Chapter 199
Chapter 199
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 199
Chapter Title: Catch the Phoenix (1)
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“Hm.”
In the early dawn, as he strolled alone through the garden where the rain had cleared, Family Head Ak Gung drew in a deep breath.
The faint, watery scent tickling his nostrils was pleasant, as was the fresh green of the new grass and the vibrant lushness of the dew-laden trees.
It was a slight shame that darkness still lingered, denying him the sight of the landscape bathed in sunlight, but there was something nice about being the only one awake while the entire world slumbered.
Age had stolen his ability to sleep in, though mornings like this—waking at dawn—were rare. Yet ever since the North Sea Ice Palace had laid Hebei to waste and begun threatening Shaolin Temple, and the Blood Cult had launched its assaults on Shandong's martial world, he hadn't slept deeply even once. The hour he drifted off grew later by the day, and the hour he woke earlier still.
Ak Gung's leisurely steps through the garden came to a halt.
He caressed a jujube tree growing alone in the corner, out of place among the other garden shrubs.
Just a few years ago, its leaves had been thick and bountiful with fruit, but lately, dead branches abounded, and it barely bore any jujubes at all.
“Looks like you don't have much time left either, just like this old man.”
Ak Gung gave a wry smile.
He recalled his tenth birthday, when his grandfather had gifted him a small jujube sapling because he loved them so much. The taste of the first fruit it bore—planted in a corner of the garden and tended with utmost care—remained vivid in his memory.
“Still, let's hang in there. Even if it's time to go, we have to show them what a veteran in his twilight years can do, right?”
With a chuckle, Ak Gung plucked a few unripe jujubes from the tree and popped them into his mouth. They were full of green bitterness rather than sweetness, but he didn't spit them out.
Boom!
A light rumble of thunder rolled.
Ak Gung's gaze, which had flicked skyward in an instant, slowly lowered.
Boom!
Thunder rumbled again.
Ak Gung's eyes narrowed ever so slightly in surprise.
That wasn't thunder!
Ak Gung's gaze turned icy.
He rushed back to his quarters and emerged with a long spear in hand.
By the time he stepped out gripping the spear, screams were already echoing from all directions.
“The enemy!”
With a roar like a wounded beast, Ak Gung's form shot forward like the wind.
“Kaaak!”
“Kuhuk!”
Ak Clan retainers, barely dressed properly, were collapsing in gruesome heaps amid dying screams.
Led by Buk Rihae, the North Sea Ice Palace warriors had shattered the Shandong Ak Clan's main gate in one go and stormed inside. There was no mercy in their strikes.
Buildings near the main gate began crumbling one by one, in sequence.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault before they could even fully wake, the Ak Clan retainers were helpless. A scant few noticed the attack and fought back, but they were swiftly subdued.
The North Sea Ice Palace's relentless advance faltered only after three buildings had fallen, every soul inside massacred.
Shweeeek!
A long spear hurtled through the air with terrifying speed, piercing the chest of a man clutching a blood-dripping sword as he emerged from one of the halls.
“Guh!”
The man tumbled over with a final scream, a fist-sized hole torn through his chest.
“Ho! Finally, a worthy opponent shows himself.”
Buk Rihae stepped forward at the sight of his subordinate slain in a single blow.
The spear that had pierced the man's chest had already returned to its master's hand.
Twisting his face like a demon in the darkness, Buk Rihae called out to Ak Gung.
“Who are you?”
“That's what this old man should be asking you. Who are you lot?”
“You'll find out soon enough.”
With that reply, Buk Rihae's sword lashed out.
Startled by the sudden strike, Ak Gung hastily dodged and swung his spear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Buk Rihae's sword clashed with Ak Gung's long spear, producing deafening roars.
Not an easy old codger.
Though surprised by Ak Gung's skill far exceeding expectations, Buk Rihae pressed his assault without slackening. Any lapse could prove fatal.
As Buk Rihae and Ak Gung traded furious blows, the Shandong Ak Clan—initially overwhelmed by the North Sea Ice Palace's ambush—finally rallied its defenses.
Ak Clan elites from the inner quarters began appearing one after another, forcing Buk Risong and Mo Gongjeong—who had been watching Buk Rihae's fight—to join the fray.
Mo Gongjeong charged in with gusto, but after a brief exchange of three or four moves, he felled Elder Ak Chung of the Ak Clan. The Ak elites, pride be damned, immediately swarmed him in a joint attack.
Mo Gongjeong's martial prowess was top-tier even in the North Sea. Some even claimed he surpassed the Ice Palace Lord himself—such was his might.
He didn't lose composure amid the onslaught from all sides. If anything, his attackers faltered against his fluid movements.
Ak Clan elders and protectors were figures respected anywhere. Yet even their combined assault failed to gain the upper hand. Far from it—they floundered desperately whenever Mo Gongjeong counterattacked.
Buk Risong, no slouch himself, methodically overwhelmed his foes with equal ease. Facing fewer attackers than Mo Gongjeong, his skirmish ended even quicker.
Woooom.
Buk Rihae's face twisted in despair at the sight of the ferocious qi surging toward him.
His sword hand was already shredded from their clashes, and though no direct hits landed, the glancing blows had left him covered in wounds great and small.
Worst of all were his internal injuries.
He had already vomited blood three times, and more kept welling up.
I won't die alone.
Gritting his teeth, Buk Rihae squeezed out his last reserves of inner energy and swung his sword.
Ak Gung's expression flickered.
Buk Rihae's desperate counterattack, fueled by resolve unto death, proved far fiercer than imagined.
