Chapter 100
Chapter 100
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Battle Against the Shadows
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Geon Cheon-hwi raised his saber forward and glared at the men in black as he watched Namgung Hyeok walking toward Gwi-yeong.
‘These bastards….’
They exuded a temperament remarkably similar to the ones he had seen in Hefei.
‘So it’s them from back then.’
As the distance closed, his certainty grew.
When they faced off three zhang apart, the atmosphere and momentum they emitted felt strikingly similar.
Geon Cheon-hwi hardened his expression.
His body tensed slightly, muscles coiling with power.
Memories of the life-or-death battle at the Silver Phantom Horse Gang in Hefei flooded back.
Defeat after defeat.
The recollection of that impenetrable wall tensed his body, but Geon Cheon-hwi didn’t show it.
‘It’s different from back then.’
Geon Cheon-hwi steadied his breathing and issued orders.
“Sync your breaths and maintain spacing. Think of this as do-or-die—if we lose, we’re dead.”
It wasn’t a joke; it was the truth.
Back then, Namgung Hyeok had been there to save them, but now Namgung Hyeok was off facing the enemy leader.
Defeat meant death.
“I won’t die until I’ve lopped off every one of those bastards’ heads.”
Tak Hyeok-dong, beside him, rubbed the blood-soaked axe on his clothes vigorously, his fighting spirit blazing.
Jang Ung, at his side, silently gripped his twin blades and stared ahead.
Everyone was tense, but their resolve remained unbroken.
Geon Cheon-hwi circulated the Ten Thunder Arts.
Immediately after, Tak Hyeok-dong and Jang Ung did the same.
As they channeled their inner energy while aligning with the Ghost Valley Chain Formation’s directions, a strange energy flow arose centered on the three of them.
Whooooom!
The moment their weapons resonated.
“They’re coming.”
The men in black closed in rapidly.
A ferocious momentum surged forth, as if to tear flesh.
Baekyeong, the Soul Shadow in black, leaped at Geon Cheon-hwi from the lead.
Geon Cheon-hwi, tense, lifted his saber.
Energy coalesced within the flow created by the Ghost Valley Chain Formation.
The Ten Thunder Arts resonated, drawing Baekyeong’s blade into the formation’s space.
Geon Cheon-hwi’s eyes gleamed.
‘I see it!’
One step to the side.
The opponent twisted his body to seize a tricky position.
A small motion creating a massive flow.
Geon Cheon-hwi shifted one step to deflect Baekyeong’s blade, then another to shatter his spacing.
Tssshaaaak!
As Baekyeong faltered momentarily, the Thunder Dragon Saber ruthlessly plunged into the gut of the black-clad man to his left.
“Guhk!”
The black-clad man staggered, fatally wounded by the sudden swift strike.
As he tried to retreat, Geon Cheon-hwi twisted his blade.
Suddenly, a powerful suction erupted from his saber, yanking the retreating black-clad man back.
Grrrrrind!
“Kuh, keuk!”
The man, pierced through gut and spine, screamed hoarsely and went limp.
A thrill of ecstasy lit Geon Cheon-hwi’s face.
‘It works!’
Not just that his trained sword formation worked.
These were the fiends from Hefei—their root momentum rivaled that of the leaders back then.
Yet he had severed one in a single stroke, even if by surprise.
What was clear was that Namgung Hyeok’s teachings held true.
He had said that against ordinary foes, adjusting spacing alone would secure victory.
Moreover, the Ghost Valley Chain Formation Namgung Hyeok taught had doubled the speed of the Ten Thunder Arts’ flow, enabling that strike.
It happened almost simultaneously.
As Geon Cheon-hwi slew the black-clad man with a surprise attack and advanced another step, Baekyeong reentered the Ghost Valley Chain Formation.
Baekyeong’s eyes widened.
The fierce flow of the formation suppressed his movements.
The pressure felt like being swept into a torrent, beyond imagination.
The ghostly flame at his blade tip flickered wildly, like a candle in the wind.
Baekyeong gritted his teeth and aimed for Geon Cheon-hwi’s back.
“You rat!”
Tak Hyeok-dong burst forward, swinging his axe.
Baekyeong groaned through clenched teeth at the momentum that could split a mountain.
“Keut!”
Baekyeong barely dodged Tak Hyeok-dong’s axe.
But the axe swung relentlessly without mercy.
Shiiiaaang! Boooom!
Baekyeong’s pupils shook under the ferocious axe strikes.
‘What the hell?’
