chapter 254

At the Crossroads of Fate (1)

“Bastard!”

Cheol Geuk-jin’s eyes were bloodshot with rage.

Instinctively, he realized that Lee Gwak was an incredible master. Just the fact that he had instantly cut down Cheol Gwan-ho, the second-in-command of the Hidden Blood Squad, gave a glimpse of his prowess.

Now, with Lee Gwak momentarily distracted by Han So-cheon, this was the perfect opportunity.

If he missed this chance, who knew how many more members of the Hidden Blood Squad would have to sacrifice their lives?

Swish!

Cheol Geuk-jin sent a sword qi flying toward the unsuspecting Lee Gwak.

He didn’t expect to land a fatal blow with a sneak attack. But if he could inflict even a minor wound, it would still be a worthwhile move.

Just before the sword qi reached him, Lee Gwak lifted his head and locked eyes with Cheol Geuk-jin.

His emotionless eyes met Cheol Geuk-jin, and in that moment, Cheol Geuk-jin felt an inexplicable chill and shivered.

Boom!

The sword energy hit Lee Gwak directly, and a thunderous noise echoed as if a meteor had crashed down. Dust exploded into the air, and the deafening roar reverberated through the surroundings.

“I got him.”

Cheol Geuk-jin quietly celebrated.

No matter how skilled his opponent, it would be impossible to remain unharmed after taking a direct hit from such a powerful sword qi.

Just as Cheol Geuk-jin rushed forward to finish the job—

Whoosh!

A fierce wind suddenly blew, clearing the dust that had enveloped Lee Gwak. There, still holding Han So-cheon in his arms, stood Lee Gwak, unscathed.

Despite the direct hit from Cheol Geuk-jin’s formidable sword qi, Lee Gwak’s body bore not a single scratch.

Instead, the edge of his hand glowed red-hot.

He had neutralized Cheol Geuk-jin’s attack with his palm.

Though he was uninjured, his entire arm throbbed with pain. Yet Lee Gwak felt no pain at all.

All he saw was Cheol Geuk-jin charging at him, his face twisted like that of a raging demon.

Once, Lee Gwak had been so terrified of Cheol Geuk-jin that he couldn’t even meet his gaze.

Cheol Geuk-jin was infamous for his ruthlessness, known as a cold-blooded man with no mercy. That’s why he had no qualms about sacrificing his subordinate, Han So-cheon, in his cruel plan.

But to Lee Gwak, Cheol Geuk-jin no longer seemed frightening.

Whether it was because Lee Gwak had grown stronger, or because time had dulled his fear, he didn’t know.

Nor did he care.

Right now, all that filled Lee Gwak’s heart was a burning fury.

Had he been just a little later, Han So-cheon would no longer be alive.

Had he come just a little sooner, she wouldn’t have suffered such grievous injuries.

Grit!

Lee Gwak clenched his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.

In that instant, a flash of light streaked through the air.

Clang!

At the same moment, the sharp sound of metal rang out.

Lee Gwak had drawn his blade and struck Cheol Geuk-jin.

The once-confident Cheol Geuk-jin was caught off guard by the sudden and powerful attack and was thrown back several paces.

Deep grooves formed in the ground where his feet had dragged. His hand, which held his sword, was torn open, and blood streamed from it.

“Guh!”

Blood trickled from the corner of Cheol Geuk-jin’s mouth.

At that moment, a short man about five feet tall appeared behind Lee Gwak, panting heavily. It was none other than Ki Jin-hwi.

“Captain!”

“Take care of Socheon.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll guard her with my life,”

Ki Jin-hwi replied, trying to catch his breath.

Meeting Lee Gwak had been a stroke of luck

Even before receiving the carrier pigeon’s message, Lee Gwak had already been traveling south. Along the way, he had gathered information from the Hao clan, and with all his strength, he raced toward the expected path Han So-cheon would take. It was just a little while ago, not far from here, that he had met Ki Jin-hwi.

After hearing everything from Ki Jin-hwi, Lee Gwak had sprinted straight to this location without looking back, while Ki Jin-hwi followed with all his might.

Even though Ki Jin-hwi had used his qigong to its fullest, he had only managed to catch up now.

After handing Han So-cheon over to Ki Jin-hwi, Lee Gwak turned and started walking toward Cheol Geuk-jin. Watching Lee Gwak’s retreating back, Ki Jin-hwi couldn’t help but shiver.

