Chapter 582
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 582
Chapter Title: One Exchange?
Magical soul.
He didn't know exactly what that was.
However.
Among the things Mu-pung spat out amid excruciating agony, the requirements for the Soul-Devouring Great Law.
A magical soul was one of them.
Even Mu-pung only knew the name and not what it truly was.
In that sense, one could understand Akcho's fury.
He had revealed even classified secrets that didn't need to be shared with his subordinate.
Ha Mu-baek's expression remained unchanged.
As far as Akcho was concerned, he couldn't even guess how much that bastard Ha Mu-baek truly knew.
Gyu Hwi, Yu Chu-eun, and Wi Su-yeon simply watched the exchange between the two men.
The space was cramped.
With just five people, it already felt packed.
No one dared to move rashly.
"Still, he's the young cult leader. This hospitality is rather lacking."
Akcho flinched at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Then he forced a thin smile and regained his composure.
"Hah. Looks like that brat didn't spill everything to you after all. Right, of course. He's no fool; he wouldn't blab it all. I nearly fell for your trap again this time."
Fury flickered in Akcho's eyes.
It was anger at nearly being baited by Ha Mu-baek's schemes.
"Seems there are quite a few things even I don't know."
Ha Mu-baek readily admitted it.
The fact that he had so quickly regained his calm meant there was a flaw in what he had let slip.
Perhaps something related to the young cult leader's status, he speculated.
"Well, the mere fact that you know about the magical soul tells me that brat's half-useless anyway."
"So, what exactly were you plotting at Huashan Sect?"
Ha Mu-baek cut straight to the point.
One of the Demonic Cult's Eight Protectors.
Akcho, the third-ranked Ghoul Name King.
He had spent no small amount of time at Huashan Sect. Enough to even employ the Soul-Devouring Great Law.
There had to be some major scheme behind it.
But Akcho merely shrugged.
"Nothing much? No schemes or anything."
Ha Mu-baek snorted.
"You expect me to believe that nonsense?"
"Didn't you personally scour every inch of Huashan yourself?"
And indeed, there was nothing unusual at Huashan.
Except for one person.
Aside from Un Se-hyeok practicing demonic arts.
No one else had touched demonic arts.
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Yu Chu-eun.
"Did the sect leader issue any strange orders or suspicious tasks?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question directed at her, Yu Chu-eun fell into thought.
But nothing seemed suspicious.
Noh Hu-myeong had faithfully fulfilled his role as Huashan Sect Leader.
Yu Chu-eun shook her head.
"The sect leader carried out his duties as sect leader."
She couldn't believe the current situation, but she spoke only what she had sensed herself.
Akcho grinned wickedly.
"Tch. What a hassle."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue.
His workload had just increased.
If even Yu Chu-eun, Huashan Sect's Discipline Hall Lord, saw nothing suspicious, then Akcho must have acted with utmost secrecy.
Ha Mu-baek would have to personally review every detail.
He might even need to stay at Huashan longer than planned.
"Keke. I told you, I did nothing."
Akcho's voice dripped with smug satisfaction.
"Bullshit. You damn bastard, after using the Soul-Devouring Great Law no less. And you already forgot what you spouted first when you climbed up to this training cave?"
Ha Mu-baek spoke dismissively.
Akcho's very first words upon reaching the training cave summit.
Huashan was his territory; stay out of it.
"You came in with all the killing intent to slaughter Gwang-myeol and Geo-sal."
Akcho's mouth clamped shut, his face expressionless.
Gwang-myeol and Geo-sal.
Two other members of the Demonic Cult's Eight Protectors, known as Gwang-myeol King and Geo-sal King.
"You damn bastard. I should have killed you back then. The greatest mistake of my life. Just a split-second difference, and I failed."
"Not a mistake. That was simply your limit."
Back then.
It had truly been by a hair's breadth.
If the energy of the Underworld Demon Slaughter had struck Ha Mu-baek more cleanly, more fully.
Instant death.
Ha Mu-baek's hand drifted to his waist.
His right hand resting on the sword hilt.
"Shall we try it again, just like that time?"
Ha Mu-baek's provocation.
"You know far too much, don't you? Talking about Underworld Demon Slaughter to me now."
A cold voice.
The Soul-Devouring Great Law devoured the host's soul and took over their body.
Both internal energy and martial arts were exactly those of the sacrificial host.
With Noh Hu-myeong as Huashan Sect Leader, it was obvious the only immediately usable arts were Huashan's.
