Chapter 155
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Dongting Lake Incident (3)
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Wind Flies, Hail Scatters.
Was there any phrase better suited to describe the current state of the Waterway Stronghold?
The water pirates caught in the path of the Invincible Meteor Strike that Geum Sihyeon had poured his very soul into were the lucky ones, in a way.
They vanished into dust in an instant, without even time to feel pain.
Those who barely escaped the blast radius, however, had no choice but to get swept up helplessly in the explosion's aftermath.
The third-rate riffraff who hadn't even reached First-Rate were already fish food by that point, or desperately clinging to life by floating along with broken limbs.
"Guhk, kuhuk, glug—"
"Poison! Hold your... breath..."
Right after the physical destructive force peaked, the air rushed in to fill the momentary vacuum—and it was laced with poison gas.
Of course, it wasn't nearly enough to blanket the vast lake, diluted to mere traces in the explosion process.
But it was more than sufficient to snuff out the lives of water pirates who weren't even First-Rate.
And then.
"Haat!"
Stunned as she was by the sheer devastating power, Seo Dohee wasn't one to squander the opening her disciple had created for her.
Each time an axe wrapped in sword energy soared through the sky and plunged into the lake.
"—!"
"────!"
Those unable to even scream properly as water flooded their lungs sank to the depths, foaming at the mouth.
Concentrating her inner energy, she lightly caught the axe returning to her hand, then hurled it again—and again, and again.
Like some acrobatic performance, every arc the axe traced sent two souls to the heavens and two bodies back to the lake.
She wished this easy hunt could go on forever.
"Tch."
But seeing Hyukryeon Gwang land on the beach amid a massive splash, Seo Dohee clicked her tongue.
"Hoo, huu... You had a hidden trump card after all, you insolent bitch...!"
"Ugly bastard's got a tough life line."
Even as she spat her taunt, Seo Dohee coldly assessed the surroundings.
It wasn't as overwhelmingly dire as at the start, but plenty of threatening power remained.
So, how much time did she have to buy?
Pessimistically, over two hours. Optimistically, at least one.
One misstep, and this place could become her grave.
Seo Dohee, a martial artist who had long known life and death in the jianghu were separated by a single sheet of paper, understood that well.
Win if she could—but if death came, she had to drag it out.
That way, her disciple might escape the island a bit more intact.
The axe handle felt heavier than usual today as she gripped it, awakening her senses to their limit.
"Grrraa, die!"
Clang—!
She parried the monstrous roar and the crescent blade swung at her by Hyukryeon Gwang.
But the strike felt too light to be full force.
His intent to stall until his subordinates landed was obvious.
Typical of him.
The kind of scum who ruthlessly shoved his men into the meat grinder, watched his prey tire out, then claimed all the glory—a leader utterly unworthy of the title.
"Still living like a coward, Hyukryeon Gwang."
"Smart, isn't it?"
Their mutual sneers crossed paths.
Then the crescent blade and axe clashed once more, resounding with thunderous booms.
"...What did you just say?"
Baekri Yeon doubted her ears.
"It's been a while"? She'd never even seen this face before.
Plus, he'd recognized her as a Baekri Family member at a glance...
"...No way."
"Hahaha. If fate exists, this must be it. What a joyful day. I planned to end it after devouring one Flower Realm expert, but now there's one more, and even my lost opportunity has returned—"
As ominous crimson and violet hues swirled in Baekri Yeon's eyes, her swung sword struck like a serpent at three vital acupoints on the Illusion Demon.
But.
"Urgh...!"
"Not quite ripe yet, huh? Still, Life-Seizing Ring Chain... that old man's handiwork, I see. Ahaha!"
The Illusion Demon merely flicked his wrist lightly, halting Baekri Yeon completely before bursting into mad laughter.
"Good, good. You'll be a delicacy. I'll save the Heavenly Death Star for last, so have sweet dreams."
His tone was gentle, like speaking to a child, but the content coiled with venomous malice.
Baekri Yeon bit her lip, struggling against the binding.
Taat—
With the eerie snap of the Illusion Demon's fingers colliding.
Baekri Yeon's mind went black for an instant.
Immediately after.
"Waaah, waaaa—!"
She tried to scream at the top of her lungs, but only a baby's wail emerged from her throat.
