Chapter 218
Chapter 218
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Clash with the Supreme Spear
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Boom!
Je Cheon-gang took a heavy step forward, raising his iron spear at a slant to aim at Namgung Hyeok.
With a bewildered expression, he shouted at Namgung Hyeok.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
It was beyond ridiculous—it was absurd.
Not only had he blocked his own retreat, but he was even provoking him.
It was arrogance that went beyond mere confidence.
His attitude made it seem like he couldn’t care less about the situation around them.
A faint irritation and anger began to creep onto Je Cheon-gang’s face, which had initially been one of bewilderment.
The problems caused by Namgung Hyeok weren’t just one or two.
Not content with shaking up the Black Dragon Sect, he had stolen the goods meant for the council. And now, he was blocking the path ahead and scratching at his temper.
“Relying on your petty skills to act so boldly.”
A chill crept into Je Cheon-gang’s voice.
Namgung Hyeok smirked and wiggled his fingers even more ostentatiously.
Tap, tap!
“Hey, you filthy righteous faction bastard. You coming or what? Scared?”
“…….”
Je Cheon-gang tightened his grip on the iron spear.
And in that instant, as a fierce killing intent erupted from his body.
He charged forward explosively and thrust the spear.
In a flash, red energy swirled from the spear tip, drawing a vivid blood-red line through the air.
Shuuuuaaa!
It was a ferocious, intense strike that created the illusion of space itself tearing apart.
“Insolent fool!”
Je Cheon-gang bellowed.
He intended to dispatch the man blocking his way in one go.
His skills were impressive for such a youthful face, but that was all.
He didn’t for a moment think this opponent could withstand a strike from the man who had conquered Zhejiang Province.
But then.
Kieeeek!
With a cry like a wildcat’s screech, Namgung Hyeok deflected the iron spear and grinned.
Sparks flew along the blade, momentarily illuminating the surroundings.
“……!”
Je Cheon-gang’s eyes flickered slightly.
‘He blocked that?’
He couldn’t help but be shocked at how effortlessly Namgung Hyeok had redirected his iron spear.
It was a spear weighing over fifty jin. Even a glancing blow could shatter a skull, yet he had swept it aside like water flowing over paper.
Namgung Hyeok shot him a mocking sneer.
“What’re you so surprised about, punk?”
Clang!
Riding down the spear shaft, Namgung Hyeok unleashed a palm strike toward Je Cheon-gang.
Je Cheon-gang furrowed his brow, pulled back the spear, and countered with his own palm force.
The two palm forces collided in midair and exploded.
Boom!
They each staggered back a step.
Je Cheon-gang’s face twisted.
It wasn’t from the impact. The palm strike the opponent had deliberately thrown couldn’t possibly match the one he had instinctively blocked.
But that wasn’t the point.
‘A tie?’
No matter the reason, he was Zhejiang’s supreme expert. For him to match blows evenly with someone who looked barely in his thirties was shocking.
It was the moment he realized the exchange on the way to the pier hadn’t been luck.
Namgung Hyeok shook out his wrist and chuckled.
“Not bad, huh?”
Twitch!
Je Cheon-gang’s eyebrow twitched.
The fact that he had given the man room to mock him already wounded his pride.
“I’ll kill you!”
“When did I ever say I wouldn’t? You thieving bastard!”
“Shut your mouth!”
“Nah.”
Je Cheon-gang leveled his spear at the endlessly chattering Namgung Hyeok.
Rumble!
With a heavy step, he thrust his arm forward powerfully.
The spear shot out like an explosion.
Red energy swirled around the furiously spinning Black Dragon Spear, baring its fangs at Namgung Hyeok.
An attack on a whole different level from the first!
The aura bursting forth flipped the ground’s surface, sending debris flying in all directions.
Namgung Hyeok stepped with Infinite Steps, dodging the spear.
Shuuuaaaang!
A few strands of hair were sliced off by the spear shaft that grazed past perilously.
The ferocious glint in Je Cheon-gang’s eyes deepened.
Gripping the spinning spear tightly, he yanked the shaft.
The spear that had passed by whipped back instantly, aiming for Namgung Hyeok’s nape before thrusting forward again with force.
