Chapter 153: Yama Blood Monk, Chuk Ho-tak-2
Chapter 153: Yama Blood Monk, Chuk Ho-tak-2
Buaaaaaang!
The Blood Wheel flew in ferociously, trying to tear Seonwoo Jin to shreds.
At that moment, Seonwoo Jin's brother Shin, who had immediately roused himself, moved lightly like the wind again and deftly dodged it.
Since there were no warriors of the Seonwoo family behind him, there was no reason to clash with it head-on.
But the attack did not end there for Dang Yeo-eun either.
For right behind the Blood Wheel, the frenzied Chuk Ho-tak was charging at her.
"Now just die!"
Shiiiik!
His Eagle Claw Hand slashed down at Seonwoo Jin like a hawk targeting its prey.
It was a strike as fast and intense as a meteor.
But just as his Eagle Claw Hand was about to rip Seonwoo Jin apart, Seonwoo Jin fluttered like a flower petal again and burst apart.
Paseuseuseuk!
It was the Movement Technique of the Heavenly Wind Flower Petals, unfolding once more.
"Hmph! The same trick!"
Chuk Ho-tak's scoffing response was also exactly the same as before.
He had grabbed the returning Blood Wheel and swept away Seonwoo Jin's afterimage.
Pasasasasak!
Amidst Seonwoo Jin's afterimage melting away like snow touching water, Chuk Ho-tak was able to locate Seonwoo Jin's real body dodging the Blood Wheel this time as well.
A fierce light flashed in his eyes.
"It's over!"
Chuk Ho-tak charged fiercely at Seonwoo Jin, who had launched his body into the air.
Blood Hawk Demon Claw, Ninth Form.
Thousand Claws Rend the Heavens.
Puhwaaak!
His Eagle Claw Hand branched out as if to cover the sky.
It was Chuk Ho-tak's ultimate technique, the Blood Hawk Demon Claw, and among them the ultimate move that completely enveloped the enemy like a net.
He was clearly showing his determination to finish it this time, no matter what.
At the overwhelming sight of Chuk Ho-tak's hand shadows covering the sky completely obscuring Seonwoo Jin's figure, the warriors of the Seonwoo family could not help but let out groans involuntarily.
"Huh, that's...!"
"How can that... be."
For Seonwoo Jin, floating in the air, he had no other way to respond to the onslaught.
He had no choice but to swing his sword to face the oncoming assault, which surged like a typhoon.
"Huuup!"
Syuhwaaak!
Chuk Ho-tak grinned savagely as he watched the fool come crashing towards him head-on.
No matter what the guy did, he would not be able to escape the technique of Thousand Claws Rend the Heavens that completely enveloped all directions.
But that was when it happened.
Seonwoo Thirteen Swords, Fifteenth Form.
Emptiness is Form.
Hwaaaaak!
"!"
The eyes of the laughing Chuk Ho-tak widened enormously in shock.
Seonwoo Jin's sword had suddenly split into hundreds, thousands of copies, crashing against his Eagle Claw Hand.
And they were not illusion swords; each and every one was a real sword emitting a sharp aura. It was a countermeasure Chuk Ho-tak had never even imagined.
Pabababababababak!
Seonwoo Jin's sword shadows and Chuk Ho-tak's Eagle Claw Hand began to clash simultaneously.
Tutung! Tututung! Tututututung!
Chuk Ho-tak clenched his teeth.
Unbelievable things were happening before his very eyes.
The power of each individual strike was definitely far stronger from his own Eagle Claw Hand, but the number of sword shadows Seonwoo Jin created was overwhelming the claws.
Even though a single Eagle Claw Hand strike could dispel several sword shadows, the sheer number was still too much.
"This is ridiculous, uwaaaap!"
Chuk Ho-tak exerted all his strength to unfold the latter half of the technique.
It was beyond absurd that he, a transcendent peak master, would be pushed back by a mere wretch like that.
Pabababababababak!
But moments later, he could only wear an expression of bitter emptiness.
