Chapter 394: I'll Do It My Way
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The sense of crisis in his chest elevated to the extreme.
As if to prove it, Danmok Cheon and the Fourth Great General drew out their Internal energy to maximum.
To break the Heavenly Demon Grand Sacrifice Ritual surrounding them and the Heavenly Demon Gravity Star that had appeared in the sky.
KKWADEUK, KKWADEUDUK, KKWADEUK…
Stones, trees, and such that had been wildly broken and shattered by the accelerating ground vibrations were sucked up as clumps into the dark cavern in the sky above.
SYUSYUSYUSYU, SYUSYUSYUSYU, SYUSYUSYUSYU, SYUSYUSYUSYU…
A formless whirlwind boasting terrifying wind pressure.
Along with that, Danmok Cheon’s brown martial uniform and the Fourth Great Generals’s gray robe were drawn and flipped upside down upward.
PEOLLEOKPEOLLEOK, PEOLLEOKPEOLLEOK, PEOLLEOKPEOLLEOK… !
They fluttered fiercely, as if they would soon be torn to shreds and sucked up above.
Still, the two endured.
They concentrated some of their Internal energy into their lower limbs.
With that power, they resisted the terrifying mystical application of absorption and stood holding their center.
It was the exquisite technique called Thousand-Weight Drop that made the body heavy by using ascending Internal energy.
Meanwhile.
Gwi Je-shin and Beop-yeol, who had retreated far back, exchanged brief words.
“Does it seem like he’s exerting extreme cultivation?”
“It appears so. It’s truly admireable.”
At that time, Ya Baek-ji, standing to the side, smiled slightly.
“For the Grand Prelate, the concept of extreme cultivation is meaningless.”
At those words, Gwi Je-shin and Beop-yeol tilted their heads.
‘A meaningless concept? What does that mean?’
‘Surely… it doesn’t mean there’s no limit to his power?’
In the midst of that, Gun Mu-ak was still walking forward with an indifferent expression.
A slow gait.
The leisure of an overwhelming warrior who enjoyed the situation he had created could be glimpsed.
Soon Beop-yeol expressed concern.
“Does he intend to… kill them?”
Then Gwi Je-shin sent a Secret Sound Transmission toward Gun Mu-ak in front.
Having heard that, Gun Mu-ak murmured inwardly.
‘Advice, huh…’
The conversation with Cheol Ryu-heun flashed through his mind.
-Gun Mu-ak, one piece of advice.
-What is it?
-If you happen to encounter Danmok Cheon and that gang, just play with them moderately. Don’t kill them until the main battle begins.
-You’re telling me to show mercy in my techniques?
-Yes. Depending on who they are, match them with similar power and then just let them go.
-Specifically why?
-Yes, specifically.
-…
-Is that unappealing to you?
-No, I’m just curious about the reason.
-It’s bait for perfect annihilation.
-Bait?
-If you release them like that, the enemy will naturally become furious to the tips of their heads. Along with that, their impatience will grow. That will force them to make a final choice.
-Ah, meaning they’ll choose some kind of desperate measure?
-Generally, when people feel cornered, they cast aside reason and put instinct first. Now, think about it. What thoughts will arise if they’re defeated by you?
-They’ll seek extreme methods to increase their martial power.
-Exactly. And I predict that method will be one of two things.
-Either have their blood sucked. Or eat that thing.
-That’s it.
-Right, I understand what you mean. But when I actually face them… I don’t know if I can avoid killing them.
Along with the momentary thought, Gun Mu-ak’s eye-light sank.
‘I’ll do it my way.’
Thinking so, he continued his leisurely steps.
On the other hand.
The impatient Fourth Great General touched the gu poison in his body with the resolve to die.
‘Keuk, let’s detonate it! For now, that’s the only way…!’
In an instant, an intimate Secret Sound Transmission reached the Fourth Great General’s ears.
It was Danmok Cheon.
His Secret Sound Transmission struck the ears again as he readjusted his grip on the Collapse Great Sword.
The Fourth Great General promptly steadied his spirit and responded.
Simultaneously, Danmok Cheon roared sharply as if howling.
“Did you think I’d be scared!”
The ground where he stood split deeply with a JJEOJJEOK! sound.
