Chapter 183
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: King of Beasts (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“There they are.”
Wi Hongryeon lowered her posture.
Hidden in the dense bushes, Jang Chu's eyes glinted.
“There are so many of them.”
The Beast Palace forces visible in the distance numbered three hundred.
It was a significant number, but not an overwhelming force. However, if each individual was a powerful martial artist, it was a different story.
“What do you see?”
“There are two supreme masters among them. They seem a step below me, but holding off two of them would be difficult.”
Wi Hongryeon bit her lip.
*Should I try to buy time with a war of attrition?*
She glanced back.
The eyes of the perfectly concealed Berserk Demon Unit members were still menacing. They were experts at hiding their demonic energy, keeping their auras calm, but the occasional surge of killing intent was terrifyingly sharp.
*The members' mental fortitude has its limits. If we launch a reckless ambush, they won't last long.*
While the Berserk Demon Unit was known as the Cult's most vicious unit, it wasn't the strongest. Even if the Heavenly Demon's Army were here, launching a thoughtless ambush in such an exhausted state would result in significant casualties.
*What should I do?*
It would be a problem if they headed toward the Young Master's location.
Wi Hongryeon gritted her teeth.
*There's no other way. We just have to do it.*
The Hall of Protectors wasn't the only one that defended the Divine Cult. To protect the Cult Leader's disciple, the entire unit must move, even if it meant getting shattered or annihilated.
Just as Wi Hongryeon was about to jump up.
“Wait.”
“Why? You're ruining the mood.”
Jang Chu's eyes narrowed.
“This energy… I've felt it once before.”
“What are you talking about now?”
Wi Hongryeon grumbled under her breath.
Jang Chu, lost in thought, suddenly widened his eyes.
“Don't tell me?!”
“Don't keep it to yourself, let me in on... huh?”
The two of them stood up at the same time.
“Those guys?!”
“Who the hell are they?”
Where they were looking.
Warriors in green robes were approaching along the ridge—the elites of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
* * *
After an hour of meditation, Seo Ryang rose from his spot.
Ma Dongpil, who had finished his own meditation earlier, quickly approached.
“Are you all right?”
“How could I be?”
Thanks to the pill, he had managed to treat his internal injuries to some extent, but he was still not back to normal. Even with his absolute demonic energy, which bordered on the innate realm, it was difficult to heal his insides in such a short time.
“But I'm well enough for a fight.”
After recovering from his internal injuries for a while, he focused on refilling his empty dantian. His insides ached with every movement, but it couldn't be helped.
*Damn it, I should have set up a safe house in Yunnan.*
Regret is always too late. Besides, back when he was an assassin, he had never been to Yunnan. There was no one here worth killing.
A look of concern crossed Ma Dongpil's face.
“You should circulate your energy a little longer.”
Seo Ryang glanced at the collapsed Forest of Ten Thousand Demons.
“No. He's on the move.”
“Pardon?”
“I can feel his fighting spirit. It won't be long until he appears.”
Ma Dongpil was inwardly astounded.
To sense an opponent's fighting spirit from such a distance. It was a level he couldn't even imagine at his current state.
Seo Ryang, who had been watching Ma Dongpil intently, spoke in a serious tone.
“Bet your life on this battle.”
“Of course.”
“If you can land a proper strike, even the heavens will grant you a gift.”
“Pardon?”
What did that mean?
Ma Dongpil was puzzled, but Seo Ryang said no more.
Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the Tiger King. The beast was still unconscious, its tongue lolling out.
*Ssssk.*
Seo Ryang placed his hand on the Tiger King's head.
*Wooooong.*
The Tiger King's massive body flinched. The demonic energy that had penetrated its Baihui acupoint had stimulated its nerves.
Seo Ryang's eyes flashed.
“Just as I thought.”
Before he had taken down Jeong Illyong, the Great Elder of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, he had fought a major battle against the wolves of the Beast Palace.
He had dispatched them quickly with bold techniques, but it would be a lie to say he wasn't surprised by the wolves' movements. Though weaker than he was now, even Ma Dongpil, who had wielded the mature skills of a peak master, had only managed to kill a few.
But the Tiger King was on another level.
Not only was its size beyond common sense, but its reaction speed, stamina, and the hardness of its hide were all off the charts. The killing intent it exuded was terrifying enough to make even a supreme master tense up.
