Chapter 249
Chapter 249
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Filling the Heart (2)
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Kwajajajak!
The finely meshed gears began to tear apart under overwhelming force.
"Wh-what's happening?! Block it! If it breaks through, we're dead!"
The Hundred Swords tried desperately to hold the line, but they couldn't stop the Dark Venerable, who now swung his blade with the ferocity of the King of Hell.
Kuaaaang!
With a single horizontal slash, over a dozen Thousand Swords forming the sword formation were flung into the air all at once, screaming in agony.
"Is... is that even a person?"
A sword formation fundamentally converged the power of many into one.
But before this monstrous strength that shredded even that unified force, they were utterly helpless.
Kwaaaang!
Another strike, and the Thousand Swords—Fujian Province's pride—were crumbling pathetically.
Swords forged by hammering premium steel for a hundred days shattered like dry twigs amid sprays of their owners' blood and screams.
"Such a hellish swordsmanship."
"He's a master too formidable to challenge. This won't do."
The Hundred Swords felt like they were trapped in a nightmare.
Amid it all, A Jin-geol gripped his hands in sweat and bellowed.
"His swordsmanship is completing itself!"
No longer were there any crude fragments of an immature style. The swordsmanship, soaked in the blood of a hundred men, had become as powerful and vicious as a demonic blade formula that could shake the Nine Heavens.
"We have to stop him somehow! Or we're all dead!"
Death was already breathing down their necks.
Yet A Jin-geol shouted in a voice laced with screams.
"Chaat!"
"You bastard!"
The Hundred Swords reacted instinctively, milky sword blades rippling with fierce sword auras as they targeted his back.
"How petty."
Chaeng! Chaechaeng!
The swords bestowed upon the Hundred Swords were masterworks blended with deep-sea dark iron.
"If you think you can dodge every which way, think again."
Chaeng! But even those aura-clad master swords wobbled and swayed limply with astonishing ease as he entangled their blades nonchalantly.
"Kuh! This... hellish swordsmanship..."
He strained to steady the sword bucking in his grip like a wild beast, but the Flame King gave no quarter.
"Go to hell. Who knows, maybe something similar awaits."
Chwaak!
In an instant, he twisted the blade, pointing the Hundred Sword's tip downward, then dragged it along the edge and unleashed a strike.
"Guhk!"
Chwaak! A fountain of blood erupted as the head rolled back, whites of the eyes showing, soaring into the air.
"You go with him. Can't send a friend off alone, right?"
"Da-Dark Venerable! You—!"
The one stabbing at his back met the same fate.
Dismissing the rippling sword aura with contempt, he tore through the solemn sword posture in a frenzy before driving his blade into the throat.
Gulp.
A Jin-geol swallowed dryly at the death of the two Hundred Swords.
'A terrifyingly fearsome sword art.'
It was a one-way offensive style that never anticipated retreat.
'I thought swordsmanship without defense was half-baked.'
Not at all.
On the contrary, the relentlessly aggressive sword momentum made death a foregone conclusion, like plucking a dragonfly's wings one by one.
"Ku—huhk!"
Another Hundred Sword fell.
It took no time at all for three of the five to die.
'The Grim Reaper has descended.'
Lamenting his lighthearted arrival, A Jin-geol steeled his resolve.
"Looks like we'll have to join the fray."
"B-but, Elder A. How do we even stop him?"
"If we can't, we're dead anyway. Can't die with our backs turned, can we?"
In the brief exchange, the Thousand Swords were toppling like dominoes.
The Thousand Swords, symbols of their pride, lay broken and bent beside their owners, scattered like autumn leaves.
"Dark Venerable, they say. Not one who dwells in darkness, but one who brings it?"
With desperate resolve, A Jin-geol channeled inner energy into his Hundred Sword.
Jiiiiing.
Thirty Swords. Among the Hundred Swords, this was one crafted with extra care.
Holding it usually filled him with reassurance, but today it left a hollow void in his chest, like a gaping hole.
"Charge!"
No response came.
The last remaining Hundred Sword was already fleeing into the distance, stepping on the shoulders of the Thousand Swords with his movement technique.
"......"
His frantic escape resembled a rabbit bolting from a hunter.
'A Hundred Sword fleeing.'
But A Jin-geol couldn't blame him.
Wungwungwung.
The figure standing amid the corpses, slipping through the sword aura like mist, made his legs tremble just to face.
To shake off the fear, he roared.
"Hundred Sword Number Thirty! Fujian Fierce One, A Jin-geol!"
Only then did the reaper, who had been harvesting lives like autumn rice, pause.
"Hoo. Not running?"
"I've lived as I pleased, so I'll die as I please."
"Good mindset."
Sreung. He raised his drooping hand, pointing his sword tip at the Dark Venerable.
"What I'll unleash is the Five Venom Serpent Sword. The very art that earned me the title of Fierce One."
"Five serpents? A fitting name for a viper."
With his sword dangling to the ground, the reaper beckoned with a finger.
"I'll yield three exchanges. My final courtesy to a death with spirit."
"My thanks. Truly."
A Jin-geol reversed his grip, offered a fist salute, then raised his sword, channeling his inner energy to its utmost.
Wungwungwung.
Surpassing the Wall of Lamentations, on the verge of Transcending Mortality, he unleashed all thirty years of cultivated power, erupting a fierce heatwave from his body.
'If only I can land even one strike.'
Harboring that faint hope, he recalled his most powerful technique.
Even with three exchanges yielded, he couldn't hold back from the start against this incarnate evil.
'Three chances. If just one succeeds!'
