Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: The Beast Moves
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The beast moves.
Nothing else could describe it. The Earth Dragon Pavilion Master, overlooking the reckless plan, doubted his own eyes.
A terrifying martial prowess. An individual's power that had surpassed mortal limits. Even he couldn't gauge if he stood above it.
And with that body came an eerie regenerative ability.
No. That's not the issue. Recovery? That's bizarre enough to make one's eyes pop, but the real key lies beyond that.
Behold. That beast-like movement. The roar that pushes forward even after being pierced.
The blood-soaked warrior moves. The unorthodox experts caught in his trajectory are swept away in unison. Shouts pour from all directions as they unleash their ultimate techniques to bring down a single man.
It's not a perfectly formed joint formation. But each individual's skill is so formidable that coordination isn't even necessary.
Just a single standard.
Dozens writhing to slay the beast.
But it doesn't catch. What should be caught slips away and rampages madly.
He moves even with weapons embedded all over his body. Having lost one eye, he still tears into an opponent's throat with his teeth.
Chaos. The ground below is utter chaos...
And all of it is dictated by one man.
"Hah... hahaha...!"
A hollow laugh escapes him unwittingly. The Earth Dragon Pavilion Master couldn't dare to be certain.
Could even the Heavenly Dragon Association Leader, master of the Heavenly Dragon Association, replicate that...?
Where did this man come from? What sect produced this blood-drenched sword wielder swinging wildly?
A sword beyond comprehension, a beast beyond comprehension. Every motion mimics a savage bite, sending chills just to watch.
"...Truly..."
An absurd plan.
He had thought to aid him to some extent.
But not anymore.
"Truly... going to block all of that alone...?"
He had misjudged. Completely misread it.
That man had possessed an unbreakable will and indomitable spirit from the start.
The Sado Corps' suicide squad is yielding.
Even transcending death...
To the beast howling for its sword.
...
He moves. Without a moment's rest.
Amid the waves of crashing pain, he focuses on just one thing.
Pulling out and snapping whatever pierced his body...
And never letting go of the gripped sword.
The blood sword wails. The ghost sword does the same.
The Heavenly Tribulation's gasps whisper to him. He sees his inner energy rapidly depleting.
There are so many. The enemy's numbers aren't dwindling as they should.
Kill one, and another replenishes. He hears the commander shouting.
Subdue him.
Tear off his limbs and slam him to the ground.
The Heavenly Tribulation isn't invincible. It consumes inner energy. The same goes for the techniques he wields.
The Variant Sword Yeonhonsasa is no different. To maintain that power, he must expend not just stamina but everything he has.
His mind grows muddled. He feels his own inadequacies acutely, but...
Still, it grows clearer. Closer.
The wall before him. The blocked path.
---Kaaaaang!!!
From the pit of death he's driven himself into, he reaches out. He kicks off once more to climb upward.
Shadows from behind try to drag him down. They gleam sharply amid the enemies' swords.
Death is right before his eyes. He doesn't even know how many deaths he's overcome.
But now it's commonplace. Beyond merely surpassing...
He must yearn for it with utter sincerity.
Burn your muscles. Use every bit of your honed body.
Control your inner energy. Conserve it. If it runs out, it's all over.
More compressed.
More concise.
A smoothly flowing line...
Heavy.
Swing freely.
Ice White Fire Wheel Sword
Second Form.
Soul-Pulling Thrust - Grave Sweeper
Return.
To the origin.
"......!!!"
His fingertips trace back to when he first gripped the sword.
He flails. In a sea of blood. The meaning infused into that flailing is the years he's lived.
The blood and sweat shed. The days weighing himself amid life and death.
Before him roils a savage wave. A real-time torrent of swords strangling his neck.
But he sees it. The emerging line sharpens bit by bit.
The more he defies death. The faster his inner energy depletes...
As stamina and sweat exhaust, sweetness rising on his tongue...
It touches his hand.
The shape of the path.
That slender line.
".......!"
He hears the enemies shouting. But it doesn't register clearly.
No. Perhaps he simply doesn't want to hear it. Focused solely on the feel of the sword tip in his hand.
He sees the line amid the blood.
The line sees him amid the blood.
His body plummets to its limits. He's forgotten how many weapons pierced and were pulled from him.
There was no point in counting anyway. Dozens upon dozens of holes had already torn through his flesh.
Just forward.
Ever forward...
He pushes back the foes.
Becoming a single wave defying the current.
---Kaaaaang!!!
Roar. The song of the sword.
Devour the enemies' twisted faces and blaze brighter.
---Wooduduk!
Another sword rips into his chest. Amid that horrific pain, he advances one step further.
He bites the sword-bearing warrior's throat with his teeth. Tears it to bare his resolve.
The line he'd drawn on the ground draws nearer. Step by step, his path-covered in blood and corpses-marks the trail he's forged.
