Chapter 283: The Strongest Martial Art
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Before the words uttered as if mocking and sneering, the Ninth Great General’s thick eyebrows twitched upward.
Following that, a cold voice seeped softly from between his lips.
“Merely that much…?”
One corner of his lips rose slightly.
Answering mockery with mockery.
“I was surprised for a moment. But that’s all.”
Along with those words, the Ninth Great General’s sneer deepened further.
It was as he said.
The moment he saw Gun Mu-ak take a few steps forward and stand again, he inwardly let out a brief admiration.
It was a natural reaction.
Because he had actually judged that the match was over, having dealt a great wound.
Yet his opponent had assumed a stance again.
While billowing dark haze profusely.
It was quite surprising that he was operating internal power again with such a body.
Moreover, it wasn’t weak energy.
Just looking at the ground trembling little by little, one could tell.
That it was even supreme-level energy.
Since it was an injured body, there would be strain, but it was a truly superhuman level of mental fortitude.
But that surprise was only momentary.
It merely passed by like light.
Why?
Because he had confirmed the body’s condition and was certain of his victory.
Look.
Fresh blood was still flowing from the pierced abdomen.
It was surely a deep wound.
Deep enough that some of the internal organs inside the belly wouldn’t be intact.
His opponent maintained a composed attitude, but that was merely stubbornness and a final desperate struggle.
That was his judgment.
Anyone else who looked would think the same.
The Ninth Great General declared boldly while pointing his sword tip.
“Hm, I admire that will. Yes, I’ll give you a final chance to restore the Heavenly Demon Cult’s pride.”
The tide of victory had already turned in his favor.
You’ll fight me again with that body?
It made no sense.
Fine.
He would end it here.
Completely, perfectly.
The Grand Prelate was a target that had to be eliminated anyway.
Because he was an existence that could become an obstacle, large or small, on the path the Lord would walk going forward.
It was simply that timing had unintentionally been moved up.
He need only think that way and pour out his remaining strength to annihilate him.
WOOONG-
The iron sword in his hand cried out from the injection of massive true energy.
DEUDEU, DEUDEU…
The ground beneath his feet cried out along with it.
But suddenly, the surrounding air sank heavily.
‘What is this…?’
The Ninth Great General’s expression changed completely.
The reason was simple.
Gun Mu-ak’s transformation.
Precisely, his intangible aura had suddenly changed to a solemn momentum.
GOOOO, GOOOO…
A pressure that was difficult to describe in words could be felt.
It was reaching his entire body.
The momentum of sinister demonic energy harmonized with killing intent and fighting spirit.
‘This can’t be… his internal power has risen even higher!’
Such were the ripples created in the Ninth Great General’s dark brown pupils.
Eyes filled with surprise.
Hadn’t he been facing him with extreme-level energy until now?
The moment such doubt flashed through the Ninth Great General’s mind.
HWAAAK-
The haze surrounding Gun Mu-ak gathered together and shot up, letting out a loud, chilling scream-like sound.
-UUUUUUUUU…
The form of the haze changed.
Into the faces of people screaming as if fallen into a black hell.
The Ninth Great General felt goosebumps all over his body the instant he saw that.
It was a terrifying sight.
Didn’t that look like countless souls crying out in unison?
Suddenly.
FLASH!
The screaming countless faces all scattered and disappeared at once, exploding.
SEUSEUSEUT, SEUSEUSEUSEU…
The stab wound engraved in Gun Mu-ak’s abdomen was healed.
Cleanly, while emitting smoke of dark demonic power…
The Ninth Great General flinched and was shocked.
‘Th-that…!’
His mind felt paralyzed.
To think he possessed the ability to heal wounds.
An unprecedented special ability that destroyed martial common sense.
In the long martial history of a thousand years, only five martial artists were said to have been capable of such a thing.
The Heavenly Demon, Sword Emperor, Evil Emperor, Martial Immortal and the Blood God.
Those who had each possessed the Divine Martial Sword and were posthumously honored as unrivaled hegemons in history.
At that moment, Gun Mu-ak spoke in a low voice, awakening the shocked Ninth Great General’s mind.
“The chance you spouted never existed from the beginning. The process and outcome of all affairs depend on my will.”
The Ninth Great General, having met his gaze, swallowed dry saliva.
GULP.
A tension that seemed to tighten his skin.
His pounding heart was heightening the hair-trigger atmosphere.
However.
KWAK!
The Ninth Great General, having put strength into the hand gripping the sword hilt, gathered his fighting spirit and glared with both eyes.
“Let’s see about that!”
Having operated maximum internal power, he charged fiercely forward.
The gap was compressed rapidly.
KWAHAAANG!
The Ninth Great General retreated at a speed faster than when he had charged.
JIIIIIIIIK-
He was pushed back, leaving long and deep footprints on the dark ground.
It was broken.
The sword energy imbued with extreme-level energy was futilely shattered.
By the repelling force of the black curtain that had explosively formed in the shape of human faces.
Heavenly Demon Steel Soul Barrier.
