Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 81 - Natural Enemy (6)
Chapter 81 – Natural Enemy (6)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Yeon Ho-jeong’s momentum was mighty.
Zzzzzzt! Zzzzzzt!
White Tiger Qi, heated to its limit, was gathered in full on the axe blade. As a white radiance was layered over the original color of the steel, it truly looked like a divine weapon wielded by a heavenly general.
Boom!
Myeong Cheon realized that the situation was turning out strange.
‘This is impossible.’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s Qi, which remained on the blade of the great sword, was infiltrating the Sword Qi and lowering the sword power itself.
Myeong Cheon shouted.
“You brat! What kind of demonic art is this!”
“Demonic art?”
Yeon Ho-jeong snorted.
“The demonic art must be what you have learned!”
Boom, boom, boom!
It was a dash once more. The storm-like charge of the White Tiger’s Sovereign Step and the Consecutive Advance amplified the weight of the axe several times over.
Crash!
Myeong Cheon’s thighs bulged.
This strike was truly heavy. As if crushed by the weight of Mount Tai, his entire body’s muscles felt like they would burst at any moment.
A reddish killing intent spread around Myeong Cheon’s eyes.
Bang!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s body faltered. He had allowed a strike from Myeong Cheon’s palm force.
He was a man who unleashed a single-strike-kill attack like a continuous strike. His momentum was that outstanding, but since he faltered once, it felt as if his entire wave of Qi was shaking.
Thump!
Myeong Cheon stepped roughly on the ground.
“How… dare… you.”
An ominous madness burned in the voice that spoke each word separately.
“A lowly brat like you to me!”
The driving attacks were so incessant that there was no room to breathe. Moreover, the opponent’s true Qi had a strange function that kept scattering his internal energy.
That was why he could not open it… the newly acquired power.
But it was not so anymore. Myeong Cheon finally gained the time to open the Phoenix Divine Art to its maximum.
Boom!
The momentum, burning like a forest fire, seemed as if it would swallow Yeon Ho-jeong’s body as it was.
Whoosh!
It was truly a tremendous momentum. He was a man who released all his possessed power with soaring rage.
Terrifying fire Qi spread in all directions. The momentum was so fierce that even the surviving Dead Swords retreated thirty feet away.
Fizzle!
A Sweat-Blood Horse that was near Myeong Cheon, twitching with a broken leg, stuck out its tongue and died. It had received a mental shock from the fire Qi and killing intent that exploded right in front of its nose.
“Yes, that’s it.”
Myeong Cheon, looking down at the dead Sweat-Blood Horse, bit into a mad smile.
“Cutting off your head can be done at any time. I must at least see you twitching like a bug with your limbs cut off for my anger to be appeased.”
As the Phoenix Divine Art was liberated, even the killing intent and madness he held seemed to have gone beyond the limit.
Myeong Cheon’s face, dripping with vicious killing intent, was certainly enough to be called a demonic man. Even the fire Qi he emitted was very damp and dark.
Internal energy arises and is created according to intent. That the fire Qi was so dismal meant that his spirit had become that impoverished.
Yeon Ho-jeong pulled up his Black Tortoise Qi.
Ssssss!
A haze rose in the empty air where nothing existed.
‘As expected, he is strong.’
He was a man who naturally set up the North Heaven Twelve Walls while pulling up his Black Tortoise Qi. However, even though he had not been attacked, the surface of the internal energy shield was boiling wildly. The fire Qi Myeong Cheon emitted was that poisonous.
‘But…’
Whirring!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s two eyes pierced through Myeong Cheon’s internal state.
‘If it’s that level.’
The red energy that rose from the dantian was boiling like lava in the heart.
It was a power that deviated from the right path. Since that massive Qi gathered in the heart without even balancing with other energies, he would surely destroy himself.
Moreover, a single red thread crossed his neck and philtrum and reached the space between his eyebrows. The Vermilion Bird Qi had invaded the upper dantian.
It was a serious situation. However, he would not die immediately.
That made Yeon Ho-jeong happy. He also did not want him to destroy himself with a fake Vermilion Bird Art.
Whoosh.
Yeon Ho-jeong took one step, soft yet heavy.
Even though he stepped on the ground, no sound was made. It was as quiet and soft as if water were soaking in.
It was the footwork of the Mysterious Pillar Immobility, the secret technique of absolute defense.
