Chapter 312
Chapter 312
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 85
>Chapter Title: Reunion (4)
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Killing intent.
It was an energy that grew stronger the more uncontrollably the desire to kill something swelled within.
Emotions belonged to the realm of the mind.
Among the many emotions, the urge to kill was the most intense and ferocious.
Thus, it stimulated not only the five senses of others but even their sixth sense, putting them on high alert.
Just like right now.
-Rrrrrumble!
'What kind of killing intent is this...'
'...My lord?'
This wasn't limited to the masked enemies—it was such intense killing intent that it sent chills down the spines of allies like Seo Chun, Mong Mu-yak, and Mara Hyeon in an instant.
The killing intent was so overwhelming that hairs stood on end, and true energy in their dantians boiled up instinctively in vigilance.
'What the hell is this guy?'
Gu Yang-so, the head of the Gu Clan, who had assumed the stance of the Toad Poison Technique's ultimate move, looked at Mok Kyung-un with shocked eyes.
At first, he had thought him a supreme expert at the pinnacle of Transcendent realm with resistance to poison.
But to dominate the room and evoke anxiety with killing intent alone required surpassing that wall.
Yet he himself had surpassed it as well.
Even so, he found himself tense from the guy's killing intent, unable to tear his eyes away.
What the hell was this guy's identity?
He couldn't possibly be in the late-stage realm.
At this level, he could be called one of the martial world's top experts, an Eight Star...
-Swish!
'No way?'
Gu Yang-so's eyes widened.
He hadn't taken his eyes off the guy even for a second, yet Mok Kyung-un had somehow appeared right in front of him.
Startled for a moment, but since he had already gathered his energy, he didn't hesitate and immediately unleashed the Toad Poison Technique's dual palms.
-Thud!
"Urk!"
But in that instant, Mok Kyung-un's knee slammed into Gu Yang-so's chin.
Gu Yang-so's body lifted into the air from the blow.
In that state, Mok Kyung-un followed up with a kick to his chest.
-Thud! Boom!
With that, the pouring raindrops scattered, creating ripple-like waves, and Gu Yang-so's form was flung backward.
-Boom!
The flung Gu Yang-so crashed through the branch office building's wall.
At this sight, the masked figures couldn't hide their bewilderment.
Gu Yang-so, the Eight Poisons Division Leader, was a poison expert on par with Heavenly Poison Hand Dang In-hae, one of the Eight Stars.
For a nameless late-stage punk whose name no one knew to reduce a top-tier supreme expert to this in just two exchanges—what the hell was going on?
-Pat!
Then, the bamboo hat man shed his bamboo raincoat.
At his waist was a pitch-black sword that looked as if it had been charred.
He even removed the bamboo hat he wore.
His face was revealed: a middle-aged man with a scar above his left eyebrow.
-Shoooo!
Though his face was wet from the pouring rain, who could forget it?
The corner of Mok Kyung-un's mouth lifted.
It was him after all.
Before learning martial arts, when he was called the Sickle Murder Ghost, he had tracked their traces.
He had encountered this guy back then.
[You could've lived quietly, but why go around making a fuss and courting death?]
-Zing!
His left chest, where the bastard had stabbed him, throbbed.
Then someone shouted.
"Left Protector?"
It was Seo Chun.
At Seo Chun's cry, Mong Mu-yak also recognized him and said with a bewildered expression.
"Why is the Leader's Left Protector here?"
Seo Chun was the captain of the third guard unit at the main headquarters.
Since he resided there constantly, he naturally knew the faces of the Leader's personal guards.
This guy was Left Protector Lee Gwang.
"Left Protector! What the hell are you doing?"
At Seo Chun's shout, the scarred middle-aged man—no, Lee Gwang—drew the pitch-black charred sword from his waist with an annoyed look.
Mok Kyung-un, who hadn't taken his eyes off him, opened his mouth.
"Did you say he's the Leader's Left Protector?"
"Y-Yes. But why is the Left Protector... with them..."
Seo Chun couldn't finish his sentence.
Learning that the apparent leader of the masked group was the Left Protector made him suspect the Leader himself might be the mastermind ordering their deaths.
Mong Mu-yak seemed to have a similar guess, equally bewildered.
'Sent by the Leader? Does that mean they're discarding us after the top-secret mission? Why?'
It made no sense.
He was the Vice Leader's son, and Mok Kyung-un was the Dark Sect Leader's disciple, even nominated as the fourth young master candidate.
Even if it was a mission they didn't want known, something felt off.
Was this really the Leader's order?
As he puzzled over it, the scarred middle-aged man, Lee Gwang, looked at Mok Kyung-un and spoke.
"Your killing intent is directed solely at me. Do you know me?"
At his question, Mok Kyung-un smirked and replied.
"Of course. How could I not? I've been dying to meet you."
"You've been wanting to meet me? You..."
Lee Gwang furrowed his brow.
The kid's words reminded him of someone, but that guy had supposedly died in an accident during the Golden Guards selection.
So it couldn't be 'that guy.' Then who?
'No, it can't be that guy anyway.'
It couldn't be him to begin with. No matter how much martial arts progressed in that short time, there were limits.
He had seen him personally when the Leader tested him.
It hadn't even been a month since then.
Even with exceptional talent or a stroke of fortune, there were limits to how strong one could get.
As his curiosity about the guy's identity peaked,
"I've always wanted to ask."
-Step, step!
Mok Kyung-un walked toward him, speaking meaningfully.
"Are you the Ghost Sword?"
'!?'
As soon as Mok Kyung-un's question dropped, the surroundings stirred.
