Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Poison Blood Strange Demon
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Mu Yeonjun straightened his staggering body. The pounding of his heart echoed sharply in his head. His skin crawled not like insects crawling over it, but as if it were being scraped by a saw blade.
This sensation was a first for him.
Yet he knew instinctively. Mu Yeonjun snapped his head up. There was no need to look around.
His instincts told him exactly where the 'enemy' was.
Atop the cliff on the opposite side. But he wasn't standing on the ground.
The man, hands clasped behind his back, stood in the sky itself.
The distance was considerable, yet Mu Yeonjun could see the man's face clearly.
He appeared young. But that was only surface-deep. Mu Yeonjun surmised the man was an ancient monster who had defied the flow of countless years.
Dull, murky light gleamed from the pupils at the center of his narrow eyes.
Mu Yeonjun swallowed hard as he looked up at the man.
Wooooo......
With the leader dead, the movements of the demonic beasts in the nest slowed dramatically. And that wasn't all.
Something was off. Demonic beasts knew no fear. Even with limbs torn away, they would charge at any human before them.
But now, the beasts only hesitated. They no longer attacked with the same ferocity as before.
"W-What's wrong? Why are you suddenly like this...?!"
Pang Yeonhwa jumped in surprise and supported Wi Seongcheon. He had suddenly started dry-heaving and stumbling. Pang Yeonhwa quickly checked his body, but Wi Seongcheon bore no wounds—not even a splash of demonic beast blood.
"Are you poisoned?!"
Dang Heeran rushed over and asked urgently, but Wi Seongcheon didn't respond. He couldn't. His insides boiled furiously. Even his intact inner energy churned chaotically. That vile discomfort was utterly unfamiliar, something he'd never felt in his life.
"......Ugh......!"
Wi Seongcheon and Mu Yeonjun, sensitive to demonic qi by nature, sensed the 'enemy' first. Soon after, everyone else felt it too.
Demonic qi so blatant and thick was impossible to miss, regardless of constitution. Especially for martial artists attuned to qi—it was unavoidable. A chill ran down their spines, like a blade pressed to the nape of their neck.
"Wei."
Wi Seongcheon gritted his teeth and spat out the word.
Everyone looked up at the man floating in the sky. He met their gazes with hands still clasped behind his back.
His eyes scanned the students and professors one by one before lingering on Mu Yeonjun. The man's lips curled into a sneer.
Slowly.
The man descended. Landing at the gorge's edge, he stared straight at Mu Yeonjun and spoke.
"Do you know who this seat is?"
His voice grated like metal scraping against iron.
The question was directed at everyone but him, yet the man's gaze remained fixed on Mu Yeonjun.
Mu Yeonjun steadied his breathing atop the leader beast's corpse.
The discomfort...... was fading into adaptation. His dizziness had stopped. Instead, his sharpened vision now clearly captured the enemy.
"......Demonic Cult."
"And which of the Demonic Cult do you think I am."
"Not the Heavenly Demon, that's for sure."
Mu Yeonjun clenched his fists as he replied.
Circulating his heart method, the trembling in his body ceased. The man burst into laughter at the answer.
"Then?"
"The Ten Demons."
That was the only conclusion. It couldn't be the Heavenly Demon. The enemy before him was terrifyingly strong, but not on the Heavenly Demon's level. That left only the Ten Demons.
Mu Yeonjun realized he harbored a certain hope. He desperately wished...... this man was one of the Ten Demons.
Of course, even that was a nightmare in this place and time.
But a demonic being emitting such chilling demonic qi...... If he wasn't even among the Ten Demons, that would be far worse.
If so, the current world could never stand against the Demonic Cult.
"Correct."
The man nodded with a thin smile.
"This seat is the Poison Blood Strange Demon of the Ten Demons."
Mu Yeonjun bit his lower lip hard at those words. Seeing this, the Poison Blood Strange Demon suddenly let out a chuckle.
"Relieved, are you?"
"......"
"Relieved. That this seat is one of the Ten Demons."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon spoke in a mocking tone, peering straight into Mu Yeonjun's heart.
"But what does it change? You're quite numerous. And fairly strong."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon began walking slowly. Not toward Mu Yeonjun.
He strolled leisurely through the twitching demonic beasts as if out for a casual walk.
"That's all. Heavenly Person, you're relieved I'm the Poison Blood Strange Demon of the Ten Demons. Yes, as you think, in the Demonic Cult, I'm among the top ten after the Heavenly Demon Sovereign. But the Demonic Cult isn't just the Heavenly Demon and Ten Demons."
