Chapter 374: Chapter 374

“Huu…”

Cheon Mu-gwang, who fled to a distant place, looked toward one side from a high spot and let out a sigh of relief. He had thought that given Dan Woo-hyun’s personality, he would chase him down immediately and crush his head, but contrary to his thoughts, there was no sign of him pursuing.

At least, letting out a sigh of relief, he slumped to the ground.

“The change of time even changes people. Brother.”

Cheon Mu-gwang whistled as he said those words.

Recalling the time he first met Dan Woo-hyun a very long time ago, he retraced the times he spent with him one by one, lost in memories.

Did anyone know how good it was?

As a person who revered martial arts, the journey with the Martial God, who could be called the being who reached the end, provided fun to the extent that no one could even imagine.

Cheon Mu-gwang still could not forget those days.

Also, he thought.

That he would surely ascend to that height.

The very moment the Martial God was sealed and sank deep into Lake Dongting.

Cheon Mu-gwang saw the possibility of surpassing the Martial God from Cheon Mu-je, who created that technique. Therefore, even though he had ascended to the Immortal Realm, he betrayed those he had been with, left them, and clung to Cheon Mu-je’s side.

“However, it was good to see you after a long time. Of course, there seems to be a feeling of having utilized you a little. Hahaha. Please look at it as a younger brother’s cuteness.”

Saying ‘eucha’, Cheon Mu-gwang stretched himself.

He killed Ryu Hwa-gun, who had been a headache.

Illusion arts were a weapon that was bothersome in many ways. Even more, if the one using it was Ryu Hwa-gun, it would not end well even for Cheon Mu-gwang.

His illusions were perfect, to the extent that even Cheon Mu-je would be deceived.

Historically, the top priority target was always Ryu Hwa-gun.

Making them pursue was nothing.

In the first place, since the goal of the current Eight Immortals was to kill Cheon Mu-je and the crowd following him, he thought they would chase like crazy just by revealing his presence for a brief moment.

That judgment was precise, and Cheon Mu-gwang succeeded in killing Ryu Hwa-gun without directly using his hands.

“For the Martial God under heaven to be played in the palm of a hand. Tch-tch.”

Cheon Mu-gwang clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Since it was something that could never be thought of in the past, the Dan Woo-hyun visible now was extremely absurd and disappointing beyond measure.

It must surely be due to those weak fellows clinging by his side.

Murderous intent spun in Cheon Mu-gwang’s eyes.

However, he soon turned his head with a casual expression.

Wondering what he was thinking, he looked toward where Dan Woo-hyun was for a brief moment, then clicked his tongue, frowning despite himself.

Did he notice any sign?

Or was there another reason?

“Are you saying you won’t be easily deceived?”

Cheon Mu-gwang frowned, spitting out words for which the reason was unknown.

Things flowed differently from what he had thought.

However, it was not a situation where he could return again.

He felt a presence of someone pursuing him rapidly.

Cheon Mu-gwang ground his teeth, the corners of his mouth trembling.

* * *

“Hah… Hah…”

Ryu Hwa-gun slumped to the ground.

Realizing that his body, which he thought had been sliced just earlier, was still attached, he stared blankly at Dan Woo-hyun with an extremely dumbfounded gaze, his eyes wide.

How could it be like this?

“An… illusion…?”

What unfolded before his eyes was unmistakably an illusion.

The sensation of being sliced and the situation that occurred were surely as vivid as reality, yet to think all of those were merely an illusion?

Ryu Hwa-gun, who had more confidence in illusion arts than anyone, looked at Dan Woo-hyun with a disbelieving gaze.

“It is not an illusion.”

“…!?”

Dan Woo-hyun muttered so, sheathing his sword.

Spitting out a word, he clearly directed a sneer toward Ryu Hwa-gun, who was casting a vacant gaze. Because the wounds Ryu Hwa-gun had inflicted just earlier remained intact on his figure, it made him feel that his illusion had been perfect.

