Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Appearance of the Evil God of the Celestial Vault!
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Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone rushing from behind using lightness arts and turned around.
A robust man with a saber slung over his shoulder was soaring gracefully toward me, stopping just a short distance away.
“Who is the Fire Dragon Sword?”
“I am.”
From his appearance, the aura he exuded, and the red saber he carried, I guessed he must be the Blood Crow Saber.
Cho-seon of the Mysterious Jade Palace had said she found out where the Blood Crow Saber was and spread rumors about the Fire Dragon Sword to lure him to Dong-ro County.
The man, who looked to be in his late thirties, clasped his fist in a polite salute.
“I am the Blood Crow Saber.”
“What brings you here?”
The Blood Crow Saber had a rugged, manly appearance and a commanding physique. He pointed in the direction he had come from.
“I was drinking at a tavern over there when some patrons mentioned that the great warrior, Fire Dragon Sword, had just passed by on the street. I hurried to catch up.”
He spoke as if demanding an answer.
“So, when exactly can I have a duel with you?”
“Just follow the procedure for joining the Alliance.”
“I heard there's a martial arts examination tomorrow.”
“Then you can duel me tomorrow.”
Song Ga-hyeon and the others sauntered over to me.
“Leader, is this fellow the Blood Crow Saber?”
As if to assert her seniority, Song Ga-hyeon acted a bit pompous in her role as a Team Leader of the Grand Branch's elite members.
“Yes.”
Song Ga-hyeon crossed her arms and looked the Blood Crow Saber up and down.
“Hmph! Looks like you'll be one of our comrades by tomorrow.”
The Blood Crow Saber frowned.
“And who might you be?”
Because of his rugged features, even a slight frown made him look fierce.
Song Ga-hyeon, arms still crossed, spoke arrogantly.
“I'm what you'll be tomorrow.”
The Blood Crow Saber's frown deepened.
“I asked what that is.”
Sensing a fight was about to break out, Namgung Yeong-ho quickly stepped forward and pointed at me.
“The five of us here were defeated by the great warrior Fire Dragon Sword, our Leader, and became his subordinates. We're called the Grand Branch Elite Unit, or the Elite Unit for short.”
As the Blood Crow Saber looked over the five of them, Namgung Yeong-ho continued.
“If you duel our Leader tomorrow and lose—which you will, of course—then you'll become a member of the Elite Unit. One of our comrades.”
The Blood Crow Saber looked displeased.
“Why don't you consider the possibility that I might win?”
Song Ga-hyeon laughed as if the idea was absurd.
“Hahaha! That'll never happen, not even in your wildest dreams!”
The Blood Crow Saber wasn't one to act rashly. He had heard the rumors about who had challenged the Fire Dragon Sword and been defeated.
“Who are you?”
“I am the Thousand Illusions Wanderer, and this fellow here is the Life-Ending Saber.”
“Ah...”
The Blood Crow Saber knew full well that the reputations of the Thousand Illusions Wanderer and the Life-Ending Saber were no less than his own.
If they had been defeated by the Fire Dragon Sword, he thought, then he couldn't guarantee his own victory either.
Song Ga-hyeon said something unexpected to me.
“Leader, aren't we in a situation where we need all the help we can get?”
“We are.”
She proposed.
“In that case, why don't you quickly defeat this fellow right now and appoint him to the Elite Unit? Then he can become our comrade and fight alongside us, can't he?”
“A good idea.”
Song Ga-hyeon said to the Blood Crow Saber.
“What do you say? You don't have any strange habits, like needing to have a good dream the night before to win a duel, do you?”
The Blood Crow Saber nodded.
“I won't refuse.”
Song Ga-hyeon came to my side and whispered.
“We don't know when the enemies will attack, so finish him quickly in one move.”
*This woman sure talks a lot.*
*Thwack!*
Before the telepathic message even finished, Song Ga-hyeon's fist slammed hard into my side.
She must have put her all into it; the pain felt like my waist was snapping, separating my upper and lower body.
