Whoosh!

The fire dragon burned through the poison, spreading in an instant.

Everyone knew that fire was the opposite of poison. However, there were hardly any people who could use fire to burn only the poison.

Especially when the poison was thick in the air, it was almost impossible to burn only the poison without causing damage to other places.

But for Jo Jakyung, it was not such a difficult task.

The dragon dug deep into the source well, eating only the poison without causing any harm elsewhere.

Kwaaa!

In an instant, the dragon purified the well and disappeared with a roar like a dragon ascending.

It was an incredible sight that was hard to believe even with two eyes. But Jo Jakyung, the one who achieved this miracle, walked towards  Do Yeonsan without even thinking about his achievement.

“Do you think you can get away with doing such a thing? You must not die like this. You must pay for your crimes.”

At that moment, Jo Ik-gwang spoke urgently.

“You must not let him live. He tried to kill me for no reason other than that he didn’t like me. And he didn’t care if people around him were hurt or not. If you leave him alone like this, he will become a great evil that disturbs the Kangho. We must kill him and eliminate the aftermath.”

“For no reason at all?”

“Yes. Ask him yourself.”

Jo Ik-gwang replied arrogantly, knowing that Do Yeonsan could not answer because his voice was already hoarse.

Jo Jakyung frowned.

He was annoyed by Jo Ik-gwang’s overly confident attitude. But this was not the time to quibble about small things.

Regardless of the story, Do Yeonsan was the culprit who caused this situation.

He had to be subdued and punished.

Jo Jakyung approached Do Yeonsan and said, “If you don’t surrender willingly, you will suffer.”

That was when it happened.

Do Yeonsan took something out of his arms with trembling hands.

It was a cylinder that fired the poison needle, prepared as a backup for emergencies.

Do Yeonsan aimed the cylinder at Jo Jakyung.

Seeing this, Jo Jakyung became furious.

“This demon does not repent and is trying to commit another murder.”

He swung his spear before Do Yeonsan could even fire his weapon.

Bang!

Do Yeonsan was hit by the end of his spear and was flung away.

“There’s no point in sparing you, you’ll only grow into a greater menace to the world. I’ll be the one to take your life.”

Jo Jakyung raised his spear high and aimed it at Do Yeonsan, ready to strike with all his might.

Bang!

With a deafening roar, the well shattered into pieces and debris flew in all directions.

“Ugh!”

Jo Ik-gwang, who was cheering from the sidelines, grimaced as he was hit by the shockwave.

Was it really necessary to use such tremendous force to kill someone like  Do Yeonsan?

‘The old man doesn’t know how to control his strength.’

He grumbled and looked up, only to be met with an unbelievable sight.

Do Yeonsan, whom he thought was dead, was still alive. And the spear that Jo Jakyung aimed at Do Yeonsan’s throat was blocked by someone’s palm.

It was a monster wearing a thin veil over its face and a tattered cloak.

The veil obscured its face and a faint shield was emanating from the monster’s hand, preventing Jo Jakyung’s spear from advancing.

Jo Jakyung’s eyebrows trembled.

Even an ordinary attack would have devastating power against someone at this level. Yet this strange monster appeared and easily blocked his attack.

“W-who are you and why are you helping this monster? Do you know how many people have died because of him?”

“I don’t… know.”

The monster’s voice was low and muffled, making it difficult to understand.

It was an unpleasant voice whose pronunciation was completely muffled and could only be understood by straining one’s ears.

The moment he heard the monster’s voice, he felt as if a spoon was scraping his flesh and shuddered.

Even though he was famous in Kangho, this was the first time he had ever felt this creepy.

“Reveal your identity, or else I may have to kill you.”

Jo Jakyung’s whole body was filled with tremendous power as he spoke.

This was the Spear Saint.

The monster remained unmoved and shifted its gaze to Do Yeonsan, who was still unconscious.

“Huh!”

The monster emitted a strange breath that seemed to mix both compassion and anger.

It suddenly tore off its own arm, causing blood to gush out. The monster then fed its own blood to  Do Yeonsan, and his wounds began to heal noticeably.

Although his skin and vocal cords did not regenerate, the wounds were sealed and no longer deteriorating.  Do Yeonsan’s condition also improved noticeably.

At that moment, a name popped into Jo Jakyung’s mind.

“You are the Ghost King, the greatest mystery of Kangho.”

A being that can never die and roams Kangho alone.

Both had belonged to the same Eight Constellations, but had never met him even once, Ghost King was unfamiliar to Jo Jakyung.

However, he was able to recognize him at first glance due to the eerie energy and aura emanating from him, which were able to cure the gravely injured Do Yeonsan.

In Kangho, there was a saying: seek immortality, capture Ghost King.

It was unclear when or from whom this saying began to spread, but it was now widely accepted as a fact.

This was due to the unbelievable feats that the Ghost King had demonstrated thus far.

Despite receiving serious injuries, he quickly recovered and many people coveted the Ghost King’s ability to live forever like a phoenix.

It was their belief that they could also live forever without dying if they could obtain the Ghost King’s ability.

In reality, many people pursued the Ghost King, but not many of them were still alive.

Jo Jakyung’s expression became serious.

It was because of the pressure that the name the Ghost King brought.

Although Jo Jakyung was someone who claimed that he had nothing to fear in the world if he had a spear, it was still unknown whether his spear skills would work on the Ghost King.

