Chapter 170: Chapter 170
In this world, there exist countless movement techniques.
Grass-Flying Step, running across blades of grass; Water-Walking Flight, running across the surface of water; Treading Snow Without Trace, walking upon deep snow without leaving a mark.
Though they seemed impossible, these were movement techniques that existed within the realm of reality. In the current Murim, there were indeed martial artists who had mastered such techniques.
But alongside these, there were movement techniques that existed only in the realm of legend, passed down solely through the mouths of people.
Void Sky Treading, walking through empty air as though it were flat ground; One Reed Crossing the River, crossing a flowing river upon a single reed, these were among them.
Passed down through human lips, yet with no way of knowing if anyone had actually mastered them, legendary movement techniques.
The Sword Riding Flight Technique was likewise a technique that occupied a place among these legends.
The realm of riding upon a sword and flying.
An incomprehensible domain that should have been possible only for immortals.
Though it was said that such a realm existed, the last martial artist to actually perform the Sword Riding Flight Technique had been Namgung Cheon, the first in several decades.
“H-how is this possible?”
Jong Ri-yeon’s face went deathly pale.
The distance Namgung Cheon could cover with the Sword Riding Flight Technique was, in truth, only about over fifteen hundred feet. But even that was more than enough to inspire astonishment.
Thwack!
In the blink of an eye, the sword that had flown through the air embedded itself directly before Dam Ho. And upon it, Namgung Cheon alighted gently.
The slender blade bent slightly before returning to its original form.
Namgung Cheon stood upon the sword and looked down at Dam Ho.
Namgung Cheon, standing tall upon his blade; Dam Ho, gazing up at him; and Jong Ri-yeon, watching with a pale face. Silence descended upon them.
Namgung Cheon stood with arms crossed, regarding Dam Ho. From his entire being, the oppressive aura that only an absolute sovereign could possess erupted in full.
A faint fury smoldered in Namgung Cheon’s eyes.
“The Fist Demon, is it?”
His killing intent swelled like a snowball, pressing upon the surroundings.
Namgung Cheon’s fury was as violent and scorching as an erupting volcano. His fury was directed at Dam Ho and Jong Ri-yeon.
The corners of Dam Ho’s eyes trembled.
Every muscle in his body was drawn taut, like a bowstring at full tension. His body was reacting to the opponent’s danger before his mind could process it.
Every hair on his body stood on end, and goosebumps raced up his spine. Since entering the Murim, this was the first time he had felt such tension.
Namgung Cheon’s gaze was as keen as a finely honed blade, and the aura emanating from his body was as deadly as facing a thousand swords.
“Why do you not answer? I asked if you are the Fist Demon.”
“I am!”
“We finally meet, you reckless cur. To dare bring such devastation to the main family.”
Killing intent dripped from Namgung Cheon’s voice.
Dam Ho regarded Namgung Cheon in silence.
Beneath his robes, his muscles twitched. Sensing the opponent’s strength, his body instinctively adjusted to its optimal state of resistance.
Namgung Cheon’s gaze turned to Jong Ri-yeon.
“And you, know that you will never leave this place alive. Because you did not come, Mu-jin missed the chance to treat his deviation in time. That sin is beyond the price of your life. To refuse to treat the heir of the Namgung Family over a mere village girl.”
“Huuk!”
Jong Ri-yeon could not answer. She could only tremble, her face drained of color. Such was the terrifying nature of Namgung Cheon’s killing intent.
He was Namgung Cheon, called the Sword King. At the very least, among those who wielded the sword, he was the undisputed pinnacle. For a mere physician to endure his killing intent was out of the question.
With Namgung Mu-jin fallen into deviation, the succession of the Namgung Family had been plunged into chaos, its future impossible to predict.
Had Namgung Su at least been alive, sorting out the succession would have been far easier. But he too had perished at Dam Ho’s hands.
In one way or another, Dam Ho had brought catastrophic damage upon the Namgung Family. For that, the Namgung Family, with its centuries of history, had been mired in a quagmire.
Because of a single person, decades of progress had been set back.
