Chapter 268: Chapter 268
“What kind of internal energy is this……”
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, who had stepped back three or four paces, glanced at his fist that had blocked the single blade containing a fierce gust of wind.
A single streak of blood flowed and a bloodstain was engraved on his boulder-like fist.
‘To think it was not enough to block the Great Force Tiger King Fist, but to even leave a wound……’
His brows furrowed.
It was a wound after a very long time.
After mastering the Great Force Tiger King Fist, he had conquered the Red Tiger Stronghold without a single wound, and had reigned like a king for ten years.
It was that outstanding of a fist art.
Until now, everyone who challenged him had only been defeated without being able to inflict even a scratch…….
This guy was different.
‘Is he from the Nine Great Sects and One Gang for nothing?’
Although he was still young in age, the footwork and blade arts he unfolded were of a different class from those of the guys he had met so far.
A footwork so rough and fast that it felt ignorant.
Added to that was a blade art full of killing intent, which was sufficient to be equally matched with the Great Force Tiger King Fist.
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, who had been shaking his stinging hand, clenched his fist tightly and raised his head.
Thud!
Danli Gwan-cheon, who had just driven the blade in his hand into the ground, also raised his head.
His eyes burned fiercely.
He had thought it was quite good for a mere mountain bandit, but the opponent’s martial prowess had surpassed the level of being outstanding.
‘Was the Four Black Alliances trying to embrace the Green Forest for a reason?’
Danli Gwan-cheon, who was glaring at the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, slowly pulled out the blade planted in the ground.
The dirt on the blade body fell off.
Sreung…
The blade body, which was considerably narrow in width, pointed at the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader in a straight line.
At that moment.
Thump!
A heavy sense of pressure descended.
Danli Gwan-cheon drew up his internal energy.
Internal energy flowed out in streaks from his entire body and wrapped around the blade body.
At the same time, a wind began to rise.
A fierce and chilly northern wind.
As if possessed by a spirit, Danli Gwan-cheon wrapped in the wind took a step forward.
Step…
The moment the tip of his leather shoe seemed to step on the cold ground, his vision distorted.
Drifting Clouds Leaping Float.
The profound light footwork of the Qingcheng Sect had closed the distance with the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader in a single breath.
Like that, the northern wind became a gale.
Whoosh!
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, seeing the rushing Danli Gwan-cheon, bent his knees and loaded his energy.
His martial arts uniform became taut as if it would tear on his fully swollen thigh muscles, and the soles of his feet gradually sank into the cool dirt ground.
A posture shrunk down to the maximum like a frog.
At that time, Danli Gwan-cheon twisted his wrist.
The short movement made in the moment of a split second was transmitted to the blade.
The Wind Riding Blade Art unfolded.
Then, killing intent flowed out from the blade body and began to tear the air apart as if mocking it.
The materialized killing intent soon became a fierce blade qi and bloomed on the blade body.
And.
Swaeek!
The Wind Riding Blade Art pounced on the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader.
A fierce vortex raged violently.
Danli Gwan-cheon’s black hair, with his eyes half-open, was swept by the wind and fluttered like waves.
At that time.
“Where……”
A cold voice from right below pierced his ears sharply like a needle.
When he lowered his gaze, the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader was looking up.
His azure eye light shone chillingly.
It looked like the eyes of a snake that had waited for its prey for a long time.
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader abruptly soared upwards.
His pants, which had been stretched to the limit, tore in an instant, and an explosive shockwave arose.
A fierce shockwave spread centered around him.
Explosively releasing the internal energy he had loaded into his thigh muscles and feet, he used the soaring power to roughly unfold the Great Force Tiger King Fist.
Hwaaak!
The massive fist engraved with a single streak of blood pierced through the gale and ascended to the heavens.
Before long, the fist and the blade collided.
Kwaaang!
The fallen leaves scattered around them exploded away in an instant.
‘Keuk!’
Danli Gwan-cheon groaned inwardly.
It was a single fist of tremendous power.
When Danli Gwan-cheon was trying to recover the blade that had bounced back from the previous impact.
Hook…
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader’s figure suddenly blurred and appeared right at his flank.
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, showing an agile movement that did not match his massive bulk, aimed for Danli Gwan-cheon’s wide-open flank.
Danli Gwan-cheon’s thoughts flowed rapidly.
‘It’s dangerous if I get hit.’
His martial artist’s sixth sense was warning him.
However, the situation had already befallen him.
For an instant, his thoughts accelerated.
‘It’s already too late to unfold the Drifting Clouds Leaping Float to dodge. In that case, should I raise the blade body to block? But even if I do that, the impact cannot be avoided……’
It was then, when he was trying to find a method to overcome this situation.
