Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Choice (1)
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“What is this?”
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon let out a hollow laugh at the two martial artists who had suddenly appeared.
“Am I seeing things?”
“...No.”
Ouyang Jue tossed the Demonic Doctor to the ground and unleashed his remaining Purple Mist energy.
*Whoooosh-*
Unlike his opponent, who had fought countless formidable foes, Ouyang Jue looked as if he had preserved his full strength.
His action was more effective than a hundred words, like a splash of cold water to the face.
But that wasn't all.
“The Demonic Doctor has decided to join us.”
“Cut the crap.”
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon casually dismissed Ouyang Jue’s words.
Who was the Demonic Doctor?
He might call himself an errand boy for the Eight Evils, but he was a sorcerer who possessed the arts of the highest heavens.
If he were the type to kneel before mere pain or trivial emotions, he would never have been accepted as an ally.
As the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon’s eyes widened, Ouyang Jue shrugged as if he had no choice.
The next moment, Ouyang Jue’s right foot blurred.
*Crack!*
He kicked the Demonic Doctor’s body up with the instep of his foot, striking a pressure point on his shoulder, then swiftly twisted his waist and pressed the crown of his head with his big toe.
“Kuaargh!”
It was only natural for him to cry out in a hoarse voice from such a brutally violent point-striking technique.
The fact that Ouyang Jue hadn’t killed him was a testament to his skill, but the martial artists watching felt a chill run down their spines.
As the Demonic Doctor gasped for breath with his face pressed to the ground, Ouyang Jue pulled him up by the shoulder.
“Now, speak.”
“S-Speak of what!”
“That you have surrendered to me.”
At those words, the Demonic Doctor’s gaze turned to the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon.
It was a sight that made one grimace instinctively.
He had lost a lethal amount of blood, becoming a man of gore, and his prosthetic leg was half-shattered, rendered useless.
The Demonic Doctor asked the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon in a frank voice.
“What happened to your arm?”
“Sometimes, unfortunate things happen when you fight.”
There was no pain, no fear on the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon’s face as he answered.
Nor was there any anger blaming the situation.
He simply stated it was unavoidable. As the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon recalled in a calm voice, the Demonic Doctor gave a bitter smile.
“I’m afraid I’m not as strong as you, Divine Demon.”
“...You bastard.”
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon burst into a hollow laugh. But he couldn't hide his emotional turmoil, and his confused state of mind was evident in his tone.
“I wasn’t expecting much from a mere errand boy anyway, but this is a bit disappointing. Well, I’m sure you had your reasons.”
“...”
“I never expected a bat-like bastard like you to remain with the Eight Evils for long in the first place.”
*Ptui.*
Spitting out a broken tooth, the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon raised his fist once more.
*Crack.*
His bones were such a mess; could it even be called a fist anymore?
A complex expression flickered across the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon’s face for a moment. But his hesitation was brief.
When had he become so obsessed with form?
To crumble over something like this would be a waste of the life he had lived so far.
Even if his bones were ground to dust, the fist of a Divine Demon shatters diamonds. That was why, for hundreds of years, he had been called the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon.
No matter how difficult the situation, that fact alone would not change. A fiery heat settled on his face.
*Shhhk.*
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon widened his stance and squared his shoulders proudly.
Now that the Martial Alliance’s subjugation force had surrounded him, there was no way to defend against every direction.
So, he would throw himself at a single target.
*Bang!*
The sole of his foot pushed off the ground, propelling his body forward.
The thick demonic energy pushing at his back alone far surpassed high-level movement arts like Kunlun's Eight Forms of the Cloud Dragon.
Ouyang Jue licked his dry lips.
‘To think he’d charge without a moment’s hesitation.’
The instant the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon’s killing intent rushed him, Ouyang Jue grabbed the Demonic Doctor by the scruff of his neck and threw him backward.
*Clang!*
Sparks flew as the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon's claw hand clashed with Severing Manifestation. A face twisted like a ferocious demon filled Ouyang Jue’s vision.
“You intend to kill the Demonic Doctor and die taking us with you?”
“Rather than live a wretched life, I will die as a Divine Demon.”
