Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: A Desperate Fight!
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I stood five steps away from the Thousand Illusions Wanderer and spoke softly.
“Attack.”
Before the echo of my words had faded, something blurred before my eyes.
Shhh…
At that same moment, my martial arts awakened, and my feet were already moving nimbly, performing the steps of the Floating Light, Divine Shadow.
Still trying to gather my wits, I was gradually pushed back by the storm of attacks raining down on me.
Had my body not reacted in time as my martial arts activated, I would have been in serious trouble.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
No, just as I was thinking that, I was struck in the left shoulder and side.
The Floating Light, Divine Shadow had been breached.
The moment I was hit—no, even as I staggered back—I couldn't tell what had struck me. It was absurd.
In all my numerous battles, I had never been in such a helpless situation.
I couldn't tell if I'd been hit by a fist, a mace, or a club.
But as I stumbled back five or six steps, a searing pain finally flared in my left shoulder and side. With another step, I felt blood begin to flow from the wounds.
‘A sword!’
The crucial thing was that a second attack was already rushing in without pause, leaving me no time to even glance at my injuries.
[It's a flexible sword!]
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's urgent telepathic message reached me. I, who was in the thick of the fight, hadn't noticed, but she, watching from the side, had spotted the flexible sword.
‘A flexible sword?’
Not only had I never learned techniques for a flexible sword, but I had also never faced one before. I was bewildered.
Shwiiiiing…
A sound like several arrows slicing through the air seemed to come from far away.
In other words, because the flexible sword was so thin, it made almost no sound as it cut through the air. The attacks were raining down on me from up close, yet the sound seemed to come from a distance.
And yet, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer's flexible sword made almost no sound at all.
All I could see were faint, bluish, scale-like glimmers shooting toward me, sparkling under the blue sky.
Where on earth had the Thousand Illusions Wanderer drawn that flexible sword from?
Even using the Divine Trace, Illusory Void of the Floating Light, Divine Shadow, I struggled to evade the shower of shimmering scales.
‘I see!’
It was then I realized I had never pushed the Floating Light, Divine Shadow to its absolute limit in a fight.
Until now, my opponents hadn't been the strongest of masters, so the fifth or sixth level of the Floating Light, Divine Shadow had been more than enough.
That's why I had mistaken that for its ultimate limit—the tenth level.
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer had been attacking relentlessly since the first strike, so it couldn't be called a second or third attack. The initial assault was still ongoing.
If I kept retreating like this, I would soon reach the edge of the dueling stage. After that, the only way was down.
But I would not be pushed back any further. The important thing was that I now understood the situation.
Shwiiii...
As I evaded the shower of glittering blue scales—the Azure Scales—with the Divine Trace, Illusory Void, I simultaneously activated the Skynet Divine Eyes of the Skynet's Ultimate Reach.
“!”
In that instant, a scene unfolded as if I had entered another world. Things I couldn't see before were suddenly revealed.
What rained down was not Azure Scales, but several thin, blue flexible swords, dancing as they shot toward my vital points.
In the blink of an eye, the flexible swords unleashed five streams of thin, sharp, blue sword energy.
I discerned that the Thousand Illusions Wanderer was executing the first stance of the Three Severances Swordplay, Flying Star Severance. Because the stars were glittering and flying.
Quickly, I raised the Divine Trace, Illusory Void to the eighth level to evade them. Instead of retreating, I closed in on the Thousand Illusions Wanderer, intending to land a blow with the Great Strength Diamond Palm.
Whoosh!
Just then, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer shot straight up, extending the flexible swords. Seeing this, I also leaped up to the same height, facing him from a distance of ten feet.
The flexible swords bent strangely, instantly forming a dozen blue blossoms.
Shaaaaa!
‘Scattering Flower Severance!’
The second stance of the Three Severances Swordplay, Scattering Flower Severance. Was it an attack of scattering flowers?
Paaaat!
The dozen blue blossoms suddenly burst, blanketing the area, and then rained down on me all at once.
It was exactly as the name suggested—Scattering Flower Severance—scattering the blue flowers before blasting them toward the enemy.
Before they could reach me, I used the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps to soar even higher.
Hah!
The Floating Light, Divine Shadow is for the ground, and the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps is for the air. Moreover, the Heaven-Flying Divine Steps is a level faster.
I saw the Thousand Illusions Wanderer look up at me with a surprised expression. I had indeed caught him off guard.
Drawing the Fire Dragon Sword, I brought down the Azure Wall Thunderstrike on his face with one hundred and ten years of internal energy.
Flash!
A blinding, pitch-black bolt of lightning shot toward the Thousand Illusions Wanderer.
At the same moment, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer cleaved vertically toward me with the flexible swords, as if to cut me in two.
Tzaaat!
A fist-sized ball of blue light shot up at a terrifying speed to meet my Azure Wall Thunderstrike.
I couldn't be sure, but it must have been the third stance of the Three Severances Swordplay, Hundred-Li Piercing Severance.
To the one hundred and ten years of internal energy in my Fire Dragon Sword, I added ten years of Yang Essence from the small chamber in my dantian.
I held back from unleashing the source of Yang Essence contained within the Fire Dragon Sword, as it would have turned the Thousand Illusions Wanderer into a charcoal briquette.
The source of Yang Essence was reserved for irredeemable villains.
Just before the sword energies of the Azure Wall Thunderstrike and the Hundred-Li Piercing Severance collided, I protected my body with the Five Elements Divine Art.
Cra-boom!
“Ugh!”
“Kuh!”
An explosion erupted, scattering black and blue light in all directions, followed by two stifled groans.
Crack!