A supreme technique called the iron shield within the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, sharing the same principle as body-protecting energy deflection.
“Far from closing the gap, it’s grown wider.”
Those words from Gun Mu-ak were a provocation that trampled on his pride.
He didn’t mean the gap in their positions.
He meant could he possibly close the gap in martial prowess with just that level of power.
“BASTARD!”
The Ninth Great General increased speed and power further, executing consecutive sword strikes.
Each time light burst forth following the blade’s movement, tremendous roaring echoes violently shook the forest shrouded in darkness.
Great sounds overlapped and overlapped again.
It was truly an offensive poured out without even room to breathe.
A faint gleam quietly rose in the dark brown pupils of Eun Yi-bi and Ya Baek-ji, who stood at a distance.
“Impressive martial prowess.”
“Yes, as you say, Left Attendant…”
“At the very least, he’d claim a seat among the lowest ranks of the Six Grand Apostles tier.”
“Hoo, my thoughts too. Although he doesn’t match the power of us two, he’s sufficient to be called a strongman.”
Meanwhile, the Ninth Great General was operating his personal internal power to the maximum to gain the upper hand.
KKWANG, KWAKKWANG, KKWANG… PEOPEONG, PEONG, PEOPEONG…!
In an instant.
Gun Mu-ak’s dry voice wedged into the violent wave of sword energy.
“Resolve to even risk death… I can see blind loyalty toward your master.”
The moment those words ended, the Ninth Great General’s form flew backward with a KKWANG! and was embedded in a boulder.
It was ironic.
That was the same boulder Gun Mu-ak had been embedded in earlier.
“KKEUHEUT…!”
Hot liquid trickled down the lips of the Ninth Great General, whose face was distorted.
It seemed his existing internal injury had worsened due to the repelling force of the Heavenly Demon Steel Soul Barrier, which had become even more powerful.
At that moment.
HUK!
Gun Mu-ak dropped through the void.
As if to stomp on and crush his head.
The Ninth Great General, startled out of his wits, moved sideways with all his might.
He felt it in that brief gap.
The fearsome might of that footwork-based attack.
If he took that head-on, he would sustain fatal injuries.
When Gun Mu-ak’s stomp struck the ground by a hair’s breadth.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKKWANG-!
Demonic energy of dark attribute transformed into violent flames and ruthlessly destroyed the space within a two-zhang radius.
Not just the surrounding trees but even boulders scattered like powder.
The demonic power was truly catastrophic.
The Ninth Great General, who had barely escaped calamity, let his complexion harden even more pale.
‘Is that the Heavenly Demon World-Destroying Step!’
Gun Mu-ak calmly turned around and spoke while raising his sword at an angle.
“You said you’d break this sword?”
“HMM…”
“Preposterous bravado. When you can’t even do anything about this single body made of blood and flesh.”
The Ninth Great General suddenly recalled the earlier words.
-The years spent making this sword… a full one hundred-some years, and including preparation time, a whopping one hundred seventy-some years, and… my body was also created through the efforts of our cult that endured those long years.
-…
-Can you withstand the result of those years?
He had called it the Demon God Sword, quenched in the blood of the Black Dragon.
Made to rival the Divine Martial Sword.
If so, that sword must surely be imbued with unfathomable power.
If he brought out even that, there would absolutely be no winning.
The signs of defeat were already thick.
‘I have no choice but to trigger it!’
The Ninth Great General, having bitten his teeth hard, stimulated the gu poison parasitizing his lower dantian, and a massive power surged up.
His gu poison, as a superior, was special.
Unlike the type that simply exploded, it temporarily amplified internal energy.
In other words, that gu poison unified the nutrient of innate true energy with its inherent bizarre energy to raise internal power levels for a short time.
At the cost of life.
As if taking a letal elixir.
He had already resolved himself to death.
So he at least wanted to inflict a fatal wound.
When the Ninth Great General’s internal energy amplified several fold in an instant, all directions trembled.
KUKUKU, KUKUKUKU-
Simultaneously, the expressions of Eun Yi-bi and Ya Baek-ji changed completely.
‘Hmm, to think he was hiding such power!’
‘What is it? Innate true energy triggering? No, it seems to be more than that!’
However, Gun Mu-ak’s reaction remained dry as ever.
“You have an interesting trick. You must be determined to die.”
Hearing those words, the Ninth Great General flashed his eyes and sneered.
“You know well. If I use this power, your body won’t be unscathed either.”
Right at that moment, Gun Mu-ak twisted his wrist.
At that, the blade with the demon god pattern inscribed turned, revealing a series of characters inscribed on the other side of the blade.
Nine Heavens Ten Earths First Demon God.
Writing meaning that he was the highest demon god in this entire world.
“Let me teach you the meaning of the characters inscribed on this Demon God Sword.”
The instant Gun Mu-ak spoke thus.
PAT, PAPAP-
Eun Yi-bi and Ya Baek-ji swiftly moved to increase the distance.
Further to the rear.
As if trying not to be swept up in some power.
When Gun Mu-ak rapidly raised the Demon God Sword upward, demonic energy of tremendous size was explosively released.
