Chapter 291
Chapter 291
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 80
>Chapter Title: North Faction Blade King (3)
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The aura of the Southern Jin warrior Gu Su-baek, amplified by his Ten Stars Internal Energy, was razor-sharp, as if it could slice through flesh, and it alone whipped up gusts of pure energy swirling in all directions.
The eyes of the three onlookers grew even more guarded under his overwhelming presence.
"Then let's begin again."
-Pak!
With those words, Gu Su-baek slammed his palm down on the blade portion of the treasure broadsword Gold Feather Crescent embedded in the ground.
The broad blade, which had been wide and sturdy, cracked into three prongs.
Everyone was baffled by his sudden action.
But then, as Gu Su-baek stamped his foot toward the ground,
-Kung!
The blade of the embedded Gold Feather Crescent split into three and rose upward.
'The sword split?'
Incredibly, the Gold Feather Crescent was a variable weapon formed by combining three separate blades.
As Gu Su-baek formed a hand seal, the three separated blades of the Gold Feather Crescent began orbiting around him like swimming fish.
Witnessing this, the Six Blood Star Dam Baek-ha was left in awe.
'Not one blade, but three... wielding Weapon Control Technique like this... He's truly reached the pinnacle of energy manipulation.'
Even against an enemy, he couldn't help but admire it.
Wielding Weapon Control Technique with even a single weapon demanded tremendous energy and mental strain.
Yet here was Gu Su-baek commanding three telekinetic blades.
Even in the old martial world where Dam Baek-ha had roamed freely, those who reached such heights with the blade were exceedingly rare.
It was right then.
-Whish whish whish whish whish!
Gu Su-baek sent his form hurtling toward them, the three blades orbiting him rapidly to form a Sword Formation.
-Pat!
Mok Kyung-un, Dam Baek-ha, and So Ye-rin moved to counter.
Judging the three orbiting telekinetic blades around Gu Su-baek as highly dangerous, they refrained from closing in rashly, maintaining their distance.
Even Dam Baek-ha, the most seasoned and experienced of the three, had never heard of a grandmaster-level expert deploying telekinetic blades in this manner.
'What in the world?'
Their bewilderment was short-lived.
"If you won't come, I'll come to you."
-Sruk!
In that instant, Gu Su-baek's form blurred.
The hazy silhouette reached them in the blink of an eye.
Having closed the gap in a flash, Gu Su-baek thrust his hand toward So Ye-rin, who stood at the forefront.
-Cha cha chok!
The three orbiting telekinetic blades intertwined cleverly, tracing a dazzling trajectory.
'What?'
It was as if three grandmasters were launching a combined assault.
If holding the blades themselves, they would inevitably have to widen their spacing to avoid clashing.
But telekinetic blades had no such issue.
Free from collisions, the blades could narrow gaps between trajectories, enabling even more precise coordination.
'No openings.'
Unable to find a flaw in the combined assault of the three telekinetic blades, So Ye-rin concluded she had no choice but to block it outright.
She stamped her foot hard.
-Kung!
Drawing her sword in that stance, So Ye-rin thrust it forward.
'True Chasing Shadow Return Sword!'
A vortex of sword energy erupted from her blade tip, clashing against the combined assault of the three telekinetic blades.
-Chae chae chae chae chae chaeng!
Supreme techniques collided violently, producing ear-splitting metallic shrieks as blue sparks flew everywhere.
The head-on clash of ultimate techniques seemed evenly matched at first glance.
But outmatched in raw power, So Ye-rin's feet began sliding backward inch by inch.
-Cha rururu!
The other two weren't about to stand idle.
Mok Kyung-un and Six Blood Star Dam Baek-ha flanked from left and right, aiming to exploit the openings in Gu Su-baek as he controlled his telekinetic blades.
But it was a trap.
-Shuk!
Gu Su-baek's fingers twitched slightly.
In that moment,
-Cha cha chok!
-Hmmk!
