Chapter 416
Chapter 416
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 109
>Chapter Title: Hand-to-Hand Clash (3)
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-Whish! Whishwhishwhishwhish!
-Clang! Clangclangclangclangclang!
Gu Cheon-mu, one of the Seven Heavens and the Manor Lord of Spirit Sword Manor, inwardly clicked his tongue in amazement.
He had been on guard even before the clash due to her extraordinary aura, but this technique was something he had never encountered in his life.
Her First Form, Spring and Autumn, appropriately blended swift palm strikes and claw techniques, but that was not all.
She employed a bizarre method, which was—
-Boom!
Rather than forming qi with her palm power, it triggered an invisible explosion.
The energy compressed in midair before bursting forth, and the condensed power was so intense that by the time he sensed it, his left shoulder had already been struck, nearly costing him his arm.
-Slash!
In response, Gu Cheon-mu sliced through the spot with his sword the moment he detected the energy gathering.
This severed the palm power before it could fully condense, drastically reducing the explosive force.
-Whishwhishwhishwhish! Clangclangclang!
As Chun-chu lightly blocked Gu Cheon-mu's sword, she spoke.
"Not bad, old man. You've already adapted to the Hidden Shadow Explosion Palm."
"Hidden Shadow Explosion Palm? A fitting name."
Had he not reached the Profound Realm, known as the pinnacle of qi manipulation, this grotesque technique would have been difficult to counter even with a bit less enlightenment.
Her method was perfectly suited for indiscriminate slaughter.
"I've heard rumors that among the Seven Heavens, you have the least real combat experience and merely steal others' sword techniques, strong in theory but lacking in true skill."
"I won't deny it."
It was meant as provocation, but Gu Cheon-mu accepted it calmly.
'It doesn't faze him.'
Chun-chu smacked her lips.
Unbeknownst to her, Gu Cheon-mu, having pledged loyalty to Mok Kyung-un as his lord, had engaged in numerous mock battles resembling real combat on the journey here.
This was to adapt to Mok Kyung-un's rapidly growing martial prowess in a short time, but it had also vastly enriched Gu Cheon-mu's own experience clashing with a transcendent expert.
-Clangclangclangclangclang!
'He doesn't even flinch at the Hidden Shadow Explosion Palm. As expected, the pinnacle of the current murim is the pinnacle.'
Chun-chu, inwardly amazed, soon smirked and unleashed her secret technique.
As she raised her palm overhead and brought it down—
'Hidden Shadow Overlapping Strike!'
-Roooarrrrr!
'Above?'
Gu Cheon-mu swung his sword aura to cleave the gathering energy from above.
But that was not all.
He sensed another energy gathering above it—one that was not just one or two.
Even by feel alone, there were three, no four, no even more.
Which meant—
'She's layering invisible energies?'
Even condensing it once seemed to require immense concentration, yet stacking them repeatedly could only be called a secret technique.
In response, as he swung his sword aura, Gu Cheon-mu made a gesture with the fingers of his left hand, as if drawing his sword seal.
Four swords then flew up from the ground, generating qi gangs.
It was Qi-Controlled Sword Aura.
-Hummmmmmm!
In that state, Gu Cheon-mu spun his left hand, which held the sword seal, in a wide circle.
The four Qi-Controlled Sword Auras rotated like a windmill, forming a shield of qi gang.
At the same moment—
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
The condensed energies atop the shield detonated.
'Urgh.'
Gu Cheon-mu inwardly tsked as the tremendous explosions erupted in succession.
Outwardly, she appeared to be a peerless beauty in her early twenties.
Yet the power she wielded was in no way inferior to the Seven Heavens, the current apex of the murim.
How had such a monster remained completely unknown in the martial world? Where had she come from?
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
-Craaaack! Shattershattershatter!
The successive explosions overlapped, amplifying their power.
Thanks to this, three of the four swords that had been rotating like a windmill to block the blasts with their Qi-Controlled Sword Auras shattered, unable to withstand the force.