And what she heard was.
"No, no, baby, shh...!"
Her mother's voice, unforgettable even in dreams.
The memories she'd buried deep surged forth vividly.
Too young to fully comprehend back then.
Yet the day everyone around her abandoned her side burned clear.
"Waaaaa— wuuep—!"
"Baby, my baby. Just hold on a little... shh, good girl...!"
A stabbing headache pierced her skull as she screamed with all her might, but a palm soon muffled her mouth, silencing her.
It was clear.
This scene unfolding now.
Memories from 18 years ago she'd thought erased.
The day the Baekri Family was exterminated.
"Uwaaa! Uwaaaa!"
"Hehahaha, music to my ears."
Not forced, but genuine—the Illusion Demon smiled contentedly at Baekri Yeon's heartfelt screams echoing out.
A sound too pleasing to ever tire of.
One he'd love to savor forever.
Regrettably, time was short.
Two experts were clashing at the island's edge, shaking the very air.
Before wasting more precious energy, he needed to sacrifice and devour her swiftly.
Lifting the limp, screaming Baekri Yeon with Void Grasp, the Illusion Demon headed to the island's center.
And there.
He placed her beside the massive blood-drawn formation's core, then sat cross-legged at the center.
Unlike the fools still clinging to outdated traditions in the mountains, this was a forbidden formation and secret art born from fusing the Blood Lord's vision.
Infinite Moon Reading Array.
It trapped all who entered in endless hallucinations of their most regretted pasts, absorbing their negative emotions, inner energy, and ultimately their lives.
He'd planned to gobble up worthless water pirates and slip away quickly, but with heavenly luck, another Flower Realm expert had joined the feast.
Absorbing this energy fully would let him glimpse supremacy under heaven.
"Huu."
Stray thoughts ended there.
To harvest swiftly and contain even the Heavenly Death Star within him would take time.
"One winter dream."
With his murmur, the Illusion Demon's unique mind-image merged into the formation, birthing ominous hues.
Soon.
The other cores pre-planted around the island resonated, gradually building to a massive murmur.
Light vanished from the sky.
The earth plunged into void-like emptiness in an instant.
The moment the Illusion Demon closed his eyes.
- Father, Father!
- Hwaaa, this can't be...! My entire fortune...!
- Kkuk, Okbun, forgive me, just this once...
Like trash, even their regrets were pathetic refuse, battering his mind.
Of course, no room for useless sentiments like sympathy in the Illusion Demon's heart.
Slowly, until his energy blanketed the entire island.
The Illusion Demon kept his eyes gently shut, focusing his mind.
Two.
Only two were resisting through sheer mental fortitude.
By now, that fool Hyukryeon Gwang was probably tearing his hair out, bellowing betrayals.
Praying the Green Forest Bandit King wouldn't bury an axe in that gap, the Illusion Demon spread his energy vast and sticky.
Not long after.
- Hehe, as if.
- Disciple, thaaat...
As expected, no normal experts—even moments of fawning to someone, or pestering a man young enough to be his son flashed by.
It didn't matter.
All prey ensnared in the net. Time to reap.
.
.
.
About half an hour passed.
But the Illusion Demon sensed something off.
'Did I burn through so much in that short time...?'
Peak-level experts should be reduced to puddles of blood by now; the two Flower Realm fools should have half their energy transferred over.
Yet the energy gathering through the Infinite Moon Reading Array was pathetically scant.
As if someone were siphoning it midway...
"Kuhuk—"
Sudden fiery pain surged in his gut; the Illusion Demon vomited a mouthful of blood.
How.
How on earth.
Who?
Unless he willed it otherwise, no one but a special existence like the Heavenly Death Star could resist the Infinite Moon Reading Array.
His unique mind-image had imposed a law upon the world itself.
Kuwoong—!
He barely blocked the second formless, traceless assault.
Filled with rage and doubt, the Illusion Demon snapped his eyes open.
The array still held firm, sky and earth blurred into endless void.
But a short distance away.
"Ha, shit. Won't die in one shot, huh."
The strangely shaped bowman who'd entered the island with Baekri Yeon and the Green Forest Bandit King earlier.
Aim the bowstring at him and smirk—that man's figure came into view.