Chapter 75
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Egg Against Stone
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Thud. Thud.
The sound of the masked man's feet pounding the ground slammed into Yu Hyun's ears like thunderclaps.
Had he been concealing his energy?
I thought he was just some mutt, but he's a damn fighting dog.
"You— that ambush you pulled off just now was pretty ferocious."
"......"
Rumble.
Yu Hyun narrowed his eyes at the masked man's confident gaze as he slowly advanced, shoving aside the crushed air.
"What's wrong? Why don't you keep yapping like you were before?"
"......"
"Scared? Did seeing my gang qi freak you out?"
"Scared?"
The masked man's words twisted Yu Hyun's lips into a sneer.
Crazy bastard. Thinks he's a tiger just 'cause he can manifest gang qi.
Go ahead, stick some millennium steel dentures in that dog mouth of yours. See if it turns you into a tiger.
Sneering inwardly, Yu Hyun sorted through the new information.
A guy who can wield gang qi like that isn't some bluffer.
Which means he's probably one of the enemy's key warriors— someone who'll cause major trouble down the line.
And moreover...
Yu Hyun's chilling gaze swept the surroundings.
Even with his underlings throwing themselves into the strikes of the Peerless Martial Arts and collapsing, the man showed no reaction whatsoever.
He probably sees them as disposable pawns he can toss anytime.
Yeah, that's how you assholes are.
Kill people for no reason, then don't give a shit about the underlings who throw their lives away in blind loyalty for your goals.
That way...
Killing you doesn't weigh on my conscience.
"Damn it. I wasted time holding back to cool my head..."
Finally, Yu Hyun slowly exhaled and straightened his back.
"Oh? You gonna give it a shot?"
"Yeah."
"You're insane. I can't even sense proper inner strength from you, and you wanna fight me— someone who's reached the gang qi realm?"
"......"
Yu Hyun didn't answer.
The masked man was right.
It was like an egg striking a stone.
For someone at his level to face a gang qi warrior was sheer idiocy, reckless bravado that anyone could see was suicidal.
Anyone would say the smart move here was to wait for the monster who could crush him with a flick of the wrist.
But...
I can't hold back.
I'm pissed at this guy who slaughters innocents without a shred of guilt, who doesn't even show a flicker of sorrow for his underlings who threw themselves in to protect him.
So I'm fighting.
I have to— or this boiling rage won't settle.
"What, getting cold feet now that it's time to charge? Thinking of begging for your life?"
"......"
Ignoring the masked man's taunts, Yu Hyun banished every last bit of leisure from his body.
When he'd glimpsed the gang qi surging unstably, it hadn't been fully refined— just nascent gang qi.
If a mid-tier expert had reached full maturity, he was barely at the entry level.
Compared to Nangong Seong, he was a monster, sure— but if it was only half-baked, then there was a chance.
From here on, every move had to be like walking a blade's edge.
One tiny slip, and it was death.
"Huu..."
As he exhaled, Yu Hyun relaxed his muscles, easing the tension, and spread his spirit energy evenly from his heart to every corner of his body.
The heart's pulsing, which had been flooding his meridians with spirit energy, gradually calmed. His mind settled into a state neither cold nor hot.
"Huu..."
When the breath flowed out once more, no emotion lingered in Yu Hyun's eyes.
"Balls shriveling up or something? Can't even think of moving?"
"......"
"You bastard! If you're not coming, I'll take your head first!"
The moment the masked man, who'd been mocking him mercilessly, raised his sword from its diagonal guard for the attack— his view of the blade face was briefly obscured.
Yu Hyun didn't miss that split second.
"Hup!"
The sharply inhaled breath swelled his chest and halted.
Spirit Heart Core Method: Breaking Mirror.
In that fleeting instant, the spirit energy stationed in his limbs surged into his muscles, shattering the limits like a mirror reflecting his form cracking apart.
Bang!
He launched.
