Chapter 66
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Heretical Young Master, Sama Geuk (2)
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Thwack!
A jolt of pain shot through her abdomen, and Shin Yehyang hastily tried to retreat.
At least, that’s what the Blood Ghost Captain had expected to happen.
“Ugh!”
But it wasn’t she who was thrown back; it was the captain himself, the one who had launched the attack.
As he had struck for her stomach, Shin Yehyang had met his palm strike with one of her own.
“Blech!”
Blood gushed from the Blood Ghost Captain’s mouth.
Their palms had clearly clashed, yet the internal energy that had flowed from her hand was now wreaking havoc inside his body.
‘Such immense internal energy.’
The Blood Ghost Captain was by no means lacking in internal energy, but he was no match for Shin Yehyang, who had consumed a tremendous amount of elixirs since childhood.
“Kuh!”
It wasn’t just the sheer volume of her energy; it was rampaging through his body like a mad tempest, living up to the name of her martial art, the ‘Gale.’
He desperately wanted to expel Shin Yehyang’s energy from his body, but her saber wouldn’t give him the chance.
Clang!
With every block against Shin Yehyang’s attacks, the Blood Ghost Captain had to grimace in pain.
‘What is this?’
Was it because of the pain?
Shin Yehyang’s attacks felt different than before.
‘It’s like she’s swinging more lightly.’
Until moments ago, her attacks had primarily utilized the saber’s massive size and weight.
But now, she was wielding it with incredible lightness and simplicity.
‘Yet it feels heavier.’
He couldn’t understand why her lightly swung saber felt heavier than before.
“Let go of me!”
A familiar voice reached the Blood Ghost Captain’s ears.
Turning his head, he saw Sama Geuk caught by the scruff of his neck by Jinmyeong.
It seemed he had failed to kill Jinmyeong.
‘This is dangerous.’
Was it because Sama Geuk had appeared? The heat that had rushed to his head now felt as if it were doused in ice water.
His crimson eyes returned to their normal color, but the Blood Ghost Captain couldn’t move to help Sama Geuk.
Shin Yehyang was relentlessly pressing her attack, swinging her saber without pause.
‘Incredible focus.’
Even though Jinmyeong and Sama Geuk had appeared, Shin Yehyang didn’t spare them a single glance.
Her gaze was fixed solely on the Blood Ghost Captain.
Right now, she could see nothing but him.
Knowing this, the Blood Ghost Captain couldn't move toward Sama Geuk and Jinmyeong.
‘Young Master, you’ll have to hold on your own.’
The Blood Ghost Captain instinctively realized that shaking off Shin Yehyang would not be an easy task.
* * *
“So there really is no one else.”
A moment ago, Sama Geuk had entered the training room and smirked upon seeing Jinmyeong sitting cross-legged.
‘He finally came.’
Even while absorbing the elixir, Jinmyeong was aware of Sama Geuk entering the room.
‘The absorption slowed down.’
The commotion outside had broken his concentration. Normally, this state would often lead to qi deviation, but perhaps due to the unique nature of the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame, there was no such danger.
However, he couldn’t prevent the process of purifying the elixir’s energy from slowing down.
“Why would you consume an elixir alone in such a dangerous situation?”
Sama Geuk’s voice reached Jinmyeong’s ears as he continued to absorb the elixir despite his presence.
“You die because you covet what belongs to another. If the King of Hell asks why you’ve come, tell him that.”
Sama Geuk seemed to have no intention of wasting time.
He could hear the sounds of Shin Yehyang and the Blood Ghost Captain fighting outside, and he could sense people rushing in their direction.
‘If those two were here…’
Jinmyeong also sensed the approach of Yang Jeon and Gu Jahong.
But it appeared Sama Geuk intended to finish things before they arrived.
When facing the Fifteen Divine Dragons, the combined attacks of Yang Jeon and Gu Jahong had been surprisingly effective.
That was why Sama Geuk intended to kill Jinmyeong before the two of them arrived.
