Chapter 157
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Dog and Tiger
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It was then that the man in black opened his mouth.
“Someone once said.”
The man in black continued, speaking to the bewildered Cho Ak-ryang.
“If you throw a stone, a dog will run…”
“…?”
“But a tiger will charge.”
Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes wavered.
He’d had a similar conversation once before.
But the man in black gave him no time to think.
The moment the words left his mouth, he surged forward like a streak of light.
*Flutter.*
The man in black’s robes billowed.
At the same time, every strand of his hair stood on end, whipping about like a lion’s mane.
Cho Ak-ryang instinctively knew his opponent was mustering his life’s worth of internal energy.
*Rumble.*
A terrifying vortex of power followed his outstretched hand, pulverizing everything in its path to dust as it rushed straight for Cho Ak-ryang.
Faced with a power he could not dismiss, Cho Ak-ryang threw a punch of his own.
*CRACK!*
With a shockwave that threatened to deafen him, Cho Ak-ryang’s body was pushed back a good ten feet.
The man in black, however, remained standing firmly in place, his gaze haughty.
A jolt shot up his wrist and made his shoulder throb, and Cho Ak-ryang’s expression turned serious.
He had thought the man was no ordinary foe from the moment he’d caught the stone imbued with resonant force, but this was something else entirely.
He wasn’t just formidable.
The martial world was a place where nameless monsters could pop up out of nowhere, but this was truly unexpected.
Even across the entire martial world today, you could count on one hand the number of people with this level of martial arts.
Then, a strange feeling came over him.
“Have we met before?”
The look in the man in black’s eyes.
He could feel the fiery animosity contained within.
But no matter how he wracked his memory, the man’s gaze and aura were unfamiliar.
Just then, the man in black closed the distance again.
Perhaps he thought he stood a chance after their first exchange.
His confident demeanor showed not a hint of hesitation or doubt.
Seeing this, Cho Ak-ryang smirked.
“Insolent.”
The man in black’s eyes trembled.
For a moment, he had the illusion that the space before him was splitting apart.
Simultaneously, an indescribably chilling force rushed toward him out of nowhere.
The Void Palm that had defeated Sa Yeong-ui before he could even react.
However, the man in black pressed even closer, unleashing a series of palm strikes.
He had willingly thrown himself onto the line between life and death.
In that instant, with a deafening roar, the two men clashed once more.
*BOOM!*
A massive shockwave shook the very earth.
Through the thick cloud of dust that rose, a few sharp cracks and flashes of light could be seen before a figure was sent flying out.
The one who retreated was Cho Ak-ryang.
“Hmm…”
A low groan escaped Cho Ak-ryang’s lips, his expression grim.
As the dust cloud settled and the man in black was revealed, Cho Ak-ryang spoke.
“At this point, I have to ask.”
“…”
“Why would someone with your level of skill hide their face behind a mask?”
The man in black answered by launching himself forward again.
But before he could take more than a few steps, he crumpled to the ground.
“…?”
A look of bewilderment crossed the man in black’s eyes.
By the time he came to his senses, he was already on his knees.
Moreover, his chest ached as if it had been struck by a massive boulder.
It wasn't the Void Palm that had hit him.
He hadn't felt any force, no overwhelming palm energy.
He had simply crumbled before Cho Ak-ryang’s simple gesture of flicking his sleeve forward.
“The Formless Palm…”
The man in black managed to mutter.
A metallic taste filled his mouth.
“Gah!”
The man in black coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The unexpected blow had ravaged his insides and thrown his qi and blood into disarray.
It was that devastating a strike.
He thought he had held the upper hand from the start, but it was all an illusion.
The bastard had cunningly laid a trap and lured him in.
It was a stark reminder that a life-and-death duel was not decided by martial prowess alone.
The man in black glanced down at his blood-soaked chest, then fixed his cold gaze on Cho Ak-ryang once more.
He was inwardly dumbfounded, but at the same time, he couldn't help but be impressed.
The Formless Palm itself was not a particularly superior divine art.
Though it had no sound or shape, it could be easily dodged or blocked if one was prepared.
But Cho Ak-ryang had used it exquisitely.