Yu Hyun's body rocketed forward, skimming the ground as he unleashed the spirit energy inside him in one explosive burst.
Shuuu!
He immediately swung his sword at the masked man's ankle.
"Hmph!"
Clang!
The masked man stomped the ground to block, his sword surging up and sending dirt flying everywhere.
Scatter!
Yu Hyun slapped the ground with his hand and leaped back, spinning like a top to redirect the rebounding force of the deflected sword.
Slashes!
The sword traced a whip-like arc toward the masked man's waist.
"You—!"
Faster than before.
Clang!
He barely blocked, but Yu Hyun's sword didn't stop.
He lightly caught the rebounding blade, kept his speed, added power— and the trajectory blurred beyond visibility.
Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!
As the sword whipped relentlessly, faster and faster, the masked man seemed trapped within the paths it carved.
Even as a gang qi master, he was now hard-pressed just to defend.
Breaking Mirror transcended his power's limits for a split second, like shattering the mirror reflecting his body.
And woven into that power was a swordplay born from ripping apart and reassembling Huashan's Plum Blossom Sword and the Beggars' Sect's Iron Beggar Staff to the extreme of variation.
Change, illusion, speed.
All of it phantom feints, yet every stroke lethal amid the chaos.
As the assault accelerated, the masked man's defenses faltered— his clothes tore, scratches bloomed on his skin.
But Yu Hyun was straining just as much.
Breaking Mirror's brief duration suited breathless barrages that poured power into single strikes.
He'd held his breath since that initial inhale— now it backed up in his throat, and the constant exertion flushed his face blood-red, like it might burst.
But he didn't stop. Didn't rest.
He poured everything into making his sword even faster than before...
"Pah!"
The barrage halted as pent-up breath exploded out, and Yu Hyun's sword faltered.
"You bastard!"
Thud!
The masked man shifted into the sword's blind spot, driving his knee into Yu Hyun's gut.
"Urk!"
Thump, slide.
Yu Hyun rolled hard across the ground before springing back up.
"Hu, hu..."
Panting raggedly, he still glared at the masked man with fierce eyes from a safe distance.
The knee's force had his legs trembling involuntarily.
But it wasn't fruitless.
The tatters of his clothes, the blood seeping from exposed flesh...
That was enough.
No tree withstands endless chops; no iron defies endless grinding into a needle.
If the masked man's gang qi sword was the pillar's foundation stone, Yu Hyun's was the waterfall.
Keep falling, and eventually it bores through.
"You fucking shit! I'll kill you!"
"......"
Enraged at his wounds, the masked man charged Yu Hyun, spewing fury.
Yeah, keep thrashing like that.
All the while, you'll soak yourself in your own drizzle of blood.
Flash!
Yu Hyun launched again.
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang!
As time passed and clashes piled up, wounds multiplied on the masked man, while Yu Hyun's face paled.
His method resembled a stonecutter's hammer relentlessly pounding a sturdy shield.
But the inner strength gap was unavoidable.
The gang qi warrior's rebound force.
Each clash sent vibrations rattling through him, worsening his internal injuries.
"Youuuu bastard!"
Facing the enemy's massive swings was growing tougher, but... he gritted his teeth and endured.
Grind!
Screech!
As the masked man's blade twisted on contact and slid away, Yu Hyun yanked back— his straight-thrust sword tip grazed the man's shoulder.
Flesh tore, blood sprayed.
But that heightened power drew a faint bloodline across Yu Hyun's lips.
"Grk!"
Unable to hold longer, his breath burst out, and he dodged the whipping sword gang by leaping back.
"Hahk, hahk..."
Ragged breaths flowed.
Yu Hyun eyed the masked man.
His clothes hung in rags, wounds gaping, blood dripping to soak the ground.
The supreme rock of gang qi was cracking bit by bit under the iron egg that was Yu Hyun.
Just a little more... just a bit more!
"Hup!"
Bang!
