Chapter 103
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The King of Hell's Hand
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cho Ak-ryang's voice wasn't particularly loud, nor did it carry any overwhelming pressure. Nevertheless, Cheongmyeong Sanin felt his blood run cold.
Facing Cho Ak-ryang, who exuded an indescribably formidable aura, his chest tightened for a moment.
A formidable presence.
Beyond it lurked something terribly dangerous.
Moreover, the aura he emitted grew stronger with each passing moment.
At last, Cheongmyeong Sanin sensed that something was going terribly wrong.
Then, he had a sudden realization.
During the years he had spent growing stronger, Cho Ak-ryang had not been idle either.
But he had completely overlooked this fact.
He belatedly regretted not drawing his sword from the start. But regret, no matter how swift, always comes too late. At this rate, he would surely be cornered and defeated without even a chance to properly counterattack.
‘Damn it!’
Cheongmyeong Sanin gritted his teeth so hard they could have shattered.
There was nowhere left to retreat anyway.
A venomous glint appeared in Cheongmyeong Sanin's eyes.
He had no choice but to take a risk now.
“Fall!”
With a furious shout, Cheongmyeong Sanin's hand sliced through the air.
For a moment, the scene before him distorted.
A tangible energy formed around Cheongmyeong Sanin's hand. The chilling aura it contained was markedly different from before.
It was then that Cho Ak-ryang's shoulders twitched.
The rotational force, originating from a wide stride, had already spiraled and fully concentrated at his fingertips.
Crack.
A deep, thunderous sound.
From within it, a distinct hand shot out, tracing a chilling arc as it collided with Cheongmyeong Sanin's.
BOOM!
With an explosion that shook the entire Supreme Clarity Palace, a figure was sent flying. He soared over thirty feet before crashing through a wall.
“Ugh!”
The one who staggered to his feet, coughing up a mouthful of blood, was Cheongmyeong Sanin.
Cheongmyeong Sanin was covered in dust.
His face, now a bloody mess, showed no trace of his earlier confidence.
Fear and bewilderment had taken its place.
His right arm hung limply, and his fingers were bent at bizarre angles, having lost their original shape.
“The King of Hell's Hand…”
In Cheongmyeong Sanin's groan-like voice, an unconcealable terror was evident.
Cho Ak-ryang gave a haughty look and nodded.
“This is the true Star-Plucking Hand you bastards were so fond of naming.”
“Kuh…”
Cheongmyeong Sanin's entire body trembled.
A single, brief clash.
That was all it took to make everything clear.
Cheongmyeong Sanin, who had dreamed of seizing a place among the Five Absolutes Under Heaven, now keenly realized how foolish that thought had been. From the very beginning, an unbridgeable gap in martial prowess had existed between them.
With a chilling gaze, Cho Ak-ryang advanced on Cheongmyeong Sanin.
Creating a new martial art is no easy task.
If it were as simple as stringing together a few moves, wouldn't the world be filled with divine and ultimate techniques?
This was especially true for grappling arts.
Without a proper foundation of profound principles, it is nothing more than a castle built on sand.
The Star-Plucking Hand, without its Reeling Silk Energy, was a mere imitation.
He hadn't noticed when his mind was in turmoil, but now that he had regained his composure, he saw it clearly.
While the moves were superficially similar, the true essence and core principles that should have been within them were nowhere to be found.
“Hah!”
Seeing Cho Ak-ryang close the distance in an instant, Cheongmyeong Sanin hurriedly raised his left hand to guard his chest.
But it was meaningless against Cho Ak-ryang's decisive strike.
Crack.
Cheongmyeong Sanin's fingers snapped like twigs.
As Cheongmyeong Sanin was sent flying again, coughing up more blood, Cho Ak-ryang launched himself forward once more.
He intended to end it here and now.
At that moment.
Sssshhhk!
Countless, incomparably sharp streams of sword energy assailed him from all directions.
Cho Ak-ryang twisted his hand and snatched the sword energy flying toward him.
Screech.