[Step forward with your left foot towards the opponent and intentionally get hit, then swing that blade art diagonally.]
He heard a voice penetrating his head.
‘Is this voice the Squad Leader’s……?’
For a moment, Danli Gwan-cheon was flustered.
He was surprised that a telepathic message was sent out of the blue, but his words now were like telling him to become a moth jumping into the flames, so how could he not be perplexed?
[Right now, you have to give your flesh and take their bones to win. Don’t you know this well?]
However, at the telepathic message that followed immediately, Danli Gwan-cheon furrowed his brows.
Those words were correct.
Among the numerous methods he had thought of just now, the method the Squad Leader mentioned had the highest possibility.
He eventually gritted his teeth and stepped forward with his left foot.
Step…
He had only taken a single step.
However, because of that, the fist swung by the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader quickly reached his flank.
Pueeok!
A heavy force wave penetrated his flank.
The clothing on the flank opposite to the part that was hit tore to shreds and fluttered.
‘Keok!’
Danli Gwan-cheon’s mind turned completely white.
It felt as if his consciousness would fly away at any moment.
However, he endured it.
He had to endure it.
In order not to let go of the string of consciousness.
Smirk…
Seeing Danli Gwan-cheon’s face contort in severe pain, the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader curled up the corners of his mouth.
‘I planted it properly.’
A sensation came from the plunged fist.
However, that smile did not last long.
Because Danli Gwan-cheon did not collapse. Rather, he stood upright and raised his blade high with bright red eyes containing burst blood vessels.
‘Don’t tell me……!’
The moment the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader was terrified.
Swaeek!
The blade held in Danli Gwan-cheon’s hands was swung roughly, and a gust of wind swept over him.
The Wind Riding Blade Art that had trampled the void finally drew a long streak of trajectory.
A red line cutting diagonally was drawn across the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader’s chest.
Bloodstains spread along that line.
“Keuk!”
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader let out a groan and took a step back.
His eyes were shaking roughly.
“Were you aiming for mutual destruction……!”
At that time, Danli Gwan-cheon staggered.
Although he intentionally closed in and got hit before the martial art was properly executed, it did not mean the power was weak.
“Keoheok!”
Eventually unable to endure it, Danli Gwan-cheon bent at the waist and coughed up blood.
Dark, dead, black vomited blood mixed with pieces of internal organs fell onto the dirt ground.
His complexion turned pale.
Vomiting too much blood at once, his mind even reached the point of becoming hazy.
‘I’m dizzy.’
His vision had already become blurry.
Because he could not focus properly, even the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader in front of him was barely visible.
He felt like lying down right away.
But he had to remain standing.
As long as the opponent did not collapse.
While he was forcing his swaying body to stand upright, several figures approached.
“Stronghold Leader!”
“A-Are you alright?”
The Green Forest bandits, who hadn’t dared to approach the fight between experts, hurriedly ran over.
“K-Kill that bastard…… Keuk!”
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, who shouted fiercely at his subordinates, grabbed his chest and staggered.
Fortunately, it was not a fatal wound that would cause sudden death, but the blood pouring out from between his fingers was substantial.
“What are you doing! Kill that bastard right now!”
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader spoke nervously.
At that, the Green Forest bandits were flustered, but seeing the staggering Danli Gwan-cheon, they soon nodded and immediately gripped their weapons firmly.
And they rushed in all at once.
Taat!
Danli Gwan-cheon’s eyes shook.
When he was trying to forcefully put strength into his hand to grip the blade at the distorted figures getting closer in his blurry vision.
Slash!
A chilling sound resonated.
Redness began to occupy his distorted vision, and the rushing figures tumbled down.
And suddenly someone appeared in front of him.
Red and black blended together…….
It was a familiar color combination.
“Squad Leader……?”
Around the time Danli Gwan-cheon barely spat out words through his teeth.
‘H-How could this be……’
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader felt his liver and gallbladder chill.
He hadn’t seen anything.
He just thought a sword light flashed, and the six subordinates who had rushed forward turned into corpses. That was all he had seen.
At that time, Cheon-hwi, who briefly swept his gaze over the Green Forest bandits that had become cold corpses, raised his head.
And he smiled as he looked at the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader.
“You shouldn’t call your subordinates in a one-on-one life-and-death duel.”
“U, Ugh……”
Meeting those eyes, the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader took steps backward.
He instinctively felt it.
That the Taoist in front of him right now was someone he couldn’t beat even if he was perfectly fine.
