Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 44
>Chapter Title: Talent (2)
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The dark red poison qi rising from Mok Kyung-un’s hands.
It was the telltale sign of deploying the Toad Venom Demonic Palm from the Demonic Poison Scripture.
Watching this, Cheongryeong inwardly clicked her tongue.
‘Even poison arts can be mastered so quickly?’
She had suspected it might be possible since his body was practically that of a poison human from the start, but to think it was actually feasible.
Poison arts followed a different trajectory from other martial arts.
For him to embody them in a single attempt was truly a terrifying level of talent.
‘This guy might actually...’
He could really do it.
Avenger her century-old grudge, that is.
But he still needed far more experience and time.
The Heaven-Earth Society’s true power wasn’t that easy to contend with.
And so,
-Hey, you rascal. Aren’t you showing off your power a bit too much?
Cheongryeong warned Mok Kyung-un in a low voice.
A sharp awl would pierce its own handle.
He needed to show just enough, but flaunting his talent too much could invite suspicion instead.
In response to her words, Mok Kyung-un replied.
-I’m changing the plan.
-Changing the plan? What are you talking about?
-To contact the Leader, half-measures won’t cut it.
-What?
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Cheongryeong voiced her concern.
-Rascal. Your progress is incredibly fast, but you’re still just ahead of the late-generation disciples. You can’t rush this.
-That’s not the case. But I’ll need to make the best choice possible.
-The best choice?
What on earth was this guy thinking?
Hadn’t he decided to build his strength in the shadows of the Dark Clan Leader?
Was he planning to scrap that and throw himself into the competition for the Leader’s successor?
Just then, Mok Kyung-un kicked off the ground and shot toward Woo Ho-rang, the subordinate of Wi So-yeon, the Leader’s third disciple, who was standing there in bewilderment.
-Pat!
The dark red haze tracing his path was bold and ferocious beyond measure.
It resembled a crashing wave.
“Urk!”
Woo Ho-rang’s expression darkened.
The moment he confirmed Mok Kyung-un had mastered the Demonic Poison Scripture of the Poison Scorpion King Baek Sa-ha, he judged close combat too dangerous.
-Papak!
Woo Ho-rang hastily deployed his lightness skill to create distance.
He was already struggling to neutralize the poison qi in his chest.
He had thought his superior internal energy would let him suppress the foe easily, but the situation had flipped.
‘It’s incomprehensible.’
How could he use the Poison Scorpion King’s martial arts?
Poison arts weren’t something you could master so quickly.
-Paaaa!
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un swung a palm strike, sending a diagonal wave of dark red poison qi hurtling forward.
Woo Ho-rang countered by generating sharp sword qi to cleave the air ahead.
-Chwaaaaak!
Having split the poison qi, Woo Ho-rang used the broad blade of his Gihwa Saber to whip up a gust of wind pressure.
-Papapaaang!
The dispersing poison qi scattered backward from the pressure.
Passing through the drifting poison qi like a bolt of lightning, Mok Kyung-un kicked the flat of Woo Ho-rang’s Gihwa Saber with his foot.
-Taengkang!
Then, like a heron snatching prey, he reached out with the fingers of both hands to seize Woo Ho-rang’s shoulder.
Woo Ho-rang jerked his head back and kicked at Mok Kyung-un’s thigh.
-Puk!
Using the recoil, Woo Ho-rang leaped back again to widen the gap.
‘Annoying.’
Even a graze from that poison was lethal.
No matter how much he protected himself with qi, he couldn’t afford carelessness.
Sneering provocatively at him, Mok Kyung-un taunted.
“How do you plan to subdue me if all you do is dodge?”
‘This bastard!’
Infuriated by the provocation, he had to remain cool-headed.
If the opponent was a poison arts master, even closing in put him at a disadvantage, so he needed to maintain distance and defend against the poison qi.
-Tatataatak!
With far more real combat experience than his junior Yeop Wi-seon, Woo Ho-rang refused to take the bait and kept widening the gap.
But he had overlooked one thing.
