Chapter 88: True Intent (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 88: True Intent (4)
Rumble! Crackle! Zap!
Thunder crashed down, and blue lightning enveloped his body.
Despite this, I walked forward as if it were nothing, leaving Jagyeongjeong looking utterly dumbfounded.
It was unfortunate for him, but I had been struck by countless bolts of lightning just to master the Adaptation of Thunder Energy, the secret technique of the Great Dao Heavenly Thunder Sword Method.
—There’s probably lightning flowing through your veins instead of blood. Yep.
Sodamgeom chuckled.
It wasn't quite that extreme, but my entire body was indeed filled with thunder energy.
According to Master, even an ordinary person’s body contains a trace amount of thunder energy, but my body held a latent amount that was incomparable.
Jagyeongjeong, overcome with shock, gnashed his teeth and glared at the Sword Immortal.
“Did you pass the Great Dao Heavenly Thunder Sword Method to that brat?”
Master did not answer his question.
It seemed he no longer felt any lingering attachment to the man.
“I stayed by your side for decades, yet you never taught me the secret techniques. And now, just to stop me, you pass them on to a wretch like that?”
His shout was filled with deep-seated resentment.
They say you can tell a good tree from its first leaves.
Jagyeongjeong had consistently acted out of line; if I were the teacher, I wouldn't have been quick to teach him secret techniques either.
This was simply karma.
“Fine. I suppose we are no longer master and disciple.”
Jagyeongjeong, who had been swinging Cheondun at me, suddenly changed direction.
He was heading toward the eight Taoists.
As if I’d let him.
Swish!
Unleashing a Body Lightening Method so fast it bordered on Shape Transformation, I closed the distance in an instant.
Then, I slashed toward the wrist of the arm he used to swing Cheondun.
“Hmph!”
He shifted Cheondun’s trajectory and blocked the strike.
Clang!
Maintaining that position, I aimed for his jaw with a kick from the Chaehwa Wind Leg Technique.
However, he tilted his head back slightly to dodge, then thrust his fingers in a sword-gesture toward the space between my brows with his left hand.
I tried to shift my sword to block it, but—
‘Adherence?’
Using the Principle of Adherence, he caused our swords to stick together, pinning mine in place.
Forced to act, I let go of the hilt, spun my body, and unleashed a palm strike from the Nine Clouds Myriad Flower Palm toward his chest.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!!
He executed a dazzling footwork pattern and retreated.
In that opening, I used Adherence to reclaim the Namcheon Iron Sword that had been stuck to Cheondun’s blade.
—He’s strong, isn’t he?
Of course he is.
He studied under the Sword Immortal for decades.
Fundamentally, it meant he had decades more experience in sword training than I did.
Thanks to various fortuitous encounters, I might have the upper hand in internal energy or Innate True Qi, but his basic swordsmanship was likely superior.
Even the Sword Immortal had admitted as much.
[Though he went astray, his talent for the sword was a rare gift seen perhaps once in centuries.]
That was why he had taken Jagyeongjeong as a disciple.
If he pulled himself together and wielded his sword in earnest, things would be different from before.
Jagyeongjeong, having put distance between us, flickered his gaze between me and another spot.
It was where the eight Taoists were.
He clearly wanted to kill them quickly, and my interference was grating on his nerves.
“You continue to be a thorn in my side until the very end.”
“It’s your own karma.”
If he hadn't taken Sodamgeom on a whim, none of this would have happened.
If he hadn't, things might have even gone the way he wanted.
Jagyeongjeong snorted and spoke to me.
“I suppose I cannot achieve my Great Cause unless I kill you and those old fossils over there.”
“That damn ‘Great Cause’ again.”
I clicked my tongue.
He was a man who believed his convictions were right to the bitter end.
Jagyeongjeong gripped the hilt of the Dharma Tool Cheondun tightly, focused his fighting spirit, and took a Qi Control Stance.
Then, he spoke loudly, as if wanting everyone to hear.
“I will show you all that everything you’ve done is meaningless. Especially you, Sunyangja. I will dismember this boy before your very eyes to prove that you were wrong...”
I cut him off right then.
“Master. May I kill him?”
Jagyeongjeong looked appalled by my words, glaring at me with murderous intent as he barked, “Kill me? Ha!”
But I didn't pay him any mind.
I was looking only at the Sword Immortal.
Master, who was holding back the sphere that blazed like the sun, let out a sigh, closed his eyes, and nodded.
Jagyeongjeong could not contain his rage at the sight.
“So that’s how it’s going to be. Fine. Let’s see who dies first before your very eyes...”
It happened at that exact moment.
Crackle! Zap!
The eyes of the man spewing fury widened.
He seemed shocked by my appearance, now completely shrouded in blue lightning.
This was the Adaptation of Thunder Energy, the precursor to unleashing the final secret technique of the Great Dao Heavenly Thunder Sword Method: the Thunder Wall Cheondun.
Jagyeongjeong spoke with a trembling voice.
“Thunder Wall Cheon...”
Flash!
Before he could even finish the sentence, I lunged at him like a bolt of lightning.
When moving in the state of Adaptation of Thunder Energy, my speed surpassed even the New Path Wind Shadow Step that Master Nam—the one who wore only one shoe—had refined for me.
Digging deep into his guard, I thrust my sword toward him.
“Urgh!”
He hurriedly raised the Dharma Tool Cheondun.
Thunder energy surged from Cheondun, dyeing the blade in a brilliant blue light.
Claaaaaaaang!
As Cheondun and the Namcheon Iron Sword collided, a powerful pressure erupted, and blue streaks of lightning spread out in all directions like the roots of a tree.
