The Hunt for the Fox
Whooooosh――
A single leaf danced in the wind and fell.
I moved first.
Danak Sword Art. Gi-san-sim-cheon!
The invisible sword suddenly enlarged and stabbed straight down at the fox’s head.
Our eyes met for the briefest instant.
Red martial intent lurked from every direction, hunting me.
Snow-white claws rushed toward me one after another, following the intent.
One direct hit would have shredded my body to pieces in my current state.
But…
Bwoong! Boong! Boong!
Still gripping the invisible sword, I stepped onto the invisible trajectory.
Mountain and Ocean Sweep!
Crack! Flash!
My invisible sword pierced the fox. The fox’s attacks scattered in all directions.
A dust cloud erupted, and hot air burst from its center, scattering the haze.
“This… this monster!”
The fox, bearing a sword scar on its back, bared its teeth at me, untouched by a speck of dust.
Every trajectory was visible. There was no excuse not to dodge.
Instead of answering its rage, I sheathed the invisible sword and seized the stance of the Danak Sword.
When a swordsman controls the surrounding space through law spells and transforms the environment into one that suits him…
…a martial artist perceives the space around him and reshapes himself to fit that environment.
The surrounding trees.
Leaves falling from the trees.
The breathing of my sleeping comrades.
The sound of heartbeats.
Spiritual energy, power, heartbeats, and the sounds of muscles and qi flowing between the fox.
Focus more.
The insects crawling on the ground.
The morning dew drops falling at the first clash with the fox.
The fox’s wary breathing, my own heartbeat.
I captured all that information, found the optimal path through it, and reshaped my invisible sword into its perfect form.
Danak Sword Art. Mountain Wind Strike!
The invisible sword became wind in an instant and shot toward the fox’s heart.
An attack impossible to react to! Extreme speed!
Whoosh!
The leaves that had been falling between me and the fox were sliced clean in half.
The invisible sword that had severed those leaves struck the fox’s chest.
For a single breath, the fox’s consciousness compressed into the same form as the fox itself, and its entire body was wrapped in a white beam of light.
Boom!
‘Did I miss?’
The invisible sword had not pierced the fox. The hide of a Core Formation fiend indeed possessed formidable defense, and the fox’s unique demonic arts only raised that defense further.
But the fox could not overcome the power of the invisible sword itself. It was pushed back and sent flying into the sky.
Bang!
I kicked off the air and soared in front of the fox, raising the invisible sword.
Awooow!
The fox howled.
Thousands of fox fires appeared around it, transforming into clones identical to the white fox.
Hundreds of thousands of three-tailed foxes surrounded me and charged at once.
“Useless.”
I wasted no energy. Using the flow of intent and the fox’s perception, I located the true body and struck it with the invisible sword.
Danak Sword Art.
Layer after Layer of Mountains, Mountain Echo Response, Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.
The invisible sword extended like thousands of thorns, coiling around the fox’s core, then changing form and pounding its body, then slicing in all directions.
The fox’s clones charged, but I read the optimal path through countless flows and dodged them all.
The clones eventually disappeared after they exhausted themselves while trying to hunt me.
The fox, struck repeatedly by my invisible sword, began its next spell.
Kiiing!
A flash appeared, and the scenery before my eyes reversed.
Amid a sea of white light, cries and excited breathing came from all sides, and a surge of ecstasy began to seep into my body.
“Sorcery?”
I chuckled and brushed the air with my hand.
“How crude.”
Crash!
I connected with the essence of the invisible sword.
The suffering of living things filled my mind.
The sharpness of being buried in a transparent blade.
That agony awakened my spirit. The sorcery shattered before it could even take form.
But the fox had hidden its body with sorcery. The figure was gone.
Danak Sword Art. Mountain Transformation.
Whoosh!
The invisible sword stretched in all directions and tore at the surroundings.
The fox, who had foolishly hidden and waited, appeared again, bared its teeth, and prepared to unleash another spell.
Danak Sword Art. Jade Tomb!
Kwaak!
I rushed in like a maniac and softly pierced the fox.
Whoosh!
A white glow burst from the fox’s mouth and faced me.
