Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: I Defeated the Sword of the Grim Reaper!
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I asked abruptly.
“Will you face me in a duel?”
Jeong Chung-ho bowed his head slightly.
“If His Highness permits it, I would like to.”
A true warrior never shies away from a duel with a strong opponent.
Ju Won-ik, looking a little bemused by the rapid turn of events, shook his head.
“How can I permit this when I care for you both?”
From what I could tell, Ju Won-ik had never learned martial arts. Though his frame and aptitude were excellent, he showed no signs of a practitioner.
That was likely why he didn't understand the ways of the martial world.
“Brother, Captain Jeong and I are not enemies. Do you think we would kill or injure each other in a duel?”
“You mean you can fight without getting hurt?”
“There might be minor scratches, but no serious mishaps will occur.”
“If that's the case, I suppose it's fine.”
Ju Won-ik made a decision.
“Let's arrange a time before I return to Nanjing.”
“Thank you.”
As we ate and drank, Ja-un and the maid cleared the dishes and brought out new food and wine.
Seeing the steaming new dishes, Ju Won-ik picked up his chopsticks again.
“I'm full, but the smell of this food is making my mouth water. I can't resist.”
“Me too.”
His wife also rubbed her full belly as she picked up some food.
After the meal ended, the drinking began in earnest.
I gestured toward Jeong Chung-ho and spoke.
“Brother, why don't we have Captain Jeong join us?”
“I am fine, sir.”
“It doesn't look right for Captain Jeong to be standing alone while everyone else is eating and drinking.”
Ju Won-ik nodded.
“Captain Jeong, have a seat.”
Jeong Chung-ho didn't refuse, taking a seat and eating in silence.
It was good to see Ju Won-ik, who never refused my words, and Jeong Chung-ho, who strictly followed any command.
The wife, who appeared to be around thirty and had been smiling quietly, asked me,
“What family are you from, sir?”
“I am an orphan. I don't know who my parents are.”
Ju Won-ik said,
“Come to think of it, my wife shares the same Ak surname as you, Brother Yong.”
His wife had asked about my family because my surname was Ak.
“Is that so?”
The wife gave an elegant smile.
“My name is Ak So-cheong.”
“I am Ak Bi-ryong.”
“I know.”
The Ak surname wasn't common, but it wasn't extremely rare either.
Back in Dong-ro, the Divine Golden Marquis Ak Ja-gyeong had also asked me which Ak family I belonged to.
“Which family are you from, Sister-in-law?”
“I am from the Yue Family of Shandong.”
“I see.”
The Divine Golden Marquis Ak Ja-gyeong was also from the Yue Family of Shandong and held the position of General Manager of the Chungmu Estate.
I was about to ask Ak So-cheong if she knew Ak Ja-gyeong, but I stopped myself.
Being from the same Yue Family of Shandong, they would naturally know each other.
***
In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, Go Un-hyo brought me a letter from a carrier pigeon sent by Jang Ung.
-The drawing my lord showed me is of something called the Ancient Divine Qilin. It originated from Sungak Village in the Jiugong Mountains of Hubei Province. I will continue to investigate for more details.-
Beneath the flickering lamp, I held my breath and read the letter's words over and over.
Jang Ung didn't know about the tattoo on my back. The only one who knew was Go Un-hyo. He had discovered something even I was unaware of.
‘Ancient Divine Qilin.’
The tattoo on my back is supposedly an Ancient Divine Qilin. I had never heard of such a thing, but it was clearly an important clue to my identity.
Until now, I had lived without knowing who I was. It was a mystery how I even remembered my name was Ak Bi-ryong.
In any case, going to Sungak Village in the Jiugong Mountains was now a greater priority than going to Yueyang. An unexpected task had arisen.
***
Fifteen days had passed since leaving Dong-ro, and nine days since I began traveling with Ju Won-ik.
Ju Won-ik was scheduled to return to the Jinling Royal Palace tomorrow, so today was our last day together.
We moored the Bi-ryong on a quiet riverbank and went ashore.
Go Un-hyo went ahead to find a suitable location. It was time for my one-on-one duel with Jeong Chung-ho.
