Chapter 179
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: The Best Solution (4)
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Sparks flew from the Thousand Fox's eyes.
“These bastards!”
A dull glint in their eyes, the beasts swarmed in with a crazed frenzy, emanating nothing but blind bloodlust.
Moreover, the swarming beasts weren't just predators like leopards and wild dogs.
There were venomous snakes slithering swiftly across the ground, fierce-looking deer with hard, sharp antlers, monkeys with unusually long arms, birds smaller than a man's palm, and even swarms of gray rats.
Their numbers were so immense it felt as if the very ground was closing in. It was no exaggeration to say that every beast on Mount Aenoe had been mobilized.
The Tiger King's face contorted.
*Thud!*
Slamming its two front paws into the ground, the Tiger King let out a ferocious roar.
*ROOOOAR!*
The roar that erupted from its massive maw, large enough to swallow a man whole, was overwhelming. It wasn't as mystical as Geumho's cry, but it was far more monstrous and savage.
*Rumble!*
The beasts, which had been charging as if possessed, all flinched to a halt.
*CRUNCH!*
The ones that stopped were trampled to death by the wave of beasts surging from behind.
Geumho's spiritual energy was certainly formidable, but its range was too vast. While it could enthrall all the beasts of Mount Aenoe, the concentration of its energy was inevitably diluted. The Tiger King's roar, steeped in fierce killing intent, was enough to blow away that spiritual energy at close range.
But there were simply too many beasts.
“Kill them all!”
*BOOM!*
The White Beast Kings each unleashed their fists and palms. The powerful shockwaves from their strikes sent beasts tumbling down like leaves.
Even before the Thousand Fox became the Palace Lord, the White Beast Kings were among the top forces of the Beast Palace. Now, with the Palace Lord's support, they stood as the strongest power in the Beast Palace, their martial prowess scarcely inferior to the elites of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
*CRASH! BOOM!*
The area surrounded by dozens of White Beast Kings was like an impenetrable fortress.
The Thousand Fox glared at Seo Ryang.
“Release my disciples.”
Seo Ryang let out a smirk.
“If you were me, would you?”
“If you don't, the entire might of this palace will move for the sole purpose of killing you. Starting right now.”
The words were utterly chilling.
To abandon everything—the training of the three palaces, the advance into the Central Plains—just to kill one person. Even if it was a lie, it was a threat not easily dismissed.
But the threat had no effect on Seo Ryang. In fact, it only fueled his rage.
*Fwoosh!*
The killing intent of a demon king rode on a terrifying wave of energy.
“You want to try me? Fine. As of this moment, our Cult will enter a temporary state of war for the sole purpose of annihilating the Beast Palace.”
The Thousand Fox's face twisted.
“As I recall, a Demon Lord doesn't have that kind of authority…”
“I'm not a Demon Lord.”
*Whoosh!*
A red wind gathered around the Dragon Scale Saber that Seo Ryang raised.
At this ominous sign, a golden radiance began to shimmer from the Thousand Fox's body.
“My name is Seo Ryang. I am the disciple of the current Heavenly Demon, Lee Cheonsang, and the Third Young Master of the Divine Cult.”
Astonishment filled the Thousand Fox's eyes.
*'The Heavenly Demon's disciple? The Third Young Master of the Demonic Cult?!'*
He had never imagined his opponent held such a status. If he was the Cult Leader's disciple, he must be the same age as his own disciples, yet his martial skill was in no way inferior to his own.
As he reeled from this unbelievable fact, Seo Ryang's cold voice shook him to the core.
“Then again, just being chased out of Mount Aenoe isn't quite enough. You'll make a decent sacrifice to signal your palace's destruction.”
“...!”
“I'll take this chance to wipe you clean from the lands of Yunnan.”
*BOOM!*
A powerful stomp shook the cliff.
A glint flashed in Geumho's eyes.
*KYAAAA!*
At its sharp cry, a five-colored light began to leak from the red eyes of the beasts.
*Thud! Rumble!*
The earth trembled. The indiscriminate assault of the swarming beasts grew even more ferocious.
Just as one of the White Beast Kings gritted his teeth and deployed a fist technique.
*Scurry, scurry, scurry!*
Rats swarmed up his ankles and bit at his skin. Though his body, protected by true energy, remained unscratched, the iron-wall defense had finally been breached.
“Gah!”
*Rumble!*
As the energy of the Tiger Form Art flared, the bodies of the rats burst apart.
But that was not a good method. The rats living on Mount Aenoe, especially those in the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, carried poison sacs in their bodies.