Then it spread in all directions in the blink of an eye, creating a darkness deeper than night.
CHWACHWACHWACHWA, CHWACHWACHWACHWA…
A rectangular, massive dark curtain.
Within it, Gun Mu-ak and the Ninth Great General were trapped together.
It was a space completely blocked from the outside.
Darkness deeper than night covered both eyes.
Tremendous pressure crushed the Ninth Great General’s body.
‘EUUUK!’
An unprecedented demonic power assaulted him, overwhelming his amplified internal power level.
Amid that, a cold voice struck his ears.
“It’s only forty percent.”
It was Gun Mu-ak’s voice.
Only then did the Ninth Great General clearly realize.
The true gap in martial prowess.
Wasn’t it reaching his entire body?
The fearsome demonic power filling the dark space.
It was power approaching infinity.
An unknowable force pressed down on his body, preventing him from advancing even a single step.
It was terrifying.
To think merely forty percent of his energy was like this…
At that moment, a bluish light bloomed in the darkness.
Gun Mu-ak ahead had created demonic fire through the Demon God Sword.
“I have no business with one who would even throw away his life to keep secrets.”
In an instant.
KKUDEUK, KKUDEUDEU, KKUDEUK… PUHAK, PUHAAK, PUHAK…
With chilling sounds, the Ninth Great General’s body began splitting as if rupturing.
The Ninth Great General, having dropped his iron sword on the ground, trembled and wildly screamed.
“KKEUHAK! KKEUHAK!”
The bluish demonic fire of the Demon God Sword soon shot out in a straight line and connected to the Ninth Great General’s head.
“This is the Heavenly Demon Black Soul Coffin, created with demonic soul energy. It won’t end until one side’s soul is absorbed or extinguished…”
“KKE, KKEUHAAAAAK…!”
“Now depart. And I shall feast well on your departed spirit.”
No sooner had the words ended than the Ninth Great General’s entire body rapidly lost vitality as if aging.
* * *
KWAKKWANG!
Man and horse descended rapidly and made the entire training grounds within the Murong Family shake.
DEUDEU, DEUDEUDEU…
Both camps, which had been fighting in disarray, all separated at once, widening the gap due to the sudden situation.
It was an unexpected lull.
The identity of the man and horse that appeared in the center of the training grounds was Cheol Ryu-heun’s party.
Murong Kang shouted with a surprised expression.
“Seol-ah!”
“Father! Are you alright?”
Murong Seol, who had jumped down, rushed over in a fluster.
Because numerous casualties had already been discovered.
Murong Kang thus reassured his worried daughter.
“Yes, I’m alright. I did sustain some internal injury, but… by the way, could that person be…?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right. He’s Sect Leader Cheol of White Peak Sword Sect. I invited him and he came.”
All the household martial artists including Murong Kang were startled by the unexpected words.
In an instant.
Cheol Ryu-heun, standing with his back to Divine Wind, cast an indifferent gaze toward the front.
A gaze toward the Grand General of the Eastern Heaven Division.
He had seen through the fact that he was the leader at a glance.
SEUREURUNG.
Cheol Ryu-heun, having drawn the Gan jiang Sword, spoke apathetically.
“Everyone please stand by. I’m hungry, so let me finish this quickly.”
At that, Murong Kang behind him was repeatedly surprised.
“Pardon? Sect Leader Cheol, it’s impossible. Beyond the numbers, their skill is…”
Ximen Yue, who had somehow positioned himself beside him, spoke as if gently reasoning with him.
“There’s no need to worry. Sect Leader Cheol’s martial prowess transcends our expectations.”
Meanwhile.
The Grand General of the Eastern Heaven Division, having met his gaze, smirked.
“Hoot, finish quickly? You’re quite an amusing fellow.”
Cheol Ryu-heun, having raised his sword, replied with an emotionless face.
“I’ll make it even more amusing. With the strongest supreme art that only the Sword Emperor used in martial history.”
“What?”
The instant the Grand General’s dark eyebrows twitched upward.
CHYUCHYUCHYUCHYUCHYU…
Brilliant radiance resembling starlight was released along the Gan jiang Sword’s blade as if forming a mass.
It was dazzling.
It felt as if the actual stars of the sky were gathered together.
Cheol Ryu-heun had currently unified the energy within his body with his divine power.
That was what had transformed into the brilliant starlight wrapping around the Gan jiang Sword.
In the past, the five who had spiritually communicated with the Divine Martial Sword had each completed unique supreme arts using divine power.
One example was Martial Immortal Dongbang Ya’s Celestial Wandering Sword Energy.
And the energy currently being operated was something the Sword Emperor Buk Ga-shin had created.
KYUNG, KYUYUNG- KYUYUYUNG-
The massive starlight sword energy gathered on the Gan jiang Sword burst out a sharp sound.
It was the sound of small and thin strands of light jutting out.
Just listening to it made one feel as if their entire body was being sliced.
At that moment, someone’s surprised exclamation burst out.
“TH-THAT’S SWORD STEEL…!”