Chapter 464
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 464
Chapter Title: What an Incredible Guy
Yeon Ha-min was perfect for the role of calmly assessing the situation and offering advice.
But unexpectedly, Dang Jin-san was excelling at taking charge and leading people in this chaotic mess.
Not as Squad Seven's squad leader, but as if he had become the Fierce Dragon Corps leader in the absence of their actual corps leader.
They still didn't know that Ha Mu-baek was the Fierce Dragon Corps leader, or that Han Seol-bing was the vice leader.
There hadn't even been a chance to tell them, what with the fighting and then immediately entering meditation.
Namgung Hu quickly reached the Hocheon Corps position and relayed the message to Dam Mu-hun.
I could see him looking at Ha Seol-ran with surprised eyes.
Dam Mu-hun nodded without any particular suspicion.
Namgung Hu returned.
"Which way?"
At Yeon Ha-min's question, Ha Seol-ran pointed in one direction with her hand.
She kept glancing back nervously at Ha Mu-baek.
He was still deep in meditative trance.
No telling when he would open his eyes.
However.
His master's eyebrows were twitching.
As if he were surveying the surroundings.
Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong was doing the same.
Time passed amid everyone's tension.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
A deafening roar of rushing air echoed from afar.
"He's here."
Dang Jin-san muttered lowly.
At that moment.
Wi Ji-gun opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
So Hwi-woong and Han Seol-bing also ended their meditation and stood.
"What an incredible guy."
Wi Ji-gun muttered as he looked in the direction Ha Seol-ran had pointed.
He glanced at Ha Mu-baek, still in meditation.
"Trying to break through another wall this time?"
Otherwise.
There was no reason Ha Mu-baek, whose senses were sharper than Wi Ji-gun's, wouldn't have awakened from his trance.
Wi Ji-gun checked his own condition.
'About thirty percent?'
Thirty percent of full power.
He had recovered exactly that much internal energy.
So Hwi-woong and Han Seol-bing had likely recovered even less.
Their cultivation methods couldn't compare to the Infinite Bright Wheel Heart Method.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The roar grew louder and louder.
And finally.
Dokgo Ya-pae revealed himself.
"Kekeke. So you're here."
He charged straight at Yang Bi-chang.
A juicy dantian right before his eyes.
His hand shot out toward Yang Bi-chang's abdomen.
Chaeng!
However.
Wi Ji-gun's sword blocked the hand.
"What are you?"
Dokgo Ya-pae's blood-red eyes gleamed ferociously.
Like a beast disturbed from its long-awaited feast.
Killing intent exploded from Dokgo Ya-pae's body.
Then his other hand flew in.
Wi Ji-gun's sword swiftly deflected it as well.
Kang!
Chaeng!
Kang!
Chaeng!
In an instant, over a dozen exchanges flew back and forth.
And the one who retreated was Dokgo Ya-pae.
"Hmmm."
Dokgo Ya-pae stared at Wi Ji-gun impassively.
Then.
Ssaeng!
A greatsword suddenly flew in.
He tilted his head back to dodge easily, but the blade arced through the air and came at him again.
Even so.
Dokgo Ya-pae's fist, wrapped in black energy, smashed the incoming sword.
The blade spun away wildly.
And landed in the hand of So Hwi-woong, who had charged in full force.
Mukgeum Sword.
This greatsword, presented to So Hwi-woong as a sixtieth birthday gift from the Ten Thousand Alliance, had become his beloved weapon.
So Hwi-woong stood beside Wi Ji-gun.
"It looks like we'll have to fight him together, Elder."
He proposed a joint assault.
Wi Ji-gun nodded slightly.
This new arrival.
Was different from the ones before.
And with their internal energy still insufficient.
They couldn't afford a one-on-one.
Dokgo Ya-pae eyed the two standing side by side.
They clearly meant to team up.
'They're strong.'
He had been focused only on the one meditating over there.
But these two were no pushovers either.
Dokgo Ya-pae shifted his gaze again.
At the end were Yang Bi-chang and the Demon-Sealing Corps members who had consumed jiangshi inner cores.