Swoooosh! Boom!
Splash!
Namgung Hyeok was sent tumbling back powerlessly.
As the distance opened, Je Cheon-gang unleashed a barrage of spear thrusts explosively.
The skill wrapped around the spinning Black Dragon Spear pierced like a drill.
Thirty strikes in a single breath.
It flowed with the momentum of a dragon gaping its maw to bite.
The Black Dragon Spear was like an extension of Je Cheon-gang’s body.
It stabbed with the tip, swept with the shaft, whipped back to strike, closed and widened distance as naturally as flowing water.
The red lines etched in the air stretched endlessly toward Namgung Hyeok.
Clang! Boom! Rumble!
Each blow felt like a crushing iron flail.
The ground cratered, auras rippled in concentric waves. The erupting shockwaves battered Namgung Hyeok like crashing waves.
Namgung Hyeok tried to counterattack but couldn’t handle the spear’s power and was pushed back repeatedly.
Je Cheon-gang grinned viciously.
“Let’s see how long you can keep dodging. You’ll still be talking even with your guts pierced, I bet.”
He didn’t like that the man was still deflecting and evading his strikes, but Je Cheon-gang brimmed with composure.
Even frantic dodging had its limits.
Splash!
Namgung Hyeok was pushed toward the collapsed pier and stepped into the water.
Seeing him lose balance in that instant, Je Cheon-gang’s eyes gleamed as he thrust his spear.
Energy gathered at the tip, unleashing an immense spear force toward Namgung Hyeok.
“It’s over!”
Shuuuaaaang!
The moment the Black Dragon Spear tore through the water toward Namgung Hyeok’s heart!
Blue lightning surged from Namgung Hyeok’s sword.
Crackle! Clang!
The sword and spear clashed, sending shockwaves that made waves rise like a wall before crashing down.
Je Cheon-gang’s eyes widened.
Namgung Hyeok had barely evaded the spear tip and blocked the shaft with his sword.
Crackle!
The flashing lightning writhed along the blade.
The power of the thunder coursing through to his fingertips made the tips of Je Cheon-gang’s eyebrows twitch violently.
“You’re from House Namgung!”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“Nope?”
“This level of thunder arts…….”
“Hey, I said no!”
Clang!
Crackle!
The destructive thunder energy pushed back the Black Dragon Spear and scattered everywhere.
Rumble!
At the same time, thunder boomed, leaving Je Cheon-gang bewildered.
“You are!”
“I said no! Not every thunder art is from House Namgung! Not every Taiji is from Wudang?!”
“You wretch! Daring to play word games with me!”
“Are your eyes blind? Why would this be House Namgung martial arts? Huh?!”
How could Heavenly Bright King Art and Triple Thunder Sword be House Namgung techniques?
Sure, they were based on Namgung family frameworks!
“By that logic, there’s no one who isn’t a Shaolin disciple!”
“What are you muttering?!”
“You think I’m not taking you seriously? You thieving punk!”
Boom!
Crackle!
Je Cheon-gang’s eyebrows twitched amid the thunderbolts engulfing everything within ten paces.
The swordsmanship was on a whole different plane from before.
Heavy, fast, and cunning.
Cunning?
Swoosh!
Splashing water to distract while stabbing at the eyes—Je Cheon-gang’s jaw dropped at such a tactic.
He didn’t hesitate to use groin strikes, something righteous faction folk would find abhorrent.
The swordplay, infused with thunder and flashing like lightning, brimmed with killing intent, targeting only vicious vital points.
Acupoints that crippled on hit, deadly spots that killed outright—he aimed without mercy.
‘Really not House Namgung……?’
No matter how murderous, righteous faction arts had their limits.
Yet this man’s techniques were all savagely cunning.
Even the supreme Je Cheon-gang of the world found himself flustered by the onslaught.
Moreover, the seasoned finesse at the sword tip was astounding.
“You bastard!”
Je Cheon-gang grabbed the spear’s butt end and shoved his shoulder forward powerfully.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted, and the spear shot out like a cannon, smashing away Namgung Hyeok’s incoming attack.
