Chapter 291 – Northern Sect Blade King (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The aura of Gu Seong-baek, the Southern Suppression Envoy, raised to the full ten-tenths of his power, was so sharp it seemed capable of flaying flesh, and by merely being released it was whipping up storms of true qi in every direction.

At his overwhelming presence, the eyes of the three of them filled with even more wariness.

“Then let us begin again.”

-Thwack.

With those words, Gu Seong-baek struck the blade of Geum O-wol, which had been embedded in the ground, with the palm of his hand.

At that, the broad blade of Geum O-wol cracked into three branches.

Everyone was puzzled by his sudden action.

But then, when Gu Seong-baek stamped his foot toward the ground,

-Thud.

The blade of Geum O-wol that had been embedded in the ground split into three and rose into the air.

‘The saber split apart?’

Astonishingly, Geum O-wol was an unusual weapon made by combining three sabers into one.

When Gu Seong-baek drew a pattern with his hand, the three separated Geum O-wols began circling around him as if swimming.

At this sight, Dam Baek-ha clicked her tongue.

‘To use blade-riding technique not with one saber but with three… he has truly reached the highest realm in handling true qi.’

Even if he was an enemy, she could not help but admire him.

Even using one weapon through blade-riding technique consumed a tremendous amount of true qi and mental power.

And yet Gu Seong-baek was displaying three controlled sabers.

Even in the era of the old martial world when she had roamed freely, experts who had reached such a level with the saber were exceedingly rare.

It was right then.

-Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

With the three Geum O-wols spinning rapidly around him and forming a circular formation through blade-riding technique, Gu Seong-baek shot toward them.

-Paht.

Mok Gyeong-un, Dam Baek-ha, and So Ye-rin moved in response.

Judging the three controlled sabers spinning around Gu Seong-baek to be no ordinary threat, they chose not to close the distance recklessly, but instead to keep it.

Even Dam Baek-ha, the oldest and most experienced of the three, had never heard of a grandmaster-class expert displaying blade-riding technique in such a manner.

‘What in the world is this?’

It was just as she wondered.

“If you will not come, then I shall come to you.”

-Slither.

At that moment, Gu Seong-baek’s figure blurred.

And in the blink of an eye, that blurred figure reached right in front of them.

Closing the distance in an instant, Gu Seong-baek stretched a hand toward So Ye-rin, who stood foremost.

-Shhhaaaak!

At that, the three controlled sabers meshed together exquisitely and drew a brilliant trajectory.

‘Huh?’

It was as though three masters were attacking together.

If three experts used their sabers directly in a joint assault, then to avoid colliding with one another they would inevitably have to keep some distance between themselves.

But these three controlled sabers were different.

Since there was no risk of the sabers actually colliding with each other, the gaps between their trajectories could be narrowed, making for an even more precise combination.

‘There is no opening.’

Unable to find a gap in the combined form woven by the three controlled sabers, So Ye-rin judged that she had no choice but to face it head-on.

So she stamped the ground strongly.

-Thud.

In that state, So Ye-rin drew her sword back and then thrust it forward.

‘True Pursuing Rival Returning Sword!’

At once, a whirlwind of sword force erupted from the tip of her sword and collided with the combined strike created by the three controlled sabers.

-Cha-cha-cha-cha-chaang!

The ultimate move and ultimate move clashed violently, sending out shrill metallic screams and blue sparks in every direction.

At first glance, the two supreme moves seemed evenly matched.

But because she was inferior in internal energy, So Ye-rin’s feet were steadily being pushed backward.

-Chrrrrrr!

Naturally, the other two were not going to simply stand by and watch.

Mok Gyeong-un and Dam Baek-ha narrowed the distance from left and right, seeking an opening in Gu Seong-baek as he was controlling the three sabers.

But that had been a trap.

-Swish.

Gu Seong-baek’s fingers twitched ever so slightly.

At that instant,

-Shhhaaaak!

-Flinch.

Mok Gyeong-un, who had been sending out a sword strike, hurriedly twisted his body and withdrew.

-Slash.

In that fleeting instant, something razor-sharp barely grazed the side of his neck.

It was one of the three Geum O-wols.

-Thud.

“Ugh!”

Unlike Mok Gyeong-un, who had barely avoided having only the side of his neck nicked, one of the Geum O-wols pierced through Dam Baek-ha’s thigh.

She too somehow managed to evade the first Geum O-wol that came at her in that ambush.

But the next one she could not avoid.

‘This will not do.’

Yet Gu Seong-baek was not satisfied with that.

The one he regarded as needing to be killed first was none other than Dam Baek-ha.