As long as those two were guarding them.
He couldn't easily get his hands on them.
Instead.
They showed no interest whatsoever in the frozen Protector Gods.
As if confident they were completely silenced.
Of course, it was thanks to Ha Mu-baek's declaration before entering meditation.
But Dokgo Ya-pae had no way of knowing that.
He glanced briefly at the Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi.
'Reduced to that state.'
He had initially thought it pathetic.
But seeing it firsthand changed his mind.
Suppressed by that kind of energy.
It was natural that none of the six could move.
His gaze shifted back to Ha Mu-baek.
This must be his doing.
So Hwi-woong and Wi Ji-gun glared at Dokgo Ya-pae.
So Hwi-woong glanced at Han Seol-bing.
"Can you trap him with a formation?"
Han Seol-bing, who had been watching Dokgo Ya-pae, shook her head.
There were formations that could bind a monster like that.
But none she could deploy right here.
To trap him.
She would need a grand formation like the one at the Ice Heaven Palace.
One utilizing every terrain feature around.
Not some trifling formation using the iron rod in her possession.
He would tear it apart with overwhelming force.
Thus pondering how to deal with the Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi before her eyes.
Dokgo Ya-pae suddenly slunk away.
And appeared where the other fallen Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi lay.
And without delay.
He lifted them into the air with telekinesis and vanished with them.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Leaving only the same rushing roar as when he arrived.
Th-that..."
So Hwi-woong blurted in shock.
He never imagined the foe wouldn't attack them but instead rescue the Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi.
However.
Even if he took them, it would be useless.
Ha Mu-baek had frozen them solid with his ice technique.
No matter how strong that guy was, he couldn't break through it.
Wi Ji-gun and So Hwi-woong stared in the direction Dokgo Ya-pae had vanished for a moment, then immediately entered meditation.
No knowing when Ha Mu-baek would finish his session.
Nor when that monster might return.
They needed to recover as much internal energy as possible.
Dokgo Ya-pae glanced back.
No sign of pursuit.
If those two had chased him, it might have been troublesome.
Of course.
They had just fought hordes of jiangshi and those six Protector Gods.
The fact that they had won already was unbelievable in itself.
Even if they looked fine.
Their insides couldn't be unscathed.
How long had he run?
At a spot that seemed suitable, Dokgo Ya-pae stopped.
And set down the six ice blocks he had brought.
The ice lumps rolled about haphazardly.
Dokgo Ya-pae gazed at them quietly.
"Kiheek."
A laugh escaped him.
The inner core.
Undoubtedly located in their abdomens.
Just like a dantian.
He could sense the energy they held.
So tantalizingly ripe.
Dokgo Ya-pae gathered energy in his hand and thrust it in.
Kwang!
With a loud crash, the ice block flew backward.
He felt a numbing chill in his hand.
And.
The ice block was intact.
His lips twisted.
The ice was made of more formidable energy than expected.
In the end, Dokgo Ya-pae drew his weapon.
The Flowing Leaf Sword dangling from his waist.
To think the first time he drew his beloved blade after awakening was just to smash some ice lumps.
Ridiculous.
But he put his full power into it.
Black energy surged from his entire body, enveloping the Flowing Leaf Sword.
And he swung down with all his might.
Kang!
The blade sank in halfway.
Another full swing, and it split cleanly in two.
The Protector God's upper and lower body were severed.
Without a care.
He plunged his hand in and rummaged around the abdomen.
And grasped the inner core.
Dokgo Ya-pae pulled it out immediately.
Truly succulent and appetizing.
Yet disappointing too.
'As expected. Under the dominion of the Blood Heaven Ghost Command Soul-Mixing Blood Law.'
The inner core was slightly damaged.
The Great Blood Law.
It wasn't omnipotent, nor did it grant infinite power.
It required power to revive silenced jiangshi.
And the source was the jiangshi's inner core.
These had undergone a death-like state in the enemy's hands before revival.
In that process, their inner cores had been expended and damaged.
The silver lining was that they hadn't been revived multiple times.
The damage wasn't severe.
