Chapter 246: Chapter 246
Kwaaaaang!
Gi Ryeon-no, who had fainted on the earth that was shaking as if an earthquake had occurred, woke up.
“Ugh!”
Gi Ryeon-no, who was about to raise his upper body, let out a groan at the sudden pain he felt in his abdomen.
‘Why is my abdomen… That guy!’
Belatedly recalling the young Taoist who had kicked his abdomen, he carefully stood up while clutching his abdomen with his hands.
Then, as he tried to naturally circulate his internal energy as usual, he furrowed his brows.
It was because the moment he tried to draw out his internal energy, his stomach churned and he felt like vomiting.
It was internal injuries.
“Damn it!”
Curses naturally poured out.
At the same time, anger surged up.
“Where is that guy…”
The moment he turned his head with fiery eyes to find the guy who had kicked him.
“…!”
He shuddered.
Clang! Boom!
Heaven and earth were splitting apart.
The sword blooming red plum blossoms and the destructive fist clashed, letting out explosions.
It wasn’t one or two times, but dozens of collisions.
The qi waves that erupted each time created strong winds, tearing up the ground.
“Th-that guy is fighting on par with the Green Forest Great Emperor?”
Gi Ryeon-no’s eyebrows trembled.
The Green Forest Great Emperor was fighting equally with the young Taoist who had kicked him.
He was someone who had watched the Green Forest Great Emperor entirely from when he was just a simple Green Forest bandit until now.
Therefore, he knew.
Just how strong the Green Forest Great Emperor was.
Wasn’t he the one who went to the general stronghold alone, smashed it to pieces, and usurped the position of stronghold leader?
Yet, such a person could not overwhelm his opponent.
A young man who looked to have barely passed twenty.
“To think I was going to fight that guy…”
His Adam’s apple bobbed heavily.
The enemy he had looked down upon turned out to be a monster from Heaven Beyond Heaven.
‘Is it fortunate that I preserved my life?’
His hands became damp with cold sweat.
He quickly scanned his surroundings, grasped that no one was paying attention to him, and turned his body.
‘I have no intention of dying here…’
The moment he urgently tried to widen the distance.
“C-cough! Where… are you going?”
A blood-soaked voice was heard.
As he turned his head toward the source of the voice, the White-Clothed Ghost Mask, who had taken off his upper garment and wrapped it around his abdomen, was walking over with great difficulty.
“You’re not dead yet?”
Gi Ryeon-no looked at him with surprised eyes.
His body was not intact.
Although he wrapped his belly with his upper garment, more than half of it was soaked with blood, and his bloodless face was pale.
“Are you… trying to… run away?”
“What do you mean run away? I just plan to distance myself enough to not catch that monster’s eyes.”
At the White-Clothed Ghost Mask’s question, Gi Ryeon-no casually spat out a lie.
‘Whether I run away or not should be decided based on who wins.’
He was cold-hearted.
Now that he had been spotted, he had no thoughts of running away.
Wasn’t it obvious that his head would fly off if the Green Forest Great Emperor won?
He was merely looking for an opportunity.
“…”
The White-Clothed Ghost Mask looked at Gi Ryeon-no with a suspicious expression before shaking his head.
Now was not the time to squabble.
He had to quickly go over there.
In order to see the General Stronghold Leader’s victory clearly with these two eyes.
* * *
The essence and core of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
The sword flowers bloomed their momentum along the horizontal sword trace that separated the sky and the earth.
Splendidly, as if a small flame was spreading.
Seven Absolutes Plum Blossom Sword, Fourth Move.
Supreme Sky Blood Flower Flash.
‘He’s a guy sufficient enough to discuss the world later. Is this what they mean by the Nine Great Sects and One Gang? To think they raised a guy like this.’
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s eyes deepened.
It was a sword move that drew out natural admiration.
Dozens of plum blossoms that bloomed along a single streak of red light drawn horizontally.
And how was the momentum contained within it?