Just the mention of "Ghost Sword" had the masked men reacting with shock equal to when they saw the insignia.
At Mok Kyung-un's question, the scarred middle-aged man Lee Gwang raised an eyebrow and spoke.
"What are you? Why are you looking for the Ghost Sword?"
"Just answer yes or no. If you are the Ghost Sword, I might spare you the trouble you've gone through..."
-Rumble! Shoooo!
Before he could finish.
A surge of tremendous poison gas drew all eyes there.
Looking over, green haze strong enough to corrode even the falling raindrops spread in all directions, melting even intact buildings.
-Sizzle!
Through the melting building from the poison gas, a figure emerged.
It was none other than Eight Poisons Division Leader Gu Yang-so.
"Elder!"
"The Elder's safe!"
The masked men cheered at the sight.
But it didn't last long.
The poison gas he emitted now was on another level from before; the green haze spread rapidly in all directions.
As the rain oxidized and buildings melted without trace from the vicious poison, the panicked masked men had no choice but to distance themselves.
"Gasp! P-Poison's coming!"
"Fall back!"
"Don't go near the Elder!"
-Papapapapak!
Ignoring them, Gu Yang-so strode forward, radiating fury, toward someone.
It was Mok Kyung-un.
'I admit it. I was careless.'
Gu Yang-so had summoned the Eight Poisons, the pinnacle of poison arts.
Even at Seven Poisons, he had been dazed momentarily by Mok Kyung-un's unexpected strike.
So Gu Yang-so acknowledged it fully.
This wasn't some late-stage kid; he was an expert requiring full power to face.
Then he needed to go all out.
-Shoooo!
His hair had turned completely green.
The Eight Poisons realm rivaled the legendary Myriad Poisons Body, which embodied all poisons.
'You're the first since Heavenly Poison Hand Dang In-hae and that lord to force me to use all Eight Poisons.'
-Pat!
Gu Yang-so, visible only as a green form from the poison gas, shot toward Mok Kyung-un.
It was Eight Poisons Melting Assault, one of the Toad Poison Technique's ultimate moves.
The green poison gas formed long palms that霸道ly targeted the vital acupoints on Mok Kyung-un's upper body.
-Sizzle!
The momentum was so fierce that the surroundings melted from the poison's aftermath.
That was the danger of poison arts.
Even the strongest expert risked poisoning or bodily dissolution from the residue when clashing directly.
Yet Mok Kyung-un didn't dodge at all, extending his hand toward Gu Yang-so's poison art.
"My lord, keep your distance!"
Seo Chun shouted in alarm at Mok Kyung-un's response.
That level of poison art might not even be repelled by rebounding protective energy.
But something unexpected happened.
-Papapapapapak!
Standing still, Mok Kyung-un blocked the ultimate move with one hand.
The flashy green palm trajectory, wrapped in vicious poison, tried desperately to pierce his hand and strike,
-Papapapapak!
But Mok Kyung-un blocked it without budging, with one hand.
Gu Yang-so's pupils shook.
Unlike before, this was his full-power ultimate move.
Having summoned Eight Poisons and striking with Ten Stars' power, the surroundings melting from poison showed its peak might.
'This guy... what is he?'
Gu Yang-so was utterly bewildered.
He thought prolonged exchange would poison him, no matter his deep inner energy.
But he hadn't noticed: each clash, Mok Kyung-un's hand shimmered purple.
'Could this be... poison?'
Unbelievable, but it was definitely poison.
Not mere resistance—this guy had properly mastered poison arts.
And not some amateur art; the poison art he used was,
"Wave Demon Poison Scripture?"
"So you recognize it, calling yourself a poison expert."
"You? What's your relation to that old Island Poison King?"
Island Poison King Baek Sa-ha.
Though he never reached Poison Saint realm, the Baek Clan's Wave Demon Poison Scripture was an unparalleled poison art rivaling the Gu Clan or Sichuan Dang Clan.
'Is this guy Baek Sa-ha?'
No one short of Baek Sa-ha could have such poison skill.
But even then, doubtful if it was Baek Sa-ha.
The man himself hadn't reached Poison Saint, yet this kid wielded poison arts so proficiently, manifesting it only in instants of clash, unlike him.
-Papapapapapak!
-Grit!
'Damn it!'
Gu Yang-so ground his teeth.
Already five exchanges, yet the guy hadn't moved a step, blocking with one hand.
Then, in that moment, someone charged at Mok Kyung-un with lightning speed.
It was the scarred middle-aged man, Lee Gwang.
Lee Gwang's pitch-black sword swung to ambush Mok Kyung-un's forehead.
Even Gu Yang-so hadn't anticipated this exquisite strike.
But,
-Pak!
In a flash, Mok Kyung-un caught it between index and middle fingers.
-Riiiing!
'You caught this?'
Lee Gwang was dumbfounded.
Then, Gu Yang-so, unleashing his ultimate on Mok Kyung-un, bellowed in rage.
"You're interrupting me!"
No matter if the opponent was superior, a martial artist had pride.
How dare he ambush mid-fight?
But the scarred middle-aged Lee Gwang poured more energy into his sword hand and said.
"This isn't the time for that."
"Time or no..."
"Look around first."
"Around?"
At those words, Gu Yang-so glanced around.
He had been so focused on Mok Kyung-un that he had no attention for surroundings.
But what he saw was unbelievable.
-Swish swish swish! Puk! Puk!
"Argh!"
"Kek!"
Around them, two swords dyed black soared like living things, indiscriminately stabbing and piercing the masked men.
'!!!!!!!'
At this astonishing scene, Gu Yang-so's eyes widened in shock.
'I-Illusory Sword Gang?'