His body felt like ten thousand catties, overtaxed muscles screaming in tear, but Yu Hyun charged again.
Yet he was still weak, and the masked man stronger than expected.
Grind! Clang!
Failing a full dodge, Yu Hyun's body lurched wildly.
"You rat bastard! Got you!"
Damn...
Even as Yu Hyun pulled back desperately, the masked man clung tight behind.
He'd barely cracked it open...
The masked man's sword arced vertically in a massive swing, poised to cleave him in two.
In that instant, spotting the man's exposed neck behind the blade, cold venom filled Yu Hyun's eyes.
No dodging.
He might take a grievous wound, his precious spirit energy might halve— but this bastard dies!
Rumble...
Yu Hyun stomped the ground hard, rearing up.
Not fleeing, but hurling himself into the attack.
Spirit Heart Core Method: Spirit Burn!
Roooar!
Spirit energy surged and burned away rapidly, heart pounding like it might explode— Yu Hyun twisted, thrusting his sword at the man's throat.
Boom! Slash!
A ferocious blast and rending sound erupted together.
Bang!
Struck by gang qi, Yu Hyun's body flew like a cut puppet, crashing into the dirt.
"Urgh!"
Trying to rise, he staggered and collapsed again, vomiting dark crimson blood.
Damn gang qi...
Clutching fading consciousness, Yu Hyun lifted his head.
The bastard?
"......Grgh. You bastard."
"......"
The halted masked man clutched his gushing throat, eyes blazing murder.
The wound... shallow. Didn't go deep.
Shit, he dodged in that split second?
His final gambit, burning half his spirit energy— but exhaustion made the tip miss true.
Fuck...
Through blurring vision, Yu Hyun saw the masked man approach, spewing crimson energy.
"You look too spent to even stand..."
"......"
"What drives you? What makes you cling so desperately?"
Watching Yu Hyun rise and fall repeatedly, still struggling upright, the masked man gripped his bleeding neck and asked coldly.
"Urgh... ha, ha... Why?"
"Yeah, why? You knew from the start you couldn't win..."
"Kuk, kukuku."
"......"
After vomiting blood once more, color returned to Yu Hyun's face. Venom filled his weary eyes as he glared.
"You dogshit fuck. If you're powerless, just pretend you don't see it?"
"What?"
"That's not how life works... Even powerless... some things you can't turn away from."
"......"
"Someone's gotta do it, fuck... You gotta try. Can't let scum like you who treat lives like toys run wild. Innocent bodies are cooling... can't let assholes like you lounge warm in bed with legs stretched."
Yu Hyun shot the masked man a piercing glare, then lightly deep-breathed, closing and opening his eyes.
But something felt off.
His face and eyes, quivering with rage moments ago, were now eerily calm.
As if he'd exhaled all his fury clean away.
"But I'll admit it. I can't win. Not yet..."
"What?"
"What else? I'm giving up. That last attack was my final shot."
"......I see."
As the masked man nodded and approached, Yu Hyun laughed more hollowly.
Realizing no chance, preparing for death. That's what the man thought.
But...
"Kuk, kekeke."
"......"
Suddenly slumping and laughing, Yu Hyun made the approaching masked man frown.
What an odd bastard.
From rage to calm, now laughter? Emotions flipping like the wind?
"Brain fried from facing death?"
"......Who said anything about dying, you punk?"
"......?"
"Use your eyes. Look around before you talk."
"What?"
The masked man whipped his head around.
No, not there.
Even lost in battle, how's a gang qi punk this dull to presence?
Someone once said: What's dishonor in a fight? Dead man's dead— whose blade matters not.
Means and methods don't matter to achieve the goal. Drilled into me till my ears blistered.
Wasn't for nothing I lured him out alone.
A premeditated strategy, just in case.
Grinning at the approaching masked man, Yu Hyun suddenly spun toward the woods and bellowed.
"Help me! Master!"