Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: S3. Murim Travels - Complete
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Indifference.
Nangong So, who had been baring his anger, lamentations, and inferiority complex, went blank in an instant. Like a figure molded from wax—expressionless and utterly still.
It was a state like the surface of water undisturbed by ripples, yet to Nangong Cheonghwi, that serenity seemed more menacing than the fiercest storm.
He knew from experience. That tranquil lake had endless depths, heavier than an equal volume of iron, dragging any swimmer down into the abyss in the blink of an eye.
"......"
Blood energy surged.
The Blood Cult's secret arts riddled Nangong So's body, compelling the Heavenly Demon toward their goal. Use that immense power to slaughter humans, seize their blood, and bring glory to the Blood Cult.
The Blood Cult alone is your ally; all others are mere prey. Drown the world in crimson and usher in an eternal saga of blood—
"Crude."
The Heavenly Demon stared impassively at the Demonic Possession Technique gripped in his hand, then squeezed lightly—as if refusing to tolerate the intrusion.
Crack.
The sinister Blood Cult secret shattered into thousands of fragments and scattered.
Freed from the binding chains, the Heavenly Demon seemed to ponder his next move. He found his answer within the possessed flesh.
"Is becoming the head of the Nangong family your desire? I'll make it so."
"......"
The Heavenly Demon selected the swiftest and most precise path available to him.
"Kill every last Nangong, and you'll be the head if you're all that's left."
"—I won't allow it!"
Clang!
Nangong Cheonghwi unleashed his sword's resonant cry to seize the Heavenly Demon's attention. The moment those eyes turned to him, it felt as though his entire body had been stripped bare.
Beneath the moonlight's glow, a heavy silence descended, and Cheonghwi swallowed dryly. In tension thick enough to choke him, he poured all his awareness into tracking the Heavenly Demon's every motion.
The blood energy coiling around him flickered like a candle flame, gradually waning.
In tandem, Nangong So's body was dying. Muscles withered away, his complexion paled, and his frame grew skeletal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Once that candle burned out, the Heavenly Demon would depart the body.
How long would it take? Half an hourglass turn? A full hour? No way to know. But even a brief span would suffice for the Heavenly Demon to paint the Nangong family grounds in blood.
This was a war of attrition.
Cheonghwi's mission was to hold the Heavenly Demon in this forest.
"Haaah—!!"
Cheonghwi leaped forward with his single sword.
The boy struck down from above. He gauged it deeply.
He foresaw hundreds of variations, pruning the crude and useless branches. Then sealed off each one's endpoint, one by one.
Change like a butterfly's dance, and he countered like a mantis snaring its prey; come raging like a storm, and he folded like wings into serene evasion; press down rigid as iron, and he returned it with a seesaw shift of weight.
After repeating this process to block every possibility, nothing remained but victory.
The Heavenly Demon flicked his hand.
Crunch—
"Guh..."
A short jab snapped Nangong Cheonghwi's arm bone. Pain twisted his face, but he endured and pressed the attack.
That too fell within the Heavenly Demon's expectations. He shifted his stance fluidly, letting Cheonghwi's blade graze his shoulder. The strike glanced off.
A chilling premonition sent shivers down Cheonghwi's spine.
The follow-up would come. Focus on defense? No, it would be futile. Keep attacking? He'd evade.
In that haze of futility where nothing seemed to land, Cheonghwi unleashed maximum variation. He had to match the Heavenly Demon's changes. Deploy moves he couldn't predict. Stagnate, and die!
Cheonghwi fired an Explosive Shattering Fist with his remaining arm. It wove meridian release subtlety, the whipping tail of a salamander, and the blinding speed of a quick-draw slash.
Yet it was read.
Thud, thud.
The Heavenly Demon's curt double strike sent the fist grazing past his throat, leaving Cheonghwi's torso wide open and defenseless. His hand drifted slowly toward Cheonghwi's heart.
Thousand-Weight Anchor.
Cheonghwi loaded his upper body with weight and bent his knees supplely, flattening nearly parallel to the ground to evade. An Iron Bridge technique.
As he followed with a kick, a foot hurtled into view. It anticipated his low dodge—like a kick launched from ancient times.
Cheonghwi squeezed his eyes shut.
Thwack—!!
"Khek...!"
