Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Chapter 2. The Wind of Chaos Blows from the North (3)
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Damho's eyes were as deep and black as Geom Yeolcheon's. It was impossible to read his true intentions.
"Sword... Yeolcheon?"
It was definitely a name he'd heard somewhere before. But he couldn't easily recall where.
Geom Yeolcheon wore an intrigued expression as he watched Damho's face, as if trying to dredge up a memory.
"You know me?"
"Maybe."
"That's interesting. There aren't even ten people in the world who know me."
His expression was as relaxed as if he were out for a stroll, his tone soft and gentle.
To a stranger, it might seem like he and Damho were close friends. But the aura emanating from his body was anything but gentle.
A memory flashed through Damho's mind.
"Heaven... Gold Demon Vault."
The place where he'd been imprisoned for twelve years.
One phrase engraved there.
[Geom Yeolcheon, who buried his friends here.]
It was a phrase he'd seen for twelve long years, so it remained vivid in his memory.
A faint crack appeared on Geom Yeolcheon's previously relaxed face.
"You were in the Heaven Gold Demon Vault?"
"I lost many friends there."
Geom Yeolcheon nodded.
His eyes, as he dredged up old memories, sank into unfathomable depths.
The memories he'd forcibly sealed away resurfaced vividly.
"I heard about a dozen years ago that the Heaven Gold Demon Vault collapsed. And that a young Daoist from the Huashan Sect didn't make it out and was buried alive."
"......"
"So that was you."
Damho and Geom Yeolcheon's gazes met in midair.
Damho's eyes wavered. The storm raging in them was so ferocious that no ordinary person could meet them. But Geom Yeolcheon showed no sign of disturbance.
"You must have suffered. I've experienced it myself, and life in the Heaven Gold Demon Vault is no easy thing."
"......"
"You don't need to be so wary. I'm not your enemy. At least not right now. In fact, I owe you my gratitude. Thanks to you and Myeongcheon, I've just barely recovered."
"......"
"Myeongcheon is my youngest. Thanks to him, the boy has recovered, so I've finally set my mind at ease."
"What about the marrow cleansing?"
"I had him take the Five Yin Divine Elixir in advance. It does nothing for Myeongcheon in his weakened state, but once his qi and blood normalize, it produces the greatest effects. Even I was surprised he underwent marrow cleansing."
"You used Jong Li-yeon."
"I had no other choice. To save my youngest."
"You care for him a great deal."
"He's no less than my own flesh and blood, even without sharing blood."
"He's from the Heaven Gold Demon Vault too, then."
At Damho's words, Geom Yeolcheon's eyebrow twitched slightly. But he soon admitted it openly.
"That's right!"
"There must be a few more besides him."
"......"
This time, Geom Yeolcheon fell silent.
Damho asked again.
"Is Eum Yu-kyeong one of them too?"
"Ha! You're no fool to underestimate. You're sharp, really sharp. To connect it all the way to Yu-kyeong."
"Is she?"
"Yes! She's my greatest supporter."
"There was a Sin Mu-wol too."
"Ha! Damn it! You're stripping me bare. Yes! That's my third. I told him to be careful."
Geom Yeolcheon grumbled as he scratched his head vigorously with his large hand.
Damho's eyes sank deeply.
Eum Yu-kyeong, Sin Mu-wol, and Myeongcheon all followed Geom Yeolcheon. Not one of them was ordinary.
"What is this? Are you the Demonic Cult's cult leader or something?"
"No! If anything, I'm one of the people who hates the cult leader."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want chaos in the world."
"You're not asking me to believe that, are you?"
"Doesn't matter if you don't. You'll believe it in time anyway."
"Funny."
Geom Yeolcheon's eyes darkened.
He had sensed the raw killing intent in Damho's voice.
'He's truly a beast.'
When he'd heard about Damho from Eum Yu-kyeong, he'd thought it was exaggerated. But the aura radiating from Damho in person was even fiercer and more threatening than described.
"Believe it or not, it doesn't matter. Like I said, you'll find out in time."
"You won't get that time."
Thud!
Damho stepped toward Geom Yeolcheon.
The roof tile beneath his foot crumbled to dust.
Drag! Thud! Drag! Thud!
Damho advanced, dragging one foot. A terrifying pressure, as if plunged into ocean depths, crushed Geom Yeolcheon's entire body.
Geom Yeolcheon's complexion changed slightly.
'Just as I'd heard.'
He didn't know how Damho had attained such strength in the Heaven Gold Demon Vault. But it surpassed Geom Yeolcheon's imagination.
'Can I handle him in my current state?'
Geom Yeolcheon briefly assessed his own condition.
Damho's ferocious killing intent pierced his skin like an awl. Even Geom Yeolcheon had never experienced such intense killing intent before.
It made his flesh crawl more than facing Shaolin's 108 Arhats Formation.
'This guy...'
Geom Yeolcheon's eyes gleamed.
It felt like a ray of light piercing the impenetrable darkness with no exit in sight.
Having steeled his resolve, Geom Yeolcheon gripped the sword at his waist.
Shing!
The sleek blade emerged from the darkness.
It was crafted with utmost care by a renowned artisan. It bore no name. For Geom Yeolcheon, what mattered wasn't the blade's name, but whether it could withstand his internal energy.
