Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Black Dragon (5)
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The Purple Mist True Qi he had cultivated at the Mount Hua Sect, and the Buddhist energy he had mastered after obtaining the peerless divine artifact, the Diamond Fist-Seal Armor.
They blended together, seeping into his sword, Severing Manifestation. Soon, a pattern of brilliant stars flowed across the flat of the blade.
The Heavenly Escape Sword Arts, the sword of Lü Dongbin, whom the Omniscient One held in the highest esteem.
Suddenly unleashing the sword art once called the greatest under heaven, he felt his blood and qi constrict painfully.
A trickle of blood.
Fresh blood flowed from Ouyang Jue's nose. He had unleashed the Heavenly Escape Sword Arts without any true enlightenment, and the drain on his internal energy was immense.
In truth, his sword was merely mimicking the form.
Ouyang Jue knew well that this was something one should never do in a duel between masters.
It was simply because his opponent was the Black Dragon.
The knowledge that the Omniscient One was behind him, and the goal of erasing the regrets of his past life, kept Ouyang Jue from giving up.
His spirit, elevated to its absolute limit, guided Ouyang Jue.
“Hooooo…”
Ouyang Jue forcibly calmed his raging blood and qi.
Having drawn forth the peerless martial art known as the Heavenly Escape Sword Arts, it was time to wield it.
*Fwoooosh-!*
Wielding the Heavenly Escape Sword Arts, infused with both Purple Mist True Qi and Buddhist energy, he swung his blade as if it held the clouds themselves.
A sword art without forms, making it the most free, and therefore, the most difficult.
The Heavenly Escape Sword Arts, said to have slain the White Demon, was now imperfectly recreated, leaping across hundreds of years.
Facing the Heavenly Escape Sword Arts, the Black Dragon's fist twitched for a moment.
“...What!”
The Black Dragon's face hardened, as if he'd been pricked by an entirely unexpected thorn.
But the fist he had already thrust forward did not stop.
This boy was not Lü Dongbin. He was nothing but a whelp, not even a man grown.
The Black Dragon's fist clenched tightly once more, filled with resolve.
Countless years had passed since that time. Now, finally, was his chance to escape.
He could not let this opportunity slip by because of some whelp and that old pine tree of a man.
*Thud!*
Stomping the ground, the Black Dragon drew the inky energy from his inner core and wish-granting pearl, shrouding his entire body in it.
‘If only I didn't have this damned mask...!’
Trash like them wouldn't have lasted even a single exchange.
The Black Dragon swelled his muscles, then tightened them.
His dense muscles took the form of armor, sharply defined. And it was not limited to his body.
The same went for the fist that was about to meet Severing Manifestation.
*KABOOOM!*
A sound like a cannonball exploding erupted. The clash was so immense that a cloud of dust billowed up between Ouyang Jue and the Black Dragon.
Watching this, the Omniscient One ceaselessly drew talismans and formations, trying to offset the energy emanating from the Black Dragon.
But it was impossible to suppress the energy directly.
Moreover, the dust and sand made it difficult to assist with talismans.
‘So this is one of the Eight Evils...!’
For the first time in his life, the Omniscient One felt a sense of urgency.
Beyond the dust cloud, the ominous sounds of fighting continued.
*Clang, crack, kaang!*
No sound indicated who had the upper hand. However, he could tell that Ouyang Jue was feeling the strain as he used an unfamiliar sword art.
‘Then what must I do here?’
The Omniscient One called forth Dae-ung, who was waiting nearby.
*Grooooowl-!*
“Yes, return what I gave you.”
Taking a golden rope from Dae-ung, the Omniscient One quickly wove a formation to borrow the power of the Four Directional Gods.
‘I had intended to avoid this, as it is an art of the heretical path.’
But in a situation like this, one must use any art available, regardless of its origin.
The Omniscient One precisely tossed the talismans onto the six divinatory points of the eight trigrams, the vital points of the formation.