Each and every blossom harbored a fierce sharpness, making its petals like blades.
‘…I will stop these useless thoughts.’
The Green Forest Great Emperor stopped his thoughts.
It would only make his mind complicated.
Mind games were unnecessary in a fight between those whose martial arts reached the sky.
Only one thing.
The strong reign supreme.
That alone would decide the outcome.
The Green Forest Great Emperor twisted the internal force loaded into his right fist and crashed it straight into the plum blossoms.
Clang!
Fierce sparks flew.
In an instant, the plum blossoms exploded outwards, and dozens of fist strikes also faintly faded away.
Claaang!
Belatedly, a strong aftermath erupted.
Cheon-hwi’s eyes faintly twitched.
Internal force was invading his grip holding the sword along with a violent vibration.
‘Oho, look at this.’
As soon as he felt it, he immediately circulated his internal energy.
The internal force that dominated his hand had already passed his elbow and reached his shoulder, and Cheon-hwi instantly blew it away.
Bang!
In the aftermath, the Taoist robe at his shoulder joint burst open, and his sleeve slid down.
It was an astounding display of Qi Control.
‘He’s pretty good.’
Cheon-hwi lightly loosened his shoulders.
“Mmm…”
On the other hand, the Green Forest Great Emperor let out a faint groan and took a step back.
Then, he slowly uncurled his palm.
A bloodstain from a new wound was horizontally engraved on his palm, which was full of old scars.
Drip…
His expression as he looked at the blood flowing down his palm became as cold as ice.
‘Blood… How long has it been since I saw this?’
After completing the Heavenly Punishment Green Fire Secret Art and learning the Golden Bell Cover to the limit, let alone making him bleed, there hadn’t been anyone who could inflict even a small wound on him.
But to see such clear blood.
‘I thought my only opponents in the current Jianghu were the Eight Martial Gods… To think such a guy would appear.’
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s lips twisted.
He had seen numerous experts all this time, but this guy in front of him was on a different level.
‘Hahaha, the world is giving me a trial, saying that it cannot be easily obtained.’
Squeeze…
The Green Forest Great Emperor clenched his fist.
The blood in his hand was hot.
And just as much, his heart, the emotions of a martial artist, burned hotly.
Rrrrrumble…
As he erupted the internal energy he possessed, the ground and air began to fluctuate with him at the center.
Swish!
Cheon-hwi completely tore off his sleeve, which was fluttering in the northern wind generated by the Green Forest Great Emperor, and threw it away.
Then he looked at the Green Forest Great Emperor.
The vortex that rose around him became a waterspout and reached the sky.
The Heavenly Martial Realm.
Ascending energy as if to announce to the world that his martial prowess had reached the heavens.
Cheon-hwi twisted the corners of his mouth.
The heavy aura of the Green Forest Great Emperor, which swallowed the glaring sunlight, gave off a considerable sense of pressure.
‘Yes, there needs to be a fight like this.’
Qi waves that cut the skin.
The numbness felt in the grip holding the sword hilt and the wildly fluctuating internal energy were telling him that this wasn’t an easy opponent.
Strength entered the hand gripping the sword.
The muscles of his right forearm, revealed as the sleeve was torn, bulged, and his bulging veins could be clearly seen.
Cheon-hwi loaded internal energy into his toes.
The split second when the rough ground was crumbling bit by bit.
Swish!
Cheon-hwi shot his body forward.
A strong wind heavily swept past Cheon-hwi’s face as he unfolded the Dark Fragrance Drift in an instant.
Reaching in front of the Green Forest Great Emperor with just a single leap, Cheon-hwi swung his sword in midair while his feet were still off the ground.
Boom!
A loud explosion that made his ears ring erupted.
The Green Forest Great Emperor, who had already reached out his palm and blocked the sword Cheon-hwi swung, rolled his fist tightly as his green eyes flashed.
Crunch!
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s right hand swallowed the plum blossoms and stretched out to grab the sword blade.
At that moment, Cheon-hwi twisted his ankle and swiftly changed directions.
