Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Sword Overflow: Shattering Eccentric Momentum
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It was a mystical experience.
For my age, it felt like I wasn't myself.
But thanks to it, I understood.
How to wield the Pure Demon.
What new power this beast's ferocity could grant me.
At that moment, Namgung Oh's transmission pierced my ear.
『What the hell is your true identity? Are you the successor left by the North Sea Sect Leader before his death? How do you possess the North Nether Stele, and how do you unleash Hell Arts—』
Instead of replying, I gifted him the North Nether Stele.
Flash!
Namgung Oh hurriedly twisted his body to the side.
But he couldn't stop his right arm from separating at the shoulder.
Spurt!
"Aaak! Aaaah! My arm...!"
I yanked the Memorial Chain.
The North Nether Stele spun wide, slicing toward Namgung Oh's nape like a sickle harvesting autumn rice.
Clang!
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor intervened midway, batting the North Nether Stele aside.
His primary goal from the start had been protecting his direct blood kin, Namgung Oh.
Naturally, he wouldn't tolerate watching him die after allowing failure.
This was the aspect I hadn't considered.
Did I really need this obsession to kill the Nostalgic Sword Emperor just because he was formidable?
What I wanted was victory on the battlefield.
And the achievement of thwarting the Namgung clan's conspiracy.
Victory in the war, not merely the fight.
So there was no reason to cling to combat.
This was the judgment born from fusing with the Pure Demon.
I saw a path to winning this war beyond Touro.
This was the realm of instinct.
And the realm of the hunt.
Like a tiger instinctively knowing how to drain its prey's strength for an effortless kill.
Like a wolf pack knowing how to divide roles to seize their target.
I, too, knew "naturally."
'The Pure Demon's ferocity isn't just for turning temperament savage and bolstering Heavenly Demon Qi. It sharpens the senses and seizes victory... maximizing the upper dantian's inspiration, infusing divinity into every martial art and spell... a supreme sorcery.'
Roar!
The purple flames pooling at the corners of my eyes blazed fiercely.
The Purple Demon Eyes fused with the Pure Demon, transforming into a new ocular art linked to the upper dantian and imbued with divinity.
I gave it a new name.
Demon God Eyes.
Demon God Eye Method.
Like the Great Demon God observing the mortal realm even in slumber, it meant I would survey this world with his gaze.
"...You're someone who can't be left alone after all."
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor seemed to sense from my altered gaze that I no longer cared about this bout.
Boom!
Screeech—
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor kicked off the ground with force incomparable to before, charging at me.
Now he was unleashing his full might.
I drew out the neatly folded Dread Gale Balloon and assumed the rider stance.
In an instant, the Nostalgic Sword Emperor closed in, thrusting his sword—only to be halted by the balloon's leading edge.
But I didn't deflect it sideways or shove it back. Instead, I let the shockwave hurl me away.
Scraaaape!
A long furrow gouged the ground in my wake.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor and I slid together until we abruptly crashed into the chaotic melee where Yu Sumin and Sima Seonui clashed with the Mighty Divine Demon and Thousand Tribulations Marksman.
"What the—"
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor looked genuinely flustered.
He never imagined I'd drag him here so effortlessly.
"Dodge, Sword Emperor!!"
The Mighty Divine Demon cried out urgently in a panicked tone.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor whipped his head up.
Just then, a meteor hammer dangling from its chain plummeted toward his head.
"!!"
An attack meant for Yu Sumin had turned against him instead.
Clang!
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor twisted his sword path upward, barely deflecting the meteor hammer.
"Can't let your guard down, old man?"
A flash of dismay crossed the Nostalgic Sword Emperor's face. Before he could react, the gale cannon slammed into his chest.
Boom!!
Urk!
His protective aura shattered, leaving my palm print seared like a brand amid his torn robes.
The ribs shielding his heart had visibly crumbled in part.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor spat blood and shoved me away with ferocious force.
But once more, I offered no resistance, letting the push carry me to land beside Sima Seonui and Yu Sumin.
"Young Master Yunhui—"
"You... your eyes...?"
Yu Sumin's eyes widened, sensing the savage aura emanating from me.
Her anti-demon power must have wavered.
"You two, keep focusing on your fight as before."