It was the effect of explosively operating maximum Internal energy.
He was planning a head-on collision.
Earlier, he had exchanged nearly thirty consecutive bouts with Gun Mu-ak.
And in that process, he had clearly realized one thing.
The tier of martial arts.
A high wall that could never be crossed.
That’s right.
Just as Cheol Ryu-heun had been, Gun Mu-ak was also a warrior who surpassed his martial power.
He had already sustained internal injuries.
Before the demonic sword power that Gun Mu-ak had displayed…
Pain had come to his main meridians as well as his heart vessel.
If his Internal energy level had been just a bit lower, he would have faced the crisis of certain death immediately after the last bout.
Fresh shame arose.
He was embarrassed by the bold words he had uttered earlier.
-Cheol Ryu-heun’s internal energy technique was truly unfathomable. I was overconfident and fell to it. But you… what can you show me? No, can you even? You’re not Cheol Ryu-heun.
He was wrong.
It was a misjudgment.
Gun Mu-ak’s power was at a level no less than Cheol Ryu-heun’s.
They called him the reincarnation of the great Cult Leader, the Heavenly Demon.
It was as they said.
Sure enough, it was power befitting that claim.
Also.
It became clear that Gun Mu-ak aspired to become a new Heavenly Demon of this era.
Evidenced by the Heavenly Demon Great Incense Ceremony visible on all sides.
That had once been prohibited as law and sealed by Sword Flow Demon Venerable Ga Ya-hwan, the first Grand Prelate, to elevate the absolute reverence for the Heavenly Demon, the only god of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s doctrine.
But.
The contemporary Gun Mu-ak was operating it, wasn’t he?
In other words, Gun Mu-ak had used the authority of the contemporary Grand Prelate position to lift the traditional taboo.
To achieve that grand goal: the reincarnation of the Heavenly Demon.
Danmok Cheon suddenly thought of two people.
The Commander of the Detached Three Army Corps, Nine Springs Demon Dragon Sang-jan, and the Family Head of the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan, Bat Demon Great King Heuk Ma-yung.
Without those two, it would be difficult to bring down Gun Mu-ak.
Therefore, he had to focus solely on survival.
This was an important juncture.
This moment was precisely the crossroads of life and death.
Danmok Cheon clenched his teeth tight and assumed a charging stance while rolling his eyes.
‘Kkeum, he’s late! About now he should have appeared!’
He was waiting for something.
Gun Mu-ak, having approached to within ten paces, released a voice.
“Annihilation.”
Simultaneously.
KWAAAAAAAAA… KWAAAAAAAAA… KWAAAAAAAAAAA… !
The Heavenly Demon Grand Sacrifice Ritual surrounding all sides swept toward the center and expelled heavy pressure.
Along with that, the Heavenly Demon Gravity Star in the sky also added terrifying momentum.
SYUAAAAAAAAAA… SYUAAAAAAAAAA… SYUAAAAAAAAAAA… !
To that, the Fourth Great General endured with Thousand-Weight Drop combined with extreme cultivation.
‘Kkeukeuk!’
As the absorbing force wrapped around his body, not only his robe but even his skin was torn.
Danmok Cheon too was in the middle of holding on with all his might, having thrust his long, large sword deep into the ground.
‘Keuk!’
In the midst of that, the blade emitted energy.
HUWAAAK… HUWAAAAK… !
A curtain of haze widely fired in a rectangular shape.
The sweeping Heavenly Demon Grand Sacrifice Ritual struck that surface.
KKWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG… KKWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG… !
A thunderous explosive sound as if to tear apart eardrums.
Danmok Cheon’s body staggered amidst the vortex of Demonic energy.
The Fourth Great General beside him was the same.
It was utterly difficult to breathe.
It felt as if a giant demon god had compressed and eliminated the air on earth.
KKWAGWANG, KKWAGWANG, KKWAGWANG… !
Amid explosive sounds bursting out without rest, it felt as if heaven and earth were shaking fiercely.
The curtain Danmok Cheon had unfolded began to distort.
‘I can’t hold on any longer!’
The collapse of the curtain was just a matter of time.
At that moment.
PAPAPAPAPA, PAPAPAPAPA… !
