Chapter 178
Chapter 178: Cheol So-a (4)
If the Orthodox Path has the Ten Great Sects.
The Demonic Path has the Seven Evil Grand Cults.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you."
Purple ice energy mixed with white light settled over the entire body of Cheol So-a, who had already become half-naked.
Soon, the totality of the Yin Energy she had accumulated over the years would manifest.
Among the Seven Evil Grand Cults, there existed a sect that specialized in handling all kinds of Yin Energy such as this ice energy, cold energy, and moon energy.
Heavenly Yin Sect.
A secret sect composed only of women, and a place that inherited and developed secret methods for absorbing the Yin Energy within moonlight and sublimating it into internal energy or immortal energy.
Even among the Seven Evil Grand Cults, it was an esoteric sect where almost everything was shrouded in secrecy.
Cheol So-a belonged to that Heavenly Yin Sect.
In other words, the Young Mistress of the Iron God Society and a member of the Heavenly Yin Sect.
Long ago, Cheol Hon had recognized her outstanding Spirit Roots and talent. Judging that hegemony over Gangdo would be difficult to achieve in his generation, he offered young her to the Heavenly Yin Sect, who had come searching for a successor at just the right time.
As a possessor of excellent Spirit Roots, she obtained one of the Dharma Maiden positions qualified to receive transmission of the Heavenly Yin Sect's Moon Flower Law Gate. In other words, she had her name added to the candidate group for the next generation Heavenly Yin Sect successor.
Naturally, she learned and trained in numerous secrets of the Heavenly Yin Sect.
Cheol Hon had thoroughly hidden this fact. He intended to use it as a final move in the ultimate moment against the Seven Star Immortal Assembly.
However.......
Thud— thud—
That had ultimately been a mistaken judgment.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you."
Heavy footsteps that couldn't be believed to belong to Cheol So-a, possessor of a willow-slender waist, imprinted on the floor with each step.
Her father's enemy. The destroyer of the Iron God Society. Such a person stood before her. She found it difficult to calm her excitement.
But soon, the heavy thud thud steps changed to light ones.
She forgot her anger.
She forgot her despair.
She forgot her resentment.
Because this is a fight.
The first lesson learned in the Heavenly Yin Sect.
— Life and death are divided by coldness.
She is a Dharma Maiden of the Heavenly Yin Sect.
Only a cold mind and cold martial arts are the essence. Now she forgets her anger and keeps only that in mind.
Creak creak—
She rechecked her Iron Hand Gauntlet. A special weapon made of Ten Thousand Year Soft Iron. The protrusions on each finger joint emitted an eerie light. There was nothing that couldn't be torn with this. Not Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, not Mystical Iron, not even the hide of Spirit Creatures.
Whoooooosh—
Heavenly Yin Illusory Moon Art.
From Cheol So-a's Dantian surged cold energy that would only be emitted from the moon's ice pit.
The foundation and core of the Heavenly Yin Sect. A Mental Cultivation Method that absorbs the essence of Yin melted in moonlight and converts it to internal energy. The result of training every night from moonrise to moonset, drinking moonlight. Within her body swirled the accumulated energy of the moon essence.
Purple heat haze enveloped her. The air became rapidly cold. As if all the cold energy of the moon had permeated it.
Whoosh—
Cheol So-a moved first.
The Iron Hand Gauntlet flew in a straight line. A strike aimed at the throat. The hand blade condensed with Yin Energy left a blue afterimage as it cut through the air.
Clang—!
His sword precisely blocked the outer part of her right wrist. A violent collision sound accompanied by blue sparks.
Indeed, skills befitting an evil master who had attacked the Iron God Society alone.
If it had been an ordinary first-rate martial artist, even if they had defended against that move just now, their entire body would have frozen as if fallen into an ice pit.
Tap tap—
She immediately spun around and moved her left hand. This time the lower section. Simultaneously twisting her body, her right hand also followed her left hand's trajectory to attack Dong Bong-soo's lower body.
Clang—! Clang—!
Both attacks were blocked. Too easily.
Of course, this was a response within the expected range.