However, he couldn’t just back down and be afraid.

Do Yeonsan had committed a great sin and had to pay a fair price for it.

It was a matter of Jo Jakyung’s beliefs.

For someone who had fought against injustice his whole life, leaving someone who had committed such a great sin as Do Yeonsan alone would be a betrayal of his beliefs.

“I don’t know what your relationship is with him, but hand him over to me. He has committed a great sin, and he must pay for it.”

“I refuse.”

“I respect you, but if you insist, I will not stand idly by.”

“This child is mine. I will not hand him over.”

“Ghost King!”

Jo Jakyung raised his voice.

An explosive force flowed out of his body. However, even his force was not enough to shake the Ghost King.

“If you won’t hand the child over willingly, I’ll have to take him by force.”

Jo Jakyung aimed his spear at the Ghost King.

A powerful energy emanated from his spear.

For a moment, a red light appeared in the Ghost King’s hollow eyes.

Jo Jakyung thought it was better this way.

He had heard a lot about the Ghost King and they belonged to the same Eight Constellations, but they had never fought before.

He had always been curious as to why the Ghost King was ranked higher than him.

Now he had the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity, and Jo Jakyung didn’t intend to miss it.

Boom!

The clash of their qi exploded, and the air burst out.

“Ugh!”

Jo-Ik-Gwang, who was nearby, recoiled in horror.

His face showed a confused expression.

“Why did this have to happen?”

If Jo Jakyung had just killed Do Yeonsan, there would have been no problem. But with the appearance of the Ghost King, everything had become complicated.

He couldn’t understand why the Ghost King was on Do Yeonsan’s side.

The best outcome was for Jo Jakyung to subdue or kill the Ghost King. But if the opposite happened, the problem would become serious.

Do Yeonsan was still unable to regain his senses.

“I need to kill him somehow and silence him.”

The problem was that Do Yeonsan was near Ghost King.

To get to Do Yeonsan, Jo Jakyung had to get past the Ghost King.

Jo Jakyung watched Ghost King intently, holding his breath.

“Hah!”

At that moment, Jo Jakyung’s attack began.

The spear, accompanied by intense energy, aimed for the Ghost King’s throat.

Clang!

Ghost King displayed an unexpected move and blocked Jo Jakyung’s attack.

Then, he immediately turned his defense into an offense.

Bang!

As the Ghost King and Jo Jakyung collided, the area shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

Ghost King’s martial arts were different from any other martial arts that Jo Jakyung had seen before.

He moved without being bound by any specific form, relying on intuition alone.

However, his speed and destructive power surpassed common sense.

He flew like a meteor and collided with Jo Jakyung.

Jo Jakyung repeatedly displayed his signature spear technique, the Fire Dragon Destruction Spear technique!

When the Ghost King’s bare body collided with Jo Jakyung’s spear, a loud explosion sounded.

Their confrontation was beyond human limits.

The shockwaves from their collision caused the surrounding objects to collapse like sandcastles.

“Ugh!”

“Save me!”

The survivors of the poison screamed and fled.

The previously peaceful square had become a death zone in an instant.

Bang!

It was as if demons from the sky and hell were fighting.

Jo Jakyung and Ghost King’s battle reached its peak in an instant.

Boom!

The storm swept across the area as the immortals collided beyond human limits.

Jo Jakyung gave his all to the Fire Dragon Destruction Spear!.

It was as fierce as fire, and a lingering image of a dragon appeared, every time he performed his spear technique.

The dragon seemed as if it could swallow the Ghost King at any moment, but he crumbled instantly due to a simple attack from the Ghost King.

Boom!

The Ghost King threw himself at Jo Jakyung and collided with him.

A sharp energy shield surrounded his body.

Jo Jakyung quickly realized what the shield was.

“He’s using rebounding energy as a weapon?”

The shield that surrounded the Ghost King’s body was actually a Qi membrane.

Even the most talented masters had to concentrate to maintain their Qi membrane.

Moving while maintaining the Qi membrane required an even higher level of concentration.

It was not easy to move while maintaining the Qi membrane in a life-threatening situation.

So even the masters who could use Qi membrane could not dare to use it as an attack method, only using it for defense.

However, the Ghost King was using it as an attack method, as if mocking the common sense of the world.

He was truly a transcendent being beyond imagination.

“Kuk!”

Cracks began to appear on Jo Jakyung’s face.

Blood had already started to trickle from his lips.

His internal organs had been shaken by repeated collisions. Not only that, he had significant wounds all over his body.

Jo Jakyung was not one to take it lying down, though. He inflicted countless wounds on the Ghost King’s body as well.

The problem was that those wounds were healed in an instant

.

It was mind-boggling to see wounds that were barely visible being healed instantly.

Even if they inflicted the same damage on each other, Jo Jakyung was in an overwhelmingly disadvantaged situation.

Kwaaang!

“Kuk!”

Finally, Jo Jakyung allowed Ghost King to land a powerful blow on him.

His body bounced on the ground like a waterlogged log, with a shock that was on a completely different level from before.

If he hadn’t absorbed the impact with his spear at the last moment, he would have been fatally wounded.

“Kryuk!”

It was when Jo Jakyung grabbed his spear and tried to stand up.

Shwuruk!

Something huge climbed up from Taeho to the plaza. And it collided with the Ghost King.

It was an unbelievably large snake.

A being riding on the snake shouted.

“Ghost King!”