The opponent’s movements surpassed imagination. That power wasn’t something he could easily withstand.
Meanwhile, his own body felt as heavy as a thousand jin, and the ghostly flame at his blade tip wavered, drained of strength.
Clang! Kwaaaang! Boom!
The impacts and strain on his body felt several times greater.
‘With just a Three Talents Formation?’
This was beyond what a mere Three Talents Formation could produce.
As he blocked Tak Hyeok-dong’s axe, Jang Ung surged from below, targeting Baekyeong’s ankle.
The formation’s flow shifted instantly, crumbling his balance.
Slash!
“Keut!”
Baekyeong, slashed across the thigh, unleashed Ghost Scatter Hand with venomous eyes.
His claw-hand hooked sharply toward Jang Ung, but within the shifting formation flow, Geon Cheon-hwi’s saber suddenly thrust from the left.
Rumble!
“Kuhuut!”
Baekyeong groaned and glared at Geon Cheon-hwi.
“Cough.”
As he eyed the blade piercing his chest and lunged forward, perhaps for mutual destruction.
Crack!
Tak Hyeok-dong’s axe cleaved Baekyeong’s skull in one blow.
Spluuurt!
Blood sprayed as Tak Hyeok-dong spat roughly.
“Hack, ptui! If you’re gonna die, die clean!”
Baekyeong’s form thudded to the ground.
Despair clouded the faces of the black-clad men.
It wasn’t just Geon Cheon-hwi, Tak Hyeok-dong, and Jang Ung—the entire Thunder Dragon Squad had trapped the black-clad men in the Ghost Valley Chain Formation.
* * *
Namgung Hyeok spun his sword idly, then tilted his head.
“Hey!”
Gwi-yeong’s eyes narrowed as Namgung Hyeok approached with measured steps.
“But seriously, who the hell are you guys? Rolling in from some ditch?”
“…….”
“What do you get out of helping with a rebellion? Oh, plenty to gain, I bet.”
Namgung Hyeok kept twirling his sword, scanning Gwi-yeong up and down.
Gwi-yeong showed no agitation at his words.
Whirr whirr whirr!
Namgung Hyeok narrowed the distance bit by bit, cocking his head sideways.
No emotion could be read in the eyes revealed beneath the mask.
A subtle smile tugged at Namgung Hyeok’s lips.
He felt an urge to shake those emotionless eyes.
“How did you restore the Blood Yin Dragon Claw?”
Muttering as if to himself, Namgung Hyeok’s eyes lit up as he gauged Gwi-yeong’s reaction.
The moment he mentioned the Blood Yin Dragon Claw, Gwi-yeong’s response shifted subtly.
Namgung Hyeok pressed on.
“And you only restored it halfway, poorly at that.”
A faint ripple stirred in Gwi-yeong’s eyes before settling.
‘He knows the Blood Yin Dragon Claw?’
Not asking what it was, but how it was restored.
It meant he knew the lost martial art had been revived from the start.
In the current martial world, how many could recognize the Blood Yin Dragon Claw at a glance?
It wasn’t something a mere late-stage expert could discern.
Gwi-yeong broke his silence.
“What’s your true identity, you bastard?”
Namgung Hyeok’s lips parted.
“I asked first?”
A scoff leaked from beneath the mask.
“Interesting. For the second young master of House Namgung to know the Blood Yin Dragon Claw.”
“I know a lot of things.”
Gwi-yeong’s expression chilled at Namgung Hyeok’s smug tone.
He had many questions, but no need to probe.
The conclusion was set the moment he saw through the Blood Yin Dragon Claw—no, from the moment the situation unfolded like this.
He drew a light breath and spoke.
“You’ve given me one more reason to kill you.”
“Oh, you’re gonna kill me? Fine by me. But since you grant the dying’s wishes, how about spilling how you restored the Blood Yin Dragon Claw first?”
Gwi-yeong’s eyes twitched at Namgung Hyeok’s drawling tone.
“Survive my hands, and I’ll tell you. Not that you will!”
Gwi-yeong stepped forward.
In that instant, he appeared ghost-like before Namgung Hyeok, who had been three zhang away, as if folding space.
A stealthy footwork silent and devoid of presence, yet lightning-fast.
Gwi-yeong’s hand formed a claw, dyed blood-red.
Shiiiaaaaak!
Five crimson blood lines tore through space, slashing the air.
An attack fierce enough to rip steel like paper.
The overwhelming pressure dwarfed the version used by the Ghost Hand.
Namgung Hyeok countered the incoming Blood Yin Dragon Claw energy with Infinite Step.
