Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Battling the Typhoon
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"Another one on the right! Two more on the left! Release the center rope! The center rope! Hey, you idiot! I said release the center rope! Yeah, that one! Now left, right again, left, left, right..."
The bald man with the snake tattoo clung to a rope behind the monk like he was hugging him, while the Righteous Alliance woman pulled on a rope with the hunchback, facing each other.
Soon after, the Demonic Cult woman met up with the Righteous Alliance woman. A moment later, the monk and the pockmarked youth were face-to-face.
After about an hourglass's worth of time, the Righteous Alliance folk and Demonic Cult members were thoroughly jumbled together.
There was no time to think. The waves relentlessly slamming the gunwales, the wind howling as if tearing the air apart, the thunder shaking heaven and earth—there was no chance to catch their breath.
Then, at some point, the Righteous Alliance woman spotted something and shouted.
"What's that?"
Heuk Do-san instinctively glanced in the direction she pointed. Beyond the churning waves, a massive black wall was rising at terrifying speed.
"Damn it!"
It was a flood wave.
When small waves ceaselessly crashed until their force reached the ocean depths, the sea would flip over entirely, birthing a colossal wave.
Sailors from Shandong called it the sea god's wrath.
The legendary wave that only appeared once every ten years during a massive typhoon was rising right before their eyes.
"What's that?"
"Looks like a wave?"
"You stupid monk! What kind of wave is that... huge!"
Everyone paled.
This was nothing like the waves caused by the meteor shower on the night of the Righteous-Demonic Great War.
It wasn't just a house-sized wave—the surface of the ocean itself was rising to swallow the sailing ship whole.
Five pairs of eyes turned to Heuk Do-san in unison. They knew there was no way out, but they hoped he'd do something.
"Secure all the right-side ropes!"
Heuk Do-san's voice sank low and steady.
They'd seen him save the ship from capsizing several times already. Even without that, they had no choice. Without a word, they fastened the right-side ropes tight. Then they looked back at him.
"Everyone to the left—grab the ropes. When I give the signal, pull with every ounce of strength you've got. Remember: one slip, and we're all dead."
The group clustered onto the three left-side ropes.
Friend or foe no longer mattered.
They didn't have the luxury.
The monk chanted "Amitabha" nonstop, while the pockmarked youth muttered some incomprehensible incantation.
The Righteous Alliance woman, the Demonic Cult woman, the hunchback, and the bald snake-tattooed man couldn't hide their tension.
The flood wave devoured the smaller waves blocking its path, closing to within thirty-odd feet. It grew larger with every bit of power it absorbed.
'Twenty-five feet, twenty, fifteen...'
Incredible.
Such an enormous wave approached without a sound. You'd expect a roar that shredded the air just looking at it.
Even Heuk Do-san, no stranger to the sea, felt cold sweat trickle down his back.
"Wait."
His quiet voice cut through the storm, clear to all.
They found themselves fixated on him, desperate not to miss a single word from his mouth. They hated to admit it, but in this moment, their lives hung on him.
Come to think of it, the guy had been standing on the pitching rail without a hint of falling into the sea. Not just balanced—perfectly steady.
His voice carrying wide through the gale, standing firm on the bucking rail—he was no ordinary man.
No trace of cultivated inner energy, yet how?
"Ever seen a wave like that?"
The monk shouted.
"Be honest?"
The monk flinched, then let out a deep sigh.
The flood wave was now just ten feet away. Suddenly, the water beneath them stretched taut like skin, and the ship began to tilt. Everyone gripped their ropes harder.
In the blink of an eye, the ship rode up to the wave's midpoint. It wasn't a wave—it was a mountain. The ship clung to its mid-slope.
The ship teetered on the brink of capsizing. The white-capped wave's crest loomed over their heads.
Flash! Boom!
Thunder crashed, hidden by the wave.
That's when Heuk Do-san's thunderous roar erupted.
"Now!"
The five pulled as one. Wind makes waves, but a massive wave can birth its own gale.
This was that moment.
Before the giant wave could engulf the ship, an immense pressure hit. The sail, heavy with wind, ballooned as if to burst. The ropes went taut as bowstrings.
"Don't let go!"
Heuk Do-san's command rang out.
They pulled with all they had. Veins bulged on their forearms; faces twisted in grimaces.
The ship, moments from being devoured, miraculously swung its bow around.
Then it surfed the wave at breakneck speed—flying, really.
'Got it!'
That was Heuk Do-san's plan.
No crossing that monster wave. Only one way: when it's close, use the wind pressure to dip the bow, then let it carry you.
The ship seemed swallowed, but somehow held. It cleaved the water cleanly. Now, wait for the mountain of a wave to subside.
Wouldn't it be great if it carried them to land?
Wishful thinking. Flood waves from deep sea never hit shore.
"How long do we have to do this?"
The Righteous Alliance woman yelled.
"No idea!"
"Can we survive?"
"No idea!"
"What do you know, then?"
"No idea!"
"Then tell us what to do!"
"Grind your teeth!"
They ground their teeth.
Lungs burned, muscles screamed. The wave's crest still blotted the sky above.
Lightning flashed through the water wall.
Thunder. The world lit like day for an instant, then dark. The storm's chaos felt dreamlike.
Was the sea always this terrifying?
Then—
Crack!
A sudden boom—the mast snapped. The flood wave's pressure, the ship's weight, and the pull proved too much.
The broken sail caught the wind and soared skyward like a massive kite.
These were all martial artists of some skill, but no match for the raging gale. The rigging slipped from their hands with a slither.
One line must have snagged the Demonic Cult woman's ankle.
Thud! She fell and was dragged straight into the black sea.
From the rail, Heuk Do-san watching it all—a thought flashed.