Under such circumstances, how?

Ryu Hwa-gun could not understand the situation at all.

“It’s not an illusion…? This? I… surely…”

“You would have died.”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded as if it was natural.

If it was not an illusion, his body should have been cleaved in two. However, not a single cut was visible anywhere on Ryu Hwa-gun’s body, nor was there even a trace of a single drop of blood leaking out.

Ryu Hwa-gun, who had been groping and feeling his body, stood up.

“Mu… Murderous intent…”

“Yes.”

Swallowing, dry saliva went down.

Dan Woo-hyun’s murderous intent was real.

The murderous intent felt at that moment of attack was intense enough to break even Ryu Hwa-gun’s illusion, and due to that, everything visible turned into a hallucination created by Dan Woo-hyun’s tremendous murderous intent.

However.

‘In reality, that event would have occurred.’

If Dan Woo-hyun had truly intended to kill Ryu Hwa-gun, all the hallucinations seen would have become reality. A futile reality where he could only be defeated without being able to do anything.

He shuddered, fearing that so much.

“Why… did you spare me? Had you not intended to kill me?”

Ryu Hwa-gun was most curious about that.

Dan Woo-hyun had definitely intended to kill Ryu Hwa-gun. To the extent of breaking even the illusion and showing hallucinations due to his murderous intent, Dan Woo-hyun had sincerely intended to kill Ryu Hwa-gun.

Even so, what was the reason for sparing him?

“Merely… I was not in the mood.”

“Do… Do you kill people according to your mood?”

Ryu Hwa-gun let out a dry laugh at the absurd words.

The Martial God he had seen was not like this. If he intended to kill, he surely killed.

Considering that no one had survived after drawing a blade before him, the Martial God in front of his eyes now gave a strange feeling, to the extent that he wondered if it was indeed the Martial God of the past.

Ryu Hwa-gun wore an awkward expression.

“Has a thousand years of time changed you? Or has your current life changed you?”

“Well, I do not know well.”

“…….”

There was no hostility.

Whether he thought he had already killed Ryu Hwa-gun with his murderous intent anyway, no hostility was felt in Dan Woo-hyun’s tone, as well as his expression and behavior.

Perhaps because of that, Ryu Hwa-gun let out a sigh of relief.

“Anyway, it is a relief that I survived.”

“You are already dead.”

“I know. This Ryu Hwa-gun is dead…”

He knew what Dan Woo-hyun’s words meant.

A person who was already dead could not walk around the living world.

Therefore, it was a warning never to appear in front of his eyes again. Since it was a warning from none other than the Martial God, it could not be taken lightly.

“Vanish.”

Ryu Hwa-gun stood up, unable to say another word.

Dan Woo-hyun’s words now were absolute. He had definitely wanted to kill him, but whether he was refraining from killing due to some reason, he was letting him go like this.

From Ryu Hwa-gun’s perspective, it was an extremely lucky event, and he did not want to miss it.

“Th… Thank you.”

Having bowed, Ryu Hwa-gun quickly stood up. Although he could not properly control his body due to the hallucination Dan Woo-hyun had shown him, he still forced strength into his legs and left the place.

‘To think one of the world’s Eight Immortals… so easily…’

Fleeing, Ryu Hwa-gun had such thoughts.

The Eight Immortals refer to those who achieved the peak in a single field and reached the Immortal Realm. Originally, the power each person possessed was so great that if one of them went wild in the Central Plains, it would be uncontrollable.

That was the same for Ryu Hwa-gun as well.

Although he was defeated by the Martial God this easily, with the power he possessed, he was someone capable of turning the Central Plains upside down.

Even so, he fell short of the Martial God.

‘The phrase “natural disaster” is not nonsense.’

Ryu Hwa-gun clenched his fists tightly.

A thousand years ago, how much technique and internal energy went into sinking the Martial God? All of the Eight Immortals had to cling together and spend over a decade of effort.