At first, Ju Won-ik had been reluctant to allow the duel, fearing one of us would get hurt, but now his face was filled with curiosity about who would win.
From what I could see, my sister-in-law Ak So-cheong knew martial arts and seemed to be quite a master. As someone from the Yue Family of Shandong, it was only natural she would have learned.
Standing on the riverbank, Ju Won-ik pointed at my Fire Dragon Sword.
“Brother Yong, your weapon is unusual. Is it a sword?”
“It is.”
The Fire Dragon Sword was in its scabbard, with only the hilt and guard exposed. The unadorned guard was as black as ink.
“May I see it?”
I drew the Fire Dragon Sword and offered it to Ju Won-ik, hilt first.
“Ooh! What a strange design!”
Ju Won-ik exclaimed in admiration and reached out to grasp the hilt, but the immense weight caused his arm to buckle, and he dropped it.
“Agh!”
“Are you all right?”
“The sword is incredibly heavy. It feels like a lump of iron.”
My martial arts weren't active at the moment, so if the Fire Dragon Sword were truly heavy, I should have dropped it just like Ju Won-ik.
But to me, it felt only slightly hefty, providing a satisfyingly firm grip in my hand.
The scabbard of the Fire Dragon Sword was made from the hide of an Immortal Yin-Yang Serpent, so it felt reassuring slung over my shoulder.
Watching me pick up the Fire Dragon Sword and sheathe it, Ju Won-ik said,
“It must weigh at least a hundred catties.”
Ju Won-ik wasn't exaggerating. And so, I learned something new.
The Fire Dragon Sword, which felt normal to me, was extremely heavy for others.
Having endured hundreds of thousands of lightning strikes over eons, it was only natural it would be so.
And the true master of the Fire Dragon Sword was me.
Go Un-hyo found a suitable spot: a wide, flat meadow with no trees.
Jeong Chung-ho and I stood facing each other, three zhang apart.
Ju Won-ik stood with his hands behind his back and asked,
“How will you determine the winner?”
“Great Warrior Ak can decide.”
I replied to Jeong Chung-ho's words.
“Let's have it be by concession.”
“That sounds good. You may begin.”
I didn't know Jeong Chung-ho's martial arts, and he didn't know mine.
The moment I faced Jeong Chung-ho, my martial arts activated. My body had already reacted, recognizing him as a formidable opponent.
Seeing Jeong Chung-ho with his sword slung over his shoulder, I guessed he had mastered the Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword.
It was said there were three types of Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword. Among the Nine Demonic Lords of the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union, the Fifth Demonic Emperor had used the Rainbow Zenith.
That meant my Heaven-Severing Divine Sword, the Rainbow Zenith, and Jeong Chung-ho's Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword were all of them.
I was quite eager to see which Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword Jeong Chung-ho would display.
I drew upon one hundred and fifty years of my one hundred and eighty years of internal energy, channeling it into my right arm as I watched Jeong Chung-ho.
The Celestial Palace Martial God who had recently died by my hand possessed a full one hundred and forty years of internal energy. The Blood Shadow Sword Venerable, one of the Fifteen Venerables of the Martial World, had ninety years, meaning the Celestial Palace Martial God was fifty years his superior.
Jeong Chung-ho spoke politely.
“I will cut the clothes over your left chest, Great Warrior.”
“And I will cut Captain Jeong's topknot.”
In other words, Jeong Chung-ho was aiming for my heart, and I was aiming for his neck.
In truth, there is no defense in a clash of Supreme Ultimate Fast Swords. The moment a sword is drawn, the situation is over.
If I used the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword, our duel would be purely offensive.
Even if an opponent dodged and was met with a second or third consecutive attack, the concept of defense did not exist for the Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword.
I planned to use Heaven Severance, the third stance of the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword. There was no need to hold back my strongest technique. Nothing is more foolish than regretting a loss.
Moreover, I wanted to face Jeong Chung-ho's Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword with one of my own.
The key to the Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword was who was faster; variations were irrelevant.
*Swish!*
The instant I thought Jeong Chung-ho's right hand had grasped the guard of the sword on his shoulder, he had already drawn it. An invisible sword energy surged toward me from a zhang away. It was unseen, yet I could feel it.
