Chapter 624
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 624
Chapter Title: Thank You...
"Alright, now let's do this for real."
Ha Mu-baek stretched out both hands as he gazed at Gongya Harang and spoke.
Ha Mu-baek's sword was spewing pitch-black sword energy, swirling around him according to the movements of his Spirit Sword Control.
This was the domain he had created.
A sphere of pure white light.
Gongya Harang's face, trapped within this space of light, twisted into a hideous grimace.
It was hard to believe such a beautiful face could contort like that.
Soon after, black energy began to rise from her body, as if intent on devouring all the light.
The corner of Ha Mu-baek's mouth curled upward.
"Good. Come at me."
He beckoned her with a flick of his fingers.
Perfectly isolated, Gongya Harang could only draw on the energy she possessed within herself right now.
Ha Mu-baek was also expending a considerable amount of energy to create and maintain this domain.
But he was confident that even with what remained, he could overwhelm her completely.
Suddenly, countless specks of darkness appeared within the space of light.
Shuuuk. Shushushung. Shukshuk.
They transformed into arrows and swords, flying straight toward Ha Mu-baek.
His pristine white fist aura flared with light, and Ha Mu-baek's fists danced in a blur.
One by one, the darkness vanished in response.
Tat.
Ha Mu-baek kicked off the ground and charged at Gongya Harang, thrusting out his fist.
Bam!
A massive wall of darkness materialized in front of her.
Ha Mu-baek's fist had embedded itself precisely in the center.
Craaack.
The wall shattered into pieces.
And from that spot.
Shuuuuk.
A sword thrust upward.
Ha Mu-baek casually tilted his head to dodge the blade and raised his fist.
Whoosh.
But Gongya Harang vanished from her position.
Ha Mu-baek had dodged the sword of darkness.
She had pierced through space, moving along the dark trajectory it left behind.
Ha Mu-baek's feet moved busily.
Unfurling the Infinite Carefree Steps, his fists simultaneously followed the forms of the Infinite Breaking Fist.
The Infinite Carefree Steps, infused with the quintessence of the Infinite Carefree Eightfold Sword Sea, erupted like a storm.
The two clashed fiercely within the radiant barrier domain Ha Mu-baek had created, moving at speeds like flashes of light in intense exchanges.
Since Ha Mu-baek's consciousness was split in two, Gongya Harang could barely hold her own.
Even now, the forest winds and dark energy swirled endlessly.
Maintaining the barrier to block it all was no easy task.
Though his sword had left his hand, it was still linked to him via Spirit Sword Control, fending off external energies with the Infinite Carefree Eightfold Sword Sea.
Meanwhile, his other consciousness wielded the Infinite Breaking Fist and Infinite Carefree Steps to press Gongya Harang relentlessly.
Both streams of consciousness commanded immense power, making it no simple feat even for Ha Mu-baek.
The most strained was Gongya Harang.
Even giving her all, she could only defend against Ha Mu-baek's onslaught.
Counterattacks were impossible.
It looked like a fierce exchange, but it was one-sided offense and desperate defense.
Whenever Gongya Harang mustered a counter, it fizzled out pathetically.
As if he already knew it was coming, Ha Mu-baek blocked or evaded with ease.
It was all thanks to the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye.
Through his eyes, every flow of Gongya Harang's energy was laid bare, allowing him to predict and respond effortlessly.
After a mere half-breath's time.
Ha Mu-baek now dominated most of the barrier domain, overwhelming her.
She scattered darkness in all directions in futile resistance.
But in that time, her energy had dwindled by half.
Ha Mu-baek continued observing the movements of her inner energy with deep, piercing eyes.
The drastic reduction was crystal clear in his vision.
His gaze shifted to her upper dantian.
That small energy he had already located.
Its size remained unchanged.
Hardly surprising.
Even with half her energy depleted, it was still vast compared to that tiny power hidden deep in the corner of her upper dantian.
'This should be enough.'
No matter that his consciousness was divided.
No matter that he had to maintain the radiant barrier domain.
Ha Mu-baek could have annihilated Gongya Harang in an instant even so.
But the reason he dragged out this fierce clash was something else.
To deplete her energy.
Now that he had achieved that to a sufficient degree, it was time for the next phase.
Step.
Ha Mu-baek took one step forward.
His form vanished.
"What...!"
Gongya Harang started in shock.
It was a movement technique utterly unlike anything before.
She had grown accustomed to the Infinite Carefree Steps Ha Mu-baek had repeatedly shown, positioning herself to counter it.
But he suddenly disappeared.
It wasn't just his form.
His presence had vanished perfectly.
Ghost Phantom Steps.
Ha Mu-baek had unleashed the Silver Dormant Divine Method.
And he reappeared behind Gongya Harang.
"Eek!"
She sensed it and hurriedly spun around.
Grip.
Ha Mu-baek's hand seized her head.
Wuuuung.
The specks of darkness reemerged around them.
Those that had turned into swords and arrows vanished entirely.
For a simple reason.
"Guh..."
The energy surging from Ha Mu-baek's palm had pierced through her crown point into her upper dantian.
The shock halted all her actions.
Ha Mu-baek's energy entered her upper dantian via the crown, moving as if it knew exactly where to go.
The upper dantian.
As the origin of soul and spirit, it was vast beyond measure.
Nothing like the lower dantian.
Even with scant energy, its inner world was boundless.
That's why that tiny internal energy could hide there.
Ha Mu-baek's energy moved as if it knew precisely where Gongya Harang's Abyssal Asura Hell Art lay concealed.
In truth, it did.
Thus, he located her true internal energy.
It was no ordinary internal energy.
As the power of her upper dantian, it was a fragment of Gongya Harang's soul and spirit.
