Chapter 147

Chapter 147

Kakakakakang-!

To perfectly execute a coordinated attack originally required tremendous effort. A coordinated attack, as the words implied, meant attacking together, so talent was a useless notion.

They had to deeply understand one another’s Martial Arts and adjust themselves to each other.

No matter how much of a genius one was, mistakes were inevitable when performing a coordinated attack for the first time.

And even if they did not make a mistake, they often forced the individuality of their own Martial Arts upon their allies.

Thus, if the many masters of coordinated assaults were to witness this scene, they would feel not just shock, but awe.

And for good reason—at present, the Demonic Practitioners were not pairing off in twos to execute coordinated attacks. Dozens of them were matching their movements as one, unleashing continuous strikes as fluidly as flowing water.

No matter how formidable Youngho’s Martial Might was, it was no easy task for him to seize the momentum from Demonic Practitioners executing such flawless coordination.

‘I had intended to conserve my strength as much as possible…….’

The Demonic Practitioners’ coordination was more perfect than he had imagined.

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue once, Youngho stepped forward and forcefully stamped down with a true step.

Kwang-!

The weight of the step was heavy enough to make the mountain tremble, and though only for a brief moment, the stance of the Demonic Practitioner who had been about to attack collapsed.

Not missing that opening, Youngho used the force of the step and thrust his sword in a straight line.

However, as if they had anticipated such a variable, other Demonic Practitioners immediately replaced the one whose posture had crumbled.

Like flowing water, one took his place and swung a fist toward Youngho’s temple.

At that angle, if things continued as they were, Youngho would inevitably be struck and sent flying. And even if by some chance he evaded it, another Demonic Practitioner’s attack would come from his blind spot.

When the Demonic Practitioner’s fist was less than an inch from Youngho’s temple, Youngho’s figure, having used Flame Venerable Opens the Gate, suddenly vanished as though sinking into the ground.

Just moments ago, faint traces of his movement had been visible…… yet this time, not even a hint could be seen. At the very least, it was a divine feat possible only at twice the speed he had displayed thus far.

The Demonic Practitioner immediately sharpened his senses to locate Youngho, but he could not suppress his bewilderment as heaven and earth suddenly overturned.

Where the ground should have been, there was sky; where the sky should have been, there was ground.

And upon seeing a headless corpse collapse before his eyes, the Demonic Practitioner thought:

‘Invincible Divine Cult, Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission.’

Slash-!

Before the Demonic Practitioner’s thoughts even finished, Youngho’s sword transformed into streaks of light, opening wind holes through the bodies of the Demonic Practitioners.

Though their coordination was superb and he could not sever their lives, it would at least greatly hinder their movements.

Ssaeaek-!

At that moment, a throwing knife shot fiercely toward Youngho’s back. The yellow liquid smeared on its tip looked like potent poison at a glance.

Snatching it lightly from midair, Youngho gripped the throwing knife tightly and spun his body swiftly. Gaining the momentum to throw as he turned, he launched the hidden weapon back in the exact direction it had come from.

Paaang-!

Along with an air-splitting sound incomparably stronger than before, the throwing knife pierced through a Demonic Practitioner’s glabella.

Thud!

Yet it was not only the Demonic Practitioner that had been struck. Without pulling out the throwing knife embedded in his own thigh, Youngho swung his sword and sliced away the flesh where it had lodged.

Slash!

Though he had cut his own flesh, not the slightest change appeared on Youngho’s face.

He immediately pressed an acupoint to stop the bleeding and moved again, but unlike before, he realized his body had grown heavy. He gripped the sword hilt so tightly it seemed it might shatter.

It was fortunate he had cut the flesh away at once. Had he merely pulled out the throwing knife, the poison would have spread through his entire body even faster.

Ordinarily, he would have burned the poison away with Samadhi True Fire……

Youngho looked at the Demonic Practitioners pressing in on him without giving him even a moment to breathe and let out a crooked smile.

“I let my guard down a little.”

He had never imagined they would hide a throwing knife behind another throwing knife.

“More precisely, I had forgotten.”

The battlefield—and the Demonic Cult.

Drawing up his Internal Energy from his Dantian, Youngho revealed a cruel smile toward the demonic fiends charging from all directions.

As though they were not demons, as though the only demon in this world was himself.

“Huff!”

Hwangbo Nyeong resented her body, which had already begun to lose its rhythm of breath.

‘Why!’

Kwaang-!

Each punch was powerful enough to crush even a Blood Demon Jiangshi’s breath. She unleashed them earnestly and carefully, yet she could not call it her full strength.

And yet, even that much was enough for her breathing to falter. Sweat ran down her brow, and her tightly clenched fists trembled strangely.

‘Why?’

She could not understand. Glancing briefly at the fierce battle unfolding before her eyes, Hwangbo Nyeong thought:

‘What is different between them and me?’

Kang Hosan and Kang Chowon. The other two were unfamiliar faces, but Hwangbo Nyeong believed she lacked nothing compared to them.

No—she truly did not. In Martial Might, in judgment, and in stamina.

They too were sweating and breathing heavily, just like her. The only difference was that they were facing twelve Demonic Practitioners.

And each one of them was a master who had reached the State of the Transformation Realm. Hwangbo Nyeong also occasionally fought Blood Demon Jiangshi who were comparable to the Transformation Realm.

However, the difference between being in the Transformation Realm and merely comparable to it—between a living body and a dead one—was a gap that could not be bridged, no matter what method one used.

No matter how hard she fought, she had neither made judgments as sound as Kang Hosan’s nor displayed Martial Might as formidable as Kang Chowon’s.

