Chapter 67: Breaking Through the Line of Death (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 67: Breaking Through the Line of Death (3)
Originally, I had planned to pit Jeok Yeong against the Deputy Unit Leader if he stepped forward. However, I still had plenty of internal energy left from my sudden surge during the energy guiding technique, so I intended to use the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet on him myself.
'If I can just take him down, the rest will surely panic and flee.'
With that thought, I took a drawing sword stance as he approached.
"Let’s see just how impressive your techniques really are."
As he drew closer, I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword.
The moment he entered range, I funneled internal energy into my Bubbling Spring Point, executing a swift step as I drew my blade.
Thump!
My foot kicked off the ground, and I drew the sword in a clean arc toward his throat.
It was the smoothest, most perfect execution of a move I had ever performed.
Clang!
As expected, he blocked my strike. I brushed past him and spun around.
Now, all that was left was for the poison from the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet to take effect, sending him into Qi Deviation and causing him to collapse.
"Is that all?"
I was busy imagining him coughing up blood and falling over, but then I heard him mutter.
'Oho, so he’s a master. That’s why it’s taking a moment. Masters always take a little longer to succumb.'
Even though he was speaking perfectly fine, I smirked and waited. I looked at him with pity, thinking he was a dead man walking.
"Just what kind of trick did you use to take down my subordinates?"
As time passed and he remained perfectly fine, my smile began to wither.
Far from collapsing, he started looking at me with a strange, questioning gaze.
Wait. This isn't right.
Why isn't he falling?
'Could it be? Does he practice Orthodox internal cultivation methods?'
That was the only way to explain this.
'Dammit, I never imagined he’d have mastered an Orthodox mental cultivation method. If I’d known, I would have let Jeok Yeong handle him from the start.'
Regret washed over me instantly.
"If that’s all you’ve got, you die here!"
The man raised his sword toward me.
Between the urge to cry and the sheer terror of my impending death, my facial muscles began to twitch.
But then, just as he seemed ready to pounce, he lowered his sword slightly.
"Hmph, you almost had me. To be able to smile like that in this situation... you were trying to lure me into letting my guard down. Your cunning is as sharp as your tongue."
I was moved to tears of gratitude that he had misunderstood and held back his attack.
I appreciate the sentiment, buddy, but you acting like this makes it even scarier.
More importantly, if the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet didn't work, my death was only a matter of time.
I didn't have any other trump cards left.
Then, a thought suddenly struck me.
'Wait, I do. I have the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash.'
It was almost funny that I hadn't thought of it until now.
Perhaps it was because the technique was so destructive that I hadn't truly felt like it belonged to me.
'This is the only thing I have left. Even if I’m going to die, I might as well use it once before I go.'
A surge of stubbornness and bravado filled me, and I tightened my grip on the hilt.
I slowly opened my Upper Dantian and began to gather my internal energy.
To buy time, I kept my mouth moving.
"Not bad. Anyone else would have charged in blindly, but you regained your composure immediately. This is going to be a troublesome fight."
At my words, the man’s aura flared even more intensely.
It was strong enough to make my skin prickle.
Yet, in the midst of that, I realized something I had forgotten.
Normally, if I had felt this much killing intent, the old me would have wet his pants.
But now, though I felt the tension, I wasn't afraid.
I couldn't understand why I wasn't intimidated even when facing such masters.
Does opening the Upper Dantian make you bolder?
Or was it because the Upper Dantian had become a Circulating Dantian, generating Vast and Mighty Energy?
It was a mystery.
However, I could take a guess.
As the Upper Dantian became a Circulating Dantian, I was unknowingly becoming calmer and more fearless.
It felt as though I had attained the composure that only true masters possess.
Though I still didn't quite know what "composure" actually was.
In fact, I even felt a competitive urge—the kind only masters are supposed to have.
And I was feeling it against a master.
"Shall we have a go, then?"
I muttered to myself. In short, it was proof that I was losing my mind.
Having encountered so many masters lately, my courage had clearly grown out of proportion.
But standing face-to-face with the Deputy Unit Leader, I realized that the emotion I thought was "competitive spirit" was actually a mirage.
I realized that what I had mistaken for a competitive urge was actually a mutation of my weakling mentality—a "come what may" sort of desperation.
My legs were shaking and my hands were trembling; there was nothing about me that looked like a master or someone with a competitive spirit.
Facing his killing intent head-on, I wondered what on earth I was doing here.
'Haha... is it that my body is leaving the realm of the weak, but my mind hasn't caught up yet? Is that why I’m so confused by this imbalance?'
Still, I thought that with the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash, I might actually stand a chance.
The Scattering Light Red Sun Flash I had performed before showed incredible destructive power even without using two jiazi of internal energy.
With that, I felt I could do something.
"Enough games. Let's see what you can do."
I threw out the words to create an opening before I attacked. As I spoke, I funneled the internal energy from my Upper Dantian into my Bubbling Spring Point and Palm Centers.
"I don't know why someone who practiced Orthodox cultivation is in the Demonic Cult League, but does the League even know about that?"
The man flinched at my provocation.
It was only natural he’d be surprised that I had seen through his Orthodox mental cultivation method.
"How did you know?"
Seeing him fall for my ploy, I provoked him again.
"How do you think I knew? The person back there told me."
I jerked my chin toward the space behind him, and he instinctively started to turn his head.
He realized he’d been tricked before he turned all the way, but that split second was enough.
"Hah!"
I kicked off the ground, drawing my Ghostly Sword and unleashing the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash.
Zip! Rip! Swish!