What she'd said earlier that day.
"Tonight, someone dies."
Had she foreseen her own death?
No.
Just before leaving the gunwale, she'd instinctively grabbed the ankle of the man right behind her.
"Hey! Why grab my ankle? Let go!"
"No choice."
No time to react. The ship tilted right then; the monk lost balance and was yanked over. As the Demonic Cult woman and Righteous Alliance monk plunged toward the churning sea together, the hunchback threw himself forward, one hand outstretched.
"Thanks! Grab my hand!"
"Don't get the wrong idea! If you drop her, even if it costs my wrist, I'll sever you from her... whoa!"
The hunchback couldn't finish. He too was dragged in. Mastless, the ship bucked wildly. Tending his own life was hard enough; he couldn't handle the woman and hefty monk alone.
"You dumb demonic bastard!"
A curse burst from the monk.
Then a hand seized the hunchback's ankle as he flew into the air off the rail. The Righteous Alliance woman this time. Not to save Demonic Cult comrades, but to save her sole ally, the monk—by holding the hunchback's leg.
She was sharp. Knew she couldn't manage three alone, so her other hand grabbed the bald snake-tattooed man's ankle. Save your brothers? Then we save ours too.
"Agh! My crotch!"
With a scream, the bald snake-tattooed man's pants ripped wide. Crotch torn, what fight was left? He went limp and dragged easiest, dashing hopes.
Five on the verge of drowning at once. Amid the Demonic Cult brothers falling, the pockmarked youth who'd clung to the auxiliary sail's stump leaped up.
"Damn it all!"
With a stomping step, he shot forward like a gale. But by then, the five—including the bald snake-tattooed man—were nearly submerged.
The pockmarked youth was fast. He snatched a loose rope mid-stride and hurled it toward the sea with all his might.
"Grab it!"
What happened next defied belief.
The limp rope snaked through the air like a living serpent, coiling around the bald snake-tattooed man's free leg as he plunged headfirst into the water.
The pockmarked youth planted his feet firm and yanked with desperate strength.
"Hold on tight!"
Built like an ox, he had legs like tree trunks.
In moments, the bald snake-tattooed man, Righteous Alliance woman, and hunchback were hauled out.
But only for an instant—the ship bucked, sucking them back in.
It thrashed as if sinking, slamming the trailing Demonic Cult woman and monk into the waves over and over.
The hunchback's hunched back straightened. Eyes bulging—he was in agony beyond words.
But the worst was the bald snake-tattooed man, one ankle in the Righteous Alliance woman's grip, the other in the thrown rope, pants split wide, howling in death throes.
"Aaaagh!"
A catastrophe in seconds.
Strung out like laundry on a line, they couldn't accept it.
What kind of bullshit was this?
'It's a dream!'
Flesh and bone can't endure forever. The pockmarked youth bellowed.
"Climb up, quick!"
But the trailing Demonic Cult woman bobbed in and out with the ship's pitch, unable to reply. Her face ghostly pale—she was half water ghost already.
A ragged reply came from the monk.
"Splutter... waves too rough... splutter, hanging on's all I can do... splutter, you demonic bastard!"
"Damn it!"
The pockmarked youth roared at Heuk Do-san on the rail, eyeing the waves.
"Hey, you lunatic! Get over here and do something!"
"Shut up and hold on!"
Just then, the stern lifted sharply, the whole ship feeling airborne for a heartbeat.
'Sinking...!'
Alarm bells rang in Heuk Do-san's head.
No doubt. If the stern didn't drop, the ship would lose balance and flip like a toy.
He stomped the rail and shot forward like lightning. Arms spread wide in Great Peng Spreads Wings, he felt himself soar—then thudded onto the stern's keel.
Thud!
A heavy impact rocked the stern. Great Peng Spreads Wings into Thousand Jin Hammer! The stern sank as if crushed by a mountain.
The ship, inches from toppling, regained balance.
At once, the bow lifted sharply, flinging the dangling chain skyward in reaction.
Like fish on a line, they spun half a turn through the air and crashed onto the deck.
Crash!
They finally disentangled, tumbling along the gunwales.
Just then, the massive wave swept the rails. They scattered like leaves in a broom's sweep, piling into a heap.
"Oof!"
"Ow!"
Moments later, as the wave receded, the rail's wreckage emerged.
Some puked up seawater endlessly. Others gasped for air.
They all looked freshly dredged from hell.
Meanwhile, Gong Cheon-ak, who'd watched from the deck, was baffled.
He'd seen Heuk Do-san's martial arts up close.
Great Peng Spreads Wings mimicked a peng bird spreading wings—a lightness skill. Thousand Jin Hammer loaded a thousand catties into the toes.
Skills for inner experts of at least a decade's cultivation. Yet how did this freak pull them off? Yesterday's Probing Ki had found no inner energy traces.
Could he be a peak master concealing his power?
No way. Across the Central Plains, fewer than ten masters could evade Gong Cheon-ak's Probing Ki—and all were renowned. Unlikely here. Impossible.
One possibility remained.
'Explosive Strength!'
Unlike inner arts destroying from within, external arts struck from without.
Explosive Strength maximized external striking power.
Now called Explosive Strength for any burst technique, inner or outer—but it originated in external arts.
Simply: gather all bodily potential, infuse rotational force, and explode outward.
Set aside Great Peng Spreads Wings for its leap focus. If he used Explosive Strength for Thousand Jin Hammer or similar, it was rare indeed. But...
'Still just external...'
No external arts master had ever claimed the world's top spot in martial history.
Even now, of the Ten Supremes, only one was external. The rest: deep inner experts.
That gap said it all.
Then Heuk Do-san shouted.
"One person's missing!"