Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Martial God
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Just two and a half sichen had passed.
"Enemy general?"
Ak Muyoo wiped the blood trickling from his mouth and asked.
"Correct."
"No wonder it felt a bit spicy. I'm Black Wind."
Ak Muyoo pushed himself upright as he spoke.
"You're the leader of the Wind Corps?"
"That's right."
"A big fish has taken the bait."
Gorgan raised his saber, aiming it at Ak Muyoo. A sunset glow shimmered at the tip of his blade. It was the introductory form of the War Wolf Ten Forms, the chieftain's martial art of the War Wolf Clan.
"That's what I think too."
Ak Muyoo tugged lightly on his hand, pulling the Fear Demon toward him. As it came within reach of his palm, he seized the handle.
Pa-at!
The moment he gripped the Fear Demon, he charged forward.
As he ran, his entire body turned black. Following the Black Demon Diamond God, he unleashed the Beast Blood Demon Art, opening all his senses wide. His eyes, ears, nose, and skin monitored every direction, while his mouth drew in the surrounding air, sending it through his lungs to every part of his body.
Dung-dung-dung-dung-dung! Dung-dung-dung-dung! Dung-dung-dung-dung-dung-dung!
His heart pounded wildly, pumping blood furiously.
"Taha!"
Gorgan shouted his spirit cry first.
His War Wolf Saber terrifyingly cleaved through space. The air where the saber passed was visibly sliced apart.
"Chaaaa!"
A spirit cry erupted from Ak Muyoo's mouth as well, and the Fear Demon in his right hand tore through the air at terrifying speed.
Strength and speed.
Those were the only things Ak Muyoo trusted.
The weight generated by internal energy had to be substituted with the weapon's own mass. A divine blade that cut iron like tofu, a weight too heavy to swing easily, muscles as tough and strong as spider silk, and lightning-fast speed. He could only rely on those four.
Kwaaaang!
An unbelievably dull roar exploded from the clash of two razor-sharp weapons.
Ziiiiing!
A massive force riding the Fear Demon and its iron chain whipped Ak Muyoo's arm. His arm went numb as if struck by lightning. The clashing Fear Demon bounced back. The rebound force was immense, like someone yanking his arm mercilessly.
"Chaaa!"
Ak Muyoo let out a spirit cry and swung the Fear Demon in his right hand again. But this time, it didn't fly straight. It split into dozens, advancing forward. What Ak Muyoo unleashed alongside the Mad Thousand Blood Steps was the Death Bind of the Life-Death Bind.
The speed at which the Fear Demon moved in the Death Bind was no different from before.
"Euk!"
Gorgan was startled.
From the previous clash, he had realized that Ak Muyoo's weapon carried no internal energy. That meant no internal strength. Yet this attack was overwhelming. It wasn't something to dismiss just because it lacked infused energy.
"Chaha!"
There was no time to be surprised.
Gorgan's War Wolf Saber moved too fast for the eye to follow.
Kwang! Kwang-kwang-kwang! Kwang-kwang-kwang!
Dull thuds rang out without cease.
Gorgan was indeed a master. Not only did he instinctively strike down the Fear Demon, which was impossible to track with the naked eye, but he also pushed his own energy through it into Ak Muyoo's body. Once an opponent's energy entered the body, it was like being poisoned. It could be expelled immediately without issue, but if it accumulated, it would gnaw at the internals, eventually crippling the entire body.
'But that's exactly what I want.'
Ak Muyoo let the invading energy stay inside him. Only in extreme situations could he draw out superhuman strength, and awaken the Latent Great Force. On top of that, he held out hope that he might even attain the Superhuman Great Force that So Dae-hwa had mentioned.
'Torture grants freedom.'
Freedom from frailty, from groveling before the strong. Freedom from the self-loathing of 'I was born this way, so what can I do?'
"Chaaa!"
A spirit cry burst from Ak Muyoo's mouth. His left arm lashed out strongly through the air, unleashing the Death Bind.
Ak Muyoo deployed the Death Bind with both hands. Though the same technique, the sequence and speed differed.
"Heuk!"
Gorgan paled in shock.
He swung his War Wolf Saber with all his might. A massive barrier formed before him. It was the Saber Wall, a shield formed from saber energy.
When a martial artist deployed qi from a weapon, fist, or palm to create a shield, it was called a "wall." As long as internal energy sustained it, it wouldn't vanish, and its hardness exceeded iron.
Kwaang! Kwang-kwang-kwang-kwang! Kwang-kwang-kwang!
The Fear Demon relentlessly pounded the Saber Wall.
"Tahaha!"
Gorgan thrust his War Wolf Saber forward and advanced. Ak Muyoo didn't retreat. He unleashed the Death Bind with both hands at full power, battering the Saber Wall.
An unprecedented clash pitted internal energy against raw strength. Ak Muyoo seemed to hold for a moment, but he was steadily pushed back. Even as he retreated, he didn't stop the Mad Thousand Blood Steps. He continued it relentlessly, whether advancing or withdrawing.
Pushed back ten zhang, he advanced five, then was pushed back another ten. The encroaching pressure eroded his body, and Gorgan's infiltrating energy worsened his internal injuries. Blood began trickling from his mouth.
Seeing blood, Gorgan pressed even harder.
Gorgan held the advantage, but the fight didn't end. Meanwhile, time flowed on, and a full sichen passed. More blood flowed from Ak Muyoo's mouth, but his movements remained unchanged from the start.
'Why?'
Gorgan was puzzled.
Ak Muyoo had sustained internal injuries a sichen ago. Any ordinary martial artist would have collapsed long ago. Yet Ak Muyoo still stood, and the power in his saber remained the same. No, it felt even stronger.
It was a situation that begged questions.
