Chapter 63
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Unique Notoriety of the Blood-Faced Asura
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The notoriety of the Blood-Faced Asura was somewhat unique.
Unlike the Crimson Shadow Sword Demon or other such demonic figures, what elevated his fame was the lack of any solid proof of his existence.
Fist techniques, staff methods, ground arts, formation tactics, and more.
Known as a master of hand techniques, his past deeds were shrouded in mystery, right alongside his origins.
The traits of the Empty Hand Seizes White Blade technique played a part as well.
Unreliable testimonies made it impossible to grasp his true form, and from the scant rumors whispered by a few survivors, all that lingered was the memory of a face shrouded in a reddish aura.
'People naturally fear what they don't understand.'
Wu Hak-bong nodded to himself.
As a Beggar Clan informant who dealt in intelligence, no one felt this truth more deeply than he did.
The terror of transcending human perception and common sense.
'In that sense, he might bear a striking resemblance.'
Recalling the warriors locked in fierce combat, he shuffled along.
Clack. Clack.
Unable to bear it any longer, Gu Chil prodded him.
"Can you really afford to take it this easy?"
"Don't worry about it."
With that firm reply, Wu Hak-bong—who had just briefed Seo Mun-ha—led the two young men as they followed in his footsteps.
"No one's ever faced the Blood-Faced Asura and lived to tell the tale properly."
"Is that something the guy telling me not to worry should say?!"
"He's hopeless in a fight anyway. Better than rushing ahead and getting in the way."
"......"
"Right?"
Wu Hak-bong sought agreement from the other youth.
Jin Mu, who had assigned Yang Jeong to handle Gang Un's disposal, was guiding them from the front lines.
"I agree you're no help."
"See?"
"But I can't shake the feeling we're just out for a stroll. Ghost Flash's name carries weight, but reality says he falls short of the Blood-Faced Asura."
If he couldn't help, bringing someone who could was the priority—or so Jin Mu thought, his face perpetually sour.
"We'll find out soon enough."
Wu Hak-bong waved it off.
"You got some ace up your sleeve?"
"The Blue Heron Hermit and the Blood-Faced Asura."
"......"
"Hard to say who's superior, but one thing's certain."
Cleaving through the plains, he added,
"Neither could withstand the might of the Sacred Heaven Ten Thrones."
This fresh intel, hot off the press, came courtesy of that hawk-eyed woman.
'The gold and time I poured out like blood.'
More precisely, it was the speculation and insights from the Tang Clan's Fourth Red Leader, well-versed in their internal rumors, who escorted her.
In the end, when weighing who was more insidious, Wu Hak-bong sided with Seo Mun-ha after much deliberation.
"You mean......"
Jin Mu mulled over his words. The implication was clear.
"Still, don't let your guard down just in case."
Wu Hak-bong pointed at Gu Chil, lagging behind, and one of the horses.
"Lollygag too much, and we might not even recover the bodies."
"It's not like I want to......"
Harder to control than the unruly mare but still lagging was the gelding under his hand, moving along together.
Fortunately or not, with the battle unfinished, there were no bodies to clear yet. Soon, the trio recoiled at the traces left by the Central Plains warrior.
"Hup!"
Tang Gyeon immediately circulated his qi.
"Impressive!"
Pure admiration followed as he wove his bare hands amid the green foliage on either side.
Kuuu!
A warrior's instinct.
'Unbelievable! Just one!'
His battle-honed intuition screamed warnings nonstop, and facing Seo Mun-ha's true form, he broke into cold sweats.
"What a letdown, you are."
Seo Mun-ha brushed off his momentum, disrupting his stance.
In the confined space and narrow path, evasion wasn't an option. Their head-on clash endlessly ravaged the surroundings.
"I expected more than the Crimson Shadow Sword Demon."
Recalling his spear, Seo Mun-ha leaped and landed atop a lowered tree trunk.
"......You brat."
Tang Gyeon faltered at Seo Mun-ha's words, toyed with by the youth's mind games.
Humiliation from a green boy was secondary.
If true, it meant the Crimson Shadow Sword Demon—missing for days—had perished at the hands of this freak before him.
'No way!'
Shaking his head, Tang Gyeon ignited fury in his eyes.
There was a limit to provocation tactics; he hadn't lived his years in vain to fall to some ignorant kid's blade.