“What are you doing? It’s a waste of time.”
Yeon Ho-jeong flicked his hand.
“Come at me.”
Boom!
The flicking hand and arm were bounced back as they were.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed. Before he knew it, Myeong Cheon had reached right in front of him.
‘Fast!’
It was a tremendous speed. He had completely lost him from his sight for an instant.
Myeong Cheon swung his great sword.
Clang, clang, clang! Ssssss!
Indeed, the Black Tortoise Qi was great.
It was somehow blocking the fast sword that could not even be seen by the eyes. Moreover, water is the natural enemy of fire. Having met the fire Qi, the Black Tortoise Qi increased its quality terrifyingly.
Whoosh! Boom!
It was a giant’s strike. The axe split Myeong Cheon in half.
‘He’s not there?!’
But that was merely an afterimage. The axe cleaved the empty air.
Then where was Myeong Cheon?
Bang!
Yeon Ho-jeong vomited blood all at once.
His entire back was hot as if it were burning. It was the Phoenix Flame Hand, a palm force boasting terrifying power.
It was a power on a different dimension from the Phoenix Hand performed by the Dead Swords. Even with the powerful Black Tortoise Qi, he could not suppress the infiltrating fire Qi.
Yeon Ho-jeong stepped with the Mysterious Pillar Immobility again.
Whirring!
A hexagonal tortoise shell shape vividly emerged around his body.
At the same time, Myeong Cheon’s full-scale attack began.
Boom, boom, boom! Bang!
He was fast.
He was fast and powerful. He attacked by loading the power coming from the speed directly onto the sword tip, and its weight was massive.
Gush!
Yeon Ho-jeong vomited blood once more.
There was a limit even to the relationship of natural enemies. If it was Vermilion Bird Qi of this level of power, it could not be caught even with Black Tortoise Qi. Blocking the pouring attacks with the North Heaven Twelve Walls was the only thing he could do.
Boom! Rumble! Bang!
The attacks did not stop.
As if he had gained infinite physical strength, he was continuing even more violent attacks as time passed.
It was thanks to the Vermilion Bird Qi. While White Tiger Qi maximized lung capacity to grow physical strength and bone and flesh, Vermilion Bird Qi stayed in the heart and raised life force itself.
That was why such attacks were possible. He could pour out attacks that had no future, swinging his very life within the sword tip.
Boom, boom, boom!
He vomited blood again and again.
The accumulated internal injuries guided Yeon Ho-jeong to the swamp of death in an instant.
He unleashed the North Heaven Twelve Walls, but he did not even know which form he was unleashing and how. He was just unconsciously embodying the Four Gods Martial Arts. It was to live.
‘No, that’s not it.’
Blocking attacks in order to live?
No. He was not such a person. The Dark Emperor, who received the title of Grandmaster of the Unorthodox Path for the first time in the history of the Black Path, was by no means such a person.
Boom!
The Black Tortoise Qi was shaken whole. Yeon Ho-jeong’s body shook as well.
But his eyes did not shake.
Whirring.
It was the first time.
For the first time, Myeong Cheon’s attacks were visible to his eyes. Even if they were visible, it seemed he would not be able to avoid them, but for now, the fact that they were visible was an encouraging achievement in itself.
Splatter!
Another sword wound was carved on his chest.
It was deep this time as well. It was a strike that almost split even the bone. Blood did not come out because it was cooked by the burning fire Qi, but the pain was more severe.
That pain made his mind snap awake.
‘I saw it. It was visible.’
Whoosh!
The left palm, which did not hold a sword, lunged in. It was a flame-like strike.
Boom!
Yeon Ho-jeong vomited blood once more.
He would really die at this rate. If he allowed such a strike once more, it would surely be a journey to the yellow springs.
Whoosh!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eye light breathed fire.
Myeong Cheon’s body, which had entered his vision, disappeared. It was a lightning-like movement technique. He could not track where he had gone.
‘…?!!’
It was then. A single streak of flame pierced through his mind.
‘A movement technique?’
No.
In the martial arts of the Four Gods Martial Arts, movement techniques do not exist. Only martial art forms and footwork to deal with enemies exist.
That was right. There were no movement techniques.
Then what was the movement technique Myeong Cheon was currently employing?
‘Blood Wing Sweeping Heavens!!’
Flash!
