Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: The Victor Stands Alone
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Cough! Cough!
The entire Divine Battle Arena was shrouded in dust from their clash.
The spectators coughed and covered their mouths and noses with their arms, yet they strained to keep their eyes fixed on the arena stage.
"What happened?"
"I saw the sword tip advancing toward the Cult Leader's chest."
"But the Cheon Clan Patriarch's throat was in the line of fire too."
"It looked like they hit at almost the same time..."
"So what's the result?"
The crowd exchanged opinions, their hearts tense as they stared at the stage.
Frustrated yet curious, they waited impatiently for the dust to settle.
And after a moment, the slowly clearing dust revealed the two figures.
The moment they saw it, the people's eyes widened in shock.
Both men stood there unscathed, right where they had been.
"......!"
"Neither took any damage?!"
As the crowd looked back and forth between them in bewilderment,
Cheon Jungak stared at Hyeok Mulin with a dumbfounded expression, letting out a groan.
"Hah..."
Their sword tips had been heading straight for each other's vital points.
But just before reaching their targets, their paths had crossed.
'To think he wouldn't pull back his sword until the end.'
Was he prepared for mutual destruction?
Even as his heart was targeted, the Cult Leader hadn't deviated from his sword path or shifted to defense.
In the end, Cheon Jungak had changed his mind first, twisting his blade to block Hyeok Mulin's strike.
And that wasn't the only thing that surprised him.
"You deployed an energy barrier in that split second."
The instant their swords clashed,
Hyeok Mulin had realized the shockwave from the collision would be massive enough to affect even the spectator stands.
So he had spread a wider, rounder energy barrier than usual to block attacks heading toward the rear.
He couldn't be certain it would perfectly shield against the sword auras, but it was more than enough to mitigate and cancel out the damage to the spectators.
"......"
Looking at the translucent barrier, Cheon Jungak shook his head slowly and spoke to Hyeok Mulin.
"Wasting inner energy on a barrier just to protect a few demonic cultivators. What a foolish thing to do."
From his perspective, Hyeok Mulin's actions were incomprehensible.
This was a life-or-death duel where far more than lives were at stake.
Even squeezing out every last drop of strength and inner energy wouldn't be enough.
Yet he deployed a barrier to protect others?
To Cheon Jungak, it was unimaginable.
But Hyeok Mulin gave a simple reply to his scorn.
"I had enough spare energy for that."
"......Hah."
Cheon Jungak's lips twisted at Hyeok Mulin's nonchalant response.
A whirlwind of emotions flickered in his eyes as he gazed at the Cult Leader.
Regret, hatred, loneliness, sorrow, lingering attachment, resentment, rage—various feelings swept over Cheon Jungak in that moment.
"Then let's see."
The very next instant he continued speaking, Cheon Jungak's figure moved like the wind.
Without any prelude of footwork or body technique, he slid right up to Hyeok Mulin in a flash.
And from his upper left, he unleashed the Slanting Hawk Sword in a diagonal slash.
Clang!
Hyeok Mulin's sword crossed his at a diagonal.
With their blades locked before his eyes, Cheon Jungak bared a ferocious aura, his gaze flashing.
He pushed hard with his sword and finished his words.
"I'll crush that spare energy of yours."
Hyeok Mulin met his gaze with half-lidded eyes, responding coldly.
"Give it a try."
Krrrind—
"If you can, that is."
With the sudden sound, Cheon Jungak felt a chill grip his hand.
His pupils dilated as he glanced down.
"......!"
Ice technique.
Hyeok Mulin's Frost White Separation Palm had frozen his blade where they touched.
Clang—
Cheon Jungak shoved Hyeok Mulin back, withdrawing his sword and creating some distance.
He quickly solidified high-purity demonic energy along the blade to melt the ice, then looked back at Hyeok Mulin.
'He was hiding that trump card.'
Attribute-infused techniques had value in complicating the opponent's thoughts, even without direct attacks.
With his wariness of the ice technique heightened, Cheon Jungak ignited his sword aura.
Like the sharp talons of a pine marten, the bifurcated aura split into six strands and surged forward.
The razor-sharp sword auras struck straight at Hyeok Mulin.
Whoosh!
But Hyeok Mulin leaped high into the air, evading them effortlessly.
The moment his feet left the ground,
Tat-tat-tak—
Cheon Jungak rushed in below, thrusting upward.
Slash!
Hyeok Mulin's sleeve tore, a thin line of blood appearing on his wrist.
But it wasn't a fatal blow.
Hyeok Mulin had struck out with a palm into empty air, using the recoil to twist his body midair and alter his trajectory.
Before touching down, he immediately counterattacked.
Heaven-Defying Nine Souls Sword.
Mid-section, Fifth Form.
Illusion Soul Sword.
Hundreds, thousands of sword paths extended from Hyeok Mulin's blade, overlaying the world.
A mountain peak with a cool breeze blowing.
A sunset viewed beneath rustling trees.
Cheon Jungak suddenly faced an entirely new landscape, no longer the arena.
"......"
This serene world,
Krrrind!
suddenly crumpled chaotically, as if to devour him.
