Chapter 314
Chapter 314
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 85
>Chapter Title: Reunion (6)
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Those memories rose up so vividly.
There had been an order to eliminate someone digging into the organization's traces.
He was infamous as the Sickle Murder Ghost for slaughtering people with his sickle, so he might be a rather troublesome master.
They had made full preparations, but when they actually met, it exceeded all expectations.
[So I was wondering who was snooping around behind the scenes, and it turns out to be some snot-nosed kid in his teens who still reeks of mother's milk.]
He was young.
Not even in his twenties yet.
And contrary to the orders from the organization,
[You... You haven't learned any martial arts.]
[Mar... Martial arts?]
[You don't even know what martial arts are? Ha!]
The kid hadn't even learned martial arts.
It was truly intriguing.
Assuming he had learned martial arts, he unleashed a palm strike infused with Three Stars Internal Energy into the boy's abdomen.
This was enough to inflict internal injuries that could kill even a peak-level master.
Yet this boy with no internal energy endured the pain.
[Intriguing. A boy who hasn't learned martial arts survives my palm strike...]
[Ugh, what the hell are you...]
-Pff!
[Heok!]
In response, he plunged his sword into the boy's stomach.
Even if he hadn't learned martial arts, some people were born with innate divine strength.
This kid might be one of those types.
If so, there was no need to let him live.
[Better to kill you now and avoid future troubles.]
-Kuuk! Pff!
[Guk!]
Not satisfied with stabbing the abdomen, he pulled out the sword and thrust it into the boy's left chest to make sure.
[You could've lived quietly, but no, you had to stir up trouble and hasten your own death.]
[Hak... hak...]
With that, he tossed the kid aside.
There were many eyes watching, and he figured that was enough to end his life, so he left.
But how could something like this happen?
The moment he removed his human skin mask and smiled, it took him back to that first encounter.
The image of him grinning eerily while killing people in front of the burning village overlapped perfectly.
'...Sickle Murder Ghost!'
Yi Gwang's pupils trembled violently.
He couldn't believe it, but he'd considered the possibility that the kid had survived by some stroke of luck ever since seeing him at the Heaven-Earth Society.
It was because of that identical face.
As he tracked the traces, his conviction that the kid was alive grew stronger.
No one among those who had contact with him suspected based on appearance.
But they all said something felt different.
Especially those from Timber Sword Manor.
However, since the kid had lost his life in the Golden Guards selection tournament, there was no more need to worry.
No, until just moments ago, he absolutely couldn't connect him to that kid.
'...This doesn't make sense.'
This was something that couldn't happen by common sense—no, it was utterly impossible.
The kid hadn't learned any martial arts at all.
Unlike the others, he had confirmed it personally.
So what in the world was going on?
'Not even half a year has passed.'
It was absurd.
If he had reached the level of a third-rate or second-rate martial artist, he might have thought, "Impressive talent for starting late."
But this wasn't something that could be dismissed as mere talent.
-Pa-rururu!
The trembling in his hand grew worse.
He prided himself on being a veteran in the organization, so he had faced quite a few monsters.
But the being before him couldn't even be called a monster.
Was it possible to reach the realm of the Six Heavens—called the pinnacle of the martial world—from absolute nothing in less than half a year?
Anyone who heard it would think it was nonsense.
'This must be a dream.'
For a moment, Yi Gwang wondered if he was dreaming.
Then Mok Kyung-un spoke.
"You're giving me a reaction that's not quite what I expected, even though we finally meet."
"What?"
"Not happy to see me?"
Yi Gwang was dumbfounded by Mok Kyung-un's words.
The development speed was so hard to comprehend that he was questioning if this was really that kid, so how could he be happy?
Setting everything else aside, he was the one who had stabbed a sword into the kid's heart.
It was obvious the kid would see him as an enemy, so welcoming him was absurd.
Yet,
"How in the world..."
