Chapter 314 – Finding Life’s Meaning in Death (2)

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Discord

Dam-ho and Cheon Oh-gyeong were looking at each other.

Dam-ho, covered in blood from head to toe and breathing roughly, and Cheon Oh-gyeong with a peaceful expression. The appearance of the two was too contrasting.

“Huk! Huk!”

Dam-ho raised his body while breathing roughly.

Creak!

His joints screamed, and muscles that had been overworked and squeezed beyond their limits cried out in pain. Fresh blood gushed from wounds that gaped open like fish gills. Still, Dam-ho forced himself to stand up.

Though his legs trembled, he never showed weakness. Countless expressions of unknown meaning crossed Cheon Oh-gyeong’s face as he watched Dam-ho.

He opened his mouth.

“How is it? Is it useful?”

“……”

Dam-ho nodded silently. It wasn’t that he deliberately didn’t speak – he couldn’t. If he opened his mouth, he felt like he would vomit blood.

Cheon Oh-gyeong looked at Dam-ho and asked calmly:

“What was that technique just now?”

“Six… Harmonies Blood Mountain River.”

Dam-ho answered while barely calming his boiling blood energy. Then Cheon Oh-gyeong nodded.

“True to its name. It really seemed as if heaven and earth in all directions were stained with blood.”

Cheon Oh-gyeong suddenly looked at his own abdomen.

Blood was spreading from there. Blood was also seeping from his side, chest, and shoulder. His previously fine appearance was instantly being dyed with blood.

Clatter!

The sickle he had been holding fell to the ground. The hand that had been holding the sickle just moments before was convulsing.

“I was truly arrogant.”

“……”

Cheon Oh-gyeong’s voice was naturally trembling.

For a moment his body swayed greatly and then collapsed. And he poured out blood.

Though he looked fine on the outside, his insides were completely crushed. None of his internal organs maintained their proper form.

Cheon Oh-gyeong looked up at Dam-ho.

Dam-ho still had an indifferent, cold expression. Yet such an appearance suited him perfectly.

A body trained to the extreme, practical combat sense sharpened through countless battles, and obsession toward martial perfection had created the current Dam-ho.

Solitary Path was the martial art that collected all of Dam-ho’s essence. The comprehensive essence of practical martial learning created with the determination to give flesh to take bone.

Dam-ho had further refined Solitary Path through countless battles. His Solitary Path was still ongoing.

On the other hand, Cheon Oh-gyeong’s Sword Stream was already completed martial art. Since it had been completed long ago, there was no opponent to match it, and Cheon Oh-gyeong didn’t particularly want achievements beyond that.

Even within the Demon Cult, they respected him, and he didn’t particularly desire the Demon Cult’s hegemony either.

Instead, he lived the leisurely life of an immortal. After taking in a talented disciple and passing on Sword Stream, there was even less reason to hold a sword.

Even without deliberately training martial arts, the insights in his mind deepened further. Though his body was old, there was no strain in deploying martial arts. So he thought himself invincible. But he wasn’t.

His Sword Stream definitely overwhelmed Dam-ho’s Solitary Path.

His sword was that sharp and had mysterious power. But his aged body couldn’t fully implement all the enlightenment in his mind.

If it had been a fight with an ordinary master, there would have been no problem, but when facing a martial artist like Dam-ho whose practical sense and physical abilities were at their peak, minute fractures occurred.

The minute gap between enlightenment and body.

Dam-ho persistently dug into that gap. No matter what wounds he received, he never stopped and closed the distance. Cheon Oh-gyeong’s mind contracted slightly from Dam-ho’s obsession and madness.

That was the decisive cause of defeat. The moment doubt and fear settled in his heart, fractures appeared in his perfect swordsmanship, and Dam-ho penetrated through.

This was the result.

Cheon Oh-gyeong’s insides were shattered and crushed. His joints were all broken, and even maintaining form was close to a miracle.

“Trusting only enlightenment and neglecting physical training, perhaps this was an inevitable result.”

“……”

“Don’t tell Hyeon-so about my death. He would certainly be sad.”

Dam-ho nodded silently. Then Cheon Oh-gyeong smiled faintly.

