Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: If You Receive One, Return Ten (2)
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“Give me the medicine.”
Jong Ri-yeon fed Kwak Yeon the second dose of medicine.
Kwak Yeon’s complexion had improved somewhat compared to before. But he was still in critical condition.
Clang!
Outside, Hwa No and the Sword King Squad were still locked in a fierce battle. Explosions rang out continuously, and powerful bursts of energy shook the log cabin.
In such circumstances, attempting the Life-and-Death Soul Awakening Needle technique was nearly impossible. Yet Jong Ri-yeon’s terrifying focus turned the impossible into reality.
Plunk! Plunk!
Jong Ri-yeon fearlessly inserted silver needles across Kwak Yeon’s entire body. This was already the second time she was performing the Life-and-Death Soul Awakening Needle. Beside her lay the silver needles from the first treatment, now blackened. The malicious energy latent in his body had discolored them.
‘If even one needle is misplaced by a fraction, Yeon will die. Focus, Jong Ri-yeon.’
Jong Ri-yeon spurred herself on as she placed the needles.
Thick beads of sweat poured endlessly from her entire body.
Kwak San watched her anxiously while boiling the final batch of medicine.
That was when it happened.
Boom!
A sudden roar shattered one wall of the log cabin. A fierce gust of wind then whipped through the interior.
“No, no!”
Kwak San desperately shielded the medicine pot with his body. His left arm suffered burns from the scorching flames, but he had no time to feel the pain.
Confirming the medicine was safe, Kwak San hurriedly looked toward Jong Ri-yeon.
Her hair and shoulders were covered in shards of splintered wood. She too had not escaped the blast unharmed.
Jong Ri-yeon was undoubtedly startled and shocked as well. But she gritted her teeth, striving to maintain her composure.
Kwak San called out to her.
“Miss!”
“I’m fine. Uncle, finish the medicine.”
“Un……derstood.”
At her response, Kwak San nodded desperately.
‘Miss!’
Hwa No, battling the Sword King Squad, glanced sidelong at Jong Ri-yeon.
He could see her desperately performing the Life-and-Death Soul Awakening Needle. The cabin wall had collapsed because he failed to fully block the Sword King Squad’s attack.
Hwa No fought the Sword King Squad with utter desperation.
Time had stolen his youth but granted him seasoned skill and experience in its place. Hwa No compensated for his diminished strength with experience, giving his all in the fight.
As a result, he felled five Sword King Squad warriors. In exchange, wounds covered his body.
Deep gashes gaped open like fish gills. But Hwa No had no leisure to feel the pain.
The Sword King Squad’s combined assault turned with the precision of gears.
Slash!
A Sword King Squad warrior’s sword grazed Hwa No’s right arm.
“Urk!”
Hwa No’s face twisted.
Whether nerves were severed or not, his right arm refused to move. Instinctively, Hwa No realized it was time for a fateful decision.
‘Miss!’
He harbored no attachment to life.
It was a spare life granted by Jong Ri-yeon’s salvation. A life that should have ended long ago, extended by a few more years.
“Hyah!”
Hwa No summoned every last drop of his remaining inner energy.
Whoosh!
The air rippled.
Sensing something ominous, Sword King Squad Vice Commander Namgung Seong-chan shouted.
“Everyone, beware!”
“Too late. Broken Emperor Blood Demon Palm!”
Hwa No spread his palm wide.
Kurrrgh!
In an instant, a bloody aura erupted from his palm.
“Th-this is?”
“Demonic energy!”
The Sword King Squad warriors cried out in alarm, trying to evade the palm strike. But over a dozen were swept up in the bloody aura.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
Those engulfed in the bloody aura screamed in agony. Their bones and flesh were melting.
The handful of Sword King Squad survivors who barely escaped trembled in terror at the horrifying power.
“What in the world?”
He had never heard of a technique that could melt human bone and flesh with a single palm.
Meanwhile, Hwa No, who had unleashed the Broken Emperor Blood Demon Palm, dropped to one knee and vomited a gush of blood. The floor and his chest were dyed red.
‘Urk! Too much after all?’
Several years ago, he had survived by the skin of his teeth thanks to Jong Ri-yeon, but his inner energy had not fully recovered.
The Broken Emperor Blood Demon Palm was an atrocious demonic art. Even with a perfect body, enduring the backlash was no easy feat—let alone in his incomplete state, where it now devoured his life force.
Hwa No raised his head to look ahead.
Five Sword King Squad members still stood strong. They had evaded the Broken Emperor Blood Demon Palm by a hair’s breadth.
Their faces were ashen, but they could still move without issue. In contrast, Hwa No’s organs were shattered by the backlash, rendering him immobile.
Sustained only by profound inner energy, he was as good as dead.
The Sword King Squad exchanged glances. They too had noticed Hwa No’s condition.
Vice Commander Namgung Seong-chan issued the order.
“You two, fetch the priestess.”
“Yes!”
Two Sword King Squad members advanced toward Jong Ri-yeon.
Jong Ri-yeon was performing the third round of the Life-and-Death Soul Awakening Needle—the most critical phase.
Any interruption now would endanger not only Kwak Yeon but Jong Ri-yeon herself. But the Sword King Squad knew nothing of this.
“No, don’t!”
