Chapter 218: Chapter 218
The scabbard Cheon-hwi swung accurately struck Danmok Chan’s crown before his Heaven Gathering Sword Stance could properly defend.
From that strike, Danmok Chan’s eyes lost focus and he seemed to have fainted just like that.
Danmok Chan, who revealed only completely white sclera, soon lost his strength, dropped his sword, and his body tilted backwards.
The moment his body was about to collapse to the ground.
Thud.
Jong Gak, who appeared before he knew it, placed his hand on the back of the collapsing Danmok Chan.
“Was it a single strike.”
Jong Gak, who supported Danmok Chan, easily lifted him, who had lost his strength, and lightly carried him on his shoulder.
“To think there was this much of a gap. It might take a long time to overcome.”
Muttering, he looked at Cheon-hwi.
“Wait a moment. I will go lay Chan down somewhere else.”
“Go ahead. Oh right…”
Cheon-hwi nodded apathetically and then, as if remembering something, lightly swung his scabbard from top to bottom.
Ting!
The place Cheon-hwi’s hand gesture headed was Danmok Chan’s dropped sword.
As the scabbard struck the sword’s hilt, the sword floated up into the air.
And at that moment.
Swish…
The scabbard moved elegantly and placed the airborne sword on the tip of the scabbard.
Jong Gak widened his eyes in surprise at the astonishing feat that occurred in the blink of an eye.
‘What a delicate sword skill.’
At the moment he watched in admiration.
“Take this too.”
Cheon-hwi lightly flicked the sword.
The sword laden with internal energy drew a large arc and fell exactly towards Jong Gak.
“Thank you.”
Jong Gak, who easily caught the sword, nodded lightly and slightly lifted his foot.
Tap.
Instantly, a light footstep occurred.
As faint dust fluttered, Jong Gak, who had disappeared before anyone noticed, abruptly appeared where Heavenly Ear Beggar and Danmok Rin were.
“Eek! You scared the life out of me!”
As Jong Gak smiled at Heavenly Ear Beggar’s exaggeration, Danmok Rin ran towards Jong Gak.
“Is my brother okay?”
Her eyes that asked were steeped in worry.
Seeing that, Jong Gak’s eyes shone faintly.
Seeing her still caring despite having cut ties with the Danmok Clan, it was a moment where he felt anew that blood ties were indeed deeper than anything in the world.
“He is fine.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Around the time Danmok Rin swept her chest.
“Could you look after him for a moment?”
Jong Gak slowly put down Danmok Chan from his shoulder, handed him to Danmok Rin, and said.
“Don’t worry.”
Danmok Rin laid Danmok Chan down carefully and immediately checked his body condition.
Although there seemed to be no abnormalities on the outside, she couldn’t help but wear a bitter smile as she touched his crown that had been properly struck by the scabbard.
‘Since it’s Senior Martial Brother, I didn’t think he would go easy, but…’
The bump on his crown was quite large.
Perhaps with a bump of this size, he would suffer greatly from the pain for a few days.
“Then I’ll leave him to you.”
Meanwhile, the moment Jong Gak confirmed Danmok Rin was examining him, he placed Danmok Chan’s sword next to him and turned his body.
And he stepped forward with his left foot.
Step… step…
The sound of regular footsteps rang out.
Taking steps with an upright back, his pupils contained only Cheon-hwi.
He was quite young.
Had he just passed the age of twenty?
Although he was making an arrogant expression, his face was still boyish, making it look like the overflowing confidence of a childish kid.
However, Jong Gak spread tension throughout his body.
Didn’t he see his one sword strike just a moment ago.
The dim trajectory swung with an extraordinary speed that he had almost missed.
‘He’s a master whose odds of winning cannot be guaranteed.’
Age did not matter at all.
Because his martial prowess, his skill, had already reached a high realm.
At some point, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
The distance to Cheon-hwi was about four zhang.
It was a considerably wide distance, but for the two of them, it was a distance where they could reach each other at any time.
Sss…
A heavy silence settled low.
Cheon-hwi looked at Jong Gak, who had erased his benevolent expression and was now stiffly rigid.
“Shall we start now?”
“Let’s do that.”
Sss…
Jong Gak’s white hair swayed slightly.
Following that, his pupils, which revealed themselves between his pure white eyebrows, emitted an eerie glow and gave off a heat haze.
His expression was indifferent.
However, the true qi, the internal energy radiating from his body, represented his feelings.
‘He really is a Killing Ghost.’
The murderous intent flowing implicitly.
Even though he wasn’t intentionally emitting it, the momentum was so intense that the grass and leaves growing around them quickly dried up.
‘I wonder what kind of martial arts he will show.’
Cheon-hwi’s lips twisted slightly.