Cheon-hwi, who moved elegantly like a petal scattering in the wind, subsequently aimed at the Green Forest Great Emperor’s opening and swung his sword.
At that moment, a red plum blossom bloomed.
The Green Forest Great Emperor rolled his forward-looking green eyes downwards, then raised his knee toward Cheon-hwi who was swinging his sword.
Kicking art…?
Seeing the knee soaring up while cutting the air, Cheon-hwi hurriedly retracted the sword blade.
Clang!
The sword blade and knee collided.
Due to the terrible force wave, the sword blade rippled like a wave, vomiting a sad cry.
The moment Cheon-hwi tried to draw up his internal energy to disperse the internal force, he flinched.
Thud!
The Green Forest Great Emperor stomped his foot.
The moment the ground cracked open and a cloud of dust rose between it.
Crack!
The Green Forest Great Emperor, twisting his muscles honed to the limit, struck upward with his left hand.
Cheon-hwi jerked his chin back.
The left hand that cut through the wind struck the empty air, and the atmosphere burst apart.
It was an internal force that seemed like it could smash the sky.
Cheon-hwi cast his eyes downward.
As if he hadn’t expected this left hand to miss, surprise was dwelling in the Green Forest Great Emperor’s green eyes.
In a very brief split second.
Swoosh…
Cheon-hwi rotated using his left foot as an axis.
Was it thanks to deploying Divine Movement Hundred Transformations? Cheon-hwi’s body, which had lost its balance, soon moved splendidly like a fluttering petal.
Then, he soon swung his right foot.
Sweeping Leaf Kick Technique.
The right foot, bent like a reed, slammed into the Green Forest Great Emperor’s defenseless face.
Smaaaack!
The sound of a drumhead bursting was heard.
Although an intense shockwave erupted.
‘Is this the limit of external arts?’
Cheon-hwi’s eyes sank calmly.
The Green Forest Great Emperor didn’t have a single scratch.
“To dare attack me with close-quarters combat.”
The Green Forest Great Emperor, who stared at Cheon-hwi with displeased eyes, grabbed the right foot planted in his face and threw it upwards just like that.
Whoosh…
Cheon-hwi’s body flew in the air.
Confirming Cheon-hwi, who had nowhere left to move, the Green Forest Great Emperor extended his palm forward.
Flash!
A green radiance rose from his palm, and a thick pillar was created.
Martial Strike Shell.
The palm loaded with internal energy like the great ocean was shot toward Cheon-hwi, who was floating defenselessly in midair.
It felt as if it would sweep Cheon-hwi away in that state.
However, at that moment.
Tap!
Cheon-hwi kicked the empty air.
Cheon-hwi, who kicked off by creating a Qi wall in the air using the internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art, rushed head-on toward the Martial Strike Shell aiming for him.
The White Lotus Sword, which had already been raised, struck down the Martial Strike Shell flashing with dark green light under the sunlight.
Cra-cra-crack!
The momentum of the shooting Martial Strike Shell was torn apart by the swung sword, but the remaining internal force swept across Cheon-hwi’s body.
A northern wind brushed past his cheek.
Drip…
The heat felt on his cheek following that.
It was blood.
Cheon-hwi smiled as he felt the blood flowing backward due to the speed at which he was shooting forward.
Soon, the sword and palm collided.
Boom!
The earth split and the sky wept at the clash between the two demonstrating divine might.
In the meantime, the two glared at each other.
Black eyes sunk as deep as a lake.
Green eyes blazing brightly like a flame.
Right now, even the gazes directed at each other were violently clashing.
The split-second eye contact ended.
Tap.
The moment Cheon-hwi’s feet, which had been floating in the air, touched the ground, his sword moves shot out unhesitatingly.
The Green Forest Great Emperor also thrust his fist.
Clang!
Terrifying energy collided.
The fist and sword continuously clashed.
Clang! Boom! Clang!
Dozens of clashes occurring in a single breath.