Muttering fiercely, he drew forth his innate essence alongside his inner energy, preparing his ultimate technique.
Feeling the power surge through his limbs, A Jin-geol reviewed the Five Venom Serpent Sword's final form.
"Chaat!"
Pararararak!
In an instant, he vaulted over the Thousand Swords' heads, launching toward the Dark Venerable with a momentum that cleaved heaven and earth.
Like an arrow freshly loosed from the bowstring, A Jin-geol streaked forward in a blur of afterimages, unleashing the Five Venom Serpent Sword's ultimate technique, 'Dragon's Wish Soaring to Heaven'.
Quwaaaaaak!
The killing intent bursting from the milky Hundred Sword upended everything within a dozen paces around the Dark Venerable in a flash.
"Quite the flashy sword art."
Kung!
'Not even with my ultimate technique?'
His full-powered strike was casually parried by a sword flick, slamming him back like a boulder.
He spun to dissipate the rebound, stabbed his sword tip into the ground to launch himself again, and unleashed another strike.
Kwang! Kwakwang!
The Dragon's Wish Soaring to Heaven of the Five Venom Serpent Sword chained forth relentlessly.
"Kuaaaak!"
"E-Elder A!"
The Thousand Swords tumbled aside in droves from the shockwaves of the torrent-like sword auras.
"You've used all three exchanges."
But from beyond the thick dust of his full-force technique came a calm voice.
"Couldn't reach after all...?"
Fear surged back at the foe's unscathed state, his fingertips trembling.
"Worth the yield. It was entertaining enough."
Yet the words that followed warmed A Jin-geol's heart more than despair.
'Ha. Facing death, thrilled to earn a master's recognition?'
Shaking his head wryly, he gazed skyward.
"Guess I'm a warrior after all."
Bloody mist rose menacingly from the dust, already singeing his robes.
"Already perfected your demonic art? What a ridiculous monster."
Muttering, A Jin-geol eyed the countless swords closing in and prepared for the end.
After A Jin-geol's death, it was straightforward.
No Thousand Sword could stand against the fully evolved Flame King Nine Heavens Sword.
"E-even the Hundred Swords are all dead."
"T-there was a master like this?"
Fujian Fierce One A Jin-geol was among the province's top experts.
Having surpassed the Wall of Lamentations and touched Transcending Mortality, yet he lasted fewer than thirty exchanges.
"Dark Venerable. Dark Venerable..."
The name became terror itself.
"I'll send you to hell one by one."
Terror-stricken Thousand Swords and disciples forgot they were the encirclement.
With crimson mist billowing and ceaseless blood rain, maintaining sanity was impossible.
"R-run! Run away!"
A few screams became everyone's.
"Outta my way! I'm going first!"
"S-save me!"
Fear spread like wildfire; one by one they turned and fled, soon all bolting for the Jaman Sect gates with backs exposed.
"Hm. About this much?"
Sheathing his sword, Ya Hul-cheok staggered over from a corner.
"Are you even human?"
"Why? Don't look it?"
"Human or not, doesn't matter."
Tuk.
He tossed what he held; it rolled to his feet.
The severed head of the Jaman Sect Leader, eyes bulging in death.
"Not bad. Took down the sect leader single-handed."
"Impossible before. But with the perfect swordsmanship you showed, plus my inner energy? Somehow doable."
From a mere glimpse, Ya Hul-cheok had made remarkable progress.
"Genius types, huh."
Grumbling drew bewilderment over Ya Hul-cheok's stoic face.
"You saying that? Thought you weren't human yourself."
"Time to wrap up?"
"Agreed. Want out of this blood-soaked hell ASAP."
Leaving the bloodless hall devoid of standing souls, the two exited the Jaman Sect.
The Jaman Sect was just the beginning.
The next day at Hwangmang Sect, fewer than a hundred quaked—contrary to expectations.
"Sect leader fled too?"
"Seems he got spooked by you. Makes sense; after that rampage, rumors are inevitable."
"Boring. Hunting them one by one is a hassle."
"...Curious how your head works. Weaker foes aren't ideal?"
"No aesthetics."
Muttering complaints, Ya Hul-cheok still hunted down and stabbed the Hwangmang Sect Leader through the heart.
The Flame King Nine Heavens Swordsmanship seemed even fiercer, evolved anew.
"Doing well. Keep growing fast. Less work for me that way."
"Dunno your satisfaction threshold, but I'll try."
In just two days, half of Fujian Province's viper nests crumbled.
Back at Hao Sect's safehouse after smashing Hwangmang Sect's plaque, a one-armed elder awaited.
"What the hell are you thinking?!"
Pacing anxiously, he erupted in fury the moment the door opened.
"What's the issue? Just purging viper nests."
"Haa."
The one-armed elder thumped his chest with a sigh of lament.
"Killing vipers is fine, but you made it too big."
"Better than hiding and scheming fruitlessly."
The Hao Sect branch had endured humiliations without results till now.
Now showing bold strides, yet the elder's face remained grave.
"Jaman Sect are mere Dragon minions. Crushing them openly will stir the Dragon."
"Beat the dog, master comes out. Just beat the master too."
"That's not it."
Ya Hul-cheok's voice grew serious at the somber mood.
"Elder. The Yi Dragons seeking an example?"
"As you guessed."
The one-armed elder nodded heavily and spoke.
"They're ransacking everywhere, hunting Hao Sect supporters of the Dark Venerable."
"Ransacking everywhere means..."
The elder added with lifeless eyes.
"They're grabbing people indiscriminately to make examples."