Cheonghwi's body lifted into the air and flew. He rolled three full turns before barely staggering upright, nose gushing blood nonstop, head spinning.
The Heavenly Demon stood aloof, unscathed.
Clouds drifted across, eclipsing the moon and plunging the forest into pitch-black night. Cheonghwi tore his clothes to bind his shattered arm tightly. Throbbing pain prickled dully.
"...Cough, cough. Hoo..."
The Heavenly Demon hadn't landed the finishing blow.
Had he infused full internal energy into that kick, Cheonghwi's skull would've burst like a watermelon moments ago. Yet he hadn't.
Cheonghwi dimly grasped why: pursuit of perfect efficiency.
For a 100% flawless victory without variables. Methodically, like plucking an insect's limbs one by one. Fighting like a machine.
"...So the fight won't end until every limb of mine is broken. Isn't that right?"
No reply came.
Cheonghwi stepped into the darkness. Only one arm lost so far. If a limb vanished each time he was cornered, he could clash three more times.
Even if he died here.
"You'll meet your end in this forest."
He wouldn't let him pass.
Kaang—!!
After the seventh clash, the sword snapped clean in half.
"Kahk... Hah, heuk, urk..."
Nangong Cheonghwi clutched the broken blade and collapsed, vomiting a mouthful of blood. His left arm had fractured three times into a grotesque shape, and not a single spot on his body remained intact.
The blood energy cloaking Nangong So had visibly diminished, but it wasn't enough. He was still the Heavenly Demon.
Vision blurred. The foe doubled, then merged, repeating. Even standing felt impossible.
He abused his quivering muscles, mustering every trick to move and barely planted his feet on the earth. Yet any lapse in focus would send him crumpling.
Could he even swing a sword like this?
The Heavenly Demon regarded him with utter detachment. He was living infinity—no matter how Cheonghwi adapted, he couldn't match the pace.
Techniques failed, body in tatters.
Only mind remained.
"......"
Swish. Wind blew.
Clouds drifting lazily across the sky parted, revealing the moon once more. Warm moonlight bathed Cheonghwi's head.
Mind alone.
An elusive enlightenment teased his grasp, circling because it lacked a vessel. Nangong Cheonghwi needed something to contain it.
What flashed through his mind was the tale of the Emperor Sword Form.
The Nangong family's secret garden bore no sword scars—only pristine flower beds.
Nangong Chaegong had been bitterly disappointed, deeming it meaningless. But perhaps that absence itself held... profound intent.
The Heavenly Demon raised his hand to conclude it.
His foe was the Heavenly Demon, calculator of all possibilities, dispenser of optimal solutions. Uncatchable infinity. Then.
To oppose infinity, one must become infinite.
"To slice the sky..."
A blade vast as the heavens, or...
"...one must wield the sky as a blade."
Nangong Cheonghwi gripped the halved sword with both hands and hoisted it high—as if poised to cleave down massively.
The blade's presence mattered little; its absence was preferable. He poured everything into the void.
Scars of the past, pains of battle, joys of conquest, familial bonds, the weight of promises, every intent that had brushed him—he extended them infinitely.
Opposite the Heavenly Demon, who reached infinity through form, he attained it through mind.
────.
The Heavenly Demon's advance halted.
Ten steps to slit his throat and end it, yet his feet refused to move. Danger readings spiked steeply.
Merely a dying boy. Feeble skills, no match. His extensions covered trivial fractions, counters effortless without taxing computation.
Yet what was this? Plainly just assuming an upper stance in a broken shell.
It could become anything. Thrust from below, it'd strike like lightning; lunge sideways, it'd pulverize.
No attack would connect. The Heavenly Demon probed every variation for an opening, but they ran parallel.
Faced with infinity, the Heavenly Demon halted to counter infinite possibilities.
The sovereign's aura, weaving infinity through mind to crush all beneath heaven, deterring any reckless folly. The sword form alone sufficed.
Transcendence.
Nangong Cheonghwi made it the vessel for his mind.
Kuuuung—!!
Formless force crushed all directions. The Heavenly Demon staggered under omnidirectional pressure, as if immense hands from the sky clenched him.
He muttered.
"...Emperor Sword Form?"
The sky's weight spared even Cheonghwi. He became the pillar linking heaven and earth, gritting his teeth to endure. Joints screamed, but his mind soared free and full.
