Chapter 31 : Declaration of War

Chapter 31: Declaration of War

On their way to the Silver Flower Trading Company, the group decided to take a slightly longer route at Jin Ha-un’s suggestion in order to help those in distress.

They hunted down vicious beasts in the mountains, took care of bandits and marauders who kidnapped and murdered innocents, and dismantled a bizarre cult that practiced human sacrifice.

During all of this, Jang Woo-hyun did not step forward. There simply hadn’t been anyone strong enough to warrant his involvement, and both Hwang An and Jin Ha-un strongly opposed him joining in.

—“Brother Jang, just hold back for now. We need to experience real combat and grow stronger ourselves.”

Though Jang Woo-hyun had occasionally practiced his Martial Arts while traveling, he hadn’t had a proper fight since leaving the Shangguan Family.

Moreover, since becoming friends with Jin Ha-un, he had inquired about Se-ryu Pyo, the Blue Star Sect’s footwork technique, and worked on improving his Horse King’s Sixth Step with it. He mainly focused on Qi Circulation Breathing Techniques, so it had been a long time since he had actually slashed at another person.

‘Is this for real?’

While circulating his Qi, he had definitely felt his internal power growing stronger, but he hadn’t expected it to be this intense.

The Black Wolf Fang he had just unleashed wasn’t even at full power. Since the opponent had a Sword Yaksha, a Master Level expert, he figured it would be blocked and intended it only as a warning and a way to check their reaction.

But its speed had been far greater than expected, and its destructive power overwhelming—enough to cleave even a Master Level expert in a single stroke.

“U-uh… Aaaaargh!”

It was only after a moment of stunned silence that the warriors of the Asura Sword Sect snapped back to their senses and began shouting while drawing their swords. But even then, they hesitated. They had seen it with their own eyes—it wasn’t something they could charge into recklessly.

A single strike.

With just one blow, the Asura Sword Sect’s proud Sword Yaksha was killed.

“Are you going to continue? Go. Hurry up.”

Hwang An stepped forward, a look of resignation on his face, and waved his hand.

“You’ll regret this!”

“Yeah, I know. I regret it too. I should’ve tried harder to stop him. I shouldn’t have come to Guangxi in the first place. I’m going crazy too, so get lost—unless you want to die.”

He nodded toward Jang Woo-hyun behind him, and the Asura Sword Sect warriors scattered back in a rush.

“Hyung-nim, this is…”

Jin Ha-un, who had grown close to him and started calling him “Hyung,” approached.

“Yeah, things just got complicated. Can’t believe this happened the moment we arrived.”

“What do you think you’re doing?! Attacking the Asura Sword Sect inside the trading company?!”

Son Ji-pyeong’s bodyguard finally recovered his wits and shouted.

From his perspective, this reaction was understandable. Out of nowhere, Jang Woo-hyun had attacked and killed four of the Asura Sword Sect’s members. This incident was playing out exactly the way the other side wanted. Now they had a perfect justification to retaliate.

“Exactly. What was that? Even I…”

“Puhah, hahaha!”

As Hwang An fumbled for words, Son Ji-pyeong suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha!”

Despite his bodyguard’s worried gaze, he continued to laugh uncontrollably, as if expelling something from his chest.

Had he ever laughed like this in recent years? Probably not since his father had passed away. Life had felt nothing but suffocating since then.

Son Ji-pyeong’s laughter didn’t stop. That’s how good it felt. It was exhilarating, even.

He could finally understand, just a little, why his father—though a merchant—had long admired the Martial World and martial artists.

‘He must have wanted to live freely, just like this.’

Without any burdens, without overthinking things.

What Jang Woo-hyun had just done was exactly that.

However, if the moment just now had felt like a dream or a fantasy, the problems looming ahead were all too real.

Son Ji-pyeong gave a slight bow toward Jang Woo-hyun.

“Thank you, Great Hero Jang. I’m truly grateful… but you need to leave now. I’m sorry, but this is all I can do for you.”

The smile had vanished from his face, replaced by a heavy expression.

“Vice-Sect Leader!”

“That man avenged my father’s death. I can’t cause him trouble. Didn’t he just step up to help me? I won’t change my mind.”

