Chapter 290
Chapter 290
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 80
>Chapter Title: Northern Blade King (2)
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The manifested spirit body of the Blue Spirit gazed up at the blood-soaked sky.
Even for the Blue Spirit, known as a hundred-year vengeful soul, deploying the Ghost Domain during the broad daylight when yang energy was at its peak was nearly impossible.
This was because the dead belonged to the yin world.
However, the Blue Spirit's spiritual power had approached the level of the Purple Spirit, the pinnacle of vengeful souls, allowing her to unfurl the Ghost Domain Blood Realm to a certain extent even in the daytime.
‘...But it can't last long.’
With yang energy at its fullest and the domain spread over such a vast area, her spiritual power was depleting rapidly.
If it were night, the situation would have been different, but not now.
She had to hurry.
-Swish!
As the Blue Spirit swung her pipe, bloody hands rose from the ground, plunging the bewildered palace guards, as well as the eunuchs from the Eastern and Western Palaces, into even greater chaos amid the sudden crisis.
“W-what in the world is this?”
“How could something like this happen in the imperial palace in broad daylight?”
“Don't get flustered! It's all an illusion!”
“Pull yourselves together!”
The commanders tried their best to bolster their men's morale.
But this was no mere illusion.
The Ghost Domain created by a vengeful soul nearing its zenith was a space of pure terror and fear.
-Paaah!
-Shhh shhh shhh!
“Arghhh!”
“Let go! Let me go!”
Bloody thorns and hands surged from all directions, turning the scene into utter pandemonium.
However, those four at the center of the Blood Realm wouldn't perceive any of this.
She had thoroughly sealed off the domain.
The Blue Spirit looked toward Mok Kyung-un.
‘For now, I've done as you wished, mortal. But can you really escape?’
She was worried.
Her opponent was a true monster who had surpassed the Wall and reached the Manifest Realm.
No matter how much Mok Kyung-un's demonic energy had grown to approach the Manifest Realm, there was an inevitable gap between him and one who had truly attained that realm.
She recalled just moments ago.
[Blue Spirit, can you deploy the Ghost Domain?]
[Ghost Domain?]
[Yes. Can you hold back the swarming palace guards with the Blood Realm and isolate the space from that man?]
[...It's possible. But with yang energy so abundant, it can't last long.]
[I see. Then I'll have to resolve it within that time.]
[Hold on, resolve? Weren't you asking me to isolate that monster-like bastard in the Blood Realm for a moment?]
[Yes, that's right. Including the three of us.]
[You?]
The Blue Spirit stared intently at Mok Kyung-un.
He had stubbornly insisted as if he had some plan, so she had gone along with it.
But her opponent was one of the pinnacles of the current martial world, one of the Six Supremes.
What were the odds of victory against such a foe with a joint assault?
-Crackle crackle!
Dan Baek-ha, the Six Blood Star of the Nine Blood Cult, who had gained immortality and lightning power by consuming the blood of the spirit beast Dragon Ghost, raised her battle intent to its maximum.
Even for her, who had lived for so long, the world drenched entirely in blood was eerily bizarre.
Yet something even more striking entered her eyes.
‘Ahhh. To see that form again.’
What caught Dan Baek-ha's eye was the masked Six Supreme Tiger So Ye-rin, her hair dyed red and gripping a blood-soaked blade.
The phenomenon of her hair turning red was possible only when one of the Blood Cult's sovereign bloodline reached mastery in the Blood Heaven Great Net Skill.
As a devout follower of the Blood Cult, she couldn't help but feel moved by that sight.
But that emotion was fleeting.
-Swish!
The Southern Advance Warrior Gu Seong-baek moved first.
His target was not the two in front of him, but
-Slash!
‘Me first?’
It was her directly.
The massive broadsword flew toward her with astonishing speed unfit for its size, poised to sever Dan Baek-ha's neck in one stroke.
-Pat!
She narrowly dodged by launching her lightness skill backward.
Yet, just as the blade passed in front of her, it didn't fully swing through but halted midway.
-Paak!
‘Monster.’
Dan Baek-ha couldn't hide her inner shock.
Pulling back the force mid-swing was difficult even for masters.
Moreover,
-Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
The moment Gu Seong-baek's Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon stopped midway, the ground cracked and gusts of wind pressure erupted from the sheer true energy loaded into it.
To retract such power mid-motion—truly a monster.