“Heaven’s will is truly unknowable. I thought no one could match the Cult Leader, yet sending someone like you to Mount Hua to exquisitely balance things. How mischievous.”

“……”

Suddenly Cheon Oh-gyeong looked up at the sky.

Whoosh!

Flames suddenly shot up from his body. He was burning himself using Samadhi True Fire.

“Revered One! I burn this old body to illuminate the world, so please bestow heavenly radiance upon the earth as well. Guide the Divine Cult with immeasurable dharma, and spread your teachings widely throughout the world.”

The flames instantly consumed Cheon Oh-gyeong’s body. Still, Cheon Oh-gyeong didn’t stop speaking.

Dam-ho’s face was dyed red. He silently watched Cheon Oh-gyeong burning right before him.

Though he had lost to Dam-ho, he chose death by his own will. Cheon Oh-gyeong’s appearance was even majestic.

“This can’t be!”

Then a woman’s voice was heard from behind. When he turned his head, Dan Woon-hyang was staggering toward them.

Shock, anger, resignation, and despair crossed her face.

Who was Cheon Oh-gyeong? He was the inheritor of Sword Stream, one of the Demon Cult’s Thirteen Branches. Though it could be said to be just one of thirteen branches, no one denied that Sword Stream was the strongest among the Thirteen Branches.

Even the Black and White Lions and Four Great Corps Leaders, who were in the highest ranks of the Demon Cult, acknowledged him and let him roam freely.

To some, Cheon Oh-gyeong was an unreachable sky and an insurmountable great wall.

His death wasn’t merely a loss of military strength. It meant the fall of an era.

Dan Woon-hyang glared at Dam-ho. Her eyes were full of venomous light.

“How dare you…”

She drew a dagger from her bosom.

Dark Dragon Dagger.

It was one of the Demon Cult’s ancient treasures.

Originally, it was a dagger used to slaughter living sacrifices when offering rituals to the Revered One. Because it contained so much resentment, those struck by the Dark Dragon Dagger would suffer extreme agony before dying.

Dan Woon-hyang approached Dam-ho while pointing the Dark Dragon Dagger.

Dam-ho watched this without moving. No, he couldn’t move. Due to internal injuries and sword wounds from the fight with Cheon Oh-gyeong, he didn’t even have the strength to move a finger. Just standing like this was close to a miracle.

Dan Woon-hyang knew this fact too. That’s why she had the courage to kill Dam-ho with the Dark Dragon Dagger. If Dam-ho had been in perfect condition, she would have fled without looking back.

‘This is the last chance. The last chance to kill that ferocious beast. The Revered One has given me an opportunity. It’s proof that heaven hasn’t abandoned the Divine Cult yet.’

She moved her steps while being grateful to the Revered One for giving her such an opportunity. As she expected, Dam-ho only stared at her blankly without any movement.

“Hoho! How does it feel? The feeling of facing death, you ferocious beast called Fist Demon. You abandoned heaven’s will and rampaged through the world at will, but ultimately because you violated heavenly principles, you fall to the bottom of hell by my hand.”

“……”

“You must have felt pleasure massacring countless masters of our cult until now. But that too ends today. I will be the last face you see in your life, so look well. Ohohoho!”

Her sharp laughter echoed high into the sky. Her eyes were dyed with madness.

Dam-ho watched with indifferent eyes.

Though he faced death, he didn’t think he was afraid.

He had come this far crossing countless lines of death.

He had killed countless people and stained both fists with their blood. Therefore, he had been prepared that someday he too would die as someone else’s sacrifice.

‘But I won’t die alone.’

Even with teeth fallen out and claws broken, a beast was still a beast.

Dam-ho was the same.

Though he couldn’t draw up even a point of internal energy and it was hard to move his hands and feet, he had no intention of dying alone.

His fighting spirit was not yet broken.

Dan Woon-hyang was intimidated seeing Dam-ho’s gaze. But she had no intention of retreating further.

She extended the Dark Dragon Dagger toward Dam-ho’s chest.

Swish!

The Dark Dragon Dagger penetrated Dam-ho’s flesh too easily. Now if she just applied force, the Dark Dragon Dagger would instantly pierce Dam-ho’s heart.

