Chapter 444
Chapter 444
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 115
>Chapter Title: Wicked Granny (2)
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-Screeech!
-Ugh...
The moment the Wicked Granny stepped away, Cheong-ryeong strained with all her might to escape from this jade cage made of silver wood.
However, the talisman's incantation combined with prolonged exposure to the silver wood had dealt severe damage to her spiritual body.
Her spiritual power was nearly depleted, putting her in a truly perilous state.
-Haa... Haa...
This was her one and only chance to escape the old monster's grasp, but what could she do?
She hadn't given up, but forcing herself to smash the silver wood again might lead to the absolute worst outcome.
It was then.
-Boom! Rumble rumble rumble!
Once more, the central pillar supporting the thatched house shook violently, causing everything inside to quake as if an earthquake had struck.
Along with it,
-Crack crack!
Part of the table split apart, and the talismans attached to it tore away.
This created a tiny gap in the energy that had completely sealed off the outside, preventing any recovery of spiritual power.
-Swish swish swish!
Thanks to this, Cheong-ryeong could feel her burning spiritual body gradually regaining traces of spiritual power from the silver wood's assault.
-Ah!
It was faint, but the difference between recovering even a little spiritual power and none at all was huge.
Her face, which had been growing more and more transparent, began to regain a bit of color.
It was at that moment.
-Cheong-ryeeeeeoooong!!!!
...!?
Her eyes welled up with red at the resounding voice.
She had severed all ties to prevent him from following her, even cutting off any leads, so how in the world had he made it here?
'Jung-saeng...'
* * *
The Wicked Granny could instinctively tell for certain.
A prowess that could wield even the Formless Sword, the realm known as Sword Pinnacle.
And an aura rivaling her own.
This one was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the current martial world.
Her lips twitched upward in battle lust, her earlier irritation from the intruder's disturbance forgotten.
Soon, she opened her mouth toward the intruder—Mok Kyung-un.
"You... the current martial world's..."
But before she could finish,
Mok Kyung-un drew in a massive breath, then bellowed with a voice that made the entire vast plain ring out.
"Cheong-ryeeeeeoooong!!!!"
The Wicked Granny, who had been showing her battle lust at his shout, raised one eyebrow in puzzlement.
"Cheong-ryeong?"
Why the sudden yell of such a name?
As she wondered, she saw Mok Kyung-un, who had shouted at the top of his lungs enough to make her eardrums ring, now staring at the thatched house.
The Wicked Granny sneered and spoke.
"You're quite the peculiar one before even being the martial world's pinnacle. What's this Cheong-ryeong that you're shouting about?"
In response, Mok Kyung-un gripped his sword formula and thrust it toward her.
Though it was his first time seeing her, from the moment their eyes met, he had sensed her extraordinary presence—she was no ordinary foe.
Thus, he judged from the start that he needed to go all out.
He tried to manifest the Formless Sword, but,
-Hummmm!
A glint entered Mok Kyung-un's eyes.
And for good reason.
'The energy is moving on its own.'
Having surpassed the wall of walls, Mok Kyung-un had reached the highest realm in handling qi.
Yet the energy around them was so fluid and erratic that it was difficult to condense his qi.
It was right then.
-Pah!
Mok Kyung-un hurriedly sidestepped half a step as his senses picked up on the incoming energy.
An invisible, powerful force swept past where he had been, parting the grasses of the plain to either side and rippling the air.
Seeing this, Mok Kyung-un turned his head back to the Wicked Granny.
She was extending her staff toward him.
"Cackle cackle. Good, very good. Inept fools wouldn't have even dodged that."
"What are you?"
"Who knows? That's not something for you, who barged into my abode uninvited, to ask this old body..."
-Pak!
Before the Wicked Granny could finish,
The Pa-je, whose head she had gripped in her hand, seized her wrist and unleashed a kick straight at her face.
Of course, she casually tilted her head aside to dodge.
Then she tried to crush his head harder to inflict pain, but,
-Whish!
In that instant, a bizarre force flipped the Wicked Granny's body upside down, sending it soaring upward.
Her hand, still clutching Pa-je's head, let go.
Not missing the chance, Pa-je hurriedly put distance between them.
-Tat tat tat tat!
Pa-je's complexion was poor as he created space.
He had succeeded in shaking off this mysterious woman through direct contact, but the demonic power inside his body was now rampaging wildly, hard to control.
He couldn't fathom what phenomenon this was.
Then,
-Thud!
The Wicked Granny, who had been flipped upside down, lightly flipped in midair and landed on the ground.
She looked at Pa-je with interest and said,
"Hoh. You've got some intriguing skills. I've seen techniques like the Thousand Jin Hammer, but to make this body feel as light as a feather..."
At her words, Pa-je's eyes sharpened.
The opponent had roughly discerned the ability of his technique.
Pa-je's mind grew complicated.
He had forced his way in here, but he hadn't anticipated a monster like this.
With his internal energy raging uncontrollably, facing her head-on was unwise.
-Swish!
Pa-je's eyes darted around.
He spotted a warped space in the air.
It was the area where the incantation hadn't recovered due to Mok Kyung-un's Formless Sword.
