Chapter 199: Chapter 199
‘Since when was he there? Was he listening to the conversation from above from the beginning?’
‘To think I didn’t feel anything.’
The expressions of the man and Janchil stiffened.
Especially the expression of the assassin, Janchil, became serious, and his scar greatly distorted.
‘If that was an assassin……?’
The image of his own corpse, dead with its crown pierced, came to his mind and then disappeared.
“Haha, what are you talking about?”
At that moment, the man stepped forward.
He, who had a smile on his lips again at some point, looked up at Cheon-hwi and opened his mouth.
“The result of the duel is already over, so why are you trying to kill us…….”
“Discarding the old and bringing in the new.”
“……What are you talking about?”
“What do I mean, it’s what you are aiming for.”
Cheon-hwi, who spat out the words calmly, lightly jumped down from the tree branch.
Cheon-hwi, who landed softly on the ground like a feather, met eyes with the man and laughed.
“Weren’t you thinking of discarding the old Four Supremes of the Divine Province and putting forward a new sect?”
“…….”
The man’s smile was slowly erased.
“You were listening from the beginning.”
“Even if I hadn’t listened, I was expecting it to some extent from the moment you forfeited. You guys aren’t the type to just obediently forfeit and retreat.”
“……Are you saying you didn’t trust us from the beginning?”
“What? Trust?”
The corners of Cheon-hwi’s mouth twisted significantly.
Cheon-hwi, who showed clear ridicule, looked back and forth between the man and Janchil, and opened his mouth.
“Trust my ass. If it were you, would you trust a guy who puts forward a puppet and hides behind it?”
“…….”
At the incisive remark, the man quickly turned his head and met eyes with Janchil.
『We need to attack together.』
The man appealed through sound transmission.
At that, Janchil nodded his head.
Originally, he would have refused a joint attack, but the opponent in front of him right now was not ordinary.
The two, who exchanged glances for a moment, ran to both sides without anyone being first.
After that, they drew their respective swords at the same time and showed off their own sword arts.
Swoosh!
Two sword strikes infused with intense internal energy assaulted the huge tree along with Cheon-hwi from both sides.
Bang!
A loud explosion erupted.
The huge tree split in half fell and covered the martial artists of the Geumhwi Department and the Soul-Snatching Sect.
“Ugh, uaaagh!”
“R-run away!”
The martial artists retreated and ran away.
Thud!
“Pant, pant! I-I lived.”
“I thought I was going to die.”
Around the time they barely escaped from where the huge tree fell and let out a sigh of relief.
Thududud-
The broken huge tree rattled.
A moment later, the large huge tree cut in half was lifted up high, and Cheon-hwi came out from under it with an intact appearance.
“That’s a pretty fast reaction.”
With one hand holding a huge tree four or five times larger than himself, Cheon-hwi lightly tossed it backwards with a whoosh, as if putting away a trivial object.
Boom!
Dust rose with a loud noise.
Due to that, a cold silence flowed.
Around the time when not only the man and Janchil but even the martial artists watching from afar swallowed their breaths.
“Then is it my turn now?”
Cheon-hwi stared at the man, dusting off the dirt and leaves on his Daoist robe.
The moment he was about to take a step forward next.
Paaat!
A sword blade suddenly popped out from behind Cheon-hwi and shot towards his defenseless back.
A sharp sword blade radiating a red aura.
Janchil’s sword blade, which had defeated Baek Pa-gun, approached at a very fast speed.
However.
“You’re late.”
Clang!
Cheon-hwi, who had picked up a sword at some point, struck Janchil’s swung sword and deflected it.
Cheon-hwi’s head, which was looking at Janchil flying backwards from the impact, dropped downwards.
“It’s the same for you guys.”
Cheon-hwi struck down his sword downwards.
In an instant, the sword divided into several pieces and roughly dug into the dirt ground.
Puk!
Then, several holes appeared on the ground, and red water slowly rose up.
Around the time when the scent of blood spread along with sticky bloody water, Cheon-hwi lifted the sword that made the holes in the ground and looked around.
“Still, seeing as an assassin is an assassin, they don’t act rashly even when their colleagues die.”
A thicket full of abundant trees and a mountain path running across it.
Everything looked just like scenery, but.
They were hiding inside it.
Killing their breath and presence.
So secretly that ordinary martial artists wouldn’t notice at all.
“I’ll deal with you guys later. Because there’s a guy I have to take care of first.”
Cheon-hwi quickly turned his head and swung his sword towards the man who had ambushed him.
