Chapter 225: What Is That (3)
Chapter 224 – What Is That (3)
Drip… Drip…!
Thick blood dripped from the pitch-black wolf-toothed staff.
Iron Arhat looked down and glanced around.
“Kuuu…”
“Ugh…”
The cadets lay scattered here and there, groaning faintly.
Yun Jong-seung, who had suffered internal injuries, bled profusely from the corners of his mouth, and Yu Hyeon’s face, with a broken arm and leg, was heavily distorted in pain.
Eon Ho-ryang, who had repeatedly thrown Eon Family Fists, had both fists swollen and burst, making them hard to recognize, while Jin So-hong had lost consciousness and did not budge.
Lastly, Paeng Su-hyeok, who collapsed with his back to the main gate of the pavilion, had a swollen face and his upper body torn and burst here and there, presenting the most wretched appearance.
All of the cadets had fought desperately.
They were by no means weak.
They had become much stronger than during the Joint Conference.
However, in front of an expert like Iron Arhat, their skills were still far from enough.
Licking his thick lips with his tongue, Iron Arhat muttered.
“Not a bad skill. I certainly saw potential. However, meeting me as an enemy was your misfortune.”
Letting out a blunt voice, Iron Arhat raised his head and took a deep breath.
The scent of blood penetrated deep into his lungs.
No matter when he smelled it, the scent of an enemy’s blood refreshed his mind.
Step, step…!
Iron Arhat moved his steps, grabbed the hair of Paeng Su-hyeok, who was collapsed on the floor, and slowly lifted him up.
Paeng Su-hyeok’s build, which usually felt as massive as a giant, looked like a child when held in Iron Arhat’s hand.
“Young Master Paeng…!”
“No…!”
Yu Hyeon and Yun Jong-seung raised their hands with difficulty and muttered.
Iron Arhat’s gaze turned to them briefly.
“I will send you guys to this fellow’s side soon. Do not fret.”
Spitting out words indifferently, Iron Arhat turned his gaze to Paeng Su-hyeok. Paeng Su-hyeok barely opened his swollen eyes and spat.
“Tui! What… are you doing? Kill me, you idiot.”
“Kahahahaha! I like that spirit of yours! As expected of the Hebei Paeng Clan! Look forward to it, for I will kill you in the most cruel manner!”
“Your tongue is… long… you idiot…”
Paeng Su-hyeok spat out curses, struggling to keep his eyes wide open until the end.
“Your tongue is very dirty. Go to the afterlife and learn some manners first.”
Iron Arhat raised his wolf-toothed staff with his other hand.
In the next moment, he swung the wolf-toothed staff with all his might.
Thwack!
“Keoh!”
Held by his hair, Paeng Su-hyeok’s body tottered before drooping like wet laundry.
“Is that… all…?”
Paeng Su-hyeok’s voice leaked out faintly.
“Keuhehe! Good, good. You have to hold out like that. That way, you can die as painfully as possible.”
Iron Arhat raised the wolf-toothed staff again.
“Su-hyeok!”
Yun Jong-seung shouted loudly and tried to stand up, but fell to the floor again.
Blood surged up from his ruined internal organs.
“Kuwehk!”
As he vomited a handful of blood, Iron Arhat glanced at him and sneered.
“I told you to wait quietly. I will send you guys along soon anyway.”
“Keugh…!”
Yun Jong-seung clenched his fists tightly with a face full of grief and anger.
To think he had to just watch his friend die. To make matters worse, he had to sit and wait for the impending death!
‘If only Namgung Cheon were here…!’
Funnily enough, the face that came to mind at this moment was Namgung Cheon.
Even though Namgung Cheon was just a fellow cadet.
Neither his father, nor Bi Ryang, nor the Alliance Leader came to mind, but Namgung Cheon.
For some reason, he felt that if Namgung Cheon were here, even that giant could be brought down.
‘Now that it is time to die, I am thinking of ridiculous things…’
Yun Jong-seung considered that his judgment had become very clouded.
In any case, Paeng Su-hyeok would die very soon.
His entire body was already covered in blood.
The spikes densely packed on that pitch-black club were hacking away at Paeng Su-hyeok’s body at random.
Thud! Thud! Thwack!
Clatter!