Cheon-hwi, who was watching the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader slowly stepping backward, lifted his sword, Hwawol.
A beautiful and captivating blade body.
However, to the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader facing it, there was nothing more terrible than that.
Cheon-hwi drew Hwawol to the side.
Seueueu…
Hwawol quietly split the world.
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader opened his eyes wide and watched Hwawol fill his vision.
And the next moment.
Thud.
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader’s head fell to the ground.
His eyes remained wide open, not even knowing he had died.
A quiet silence settled around the surroundings.
Pusyusyuk…
The Red Tiger Stronghold Leader’s heavy body, from which blood spurted belatedly, slowly collapsed.
Thump!
It was a very quiet end.
Taking his eyes off the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader, Cheon-hwi turned his body and looked at the staggering Danli Gwan-cheon.
“You lack patience. If your hand executing the blade art hadn’t shaken at the end, you would have killed him in a single breath.”
“That is……”
Danli Gwan-cheon, who had opened his mouth, couldn’t continue his words and bit his lip.
It was exactly as he said.
In the end, unable to endure the pain, the forms of the Wind Riding Blade Art had been disrupted.
It was at a very shallow level.
But because of that, the Red Tiger Stronghold Leader didn’t die, and he himself was put in danger.
“……It was my mistake.”
Cheon-hwi nodded, looking with satisfied eyes at Danli Gwan-cheon who admitted his mistake without making excuses.
“Then this place is roughly cleaned up.”
Cheon-hwi’s gaze, while muttering, headed toward the place where the momentum of the detachment squad could be felt.
“Will it take a bit of time?”
Cheon-hwi, who was whispering quietly, stared fixedly at Danli Gwan-cheon and asked calmly.
“You can move, right?”
Danli Gwan-cheon nodded his head with difficulty.
Perhaps thanks to catching his breath for just a brief moment, his blurry vision was also stabilizing.
“If it is just moving……”
Hearing the answer, Cheon-hwi turned his body.
“Then let’s go finish cleaning up.”
* * *
“Damn it!”
The situation seemed at first glance that the detachment squad was overwhelming the Green Forest bandits, but they were facing crises several times in the middle.
“Behind you!”
At Ho Gwang-gae’s shout, Mu Hong quickly executed the Mutual Injury Sword Art and deflected the axes of the rushing Green Forest bandits.
However, at that time.
Swish… Swish…
The Green Forest bandits’ eyes slanted upwards and they exchanged glances with each other.
The Green Forest bandits, flashing their killing intent, dropped the axes whose attacks had resulted in nothing, took out sharp hidden weapons from their embraces, and threw them with all their might.
Thwack!
“Keuk! Dodge!”
Ho Gwang-gae shouted urgently.
However, hidden weapons were already lodged in Mu Hong’s thigh and shoulder, and he was shedding blood.
“Goddammit!”
Mu Hong, who spat out curses unbefitting a Taoist, urgently raised his sword high.
And he thrust it with all his might into them, who had become defenseless from throwing the hidden weapons.
Stab!
The sword pierced their shoulders.
The Green Forest bandits’ faces contorted in pain, but at the lenient hand, their eyes took on killing intent again and they rushed in.
However, at that time.
Thump!
The rushing Green Forest bandit’s body suddenly collapsed forward. And behind him, a black figure slowly revealed its appearance.
“Squad Leader?”
It was none other than Cheon-hwi.
Cheon-hwi, who hung his bloodstained sword downward, looked at them with an indifferent expression.
Following that, Cheon-hwi’s closed mouth opened.
“What are you doing right now?”
A cold voice flowed out.
“To be lenient with your hands on the battlefield…… it’s not like you’ve gone crazy wanting to die.”
When he spat out those harsh words.
Paat!
A total of six shadows were cast behind Cheon-hwi’s back. They were the Green Forest bandits who had been aiming for an opening and looking for an opportunity.
The sharp simple blades held in their hands sparkled in the sunlight and struck down like lightning toward the crown of Cheon-hwi’s head.
“Squad Leader!”
“Squad Leader!”
The detachment squad members shouted in panic.
However, Cheon-hwi continued to spit out words as if he didn’t even care about their shouts.
“I’ll give you exactly fifteen minutes.”
Cheon-hwi, who was speaking, half-opened his eyes.
At the same time, a chilling red light from his eyes was revealed, and Hwawol shook slightly.
At that moment.
Chwaaaak!
The bodies of the rushing Green Forest bandits split in half, and a blood rain poured down.
A sight that could not be expressed in words.
Under that heavy rain, Cheon-hwi bared his bright white teeth and harbored a cold smile.
“Take care of everyone within that time.”