'Flinch!'
'Still more?'
The energy was stacking yet again.
This was the seventh layer, and with all previous ones condensed into it, he couldn't even guess its explosive power.
Yet Gu Cheon-mu remained composed.
-Swish!
He infused qi into the fragments of the shattered swords, adding them to the rotation of the remaining one.
With the metal shards carrying qi gang added, the rotation of the Qi-Controlled Sword Aura became even denser.
-Kaboom!
The explosion finally erupted, and the remaining Qi-Controlled Sword Aura blocked its force before ultimately succumbing to the heat, disintegrating into smoke.
'Now's the time to strike where she's vulnerable.'
In that instant, Gu Cheon-mu launched himself toward the subsiding explosion.
Using the profound art of the Extreme Sword, he became the sword itself, slicing through the explosion.
-Slash!
Chun-chu, the First Seat, urgently hurled a palm gang and leaped back as Gu Cheon-mu burst through the overlapping blasts.
-Whishwhishwhishwhishwhish!
But once Gu Cheon-mu's form gained momentum, it was unstoppable.
He cleaved through the palm gangs in one breath, his sword seal aimed straight at the center of her chest.
She thrust out her hand to block Gu Cheon-mu's sword seal.
-Pierce!
The sharp sword seal of Gu Cheon-mu pierced Chun-chu's hand, but since she had planted both feet firmly and exerted her full power—
-Booooom!
Gu Cheon-mu's exquisite single strike fell short of her chest.
However, the shockwave from the clash of these two peerless masters nearly leveled the surroundings with the gale of their qi.
'This woman... she's truly strong.'
Gu Cheon-mu had gained much enlightenment from his exchanges with Mok Kyung-un, breaking through numerous past blockages.
Even so, he couldn't find a decisive opening.
Her strength was worthy of admiration.
The same went for First Seat Chun-chu.
[Don't underestimate humans.]
She recalled the warning from Kang Yeom, another First Seat, and inwardly marveled.
Even as those who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, she had believed they inevitably fell short compared to ones like her who had lived for ages.
But clashing like this changed her mind.
To think that beings who couldn't even live a century could grow this strong—human potential surpassed even that of the transcendent immortals.
-Trembletrembletremble!
Now locked in an internal energy contest, the two pushed against each other without yielding.
The one who gave ground here would suffer a fatal wound.
Yet the corner of Gu Cheon-mu's mouth curved up.
Puzzled by this, Chun-chu asked,
"Why are you smiling?"
"The lords we serve seem to be reaching a conclusion soon."
"Conclusion?"
She glanced upward.
There, she saw Mok Kyung-un, locked in a standoff just like them, biting into the neck of Three Eyes.
'Biting the neck?'
Chun-chu was dumbfounded by the sight.
How had he even thought to bite his opponent there?
She didn't fully understand humans despite observing them for so long, but unlike transcendent beings or beasts, they primarily used their hands and maintained a certain dignity.
Even in life-or-death duels, they didn't fight like beasts—yet here was Mok Kyung-un tearing into the third neck interval like a ferocious wild animal.
After ripping out the windpipe and chewing it, he seemed exhilarated.
Gu Cheon-mu frowned at the sight.
"I can't comprehend it when your lord is the one getting done in."
"Done in?"
"It's over."
With the windpipe torn from the neck, it was as good as dead.
But at Gu Cheon-mu's declaration that the match was decided, First Seat Chun-chu sneered as if it were absurd.
"That would be true for an ordinary human."
Gu Cheon-mu felt an eerie foreboding at her meaningful words.
It was right then.
Three Eyes, possessing the body of Na-yul-ryang whose windpipe had been torn out, wasn't writhing in agony—instead, he grinned and snapped the wrist of Mok Kyung-un, who gripped him.
-Crack!
The bones of Mok Kyung-un's broken wrist soon pierced through his flesh and jutted out.
'No way?'
Gu Cheon-mu's eyes widened at the sight.
