Chapter 275: Chapter 275
On the hill where the manor of the Blood Rain Sword Clan, where Cheon-hwi and So Gwang-pae confronted each other, could be seen at a glance.
Unlike the manor, which was filled with burning heat due to the fierce battle, a cold silence hung over the snow-covered hill.
Presences appeared in the silence.
There were four of them in total.
All of them were wearing pitch-black martial outfits that contrasted with the pure white snow that occupied the entire world.
“What an astonishing momentum.”
The old woman standing on the far left of the group took a step forward, looked down at the Blood Rain Sword Clan, and whispered.
It was an astonishing thing.
The distance between here and the Blood Rain Sword Clan was about a hundred zhang.
This was a distance from which it was usually difficult to feel momentum.
“The Taoist robe where black and red blend together…”
A cracked voice flowed out.
“Is that child the Plum Blossom Divine Hero?”
The eyes of the middle-aged man wearing clothes embroidered with a brilliant golden dragon spewed light.
He was in the center of the manor.
He was busy capturing Cheon-hwi, who was there, in his two eyes.
It was then.
“How do you two view that Plum Blossom Divine Hero?”
A bone-chilling voice erupted.
The moment they heard the voice that sounded like scraping iron, it felt as if chills were rising.
The old woman and the middle-aged man looked back.
It was towards someone armed entirely in pitch-black from head to toe.
The appearance of the figure, whose gender was unknown, was truly bizarre beyond comparison.
With a cloak pressed deeply down and thick black martial outfit of considerable length, their entire body was covered.
It was to the point where one could clearly feel that they hated revealing even a part of their appearance.
“Certain death!”
The middle-aged man exerted strength and answered.
The presence felt across this distance.
It was excessively high for a realm that could be reached at that young age.
“In the future, he will become a dangerous enemy to this alliance. No, even now…!”
Murderous intent flowed out of his body.
The mind automatically rose.
The mountain range trembled at the eerie murderous intent.
However, the three standing around him remained still without any reaction.
As if they were used to it.
“What does Protector Yeo think?”
“What use is there in listening to the opinion of a lowly old woman? If the Young Master gives his opinion, I will just follow it.”
The old woman spoke with humility.
If those who knew the old woman’s identity saw this, they would have rubbed their eyes and looked again.
She was none other than the Star Radiance Rakshasa, Yeo Wun-yak.
Because she was an old monster who had turned Yunnan into a sea of blood in the past as a Protector of the Four Black Alliances.
“I see.”
Hearing Yeo Wun-yak’s answer, he turned his head and asked the woman who had continued to assist him from his side.
“What do you think?”
A comfortable tone, different from when he treated the previous two people.
At that question, the woman held a refreshing smile like a spring flower by her mouth.
“I also intend to follow the Young Master’s opinion.”
“No, I want to hear your opinion.”
At the continued pressing, the woman completely erased her smile and revealed a cold expression.
“He must be killed. If we leave that guy alone like this, he will obstruct the Young Master’s path ahead in the future.”
“Obstruct the path ahead…”
At the woman’s answer, he turned his head.
And he took a step forward.
Crunch.
The moment his black leather shoes stepped on the pure white snowflakes, the surrounding snow melted away.
Following his continuing footsteps, the snow within a three-zhang radius melted, revealing the desolate yellowish-brown earth.
It was a transformation that happened unknowingly.
It was a simple step without raising internal energy or spreading momentum.
However, with that, the ground transformed.
As if it were dying.
Soon, he stood at the edge of the hill.
At the same time, he stimulated and awakened the internal energy that was sleeping deep in his lower dantian.
The five senses raised to the limit.
The sound of clashing weapons leaking from the Blood Rain Sword Clan below the pure white hill rang in his ears, and the thick scent of blood tickled the tip of his nose, riding the wind.
It was fishy and noisy.
However, strangely, his mind and body stabilized.
It felt as if he had returned to his hometown.
His gaze, which was quietly scanning the Blood Rain Sword Clan, stopped at one place.
“…Plum Blossom Divine Hero.”
He recited the nickname of the person captured in his eyes.
That bone-chilling voice was faint as if covered in dust, and disappeared in an instant.
At the same time, the hem of his long clothes shook.
A wind began to rise from under his feet due to the wave of power that naturally manifested.
“I should go closer and see.”
Suddenly, blue light spewed from his eyes, which had been hidden inside the cloak.
* * *
Cheon-hwi scanned So Gwang-pae.
Considering he had pure white hair and white eyebrows, So Gwang-pae’s appearance, excluding that, was quite young.
