Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Encounter
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Neung Un-bi stared intently at the old man.
The bearing of a Daoist immortal.
It seemed this was the perfect phrase to describe such a man, one with an immortal’s grace and a Daoist’s frame.
His hair was neatly combed and fixed with a Daoist topknot, and the long white robes fluttering in the wind suited him so perfectly.
Though the plum blossom insignia of Mount Hua wasn’t embroidered on his sleeves, anyone could tell he was a Daoist master of the sect.
But had such a man missed a few lessons in etiquette?
He asked ‘what’ are you, not ‘who.’ Was I some kind of object?
Asking ‘who’ would have been the proper question.
But Un-bi couldn’t point that out.
The moment their eyes met, a jolt shot through his body as if he’d been electrocuted.
This old man… he was clearly no ordinary person.
And he had the looks of a legendary master from a past generation.
In cases like this…
“My family name is Neung, and my given name is Un-bi. May I ask why you are asking?”
His mind racing, Neung Un-bi answered as politely and affably as he could.
“Hoho, what a character.”
“…?!”
The old man, who had suddenly burst into laughter, narrowed his eyes.
As his laughter ceased, a chilling aura swept over them like a blizzard from the north.
This damned purifying energy. Since Un-bi practiced demonic arts, his body instinctively recoiled.
“You must know that I was not asking for your name.”
“Pardon? Then what…?”
“Why is a whelp like you, reeking of demonic energy, in this sacred Daoist sanctuary?”
“…?”
Huh?
For a moment, Neung Un-bi was utterly dumbfounded.
He… felt that?
From the moment he had entered Mount Hua, he had been constantly repeating a purifying mantra to avoid causing any sense of unease.
Unless someone placed a hand on his body and examined his energy meridians, it should have been impossible to detect.
His anxiety became reality. The old man was undoubtedly a legendary master of Mount Hua.
And in a situation like this, it was best to tell the truth immediately.
Hadn’t he come to Mount Hua as a guest in the first place?
Jin San had vouched for him. There was no one in Mount Hua now who didn't know his identity.
“Ah, is that what you were asking? I thought… I am the third disciple of Dam Un-cheon, the leader who rules the Demonic Cult, Neung…”
“What? Who did you say? Dam Un-cheon?!”
Neung Un-bi, who had been meticulously revealing his identity, was unable to finish his sentence.
What’s with this old man?
In an instant, the Daoist immortal had transformed into a fearsome demon.
The topknot holding his hair burst open, and his long white hair flew in all directions.
His long white robes swelled with the rapidly boiling internal energy, and the fire in his eyes looked like it would shoot to the heavens!
“You are a disciple of Dam Un-cheon?”
“Y-Yes?”
“So it’s true.”
“…”
Something was very wrong.
It felt as if he had just met a sworn enemy.
Could it be? Did this old man have some grudge against the Cult Leader?
But why was he taking it out on me? We’ve never even met…
“You mean to say you inherited Dam Un-cheon’s martial arts?”
“Pardon? Ah, no, it’s not exactly that I inherited them…”
“You brat!”
Goddammit! Why do my bad feelings always have to be so damn accurate?
With a deafening roar, the old man’s hand shot out like a bolt of lightning.
So suddenly?
“W-Why are you doing this!”
Startled, Neung Un-bi instinctively dodged the old man’s hand and stepped back… Damn it!
Of all places, why did it have to be on this observation deck?
The tiny peak was almost entirely occupied by the pavilion, which itself was barely large enough for a Go board. There was only one path leading out.
And the old man was blocking it.
If he retreated any further? A sheer cliff… a fatal fall…
“You damn, crazy old man!”
With no room to escape, Neung Un-bi quickly gathered demonic energy in both hands and struck at the old man’s hand.
Lunar Eclipse, Lunar Halo.
The hazy circle created by Neung Un-bi struck the old man’s hand.
*Clang!*
A powerful shockwave and a deafening sound echoed throughout Mount Hua.
“Hmm…”
But the old man’s reaction was strange.
He just winced and let out a slight groan?
Even for a legendary master, he had just clashed with the Lunar Halo, which was said to neutralize all attacks.