At that moment, Dam-ho slightly opened his mouth. He intended to bite Dan Woon-hyang’s neck in one go.

That’s when it happened.

Swish!

A sharp sound of cutting through air echoed.

Clang!

Following that, with a metallic sound, the Dark Dragon Dagger that had been penetrating toward Dam-ho’s heart was deflected. A small dagger had flown and deflected the Dark Dragon Dagger.

“Kreuk! Who is it?”

Dan Woon-hyang clutched her wrist and quickly retreated. She looked around frantically with an urgent expression.

At that moment, with the sound of clothes fluttering, a man-woman pair jumped between Dan Woon-hyang and Dam-ho.

“You?”

Dan Woon-hyang’s eyes opened wide.

“It’s been a long time.”

A woman in white clothes opened her mouth. Then Dan Woon-hyang’s pupils shook greatly.

“Yu-gyeong? How are you here?”

“Master!”

The woman who had thrown the dagger at the crucial moment to deflect Dan Woon-hyang’s Dark Dragon Dagger was Eum Yu-gyeong. And the man standing beside her was Geom Yul-cheon.

“Are you alright?”

Geom Yul-cheon quickly approached Dam-ho.

He too was bleeding from many wounds like Dam-ho. But he didn’t have as many critical wounds as Dam-ho. That’s why he could still stand firm.

Geom Yul-cheon quickly took out a pill from his bosom and put it in Dam-ho’s mouth.

“It’s the Spirit Recovery Soul Return Pill. Quickly start circulating energy.”

The Spirit Recovery Soul Return Pill he gave Dam-ho was the finest healing medicine. Dam-ho immediately sat cross-legged and entered energy circulation. Watching Dam-ho like this, Dan Woon-hyang trembled.

Having missed the chance to kill Dam-ho, she looked at Eum Yu-gyeong with fierce eyes.

“Damn! How dare you interfere with your master’s actions? Do you think you can be safe after committing the sin of killing your teacher and destroying your ancestors?”

“Master!”

“Shut up.”

Eum Yu-gyeong looked at Dan Woon-hyang with eyes full of pity.

She was still someone she had once called master. Though she now looked at her with eyes full of venom, back then she had looked at her with loving eyes and cared for her.

Ambition and resentment had changed her. She had changed so much that she looked alien.

Dan Woon-hyang gritted her teeth and said:

“The Ten Soldiers… what happened to them? Don’t tell me you killed them all?”

To her question, Eum Yu-gyeong quietly shook her head.

“They fled.”

“Fled?”

For a moment, a light of relief flashed in Dan Woon-hyang’s eyes.

The Ten Soldiers were the Demon Cult’s future. If they had been annihilated here, the Demon Cult would have suffered a great blow too.

Dan Woon-hyang poured all kinds of curses at Eum Yu-gyeong and Geom Yul-cheon.

“You two will definitely pay the price for betraying our cult. Even in death, you’ll crawl at the bottom of hell, and be reborn as maggots to reincarnate forever.”

“Master?”

“Who said you’re my disciple? I never had a disciple like you. How can someone who denied our cult be my disciple?”

Dan Woon-hyang denied Eum Yu-gyeong’s very existence.

Seeing her appearance with even madness flickering, Eum Yu-gyeong couldn’t continue speaking.

“Yu-gyeong!”

When Geom Yul-cheon approached her side, Dan Woon-hyang suddenly turned and ran away.

“Ah!”

At Dan Woon-hyang’s unexpected action, Eum Yu-gyeong tried to pursue quickly. But at that moment, Geom Yul-cheon grabbed her shoulder.

Eum Yu-gyeong looked at Geom Yul-cheon with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“There’s someone else to track her.”

“Moo-wol?”

“Yes!”

Geom Yul-cheon nodded.

If it was Shin Moo-wol, he could track Dan Woon-hyang and find out the main base’s location. Now they had to trust him and wait.

“Hoo!”

Geom Yul-cheon sat down beside Dam-ho who was circulating energy.

His face was full of fatigue.

Now was the time to reorganize. He too began circulating energy beside Dam-ho.

A long day was passing in their energy circulation.