Chapter 277
Chapter 277
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Cult Guardians (2)
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"Sword Demon! I'll tear you to shreds!"
Yeom Po's skull staff created dozens of afterimages as it bore down on Wi Ji-geuk.
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!
Eerie wails rose from the skull affixed to the staff head, thick clouds of poisonous mist billowing forth.
Kiyaaaaah!
Every swing of the staff unleashed shredding screeches that shook the soul and ripped the spirit away.
Mastery of the Nine Yin Demonic Blood Scripture naturally scattered the foe's will and conjured hallucinations. Combined with the power of the Ghostly Wail Skull Staff, no enemy could stand against it.
But Mang Po soon swallowed a groan.
'They say the Sword Demon's Asura Heaven Sword stands alone in the world... and it's true.'
Without retreating a single step, his swordsmanship flicked the staff away in an instant.
'No way. Is he even slicing through the poison with sword energy?'
As expected of the Sword Demon.
To overpower poison and demonic arts with nothing but pure swordsmanship.
Fear stirred in Mang Po's heart.
"You fool. Do you even know your father croaked by my hand because he couldn't master the Nine Deaths Poison Art?"
Zing! Zing! Zing!
It looked like a straight thrust pushing forward, but the sword tip quivered and spat out vortex-like sword energy, shoving the staff back relentlessly.
"Urk!"
'Sword energy? Mere sword energy repelling the Nine Deaths Poison Art?'
Not the 'sword miracle' infused with the Sword Demon's deepest insights, nor the peerless sword ray that severed anything.
Just a tiny wisp of sword energy at the tip dismantling Yin Blood Valley's demonic arts.
"Ugh."
Mang Po could deny it no longer.
An opponent unbeatable in technique precision.
Not only were the forms astonishingly refined, but the Sword Demon's rhythm of cuts and thrusts was impossible to read.
Swoosh!
A blunt iron sword seemed headed for his neck.
Flutter!
Raise the staff to block, and the sword tip arcs down onto his crown.
The endlessly variable forms were infuriating enough, but amid the onslaught, the Sword Demon freely manipulated sword, sword energy, and sword ray.
Even a single sword form unleashed and withdrew sword energy and sword ray repeatedly, leaving no gap to exploit.
How many times had he nearly fled in terror when a sword ray stretched three feet while blocking the staff?
"Damn it. Sword Demon!"
In the end, Yeom Po twisted the staff and unleashed his prepared ultimate strike.
"You bastard!"
Thud!
Slamming the staff into the ground split the skull with a crack, purple mist erupting in thick billows.
"Hm? This is..."
Where the mist grazed, pristine marble blackened, crumbling to sand in an instant.
"Heh heh. The Seven Treasures Poison bestowed by the Leader, mixed with the Human-Faced Spider's venom."
The Seven-Colored Death poison that felled even massive oxen on contact, blended with the legendary spider's toxin.
"Perish helplessly!"
Whoosh!
Shaking his sleeve to hurl poison mist, Yeom Po formed hand seals before his brow.
"Rise, my Poison Spirit Jiangshi!"
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The walls shattered as nine red-lacquered coffins spun into place beside him.
Clunk. Clunk.
The coffins crashed open, and the dormant Poison Spirit Jiangshi inside snapped their eyes open in unison.
"Huuuugh."
Wi Ji-geuk's brow furrowed for the first time as the nine jiangshi thudded down, their whites flashing.
"Poison Spirit Jiangshi?"
"Heh heh. Spot any familiar faces?"
The one with glossy bluish skin from corpse poison soaking was indeed familiar, as he claimed.
"Ban-son. So you were here."
"Kekeke. That disciple you left behind in the cult was a real pain. The Leader remembered your grudge and handed him to me personally."
"...The successor of the Dark Soul Black Wind Killer was meant to be the Leader's final sword."
"Heh heh. Damn Dark Soul Black Wind Killer. You think we're still the loyal followers of the King of Hundred Ghosts from back then? Now you're nothing but traitors rejecting the demonic path."
His hand seals flickered wildly, and the nine jiangshi raised their hands as one.
Pa-pat!
Astonishingly, the Poison Spirit Jiangshi moved nothing like rotten corpses.
Pa-pat! Pa-pa-pat!
Their slashes and thrusts were precise and elegant, faint sword rays shimmering within the sword energy.
"These are my blood, sweat, and tears masterpieces! Even you can't handle them!"
Boom!
He cleaved two charging jiangshi with sword ray, but they merely staggered before rising straight again.
"Hmm. What a headache these are."
"You'll be the headless ghost. No—join my jiangshi."
"Kek. Looks like the old corpse-juggler's got some spine."
Shing.
Wi Ji-geuk raised his sword and closed his eyes.
Then he slowly swept his right foot across the ground, shifting his balance to the rear.
A seemingly awkward stance.
But Yeom Po, laughing madly moments ago, paled in shock.
'What is this pressure, just from assuming a stance?'
