Reaper of the Drifting Moon novel - Chapter 580

Chapter 580

“Hmph! I won’t fall easily.”

“I don’t want you to easily fall either.”

At Jang Cheon-hwa’s serene words, One Sword-Master momentarily closed his eyes.

His heart was pounding more fiercely than ever before.

However, his mind was as cold as if he had fallen into ice water.

A situation where passion and reason coexisted.

‘I am going to die.’

He could see no possibility of winning.

Even if their martial arts were equally matched, his physical condition was at its worst.

He had suffered deep internal injuries during the duel with Yong Geom-sang.

To duel with Jang Cheon-hwa in such a state was a certain defeat.

But he could not retreat, either.

“Huu!”

Il-Geom Jin sighed and opened his eyes.

There was no fear in his eyes.

Swish!

He drew the Pine Gate Sword he’d been carrying at his waist.

He discarded the sheath altogether.

It was a sign of his determination to fight to the death.

Jang Cheon-hwa responded to his resolve.

Swoosh!

He, too, drew his sword.

It was the sword he had received from his master, Go Geom-wol.

He had never shown it to anyone else for decades, and this was the first time he had drawn it.

The sword’s appearance was ordinary. But its strength, balance, and sharpness were extraordinary.

Jang Cheon-hwa pointed his sword at Il-Geom Jin and spoke.

“Your death will mark the beginning of the chaotic era.”

“I appreciate the high regard you have for this old man, but it’s hard to believe that this single life would mark the beginning of a chaotic era.”

“What if you add Yong Geom-sang’s life to yours?”

“What? Why would Yong Geom-sang die? He’s already on his way back to Dragon Mountain Manor.”

“Because the Wudang sect’s Taoists ambushed him while he was wounded.”

“Stop talking nonsense. How could the disciples of the Wudang Sect, who are thousands of miles away, ambush Yong Geom-sang? Even if they were here, this wouldn’t happen.”

“Who knows if they were really from the Wudang Sect, or something else……”

“You Bastard!”

Il-Geom Jin couldn’t contain himself and let out a roar of fury.

He realized Jang Cheon-hwa’s intention.

Yong Geom-sang, wounded by Il-Geom Jin and returning, would be ambushed and killed by Heavenly Martial Sect martial artists disguised as Wudang Sect disciples.

Naturally, the furious martial artists from Dragon Mountain Manor would attack Wudang Sect.

The power of Dragon Mountain Manor and Wudang Sect was equal.

The Wudang Sect had far more masters, but the Dragon Mountain Manor had many more ordinary martial artists.

In the end, Wudang Sect would win but it would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.

“Devious… I cannot forgive you. Even if it costs my life, I will stop your wicked deeds.”

Il-Geom Jin roared, stomping the ground with his internal energy.

Ordinarily, a senior should yield to a junior, but his opponent was Jang Cheon-hwa.

He was not someone who could be defeated by granting concessions.

He had to fight with all his might, disregarding any decorum.

Shuaa!

His sword produced a powerful sword aura.

He was gambling on victory from the start.

Jang Cheon-hwa also swung his sword in response. However, his sword had neither the aura nor even a hint of qi.

Kaang!

His sword was still intact.

Despite colliding with the sword aura

It was a sight that defied the common sense of the martial world.

Jang Cheon-hwa swung his sword intensely and said,

“For the past several decades, I have studied the martial arts of the Mad Martial Sect. The Thousand Year Sword Technique of Lee Gwak, the founder of the Mad Martial Sect, maximizes its power by gathering energy internally rather than expelling it externally”.

“You stole the martial arts of the Mad Martial Sect?”

“I have advanced them further.”

“Your nature is that of a fraudster, so it’s only fitting that you stole their martial arts and learned them.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They fought dozens of times in that short conversation.

One-Sword Master Il-Geom jin unleashed all of his skills.

His sword, filled with sword aura, wildly cut through the air.

If one were to draw a comparison, One-Sword Master Il-Geom jin was a storm.

