Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The Fleeing Blade
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"Amazing."
The voice of the Bright Moon Blade was utterly calm.
The subordinates he had brought with him just now.
Even after losing them all, his demeanor remained astonishingly composed.
"Not just Residual White Blood Claw, but also footwork, palm techniques, leg arts, sword arts..."
His eyes gleamed with a demonic light.
"Everything is from the Supreme Arts."
"You've got a good eye."
Cheonhwi slung his sword over his shoulder.
"They're decent techniques, sure."
"...The legacy left by the Shadowless Divine Thrower is more substantial than I thought."
"Wow. You're really persistent."
Cheonhwi clicked his tongue.
Was the ghost of not finding the Shadowless Divine Thrower's items haunting him?
He was sick and tired of the Bright Moon Blade constantly bringing up the Shadowless Divine Thrower.
"Anyway, if you're coming, come already."
Cheonhwi raised his sword again and beckoned.
An action close to provocation.
Combined with his lazy tone, it carried even more weight as a taunt.
"So confident."
The Bright Moon Blade wasn't shaken in the slightest.
Instead, he gripped his greatsword tighter, his expression colder than before.
His eyes sank deeply.
"The Yellow Sun Squad may be our sect's combat unit, but compared to other groups, they're just green rookies. Do you think I'm on the same level as those punks?"
On the same level?
Indeed, compared to the Yellow Sun Squad members, the Bright Moon Blade's skills were overwhelmingly superior.
Peak Realm and Transcendent Realm.
The wall between them was simply too vast.
And the faint bloody aura emanating from his body indicated he was no ordinary veteran.
But.
"Isn't it all the same?"
A bit better, but still similar.
'Peak or Transcendent, whatever.'
The Bright Moon Blade's eyebrow twitched.
"If provocation was your goal, it worked."
"Not really."
Cheonhwi replied indifferently.
He had merely stated a fact, with no intent to provoke.
But those words deeply stung the Bright Moon Blade, who had been steadily calming his mind.
"I want to rip you limb from limb right now..."
He unleashed his inner energy explosively.
A sinister demonic qi filled the hall, causing the martial artists to react violently.
"Ugh, urk!"
Hup!
Some paled, their legs giving out as they collapsed to the floor.
As more lost their composure, Yeorae Singwon and the Nahan monks hurriedly clasped their hands and began chanting sutras.
"...Amitabha."
"Amitabha."
The subtle chants slowly pushed back the Bright Moon Blade's demonic qi.
Veins bulged on Yeorae Singwon's forehead.
'Rumors of the martial world can't be trusted!'
The Bright Moon Blade's prowess was said to be Transcendent Realm, but far below that of a major sect's elder.
'But this power right now...'
Sweat beaded on his brow.
The Bright Moon Blade's skill far exceeded his expectations.
'He's on my level.'
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi remained unfazed even amid the surging qi.
'Judging by the energy, he's the Tyrant Blade type.'
Cheonhwi prepared to enjoy himself.
He wanted to gauge the level of the arts he'd read inside, but his previous opponents were too weak to measure.
'Better than those guys from before, at least.'
At that moment, lightning flashed in the Bright Moon Blade's pupils, turning them yellow.
This was the manifestation of his core cultivation method, the Thunderbolt Bright Ghost Art, altering his eyes.
His yellow gaze stretched long and slit-like.
Whoosh!
His uniform billowed dramatically.
"First, I'll make you submit."
Murmuring lowly, the Bright Moon Blade's upper body slowly tilted forward.
Whoosh!
He shot forward like an arrow.
'Interesting footwork.'
It was a highly unique movement technique.
Kicking off the ground as if there was no retreating, his upper body leaned fully forward.
The Bright Moon Blade utilized the weight of his greatsword and body to propel himself faster.
Whoosh!
In an instant, he closed to three steps before Cheonhwi and swung his greatsword from below upward.
Whoooosh!
Cheonhwi tilted his head back.
The blade grazed just below his chin, creating a massive pressure wave.
'...He dodged?'
Meanwhile, the Bright Moon Blade's pupils shook.
What he had just executed was his signature technique, the third form of the Thunderbolt Blade: Thunderbolt Soaring.
One of his fastest and most confident moves.
Yet the opponent dodged it easily.
'Few can dodge this.'
The Bright Moon Blade's eyes narrowed.
A swift blade unfit for a greatsword.
Thus, most seeing his sword arts for the first time lost their lives to Thunderbolt Soaring.
'Not an easy opponent after all.'
His gaze pierced Cheonhwi.
The opponent's upper body was fully exposed from dodging.
"Hup!"
The Bright Moon Blade immediately twisted his greatsword.
As he tried to reverse the upward swing, his muscles screamed and swelled massively.
Riiip―
His uniform tore, revealing thick arm muscles to all.
As tendons rose on his arms.
Crack!
He slammed the blade down with all his might.
Bzzzzzt!
In that instant, lightning struck from the air.
This was the fourth form of the Thunderbolt Blade: Thunder Response Opening Heaven.
'Oh ho, even thunder strike?'
Raising his head, Cheonhwi witnessed the greatsword descending once more.
Slower than Thunderbolt Soaring, but superior in power and versatility.
Seeing the lightning, Cheonhwi raised his sword.
Crackle!
Lightning sparked in the air.
Thunder Response Opening Heaven was blocked by Cheonhwi's raised sword, dissipating the thunder qi instantly.