Yet he found a way out.
Slicing through the void, he returned to the arena.
But he wasn't unharmed.
Drip-drip—
Half his left ear was sliced off, blood dripping steadily.
With an expressionless face, he pressed the acupoint to stop the bleeding, then charged at Hyeok Mulin again.
Thus, the two sword masters entered a head-on clash, swinging their blades.
'Heavy sword? No, medium sword.'
Hyeok Mulin analyzed his swordsmanship as their blades met.
The Cheon Clan's sword style was well-known, but facing it directly was a world apart.
Cheon Jungak wielded a medium sword based on heavy and sharp styles.
He pressed with power and momentum, inserting thrusts at key moments.
Hyeok Mulin deflected all his rigid assaults with Flowing Petal Favorable Wind Sword.
The power in Cheon Jungak's strikes flowed harmlessly along Hyeok Mulin's blade and outward.
As his attacks came to naught, Cheon Jungak swiftly changed his sword style.
Swish! Swipe! Swish!
He slashed high and low on the left in sequence, then raked long across the center.
Not hacking with brute force for immediate damage, but slicing space rapidly to gradually shrink Hyeok Mulin's movement range.
Whittling away his room to maneuver.
Finally, a sharp thrust targeted the sole remaining space on the right.
Hyeok Mulin had only one option.
Retreat.
And that was predicted too.
In an instant, Cheon Jungak's blade seemed to triple in length as it thrust with blinding speed.
With sword aura added at the end, even if Hyeok Mulin leaped back, it would still graze him.
Thwack!
Struck by the Martial Realm Extending Sword, Hyeok Mulin flicked the blade upward the moment it scraped his collarbone.
A razor-thin evasion.
Any slower, and it would have torn through bone and flesh.
Hyeok Mulin had no time to rest afterward.
Their swords rang out again, sparks flying.
Cheon Jungak unleashed domineering strikes, building momentum.
No drawn-out fight—he meant to settle it now with his rising momentum, his fierce will infused in the raging sword.
Gradually pushed back, Hyeok Mulin focused on defense while devising a counter, soon deciding.
Boom!
He mixed palm strikes into his swordplay, repelling Cheon Jungak.
Creating distance, he slammed his sword into the ground like crushing it.
From the deeply embedded blade, extreme demonic energy erupted into the earth.
Earth Annihilation Demon-Slaying Sword.
The darkening world boiled as the ground trembled unstably.
Soon, like an earthquake, the floor cracked, and the world began to collapse.
As heaven and earth split open, Hyeok Mulin and Cheon Jungak plummeted into the shattered depths.
Even in freefall, their eyes locked only on each other.
Cheon Jungak sensed it.
This would be the final blow.
He drew his sword back fully, condensing all his demonic energy at the tip.
Crimson-black darkness compressed, gleaming at the point.
Cheon Jungak's signature ultimate technique, his final strike.
Demon-Ruin Flying Wing Star Heaven Sword.
He advanced swiftly, thrusting like an explosion at one point.
Like a crimson star plummeting, he charged at Hyeok Mulin.
But Hyeok Mulin faced the approaching star with a calm expression.
He raised his sword, erupting extreme demonic energy from its tip to the limit.
Kaboom—!
A streak of black sword light descended from the sky.
In an instant, it spiderwebbed outward, transforming into ten thousand sword shadows forming a massive net.
The inescapable web of blades enveloped Cheon Jungak from all sides.
Heaven-Defying Nine Souls Sword.
Latter-section, Eighth Form.
Ten Thousand Net Soul Sword.
Hyeok Mulin and Cheon Jungak did not retreat.
They advanced with full power.
After crossing paths with their final strikes, a blinding light pierced them.
"......"
"......"
The world shifted, returning them to the arena.
The spectators gulped as they watched.
Their duel was too fast to follow with the eye.
Only occasional flashes of sword auras pierced the swirling dust.
And now,
they had finally stopped.
"Has the duel ended?!"
The crowd leaped to their feet, eyes locked on.
"What happened?"
"They're both just standing there..."
"Who won...!"
Frustrated, they waited for Hyeok Mulin or Cheon Jungak to move.
They stood back-to-back, motionless—until one finally stirred.
"Uh...!"
"Look over there!"
"The Cult Leader is bleeding?!"
Blood streamed from Hyeok Mulin's side.
The spectators hardened their faces seeing his wound.
"The C-Cult Leader was hit..."
"Does that mean the Cheon Clan Patriarch wins...!"
But then,
Cheon Jungak spoke.
"I thought you were a tiger's cub..."
Gazing at the sky, he murmured in a hollow voice.
"......but you're already a full-grown dragon."
Crack-cra-crackle—
Cracks spiderwebbed across his Heaven-Piercing Sword.
And moments later,
Splatter—!
With the sword shattering, countless sword marks appeared across Cheon Jungak's body, blood spraying like fountains.
His figure slowly tilted toward the ground.
Thud—
Now, only Hyeok Mulin stood on the arena stage.
Turning, he looked down at the fallen Cheon Jungak with an impassive face.
And slowly, he spoke.
"Is that lesson enough?"