It blew with such intensity that it could engulf the world.

On the other hand, Jang Cheon-hwa was like a cold flame.

He blazed fiercely, yet there was a strange calm to him.

Not only his swordplay, but also his aura, his eyes were the same.

And thus, he felt all the more terrifying.

Their fight escalated to its climax in an instant.

In that brief instant, the One-Sword Master poured out everything he had.

The centuries of martial arts studies of the Wudang Sect unraveled like threads, but not a single

technique could land a blow on Jang Cheon-hwa.

One-Sword Master’s face turned pitch black.

The energy he was forcing out began to break apart, strand by strand.

In a duel between absolute masters, Il-Geom Jin knew all too well what it meant for one’s essence to be severed.

The word “defeat” began to surface in his mind.

Swoosh!

Jang Cheon-hwa’s sword thrust forward sharply

Its speed, trajectory, and the intent it contained were of a different dimension than before.

One-Sword Master bit his lip.

He had realized that no matter what technique he used, he couldn’t block it.

‘It’s over.’

The end of his life wouldn’t leave such regret.

The problem was that he clearly saw the downfall of Wudang Sect after his death.

Even if they were to fight the Dragon Mountain Manor, the Wudang Sect would not immediately fall, but their decline would be inevitable.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Jang Cheon-hwa’s sword pierced the heart of One-Sword Master Il-Geom Jin.

He knelt, spitting blood.

Thud!

His Pine Gate Sword rolled to his side.

Jang Cheon-hwa looked down at the One-Sword Master, his sword still embedded in his chest.

“Too bad. I thought you could hold out a little longer.”

“Heuk! I’m sorry.”

“Go ahead and wait in the afterlife, your disciples from the Wudang Sect will join you soon, so you won’t be lonely.”

“You… You’ll never achieve your goal. Even if the Wudang Sect were to… fall.”

“I don’t know what you believe in, but in the Kangho, only the Head of the Mad Martial Sect, Lee Cheong, can stop me. And I believe I have already surpassed him.”

“No. There’s one more.”

“Nonsense.”

There is… one more person who can stop you.”

“Who is it?”

For the first time, Jang Cheon-hwa showed curiosity. But rather than answering, Il-Geom Jin looked up at the sky and exclaimed:

“Wudang, oh Wudang…”

Thud!

His head fell.

He had taken his last breath.

“Tch!”

Jang Cheon-hwa clicked his tongue, looking at the fallen Il-Geom Jin.

Il-Geom Jin’s words had struck a chord in his heart. But he quickly forgot them.

He had come too far to worry about such trivialities.

“The beginning is now.”

Jang Cheon-hwa murmured quietly.

＊＊＊

That day, as Yong Geom-sang and his followers were returning to Dragon Mountain Manor, they were ambushed by Taoist priests disguised as the Wudang sect.

In that fight, Yong Geom-sang lost his life.

The shocking news spread quickly throughout Kangho.

People did not believe it when they first heard it. It was such an unrealistic tale.

Logically, there was no reason for the Taoists of the Wudang Sect to attack and kill the leader of the Dragon Mountain Manor.

However, the mood quickly changed when the news broke out that One-Sword Master Il-Geom Jin, the highest elder of the Wudang sect, had fought Yong Geom-sang.

Il-Geom Jin and Yong Geom-sang fought with all their might, and in the end, Yong Geom-sang was defeated and returned wounded.

It was unclear why the Wudang Sect had attacked the returning warriors of Dragon Mountain Manor.

Wudang Sect explained that no such event had occurred.

Indeed, besides Il-Geom Jin, none of the Wudang Sect’s disciples had left the Wudang Mountain.

They tried to clear the misunderstanding with the Dragon Mountain Manor.

The mood changed again when Il-Geom Jin’s corpse was found.

It was discovered on the outskirts of the snowfield where he had fought with Yong Geom-sang.

The disciples of the Wudang Sect were naturally furious at losing their eldest elder so suddenly.

