Chapter 205: Surpassing Limits
Chapter 204 – Surpassing Limits
‘Although I had known for a long time that there were guys like this within the Demonic Cult…’
The disgust I had felt from Sang Woo-kyung, the Demonic Cult spy who had infiltrated the Mount Hua Sect.
After coming to the Demonic Cult, I had encountered such disgust that I had not felt at all.
‘Could they be guys from the Heaven-Obeying Faction?’
The Heaven-Entering Divine Demonic Sovereign, whom I had met in person, was not of a personality to like such heterodox methods.
Rather, he was the type who would not find it strange to personally smash their heads if they hovered before his eyes.
Of course, even if the Heaven-Entering Divine Demonic Sovereign’s disposition was like that, since he was so laissez-faire, it did not mean everyone beneath him could escape suspicion.
This was because there were actually those from the Heaven-Rebelling Faction who had secretly come to attack me.
However, on the contrary, the Heaven-Obeying Faction had a disposition where the fake Heavenly Demon himself was suspicious.
The fake Heavenly Demon Yi Gang-mu was a person who could stretch out his hand to anyone if necessary.
This could be known just by looking at how he had sent people to make use of me.
Thinking of it differently, I supposed he was of the caliber to be called a master of worldly wisdom.
Though he was unqualified to be the Heavenly Demon, if considered a leader of the Unorthodox path, he might have reached a considerable position.
Furthermore, this foul disgust reminded me of the tragedy I had witnessed at the Defeng Yin Clan.
Yin Si-hoo, who had risen to the position of successor of the Defeng Yin Clan.
According to Adept Heu-do’s words, Yin Si-hoo had vanished from the Wudang Sect before the Defeng Yin Clan was wiped out.
He said that the Wudang Sect was secretly deploying people to track him down to find a connection to the Blood Cult, but that fellow, who had nowhere to rely on, had hidden his tail well until now.
Considering that the Defeng Yin Clan was associated with the Blood Cult, there was also a possibility that he was relying on a place connected to the Blood Cult.
‘Since you made me recall an unpleasant memory, pay the price.’
Descending to an appropriate height, I let go of the Azure Bird’s leg that I was holding.
While falling at a rapid speed, I channeled internal energy to my legs.
If I fell like this, I would be able to directly trample one of the two disgusting guys in sight.
However, as if they had already noticed my presence below, they stopped what they were doing and looked up.
Cold killing intent flowed from the two pairs of pupils shining in the darkness.
[You are falling so noisily from that height, how could they not sense it?]
Master Zhang Sanfeng openly scolded me for the first time in a while.
I had thought a bit too complacently.
Yet, the disgusting guys did not seem curious at all about how a person was falling from the sky.
They just wanted to kill first.
A killing intent laden with heavy will was felt to the point of stinging.
I could see they were already gathering energy at their fingertips, as if trying to strike at the moment I entered their attack range.
If I fell like this, I would be trapped and done for.
‘If I fell like this, that is.’
I was someone who had already completed the training on the law of Assimilation.
Even if I could not tread on the air as naturally as breathing, I had realized how to briefly kick off the air to change direction when I mastered the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step.
*Pak!*
The moment they struck to impale me like a skewer!
“You didn’t know this, did you?”
My body, which had kicked off the air, shifted direction.
Easily taking his back, I loaded the internal energy stored in my toes and kicked the guy’s spine directly.
*Kwadueuk!*
Along with the sound of bones crushing, the guy who flew away rolled on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
I simply finished off one guy.
However, I had to frown at a strange sensation.
“He didn’t even let out a single groan.”
An odd feeling was felt.
There was none of the basic reactions that a human should have.
A human should have a reflexive response even if it only stung slightly.
Even if one was a martial artist, it was impossible to be unfazed by a blow that completely shattered the spine.
[It is a Jiangshi.]
“A Jiangshi?”
[Yes. Seeing that the body is not stiff, it is not just a regular Jiangshi but a Living Jiangshi. Ha! What kind of crazy bastard…]
Deep anger was felt in Master Zhang Sanfeng’s words.