He drew a large circle to deflect it, raising his sword to block the force.
Craaaang! Craaack!
A thunderous roar echoed alongside the crisp snap of planks splitting.
Namgung Hyeok slid back, carving a deep furrow in the floor.
‘Hm!’
The shock transmitted along his blade was stronger than expected.
Gwi-yeong’s eyes darkened further.
‘He blocked it?’
It wasn’t a technique one could casually deflect.
Movements hard to believe came from a late-stage expert.
His wariness surged.
Gwi-yeong swiftly moved toward Namgung Hyeok as he regained his stance.
Closing distance with footwork, he circulated the Blood Yin Dragon Claw.
Sharp, eerie energy flowed from his fingertips.
Once reaching a certain realm, the Blood Yin Dragon Claw could slice steel like tofu.
The energy Gwi-yeong unleashed shredded the air as if to rend it apart.
Hundreds of force threads netted toward Namgung Hyeok like a web.
Each one sharp enough to effortlessly tear steel.
The blood web of the Blood Yin Dragon Claw!
As the blood web flew to shred Namgung Hyeok to pieces, his sword moved.
Pok pok!
Namgung Hyeok’s sword poked the air repeatedly, punching holes in the blood web hurtling to turn him to rags.
Sasasasak!
Kakakakakak!
Hundreds of lines scarred the floor, white dust billowing up.
Moments later, as the dust cleared, Gwi-yeong’s face stiffened at the scene.
‘What the?!’
As if prearranged, the blood web had bypassed Namgung Hyeok’s position entirely.
Hundreds of lines gouged the floor, yet Namgung Hyeok stood unscathed atop them.
‘How in the world?’
Poking the air a few times with his sword to hole the blood web?!
Piercing its flaw in that brief moment was astonishing enough, but creating holes in the blood web was more so.
The blood web melted like snow upon touching Namgung Hyeok’s sword.
Impossible.
The Blood Yin Dragon Claw’s energy was potent enough to cut steel.
It couldn’t be holed so easily.
Crackle!
A bolt of lightning flashed in the air and vanished, making Gwi-yeong’s visible eyes narrow beneath the mask.
He charged at Namgung Hyeok again.
“Haaap!”
The Blood Yin Dragon Claw poured toward Namgung Hyeok once more.
Namgung Hyeok traced Infinite Step to widen the gap and evade.
As if anticipated, his reaction was a step faster.
Provoked, Gwi-yeong unleashed the Blood Yin Dragon Claw even more savagely.
Kakakakakakang!
Blade-sharp energy whipped in all directions.
Shuuuaak!
Long furrows gouged the ground, a pillar sliced clean and toppled with crashes.
Gwi-yeong, face twisted in savage fury, pursued Namgung Hyeok while unleashing attacks.
Namgung Hyeok dodged nimbly, deflecting the Blood Yin Dragon Claw.
Heh.
Namgung Hyeok smirked, tilting his head to evade once more.
Gwi-yeong ground his teeth.
‘…He knows the Blood Yin Dragon Claw inside out!’
Realizing Namgung Hyeok didn’t just know the name but its forms, Gwi-yeong was shocked.
The bastard pierced and withdrew like a ghost, grasping the breathing and gaps.
A suffocating sensation gripped him.
Irritation boiled into rage.
Gwi-yeong’s face contorted demonically.
“Dodge this too, you rat!”
He extended his claw-hand fully and thrust forward powerfully.
Ghost Soul Palm burrowed toward Namgung Hyeok’s chest.
Kiyaaaaaaa!
A eardrum-shattering wail accompanied the surging black palm force.
A lethal palm technique of crushing weight that would pulverize the five viscera and six bowels on impact.
As this palm of utterly different nature from the Blood Yin Dragon Claw sought to smash Namgung Hyeok’s heart in one go!
Crackle!
Lightning coiled around Namgung Hyeok’s blade as he thrust to meet the incoming Ghost Soul Palm.
Kwa-rung! Shaaaak!
Booooom!
Gwi-yeong recoiled in horror as the sword pierced his palm force like slicing clay and drove into his shoulder.
He flipped his body desperately to evade the blade, eyes bulging.
Crackle crackle!
Sword energy wrapped in Namgung Hyeok’s lightning incinerated the Ghost Soul Palm in an instant.
Namgung Hyeok waved away the smoke rising from his sword tip and looked at Gwi-yeong.
Heh.
Namgung Hyeok grinned playfully.
“You, uh… picked the wrong opponent.”