"......Better than if an ancient monster like you wasn't even among the Ten Demons."
"You think dying here is fortunate?"
The Poison Blood Strange Demon smiled slyly as he asked.
Mu Yeonjun glared at the Poison Blood Strange Demon without answering. The demon met his gaze with evident delight, then felt a pang of regret.
"Even if you're the Heavenly Person, and behind you stand geniuses like the Dragon-Phoenix and top talents of the righteous factions. This seat can kill you all."
His hands unclasped and came forward. At that instant, Mu Yeonjun kicked off the ground. But Seo Il and Seok Ijin charged faster.
"Seo Il!"
Seok Ijin bellowed. No time to question the shout.
In this situation, what the 'professors' must do was clear. Mu Yeonjun momentarily panicked seeing Seo Il rush at him.
He reflexively reached out, but hesitation clouded his judgment and reaction—since the opponent wasn't a beast, a demon, or an 'enemy.'
Seo Il exploited that gap perfectly. His sharply thrusting hand climbed Mu Yeonjun's arm. Mu Yeonjun's eyes widened. True to his moniker Golden Capture Whip Flash, Seo Il's hand was supple and swift.
"What are you......"
Mu Yeonjun tried to shout, but Seo Il's hand had already sealed his acupoints. Mu Yeonjun's body stiffened rigidly. Seo Il shoved him back and spat.
"No."
No voice came out.
Mu Yeonjun glared at Seo Il with bulging eyes. Seo Il bit his lower lip, then spun around. The straight-charging Death Sentence Sword had already clashed with the Poison Blood Strange Demon.
"Run!"
Seo Il roared as he charged the Poison Blood Strange Demon. In this moment, he was Professor Seo Il, not assassin Yi Un.
In such a situation, students' lives came before his own. No need to hide anymore.
Seo Il unleashed his martial arts at full power. His body left a faint afterimage.
"Death Sentence Sword Seok Ijin. Golden Capture Whip Flash Seo Il."
Seok Ijin's Three Severing Flash Flower Death Form targeted the Poison Blood Strange Demon's vital points.
Facing that eerie sword strike, the Poison Blood Strange Demon smirked and advanced.
"Throwing your lives away for the young ones?"
It didn't cut. It didn't even touch.
Thrust after thrust, slash after slash, yet Seok Ijin's sword never grazed the Poison Blood Strange Demon's robes.
Not surprising at all. Before them stood one of the Demonic Cult's Ten Demons, the Poison Blood Strange Demon.
"I told you to run. But can you?"
Seo Il darted in from the side. A bold assault.
The Poison Blood Strange Demon easily evaded Seo Il's faint presence and bladeless attack, then swung his hand.
Paak!
The Poison Blood Strange Demon's hand collided with Seo Il's. In that moment, Seo Il twisted his wrist, forcibly deflecting the demon's hand.
Seo Il's hands gripped the Poison Blood Strange Demon's wrist and forearm. The demon's lips twisted upward. Seok Ijin's thrusting sword aimed for the heart.
'Can't twist it......'
He realized it the instant he grabbed the forearm. Seo Il's Heaven Net Ghost Capture couldn't twist the Poison Blood Strange Demon's arm.
Seok Ijin, thrusting for the heart, knew it too. His sword couldn't pierce the demon.
The premonition became reality.
Kwaduduk!
The Poison Blood Strange Demon's hand crushed forward through the blade. It stopped just before the hilt.
Snap.
The Poison Blood Strange Demon flicked his index finger.
Puhwak!
A burst of inky blackness from his fingertip engulfed Seok Ijin entirely.
At the sight, Seo Il opened his mouth to shout, but before a sound escaped, the Poison Blood Strange Demon yanked the arm Seo Il held.
Seo Il's stance crumbled, and the demon's hand reached his chest.
The light faded away.
Seok Ijin and Seo Il staggered, then dropped to their knees. Black blood dripped from their bowed heads.
"You should have listened till the end before charging."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon clicked his tongue as he passed the fallen Seo Il and Seok Ijin.
With his acupoints sealed, Mu Yeonjun was held by Hwangbo Seongu.
"Damn it."
Hwangbo Seongu cursed, gripping Mu Yeonjun tightly. He whipped his head toward Haji Tae.
Haji Tae ran stiff-faced beside Hwangbo Seongu.
Hwangbo Seongu suddenly hurled Mu Yeonjun at Haji Tae.
"What?!"
"Run well."
With those words, Hwangbo Seongu turned. He let out a massive roar and charged the Poison Blood Strange Demon.
Not just Hwangbo Seongu.
