnecessary.

"Here we go. Don't you dare look at me. I'll show you my twin's sword dance!"

With Hyorin's encouraging shout, the twins' passing lanes began to unfold.

A joint!

I can't believe I'm working with Yeomdo and no one else!

Doesn't that make you cringe just thinking about it?

What if you don't do those horrible, hateful things?

I'm not fighting all eight of them at the same time, I'm only fighting two of them.

The end will come soon enough. The real threat comes next, Bing'er thought to herself. But his expectations of a quick fight were sorely misplaced. Soon after the twins began their confrontation, Bing'er was forced to revise his expectations significantly.

"Hey, iceberg, you can't keep a straight face!"

Binggum's ears pierced with the fire of Yeomdo.

"Who says. You're doing it in moderation, aren't you?"

Return it as you received it.

"Bullshit, I'm always doing it right!"

"But why hasn't it been settled after thirty sums?"

"You don't know? That's because you're not doing it right. I know you're hoarding your power right now."

"I'll take that back. Why don't you use it all up, leaving just enough to get away?"

"Heh, you write first!"

The conversation went back to square one, as it always does. In the meantime, the Eight Agreements came and went, but Bing'er's thoughts never stopped.

"Hey, fireball, try to get a little more in line with me. You're sticking out too far on your own, aren't you?"

His offense tends to be too passive and he tends to go for the kill.

"Pfft, don't be ridiculous, you ice cube, why should I match you, you should be matching me, it's the weak against the strong."

"So shouldn't you be tuned in to me?"

"Oh, come on. You still think you're the best thing under the sun, don't you realize that's an illusion?"

"I'll take that back, literally, and at least I think differently than you."

"What?! I'm an empty-headed bastard?! Is that all this iceberg has to say?!"

"Well, that's it. And I have nothing more to say."

Their emotions were running high, and they were now arguing without using any notes. I couldn't imagine how terrible it would be if they were to do it together.

'But even if he's just playing around…… certainly this situation is embarrassing.'

Bingham had to admit it.

Even though they weren't exerting themselves, they weren't taking it easy either; it wasn't normal for two peak masters of their caliber to fight at the same time, even if they didn't have to. Besides, they weren't powering up right now because it was the right thing to do strategically.

"The enemy isn't just these two guys fighting right now, so we can't just go all out…….

There was still a mountain to climb. Wasting energy in this situation could easily lead to catastrophic defeat.

Binggum didn't expect to defeat all the remaining enemies either; the odds were too stacked against him.

"I'd rather fight the Four Heavenly Destroyers!

I was like, "Oh, my God.

So I wanted to at least leave myself enough power to get out of here, or to be more honest, 'run away'.

Earlier, she had shouted loudly that she would never lose, but if you can win just by being loud, no one suffers. The Nine Heavenly Maiden, Mu Hua, was a difficult opponent.

'But I never thought I'd end up here, wasting my inner qi in such a pointless way, before I've even met my worst opponent……. This is the power of a Divine Eightfold Adept?

Then, after twenty more moves, approaching fifty, the battle was still not won. Binggum and Yin Dao still hadn't gotten the upper hand on the twins.

"What's the matter with you, sister, you were making such a big deal about it a minute ago?"

"Well, they're hypocrites after all, and we can't stop them from getting into Ewha!"

Pfft!

As time went on, the firepower in the twins' passing lanes grew stronger and stronger.

The twins' killing spree gained momentum as the salt and ice swords tried to offset their combined attacks.

Despite being far superior in their individual abilities, the salt and ice swords were unable to defeat their twin sister's training. In fact, they were being outnumbered. Bing'er couldn't help but be surprised, but she couldn't let her dignity get in the way.

"Then take this one too, Bing Bai Xinzheng!"

Seeing his chance, Iceblade raised a sword chill and slashed at the sword, defeating it.

It was a technique for sending out condensed extreme negative sword qi like hundreds of ice nails.

"Maybe he thought he wouldn't get it if he said that?"

