Chapter 32
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Breakthrough (5)
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“They're getting closer.”
“They are.”
Just as Shin Yehyang said, Gokjeon and Adept Heo Un were closing in fast.
It seemed they had grown accustomed to Jinmyeong's attacks.
“It will be difficult to escape at this rate.”
Finally, Shin Yehyang stopped running.
“You could have gone on ahead.”
Shin Yehyang didn't respond to Jinmyeong's words.
If she were alone, she could have picked up more speed and lost the two of them.
But she chose to stop and fight them.
‘So we couldn't escape after all.’
Jinmyeong also came to a stop.
‘How did things get so complicated?’
Watching Gokjeon and Adept Heo Un approach, Jinmyeong still couldn't understand.
He had thought it would be a simple mission, but he had no idea why it had become so difficult.
“Don't die. If you die, Young Master Jin, everything we're doing will be for nothing.”
Shin Yehyang said as she charged forward.
“Hmph!”
Gokjeon scowled as he blocked Shin Yehyang's heavy attack.
He saw Adept Heo Un pass him and rush toward Jinmyeong.
“Get out of my way!”
Gokjeon immediately parried Shin Yehyang's saber and thrust his sword.
Shin Yehyang swung her saber at Gokjeon's sword as it stabbed for her neck.
“Kugh! I don't have time for this.”
Gokjeon realized it wouldn't be easy to get past Shin Yehyang.
“Don't worry, Senior. I will kill him myself.”
Adept Heo Un shot toward Jinmyeong.
*Swish!*
As three swords shot toward him, Adept Heo Un swung his own sword in mid-air.
*Clang!*
After parrying the three swords, Adept Heo Un flipped his body in the air.
‘His footwork is truly incredible.’
Not only did he change direction by flipping in mid-air, but he was also accelerating as he approached.
As if to prove its fame was well-earned, Kunlun's Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon looked truly exceptional.
Jinmyeong, who struggled with even basic footwork, couldn't help but feel envious.
*Swish!*
Two swords hovering around Jinmyeong shot toward Adept Heo Un.
*Clang!*
And again, Adept Heo Un parried the two swords, then flipped his body by swinging his arms.
*Swish!*
Having closed the distance in an instant, Adept Heo Un thrust his sword forward.
The Great Void Dragon-Slaying Sword Arts unfolded from Adept Heo Un's hand, lashing out at Jinmyeong.
*Clang!*
Adept Heo Un's sword, poised to pierce through Jinmyeong's body, was suddenly blocked by something that flew out of nowhere.
Although he had blocked the Heavenly Demon Finger, Adept Heo Un's body was thrown backward.
“Mmm. This is…”
His sword could be seen shaking violently.
To be precise, the hand gripping the sword was trembling.
He had felt the power of the sword control was formidable, and the finger technique was no different.
“Here comes more.”
Jinmyeong continued to attack Adept Heo Un with the Heavenly Demon Finger.
Adept Heo Un dodged the relentless attacks and launched himself into the air again.
“Again?”
Jinmyeong shot a Heavenly Demon Finger at Adept Heo Un as he once again executed the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon.
*Clang!*
And Adept Heo Un parried Jinmyeong's Heavenly Demon Finger and flipped his body.
*Swish!*
Just as he was about to reach Jinmyeong, five swords blocked his path.
Adept Heo Un continued to parry Jinmyeong's swords as he closed in.
And Jinmyeong retreated while continuing to attack Adept Heo Un with the Heavenly Demon Finger and his sword control.
‘Footwork really is important.’
Even though he was retreating, the distance between him and Adept Heo Un was steadily shrinking.
‘Just a little more!’
Parrying the incoming swords and Heavenly Demon Fingers, Adept Heo Un continued to close in on Jinmyeong.
He kept flipping his body to accelerate and change direction.
He was moving so fast that even Jinmyeong's swords couldn't seem to keep up anymore.
‘Now!’
The distance to Jinmyeong, which had felt so far, now seemed close.
Adept Heo Un immediately thrust his sword.
*Swoosh!*
His sword cut sharply through the air, shooting toward Jinmyeong's chest.
‘I got him!’
Adept Heo Un saw Jinmyeong's strange expression.
And Adept Heo Un's sword, filled with conviction, ultimately failed to pierce Jinmyeong's chest.
“You did well.”
Adept Heo Un looked up with a dazed expression.
There, he saw Jinmyeong looking down at him with that same strange expression.
‘What in the world is that...’
Jinmyeong's expression.
At first, he thought it was a look of anxiety, but it wasn't.
Confusion? No, more like... elation?
Jinmyeong's expression was so complex, it seemed like a mixture of many different emotions.
‘How on earth did this happen?’
Adept Heo Un was now lying on the ground.
He couldn't fathom what had just occurred.
For his final move, he had flipped his body to gain the power to pierce Jinmyeong.
But in that instant, he had fallen to the ground as if crushed by something.
“Strange, isn't it? Why you ended up on the ground like this.”
“Kugh!”
“You know what this means, don't you?”
Jinmyeong raised the sword in his hand.
“It means your little flips are over.”
Then he immediately plunged his sword down toward Adept Heo Un's head.
*Thunk!*
But Jinmyeong's sword failed to shatter Adept Heo Un's head, instead burying itself uselessly in the ground.
Because Adept Heo Un had scrambled to his feet and retreated.
“You're good at dodging, even in a situation like that.”
Adept Heo Un bit his lip and glared at Jinmyeong.
“Still, you won't be able to use that footwork anymore.”