From the rear, beyond the dense bushes, countless ink-like black shadows came rushing in.
They were flocks of crows with red eyes and flocks of bats with blue faces.
Blood-Eyed Mad Crow and Blue-Faced Fierce Bat.
Poisonous creatures of the Shiwan Mountains that possessed toxicity inducing strange phenomena like optical illusions and auditory hallucinations, as well as paralysis symptoms.
They had hidden even their wingbeat sounds, let alone their Aura, until they came close.
It was most likely an arrangement from the Heretic Cult camp.
Danmok Cheon finally showed delight.
‘They’ve finally come!’
The rapidly intruding poisonous creature groups naturally became shields.
Half of the swarm was drawn to the dark entrance in the sky.
TUTUTUTUTUTUT, TUTUTUTUTUTUT… CHWACHWACHWACHWACHWAK, CHWACHWACHWACHWACHWAK… !
The moment they were trapped inside, they turned to black powder and disappeared.
A bottomless dark demonic power that strongly sucked in targets, compressed them down, and crushed them to burst.
The other half was the same.
They were meeting annihilation before the Heavenly Demon Grand Sacrifice Ritual striking all directions.
PEOPEOPEOPEOPEOPUK, PEOPEOPEOPEOPEOPUK, PEOPEOPEOPEOPEOPUK… !
It was a movement willing to sacrifice even death to save the two.
The pressure in the space weakened due to the sacrifice of the poisonous creature groups.
Danmok Cheon’s massive cultivation, having found breathing room, gathered into the blade.
Was he planning a counterattack of conviction?
Gun Mu-ak matched by striding forward.
A surprising movement that compressed the remaining distance like a flash in one step.
The poisonous creature swarms blocked Gun Mu-ak’s front.
PEOPEOPEOPEOPEOPEONG, PEOPEOPEOPEOPEOPEONG… !
Corpses torn to pieces and scattered by Gun Mu-ak’s formless Aura/Aura/bearing.
Danmok Cheon aimed for that opening and swung the Collapse Great Sword down from above.
A frontal offensive.
The blade dropped vertically, and pressure spewed out following its trajectory.
Heavy rigid power was released and split the space.
It was a sword attack representing maximum Internal energy and containing the mystical application of severing.
The deployment of Sky-Collapsing Earth Sword, a finishing move of Great Explosive Sword Technique, symbolizing the prestige of the sobriquet Great Sword Tyrant Lord.
The Fourth Great General, who had circled to the side, also thrust his sword powerfully.
KKWAUWOONG… KKWAUWOONG… !
Explosive sounds bursting out at once.
The Fourth Great General frowned and quickly retreated.
No, he was blown away.
By the rebound force from the Formless Energy barrier explosively firing.
But Danmok Cheon was different.
He barely broke through the energy barrier and drove the slash in.
Thus, the moment the large blade struck the top of Gun Mu-ak’s left shoulder.
KKWAHAAANG!
Along with an explosive sound, haze spread.
‘T-this…!’
Danmok Cheon’s complexion turned pale white.
He hadn’t known.
About another thin energy barrier laid beyond the first.
It was a mistake.
It was a misjudgment.
Because it was so thin, he had thought there was only one layer.
A fear that suddenly arrived.
How could this be possible?
To execute a protective energy barrier in double layers…
No.
There was even a possibility of more than double.
Suddenly.
KWAAAAA, KWAAAAA, KWAAAAA, KWAAAAA…
Dark entrances simultaneously generated to Danmok Cheon’s left and right, above and below.
There were four Heavenly Demon Gravity Star in total.
That power instantly began sucking in Danmok Cheon’s limbs.
They were small in size.
But.
It was shocking.
To use multiple Heavenly Demon Gravity Star, an ability exceeding expectations.
Are you truly a new Heavenly Demon?
TEUDEUDEUDEUDEUK, TEUDEUDEUDEUDEUK…!
Thus, Danmok Cheon’s limbs emitted faint tearing sounds of muscle.
While being drawn little by little into the darkness.
Holding on with all his might was all he could do.
At that time, Gun Mu-ak spoke.
“You are weak.”
Immediately after, the Demon God Sword pierced through Danmok Cheon’s upper body.
PUUUUK!