The instant he tried to pull away, sharp sword qi surged toward his brow.
-Chaeaeaeng!
Woo Ho-rang swung his saber in a frantic block.
Aiming for his brow was none other than Mok Kyung-un’s sword.
-Kkiririring!
Blue sparks flew as blade met blade.
But amid the sparks, Woo Ho-rang frowned at the crack he glimpsed.
The edge of his Gihwa Saber, touching Mok Kyung-un’s sword, was fracturing.
‘Damn it!’
Woo Ho-rang poured qi into his blade to generate repulsive force.
-Chaeaeang!
With that, he unleashed the fourth form of the famed saber art of Saber King Son Yun, the Bright Sun Saber Method: Perfect Wheel Saber Membrane.
The sharp qi trajectory he created formed a single barrier.
The Bright Sun Saber Method consisted of six offensive forms and three defensive ones; this was the most flawless defensive form among them.
-Chaechaechaechang!
His Perfect Wheel Saber Membrane clashed with Mok Kyung-un’s sword strikes, which advanced like a tidal wave of arrows, producing a deafening metallic screech.
‘What the hell is this guy?’
Not just poison arts—his swordsmanship was no ordinary skill either.
As a disciple of the Dark Clan Leader, he should wield a saber, so how had he mastered swordsmanship at this level?
He pondered in bewilderment.
At that instant,
-Pak!
-Chaechaechaechang!
Between the saber membrane his Gihwa Saber formed, Mok Kyung-un’s demon sword lodged itself and spun wildly on its own.
In that split second,
-Pak!
Mok Kyung-un flattened his stance toward the ground.
‘Sequencing Leg Method, Eighth Form: Flying Mystery Ascending Strike!’
His leg qi spun long across the ground, burrowing low before kicking up directly into Woo Ho-rang’s jaw.
‘Leg arts?’
Poison arts, swordsmanship, and now even high-level leg arts like this?
Just how many martial arts had this guy mastered?
-Pak!
Woo Ho-rang hastily jerked his head back.
But the subtlety of the Flying Mystery Ascending Strike lay in both the upward kick and the downward chop.
-Pagak!
“Guh!”
Woo Ho-rang’s knee buckled as his right shoulder was smashed down.
Seizing the opening, Mok Kyung-un aimed a Toad Venom Demonic Palm at his chest.
In that moment, Woo Ho-rang released his Gihwa Saber.
He kicked off the ground and rolled backward.
-Papapak!
This was no time to worry about pride.
Taking a poison palm strike here would end the fight.
But Mok Kyung-un swiftly followed, unleashing leg arts once more with a barrage of kicks at the rolling Woo Ho-rang.
‘Sequencing Leg Method, Ninth Form: Storm Gale!’
-Papapapapapak!
Mok Kyung-un’s kicks flew in amid countless afterimages.
Their power was endlessly variable.
‘Damn it all!’
Woo Ho-rang, off-balance, generated saber qi barehanded, slashing a long line across the ground and upward.
Debris from the ground mixed with the qi and surged up, clashing with Mok Kyung-un’s afterimage-laden leg strikes.
Seizing the gap, Woo Ho-rang tried to regain his footing.
Right then,
-Pang!
‘No way!?’
Mok Kyung-un, mid-form, suddenly kicked off the air.
He launched his body upward, flipping in midair while spinning, then kicked off the air once more to unleash a saber strike at Woo Ho-rang.
That saber strike was,
‘Flying Phantom Saber Method, Third Form: Reflecting Affliction Saber Seal!’
It was the Dark Clan Leader’s unique saber art, the Flying Phantom Saber Method.
The Reflecting Affliction Saber Seal, the most domineering single strike among them, slashed diagonally from Woo Ho-rang’s shoulder to his chest.
-Chwaaaak!
“Gah!”
A scream burst from Woo Ho-rang’s lips as the saber cut him.
He collapsed to the ground, unable to steady himself.
‘...Ha!’
Someone had been watching their duel from hiding.
