Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: The Plum Blossom Divine Knight Appears
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Mujongdo's expression subtly hardened.
A young Taoist in his early thirties had kicked Giyeonno far away with a single step.
Even though Giyeonno was of a lower realm than him, he was not someone who could be defeated so easily.
Tensing up, he glared at Cheonhwi.
But at that moment.
Thud.
Cheonhwi's figure suddenly vanished.
The moment he widened his eyes in shock.
Slash!
A chilling sound pierced his ears.
Mujongdo urgently whipped his head around.
Already, one of his subordinate's heads was soaring through the air, spraying blood.
'When?!'
And that was not all.
Cheonhwi had somehow infiltrated the midst of the bandits and was swinging his sword with utter indifference.
Incredibly fast and brutal!
Splurt!
Every time he swung his sword, the limbs of nearby bandits flew into the sky, and their chests split wide open.
Screams erupted belatedly.
"Gah!"
"Argh!"
Mujongdo's eyes shook at the scene that had instantly turned into an asura field.
'Is this a Taoist's sword...?'
It was a sword of unmatched cruelty.
And Cheonhwi, who had wrought such results, showed no change in expression.
As if it were only natural.
The merciless slaughter sword swiftly reaped the lives of his subordinates without a shred of mercy.
Soon, their numbers surpassed ten.
"U-Uwaaah!"
The bandits, gripped by fear, began stumbling backward.
Mujongdo's face twisted horribly as he watched.
'At this rate, I'll only lose my subordinates!'
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Mujongdo immediately kicked off the ground.
Aiming for Cheonhwi's back as he ravaged his men, he swung his willow leaf saber with full force.
A perfect ambush exploiting an opening.
However.
Clang!
Mujongdo let out a short groan and slid backward just as he had charged forward.
Pushed back about five jang, he straightened his body and worked his mouth.
"Ptoo!"
Having suffered an internal injury, he spat blood-tinged saliva onto the ground, then glared coldly at Cheonhwi as his lips moved.
"There's only one enemy. Don't retreat."
The bandits, who had unconsciously backed away from Cheonhwi, finally came to their senses.
'Our numbers overwhelm him!'
'Just one enemy...'
Fighting spirit blazed in their eyes as they shook off the fear that had dominated them.
Now calm, they raised their sabers.
Centered on Mujongdo, the bandits' killing intent surged toward Cheonhwi.
But Cheonhwi, the target himself, brushed off their killing intent lightly.
'Only ten?'
Counting the bandits he had cut down, Cheonhwi stepped forward with a light motion.
In an instant, as he unfurled his hidden weapons, his hand gesture guided the White Lotus Sword in a massive arc from left to right.
Whiiiiiish!
With the sound of air being rent, a crimson slash charged forward at terrifying speed.
Mujongdo gasped involuntarily.
The momentum in the slash felt intense enough to cleave the world in two.
He had to dodge immediately.
But the slash was closing in at frightening speed even in that moment.
'Too late...!'
Mujongdo desperately raised his willow leaf saber to block the incoming slash.
"Urk!"
Barely swallowing the scream that nearly escaped his lips, Mujongdo twisted his wrist gripping the saber with all his might.
Kakakang!
As the flexible willow leaf saber bent and began emitting an ominous sound like it might snap.
"Arrrgh!"
Gritting his teeth, Mujongdo roared and poured all his internal energy into the saber.
He struck the slash upward.
Kwaaaang!
The deflected slash crashed into the cliff behind, leaving a massive scar.
"...Gulp."
As the bandits stared blankly at the cliff.
"Huff... huff..."
Mujongdo panted heavily.
'What kind of slash is this...'
His hand clutching the saber still trembled uncontrollably, refusing to calm.
Then, a low voice sounded.
"Huh, you blocked it."
Cheonhwi regarded Mujongdo with an indifferent gaze, then raised his sword again.
"One wasn't enough after all. Tsk, no helping it."
With those words, the moment Cheonhwi swung his sword and another slash shot forth.
"...Damn it all!"
Mujongdo cursed unwittingly.
This time, it was not one, but several slashes hurtling toward them.
"Everyone, run!"
Mujongdo bellowed.
But the slashes that had already torn through the air engulfed him and the bandits in an instant.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kwagwagwang!
Hearing the intense explosion, the Bandit Lord furrowed his brow and turned his head.
Dense dust billowed up.
And the aura emanating from within greatly stimulated his senses.
"I thought without the Mount Hua Divine Sword it would be fine, but it seems there's another expert."
Muttering to himself, the Bandit Lord looked ahead. Hyeonsang, his robes and entire body stained with blood, had his sword raised.
"You still have the strength to stand?"
Sneering once, the Bandit Lord launched his body forward.
Approaching Hyeonsang without a sound, he drove his fist into his abdomen.
Thud!
With a heavy sound, Hyeonsang's upper body bent sharply forward.
"Cough!"
Hyeonsang spewed a gush of blood.
Profound energy had penetrated deep into his body, shaking his dantian, and he could feel the serious internal injury.
The Bandit Lord seized Hyeonsang's lowered head by the neck and hoisted him up high.
"Urk!"
Hyeonsang groaned.
A crescent smile curved the Bandit Lord's lips at the sight.
"Before you die, I'll show you something amusing."
With those words, he lifted Hyeonsang to survey the surroundings.
'...!'
Hyeonsang's pupils quivered.
The situation at Mount Hua was dire.
The bandits, leveraging their superior numbers, had surrounded the Mount Hua disciples.
Hyeonryeo and Hyeonheo, along with the other elite disciples, were desperately resisting while protecting the younger ones, but it was insufficient against the emboldened bandits.
Confirming the thick air of defeat, Hyeonsang felt as if all the blood in his body was surging upward.
"Heh heh, how does it feel?"
