Chapter 98
Chapter 98
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Traitor's Demonic Edge
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Namgung Jangcheon wore a grave expression.
A sinister aura emanated from the inky black energy spreading like poison.
It was an alien inner force utterly impossible for any righteous sect's martial art.
No heart method of the Namgung Clan could possibly cultivate such阴湿, vicious qi.
Namgung Baek stroked the blade with his sword-gripping hand and smiled.
It was the swordsmanship he had received from Gwi-yeong: the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms.
Namgung Baek looked deeply satisfied at the power that had repelled Namgung Jangcheon in an instant.
"To think it's come to this—does it really matter now what I've cultivated?"
It was as good as admitting he had mastered demonic arts.
Namgung Jangcheon's face twisted.
"You've gone mad, Namgung Baek! No different from the past. You foolish man, chasing greed without conviction!"
"Had you stepped down from that seat long ago, none of this would have happened. It's just your incompetence breeding greed!"
"Silence! You no longer have the right to stand in the main house. I'll force you to your knees and punish you a hundredfold for one offense!"
"If you can!"
Namgung Baek intoned coldly as he stepped toward Namgung Jangcheon.
Namgung Jangcheon likewise executed the Emperor's Dominion Stride while circulating the Celestial Thunder Divine Art.
Pajijijik!
Blue eyes flashed as lightning rippled over his shoulders.
Kung! Kung! Kung!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, and thunderbolts began arcing from his sword blade.
Pajik! Kururung!
In contrast, Namgung Baek's sword scattered puffs of black sword qi, oozing a阴湿 aura.
A hazy mist-like energy cloaked the blade.
Tsutsutsut!
Their auras clashed, sending lightning crackling.
Namgung Jangcheon's face hardened like stone.
'His qi has changed.'
He had said he prepared for ten years—how had he hidden such a martial art?
Demonic arts, no less!
What greed for the Family Head's seat could drive a Namgung Clan elder to learn unorthodox lore?
It showed utter disregard for the clan's very identity.
Namgung Jangcheon's eyes sank calm as a still lake.
His own qi shifted, slicing through the momentum Namgung Baek scattered as he advanced.
The sword, which had soared to mid-heaven, now plummeted downward.
The erupting thunderbolt was ferocious enough to cleave the sky, swift as a meteor.
Vast Azure Sky Sword, One Flash Streaming Plains.
It was the pinnacle sword art embodying the mysteries of heavy and swift strikes.
Namgung Baek's sword moved a beat late.
Sword light bloomed like a fan, conjuring 108 sword shadows in the air.
The 108 sword shadows clashed with the falling thunderbolt.
Jjeojeojeojeok-!
A deafening roar like thousands of porcelain shards shattering at once.
The initial strike of the Vast Azure Sky Sword, mighty enough to sunder a mountain, lost its power and scattered emptily.
Namgung Jangcheon immediately altered his sword path.
Over the pouring sword shadows, the Vast Azure Sky Sword traced a circle, weaving a net.
For all the myriad changes in Namgung Baek's sword, they lacked the vitality of the Azure Heavens' variations, whose vessel was vast and profound enough to encompass all creation.
Hwiing!
The Azure Heavens Divine Sword trapped and crushed Namgung Baek's swordsmanship.
Martial arts relying on shortcuts without foundation could not match the depths of the pinnacle Azure Heavens Divine Sword.
Yet Namgung Baek did not erase the sneer from his face.
Jjiing!
The fanning sword shadows converged to a single point.
The Vast Azure Sky Sword missed Namgung Baek's abruptly changed blade, exposing a gap.
Namgung Baek, master of the Namgung Clan's arts, knew the Vast Azure Sky Sword's forms inside out—and thus its flaws.
Without hesitation, he unleashed the first form of the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms into that fleeting opening.
Namgung Jangcheon recoiled in shock, hastily retreating to block and counter Namgung Baek's sword.
But Namgung Baek, having seized the advantage, pressed relentlessly without allowing a counter.
Jjeong! Jjeojeojeong!
Namgung Jangcheon retreated step by step, barely parrying Namgung Baek's sword.
Namgung Baek burst into mad laughter.
"Kuhahaha! So you're nothing special after all! Is this all you've got!"
Namgung Baek's sword tenaciously targeted Namgung Jangcheon's vital points.