Sensing the chill, Yeom Po rebounded and leaped into the air.
At that moment, Wi Ji-geuk's lips moved.
Shaaaa!
A blinding flash streaked, followed by the sound of silk ripping, and the poison mist and two jiangshi split apart in an instant.
'Impossible!'
Poison Spirit Jiangshi forged with gold and countless poisons.
'Legends say even Myth realm masters struggle against them.'
And there were nine.
Yet two obliterated in one strike.
Wi Ji-geuk smirked at the stunned Yeom Po.
"The King of Hundred Ghosts stands at my back. You think petty sorcery works beside him?"
Yeom Po's face drained of color.
King of Hundred Ghosts.
That name summoned bone-deep terror, every hair standing on end.
'Run.'
No other thought crossed his mind.
If the Sword Demon spoke true, he had to flee before the King arrived.
"All of you, bind that bastard!"
Forming seals to command the remaining seven Poison Blood Jiangshi, Yeom Po kicked off the roof and soared into the air.
Intending to escape and sound the alarm.
But reflected in his eyes was a ghostly figure.
Blink.
In one blink, a hands-behind-back silhouette rose like an illusion.
Blink. Blink.
Two blinks, and two of his prized Poison Blood Jiangshi heads tumbled.
Blink. Blink. Blink.
Three blinks, and the jiangshi charging the Sword Demon collapsed like puppets with severed strings.
Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink.
Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink.
No matter how many blinks, nothing changed.
"Ah... Ahhh."
The nightmare entity gazed down upon him.
"...Su... preme."
"Long time no see, Yeom Po."
Slice!
"And. Farewell."
His vision lifted, the world spinning, and Yeom Po realized his head had been severed.
"L-Lord. All cleared."
After Dan-ya, Sa Ma-yul came sprinting up.
"Surface fully secured."
"Where's Hyeon?"
"With the Phantom Legion, likely."
"We're going together. Follow me, Geuk!"
"Understood!"
They raced to the阴森 underground cavern beneath Yin Blood Valley's stronghold.
A massive battle raged in the vast, chill cavern.
"Kill them all!"
Asura Sword Demon Squad rampaged like fiends, cleaving the jiangshi refiners.
"Subdue the sorcerers!"
Song-baek and the Lion Blood Wind Squad darted about, felling those clutching talismans.
"Quite a few."
"Looks like this is the real nest."
Jin Se-hyeon stood at the center.
Gripping iron chains in both hands, he snapped swords with his left chain's fan, then flicked his right to slit throats with the chain blade.
Pararak!
Each extension and spin of his body sent the twin chains whirling through the air, butchering assailants.
If sword control without touch was Flying Sword, then his display was Flying Chains.
Every motion piled corpses into mountains, Jin Se-hyeon reverting to his Blood Oath Scholar days.
Sa Ma-yul shouted.
"Blood stench is thick. The jiangshi will react."
"Likely."
Blood sprayed on dead jiangshi was no different from narcotics.
As Sa Ma-yul warned, the moment the bloody scent wafted, the dormant coffins began to shudder.
"L-Lord!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dan-ya rarely screamed as coffins burst and hundreds of jiangshi rose one after another.
"No worries."
Chu Un-hwi swept back his bangs and winked one eye.
Beneath his pitch-black pupils, gold flashed, soon flooding the cavern with brilliant light.
The jiangshi facing that golden glow halted as one.
Cleanup proceeded swiftly.
"Lord. Wu Yu Ma Cham Squad—all subdued."
Jin Se-hyeon came running to report.
"Fierce Demon Squad—all subdued."
"Lord. No runners will slip out now."
"Light Corpse Squad. All five hundred subdued."
The unexpected midnight raid had pierced the enemy's blind spot perfectly.
'Not just that.'
Each Dark Soul Black Wind Killer member's skill was beyond what mediocrities could challenge.
Added to death-defiers and those gripped by powerlessness from the Leader's tyranny.
Of course, not everyone knelt.
Sensing Yin Blood Valley's anomaly, another guard squad arrived—the Hell Flame Hall Lord drew his sword at the sight.
"Regret we meet like this, Supreme One."
"I remember you. Hell Flame Hall Lord Yang Myeong, right?"
"An honor that Your Nobility recalls my name."
"I'll be on my way. Mind stepping aside?"
Yang Myeong, kneeling courteously, rose.
"Apologies, but I serve the Leader. Forgive my impertinence."
"Forgiven."
He nodded and raised a hand; the Hell Flame Hall experts drew blades in unison.
"Best of luck to you."
Yang Myeong and his experts charged the Asura Sword Demon Squad without a moment's hesitation.
"Pleasure meeting you. Safe travels on the long road."
Chu Un-hwi drew Dark Soul personally and met the charge head-on.
Thud.
Not even time for half an incense stick to burn, and the uninvited guest lay quietly in his blood.
Splash. Splash.
Stepping through the blood soaking his feet, Chu Un-hwi advanced in silence.