Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Until When Will You Mock Me?
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Of course, that didn't mean the fight was overwhelmingly in my favor.
Gale Wind Dance was a martial art that invested everything in overwhelming speed and destructive power.
On top of that, I was channeling internal energy amplified by the Evil Ghost Cannon, along with the perfected Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes.
Yet I still couldn't seize the upper hand.
It was clear the momentum was tilting my way for now, but that was merely the result of Baek-san's shock at not expecting me to wield such techniques.
Once he had a moment to gauge my level, Fallen Blade's movements gradually started claiming the advantage.
Wounds began appearing one by one on my once-solid hand blades.
The Ghost Demon fueling the Evil Ghost Cannon grew sluggish, swept up in the cold winds.
The air turned frigid.
To the point where breathing felt labored.
It was the outcome of his far superior understanding of martial arts.
He was an unparalleled master who had elevated Gu Min-chae to the rank of Demon Lord.
Overwhelming him outright was simply too much.
"Huh! Even with your body in such ruins, to display this level of skill."
"The second son of the North Sea Sect Leader—his Blade Ghost prowess is renowned as second only to the Chief among all Blade Ghosts, is it not?"
"And yet the Young Sect Leader... is smiling."
Still, it was fun.
The thrill of testing my limits like this and glimpsing new paths for growth.
Martial arts were such a mysterious realm to me.
No matter how strong I grew, there was always more strength to attain.
No matter how high I climbed, there was always another peak ahead.
Learning Lan Na Chal from Dang Gon and perfecting the Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes had birthed the Violent Tiger Twelve Spear.
Expressing that enlightenment through Shrinking Wind Binding had revealed flaws for the first time.
Not just visible flaws.
The more I clashed hands with Baek-san, the deeper they revealed themselves.
It was enough to draw a hollow laugh from me.
When I had created the Violent Tiger Twelve Spear myself, I thought there was no room left for improvement.
Completion meant perfection in itself, so if it hit a wall, I figured it was an inherent limit of the Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes, born from ronin battlefield arts.
But that wasn't the case.
The Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes and Violent Tiger Twelve Spear still had vast potential for growth.
No—immense room for evolution.
For the first time, I understood why no martial art ended at ten-tenths mastery; why twelve-tenths great completion existed separately.
Twelve-tenths great completion was the realm of elevating a fully mastered art to a new stage.
Facing a master of his caliber naturally exposed the Violent Tiger Twelve Spear's weaknesses, demanding I ponder how to patch them and advance further.
Countless manuals from the Heavenly Demon Arsenal flashed through my mind.
Should I draw from one of these?
I hesitated briefly, then shook my head.
No.
Patching flaws by borrowing tricks from elsewhere would just turn it into a patchwork mess.
That would ruin the original intent behind the Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes' creation.
Intent.
Intent was paramount.
I needed to retrace the mindset of its creator.
Then, adapt it to my current situation, reassembling it in a fresh direction.
In my mind, the Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes disassembled piece by piece.
Stances separated from forms, forms breaking into shapes and motion units.
Dividing and subdividing, it all boiled down to Lan Na Chal.
Round and round, back to Lan Na Chal.
The foundational technique among the eighteen conventional weapons.
Rotating the spear to push outward, pulling inward to press and thrust in counter—simple motions.
But even that was just a way of handling polearms, so I shattered it further.
Motions fragmented, shapes fragmented.
After endless fragmentation, what remained were slashes, thrusts, sweeps.
Fragmenting even those microscopically left just one thing.
—Me.
The self wielding, sensing, and swinging the weapon: me.
Ultimately, Lan Na Chal, the eighteen conventional weapons, all martial arts—they were mere tools to express and expand the self.
With that realization, a new world unfolded before my eyes.
Every swing of Baek-san's blade became a realm of minute motions, a realm of expressions he sought to unfold.
The self Baek-san expressed was Snowstorm Blade.
A blizzard swift, fierce, and razor-sharp.
None who passed through unscathed were buried in snow and frozen solid.
I sought to imitate that snowstorm.
For now, my insight was insufficient to forge a new Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes uniquely mine.
Better, then, to steal and mimic others', gradually pondering my own variations.
Especially since Baek-san's Frostwhite Blade Art was blade arts, not spear.
Closest to the swordsmanship I ultimately pursued.
Shhhhk!
Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes became Violent Tiger Twelve Spear, now evolving into Violent Tiger Twelve Blade.
No—perhaps Snow Tiger Twelve Blade fit better.
It retained the Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes' framework, but the intent infused was akin to Frostwhite Blade Art.
Before I knew it, I was assimilating with Baek-san.
"What the—"
Baek-san's face twisted in disbelief.
I was wielding the Frostwhite Blade Art—exclusive to Blade Ghosts—with my hand blades, identically.
The issue was, it wasn't just any Frostwhite Blade Art; it was *his* Frostwhite Blade Art.
Motion scale, foot spacing, breathing rhythm, subtle eye twitches, minor habits—all perfectly mirrored.
My blade arts had leaped straight to Blade Ghost level.
"!!!"
Baek-san recoiled as if seeing a ghost, hastily retreating.
"No mortal could witness the Young Sect Leader like that without jumping in fright. Even I, watching from the side, feel chills!"
"Even a body without such prodigious talent like 'Dang Un-hwi's' can be overturned by such immense force of will."
"The Young Sect Leader is merely treading the path he was meant for."
"I can't even fathom the world he grew up witnessing."
Hwaaak—
To not let the fleeing foe escape, I closed the gap again with Dark Shadow Step.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"What sorcery is this? How can you wield the North Sea Sect's secret arts? Your breathing method is different...!"
"Well—"
I leaned close to Baek-san's stunned face and grinned.