I instantly changed my stance.
The trajectory of the invisible sword also changed mid-form.
Danak Sword Art. Back Channel!
Kwaaang!
The invisible sword rose from below and slapped the fox’s chin.
Kwaaaang!
The white beam exploded inside the fox’s mouth, and its head was swallowed by the flash.
Yet it was not a great blow. The fox swung its three tails wrapped in light at me.
Danak Sword Art. Space Resonance!
I encircled the flow of the invisible sword around the fox’s attack, caught it, and threw the power back at the fox.
Kwaaang!
Another boom echoed. The fox was sent flying.
Kiiiiaaaaa!
The fox, filled with rage, howled as it fell.
White flashes scattered in all directions, collapsing the surrounding terrain.
And the fox’s consciousness compressed even more tightly to match its true form.
“It seems you’re finally starting to get angry.”
I grinned, baring my teeth.
“Come on. Let’s see who wins.”
Surrounded by hundreds of thousands of free-flowing trajectories, I stared at the fox. The fox stared back.
The fox rushed at me, enveloped in white light.
Core Formation sword master speed! No, the fox’s innate speed combined with it was far faster and more ferocious than any Core Formation swordsman.
Danak Sword Art. Mount Iron Mountain.
Thousands of crisscrossing invisible trajectories blocked the fox.
When the fox howled, thousands of fox fires filled the surroundings again.
This time the fox fires’ trajectories were far faster and more complex than before, slamming into me.
Danak Sword Art. Gwae-am.
The invisible sword surrounded me and tore at the area with offensive unity.
Danak Sword Art. Jade Tomb.
Still gripping the invisible sword, I crossed countless intent gaps and stabbed the fox.
Filled with rage, the fox began thrashing wildly to shake me off.
A mountain disappeared into the fox’s forepaw. The rear of the fox’s tail released white energy that evaporated a nearby river.
Danak Sword Art. Energy Channel Change.
I fired the invisible sword underground and warped the surrounding terrain. The terrain changed according to my will, dropping the fox into a deep pit.
Zuaa!
The fox released its energy. Tens of white spears formed around it and shot upward from the pit.
Danak Sword Art. White Eight Radiant Dawn, Layer after Layer of Mountains.
The invisible sword split into eight branches, layering the Mountain Formation stance, and eight colorless thorn bushes appeared inside the pit, shredding every spell the fox unleashed.
Danak Sword Art. Mountain Walk.
The colorless thorn bushes concentrated into a single point and stabbed down at the fox.
Kwaaaang!
A boom echoed from beneath the pit.
But white light burst from the dust cloud. The fox thrashed desperately.
Kiii!
The white light condensed, forming the shape of a fox dozens of zhang across.
A fox as large as a mountain lifted its head from below the pit and opened its mouth at me.
I instinctively knew this was the fox’s strongest spell.
“Is this the end?”
I looked at the fox with a cold face and sneered.
“Compared to a Nascent Soul monster, you’re almost cute.”
Whoosh!
The fox’s shape charged at me.
The inner energy boiled. One direct hit or evasion, and even a Core Formation swordsman would be torn apart.
But I grinned and seized the stance while facing the white light.
Danak Sword Art. The secret technique, Danak!
Kukugugu!
The secret technique of Danak Sword Art erupted through the invisible sword from the first second to the twentieth. The power gathered by the twenty-second heavenly dimension poured entirely toward the fox’s spell.
White and colorless light exploded.
And the light faded.
Sshiiii――
Beyond that, the fox faced me.
I regained my stance and returned to the posture of Wolak.
Danak Sword Art, 23rd stance. Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless.
The consumed energy returned, and stamina was restored enough to unleash another lethal strike.
The fox noticed my momentum and showed surprise in its eyes.
“K, kkuh…!”
The fox howled once more.
White flashes rose from all sides and shot at me, but their number and power were far inferior to before.
Danak Sword Art.
Wolak, Ipsan, Back Channel, Jade Tomb…
Space Resonance, Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, Heaven and Earth…
Danak!
The secret technique of Danak Sword Art was unleashed once more through the invisible sword. The fox, terrified, dodged the gathered power of Danak’s stance.