At that moment.
Kwwaaang!
Sword qi flew in along with a loud roar.
Around the time when the sword qi that seemed like it would split the grown thicket completely in half struck.
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound burst out.
The man, who had been quietly looking for an opportunity, infused internal energy into his thin rapier and blocked the flying sword qi, but.
“Keugh!”
He was being pushed back little by little.
‘This is the sword art of Mount Hua?’
Bewilderment rose up.
He had heard that the sword art of the Mount Hua Sect was flashy, but the current sword strike was completely different.
Overbearing and heavy.
And above all, the killing intent was thick.
‘Damn it!’
Against the fierce sword strike trying to cut his body in half, the man gritted his teeth and emitted even more internal energy into his sword.
The gangqi wrapping the rapier became thicker.
Kiiiiik-
An uncomfortable sound to hear burst out.
The sword qi pushed fiercely as if it would completely break the thin rapier.
At that time, the man twisted his sword to the side.
His intention was to change the trajectory of the flying sword qi and turn its direction.
As he thought, the flying sword qi began to gradually tilt to the side according to the change of the sword.
Clang!
In the end, it bounced off to the left.
The sword qi whose direction was changed passed through the thicket and cut all the trees in the thicket.
Gulp-
The man swallowed his dry saliva.
Although he had blocked it and turned its direction, he still had dissolved about half of the force.
However, the sword qi containing about half of that force cut down all the trees and made a complete mess of the thicket.
‘It’s impossible even if I unleash it with full power.’
Gritting his teeth, he looked at Cheon-hwi.
Be it the martial arts shown in the previous duel, or the single strike shown this time, the opponent was not just a mediocre master.
However, Cheon-hwi, who actually unleashed the amazing sword qi, moved his lips with a nonchalant expression.
“Why are you so surprised? It’s just a lightly swung sword strike.”
At Cheon-hwi’s tone that secretly seemed to look down on him, the man’s face fiercely distorted.
Who was he.
The Hainan Swordsman, Gon Son-seung!
He was a master counted on ten fingers in Hainan, to the point where it was hard to find a match for him.
But for someone like him to be ignored by a guy much younger than himself.
‘To think I am suffering this kind of humiliation!’
Choking up, anger surged up.
Being ignored was one thing, but what made him angrier than that was himself not being able to refute that ignorance.
The hand holding the sword trembled violently.
Staring at Cheon-hwi, he moved his lips, which were bitten hard and bleeding.
“Rush in. And even if you die, grab onto that guy and hold on to the end.”
As his order fell.
Tat!
Some of the Soul-Snatching Sect disciples exuded terrible killing intent and rushed toward Cheon-hwi.
“Heuk!”
“Th-there were some among us too…….”
Gon Son-seung’s eyebrows shot up.
‘It’s a waste to use it already but…….’
Those who were rushing in like beasts right now were a move he thought to hide until the very, very end.
Originally, it was a hidden card meant to aim for that Janchil’s back later, or aim for that woman.
However.
‘Killing that guy is the priority.’
Hardening his eyes, he moved his lips.
“I will create an opening, so I will leave the ambush to you.”
There was no answer in return.
However, feeling the thick killing intent that had been spread out next to him quickly disappearing, the man gripped his rapier tightly.
Gon Son-seung’s eyes headed toward Cheon-hwi.
Whenever his sword seemed to cleave the air like a ray of light, the subordinates rushing in front of him were unfailingly cut in two.
Hududuk-
Blood and internal organs popped out of the bodies split in half, and a blood rain fell.
Along with a terrible and fishy stench.
‘I must kill him before he grows further.’
When Gon Son-seung, who was piercing Cheon-hwi with cold eyes, emitted a terrible killing intent.
“Yeah. Since you keep attacking, how great is that.”
Cheon-hwi grinned.
Despite watching their colleagues’ bodies being split in half and dying, those rushing in were unhesitating.
Swoosh!
Staring at the sword shot in a straight line once again, Cheon-hwi twisted his waist.
And as he drew his sword from bottom to top.
Slice!
Starting from the crotch, he was split in half.
“Die!”
At the shout heard right after, Cheon-hwi swung his sword. The sword pierced the neck of the person who rushed in with fierce killing intent.
“Gurgle-“
As if blood had filled his throat, the man who let out a bizarre sound opened his eyes wide.
The pupils stained with tears and blood were filled with malice.
The moment Cheon-hwi was about to pull out the sword.
Squeeze!