Meanwhile, Un-bi’s own arm was tingling from the rebound force.
The old man was stronger than he had anticipated. Neung Un-bi’s face contorted.
“Indeed! You are truly a disciple of that bastard Dam Un-cheon!”
Contrary to the praise, the old man immediately continued his assault.
Perhaps because his first attack had failed, his subsequent strike was imbued with even more power.
The internal energy contained in his wide-open palm was formidable, but there was nowhere to retreat.
Above all, the observation deck was too small for a fight against a master.
He had to get out of here. He needed to distract the old man and secure the path he was blocking.
Having formed a plan, Neung Un-bi immediately executed the Three Nothings Footwork.
*Thump!*
The moment he lightly tapped the ground, his body blurred and moved out of the palm strike's range.
“Hm?”
A look of surprise flickered across the old man’s face at the unexpected miss.
A footwork technique that made it seem as if he had vanished in an instant…
But the old man’s eyes were already tracking Neung Un-bi.
“You think you can escape!”
“…!”
Suddenly, the old man’s hands began to change.
Like the shadows of scattered flower petals, they filled the entire area. It was Mount Hua’s ultimate technique, the Falling Blossom Chasing Shadow Palm.
“This goddamn old geezer! I can’t hold back anymore!”
His escape route instantly blocked by the palm shadows, Neung Un-bi abandoned his plan, drew his Flying Swallow Sword, and swung.
Threads of energy erupted from the swung sword, shooting towards the old man’s palm strike. It was Moonlight Over the World, its power greatly enhanced since his enlightenment on martial might.
*BOOM! KABOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
A sword and a hand clashed, yet the sound of thunder erupted ceaselessly.
“Brat! Not a chance!”
But he couldn’t block all the palm strikes.
One strike that Moonlight Over the World failed to shatter broke through the sword’s trajectory and flew toward Neung Un-bi’s chest.
“Ah, hell!”
There was no other way.
Neung Un-bi filled his free hand with demonic energy and thrust it toward the old man’s chest.
Defense? Who needs it? The old man’s internal energy was far greater; clashing would only be a loss for him.
In a time like this, offense is the best defense!
I was holding back because he was a Mount Hua geezer!
If I’m going down, you’re coming with me!
Lunar Eclipse! Fading Moon!
“Hah!”
The old man couldn’t hide his astonishment at Neung Un-bi’s choice to attack rather than defend.
To unleash such martial might with a sword at his age was surprising enough, but to opt for mutual destruction?
It was an incredibly timely decision.
Since his own attack was already at its peak, a situation where both would be grievously wounded was inevitable.
But who was he?
The old man was not so weak as to be defeated by a mere disciple of the Demonic Cult who had yet to fully mature.
“Reverse Flow!”
“…?”
The old man’s palm strike, which had been about to reach his chest, suddenly retracted.
His hand then drew a large circle, and the refined energy in it gently swept away Neung Un-bi’s attack as if pushing it aside.
He swept it… huh? W-Wait a minute.
The ground beneath his feet was gone.
“…!”
Empty air.
The moment the old man’s defense pushed his body back slightly, Neung Un-bi found himself standing over a thousand-foot cliff.
“Ah!”
The old man, realizing this as well, urgently tried to grab Neung Un-bi’s sleeve.
He had been furious at the mention of Dam Un-cheon’s disciple, but he hadn’t intended to kill him. He had only wanted to test him.
But the old man’s hand grasped at empty air, and Neung Un-bi felt his body plummet downwards.
A fatal fall! To die from a fall at my age, with so much ahead of me!
“Aaaargh! You crazy old geezer!”
Just as Neung Un-bi’s eyes flew open and he screamed a curse.
“Third! Yoooung! Maaaster!”
Hyang-i’s voice came from a distance.
*Swoooosh!*
And something came flying through the air at an incredible speed.
It was a dagger.
And Neung Un-bi instantly knew it was his lifeline.
But Hyang-i… couldn’t you have thrown it a little more gently?
If you throw it this fast, what am I supposed to do?
And you could have thrown a rope or something…
But there was no time for resentment.
*Whoosh!*
Neung Un-bi quickly twisted his body to face the object Hyang-i had thrown.
It’s coming.