*Pop! Pop!*
As all the White Beast Kings unleashed the Tiger Form Art, hundreds of rats were killed.
The martial arts of the Beast Palace were strong because of their simplicity. But they lacked finesse, meaning their attacks were broad and clumsy.
In an instant, the ground became a land of poison.
The Thousand Fox ground his teeth.
“Tiger King!”
*FWOOSH!*
Leaping over the White Beast Kings in a single bound, the Tiger King landed on the western path and swung its front paw.
*SWIPE!*
A dozen or so leopards, monkeys, and deer were swept away by its massive paw and killed.
That wasn't all. The Tiger King was incredibly agile for its massive size. It swung its paws like the sword strikes of a first-rate master, and in an instant, a hundred beasts were torn to shreds and collapsed.
*WHACK!*
A tiger's weapons aren't limited to its claws and teeth. A person could be killed if struck by its tail, a solid mass of muscle.
What then of the Tiger King's tail? A single, vicious swing shattered a large deer's spine and ruptured all its internal organs.
Seo Ryang's eyes gleamed.
*'Incredible.'*
It was truly overwhelming power.
Not even a peak master could slaughter beasts at such a speed. The true face of the Tiger King, the culmination of the Beast Palace's arts, was shockingly formidable.
*'Could even Geumho do that?'*
He looked at Geumho.
Geumho was also watching the Tiger King. With its mystical, five-colored eyes, it was impossible to guess what it was thinking.
Seo Ryang grinned.
“Want to have a go?”
Geumho held its head high.
Its lofty pride seemed to say that the two were incomparable. The way Geumho looked down on the Tiger King was like that of an emperor.
“Alright, then I'll start.”
*VMMMMMM!!*
The Dragon Scale Saber let out a fierce hum. The blade, concentrated with the energy of the Hellwind, vibrated as if it were about to break.
*FWOOSH!*
Seo Ryang was about to charge toward the Thousand Fox.
Surprisingly, the Thousand Fox moved even faster. As if he could no longer stand by, he leaped a great distance, landed on the cliff face, and shot up to the top like lightning.
*Thwump!*
Soaring high into the air, the Thousand Fox saw Seo Ryang, Geumho, and behind them, his six sprawled-out disciples.
Just then, one of the disciples stirred.
*'Gwi-eung!'*
Gwi-eung looked up at the Thousand Fox with hazy eyes.
The Thousand Fox's eyes flashed. The boy was resonating with his energy.
In that fleeting moment, the Thousand Fox thought.
*'Now?!'*
Should he make Gwi-eung his own now, or should he wait?
Normally, he would have to wait at least a year. But if left like this, there was a risk that Gwi-eung would get caught up in the current chaotic battle.
*'...Dammit.'*
The reason he cherished Gwi-eung was simple. He had placed a Beast Palace art—one perfected through centuries of painstaking effort—on the boy.
The moment he synchronized that art with his own, he would become the greatest master among all the Beast Palace Lords in history. For that purpose, he had poured all sorts of elixirs and poisons into that body for over a decade.
He never imagined that while the boy was sent to Mount Aenoe, a disaster like the Demonic Cult would strike.
*'There's no choice.'*
That man, Seo Ryang, was sharp. If he delayed any longer, he too would sense that something was amiss.
*'If I can't hold out, I have no choice but to devour him today!'*
Just then, a red light flashed.
“Where are you looking?”
*VWOOOM!*
With a sound like the air itself heating up, a terrifying pressure bore down from all sides. A violent blade wind, tinged with red, was shooting toward him like a gale.
The Thousand Fox's body tensed.
*Fshhhh!*
Seo Ryang's eyes flashed. The strike of the Hellwind had cut through empty air.
*'He managed to dodge it.'*
With an elastic movement, the Thousand Fox slipped away in an instant and landed thirty feet behind the hostages.
Seo Ryang's lips twitched.
“Seventh Night.”
*THWACK!*
The Thousand Fox, who had been about to rescue the disciples tied up with Gwi-eung, quickly retreated. A menacing long saber had flown from nowhere and embedded itself in the ground before him.
If he hadn't stopped, it would have pierced his chest, inflicting a fatal wound.
*'This bastard!'*
*Whoosh!*
Moving his limbs swiftly, the Thousand Fox retreated in a zigzag pattern and executed a powerful stomp.
*BOOM!*
A force no less powerful than Seo Ryang's stomp.
The Thousand Fox tensed his abdomen.