It was a monster that didn't fall far short of Geumho. If Geumho was a true spirit beast that had accumulated spiritual energy over hundreds of years, the Tiger King was the culmination of an artificially created sorcery.
And the core of that sorcery was in its head, its brain.
*But this sorcery...*
Seo Ryang tilted his head inwardly.
*Why is it so crude?*
It wasn't so much crude as it was not very difficult to dismantle. Of course, this was only possible for someone like Seo Ryang, who was well-versed in the righteous, unorthodox, and even the demonic paths.
*Besides, this is similar to the method of removing a Blood Gu.*
Seo Ryang's eyes flashed.
The Blood Gu was infamous as the most virulent of the Gu poisons from the Southern Barbarian lands. It was what the leader of the Righteous Heaven Alliance had used to suppress Seo Ryang.
How much he had struggled to remove that damn parasite.
*But the core in this beast's head isn't a parasite. It's a mass of energy, solidified with sorcerous power. That means...*
The corners of Seo Ryang's mouth lifted.
*I don't need precious medicinal herbs like I did to remove the Blood Gu.*
*Grrrrr.*
A heavy growl rumbled from the Tiger King's throat.
The Tiger King, panting heavily, slowly opened its eyes. The demonic energy stimulating its nerves had unwittingly woken it.
But it was only awake; it couldn't move. Having been buried under an immense pile of rocks and barely escaping, its internal organs must have been damaged.
*Saaaaahk.*
A faint haze rose from the Tiger King's massive body. Its killing intent had intensified to the point where it was visible to the naked eye.
But this killing intent could not be considered entirely the Tiger King's own.
“Lord of the Beast Palace.”
*Grr!*
“The core of your sorcery is connected to the Lord of the Beast Palace.”
*Kugugung!*
A loud roar echoed from beneath the collapsed cliff. Cheonho had resumed his activity.
*I don't know how much power he's gained, but it'll take him some time to get out.*
*Wooooong!*
Red demonic energy shimmered in Seo Ryang's hand. He was about to use the now-unnecessary Earthly Prison Ghost Gate Art and the Demonic Gate Heavenly Passage Art of the Nine Hells Demonic Art.
“Geumho.”
*Ssssk.*
Geumho came to Seo Ryang's side.
Seo Ryang smiled.
“This one is still a beast in the end. Can you do it?”
Geumho's eyes glowed with five colors. Without a word, it understood Seo Ryang's intentions better than anyone.
Nodding, Seo Ryang looked down at the Tiger King with cold eyes.
“Considering what it's done, killing it wouldn't be enough, but I'll break the chains of bondage first and think about it later.”
*Kwaaaaang!*
The ground shook with a violent explosion.
Simultaneously, a suffocating aura dominated the area. Anyone caught in this aura heard the auditory hallucination of a beast growling next to their neck.
*Kwang! Kwakwang! Kwang!*
A series of explosions erupted.
The spreading aura grew stronger, and the killing intent thickened. An absolute master with unbelievable power was moving at a terrifying speed.
*Peeeeong!*
Suddenly, a boulder the size of a house flew high into the sky. And from that spot, an old man with a commanding physique burst out.
*Paang!*
An elastic movement.
He needed no foothold. As if he had wings, the old man soared high into the sky and then slowly descended.
Though covered in blood, he still showed he was unharmed. No, after absorbing Gwi-eung, Cheonho couldn't control his overflowing internal energy, and his aura was far more intense than before.
Seo Ryang, who had been sitting on a wide rock, grinned.
“Was digging your way out tough?”
*Thud.*
Cheonho landed softly, his eyes bloodshot.
“What did you do to the Tiger King?”
“I killed it.”
“...”
“Isn't that obvious? It was the enemy's prized sword, capable of taking my head. I had to break it.”
Cheonho nodded.
*Peeeeeeong!!*
The rock shattered, and three or four large trees behind it snapped in half.
“Hup!”
Blocking Cheonho's punch, Seo Ryang was pushed back. His left arm swelled as if it would burst.
The arms of the two men trembled.
Cheonho spoke, his voice filled with killing intent.
“You dare kill the Tiger King?”
His opponent was a master who had reached the pinnacle of demonic arts. He was more than capable of killing the Tiger King.