Namgung Cheon’s fury pierced the heavens. And his fury, given tangible form, pressed upon Dam Ho and Jong Ri-yeon.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Dam Ho’s heart pounded violently. It beat so hard it seemed it might burst from his chest.
Dam Ho intuited that he had encountered his greatest foe since entering the Murim.
The goosebumps that had risen across his body had not yet subsided. Such was the overwhelming presence of Namgung Cheon.
Even in perfect condition, Dam Ho would have found this opponent daunting. What more, his internal injuries from the battle with the Sword King Unit were still unhealed.
But Dam Ho did not despair.
Though he had blazed a trail of unconventional and spectacular exploits, he had always known this moment might come. The moment when an insurmountable wall would stand before him.
‘If I win, I pass beyond it. If I fall, so be it.’
Having completed his revenge, there was nothing left in the world to hold him back. The only regret was that he had not yet seen his Master’s face.
Crack!
When Dam Ho clenched his tightened fist, the sound of joints popping rang out. That sound irritated Namgung Cheon.
“Insolent!”
The defiant look in Dam Ho’s eyes displeased him.
The eyes that should have been filled with despair and defeat instead burned with fighting spirit and a challenging glare, this particularly grated on Namgung Cheon’s nerves.
“I will gouge out those eyes.”
Namgung Cheon lifted himself slightly into the air and kicked the hilt of the sword he had been standing on.
Though the kick seemed gentle, the sword shot toward Dam Ho at terrifying speed.
In that instant, Dam Ho launched a strike forward.
Fortress Breaking Fist.
Clang!
Fist and sword collided with a resonant clang.
Scrape!
Dam Ho’s body was driven backward. A deep furrow was carved into the ground where his feet had been.
A thread of blood appeared at the corner of Dam Ho’s mouth. They had exchanged only a single blow, yet a tremendous shock had coursed through his entire body.
Whoosh!
The sword that had been deflected flew back to Namgung Cheon’s hand like a living creature. The moment he caught it, Namgung Cheon’s aura shifted.
“I shall grant you a swift death.”
He advanced upon Dam Ho with his sword leading.
A sharp killing energy surged like a tidal wave.
Dam Ho ground his teeth. Since learning martial arts, this was the first time he had felt such overwhelming pressure from an opponent. And that made him all the more furious.
He struck the ground.
His body shot forward like a bolt of lightning. Charging Step had been deployed.
Fortress Breaking Fist followed.
Crash!
Once again, a thunderous sound rang out.
An ordinary opponent would have been staggered even if not heavily injured at this point. But Namgung Cheon was different.
Whoosh!
His body turned with fluid grace, deflecting Dam Ho’s force and continuing forward.
Shing!
Dam Ho’s side split open, exposing bone. Blood gushed forth, and the corners of his eyes trembled.
It was a strike that did not rely on sword energy or sword force, but instead maximized the subtle art of the blade itself.
Namgung Cheon flicked his sword to shake off the blood.
“Everyone calls you the Fist Demon and trembles, so you thought you were the best in the Murim? Don’t make me laugh. Even excluding the Four Reapers, there are more than a dozen martial artists in the current Murim who could kill you with ease. You are nothing.”
Once again, the Four Reapers were mentioned. But Dam Ho did not pay it much mind. No, he simply had no leisure to do so.
Even in that moment, Namgung Cheon continued speaking.
“Absolute trash who, having obtained power by sheer luck, runs rampant without fear of heaven.”
Namgung Cheon raised his sword and aimed at Dam Ho once more.
Blinding sunlight shattered upon the blade and scattered. The broken light pierced Dam Ho’s eyes painfully.
In that instant, Namgung Cheon moved again.
Shing!
The sword sliced through the air with surgical sharpness.
Namgung Cheon’s blade targeted Dam Ho’s throat. A single hit would mean instant death.
Boom!
Dam Ho deflected the sword with a strike of the Single Whip.
Though he had struck the blade with the back of his hand, a wound appeared and blood flowed.
Namgung Cheon smiled and unleashed his sword once more.