Everyone had chosen and accepted what to prioritize 'now.' If only one could escape this place with their life, it had to be the Heavenly Person.
"Hmm."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon nodded.
Kwaang!
His stomping foot shook the mountain. Leaping high, he vaulted over the charging students in one bound, blocking Haji Tae's path.
Haji Tae gritted his teeth and flung Mu Yeonjun cliff-high. Instantly, he gripped his twin wheels from behind and swung at the Poison Blood Strange Demon.
"Listen."
The demon's hand slipped through the sharp strike.
Grabbing Haji Tae by the collar, he spun him like a top and slammed him into the ground. Then, he looked up at the soaring Mu Yeonjun.
Mu Yeonjun's acupoint-sealed body twitched.
"Listen till the end."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon leaped upward.
He reached to grab Mu Yeonjun, then flinched and withdrew his hand. Mu Yeonjun's body had suddenly twisted.
Despite sealed acupoints, in this brief time, he had undone them.
Mu Yeonjun's body wrapped in blue light.
Kwa-gwang!
Radiant qi exploding from his entire body engulfed the Poison Blood Strange Demon.
The demon chuckled gutturally and waved his hand.
The threatening qi split apart.
Mu Yeonjun charged from beyond, thrusting a palm strike.
Kuwoong!
The Poison Blood Strange Demon's and Mu Yeonjun's palms collided.
Mu Yeonjun plummeted to the ground. But he didn't crash ugly. Twisting mid-fall just before impact, he landed and glared upward.
The Poison Blood Strange Demon stared at the palm that had clashed with Mu Yeonjun.
'......Alive.'
Wi Seongcheon checked the fallen Seo Il and Seok Ijin.
They had taken the Poison Blood Strange Demon's attacks head-on, yet both lived. But they were in peril. The blood they vomited was black.
The Poison Blood Strange Demon was a poison person harboring every toxin within.
Even his blood and qi were poison. Seok Ijin and Seo Il lived...... but were poisoned.
They could die anytime.
'Could have killed with one blow.'
Not just Seok Ijin and Seo Il. Haji Tae lived too.
Slammed into the earth, Haji Tae groaned as he rose.
Had the Poison Blood Strange Demon shown mercy? A Demonic Cult demon, one of the Ten Demons? Why?
But one thing was certain. With the Poison Blood Strange Demon blocking, no one here could escape the gorge.
"......Hmm."
After staring at his palm briefly, the Poison Blood Strange Demon looked down again.
Mu Yeonjun no longer charged rashly; he glared warily. The demon approved of that caution.
"Shall I continue what I was saying earlier?"
Floating in the sky with hands behind his back, he said.
"Time is short, after all."
"......What do you mean?"
"The Sword Demon is holding back the Taiji Sword Lord."
Mu Yeonjun's pupils trembled at the words.
"Has the Taiji Sword Lord arrived?"
Wi Seongcheon asked. The Poison Blood Strange Demon glanced at him.
He knew Wi Seongcheon. The spy's Blood Eye reports had reached the Demonic Cult.
"Seems you didn't know. The Taiji Sword Lord—that old monkey unfit to be called a Daoist—has been tailing you all along. Why do you think?"
Mu Yeonjun ground his lower lip. The reason was obvious. To protect Mu Yeonjun from such threats.
"The Sword Demon always boasted his sword surpassed the Taiji Sword Lord's, but...... This seat thinks otherwise. The Sword Demon is inferior.
All he can do is buy this seat a little time. Before his head rolls to the Taiji Sword Lord."
"Why not join forces with the Sword Demon?"
Wi Seongcheon stared at the Poison Blood Strange Demon and asked. The demon blinked. Everyone eyed Wi Seongcheon like he was mad, but he was sane.
"Surely even you two together can't defeat the Taiji Sword Lord?"
"......Ha! Brazen whelp. As if. I admit that old monkey's sword is sharp, but not enough to withstand this seat and the Sword Demon together."
"You value the Ten Heroes' lives over ours? Or...... you never intended to kill us?"
"Hah."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon feigned surprise.
"True. For this seat, that Heavenly Person fledgling and you 'young' ones interest me more than the Taiji Sword Lord. The Sovereign thinks so too."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon descended slowly.
"And as you said, it's true I have no intent to kill you."
"Why?"
"This seat doesn't wish to, but it's the Sovereign's will."
The demon's eyes flashed red.
"But the weak unworthy of life will die here by this seat's hand. Even the Sovereign permits that."
"......I see."
Mu Yeonjun murmured.
"You—or rather, the Heavenly Demon—wants to test us."
The Poison Blood Strange Demon smiled deeply.