Be it Crimson Shadow Sword Demon or Blood-Faced Asura.
Impressive, sure—but only that level. If either had died by his hand, they never would've built such infamy.
"Your arrogance pierces the heavens!"
"Arrogance about what?"
"That mad sword ghost couldn't have fallen to the likes of you!"
Strictly speaking, the Blood-Faced Asura ranked half a step below the Crimson Shadow Sword Demon.
One couldn't dismiss the legendary Seven Murder Swords, but acknowledging it meant conceding their respective skills and superiority.
"I've always thought this, but warriors always get mad when you state plain facts."
Bad habit, Seo Mun-ha clucked his tongue.
"Heh, a wastrel who can't even die properly."
Tang Gyeon shrugged calmly.
"Fine! Let's see how long that three-inch tongue of yours stretches! I'll check myself!"
Fueled by his rare boiling blood, he charged.
Tat!
Straight-line footwork.
Just two steps, and Tang Gyeon closed in on Seo Mun-ha.
Sss!
Calling him a master of Empty Hand Seizes White Blade meant his qi manipulation was extraordinary.
A method turning external stimuli into internal disruption.
Based on Infiltration Force as a form of Force Projection, elevating to Hidden Force and Inch Force—each notoriously tricky to wield.
"You pest!"
For qi-cultivating warriors, qi control was essential, but Empty Hand Seizes White Blade came from singularly pursuing internal energy. And among its masters, Tang Gyeon stood tallest.
'Decent skill, but still Three Realms at best!'
To him, Seo Mun-ha's reserves were nearly depleted.
His mind raced coldly and rationally.
Once internal energy waned, followed by stamina and vigor, it'd be a one-sided thrashing.
Sss!
Tang Gyeon moved his hands mechanically.
His bodily movements were beyond mortal eyes to track, but a palm's true worth shone upon contact.
Chaeng! Chaeng!
Seo Mun-ha crossed his arms, repeatedly batting away Tang Gyeon's hands.
Wielding his spear deftly through the tangled underbrush.
The three outsiders watched from afar.
'A spear?'
Jin Mu was the most shocked.
'Where does it end? Driving a Central Plains warrior to this......'
This was a different man from the one Jin Mu knew.
Unrecognizable as the one who'd faced Hwang Bo Woo-jun before. Tang Gyeon suffered the same confusion from misjudgment.
'But now......'
Qi clashed, resonating.
Creeeeng!
Batting the spear shaft, Tang Gyeon unrelentingly raised his hand blade.
Once was enough.
Hawk Claw Hand and Tiger Claw Hand, rivaling Shaolin's Divine Dragon.
Unsheathing nails ignored vitals as he probed retreating gaps.
Crack.
Just then, the spear's momentum faltered.
Tang Gyeon gleamed low, maximizing the terrain.
Squeee!
Shoving tangled shaft aside for tiger's chance.
Click.
But caught off-guard was Tang Gyeon.
'The spear... splitting?'
Stepping forward, he dodged the short spear and jerked his head back hastily.
"Kuh!"
Length changed; distance unmeasurable.
Like facing invisible darts, he overlapped praying hands to barely halt the Dark Spirit spearhead.
Thung!
Thrown back, Tang Gyeon's back met a massive tree.
Chin.
Drawn by momentum, Dark Spirit's tip pierced another thick trunk beyond his shoulder.
No gap? Make one.
From dismay to triumphant smile, opposite Seo Mun-ha's qi burst.
No repeats.
Boom!
Tree exploded, unable to hold; splintered shards rained on Tang Gyeon.
Plip plip plip—
Minor scratches.
Splat!
Far from a downpour's drenching, but shallow blood filled wrinkles, neatly bound black hair unkemptly loosened.
Whoosh!
Wind-swept locks obscured vision as something neared narrow sight.
'Not the blade?'
A pitch-black spear.
"......Don't toy with me!"
Wrath-twisted hands parried the shaft.
Kwaaang—!
Meant simple deflection.
'Damn it.'
Knees buckled, minimizing shock, but prized hands cracked.
"Hoo. Hoo—."
Enduring pain, Tang Gyeon glared murderously at Seo Mun-ha.
Adjusting qi-breath gaps, he'd caught his breath early.
"Who the hell are you?"
Tang Gyeon voiced the onlookers' thoughts.