His stubborn insistence on countering with powerful strikes from the beginning had all been a setup for this single move.
He had induced a sense of carelessness, making his opponent anticipate a hidden technique like dark energy or penetrating energy, and then used that expectation against him.
The old saying about old ginger being the spiciest was no joke.
Cho Ak-ryang spoke, his eyes cold.
“You have lost.”
At those words, the man in black’s eyes narrowed into a smile.
Cho Ak-ryang looked surprised to see the man smiling even in this situation.
It was rare to see someone with so much fight left in them.
His insides must have been in turmoil, his qi and blood boiling.
Yet, the man in black was forcefully gathering his internal energy.
“Ma-Master!”
Just then, Hyeon Geom’s urgent voice came from behind him.
Cho Ak-ryang instinctively turned his head and finally understood why the man in black was smiling.
Above the heads of Gong Hyeon-ja and Hyeon Geom.
A spear of black aura, suspended about ten feet in the air, came into view.
The spear of aura pulsed once in mid-air before plunging down toward the two of them.
Gong Hyeon-ja and Hyeon Geom could only stare blankly at the spear of aura hurtling toward them.
In that moment of mortal peril.
*Thwip.*
Cho Ak-ryang, who had appeared before them in an instant, snatched the spear of aura from the air.
Then he simply tore it apart.
*Riiip!*
With a blood-curdling sound, the blades of disintegrated energy scattered in all directions, devastating the area.
Gong Hyeon-ja and Hyeon Geom’s faces turned pale as they took in the scene, which had been reduced to ruins in an instant.
The power of the aura spear was one thing, but they were utterly stunned by Cho Ak-ryang’s prowess in catching it with his bare hands and destroying it.
Cho Ak-ryang, however, wore a bitter expression as he stared at the spot where the man in black had been standing.
As expected.
The man was nowhere to be seen.
The moment he realized he had no chance of winning, he had fled without a second glance.
Sa Yeong-ui was also already dead.
He must have dealt with him before leaving to eliminate the evidence.
‘He must be nearby.’
Cho Ak-ryang expanded his senses, searching the surroundings.
But even after a long while, he couldn't detect the man's presence.
Finally, Cho Ak-ryang let out a sigh.
It was astonishing that there was someone who could completely erase their presence and evade his senses.
He hated to admit it, but when it came to the art of concealment, the man was a step above him.
Cho Ak-ryang looked around and spoke.
“So you chose to survive as a dog rather than die as a tiger?”
His resonant voice, imbued with internal energy, shook the air.
But there was no response.
Cho Ak-ryang let out a soft chuckle.
No matter how sharp its fangs, a dog was still just a dog.
It was just a shame he hadn't been able to uncover the man’s identity.
“Thank you.”
At Hyeon Geom’s belated thanks, Cho Ak-ryang turned to look at the two disciples.
Gong Hyeon-ja stood with his lips pressed tightly together, a complicated look in his eyes.
Meeting his gaze, Cho Ak-ryang spoke.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Pardon?”
Cho Ak-ryang continued, speaking to the confused Hyeon Geom.
“I didn’t save you out of some petty sense of chivalry. It was merely a matter of necessity. Therefore, there is no reason for you to thank me, nor for me to accept it.”
Cho Ak-ryang subtly released a chilling aura.
“If we meet again as enemies elsewhere, I will not hesitate to take your lives.”
“…!”
Gong Hyeon-ja and Hyeon Geom’s faces went white.
Having witnessed the legendary Blood Hand Honored One’s phenomenal might with their own eyes, his words felt like more than just a simple threat.
Just then, a strange light flickered in Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes.
He could sense a number of people approaching from not too far away.
Each of them radiated an aura reminiscent of a sharp sword, an energy he had felt before.
‘The Demon-Subduing Sword Formation.’
Every sect had a signature joint-attack formation that was considered their ultimate technique.
The Shaolin Temple’s Arhat Formation and the Beggar’s Sect’s Dog-Beating Formation were prime examples.
The Kongtong Sect’s Demon-Subduing Sword Formation, in particular, was recognized alongside Wudang’s Seven Stars Sword Formation and Huashan’s Plum Blossom Sword Formation as one of the Three Great Sword Formations Under Heaven.