“Can you not get up?!”
*BOOOOM!*
The six disciples' bodies twitched at the fierce roar.
Just as the Thousand Fox was about to speak again.
*FWOOSH!*
Like a house-sized beast swiping with its claws, three streaks of crimson saber energy flew at the Thousand Fox.
The red demonic energy was imbued with high-temperature fire energy; even without touching him, his skin felt like it was about to burn.
*'Gah!'*
The Thousand Fox swung both hands. It was his unique martial art, the Wild King's Claw.
*BOOM!*
Seo Ryang and the Thousand Fox were both pushed back three or four steps.
The Thousand Fox was inwardly shocked. Although their realms were similar, he had expected to have the advantage due to his age and experience, but there was almost no difference in their power.
Seo Ryang grinned.
*'Got you.'*
*FWOOSH!*
A terrifying blaze erupted from the ground around where the Thousand Fox stood. It was an illusion of flames created from saber energy, and its temperature was already comparable to a furnace.
*'Revival, Black Rope, Crushing, Screaming…'*
The shapes of a giant blade, a rope, a wall, and a boiling cauldron were manifested in flames.
Seo Ryang quickly chanted the incantations and forms.
*'Great Screaming, Scorching Heat, Great Scorching Heat.'*
*SCREEEEECH!*
As flames clashed against flames, a sound like a scream erupted. The crimson fire gradually turned white.
*Szzzzzle!*
Three or four trees behind the Thousand Fox turned to ash and scattered.
The strange thing was the Thousand Fox's disciples. They were sprawled on the ground not far away, yet they were completely unaffected by the fire energy. It was because Seo Ryang was focusing all the firepower on the Thousand Fox.
“Kugh!”
The Thousand Fox's body grew red-hot. He wanted to escape this swamp of flames, but there was nowhere to run.
*'This isn't real fire. It's just shaped like it! If I can just suppress the fire energy...!'*
Just then, strangely, Seo Ryang's murmuring voice reached his ears.
“Uninterrupted.”
The end of the Eight Hot Hells, the field of Avīci where one suffers for countless eons.
The Second Form of the Nine Hells Calamity Saber Art, the Ultimate Path to Avīci Hell, was unleashed through a True Name Incantation.
*FLASH! RUMBLE!*
The entire area within a twenty-foot radius burst into flames.
Red and white flames flared as if to devour everything, soaring toward the sky.
It was a martial art of death, composed of blades of flame. Anyone trapped within would be hacked to pieces by fiery saber energy cloaked in superheated flames, meeting their end.
This was the true power of the Nine Hells Calamity Saber Art, pushed to its demonic peak—an invincible martial way that transcended the limits of martial arts and encroached upon the realm of sorcery and spells.
*BOOM!*
Slamming the Dragon Scale Saber into the ground, Seo Ryang pushed his Nine Hells Demonic Art to its absolute limit.
He had bound the fire energy of the Ultimate Path to Avīci Hell to the Dragon Scale Saber and combined it with the Nine Hells Demonic Art. As long as his demonic energy didn't wane or the saber wasn't pulled out, those flames would not stop.
*'Done. For now, he's trapped.'*
He was trapped, but…
Seo Ryang's eyes deepened.
*'He seemed panicked. There's definitely something more to him.'*
Of course, now was not the time to worry about that.
“Geumho! Focus them on those lackeys!”
*KYAAAA!*
At Geumho's roar, the endlessly pouring beasts charged even more violently toward the White Beast Kings. They didn't care if they were killed by the Tiger King's paws; they just blindly rushed in to claw and bite.
They could have just escaped the area like the Thousand Fox did, but it wasn't that easy. The attacks of the beasts, Geumho's spiritual energy, and the thick poison had turned the entire area into an inescapable swamp.
Just then, a *snap!* was heard.
Turning around, he saw Gwi-eung, who had seemingly snapped his ropes in a trance and was now walking, step by step, toward the flames.
*'Look at this bastard.'*
Seo Ryang was taken aback. He was certain he had perfectly sealed the boy's dantian and even blocked his vital points. How was this possible?
*BOOM!*
A thick arm, covered in burns and cuts, broke through the wall of fire and grabbed Gwi-eung by the neck.
Sensing something was wrong, Seo Ryang raised his left hand.
*Flash!*
The Seventh Night Saber and the Meteor Twin Blades shot toward the flames. The Seventh Night Saber pierced straight through Gwi-eung's heart.
At the same time, the flames of Avīci Hell exploded.
*KABOOOM!*