Just looking at Lee Gwak’s back made his spine tingle. The fury in Lee Gwak’s rippling muscles and the way his hair whipped in the wind showed just how enraged he was.

Ki Jin-hwi knew he couldn’t possibly bear the weight of Lee Gwak’s wrath.

At that moment, Cheol Geuk-jin shouted.

“Everyone, attack him together!”

At his command, the Hidden Blood Squad moved as one.

The sight of so many assassins charging toward a single man was terrifying. But Lee Gwak felt no fear.

Swish!

Lee Gwak’s blade sliced through the air.

In an instant, the first assassin in the Hidden Blood Squad fell, blood spurting from his neck. It was only the beginning.

Slash! Slash!

The sound of tearing air echoed repeatedly as death descended upon the members of the Hidden Blood Squad.

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

Low groans of pain echoed constantly.

One slash, one kill.

Each time Lee Gwak swung his blade, a life was taken.

His bladesmanship was as precise and efficient as a butcher’s hammering down on an ox.

It took only one slash to kill each man.

In the blink of an eye, the Hidden Blood Squad was annihilated.

Seeing the carnage, Ki Jin-hwi was aghast.

“My supreme-ruler! The leader… what is he…?”

Ki Jin-hwi had thought he knew Lee Gwak well.

They had shared life and death together for years, and Ki Jin-hwi had watched him closely during all that time.

Lee Gwak had already reached the pinnacle of his martial prowess six years ago during the Battle of the Celestial Demon Troupe.

So Ki Jin-hwi had always assumed Lee Gwak’s strength was at the same level as it had been back then.

Just a slight improvement over six years ago would have been shocking enough.

When he heard rumors of Lee Gwak’s rise to fame under the nickname “Sura Blade,” he’d judged it based on the image of Lee Gwak from six years ago.

But his judgment had been wrong.

Lee Gwak hadn’t just improved slightly.

The man standing before him now was a completely different person from the one Ki Jin-hwi had known.

The Lee Gwak he had known no longer existed.

His martial prowess was now on a completely different level.

Ki Jin-hwi stood there, mouth agape, watching Lee Gwak.

The blood from the Hidden Blood Squad sprayed like mist in the air.

A strong gust of wind blew the blood mist toward Cheol Guk-jin, speckling his face.

“He’s coming.”

Lee Gwak had appeared before Cheol Guk-jin, cutting through the wind.

In that instant, Cheol Guk-jin’s sword began to glow intensely.

The light concentrated and formed the shape of a sword.

It was sword aura.

Whoosh!

Though Cheol Guk-jin had carried out countless missions, this was the first time he had ever unleashed his sword aura. This showed just how desperate he was.

Clang!

The sword aura clashed with Lee Gwak’s blade.

Cheol Guk-jin was certain his sword aura would break Lee Gwak’s blade in one blow, but the result was far beyond his expectations.

Lee Gwak’s blade, despite clashing with the sword aura, remained completely unscathed.

Cheol Guk-jin’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Swoosh!

In the next moment, Lee Gwak’s blade thrust toward Cheol Guk-jin’s chest. Cheol Guk-jin quickly switched to a defensive stance, using Sword Blood Dance to guard his entire body.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out again, but Cheol Guk-jin had no time to listen.

The impact from Lee Gwak’s blade sent a shock through his hand, nearly causing him to drop his sword.

Lee Gwak’s blade had no special aura, nor even a trace of sword qi. It was just a pure, simple blade. But its power rivaled, if not surpassed, Cheol Guk-jin’s sword aura.

“Maybe… it’s even stronger…”

Veins bulged on Cheol Guk-jin’s forehead.

Every time Lee Gwak’s blade collided with his sword, Cheol Guk-jin’s body was wracked with shock.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

To an observer, it might have seemed like Lee Gwak was swinging his blade recklessly.

There was no form, no system to his movements. It was a wild, chaotic flurry of strikes. Yet that very chaos was driving Cheol Guk-jin into a corner.

“Could he have reached the level of Formless Mastery?”

Cheol Guk-jin’s skin crawled with fear.

The state where no form beats all forms.

Where the mind moves freely, and every motion becomes an unstoppable technique.