At last, the Eagle Claw Hand could not withstand the overwhelming number of sword shadows and was completely destroyed.
"This can't be."
Chuk Ho-tak, his expression now contorted, hastily rallied his internal energy and let out a martial shout.
After all, the sword shadows he had failed to destroy were now closing in on him.
"Uwaaap!"
Hwaaaaak!
In that instant, a crimson energetic force erupted from his body, forming a thick barrier.
It was Protective Strong Qi.
Chuk Ho-tak gritted his teeth, his face twisted.
Wasting his internal energy in this manner against a wretch like this was a tremendous blow to his pride.
Yet he forced himself to rationalize it, telling himself it didn't matter.
Even if he wasted a little internal energy, he was confident he could still handle a nobody like this.
But it happened right when Seonwoo Jin's sword shadows were just about to strike his Protective Strong Qi.
Puseuseuseuk!
Just before hitting the Protective Strong Qi, the real sword shadows abruptly turned into illusion swords and fizzled out.
What he couldn't understand was that Seonwoo Jin had switched the fifteenth form, Emptiness is Form, to the fifth form, Form is Emptiness, at the precise moment.
"What?!"
This move he displayed was also enough to startle Chuk Ho-tak.
It was a mysterious technique he had never seen before, to the extent that he couldn't even comprehend what was going on.
And in that moment, Seonwoo Jin, who had cycled his energy without releasing it via Form is Emptiness, gathered all that power at once and thrust his sword.
A light-beam strike, it was the Jeomchang Sect's One Strike.
Syuhak!
It was an attempt to pierce through the Protective Strong Qi, just as he had done earlier to the Bloodsucking Demon No Jo-song.
However.
Tung!
The attempt ultimately ended in failure.
The Protective Strong Qi of Chuk Ho-tak, a transcendent peak master, was on a completely different level than No Jo-song's.
Seonwoo Jin's sword failed to pierce all the way through the Protective Strong Qi and was repelled outwards again.
And when Seonwoo Jin's body was also thrown back by that powerful rebound force, at that worst possible moment, the Blood Wheel hurtled fiercely towards Seonwoo Jin's back.
Buaaaaaang!
Chuk Ho-tak's eyes flashed.
This time, unlike before, the direction and timing were precise.
He could already vividly picture the Blood Wheel slicing through the bastard's waist.
The warriors of the Seonwoo family cried out in alarm.
"No!"
"Third Young Master, behind you!"
But just as the Blood Wheel was about to sever Seonwoo Jin's waist, his body, as if he had known all along, rotated softly backwards like a flower petal carried on the wind.
It was a movement that looked as if he was simply pushed back by the wind pressure the Blood Wheel created.
And Seonwoo Jin, who flipped softly backwards and rode up over the top of the Blood Wheel, at that very moment kicked the flying Blood Wheel's central axis with perfect accuracy.
Tung!
"!"
Chuk Ho-tak was horrified.
The bastard had accelerated the Blood Wheel with a kick technique.
The rapidly accelerated Blood Wheel was now flying straight towards him.
Buaaaaaang!
Its momentum was too great.
With such momentum, it seemed difficult even for him to absorb the impact.
"Ugh!"
Chuk Ho-tak had no choice but to throw his body aside and dodge it.
The absurd situation occurred where he had to dodge his own weapon.
He was so angry his teeth gnashed.
Eudeudeuk!
But Chuk Ho-tak, who leaped up to jump over the Blood Wheel, had to realize that the anger was not where it ended.
"!"
Piiiiiiiiing!
A massive, pale-violet phoenix formed of strong qi was bearing down on him, right before his eyes after he dodged the Blood Wheel.
It was the fourteenth form of the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords, Jujak Hyeonsin.
Chuk Ho-tak gritted his teeth and caught it with both hands.
"Petty tricks!"
Kwaaaaaang!
"Kreuuugh!"
It was a powerful attack that was not easy even for Chuk Ho-tak, a transcendent peak master, to withstand.