There was a small hole in Adept Heo Un's left thigh, and blood was flowing from it, staining his clothes red.
He had avoided having his head pierced, but Jinmyeong's Heavenly Demon Finger had pierced his thigh.
‘He's still standing. Amazing, truly amazing. Are all Taoists like this?’
He couldn't help but be appalled by Adept Heo Un, who stood on trembling legs with a hole in his thigh larger than a finger, his teeth clenched.
“How did this happen?”
“Who knows.”
Jinmyeong put on an expression of complete ignorance.
But Adept Heo Un couldn't shake the feeling that everything had gone exactly as Jinmyeong had planned.
“The Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon...”
“Is a legendary movement technique that allows you to flip your body eight times in mid-air to accelerate or change direction.”
Jinmyeong cut Adept Heo Un off.
“I was wondering. I wasn't sure if stepping on something counted as one of the eight flips.”
The Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon was a technique for flipping one's body eight times in empty air by swinging one's arms.
But Adept Heo Un sometimes used things like trees, or even Jinmyeong's swords, as footholds to flip.
“But it seems that wasn't the case.”
Flipping by using a foothold in mid-air didn't count toward the eight flips of the Cloud Dragon Forms.
‘It's a good thing it didn't reset the count.’
And Jinmyeong realized that even if he used a foothold, the count for the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon didn't reset.
“...”
Adept Heo Un still wore a look of incomprehension.
Everything Jinmyeong said was correct.
But he was someone who had trained in the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon for a long time and fought with it.
He knew exactly how many times he had flipped, and how many times he had used trees and swords as footholds.
And according to his calculations, he should have been piercing Jinmyeong's body, not falling.
“You must have miscalculated.”
Adept Heo Un shook his head at Jinmyeong's words.
He had performed the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon countless times.
Even without calculating in his head, his body remembered.
His body would refuse to even attempt a ninth flip.
“I'm sure you did.”
What Jinmyeong had done was simple.
Realizing that Adept Heo Un was using his swords as footholds, he had subtly adjusted their positions.
It took considerable effort to move them in a way that provided the sensation of a foothold to his feet, without actually letting him use it as one.
‘I'm glad it worked.’
Although he spoke with a nonchalant expression, Jinmyeong was not calm at all.
‘Is this body insane?’
Jinmyeong once again realized how incredible his body was.
Just by watching Adept Heo Un's movement technique, it had recalled the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon.
And even the way to counter it.
‘I didn't think I'd actually pull it off.’
He had to use the swords to deceive even Adept Heo Un's senses.
If he hadn't been able to control his internal energy with such delicacy, he would never have been able to trick Adept Heo Un's senses.
As the plan unfolded, it felt as if Adept Heo Un was right in the palm of his hand.
‘Is this how Buddha felt watching Sun Wukong in the palm of his hand?’
Jinmyeong felt a strange excitement.
‘It's a shame I couldn't kill him, though.’
The one thing that hadn't gone according to plan was failing to kill Adept Heo Un.
Still, with his thigh pierced by the Heavenly Demon Finger, Adept Heo Un wouldn't be able to perform the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon like before.
“A Taoist of Kunlun who can't perform the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon deserves to die.”
Jinmyeong's sword shot toward Adept Heo Un.
*Clang!*
Adept Heo Un blocked Jinmyeong's sword, but he staggered and fell backward.
Unable to properly support himself on his leg, he couldn't withstand Jinmyeong's attack.
“Kugh!”
Adept Heo Un quickly got up and parried the next sword that flew at him.
Unlike before, he didn't fall, but he was swaying heavily.
‘He definitely can't move like he did before.’
Realizing Adept Heo Un was not in his right state, Jinmyeong moved in front of him and swung his sword.
*Clang!*
Adept Heo Un's eyes widened as Jinmyeong, who had been attacking from a distance with the Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts and the Heavenly Demon Finger, approached.
“I need you to be my practice partner for a bit.”
He still felt he lacked practical experience with the Asura Sword Forms.
Since he wasn't used to it yet, he had only been using the Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts and the Heavenly Demon Finger in crucial moments.
‘Someone like the Cloud Dragon Sword must be skilled in swordsmanship.’
If they fought with swordsmanship alone, Jinmyeong would not be able to win.
But Adept Heo Un was in a situation where he couldn't put strength into his leg.
He couldn't help but think that he was the perfect opponent for gaining practical experience.
“Are you mocking me!”
Adept Heo Un's expression hardened.
After attacking with sword control and finger techniques, Jinmyeong had suddenly switched to a clumsy-looking swordsmanship, and he took it as an insult.
“Kunlun has more than just the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon.”
Adept Heo Un's hand moved.
The Great Void Dragon-Slaying Sword.
Kunlun's ultimate sword art, which embodied the form of a dragon soaring through the clouds, unfolded.
‘It's not that tricky without the Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon.’
Of course, the path of the Great Void Dragon-Slaying Sword was as bizarre as a dragon frolicking on Kunlun Mountain.
Most would be flustered by the sharp attacks born from its strangeness and be unable to respond properly before falling.
But Jinmyeong was handling the attacks well.
‘Is he aiming for the shoulder here?’
Jinmyeong immediately raised his sword.
*Clang!*
And Adept Heo Un's sword moved exactly as he had predicted.
“Hm?”
Sensing something was off, Adept Heo Un tried to swing his sword again.
*Screeeech!*
But a grating sound of scraping metal reached his ears.
Jinmyeong's sword was sliding along his.