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer crashed through the dueling stage and was buried beneath it, while I was thrown upward, my right arm aching as if it would break, swallowing the coppery taste of blood rising in my throat.
Thud!
I landed on the stage and approached the hole in the center. Blood was flowing from my shoulder and side, but I didn't notice it at the time.
Two feet deep inside the broken stage, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer lay unconscious on the ground.
My arms were numb and aching, but not broken. My chest felt tight, but it didn't seem like I had broken ribs or internal injuries.
To feel such an impact even after activating the Five Elements Divine Art, I could guess how powerful the Thousand Illusions Wanderer was.
I jumped down into the hole to check on him.
His eyes were closed, and blood was trickling from his nose and mouth.
But more importantly, the clothes on his chest were on fire.
Although I hadn't released the Yang Essence of the Fire Dragon Sword, the Azure Wall Thunderstrike had naturally produced lightning, and this was the result of infusing it with ten years of Yang Essence from my dantian.
If the Thousand Illusions Wanderer hadn't neutralized most of the lightning with the Hundred-Li Piercing Severance, he would have suffered severe burns. A minuscule amount of Yang Essence had set his chest ablaze.
The flames were spreading, so I immediately tried to rub them out with my hands.
‘Huh?’
But my hand felt something soft and yielding. A feeling a man's chest wouldn't have.
‘A woman?’
But the fire on his chest wasn't out yet and was spreading, so I quickly rubbed at the flames again.
If I used Yin Essence now, it would extinguish the fire, but it would also freeze him solid.
‘Why won't this go out?’
As I was rubbing, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer's eyes snapped open. The sensation of someone rubbing his chest must have woken him up.
Our eyes met, and I froze in shock.
“I... I'm putting out the fire.”
I'd never been in a situation like this before, so I was a bit flustered.
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer glanced down and saw the clothes on his chest burning.
When I stopped, he grimaced and tried to lift his arm to put out the fire himself.
“Ugh!”
He couldn't even lift his arm; a searing pain shot through his body, and he let out a groan.
Fwoosh!
Because I had paused, the fire spread across his entire chest and up toward his face.
But I had no confidence I could put it out, so I just watched.
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer glared up at me.
“Urgh! Are you trying to burn me to death?”
“What do you want me to do…?”
“What are you doing? Put it out!”
I picked up the Thousand Illusions Wanderer, carried him to the annex, and laid him on the bed.
The front of his top was burned to ashes, revealing what was underneath: his chest was tightly bound with white cloth. It was wrapped so securely that the cloth itself hadn't burned.
“Are you hurt anywhere in particular?”
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer squeezed his eyes shut and didn't answer.
“Try circulating your energy to see if you have any internal injuries.”
I waited a moment before speaking again.
“If you're injured, I'll treat you. Otherwise, you can meditate and recover on your own.”
With his eyes still closed, the Thousand Illusions Wanderer muttered.
“Ugh! You're noisy. Such a talkative man.”
“...”
“Just bring me a set of clothes.”
‘This bastard!’
I clenched my jaw, raised my fist, and glared at him, then slowly lowered my hand.
I brought a set of clothes, opened the door, and threw them at the Thousand Illusions Wanderer, covering his face.
It was a petty revenge.
* * *
When I closed the door and came out, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo was waiting with a concerned expression. She sent a telepathic message.
[You're hurt. Let me treat you.]
[I'm fine.]
[Follow me.]
My martial arts hadn't faded yet, so we could still communicate telepathically.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo took my hand and led me to her room, and I feigned reluctance as I followed.
The wounds on my shoulder and side from the flexible sword were bleeding, but they were minor.
While Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo stopped the bleeding and then wrapped the wounds with a clean cloth Go Un-hyo had brought, I replayed the fight with the Thousand Illusions Wanderer in my mind.
* * *
Blood Crow Saber told me it wasn't his turn for the entrance examination yet and that he had to wait, so I went to the shipyard to see the boat.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo accompanied me wherever I went, as it was safest for her to be with me.
The busiest and most crowded area in Dong-ro County was the Dong-ro Port district, situated where the Tianmu Stream and the Qiantang River converged.
Nearly all of Dong-ro County's government offices, famous inns, courtesan houses, shops, and businesses were concentrated in this area.
The Martial Alliance's Dong-ro Branch was located far from the port, on the western outskirts of the county. This was because they lacked funds.
The site for the main headquarters was also nearby. In the future, as the population of Dong-ro County grew and it became a great city, the headquarters would literally be situated in the heart of a major crossroads.
Jang Ung guided us to a shipyard on the riverbank, about a hundred and fifty yards from Dong-ro Port in the direction of Tianmu Stream.
“That's the ship.”
Jang Ung pointed to a medium-sized vessel moored at the shipyard's private dock.
“Oh!”
I let out a short exclamation and couldn't take my eyes off the ship for a long time. It was far more impressive than I had expected.
The shipyard's owner, who had built the ship himself, was a renowned master craftsman. With an admiring expression, he explained the vessel to us.
“In my thirty-five years, I've built hundreds of ships of all kinds, but this is the first time I've ever built a medium-sized vessel with six sails.”
He couldn't stop his praise.
“But during its construction, I realized something new. By rigging a ship with more than twice the number of sails as a normal vessel, it can sail constantly without stopping, no matter which direction the wind blows from!”
On long voyages, excluding short distances, ships rely purely on wind power. So, if a headwind blows from the side or front, completely unrelated to the direction of travel, the ship will inevitably slow down significantly or even stop.
But with six sails of different shapes and functions like this ship has, you can simply unfurl the sails on the side the wind is blowing from and furl the others.