Chapter 451
Chapter 451
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 116
>Chapter Title: Arrangement (3)
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"Mortal."
Cheongryeong's voice carried a hint of concern as she asked.
The leisure vanished from Mok Kyung-un's face.
"Are you strong?"
In response to the question, Mok Kyung-un stared intently at the man wearing the evil ghost mask and replied via sound transmission.
"I sense nothing at all."
"What?"
"Exactly as I said. That man in the mask... Even though I'm looking right at him with my own eyes, he feels like he doesn't exist."
"!!!!"
Cheongryeong couldn't hide her inner shock at Mok Kyung-un's words.
The current mortal had reached a realm that could be called the pinnacle of the present martial world without exaggeration.
Even the Evil Heart Pope Cheol Su-ryeon, one of the supreme powerhouses once dubbed a great villain in the old martial world, had acknowledged as much.
Yet such a Mok Kyung-un claimed he sensed nothing from this distance?
Just what was this man's true identity?
As she pondered in bewilderment,
"Who are you conversing with via sound transmission?"
"!?"
Mok Kyung-un's eyes narrowed at the evil ghost mask's words.
This guy... Did he know about sound transmission into the secret?
There was no other way he could have discerned it from just the slightest throat vibration.
But the words that followed from the evil ghost mask left Mok Kyung-un truly stunned.
"That faint spiritual energy emanating from your bosom... Were you speaking with that entity?"
"What?"
"Why so surprised? The basis of sound transmission into the secret is infusing qi into the air vibrations produced by sound. Read those waves properly, and it's not hard to discern the words."
Not just detecting the transmission, but overhearing the exact words?
Mok Kyung-un's eyes sharpened with wariness.
He didn't know who this evil ghost-masked man was, but he evaded qi detection and seemed to possess all sorts of bizarre skills.
*Swish!*
Unclear if foe or ally, preparations were necessary.
Mok Kyung-un moved to unleash sharp sword intent from his sword finger.
The evil ghost-masked man chuckled and said,
"Born of the demonic path, I suppose. Certainly sensitive and aggressive. Innate nature..."
*Shing!*
Before his words could finish.
Mok Kyung-un swung his sword finger toward the evil ghost mask.
A massive formless sword materialized in the air, aiming to cleave the man perched on the rock straight in two.
*Slash!*
"Hoo. Beyond expectations."
*Swish!*
The evil ghost-masked man extended his hand toward the enormous formless sword hurtling at him.
The sword, formed of true qi, split the air only to dissipate into smoke like mist.
*Poof!*
"!?"
Mok Kyung-un's pupils trembled at the sight.
Had he forcibly scattered the true qi of the formless sword, known as the sword pinnacle?
Mok Kyung-un couldn't help but feel disconcerted by this utterly unforeseen method.
No one had ever dismantled the formless sword—achievable only by those in the life-death realm—in such a manner before.
Then Cheongryeong shouted.
"Mortal! Behind you!"
"Behind?"
In Mok Kyung-un's eyes, the evil ghost-masked man still sat atop the rock.
Why cry out about the rear when he sensed nothing there?
The doubt was fleeting; Mok Kyung-un moved on instinct.
*Shing!*
Unleashing the Clear Water Moon Step at blinding speed, he shifted his position just two steps when,
*Slash! Boom!*
A sharp sound tearing through the air was followed by a thunderous crash from behind.
By the third step, as he whipped his head around, he saw the evil ghost-masked man there, gripping what looked like a tree branch. Sword scars marred the spot where he had swung.
"A tree branch?"
Had he produced such power with a mere tree branch just now?
Of course, Mok Kyung-un himself could infuse sword intent into a branch to slice someone.
But those sword scars boasted an absurd level of force.
Had he not deployed his ultra-high-speed movement technique, his body would have been bisected.
"Mortal, above!"
At Cheongryeong's cry, Mok Kyung-un twisted his form, leaning his body backward.