“How… How did you unleash that technique continuously…?”
I maintained Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless in silence and drew in power again.
A total of thirty-eight times.
That was the maximum number of times I could unleash the secret technique of Danak Sword Art through Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless.
Beyond that, my body could not endure and would die.
Of course, using Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless already meant I would be bedridden for a day or two, but even considering that, I could unleash thirty-eight full-power strikes of the fox’s lethal move in a single breath.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa!
Danak!
The mountain split.
The fox was sent flying.
The Danak Sword Art unleashed through the invisible sword had now reached the realm where its name fit perfectly.
It was literally a sword technique that cut and split mountains.
“Fall down!”
The fox, having taken three Danaks, tried to escape, backing away from me.
Whoosh!
Hundreds of fox fires rose again. I swept them away with the invisible sword and chased the fox.
Amid exploding white and colorless trajectories, I crossed countless flows and white light to unleash Danak once more at the fox.
Kwaaaang!
A flash scattered. One hill behind the fox split cleanly in two.
The fox, barely dodging Danak, panted and began to flee.
Uwooong!
I applied the martial techniques I had learned from Kim Young-hoon in my previous life and fused the invisible sword directly onto my arm.
Then I chased the fox in that state and grabbed its tail.
Then, with the arm fused to the invisible sword, I swung the tail as it was.
Kuuu!
The fox, the size of a water bucket, was lifted.
Kwaaaang!!!
I smashed the fox against the distant mountain.
Three mountain peaks were pierced straight through. The fox screamed.
“Kiiiiiek!”
Kwaang!
Boom!
I again fused with the invisible sword and flew, slapping the fox’s jaw.
The shockwave made the fox roll its eyes. A spiderweb crack appeared on the mountain peak behind it.
“Shh…”
I put my index finger to my lips.
“Be quiet.”
“K, kekek…”
“What shame is this before the master of the forest?”
I grabbed the fox’s head and spoke.
The fox trembled in fear and looked at me. I smashed its head into the ground with the power of the invisible sword.
“Now I am the master of the forest. Close your mouth and submit.”
Kwaak, Kwa kwa kwa!
I grabbed the fox’s head and slammed it into the ground several times.
Every time the earth shook and dust clouds rose.
Even after all that, this Core Formation fiend still had not died.
Truly an enormous life force.
“Vomit everything you have inside me.”
I grabbed the fox’s hind tail and lifted it again, then threw it into the valley created by splitting the mountain.
Kwa kwa kwa!
I threw the fox between the valley and returned to hammer it with the invisible sword, driving it deep into the valley.
“Kiiiiieek!”
“Even if you say be quiet…”
Crash!
I grabbed the fox’s nape once more.
“Then…”
“K, kek… s, save me…”
“Let’s see if there really is a fox bead.”
Uwooong!
Still gripping the invisible sword, I raised it high.
The fox howled in terror.
“T, this… you, you dare to kill me!”
Fwooruk!
The fox’s tail began to burn with bright light.
It seemed to be drawing on its inner origin, so its momentum rose again.
But I calmly brought the raised invisible sword down once more.
Kwa kwa kwa!
The valley shook again, and the fox was driven into the ground.
Yet I furrowed my brows.
A burst of light erupted from the fox. In the place where it had stood, only a single strand of white fox fur remained.
‘It used a spell to swap its body in an instant.’
An odd sorcery.
But the fox had not fled far. Far away, white light was still visible.
I gripped the invisible sword and chased the fleeing fox whose tail was still burning.
‘Faster, even faster!’
I accelerated the pursuit.
The distance between us gradually closed.
The fox looked back at me with terrified eyes and shouted.
“H, hiek, d, don’t chase! Go away, you monster!”
“Who called you a monster?”
Kwaaaang!
I swung the invisible sword. The fox, pale with fear, barely dodged.
“That monster fox that eats people.”
“Go away! Go away!”
Kukugugu!
A small valley appeared in the spot where the fox had dodged.
The fox gritted its teeth and fled even faster. I chased it.
The opposite of the previous life.
Last time the fox chased me. This time I chased the fox and hunted it.
Kugung, kugung, kugugung!