Within a space of about thirty zhang in all directions centered around them, splendid plum blossoms continuously bloomed and withered, and green radiance continuously flashed.
The Plum Blossom Sword that continued to unfold.
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s ultimate arts countering it.
The fight between absolutes whose martial arts reached the sky was changing the scenery of Mount Hua.
‘A guy like this is just someone who has barely passed twenty?’
As the contest continued, the Green Forest Great Emperor let out his astonishment.
Variation moves and killing moves ran rampant.
They were things that would make a young martial artist panic and get swept away.
Yet, while this guy had a face of someone who had just passed twenty, a veteran-like mastery exuded from his appearance of executing martial arts.
It felt as if he was facing an old master who had weathered all kinds of storms.
It was as if he was facing someone who had undergone Rejuvenation.
Slash!
He fell into thought for a moment at the astonishing realm and ended up giving an opening. The White Lotus Sword swung in that split second cut his gray robe.
Seeing the piece of cloth fluttering in the air, the Green Forest Great Emperor gritted his teeth and thrust his fist.
Whoosh!
The fist brushed past Cheon-hwi’s abdomen.
The ensuing pressure tore the Taoist robe to shreds, clearly revealing Cheon-hwi’s abdomen.
However, Cheon-hwi did not mind.
It was a Taoist robe that had already become rags to be shaken by a mere torn side.
‘I thought I would never be able to have a life-and-death battle like this again.’
The smile lingering around his mouth deepened.
The position of an absolute he reached in his previous life.
How lonely and solitary it was.
But it was different in this life.
Wasn’t there an enemy right in front of his eyes who wasn’t pushed back against his current self?
‘But it’s still lacking.’
His thirst was not yet quenched.
‘Entertain me more.’
Radiance burned in Cheon-hwi’s eyes.
“…!”
Meeting those eyes, the Green Forest Great Emperor flinched for a moment.
It was because the moment the radiance flashed, he felt himself being overwhelmed without realizing it.
However, he soon erupted in anger.
It was anger directed at himself.
“I am the one who will hold the world in his hands!”
Along with the shout, the Green Forest Great Emperor erupted his internal energy and cast his martial arts.
Explosive Thunder Palm Art, Martial Strike Shell, Giant Force Supreme King Fist…
In the feast of martial arts pouring down unhesitatingly, his sleeves were torn to shreds.
Instantly, Cheon-hwi’s thoughts sped up.
Everything slowed down.
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s martial arts, and even the world.
Only one thing.
Only Cheon-hwi’s mind spun rapidly.
And at that moment.
Fwoooosh!
The internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art poured out.
He probably felt it.
That it was time to see the end.
The plum blossoms that had been continuously blooming disappeared one by one in an instant.
Leaving only a single plum blossom at the very end.
Cheon-hwi, who was looking at the plum blossom, raised the sword loaded with the internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art high up.
‘I will cut.’
His intention was transmitted to the sword.
The sword was slowly drawn down.
Slice…
The sole plum blossom was cut, and the world was swallowed by deep darkness.
Seven Absolutes Plum Blossom Sword, Sixth Move.
Dark Fragrance Unfrozen Flower.
The Green Forest Great Emperor opened his eyes wide.
The world went out.
An abyss-like darkness unfolded, and even his senses completely disappeared.
‘Plum blossom fragrance…?’
The moment he thought he smelled the fragrance of plum blossoms brushing the tip of his nose, the Green Forest Great Emperor saw it.
A single streak of sword light.
The sword that split the light beams widely slashed his body diagonally from the Green Forest Great Emperor’s shoulder joint.
Slaaaash!
Blood splattered everywhere.
“Keugh!”
The Green Forest Great Emperor staggered and retreated.
Thanks to the Golden Bell Cover he had mastered, the wound was fortunately not deep.
“It was shallow.”
Cheon-hwi said while lowering his sword.
The blood drops flowing down the sword blade dripped and squeezed into the crevices of the split ground.