Seo Ryang smiled. His face was flushed red, but he hadn't lost his composure.
“That's not all. The forces you brought just in case are also under fierce attack.”
“What?!”
“They're in the middle of a heated battle with the Tang Clan. Those Tang Clan bastards, they charged in with fire in their eyes, as if they'd hit the jackpot.”
Cheonho's eyes wavered.
“That's impossible.”
“Believe it or not, that's up to you. But before you worry about that, why don't you watch your back?”
In that instant, Cheonho threw himself to the side.
*Kwang!*
A long sword scar was carved into the ground where he had been standing. It was a strike from Ma Dongpil, who had been concealed by Seo Ryang's demonic energy.
“You audacious little brats!”
*Whoosh!*
“...!”
This time, even Cheonho couldn't help but be surprised. From high in the sky, the form of a fox with a brilliant golden mane descended upon him.
Just as Cheonho instinctively tried to strike with his palm.
“Kwwaaaaang!”
*Kuh!*
Geumho's roar was on a completely different level from the Tiger King's. His dantian shook from the Lion's Roar, which was filled with spiritual energy.
Cheonho faltered for a moment.
Seo Ryang did not miss that opening.
*Flash!*
The Seven Nights Saber, swung diagonally, unleashed a crimson-black saber energy.
*Eek!*
As expected, this guy was different. He'd felt it before, but he never missed an opening. Usually, one would deliver a powerful blow to exploit a weakness, but his attack, which sacrificed power for speed, was also unusual.
Cheonho's body spun.
*Peeong!*
The fragments of the shattered saber energy scattered. In that gap, Geumho, having closed the distance, swung its front paw.
*Damn it!*
This creature was definitely a spirit beast. Like the Tiger King, its appearance was distinctly different from a wild animal.
It looked like a fox that resembled a wolf, but its claws were retracted like a tiger's. Its thick yet elastic leg muscles also resembled a feline's rather than a canine's.
And the power in that front paw was in no way inferior to the Tiger King's full strength.
*Kwang!*
Cheonho's body slid sideways. Even for him, who had reached the state of mastery, Geumho's unexpected blow was hard to block.
“You damn fox!”
*Peeeeong!*
He immediately launched a fist wind, but Geumho had already retreated far away.
Cheonho, about to dash forward and throw a punch, widened his eyes. A black blade was rising from below. It was Seo Ryang's Seven Nights Saber.
*Ttaang!*
Blood seeped from the hand that had parried the blade.
Cheonho, who had decided to crush this guy first, had to receive another attack.
*Flash!*
A massive sword energy shot toward his neck—Ma Dongpil's Nine-Layered Demonic Sword Style. If he were in perfect condition, he would have blocked it with a scoff, but now he couldn't afford to ignore even that.
*Pepepeng! Kwang!*
He defended with a flurry of fist, claw, and palm techniques. He wanted to dodge, but the hit-and-run strategy of the two men and one beast was too exquisite.
*Damn it all!*
He had tried to reach a higher realm with the Human King's Great Art, a twisted version of the Beast King's Great Art. But he had absorbed Gwi-eung's life force before the Great Art was complete.
He had gained regenerative abilities comparable to the highest-grade demonic arts and more internal energy than any master at the same level, but that was all. Unable to cross over to the next realm beyond harmony, he couldn't shake off the combination of these three.
*Peok!*
Cheonho's head snapped to the side. He had taken a blow from Ma Dongpil's kick.
His face contorted.
“You sons of bitches!”
*Kwaaaaang!*
Cheonho roared, sending all three flying with the ultimate technique of the True Tiger Divine Fist, the Mountain-Shattering Wave.
“Do you know who I am! I am the greatest in the Southern Barbarian lands...”
*Crunch!*
Cheonho's eyes trembled.
He slowly lowered his head. A massive tiger, its eyes radiating a five-colored light, was biting both of his legs.
“...Tiger King?”
Panting, Seo Ryang stood up. The Dragon Scale Saber and the Meteor Twin Sabers were already floating behind his back.
The final, desperate attack, Spirit-Drifting Heaven-Flight, squeezed from his remaining strength.
“Fighting is a futile business, Mr. Meow.”
The three blades shot forward with a deafening roar.
*Kwakwakwang!*