Chapter 244
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: The Battle of Wudang
“.......”
A chilling silence enveloped the depths of Mount Wudang, where the Blood Eye's clone had taken root.
The clone had little time left until full maturity.
Slumped in its shadow, Yukgan stared blankly ahead, utterly speechless.
She remained motionless for a long while, until the corners of her mouth began to twitch ever so slightly.
“Ha, hahaha....”
Laughter spilled out—mad, hollow, as if she'd lost her mind.
But it didn't last. Her face twisted into a savage snarl, as if she'd never laughed at all.
Her retinas captured the sight of Mokryeong crumbling in defeat.
-What now? Your ace in the hole's been smashed.
Ja-seong's words grated on her nerves.
His eyes, declaring her schemes a failure, stared straight into the eyes she'd sent to spy on him.
He'd known about the surveillance all along.
Of course. That's why he'd planned to neutralize the eyes scattered across the entire mountain.
Grinding her teeth, Yukgan seethed with those thoughts.
“That damned bastard...!”
Trembling with the urge to tear his face to shreds right then and there, she finally let out a troubled sigh.
“Hoo....”
She'd already considered the possibility of Mokryeong falling.
Even so, when it actually happened, the shock hit her hard despite her resolve.
Shaking off the blow at last, Yukgan voiced the harsh reality she wanted to deny but couldn't.
“Mokryeong... has been defeated.”
What was Mokryeong?
A secret weapon born from the cult's massive investment of resources and effort, created solely to counter the Ten Supremes.
And yet, that Mokryeong had been utterly overwhelmed by a mere young—nay, childlike—warrior.
One-sidedly, without landing a single fatal blow!
Worse, the method by which Mokryeong had fallen was downright bizarre.
“She twisted the blood energy Mokryeong unleashed and turned it back on her. How is that even possible?”
Yukgan had seen it clearly through her eyes.
The moment Mokryeong's blood energy touched Ja-seong's sword, it followed the blade's trajectory.
It wasn't like the technique she'd witnessed recently, where attack paths were warped to clash against each other.
No—this had reflected Mokryeong's own blood energy right back at her in full.
“A new martial art? Or some sorcery?”
Yukgan muttered uncertainly.
As far as she knew, no such martial art or spell existed in this world.
“What in the hell is that damned bastard?”
What kind of monster could thwart the cult's plans time and again with otherworldly abilities unknown even to her, who'd lived for ages?
Frustration boiled over once more, her teeth grinding audibly.
But she had no time to vent.
“...He's coming. Right here.”
Contrary to expectations, Mokryeong had fallen far too quickly, far too pathetically.
She hadn't even bought the minimum time needed.
The clone still required more time to mature fully.
At this rate, Ja-seong would reach this place first.
Even if she steeled herself for martyrdom in battle, how long could she hold out against the one who'd crushed Mokryeong so effortlessly?
She needed a way to stall them.
And she had only one means left.
“...No choice. Call the sacred beasts back here... Huh?”
Muttering under her breath as she turned her gaze toward the Wudang Sect, Yukgan's eyes widened in shock.
“What... is that?”
The view through her eyes showed another unbelievable scene unfolding at the Wudang Sect.
*
The Wudang Sect, after Ja-seong and his group departed.
The Haomun trio's plan—using the grand ritual prepared in advance to make the monster horde turn on itself—had gone up in smoke thanks to the Mountain King.
The great tiger's thunderous roar quickly calmed the monsters' frenzy. Soon after, the horde burst out of the mist and poured over the walls into the sect's interior.
A scale incomparable to anything before.
Terror flickered across the faces of the Wudang Taoists at the sight.
The Wudang Sect was done for.
They would all be devoured by the monsters.
As despair gripped everyone, Wudang Sect Leader Mu Hwa-ja rallied them.
“Disciples of the Great Wudang! Take up your swords! Do not let those foul demons invade our sect! The Primordial Heavenly Worthy will protect us!”
The elder's thunderous cry, belying his age, snapped the Taoists to attention. They drew their swords en masse and charged the monsters.
And then,
-Kieeeek!
-Kyaaaak-!
The monsters' death cries echoed relentlessly from within the Wudang Sect.
Bewilderment replaced the fear on the faces of the Taoists who'd been trembling moments ago.
'What... what is this?'
