Chapter 423
Chapter 423
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 110
>Chapter Title: The First Realm (4)
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“That’s not the real one.”
‘!?’
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, delivered with a chilling gaze, the pupils of Kang Yeom, the First Realm of the Secret Meeting, trembled slightly.
But he quickly composed himself and replied.
“Haa… haa… What nonsense are you spouting?”
“What nonsense? Playing dumb, are you?”
“…Judging by your attitude, it seems you don’t particularly care about saving that human wench.”
Mok Kyung-un snorted at Kang Yeom’s words.
Then he addressed the masked man who was holding a dagger to the neck of Wi So-yeon, the youngest disciple of the Heavenly Alliance Leader, who lay unconscious.
“Kill her.”
“What?”
The masked man couldn’t hide his bewilderment for a moment.
What the hell was this guy thinking?
Not trying to save the hostage, but ordering her death?
“Mok Kyung-un!”
At that moment, the Illustrious Sword King Son Yun shouted his name in rebuke.
He couldn’t believe his own ears upon hearing what Mok Kyung-un had said to the masked men.
How could he so casually order the young lady’s death without hesitation?
“You bastard, how can you say something like…”
“She’s a fake.”
“What?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Son Yun’s face twisted savagely at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
He knew why the man was saying this.
He himself had suspected they were deliberately dragging out time despite having more than enough power to escape.
Clearly, they had some ulterior motive.
But regardless, he had been there the moment Wi So-yeon was abducted by them, and he had witnessed it with his own two eyes.
“Stop provoking them. If even the slightest harm comes to the young lady…”
“I said she’s a fake.”
“Mok Kyung-un… That’s definitely the young lady. You might not have seen it, but it’s a fact everyone here knows. How can you take such a reckless gamble…”
“I don’t know when she was swapped.”
“Ha!”
Son Yun grew frustrated.
If this stubborn bastard kept provoking them and they snapped, going all out on the young lady in a desperate move, everything would be irreversible.
Son Yun glared at Mok Kyung-un and spoke in a low voice.
“…Are you hoping the young lady dies, by any chance?”
“As if.”
“But why…”
“If she were real, I couldn’t kill her more easily.”
“You…”
“They went to all this trouble, deploying this level of force just to kidnap Wi So-yeon. It’d be far more naive to think they’d kill her so simply.”
“…”
Son Yun fell silent at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
There was some logic to it.
However, since the reason for the delay was unclear, and their kidnapping of Wi So-yeon might simply be to scatter the Heavenly Alliance’s forces and divert attention, he still believed provoking them was unwise.
“Your point is valid, Mok Kyung-un…”
It was then.
“If you can’t kill her, I will.”
-Swish!
Mok Kyung-un extended his Sword Control Technique.
Over a dozen swords lying on the ground rose simultaneously, flying toward the two masked men and the unconscious Wi So-yeon.
“Mok Kyung-un!”
Son Yun hurriedly leaped to block them.
But the Sword Demon Ji Oe blocked his path.
“I can’t let you interfere with my lord.”
‘No, this guy!’
Ji Oe was exhausted, but he was still a supreme master who had surpassed the wall into the Transformation Realm.
No matter that Son Yun was one of the Five Kings of the Heavenly Alliance, there was no way he could face him one-on-one.
-Papapapak!
Exchanging a few clashes with bare hands, Sword Control Technique against palm strikes, Son Yun was soon pushed back five paces.
-Chrararararak!
In the meantime, the swords Mok Kyung-un had launched reached the masked men, forcing those aiming daggers at her neck to step in and block them.
-Chaengchaengchaengchang!
They were skilled fighters as well, managing to fend off the first two or three incoming swords.
But against the swords that followed,
-Puk!
“Gurk!”
“Kek!”
They were pierced through vital points and breathed their last.
The swords they couldn’t block all flew toward the unconscious Wi So-yeon.
“Young lady!”
Gi Ok-ryeon and the other surviving retainers under Wi So-yeon hurriedly dashed forward to intercept them, but the swords had already reached her.
Yet the moment the swords touched her body,
-Chaengchachachachang!
The swords that struck Wi So-yeon shattered into pieces.
‘!?’
Son Yun and the surviving retainers under Wi So-yeon gaped in astonishment at the sight.
What in the world had just happened?
As they puzzled over it, Wi So-yeon’s eyes snapped open, gleaming white.
The clothes at the spot where the swords had hit were torn, exposing her skin—and bizarre blue scales protruded there.
‘This… can’t be?’
That wasn’t Wi So-yeon.
Was Mok Kyung-un right after all?
Kang Yeom let out a regretful sigh at the fake Wi So-yeon’s revealed true form, inhuman as it was.
“Aaah.”
If Mok Kyung-un or anyone had been fooled and approached the fake, they would have paid with their lives for that moment of carelessness.