The powerful force imbued in the phoenix's form pushed his body back, unable to hold his ground.
"Uwaaaap!"
Chuk Ho-tak concentrated his internal energy into both hands.
Then, his Eagle Claw Hand, teeth clenched, barely managed to rip apart the phoenix's head.
Chwaaaaak!
Puhwaaaak!
The pale-violet phoenix then shattered and dissipated.
After the quite dangerous situation, Chuk Ho-tak tried to steady his now ragged breathing.
But Seonwoo Jin's attack was not over yet.
Behind the vanishing phoenix, Seonwoo Jin was flying at him like a beam of light.
It was the fastest attack Seonwoo Jin could execute, the One Strike.
Shiiiik!
"Kuk!"
It was a surprise attack, timed far too perfectly, at the moment he was trying to catch his breath.
Chuk Ho-tak realized that this attack was something he could never hope to block.
Left with no choice, he once again released his internal energy from his entire body.
"Uwaaaaap!"
Hwaaaaak!
Then the crimson curtain covered his whole body once more.
It was Protective Strong Qi.
Tung!
Seonwoo Jin's sword, which had thrust like lightning upon it, again failed to penetrate the Protective Strong Qi and could only be deflected backwards.
Chuk Ho-tak finally let out a rough breath.
"Huuuuu!"
His internal energy was nearly depleted.
It felt as if using Protective Strong Qi just two or three more times would completely drain him.
But even so, Chuk Ho-tak was not particularly worried.
The bastard's final attack had ended in futility, and now it was his turn.
After a crisis always comes an opportunity.
He had withstood the bastard's attack, but now surely the bastard would not be able to do the same.
"Just die!"
It was the moment Chuk Ho-tak, eyes flashing, was about to launch a counterattack against Seonwoo Jin.
Suddenly, Seonwoo Jin's face, grinning savagely, entered his vision.
And his eyes were strangely looking not at him, but behind him....
A sudden chill ran down the back of his neck.
Chuk Ho-tak hastily let out a martial shout and released his energy.
"Uuhaaaaap!"
Hwaaaaak!
It was Protective Strong Qi formed on instinct.
And that judgment saved his life.
Puhuhng!
"Ugh!"
The erhu of the Chaos Soul Witch So Nan-so, who had closed in before he knew it, struck his Protective Strong Qi from behind.
So Nan-so had hurriedly recovered her internal injuries with the spirit medicine Seonwoo Jin had secretly handed her earlier.
Chuk Ho-tak yelled in astonishment.
"So Nan-so! You wench!"
Chuk Ho-tak could feel his internal energy draining away again.
And it was not going to end with just one blow.
Once she had caught up, So Nan-so began relentlessly hammering Chuk Ho-tak's back with her erhu and bow without pause.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Chuk Ho-tak gritted his teeth.
It was the exact reverse of the situation when he had struck down So Nan-so earlier.
With the sensation of his internal energy rapidly draining away, Chuk Ho-tak's mind grew increasingly frantic.
"Grk! You bitch!"
Chuk Ho-tak desperately twisted his body, trying to release his protective strong qi and fend off So Nan-so's attacks.
But at that very moment, something else came hurtling toward him.
Bwaaaaaang!
"!"
It was Chuk Ho-tak's own Blood Wheel.
Seonwoo Jin had accelerated it once more, and now his own weapon was bearing down on him again.
Chuk Ho-tak's face crumpled until it could contort no further.
"You son of a bitch!"
Ultimately unable to release his protective strong qi, Chuk Ho-tak was forced to take the impact of both the Blood Wheel and So Nan-so's assault squarely upon his qi barrier.
A massive shockwave slammed into his protective strong qi from both sides.
Kwaaaaang!
And that impact finally surpassed the limit of what Chuk Ho-tak could endure.
"Cough!"
Crack!
It was the moment Chuk Ho-tak's protective strong qi, unable to sustain the drain on his martial power, shattered.
Simultaneously, blood erupted from his mouth.