-Paang! Whirr!
Gu Seong-baek spun the halted blade and swung it backhanded, aiming once more for Dan Baek-ha's head.
She ducked low to evade the blade's trajectory, then
-Crackle crackle crackle!
charged at Gu Seong-baek, thrusting her lightning-infused Blood Jade Hand at full power toward his heart.
But in that instant, Gu Seong-baek lightly twisted his body sideways, then
-Pak!
grabbed her wrist and drove his knee upward.
-Thud! Crack!
“Eek!”
With one strike, her arm bent backward, her shattered elbow bone piercing through flesh.
It was agonizing, but gritting her teeth, Dan Baek-ha tried to tear apart Gu Seong-baek's left hand gripping her wrist with her Blood Jade Hand.
However,
-Paak!
As he yanked her wrist, her balance crumbled.
Seizing the moment, Gu Seong-baek released his Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon and thrust his bare hand, forming blade aura, toward Dan Baek-ha's face to pierce it.
‘No!’
But in that split second, a blood-red blade slashed toward Gu Seong-baek's right arm.
It was So Ye-rin.
Unable to ignore it, Gu Seong-baek released Dan Baek-ha's wrist and retreated six paces in an instant with fluid lightness skill.
-Pa pa pa pa pa pak!
As he widened the distance, So Ye-rin pursued relentlessly, unleashing exquisite strikes.
‘Third Form: Eel Sword!’
Her blade changed course, its trajectory swaying like supple willow branches, simultaneously targeting seven vital points on Gu Seong-baek's upper body.
-Swa swa swa swa swa swa!
Yet astonishingly, Gu Seong-baek evaded her sword simply by shifting his upper body.
Even then, he feigned pulling her hand, then
-Pak!
used Void Grasping to draw back his Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon, gripping it anew and attempting to cleave So Ye-rin in half in a flash.
Facing his overwhelming tyrannical strike, So Ye-rin hastily circulated her Ten Stars True Energy and raised her sword to block.
-Chaeng!
“Cough!”
But outmatched in true energy, So Ye-rin coughed blood and was pushed back.
-Shrrr!
‘I’ll cleave you now.’
Aware of his vast superiority in true energy, Gu Seong-baek pressed her even harder to dominate.
-Shrr shrr shrr!
‘Second Form: Clam Sword.’
In that moment, as So Ye-rin was being repelled, she bent her knees and kicked off the ground, exploding forward with ferocious momentum to parry Gu Seong-baek's Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon and counter with a sword technique.
-Chaang!
‘Using my own power?’
A glint flashed in Gu Seong-baek's eyes.
It was the first time he had seen a sword technique that utilized his tyrannical momentum through the grafting method of yin and yang.
-Sh sh sh sh sh sh sh!
As her revitalized sword momentum surged wildly, Gu Seong-baek countered in kind.
Blue sparks flew as their sword and blade clashed, shockwaves scattering in all directions.
-Cha cha cha cha cha cha chang!
They had exchanged about eight forms in an instant.
-Flinch!
Gu Seong-baek urgently ducked his head.
No sooner had he done so than the jet-black aura-clad Evil Instant Sword grazed past his hair.
Along with it, So Ye-rin also had to deploy footwork and retreat.
Otherwise, the sword Gu Seong-baek dodged might have pierced her.
Moreover,
-Pak!
Mok Kyung-un's sword was far from finished.
‘!?’
Gu Seong-baek, who had ducked to evade the sword in a flash, saw his pupils shake momentarily at another blade flying from his left.
This was no simple swing with the opposite hand.
Two entirely different sword techniques were unfolding simultaneously.
His right hand executed the Moonless Public Sword technique, his left the Demonic Sword Art technique.
‘Executing completely different sword forms with each hand?’
Setting aside that both were exquisite, how had he mastered such a unique method?
Even he, who had surpassed the Wall, couldn't do it.
Gu Seong-baek inwardly marveled.
-Pak!
Judging this one unavoidable, Gu Seong-baek slammed his Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon into the ground as a brace and twisted his body.
-Slash!
The blade of the Bewitching Sword Fear Kill lightly grazed Gu Seong-baek's left shoulder.
He felt a burning sensation as bewitching energy burrowed into the grazed area.
‘Bewitching energy?’
It felt like the bewitching energy was worsening the wound.
Amid this strange discomfort, Gu Seong-baek hastily sliced away the skin of the grazed spot himself.