A single chance. If he missed… it was a fatal fall.
He had to step on it and leap.
Lighten the body, concentrate all energy into the tips of the toes…
The pinnacle of the Three Nothings Footwork.
*Swissssh!*
“Now!”
His slightly bent legs straightened, and the tip of his foot stepped on the dagger…
*Slip.*
“…”
Damn it. As expected, nothing in this world goes according to plan.
To jump off a flying object, he would have needed to master a movement technique on the level of Void-Stepping at the very least.
Ah… fuck…
*Whoooooosh!*
Neung Un-bi jumped slightly, just a little, then plummeted straight down.
Death filled his mind.
But perhaps because he had died once before, no resentment towards the world surfaced.
He was just sad that he wouldn’t get to see Wang Cheon and Ju Seung.
And he deeply regretted that he would never see *her* again.
“Third Young Master!”
He could see Hyang-i running toward the observation deck.
Her movements were like a flash of light; she was clearly moving at her absolute top speed.
But it was already too late.
By the time she reached the deck, he would already be at the bottom of the cliff.
Still, I’m glad I got to see you.
Goodbye, Hyang-i. It was fun.
Right. I’ve already died once, what’s the big deal about dying again?
At least I’m dying in the embrace of the Orthodox Faction, not the Demonic Cult. That’s a relief.
Neung Un-bi gave up everything and fell into the sea of clouds.
But at that moment.
The damned old man suddenly leaped off the observation deck.
Why? For what reason?
As if to increase his speed, he kicked off the cliff face and shot forward powerfully.
*Fwip-fwip-fwip!*
His robes fluttering wildly, he drew closer and closer.
N-No way?
Wasn’t making me fall to my death enough? Are you going to cut my lifeline yourself! You crazy old geezer!
Rage boiled to the top of his head as he watched the old man approach.
If I’m going to die anyway… let’s die together!
Neung Un-bi stretched out both hands with all his might and unleashed his demonic energy.
To ensnare the old man.
But that wicked old man wouldn’t even allow that.
*Whoosh!*
The immortal energy in the old man’s sweeping hand dispersed the demonic energy Un-bi had summoned with all his might.
The damned power of purification.
The old man’s hand was getting closer. To cut his lifeline…
“You brat! Snap out of it and hold on tight!”
“…?”
“I said snap out of it!”
At the old man’s shout, Neung Un-bi had no time for further thought.
*Grab.*
As he firmly gripped the bony hand, the old man took a deep breath.
“Hooop!”
And then, the powerfully gathered immortal energy spread out in all directions.
*Thud!*
“…?”
It was strange.
The air wasn’t solid ground, but it sounded as if a strange noise came from beneath the old man’s feet.
At the same time, his body jerked to a stop. No, his speed had slowed so much it felt like he had stopped.
W-What is this?
What his wide, astonished eyes saw was… the old man walking on the air as if it were a staircase.
Void… Stepping?
R-Really? Void-Stepping?
It had been a fight he couldn’t win from the start.
But did he jump down now just to save me?
The human heart is a fickle thing; suddenly, the old man looked like a savior.
But his speed had only decreased a little; they were still falling.
“I cannot go up. We will continue down like this, so gather your demonic energy and prepare for impact!”
“…”
Indeed, even if he was a warrior capable of the legendary Void-Stepping, how could he walk on air while carrying another person?
But impact?
And how was he supposed to prepare for it?
As he wondered, Neung Un-bi’s vision was filled with the cliff face.
*Thud!*
The old man kicked off the cliff wall with all his might.
*CRASH!*
And Neung Un-bi, dangling from his hand, was slammed forcefully into the cliff.
“Kagh!”
It felt like his spine was shattering.
Then, with another great leap, another *thud!*
“Kagh!”
Each time the old man kicked off the rock face, alternating sides to slow their descent, Neung Un-bi’s body was smashed into the wall.
Damn it… He shouldn’t have given me hope.
How is this any different from falling to my death?
It’s just the difference between getting smashed once and getting smashed in installments!
At this rate, I’m going to die from the impact of hitting the cliff.
*Thud! Thump!*
And so, Neung Un-bi and the old man vanished into the sea of clouds.