Chapter 478
Chapter 478
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 123
>Chapter Title: Great Catastrophe (3)
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Just a short while ago.
High in the sky, the Yao Beast Heumwon was flapping its wings vigorously.
However, those wing flaps looked quite awkward and labored, unlike usual.
That was only natural, since something had attached itself to Heumwon's wings in place of feathers—none other than hundreds of resentful spirits.
Normally, it would have needed to go through a recovery period for its wounds using its demonic energy, but with the resentful spirits clinging on and each one acting as a feather, it had barely managed to fly this far.
However,
*Flap flap!*
It seemed even that had reached its limit.
The clinging resentful spirits were struggling, and so was the Yao Beast Heumwon with its wing flaps.
The one silver lining was,
"Over there!"
"Damn it! Are they already in the middle of a war?"
Looking down at the Ten Thousand Great Mountains below the ship, Seop Chun clicked his tongue.
He had known something was happening, but he hadn't expected a full-scale war to already be raging.
To him, the apostate monk Bokma Kwon-sa Ja Geum-jeong said,
"Hey, Seop Chun. Everything's fine and all, but we need to decide where to land soon."
*Groooaaan.*
The Yao Beast Heumwon's wing flaps were highly unstable.
One could tell just from how the ship was tilting more and more.
Mong Mu-yak, who had recovered some of his internal injuries during the flight and regained some color in his face, looked down below.
‘Anywhere’s a problem.’
But with the war already in full swing, the factions were all mixed together, making it impossible to tell where to land.
Just then, the resentful spirit Ha Yun at the bow pointed toward somewhere with his hand.
*Grooooaaar!*
A surging murderous intent could be felt.
At that, the Eight Venom Snake Lord Gu Yang-so gripped his snake-headed cane and approached the spot, asking,
"What's wrong?"
*It’s him. That’s definitely him.*
The place the resentful spirit Ha Yun was pointing to was a mountain peak at the rear among the areas where battles were raging.
It was so high up that it was impossible to make out who was who.
However, Gu Yang-so could guess one thing from the murderous intent emanating from him.
"You mean he’s there?"
*If you’ve truly fought the one with the third eye, you’ll know for sure. I still remember that time.*
At the resentful spirit Ha Yun's words, Gu Yang-so recalled the recent time he had received his help.
At first, he had thought it quite strange to get help from a resentful spirit.
But soon he learned that Ha Yun had ties to Mok Kyung-un, Seop Chun, Mong Mu-yak, and others.
When Seop Chun had explained their situation back then, the resentful spirit Ha Yun had been unable to contain his rage.
*The being with the third eye on its forehead?*
He hadn’t gone into details after that, but it was clear the resentful spirit Ha Yun had some deep grudge against Mok Gan, the head of the Secret Society.
Then, the resentful spirit Ha Yun shouted to Mok Kyung-un's subordinates on the ship.
*The ship will land soon. Grab onto the deck or whatever you can!*
Land?
Where exactly did he plan to do that?
As they wondered, the resentful spirit Ha Yun yelled at the Yao Beast Heumwon, who was holding the ship with its massive talons.
*Heumwon! Land the ship toward that peak. No, hurl the ship there.*
‘!?’
* * *
"A ship? How is there a ship?"
"It’s falling this way! D-dodge!"
The Blood Valley warriors guarding the rock that was the secret passage entrance were so shocked by the massive ship plummeting toward the peak that they scattered in panic.
However, the Justice Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun had no intention of dodging.
"Hmph!"
Instead, he sneered at the falling ship, then gripped his famed sword Ilhwi and swung it upward.
*Shwaaaaaack!*
The moment Jeong Hyeon-mun swung his sword, a massive sword gang stretching over ten feet erupted from the famed sword Ilhwi, slicing the falling ship in half.
The ship, cleaved in two, crashed down in that state, shaking the peak as if an earthquake had struck.
*Kwaaaaaang!*
Fragments of the shattered peak flew everywhere, causing utter chaos.
In the midst of it all, the Justice Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun, who had protected himself with a rebounding barrier of qi, deflected the fragments and dust with his energy as he headed toward the rock entrance.
‘Do you think something like this can stop me?’