The evil ghost-masked man's fist hurtled down toward his reclined head. Mok Kyung-un invoked the Shifting Qi True Scripture's method to generate a wave,
*Boom!*
And repel him in reverse.
Yet,
*Boom!*
The instant the Shifting Qi True Scripture activated, a rippling wave emanated from the evil ghost-masked man's fist as well, slamming Mok Kyung-un's form straight into the ground.
*Quaaang!*
The Shifting Qi True Scripture's technique reversed the opponent's force back upon them, augmented by one's own power.
But countered mid-activation by the same method, the sheer might cratered the earth over five paces deep where his body plunged.
The evil ghost-masked man's form, which had pinned Mok Kyung-un, dispersed like mist.
*Shoo!*
Even the form that had swung the branch did the same.
As the two illusory figures vanished, the evil ghost-masked man still seated on the rock muttered,
"This is truly beyond expectations."
From the sunken pit, Mok Kyung-un emerged, wiping blood from his mouth.
The evil ghost-masked man clapped as he watched.
*Clap clap clap!*
"Impressive. I predicted you might have mastered the Shifting Qi True Scripture due to possessing the Fear Slaughter Sword, but to deflect and redirect that compounded force..."
The evil ghost-masked man was genuinely impressed by Mok Kyung-un.
Any life-death realm master would have panicked, failed to respond properly, and suffered severe injuries against that technique.
Yet in that split second, he had redirected over eighty percent of the qi.
A monstrous combat sense.
*Hiss!*
Black qi began emanating from Mok Kyung-un's entire body after wiping the blood.
The black qi rising like heat haze surged with a ferociously ominous aura.
At the sight, the eyes faintly visible through the evil ghost mask narrowed.
"Demonic. That is your true essence."
"What are you?"
"My identity? Compared to you, I'm just an ordinary human, I suppose."
"I am merely myself."
*Boom!*
No sooner had the words left than Mok Kyung-un stomped the ground with a true qi step.
The earth quaked and cracked as if struck by an earthquake the instant his foot connected.
The fissures and waves reached the evil ghost-masked man on the rock in a flash.
*Flick!*
Mok Kyung-un's form shot forward.
Using one of the Pasa Eight Forms, the Suppressing Form, to restrict the opponent's movements and exploit an opening—even if full suppression proved impossible.
Then an astonishing sight unfolded.
*Snap!*
The evil ghost-masked man suddenly flicked his fingers.
*Boom!*
A wave radiated from him, perfectly nullifying the Suppressing Form's vibrations.
Not only blocking it effortlessly,
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Three forms burst from the seated evil ghost-masked man, closing in on Mok Kyung-un in an instant to launch a pincer attack.
In that moment,
*Slash!*
Mok Kyung-un's form blurred, black lines etching the air as he pierced straight through the near-divisions, slashing at the evil ghost-masked man in one breath.
"Flinch!"
Against the strike concentrating pitch-black qi,
"This won't be easy to handle casually."
*Clang!*
The evil ghost-masked man, who hadn't moved from the rock until now, finally drew his sword.
*Craaang!*
Mok Kyung-un's concentrated demon sword Akjjeuk clashed with the man's sword, producing an ear-splitting metallic screech as the air itself shuddered and tore.
"To block even this."
Mok Kyung-un was sincerely awed by the opponent's strength.
The concentrated black qi sword he had unleashed transcended even his spars with the Evil Heart Pope Cheol Su-ryeon, reaching a whole new level.
Yet the evil ghost-masked man blocked this enhanced strike with ease.
One foot braced on the rock, the other advanced a single step—utterly unshaken.
Not deflecting the force, but absorbing it with supreme composure.
"His qi flows endlessly."
Only upon clashing swords did Mok Kyung-un realize.
An infinite qi surged from the man's sword, drawing in ambient energies reminiscent of the Precept-Breaking Monk Ja Geum-jeong's Supreme Great Ability.