When I hurled the invisible sword, several hills flew away. The fox, going mad, dodged the invisible swords with flailing feet.
Countless mountains and rivers passed by us as we raced through a quarter of Deungsunhyang.
It was caught several times, but the fox used the strange spell that burned its tail to escape danger multiple times.
And how long had it been? The white light burning on the fox’s tail grew faint.
Above a small lake.
There the fox finally stopped, panting, and looked at me.
I approached the fox holding the invisible sword with a blank face.
“S, stop! Have mercy! I beg you to spare me!”
The fox panted and pleaded with me.
So far, in several lives, I had torn out its arms.
Throb!
My arm suddenly ached.
The effect of Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless was part of it, but the bad memories from the fox were another reason.
“…Save me. If you spare me, I will recognize you as the master of the forest and submit. Please spare me.”
The fox prostrated its head and begged for its life.
I stepped forward and kicked its belly once.
“Kiiiik!”
The fox vomited blood and fell again.
Now it was blood-covered.
On the other hand, I was not even a speck of blood on my clothes.
I had finally reached the realm where I could hunt the fox.
“S, save…”
“…”
I looked down at the pitiful fox begging for its life with a dull expression.
The fox had once told me that if I wanted to stay in the forest, I would have to cut off its limbs.
“…Do you want to stay in my forest alive?”
“…”
“Vomit the Yaodan. Then I will spare you.”
“K, kuh…”
The fox showed pain.
But I simply looked at it with a blank expression.
In any case, I had always suffered because of this creature, yet I had never directly killed it.
This was mercy toward it.
The fox, groaning in pain for a long time, closed its eyes tightly and opened its mouth.
Kuaek, keuk!
Whoosh!
The fox vomited several times, and soon a fist-sized bead of pure white light emerged from its mouth.
The fox’s essence and spiritual energy concentrated in one place. The item that allowed it to remain a fox spirit rather than a mere beast.
I caught the flying fox bead in mid-air.
The fox’s eyes, filled with concentrated essence, dimmed.
At the same time, the fox’s body shrank.
The consciousness that had belonged to a Core Formation fox shrank and entered the skull.
The fox vomited the bead and became a normal beast again.
Of course, having three tails remained, but it was no longer different from a normal beast.
The fox looked at me with dazed eyes, then looked at me with longing eyes at the Yaodan in my hand.
But when I frowned, it flinched and scurried away like a village dog.
There was no more monster fox that had torn out my arms for ten lives.
Only one small three-tailed fox remained. It fled in despair.
I watched the small fleeing fox for a moment, then returned to where my comrades were, clutching the fox’s Yaodan.
I had overcome yet another fate.
I smiled faintly and unfolded Void Step toward my comrades.
“Ha, haha… hahaha!”
After ten lives, we had finally reached the beginning of my life.
I had succeeded in obtaining the power to defeat the fox that once threatened me…!
I laughed until tears came, still gazing at my sleeping comrades with my sleep technique.
‘Perhaps now we can leave Deungsunhyang.’
If we could leave without being discovered by Heavenly Person swordsmen…
‘Perhaps we can all live this life together.’
I laughed and rubbed my body.
My whole body ached from using Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless.
‘Even with only seventy percent of my consciousness available, I can use Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless. I caught the fox easily.’
Once I solved the Ohaeng Hyeoljubeon and eventually could use one hundred percent of my consciousness…
…I might be able to catch the fox without using Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless.
‘If I could immediately restore my Foundation Establishment strength and increase output, I could catch the fox in a single blow…’
I had lived two hundred and fifty years with pure force flowing through my veins.
Now this body, whose veins contained only blood, felt strange.
‘First, I should recover my body, slowly restore my realm, and figure out how to absorb the power inside the fox’s Yaodan…’
I decided to use herbs to soothe my aching body with Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless and turned my gaze away from my comrades.
Then I turned my head to search for herbs.
Whoosh!
A rough, wrinkled hand grabbed my head.
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Gi-san-sim-cheon
The hunchback old man with a curved back grabbed my head with a hand full of madness and grinned.
“No matter how you look at it, you’re strange. What on earth is this?”