Arcana of the Yin Palace (秘傳)

Fire Spirit Godsword Righteousness

Crimson Shield [紅炎之盾]

Hyorin's sword spun in a large circle, creating a shield of fire, but it wasn't enough to block all of the Ice White Divine Spirit.

"There it is!"

Not to be outdone, Hyojin did the same, creating a shield of fire and merging it with Hyo-lin's shield of crimson flame.

When the two shields merged, a shield of flame was created that was truly worthy of the name Shield of Crimson Flame. All of the ice-white sword herbs that the ice sword had scattered were swallowed up by the flames.

Before Bing'er had time to react, Hyojin's sword, which had been forming a shield with her, broke free of the defense in a tail of flames and blasted red sword light at Bing'er.

What a bummer!

Hyorin was still focusing on defending his sword qi, which meant that his sword essence was not yet finished. It was very difficult, laborious, and sometimes dangerous to interrupt and retrieve a sword thread once it had been unfurled.

If you interrupted the flow of qi, you could cause terrible internal injuries by causing blood to flow backwards or your internal organs to shake. It was like stopping a snowball rolling down a mountain in the middle. However, Hyo Jin's attack had been so timely that Bing Sword had no choice but to retrieve the sword herb even with such a large force. He hadn't expected any help from Yeomdo in the first place.

Dada!

A loud bell chimed, and Binggum took three long steps backward.

"You fool, you can't be that big of a loser for that little!"

Binggum didn't have time to respond to Yidao's pints before he woke up with questions swirling in his head.

'These twin sisters' combinations are truly remarkable. How can they achieve this effect even after practicing for so long? Being twins, it's as if they're connected in spirit.

He remembered vividly how his sword chill had dispersed as if it had been sucked into the flames.

Honestly, even though each of the sisters' skills were said to be amazing, they were still lacking in comparison to Yidou and Bing'er, and it was Bing'er herself who suffered the most.

"Get out of the way! Watch what this old man is doing."

Yeomdo said in a haughty voice as he stepped forward, pushing past Bing'er.

He then raised his sword qi and attacked head-on into the twins' passing lane in the manner of the first of the Crimson Seventy-Seven Flames. The flaming pottery spun like a coiled snake as it flew toward the twins.

Fire Spirit Godsword Righteousness

The Art of Qi Fire

Pyroclastic flows (移火炎流)

This time, the fifth, Hyojin, stepped forward, his sword flowing with red sword energy, meeting his sword flame in a full moon-like circle. But the momentum of the fire in his sword seemed insufficient to stop Yidou's sword flame. But Hyojin didn't take Yidou's blow head-on. She never intended to. This was a type of fire technique, a fire art. It was a technique for controlling the flow of fire, not resisting it.

She drew the circles in the same direction, not against the direction of the circles drawn by the salty pottery, but in the same direction, as if to draw it in. The red pottery was drawn to the center of the vortex, as if it were being sucked in.

"Uh-oh!"

At the same time as the pottery was pulled in, so was Yan's body. Again, Hyojin didn't resist the force, instead matching its speed and stepping back. Yeomdo panicked, but could do nothing but continue to be pulled in.

Arcana of the Yin Palace (秘傳)

Fire Spirit Godsword Righteousness

Saltpeter (炎槍牙突)

Kaaaaaaaaaah!

Taking advantage of the moment when Yeomdo and Hyojin were facing off against each other, Hyojin scattered his sword qi in a timely manner, knocking out Yeomdo's entire body.

"Ugh! Damn it! Damn it!"

With a swear, he retrieved his food and took three steps back to stand beside the ice sword.

"Wow, that's a lot of work for a guy who just went out with a bang."

The same thing happened to Yeomdo the way it happened to Iceblade.

"Leave me alone!"

Yeomdo shouted, his face reddening.

The twins didn't miss the gap exposed by their fight.

"That's so lame, you guys can't even lift each other up, you're all about tearing each other down!"

Their words were laced with sneers.

"Each of us is a little fire!"

Hyorin led the charge.

"Together, they can be a great spark."

He was followed by Hyojin.

They crossed their swords, as if in promise, and exclaimed simultaneously, "I'm going to kill you!