Mok Kyung-un, mid-swing, hastily twisted his body and retreated.
-Chok!
In a split second, something razor-sharp grazed perilously past his neck.
It was one of the three Gold Feather Crescent blades.
-Puk!
"Ugh!"
Unlike Mok Kyung-un, who barely escaped with a shallow cut to his neck, one of the Gold Feather Crescent blades pierced clean through Six Blood Star Dam Baek-ha's thigh.
She dodged the first blade's ambush somehow.
But the follow-up blade was unavoidable.
'This won't cut it.'
Yet Gu Su-baek was far from satisfied.
The one he deemed must die first was none other than Dam Baek-ha.
It was due to her near-miraculous regenerative ability.
-Pak!
Gu Su-baek closed in on Dam Baek-ha, whose form faltered from the thigh wound, seizing one Gold Feather Crescent blade to sever her neck.
No matter one's immortality claims, he doubted life could persist without a head.
-Pachi chi chi chik!
To check him, Dam Baek-ha unleashed a palm strike infused with her Blood Jade Hand and lightning energy.
But Gu Su-baek effortlessly cleaved it with his blade aura, then,
-Chok!
went for her neck.
The Gold Feather Crescent blade bore down unimpeded toward her throat.
-Chaeng!
Mok Kyung-un smashed it aside with his Fear Kill sword and kicked Dam Baek-ha sideways.
-Puk!
The blade's path deviated, sparing her decapitation.
Interrupted in his attempt to kill Dam Baek-ha, Gu Su-baek extended his left hand toward Mok Kyung-un.
Two Gold Feather Crescent blades flew at him.
-Chae chae chae chae chaeng!
Mok Kyung-un swung his Demon Sword Evil Instant and Fear Kill to block the two blades.
With those two blades tied up, Dam Baek-ha and So Ye-rin seized the moment to unleash supreme techniques at Gu Su-baek.
He expanded his blade aura over five zhang wide, repelling them both simultaneously.
-Chae aaaaang!
As the two were pushed back, Gu Su-baek retreated, waving his hand.
The two blades battling Mok Kyung-un returned to him.
He shouted at them.
"Forget picking you off one by one."
As he extended his hand, the three Gold Feather Crescent blades spun in a cross pattern, hurtling toward them with tremendous force.
The vortex powered by infused qi from the three blades,
-Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
evaporated the pooled blood on the ground and left massive craters in its wake.
A direct hit would shred bodies to oblivion.
The problem was that as a telekinetic blade aura technique, it would persist endlessly until Gu Su-baek halted it.
-Cha cha cha cha cha cha cha!
The blue-glowing vortex of telekinetic blade aura swirled like a dragon rampaging through the air, charging at them.
'Unbelievable power.'
Dam Baek-ha swallowed dryly without realizing.
Then, So Ye-rin's voice transmission reached her ear.
It wasn't just her.
Mok Kyung-un heard So Ye-rin's transmission too.
-Young Master. We'll handle that. The moment an opening appears, strike the Southern Jin warrior with that unity technique that overwhelmed me.
-Pat!
No sooner had she spoken.
So Ye-rin surged forward, and Six Blood Star Dam Baek-ha followed.
The two charged head-on at the three blade aura dragon as if to meet it directly.
'Foolish.'
Gu Su-baek smirked, then clasped his hands.
Extending them forward intensified the spin, swelling the blue dragon even larger.
The sheer momentum threatened to shred the surroundings with razor-sharp qi winds.
-Jjeojeojeojeok!
-Kkok!
So Ye-rin gripped her sword tightly.
She stomped the ground repeatedly.
'Wind Shadow Eight Forms!'
Winds rose, her form blurring as it split into not two, but eight afterimages.
'!?'
Gu Su-baek furrowed his brow at the sight.
Afterimages stemmed from ultra-high-speed movement—splitting into eight implied unimaginable velocity.
-Pa pa pa pa pa pa pak!