It was fairly novel, but in the end, it was just a falling object.
Yet as he walked forward, a fist strike came flying at him.
*Paaaang!*
*Claaaang!*
Jeong Hyeon-mun deflected the strike, which exceeded his expectations in power, using his famed sword Ilhwi infused with sword gang.
After deflecting the fist strike, he looked ahead to see five figures.
Recognizing them, Jeong Hyeon-mun shook his head.
They were Mok Kyung-un's subordinates.
Leading them was the apostate monk Bokma Kwon-sa Ja Geum-jeong in the stance of the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, followed by Mara-hyeon with his face covered in black cloth, the Eight Venom Snake Lord Gu Yang-so holding his cane and exuding venomous qi, Seop Chun, Mong Mu-yak, and others blocking his path in attack stances.
Jeong Hyeon-mun sneered at them and said,
"You vermin have surprisingly long lives."
"Kekeke, what do you mean vermin, you eyeball parasite!"
Ja Geum-jeong shouted without being intimidated in the slightest.
At his shout, displeasure darkened Jeong Hyeon-mun's eyes.
They thought surviving by luck made them his equals? Vermin daring to stand on the same level as him?
"You need to learn how insignificant you are..."
*Rumble rumble!*
It was then.
Dark clouds suddenly began gathering over the peak where they stood.
Lightning flashed through the dark clouds with thunder.
Jeong Hyeon-mun's eyes narrowed.
‘Ghost Domain?’
Dark clouds forming in a clear sky led him to instantly recognize this was no natural phenomenon but a Ghost Domain created by a high-rank resentful spirit.
*Creep creep!*
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Countless resentful spirits began appearing from all directions.
So many that they filled the entire peak, their ghostly qi spreading everywhere, making those nearby shiver without knowing why.
In the midst of those resentful spirits stood an extraordinary one holding twin blades in both hands.
‘High rank. Blue Spirit level... no, higher?’
The aura it emanated felt like Namryeong level, not Cheongryeong.
And oddly, its appearance seemed familiar.
But Jeong Hyeon-mun paid it no mind.
Instead,
"You vermin are annoying me."
Those blocking his path were just nuisances.
However, unlike before, there were two Transcendent Realm masters, one with bizarre power rivaling them, two at the peak of Superhuman Realm, and now a near-Namryeong resentful spirit.
Even with his peak physical body, he couldn’t brush them off easily, so he could no longer hold back.
*Crack!*
Jeong Hyeon-mun's forehead split open, revealing a third eye.
The moment the eye opened, the tremendous energy spreading out made Mok Kyung-un's subordinates tense with vigilance.
On the other hand,
*Three Eyes!*
*Shwaaaaaaaa!*
Confirming the third eye, the resentful spirit Ha Yun's hatred exploded further.
His grudge was so deep that, heedless of the energy from the opened third eye, he charged forward without hesitation.
*Today, I will atone for failing to protect him!*
* * *
At the same time.
Trapped in the sealing spell Thirty-Six Stopping Seals, Cheongryeong was focusing all her power at the tip of her famed sword Sunyeon to break it.
Power wasn’t just gathering her spiritual energy at the sword.
It meant infusing it with all the insights and forms she had comprehended about the sword.
In life, she had reached the wall-transcending Transcendent Realm.
Normally, that would fall far short of condensing power to a single point.
But as a resentful spirit, human realms meant nothing to her.
As a resentful spirit, she had even surpassed the limit of Jaryeong, the pinnacle of ranks.
*Shhhh!*
The tip of the pure white famed sword Sunyeon was dyed a deep blood-red.
Her once-confused mind went blank, focusing on one thing alone.
‘One Strike.’
It was the form Mok Kyung-un took when condensing his power.
Projecting that onto herself, it became one with her mind in an instant.
*Slash!*
In that moment, a red line was drawn in the air.
*Crack!*
The layered walls of the Thirty-Six Stopping Seals, which seemed unbreakable, split apart in a single instant.
‘It worked!’
Having momentarily reached the Sword Apex realm she couldn’t attain in life, Cheongryeong's eyes filled with joy.
All those experiences with One Strike had piled up into her enlightenment.
But that elation was short-lived.