The man suddenly raised both hands and roughly grabbed the sword blade stuck in his neck.
Even though he was losing consciousness, more strength was loaded into the grip holding the sword, and a chilling sound spread.
As if substituting the words that he wouldn’t let go even if he died.
“Hmm, trying to buy time?”
As Cheon-hwi muttered after noticing his intention.
Tat!
At once, the guys rushed in and thrust their swords toward Cheon-hwi.
Chest and shoulders, crown, abdomen, legs.
Confirming more than five sword blades just from a quick glance, Cheon-hwi gave a twisted smile and threw the corpse at them.
“……!”
“What the!”
At that time when they, who never expected him to throw a corpse, panicked.
Slice!
Along with a chilling sound, the corpse split in half, and in between, two intense eye lights devoured their vision.
And lightning flashed.
“Heuk!”
Panicking at the fast sword aiming for his neck, the man urgently raised his sword.
Clang!
However, the sword loaded with fully forged sword qi split his sword and even cut his neck.
Thud-
The man whose head flew off fell to the ground, and in that state, he convulsed for a while before going completely cold.
“…….”
Those who had been rushing in regardless of their colleagues’ deaths all along momentarily hesitated this time.
A very short exchange.
But when those who witnessed the disaster that occurred during that time stopped approaching rashly and just surrounded him in a circle.
“Step aside.”
Gon Son-seung walked out forcefully.
It was a confident appearance completely different from trembling violently until just before.
‘At this rate, we’ll only lose subordinates.’
He tried to consume a little of his stamina or internal energy using the subordinates, but the opponent was a master who transcended such a realm.
‘One strike, I must settle the match in a single strike.’
Gon Son-seung was calm.
With his current skills, there was absolutely no chance of winning against the young Daoist in front of him.
Therefore, he aimed for only one thing.
Sss-
He exhaled slowly.
Then, faint internal energy began to bloom like haze from his body.
Soon, he took a lower stance.
Pointing at the ground, very low.
“Hmm?”
Cheon-hwi’s eyes sparkled.
The posture Gon Son-seung was showing right now seemed to be a posture he had seen somewhere before.
‘Where was it?’
So rolling his head for a moment.
“Ah! The Reverse Hand Sword of the Hainan Sect?”
“……!”
Gon Son-seung’s pupils shook greatly.
The fact that he figured out he was from the Hainan Sect just from this posture alone meant he had some degree of insight.
‘Damn it!’
The possibility of failure increased.
But it was already irreversible.
‘There is no technique other than this that can inflict a wound on this guy.’
Paaat!
Gon Son-seung braced his mind, kicked off the ground, and charged.
Along with that, the rapier soaring from the bottom up trembled violently and generated an intense qi wave.
Swaaaaaaek-
The sound of the air tearing burst out.
The deep blue sword qi contained in the rapier caused waves and aimed for Cheon-hwi’s heart.
“Was it the Meteor Chasing Moon Sword? I think it was famous as a fast sword.”
Cheon-hwi, who instantly saw through the sword technique Gon Son-seung unfolded, drew his sword diagonally.
A sword swung belatedly.
However, its speed far surpassed the Meteor Chasing Moon Sword that took the first move.
Soul Chasing Sword!
One of the Ten Great Sword Arts of the Unorthodox Faction, and a fast sword reputed to be the best among both Orthodox and Unorthodox factions, overwhelmed the Meteor Chasing Moon Sword.
‘Th-this ridiculous fast sword!’
When Gon Son-seung saw the sword coming out while cleaving the Meteor Chasing Moon Sword in the blink of an eye.
Crack!
The Soul Chasing Sword swung like a ray of light pierced into Gon Son-seung’s shoulder blade, and blood poured out.
The moment it was about to sever his arm shortly after.
“Keugh! Now!”
Gon Son-seung looked into the empty air and shouted.
And at that moment.
Whoosh!
Janchil appeared, throwing off his bamboo hat.
Spewing out deep blue rays of light, he drew his utterly red sword towards Cheon-hwi’s neck.
It was a perfectly concise and fast ambush.
A perfect ambush that even a highly skilled master wouldn’t be able to react to at all and would just die on the spot.
However, the opponent was bad.
Thud.
Cheon-hwi stretched out his left hand and grabbed the sword.
“……!”
Cheon-hwi, who lightly snatched the sword carrying intense sword qi like a stick, met eyes with Janchil who could not hide his shock.
After doing so for a moment, he let out a smirk.
“You kept hiding your presence like that, but is this really all?”
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