The eight afterimages of So Ye-rin charged at the blue blade aura dragon.
They then spread to all directions, stamping the ground.
-Kwang!
The eight afterimages drew and thrust their swords in unison.
Crimson sword world vortices from her blades assailed the blue dragon from eight directions.
The crimson vortices formed a massive wind net, compressing the blue telekinetic blade aura dragon.
-Cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha cha!
Pinned by the momentum, the dragon couldn't budge.
It didn't end there.
"Huaaaap!"
-Pachi chi chi chi chi chik!
Dam Baek-ha leaped high, hurling a massive弾gang infused with Blood Jade Hand essence and all her lightning energy at the trapped three blade auras vortex.
Lightning energy induced stiffness and paralysis.
The strike hit the caged blade aura dragon, gradually sapping its rotational force.
'Now.'
Mok Kyung-un, who had bided his moment, launched forward.
He unified twenty-four sword forms into one, focusing all power on a single point aimed at his heart.
-Hmmk!
Gu Su-baek, focused on controlling his blade aura, whipped his gaze around.
His pupils trembled.
The instant he saw the unified sword strike flying at him as a single point, instinct told him.
'How is this sword possible?'
It was unbelievable.
The single sword Mok Kyung-un wielded transcended even his own walls, a realm he hadn't reached.
What was happening?
In that instant, Gu Su-baek's mind raced.
The telekinetic blade aura supreme technique with three Gold Feather Crescents consumed vast energy and mental power.
Releasing it mid-use would bring the full backlash crashing down.
-Euduk!
No time to consider the consequences.
Gu Su-baek released the technique while twisting his body.
In that moment,
-Chae aaaa aaaang!
A black line slashed past him through the air.
Mok Kyung-un appeared in its wake.
-Sruk!
The blue vortex dragon of telekinetic blade aura, poised to devastate everything, had vanished.
Exhausted from holding it at bay and nearly depleting their energy, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha turned to Mok Kyung-un.
"Haa... haa..."
'Did it work?'
They looked at the Southern Jin warrior Gu Su-baek.
He clutched his chest with both hands, staggering—was that unified power point piercing his heart?
-Chaeng rang!
Then Mok Kyung-un dropped the Fear Kill sword from his left hand.
Blood dripped from it.
-Ttuk ttuk!
Mok Kyung-un glanced at his shoulder.
It was half-severed; a bit more force, and he'd have lost the arm entirely.
Seeing this, So Ye-rin feared the unified strike had failed.
But the staggering Southern Jin warrior Gu Su-baek dropped to one knee,
-Pusuk!
his left hand flying off entirely as blood erupted.
'!!!!!!'
An utterly unforeseen outcome.
It stemmed from Gu Su-baek's judgment.
Outside the technique, he might have dodged or countered somehow, but the backlash from retracting his energy inflicted internal injuries, stiffening him for a split second.
In that frozen instant, the unified power sword targeted his heart.
Deeming it impossible to block unscathed, Gu Su-baek made a choice.
Sacrifice.
He focused all energy into his left palm to shield his heart, attempting in that instant to sever his own shoulder to diminish the unified power.
This was the result of giving it everything.
"Huu... huu."
Wracked by internal injuries and loss of his left hand, Gu Su-baek steadied his breathing and circulated his qi rapidly.
The wound wasn't fatal.
With a moment to regulate his qi, he could still fight.
It was right then.
-Cha cha cha cha cha cha chaeng!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the blood-red sky, and the Blood Realm enveloping everything dissolved.
The ethereal spirit in the air muttered wearily.
-Limit reached.
Maintaining such a vast ghost domain in broad daylight pushed even her to the brink.
"Huh?"
"I-It got bright."
-Murmur murmur!
As the ghost domain lifted, the Embroidered Uniform Guards and eunuchs from the Eastern and Western Depositories, thrown into chaos amid the pandemonium, looked around in confusion.