Neither Gorgan nor Ak Muyoo himself knew it was due to the Latent Great Force.
Since the source of his attack power was his muscles, not internal energy, internal injuries didn't weaken his strikes.
Meanwhile, Gorgan gradually tired.
Another sichen passed, and Ak Muyoo retreated another two hundred zhang.
Far away, onlookers watched the two fight.
They were Luha and Gun Cheokjeon's group.
"He looks in danger. Aren't you going to help?"
Gun Cheokjeon asked Luha.
"He told me to leave him be."
"......"
Gun Cheokjeon silently watched Ak Muyoo.
Gorgan's legs were planted firmly in the ground as he swung his saber, while Ak Muyoo's two legs and two arms moved like mad. He looked perilously unsteady.
"He said that's how you're helping him."
Luha spoke again.
"He's trusting in the Superhuman Great Force?"
Luha wasn't the only one who had heard So Dae-hwa's words. Gun Cheokjeon's group had heard them too.
"I've never thought deeply about martial arts. But that So Dae-hwa seems to know a lot."
"You're saying it's true because So the general said it?"
"That's what I think. And it's the only thing that guy has to believe in."
"I see."
Gun Cheokjeon looked back at Ak Muyoo.
Ak Muyoo was enduring, though with difficulty.
"Who is he, anyway?"
"We don't even know that guy's name yet."
"......"
"That's how the Wind Corps is. They say they don't even introduce themselves to each other."
"Why?"
"To increase survival chances, apparently."
"Is not introducing yourselves really connected to survival odds?"
"I don't know either. If he survives and comes back, I'll ask him then."
"He'll survive."
Hoo-uk! Hoo-uk! Hoo-uk!
Ak Muyoo breathed raggedly.
His arm and leg muscles felt completely numb. When the Fear Demon he swung with full power rebounded, he felt no recoil. His mind was filled only with the thought of grabbing and pulling harder and faster at the terrifyingly fleeing target. He felt no pain, so he couldn't tell what was wrong. Blood kept pouring out.
'I... can't lose. If my legs move, my body follows. If my body follows, my arms move. If arms lead, body follows, and if body follows, legs move on their own. Just don't fall.'
"Chaha!"
His throat was hoarse; barely any voice came out. Yet Ak Muyoo swung both arms and kicked with both legs. Each time he stepped, sand rose, and falling sweat droplets hung in the air as if held by some force. Soon, the droplets spun in place.
Pik!
Unable to withstand the pressure, they burst. More droplets fell, lingering three chi above the ground before spinning.
Then they burst.
The height at which sand rose from the ground was consistently three chi.
Peok! Peok! Peok! Peok!
Ak Muyoo relentlessly deployed the Mad Thousand Blood Steps. In this situation, it was the only thing he trusted. Of course, he had also pushed his beast senses to the limit with the Beast Blood Demon Art and maintained the Black Demon Diamond God state.
His eyes were fast, hands fast, legs fast.
But Gorgan was a powerhouse.
He pressed Ak Muyoo with the War Wolf Ten Forms without pause. His saber pierced through the Fear Demon several times, but it couldn't inflict wounds.
The Sun Guard Aura and Black Demon Diamond God defended Ak Muyoo's body like an iron fortress.
'Unbelievable.'
Gorgan was dumbfounded.
This was his first such fight.
Until now, there had been a brief respite between executing one form and the next—short, but enough to plan the next attack and regulate his energy.
But now, there was no such time at all.
For fully two sichen, he had attacked and defended without a single break. Ak Muyoo clung like a leech, refusing to let go. When Gorgan retreated, he pursued; when Gorgan advanced, he withdrew while ceaselessly swinging his bizarre weapon.
He couldn't even dream of exploiting the slightest opening to retract his energy.
Energy had to be extended and retracted like breathing. Yet he had only extended it without retracting, for two whole sichen.
Like suffocating from exhaling without inhaling, failure to retract energy caused problems.
Yet Gorgan hadn't retracted his energy for two sichen. He had managed brief retractions here and there. Without even that, his internal energy might have depleted long ago.
But it wasn't enough.
The retractions weren't complete, so there was no initial discomfort. But as time passed, issues emerged bit by bit. Subtle deficiencies accumulated, growing larger. Now, his energy flow was blocked like a choked throat.
He had reached a point where he couldn't attack without retracting energy deep from his dantian.
What dumbfounded him further was Ak Muyoo.
It wasn't solo madness; they had fought each other. Yet Ak Muyoo showed no signs of fatigue.
No, blood streamed from his mouth, so he clearly wasn't normal. But his power didn't wane. Over two and a half sichen, swinging that massive heavy weapon, yet his two arms remained fine.
And his footwork legs?
Still flawless.
No, growing more refined as time passed.
"Is that... Absolute Great Footwork?"
Gorgan cried out in shock.
Shuwaaak!
At that instant, the Fear Demon flew at terrifying speed. It was a perfect one-cut two-sever, without variation.
The greatest advantage of one-cut two-sever was concentrated power. Purely for slicing, with zero waste. Its simplicity made it easy to dodge, rendering the advantage meaningless.
But in a decisive moment like now, one-cut two-sever surpassed any supreme divine art.
Gorgan hastily laid his War Wolf Saber horizontal.
Kwaang!
Pook!
His feet sank into the sand.
Swiaak!
A chilling sound came from the left.
Gorgan immediately raised his War Wolf Saber vertically.
Kwaang!
A dull thud exploded at Gorgan's side.
'Ugh!'
Gorgan inwardly screamed and stepped back. Ak Muyoo opened his mouth and grinned. His teeth, visible between parted lips, were stained red with blood that had flowed down his throat.
"Just two and a half sichen, Gorgan."