The flapping of the Vermilion Bird’s wings, the movement of the Vermilion Bird that flew through the sky at will, embodied Yeon Ho-jeong’s realization into reality.
Myeong Cheon burst into a mad laugh.
“Fall down!”
Boom!
With an explosive sound, the ground cracked.
Myeong Cheon, who was about to burst into an even louder laugh, felt a strange sensation in an instant.
‘…Uh?’
The left palm that thrust out the Phoenix Flame Hand.
That left palm was in contact with a blood-stained hand.
Whoosh!
A red energy flared up.
It was not Myeong Cheon’s Phoenix Qi. A flame that was smaller but much brighter and purer, a flame truly like a flame, was finally blooming from Yeon Ho-jeong’s hand.
Whoosh.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who had bent his upper body, slowly raised his head.
In an instant, Myeong Cheon felt an unknown chill.
The two eyes of the opponent, that brat who was the eldest son of the Yeon family.
In those eyes, pure flames that had never been seen anywhere were smoldering.
“…I found it.”
His heart heated up intensely.
In the interval between life and death, even the Vermilion Bird Qi had been resurrected.
* * *
“Shouldn’t we enter now?”
“…”
“Successor of the Beggars’ Gang?”
Then a fierce explosive sound rang out.
Boom!
Even though they were this far away, it felt as if their eardrums would tear. If they had been in the middle of the battlefield, they would have had to use their internal energy as much as possible to protect their eardrums.
Ga Deuk-sang’s eyes deepened.
‘Young Master Yeon.’
He recalled the conversation with Yeon Ho-jeong.
‘What?!’
‘…’
‘Is this man crazy? You, what do you take Myeong Cheon for? Myeong Cheon is the clan head of the Number One Clan under Heaven, the clan head! Even at a minimum, he is at the same level as your father!’
‘I know.’
‘It seems you don’t know? Even if a person goes crazy, he should go crazy properly. How can you think of fighting Myeong Cheon! Do you look down on Myeong Cheon just because you eliminated a few warriors of the Myeong Clan?!’
‘There is no way that is the case.’
‘Then why on earth! Even you cannot win against Myeong Cheon!’
‘I can win.’
‘…!!’
‘Masters lower than Myeong Cheon are burdensome. But Myeong Cheon, I can win.’
‘What kind of nonsense is this…’
‘Moreover, this is the last time.’
‘What do you mean by the last time?’
‘The chance to catch the leader of the culprits who are going to kill my parents and brothers.’
‘…’
‘Did you tell me to trust you? I trust you. So you, too, trust me.’
‘…Damn it.’
‘I will never lose.’
Ga Deuk-sang saw an inexpressible resentment and unmeasurable anger on Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.
It was a long-held emotion that had piled up and up, neither melting nor breaking. The only way to release that emotion would be to strike down the desired enemy.
‘Good grief, even so.’
He must be resentful, but practically, there was nothing the Yeon family had suffered so far. It was not a matter that would build up that much resentment and anger.
But Ga Deuk-sang could not stop Yeon Ho-jeong.
Because he saw the nervousness and expectation surrounding that gloomy and fire-like emotion. Like a person who had waited for a lifetime, his eyes were dyed with a complex light.
“Successor of the Beggars’ Gang.”
“If we go in now…”
Ga Deuk-sang licked his dry lips.
“If we go in now, a chaotic battle will break out. Rather than that, it seems better to surround the remaining remnants after the fight is over.”
“But if we go on like this, Young Master Yeon will be in danger!”
“He said he can win.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“Let’s trust him. The reason I called this sect leader and two more Shaolin secular sects was not to fight them. It was to make them unable to move an inch.”
“That may be so, but…”
“Enough blood has been shed. Let’s not create useless sacrifices.”
It was then.
Flutter.
From high in the sky, a black bird came down at a terrifying speed.
Ga Deuk-sang’s eyes sparkled.
Standing up from his seat, he reached out his hand.
Flap!
The bird that sat on Ga Deuk-sang’s wrist with a magnificent flapping of wings was surprisingly a crow.
Ga Deuk-sang hurriedly opened the letter tied to the crow’s ankle.
Yi Cheol-gyeong tilted his head.
“Whom is the letter from?”
“…It’s done.”
“Eh?”
Ga Deuk-sang clenched his fist and grinned.
On his face, the past fatigue and relief were cast.
“It is the declaration of the Public Enemy of Murim.”