For the Eight Immortals, of whom it was no exaggeration to say they reached the peak, to spend years of effort?

It was an unbelievable event, but it actually occurred, and in the end, the Martial God was trapped in the deepest part of Lake Dongting as Cheon Mu-je intended.

‘Originally, locking him in the North Sea would have been safest…’

The deepest part of the North Sea.

Where cold snow raged and the ten-thousand-year glacial crystal slept.

Locking him in that place was the safest and surest method, but since it was impossible, Lake Dongting was chosen. Even so, no one had expected that he would break the technique and emerge. They were certain that no matter how great the Martial God was, he would be stripped of all his source qi and die within a few decades.

Even so, a thousand years.

‘How did he endure that solitude and coldness?’

Just thinking of it made Ryu Hwa-gun dizzy.

Also, that was the reason why the murderous intent Dan Woo-hyun held toward the existence of the Eight Immortals was bound to be real.

Ryu Hwa-gun let out a bitter smile and accelerated further.

From a far distance, the energy of Nam Ju-ryeon pursuing Cheon Mu-gwang was felt.

Walking along the mountain path, Dan Woo-hyun was returning toward where Namgung So-hye was. All kinds of thoughts filled his head.

The Eight Immortals and the Three Heavens.

Things about past ties brushed through his head one by one. In a way, they were ill-fated relationships, but in another sense, they were good ties.

‘If not for the Eight Immortals, I wouldn’t have met So-mi either.’

Thinking of it that way, the Eight Immortals were no different from benefactors. Since it was also the reason he spared Ryu Hwa-gun, even if he had hateful feelings toward them, he had no intention of being blinded by revenge.

‘A thousand years… it is long.’

It was long.

That time, so incredibly long, was beyond description. However, because he went through all of these events, Dan Woo-hyun existed now, met his current ties, and many things could change.

Dan Woo-hyun took a step with a smile.

Simultaneously, a wind suddenly blew and the scenery shifted. The place where he was just earlier had vanished without a trace, and before long, Namgung So-hye could be seen meditating.

He had traveled an incredibly long distance in a single instant.

This was indeed a movement method comparable to the Land Shrinking technique that immortals said they used.

“She was done in.”

Dan Woo-hyun, who was observing the surrounding traces, let out an absurd laugh. He had already looked inside Cheon Mu-gwang’s head. However, since he had not thought he would touch even Namgung So-hye, a dry laugh merely flowed out.

Approaching her, who was slowly meditating, Dan Woo-hyun extended his hand and placed it on her back. Whether she suffered deep internal injuries, the qi channels throughout her body were in a terrible state.

Fortunately, it seemed she had taken good medicine, and before he knew it, treatment was also done.

‘Is it Nam Ju-ryeon?’

Since he seemed to feel such energy, he laughed despite himself. If he moved right now, he would surely be able to see her face, but it seemed better to leave that as a pleasure for a bit later.

Dan Woo-hyun slowly injected energy.

Although she was already controlling most of the internal injuries due to Nam Ju-ryeon’s energy, as Dan Woo-hyun’s energy seeped in, they did not fight each other but fused and flowed smoothly.

Thus, he healed the internal injuries even faster and pierced the blocked acupoints.

Thud, thud!

Every time a strange sound was heard, her body heaved heavily. Namgung So-hye’s face distorted in pain. Although it was the process of blocked acupoints being opened, it was something that brought immense pain to herself.

Even so, she could not move carelessly or open her mouth.

This was because there was a possibility of suffering qi deviation.

“This also must be called luck? Perhaps you might be even luckier than So-mi.”

Crack!

Simultaneously with the end of Dan Woo-hyun’s words, a strange sound was heard. A peculiar sound like bones reconstructing. Namgung So-hye’s body began to heave here and there.

Cold sweat flowed fully on her face, and that sweat flowed down dyed dark black, as if discharging toxins.

Enjoyed the chapter?

If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!

Support on Ko-fi