Even after she had poured all her energy into ending her own life before the Extermination Energy's curse consumed her.
A portion had endured, preserving its form.
This was the result of years battling the curse, through growth and instinct.
Ha Mu-baek's energy made contact with the Abyssal Asura Hell Art's internal energy.
At first, it resisted fiercely.
Naturally so.
They were energies of utterly different natures; it had no choice but to repel and reject.
Ha Mu-baek altered the nature of his energy.
He couldn't fully mimic the Ten Thousand Desolation Root, the origin of the Abyssal Asura Hell Art, as it was absent in him.
But since he possessed the Ten Thousand Desolation Supreme.
He drew forth a portion, infusing it with the Ten Thousand Desolation's qualities.
An energy similar yet distinct.
That similarity allowed a sliver to seep into the final remnant of Gongya Harang's consciousness.
And the moment it recognized this as helpful rather than harmful.
It greedily absorbed Ha Mu-baek's energy.
The Abyssal Asura Hell Art grew steadily larger.
Once it surpassed a certain threshold, the Extermination Energy sensed it.
The Extermination Energy dominating the upper dantian surged toward the Abyssal Asura Hell Art.
At that instant.
Even more energy flowed from Ha Mu-baek's hand through her crown into the upper dantian.
The fresh influx enveloped and shielded the Abyssal Asura Hell Art.
And it began clashing with the Extermination Energy lunging to destroy it.
Since both originated from primordial darkness and primordial light, they reacted violently.
The Extermination Energy thrashed wildly in the upper dantian against this sudden nemesis.
The energy coiled in what was once the lower dantian rushed toward the upper one.
Ha Mu-baek, watching it all through his Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, placed his left hand on Gongya Harang's Gate of Life point.
Possible because he gripped her from behind.
His energy flowed into her body via the Gate of Life.
Right hand on the crown, left on the Gate of Life.
Thus striking the Extermination Energy in both upper and lower dantians simultaneously.
"What in the world..."
Amid the mesmerizing fierce clash that no one could look away from, Gong Ya-jang-cheon muttered softly at the sudden change.
When the barrier-like space formed and Ha Mu-baek began dominating Gongya Harang, he thought the demon that had devoured his sister would soon meet its end.
So he was steeling himself.
Preparing to bid farewell to his sister Gongya Harang's body as well.
But then.
Suddenly, Ha Mu-baek grabbed her head, and the intense battle halted.
Moments later, his hand moved to her Gate of Life.
"What are you trying to do?"
Gong Ya-jang-cheon couldn't fathom Ha Mu-baek's intentions at all.
Not surprising.
Having already accepted his sister as dead and gone, he never imagined Ha Mu-baek would attempt to break the Extermination Energy's curse.
Kuuuung.
Groooong.
Kaaaang.
Sounds from the clash of energies raging inside Gongya Harang.
Inaudible to any ears.
Yet the battle of energies was as fierce as the noise suggested.
This was different from Bang Sawook's case.
There, the Blood Corpse Puppet's core had been shattered, leaking energy.
Here, her body was intact, so all energies mobilized fully.
Thus, the Extermination Energy controlling Gongya Harang resisted all the more ferociously and powerfully.
Outside the barrier domain, the storm of energies still raged.
After isolating Gongya Harang within, the pulling force had ceased.
But the momentum from the gathered energy flow continued swirling.
That's why he couldn't dispel the barrier.
Doing so would let the storm's remnants touch her, allowing new energy to seep in.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek contended with massive energies both inside and out.
On top of that.
Gongya Harang's true internal energy, housing her original spirit, had to remain unharmed, and the upper dantian intact as well.
Ha Mu-baek's goal wasn't to eradicate the Blood Corpse Puppet, but to save Gongya Harang.
Sweat beaded on Ha Mu-baek's face.
This was the toughest fight since arriving at Mount Heng.
He gritted his teeth.
Manipulating vast energies with such precision was an exceedingly grueling task.
The Extermination Energy seemed to realize soon enough.
That the intruding external energy surpassed its own by far.
That continuing this fight would lead to its own annihilation, sensed instinctively.
The Extermination Energy, infused with the pure dark energy sent by Gai Se-aak, had grown cunning.
The moment it sensed its doom, it changed tactics.
The host was its possession anyway.
If it couldn't win or dominate the host?
It would destroy the host itself.
A mere cursed martial art like the Chaotic Blood Nether Extermination Gong had gained such will and cunning.
All thanks to Gai Se-aak's leaked dark energy.
The Extermination Energy altered its movements.
Evading Ha Mu-baek's radiant energy, ignoring the Abyssal Asura Hell Art, it scattered in all directions.
Targeting the upper dantian where it resided.
The upper dantian itself.
The energy from the former lower dantian changed course too.
Instead of converging on the upper, it dispersed into the meridians throughout her body.
Intending to burst them all.
Though the meridians had vanished under the curse, they still served as pathways for energy.
Rupturing them would collapse the host entirely.
Ha Mu-baek noticed the shift immediately.
"A mere cursed Extermination Energy dares to play dirty."
The flow from both his hands changed as well.
Protecting the upper dantian, the former meridians, and the former lower dantian.
The remaining energy annihilated the Extermination Energy.
The Abyssal Asura Hell Art continued expanding.
Because Ha Mu-baek kept pouring in energy.
Once it crossed a critical point, the Abyssal Asura Hell Art began moving on its own.
Claiming the space where Ha Mu-baek had eradicated the Extermination Energy, it gradually took root in the upper dantian.
Ha Mu-baek's face was drenched in sweat.
At some point.
Focus returned to Gongya Harang's eyes.
The look in those eyes had changed.
"Thank you..."
Gongya Harang said softly in a clear voice.