Regrettable, but unavoidable.
He would have to settle for having bought time to whisk away the real Wi So-yeon without notice.
It was then.
“Let him go! Graaaah!”
The fake Wi So-yeon, baring sharp fangs, charged at Mok Kyung-un with terrifying speed.
But,
-Swish!
Mok Kyung-un feigned a slash with his Sword Control Technique toward her.
Then,
-Slash!
The fake Wi So-yeon’s body was severed at the neck by a suddenly appearing, utterly transparent Formless Sword.
Her severed head tumbled across the floor, blue blood spurting like a fountain.
‘!!!!!’
Kang Yeom’s eyes widened further at the sight.
He had definitely heard of that transparent sword form before.
It was said only those who surpassed the Profound Realm—hailed as the pinnacle—and reached the Sword Apex could manifest their sword as energy.
Which meant this bastard hadn’t been fighting at full strength against him until now…
-Chrrrrruk!
As Kang Yeom’s severed body parts began regenerating, Mok Kyung-un sliced them again with his sword.
-Slashslashslash!
“Keuk!”
Looking down at the agonized Kang Yeom, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“Answer three questions, and I’ll spare your life out of mercy.”
“Three questions?”
“The real Wi So-yeon’s location, the reason you took her, and where the Three Eyes’ main body is.”
Kang Yeom sneered through his pain, as if it were absurd.
“Kek… kehehehehe.”
“…”
“Did you think I’d answer your questions? If that’s what you hoped…”
-Puk!
Before he could finish, the tip of Mok Kyung-un’s Yao Sword, Evil Instant, pierced through his lower back.
Mok Kyung-un twisted the sword,
-Chrrrrruk!
“Gaaaak!”
His internal organs twisted and shredded within him.
The pain of dismemberment was torment enough, but as his five viscera and six bowels were ground by the fierce vortex, Kang Yeom truly wished for death.
Yet, having succeeded in absorbing a spirit beast’s blood against overwhelming odds, his immense regenerative power wouldn’t let him die easily.
“Kuuh.”
“Speak. The real Wi So-yeon… where did you take her?”
“That one… said…”
“…”
“She’ll… dry up you… and all you humans’ seeds. Enjoy what life you have left until then. Kehehehehe.”
Kang Yeom forced a mocking grin, baring teeth stained with blue blood, his face contorted in agony.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled dryly, pulling Yao Sword Evil Instant from his back.
“No helping it. Your will is quite firm; it won’t be easy to make you talk.”
Giving up?
A glint of surprise entered Kang Yeom’s eyes.
He didn’t seem the type to yield so easily.
-Thud!
But Mok Kyung-un crouched down and placed his palm on Kang Yeom’s chest.
What was this?
Mok Kyung-un smirked slyly and said,
“But you know, even if it’s not you, do you think there’s no one else who’ll answer?”
“…”
Kang Yeom snorted.
None among those deployed here knew any critical information.
Even in the Secret Meeting, only the highest executives like the First Realm knew the full flow of the grand plan—and they were exceedingly rare.
But,
“A silver-haired woman with power similar to yours surrendered without hesitation after self-destructing the cloned Three Eyes eye.”
‘Chun-chu?’
Kang Yeom furrowed his brow at those words.
He knew exactly who she was from the description of the silver-haired woman.
Though her temperament was hard to control, he believed her fear of That One would prevent betrayal.
Yet she had surrendered without hesitation?
It was hard to believe.
“I’ll find out through her. And from you…”
-Shoooo!
“Hup!”
Kang Yeom’s face twisted in that instant.
Mok Kyung-un’s palm on his chest was sucking in his yokai energy.
‘What… what is this?’
The being before him was unmistakably human.
How could he absorb yokai energy?
It was due to one of the profundities of the Eight Forms of Breaking Thought: the Attaching Form.
Moreover, Mok Kyung-un’s true energy wasn’t Yang Birth energy.
It was demonic energy, born from the energy of the dead, extreme yin, and yokai power absorbed from spirit beasts.
With such origins, there was no repulsion in absorbing yokai energy.
-Shoooo!
He had endured ongoing pain thanks to his regeneration, but as Mok Kyung-un drained the yokai energy he had amassed, bewilderment was inevitable.
“Kuaaa. St-stop!”
Of course, his cries fell on deaf ears.
-Whoooosh!
A gleam entered Mok Kyung-un’s eyes as he absorbed Kang Yeom’s yokai energy.
Unlike the yokai power from spirit beasts he had absorbed before, something unique coexisted within it.
This hotter, purer energy—closer to natural qi than blazing yang qi.
But as he tried to absorb it, Kang Yeom, who had seemed utterly loyal to the Three Eyes, shouted urgently.
“That… that human wench can revive the sealed primal soul if she’s here!”
‘!?’
Mok Kyung-un halted his absorption of the yokai energy in that moment.