Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Trump Card
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Mok Hon's furious demand for surrender left every warrior of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace gripped by terror all at once.
The mere arrival of the Gale Sword had already thrown their original plan into disarray.
But from the moment the Radiant Sword joined the fray, the fight itself became impossible.
With their Palace Lord sprawled on the ground, there was no warrior in the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace who could stand against the Radiant Sword.
That was why they had spent all this time needling the Starpoint Sect, luring the Radiant Sword away from their headquarters, and desperately avoiding direct battle.
Their entire plan had been a frantic struggle to evade a decisive confrontation with him.
And yet, at this very moment, they were inescapably locked in a head-on clash with the Radiant Sword.
All their previous plans and efforts had turned to dust in an instant.
Already demoralized, the Southern Barbarian warriors began furtively glancing at their leaders.
No one spoke first, but the awkward atmosphere was thick with the unspoken intent to surrender.
"Chief, shouldn't we... pull back for now? I don't know how it happened, but the Radiant Sword is here at our headquarters. We should send word to the other brothers to retreat as well..."
One of the Warrior Chiefs could no longer bear the tension and spoke up to Takmu.
Takmu struck the Warrior Chief across the face before his words could even finish, snarling in response.
"Don't make me laugh. Are you saying we're abandoning our great undertaking after coming this far?"
Unlike moments ago, Takmu's face was now utterly cold and devoid of any mirth.
It was not the face of a predator toying with its prey, but that of a cornered victim seeking an escape.
The face of a hunter facing an overwhelming monster, and the face of a warrior confronting an unbeatable foe.
Paradoxically, being backed into a corner had made him calmer and more resolute than ever—a true warrior ready to fight.
"Deputy Palace Lord! You're not thinking of surrendering like these cowards, are you?!"
"...There's a saying in the Central Plains: once spilled water can't be gathered back up. The situation is dire enough to consider surrender... but we can't stop now."
Especially since he'd already unleashed the jar.
In that instant, an enormous swarm of venomous creatures began surging toward the Starpoint Sect's stronghold like a storm cloud from afar.
The dispersed warriors of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace had mobilized.
Takmu flashed a savage grin at the overwhelming sight and continued.
"Look at that! Even the Radiant Sword can't stab every one of those venomous beasts swarming from all sides! If we find the Demon Subduing Hall and release the Three-Legged Crow, victory is ours!!"
"B-but against the Radiant Sword, we can't hold out that long...!"
"No, we can. As long as we don't face him head-on."
Takmu yanked Mokrin Stonechuck's head in the opposite direction and bellowed.
"I'm changing the plan to crush the Starpoint Sect's remaining forces! All Southern Barbarian warriors!!"
Run from that monster—!!!
'!!'
The utterly unexpected order left the warriors' faces filled with bewilderment for a moment, but they hurriedly obeyed as Takmu spurred them onward from atop Stonechuck.
"Against a monster like that, running is the charge! Forget honor or shame! Everyone, charge with all your might in the opposite direction!!"
No matter how great the Radiant Sword was, he couldn't instantly catch dozens of elite warriors bent solely on escape.
This had been proven time and again in their encounters so far.
No matter the vast gap in power, what you don't engage won't break you.
That was how they'd managed to stall against the Starpoint Sect even without their maximum firepower—the Palace Lord.
They'd use the same tactic now.
Hold out just until the others found the Demon Subduing Hall. If they could endure until then...!
"You're plotting something sly, aren't you? Don't tell me you thought..."
...that I've been fighting at full strength this whole time?
Seeing this, Mok Hon drew his sword from his waist with eyes utterly devoid of mercy—cold as ice.
The sacred relic symbolizing the Starpoint Sect's leader: the Shoot the Sun Sword.
This black blade, with its unusual appearance compared to other swords, was a famed sword among famed swords, proven in countless battles.
But at this moment, the sword Mok Hon drew was not the only one.
The instant he unsheathed the Shoot the Sun Sword, the six swords sheathed on his back automatically slipped free and floated into the air.
The 'sword qi' forged by tempering his steadily accumulated internal energy and martial arts into a single blade.
Going beyond that sword qi to 'sword gang'.
By melting all his martial arts into his body to achieve 'Marrow Cleansing and Bone Transformation'.
And truly internalizing the enlightenment in his mind to reach the realm of 'Man-Sword Unity'—a divine technique usable only by the supreme martial artists at that pinnacle.
"I-imperial Sword Flight...!"
The six swords floating in the air began compressing Starpoint Sect's signature radiant yang energy to its limits.
As if six suns had risen in the sky—an overwhelming sight.
The Southern Barbarian warriors were urging their spirit beasts to flee when it struck.
Shoot the Sun Sword Art, First Form
Sun's First Rays
The dawn light from the six suns engulfed them.
The six blades shot forward at overwhelming speed, piercing through countless Southern Barbarian warriors and their spirit beasts in one go.
Only then did they vaguely realize.
That fleeing wouldn't save them from an opponent who could strike them down.
"Damn it... Everyone, scatter!! Staying clumped together is a death sentence!! Spread out as wide as possible!!"
Even so, Takmu refused to lose his will to fight. Mounted on Mokrin Stonechuck, he hurled himself into the dense woods of Starpoint Mountain.
Sensing from this that he needed to end it quickly, Mok Hon readjusted his grip on the Shoot the Sun Sword and spoke.