Gu Yang-so, the head of the Gu Yang family and the Eight Venom Master, couldn't hide his astonishment either.
He had assumed it was one of the Six Heavens, but upon removing the human skin mask, a face even younger than now appeared— one not even in his twenties.
No matter how he looked, he seemed only 17 or 18. What was going on?
Not some bone transformation or rejuvenation by an eccentric master, surely?
Puzzled, Gu Yang-so soon asked.
"Just who are you?"
"Who knows? Who could I be? This gentleman probably knows me best."
Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly as he looked at Yi Gwang.
Yi Gwang then spoke in a trembling voice.
"You... What the hell are you? This is impossible. Did you fake your death back then on purpose?"
Unable to comprehend Mok Kyung-un's unbelievable progress, Yi Gwang shifted his thinking to assume he had been practicing martial arts from the start.
Otherwise, it was too hard to accept.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged.
"As if. I really almost died back then. Thanks to you."
-Swish!
With that, he lightly raised his hand.
The pitch-black sword that Yi Gwang had dropped, charred like burnt wood, floated up and flew toward his abdomen.
-Shoo!
As the sword rushed in, Yi Gwang tried to step back.
But his foot wouldn't move.
Even for a flying sword, this speed wasn't impossible to dodge.
Yet he was so shocked that his body wouldn't respond.
His stomach was about to be pierced when,
-Chwaaaa!
Green poison qi surged forward, blocking the black sword.
The one who unleashed the poison qi was, of course, Gu Yang-so.
"I was going to return the favor with a hole in your gut, but you're interfering."
Mok Kyung-un clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Gu Yang-so urgently shouted.
"Snap out of it! You planning to stay like that?"
No matter how strong the opponent was, spacing out was no different from offering your neck and waiting for death.
At his shout, Yi Gwang snapped back to reality.
'Ugh!'
He had lost his will to fight momentarily due to the incomprehensible sense of deprivation.
Regaining his senses, Yi Gwang circulated his energy, raising his internal energy to ten stars in an instant.
Having surpassed the wall into the Flower Realm, his energy circulation was incredibly fast.
-Wooong!
Forming sword qi around his sword grip, he assumed a combat stance and shouted.
"Elder! We need to join forces!"
"Same thought here."
-Shwaaaa!
Judging it impossible to persuade verbally after seeing Yi Gwang's reaction—though his identity was unknown—Gu Yang-so ignited the poison qi of the Eight Poisons once more, steeling his resolve.
The opponent was an unparalleled supreme master comparable to the Six Heavens.
They had to risk their lives in a mutual destruction assault for even a slim chance of survival.
Just as they exchanged glances, preparing to strike first.
Mok Kyung-un lightly waved his hand.
-Wooong!
The surrounding true qi thickened, and the air felt different.
Wondering what he had done, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
"I've blocked all sound within a five-zhang radius using qi."
Blocked sound?
Why would he do that?
They, who had been waiting for an opening to join forces, couldn't hide their bewilderment.
To them, Mok Kyung-un said.
"I'll give you one chance."
"A chance? What are you talking about?"
"A chance for the two of you to survive."
"What?"
Yi Gwang frowned at Mok Kyung-un's words.
What kind of trick was this?
This guy surely saw him as an enemy, having stabbed swords into his abdomen and chest.
He had even revealed his identity as if he'd been waiting.
Yi Gwang glanced at the true qi filling the surroundings, and at the masked fighters battling Mok Kyung-un's subordinates outside.
'...Something his own subordinates can't hear.'
Otherwise, why block the sound?
Yi Gwang subtly glanced at Gu Yang-so.
Meeting his eyes, Gu Yang-so nodded as if to say, "Let's hear him out."
No matter that they were Flower Realm masters and poison experts, their odds against a Manifest Realm master were slim.
If there was even a bit of room for negotiation, there was no reason to refuse.
To confirm, Yi Gwang said.
"I drove you to the brink of death. You're saying you'll give me a chance?"