"Soul [火] and spirit [火] as one!"

Blah blah blah!

Sparks flew from the crossed swords.

In this moment, they seemed to be two people and one person.

Hyorin and Hyojin wrapped their flames around their swords and attacked at the exact same time.

Arcana of the Yin Palace (秘傳)

熱魂離火合擊陣 (熱魂離火合擊陣)

Zealous Misunderstanding

Dry scabies (乾覇炎陣)

Blah blah blah!

The two flames merged into one, becoming a searing crimson flame that pressed in on Yeomdo and the ice sword.

"Huh!"

With a sharp intake of breath, he swung his crimson flame, but the fire in his flame was consumed by the flames of their combined souls. Even the ice-black of the ice sword could not generate enough cold to overcome their flames. Had they lacked the power of a single god, Yin and Iceblade would have been reduced to ashes by the dancing passages of flame.

'That's really weird, how did this happen…….'

Binggum's suspicions grew as he watched the scene repeat itself twice.

Clearly, Hyorin's core was insufficient to offset the coldness of the ice sword. Hyoujin's hollow was also insufficient to offset Yeomdo's sword base, and yet their sword energy was offset by his.

'It's amazing how you can add one to one to create the effect of three…….'

Fire [火] and fire [炎] came together to create a great flame [炎]! Each one's fire was a springboard, enhancing the other's fire. The power of this flame far exceeded their individual capabilities.

'I thought I was dodging bullets to avoid being killed, but I didn't realize it was this bad…….'

Indeed, having a strong and strict mother as a mentor was an advantage, and the blood of a shaman was not out of the ordinary.

'Above all, your breathing is tight, like a cog in a wheel.'

And what you don't have and they do.

'harmony(造化)…….'

There was no such harmony between Yeomdo and Binggong, who snarled at each other and attacked as they pleased. All that existed between them was dissonance. Even now, weren't they fighting separately because they didn't want to die?

'You mean they're already in a state of harmonious symbiosis…….'

The Fourth and Fifth Hyorin were amplifying each other's power, while the Salt and Ice Swords were counteracting each other's power, dampening each other's power, so despite the fact that the Salt and Ice Swords were far superior in skill, they were having a hard time winning the battle. And just a moment ago, they were in real danger.

"Does that mean I have no choice, that I have to kill myself?

Bing'er couldn't help but think seriously about the only way to resolve this confrontation. This can't go on forever, can it?

Bing'er's gaze sneaked over to the sleeping Gu Tian Maiden.

Shinmaga's Three Great Nangs.

The three mothers who gave birth to and taught the tigers of Shinmaga, the real pillars of what makes Shinmaga what it is. The power of those three is immeasurable even by themselves.

"No matter how young a master you are, you can't beat him!

I had to get out of here as soon as possible.

"If you're as good as these twins, you won't die from using power.

Creating a moment's respite and removing myself from this disadvantageous position was the wisest course of action for now. Binggum made his thoughts known to Yeomdo via telegraph.

"So what you're saying is, I'm going to attack that fourth Zen master and you're going to attack that fifth Zen master at the same time, but doesn't that make this a joint attack?"

"No, that's not it. It just means we'll split up the fight, which means we'll focus on our own opponents and not touch anyone else's. We'll just take care of our own people. How about that?"

"If it's not a joint, what…… it doesn't matter."

The meeting was brief. It was a bit of a shouting match, but we've had enough bad blood to know what each other is thinking without the need for long words.

"Okay, let's go all out this time!"

"I will."

Cringe! The twin sisters, Hyorin and Hyojin, instantly tensed up as a chill ran down their spines. Suddenly, the momentum of the salt and ice swords had changed.

Blah blah blah!

The sharp edge of the Yeomdo sword thrust forward and began to emit flames as red as the evening sunset. The roiling flames looked like the breath of a fire dragon.

Whoooooooooooooo!

Meanwhile, an iridescent silkiness flowed transparently around the blue sword of the Ice Sword, and a white blizzard began to swirl beneath it, reminiscent of the northern blizzard that swirls beneath the polarized light at the edge of the North Sea.