Though the bodyguard called him with urgency, Son Ji-pyeong stood firm. He intended to take full responsibility for what would come next after Jang Woo-hyun left.

“Brother Jang, we’d better just go. Our presence here will only bring harm to the trading company.”

“What are you talking about?”

Unlike the others who were growing increasingly concerned, Jang Woo-hyun remained calm and composed.

Seeing that, Hwang An began to explain the situation slowly, as if addressing someone new to the Martial World.

“Brother Jang, you just killed disciples of the Asura Sword Sect. Before a fight even broke out. That looks like a sneak attack. Which means the justification is on their side. From what I saw earlier, they hadn’t even taken direct hostile action yet. Is that correct?”

“That’s correct,” Son Ji-pyeong nodded.

“Now that we’ve given them justification, the Asura Sword Sect will definitely charge in. If we stay here, we’ll only make things worse. It’s actually better for the Silver Flower Trading Company if we leave, and they pretend not to know us. So let’s go.”

Harsh as it sounded, it was the truth.

“Let’s hurry.”

Hwang An urged him, but Jang Woo-hyun remained where he was.

“Brother Jang!”

“Hyung-nim!”

Jin Ha-un looked at him, his expression full of concern.

“Why do you say we don’t have justification?”

“What?”

“I’m asking why we don’t have justification.”

“You still don’t understand, Brother Jang… You’re new to the Martial World…”

“Our justification is right here.”

Jang Woo-hyun cut off Hwang An’s words and pointed a finger at himself.

“Me. Yeah, me. Now listen closely to what I’m about to say.”

As he continued speaking, Hwang An furrowed his brows, while Jin Ha-un widened his eyes and nodded in understanding.

From Jang Woo-hyun’s perspective, the justification had always been on their side from the beginning.

“I don’t even know anymore.”

With a “whatever happens, happens” attitude, Hwang An carried out the task Jang Woo-hyun had given him.

—“Gather the Hao Sect and the Beggars’ Sect. We’re going right away.”

Having given up on everything, he recalled the conversation that had taken place at the Silver Flower Trading Company just moments ago.

—“So you’re saying we tell them you were attacked first?”

—“That’s right. They tried to take my life—why wouldn’t we have justification? We need to take down Sang Mun-cheon.”

—“What are you going to do?”

—“Go there, smash things up, and demand they hand over Sang Mun-cheon.”

It was a very typical Jang Woo-hyun approach. But since he had shared a rough plan afterward, Hwang An went ahead and did as instructed.

Still, the feeling that this was all heading toward disaster grew stronger.

Hwang An stopped by the Beggars’ Sect and the Hao Sect branch in Guilin, revealed his identity, and informed them that someone was picking a fight with the Asura Sword Sect.

Everyone thought he had gone insane, but the Hao Sect and the Beggars’ Sect had no choice but to move. They were curious who would be crazy enough to challenge the Asura Sword Sect, and they figured Hwang An, a known Beggars’ Sect member, wouldn’t be spouting nonsense.

With a crowd of beggars from the Beggars’ Sect and disciples of the Hao Sect following behind, Hwang An headed to the Red Serpent House, located in Guilin.

The Red Serpent House had originally been a back-alley gang, but caught the eye of the Asura Sword Sect Leader who sought to expand his influence. Receiving Martial Arts from the Sect Leader, the Red Serpent House’s leader became known for his loyalty among the sect’s affiliated factions.

“Is this seriously happening?”

As he sighed heavily while walking, Jin Ha-un joined Hwang An’s side.

“Hyung-nim, there’s no helping it. He already attacked. What can we do now?”

“You seem a little too cheerful about this. You think this is something to be happy about?”

“No way, come on. Of course not. I’m just saying we should try to look on the bright side since things have come to this.”

Despite his words, Jin Ha-un’s smile didn’t fade.

‘I must be insane.’

To be hanging around with people like this. As they walked on, the main gate of the Red Serpent House came into view.

“Ah…”

“Oh!”

As expected, the gate was completely destroyed. No need to ask who did it. Inside, voices could be heard shouting, “This bastard, that bastard, I’ll kill you,” and so on.

“Let’s go in.”