"Mok Jin, I'm leaving the other disciples to you. Save as many as you can."
"Understood, Senior Brother."
Then, he lowered his stance to an extreme, compressing all his body's internal energy into a single point.
The explosion that followed.
Mok Hon's form rocketed forward like a bullet fired from a rifle, at tremendous speed.
The explosive force that should have been uncontrollable was propelled forward without waste, through exquisite control.
The result was a speed so overwhelming that 'swift' seemed an understatement.
His arrow-straight form caught up to Takmu, who was racing atop Mokrin Stonechuck, in an instant.
"This... damn it!!"
Takmu desperately swung his spear to block Mok Hon's attack, but despite the significant difference in build and raw power favoring him, Takmu was the one pushed back.
Takmu's massive frame tumbled off Mokrin Stonechuck's back from the mere straight thrust—nothing more than a basic stab, not even a proper technique.
It was an attack he could barely withstand thanks to his diamond-hard defense from grueling training and freakish strength surpassing most spirit beasts.
"! Protect the Chief!!"
Takmu's subordinates, sensing the crisis, rushed to join and charged at Mok Hon.
The six swords, wrapped in intense yang energy, weaved through the air like raptors, unilaterally piercing and slaying the approaching warriors.
"You idiots...! Don't come to me—run, I said!!"
The elite warriors of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace—masters of external arts who tamed powerful spirit beasts—fled desperately, occasionally counterattacking to buy time with all their might.
But they all met the same end at the hands of the six blades moving at speeds far beyond human limits.
Watching his men die in gruesome fashions one by one, Takmu bit his lip and pressed deeper into Starpoint Mountain.
Just a little more... just hold on a bit longer, somehow...!
In that moment, three blades rocketed in at tremendous speed and embedded in Mokrin Stonechuck's body.
Its powerful scales blocked even sword gang to some degree, sparing it instant death, but Stonechuck could no longer run and collapsed.
"Now, it's just you left."
Despite fleeing for dear life, Mok Hon was already right under his nose, gaze murderous. Takmu could only gape in shock.
'This madman... he killed all my men in under fifteen minutes?!'
Even as he thought this, Takmu readjusted his spear and entered combat stance.
With his mount crippled, escape was no longer an option.
Now, he had no choice but to fight.
Takmu stomped hard, signaling Mokrin Stonechuck.
Understanding, the beast dragged its immobile body into action by force.
A massive cloud of black dust erupted from Mokrin Stonechuck's maw, instantly filling the area.
In the instant the dust clouded even his senses, blocking perception...
Takmu's massive spear whipped toward the back of Mok Hon's head with precision.
Mok Hon sensed the deadly attack just before it landed.
He deflected it with one of his controlled swords, then sent the rest to end Takmu—but
The moment his swords released their compressed yang energy to shoot forward, a colossal explosion engulfed the area in an instant.
Dust explosion.
Takmu's final trump card, held in reserve until the end to face Mok Hon.
"...I fell for it."
Mok Hon touched the back of his head, where blood trickled, amid the instant wasteland.
Thanks to reflexively deploying his protective sword gang the moment the explosion hit, he took no damage from it—but Takmu's strike had pierced through and landed squarely.
The gang had cushioned much of the impact, so it wasn't fatal.
But with his senses completely nullified by the blast and his mind briefly dazed from the hit, he'd lost track of Takmu's position.
'This is bad. I needed to take him down here.'
Only then did Mok Hon exhale raggedly and recall his floating imperial swords.
In perfect condition, he wouldn't have fallen for such a trick—but now, after prolonged full-power use of imperial sword flight, his stamina and internal energy were excessively depleted.
A direct clash wouldn't have drained him this much.
Chasing down and eliminating elite warriors scattering in all directions was a considerable burden even for a transcendent realm martial artist.
'I can't rampage with the same momentum as before anymore.'
But he couldn't stop here.
The three Starpoint elders and remaining disciples were pinned down blocking the incoming venomous swarms and warriors.
Only he could hunt down and eliminate the enemy leadership.
Thus, Mok Hon sheathed his six blades and pressed on with the pursuit.
Meanwhile, Takmu, who had slipped away in the brief opening, rendezvoused with his Deputy Palace Lord, Meng Sa, and urgently conferred.
"Huff... haa, what about Yeon-i... what happened to Yeon-i?!"
"I don't know. She vanished at some point. But given the Radiant Sword's nature, he wouldn't kill a child who hasn't even reached adulthood."
"Damn it, then the search for the Demon Subduing Hall!"
"Good news on that front. One of the Warrior Chiefs found a space rigged with a strange formation. High chance that's where the Demon Subduing Hall is hidden."
"Good... that's all that matters."
With that, Takmu flashed a feral grin.
The sacrifices were heavy, but securing the Three-Legged Crow would reverse the tide instantly.
That would usher in a whole new era for the Southern Barbarians.
Steeled in resolve, Takmu grabbed his weapons and rose.
"Call the tribal shamans to dismantle the formation and prepare the Palace's sacred relic. I'll hold the Radiant Sword somehow."
"...Thank you for your sacrifice. Without you, the plan would've hit major snags."
"Doesn't matter. For a new era, one life like mine is..."
"However."
"You're no longer needed."
A massive scorpion's stinger plunged into Takmu's wounded flank.