Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Hou Yi Bends the Bow
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"Sorry for waking you so early... but you're gonna have to fight, kid."
[No need to apologize. Fighting with this incomplete body isn't a bad way to kill time.]
With those words, the Bull Demon flashed a feral grin and stepped toward the horde of elite poison beasts arrayed before him.
Baek Hyun swallowed hard, recalling the Bull Demon's power as he'd seen it in the game.
When measuring raw output potential among its kind, the Bull Demon surpassed even the Three-Legged Golden Crow, making it the monstrous being with the greatest innate talent.
The absurd strength to uproot entire mountains.
A body as unbreakable as diamond.
Supernatural powers that defied the laws of nature.
The Bull Demon was born with all of these gifts and had the potential for explosive growth through training afterward.
Born as an overwhelming powerhouse yet capable of human-like cultivation—this pinnacle of unfairness was the essence of the Bull Demon.
Yet despite this, the reason it ranked only third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts was the massive variance between individuals.
In exchange for the wisdom and patience to endlessly hone their abilities like humans, Bull Demons suffered extreme disparities within their own species.
Because they could cultivate just like humans, differences in innate talent and temperament led to vast gaps in power.
A Bull Demon with top-tier talent, trained rigorously under a master, fed the finest spirit elixirs, and tempered through trials, could become something like the "Invincible Battle Bull."
But an average Bull Demon that met none of those criteria was pathetically weak—hardly worthy of the title among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.
Like how the college that produced Michael Jordan wasn't the top basketball school.
Sure, outliers occasionally dragged up the average, but most Bull Demons didn't fall into that category.
However, the Bull Demon tamed by Maeng Yeon...
-Hwooooong!! Hung-!!!
Was unmistakably one of those average-boosting monsters.
Having appeared as one of the terracotta guardians in the Emperor's Mausoleum, the Bull Demon swung its fist through the air, gauging its current strength.
Even that simple motion unleashed a gale-force wind pressure that whipped around like a storm, but the Bull Demon wore a dissatisfied expression as it spoke.
[Can't use spells, huh? And these physical abilities are downright pathetic... Feels like I've regressed to my childhood.]
Shrrrk
Then it grabbed the corpse of the massive centipede in front of it.
It was the body of the millennia-old centipede whose skull it had crushed first upon emerging from the Emperor's Mausoleum.
[How nostalgic. Reminds me of those days when I fought purely on instinct. Those were the good times.]
The Bull Demon grinned savagely and swung the centipede's sturdy corpse like a massive whip.
And then.
-Kwaaaaaaang-!!!!
A deafening roar like mountains being shaved away echoed as several poison beasts ahead were instantly pulverized to mush.
But their opponents were elite poison beasts fueled by near-mad battle lust and tenacious vitality.
Even with chunks of their bodies torn away in an instant, they charged the Bull Demon without hesitation.
-Kwachik-!!!
The Bull Demon allowed no such trifling resistance.
The face of a massive scorpion lunging at it was utterly crushed by a fist brimming with overwhelming might.
Instant death, without a doubt.
Whooosh!!
Yet the scorpion's decentralized nervous system, even in death, unleashed the venom it harbored in life.
The stinger that had paralyzed Takmu in an instant struck true at the Bull Demon's torso.
A desperate mutual destruction ploy, exploiting the foe's assumption of victory.
Thud, Kwaaaang!!
But that final spasm was futile against a veteran warrior of countless battles.
The Bull Demon casually caught the incoming stinger, then began swinging the massive scorpion corpse like a flail.
The millennia-old centipede corpse, first used as a whip, had long since shattered to pieces.
Wielding monstrous beings weighing hundreds to thousands of tons as improvised weapons—an impossible display of strength.
But even more astonishing was the exquisite combat technique, unbelievable for a monstrous being.
It handled multiple foes with ease while flawlessly defending against every attack aimed at Maeng Yeon.
This was beyond what brute physical prowess alone could achieve.
Those ferocious elite poison beasts looked like nothing more than a flock of sheep in the face of its overwhelming skill.
Movements honed to extreme efficiency through vast combat experience—something the young Har sorely lacked.
'Even using only basic attacks with its main skills sealed, it's this strong. Seeing it in action is insane.'
Sure, that thing could handle all the elite poison beasts without issue.
The problem was time was short.
"Urgh... ugh..."
Baek Hyun bit his lip at the sight of Maeng Yeon trembling in agony.
The cost of using her special ability had left her completely combat-incapable the moment she summoned the Bull Demon.
He didn't know the exact price, but it clearly wasn't sustainable for long.
Before she reached her limit, they had to find and kill the Poison Sovereign hidden somewhere in this toxic mist.