‘Just a little more and it’ll be done.’
He couldn’t move. Or more accurately, he didn’t want to.
Jinmyeong had currently purified about seventy percent of the elixir’s energy.
With just a little more time, he could purify the remaining thirty percent, but it seemed Sama Geuk had no intention of letting that happen.
‘If I stop here…’
He would never be able to obtain the remaining thirty percent of the internal energy.
This was one of the best elixirs Jinmyeong had ever consumed, so even the thirty percent he would have to give up felt like a waste.
“Farewell.”
Ignoring Jinmyeong’s circumstances, Sama Geuk immediately thrust the folding fan he was holding.
The fan, imbued with blade energy, shot toward Jinmyeong’s neck.
“Ugh!”
But the fan, which had been moving to pierce Jinmyeong’s neck, stopped dead.
The fact that an attack coated in blade energy had been blocked by a single index finger left Sama Geuk with a look of bewilderment.
“Hah. Couldn’t you have come a little later?”
“…You’re awake?”
“When you’re blasting me with that much killing intent, don’t you think I have to wake up?”
Having been forced to stop purifying the elixir midway, Jinmyeong was in a foul mood.
‘To think I had to stop like this.’
In the end, Jinmyeong had to give up on the unpurified energy of the elixir.
It was an unavoidable choice; if he hadn't stopped the purification and quickly settled his internal energy, he could have lost the energy he had already purified.
“I’m in a really bad mood right now.”
“Don’t make me laugh! Those elixirs were…”
“Yours?”
“That’s right!”
He had sought out those elixirs after being spurred on by Jinmyeong. They were treasures that would have elevated him to a higher level.
Yet Jinmyeong had snatched them away and was now angry at him, the rightful owner. He felt the blood rush to his head.
“Then why were such important elixirs in the hands of some third-rate underworld gang like the Black Tiger Gang?”
“So I could retrieve them immediately.”
The Black Tiger Gang was located closest to Dongting Lake, where Sama Geuk was staying.
“Then you should have kept them somewhere other than the Black Tiger Gang.”
“…”
The Black Tiger Gang wasn’t a sect affiliated with the Heretical Alliance; they were merely an underworld gang that ran errands for its member sects.
The Heretical Alliance sect that held sway over the Hunan region was the Blood Serpent Sect, a power comparable in size to the Nine Great Sects, One Union, or the Five Great Clans.
If the elixirs had been at the Blood Serpent Sect, Jinmyeong would never have been able to get his hands on them. He would have had no reason to get entangled with them in the first place.
‘It might have been different if the Blood Serpent Sect had used the Black Tiger Gang to attack the Myeonghwa House, but that wasn’t the case either.’
It was simply Sama Geuk’s misfortune that the elixirs had been in the possession of the Black Tiger Gang, the very group that had provoked Jinmyeong.
“I regret not doing so, all because of you.”
In truth, he had left them with the Black Tiger Gang because his preparations were incomplete.
Carrying around precious elixirs before he was ready to consume them was risky; there was no telling what might happen to them.
But while he was preparing to absorb the elixirs, a problem arose.
The Wolseon House used the Black Tiger Gang to provoke the Myeonghwa House, which ultimately led to Jinmyeong dealing with both of them and taking the elixirs.
“I never thought you would know about it. I made sure to have them hidden away.”
“They were hidden, alright.”
But Jinmyeong had found them anyway.
Of course, it wasn’t Jinmyeong who had found them, but the Underworld Sect.
“But what’s eaten is eaten. What are you going to do about it? Make me spit it back out?”
“If I could, I’d tear you to shreds.”
“Perfect. I had to stop midway, so I feel like tearing you to shreds, too.”
As Jinmyeong spoke, he extended his hand forward.
His index finger was suddenly pointing at Sama Geuk’s forehead.
“Keuk!”
Without hesitation, Sama Geuk threw himself to the side.
Thwack!
A bullet of pure white blade energy shot past where his head had been.
‘If that had hit me, my forehead would have been pierced through.’