'I need to get out.'
As Pa-je moved to launch himself there,
-Slither!
A hazy shadow surged up, snatching his face and slamming it straight down toward the ground.
-Boom!
"Gahk!"
"Where do you think you're going? Everything you've seen must..."
-Swish!
The Wicked Granny sensed the sharp sword energy flying at her and swung up her staff to deflect it.
-Pang!
The sword energy split in half and scattered into the air.
The one who had unleashed it was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
The Wicked Granny curled her lips slyly and said,
"Allies with this one, are you?"
"No."
"Then why interfere in my..."
-Hummmm!
-She flinched!
In that moment, the Wicked Granny hurled Pa-je, whom she had gripped by the face, backward due to the bizarre force pulling at her abdomen.
-Thump! Crash crash crash!
Pa-je tumbled several rolls before finally regaining his footing.
In his right palm, something resembling blue qi had gathered into a sphere the size of a fist.
-Pat pat! Pat pat!
Space warped around the sphere.
But because the energy forming it moved so erratically, Pa-je couldn't maintain it.
Soon, the sphere vanished completely.
'Damn it!'
Watching this, the Wicked Granny licked her lips and said,
"Well, well. You're no human, nor a ghost or specter, but some other kind of existence. That explains the bizarre techniques."
At those words, Pa-je's pupils shook.
The strange formation was one thing, but this woman was truly dangerous.
Just from a few exchanges of blows, she had uncovered so much.
As he felt dismayed,
"Where do you think you're going!"
The Wicked Granny twisted her body and thrust her ringed staff toward someone.
A massive gust of wind roared forth, forcing Mok Kyung-un, who had been rushing toward the thatched house, to retreat backward to escape it.
Only after creating nearly thirty paces of distance did Mok Kyung-un exhale softly and glare at the Wicked Granny.
"Cackle cackle. The enemy of my enemy is a friend, so you tried to help him for some gain? Useless, child. You're all in the palm of this old body's hand."
At her shout, Mok Kyung-un's eyes narrowed.
In this space, it seemed only this mysterious woman could move freely.
Not only was the energy in his body acting wildly, but the surrounding energy moved without pattern, making it impossible to project qi outward.
Yet she wielded it freely.
Regardless of martial prowess, within here, she was invincible.
Growing cautious, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
"What have you done with the wandering spirit that entered this place?"
'Wandering spirit?'
Curiosity flickered in the Wicked Granny's eyes at Mok Kyung-un's question.
Unlike the inhuman Pa-je, this one's gaze had been fixed on something else besides this place from the start.
Recently, intruders had all demanded the golden arts for handling souls, but this one was interested in a mere wandering spirit.
Intrigued, she replied,
"Ah, you mean that arrogant one all dressed in red."
"What did you do to it?"
At the question, the Wicked Granny shrugged nonchalantly.
"What to do? The wandering spirit you seek has already paid the price for barging in here uninvited."
"P... price?"
"Searching desperately for a wandering spirit that's already dispersed..."
-Swooooosh!
-She flinched!
In that instant, the Wicked Granny couldn't continue.
No sooner had she said the spirit was gone than a ferocious, utterly venomous killing intent erupted from him, crushing everything around.
A gleam entered her eyes.
In all her years, she had seen countless beings, but this primal, overwhelming killing intent was a first.
'This one's the real deal.'
It gave her goosebumps all over.
Usually, those who reached such a level had deep cultivation, never losing reason to anger and always maintaining control.
But this one reeked of pure, raw savagery.
'Yes. This is it.'
It had been ages since she last felt this sensation.
Living here to atone for her karma, she had nearly forgotten those blood-soaked days.
But encountering this gut-piercing killing intent made her nostalgic for that time.
No matter how many years of training, some dispositions couldn't be changed.
'Ah, what a pity.'
She wanted to face him properly outside the incantation boundary for a true clash, but bound here, that was impossible.
Still, one who had surpassed the wall of walls might entertain her somewhat, even without proper energy control?
As she prepared to meet Mok Kyung-un, who was unleashing massive killing intent at her,
-Kwaaaang!
It was right then.
With a massive roar, the entire plain shook as if struck by an earthquake.
And it wasn't just the ground.
The blue sky rippled, cracks spreading in all directions.
The Wicked Granny glared murderously at the thatched house.
'No way?'
Impossible.
That wandering spirit bitch was surely trapped in the silver wood jade cage, unable to do anything.
So why was an anomaly occurring across the entire incantation?
This could only happen if there was a problem with the central pillar...
It was right then.
-Hummm! Swish!
'Damn!'
In that instant, the Wicked Granny dropped her staff and thrust out her hand as the Formless Sword flew at her like lightning.
* * *
-Haa... Haa...
Cheong-ryeong, having nearly exhausted her spiritual power, extended her finger toward the pillar with her greatly faded spiritual body.
With a faint hope, she invoked the Void Seal stance from the Break-Thought Eight Forms.
This supreme technique transcending mere principles worked due to her desperate will to somehow aid Mok Kyung-un.
-Ahhh!
Though manifested with diminished spiritual power, the Void Seal stance sucked a portion of the pillar into space, detaching it and disrupting the incantation.