‘Uh? If it’s a Jiangshi, isn’t it that? A corpse that hops around. It’s quite different from what I heard in rumors…’
It certainly did not hop around with a body stiff as a log.
Since Master Zhang Sanfeng called it a Living Jiangshi, it seemed something was different.
“Look at this?”
The guy who had been hit and blown away sluggishly got up.
I clearly felt the sensation of splitting his spine at my toes. An ordinary person could absolutely not move.
“Is a Living Jiangshi different?”
[A Jiangshi is made from a corpse, but a Living Jiangshi is made from a living person.]
A person becoming a Jiangshi while still alive?
“…What a son of a bitch?!”
I understood why Master Zhang Sanfeng swore.
“Krawaaak!”
While a moment of sympathy arose, the Living Jiangshi rushed toward me.
The Living Jiangshi whose spine was split had unnatural movements, but the other guy did not.
Deflecting the attack of the Living Jiangshi who extended fingernails sharpened like a beast’s claws, I certainly felt how it differed from a human.
“It’s heterogeneous.”
Even the feeling of touching the skin when deflecting the attack was different.
It did not feel like a person with circulating blood.
The reaction when I naturally pushed and pulled to snap the arm using the technique of borrowing force was also different.
*Deudeudeuk!*
It did not care even when dangerous sounds were heard from the joints of the elbow and shoulder.
*Hwoohak!*
The strike slicing through the empty air as the waist rotated as if to break was fierce.
The sight of the arm, completely dislocated from the shoulder joint, dangling limply was even terrifying.
‘Fierce.’
These guys do not care for their own bodies.
A person accustomed to real combat would naturally strike while keeping in mind even the reflexive movements the opponent would show.
Yet, since there was no reaction that a human should naturally have, a subtle confusion was felt.
On top of this, since movements impossible for a human were added, it was easy to suffer a great setback if one lacked experience.
‘Can’t these guys turn their necks a full circle too?’
A strange imagination arose at the sight of them still moving even though I had taken their backs and snapped all their limbs.
Just imagining it was chilling, but if I saw it in person, it was certain to be a scene I could never forget for the rest of my life.
[Why are you using joint-locking techniques on a Jiangshi?]
“…Could you have told me a bit sooner?”
[Oh my! For a disciple to be this dim-witted…]
Master Zhang Sanfeng’s sigh deeply pierced my lungs.
It felt as if he had suddenly swapped places with Master Heavenly Demon.
Of course, I did not tactlessly voice it.
Considering the usual relationship between Master Zhang Sanfeng and Master Heavenly Demon, it would not end with just being scolded.
Furthermore, Master Heavenly Demon would also join in, making it double.
‘Tsk! I’ve been digging only into the Heavenly Demon Divine Art lately, so in my own way, since I was in front of Master Zhang Sanfeng, I tried using Wudang Sect’s martial arts…’
[Don’t do useless things and smash the head. Since there is no talisman on the forehead, they must have placed the talisman inside the head and sealed it.]
An instruction to smash the head was handed down.
It seemed I just had to simply shatter it.
‘A bit hard, strong strength, fast speed, and a unique sense of distance created by movements that do not care for the body. If I only watch out for those, it’s nothing, right?’
It seemed to know a few simple tricks, but it was not particularly threatening.
Should I say it was easily visible?
Even at this very moment, Sang-hwa was growing. Sang-hwa’s growth directly led to my growth.
The flow of senses surpassed my past self from a few days ago.
Should I say it felt as if a path was starting to be paved in earnest on top of the vast foundation built by the three masters?
No matter how great the stance was, or how brilliant the movements were, they lost meaning if they looked slow enough for everything to enter one’s eyes.
The movements of the Living Jiangshi felt slow enough to prompt a yawn.
At this rate, even if I tried to be tense, I could not be tense.
I approached with minimal movement.
Leisurely, as if having gone out for a walk.
*Hwoohak!*
‘Ho?’
The fiercely extended strike transformed.