Sama Geuk swallowed hard as he looked at the hole in the training room wall.
But Jinmyeong had no intention of finishing it with a single attack; he began to continuously fire the Heavenly Demon Finger.
“Keuk!”
Sama Geuk opened his fan to block the Heavenly Demon Finger, and his body was pushed back.
‘I almost lost my grip.’
The force was so powerful that he nearly dropped his fan.
And yet, Jinmyeong was firing these powerful bullets of blade energy repeatedly, showing no signs of fatigue.
‘Just how much internal energy do you have?’
He had thought Jinmyeong’s internal energy was absurd when he heard he controlled five swords, but seeing it in person was truly awe-inspiring.
It felt as though even his grandfather, one of the Three Revered Ones, would be outmatched by Jinmyeong in terms of internal energy.
‘I just have to get close…’
Both Jinmyeong’s Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts and his Heavenly Demon Finger were long-range techniques.
Perhaps thinking he didn’t need to worry about opponents getting close, Jinmyeong was currently full of openings.
Sama Geuk began to move forward, dodging the relentless barrage of the Heavenly Demon Finger.
Then, he immediately thrust his fan toward Jinmyeong’s chest.
Clang!
But one of Jinmyeong’s controlled swords appeared out of nowhere and deflected Sama Geuk’s fan.
It then moved behind Sama Geuk, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and leaped out the window.
“L-let go of me!”
Dragged along by Jinmyeong, Sama Geuk quickly spun his body and swung his fan.
Clang!
But the fan was easily blocked by the controlled swords floating around Jinmyeong.
“That’s no ordinary fan, is it?”
“Hmph! Of course not!”
It had withstood the Heavenly Demon Finger and clashed with Jinmyeong’s swords, yet Sama Geuk’s fan appeared completely unscathed.
“Being the grandson of the Leader of the Heretical Alliance, you must have some nice things.”
“Keuk!”
As the grip on his neck loosened, Sama Geuk hastily threw his body forward.
“Letting your guard down, are we?”
But even after breaking free from Jinmyeong’s grasp, there was no trace of a smile on Sama Geuk’s face.
His body couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of the five controlled swords aimed at him from Jinmyeong’s side.
‘I heard the New Demonic Sword Controller has yet to master the True Sword Control Arts.’
That was the only thing Sama Geuk could cling to.
Swoosh!
One of the swords shot toward Sama Geuk.
“Ugh!”
Sama Geuk quickly twisted his body to dodge the attack, but as if anticipating his move, another sword was already flying toward him.
Clang!
Sama Geuk swung his fan to block the incoming sword, but the immense force made him stagger backward.
Jinmyeong’s attacks were simple flying projectiles, but they came at him with superhuman speed and power, making them incredibly difficult to handle.
“Keuk!”
Deciding that dodging was better than blocking, Sama Geuk focused on evading the swords.
“Try to dodge this.”
Hearing the voice, Sama Geuk’s eyebrows twitched.
Jinmyeong stood still in his spot, and three of the swords remained motionless by his side.
Right now, Jinmyeong was cornering him with just two swords.
“This is less fun than I thought.”
A hint of boredom laced Jinmyeong’s voice as he continued to attack with only two swords.
It felt as though if he used the Heavenly Demon Finger now, or even moved just one of the three remaining swords, he could pierce Sama Geuk’s neck in an instant.
“Damn it!”
It was humiliating.
Sama Geuk was used to looking down on others, not being looked down upon.
“At this rate, the Heretical Alliance is nothing special. Is the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult just that exceptional?”
Jinmyeong kept muttering things he could have just kept to himself.
And he said them loud enough for Sama Geuk to hear every word.
“So, I guess Mok Jagyeong is the only one I need to be wary of.”
Of course, the one he needed to be most wary of was the protagonist of this novel, Gang Muhwi, but Jinmyeong didn't mention him.
“Damn it! If only I had those elixirs!”
Whether from the humiliation or something else, a cry of indignation burst from Sama Geuk’s lips.