“!”
I hadn't even had a chance to attack. No, even if I had tried, Jeong Chung-ho had vanished from my sight, leaving me without a target.
Something like a dragonfly's wing flickered faintly before my eyes—the sword energy. It seemed stationary, but it was shooting forward at a terrifying speed.
*Swoosh...*
My body reflexively executed the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps, shifting two spans to the right before leaping up and vanishing from the spot.
The sword energy grazed past my left calf, a finger's breadth away, and I felt a sharp sting.
The speed of Jeong Chung-ho's sword energy was slightly faster than the Rainbow Zenith. Even so, it was an incredibly fast Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword.
But that wasn't the real problem. The issue was that Jeong Chung-ho had disappeared the moment he drew his sword.
If I tried to find him by looking around, I would need several more lives to spare. Especially when facing a Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword.
As I soared upward with the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps, I simultaneously deployed the Divine Skynet and my Protective Aura.
Jeong Chung-ho's Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword produced no sound, no presence. Only when it was right before my eyes did it faintly resemble a dragonfly's wing.
However, it was too late to react by sight anyway. In a battle between Supreme Ultimate Fast Swords, it all came down to who could draw their sword from a more advantageous position first.
‘Found him!’
The moment the Divine Skynet Sense locked onto Jeong Chung-ho's presence, I connected Heaven Severance to it and drew my sword.
*Shh-thwack!*
The Fire Dragon Sword slashed through the air, and a dark light flashed.
Even without seeing Jeong Chung-ho with my eyes, the Divine Skynet Sense had detected him, so it would guide Heaven Severance to its target.
*Clang!*
In that instant, something struck my Protective Aura and was deflected.
I could faintly see the dragonfly's wing change direction after hitting the Protective Aura around my left shin.
If I hadn't leaped up with the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps, it would have struck a different part of my body.
“Ugh!”
A grunt came from Jeong Chung-ho, about a zhang and a half above and to my left.
I had leaped two zhang from the ground, but Jeong Chung-ho was another zhang and a half higher than me.
Heaven Severance had sliced through the sleeve of Jeong Chung-ho's left arm.
Jeong Chung-ho's form began to blur.
Before he could disappear, I linked Flash of Light, Shadow Step to the Divine Skynet Sense.
*Whoosh...*
The moment Jeong Chung-ho moved in another direction, my body was pulled toward him as if connected by an invisible string. *Zwoop!*
Jeong Chung-ho didn't just use the Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword; he combined it with a supreme movement art, allowing him to flash from east to west in an instant.
He had made a name for himself with his Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword alone, but it seemed he felt that wasn't enough to face me.
Just as he was about to draw his sword again, Jeong Chung-ho spotted me rushing toward him from the side as if using teleportation and faltered.
But only for a moment. He employed the Thousand-Catty Drop technique, plummeting downward while drawing his sword against me above.
I shot down in front of Jeong Chung-ho using Divine Trace, Illusory Void and unleashed Heaven Severance.
*Shh-thwack!*
The dark light erupting from the Fire Dragon Sword deflected the flickering dragonfly's wing before me and shot out, grazing over Jeong Chung-ho's head.
*Sshhh...*
I passed Jeong Chung-ho, then slowly descended to the ground, landing in a firm stance.
“Ah!”
A soft gasp escaped from Ak So-cheong.
Jeong Chung-ho landed on the ground, his topknot severed, his unbound hair falling around him like a shaggy mane.
Despite his defeat, he wore a calm expression as he gave me a formal fist-and-palm salute.
“I have lost.”
Go Un-hyo and Ja-un looked as if they had expected this all along.
Ju Won-ik and Ak So-cheong, however, were utterly astonished. Neither had expected Jeong Chung-ho to lose, not even in the slightest.
Ju Won-ik had even hoped that Jeong Chung-ho would go easy on me.
Jeong Chung-ho and I stood side by side, a zhang apart, and gave a respectful salute to Ju Won-ik.
Ju Won-ik was so stunned that he couldn't speak for a moment.
“Hah...”