Chapter 78
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: How Futile (3)
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He remembered the first time he saw Cheon Hajin.
During his rise as an elder of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, the man who had deposed the former Alliance Leader to become the new one had called Cheon Hajin a magnificent treasured sword, sparing no praise.
Jeong Illyong’s view of the Alliance Leader was not favorable. The man had so much public support that the council of elders was rendered meaningless.
He could not possibly like the beast who had suddenly plopped down on the throne he was ultimately aiming for.
Naturally, his impression of Cheon Hajin was also the worst. The man had been an immense help in the Alliance Leader’s ascent to his current position.
If that man hadn't eliminated all sorts of political enemies from the shadows, that person would never have become the Alliance Leader.
But even without that, Jeong Illyong was bound to hate Cheon Hajin.
Because that man, who had received no particular support, had somehow come to be known as one of the Ten Grandmasters of the Realm.
Whether his actual skills measured up was irrelevant. Jeong Illyong simply hated that the sword of the Alliance Leader he so despised was evaluated as being stronger than himself.
That was why he had volunteered for the Heavenly Net.
If he couldn't kill the Alliance Leader, he wanted to at least destroy his limbs.
He had also suspected that Cheon Hajin's sudden flight might be some unforeseen, dark scheme of the Alliance Leader.
‘The man is definitely dead!’
He had been skewered by an uncountable number of weapons and turned into a tattered mess. He himself had been the one to cut off his leg, and the Flying Demon King had been the one to finally take his head.
That was how the King of Slaughter had died. More miserably and more brutally than anyone else.
But who was this man, to be using the King of Slaughter's martial arts? Had the King of Slaughter secretly raised a successor?
But this man was a demonic practitioner.
*Shassasak!*
All the ice that had covered Jeong Illyong's body shattered. The ice in a ten-foot radius around where he stood also broke into pieces.
*Wooooong.*
A powerful surge of energy overflowed from his body. It was the complete release of the White Lotus Energy he had trained and honed his entire life.
“I will ask one last time. Your identity…”
*Claaaaang!*
Jeong Illyong’s body faltered. He had blocked Seo Ryang’s sword, which had closed in on him in an instant.
The glint in Seo Ryang’s eyes, flashing right before him, was burning crimson. No expression could quite capture the sheer viciousness in that gaze.
“I told you, find out my identity with your sword.”
“You!”
“I have nothing left to show you but my blade!”
*Kwaang!*
With a deafening roar, Jeong Illyong retreated.
It wasn't a deliberate retreat like before. He had been pushed back purely by the force of the impact, unable to withstand it.
And in that opening, Seo Ryang was undergoing another transformation.
*Fwoooosh!*
The crimson-black dark lightning surged back into his body.
Jeong Illyong’s eyes trembled.
*Crack!*
Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground where Seo Ryang stood.
An unusual pulse emanated from Seo Ryang’s crouched form. The second of the hell gates, built deep within the earth's core, was about to open.
*Paak!*
Jeong Illyong moved.
It was instinct. He had felt an ominous premonition before, but this was different. Something on another level entirely seemed about to emerge.
*Woooooong!!*
A brilliant white radiance blossomed from the gracefully extending White Crane Sword.
If any martial artist had witnessed this scene, they would have doubted their own eyes.
The radiance blooming from the White Crane Sword was not mere sword energy. Nor was it on the level of condensed sword energy emitting a stronger light.
It was pure light itself, its form and concentration of energy on a different dimension. The pinnacle of destruction forged from true energy, something no one in the world seemed capable of withstanding.
“Die, you bastard!!”
Just then, Seo Ryang’s head snapped up.
*Pooooooof!*
In that moment, Jeong Illyong couldn't hide his astonishment.
The ultimate technique, unleashed with all his might, had created a round hole in the earth. Had there been steel there, it would have been pierced without any resistance.
The problem was that the target Jeong Illyong had intended to pierce was not the ground or some piece of steel.