'Even Thunder Response Opening Heaven?'
As the Bright Moon Blade's eyes widened in shock.
"...!"
Suddenly, alarm bells rang in his head.
Looking down hastily.
Cheonhwi's pure white sword was already slashing upward toward his waist.
Clang!
He urgently kicked off the ground and retreated.
"A counterattack in that situation."
The Bright Moon Blade's eyes sank deeply.
The sword he glimpsed in that split second.
Had he stayed put, his waist would have been severed.
Then.
"My turn now."
Cheonhwi moved.
The White Lotus Sword in his hand swung with eerie silence.
Swoooosh―
The Bright Moon Blade hurriedly twisted his blade.
Kaaang!
"Kuh!"
The Bright Moon Blade groaned.
Such a powerful strike.
The shock transmitted fully, making the greatsword wave like ocean swells.
But that was just the beginning.
"Not over yet."
Cheonhwi's sword changed.
Sometimes fast, sometimes grand.
The variations were too many to follow.
'Impossible...!'
The Bright Moon Blade swallowed hard.
The onslaught of sword strikes was no amateur's—far from inferior to his own.
'A monster like this exists!'
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi smirked at the Bright Moon Blade's shocked expression.
"Block well."
No sooner had he spoken.
Kaang! Kaang!
Cheonhwi's sword assaulted relentlessly.
The Bright Moon Blade at the center gradually backpedaled under the continuous strikes.
Thud.
He hit the wall.
Cornered, the Bright Moon Blade unleashed all his inner energy, swinging his greatsword.
His ultimate technique, pouring everything into it.
Drifting Wind Thunder Blade!
Storm winds enveloped the blade, lightning-fast, seeking to devour the foe.
But.
Slash!
Cheonhwi's sword swung first, severing his right shoulder.
"Gaaah!"
The Bright Moon Blade let out a scream of agony.
"Loud voice you got there."
Cheonhwi looked at him.
The screaming figure was utterly wretched.
Blood poured from the cleanly severed shoulder like a bowlful, soaking the ground, while his sword-arm convulsed on the floor ahead.
"D-Damn it!"
The Bright Moon Blade bit his lip.
He desperately pressed the wound with his left hand, but blood kept gushing.
'I'll die like this.'
Facing death's crisis, perhaps.
His mind raced sharper than ever.
'I can't die like this. Never.'
He no longer recalled his sect leader's order to find 'Ryeon'.
What filled his reason now was singular.
The raw desire to live.
Soon, he whipped his body around.
Tat!
And fled toward the iron gate.
"Huh? He ran?"
Cheonhwi sheathed his sword as the Bright Moon Blade vanished beyond the gate.
Yeorae Singwon asked in bewilderment.
"A-Aren't you going to chase him?"
"Why bother chasing such a hassle."
"But if we let him go now, he might come back for revenge..."
"Then I don't need to go to them. Perfect."
"G-Go to them? You mean the Sun-Moon Sect?"
"Yeah."
Yeorae Singwon's jaw dropped.
Who in the world could speak of facing the Sun-Moon Sect like that?
Not even the Murim Alliance Leader or the Unheavenly Society Chief could say it lightly.
Yet this young man...
Yeorae Singwon gazed steadily at Cheonhwi and posed the most crucial question of all.
"Are you of the Orthodox Sects or the Demonic Path?"
Yeorae Singwon's eyes took in Cheonhwi.
The arts he displayed.
It was impossible to tell if this youth was Orthodox or Demonic.
Sometimes like Orthodox arts.
Sometimes like Demonic ones.
As if blurring the line between righteous and evil.
"Just as you see."
"As I see?"
"If you see me as Orthodox, I am. If Demonic, then Demonic, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's all in the beholder's mind."
"...!"
Yeorae Singwon's eyes widened.
What did it matter if the youth before him was Orthodox or Demonic?
His actions were what truly mattered.
"Amitabha..."
A compassionate smile graced Yeorae Singwon's lips as he murmured the chant.
'Heh. I've taken refuge in the Buddha, yet I let the world's biases narrow my view.'
As Yeorae Singwon reflected on himself.
'Did I move too much?'
Cheonhwi rubbed his stomach.
Perhaps because he'd only eaten one Wall Valley Pill despite the hunger, his stomach deflated again after a bit of action.
His gaze naturally turned to Yeorae Singwon.
'Should I ask for one more Wall Valley Pill? Nah. Better to go out and get some liquor and meat than eat that tasteless crap again.'
Nodding to himself with a hum, Cheonhwi immediately put thought to action.
Tat!
Kicking off, he vanished from Yeorae Singwon's sight in an instant.
"Heh. Astonishing. Truly astonishing."
Yeorae Singwon smiled in admiration at Cheonhwi's movement technique.
"A divine being has appeared in the martial world."
Yeorae Singwon slowly turned.
Those who had been clinging to the walls of the hall, watching, swallowed hard.
'Damn! Shouldn't have sided with the Sun-Moon Sect.'
'Why'd that Bright Moon Blade have to lose!'
They were drenched in cold sweat.
Shaolin versus Sun-Moon Sect.
Choosing Sun-Moon had been the wrong call.
As they tried to hide carefully from Yeorae Singwon's gaze.
"All of you, follow me."
Yeorae Singwon called the Nahan monks.
Then, nodding at the collapsed wall through which Cheonhwi had emerged.
"Now, let's check inside the wall."