Or finish the fight by slaying the fleeing Vice Palace Lord.
'Neither seems easy, but no choice but to try.'
She'd used her last resort, the one she'd held back out of trust in him.
A real man had to live up to that faith.
Wuuuung!!
Having decided, Baek Hyun immediately unleashed his upper dantian at full power to scan for the Poison Sovereign and Vice Palace Lord.
With venomous creatures swarming everywhere, pinpointing them even with the upper dantian open was no easy task.
On the contrary, an overwhelming flood of information assaulted his mind, bringing splitting headaches and nausea.
Yet Baek Hyun clung to his sanity, desperately locking onto the Vice Palace Lord or Poison Sovereign's position.
About ten seconds after opening his upper dantian...
"Uweeegh...!"
Baek Hyun finally couldn't hold back and vomited up his stomach contents.
Then he flashed a wicked grin.
"...Found you."
Both the Poison Sovereign and Vice Palace Lord.
With their positions pinpointed, Baek Hyun quickly brainstormed how to take them out.
Thankfully, the two targets weren't far apart.
To achieve the optimal result fastest in this situation...
'Gotta kill the Poison Sovereign first.'
Decision made, Baek Hyun turned to the anxious Har, who was fidgeting worriedly over the suffering Maeng Yeon.
"Har, fire your Lion's Roar along the path I indicate."
Grrr?
Har shot him a look like Who the hell are you to order me around? but...
"Now."
Baek Hyun's aura was more menacing than ever.
And with Maeng Yeon in pain, Har reluctantly drew a deep breath and prepared its Lion's Roar.
Guoooooo...!!!
As Har charged its Lion's Roar, Baek Hyun dropped into a sprinter's crouch, mentally rehearsing his plan over and over.
One shot.
His comrades' lives on the line.
Now was the time to pour everything he'd built into this.
Kugugugu...!
Internal energy surged explosively through Baek Hyun's meridians, infusing his body with power beyond its limits.
A trump card used by Starpoint Sect warriors to concentrate all their might in a split second.
Shoot the Sun Sword Art, Second Form
Hou Yi Bends the Bow
Just like Hou Yi drawing his bowstring.
A technique that artificially induced a near-trance state of super-concentration by rapidly drawing up all mental focus and internal energy.
Though its duration was extremely short and it left one completely defenseless during preparation—making it rarely used in real combat.
But in a moment like this, no technique was more perfect.
Kuguk, Kugugugu...
The instant the arrow called "Baek Hyun" was fully drawn...
________!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Har's Lion's Roar cleaved through the Poison Sovereign's toxic mist.
Fired per Baek Hyun's direction, it targeted the Poison Sovereign at the mist's core.
The result: a straight path to the Poison Sovereign pierced the impenetrable fog.
Taaaaang!!
Finally, the arrow launched.
Using the ferocious wind of the Lion's Roar storm as propulsion.
Jjeeoooong-!!
Baek Hyun's form rocketed forward at overwhelming speed, riding the Lion's Roar's momentum.
The Lion's Roar was a torrent of power in its own right.
Using immense force for propulsion was no different from the Starpoint Sect's martial arts.
He ignored the strain on his body.
Entrusting everything to the instincts and intuition explosively awakened by mortal peril.
That alone was the way to survive this overwhelming surge—and the only way to bring down the king of venomous creatures.
Kieeeek!?
The Lion's Roar's shockwave struck the Poison Sovereign first.
Meaning all obstacles along the path were cleared.
Timing it perfectly, Baek Hyun unleashed his pent-up power and seized the space directly above the Poison Sovereign at unprecedented speed.
What followed was a maximum-output long-range technique from zero distance.
Shoot the Sun Sword Art, Derivative Technique
Falling Sun
The plummeting sun incinerates the arrogant king of venomous beasts and slams it into the earth.
-Kwaaaaaaang-!!!!
Crushed beneath the falling sun, the Poison Sovereign was hurled from the skies before it could even scream.
Kii... eee...
Slammed into the ground in an instant, most of its feathers had burned away, and its wounds were so severe flight was impossible.
Against other Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, Falling Sun wouldn't have inflicted such critical damage.
But the Poison Sovereign, specialized in virulent toxins at the expense of its own combat prowess—which lagged far behind its peers—took grievous wounds from that single strike.
Kiiii... kiyaaaaaaah-!!!!!
Sensing mortal danger, the Poison Sovereign prepared to unleash all its venom without regard for its master's safety.
Puuk!!
"Shut up, you damn pigeon bastard."
Shoot the Sun Sword Art, Secret Technique
Hou Yi Shoots the Sun
Baek Hyun's blade, fired from above, severed the rampaging Poison Sovereign's breath.