"Because I'm a genius?"
"!!!"
"...The Young Sect Leader's cheek truly knows no bounds."
"But not wrong. Performing Frostwhite Blade Art while using Dark Shadow Step? Weaving arts from different roots like that is already cheat-level—"
Chaeng!
Fallen Blade clashed with Shrinking Wind Binding.
His full-force upward strike.
Fallen Blade violently flung my hand upward.
Urk!
Pushing too hard, perhaps—Baek-san clamped his mouth shut with effort.
His complexion paled far worse than before, sclera turning bloodshot red.
Wraith Venom had pierced his marrow, invading the brain realm.
He'd reached his limit.
"...Do you think! Do you think *I* will fall to the likes of a half-breed like you!!"
Baek-san squeezed out his last dregs of strength, lightning-thrusting his empty left hand.
A palm strike slammed into my chest.
Kwaaang!
Frostwhite Divine Palm.
The North Sea Demonic Sect's famed ice poison forcibly implanted into the foe.
Kwaang!
Tszz—
Before the ice poison fully pierced my heart, I deflected Baek-san's left hand outward and unleashed Whirlwind Kick at his jaw.
But by then, he had already stepped back, widening the gap.
"Uuueeek!"
Baek-san dropped to one knee.
Without Fallen Blade propping him, he would have collapsed, body swaying wildly.
He vomited blood onto the ground—pure crimson.
Life ebbed rapidly.
Yet venom lingered in his glare.
He forced his head up, glaring at me.
"Just now... I implanted ice poison in the Little Heavenly Demon's body. You know well what ice poison entails, don't you? In less than half an incense stick's time, your veins will freeze solid."
Indeed, a chill seeped into my chest.
Some ice poison had already entered, gradually icing my meridians.
"My ice poison is leagues beyond other Blade Ghosts'. Heart-Eroding Ice Poison—it slowly devours the heart, ultimately consuming life itself. No antidote exists. It was born precisely to prevent that."
A flash struck my mind.
"So this Heart-Eroding Ice Poison came from the Society too."
Just as the Blackbone Ghost Vale received Soul-Stealing Dream Net, the North Sea Demonic Sect got Heart-Eroding Ice Poison.
Ice poison was poison nonetheless.
Skill in sorcery and poison arts alike—the Society's depths were unfathomable.
Baek-san hadn't expected "Society" from my lips; his eyes widened briefly, then narrowed slyly.
Maddened fully by Wraith Venom, pain twisted his features.
"You already knew of the Society? Impressive."
"I hold the wraiths of several elders who croaked at Iron Heaven Seal."
"Hah! Those giants who once terrorized the Central Plains—truly, the Little Heavenly Demon stands apart."
"I'm a bit exceptional, yeah?"
"...A touch of humility, and the outcome might've been entirely different."
Baek-san bellowed through his irritated scowl.
"But that luxury won't last! I'll die here, sure—but the Young Sect Leader, devoured by Heart-Eroding Ice Poison, will follow slowly. At least the road to the afterlife won't be dull. Hahaha!"
"Yeah. It won't be dull."
Matching his laugh, I grinned back.
"Your wraith will belong to me anyway."
"More nonsense—"
Mid-sentence, Baek-san's eyebrow twitched.
Silently, I drew something from my back pocket.
A wraith pill.
Precisely, one ground from the souls of the four inspectors I'd slain before meeting Baek-san.
"Th-that—"
"Three of them!?"
I dumped the whole thing into my mouth.
Crunch crunch!
One fact Baek-san didn't know: my past life as a Tang Clan scion, with poison knowledge surpassing even the Demonic Cult.
That's why I'd kept donning this ridiculous lion mask.
Ice poison was poison at heart.
Heart-Eroding Ice Poison, no less.
A prime specimen I'd never encountered.
What greater elixir for a Tang clansman?
Kiiiiaaa!
I circulated Poison Dragon Heart Technique.
Suddenly, three times the usual wraith venom surged through my meridians.
Part fused instantly with the ice poison, slamming my heart.
Thump thump thump thump thump!
My heart pounded wildly.
Blood flow accelerated, shattering frozen meridians, while my rampant internal energy and toxin power punched through the remaining blocked acupoints.
Kwaang!
Roooar—
My pallid body flushed with color in an instant.
Vastly amplified internal energy and toxin power spread through Whole Body White Sea.
Laden with supremely potent yin energy ideal for wraith arts.
My tripled dantian resonated vibrantly, more fortified.
Poison Dragon Heart Technique
Ice Dragon Birth
Whoooosh!
The gale winds from me now rivaled Gu Min-chae's chill blasts.
Cold winds collided.
Ice sheets formed on the ground; frost rained from the sky.
Crackle crackle—
"Ice... poison?"
Only then did Baek-san realize he'd been a mere stepping stone for my martial evolution from start to finish—his face drained bone-white.
"So that's the hidden card you had? I wondered what gave you lot the balls to target the Tang Clan."
The Society's scheme was this.
With such a weapon, toppling the Tang Clan and upending Sichuan's martial world seemed feasible.
Their vicious North Sea ice poison had grown far deadlier.
But unfortunately for them, ice poison was yin energy incarnate and toxin,
and I'd sniffed it out first—superior in both aspects—devising an antidote before they could exploit it.
From beginning to end, he'd been my tool.
"Little Heavenly Demon! Little Heavenly Demon!!! How long will you toy with m—"
Thud!
Baek-san roared mightily, then flopped backward.
Brain vessels burst, perhaps—his face turned pitch-black.
A pathetic end for a minor Blade Ghost.
"Damn! Croaked already?"
Grinning at his corpse, I chuckled.