A significant number of Wudang Sect disciples were in favor of a decisive battle with Dragon Mountain Manor.

There were those who called for caution, but their voices were buried and disappeared under the cries for battle.

The warriors of Dragon Mountain Manor turned their attention to the Wudang Sect, and the Wudang sect itself prepared for war.

The entire Murim world, already thrown into chaos by the Great Kangho War, was now plunged into an impenetrable fog where it was impossible to see even an inch ahead.

Even the Shaolin Temple, which had been silent until now, opened its mountain gates and sent out monks to mediate.

With the intervention of the Shaolin Temple, the entire nation became even more chaotic.

The news also reached Pyo Wol, who was sailing down the Yangtze.

Sal-no, rowing the oar, delivered the news to Pyo Wol.

“This is what has happened so far.”

Pyo Wol’s brow furrowed at Sal-no’s words.

It had all occurred in just a few days.

While he was staying in Poyang Lake, the world had changed dramatically.

“Il-Geom Jin of the Wudang Sect is dead?”

“It’s certain.”

“The cause?”

“He was pierced through the heart.”

“You mean to say that an absolute master like Il-Geom Jin died from being pierced through the heart?”

“The wounds suggest that he was struck by a sword.”

The expression of Sal-no, who was reporting, was also dark.

When he received the information that Il-Geom Jin’s body had been found, he had mobilized all the information networks. As a result, he was able to understand the condition of the body and the cause of death when it was discovered.

“Grandfather is dead?”

Soma, who was sitting next to Pyo Wol, stared blankly at the river, big teardrops streaming down his face.

Except for Pyo Wol, the person who had bestowed the greatest favor on him was Il-Geom Jin himself.

If it weren’t for him, the side effects of the miracle technique he’d received from the Xiaoleiyin Temple would have killed him, or he would have gone mad and been killed.

He owed his sanity to Il-Geom Jin.

When he was at Wudang Sect, he used to quarrel and fight all the time.

Il-Geom Jin tried to teach Soma the laws and principles of the human world, and Soma saw it as oppression and resisted. But Il-Geom Jin always received Soma’s tantrums with a gentle smile and a compassionate heart.

Over time, they had grown fond of each other.

He had only felt relief when he left Wudang Mountain for Poyang Lake, but as the time between them grew longer, he began to miss Il-Geom Jin.

At such times, he would spend time alone.

Soma had thought that one day he would return to Wudang Mountain to see Il-Geom Jin. But now, that had become an impossible dream.

Il-Geom Jin no longer existed in this world.

He longed to see him, but he could not.

Soma clenched his fist, muttering to himself.

“I’ll kill. I’ll kill. I’ll kill.”

He didn’t specify who he was going to kill. But both Pyo Wol and Sal-no knew exactly whom he meant.

Soma lifted his head to look at Pyo Wol.

“Brother! You’ll help me, won’t you?”

Pyo Wol silently nodded his head.

Il-Geom Jin was important to Pyo Wol as well.

After all, it was because of his mercy to Soma that they could be together like this.

Sal-no opened his mouth.

“Whose deed could it be? Could it be the doing of the Ghost Fleet?”

“It could be, but somehow it doesn’t feel that way this time.”

“Why do you think so?”

“It’s just a feeling.”

“I see.”

Sal-no nodded at Pyo Wol’s response.

He knew.

A premonition from a master of Pyo Wol’s caliber would almost always be correct.

Pyo Wol spoke.

“Let’s take care of what’s in front of us first. The matter of the Wudang Sect comes next.”

“Understood.”

Sal-no replied, rowing the oar.

Creak! Creak!

The sound of rowing echoed in the silent riverside.

Neither Pyo Wol, Soma, nor Sal-no said a word.

In the meantime, the scenery around them changed.

Suddenly, the river’s width expanded, and they could taste salt in the air.

The brackish air and salty smell unique to the seaside.

They had reached the area where the Yangtze River met the sea.

In the distance, a large city came into view.

The giant city, filled with countless anchored ships, was Sea Gate.