Lee Gwak’s battle with Muk Cheon-gang had elevated his skills to a new level, and now, he was unleashing that newfound insight on Cheol Guk-jin.

Images formed in his mind.

He knew exactly how to move his blade to throw Cheol Guk-jin off balance and neutralize his techniques.

Lee Gwak brought the vision in his mind into reality.

His blade traced a graceful arc.

Slice!

Blood sprayed into the air as Lee Gwak’s blade cut deep into Cheol Guk-jin’s shoulder, exposing bone.

Swish!

A sharp sound followed, and blood gushed like a fountain from Cheol Guk-jin’s thigh.

With a frustrated groan, Cheol Guk-jin fell to one knee. He still tried to strike back at Lee Gwak, but his counterattack was futile, and Lee Gwak’s blade stabbed into his shoulder.

Thud!

The blade sank deeply into Cheol Guk-jin’s shoulder, right at the joint connecting the hand that wielded his sword.

His sword fell to the ground, slipping from his grasp as his strength gave way. Blood poured from the wound, and Cheol Guk-jin’s muscles twitched involuntarily.

Lee Gwak’s blade wasn’t done. It continued to burrow slowly into Cheol Guk-jin’s flesh, inching toward his heart.

Sssssk!

The sound of sinew and muscle being sliced echoed in the air, and Cheol Guk-jin could hear his own body being torn apart. He felt it—death was approaching, and it was crawling toward his heart with excruciating slowness.

“Gah…!”

Cheol Guk-jin’s scream was one of pure agony, but Lee Gwak’s expression didn’t waver. His eyes were cold and unfeeling as he continued pressing the blade deeper into Cheol Guk-jin’s chest.

Cheol Guk-jin lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes meeting Lee Gwak’s.

“You… you?”

With his remaining strength, Cheol Guk-jin reached out toward Lee Gwak, his hand trembling violently.

Shluk!

At that moment, Lee Gwak’s blade pierced Cheol Guk-jin’s heart.

Cheol Guk-jin’s eyes widened in shock. His mouth hung open, but no sound escaped. His breath caught in his throat, and his body shook uncontrollably, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Blood foamed at his lips, and the light in his eyes began to fade, losing focus.

That was the end of Cheol Guk-jin, the feared leader of the Hidden Blood Squad.

Schluk!

Lee Gwak calmly withdrew his blade from Cheol Guk-jin’s chest. Hot blood sprayed out, speckling Lee Gwak’s face.

He stood there for a moment, silently watching as Cheol Guk-jin’s lifeless body slumped to the ground. Once a powerful and fearsome martial artist, in death, he was no different from any other corpse—pitiful, insignificant, and alone.

Without someone to recover his body, Cheol Guk-jin would rot where he fell, or worse, become food for scavengers.

Lee Gwak turned away from the body and looked toward Han So-cheon.

She was leaning against KI Jin-hwi, watching the entire fight. Throughout the fierce battle, Han

So-cheon hadn’t looked away for even a second.

“Brother…”

Her voice was weak, but she reached out her hand toward Lee Gwak.

He began walking toward her.

The distance between them was only about ten jang—barely thirty paces. Yet it had taken six long years to cover that distance.

As Lee Gwak drew closer, his normally steady gaze wavered. His eyes, which hadn’t flinched during the battle with Cheol Guk-jin, now trembled as if caught in an earthquake.

“Socheon…”

His voice cracked with emotion, barely a whisper.

Han So-cheon smiled—no, she tried to smile.

Just moving her facial muscles sent a wave of searing pain through her body, as if her heart was being torn apart. But still, she didn’t stop trying to smile.

It had been six years since she last saw him.

Not a day, not a single moment had passed without her thinking of him.

She had practiced smiling countless times, imagining this reunion.

Finally, Han So-cheon managed a bright smile.

Lee Gwak smiled, too, but tears welled up in his eyes.

Woomph!

At last, Lee Gwak reached her and gently embraced her, careful not to touch her wounds.

For the first time in six years, they felt each other’s warmth.

Neither spoke.

There were no words of greeting, no questions about how the other had been.

Lee Gwak lifted his head, gazing at the sky. Han So-cheon tenderly stroked his face, as though

she couldn’t believe this moment was real.

‘My love. My eternal love. If this is a dream, let me never wake. Even if my soul descends to the depths of hell, may the memory of this moment live on forever…’