Ignoring their responses, I moved again.
The already furious Nostalgic Sword Emperor was charging once more.
"I'll kill you, Dang Yunhui!!"
For a man of his years, seasoned in the murim world, he knew excessive excitement was poison.
Yet shouting like that was a sign he was gradually sensing mortal peril.
A fine omen for me.
Milky-white aura and shockwaves rained down once more.
I dodged with repeated Galebolt Steps, then unleashed Phantom Phantom Shift to appear behind the Thousand Tribulations Marksman.
"!!"
The Thousand Tribulations Marksman recoiled in shock—he'd never expected me to target him.
My grinning face reflected in his lantern-sized pupils.
The Pure Demon's ferocity had fully melted into my expression.
I thrust out my hand.
Boom!!
The Thousand Tribulations Marksman's head exploded, scattering everywhere.
* * *
"Marksman......!!"
The Mighty Divine Demon felt a chill rather than rage upon seeing the Thousand Tribulations Marksman's headless body crumple limply.
The pair had been locked in a stalemate with Yu Sumin and Sima Seonui—no, they had even held the advantage.
They'd succeeded in luring the two women deep into the Twin Thunder Chain Formation.
But Dang Yunhui and the Nostalgic Sword Emperor's sudden intrusion had thrown their plans into disarray.
Yunhui displayed movements so elusive they evoked tales of divine apparitions and ghostly vanishings.
Having clashed with Gong Sonbeom, it was as if he'd learned and mimicked his tricks, scrambling the battlefield at random and preventing reckless reactivation of the formation.
The trigger had been Yunhui first dragging the Nostalgic Sword Emperor into the meteor hammer's trajectory.
They hesitated, wary that their own strikes might inadvertently target him.
Hierarchy was ironclad even among sectmates.
How many heads had they seen dangling from the main gate the next day after offending the notoriously irascible Nostalgic Sword Emperor?
The Mighty Divine Demon and Thousand Tribulations Marksman had faltered for that reason—and Yunhui had struck precisely then, slaying the Marksman.
"What are you doing, you dullard?! Seize him now!"
Only after the Nostalgic Sword Emperor's bellow did the Mighty Divine Demon belatedly snap to, yanking the chain again.
Rattle!
The meteor hammer buried in the ground shot up like a serpent.
But Yunhui had already vanished with another Phantom Shift, leaving the hammer to cleave empty air with a whoosh.
Swish!
And Yunhui reappeared right beside the Mighty Divine Demon.
Rumble!
The Dread Gale Balloon thundered as Sword Thunder Flash extended diagonally.
"Hup!"
The Mighty Divine Demon hastily retracted the chain, wrapping his upper body in multiple layers.
Mighty Iron Chain Armor.
He specialized in bolstering his protective aura's defense by coiling in this manner.
Sure enough.
Boom!
The Sword Thunder Flash merely gouged the armor's surface without penetrating.
'Good—'
The thought didn't last.
Suddenly, his muscles and even bones turned to ice.
'When!?'
Yin frost qi was encasing his body.
He undid the Iron Chain Armor. Or tried to.
But the chains refused to release—they'd frozen solid to his upper body.
'No!!'
Yunhui had never intended to shatter the chains with Sword Thunder Flash.
His aim was infiltrating Lotus Frost Toxin.
'Ugh. Uwaaaah......!!'
The Mighty Divine Demon's body convulsed violently. His mouth froze over, silencing even his screams.
It felt like plunging into the legendary Ice Hell.
"Daring to look away from me!?"
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor seethed at this reality.
Yunhui ignored their duel to pick off the small fry, chipping at his pride.
Worse, his fractured ribs made breathing labored, and the flaring Lotus Frost Toxin kept disrupting his breath.
Breath was the foundation of all martial arts; disruption weakened the power in every strike.
Still, the Nostalgic Sword Emperor squeezed his dantian, targeting Yunhui's rear.
It aggravated his wounds, but he had no choice—if he didn't catch him now, his remaining allies would all perish.
Ghost Dragon Great Claw Form
Grotesque Dragon Rending Wave
Flash!
Just as he poisoned the Mighty Divine Demon and prepared Galebolt Step, Yunhui's back was ensnared.