Through the dissipating sword energy, he could see warriors of the Qingcheng Sect pouring out from all corners of the hall.
The disciples of Qingcheng, having belatedly realized something was amiss in their palace, were rushing to save their sect leader.
“Sword formation! Deploy the Great Net Sword Formation!”
Cheongmyeong Sanin roared at the top of his lungs.
The sword-wielding Qingcheng disciples instantly surrounded Cho Ak-ryang in layers. Seeing their perfectly coordinated movements, Cho Ak-ryang groaned inwardly.
Every sect has a signature joint attack technique.
The Shaolin's Arhat Formation and the Beggar's Sect's Dog-Beating Formation are prime examples, and the Qingcheng Sect's Great Net Sword Formation, alongside Wudang's Seven Star Sword Formation and Huashan's Plum Blossom Sword Formation, was recognized as one of the Three Great Sword Formations Under Heaven—a supreme art that protected the sect.
Although the individual martial prowess of the formation's members was no match for his, once the formation was activated, even he could not be careless.
And just as he expected.
Ch-ch-chang.
Dozens of swords were pointed at him.
A grim net of sword energy, emanating from each and every blade, began to envelop Cho Ak-ryang.
“...”
Cho Ak-ryang's gaze grew heavy.
It wasn't his first time experiencing it, but the pressure of the sword formation felt anew was truly immense. The intangible aura generated by the formation was already causing his blood and qi to churn.
Shwick.
At the chilling sound of something tearing through the air, Cho Ak-ryang tilted his head.
A sword that shot out from within the formation grazed his cheek.
This was the signal for a rain of countless streams of sword energy to pour down.
The movements were so intricately interlocked that they seemed almost dazzling.
CRACK!
The ground split open under the sword energy, sending stone fragments flying in all directions.
Simultaneously, a chaotic dance of blue sword gleams swallowed Cho Ak-ryang.
Seeing this, Cheongmyeong Sanin staggered to his feet. No matter how great one of the Five Absolutes Under Heaven was, he was still human. A man of flesh and blood, not of bronze and iron.
Eventually, he was bound to tire.
At that moment.
The hair on Cheongmyeong Sanin's neck suddenly stood on end.
It didn't take long for him to realize why.
Amidst the countless sword shadows filling his vision, something was glinting coldly.
It was a pair of eyes.
He didn't know what trick was used, but the sword formation before him wavered greatly. It was then that a person burst through the dense net of sword energy.
“You madman!”
Cheongmyeong Sanin shrieked.
It was because of Cho Ak-ryang, who was charging at him, ignoring the wave of sword energy pouring down on his back, his eyes fixed solely on him.
The almost insane will to kill him, even if it meant taking the full brunt of the formation's attack, was palpable.
Cheongmyeong Sanin hastily rolled on the ground.
Mud Loach Arts.
A movement technique as unsightly as Donkey Rolling in the Dust, befitting its name, which meant 'a loach weaving through murky paddy water'.
But in this situation, it was his only life-saving move.
At the same time, Cho Ak-ryang's body spun around once.
Fwing.
A stone fragment left Cho Ak-ryang's hand and shot toward Cheongmyeong Sanin like a beam of light.
Crack.
“Kuaargh!”
His kneecap shattered, Cheongmyeong Sanin let out a wretched scream and tumbled to the ground.
KRA-BOOM!
A thunderclap erupted belatedly from where Cho Ak-ryang had stood. This phenomenon occurred because the flying stone fragment was faster than the speed of sound.
“...!”
Cheongmyeong Sanin's face froze in horror.
A chilling killing intent, felt from just inches away!
When he raised his head, Cho Ak-ryang was looking down at him like a grim reaper from the underworld, as if he had been there all along.
“Kuh!”
As if mustering strength from nowhere, Cheongmyeong Sanin threw himself backward. But by then, Cho Ak-ryang's foot was already stomping the ground.
Thump.
The moment the shockwave from the ground traveled up his ankle, Cho Ak-ryang's body moved in a spiral.