Dokgo Ya-pae popped the inner core into his mouth without hesitation.
As it entered his stomach, it met his black energy.
And was absorbed into Dokgo Ya-pae.
A Protector God.
No, a Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi's inner core was indeed different.
The quantity and quality of the absorbed energy were immense.
Nothing like the cores he had stolen and absorbed from the Ironclad Jiangshi.
'The inner cores from the Darkblood Jiangshi or Ironclad Jiangshi would have been fine too... but not a single one in sight.'
He had no way of knowing they had all been completely annihilated by Wi Ji-gun and Ha Mu-baek.
About half an incense stick's time to fully absorb one inner core.
Dokgo Ya-pae's face filled with satisfaction.
He hadn't expected this much.
"Next."
He raised the Flowing Leaf Sword again.
Gathered energy and swung down.
Seogeok.
Unlike before, it split in one stroke.
The effect of absorbing one inner core showed immediately.
"Keke. Good. Just wait a little."
Half an incense stick per inner core.
Five left.
That would be one and a half incense sticks total.
Then he would head back and finish them off.
With such thoughts, he took the newly extracted inner core into his mouth.
Ha Mu-baek was swimming deep within his inner self.
The aftershock of instantly recovering to ten-tenths.
He had unknowingly entered the world of the mindscape.
It happened right after he smiled in satisfaction at reaching ten-tenths.
A pure white world of nothingness.
There, Ha Mu-baek could precisely observe his own body's state.
He still couldn't use the power of the Ultimate Realm.
But with the ability to use Nine Layers of the Abyss now.
He had already far surpassed his former self.
When he could wield all his power.
Even Ha Mu-baek couldn't imagine what he would become.
A sword appeared in the void.
A sword of the mindscape.
Ha Mu-baek reached out and grasped it.
And swung it lightly.
A playful motion.
But what Ha Mu-baek unleashed was.
The Abyss.
A sword strike that cleaved the pure white mindscape world in half.
The momentary rift closed again.
Ha Mu-baek nodded at the sight.
He didn't know why he had fallen into this mindscape world.
But he had learned how to escape it.
The Abyss.
He needed to cleave this world completely with it.
As he held the sword, Ha Mu-baek suddenly looked up at the void as if struck by a thought.
That place too was a white world.
"Not sure if it'll be okay."
In the midst of meditation.
Ha Mu-baek had definitely sensed another massive energy.
He had rushed here thinking this was the priority.
But one Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi remained.
What if it appeared before he awoke?
"If Master recovers all his internal energy..."
He should be able to suppress it.
That was what Ha Mu-baek's senses had told him at the time.
Trapped in the mindscape, Ha Mu-baek could gain no external information.
So he had no choice but to believe it.
Things couldn't have changed in that short time.
Hoping his master would recover quickly.
He had no choice but to swing the sword.
He raised it and swung down again.
Seogeok.
This time, it even seemed he heard the sound of space splitting.
However.
He hadn't cleaved it fully.
So it closed again.
"Hmmm."
Ha Mu-baek pondered briefly.
And raised the sword again.
Seogeok.
Again.
Failure.
He pondered again.
Raised the sword.
Swing.
Ha Mu-baek repeated the same actions.
As time passed.
His Abyss grew ever more refined.
Still nowhere near the Ultimate's version.
But.
***
The enemy had vanished.
But Ha Seol-ran spread her senses wide to track his movements.
Not knowing when he might return.
Yet.
'H-he's gotten stronger.'
About one incense stick after he disappeared.
His energy had grown even vaster.
'How... N-no way, is that why?'
The Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi who had suddenly snatched the ice blocks and fled.
His purpose.
Ha Seol-ran focused her senses.
To even detect the presence of the Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi suppressed by her brother's ice.
Thus, her senses pinpointed even the faint energy leaking from the ice blocks.
'Five?!?'
One was missing.
Ha Seol-ran whipped her head around to look at Yeon Ha-min.
"What? Something wrong?"
Yeon Ha-min asked calmly despite her sudden movement.
Ha Seol-ran nodded and quietly told her what she had sensed.