-Slash!
He then launched his body backward, dodging Mok Kyung-un's unfolding sword technique.
-Pa pa pa pak!
He flipped in the air four full rotations, widening the distance.
Seizing the opening, the three hurtled their forms toward Gu Seong-baek.
In response, mid-flip, Gu Seong-baek spun his body and scattered blade aura formed with both hands, preventing their approach.
-Sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh!
Mok Kyung-un, So Ye-rin, and Dan Baek-ha likewise blocked the incoming blade aura with their own sword auras and claw auras.
But even the same aura differed in the true energy infused, forcing them back.
-Cha cha cha cha cha chang!
-Shrr shrr shrr shrr!
This held true even for So Ye-rin, whose energy had surged via the Blood Heaven Great Net Skill, and Dan Baek-ha, utilizing the spirit beast's lightning power.
Gu Seong-baek, having surpassed the Wall, wielded true energy of unmatched potency.
Yet amid this, one pierced through his assault.
It was Mok Kyung-un.
-Cha cha cha cha cha chang!
Using the Bewitching Sword Fear Kill in his left hand and the mysteries of the Qi-Shifting True Scripture, Mok Kyung-un deflected the incoming blade aura back at him, charging relentlessly toward Gu Seong-baek.
‘This guy's true energy surpasses the other two.’
Feeling it, Gu Seong-baek halted his spin midway and feigned a one-handed sweep.
-Swish!
-Be careful!
At So Ye-rin's telepathic warning ringing in his ears, Mok Kyung-un, pressing forward, double-kicked the ground.
It was the Wind God Step he had stolen from Mara Hyun.
-Slither!
Mok Kyung-un's form split into two, left and right.
-Swish!
And between them, the Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon flew through.
He had thought it was Void Grasping to retrieve the blade, but it hurtled like lightning toward one of the split forms.
-Slash!
‘Blade control?’
It was precisely Blade Control Technique.
A method usable only by those who had surpassed the Wall, also called Qi Blade Control.
Mok Kyung-un extended his hand toward the blade.
-Swish!
If he could interfere with the true energy connection, he could disrupt the Blade Control.
He had tried it once against the Heaven-Earth Society Lord's Qi Sword Control.
Thus, using the "Adhere" form of the Eight Parting Slash to scatter the true energy link.
However,
-Woooong!
Energy gathered on the incoming Qi Blade, soon infused with blue-hued aura.
‘!?’
The dispersing energy instead condensed further, foiling the interference.
Not stopping there, the aura-clad blade flew like a living thing, unleashing a tyrannical blade strike toward Mok Kyung-un to cleave his form.
-Slash!
As one clone vanished, Gu Seong-baek moved his hand.
‘Next is you.’
The Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon then flew toward the remaining Mok Kyung-un.
-Swish!
So swift it seemed like a streak of light hurtling forth.
But in that instant,
-Crackle crackle crackle crackle crackle!
Lightning surged upward, repelling the Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon propelled by Blade Control upward.
Beneath it stood the Six Blood Star Dan Baek-ha, both hands thrust skyward.
‘Her arm?’
A glint entered Gu Seong-baek's eyes.
Dan Baek-ha's elbow, which had been shattered with bone protruding through flesh, was now healed.
‘Annoying. The power of immortality?’
Gu Seong-baek clicked his tongue at her tremendous regenerative ability.
Having distanced himself from the three, the Southern Advance Warrior Gu Seong-baek withdrew his lightning-repelled Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon with true energy.
-Swish! Pak!
Gripping the Golden Crescent Moon, Gu Seong-baek eyed the three in turn and spoke.
“Though it's by His Majesty's order, I stepped forward lightly, but it seems that's not feasible.”
“Then it would be appreciated if you simply withdrew.”
Gu Seong-baek chuckled at Mok Kyung-un's sarcastic remark.
He then drove the Tyrant's Blade Golden Crescent Moon into the ground and said.
-Thud!
“There are such things as positions, so that seems unlikely. Besides, chances to face three warriors nearing the Manifest Realm at once don't come often.”
-Goooong!
No sooner had he spoken.
Gu Seong-baek's aura, raised to Ten Stars True Energy, soared to an unprecedented height.
At the immense pressure, wariness sharpened in the three's eyes.
Until now, the Six Supreme Northern Blade King Gu Seong-baek had held back some power, but now he was unleashing his full might.