Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: 068 Street Scum (3)
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Even though he'd won the Little Dragon Tournament, he hadn't expected the kids to handle assassinations this skillfully. They were no ordinary greenhorns. They must have been prepared even for the surprise attack. To block hidden blades knowing he was targeting them—these brats had real experience.
His original plan had been to take the kids hostage and eliminate Mujin. Sure, the guy was a powerhouse who'd crushed the Present Music Sword in a handful of moves, but with his own son as leverage, the outcome was obvious. He hadn't thought it would be a tough mission, yet here he was in the worst possible situation.
"Wasting time admiring the kids? My own son—do you really think he'd fall to trash like you? Your dreams are way too big."
"...I'll give you that. But your arrogance is going to get your son killed!"
Kang Jaegi steeled himself for total annihilation. He had to kill these brats and watch Mujin wail to vent his rage.
Seven left.
Yet Taejin and Cheolho were trickier to handle now than when there had been twenty. It wasn't just their skill—their resolve was on another level. After hearing the father's taunts, the assassins stopped holding back their own bodies.
Thwip!
Poison needles, darts, flying knives, iron nets—everything was unleashed. The Blood Hounds rained down every hidden weapon they had like arrows.
Kang Jaegi targeted Taejin and Cheolho's weaknesses relentlessly from behind the Blood Hounds.
Haa.
He gave them no room to breathe. The coordination of the seven was incomparable to before. Fueled by genuine killing intent, it shook the organic teamwork between Taejin and Cheolho.
Slash!
They took a hit.
Kuuk!
A groan escaped Cheolho's lips. But instead of crying out in pain, he had to block three thrusting swords. They aimed cunningly at his vital points across his body.
Clang clang clang!
Taejin reacted to Cheolho's crisis, but that was exactly what Kang Jaegi had planned. He immediately followed up, exploiting the gap.
It was the Blood Heaven Kill from the Massacre Demonic Sword Style.
The pinnacle of killing swords, guaranteed to sever the opponent's breath.
No excess moves whatsoever.
Zing, zing!
Taejin sensed Kang Jaegi's killing sword aiming for his back, but there was a time lag between the spin and the straight thrust. Cheolho charged ferociously, condensing his power into a single point and exploding it outward.
Iron Blood Lion Fist, latter form: Unrivaled One-Point Cannon.
Kwaaaang!
Blood Heaven Kill and Unrivaled One-Point Cannon clashed, unleashing a thunderous roar. Rain fell vertically only to be swept into a jagged, razor-sharp circle. The scattered droplets carried fragments of immense power, shaking the surroundings.
Huff, stagger!
It was an imperfect technique, lacking full power. Cheolho had been struck before his fist reached its peak. He was repelled by the impact of Kang Jaegi's sword aura. If Taejin hadn't swiftly followed with the next move, Cheolho would have become Blood Hound fodder.
Drip drip!
As the fierce battle dragged on, countless marks scarred Taejin and Cheolho's bodies, their clothes soaked in blood. They'd dodged lethal blows, but the Blood Hounds' weapons were coated in poison. Not the Tang Clan's deadly brews, but enough to limit their movements.
But then.
Slice!
A Blood Hound's head flew off. The one staggering forward as it lunged suddenly accelerated into a decapitating slash.
Roll roll!
The Blood Hound tumbled across the ground. Six remained. Though gasping for breath, they blocked the dangerous strikes, and their counters were sharper than at the start. Their physical movements were actually improving.
Kang Jaegi's face twisted like parched earth. They'd been poisoned with Acid Blood Poison, which melted blood—yet they kept resisting. It made no sense.
'Why?'
Not a death poison, but Acid Blood Poison affected the body and eroded inner energy. They'd staggered at first, but now they were adapting.
"You think that pathetic poison would work on my son? As a side dish, he gets Millennium Lingzhi as standard, plus Millennium Public Blue Oil, Millennium Rock Mushroom, Millennium Ink Dragon Core, Millennium Great Reversion Pill, and Millennium Supreme Azure Pill as snacks. Of course it doesn't work. If it did, what would that make me, the one who fed him that stuff?"
Mujin dispelled Kang Jaegi's doubts with crisp clarity.
Kang Jaegi was dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
Fed him what?
Every spirit medicine under the sun, scraped together and devoured. Elixirs so rare a normal martial artist might never taste them in a lifetime—fed as snacks!
Come to think of it, the kids' inner energy was no joke. At their age, they had to be at least at the One Cycle realm minimum. Makes sense if you're stuffing down priceless elixirs three meals a day.
Grind!
To hog elixirs rarer than hen's teeth for life— the envy of every martial artist.
'Ah, seriously! Not the Millennium Rock Mushroom, Ink Dragon Core, Great Reversion Pill, or Supreme Azure Pill!'
Taejin was frustrated by the misunderstanding.
Dad was spouting nonsense, and these assassins were naively buying it and going berserk.
At least if they'd tasted them, it wouldn't feel so unfair.
We only got Millennium Lingzhi.
Lots of thousand-year ginseng, though.
And those compounded Great Reversion and Supreme Azure Pills don't even keep for a millennium! By then they'd rot—you'd get sick just eating them.
"Lucky bastards. I'll kill you all!"
Kang Jaegi accepted it despite his irritation. With that level of elixirs, immunity to Acid Blood Poison made sense. If it still worked after that, they'd be goat shit, not spirit medicines.