Her spirit body staggered as it emerged from the Thirty-Six Stopping Seals.
‘My spiritual energy is depleted this much?’
She had expected it since she gathered all her spiritual energy into one point, but she hadn’t anticipated this much damage to her spirit body.
As she staggered, she quickly drew up her remaining spiritual energy.
She had no time for this.
She needed to go down immediately and warn of the approaching great catastrophe.
Even if it meant exhausting her remaining energy and her spirit body on the verge of dissipation, she had to stop this.
Until One Strike arrived, only she could do it...
*Slash!*
It was right then.
A sharp energy grazed past, slicing the arm of Cheongryeong, who held the famed sword Sunyeon.
A scream burst from her as her spirit arm was severed.
*Argh!*
*Poof!*
Her severed arm, being spiritual, scattered and vanished.
But the famed sword Sunyeon, being physical, began to fall.
She hurriedly endured the pain and tried to pull the famed sword Sunyeon with her spiritual energy.
‘No.’
But with her right arm—the one that had focused her energy—severed, she couldn’t pull it. Desperate to grab the falling Sunyeon, she shot downward.
She was plummeting to seize the sword.
*Whirr! Thud!*
Just then, the falling famed sword Sunyeon was caught by someone’s hand.
‘!?’
It was a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows, clad in a fur cloak, with a rugged appearance.
Though a face she’d never seen, the chilling pressure she felt upon seeing him made Cheongryeong halt her descent and widen the distance.
Widening the gap, she asked with a darkened expression.
*What is that body?*
"You recognized it at a glance, as expected."
*Crack!*
With those words, the middle-aged man’s forehead split, revealing a third eye.
As expected, it was one of Mok Gan’s clones.
Not only was her spirit body weakened, but this clone exuded a pressure on another level from the ones she’d seen before.
The sharp energy pouring out felt like it would tear her to shreds any moment.
"This is my most cherished body. I put quite a bit of effort into it."
*.........How many clones have you made?*
"After countless years, do you foolishly think I made only a few? Of course, clones aren’t infinite, as splitting the soul is akin to dividing the魄. Regrettably, these are my last clones."
*Rustle! Rustle!*
No sooner had he finished than two more men appeared around her.
Motioning toward them with his eyes, Mok Gan’s clone smirked.
"Reserving some numbers is also a strategy."
*........*
At his words, Cheongryeong's expression darkened further.
They weren’t as strong as the fur-cloaked clone before her, but these weren’t ordinary either.
No, since they shared enlightenment, the moment Mok Gan possessed the bodies, they were peerless masters.
‘Fighting them is impossible.’
*Whoosh!*
After quickly scanning them, Cheongryeong shot downward.
But Mok Gan’s fur-cloaked clone blocked her path.
*Rustle! Grab!*
Appearing with a body-shifting technique, he roughly seized her weakened left arm.
Then, lifting the famed sword Sunyeon, he said,
"Even if the spirit body takes more damage, merging with the soul won’t be hindered, so I’ll leave your head and torso."
*You bastard!*
"That rage will soon turn to affection."
Mok Gan’s fur-cloaked clone swung the famed sword Sunyeon down at Cheongryeong's left arm with a mad smile.
*Slash!*
Even as a resentful spirit, the moment her arm was severed, she couldn’t help flinching and closing her eyes.
Yet,
*Twitch!*
Her arm was cut, so why was there sensation?
Puzzled, she opened her eyes.
"Ughhh!"
Before her, Mok Gan’s fur-cloaked clone, having backed away a great distance, clutched his own severed right wrist in agony.
What was happening?
Just then, the two Mok Gan clones roared in fury and charged.
*Whoosh!*
"You wenchhhh!"
"How dare yoooou!"
It was right then.
*Shwick shwick shwick!*
Black lines streaked through the air between the two rapidly approaching clones, tracing trajectories like meteors across the night sky.
In an instant, their bodies were sliced into dozens, hundreds of pieces.
Amid the spraying blood in the air appeared the figure she had been waiting for.
Tears welling in her eyes, Cheongryeong murmured.
*One Strike.....*
He was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
[Chapter 123: Great Catastrophe (3)] End
ⓒ Han Jung-wol-ya