Even if you gave him a lot, barely mid-thirties?
However, that was only his outer appearance.
His age known to the world was sixty.
It meant that he had entered a realm that delayed the age of his physical body with supreme power.
And as if proving So Gwang-pae’s high realm, the space was distorting here and there due to the energy wave spreading with him at the center, losing its shape.
In addition, it could be seen that his muscles were repeatedly relaxing and contracting.
A posture prepared so that he could make a move at any time.
However, even so, So Gwang-pae did not move hastily.
He was just maintaining distance from Cheon-hwi.
“It doesn’t seem like you will come first no matter how long I wait, so in the end, I’ll have to go.”
Cheon-hwi applied strength to his toes.
The moment the tips of his leather shoes gently pressed down on the piled snow.
Swoosh!
Cheon-hwi’s body shot forward.
A fierce wind raged belatedly.
Reaching a short distance from So Gwang-pae in an instant, Cheon-hwi drew Hwawol in the air.
Sreung…
The blade of Hwawol, sparkling with a beautiful red radiance, was revealed to the world.
At the same time, achromatic energy flowed out like threads and wrapped around Hwawol.
Hwaaak!
Cheon-hwi swung Hwawol forward as it was, and Hwawol, which had been raised to his waist, accelerated and was slashed in a single breath.
A sword swung in a state of levitation.
The fast sword that flew in an instant distorted the atmosphere and cleaved the space diagonally.
It could truly be called lightning.
At the fast sword that approached without even giving time to blink, So Gwang-pae glared.
Overwhelming speed and fierce momentum.
It was an unresistible sword.
There was absolutely no way to counter it.
‘I must dodge!’
So Gwang-pae instinctively rolled his body.
And at that moment.
Seugeok!
The sword wave that cut his hair crashed into the wall at the back of the manor.
Kwaaaang!
The earth’s axis shook greatly.
It was a fierce aftermath as if hit by a cannonball.
It was as if an earthquake had occurred.
“….”
A suffocating silence struck the manor.
The fierce battle that had been taking place here and there within the manor had stopped at some point.
Everyone lost their souls and looked at the wall.
Small stones swirled along with thick dust from the collapsed wall.
“…I-Is this possible?”
“A person did such a thing?”
“To think it was such martial prowess…!”
Shock seeped out from their eyes.
It was an unbelievable thing.
It was truly the astonishing result of a single sword.
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi, who had created such a result, had no change in expression.
“How unexpected?”
He was just looking at So Gwang-pae, who had dirt on his clothes.
“To think you would unfold Lazy Donkey Rolls.”
Cheon-hwi laughed as if it were amusing.
Usually, when it came to the patriarch of a family, they were bound to value face.
But was it because he was of the Unorthodox Faction?
He unfolded the Lazy Donkey Rolls, which martial artists hated doing more than offering their lives.
And thanks to that, he lived.
“…T-This can’t be.”
So Gwang-pae’s lips trembled slightly.
The shock he received was indescribable.
However, even so, he could not stay in shock forever.
“Aren’t you going to snap out of it?”
It was because Cheon-hwi, who had approached at some point, was showing a sly smile in front of him.
“…!”
So Gwang-pae was startled by the blade that had approached his face at some point, and raised his sword to meet it.
Jjeo-eong!
A sound like thunder rang out.
At the same time, the air distorted from the shockwave generated as the two clashed, and for a moment, sparks flew between them.
Chwaaak!
From the shock, So Gwang-pae’s body was pushed back.
His soles, which were planted about an inch deep, were pushed back, leaving a long trail on the floor they passed over.
It was the aftereffect of the explosive force contained in the sword.
“Keuk!”
A groan leaked out from between So Gwang-pae’s tightly clenched lips due to the fierce shock.
For a moment, his stomach churned, and a fishy scent of blood began to hover in his mouth.
It seemed he had suffered internal injuries.
So Gwang-pae gripped the sword hilt tightly.
The heat transmitted from the sword hilt, which had become drenched with sweat, heated up his mind.
Soon, he raised his internal energy.
The power of the Blood Sword Formula instantly led his body and revolved throughout his entire body.
A Great Heavenly Circulation that occurred in a split second’s gap.
His blood boiled and smoke bloomed from his body.
Cheon-hwi, who was about to unfold the Dark Fragrance Float and swing his sword again, shone his eyes at the smoke that suddenly glimmered and appeared.
‘You’re aiming for a one-exchange match?’
Cheon-hwi, who grasped So Gwang-pae’s intentions, put more strength into his planted foot and leaped.