Kablooey!
Rumble!
The thunder and swirling red energy clashed fiercely, splitting the water flowing around the pier.
Namgung Hyeok, who had deflected the spear tip with his sword flat, let out a hollow chuckle.
“You’re seriously strong, huh?”
Namgung Hyeok smirked at Je Cheon-gang, whose pride was wounded.
Among those he had faced since awakening in House Namgung, this man was the strongest.
He outclassed even the black-clad leader who raided House Namgung or those from Gungmok’s secret vault.
And right now, he hadn’t even consumed the incomplete Golden Thread Pill or opened those two meridians, right?
Of course, the black-clads had been easy prey due to martial arts counters, but still, Je Cheon-gang was formidable.
He wielded the spear like his own body.
Even without profound spear insights, his movements embodied vast experience.
Just watching him swing the shaft like an iron flail or thrust the spear was terrifying.
Namgung Hyeok glanced back briefly.
The black-clads were leaping into the water toward the speedboats they had prepared amid the chaos.
Like carp swarming to the surface for tossed bait.
“Daring to get distracted?!”
Swoooosh! Rumble!
Namgung Hyeok deflected the spear with his sword flat and grabbed the shaft.
They were now locked in close quarters.
The two delved into an internal energy contest through the spear shaft and sword flat.
Veins bulged on Je Cheon-gang’s forehead.
Hummm!
‘This guy?’
Internal energy was all about time.
Physical prowess could be overcome with experience and training, but internal energy wasn’t something you could force.
It had to be built layer by layer, step by step.
That’s why martial artists scoured for divine arts and sparked bloodbaths over spirit herbs.
For Namgung Hyeok to match internal energy with a supreme like him was nonsensical from the start.
It defied the flow of time itself.
‘What the hell is this guy?’
Je Cheon-gang was aghast at the situation beyond common sense.
On top of that, some bizarre sensation disrupting and blocking his energy.
Unrelated to internal energy depth……
“Not visible from here, right?”
“What?”
“It’s gone, yeah?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Namgung Hyeok glanced at the pitch-black darkness.
All he could see was the inky river water. Even the Black Dragon Sect’s late-departing speedboats had long vanished into the distant gloom.
Watching Namgung Hyeok repeatedly glance at the water’s edge, Je Cheon-gang’s forehead veins throbbed.
In the pitch-black darkness, there was nothing to see.
Even a supreme like him couldn’t pierce the thick mist and shadows with his sight.
A sneer curled Je Cheon-gang’s lips.
“You think I can’t catch them just because they’re out of sight? They haven’t gone five hundred zhang yet. Then with the speedboats…….”
“Ah, so even you can’t see them?”
“You bastard, what have you been——!”
“Then no worries.”
Namgung Hyeok’s eyes flashed open as he grinned wickedly.
It was a devilishly evil smile.
As Je Cheon-gang glared with bulging eyes in bewilderment.
Flash!
Namgung Hyeok released his sword and leaped sideways. Je Cheon-gang thrust swiftly, but Namgung Hyeok was a step faster.
Slipping to the ground only to spring up, he kicked away a Black Dragon Sect disciple standing a step from the fight and snatched the weapon from his waist.
Ching!
A clear, crisp ring echoed.
Je Cheon-gang’s puzzled expression deepened.
“……A saber?”
Namgung Hyeok swung the willow leaf saber around before twisting his lips upward.
“Whew, been a while since I held a blade. You’re done for.”
Namgung Hyeok gazed at Je Cheon-gang, saber dangling at a slant.
“You dared to deceive me……!”
Je Cheon-gang, fuming, sucked in a breath.
‘What’s this?’
Namgung Hyeok’s aura changed completely the instant he took the saber. The pressure was worlds apart from when he held the sword, making his eyes tremble.
‘No way, it can’t be!’
With the saber, Namgung Hyeok was a completely different person.
That pressure and eerie atmosphere……
Namgung Hyeok took a smooth step forward.
“Come on, then.”
The blade tip wiggled tauntingly.
Despite the shift in aura, his demeanor remained unchanged.
Namgung Hyeok let out a pleased chuckle.