Seizing the moment Chuk Ho-tak was left defenseless, So Nan-so and Seonwoo Jin unleashed their final strikes from opposite sides.
"Die, Chuk Ho-tak!"
"This is the end!"
Puh-eok!
Puh-ook!
As Seonwoo Jin's sword pierced through Chuk Ho-tak's back, So Nan-so's erhu blew his head clean off.
His shattered skull sprayed outward in all directions like a fountain, and with his heart pierced and head vanished, Chuk Ho-tak had no choice but to collapse to his knees.
Thud!
It was over.
It was the vain and futile end of Chuk Ho-tak, Yeomra Hyeolseung — the transcendent peak master of the Blood Cult who had drained the blood of countless orthodox martial masters with his profound martial prowess and cunning schemes.
As the headless Chuk Ho-tak slumped to his knees, So Nan-so too staggered and collapsed to her knees.
"Keuk!"
Blood surged up from her mouth as well.
She had pushed her body past its limits before her internal injuries had fully healed.
It was then.
Seonwoo Jin suddenly began swinging his sword like a tempest.
He was aiming at the already dead body of Chuk Ho-tak.
"Euhaaaap!"
Chwaaaak!
Startled, So Nan-so raised her head and looked over.
Before her eyes, she saw Chuk Ho-tak's corpse dissolving into tens, hundreds of chunks of flesh.
Blood and gobbets of meat blanketed the space like a rain shower.
So Nan-so could only stare at Seonwoo Jin with eyes filled with horror.
Because he, having shredded Chuk Ho-tak's corpse to ribbons, was gazing back at her with blurred eyes that seemed stained with madness, wearing a fishy smile.
***
"What?! How can you even say such a thing right now?!"
Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The Sichuan Dang Clan.
Inside one of the buildings there, Hongsa Sword Dragon On Je-ung was screaming at a subordinate prostrated before him.
"I already paid the entire advance, and now you say contact with the Sichuan Assassination Gate has been lost?! What kind of absurd nonsense is that?!"
The subordinate, who had his head deeply bowed, answered cautiously.
"We... we did try, somehow.... We attempted to make contact through the usual channels and every other route, but they've all disappeared. As if they had never existed at all...."
"What?! Are you saying those bastards took my money and ran?!"
Under On Je-ung's fury, the subordinate could not speak further and only bowed his head even lower.
He himself had come to suspect as much, and he knew perfectly well that anything he said here would only earn him a beating.
And sure enough, at that moment, On Je-ung began bellowing and exploding in rage.
"Those sons of bitches! Self-proclaimed assassins, daring to break a contract and commit fraud! Do you think you can survive in Sichuan Province after this?! You filthy insect bastards!"
On Je-ung's mind was growing hazy with the fury surging to the very top of his head.
It was utterly beyond his imagination that the Sichuan Assassination Gate could have been annihilated by Seonwoo Jin.
"These insect bastards! Euaaaaaaap!"
Crash! Bang! Boom!
Unable to contain his rage, On Je-ung began indiscriminately grabbing and hurling furniture in every direction.
At this, the prostrate subordinate shrank even further into himself, and the other subordinates standing nearby covered their faces with their arms, trying to shield themselves.
They all knew well that if they dodged any of the flying objects here, that rage would be redirected straight at them.
"You idiots! You worthless wretches!"
On Je-ung vented all the fury that had been accumulating inside him.
Lately, his condition had been, frankly, unspeakable.
His reputation within the Dang Clan had been driven into the muck, and he couldn't even catch a glimpse of Dang Yeoeun, the woman he was to marry, who was who-knew-where doing who-knew-what.
She was probably deliberately avoiding him.
On Je-ung felt that every bit of this was the fault of that bastard Seonwoo Jin.
So the one sliver of hope he had clung to was that bastard being assassinated by the Sichuan Assassination Gate... and then those very assassins had up and vanished on him too.
On Je-ung felt he was truly about to go insane.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
It was then.
