Chapter 148

Chapter 148

He did not even remember how many times he had swung his sword. He wondered what had happened on Kang Hosan’s side.

‘Hwangbo Nyeong will handle it on her own, won’t she?’

The Hwangbo Nyeong he knew was never a woman who would crumble in a situation like this.

But….

‘What have I been doing until now?’

In an instant, Youngho’s vision was swallowed by darkness. He frowned at the sudden veil that covered his sight.

Bang—!

At that moment, as a deafening explosion rang out as if a Lightning Bomb had detonated, a Demonic Practitioner’s fist slammed into Youngho’s face.

Had he not expected an attack to come? Clarity returned to the previously dim eyes of the Demonic Practitioner.

“Diiieee!”

At the savage shout, the other Demonic Practitioners immediately charged at Youngho.

Slash!

In that instant, Youngho’s sword shot forth like a flash of lightning. Severing the arm of the Demonic Practitioner that had been touching his face in a single stroke, Youngho twisted his expression like a fiend.

“It’s still far from enough.”

Paaang—!

His blade traced a completely different trajectory than before and sliced through a Demonic Practitioner’s neck.

The sound of air being split was so fierce that the sound of flesh being cut was drowned out by the air-splitting roar.

Youngho launched a Spinning Kick toward another Demonic Practitioner rushing at him.

Crack—!

The Demonic Practitioner barely managed to raise an arm to block the kick, but the arm that met Youngho’s leg did not merely break—the bone within began to shatter.

Youngho’s refined internal energy rampaged freely inside the man’s body. The pain was so intense that even a Demonic Practitioner accustomed to agony found it horrifying.

Even so, he had barely managed to block it. Had Youngho’s body been in normal condition, that single strike would have inflicted a wound tantamount to death.

Yet though his arm bones were crushed, he ultimately succeeded in halting Youngho.

Not missing that narrow opening, another seized Youngho’s left arm tightly with both hands.

‘Now, it’s possible!’

If Youngho was this weakened, he could surely take at least one arm with his own strength.

Bang—!

But before he could exert proper force, Youngho’s right elbow smashed into his face.

Feeling as if his entire facial bones had shattered, the Demonic Practitioner’s body trembled violently. The impact was strong enough to nearly rob him of consciousness.

Even so, he did not release Youngho’s left arm. His arm began to swell rapidly.

More precisely, his muscles were bulging. Just as the power gathered in his arm was about to be transmitted to his wrist—

Thud—!

Youngho’s elbow crushed down upon his chest.

Crack—!

With a chilling sound of bones splintering, the Demonic Practitioner could not contain the blood surging up his throat and spewed it out.

“Kuhk!”

As the grip loosened, Youngho immediately pulled his left arm free and swung his sword.

Slash! Thud!

His terrifying swift swordsmanship severed necks and pierced through heads in an instant.

Youngho looked around with unfocused eyes.

“……All the small fry are dead.”

No Demonic Practitioner remained standing around him. Forcing his unresponsive body to move, Youngho stepped forward.

Each movement made his muscles and joints scream, yet he paid it no heed and took a single step ahead.

It was only one step, but it was enough for him to realize the state his body was in.

Though Youngho possessed regenerative abilities far beyond others due to his refined internal energy, to recover from his current injuries he would need at least three days of rest.

To begin with, for an ordinary master of the Transformation Realm, these were wounds severe enough to have died ten times over. On top of that, there were the injuries he had inflicted upon himself—his thigh, arm, and flank.

The throwing knives coated in lethal poison had not come just once. Youngho had no choice but to carve away the struck flesh with his own blade each time.

Had he not done so, he would have been unable to withstand the poisonous energy spreading through his entire body and would have fainted.

And fainting meant the end of his life.

Excessive blood loss or the strain he had placed upon his body might have left him crippled for life, yet in the end, carving away his own flesh had saved him.