The essence of Heavenly Yin Sect palm techniques is continuity. Flowing like water, continuing like wind. Once started, it was like a storm that couldn't be stopped.
Third attack. Fourth, fifth, sixth.......
Clangclangclangclangclangclangclang—!
Metallic sounds rang out continuously. Sparks flew every time the gauntlet and sword clashed. As Yin Energy and Sword Energy collided, terrible cold energy vibrated in all directions.
Twenty moves, thirty moves, forty moves.......
As she added more techniques, Cheol So-a's attacks grew faster and faster. Yin Energy burst out explosively. The trajectory of the Iron Hand Gauntlet became so fast it could barely be seen. If one watched her movements from outside, they would only see light beams made of blue lines.
He's being pushed back. Definitely.
Because the opponent's sword was gradually retreating.
She could clearly feel him desperate only to defend. Surely he had no gap to counterattack, no leisure to attack.
'Merely, merely! By such a person my father! Our Iron God Society!'
She pressed relentlessly without pause.
Soon, yes soon she would be able to take this mad hero bastard's head.
Soon, soon.......
However, though she chewed over the words 'soon' in her mind more than a hundred times, the opponent remained the same.
Only the pavilion had become a wreck.
From their fierce exchange, first the fifth floor, then the fourth floor, and already the third floor was half-destroyed.
Yet that man's breathing showed no disorder whatsoever. Rather, she even had the illusion that the sword's movements were becoming more concise as time passed.
Clearly she was overwhelming him, yet he merely retreated but never fell.
'Could he be reading my attacks?'
It was impossible. Heavenly Yin Sect palm techniques contained Yin transformation. There were no fixed laws or paths, no forms or techniques. Its characteristic was changing freely like moonlight—?
Her thoughts cut off.
Simultaneously, her offensive also cut off.
"......!?"
Because for the first time in hundreds of moves, the man had counterattacked.
Because the opponent had only been blocking, she hadn't expected a counterattack at all, so Cheol So-a panicked.
However, fortunately the opponent's technique was an unremarkable 'downward strike.'
The most basic of basics.
Simply bringing the sword down from above the head.
For defending against simple attacks, simplicity is best.
She crossed both arms wearing the Iron Hand Gauntlet in a cross shape above her head.
But.......
Baaaaaaang—!
The surrounding energies swayed bizarrely. They boiled up as if frenzied.
'The Heavenly Yin Sect's Extreme Yin Energy is encroaching on all directions, yet they're boiling up......?'
Only then did she realize that the Iron God Society had now become the domain of something 'other' than herself.
Thud—
His pitch-black sword struck down onto her crossed arms.
Crack, the impact made her feel a fishy scent from one side of her nose.
Bang—!
Once more.
This time, a shock as if a celestial god's hammer had fallen was applied.
Crrrack, her mouth filled with the taste of blood. No, even her vision turned red. From clenching too hard, blood had spurted outside her mouth.
She had to escape...... but she couldn't escape from the shock.
Already with half her lower body embedded in the floor, Cheol So-a slowly lowered both arms. Her eyes and Dong Bong-soo's met across the void.
The ceiling had already completely blown away, and she saw his teeth as he received the sunlight directly from above. Teeth of a beast, so white they seemed to sting the eyes, so intensely white.
Instinct warned.
Danger! Evade!
Just as all the fine hairs on her body stood on end.
His sword began to rotate at ultra-high speed.
And.
Clang—!
The sword fell.
No, the sky collapsed.
Claaaaang!
Along with the impact, all her senses dulled. Her ears became particularly muffled. Exactly like the feeling of being sucked into a well.
Only his darkly flashing sword tip looked down at her.
That sword tip rapidly became smaller. As if falling off a cliff while looking up at the sword.
Her ears became increasingly numb, the world turned round, and the background turned black.
His intensely white teeth also became endlessly small. The surrounding scenery turned perfectly pitch-black, then soon her back became damp.
A point.
Her vision became a point. And light was entering only through that point.
Only then could she realize what had happened.
That she had been driven into the bedrock where groundwater flows by his attack.