He was looking forward to it.
To think it would be the martial arts executed by an Orthodox Faction’s Killing Ghost with such tingling murderous intent.
“Considering our seniority in Martial World, I should yield the first move, but there’s no need for that with you.”
A monotone voice flowed out from between Jong Gak’s slightly parted lips.
“Well, that’s right.”
At Cheon-hwi’s answer, he drew his sword.
The blade drawn from the worn-out scabbard at his waist exuded sharpness.
It seemed as if one would get cut just by putting a hand near it.
It was an eerie and sharp aura.
“The sword art I will show from now on is the Danmok Clan’s Falling Star Sword.”
The Falling Star Sword; he felt like he had heard of it from Danmok Rin once before…
Just as he was recalling the Falling Star Sword he had vaguely heard of somewhere, Jong Gak asked.
“What sword art will you execute?”
“The Plum Blossom Sword Art.”
“…I see.”
Jong Gak nodded once.
“Then here I go.”
Along with his words, he stretched out his left foot.
Swoosh…
His figure vanished.
‘Wasn’t he a real assassin?’
Cheon-hwi snapped his head back, feeling the presence of Jong Gak, who had stealthily hidden his figure.
At that moment, he locked eyes with Jong Gak, who had approached to within one zhang.
Despite his stealthy surprise attack being discovered, there wasn’t a single change in Jong Gak’s eyes.
Rather, as if he had expected this to happen, he swiftly continued his next action.
‘This stealthy footwork and surprise attack; it’s not like the Orthodox Faction that cries out for fairness in any situation.’
Jong Gak’s pure white sleeves fluttered, and his sharp sword revealed itself.
Sword energy jutting out sharply like a beast’s teeth was wrapped around the blade.
A violent wave was felt.
As his sword drew nearer, the space spat out a cry and tore through it.
A belated wind swept past Jong Gak.
Cheon-hwi, who caught a glimpse of Jong Gak’s glowing eyes between his pure white hair and eyebrows that floated in the air, moved his scabbard.
‘I like this better, though.’
Cheon-hwi’s pure white teeth were revealed.
Rather than showing half-hearted skills just because it was a spar, it was much better to go all out and unleash martial arts like a life-and-death battle like that.
‘Then let’s see.’
Cheon-hwi raised his scabbard to his chest.
At that moment, the scabbard moved elegantly, unfolding a sword path like a wave.
Softly and gently.
Eventually, the moment the two swords clashed.
Clang!
An intense shockwave spread in all directions.
A belated fierce storm rose up, scratching all the space within a radius of ten zhang.
Thick dust rose from all sides.
‘It’s quite a strong force. To the point where I couldn’t completely dissipate it.’
In the center of it, Cheon-hwi looked at his trembling scabbard and then imbued it with internal energy.
Bang!
A faint energy wave burst in all directions.
The shock generated from the sword Jong Gak swung, which he had absorbed through the move of Redirecting Force, was just dissipated.
“To deflect the force of Falling Star Dark Shadow, what an amazing technique.”
At that time, a voice of admiration was heard.
Following that, a shadow that appeared in the dust lightly lifted his foot and stomped the ground.
Thump!
The dust cleared up completely with a single stomp.
Cheon-hwi, who was looking at the wind rushing with the dust, swung his sword diagonally.
Slash!
Cheon-hwi, who instantly cut the storm that rushed with the dust, looked ahead.
Through the wide-open view, a large footprint left on the ground could be seen. The wrinkles around Jong Gak’s eyes, who had created that sight, sank.
Looking at him, Cheon-hwi opened his mouth.
“It’s nothing special. I just gathered the energy wave with my wrist and shook it off.”
“Is that as easy as it sounds?”
He let out a hollow laugh along with his words.
Even he, who prided himself on having mastered swordsmanship, was not capable enough to easily execute such a sword technique.
Yet the young man in front of him…
‘I vaguely guessed that he was a higher master than me, but the gap is bigger than I expected.’
Jong Gak, who stopped his thoughts, completely erased his smile.
At the same time, his martial arts uniform fluttered fiercely.
It wasn’t the wind blowing.
It was a sight that occurred naturally as the internal energy of the internal qi mental method he had learned, the Dark Star Will Formula, manifested.
“Try blocking this one too.”
The moment Cheon-hwi, who felt Jong Gak’s suddenly changed momentum, readjusted his grip on his scabbard.
Bang!
His figure, which exploded with internal energy, closed the distance in a breath and swung his sword.
Clang!
Fierce sparks flew.
And a much more vivid blue flame blazed up from Jong Gak’s eyes.
Was it murderous intent, or was it fighting spirit?
No, it might be both.
Such intense energy pierced through his pure white eyebrows and struck Cheon-hwi.