‘The Four Directional Gods signify the divine spirits of the Central Plains, and in the East, they are sometimes depicted as gods who protect tombs from the invasion of evil beings.’
Similarly, in Taoism, are there not the Four Dragon Kings who protect the four seas?
The Omniscient One drew upon the talismans with his blood and soul, sacrificing his own lifespan.
Seeing this, Dae-ung made a sorrowful sound.
*Groooan...*
“Don't worry, my lifespan is not so short.”
The Omniscient One chuckled and comforted Dae-ung with his eyes.
Meanwhile, inside the cloud of sand and dust, Ouyang Jue was facing great difficulty.
‘The dust isn't settling.’
*Grit.*
Ouyang Jue gritted his teeth. The moment the Black Dragon attacked, he had to catch the fleeting instant his shadow flickered through the dust and swing Severing Manifestation.
‘Damn it. My vision is too limited.’
Furthermore, the sand kicked up by the Black Dragon sometimes hindered his footing.
Because of this, Ouyang Jue could only react slightly slower than the Black Dragon.
And that is fatal in a fight between masters.
*Kaang!*
The instant Severing Manifestation clashed with the fist, a shadow fell upon him from below.
*Thwack!*
“...Keuk.”
He managed to block part of the Black Dragon's roundhouse kick with his knee and elbow, but he couldn't deflect the entire blow and had to take the rest in his side.
Ouyang Jue grimaced deeply and tapped his side.
‘At least three bones are completely broken.’
The internal injuries he sustained from the first clash were also gradually growing hot, like a fever.
The pressure, the danger—it was the first he had experienced in this life. Call it what you will.
The Black Dragon was a master on a different level from ordinary peak martial artists.
‘That bastard's body itself is a weapon.’
Ouyang Jue forcibly swung his wrist, which was starting to creak.
*Krrrrk...!*
Even though he concentrated twenty years of internal energy into a single point, and even though it clashed with the rare weapon that was Severing Manifestation, there was no change in the Black Dragon's skin.
No matter how trained one's body was, the skin should at least have turned red.
Ouyang Jue clicked his tongue and retreated a bit to calm his ragged breath.
-Omniscient One, is this bastard not human?
*Kaang!*
No sooner had he sent that mental message than the Black Dragon swung his left palm.
Just as one side of his vision turned crimson, the Omniscient One's reply came.
-As far as I know, his true form is a dragon.
As if he had never considered it, Ouyang Jue let out a disbelieving laugh.
-...A dragon? Are you seriously talking about the kind of dragon I know?
-Yes. Black Dragon isn't just a title.
The Omniscient One summoned a demon and sent it charging toward the Black Dragon.
He didn't expect it to win. It was merely to buy time to convey his message to Ouyang Jue.
*Kiiiaaaak!*
But the demon was torn apart alive by the Black Dragon, failing to buy even a moment of time.
-The mask that bastard is wearing is itself a restriction placed by the heavens. In the Black Dragon's case, not only his mystical powers but also his true body are bound by that mask.
*Thump!*
Having torn the demon apart, the Black Dragon surged toward Ouyang Jue. There was only a little time left now.
-What happens if I break it?
At Ouyang Jue's question, the Omniscient One imagined the worst-case scenario and shouted resolutely.
-You absolutely must not! If one of the Eight Evils regains their true form, no one will be able to stop them!
-Understood.
Also, he had rested long enough.
Ouyang Jue's complexion, which had turned deathly pale, had stabilized to a reddish hue.
-Let's talk next after I win.
-Alright.
The Omniscient One drove a stake made of lightning-struck jujube wood into the center of the formation.
Then he bit his thumb and dripped blood onto the stake.
‘This should be enough to help.’
The Omniscient One's gaze turned toward the dust cloud.
Soon, his lips moved.
-Now!
* * *
In the current era, the Black Dragon was but a peculiar man in a mask. Hundreds of years ago, however, he was a monster known as the Great Dragon or the Evil Dragon, a creature that had plunged the entire Central Plains into terror.