Watching the tightening encirclement together, the Bandit Lord turned to Hyeonsang.
"To be the last Sect Leader of Mount Hua Sect."
"You...!"
His surging rage burst the veins in his eyes, and bloody tears streamed down.
Gazing into Hyeonsang's blood-wept eyes, the Bandit Lord burst into mad laughter.
"Hahaha!"
He felt as if he could soar into the heavens.
How long had he waited for this day?
"Excellent, splendid. To have a Sect Leader of the Nine Great Sects beneath my feet..."
Ecstasy thrilled through his body.
Who could have imagined it?
The Green Forest exterminating Mount Hua.
It would have been unthinkable in the past.
Yet now, he stood on the cusp of achieving this monumental feat.
The Bandit Lord's green eyes gleamed as he locked gazes straight with Hyeonsang.
"Farewell."
With those words, strength surged into his hand.
"Urk!"
As the vicious grip crushed his throat and Hyeonsang gasped for air.
Whiiiiiish!
A sharp something shot forth with the sound of air being shredded.
"Daring to attack...?"
The Bandit Lord hurled Hyeonsang aside.
Slide—
Hyeonsang flew over ten jang, tumbling across the ground and covering himself in dust.
"How dare you...!"
The Bandit Lord spread his palms wide.
His hands, covered in scars, clashed with the incoming slash.
Kwajik!
The Bandit Lord crushed the slash in his grasp.
"..."
His nose bridge wrinkled.
A tiny sword mark had been etched into the palm that blocked the slash.
'To leave such a wound on my hand, akin to an indestructible divine body...'
His eyes sank coldly.
His body, trained in the Golden Bell Shield to its limits, was at a level where no blade could leave a mark.
No renowned expert in twenty years had ever scarred him.
'This aura is the one I felt just moments ago...'
Narrowing his brows, the Bandit Lord looked toward the direction from which the slash had come.
Step— step—
A young Taoist was slowly approaching, dragging a corpse with one hand.
The moment he revealed himself, the Bandit Lord's brows furrowed even deeper.
'Such a young whelp?'
Just as he frowned at the unexpectedly youthful Taoist contrary to his expectations, a voice came from the side.
"Cheon... hwi..."
Hyeonsang, collapsed on the ground, gazed at the approaching Cheonhwi with a gentle smile.
For someone who had faced death moments ago, it was far too hopeful and bright.
'That kid is Mount Hua's greatest expert...? Cheonhwi, was it?'
Soon, the Bandit Lord's eyes widened.
'I see. He's the Plum Blossom Divine Knight.'
Only now did he understand the intense aura from before and this slash.
'I thought the rumors were exaggerated.'
The Bandit Lord's brows creased.
He knew the Plum Blossom Divine Knight well, having heard his ears ring from the Evil-Black Alliance and his subordinates before invading Mount Hua.
The rising star of the murim.
One whose prowess surpassed the Flying Swallow Sword Lord, who had single-handedly crushed the Evil-Black Alliance's elite Black Shadow Corps.
'His current aura exceeds even the rumors.'
Gazing at Cheonhwi slowly approaching, the Bandit Lord lightly rolled his neck.
'I must kill him.'
He had seen only a single strike.
But the Bandit Lord felt it.
No matter what, he could not be allowed to live.
'Even if Mount Hua falls, as long as he survives, the sect's legacy will endure.'
At that moment.
Thud.
Cheonhwi stopped five jang away and tossed the corpse aside.
Thump.
Seeing the corpse land at his feet, the Bandit Lord twitched his brows.
The corpse bore gruesome sword marks across its entire body except the face, enough to instinctively furrow one's brows just looking at it.
'Just as the Evil-Black Alliance reported, merciless in his strikes...'
As he scanned the wounds, the Bandit Lord flinched.
"...Mujongdo?"
Only now confirming the face, he looked again in shock.
"As expected, you block more easily than that one."
A low voice sounded.
Cheonhwi stared straight at the astonished Bandit Lord and twisted his lips.
A blatant sneer.
Seeing it, the Bandit Lord took a step forward, closing the distance with Cheonhwi.
One step, one step.
The gap of nearly five jang narrowed until they stood but a single step apart, facing off.
A distance where the first to move might suffer a fatal wound instantly.
Yet neither acted rashly.
As they stared at each other for a moment.
"Hahaha! So that's how it is!"
The Bandit Lord burst into roaring laughter.
"It was strange. Even if the Mount Hua Divine Sword reached the Heavenly Martial Realm, he couldn't have taken down the White Lion God alone. But now it makes sense."
The Bandit Lord unleashed his fighting spirit.
His gray robe flapped fiercely as it surged, and his green eyes flashed.
"It was you."
Fighting spirit dwelled in his green eyes.
Thick, viscous killing intent.
"The one who defeated the White Lion God."
Cheonhwi slowly raised his head, meeting the gaze of the Bandit Lord looking down at him.
"Yeah. I took him down."
"Kekeke!"
The Bandit Lord laughed maniacally.
Matching him, his fighting spirit rampaged wildly, distorting the space around him.
A mystical sight.
But both the Bandit Lord who created it and Cheonhwi watching up close remained impassive.
However, the moment the Bandit Lord abruptly cut off his long laughter.
Kwajik!
Both stomped the ground simultaneously.
The Bandit Lord's fist tore through the air, smashing down toward Cheonhwi's face.
Cheonhwi twisted his body, drawing his sword from below upward.
It happened in a flash.
Fist and sword collided.
Kwaaaaang!
The ground shook violently.
A massive shockwave erupted from the pair, rippling outward like waves in all directions.
"What!"
Heok!"
"What's this?!"
Hyeonsang was swept away by the crashing waves of the shockwave, while the bandits and disciples fighting at a distance staggered.