On Je-ung, who had been exploding with rage and flinging objects everywhere, suddenly went still, huffing and puffing.
His subordinates felt they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed his anger had cooled, at least for now.
Though it was a bit puzzling that On Je-ung's rage had subsided much faster than usual — well, what did it matter?
They were simply relieved.
Of course, no one could be sure his temper had fully settled, so they were all still careful not to meet his eyes.
But On Je-ung had not stopped moving because his anger had subsided.
It was because he suddenly found himself unable to move his body.
Flustered, On Je-ung tried with all his might to twist his body.
'Wh-what in the...?!'
But no matter how much strength he exerted, his body would not budge an inch.
Midway through throwing an object, his body had simply locked up, utterly without warning or sensation.
On Je-ung screamed inwardly.
'Y-you lot! Someone help me!'
But there was no way any of his subordinates could read his thoughts.
Even though there were many subordinates around, every last one of them had averted their eyes from him.
No one could help him.
A thought suddenly flashed through On Je-ung's mind — that he might have been struck by an acupoint sealing technique.
Because there was no other way to explain this situation.
But he quickly dismissed it. That was impossible.
What kind of acupoint sealing could be performed like this, without leaving even the faintest sensation?
And moreover, the only people nearby were his own subordinates.
That was when he was utterly at a loss, facing this incomprehensible situation.
Suddenly, a telepathic transmission sounded in his ear.
It was an extremely low and sinister voice.
[Was it you who sought out Am Hyeol-hyang?]
On Je-ung jolted in shock at the voice, then could only freeze in sheer terror.
It was not because the voice was so sinister.
It was because of what it had said.
'Am Hyeol-hyang?!'
Gulp!
On Je-ung could now understand why he was in this state, and who it was that had done it to him.
The king of all assassins under heaven, the very man acknowledged as one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World despite his station as a killer.
Am Hyeol-hyang had come for him.
Of course, it could be someone else impersonating Am Hyeol-hyang, but On Je-ung was certain it was indeed him.
If it were not him, who else could infiltrate the home of the Dang Clan — the Dragon's Courage Tiger's Den, one of the Five Great Families — in broad daylight, and seal his acupoints without anyone, not even the room full of subordinates, noticing a thing?
It could be no one else under heaven but Am Hyeol-hyang, just that one alone.
At that moment, the voice came again.
[If it is indeed you who sought out Am Hyeol-hyang, nod your head.]
A question briefly flickered — 'How can I nod if my acupoints are sealed?'
But that doubt lasted only a moment. In the next instant, On Je-ung realized, uncannily, that he could move his head after all.
It was extraordinary.
And terrifying.
On Je-ung nodded his head fervently.
Then the voice came again.
[Dismiss all your subordinates.]
It was just like before.
Though he felt no sensation in his body, the moment those words were finished, he found himself naturally able to move again.
Truly, it was a feat of ghostly divinity.
On Je-ung hurriedly shouted at his subordinates.
"E-everyone, get out at once!"
At this, the subordinates stared at On Je-ung with startled eyes.
But On Je-ung had no energy to spare for them right now.
"I said get out at once! Can't you hear me?!"
At his sharp yell, all the subordinates scrambled out of the room. They had no reason to refuse being told to leave of their own accord.
Then, now that everyone was gone and the room had fallen silent, the voice began again.
It was the sinister voice he had heard through telepathic transmission, a masterless voice whose source was impossible to pinpoint.
"You surely know my commission fee is quite high, do you not?"
On Je-ung nodded hastily.
Because Am Hyeol-hyang was just as famous for killing clients if he found the fee unsatisfactory.
"O-of course! I will give you any amount of money!"
At this, the voice, which seemed slightly pleased, asked him again.
"Good. So, whom do you want me to kill?"
On Je-ung swallowed dryly and slowly spoke his name.
The name of the one he wanted to kill more than anyone....
"Seonwoo Jin... the one called Seonwoo Jin."
It was the moment Seonwoo Jin became the target of the world's greatest assassin, Am Hyeol-hyang.