Namgung Jangcheon struggled to block with the Vast Azure Sky Sword.
Ka-aang!
With a sharp metallic clash, Namgung Baek's sword sliced through Namgung Jangcheon's collar.
Cracks began forming in the sword barrier formed by the Vast Azure Sky Sword.
"Let's see how long you last!"
Into the exposed gap, Namgung Baek twisted his blade.
Huwoong! Kwaang!
Dozens of black lines streaked through the air.
A savage, razor-sharp sword momentum poised to shred Namgung Jangcheon.
Pushed into defense, Namgung Jangcheon fell back further.
"Huaap!"
He roared like a lion and twisted his sword path.
With Lightning Flash Thirteen Thunders and Thunderclap Grasp, he countered Namgung Baek.
Kururung!
The swordsmanship embodying thunderbolts crashed against Namgung Baek's blade amid thunderclaps, the Thunderclap Grasp yanking his sleeve to disrupt his balance.
Namgung Baek anchored himself with Thousand-Jin Anchor and squeezed out his inner force.
The Ghost Heaven Ten Forms' energy on his blade grew fiercer.
He repelled the swift Lightning Flash Thirteen Thunders with explosive power in one breath.
The seized sleeve he twisted back, countering likewise with Thunderclap Grasp.
Jje-eong!
Like striking a giant bell, both Namgung Jangcheon and Namgung Baek skidded backward.
Namgung Jangcheon recovered his stance first, but his expression was far from pleased.
A sinister qi creeping up his arm was disrupting his inner force flow.
By the time he expelled the sinister qi with Celestial Thunder Divine Art and reinfused his energy, Namgung Baek was already lunging like a beast, thrusting his sword.
A movement so swift it left afterimages.
Namgung Jangcheon took a deep breath.
'If I can't suppress him...'
His momentum shifted in an instant.
The surrounding air grew heavy as a ponderous aura emanated from his sword.
The Family Head's signature ultimate art: Emperor Sword Form.
Scorching heat waves rippled along the blade's tip as he advanced with Emperor's Dominion Stride.
Huuuuk!
The scenery seemed to be sucked toward Namgung Jangcheon's sword.
An immense pressure crushed the surroundings from his blade.
As the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms' sword shadows crumpled under the Emperor Sword Form's weight, Namgung Baek startled and fell back.
Chiiik!
The ground touched by the Emperor Sword Form sank, hot air rising.
Namgung Baek's face hardened like stone at the might it unleashed.
'As expected of the Emperor Sword Form.'
How much effort had he poured into acquiring that sword art?
'This too shall soon be mine!'
Namgung Baek unleashed the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms, launching himself while flicking his sleeve.
He then infused inner force into a poison pouch hidden in his sleeve and hurled it.
Peok!
Right before Namgung Jangcheon's nose, the poison pouch burst, spewing white powder.
"Such cowardice! Hup!"
In that split-second gap as Namgung Jangcheon's breath hitched, Namgung Baek charged.
Swish!
"Die!"
Namgung Baek shouted, putting strength into his grip.
Jjeong!
"Kuh!"
Namgung Jangcheon grunted stifled and flew back, but quickly regained footing to block Namgung Baek's assault.
Namgung Baek's brows furrowed.
"Just give up and die! Kill only you, and I'll spare the rest! So die!"
Even using poison to seize momentum, he couldn't easily subdue Namgung Jangcheon.
The man hadn't claimed the Family Head's seat for nothing.
Namgung Jangcheon scattered thunderbolts to block Namgung Baek's attacks.
He even exquisitely blended sword and palm arts to pressure Namgung Baek.
Enraged, Namgung Baek bellowed.
"Impossible!"
Kwarurung! Kwang!
Two sword qis tangled in midair.
At point-blank range, they thrust, slashed, retreated, and clashed.
Emperor Sword Form and Ghost Heaven Ten Forms intertwined.
Swuaang! Kwang!
The fierce battle's tide gradually tilted toward Namgung Baek.
He knew Namgung Jangcheon's swordsmanship, but Namgung Jangcheon knew nothing of the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms—that slight edge led to clear results.
'Yes! It's done!'
One more step!
One more thrust!
He could seize everything Namgung Jangcheon possessed.
Finally ascend to his rightful place, the Family Head's seat.