*Hmph! Next time, I'll cut you in half!*
Song Ga-hyeon's telepathic voice was sharp enough to slice off my nose. With me, at least, she didn't hide that she was a woman and used a female voice.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Just as the Blood Crow Saber and I were facing off for our duel, a group of martial artists stormed in from the northern entrance of the street like a whirlwind.
There were twenty-one of them in total. One was a man in his fifties with a salt-and-pepper beard, dressed in a gray robe. Behind him stood twenty masters in their thirties and forties, all wearing identical green tunics and carrying swords.
I deduced that the man in the gray robe had brought the twenty Soul-Devouring Wolves of the Unorthodox Path.
Just then, Jang Ung sent a telepathic message that sounded like a groan.
*My lord! That man is the Evil God of the Celestial Vault!*
I flinched involuntarily. I had heard the title 'Evil God of the Celestial Vault' quite often in the past.
There were three supreme masters who looked down upon the world from the heavens, collectively known as the Three Gods of the Celestial Vault.
They were beings of immense mystery and belonged to the Eight Absolutes of the World.
The Eight Absolutes of the World referred to the five supreme leaders of the Five Martial Powers—the Martial Alliance, the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union, the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path, the Four Seas Way, and the Mysterious Jade Palace—plus the three Celestial Gods, and two others.
In other words, the Three Celestial Gods were counted as one of the Eight Absolutes. However, this didn't mean the three of them combined made up one Absolute.
Each of the Three Celestial Gods was an Absolute in their own right.
The man standing before me now was the Evil God of the Celestial Vault, one of the Three Celestial Gods.
I was quite surprised, as I never expected the Evil God of the Celestial Vault himself would come to kill me.
At the same time, the thought of fighting one of the Eight Absolutes made my heart pound, and my fighting spirit blazed.
Just then, without being prompted, Song Ga-hyeon stepped forward and spoke boldly to the Evil God and his followers.
“Hey! If you've come to fight, could you wait a moment?”
The Evil God and the Soul-Devouring Wolves simply stood there silently, enveloped in a thick, rising killing intent.
“Our Leader here, the Fire Dragon Sword, is about to duel a fellow named Blood Crow Saber, so just wait for a little, a very little while!”
I wondered if Song Ga-hyeon would still be able to speak like that if she knew the man standing before her was the Evil God of the Celestial Vault.
When the Evil God and his men remained silent, Song Ga-hyeon took it as an affirmation and approached me and the Blood Crow Saber, rubbing her hands together.
“Alright! Now, fight.”
But the Blood Crow Saber deferred.
“I will duel later.”
“That won't do! You have to be defeated now so you can join us...”
“I will fight alongside you.”
Song Ga-hyeon nodded.
“So you admit defeat to our Leader.”
“I said I would duel him later!”
Just then, the Evil God of the Celestial Vault spoke quietly.
“Are you the Fire Dragon Sword?”
I stepped forward and stopped in front of the Evil God.
“I am. Are you the Evil God of the Celestial Vault?”
At the words 'Evil God of the Celestial Vault', everyone started in surprise, their faces paling.
The Evil God nodded, his face expressionless.
“I am.”
He spoke in a deep, pleasant voice, unlike what one would expect from a giant of the Unorthodox Path.
“I will give you a chance.”
“Speak.”
It would probably be pointless nonsense.
“If you leave this place now, I will let you live.”
Song Ga-hyeon spoke with a cold, sardonic tone.
“Leader! Isn't that what we should be saying?”
“Wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
I held up one finger and wagged it from side to side.
“They won't live, even if they leave this place.”
“Now those are words I like to hear!”
Song Ga-hyeon laughed, her shoulders shaking.
“Hahahahaha! Did you say Evil God of the Celestial Vault? I'll be your opponent!”
Song Ga-hyeon was so talkative I wondered if she was really the Thousand Illusions Wanderer I knew.
This was the same Thousand Illusions Wanderer who had berated me for being too talkative during our duel just the other day.
But her words were refreshingly satisfying.
The Evil God of the Celestial Vault chuckled dryly.
“Hehehe! What fools.”
He spread his arms wide.
“Do you think a few of you can defeat me and my twenty Soul-Devouring Wolves?”
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo came to my side and sent a telepathic message.