I can do this. I will!
Step.
The Heavenly Demon forced a laborious step. His body writhed. The infinite-handling monster churned endless shifts for countermeasures amid this. Yet... slow.
His mind whirred at unprecedented speeds, yet lagged. In space where time itself slowed, he extended a hand—but—
Thud.
The Heavenly Demon's knee buckled and gave way.
Time was up.
Without even crickets chirping, the moonlit duel concluded in silence.
Cheonghwi had shouldered the sky's weight; the Heavenly Demon had burned through every allotted second defying it.
"...Intriguing."
With those final words, the Heavenly Demon vanished. The surging blood energy finally extinguished. Nangong So's skeletal frame collapsed flat.
At the same instant, Nangong Cheonghwi shut his eyes and fainted.
A faint smile graced the lips of the fallen Cheonghwi. He had protected his family.
On a warm sunny day, Nangong Cheonghwi packed his belongings and stood at the Nangong family estate's main gate. As he paused on the threshold, a young boy's voice held him back.
"Brother Cheonghwi, you're leaving?"
"Yeah. Well... yes."
"Off on a long trip already? We've only just become family... That's too much."
"What can I do? Prior engagement. We set a sparring date, so I can't just bail... and who knows, might even snag a bride candidate."
Bride candidate!
Nangong Myeong's eyes sparkled as he hopped excitedly, dying to pry every detail—then coughed with feigned maturity, suppressing his curiosity.
Yeah, a man building his romance might need to leave home a bit. Myeong brushed off his inner disappointment, filling the void with cheers.
"You have to introduce her!"
"Sure. If things go well, I'll throw in... my brother too."
"Your brother?"
"Foul temper, but good guy."
How's a foul-tempered guy good? Confusion colored Nangong Myeong's face. Cheonghwi burst into laughter at the sight.
Time to depart. Likely a long while before seeing them again. After dueling Luna, he'd head to the Redburn house.
Face his bloodline properly, wrap up all matters. Having transcended, no fear remained.
"Stay well... I'll be back soon."
"Yes! By then, I'll have shot up... maybe even taller than you! I'll be a splendid head by then, so don't take too long!"
"Yeah. Looking forward to it."
Nangong Cheonghwi slung his bundle over his shoulder and crossed the gate fully.
He etched the image of waving Nangong Myeong once more, then turned and walked away. A fairly long, perilous homecoming lay ahead, but he felt no dread. A true man with resolve set—why hesitate?
Cheonghwi's receding figure dwindled to a grain of rice, then vanished like a mirage.
On a fine moonlit night, Luna and Envers drew their swords and faced off.
"You seem... a bit different."
"That so? Glad you noticed."
Envers brimmed with confidence. Luna cocked her head slightly at his changed demeanor and asked.
"Got confidence?"
"I'll spoil it upfront: I've transcended. Recalling the old me will cost you dearly. Or concede defeat now. I don't want to hurt you..."
Luna thrust her middle finger straight at the swaggering Envers. A fuck-you gesture.
Envers roared with laughter, and a sliver of smile tugged Luna's lips. With the mood perfectly ripened, the duel began naturally.
"I'll show you Nangong Cheonghwi's ultimate technique."
"...You. Name. Envers."
"Take this—it's the art that even repelled the Heavenly Demon!"
"All talk."
No more words needed. They poured everything from the start and clashed. Their forms crossed—
Tzzzzzt. Static noise crackled.
The feed suddenly cut out, denying the Magic Tower Master a crucial kiss scene. She flew into a rage.
"Ah! Aaaah!! Video! Why's the video gone?!"
"Ow! Don't hit me, Tower Master! No, it's... his transcendence hit like a DDoS, fried the observation gear, nothing we can—ow!"
Consecutive Yuna punches hammered the mad mage's back. Pow pow pow pow pow.
"Fix it! Fix it!"
"Hitting me won't fix it, I said?! Pingbalrez, hold her back... where're you going?"
"Going to watch in person. Gear's down? Use our eyes, duh?"
"...!! I'm going too!"
Clatter clatter. Romance-starved fiends bolted from the lab. The mad mage sighed deeply amid the chaos, then chased after the departed Tower Master and Pingbalrez.
Couldn't miss the kiss scene, after all!