Hit by the wolf-toothed staff in succession, Paeng Su-hyeok rolled on the floor and collapsed in front of the door. Even Paeng Su-hyeok, who had ground his teeth so fiercely, seemed to have completely lost consciousness, as if he could no longer take it.
Indeed, it was to the point of being a miracle that he was still breathing.
“Su-hyeok…!”
“Damn it…!”
Watching Iron Arhat walk step by step toward Paeng Su-hyeok, the cadets each ground their teeth hard.
Had they ever felt such helplessness?
Finally reaching Paeng Su-hyeok, Iron Arhat raised the wolf-toothed staff and said.
“This is not very fun. Go now.”
In an instant, the wolf-toothed staff fell at a terrifying speed.
Swishhh!
“Aaaah!”
“No!”
The cadets shouted, reaching out their hands.
Just before the wolf-toothed staff could crush Paeng Su-hyeok’s head,
Boom!
With a loud noise, the pavilion door was torn off entirely and flew over, striking Iron Arhat.
Crash!
Iron Arhat quickly swung his wolf-toothed staff, smashing the flying door to pieces.
He narrowed his brow and looked inside the pavilion.
Just then, a dark shadow walked out from inside the pavilion.
“Who is touching my son?”
He was none other than Paeng Jeok-ho.
Color returned to the faces of the collapsed cadets.
‘Patriarch Paeng…!’
They had wanted to call Paeng Jeok-ho long ago. In fact, they had shouted for him several times.
However, Paeng Su-hyeok had stopped them every time. He said they should not ask for help so that his father could concentrate.
He was so stubborn that they could no longer even open their mouths.
Indeed.
Since it was Paeng Su-hyeok, he would try not to disturb his father even if it meant throwing away his own life.
Truly, at that stubbornness so characteristic of the Paeng Clan, the others had no choice.
But finally, Paeng Jeok-ho had appeared.
Flinching, Iron Arhat slowly twisted his lips.
“Who do we have here? Isn’t it Patriarch Paeng, who abandoned his estate and fled with his tail between his legs?”
“Seeing your giant body and wolf-toothed staff, you must be Iron Arhat.”
“Seeing that you recognize me, your eyeballs haven’t rotted.”
“You are the one who touched my son, correct?”
“If so?”
Paeng Jeok-ho’s eyes sank coldly.
“You must die.”
The words were thrown out casually.
Had the weight of words ever felt so vivid?
In an instant, Iron Arhat felt as if he were crushed by the words Paeng Jeok-ho spat. It was not simply because it was a voice loaded with internal energy. It was because a desperate sincerity was embedded in that voice.
Frowning deeply, Iron Arhat shouted.
“Acting so arrogant just because you are a father!”
Bursting out with a shout, he ran forward at a terrifying speed.
Narrowing the distance in an instant, Iron Arhat swung his wolf-toothed staff diagonally.
Swishhh!
Even until then, Paeng Jeok-ho did not budge.
A triumphant smile formed at the corners of Iron Arhat’s mouth.
‘Foolish guy. He is completely frozen!’
However, immediately after that, his expression was dyed in shock.
Crash!
Paeng Jeok-ho’s figure vanished like a mirage, and the wolf-toothed staff struck the floor directly.
“How can this be!”
Iron Arhat opened his eyes wide and retreated as if bouncing back.
Papat!
Paeng Jeok-ho had retreated just about one step.
And he raised his large saber at a very slow pace.
The five-colored energy rising from his dantian tangled with one another and stretched toward the blood meridians of his entire body.
‘It is definitely different!’
The flow of internal energy was completely different from before. The qi extending along the blade of the saber was extraordinary.
If this single strike could work…
‘Namgung Cheon, I will buy you a grand meal. No, even a meal would be insufficient! I will consider you my benefactor for the rest of my life!’
Having finished his thoughts, Paeng Jeok-ho finally kicked off the ground and flew forward.
It was indeed a speed as fast as a ray of light, but Paeng Jeok-ho, who exercised caution in every moment, did not think of himself as being that fast.
Swishhh!
On the other hand, to Iron Arhat, it felt as if a single bolt of thunder were flying out from the darkness.
“Where do you think you are going!”
Shouting with qi, he placed the wolf-toothed staff horizontally to block.