Producing such power solely from surrounding qi, not his own?
As he marveled,
*Hummm!*
A resonant hum emanated from the demon sword Fear Slaughter at his waist.
The vibration felt like intense killing intent.
Without time to think, Mok Kyung-un drew Fear Slaughter with his left hand, channeling qi into a single strike to cleave the evil ghost-masked man.
*Flick!*
The man launched his form backward to evade.
The sword momentum from the demon sword Fear Slaughter rent the earth, splitting half the peak.
*Quaquaquaquaqua boom!*
Mok Kyung-un's eyes gleamed at the tremendous power.
Sensing the killing intent from Fear Slaughter had evoked the sensation from his bout with the Evil Heart Pope Cheol Su-ryeon, spurring him to swing without hesitation—and the result exceeded imagination.
"Hah?"
The evil ghost-masked man, evidently unprepared for such might, let out an exclamation and clicked his tongue.
He had instinctively dodged the chilling killing intent from the sword, but its power was earth-shattering.
Enough to bisect the mountain peak.
Had he not evaded, it would have spelled disaster.
*Hummmm!*
Then a powerful resonance spread from the demon sword Fear Slaughter in Mok Kyung-un's left hand.
He couldn't conceal his puzzlement at the hum.
He knew its sword spirit surpassed Akjjeuk's, but the blade acted as if alive, radiating fierce hostility toward the evil ghost mask.
Yet as if sensing that animosity from Fear Slaughter,
"Still brimming with murderous aura, aren't you, Fear Slaughter."
The man addressed the sword directly.
At his words, the resonance intensified.
*Hummmm!*
Even gripping the hilt, the tremors were palpable.
Whatever the case, this evil ghost-masked man possessed extraordinary affinity with swords.
Influencing even others' blades.
"No need for anything else."
This sensation alone was the sole way to counter him now.
Thus, Mok Kyung-un hurled the Fear Slaughter in his left hand like a spear at the evil ghost-masked man.
*Boom!*
The man extended his hand toward the flying sword, as if to redirect it with true qi.
Mok Kyung-un countered by manipulating his sword finger with the Qi-Controlled Swordplay technique, sending the demon sword Fear Slaughter soaring upward.
*Thwack!*
The evil ghost mask's visible pupil naturally flicked upward.
Seizing the gap, Mok Kyung-un gathered qi into a single point once more.
*Slash!*
A black line cleaved the air.
*Clang!*
Though his gaze had briefly risen, the evil ghost-masked man lightly parried with his iron sword, as if it were trivial.
As their swords clashed anew, the man first thrust his left sword finger at Mok Kyung-un's left shoulder acupoint.
Aiming to preempt another killing-intent-saturated strike.
Mok Kyung-un tried to seize the intruding sword finger with the Capturing Hand technique, but the man spun it like a drill, instead
*Whirl!*
Wrapping and trapping Mok Kyung-un's left arm.
He then moved to snap the arm,
*Shooo!*
But in that instant, the demon sword Fear Slaughter plummeted from above with terrifying momentum.
"I predicted this."
As if foreseeing it, the evil ghost mask pressed his sword to shove Mok Kyung-un away and evade.
But this was no ordinary blade.
*Slash!*
Fear Slaughter etched a black line in the air.
"!?"
It was a qi-concentrated single strike executed in qi-controlled sword state.
Caught off-guard by the unforeseen concentrated strike, the man released the sword clash and Mok Kyung-un's wrist to dodge.
*Thud!*
Yet Mok Kyung-un held him fast with the Grasping Form and Capturing Hand.
Just as evasion seemed impossible,
*Clang!*
It happened then.
A white line traced the air an instant before impact, deflecting the path of Fear Slaughter's qi-concentrated strike.
*Thuck!*
The sword veered off course, plunging harmlessly elsewhere.
What was that? As Mok Kyung-un watched, a dagger spun like a living thing into view.
[End of Chapter 116: Arrangement (3)]