Passing through the shattered gate, they entered the inner compound and found Jang Woo-hyun standing face-to-face with dozens of martial artists. Everyone must’ve rushed out after the gate was smashed.

“You dare—do you know where you are right now…?”

Boom!

Before the Red Serpent House leader could even finish his sentence, Jang Woo-hyun unleashed a slash that struck the three-story pavilion behind him. It was a far greater and more powerful Black Wolf Fang than what he had shown at the Silver Flower Trading Company.

With a thunderous roar, the three-story pavilion collapsed under the force of the slash.

Only the sound of the crumbling structure filled the air. The overwhelming power of the strike left everyone speechless.

All eyes turned to Jang Woo-hyun, who stood there with a black sword dangling at his side. Even the beggars from the Beggars’ Sect and the Hao Sect disciples, who had come out of curiosity, widened their eyes and focused entirely on the unfolding scene.

“My name is Jang Woo-hyun. Deliver this message to Sang Mun-cheon, the Vice Leader of the Asura Sword Sect.”

“I’m here so he can pay the price for trying to take my life.”

“What? That’s nonsense—!”

One martial artist who appeared to be from the Asura Sword Sect tried to interject, but when Jang Woo-hyun turned his emotionless gaze toward him, he flinched and took a step back.

“Sang Mun-cheon hired the Autumn Soul Assassination Sect in Guizhou to have me killed. I confirmed it myself—I'm here on that basis.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“Th-the Autumn Soul Assassination Sect must have lied to stall for time…”

The martial artists of the Red Serpent House and the Asura Sword Sect objected to the sudden accusation, but Jang Woo-hyun continued unfazed.

“No, they don’t lie. They can’t anymore—I’ve already wiped them out.”

Despite having destroyed an entire sect—even if it was a small one—he remained calm, almost casual.

Like he’d swatted a bothersome bug. His composure terrified the people watching.

“I-I can’t believe this! How can we trust such a sudden accusation?! Do you have any proof? How are we supposed to know you’re not the one lying?!”

The Red Serpent House leader didn’t back down and demanded proof from Jang Woo-hyun.

In response, Jang Woo-hyun reached into his robes and pulled out a token.

Since they were martial artists trained in internal energy, they could see from a distance that the token had the characters for “Silver Flower” written on it.

“It’s a token issued by the Silver Flower Treasury. When I asked the Silver Flower Trading Company, they told me this is a special kind of token—its recipient can be traced. I found this in the Autumn Soul Assassination Sect. The one who received it was Sang Mun-cheon, Vice Leader of the Asura Sword Sect.”

The Red Serpent House fell silent again at the evidence presented.

Among the onlookers were some who had witnessed Jang Woo-hyun’s meeting with Son Ji-pyeong earlier at the Silver Flower Trading Company. Now, they finally understood what that meeting had been about.

It had been to confirm this very token—at least, that’s what the martial artists of the Asura Sword Sect assumed.

But it was all a lie.

There was no such token. The one Jang Woo-hyun had was not taken from the Autumn Soul Assassination Sect. It had been found while rummaging through the Cloud Sword Sect Leader’s room, inside an unused pouch. He was merely making use of it now.

True or not, the misunderstanding had begun, and the situation was turning ever more favorable for Jang Woo-hyun.

His killing of a Sword Yaksha and three Asura Sword Sect martial artists no longer mattered. Now it looked like it was Sang Mun-cheon who had struck first—trying to take a life.

That was plenty of justification for retaliation. In fact, one could argue this was a counterattack. He had been the one ambushed by assassins.

As the mood ripened, Jang Woo-hyun unfolded his Qi Projection and scanned the surroundings. Sensing that there were no people in the building to his right, he unleashed an even greater slash than before.

Kwarururung—

Amidst the rumbling of another building being destroyed, Jang Woo-hyun spoke again.

“I’ll say it one more time. Bring me Sang Mun-cheon. He needs to pay for coming after my life.”

Ten Demonic Paths.

Ten major sects that represented the strongest forces in the demonic side of the Martial World.

“And tell the Leader of the Asura Sword Sect this—if anyone stands in my way, I’ll face them all.”

And with that, a single man declared war on one of the Martial World’s greatest forces.