*Pababat!*
Having unleashed a sword dance around his body just in case, Jeong Illyong scanned his surroundings. He couldn't sense Seo Ryang’s presence.
‘…?!”
Seo Ryang was standing in front of a large tree not far away.
‘He was this close?’
But why couldn't he feel his energy? No, he should have at least sensed a minimal presence, normally.
‘Could it be… really the successor of the King of Slaughter…?’
The King of Slaughter, called the greatest assassin in history, had concealment skills that surpassed imagination. Because of those skills, those who fell from the Alliance Leader's favor had to live each day in terror.
But why use concealment now? Wasn't it too inefficient?
In any case, he was visible, so he had to attack. Raising his White Crane Sword, Jeong Illyong once again charged at Seo Ryang.
‘…?’
A look of bewilderment filled Jeong Illyong's eyes.
‘What? Why is my movement…?’
Slow.
It was too slow. His limbs felt heavy as if he were underwater, and it was difficult to breathe.
‘What is this sorcery?!’
His senses were fine, but only his body had slowed. No, it felt as if the entire world had slowed down.
Amidst his confusion, a corner of his mind flashed. His ears felt stuffy, and his chest was tight. An unidentifiable sense of crisis tickled his stomach.
Then, Jeong Illyong saw Seo Ryang’s eyes.
Unlike the demonic eyes that had blazed murderously before, his eyes were now incredibly clear and tranquil.
It was like looking at a seeker of truth. Like seeing an unknown prophet who had pierced the principles of the heavens.
What? Had his demonic arts been broken? Or had he cast aside his killing intent? Did he attain some sort of enlightenment in that brief moment?
*Duduk!*
At that moment, the nails on Jeong Illyong's outstretched left hand cracked.
Jeong Illyong’s jaw dropped. Only then did he realize why he couldn't feel the man's presence, why the world seemed to slow down, why his eyes looked so clear.
And the moment he realized.
The aura of the Absolute Demon swept over Jeong Illyong.
*Fwaaaaaaah!!*
His White Lotus Energy swayed violently like a sailboat caught in a storm.
The White Crane Sword, moving according to the forms of the White Elephant Sword Art, came to a halt, and the frozen wounds on his upper body burst open one after another with sickening pops.
‘This can't be!’
It wasn't that Jeong Illyong had been unable to sense Seo Ryang’s presence.
For a moment, the energy Seo Ryang emitted had become so immense that he couldn't perceive it as a distinct presence.
The illusion of the world slowing down was the result of his movements being suppressed by that aura.
And Seo Ryang’s clear eyes?
‘This is absurd!’
It wasn't because he had attained enlightenment or cast aside his killing intent. It was because he had drawn out every last shred of demonic energy hidden in his meridians and even his finest energy channels to once again unleash the Shadow Demon True Art.
Seo Ryang’s killing intent was the same as before. The change was simply so dramatic that his eyes appeared clear.
It was the same principle as feeling a sudden chill when cold air rushes into a space that has just been swept by the Blade of Ultimate Hell.
Thus, Seo Ryang had opened an even deeper gate of hell.
The second opening of the Shadow Demon True Art, the Art of the Demonic Gate Gazing Upon Heaven.
*Sssk.*
Slowly lifting his leg, Seo Ryang stomped down hard on the ground.
*Kwaaaaaang!!*
With a deafening roar, the ground split apart.
*Kwaduk! Jjeojeojeok!*
The cracking of the earth did not stop, but rushed quickly and violently toward Jeong Illyong.
Jeong Illyong’s complexion turned pale.
The term ‘monstrous strength’ could not even begin to describe it. He couldn't even fathom how powerful a stomp was required to make the earth crack this far.
“Haaap!”
With a kiai that rose from his lower abdomen, Jeong Illyong shook off the aura and moved to his left.
*Kwadududuk!*
The continuous fissure uprooted the large tree on the other side before finally stopping.
*Pssssss.*
Simultaneously, a whitish smoke billowed up from the cracks in the earth.
