Chapter 331
Chapter 331
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 331
Chapter Title: No Permission to Die
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Startled, Pungri lifted his chin.
Raising his chin, he looked into the eyes of his opponent, who was about half a head taller, and moved his trembling lips.
"You... from the Blood Dragon Sect... and the Divine Brush Envoy..."
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
No, he didn't.
The smile lingering on the young man's lips had deepened.
It was unmistakably a sneer.
As Pungri closed his mouth, the young man's lips now moved.
"What was it you said? Ending the era of the Nine Provinces Triple Hegemons and returning the martial world to a realm where the strong reign supreme."
Cheonhwi recalled the words the Divine Brush Envoy had used to try to win him over in the past and spoke.
It was a grand ambition and plan.
They even had a justification.
Most hot-blooded martial artists sought to flaunt their skills in the jianghu and gain fame through them.
But what was the current era like?
Since the advent of the Nine Provinces Triple Hegemons, conflicts in the jianghu had mostly occurred under strict control.
That had lasted nearly half a century.
"Well, in the end, things turned out just as you wanted."
Pungri's pupils flickered wildly.
Watching this, Cheonhwi nodded knowingly, just as expected, and spoke again.
"Two of the Nine Provinces Triple Hegemons clashed, after all."
They say the flow of time dulls people and brings forgetfulness.
This meant even the absolute order of the Nine Provinces Triple Hegemons and the fame of the Eight Martial Gods faded more and more as time passed.
Proof of this was the ongoing war between the Evil-Black Alliance and the Murim Alliance.
In the past, those two factions would never have dared to wage war.
Pungri bit down hard on his lower lip.
A bitter taste of blood filled his mouth.
"Who... are you?"
His voice rose slightly.
"How do you know our purpose..."
As he spoke, his eyes widened in shock.
A horrifying thought had just flashed through his mind.
"You! Are you a disciple of the Eight Martial Gods?!"
Cheonhwi silently smiled at Pungri's startled shout.
He neither affirmed nor denied it.
He simply met Pungri's agitated gaze and mouthed the words he had said earlier.
"Find out for yourself."
As Pungri's face began to twist at those meaningful words and smile...
"Ah, no need for that now."
With those words, Cheonhwi thrust out his left hand.
His left hand sliced through the air and gripped Pungri's rigid throat.
And immediately pulled him in.
"Soon, Yama will let you know who I am."
"......"
Pungri clamped his mouth shut.
But only for a moment.
"Puahaha!"
Suddenly, he burst into laughter.
It was a laugh mixed with self-mockery.
He soon stopped laughing.
"I never imagined this would be my grave."
Pungri's eyes grew calm.
In truth, the moment his Supreme Harmony Heart Art collapsed, he had instinctively sensed it.
That he could not escape this death.
The innate qi he had drawn up to heal his internal injuries was evaporating, and the uncontrolled power of the Supreme Harmony Heart Art was gnawing at his meridians, acupoints, and body.
He could die at any moment.
Perhaps because of that,
he regained his usual composure.
"A life with no regrets."
Accepting death calmly, he moved his lips, now turning purple.
"But there's one thing I regret deeply—not witnessing the fall of the Nine Provinces Triple Hegemons era forged by the Eight Martial Gods."
His voice grew increasingly languid.
As his innate qi drained away, his life force was depleting.
Soon, strength left his entire body.
The sleep demon, from which he would never awaken, had come for him.
'Is this... death...'
Just as his eyes, on the verge of death, were about to close completely...
"Who said you could die?"
A cold voice pierced his ears.
Pungri flinched.
It was a voice infused with spirit.
The voice bored into his ears and struck his mind directly, as if to awaken his fading consciousness.
'Wh-what is this!'
As he panicked...
Grab!
At the same time, a brutal grip suddenly clamped around his throat.
"Guh!"
His breath choked off, and his eyes snapped open instinctively.
His widened vision cleared.
And he saw it.
Cheonhwi staring at him with indifferent eyes, right in front of his face.
Thud!
Pungri's heart sank.
It was an icily cold gaze.
As he met those eyes and felt an inexplicable terror raising goosebumps all over...
Whoosh!
A crystal-clear energy surged from Cheonhwi's entire body.
Cheonhwi, emitting sharp light from his eyes as he gazed at Pungri, parted his closed lips.
"Without my permission to die, you can't just end it on your own."
The moment those words ended, the crystal-clear energy churned from Cheonhwi's hand gripping Pungri's throat and enveloped him.
And then...
Thump!
Pure energy swirled through his 360 acupoints and three dantian.
Cheonhwi meticulously circulated his inner power.
The power of the Plum Blossom Divine Art richly flowed into Pungri's body, which had lost most of its innate qi and was little more than a breathing corpse.
'Im-impossible!'
Pungri's entire body trembled.
Vitality overflowed from his whole being.
The sensation was so bizarre that he wondered if this was all a dream.
Death had been right before him.
Yet this mysterious youth had forcibly extended his life.
It was utterly terrifying.
It meant his life was now at the mercy of this man's hand.
He had seen countless killers, but a martial artist who could save lives like this!
"You... who the hell..."
As the terrified man moved his lips...
Whoosh!
Suddenly, his consciousness expanded boundlessly.
Perhaps because the pure qi of the Plum Blossom Divine Art Cheonhwi had infused completed the Grand Heavenly Circuit.
As Pungri's fading awareness sharpened, his mind fully returned.