Cheon-hwi, who soon moved again, approached the Green Forest Great Emperor.
Step… Step…
The sound of approaching footsteps.
The Green Forest Great Emperor’s eyes wavered.
‘I lost?’
He couldn’t believe it.
He hadn’t suffered a single defeat since he reached his realm.
He had been confident that only the Eight Martial Gods would be his opponents in the current Jianghu.
But what kind of sight was this?
“No… not yet. Not yet…”
The Green Forest Great Emperor glared at the approaching Cheon-hwi and drew out all of his remaining internal energy.
“…It’s not the end!”
His blood-coated hand surged toward Cheon-hwi’s head with intense internal force.
It was a rapid strike.
The Explosive Thunder Palm Art deployed before one knew it surged aiming at Cheon-hwi’s face.
However, Cheon-hwi did not dodge.
Rather, he threw his body forward.
Then, he thrust the sword he held in his hand.
The moment the White Lotus Sword, loaded with the squeezed internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art, collided with his hand.
Slaaash!
A long bloodstain appeared on the Green Forest Great Emperor’s right hand, and blood gushed out.
Following that, Cheon-hwi bent the sword.
Then, at the split second he was about to slash the Green Forest Great Emperor’s neck, a strange sensation was felt.
‘This is?’
It was right then.
Crackle…
A crack appeared on the White Lotus Sword.
The White Lotus Sword, which was already at its limit from the Green Forest Great Emperor’s continuous attacks, ultimately couldn’t withstand the end and burst apart.
Clang!
A clear sound rang out.
“Keuhuk!”
The Green Forest Great Emperor clutched his eye.
It was because the shattered sword fragments accurately embedded themselves not only in his entire body but also in his right eye.
“It did last a long time.”
Cheon-hwi casually tossed the sword with its blade smashed apart behind him.
It was commendable that it had held out this much in a battle against an absolute master like the Green Forest Great Emperor.
“Then I should see the end now.”
Cheon-hwi raised his right palm high.
At the moment his right palm loaded with the intense internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art was about to smash the Green Forest Great Emperor’s Baihui acupoint as he covered his eye.
“General Stronghold Leader!”
The White-Clothed Ghost Mask pushed the Green Forest Great Emperor away.
Crunch…
“Keugh!”
The White-Clothed Ghost Mask, who was hit by the Plum Blossom Palm instead of the Green Forest Great Emperor, trembled.
“Y-you must… survive…”
Barely spitting out the words, he perished.
‘I couldn’t feel his approaching presence.’
Cheon-hwi’s eyes furrowed.
Because he was focused on the decisive battle with the Green Forest Great Emperor and poured out most of his internal energy, he didn’t realize the White-Clothed Ghost Mask was approaching.
At that time.
Tap!
The Green Forest Great Emperor, who bought time with the White-Clothed Ghost Mask’s sacrifice, roughly kicked off the ground without delay and began to run away.
“Where do you think you’re going…”
As Cheon-hwi was about to kick off the ground.
“Th-that’s enough. Cough. Cough.”
A voice was heard along with coughing.
Cheon-hwi frowned while looking at the Sect Leader, whose complexion had turned white.
“You’re going to leave behind future trouble?”
“The living are more important than that… Keugh.”
The Sect Leader, who was speaking, knelt down.
It was because his internal injuries were severe.
The Sect Leader, who had vomited blood several times, looked up at Cheon-hwi and moved his lips.
“Help… the disciples…”
Unable to even finish his words, the Sect Leader collapsed just like that.
Cheon-hwi made a displeased expression.
He felt like he wanted to disobey the order and chase after the Green Forest Great Emperor right away.
However.
‘Someone will die if I leave.’
He looked toward the disciples.
Wounds were accumulating on the bodies of those who were still fighting against the Green Forest bandits.
“Sigh, until when do I have to help?”
Letting out a sigh, Cheon-hwi carried the Sect Leader, who had collapsed from internal injuries, on his back and kicked off the ground.