'!?'
Gu Yang-so looked at Yi Gwang in shock at those words.
How had Yi Gwang driven a Six Heavens-level master to the edge of death?
It made no sense.
What exactly had happened between them?
Puzzled, Mok Kyung-un chuckled and said.
"If I wanted to kill you over that, we wouldn't be talking—I would've done it earlier."
"......"
Yi Gwang bit his lip at Mok Kyung-un's words.
The guy was looking down on him, having grown incomparably stronger than before.
But he couldn't deny it outright.
If he had properly raised his energy when Mok Kyung-un struck his abdomen earlier, it might not have ended with just vomiting blood.
"You seem pretty frustrated."
"......"
"You should've cut my throat clean instead of stabbing my chest back then."
"......"
He truly regretted those words.
He was angry at his own carelessness, thinking that stabbing the abdomen and heart would ensure death since the kid had no martial arts.
But Yi Gwang barely suppressed it and said.
"You said you'd give us a chance. What is it?"
"Nothing much. Just kindly answer my questions."
"Answer your questions?"
Yi Gwang and Gu Yang-so's expressions darkened.
So the "chance" was to extract information from them.
Come to think of it, the kid not only knew the organization's mark but also seemed aware of its hierarchy.
Handing information to such a guy meant betrayal.
Gu Yang-so spoke in a heavy voice.
"Are you telling us to betray the organization and sell out information right now?"
"Yes. Think whatever you want—betrayal or not. I just need the answers I want."
"......Didn't you consider we might fight you to the death over a demand like that?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth.
-Hic!
Gu Yang-so's face stiffened.
Mok Kyung-un was staring at him with a chilling smile, and the overwhelming pressure of murderous intent made it hard to breathe.
Was this the difference with just one wall between realms?
As his breath trembled, Mok Kyung-un said with a smile.
"You're throwing away the chance too easily."
"What?"
-Sruk!
In that instant, Mok Kyung-un's figure vanished.
Unable to track him with qi sense alone, Gu Yang-so spread poison qi everywhere, urgently bending his knees, leaping up, and swinging a poison palm backward using the recoil.
'Harmonious Demon Poison Arts. Seventh Form: Anti-Tail Toad Palm!'
The momentum resembled a leaping venomous toad, enough to make most retreat, but,
-Pak!
Mok Kyung-un seized his powerful right arm, laden with poison qi and momentum, like snatching prey.
He then twisted the wrist in the opposite direction.
-Crack!
With the wrist snapped, broken bones pierced through the elbow.
"Kuaaaak!"
A scream burst from Gu Yang-so's mouth.
Ignoring it, Mok Kyung-un grabbed his shoulder.
He then tried to twist and pull the protruding broken wrist further.
"Stop!"
In that moment, a blue sword qi thrust toward Mok Kyung-un's face.
It was Yi Gwang's sword strike.
A domineering thrust full of power, but Mok Kyung-un didn't dodge at all, simply extending his left palm lightly.
-Wooong! Paang!
'What?'
A wave-like ripple formed, bouncing back the incoming sword qi with rebound force.
This was the essence of the Qi Shifting True Scripture.
As his sword qi ricocheted, Mok Kyung-un tried to yank Gu Yang-so's broken wrist again.
In that split second, Gu Yang-so desperately unleashed a poison palm at Mok Kyung-un's chest with his left hand.
-Paaang!
A poison palm infused with ten-star energy and the Eight Poisons' poison.
It hit dead center, yet Mok Kyung-un's upper body tilted back slightly before straightening up.
Gu Yang-so's face turned pale at the sight.
Hit by the deadly Eight Poisons palm strike and acting unfazed? Even for a Manifest Realm master, this was too monstrous.
-Puduk!
Then Mok Kyung-un tried to pull out the wrist entirely.
Terrified, Gu Yang-so screamed.
"I-I'll talk! I'll tell you anything, so please stop!"