Even the forgotten excruciating pain.
"Kuaaaak!"
He screamed.
Not just the brutality felt through his gripped throat, but the searing agony from the sword wound still vivid in his side.
All the pain crashed over him at once.
Cheonhwi coldly smiled as he watched Pungri thrash in his grasp.
"Then, let's begin now."
With those words, he raised Hwamwol.
Hwamwol's blade reflected the moonlight pouring down, scattering patterns brilliantly.
The sight of flowers blooming under the chilling moonlight was truly beautiful.
Like welcoming the arrival of spring after winter's end.
"Uh, ugh..."
But Pungri, witnessing it, could not feel its beauty.
Because the sword blooming blue flowers was approaching him, emanating a sharp killing intent that seemed ready to slice through flesh on contact.
"......Uh, ugh!"
Pungri stared at the advancing sword in dazed horror.
Terror came over him.
But contrary to his desire to escape, Cheonhwi and the sword drew ever closer.
And moments later, atop the highest floor of Cheonhwa Tower, after the piercingly blue moonlight-filled blue flowers, vivid red blood flowers bloomed in all directions.
Feeding on screams.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "......Is it over?"
Cheonhyang muttered while staring at Hwacheon Tower.
It had been about an incense stick's time since Hwacheon Tower, which had been relentlessly unleashing explosive blasts and intense shockwaves, fell silent.
But neither she nor anyone around dared to approach Hwacheon Tower.
Then.
Swish―
Suddenly, a figure appeared before them.
It was a youth holding the nape of a blood-soaked man who looked like a corpse.
Cheonhyang's face lit up, and she ran over immediately.
Because the youth was familiar.
"Junior Brother!"
Cheonhwi hurled the man in his hand toward the gladly approaching Cheonhyang.
"Eh?"
Startled by the action, Cheonhyang hurriedly caught the tossed man.
And instantly frowned.
"......Ho Gwanggae?"
Ho Gwanggae's condition in her arms was horrific.
His entire body was drenched in blood, and there was a large hole in his shoulder.
"Why such wounds?"
As she looked up and asked...
"I chased him down, and he got caught and tortured, I suppose."
Cheonhwi answered indifferently.
His tone was nonchalant, as if he didn't care about the man's state at all.
"Tortured...?"
Cheonhyang's eyes turned icy.
Though she hadn't known Ho Gwanggae long, they were in the same Extermination Corps. Naturally, anger surged within her.
"Who did it?"
Her aura sharpened.
Like a finely honed sword.
"Pungri and the Black Ghost Squad Leader."
As Cheonhwi's momentum to sharpen further...
"And both are already dead."
Cheonhwi continued calmly.
"Junior Brother took care of them?"
"Well, yeah."
Cheonhwi said it casually, then lowered his voice and changed the subject.
"More importantly, has the entire Extermination Corps mobilized?"
"Everyone has."
Cheonhyang nodded with a serious expression.
"Just as Junior Brother said, right after the fighting stopped, some started fleeing."
With narrowed eyes, Cheonhyang recalled those who had moved hastily even before Hwacheon Tower quieted and spoke.
"Then let's go too."
As Cheonhwi moved to step forward...
"Wait. First, shouldn't we take Ho Gwanggae to the Medical Hall?"
Cheonhyang said, lowering her gaze.
Ho Gwanggae in her arms was breathing faintly at intervals.
"Hm, then we'll split here."
"That sounds good."
As Cheonhyang agreed...
"I'll take him."
A voice suddenly interjected.
Im Hayul, who had been hiding in the crowd to conceal her identity, walked over quickly.
"It'd be better for the Captain and Vice-Captain to move without me."
She said with a wry smile.
The mission wasn't over yet.
Though Pungri and the Black Ghost Squad Leader were dead, remnants of the Black Ghost Squad remained.
For such a task, it was only natural for the Captain and Vice-Captain, stronger than her in martial prowess, to lend their strength.
"Then, I'll leave it to you."
Cheonhyang smiled and said.
She handed Ho Gwanggae over, and Im Hayul, dressed unusually as a servant, swiftly hoisted him onto her back.
And murmured softly.
"See you later."
With that, Im Hayul departed.
"Let's go."
Cheonhwi said, looking at Cheonhyang.
Since they had planned ahead and discussed it beforehand, the two ran off without hesitation.
Toward where the dispersed Extermination Corps had gathered, encircling Bloodless Street.
Along the way...
"Did you send word to Jade Qilin?"
Cheonhwi asked Cheonhyang.
Jade Qilin and the Cheonjeong Squad's separation was bait to draw attention while also setting up a encirclement to catch enemies fleeing Bloodless Street later.
Cheonhyang nodded.
"A reply should come soon."
As Cheonhyang spoke softly...
A hawk gliding in the sky dove vertically, approaching them closely.
"They say even tigers come when mentioned, and it came right on time."
Cheonhyang smiled and said.
A small cloth was tied to the rapidly descending hawk's ankle.
"But it must have been urgent after all. Sending a messenger hawk like this."
Cheonhyang immediately extended her forearm.
Thud.
The messenger hawk landed on it.
Cheonhyang untied the small cloth from the ankle and handed it straight to Cheonhwi.
"Here."
Cheonhwi took the cloth and unfurled it.
And the moment he checked the contents...
"......"
Cheonhwi's eyes turned icy.
Because urgent words were scrawled wildly on the cloth.
⚠️ AMBUSH! ⚠️