Kwak San spread his arms, blocking their path.
His body trembled like an aspen leaf. His fear-stricken face had turned deathly pale, yet he somehow held his ground.
“Hmph!”
But the Sword King Squad warriors had no reason to spare him. They snorted and kicked Kwak San aside.
“No!”
Hwa No, witnessing the scene, cried out while spewing blood. But Kwak San was already tumbling across the floor, chest struck.
“Worry about yourself, old man.”
Namgung Seong-chan unleashed Heavenly Thunder Palm toward Hwa No.
‘No, don’t!’
Jong Ri-yeon’s eyes wavered as she performed the Life-and-Death Soul Awakening Needle.
Her immovable mind shattered before Hwa No’s peril.
The hand clutching the silver needle shook uncontrollably. She could no longer place them accurately.
‘I need to save Yeon…….’
But neither could she stand by and watch Hwa No die. For years, he had been her guardian and closest kin.
It was then, as Jong Ri-yeon squeezed her eyes shut.
Boom!
A sudden thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield, and a fierce wind battered her body. Yet no pain came.
Jong Ri-yeon cautiously opened her eyes. There stood someone’s back blocking her view.
A man in tattered black robes, shredded like rags, his back soaked red with blood.
At his feet lay the two Sword King Squad warriors who had approached her, reduced to mangled heaps of flesh.
“Ah!”
An involuntary gasp escaped Jong Ri-yeon’s lips.
It was Dam Ho.
He was advancing toward Namgung Seong-chan and the Sword King Squad warriors.
Any ordinary person stepping forward might seem frail, but Dam Ho did not.
Flinch!
With each step Dam Ho took, Namgung Seong-chan and the Sword King Squad warriors retreated. Overwhelmed by his presence.
“Huh!”
Rough breaths leaked through Dam Ho’s lips.
“Ugh! How?”
Namgung Seong-chan stammered.
Incredulity dawned on his face.
Dam Ho’s appearance meant Sucheon was dead. And the eighty-odd Sword King Squad members with him had been annihilated.
Sucheon was one long protected in the shadows of the Namgung family. He was no one to die so easily.
“You bastard…… Are you even human? How did you…….”
Namgung Seong-chan’s face twisted viciously.
Of the hundred Sword King Squad, only three survived. Such numbers could not handle Dam Ho—if he were in normal condition.
But at a glance, Dam Ho’s state was far from normal. Horrific wounds blanketed his body; moving at all was a miracle.
Namgung Seong-chan exchanged glances with the Sword King Squad.
‘Bluff.’
It was the conclusion after assessing Dam Ho’s condition, breathing, and other factors.
‘Quick and decisive!’
They could hesitate no longer.
Swoosh!
The moment their swords cleaved the air, Dam Ho moved.
Boom!
Dam Ho’s torso slammed into the chest of the warrior on the left first. The warrior’s chest caved in, spewing blood. Dam Ho, drenched in the warrior’s blood, pressed forward relentlessly.
“Urk!”
Namgung Seong-chan, mid-swing with momentum, faltered momentarily. Swinging now would surely bisect his subordinate’s body with his own blade.
No matter how certainly dead, defiling a subordinate’s corpse with his sword was distasteful.
That brief hesitation sealed Namgung Seong-chan’s fate.
Dam Ho’s fist smashed into Namgung Seong-chan’s right side.
Splat!
“Gah!”
The fist struck the right flank, yet the left exploded outward.
A hole gaped in his side, entrails spilling forth.
Life faded from Namgung Seong-chan’s wide-open eyes.
“Ugh! No.”
The lone surviving Sword King Squad warrior backed away unsteadily.
A hundred had come; he alone remained.
“F-Fist Demon…….”
It felt like a nightmare.
‘The Sword King Squad massacred. How could this…….’
Dam Ho approached him.
He still limped heavily.
In that instant, the warrior glimpsed one chance of survival.
Whoosh!
He launched himself backward, unleashing his lightness skill with full power.
‘He’s lame. He can’t catch me. Even if it’s shameful, I must live. Live to report his existence to the main house.’
That was his reason for fleeing.
Grab!
Someone seized his leg.
It was Hwa No. He had summoned his last strength to grab the warrior.
“Eek! Let go!”
As the warrior tried to shake off Hwa No’s leg.
Swoosh!
Dam Ho unleashed the Wave-Shattering Pursuit.
A fierce energy wave crashed over him like a tsunami.
Wind pressure distorted his face. Then Dam Ho’s fist crashed into it.
Boom!
The warrior’s head burst like a watermelon.
With the final warrior down, Dam Ho’s body swayed.
Thud!
Dam Ho dropped to one knee and vomited blood. His face was deathly pale.
He had paid a grievous price, suffering life-threatening internal and external wounds.
Dam Ho gritted his teeth and circulated the Dark Soul Heart Technique.
Losing consciousness now meant death. He had to cling to awareness until the end and heal himself with his own power.
Hwa No gazed at Dam Ho, who resolved to overcome it alone to the last, with eyes full of awe.
But the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed. His body bore irreparable wounds. Surviving this long was the miracle.
“Tell the Heavenly…… Heretic……”
Hwa No’s lips moved faintly, then stilled.
His breath had ceased.