Chapter 765

It was indeed like a swift sword.

They thought something flashed, and it struck so hard that it was almost touching his neck. The pirate got scared and moved his neck to the side.

Shh!

The skin was torn off with an eerie sound, like slicing meat.

Rather than the sharp pain he felt around his neck, he was relieved to have dodged the full attack. But that relief felt too swift.

Chak!

The moment he heard a sound like a poisonous snake flicking its tongue, he instinctively rolled his body to the side.

“Kuak!”

But even that reaction seemed a bit too late, as he felt the burning pain in his neck once again.

The sword, which had barely missed, was quickly pulled back and grazed his neck again.

Drrrrr!

The thin sword danced like a poisonous snake, biting into his retreating body one after another.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

In an instant, his entire body was covered in blood, and he was cut all over.

The sword, which cut his thigh and side almost simultaneously, instantly deflected the sword he swung in resistance and rushed into his chest.

At the exact moment when the pirate sensed his death and opened his eyes,

Kakang!

A harpoon flew from behind and hit Chung Myung’s sword.

‘I-I am alive…’

Paat!

However, the sword that had bounced moved again.

Paat!

The harpoon barely managed to hit the sword, which flew back like a flash, but the more it did, the faster the sword flew.

“Eik!”

A suppressed groan came out. A harpoon with a large chain hurriedly blocked the sword.

But at that moment,

It spun.

The sword, which was flying quickly, suddenly slowed down and took a detour, spinning right in front of the harpoon.

‘What?’

Puak!

“…”

The pirate was shocked as he looked at the sword that struck him in the chest.

‘It cannot be…’

Thud.

He had a lot to think about. But nothing continued for someone who died.

“This…”

The faces of the pirates turned red upon seeing their comrades die in front of them. In particular, the contorted face of the pirate who blocked the sword of Chung Myung was filled with anger.

“What?”

Chung Myung asked, with a twisted smile.

“Even pirates have a feeling of camaraderie?”

“You… you fucking shit!”

The pirate gritted his teeth as if he wanted to attack at any moment, but contrary to his expression and harsh voice, he couldn’t even move his feet.

This was all because of the number of times the sword stabbed, slowed down, and evaded the harpoons, and that sight was vivid in his eyes.

All he saw was easier to speak of than to execute.

Stopping a sword that has been thrust with all its might requires several times more force than stabbing. He even showed the most shocking movement of changing the stopped sword from halt to circle to slow and spinning it around to deflect a harpoon. This was something tougher than stopping.

The sheer number of changes the sword underwent was enough to give him an idea of how shocking this man was.

‘And then…’

Although he didn’t look great on the outside, there wasn’t a bit of mercy in those hands. The coldness that pierced their heart instantly was close to something that came from a monster.

Even though he had lived as a pirate all his life and killed many people, he did not kill without hesitation.

‘I cannot go head-on with this guy.’

He exchanged a brief glance with his colleague as if they both thought the same thing.

The people around were the best in the pirate base. Each of them could lead a ship of their own and plunder, too.

If even these could not stop that man, then it was impossible to imagine how far damage that man would cause.

“He must definitely die here!”

Upon hearing that solemn cry, Chung Myung stopped laughing.

“You people will stop me?”

“This brat…”

“This brat… the world has surely changed for the better. Even pirates are acting all mighty in front of me.”

This was something he wouldn’t have even imagined in the past.

“Well, fine.”

Chung Myung smiled.

“I can always make it the same!”

“He is coming!”

The moment Chung Myung rushed in like a tiger after prey, the pirate gritted his teeth and raised his weapon along with the others.

‘Make sure to endure.’

Although it was exciting to attack by stabbing, now wasn’t the time for such things.

The opponent’s sword was flexible and bizarre. If they acted rashly to try and face such a sword, their heads would be cut off before they realized.

‘This brat! Does he think we’ve lived in Kangho for just a day or two?’

If flashy sword methods were the best, then only such sword techniques would exist in Kangho. But the reason such swords were not often seen was that flashy techniques often lacked substance.

If they blocked it step by step without rushing, they could find gaps in it, and their piercers were the most suitable to exploit such gaps.

‘Just once! All we have to do is find one gap!’

Everyone had similar thoughts as they blocked the sword of Chung Myung.

The red plum blossoms, which bloomed in an instant, poured down on their heads like rain.

“Kuak!”

If they were normal pirates, they wouldn’t have been able to handle it and would have been killed right then, but these people were not ordinary.

No, if one looked closely, they were actually the elite members of the Yangtze River’s 18 River families. If they were to fall from being hit by a single slash of a sword, they wouldn’t have gained such a title.

Kakakak!

As the flying Plum Blossom Sword collided with their piercers, a metal sound that irritated the mind rang out. To the naked eye, it was as thin as a fluttering flower petal, but the strength contained in each of its sword qi petals couldn’t be ignored.

‘Is he a monster?’

Looking at it another way, the fact that it couldn’t be ignored meant that it was threatening. But the problem was that the sword qi of this guy called Chung Myung wasn’t just at one or two stages. Did it make sense that hundreds of sword qi fragments emitted at the same time had equal strength?