Kwaaang!
The thunderous boom and shockwave from their head-on collision swept the surroundings.
Flesh tore, blood sprayed.
Ak Gung's beard, reaching to his navel, grew redder with time, while Buk Rihae—caught in the whirlwind spin of the terrifyingly swift spear—staggered in tatters.
His left shoulder hung limp, bones likely shattered; the gash on his left side was so deep his guts were visible.
Yet Buk Rihae refused to retreat.
He knew all too well how formidable his foe was, but pride forbade it.
Propped up solely by that pride, Buk Rihae endured. But Ak Gung's spear grew sharper and faster.
It was then.
Sensing a chill, Ak Gung withdrew the spear poised to end Buk Rihae and twisted away in haste.
Blood spurted in the direction his body turned.
Ak Gung clenched his teeth at the pain in his nape.
It had been a hair's breadth. A fraction slower, or the enemy's sword a half-inch deeper, and he would have been done for.
“H-Hyungnim!”
Buk Rihae scowled at Buk Risong's sudden intervention.
“Sorry. I meant to let it play out, but I had no choice. Better to swallow a bit of pride than lose a brother.”
Buk Risong let out a sigh and addressed Ak Gung.
“Buk Risong of the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“Ak Gung.”
“Divine Spear! So it was you.”
Buk Rihae, face twisted in near-death agony, lit up and shouted.
Ak Gung, head of the Shandong Ak Clan and Divine Spear.
He might not know the face, but the reputation had spread even to the North Sea.
“A fine match.”
Acknowledging Ak Gung's skill, Buk Rihae withdrew without hesitation.
“This side's wrapped up.”
Buk Rido nodded gravely at his subordinate's report.
Even with the ambush, their losses exceeded projections.
Nearly half the warriors committed to the Ak Clan assault lay dead.
“Whew! Too many casualties.”
“The intel from the Blood Cult was off. Far more survivors than reported.”
“Yeah, it seemed that way.”
“Their skills were sharper than expected too. The early foes were one thing, but the late arrivals packed real punch. If the Grand Elder hadn't held off the Ak old-timers, losses would've been way worse.”
“True enough.”
Buk Rido nodded, his gaze shifting to Mo Gongjeong approaching after the fight.
His disheveled state spoke of a brutal clash: hair a wild mess where it had always been neatly combed back, snow-white robes shredded to rags, bloodstains everywhere.
“Are you injured?”
Buk Rido asked with concern.
“A few scratches, nothing serious.”
“But...”
As Buk Rido eyed the blood on his clothes, Mo Gongjeong burst out laughing.
“Not mine, so don't worry. Those old buzzards clung like mad till the end.”
Mo Gongjeong recalled the Ak Clan veterans who fought to their last breath, using even comrades' deaths as springboards. Enemy or not, their tenacity deserved respect.
“This side done too?”
“Yeah. Might be stragglers, but nobodies not worth chasing.”
“Then just one fight left.”
“Yes.”
Buk Rido and Mo Gongjeong's gazes turned as one.
Buk Risong exploited Ak Gung's stagger.
It's over.
Sword flashing like lightning, he was certain a heavy impact would soon jolt through his hilt.
Realization that it was a feint dawned in a split second.
A chilling aura—and locking eyes with Ak Gung's coldly dissecting gaze—Buk Risong knew he'd fallen into a trap.
The wayward spear abruptly curved and lunged.
Damn it!
Regret always comes too late, no matter how swift.
Buk Risong bitterly rued his hasty certainty of victory as he twisted his sword.
Boom!
Ak Gung's full-powered spear shattered Buk Risong's blade to fragments.
The unrelenting spear still sought his throat.
A do-or-die moment.
Buk Risong twisted with all his might to create distance, but the furiously spinning spear outpaced and outsharpened him.
“Kaaak!”
Buk Risong screamed.
His left arm, swept by the spear, vanished from the shoulder without a trace.
Ak Gung thrust again at the rolling Buk Risong.
Just then, Buk Rihae's sword and Mo Gongjeong's thrown blade hurtled in from a short distance away.
Ignoring defense entirely, Ak Gung unleashed his ultimate technique on Buk Rihae blocking his path. His senses screamed of the blade approaching from behind, but having fully assessed the battlefield, Ak Gung harbored no attachment to life.
His absent retainers would exact vengeance.
For now, slaying the foes before him sufficed.
The life-or-death strike sent Buk Rihae's sword flying.
Buk Rihae twisted in panic, but the spear had already impaled his chest.
“Guh!”
Buk Rihae cried out.
Ak Gung's spear had pierced him through.
In his fading mind, Buk Rihae thought of Buk Risong behind him. Instinct drove him to grab the spear—lest it claim his brother too.
The spear's motion through Buk Rihae's chest halted dramatically.
Good...
Buk Rihae felt relief at saving Buk Risong, his head drooping.
But coldly speaking, it wasn't his strength that stopped it. Mo Gongjeong's lightning sword had pierced Ak Gung's back clean through the heart.
Ak Gung staggered, clutching the protruding blade, and turned to Mo Gongjeong who had thrown it.
“A shame. We could've had a proper go.”
Mo Gongjeong, standing before him, expressed genuine regret.
“Don't... worry... The true Divine Spear... will find... you lot...”
Ak Gung thought of his grandson, heir to his ultimate art—the Ak Clan's ultimate art—and collapsed limply.
Ak Gung breathed his last, tears of blood streaming. Mo Gongjeong gazed at him briefly before speaking indifferently.
“Don't count on it.”