The force, amplified by the rotation of his legs and waist, was transferred entirely to his hand.
Thwack.
Cho Ak-ryang's palm touched Cheongmyeong Sanin's chest.
It made a soft sound, like patting a cotton quilt. But the result was anything but soft.
Gushing blood like a waterfall from his mouth and nose, Cheongmyeong Sanin collapsed powerlessly.
There was no need to look further.
It was an instant death.
Unless one possessed the legendary Adamantine Body, no one could survive a direct hit from Cho Ak-ryang's full-powered Reeling Silk Energy.
“...!”
For a moment, silence descended upon the hall.
Just half a month before his inauguration ceremony, their leader, the sect master, had been gruesomely murdered before their very eyes.
And with his disciples watching.
“Sect Leader!”
From behind Cho Ak-ryang, belated screams of anguish erupted.
The shock and horror of the Qingcheng disciples quickly turned into a massive wave of fury that crashed down on Cho Ak-ryang.
A wall of sword energy, collapsing before him like a great tidal wave.
Facing it, Cho Ak-ryang smiled quietly.
He no longer had the strength to even lift a finger. He had poured all his energy into breaking through the sword formation.
‘Still, it wasn't a bad life, was it?’
Muttering this to himself, Cho Ak-ryang gave a bitter smile.
He thought he would feel relieved after settling all his grudges, but surprisingly, a wave of bitterness washed over him.
‘I hope Physician Dan won't be sad.’
Soon, the news of his death would spread.
The thought of Dan Ak-seon, who would be more heartbroken than anyone, made his chest ache.
But…
He was the Blood Hand Honored One.
A man who had proudly earned his name among the Five Absolutes Under Heaven.
“I am…”
Squeezing out his remaining strength, Cho Ak-ryang prepared for a final, mutual destruction.
“Cho Ak-ryang.”
The grudges of the martial world are cyclical.
Though his own grudge was resolved, theirs had just begun.
There are no eternal secrets in the world.
One day, his relationship with Dan Ak-seon would be revealed, and there was no guarantee their fury wouldn't be directed at him.
If he had to go, he had to take as many of them with him as possible.
So many that they wouldn't dare to even think of touching Dan Ak-seon.
It was then.
“...?”
Cho Ak-ryang felt a strange sensation and looked up. A massive figure falling like a meteor came into view.
‘Why is he here?’
It was Beom Gye-wi.
Falling at a terrifying speed, Beom Gye-wi slammed right into the middle of the sword formation.
KRA-BOOM!
Caught in the world-shaking explosion, the Qingcheng disciples screamed and were sent tumbling.
While the Qingcheng disciples were still reeling from the sudden disaster, Beom Gye-wi turned his head, met Cho Ak-ryang's gaze, and smirked.
“Tsk, you weakling.”
“...!”
Cho Ak-ryang's face crumpled.
That one hateful word was more painful than the injuries screaming all over his body.
Ignoring him, Beom Gye-wi swaggered over to Cho Ak-ryang.
“Just admit it already.”
“...?”
“That you can't do anything without me.”
Cho Ak-ryang trembled with rage.
The shame and humiliation were so unbearable he felt he might fall into Qi Deviation, unable to keep his senses straight.
As Beom Gye-wi was about to hoist him over his shoulder, Cho Ak-ryang stopped him.
“Wait.”
Then he took something from his robes and tossed it next to Cheongmyeong Sanin's corpse.
It was a wooden statue carved with the likeness of his younger self.
Beom Gye-wi frowned.
“I told you, that's a morbid habit.”
“This is the last one.”
Beom Gye-wi asked Cho Ak-ryang with a peculiar look.
“So, is it all over now?”
Cho Ak-ryang answered with a faint smile and a nod.
“Then let's go. Physician Dan is waiting.”
Beom Gye-wi launched himself into the air. And just like that, he disappeared through the thick cloud of dust before them.
A long while later.
When the dust settled and the Qingcheng disciples came to their senses, the two men were nowhere to be seen.