Thud!
At that moment, Damho kicked off the roof tile.
The impact caused the mansion's ceiling supporting his foot to collapse entirely.
Rumble!
A storm surged forth.
Thick veins bulged on the back of Geom Yeolcheon's hand gripping the sword hilt.
"Chaa!"
Whoosh!
Geom Yeolcheon's sword cleaved the air.
Blood Slaughter Rain.
The technique that had once shattered Shaolin's invincible legend, the 108 Arhats Formation, now unfolded toward Damho.
Rumble!
Sword energy poured down like rain.
In that instant, Damho's body blurred. His protective energy shield activated. His body trembled violently, like a beetle's wings.
Sword energy rain poured over Damho's blurring form.
Bang bang bang!
Damho's body shook violently.
His hair disheveled, blood burst from his nose and mouth. His eyes, burst with ruptured capillaries, burned crimson as if about to explode.
The sword energy striking Damho's body was deflected or dispersed. Though the energy was blocked, the physical impact accumulated within him.
His organs quaked, his qi and blood boiled. Yet Damho did not stop.
Breaking through the rain of sword energy, Geom Yeolcheon came into view.
Wavebreaker Fist unfolded.
Geom Yeolcheon bit his lip hard.
Too late to dodge.
'Can it hold?'
The sword he gripped tightly seemed precarious. But Geom Yeolcheon had no choice.
He swung with all his might.
Damho's fist clashed with Geom Yeolcheon's sword.
Craaack!
An explosive burst accompanied the release of compressed air.
The whirlwind ravaged outward, demolishing the mansion and laying waste to the surroundings.
From amid the thick rising dust, Geom Yeolcheon's voice rang out.
"Friend! We'll meet again."
Following that, Geom Yeolcheon shot up over ten yards into the air. Soaring like a divine dragon, he streaked across the sky like a meteor and vanished in an instant.
Damho watched, fist clenched tight.
Blood dripped from his fist, and at his feet lay the shattered fragments of Geom Yeolcheon's sword.
Geom Yeolcheon's blade had failed to withstand Damho's Wavebreaker Fist and broken.
Fsssh!
Intense heat emanated from Damho's entire body, his eyes blazing fiercely.
The power displayed by the two in this clash was evenly matched.
Just as Damho hadn't unleashed everything, neither had Geom Yeolcheon.
If anything, it was a draw.
Damho stared for a moment at where Geom Yeolcheon had vanished, then turned toward Myeongcheon's house.
The area where Damho and Geom Yeolcheon had clashed was devastated, as if struck by a thunderbolt. Over a dozen mansions had collapsed completely, spewing only dust.
Such destruction should have wiped out everyone in the vicinity. Strangely, no corpses were visible amid the rubble.
Myeongcheon's house was half-destroyed too. The walls had crumbled, exposing the interior.
Entering, he saw Jong Li-yeon collapsed on the floor. Fortunately, she appeared unharmed.
Damho lightly infused internal energy, and her long eyelashes fluttered. She soon regained consciousness.
Jong Li-yeon looked around in confusion for a moment, then gasped at the devastation.
"Gasp! What happened?"
"Where's Myeongcheon?"
"Pardon?"
At Damho's question, Jong Li-yeon blinked, unable to respond immediately.
Her memory returned.
"The old man suddenly apologized and struck an acupoint..."
"So that's how it was."
"What?"
Damho rose to his feet.
Neither Myeongcheon nor the old man was anywhere in the house. They had already vanished.
From the start, Geom Yeolcheon had no intention of fighting Damho seriously. He'd only bought time for Myeongcheon and the old man to escape the house.
Damho dragged his foot as he rummaged through the nearby collapsed house rubble. But no corpses were found. The houses had been empty to begin with.
'He bought up the whole area and left them vacant?'
Geom Yeolcheon was astonishingly meticulous.
By purchasing all the houses in the area, he'd perfectly shielded Myeongcheon from outside eyes. It showed just how important Myeongcheon was to him.
Damho looked at Jong Li-yeon, who gazed around in dazed bewilderment.
"What on earth?"
From her perspective, it was like a bolt from the blue.
"How did you come to know Myeongcheon? What's that guy's identity?"
"I... I don't know. Master just said he was someone who absolutely had to be healed."
"Where's your master?"
"She... passed away a few years ago."
Deep furrows formed between Damho's brows.
"Master devised most of the treatment for Myeongcheon. I asked about their relationship, but she never answered."
Come to think of it, her master had been an incredibly mysterious person. She possessed heavenly medical skills, yet nothing was known of her background or origins.
She had even kept her identity strictly hidden from her sole disciple, Jong Li-yeon.
"Master wanted me to live freely. So she never told me anything about her past. She said if I knew, I'd get entangled in karma..."
In the end, she knew absolutely nothing.
Damho could tell from Jong Li-yeon's expression that everything was the truth.
In short, Geom Yeolcheon had thoroughly outmaneuvered him.
"Interesting!"
Damho growled.
His gaze turned toward where Geom Yeolcheon had disappeared.
Though Geom Yeolcheon was long gone, Damho's eyes seemed to see him clearly.
Their connection had only just begun.
That's how it felt, strongly.