If he dodged, it would end in vain.
However, Cheon-hwi did not do so.
Why would he avoid such a fun thing?
‘Let’s see you unfold it properly.’
The internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art heaved greatly.
The internal energy that dominated the blood points of his entire body crossed the middle dantian and reached the upper dantian.
The Baihui acupoint opened, and his thoughts rotated quickly.
Thanks to that, in the time of consciousness that slowed down as if stopped, internal energy quickly wrapped around his pupils.
The whole world was clearly seen as if it could be grasped in his hand.
Momentum, flow, even the trembling of the atmosphere.
And also the movements of So Gwang-pae, who was preparing to make a move right in front of his eyes.
Pat!
Right then, So Gwang-pae moved.
His figure elongated.
Like a shadow cast in the sunset light, his body connected long, and he quickly closed the distance of over five zhang.
The secret footwork of the Blood Sword Formula.
It was the Shadow Shadow Steps.
So Gwang-pae, who took a step, swung the Blood Rain Sword he held in his hand downwards from above.
It was a strike of his whole soul.
The atmosphere cried and tore at the desperate move unfolded by a master of the Limitless Realm.
At the same time, the sword split exuberantly.
One became two, two became four, four became eight, and how many times did it repeatedly multiply?
Reaching the end, dozens of sword shadows overturned the empty space and poured down like rain.
The ultimate technique of the Blood Sword Formula.
It was the manifestation of the Blood Heaven Sword Rain.
‘Is it a variation containing illusion swords?’
Cheon-hwi quietly looked at the Blood Heaven Sword Rain and inwardly spat out his impression.
Even though the sword shadows that approached while tearing the atmosphere had reached a short distance away, leisure resided on Cheon-hwi’s expression.
So Gwang-pae flashed his two eyes.
He felt hope at Cheon-hwi, who had absolutely no defense against the Blood Heaven Sword Rain.
And only then did Cheon-hwi move Hwawol.
That moment.
Hwaaa…
The scent of plum blossoms spread everywhere.
It was a scent so thick that the mind became dizzy.
At the same time, the sky turned red.
Even though it wasn’t yet time for the sun to set, through the reddened sky, plum blossoms bloomed.
It was captivating and beautiful.
It was enough to cover the pouring sword rain.
At that time.
Seugeok…
A streak of sword mark fell ‘thud’ from the sky above like a thunderbolt.
As if cleaving the world in half, the sword mark that fell from above cut away the red sky, the plum blossoms, and the sword rain entirely.
A sword art containing fierceness within splendor.
It was the Falling Blossom Sword Art.
Chwaaak!
A long bloodstain was drawn across the entire body of So Gwang-pae, who was unfolding the Blood Heaven Sword Rain.
“How could…”
So Gwang-pae’s pupils shook.
It was a soulless, vain gaze.
Eventually, the light in his eyes lost its vitality, and soon he collapsed forward with a thud.
It was a vain death for a figure who had reigned in the West Forest as the patriarch of the Blood Rain Sword Clan.
“….”
So Gwang-pae’s death brought silence to the entire manor.
Especially at the beautiful yet eerie sword arts that Cheon-hwi had unfolded, everyone’s hands trembled, regardless of whether they were friend or foe.
Amidst that, Cheon-hwi moved his lips.
“What are you doing?”
It was a light tone for a person who had just unfolded a sword form that had reached the supreme realm.
“Now clean up the other guys… Hmm?”
Cheon-hwi, who was about to tell the Extermination Unit to finish their mission, raised his head.
Evil energies were approaching.
And at a terrifying speed at that.
Soon, four people dressed entirely in pitch-black clothes jumped over the wall.
“…!”
“What?!”
Just when not only the Extermination Unit but also the martial artists of the Blood Rain Sword Clan were terrified by the sudden appearance of the four.
Seu-euk.
Among the group, a person who even hid their face with a pitch-black cloak raised their hand.
Then, the long sleeve that was covering even the hand went down, and a pitch-black hand was revealed.
Accurately speaking, it was a hand wrapped in cloth made of pitch-black ropes.
The person who raised their hand carefully pulled back the cloak that had been covering their face.
Then, as if like burned firewood, ashen faded hair fell down with a thud.
“Heup!”
“T-That is…!”
The people who saw the revealed appearance opened their eyes wide.
What existed under the cloak was not a face but a single mask.
And it wasn’t an ordinary mask either.
With eyebrows soaring as if they didn’t know how high the sky was, and sharp fangs attached…
It was the Ghost King, Yaksha.