Youngho briefly looked at the Jiangshi surrounding him. As his indifferent gaze swept over each one, an inexplicable chill could be felt from it.

At that moment, a man slowly stepped out from among the Jiangshi. At first glance, his complexion seemed so precarious it was as if his Dantian had been damaged beyond repair, but Youngho did not lower his guard.

Sharpening every sense in his body, he widened his eyes, prepared for the possibility that the being before him might strike at any moment.

Soon stopping in his tracks, Biyeong spoke toward Youngho.

“Are you recovering?”

“Correct. While you were dawdling, I recovered a speck.”

“With your fangs and claws all torn out, do you think you can defeat me?”

“A tiger can kill a rabbit easily even without its fangs and claws.”

“This situation is quite different from that.”

“It’s the same.”

Youngho gripped the sword hilt tightly.

Crack! Creak—!

Gripping it so hard that a chilling sound of bones echoed from his hand, Youngho grinned faintly, his entire body drenched in blood.

“Hah! Different situation?”

His body had long since reached its limit. Perhaps because of that, his voice kept splitting, but he did not care as he spoke.

His voice, reminiscent of a dried rice paddy, pierced into Biyeong’s ears.

“Whether I grow weaker or stronger, the fact that you’re weaker than me doesn’t change.”

“That’s only when you’re in normal condition—!”

Realizing what he was about to say, Biyeong let out a sigh heavy with fatigue.

“Further conversation is meaningless.”

“No, for me it was quite meaningful. Thanks to you dragging your feet, I recovered a bit more than a speck this time.”

Literally, Youngho’s body had recovered by a mere fraction. Inside his emptied Dantian, an amount of internal energy no larger than a fingernail had gathered, and his breathing had returned to normal.

As his body and mind grew tranquil, the surrounding air naturally changed. He was not the only one who felt it.

Biyeong sensed the sounds around him quieting. Even the clash of weapons faded, leaving him focused solely on the opponent before him.

At this moment, in this place, there existed only Biyeong and Youngho.

Their extreme concentration began to layer upon itself. As their sharpened senses reached the very limit—

Biyeong’s body stretched out like pulled taffy. In an instant, he arrived before Youngho and threw a punch.

“……!”

Yet before the punch could fully extend, an alarm blared throughout his entire body, and he instinctively retreated backward.

Paaang—!

With trembling pupils filled with disbelief, Biyeong stared at Youngho.

‘He’s become even sharper?’

Just moments ago, he had been forcing his ruined body to move, yet after only a brief rest, Youngho’s sword was once again swift and fierce as usual.

Faced with the chilling situation, Biyeong unconsciously bit down on his lip. Even as blood flowed from the torn flesh, he continued to glare at Youngho with bloodshot eyes.

‘If he keeps showing strikes like that one just now, I will lose without question.’

It was an undeniable truth. Youngho was a tiger, and he himself was, at best, a fox.

Gulp!

At that moment, Youngho could no longer hold back the blood he had been swallowing and vomited it out.

“Uwegh!”

Only then did Biyeong’s expression brighten.

‘Right. There’s no way he’s fine!’

After suffering injuries that severe, there was no way he could swing his sword as usual.

As his thoughts turned increasingly optimistic, many details became visible to Biyeong.

Though Youngho continued pressing his acupoints to staunch the bleeding, the blood rising from his wounds showed no sign of stopping.

His legs, arms, and flank—on top of that, he had suffered heavy impacts to his face and abdomen. His limit would soon arrive.

Just then, Biyeong felt a stinging pain on his cheek and touched it.

‘……It’s been cut.’

It seemed Youngho’s earlier strike had grazed him.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Now, all that remained was to hunt that monster.

“Young Master!”

As Biyeong inwardly rejoiced, Kang Chowon called out to Youngho.

“Young Master! Hold on just a little longer! I’m coming!”

Her voice was thick with exhaustion, but that did not matter. All that mattered now was killing Youngho quickly.