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon snorted and lashed out with his remaining leg, aiming for Ouyang Jue’s abdomen.
*Poong!*
The blow was so powerful it not only rustled the Mount Hua Sect uniform but tore it.
Ouyang Jue fiercely reinforced his protective aura and clenched his jaw.
“I never dreamed there was such loyalty among you monsters!”
As Ouyang Jue taunted him, the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon wiggled his four remaining fingers.
Loyalty.
The mere thought of it was enough to make him laugh and curse.
If such a sentiment existed among the Eight Evils, the Black Dragon would never have died.
‘Once we achieve our great ambition, we are destined to turn on each other as enemies.’
—If one of them dies before the threads of causality are all untangled, it just means they were weak.
Recalling the Crow's words, the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon wore a faint smirk.
There was Liu Zhangming, who seemed to have received the full blessing of the martial arts, and Ouyang Jue, a completely unexpected foe.
Even Fist Star, Nameless, was a worthy opponent that not even the Little One, who reads the heavens' secrets, had foreseen.
‘There was also that fellow with some decent fist and leg techniques.’
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon’s gaze briefly flickered to the Master of the Dark Clouds before returning.
Now was the time to unleash a madness that transcended will.
“If you all wish to die, then I, the Divine Demon, shall grant it. I will personally gouge out your eyes so you cannot find your way even in the nine heavens of the underworld!”
The moment the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon bent his knees, Ouyang Jue circulated his Purple Mist Divine Arts to their absolute limit.
He also didn't forget to enhance his body with the Path Towards the Extreme of Light.
Even a wounded beast, when it disregards its own life, can easily kill three or four able-bodied men. How much more so for the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon?
If they underestimated him for having only one arm and one leg, they would all likely be annihilated. Above all, he would have nothing to say if he met the deceased Seo Mun-hwi in the underworld.
—Let’s go, Senior Brother.
At Ouyang Jue’s telepathic message, Liu Zhangming raised his Dragon's Tear Sword as if he had been waiting. Peng Tian-yu, who had been tending to the seriously wounded, also stealthily moved to Nameless's side.
Four against one.
The joint attack began with them positioned in the four cardinal directions, but the martial prowess of the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon, who had cast aside his life, was beyond imagination.
*Craaack— KABOOM!*
Just as he had seen with the Black Dragon in the past, the heavens were contained in the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon's fist. The atmosphere itself spun into a single spear.
Ouyang Jue narrowed his eyes at the crimson-black figure of the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon.
‘So the source of that monstrous art the Demonic Doctor showed earlier… was the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon.’
Unlike the Black Dragon, whose external arts could be called absolute, the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon seemed to have infused demonic energy into his thousand minor meridians.
It was something impossible for a human body.
It was an insane feat, possible only because he was the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon who could freely manipulate demonic energy, and because he possessed a body as sturdy as the Black Dragon’s.
Just then, the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon shouted.
“You bastard, Demonic Doctor! If you want to live, crawl! Run away! Otherwise, only death awaits!”
At those words, the Demonic Doctor’s eyes widened.
He had been sensing an opportunity, but the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon’s words were quite unexpected.
To tell him to run after threatening to kill him.
As the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon unleashed his immense power, the Demonic Doctor secretly smirked.
‘If I can escape thanks to you… I will remember this.’
Just as the Demonic Doctor was about to move cautiously, three martial artists blocked his path.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
It was Seo Mun-yeol, the vice-commander of the Black Wind Unit, and two of his subordinates.
While they couldn't be compared to absolute masters like Jeok Sa-goeng or Nameless, they were peak masters who ranked among the top in the martial world.
Fighting three against one in his current state?
The Demonic Doctor couldn't hide his look of despair. In a way, he envied the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon.
To fight by burning one's own life meant having no regrets for the future.
“I surrender.”
As soon as the Demonic Doctor raised his hands, a telepathic message in a peculiar tone reached him.
—I will create an opportunity for you.
—...I understand.
The Demonic Doctor’s lips moved slightly.
—I will be waiting for that moment, oh Demonic God of the Crow.
*Rustle.*
No sooner had he finished his reply than a martial artist in white robes descended from the mountain.