Spotting the Southern Jin warrior amid the devastation—along with Mok Kyung-un, So Ye-rin, and Dam Baek-ha—the commanders bellowed.
"Seize them! Capture those bastards!"
The Embroidered Uniform Guards snapped to attention and charged.
Faced with hordes of warriors swarming from all sides, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha paled, their energy nearly spent.
With what remained, battling the masses—plus the still-formidable wounded Southern Jin warrior Gu Su-baek—seemed impossible.
Reading the mood, Gu Su-baek spoke.
"You can't escape. Surrender."
To this, Mok Kyung-un picked up the dropped Fear Kill sword with his other hand and replied.
"Not decided yet."
"You fought splendidly, but you're exhausted. Even injured, once I recover my qi flow, the situation reverts."
"Yes, so we're leaving now."
"What?"
It was then.
"Humwon."
Mok Kyung-un looked up and called out.
Right then.
Despite the shattered Blood Realm, the ground darkened suddenly as flapping wings whipped up a gale.
Everyone gaped upward in shock.
"W-What's that?"
"A bird? What bird is that big?"
The descending creature was an enormous bird.
But its form was grotesquely unlike any ordinary bird.
With a bird's upper body and the abdomen of a stinger-wielding hornet, it was the monster beast Humwon.
Humwon was the sole familiar Mok Kyung-un had tamed, an Immae Mangryang.
"Get in the cart!"
At Mok Kyung-un's shout, the equally stunned So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha leaped into the leftover cart on impulse.
Mong Mu-yak, Seop-chun, and Mara-hyeon—who had waited puzzled by the cart with the Sacred Flame Command Orb per Mok Kyung-un's orders—were speechless at the massive Humwon.
'When did he tame something like this?'
As they marveled, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha boarded, followed by Mok Kyung-un.
As if on cue, the descending Humwon snatched the cart with its massive talons.
-Flutter flutter!
Clutching the cart, Humwon ascended skyward.
The commanders, briefly stunned by Humwon's arrival, yelled at the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
"Don't let them escape! Archers, fire!"
"Don't let them get away!"
Bow-wielding guards loosed arrows in panic.
But Humwon's wingbeats generated winds that repelled them,
-Pa pa pa pa pa pak!
"D-Dodge!"
"Ugh!"
The arrows boomeranged back, wounding the archers instead.
Humwon had risen about twenty zhang when.
"Cough!"
Southern Jin warrior Gu Su-baek spat a black blood clot.
He had regained his internal flow through circulation.
Rising swiftly despite his wounds, he circulated power and reformed his telekinetic blades with the three Gold Feather Crescents.
"You think I'll let you go!"
With a roar, Gu Su-baek shot skyward using Bowstring Shadow Leap, bouncing off elastic force.
Seeing him close in instantly, So Ye-rin reached for her sword.
Mok Kyung-un said to her.
"Ahh, looks like the message got through."
"What do you..."
-Hmmk!
So Ye-rin whipped her gaze somewhere in shock.
Not just her.
Six Blood Star Dam Baek-ha's eyes bulged, staring toward a part of the palace.
-Gooo oooo oooo!
An intensely ominous, eerie aura surged from there—so potent it drew all eyes.
Gu Su-baek, ascending via Bowstring Shadow Leap, trembled violently.
'His Majesty?'
He sensed the baleful aura too.
And its source was none other than where the Emperor resided.
Without hesitation, Gu Su-baek used one of his mid-air telekinetic Gold Feather Crescents as a foothold for another Bowstring Shadow Leap.
-Paang!
Everyone sighed in relief as he veered toward it mid-air.
What on earth was happening?
Far from their location, toward the inner palace.
-Gooo oooo oooo!
In a sparsely peopled palace, a being brazenly exuded ominous energy.
The peerless beauty in ornate robes was none other than Consort Ho—no, the Hundred Face King, Golden Fur Nine-Tailed Fox.
Revealing her aura openly, she curled her lips and murmured.
"You owe me one, Heavenly Demon."