The forms of the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash were finally unleashed against a human target.
Two Ghost Pursuit Squad members near me were struck by the Elastic Path of the technique; they were turned into bloody messes and sent flying backward.
"Impressive!"
The Deputy Unit Leader shouted, seemingly excited, as he met my Scattering Light Red Sun Flash with his own blade.
Clang! Screech!
My wrists were throbbing as I gathered the explosive energy to transition into the Whirling Elastic Path.
But at that moment, after our blades clashed, the man leaped backward.
Blood began to bead and trickle down his face.
The Elastic Path of the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash had grazed and cut the skin of his cheek.
The man wiped his face with his left hand and looked at his palm.
Seeing it covered in blood, he smirked.
I gave a bitter smile.
Just as I was about to use the Whirling Elastic Path, he had retreated, making my effort go to waste.
As expected, real combat was full of variables; you never knew how things would change.
If the distance was too great, even the Whirling Elastic Path was useless.
If I had two jiazi of energy, that distance wouldn't be an issue, but with my current internal power, it was out of reach.
"If I had been careless when I attacked, my heart would be cold just thinking about what would have happened. But you keep using the same form... could it be that’s the only one you know?"
As expected of a top-tier master, he had identified my weakness instantly.
"You're right. That's the only sword style I know."
When I smirked, the man furrowed his brows. Even through his mask, I could tell he was deep in thought.
"Is this another 'truth-within-falsehood' tactic?"
"Why don't you find out for yourself?"
I funneled energy into my right foot and lunged at him.
The ghostly energy of the Demon Subjugation Group members was slowly weakening, and they were being pushed back.
Judging that it was dangerous to stall any longer, I went on the offensive first.
I unleashed the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash from the beginning once more.
"Gah!"
Because the sword generated Elastic Path energy, the surrounding Ghost Pursuit Squad members suffered the most.
Some who got too close even had their arms severed.
Pushing myself to maintain the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash, my wrists were already screaming in pain.
The Nine-Section Soul-Severing Sword was truly an extraordinary art.
Even the Deputy Unit Leader couldn't handle the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash, even though it was performed with only half a jiazi of internal energy, and he was forced to retreat in a frantic scramble.
But he was a true master.
After being pushed back repeatedly, he suddenly exploded with internal energy. Then, he thrust his sword toward me.
I momentarily lost my breath.
The pressure was so intense that I could barely breathe.
It felt as if his sword had suddenly grown ten times its size.
I was overcome by the fear that if I stayed still, the tip of that blade would run me through.
I stumbled back, unleashed the final form of the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash, and threw my Ghostly Sword.
It was the only way to escape his blade.
As the Elastic Path energy left my wrist, the sword began to spin.
'The Whirling Elastic Path took perfectly.'
Whirrrrrrr!
The sword tore through the air as it spun.
Boom!
A massive resonance shook the battlefield as my thrown sword collided with the Deputy Unit Leader's blade.
Then, my sword was unceremoniously knocked away.
Unable to overcome the difference in internal power, it was sent flying ten paces away and embedded itself diagonally into the ground.
The sight of the vibrating sword felt like a reflection of my own heart, and it stung.
Startled by the roar, the Ghost Pursuit Squad members all turned their heads toward us.
"Deputy Unit Leader!"
The men, who hadn't even screamed while dying, now cried out for their leader.
A gurgling sound, like a cat's cry, leaked from the Deputy Unit Leader's throat, which had been pierced through.
Behind him, three Ghost Pursuit Squad members collapsed to the left and right, spraying blood.
One had his chest pierced, another his head, and the third his left eye; they died instantly.
It was a scene created by the destructive power of the Whirling Elastic Path.
The Deputy Unit Leader had blocked the sword I threw, but the Whirling Elastic Path energy surrounding the blade had continued forward, piercing his forehead and then tearing through the three Ghost Pursuit Squad members behind him.
The Deputy Unit Leader trembled for a moment before slowly collapsing backward.
"Deputy Unit Leader!"
The man named Samho, who had been fighting Jeok Yeong in a spray of blood, glared at me and screamed.
"We all die here! If we don't kill that man, we die anyway!"
The aura of the Ghost Pursuit Squad members expanded, overwhelming the surroundings.
Seeing that, I cursed inwardly.
'Who says demonic practitioners have no loyalty? They’re going even more berserk now. If I’d known, I would have killed him more quietly. Dammit.'
I felt a twinge of regret for making them even more ferocious.
Thanks to the efforts of the Demon Subjugation Group, only seven of them remained.
Since our group had achieved this much without a single death, it was clear just how powerful the possessing spirits were.
At this rate, I thought we could easily handle the remaining seven.
As they gathered toward me, I gave a grand command.
"Everyone, kill them—"
Just as I was about to give the order, the members of the Demon Subjugation Group suddenly lost their strength. One by one, they collapsed to the ground like sandcastles crumbling.
The possession had ended, and they had fainted from exhausting all their internal energy and vitality.
"The time is up," Hwang Chu muttered gloomily.
And there were still seven of them left.
We had fought these men for so long that we had used up all our time right here.
'Ah, in the end...!'
How long could Jeok Yeong and Do Yeon hold out?
I, too, was in a state of energy depletion after performing the Scattering Light Red Sun Flash repeatedly to deal with the Deputy Unit Leader.
I was desperately trying to circulate the energy in my Upper Dantian, but it wouldn't gather easily.
It was the side effect of drawing too much energy in a moment of crisis.
Beside me, only Do Yeon, Jeok Yeong, and Hwang Chu stood tall, staring down the enemy.