He didn't know what kind of smoke it was, but Jeong Illyong praised his own judgment for avoiding it.
But his sense of relief was premature.
*Pooooong!*
“Kuaaaack!”
With a scream he couldn't contain, Jeong Illyong was sent flying backward.
Blood burst from his nose and mouth. The White Crane Sword he had used to block now had cracks running through it.
*Fwoosh!*
In that instant, Jeong Illyong once again felt a chilling sense of crisis.
‘That bastard!’
The demon had already caught up to him. The demonic saber, steeped in vicious demonic energy, swung down with immense weight.
Jeong Illyong’s body was bathed in pure white.
*Kwaaaaang!*
One Strike to Shatter Mountains.
A single swing of the blade to bring down a mountain. It was a strike truly worthy of such a name.
“Hah, hah!”
Having miraculously dodged the strike, Jeong Illyong gasped for breath.
The internal injuries he had just sustained were severe enough, but now he had suffered even more grievous internal damage from the massive expenditure of internal energy required to evade that last blow.
‘He's coming again!’
There was no time to be shocked. Jeong Illyong gritted his teeth and raised the White Crane Sword.
*Paak!*
Seo Ryang charged.
Jeong Illyong, who had tensed and switched his sword to a defensive stance, felt a moment of doubt.
‘His condition…?’
His face was pale, and his body was drenched in a cold sweat. A thin stream of blood trickled from his nose.
‘That bastard! His martial art isn't complete!’
He was right.
Seo Ryang had completed the Shadow Demon True Art, but he had not mastered it. It was the same reason why even a master blacksmith isn't called a swordsman just for wielding a sword.
Since he had created the art himself, he knew it better than anyone, but the process of embodying it was by no means easy.
It was only because his level of enlightenment was high enough to be called one of the Ten Grandmasters that he was able to learn this much in such a short period.
Especially unlike the first opening, the Art of the Earthly Prison's Ghost Gate, the second opening, the Art of the Demonic Gate Gazing Upon Heaven, amplified demonic power itself, a study in constantly embodying the very essence of the demonic.
It was bound to put a strain on his body.
*Jjeojeojeojeong!*
Jeong Illyong coughed up blood again, and Seo Ryang’s nosebleed worsened.
Though he had taken damage, Jeong Illyong was relieved.
‘It's over now, you bastard!’
The only reason the man had been able to push him back was that bizarre martial art. If they both expended stamina and internal energy at the same rate, his own superior enlightenment made his victory certain.
“The good times are over! You damned demon, I'll cut off all your limbs!”
“Look at this bastard. One leg wasn't enough, now you want all my limbs?”
“What?”
“But you know… I like that idea. I’ll make sure to do just that to you.”
In that moment, Seo Ryang’s fist dug into Jeong Illyong's side.
*Pow!*
“Keuk!”
As Jeong Illyong staggered back, Seo Ryang, panting, raised his greatsword.
“Do you know why I brought this ridiculously large sword?”
*Wooooong!*
Once again, the Shadow Demonic Energy coiling around the greatsword was extremely unstable. It meant that the forcibly opened Art of the Demonic Gate Gazing Upon Heaven was closing.
But it was more than enough to shatter one old man who had lost his mind to greed.
“Because I know that at similar levels, your White Elephant Sword Art is particularly weak against a heavy blade.”
“How do you…?”
“And since I'm superior in enlightenment, you're nothing.”
“……!”
*Paaaaak!*
Seo Ryang’s body scattered in all directions.
Horror dawned on Jeong Illyong’s face.
He finally remembered the man's footwork. Unlike the unknown saber art, that divine footwork was known to all the leaders of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
“Nine Heavens Earth-Shrinking Step?!”
“That’s right!”
*Kwang!*
Using Mountain-Shattering Force to push Jeong Illyong back, Seo Ryang grinned and raised his sword.
“I'll chop you to pieces!”
*Thwack!*