Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Challenging the Cult Leader
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Time had stopped.
The people seated in the vast Martial God Arena froze in place like stone statues, not a single voice breaking the silence.
All they could do was gape in shock, their eyes, noses, and mouths wide open as they stared at the sparring platform.
The man standing on one side of that platform could shake heaven and earth with his name alone.
Cheon Jungak.
The patriarch of the Cheon Clan, who had effectively taken the throne among the Seven Great Demon Clans after the Gu Clan sealed their gates.
His straight, blade-like eyebrows were striking, and his gaze was so chilling it could freeze an opponent in place just by looking at them.
Cold-blooded to the core, a frosty aura of dominance emanated naturally from his every gesture and posture.
No one could have anticipated his appearance.
It wasn't as if no warriors from the Seven Great Demon Clans had stepped onto the platform before.
Elders and even young clan heirs had taken the stage to showcase their prowess.
But the patriarch was a different story.
A patriarch ascending the platform meant they were staking everything on the line.
Defeat for the patriarch was defeat for the entire clan.
That was why no one could believe their eyes at his entrance.
And it didn't end there.
There was still more shock in store.
When Cheon Jungak first appeared, the crowd had wondered anxiously who would face him.
The answer came swiftly and clearly.
The sole titan in the current Seven Great Demon Clans who could stand toe-to-toe with the Cheon Clan.
Hell Blade Man Ho strode boldly onto the opposite side.
It was a mad moment.
A few spectators had vaguely considered he might participate in the Demon Martial God Tournament.
After all, he was the most belligerent and unpredictable among the clan patriarchs, wild and free-spirited to a fault.
Even so, no one had dreamed he would step up against Cheon Jungak at this precise moment—not even a sliver of expectation.
The patriarchs of the Seven Great Demon Clans clashing in the Demon Martial God Tournament?
Insanity.
Who could handle the aftermath of such a battle?
The clans themselves would shy away from it.
Yet Man Ho was the man who shattered such expectations without a second thought.
Cheon Jungak seemed just as caught off guard, his fierce eyes glaring at Man Ho.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Cheon Jungak's voice brimmed with fury on the verge of exploding.
The reason was obvious.
It felt like Man Ho had stabbed him in the back.
The Cheon Clan had long been in alliance with the Man Clan, united in their goal to dethrone Hyeok Mulin.
That was why they had sent word not to interfere in the tournament.
And they had received a simple acknowledgment in return.
Yet here was Man Ho, barging in at the critical moment and shattering their plans.
Man Ho ignored his seething resentment and grinned, curling the corner of his mouth.
"Before you go off to fight for real, why don't you loosen up with me first?"
"...Loosen up?"
Cheon Jungak stared at Man Ho in utter disbelief.
Was this clown seriously blocking the stage at the height of attention just to warm up?
Kaduduk—
Cheon Jungak ground his teeth in rage.
It had been a mistake from the start.
Reaching out to the Man Clan had been the error.
He had foolishly believed he could control their movements through the alliance.
Truth be told, Cheon Jungak hadn't fully trusted them either.
He especially distrusted Man Ho, but he had assumed clan loyalty would keep them from interfering.
And yet, here they were, sabotaging him at the worst possible moment.
"Fine. A warm-up, you say..."
Cheon Jungak made his decision.
The worst had happened, but what choice was there?
Clear the obstacle in his path and press on.
"Very well."
Cheon Jungak slowly drew the Celestial Sword from its sheath.
A blade aura blending pristine blue skies and abyssal darkness spread out in all directions.
Man Ho let out a hearty laugh at the sight.
"Kahahaha! Looks like you're finally ready."
He nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Now I can finally test this thing out."
Like Cheon Jungak, Man Ho gripped the massive blade slung across his back and unsheathed it.
It was his newly forged treasured blade.
The Asura Fiend Blade.
As large as a grown man's torso and curved obliquely, its tip serrated like a saw.
Its deep blood-red hue instilled terror and an inexplicable queasiness in all who beheld it.
With sword and blade drawn and aimed at each other, sweat beaded involuntarily on the spectators' palms.
Where else could one witness a clash between the Seven Great Demon Clans' patriarchs?
Even outside this tournament, direct confrontations between them had been virtually nonexistent for decades.
Moreover, these were two of the top clans, making the outcome impossible to predict.
Swish—
Seok Mae, observing both sides, slowly stepped back.
Then he spoke leisurely.
"Let the duel commence."
Kwang!
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Man Ho stomped the ground with one foot.
Chunks of azure reinforced stone shattered and cracked around him.
Using the recoil, he surged toward Cheon Jungak in an instant.
His blade, cloaked in explosive demonic energy, slithered with ghostly speed.
Ghostly Transformation Eight Blades—it looked like eight arms and blades assaulting Cheon Jungak.
Every strike was real, no illusions or feints.
Chaeng! Chaengchaengchaengchaengchaeng!
Yet Cheon Jungak parried them all.
With the Seventeen Linked Phantom Demon Sword, he defended flawlessly and even countered with spare strikes.
Whoosh—
Man Ho raised his massive blade skyward, erecting a barrier of steel.
Cheon Jungak's neutralized sword path fizzled out harmlessly before reaching him.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Man Ho's ferocious Asura Fiend Blade assailed Cheon Jungak from every angle—up, down, left, right—without mercy.