As proof of that, the Demonic Cult had taken no particular measures against her. They had neither deployed additional forces toward her nor paid her any special attention.

Watching a Disciple of Shaolin swing his fist, Hwangbo Nyeong thought:

‘There is no difference between them and me.’

Sweat poured like rain from her entire body, scattering in all directions each time she threw a punch and soaking her Martial Robes.

Her limbs trembled pitifully, as though she might collapse at any moment—and it seemed that not only her body but her mind as well was shaking the same way.

Only when she saw the monk’s eyes shaking violently as if struck by an earthquake did Hwangbo Nyeong finally realize.

‘I truly am no different from them…….’

There was only one difference between them and herself: a tempered body and a slightly greater insight than others.

The Demonic Cult had simply understood the woman named Hwangbo Nyeong better than she understood herself.

They knew that this level of pressure alone would suffice for her—that this much would make her collapse.

A sudden sense of self-loathing surged through her. Kang Hosan and Kang Chowon, at least ten years younger than she was, were displaying such brilliance, yet she had grown arrogant merely for defeating the Fist King and had now collapsed miserably.

If Youngho were to see her now, she could not even imagine how pathetic he would think she was.

-So you’re going to sit down?

For a fleeting instant, Youngho’s voice brushed past her mind. It was so brief it could hardly be called more than a split second.

She wondered if she had heard an illusion, being so utterly exhausted.

‘Even so, it doesn’t matter.’

Illusion or not, it was fine. She had heard Youngho’s voice, and because he had stirred her spirit, she could regain her senses.

‘Sit down, you ask?’

Hwangbo Nyeong snorted as if it were laughable and said,

“I will move forward.”

Her eyes now held a sharp determination on a completely different level from before. At the sudden shift in her presence, the gazes of others naturally turned toward her.

Yet contrary to her boldly altered aura, Hwangbo Nyeong merely assumed a basic stance.

However, those who had reached the State of the Transformation Realm understood. Hwangbo Nyeong had merely returned to her ‘center.’

She had returned to the fundamentals from which all Martial Learning began.

In particular, those among the Transformation Realm masters who possessed profound insight realized at once upon seeing her stance.

The stance Hwangbo Nyeong displayed was not a simple ‘center.’

Seeing that what had changed was not her comprehension of Martial Learning but her mindset itself, Kang Hosan let out a faint chuckle.

‘Is this how you felt, Young Master?’

Watching a person grow—not in Martial Learning, but as a person—was a rather enjoyable thing.

And there was one more who realized that Hwangbo Nyeong’s stance signified a change in mindset.

An old crone lightly tapped her hunched back with her hand and said,

“Has she attained enlightenment? It does not appear so…….”

Since she did not know Martial Arts well, how could she possibly tell?

Letting out her characteristic chuckle, the old crone turned her gaze toward where Youngho stood. Every time she looked at his expression, it felt as though the hairs on her entire body stood on end, but she endured and continued observing.

“It exceeds my expectations.”

It felt as though he reminded her of that person. One might have expected her to feel displeasure that a mere unbeliever would bring that person to mind, yet the old crone merely chuckled.

“He truly is remarkable. That is precisely why he must be trampled now.”

At the sudden chill in her atmosphere, the hawk perched upon her shoulder shuddered.

She did not think he was the same as that person. In Martial Might, in values—he was far removed from that person’s ideals. That man was Youngho.

Though she had seen him for the first time today, the old crone instinctively knew. Even if Youngho could not become a finely honed sword to slay that person, he could become a sharp leaf capable of wounding that person’s jade body.

“Truthfully, I would like to see that person’s power after so long…… but I cannot bear to see even a crack upon that jade body.”

After staring coldly at Youngho, the old crone said,

“Biyeong.”

“Yes.”

At her call, Biyeong appeared before her. With hollow cheeks and dark shadows thick beneath his eyes, he hardly looked like a living man at first glance.

“Must I go now?”

“No. Even you could not kill the Sword Exalted as he is now.”

“…….”

Biyeong gave no reply, affirming in silence.

“When that bastard is driven to the extreme—when both mind and body have surpassed their limits. That is the moment you must aim for.”

It was a vague instruction. How was he to judge such a thing? Just as Biyeong began to sink into thought, the old crone chuckled.

“Do not worry. The Sword Exalted may be an irregular monster, but he is still within a level that can become your prey.”

“That means……?”

“As always. When that bastard’s Internal Energy has not even one-tenth remaining—or when he is nearly dead—you may hunt him.”

The old crone fixed Biyeong with a savage gaze and said,

“You need only kill him. No matter what.”

“……Understood.”

His voice was stiff and hardened, yet a smile rested at the corner of Biyeong’s lips.

Soon, placing a Jiangshi before him, Biyeong closed the distance so he could ambush Youngho at any moment.

Seemingly satisfied, the old crone chuckled and then looked behind her as she spoke.

“Is it not about time you returned? Even if you endure here, your master’s death will not change. In that case, would it not be better to die aiding your master at least?”

Naturally, no answer returned.

“Because of you, I cannot even send a messenger pigeon. A cat whose only use is its needless cleverness….”

“…….”

“Very well, since you will not answer. After all, you are a being who might as well not exist……!”

At that moment, the old crone’s body stiffened at a chilling Killing Intent so fierce it could not be thought of as coming from a mere Spirit Creature.

From a place the old crone could not see, Seonpung directed his Killing Intent toward her—then soon withdrew it.

-If it looks like you might be harmed even slightly, do not attempt it. Simply by keeping her in check, you are already of great help.

Seonpung repeatedly turned Youngho’s words over in his mind, calming his anxious heart.

Simply praying that his master would remain safe.