But this guy?
Not fed any elixirs—why was he immune?
"Idiots are naturally poison-proof."
Cheolho, nearing total poison immunity, gained confidence mid-fight, but Mujin's venomous tongue made him waver. That mouth was more toxic than a millennium-aged poison dragon.
'Recalling Iron King's era makes it click.'
He was oddly resistant to poison. Hidden weapons and toxins poured like a storm from all sides, yet he charged heedless. Iron King's reckless aggression was simple but devastating.
"Kill them!"
Kang Jaegi, taking Mujin's words as mockery, unleashed his full killing intent and power. Failing to kill these brats here would be utter humiliation.
The poison might not be potent, but they'd bled plenty. Humans tire eventually. The kids were panting too. He'd press without respite, then finish them.
Kraaaang!
Suddenly, a mighty lion's roar exploded.
Cheolho, far angrier than Kang Jaegi, bellowed with amplified ferocity. The ultimate roar of a wounded Iron Blood Lion.
"I'm not an idiot~~!"
Hup!
Mujin hadn't expected that, barely stifling a laugh. Desperate not to chuckle at the lame joke, his toes itched unbearably.
-Was Iron King always that dumb?
'Died plenty to dumbasses.'
Iron King had a weighty presence even in silence. Already a peak powerhouse now—what would he become with age?
His brutal killer's gravitas dominated the scene. Even if his brain was dim. Well, a dimwit with strength and weird convictions was unstoppable.
-We got tricked.
'The tricked one's the fool.'
Joke or not, Iron King had once mistaken the Demonic Cult of the Demon God for allies, they said.
He had to be the king of misconceptions.
Anyway, Cheolho's brute charge became an unexpected variable. No one predicted he'd go all-in like this. A gap opened, and ridiculously, another Blood Hound died.
Paat!
With Cheolho creating the opening, Taejin didn't hesitate and pressed the attack. The battlefield was evenly matched. In such a state, choices mattered. Small decisions accumulated to tip the scales.
'Damn it!'
Kang Jaegi felt the situation slipping from his control. This wouldn't do. His body was heating up, cold sweat trickling. He might actually lose to these brats—a sense of crisis dawned.
Crack, crack!
Chewing well-smoked pork, washing it down with hearty bowls of bamboo leaf liquor.
Kaa, good stuff!
Mujin's carefree warrior nonchalance amid battle provoked Kang Jaegi. A thousand demons raged inside him.
To make matters worse, he was losing momentum.
The brats' teamwork was evolving. And now they aimed to devour him.
Slice, kraak!
Blood Hounds dropped, leaving only Kang Jaegi and the Mad Dog Three Fiends. He needed a reversal chance, but the brats showed no openings.
A chill ran down his spine.
If they were this strong now, what about later? Even the new dragons of murim paled in comparison.
'Must kill them!'
For the organization's sake, he had to end them here. Otherwise, they'd become a catastrophe dismantling it.
But Kang Jaegi's resolve crumbled under Mujin's threat.
"How long you gonna fight these losers? Dawn's breaking. Wait—this means my training sucked. Should I up the volume?"
That was the trigger.
Taejin and Cheolho's attacks turned fiercer, more intense. Survival instinct kicked in: fail to end it soon, and they'd be in danger.
Huh!
Like dogs!
Kang Jaegi could hardly endure it. Had he ever been this insulted in his life?
Cough!
The Third Mad Dog Fiend's throat was gouged and pierced. The furious First and Second lunged desperately.
He spotted a gap.
Kang Jaegi unleashed the Frenzy Kill from Massacre Demonic Sword Style. He exploded with killing intent to slaughter them in one go.
Kwaaaang!
Even the sword strike's blast barely fazed Taejin and Cheolho.
Thwip thwip thwip!
Kang Jaegi vanished from the space. Turns out, Taejin and Cheolho weren't his real targets.
Gasp!
Taejin and Cheolho swallowed dryly.
A killing blow timed for their moment of carelessness.
Massacre Demonic Sword Style: Flesh-Severing Bone-Cutter.
The final form: sacrifice flesh to cleave bone. Kang Jaegi poured all his power into the sword tip. They were dazed from the explosion, at point-blank range.
"Die!"
The illusory sword shadow blurred their vision. Kang Jaegi shattered the line between feint and truth, piercing the center.
Clink!
His sure-kill strike—yet Kang Jaegi paled in shock.
Shudder!
The sword didn't pierce its target; it was blocked. By two fingers forming a sword grip. The fully powered tip carried sword aura beyond mere energy.
"...Impossible!"
He'd beaten the Present Music Sword, sure, but to snatch sword energy with bare hands—a feat unbelievable even witnessing it. That marked one as a transcendent master.
"...Flower Realm!"
Beyond supreme mastery: the realm of manifesting sword aura. Such experts were countable on one hand in all murim. An unknown wielding Flower Realm power? It felt like a dream.
"Got more?"
"Crazy...!"
Mujin flicked his fingers.
Crack, kraak!
Kang Jaegi's sword snapped in two. The recoil hit him full force. Monstrous power surged along the blade, smashing his body. For a moment, his veins swelled to bursting.
Tremble, tremble!
Kang Jaegi writhed from the invading energy. Then it hit him. This was a monster not to be touched. Had he known, he'd never have tried tricks.