A blade too heavy for most men to wield two-handed, yet Man Ho swung it one-handed with effortless freedom.
To the crowd, it might seem reckless, but Cheon Jungak, on the defense, knew better.
Each blow carried razor-sharp precision, no gaps whatsoever.
A lesser warrior's sword would shatter under the onslaught; even an expert would deflect desperately.
But Cheon Jungak was different.
Strength against strength.
Gripping his sword two-handed, he met the rigid assault head-on.
A moment later, scorching heat erupted from their clashing blades.
Flash—!
Dazzling flames engulfed the arena as the Blazing Sky Demon Flame Sword exploded from his grasp.
Man Ho's blade soared vertically like a shooting star, only for Cheon Jungak's tip to slash down diagonally.
But by a hair's breadth.
It rent the air, missing Man Ho's body.
He had twisted his blade's momentum downward, planting it into the ground for recoil that launched him skyward.
Warriors generally avoided mid-air positions.
Limited control and predictable movements hindered offense and defense alike.
Man Ho turned it to his advantage.
With Thousand Jun Force, he plummeted with cataclysmic power.
His entire body a living weapon, spinning like a vortex toward Cheon Jungak.
Paang—!
Cheon Jungak's palm, infused with mountainous weight, halted the charge with the Unwelcoming Wall Mountain Demon Palm.
Just a handspan apart, the two exchanged glances.
Cheon Jungak's eyes flashed; Man Ho smirked in satisfaction.
A fleeting moment of locked gazes.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwa—
In ultra-close quarters, they unleashed palm and fist techniques in a frenzy.
Each clash of hands birthed visible bursts of feral demonic energy, booming like thunder for all to see.
"That's..."
"A battle between patriarchs."
The crowd watched with mouths agape, too entranced to swallow.
Cheon Jungak created distance first in the melee.
Lightning-quick, his blade tip shot out amid the palm barrage.
Man Ho leaped back, evading the thrust.
A lightness belying his house-sized frame.
He fired a straight punch forward, its wind pressure propelling him into a relentless Meteor Shattering Flow Blade, rending the air savagely.
Kugung!
The savage blade gale surged to shred Cheon Jungak limb from limb.
But Cheon Jungak leveled his blade tip precisely horizontal, thrusting a beat ahead of the incoming energy.
Kwagwagwagwagwang—!
The bisected blade gale scattered beneath him, the azure stone splitting diagonally in a long gash.
Cheon Jungak didn't stop.
Despite the gap, he whipped his sword path through the air—a single horizontal slash from Man Ho's shoulder, across collarbone, chest, lower abdomen, and flank.
Heavenly Wind Following Demon Sword.
Second Form: Wide Sweep Blade.
Vast sword energy radiated from his blade toward Man Ho.
"Not bad for a big lug."
Staring down the oncoming sword wave, Man Ho slammed his blade into the ground.
Then yanked it straight out, spinning three furious circles with the recoil.
From his hand bloomed the Man Clan's hereditary art.
Tyrant Force Demon-Slaying Blade.
Fifth Form: Uprooting Blaze Blade.
The embedded azure stone shattered wide; from the blade's edge erupted three massive, curving blade waves.
They flanked and crushed Cheon Jungak's sword energy from both sides.
A beat later, as blade and sword energies collided at one point.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwang!
The earth quaked, dust billowing so thick no one could see an inch ahead.
"Cough! Cough!"
"What was the outcome?"
The dust choked the stands, but eyes stayed wide open.
They had to witness the end of this epic duel.
As the haze settled, the moment they craved appeared.
Cheon Jungak and Man Ho.
Both still standing in place.
Not a scratch on either.
Their energies had annihilated each other simultaneously.
"......"
"......"
In the silence, they locked cold stares.
Then, as if on cue, both sheathed sword and blade.
"That should satisfy you enough."
"Feels like you've warmed up nicely."
Man Ho turned on his heel.
As he exited the platform, he licked his lips.
"Too bad, but we'll finish this another time."
Cheon Jungak alone remained, leaving the crowd murmuring in confusion.
"What? What just happened?"
"Did Cheon Patriarch win?"
"Man Patriarch said it was just a warm-up. He sparred lightly and bailed."
"No victor declared, then."
They lamented the unfinished fight but felt relief too.
All-out war between Cheon and Man Clans could spell disaster for the Divine Cult.
Regardless, Cheon Jungak stood victorious on the stage. Seok Mae approached and declared his win.
Then asked the lingering victor,
"Cheon Patriarch. Will you continue the duels?"
"I will."
Cheon Jungak nodded and waited.
Needless to say, no challenger emerged.
As Seok Mae regretfully prepared to end it with no takers, Cheon Jungak spoke first.
"No one's stepping up."
He scanned the entire arena.
"In that case, I choose my own opponent."
His gaze swept the stands and halted at one spot.
He stared intently at someone in the uppermost VIP seat.
The crowd followed his line of sight, faces growing rigid one by one.
Recognizing his target, they paled, breathless.
"No way."
"No way..."
"No way...!"
They prayed they were wrong, but Cheon Jungak dashed their hopes.
"Cult Leader."
His deep, resonant voice carried toward Hyeok Mulin.
"I request your guidance."