He'd sensed their hushed presence but had no spare attention.
"The Seo Mun Clan's wastrel, didn't you say it yourself?"
"Hah, scraping nerves to the end."
Chucking bitterly, he rose from slump.
"Don't make me laugh. You should've exhausted your qi ages ago. No feat achievable at your age."
Not in that brief time either.
"Who sent you?"
Decades-honed insight couldn't lie; schemer supreme Tang Gyeon sussed real and false backers.
"The Restoration Cult?"
One certainty: Yi Mok-yeom's soul entering Seo Mun-ha bore no relation to him.
"Or southern barbarians' poison users, western monks?"
Excluding Seo Mun Clan and Murim Alliance, he pointed elsewhere.
"Maybe raised in Iron Arms Castle."
It fit perfectly.
'Deliberate approach from the start.'
Seo Mun-ha, vicious enough to use Scattering Merit Poison concealing his true self.
"Should've killed you then. Dug my own grave, haha!"
Tang Gyeon abruptly cut laughter.
"Fair enough."
Gazing at Seo Mun-ha with lingering, wistful smile.
The Blood-Faced Asura, hidden three years, found proper grave.
Recalling Iron Arms Castle Lord's feigned benevolence, Tang Gyeon quietly conceded defeat.
"But I can't just offer my neck meekly."
Battle's outcome aside.
"What if you do?"
Seo Mun-ha quipped back at unexpectedly jovial Blood-Faced Asura's end.
"Forgot to warn you. No one's walked away intact after calling me a mongrel."
In dead silence, Tang Gyeon surged qi.
Rumble rumble—
Handless, his ultimate technique.
"Blood Shadow Barrier."
All internal energy poured into Blood Shadow Art's profundity emanated from his body.
"Urgh, uwaaaah!"
Like yin energy erupting into sunlight.
"What is that?!"
Gu Chil and Jin Mu fled in panic from realm-dominating resonance.
Whiiiing.
Fierce winds centered on Tang Gyeon, drawing nearby objects; root-clinging watchers strained desperately not to be dragged.
Drip.
Tang Gyeon wasn't unscathed.
Blood trickling from mouth showed overexertion; couldn't fully escape resonance's backlash.
In short, a self-destructive gambit.
Solely steadfast amid storm: Seo Mun-ha.
"......"
Spreading qi wide, he assumed stance.
Reflecting on awaited moment, it held little grand meaning.
As Tang Gyeon said, no honor, money, or justice drove him.
Just curiosity-born, self-satisfying fight.
'At least resentment toward this one is real.'
Revenge and atonement.
Paltry guilt for usurping another's body and life—what he could offer.
Not inverting wastrel image, nor solidifying family ties.
Seo Mun-ha's wishes unknowable; contradictions aside, Yi Mok-yeom could only do this much.
"Still......"
Yi Mok-yeom as Seo Mun-ha thrust spear, shedding all grudges.
"Hide-and-seek was fun, thanks to you."
Massive internal energy coursed through meridians.
Suuu.
Northern Guard Mysterious Distant Spear, profundity.
Clang!
Spear tip pierced resonance pinpoint.
Paat!
Realm-shaking vibrations vanished in blink.
Plop plop.
With nature's halted whirl, clamor subsided.
"......Heh."
Tang Gyeon barely stood on ground.
Pale with exhaustion, no regrets marred his face.
"Reads flow, shatters core. Simple principle, yet diving center without hesitation."
Some regret, but unleashing full power after ages felt refreshing.
"Did that sword ghost fall to this too?"
"No."
"I see...... Something's nagged me. Guess I'm better after all?"
Smirking, Seo Mun-ha lowered raised spear.
No need for finale.
"Fifty-two years."
Tang Gyeon murmured candidly through hazy eyes.
"Number of warriors I've killed and spared outnumbers your rice bowls eaten."
All meaningless, he lamented life's vanity.
"Maybe."
Seo Mun-ha replied calmly.
"But those I've killed and spared outnumber your rice bowls."
He personally corrected Tang Gyeon's misconception.
'So that's it......'
Tang Gyeon realized.
Not even Iron Arms Castle Lord could raise such a man.
Sluuump.
Head drooping, Seo Mun-ha bid separate farewell.
'Can't pass regards.'
To the one granting this life's chance.
"Rebirth in paradise."