However, though he was pushed back, he suffered no damage from the lightning.
Jagyeongjeong gave a sickening smirk and said, “Foolish boy. The master of Cheondun is unaffected by thunder energy. Even if you’ve mastered the Thunder Wall Cheondun, as long as I have this sword...”
“I know.”
“What?”
I trained with Master; did he think I wouldn't know that?
“I’m going to get serious now, so you’d better grit your teeth.”
“You... right now...!?”
Whoooooosh!
At that moment, white steam began to rise from my body.
It was the True Blood Golden Body, which accelerated the circulation of blood.
When the True Blood Golden Body is unleashed while in the state of Adaptation of Thunder Energy, it adds the absolute limit of external martial arts to the mix.
“This is... Gah!”
Skreeeeee!
With our swords still locked, his body was forced backward.
He seemed to think we were equals because his internal power had tripled through the Dharma Tool Cheondun.
But I hadn't even begun to use my full strength yet.
“You brat!”
He gritted his teeth and tried to hold his ground by surging his internal power, but it was useless.
I kept pushing him back.
The ground beneath his feet crumbled as if it had turned to mud, and his body continued to be driven backward.
Rumble, rumble!
As he was pushed all the way to the cavern wall, he tried to change tactics.
Realizing he couldn't win in a contest of raw power, he tried to use a variation to break the stalemate.
But I had no intention of letting him go.
Clang!
The moment he tried to divert the force he was applying to Cheondun to shift the sword’s direction—
Grab!
I snatched the blade of Cheondun with my bare hand.
Then, I slammed him straight into the cavern wall.
“Guh!”
Boom!
His body smashed into the rock.
He tried to twist the sword to force me to let go, but it was futile.
“You...!”
“Let’s take this outside, shall we?”
Crash! Boom! Smash!
His body plowed through the cavern wall, digging deeper into the earth.
I continued to drive him forward in that state.
“Aaaaaagh!”
As he was pushed relentlessly, a scream finally tore from his throat.
Every time his back struck the rock, shards of stone embedded themselves in him; the pain must have been excruciating.
After carving through the wall for a long time—
Boom!
We finally burst through the other side of the cavern wall.
We were now in a deserted area northwest of the Fuse, surrounded by dense thickets.
Having broken through the wall, I released my grip on Cheondun’s blade and sent him flying with a burst of counter-force.
Crack! Snap!
His body hurtled through the air, snapping several trees.
He only came to a stop after breaking about five thick, ancient trees.
Staggering, he stabbed Cheondun into the ground like a cane.
Thud!
“Pant... pant... you bastard...”
He breathed heavily, lifting his head to glare at me.
I walked toward him.
Ssssss!
I could see his wounds healing rapidly.
Perhaps because he had consumed the Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill, the elixir of immortality, his recovery ability was immense.
As expected, a being like this could only be killed by separating the head from the body.
He gritted his teeth and spoke to me.
“You cursed brat. How long do you think you can maintain that technique that accelerates your blood?”
“Long enough to kill you.”
At my words, he suddenly burst into a fit of manic laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
I stared at him flatly and asked, “Have you finally gone mad?”
He shook his head slowly and replied, “You have finally forced me, a man who pursued the Dao, to cross the final line.”
“The final line?”
“Whew.”
He slowly pulled himself upright.
But from his body, a dark haze began to shimmer and rise.
It was a power completely different in nature from the pure energy of Taoists who cultivated the Dao.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was the polar opposite.
Bulge, bulge!
The veins on his face swelled and gradually turned black.
“Where there is a sun, there is a moon; where there is light, there is darkness. I will show you the destructive power of the Demon (魔) that cannot be surpassed by the Immortal (仙)...”
Thwack!
“Gah!”
Before he could finish his sentence, my fist buried itself in his abdomen.
Struck by the surprise blow to his gut, his eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out.
“You don’t have to show me.”
“Urgh... you...!”
He probably didn't expect me to attack before he could fully manifest that ominous energy.
He glared at me as if I were being cowardly.
But why on earth would I wait for him to finish his long-winded explanation and give him time to transform his energy?
He grabbed my wrist, which was still buried in his stomach, using a Golden Snake Hand technique and shouted.
“I will kill you, no matter what!”
The black haze and ominous energy surged even more violently from him.
I snorted at the sight.
“Why do you think I brought you here where no one else is?”
“What are you talking about...!?”
His pupils shook as he looked at me.
Reflected in his eyes, my hair was turning blood-red.
And it wasn't just my hair.
Crackle! Zap!
The blue lightning was gradually turning red.
Essence-Energy Unity, Adaptation of Thunder Energy, True Blood Golden Body, and Blood Demonization through the Opening of Mental Focus.
Beyond a mere explosion of power, even I couldn't fathom the level of this strength.
Terrified, he spoke in a trembling voice.
“You... what on earth are you...”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to control my strength.”
“What?”
KABOOM!
Before the words were even finished, a roar like a thunderclap erupted.
Jagyeongjeong slowly turned his head, his eyes wide with shock.
‘!!!’
Behind him, an area of nearly twenty jang had been completely obliterated in a fan shape.
The forest trees had vanished, and red sparks of lightning crackled and jumped from the gouged, destroyed earth.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
At my question, a scream finally erupted from his mouth.
“AAAAAAAAGH!”
He seemed to have forgotten the pain in his sheer shock.
With that single downward strike, half of his body—from his left shoulder down—had been completely torn away.
Screaming, he finally collapsed, staggering to the ground.