***
“What are you going to do now?”
At the Little One’s question, King Yama replied in an indifferent voice.
“The Buddha has been defeated. It is simply that. Why, are you anxious?”
“Well… there are only five of the Eight Evils left. And one of them broke off from us long ago.”
The Little One did not hide their anxious feelings and openly expressed them.
“They said the Crow’s location is also being narrowed down, right? At this rate…”
“Do not act rashly. You are one of the Eight Evils as well.”
When King Yama warned him in a stern voice, the Little One pouted as if sulking and tapped the round table.
‘No matter how I think about it, I dislike the Crow the most.’
Has it been fifty years now since he stopped participating in the round table, all for the sake of ruling the martial world?
In all that time, the Crow had not once helped the Eight Evils.
On the contrary, didn’t he use even the Buddha, who had taken refuge with him, as a scapegoat to divert attention?
‘If the Sword Demon had stepped in at that time…’
The Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon would not have been in danger. No, in the first place, the identities of the Eight Evils would never have been revealed like this.
After all, Sword Demon Gyo Gang-cheon was the strongest among the Eight Evils in one-on-one combat.
The Little One glanced sideways at King Yama.
“By the way, Yama, haven’t you built up any forces of your own?”
“Such things only become a weakness in the end.”
King Yama thought of the Crow, the Asura, and the Buddha, and let out a smirk.
“The Buddha’s identity was revealed because he was at the Shaolin Temple trying to build his forces, and isn’t the Crow also finding his movements restricted?”
In the end, it was a double-edged sword. King Yama chided the Buddha for his foolishness.
“This might be for the best. Keeping someone who acts on impulse nearby would only lead to trouble later on.”
“That might be true, but…”
A look of worry crossed the Little One’s face.
“Wasn’t it the Crow who drove the Goblin into a deadly situation? Isn’t this the same as what happened to the Buddha?”
To that, King Yama replied in a calm voice.
“That will depend on how the Crow chooses to act.”
Sensing the killing intent in King Yama’s voice, the Little One giggled.
***
*Shhk, thud.*
As the member of the White-Robed Unit finished his report and prostrated himself, the Crow clicked his tongue lightly.
The situation was far from good. Above all, the fact that the Demonic Doctor had been captured was giving the Crow a headache.
‘What on earth were you thinking, just watching?’
He knew the Demonic Doctor was paying excessive attention to the Mount Hua Sect, but to get close enough to be captured…
The Crow half-gave up on understanding the Demonic Doctor.
On the other hand, he was also curious.
The Demonic Doctor was not one to willingly put himself in danger, no matter the reason.
There must have been a reason for his actions.
‘Come to think of it, they said Ouyang Jue and Liu Zhangming were there.’
He was well aware of them, having seen their faces several times before. But the martial prowess he had seen back then had not been so impressive.
Even if they had been hiding their skills, they shouldn't have been at a level to reach the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon.
The Crow mulled over the White-Robed Unit's report, lost in thought.
“Dangerous fellows.”
Not only had they broken through the wall of a peak master despite being around the age of twenty, but Ouyang Jue had also displayed a martial art he had never heard of.
Moreover, it was a martial art of lightning energy, which was known not to exist in the Mount Hua Sect.
“I heard he’s left Mount Hua a few times. Did he have some sort of fortuitous encounter during that time?”
How else could he have grown so strong at such a rapid pace, if not for a fortuitous encounter?
The Crow let out a long sigh.
‘And then there’s Liu Zhangming.’
Seeing the line written at the end of the White-Robed Unit’s report, the Crow couldn't help but ponder for the time it takes to brew tea.
—He appears to have reached the Path of the Heavenly Precipice.
Wasn't he only twenty-four or twenty-five?
No matter how great his martial talent, it defied common sense. The word ‘genius’ was not enough.
It was as if he were seeing Lü Dongbin from hundreds of years ago, who was under the protection of the Battle Immortals.
‘But the heavens should no longer be able to interfere with mortals…?’
What kind of being was on this earth, aiding the Mount Hua Sect?
The Crow called for a carrier pigeon, quickly scribbled a few words, and sent it to the Heaven-Bearing Asura.