Eyes that would make anyone tremble just by looking at them.
However.
‘Wow, his eyes are quite terrifying.’
Cheon-hwi was rather enjoying that gaze.
“It’s a bit much for only me to keep blocking, so how about you try blocking this time, elder?”
Cheon-hwi slipped the power out of the scabbard that was struggling with Jong Gak’s sword. And immediately following that, he twisted his wrist in one breath.
Swoosh…
A sharp trajectory cleaved the air.
The trajectory swung at a speed hard to follow with the eyes left behind a belated sword mark.
“Ugh!”
Jong Gak let out a short groan.
Having barely twisted his sword to block, he checked the scabbard stuck onto his blade and furrowed his eyebrows.
At the same time, the blue flame in the glow of his eyes emitted an even bluer light.
It was because the murderous intent he had unconsciously raised seeped out without him realizing it.
Cheon-hwi’s lips curled up as he saw him.
‘Yeah, this is it.’
Jong Gak’s sword swung again, unleashing a formidable energy wave, and against it, Cheon-hwi’s scabbard moved softly.
Jong Gak’s sword forms were sharp and fast.
And destructive.
A blue trajectory striking down from above dropped shortly and intensely.
Crash!
The missed sword strike caused a huge crack in the ground and set off an explosion sound.
It was a roar so loud it made one’s ears ring.
However, Cheon-hwi, who was at the center of it, lightly stepped on a crushed and ricocheting stone as if it were nothing.
Tap. Tap.
Cheon-hwi’s figure floated in the air.
Cheon-hwi, who displayed a mysterious footwork that others might mistake for Void Treading, raised his scabbard and aimed at the back of the head of Jong Gak, who had stuck his sword into the ground.
At that moment.
Clang!
Jong Gak, who had turned his body before anyone noticed, raised his sword and blocked the scabbard.
However, because he hadn’t dissipated that impact, Jong Gak’s feet sank in about three inches deep.
Clang!
Jong Gak immediately struck away the scabbard.
And drawing up his internal energy, he relentlessly unleashed the moves of the Falling Star Sword.
Falling Star Fountain, Falling Star First Meeting, Falling Star Single Thought…
As the moves of the Falling Star Sword continued one after another, Cheon-hwi’s eyes sparkled even more.
‘Oho, like this? Huh? This one is a bit lacking.’
The moves of the Falling Star Sword that a master who had reached the Heavenly Martial Realm executed without hiding anything were more interesting than anything else right now.
‘I’d like to see him execute it with all his strength.’
Cheon-hwi, who smoothly dodged Jong Gak’s swung sword, drew his sword from the scabbard.
As the White Lotus Sword revealed its pure white blade, Jong Gak’s eyes sank coldly.
“Are you finally drawing it?”
“The sword art I’m going to execute from now on is uncomfortable to perform with a scabbard. It’ll be hard to block it easily like earlier.”
Cheon-hwi, who smiled broadly, threw the empty scabbard.
And as he imbued internal energy into the blade in his hand, a transparent sword energy flickered.
Then, red threads seemed to appear on the tip of the sword, and before long, it blossomed into a flower bud.
It was exactly a plum blossom.
“…Sword flower!”
Jong Gak’s eyebrows twitched greatly.
He was one who had seen countless Plum Blossom Sword Arts since the past, but this was his first time seeing such a clear and dense sword flower.
‘On top of that, how could the fragrance be this thick.’
The bridge of his nose wrinkled.
The moment his mind was about to waver for an instant due to the plum blossom fragrance that completely took over his sense of smell.
Whoosh…
In an instant, plum blossoms fully bloomed.
The plum blossoms that filled the empty air in a breath surrounded Jong Gak’s vicinity without a single gap.
“It truly is a beautiful plum blossom.”
Unlike what he said, his gaze looking at the plum blossoms was merely indifferent.
“I could have comfortably enjoyed it if it hadn’t aimed solely at me… but that would be impossible.”
Veins popped out on his hands that were calmly whispering, and his sword cried low.
Vwoom…
His figure, which was raising a sword cry, tilted slightly forward, and then swiftly shot out.
And in order to cut down the plum blossoms blooming in the air, his sword full of blue flames rapidly dropped from top to bottom.
Leaving a long blue trace as if it were a meteor falling from the sky.
‘The word Falling Star fits perfectly.’
Cheon-hwi slowly raised his sword.
At that moment, the plum blossoms blooming around lightly fluttered following his sword and his intent.
And through that.
Swoosh…
Cheon-hwi’s single sword strike caused a change.
The sword tip that had been quietly pointing into the air moved towards the falling meteor.
Soon, the moment the meteor and the plum blossom collided.
KABOOM!
A sound as if the world was being torn apart erupted.
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