Even the number of flower petals pouring out gradually increased.

Like rain. Or maybe like a waterfall.

‘If only we endure…’

The muscles in the arm holding the piercers swelled as if they would explode. Their wrists and elbows were shaking as if they had been hit by lightning.

‘Endure…’

But no matter how hard they held on, the number of flower petals hitting the piercer didn’t decrease. The flower petals that used to fall like a light rain instead felt like a downpour.

‘Kuak…’

Their wrist was twisted, and their dantian began to shake.

Although water drops were insignificant to consider alone, they formed a river when gathered. Even though each individual petal wasn’t strong, the power created by hundreds or thousands of petals gathered together made it enormous.

24 Movement Plum Blossom Sword technique, Falling Plum Blossom.

The pirate forces, unable to withstand the pouring plum blossom rain, belatedly tried to escape. They realized that if this continued, it would mean their destruction by the rain.

But that was exactly what Chung Myung was aiming for.

“Uhhh!”

The pirate, who was making a strong move and retreated hastily, was shocked.

A dazzling light flashed through the pouring rain of plum blossoms, and they felt a burning pain in the chest as if something was passing through the nose.

“… Kuaak.”

Seven Plum Sword, Plum Blossom Flash.

His knees turned weak, and his vision gradually blurred. It wasn’t difficult to understand the situation.

Death.

Inevitable death was coming.

Chung Myung looked down at the people with indifferent eyes.

Although he was dying, he wouldn’t be particularly lonely. He could still hear the screams of his colleagues through ears that hadn’t lost their senses yet.

It was questionable whether he would be loyal to the pirates, but it was a small comfort to know they died with the people they were with.

Thud.

Thud.

Three people at the same time… no, now three bodies, they should be called bodies, fell to the ground.

The plum blossom rain had now vanished as if washed away, leaving only the thick smell of blood.

A sight more fantastic than fantasy left the scent of plum blossoms in a nose that couldn’t smell.

Meanwhile, cold sweat was running down Du Cha-Ryong’s body.

He was recognized as one of the top five among the pirates. Nevertheless, he couldn’t figure out how to interpret the scene happening in front of his eyes.

The only thing he was certain of was that the person he had to deal with was someone of greatness he had never faced before.

‘He is Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon…’

The young man never specifically said it, but unless one was stupid, they could not possibly misunderstand this.

‘Rumors don’t even keep up with reality, then?’

Of course, he had thought that the rumors were mixed with typical exaggeration. Because it suited the justice faction’s narrative, they treated one person as if he were all.

But this guy was different.

Unlike the idiots who couldn’t even live up to half their reputation in combat, this guy was the real deal. He was a literal sword ghost.

“No need to worry.”

At that moment, a light voice pierced their ears.

Chung Myung was smiling, showing his white teeth.

“I will kill every single one of you. The only difference is who dies first.”

He had never been scared of threatening words before this.

But those words were enough to freeze his heart.

The reason is simple. It isn’t just a bluff or a threat. This man was speaking his thoughts without any exaggeration.

‘G-great captain.’

Thinking they were no match for him, Du Cha-Ryong’s eyes turned to the side but then stayed on Chung Myung. Diverting attention from a warrior of this caliber is akin to inviting him to cut off your head.

“Hmm. Then… who…”

At that moment, Chung Myung stopped speaking and looked back.

Seeing this, Du Cha-Ryong bit his lip until it bled.

He couldn’t turn his gaze away from this man. It would be ridiculous carelessness if he did.

But he couldn’t rush.

Although his teeth were shaking and his internal organs felt twisted, he didn’t dare say anything to the opponent who made him feel lost, nor could he complain if the opponent aimed for his back due to the small negligence he showed.

The difference in rank. The sword of Chung Myung had already completely destroyed their fighting spirit.

“Well, I…”

At that moment, a voice filled with irritation and grumpiness burst out of Chung Myung.

“Yah! Sasuk, sahyung bastard! You couldn’t handle this one thing, ugh!”

Chung Myung turned around and began to run back the way he came.

The opponent suddenly moved away. The opponent who had to be caught and killed was walking away with his back turned.

But this time, instead of chasing after him, Du Cha-Ryong had no choice but to stick the piercer into the ground to support his body. His hair was soaked in sweat and sticking to his face.

“S-shouldn’t we chase after him?”

At the subordinate’s question, Du Cha-Ryong’s lip turned, and blood was running down after being crushed.

“… we must lead all your subordinates and fight. You people alone cannot do it on your own.”

To be exact, it had to be all of them, not just him, but it was his last shred of pride that kept him from saying it. A pride that had already been shattered into pieces and was now difficult to find.

“Bring the cannons, gunpowder, anything!”

“B-But that…”

“Do as you are told! I take responsibility for it! As long as we can kill him, I don’t care!”

“Yes!”

Du Cha-Ryong quickly glanced at the running pirates for a moment and then looked at his hands. Watching them tremble made him feel like he was losing touch.

‘Damn it…’

That man was called a Dragon because it was a being that could not be controlled by human power.

It was a fact that he, who had stayed and grown on the Dragon Ship of the Yangtze River his entire life, had finally come to realize.