Even Lü Dongbin, hailed as the greatest swordsman of his time, had ascended to immortality without being able to end the Black Dragon's life. Thus, the Black Dragon never doubted he was the strongest.
And that was still the case now.
Though the heavens had stripped him of his mystical powers and his true form, his physical strength remained.
The Black Dragon's eyes could see for over a hundred li. His skin and muscles were impervious to any blade, and his strength was so great he could treat massive objects as mere pebbles.
‘Strength that can be understood inspires awe, but strength that cannot be explained inspires fear.’
Having lived for a long time, the Black Dragon had gained the wisdom to read the hearts of humans, if not all things in the universe.
Though he usually acted impatient, within him dwelled a monster that had lived for hundreds of years.
“Hmph.”
The Black Dragon's gaze pierced through Ouyang Jue.
From his hair down, there was almost no part of him that was unscathed. No matter how profound his internal energy was, it wasn't enough to endure all the impacts.
His experience and martial prowess, belying his age, were unexpected, but that was as far as it went.
The Black Dragon broke from the simple punches he had shown so far and extended his right palm backward.
“...!”
Ouyang Jue felt that something was amiss.
But soon his eyes were fixed on the Black Dragon's movements.
Ouyang Jue knew that if his opponent took a different stance than before, that very moment would be his opportunity.
If it meant finding a fatal opening or weakness—one that could not be found against mere punches and kicks—then it was a risk worth taking.
‘A chance thinner than a thread, but...’
He thought it was well worth a try.
*Kaaang!*
Ouyang Jue swung Severing Manifestation first, attempting a preemptive strike.
The power of the Heavenly Escape Sword Arts and the profundity from the Purple Mist True Qi and Buddhist energy mixed together. On top of that, Ouyang Jue's wrist twisted, creating another trajectory.
He added the Demon-Sealing Sword he had used against the Black Dragon Gang's underlings in the past, and employed the Path Towards the Extreme of Light, which he had stolen with his eyes from the Divine Demon Fist.
*Crackle, crackle!*
The lightning energy forcibly created with Purple Mist True Qi singed his hair. But thanks to it, the sand and dust that had tormented Ouyang Jue so much finally clumped together and fell to the ground.
The Black Dragon's eyes gleamed.
“...Hoh.”
An arrogant gaze was directed at Ouyang Jue, as if to ask if such a pathetic attack could really reach him. But Ouyang Jue did not rashly get angry or fall for the provocation.
He simply focused on maintaining the balance of his martial arts.
If his concentration wavered even a little, the lightning energy would seep inward, and the Heavenly Escape Sword Arts would cause his blood and qi to flow in reverse.
To his remaining left palm, he added the Thunderclap Lightning Palm. He made the lightning energy condense on his fingers as well, so he could shoot it even if he couldn't strike.
Ouyang Jue was juggling multiple martial arts at once, a volatile combination.
Moreover, two of them were martial arts he had never used before, learned only through manuals or by sight.
‘...It's possible.’
Ouyang Jue encouraged himself and steeled his heart. As he did, some of the pressure seemed to lift.
He also had something he could trust.
Ouyang Jue trusted the Omniscient One outside.
He trusted that the man was preparing something to compensate for the talisman arts that were unusable in the poor visibility.
Just then, a thread of a mental message tickled his ear.
-Now!
At the same time, a power of unknown origin filled the inside of the dust cloud.
“...Kgh!”
In that single moment.
The Black Dragon staggered, overcome by a feeling of enervation that pulled at his entire body.
But Ouyang Jue was filled with strength.
His creaking wrist, the bone fragments that had been aching to the point of turning to dust—everything seemed to fall back into place.
It had to be the formation, drawn at the cost of his own life force.
Ouyang Jue's gaze briefly flickered outward.
‘Thank you.’
*Scrape.*
Ouyang Jue's toes dug into the earth, and in the next instant, he shot forward.
He sensed the vital point in the very center of the Black Dragon's chest, a spot where the muscle and skin were unusually thin.