Clanggg!
Finally, the saber and the wolf-toothed staff collided, ringing out a loud noise.
However, in the next moment, the watching cadets opened their eyes wide and let their mouths gape open.
The large saber had clearly clashed with the wolf-toothed staff, but wasn’t the blade striking the floor?
Meanwhile, Iron Arhat slid back three or four zhang while holding the wolf-toothed staff horizontally.
“…”
“…”
A suffocating silence descended upon the inner courtyard.
As Paeng Jeok-ho slowly raised the blade that had struck the floor, Iron Arhat let out a faint voice.
“Dammit… how…!”
In the next moment, a vertical crack appeared on the horizontal wolf-toothed staff, and it split right open.
Immediately after, Iron Arhat’s iron armor also split vertically and broke apart.
Clank!
Pshuoo, chhuaaaaa!
Soon, even his upper body showed a vertical line of fresh blood, and Iron Arhat sprayed blood as he fell to his knees.
Thud!
Amazingly, the Hunyuan Thunder Saber Art’s Single Saber Severing Heaven had subdued Iron Arhat in a single stroke.
Just one move!
“W-We won!”
“Waaaaaah!”
The cadets burst into tearful cheers.
On the other hand, Paeng Jeok-ho, who had consumed a significant amount of internal energy in an instant, faltered briefly before turning his body to look at Paeng Su-hyeok.
Fortunately, Paeng Su-hyeok seemed to have regained consciousness as he looked at his father and raised a thumb.
“I believed in you, Father.”
“Are you alright?”
Paeng Jeok-ho, who quickly supported Paeng Su-hyeok, scolded him.
“If you were injured to this extent, you should have called me long ago!”
“I believed in you, Father. You did it in the end.”
“You stubborn fellow!”
“It is because I resemble you, Father.”
“Sigh!”
Even as Paeng Jeok-ho sighed, he did not look displeased.
However, his son pushing himself to such an extent was certainly something that needed a sharp talking-to.
‘I can just speak to him so he understands later. More than that, this is a big problem.’
Paeng Jeok-ho stood up and looked around.
Although unorthodox martial artists were not visible here, perhaps because they had left this place to Iron Arhat, the sounds coming from outside were unusual.
Somehow, it seemed that even more unorthodox martial artists had invaded the Eon Clan Estate than before. He quickly leaped up onto the roof of the Guest Hall.
As expected, the Eon Clan Estate was holding out desperately amidst a precarious situation.
Descending back to the floor, he administered first aid to the cadets and said.
“This is a big problem. At this rate, it will be difficult to hold out. We are outnumbered. The enemy’s headcount is too large!”
“These bastards have really made up their minds!”
“Because if they bring down the Eon Clan following the Paeng Clan, it will be tantamount to pacifying Hebei.”
“Damn it…! Ah, right!”
As Paeng Su-hyeok snapped his head up, Paeng Jeok-ho asked.
“What is the matter?”
“Namgung Cheon entrusted something to me!”
“Namgung Cheon? What is it?”
For now, if it was Namgung Cheon, Paeng Jeok-ho believed and listened.
Had the Hunyuan Thunder Saber Art not reached a significant boundary thanks to Namgung Cheon?
Soon, Paeng Su-hyeok pulled out two pouches from his bosom.
One was red, and the other was blue.
“He gave these to me and said: open the red pouch when the Eon Clan Estate is in danger! And open the blue pouch when my father fails to awaken the profound truth!”
“Oh! Then hurry and open the red pouch!”
“Yes, Father!”
As Paeng Su-hyeok hurriedly opened the red pouch, a small rolled-up paper came out.
Unfolding the paper, a short piece of writing was written on it.
You should use that. I am in favor. Shouldn’t we survive first?
Paeng Jeok-ho let out an exclamation.
“Ohhh! As expected, Namgung Cheon has a plan for everything!”
“Indeed! Let’s use it then!”
“But what is it?”
“Huh? Isn’t that something you know, Father?”
“Hmm? I do not know?”
“Ehhh? Then what is it?”
“That is why I am asking. What is it?”
“No, I do not know either.”
“Wait, then what is it? What on earth is Namgung Cheon trying to say!”
Paeng Jeok-ho’s anxious voice echoed inside the Guest Hall.