The preceding clouds morphed into dozens of qi strands, slashing wildly at him.
Among the form's many techniques, this consumed the most qi—and delivered the most devastating effect.
Yunhui thickened the gale winds coiling his body.
In an instant, nine layers overlapped into a massive wind barrier.
Boom!
The clouds collided with the barrier.
A fierce whirlwind surged skyward.
Screech—
As the Nostalgic Sword Emperor loosed a sword-gang through the gap, a fragrant yet ominous sword scent wafted from behind.
'Bluefrost Sword Sovereign!'
The absolute sword art coveted or envied by every swordsman.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor fell into the latter camp.
Clang!
He barely parried Sima Seonui's blade.
As if to roar, *I'm not losing to the likes of you*, his left thigh suddenly burned like fire.
He glanced down. Yu Sumin had rammed her Demon-Exorcism Sword into his thigh, grinning impishly.
"!!!"
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor bellowed and recoiled.
But his toxin-shrunken lungs made even breathing a struggle.
He thrashed to shake off the two women clinging like leeches.
The preceding clouds swirled madly, like a dragon coiling to ascend.
Yet once more, just before detonation, a single sword shattered the clouds and plunged into the Nostalgic Sword Emperor's flank.
Azure Gangblade. The Heaven-Earth Divine Demon Sect's Heavenly Divine Law Gang erupted.
Far off, Dang Gyujin finished his duel with the Lightning Staff and aimed his sword seal this way.
Boom!!
"Guh!"
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor's entire right side blew away.
Organs ravaged, blood now gushed endlessly from his mouth.
"You lot... toying with me......!!"
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor raged at the combined assault from the Blood Oath Triad.
He hadn't betrayed his sect and survived this long just to fall to fledglings.
He had a compelling reason to live.
Clang!
Boom boom boom—
The briefly disrupted clouds spun at ferocious speed and detonated.
The Blood Oath Triad hastily erected protective auras and sword walls, widening the gap.
Even so, they couldn't fully purge the infiltrated shockwaves, leaving their faces ashen.
'Unbelievable.'
'Still... so strong.'
'Is a monster always a monster?'
Such grievous wounds, yet this sword force.
The monster of the prior generation loomed like an insurmountable wall.
Right then, Yunhui left an afterimage and reappeared before the Nostalgic Sword Emperor.
"Hwi... Ah?"
His own injuries had drained his color, but his purple-flamed gaze burned as fiercely as ever.
It was hard to believe this emotionless figure was the same man who'd unraveled the Sword Emperor's composure with mere words moments ago. Even Dang Gyujin was stunned.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor realized it instinctively upon seeing those eyes.
'This bastard... could it be?'
Yunhui regarded him as hunting prey.
Hunters coveted the pelt of the fiercest beasts as trophies above all.
They laid traps and pits, waiting for the beast to bleed out and tire—their eyes always that cold.
Hunters knew excitement spelled failure.
It could even threaten their lives, like treading a blade's edge. Beast hunts demanded acute, dispassionate judgment.
That was Yunhui.
To hunt the beast called Nostalgic Sword Emperor, he'd mobilized every means, and now the finale loomed.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor loathed it.
Loathed being eyed like that.
'You whelp! When I stormed out of my sect, you weren't even a gleam in your father's eye—'
Eyes like those were his to wield, not suffer.
But Yunhui took the final step.
As the Pure Demon directed.
Entrusting all senses to ferocity, preparing the killing stroke.
—Sword Overflow: Shattering Eccentric Momentum.
Among the Heavenly Demon Armory Swords, this demanded the keenest senses and instincts.
Once ensnared in this sword art, none escaped easily.
Either I died, or the foe died.
One had to claim victory.
Swish—
Dozens of bifurcated sword waves shredded the preceding clouds at random, surging forth.
The Nostalgic Sword Emperor, in turn, wrung his last qi to unleash Ghost Dragon Great Claw Form and Thunder Dragon Sword with full force.
Clang clang clang!
Hundreds of clashes erupted in a blink, and a single bolt of sword-light sliced a chunk from the Nostalgic Sword Emperor's nape.
Splurt!!
Crimson blood sprayed the ground like spilled paint.