Whoosh—!

At that moment, flames erupted from Youngho’s body. A blazing fire, as if it would burn everything to ash, clung to his entire form.

In the brief moment Biyeong questioned whether he could kill Youngho, that time proved more than enough for Youngho to purge the poisonous energy within his body.

Though his internal energy had been consumed, unlike before, vitality now surged through him. A satisfied smile curved his lips.

As Youngho smiled as if in good spirits, Biyeong felt the urge to erase that irritating smile from this world.

And by the time that thought formed, Biyeong’s fist had already arrived before Youngho’s eyes.

Swish—!

Youngho’s blade flashed ominously as it swept from left to right, as if it would bisect Biyeong at the waist.

Biyeong immediately kicked off the ground, leaping upward while twisting his body. Then, from somewhere unseen, he thrust out a slender sword toward Youngho.

The slender sword, imbued with lethal poison, shot forth as though it would turn Youngho’s body into a beehive, displaying exquisite variations of technique.

Youngho was certain that if he continued his swing, he could kill Biyeong.

Yet instead of pressing forward, he chose to retreat. The opponent before him wielded only killing techniques meant solely to take his life.

He was prepared to offer up his own life lightly if it meant killing Youngho.

Had Youngho followed through and split Biyeong’s crown in that instant, Youngho himself would have been riddled with holes in a gruesome end.

If that had been the only damage, perhaps it would have been different—but too many wounds had already accumulated upon his body.

If he were to be further carved apart, not even Hyeon-gang would have had any means of saving him.

The opponent was prepared for mutual destruction. Youngho could not afford such an end.

‘Should I use it a little?’

There was no choice. If he did not use it now, he would certainly die. Better to recuperate for a month than to lose his life.

From Youngho’s Dantian, a small yet vast energy began to rise. To be precise, it was an energy embedded even deeper than the Dantian.

The cluster of energy, perceptible only through meticulous contemplation, was known as Innate True Qi.

As he lightly drew upon the Innate True Qi, strength flooded through his entire body. The moment that strength filled him, Youngho moved.

His body vanished from Biyeong’s senses as though he had used the Flame Venerable Opens the Gate.

By the time Biyeong regained sight of Youngho’s body, the sword was already pressed against his throat.

‘You damned bastard!’

Slash!

As the chilling sound of flesh being cut echoed, Youngho spewed out the blood rising from his throat.

“Uweeegh!”

Dark crimson stagnant blood poured from his mouth like a waterfall. So much blood gushed forth that a puddle formed at his feet.

Steadying his wavering vision, Youngho let out a hollow laugh.

“So now you finally come out?”

He moved to wipe the blood from his lips, only to realize his entire body was already soaked in it. He then glared at the old woman who had appeared before him.

Despite reading the lethal intent blazing in Youngho’s gaze, the old woman merely chuckled.

“Unfortunately, it seems I cannot take Biyeong with me. After all, he is a child I cherish.”

She lightly shook the bell hanging from a thread.

Ding—!

At the sound of the bell, Biyeong’s body—one arm missing—blurred and vanished.

“What did you do?”

Realizing his prey had slipped away, Youngho growled lowly.

The old woman chuckled again.

“The Sacred Relic of the Wudang Sect is indeed remarkable.”

“He carried the Sacred Relic of the Wudang Sect?”

“I see no reason to tell you that.”

“Then you’ve finished your last words. I’ll kill you now.”

“I’m afraid you cannot kill me.”

Slash!

In that instant, Youngho’s Sword Qi flew swiftly and severed the old woman’s neck. One might have thought it was finally over, yet Youngho frowned and stared at the corpse.

“Was it fascinating?”

At the woman’s voice coming from behind, Youngho’s eyes widened.

Then, a translucent woman appeared before him and spoke.

“Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Wolharin. I am called the Shamaness of the Divine Cult.”

Wolharin smiled faintly.