As I tried to dodge by a paper’s breadth, the arm joints shifted mid-course.
Dislocating the joints of the shoulder and elbow, it attacked by extending about half a span further than the expected movement.
Had I tried to respond with normal movements, my neck would have been torn away by that gap.
‘Since it doesn’t care for its body, it can utilize it in this way.’
Indeed, I recalled that the demonic human who sprayed poison at the Sichuan slaughterhouse had used a similar technique, cutting off his body’s sense of pain.
It was easy to be caught off guard if one did not know it.
It was a technique to keep in mind.
‘The masters would snort, calling it a cheap trick. That is because the masters have already reached the realm, while my skills are still shallow, so I must watch out for what I should. I must absolutely avoid a sudden death.’
Along with a strong resolve, I approached the Living Jiangshi.
One had its arm in a mess, and the other had its waist, which should hold the body’s center, shattered.
There was no way they could handle my movements.
*Peok!*
When my hands touched each of their heads, a sound of something soft and tender bursting rang out.
It was the sound of making the inside of the Living Jiangshi’s heads into mush with the Wudang Sect’s internal heavy strike technique.
At the same time, I tensed my nerves and scanned the surroundings.
‘Around here?’
A presence aiming for my back, taking advantage of the darkness.
The hidden person controlling the Living Jiangshis.
*Hwoouk!*
The wind-splitting sound brushing past my ears stimulated my eardrums.
Tilting my head back and rotating my body to dodge the attack, I simultaneously struck the completely empty back of his head with my elbow.
*Ppaak!*
“Keoheok!”
A brief death rattle fell to the ground.
“Your stealth technique is decent, but…”
*Udeudeuk!*
“Keoheok!”
A lung-squeezing sound flowed on the night air.
The painful groan blending with the night air sounded cold.
That was only natural. It was because I was trampling his body enough to break his ribs.
The sound of air escaping. An empty sound that could not be filled, and would never be filled.
It could only be a cold sound leading to death.
‘Whatever.’
To a piece of trash controlling Living Jiangshis.
Even without asking my masters, it was obvious where this guy would go after death.
Having completely subdued the situation, I smirked and bragged to my master.
“I did well, right?”
[Yes. You did well, you bear-like fellow.]
“…That’s a compliment, right?”
[Let’s put it that way.]
Somehow, his answer was ambiguous.
[Tsk! Doing useless things.]
He seemed to recognize that I had gone out of my way to deal with the enemies using only Wudang Sect’s martial arts.
However, he did not seem to like that I had been overly relaxed in the process.
‘He really resembles Master Heavenly Demon in a subtle way.’
Both of them, no, the masters resembled each other in their seriousness regarding martial arts.
Of course, I had no intention of voicing it.
‘Rather than that, it’s this guy.’
He was a guy who used heterodox techniques.
Controlling Living Jiangshis was one thing, but the stealth technique he displayed was to the point where it was difficult to think of it as mere martial arts.
‘I wonder if it is a heterodox method originating from the Demonic Cult…’
There was a lingering feeling.
So I absolutely wanted to confirm it.
“Is Yin Si-hoo doing well?”
“…Young… Cult Leader?”
“Young Cult Leader… Hahaha!”
Young Cult Leader. A term referring to the successor of the Cult.
It certainly did not mean the Demonic Cult, the Heavenly Demon Cult.
I seemed to know the reason why that fellow Yin Si-hoo had avoided the Wudang Sect’s pursuit.
“It’s truly going crazy.”
It was the Blood Cult.
The Blood Cult has infiltrated the Demonic Cult.
Rather than a simple secret cell created covertly within the Demonic Cult, it seemed to be organized to the point where information exchange with the main base was carried out smoothly.
Considering the time when that fellow Yin Si-hoo was expelled from the Wudang Sect, it was because it was no easy feat for information to flow all the way here.
“Cockroach-like bastard.”
I did not know by what means he was able to stand out in the Blood Cult, but the next time we met, I must absolutely kill him.
*Kwadeuk!*
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