*Brother Yong, I'll take him on.*
*Byeok-gyo, do you know what my ultimate goal is?*
*What is it?*
*To become the Peerless Martial Emperor. To fight all the powerful masters in the martial world and make every single one of them submit.*
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo looked a little surprised.
*But the Evil God of the Celestial Vault is too strong. He's at least two levels higher than the Thousand Illusions Wanderer or the Life-Ending Saber.*
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo was worried, remembering that I had been stabbed twice by the sword during my duel with Song Ga-hyeon, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer.
If I hadn't opened my Conception and Governor Vessels and gained one hundred and eighty years of internal energy, I might not have been a match for the Evil God. Even so, I would still have tried to fight him.
As the Evil God of the Celestial Vault continued to say something, Song Ga-hyeon cut him off with a sharp retort.
“Hey! Are you always this talkative?”
“You insolent whelp! How dare you!”
It was then I realized that Song Ga-hyeon's trademark line whenever she fought someone was, "Are you always this talkative?"
I placed a hand on Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's shoulder and sent a telepathic message to everyone.
*From now on, follow this person's command!*
*Leader! Are you in your right mind?*
*Thousand Illusions Wanderer, you're out of this fight.*
*Aah! Fine! I'll follow my little sister's orders!*
The more I saw of Song Ga-hyeon, the more amusing she was.
On our side, besides me, there were nine people: Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, Go Un-hyo, Jang Ung, Song Ga-hyeon, Geum Cheong-san, the Blood Crow Saber, Neung Yu-seong, Namgung Yeong-ho, and Gu Bon-gyeong. They would have to face the twenty Soul-Devouring Wolves.
I was worried about Neung Yu-seong, Namgung Yeong-ho, and Gu Bon-gyeong, who were weaker than the group's average, but the arrow had already left the bow.
I considered it a stroke of heavenly luck that my internal energy had increased to one hundred and eighty years after opening my Conception and Governor Vessels.
I shot straight toward the Evil God of the Celestial Vault first. For now, I planned to fight this battle with pure martial arts, without using Yin and Yang Essence.
However, I wouldn't waste time testing his skills; I would unleash my strongest techniques from the very beginning.
*Swoosh!*
Using the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps, I reached a spot above the Evil God's head in an instant, drawing my Fire Dragon Sword and unleashing the third stance of the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword, Heaven Severance, with one hundred and twenty years of internal energy.
*Swish!*
It took but the blink of an eye for me to close the fifty-foot distance and bring down Heaven Severance to split the Evil God's head.
A flicker of surprise crossed the Evil God's face. It seemed he had underestimated me.
The Evil God of the Celestial Vault had no weapon. Come to think of it, the only thing I knew about him was that he was one of the Eight Absolutes.
*'I split him!'*
The Fire Dragon Sword split the crown of the Evil God's head. No, I thought it had, but it only cut through empty air.
*Whoosh!*
The Evil God, who had somehow dodged five feet to the left, thrust a hand-blade toward the left side of my face.
In the same instant, I shifted the downward trajectory of my Fire Dragon Sword to the left, unleashing a wave of sword energy as I slashed.
*Tssssk!*
As the jet-black sword energy curved like a half-moon toward the Evil God, several distinct gray hand-blades shot out from his thrusting hand, rushing toward my face from two spans away.
If this continued, I could slice the Evil God's shoulder in two, but my face would be shattered by his hand-blade. No, it wasn't a hand-blade, but hand-aura—a blade of pure energy.
I continued my slash with the Fire Dragon Sword while tilting my head back, but this time, a fist-aura shot toward my side.
He attacked my face with a hand-aura, and now my side with a fist-aura. His transitions were dazzlingly fast.
I twisted my waist, and this time, the Evil God's hands began to dance dazzlingly.
*Swoooosh!*
His hands seemed to weave together in a blur, and then hand-auras, fist-auras, and palm-auras all shot out at once, targeting various parts of my body.
But the sword energy from my Fire Dragon Sword was still on course to slice through the Evil God's shoulder.
While I was executing this one move, the Evil God of the Celestial Vault had unleashed a staggering four.