Akcho hadn't bothered training demonic arts separately in Noh Hu-myeong's body.
Yet Ha Mu-baek was bringing up Underworld Demon Slaughter.
Because of prior experience.
From questioning Gong Son Dan-gyeong based on that experience.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong had clearly said it.
That demonic energy implanted in the host's body could be made to rampage all at once.
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense.
Ten Thousand Demons Soul-Devouring Incarnation Great Law.
A Demonic Cult sorcery; of course it involved demonic energy.
There had to be demonic energy used to devour souls and manipulate the puppet.
Somehow, Ha Mu-baek couldn't sense that demonic energy.
The reason was simple.
The demonic energy resided not in the lower dantian, but the upper.
Hidden within the devoured soul, so Ha Mu-baek hadn't detected it.
Sensing Ha Mu-baek's intent to fight Akcho, Yu Chu-eun urgently cried out.
"P-Please! Save my senior brother!"
She believed he had fallen victim to the Demonic Cult's vile sorcery.
A desperate plea not to kill, but to save him.
Gyu Hwi echoed the same.
"You mustn't kill him!"
Akcho spoke in a disappointed tone at the two who assumed Ha Mu-baek's victory as a given.
"Tch. The Huashan Sect Leader and his disciples, yet you're so certain I'd lose to him. How disheartening."
"Screw you."
Ha Mu-baek's crude curse flew at Akcho.
Then he turned to Gyu Hwi, Yu Chu-eun, and Wi Su-yeon.
"Sect Leader Noh is already dead."
A firm, curt declaration.
To shatter their vain hopes, Ha Mu-baek spoke even more coldly.
"N-No, that can't be."
Wasn't Noh Hu-myeong right there, perfectly fine?
Hadn't he been completely normal all this time?
Dead?
"Didn't I say Soul-Devouring Great Law? A great law that devours souls."
Ha Mu-baek's intent was crystal clear.
Yu Chu-eun and Gyu Hwi recalled when he first uttered the technique's name.
Ten Thousand Demons Soul-Devouring Incarnation Great Law.
True to its name, a great law that devours a soul and wears the body.
Yes.
They might have intuited it the moment they heard the name.
That the sect leader was no longer of this world.
"I didn't call you two here for nothing."
He needed witnesses, so he had specifically summoned them here.
Gyu Hwi, the Plum Blossom Sword Sage, Huashan Sect's senior elder.
Yu Chu-eun, Discipline Hall Lord overseeing Huashan Sect's rules.
Two absolute witnesses whom no one in Huashan Sect could refute or challenge regarding today's events.
"He's dead anyway, but this body will meet its end by my hand."
That was why he had brought them here.
When Ha Mu-baek decided to mimic demonic energy here, he already harbored suspicions about the Soul-Devouring Great Law.
"Well then. Shall we see how much stronger the fledgling debutant has become?"
At that moment.
Akcho unleashed a terrifying aura.
While provoking Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek's brow furrowed slightly.
"This place is too cramped, so please move aside. You'll get caught in it."
At Ha Mu-baek's words.
The three leaped down from the peak.
This space was barely sufficient for one person to unleash martial arts.
In such a confined area, Ha Mu-baek and Akcho faced each other.
"One exchange?"
Akcho smirked darkly at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"I'm curious how you know so damn much. But killing you solves that. One exchange is plenty."
"I'll teach you whose hand felled your cult leader."
Ha Mu-baek muttered lowly.
The three, dodging the fierce gale from the surging energy, didn't hear his words.
The soul-devouring demonic energy.
Akcho detonated it in an instant.
"Grraaaaaargh!"
A roar filled with murderous intent exploded forth.
The rampaging demonic energy voraciously devoured Noh Hu-myeong's internal energy, swelling even larger.
A terrifying demonic energy poured from Noh Hu-myeong's body.
It was so dense and ferocious that even those at Huashan Sect could sense it.
"H-How can this be..."
"Hah..."
Sighs escaped Yu Chu-eun and Gyu Hwi.
Now sensing the demonic energy, Huashan Sect's elders and protectors traced its source and were scaling the peak.
Dawn was slowly breaking.
Crimson sunlight illuminated Ha Mu-baek and Noh Hu-myeong.
By now, both had drawn their swords.
They kicked off the ground, swinging at each other's throats. The blades clashed.
Ching! Cha-ching! Ching! Ching! Cha-ching!