Thrusting, slashing, withdrawing, simple sword techniques unfolded in rapid succession. At first glance they seemed ordinary, but in Namgung Cheon’s hands, they were more devastating than any secret art.
Streak!
Fresh wounds multiplied across Dam Ho’s body. Each time, blood sprayed and a shuddering pain shot up his spine.
The Singular Path style was fundamentally linear.
Because of his physical limitation, the limp, he could not learn elaborate footwork. That was why he had chosen Charging Step.
Charging Step possessed the power to shatter city gates, but in exchange, it lacked variation and was monotonous.
The Singular Path style, built upon Charging Step as its foundation, inevitably lacked versatility. In exchange, the destructive power of each strike was incomparable to other martial arts.
Namgung Cheon had discerned the strengths and weaknesses of Charging Step and the Singular Path style from a single observation.
‘If I avoid the first strike, his martial arts are nothing. How he managed to roam the Murim with such a style is beyond me.’
Namgung Cheon scoffed.
Having completed the Emperor Sword Form, Namgung Cheon’s realm was one that could rightly be called a grandmaster’s.
Sword energy? Sword force?
Not because he could not use them.
But because there was no need to use them.
He could kill his enemy without resorting to such things.
‘You shall die feeling the utmost agony. That is the punishment for defying the Namgung Family.’
Shing!
His sword danced brilliantly through the air.
Dam Ho’s body was driven relentlessly backward. Since entering the Murim, this was the first time he had been so powerless.
Such was the terror of Namgung Cheon’s sword. The moment a flaw appeared, it would strike like a viper, relentlessly carving wounds. Dam Ho’s entire body was drenched in blood.
“N-no!”
Watching from the side, Jong Ri-yeon’s face had gone deathly pale.
Dam Ho’s wounds from the battle with the Sword King Unit were still unhealed. Fighting Namgung Cheon, called the Sword King, in such a state was tantamount to suicide.
Namgung Cheon’s form split into two, three, multiplying.
It was the phenomenon that occurred when the Namgung Family’s secret movement technique, Infinite Divine Step, was deployed.
He moved so quickly that afterimages lingered.
Shing shing!
Namgung Cheon’s sword sliced through the air repeatedly.
Ordinary techniques accumulated into a storm. The storm battered Dam Ho’s body with savage fury, threatening to devour him at any moment.
Using the Infinite Divine Step, Namgung Cheon preemptively occupied every position Dam Ho might move to and struck with his sword, a tactic repeated countless times.
All Dam Ho could do was crouch low and deploy his shield. The micro-vibrations protected him to some degree from Namgung Cheon’s razor-sharp attacks.
“Tch! How boring.”
When his attacks were deflected by the shield with no significant result, Namgung Cheon clicked his tongue.
He realized that ordinary sword techniques could no longer inflict meaningful damage upon Dam Ho.
Namgung Cheon channeled his internal energy into the hand gripping the sword.
Whirrr!
In that instant, the sword let out a wail.
Accompanied by a Sword Hum, flames erupted along the blade.
Like an erupting volcano, the fierce, blazing fire quickly took the shape of a sword.
Sword Force.
A realm where nothing could remain uncut and nothing could remain unbroken had revealed itself.
“Surrender your neck, Fist Demon!”
Shing!
Namgung Cheon’s sword descended in a great arc toward Dam Ho’s neck.
“Watch out!”
Jong Ri-yeon could bear it no longer and cried out.
At that very moment—
Shing!
Dam Ho’s crouched body sprang open like a coiled spring. His right leg traced an eccentric arc as it flew forward.
Boom!
Dam Ho’s heel crashed into Namgung Cheon’s left shoulder. The impact drove Namgung Cheon back with a heavy blow.
It was the Blood Heaven Kick, the signature technique of Iron Blood Overlord Woo Gyeong-pa, who had roamed the Murim alone a hundred and thirty years ago with nothing but his kicking arts.
Dam Ho spread his shoulders.
It was not yet over.
‘Don’t treat my life like some cheap trinket in your pocket.’
Crack!
Dam Ho gritted his teeth.
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