The twins, Hyorin and Hyojin, realized that the herbivory they were about to unleash on Yidou and Ice Sword was extremely dangerous.

It felt more like "avoid!" than "stop!".

They realized that if they had those two skills at the same time, their acceptance letters would be shattered. At the same time, they realized what they had been lacking.

"Beware, there is no eye at the end of the sword!"

For the twins, the moment of truth was fast approaching.

"Mate!"

At that moment, a clapping sound erupted that resonated not only through the eardrums in both ears, but through the entire body. The clapping contained a power that would have stunned those with weaker internal qi. Some of the less-cultivated Black Heavenly Blade martial artists fell to their knees with their hands clasped over their ears.

The applause came at a very opportune moment, and the tide of the game was instantly turned in favor of Salt and Iceblade.

A single clap of the hands scattered the herbivores.

"……?!"

But it was unassailable on both sides, so everyone took a step back.

"No way!

Dumbfounded, Hyde and Iceblade's gazes turned to the man who had applauded.

With her hands still clasped in front of her chest, she swept her gaze across the hall with a cold but majestic gaze. With a single clap of her hands, she had controlled the flow and initiative of this entire battlefield. It was a terrifying presence that could only be described as overwhelming.

"That's it!"

She declared. Then she looked at her two daughters and opened her mouth.

"Those are faces that look like they have something to gain."

At that, the twins winced, bowed their heads, and apologized.

"Sin, I'm sorry, Mother."

Learning from the unscrupulous who would go to the aid of the beast that killed the Big Badger…….

She was terribly ashamed of herself for forgetting for a moment who they were and admiring them. Weren't they the same ones who, not so long ago, were chewing on the salt and ice swords like they were going to eat them?

"Pardon me, but isn't it the wistful instinct of the unwashed to rise above even flesh and blood sometimes?"

"I'm sorry, I've been stuck, and I've got to stop……."

Fifth Hyojin's face flushed red.

"It wasn't just Hyojin's fault. It was my fault too."

The fourth Hyorin's face was the same. Mu Hua did not look at them, but ordered in an emotionless voice.

"Be grateful."

"What? Thank you?"

The eyes of the twins, Hyorin and Hyojin, grew as wide as fire glasses. The idea of being grateful to one of their enemies was ridiculous.

But Lady Gu Tian's eyes were serious, and she scolded in an abstract voice.

"If you have been taught by anyone, shouldn't you return the favor? That's the way of the uninitiated."

The twins didn't dare to protest at those words, and immediately turned toward Yeomdo and the Ice Sword, shouting.

"Thank you for your teaching, your pottery and sword skills are indeed beyond the criminal's imagination, and our two sisters have made great progress today!"

It was a very respectful and dignified greeting from the same people who, just moments earlier, had been charging at them, ready to capture them and tear them to pieces.

"Wow, I'm flattered."

"Rice, no big deal."

Bewildered by the sudden change in demeanor, Yin and Binggum fumbled for a moment before returning the favor. It was an unexpected gesture of gratitude, but it made them feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"That's enough. You guys need to leave."

"Yes, I'll take your order immediately."

The twins immediately ducked back to where their sisters were waiting.

"Are we supposed to back off, too, Iceberg?"

"You need to step down, right now, unconditionally."

"I hate to say it, but I strongly disagree."

Seeing their chance, Yeomdo and Ice Sword tried to get out of the area. Now was the time.

"Stop!"

The two of them, who had been gathering jin energy to escape, gasped inwardly as they felt the energy they had gathered disperse at her single word.

"Where do you think you're going without saying hello?"

At the same time as she said that, Gu Tianxuan took a step forward.

That one move alone made Yeomdo and Iceblade flinch.

Kwan Chul-soo, the first-ranked ice swordsman of the Heavenly Five Swords, and Kwak Young-hee, a swordsman and one of the Heavenly Five Grandmasters, infamously known as the Fiery Dog Chaban!

At this point, they were truly under duress.

To a single woman.