In the narrow space, they struck fatal blows with minimal movements.
Sword auras gleaming brilliantly in the red sun.
White sword aura intertwined with black.
Each strike, each sword was lethal.
"Kahahahaha!"
A demonic laugh burst from Noh Hu-myeong's mouth.
"Ugh!"
"What is this?!"
Huashan Sect's protectors and elders, arriving near the training cave peak, were stunned.
The sect leader was emanating demonic energy and bellowing like a demon.
Unleashing the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Techniques, yet his blade reeked of foul stench and demonic energy overflowing.
How could they not be shocked?
"Doesn't your dantian ache? Kekeke."
Akcho provoked Ha Mu-baek once more.
Underworld Demon Slaughter was an energy.
Thus, it could be infused into any martial art.
Akcho's Underworld Demon Slaughter rode Noh Hu-myeong's Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Techniques, relentlessly targeting Ha Mu-baek's dantian.
With the intent to kill this time for sure.
Ha Mu-baek's sword allowed not a single gap, pressing him relentlessly.
'Half an exchange now?'
Akcho, having devoured Huashan Sect Leader Noh Hu-myeong's soul, was strong.
Far stronger than during the previous war.
Even this mere incarnation was this powerful; the main body was unimaginable.
Yet.
He still fell short of Ha Mu-baek.
Even now, Ha Mu-baek could cleave him with Infinite Carefree Eight Severing Sword Wave.
But he refrained.
Huashan Sect disciples were gradually gathering at the training cave peak.
If Ha Mu-baek ended Akcho now.
The disciples would believe Ha Mu-baek had killed Noh Hu-myeong.
Even with the two absolute witnesses.
People tend to believe what they witness themselves.
Even if it's just a part, to them, it becomes the whole truth.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek intended to show them.
The final fate of one whose soul was devoured by the Demonic Cult's sorcery.
Gwang Hoe-cheon's body crumbling to dust was not solely due to Il Jeol Gae-cheon's conclusion.
Gae-cheon had merely hastened the inevitable dissipation of the already doomed flesh.
Time dragged on.
"You damn bastard, you've gotten quite strong. Kekeke. So that day's outcome wasn't mere luck."
An Eight Protector who escaped the Righteous Heaven Alliance's grasp and survived.
Unlike the Blood Cult, the Demonic Cult had many survivors despite defeat in the great war, and many knew exactly who slew their cult leader.
Akcho was one of them.
He knew Demonic Cult Leader Seok Won-cho had died by Ha Mu-baek's hand.
Time was nearly up.
"Next time, I'll personally shatter your dantian and kill you. Look forward to the true Underworld Demon Slaughter. Kahahahaha!"
With Maniacal laughter, demonic energy exploded from his body, blasting outward in all directions.
Like a fierce downpour, each drop carried Underworld Demon Slaughter energy.
The problem was.
The Underworld Demon Slaughter downpour wasn't aimed at Ha Mu-baek.
It targeted below the training cave peak.
Where Huashan Sect disciples clung to the cliffs, surrounding it.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the disciples couldn't react.
Only one.
Gyu Hwi alone drew his sword with a look of dismay.
"You filthy son of a bitch!!"
Ha Mu-baek's enraged roar thundered.
Ha Mu-baek's sword flashed.
Infinite Carefree Eight Severing Sword Wave.
Four Severings. Soul Shredder.
Ha Mu-baek's sword blazed with pure white sword aura, enveloping the peak in a storm of autonomous sword control.
The downpour of Underworld Demon Slaughter energy was swept into the Soul Shredder storm unleashed by autonomous swordplay and utterly annihilated.
The sword coiled all the demonic energy and soared skyward.
Noh Hu-myeong's body, having expended all its rampaging energy, now slowly crumbling.
"S-Sect Leader!!!"
Even though it had tried to kill them, because the shell was Noh Hu-myeong's.
Someone cried out in shock at the sight.
But Noh Hu-myeong's body had already depleted its energy and entered collapse.
All Huashan Sect disciples watching knew it.
The sect leader was long dead.
Then.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!!!
Ha Mu-baek's sword, which had soared to the heavens, plummeted straight down, stabbing into where Noh Hu-myeong had stood.
A whirlwind of ferocious energy rampaged.
People shielded themselves from the storm's aftermath affecting even them.
When all had subsided.
At that spot stood only a single sword, proudly embedded in the ground.
The newly risen morning sun bathed the sword hilt in red.