"......Ugh. This can't be...... this can't be. I am, this maiden is! A Dharma Maiden of the Heavenly Yin Sect!"
Kiiiiiiing—!
Cheol So-a formed a complex seal with both hands.
Purple Moon Illusory Shadow Seal.
One of the Heavenly Yin Sect's advanced illusion arts. A technique that materialized the illusions of moonlight.
It wasn't a simple hallucination. Clones with substance created from Yin Energy. Perfect copies that couldn't be distinguished even by energy sense or heat detection.
Purple mist rose from the deep earth like the deep sea. Within it, Cheol So-a became two. Two became four. Four became eight.
In an instant, thirty-two Cheol So-as were created.
All were identical. Body temperature, breathing, heartbeat, muscle tension, even sweat smell. Perfect replicas.
And.
Fwoosh-fwoosh—!
Thirty-one replicas and only one genuine article flew up.
In a flash, a lot of Cheol So-a poured out of the hole they had dug.
'Got him!'
He must have judged he'd killed her.
She could see it. Dong Bong-soo standing still with both eyes closed, even with his sword lowered.
Dong Bong-soo alone stood vacantly on the ruins of the Main Hall, which had been perfectly destroyed.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP—!
Sixty-four iron hands wielded by thirty-two Cheol So-a poured toward him all at once.
At that moment.
The corners of Dong Bong-soo's mouth rose.
A smile. Definitely a smile.
Hummm—
A transparent wave spread from his body. A very fine vibration. It spread through the air and brushed past the illusions.
Precisely, an Energy Wave with the same frequency as the clones. But with the exact opposite phase.
Whoom—
The energy waves met and canceled each other out.
Instantly, all the illusions rippled. Like throwing a stone into a lake. Ripples formed.
And.
All the clones shattered into pieces, leaving only one.
Only the genuine Cheol So-a.
"......!"
Swish—
The pitch-black sword flew precisely toward her.
She desperately concentrated all her remaining Yin Energy into both hands.
Seven Night Ice Heart Palm.
A palm technique that only a very few in the Heavenly Yin Sect could learn. A supreme technique that only those who passed through training to endure within extreme Yin Energy during the Seven Night ordeal could obtain.
Seven palm forces. Each with different effects.
Pah—
First, Ice Binding's palm wind.
Cold energy exploded from her palm. Cold energy close to Absolute Yin Temperature. The touch of death that freezes everything it touches.
All moisture in the air froze grain by grain and sparkled like powder.
Pah pah—
Second and thir......
......d didn't exist. Couldn't exist.
Because in an instant, red energy that bloomed from Dong Bong-soo's body tore all the cold energy to shreds and penetrated her body.
Ssszzt—!
Water vapor exploded. Vision turned white.
And.
Thud—
That moment.
Crrrack—
Cheol So-a cracked.
Due to the operation of extremely powerful cold energy, each cell of Cheol So-a's flesh had already been surrounded by ice particles.
The miserable end of excessively operating Yin Energy and cold energy.
Like ice cracking, fissures occurred throughout her entire body.
Cheol So-a fell to her knees.
Crack crackle, joints crumbling helplessly.
Only then did she fully understand.
From beginning to end, while she fought with all her might, Dong Bong-soo had merely been 'observing.'
Like a scholar observing a specimen. Coldly and dispassionately.
"Unfair...... Unfair. I, we...... how did our sect...... come this far......"
Cheol So-a crawled on the floor. Water from melting ice stretched long.
She clung to Dong Bong-soo's feet.
"Sell me...... sell me...... I'm a woman worth that much......"
THWACK—!
The flat of the [Demon-Expelling Annihilation Wheel Sword] struck and shattered her body as is.
She didn't know Dong Bong-soo, didn't know him at all.
․ Disband the Iron God Society.
├─ Progress: 100%
└─ Reward: Hero History +5
Ding—
[You did not ignore helping the wronged and eradicated even the root cause. A reward is given.]
[+5]
[The world has become considerably more beautiful.]
Her value could only be achieved through death.
Her shapely body or worthless grievances held no value.
Just as the Iron God Society had ignored the value of all those they had killed and abused.