In that moment of aspiration, as Namgung Baek swung for Namgung Jangcheon's throat—
A single sword qi slashed between them.
Kwaaaa!
Caught by the sudden force, Namgung Baek hastily twisted his sword.
Kwarurung! Pajijijik!
Namgung Baek slid sideways, terrified by the thunderbolts racing up his blade.
Lightning fiercer and clearer than the Namgung Clan's Celestial Thunder Divine Art.
Above all, the power that incinerated the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms' sword qi in one go shook Namgung Baek's eyes.
'...How?'
Could the Ghost Heaven Ten Forms' sword qi vanish so easily?!
His shocked gaze turned toward the sword qi's origin.
Namgung Baek immediately scowled.
"You again..."
Namgung Hyeok twisted his lips as he ascended to the high seat.
"What're you staring at?"
Namgung Baek's face contorted viciously.
Ignoring him, Namgung Hyeok casually turned his head.
Namgung Jangcheon, who had been steadying himself, called out in surprise.
"Hyeok-ah!"
"Huh..."
Namgung Hyeok lightly grimaced.
His clothes were in tatters—not a minor setback.
His gaze alternated between Namgung Baek and Namgung Jangcheon before he scratched his head.
"You're letting me off easy, right?"
"...I was trying to subdue him."
"Subdue him?"
Subdue?
This guy, seriously?
Talking about subduing in a situation like this?!
'Ah, but he's family, huh?'
Yeah, blood ties and all.
"Even so, does 'subduing' make any sense!"
"There's something I need to learn. Then I'll punish him a hundredfold."
Oh man, what a frustrating guy.
"That's only possible if he's alive, you know?"
"..."
"And subduing... no, for a bastard like that, just lop off his head—that's subduing! Split the heart, gut him, leave him unable to move!"
If I die, it's all over—who's left to subdue?
You subdue someone who can be subdued!
"Guys with dirty backs don't spill unless cornered. If it was coming out, it would've by now!"
Namgung Hyeok rolled up his sleeves briskly.
"Then I'll take his head. He's got nothing to do with me anyway, and I've never liked him since way back."
Startled, Namgung Jangcheon tried to stop him.
"Hyeok-ah! He's not your match. Worlds apart from the Azure Heavens Division Leader! Your father will finish this—stand back!"
"Ah, take a break. I'll handle it. Or wanna do it together?"
Not his preference for joint attacks.
Still, given the circumstances, Namgung Hyeok had no intention of refusing.
"Your father will handle it—step back!"
"No, let's do it together."
"Ahem!"
Namgung Baek's face crumpled as he listened to the father-son banter.
Weren't they looking at him like a rat in their palm?
"You mad fools! How dare you spout such nonsense before me!"
Namgung Hyeok eyed Namgung Baek with indifference.
"Oh, you heard that?"
"Arrogant whelp. I'll surely sever your head! And everyone connected to you—I'll slaughter them all and feed them to the wild dogs!"
"Wild dog pups feasting today. But do they like old meat?"
Veins bulged on Namgung Baek's forehead at Namgung Hyeok's mockery.
The kid was a master at needling nerves.
Then Namgung Jangcheon spoke in a resonant voice.
"Give it up! Soon the Emperor Sword Brigade and Heavenly Dragon Squad will finish securing the perimeter and arrive!"
The moment the Emperor Sword Brigade and Heavenly Dragon Squad joined, it would be over.
So Namgung Jangcheon believed.
But a twisted smile lingered on Namgung Baek's lips.
"You talk like you've already won."
"The situation is already..."
"Didn't I say it earlier? I've prepared for ten years. Right on time."
"What do you—"
Namgung Jangcheon furrowed his brow, then flinched and turned.
Through the open main gate, a group charged with ferocious momentum.
"Wh-who are they?!"
Clad in black robes alongside Mt. Huang Sword Commander's warriors, they surged like waves.
Their appearance flipped the battlefield's air in an instant.
At that moment, black-clad figures appeared from the rear gate as well.
The one at the forefront, wearing a black mask, casually tossed something from his hand.
Deguldegul.
Namgung Baek grinned wickedly.
"Looks like your awaited Emperor Brigade has arrived. Kuhuhu."
The head of the Emperor Brigade Leader rolled to Namgung Jangcheon's feet.
Namgung Jangcheon's face trembled violently.