'Were they always this easy?'
The second-generation disciples were especially stunned.
Just days ago, they'd needed the Five Elements Sword Formation—at least five of them—to surround and take down even one monster.
But now?
They were facing the beasts one-on-one, evenly matched.
To think this change had happened in a mere few days.
It felt so unreal, like a dream.
And young Hyun-seong, the youngest of the second-generation disciples, felt the same.
-Kraaang!
“Hup...!”
A wolf monster lunged at Hyun-seong, its razor-sharp claws poised to shred everything in their path.
His face paled in fright for an instant, but he hastily raised his sword.
The moment the claws met his blade, Hyun-seong's sword traced a slow circle, guided by the sensations engraved in his body.
-Krheung!?
The claws veered off course, missing his shoulder and slashing at empty air.
The monster stumbled, losing its balance.
Hyun-seong's blade didn't miss the opening, plunging into the beast's throat.
-Puuk!
-Krheueung....
The wolf monster slumped with a pitiful death rattle, its throat pierced through.
Hyun-seong yanked his sword free with effort, gasping for breath.
“Hah...! Hah...!”
Tension drained from his body, leaving his legs trembling as if they'd give out any second. He forced strength into them and stared down at the corpse.
'I... I took down this monster... alone!'
The realization filled Hyun-seong with daze and a strange thrill.
Compared to just three days ago, his prowess had leaped from earth to sky.
Of course, it was thanks to the new Taiji Swordsmanship and the shared sensations from Ja-seong engraved in his body—but still, his heart soared.
'No more running or hiding...! I can fight too—I can fight!'
Memories from days prior flashed in Hyun-seong's mind.
Hyun-cheong and Hyun-ho, his seniors, had lost consciousness from injuries while fleeing a monster tiger. His eldest senior had shoved him into a pit, covered the entrance to hide him, and stayed behind with them.
-E-Eldest senior....
-Stay hidden here until we shake that thing off. Got it?
Those were the last words he'd heard from his eldest senior amid the encroaching darkness.
But he never returned.
The monster tiger had killed him relentlessly, desecrating his corpse.
While his eldest senior, Hyun-un, stood alone against the beast, Hyun-seong had done nothing but cower and shake in the pit.
“Now... now I can fight too. No more cowering like a coward—I'll stand with them...!”
Gripping his sword with grim resolve, Hyun-seong charged another monster.
“Yaaah!”
With a mighty shout, he bravely met the beast head-on.
A streak of pure white light flashed over his head.
The white light, leaping from the roof of Shangqing Palace, struck between a monster's eyes. It erupted into white flames that engulfed the creature in an instant.
-Keng! Kyeng!
The monster thrashed and wailed before collapsing.
Cheong scanned for her next target.
Her holy flames struck true every time, saving countless Wudang Taoists.
As Cheong swiftly felled a few more beasts, an ominous sound came from above her.
-Kyaaa-!
“That’s...!”
Black shadows swarmed the skies.
Cheong's face hardened as she identified them.
Grotesquely oversized wings, beaks sprouting sharp fangs, bloated talons.
The shadows were twisted, mutated birds.
Monsters of a type she'd never seen before now filled the skies over the Wudang Sect.
'And their goal is clear.'
-Piyoooo-!
“Tch!”
Spotting several diving toward Wudang disciples, she urgently took aim.
She fired holy flames nonstop, sniping the mutant birds—but there were too many for her alone.
Inevitably, Wudang Taoists began getting snatched up by their talons and lifted into the air.
“U, uwaaaah!?”
A Taoist flailed and screamed as the ground fell away beneath him.
Dozens of the birds swarmed him, thrusting their fanged beaks forward.
“Aaak!? No, stop...! S-save—!”
Defensive arts meant nothing against the relentless pecking and tearing.
Soon, the airborne Taoists were torn to pieces, raining down as bloody chunks.
“Aaah...!”
Watching their brothers-in-arms reduced to gore crushed the Taoists' morale.
Seizing the moment, ground monsters lunged with fangs and claws.
Cheong tried to intervene, but the birds now targeted her, forcing her into a desperate defense.
'At this rate...!'
As Cheong gritted her teeth in frustration,
-Hwaaaak!
A pillar of golden light erupted from the ground, bathing the surroundings in brilliance.