The Kongtong Sect, which had been holed up behind its closed gates, had finally made its move.
With Kongtong's elite on the move, even if the man in black was hiding nearby, he wouldn't dare show himself.
There was no need for him to confront them in this situation.
Cho Ak-ryang turned and left without a word.
The two left behind, however, couldn't tear their eyes away from Cho Ak-ryang's retreating back.
The impression he had left on them was that powerful.
A short while later.
The swordsmen of the Kongtong Sect arrived on the scene.
They were the elites of Kongtong, composed of the first-generation disciples.
Leading them was the current Sect Leader of the Kongtong Sect, Daoist Master Hyeongjin.
“Disciple Gong Hyeon-ja greets the Sect Leader.”
Gong Hyeon-ja staggered to his feet and hastily bowed.
Hyeon Geom did the same.
Though it was a struggle to even move, he managed to straighten his posture and respectfully lower his head.
“Thank goodness you are safe.”
Daoist Master Hyeongjin sighed in relief after confirming the well-being of his disciple and grand-disciple.
The moment he realized the two had been captured by unknown assailants, he had bought time and assessed the situation on his own.
The culprit’s intentions were clear.
It was because of the letter, which contained a blatant threat: if they added their signatures to the joint petition the Divine Physician’s son was trying to complete, they would never see the two of them alive again.
As Daoist Master Hyeongjin swept his stern gaze over the area, a strange light appeared in his eyes.
From the corpse of Sa Yeong-ui lying on the ground and the clear signs of a fierce battle, he could guess what had just transpired here.
“What happened?”
At Daoist Master Hyeongjin’s question, Gong Hyeon-ja began to explain in detail what they had been through.
“He saved you?”
Daoist Master Hyeongjin seemed momentarily taken aback by the unexpected mention of Cho Ak-ryang’s name, but he quickly composed himself.
He had a long and bitter history with the man.
But in this moment, he couldn’t deny that it was thanks to him that they had avoided the worst-case scenario.
“Do you have any idea who that man in black was?”
“I apologize. All I know is that his martial prowess was immense…”
At his disciple’s trailing words, Daoist Master Hyeongjin let out a soft sigh.
He could only stare with an incredibly complicated expression in the direction Cho Ak-ryang had disappeared.
Back at the abandoned temple, Cho Ak-ryang was met with the sight of Beom Gye-wi standing there with a troubled look on his face.
“You couldn’t wait and just killed him?”
Hong Dan-yeop was sprawled on the floor.
His wide-open eyes no longer held any sign of life.
At Cho Ak-ryang's rebuke, Beom Gye-wi jumped.
“It wasn’t me!”
As Cho Ak-ryang’s suspicious gaze fell on him, Beom Gye-wi pounded his chest in frustration.
“I’m telling you the truth! I was about to ask him a few things when he suddenly started clawing at his chest like a madman, blood poured from his seven orifices, and he just up and died on his own!”
Cho Ak-ryang looked down at Hong Dan-yeop’s corpse, which had died a gruesome death, and let out a low hum.
“They certainly aren't ordinary men.”
“Did you find anything out, Brother Cho?”
Cho Ak-ryang let out a soft sigh.
“Sa Yeong-ui is dead.”
“What about the other one?”
“He got away.”
Beom Gye-wi frowned.
“Got away? You, Brother Cho? And you expect me to believe that? Are you just saying that because you’re embarrassed you killed him?”
With a bitter smile, Cho Ak-ryang explained the situation in detail.
“Not the martial arts of the Central Plains?”
Beom Gye-wi tilted his head.
“Then were they from the Demonic Cult?”
“It wasn’t them.”
Beom Gye-wi nodded.
If he said it wasn't them, then it wasn't.
There was no way Cho Ak-ryang, who had been more dedicated to hunting down demons than anyone, would fail to recognize the martial arts of the Demonic Cult.
“Then who in the world are they?”
“That’s what’s so frustrating, not knowing. But one thing is for sure…”
Cho Ak-ryang’s voice trailed off, his eyes flashing with a cold light.
“Is that one way or another, we will meet again soon.”