That someone was Seo Hye-in, leader of the Chaeyeon Group among the Four Peaks, one of—no, now four—of Jang Neung-ak, the Leader’s second disciple’s, core subordinates.
She was genuinely stunned.
‘No way...’
She had been lying in wait, concealing her presence on Jang Neung-ak’s orders, waiting for Mok Kyung-un.
But Woo Ho-rang had appeared first, so she had stayed hidden, observing the situation.
‘...Was he always this strong?’
The real reason she hid and watched was to discern Mok Kyung-un’s true intentions.
If she saw him contacting Wi So-yeon, it would be a betrayal of her lord, so she planned to judge accordingly.
But something unexpected had occurred.
‘He defeated Woo Ho-rang?’
Who was Woo Ho-rang?
The great disciple of Saber King Son Yun, one of the Five Kings, and the Grand Leader of the Gyerok Group.
Impressive enough on its own, he was also one of the Five Tigers, known as the pinnacle of martial prowess among the Heaven-Earth Society’s late-generation disciples.
To defeat him—a man said to have no equal below valley leader rank or higher—was a shock in itself.
And even more astonishing was,
‘How many martial arts has he mastered?’
Unless her eyes deceived her, every technique Mok Kyung-un displayed was a supreme-level martial art.
The Poison Scorpion King Baek Sa-ha’s Demonic Poison Scripture, the Dark Clan Leader’s Flying Phantom Saber Method, ever-changing and domineering leg arts, and a subtle swordsmanship that seemed familiar yet impossible to find flaws in.
Each one appeared extraordinarily difficult to master.
‘Incredible.’
She had guessed he was at the absolute peak realm after briefly clashing hands with Wi Maeng-cheon, but she never dreamed he was this strong.
‘...I couldn’t match him.’
She had to admit it.
At this level, he could even contend with Go Yeon-ho, the First Peak called the strongest in the Five Peaks Society and another of the Five Tigers, the Ironclad Demon Fist.
‘No. That’s uncertain.’
Even among the Five Tigers, she believed Go Yeon-ho surpassed Woo Ho-rang.
If naming someone who could rival Go Yeon-ho, she’d confidently point to the undisputed top of the Five Tigers.
Go Yeon-ho was truly that strong.
But that wasn’t the point right now.
‘Did things work out well?’
Her lord Jang Neung-ak was already in a foul mood after Wi Maeng-cheon, the Second Peak of the Five Peaks Society known as the Unyielding Sword, was killed, and failing to secure the Poison Scorpion King Baek Sa-ha’s support.
If Mok Kyung-un—a joint disciple of the Poison Scorpion King and the Dark Clan Leader who had defeated Woo Ho-rang and become a new Five Tiger—joined under him, it would surely soothe his displeasure.
‘He already suspected Woo Ho-rang of killing Wi Maeng-cheon, so this is killing two birds with one stone.’
Convinced it was a good turn, she prepared to step out.
The fight was over anyway, and with Mok Kyung-un having thoroughly crushed Wi So-yeon’s subordinate, there was no reason for him to join her faction, so no need to hesitate further.
But right then.
“My, what an entertaining show you’ve put on.”
-Humk!
‘Wh-when?’
Startled by the gravelly voice from behind, she hastily deployed her footwork to create distance.
How long had someone been behind her?
She hadn’t sensed even a hint of presence.
-Pak!
After leaping back, she whipped her head around.
But no one was there.
‘!?’
What?
The voice had clearly come from behind.
As she puzzled over it, the voice spoke from behind again.
“I’ve been watching alongside you this whole time, so why the sudden fright?”
-Ossak!
Her entire body broke out in goosebumps.
Did that mean someone had been right behind her all along, and she hadn’t noticed until now?
Seo Hye-in trembled so violently she couldn’t turn her head.
Then the voice’s owner spoke.
“I considered yielding one or two to your fellow disciples since it might end too anticlimactically, but it seems a shame to do so.”
‘!!!!!!’
Could the one behind her now be...
‘The eldest young master?’
[Chapter 44: Talent (2)] End