Now he can't even coat his sword with qi. Doing so would deplete his energy, halting regeneration.
Then with pure swordsmanship.
Not the Ice White Fire Wheel Sword or Variant Sword...
With the pure Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Fourth Form
Flash Scatter
Come. Scatter them.
No qi to infuse the tip, but isn't the sword sharp in itself?
Tear and shred. It's the same task anyway.
Even without inner energy, I am me.
A swordsman of the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword.
Tear and smash them all. Rip apart anything blocking my path.
Howl, beast within me. Swing your claws, dragging this bloodied body.
For today, I won't die. Here, I'll surpass myself once more.
---Chwaaaaak!!!
「Can you catch up to me?」
His soul in the cry.
Even the shattered metal fragments, grind them all in...
Toward the sky!
---Kwaduduk!!!!
The thrust sword pierces the final elite's throat. He swings to decapitate, sending the head rolling precisely beyond the line.
The surroundings fall silent. Not a trace of the previous clamor remains. It's as quiet as if everyone had fallen asleep.
But one thing is certain. Thousands of troops beyond that line are all staring at him. Their trembling gazes avoid his eyes, fixed only on the blood dripping from his sword tip.
Are they terrified?
He turns back. Takes in the path he's carved.
Blood and bodies pile into mountains, proving his ceaseless slashes. Some float adrift in pools of gore, like debris on the sea.
His hand lacked strength. But still, he gripped the sword.
No voice emerged. But he could still make it sing from the tip.
So many. Uncountable. Even he doesn't know how many he's slain.
But one thing was certain.
All had crossed the line, and all were slain by him.
He slowly lowered his sword at its limit. Gazed at the blood drop falling with a plop from the blood sword.
His body was clearly at its limit.
Yet something felt off.
A little...
Like he could do more.
This time, how many deaths had he overcome? Unclear. He belatedly noticed a blade embedded in his shoulder.
Pain doesn't become familiar. But the immersion wrapping his body made him forget it.
His head spun, and it hurt, yet...
That's why he still clutched the hilt.
"......."
---Wooduk.
He pulled out the sword lodged between bones. The falling metal clanged, making the enemies flinch.
He stared silently at the man in their center. The one piercing him with wordless eyes.
A brief eye contact. Then he turned away.
Stepping over the corpses he'd felled, he returned precisely to the ghost swords left behind, standing tall as before.
Those who hadn't crossed the line lived.
Those who had, all died.
The Sado Corps commander, having received the answer to his query, rasped through a choked throat.
"...Retreat..."
A cough completed the words with his ragged breath.
"Retreat..."
He hadn't killed them all, but he'd held back thousands.
Crushed endless elites with his sword tip, ascending another step.
Gazing at the departing army, he lifted his eyes to the sky. The once-vivid path now felt within reach.
The price of forging himself in death. The price of battling thousands for over half a day, repeating death dozens, hundreds of times.
A crimson sky faintly emerges.
A strong conviction.
A little further from here...
The heavens will part.
A step closer to the Heavenly Demon...
A breakthrough to a new realm.
...
Narin and Gwangyang trembled.
"W-What in the world is..."
"T-This whole thing... M-Master... for real..."
Baekhyeon and Gu Hwarin covered their mouths.
"...Is that really human?"
"Impossible... H-How could a person do that...!"
Suryeon and Ilho fell silent.
"......."
"......."
The four from the Demonic Cult were no different.
"...I hoped it wasn't true, but he really... damn... insane bastard... Couldn't even join midway...?"
"O-Oppa..."
"Not sure if it's safe to go down. Better not touch him now."
"Prayer? Even from up here, the blood stench is twisting my nose."
As all gaped in shock, a shadow leaped from the wall.
Kicking off the protruding battlements swiftly. The small figure raced like an arrow straight to him.
"Daddy...!"
With her, the feral savagery that had gripped both enemy and ally throats lifted. The bloodied warrior tossed aside his shattered bamboo hat and gently scooped up his rushing daughter.
"......."
He brushed back his sweat- and blood-matted hair, catching his breath. As the two ghost swords on the ground were sucked into their sheaths...
The warrior who had overwhelmed thousands placed a hand on his daughter's head.
"...Daddy... are you okay...?"
His staggering body seemed ready to collapse any second.
But he slowly nodded.
"I'm fine."
Those simple words made the onlookers exhale held breaths.
A battlefield that choked the air.
A freak who upheld his own words, preventing even one warrior from crossing the line.
The Earth Dragon Pavilion Master gripped the wall until it crumbled.
Who dares call that man a Museong?
That's...
A blood ghost.
A beast soaked in blood. One we should be grateful is on our side...
A wild beast.
"Who dares lump him with the Five Stars...?"
The Earth Dragon Pavilion Master shrugged his shoulders.
"A warrior who may surpass the Four Venerables to claim the Fifth Venerable stands right there...!"
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