With the windpipe ripped out, recovery should have been impossible—yet to act like that while smiling?
It was a madness rivaling Mok Kyung-un's ferocity.
But even with his wrist broken, Mok Kyung-un slammed his head into Three Eyes' forehead in a headbutt.
Three Eyes strained to pull his head back to protect his third eye, but with their bodies locked together, his left eyeball was crushed.
-Bam!
With his left orbital bone shattered and eyeball pulped, Three Eyes finally couldn't endure the pain. He pulled back his sword, which had been clashing with Mok Kyung-un's, and tried to widen the distance.
But Mok Kyung-un had no intention of letting him go.
Gripping Three Eyes' wrist with his left arm—whose wrist bone was protruding and could barely hold—he released the Demon Sword Ya-geuk from his hand and targeted the third eye on his forehead.
-Swish!
As Mok Kyung-un's sword seal thrust forward, a blinding light suddenly poured from the pupil of Three Eyes' third eye.
The massive burst of light was pure radiance, so brilliant that Mok Kyung-un had no choice but to close his eyes against the searing pain of his corneas burning.
-Sizzle!
-Whishwhishwhishwhish!
In that split second, Three Eyes kicked Mok Kyung-un repeatedly, finally creating some distance.
The third eye on his forehead, which had emitted the light, was now dull, its pupil faded like that of a corpse.
-Dripdripdrip!
But having gained distance, Three Eyes circulated his yok qi and rapidly regenerated his torn windpipe, shattered orbital bone, and left eyeball.
He could fully recover even before counting to ten...
-Slash!
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un's Ya-geuk flew into his shoulder and burrowed deep.
It was a Qi-Controlled Sword Aura dyed in black qi gang.
Through his only remaining open eye—his right golden pupil—Three Eyes saw Mok Kyung-un thrusting his sword seal toward him with eyes closed.
'Hah?'
The massive light from unleashing all the yok power of his third eye should have scorched and damaged his corneas.
When one sense vanishes even momentarily, the others become unstable.
Yet he had restored those other senses in an instant?
This guy really wasn't human.
'Damn it.'
Part of it was restraint to avoid fatal injury due to the soul-link bond with Ryu So-wol, and part was that this new body couldn't yet fully unleash his power—but it had been ages since an opponent pushed him this far.
Then, a voice echoed in his mind.
-There's a better way than severing the bond.
-A better way?
-Yes. Take over his body.
'His body?'
At that thought, the eyes on Three Eyes' face—excluding the one on his forehead—narrowed.
Come to think of it, there was no need to sever the bond.
This one's flesh far surpassed Na-yul-ryang's.
He had been furious, believing the punk disrupted the grand plan and blocked his vessel—but coldly considering it, it was actually a stroke of fortune.
'For So-wol, whose grudge is strong enough to become a spirit servant, to become his food soul means she trusts him greatly.'
If he took over that body...
Soon, the corners of Three Eyes' mouth curled slyly.
He had reached a swift decision.
But right then—
-Swishswishswish!
As Mok Kyung-un kicked off the air repeatedly, his form split into three along with the wind.
Seeing this, Three Eyes furrowed his brow.
'No way, this is...?'
He possessed countless memories.
Among them were a few that had tormented even him, whom he considered absolute.
The lightness skill Mok Kyung-un was using was exactly one of those.
It wasn't perfect, but it was undoubtedly the secret technique of the vanished Wusang Fortress.
And it didn't end there.
-Crack! Crack!
As the three Mok Kyung-uns regulated their breathing, surrounding energies gathered and circulated through their bodies. Soon, their muscles swelled even more tautly, their skin reddened, and steam rose from their forms.
-Sssshhhhhhhh!
Seeing this, Three Eyes recalled the monstrous clan that guarded the Tang family and their forbidden grounds.
Just what the hell was this guy?
How was he simultaneously mastering the secret arts of those few beings who had troubled him over the long ages?
[Chapter 109: Hand-to-Hand Clash (3)] End