That was because of her astonishing regenerative power that was all but true super-regeneration.

-Thwack.

Gu Seong-baek followed after Dam Baek-ha, whose movement had faltered after her thigh was pierced, and seized one of the Geum O-wols in his hand, preparing to sever her neck.

No matter how much she possessed eternal youth and immortality, he did not think her life would continue even after having her neck cut.

-Cracklelele!

Trying to keep Gu Seong-baek in check, Dam Baek-ha fired off a palm force of Blood Jade Hand laden with thunder power.

But Gu Seong-baek lightly split it apart with blade astral energy and then,

-Slash.

Moved to take her neck as well.

Just as the saber of Geum O-wol mercilessly swung toward her neck,

-Chaang!

Mok Gyeong-un brought Calamity Bane down and struck aside Gu Seong-baek’s saber, then kicked Dam Baek-ha sideways.

-Thud.

Because of that, the path of the blade intent shifted, and Dam Baek-ha was spared from having her neck severed.

Gu Seong-baek, thwarted in his attempt to kill her, immediately stretched his left hand toward Mok Gyeong-un.

At that, two of the Geum O-wols flew toward Mok Gyeong-un.

-Cha-cha-cha-chaang!

Mok Gyeong-un swung the demon swords Evil-Answering Sword and Calamity Bane to block the two Geum O-wols.

With those two Geum O-wols bound up in that exchange, Dam Baek-ha and So Ye-rin seized the opening and each unfolded a killing move against Gu Seong-baek.

In response, Gu Seong-baek enlarged his blade astral energy to more than five zhang and flung both of them away at once.

-Chaaaaaang!

As the two were driven back, Gu Seong-baek widened the distance and swept his hand.

Then the two Geum O-wols that had been contending with Mok Gyeong-un were drawn back to him.

Gu Seong-baek called out to them,

“I will give up on killing you one by one.”

With those words, the three Geum O-wols began rotating in crossing patterns and then flew toward them with overwhelming force.

The strength generated by the three blades wreathed in astral force was enough to

-Kwakwakwakwakwakwaang!

wipe away the blood pooled on the ground within the Blood Boundary and leave a massive devastation in the earth.

If they were struck properly even once, their bodies would be torn apart and vanish on the spot.

The problem was that this power of the Geum O-wols was a supreme move of blade-riding astral force, which meant that as long as Gu Seong-baek did not stop, it would continue without end.

-Shhhaaaak!

The blue cyclone of blade-riding astral force flew at them like a dragon striding through the sky.

‘The force is absurd.’

Dam Baek-ha swallowed dryly without meaning to.

Then So Ye-rin’s voice sounded in her ear.

It was not only hers.

Mok Gyeong-un also heard So Ye-rin’s voice transmission.

-Young Master. We will stop that. When an opening appears, use that mystery of unification, the one that once overwhelmed even me, and aim for the Southern Suppression Envoy.

-Paht.

No sooner had she finished speaking than,

So Ye-rin shot forward first, with Dam Baek-ha following right behind.

It looked as though the two women meant to collide head-on with the dragon of three sabers formed from blade-riding astral force.

‘Foolish.’

Gu Seong-baek gave a faint sneer and then brought both hands together.

As he thrust them forward, the rotation intensified, and the blue dragon grew even larger.

Its overwhelming momentum was enough to make the surrounding air split under the pressure of its sharp blade force.

-Crack crack crack.

-Clench.

So Ye-rin gripped her sword tightly.

Then she kicked off the ground again and again.

‘Wind Shadow Eight Categories!’

At that moment, wind rose around her and her form blurred, beginning to divide into not two, but eight afterimages.

‘!?’

At that sight, Gu Seong-baek furrowed his brow.

An afterimage was ultimately something produced by extreme speed movement, and if her body was splitting into eight images, just how fast was she moving?

-Papapapapahk!

Thus split into eight, So Ye-rin’s body charged at the blue dragon of blade-riding astral force.

Then the eight afterimages spread out to different directions, each planting a step upon the ground.

-Boom.

The eight afterimages, all at once, drew back their swords and then thrust them out.

At that, crimson whirlwinds of sword force were born from her sword and swept toward the blue dragon.

The crimson whirlwinds surging in from eight directions became like a great net of wind that bound and compressed the blue dragon of blade-riding astral force.

-Shhhaaaak!

Thanks to that, the dragon, its momentum bound, could no longer move.

And it did not end there.

“Haaaaaah!”

-Cracklelelele!

As the three-saber cyclone dragon was trapped within the net of crimson whirlwinds, Dam Baek-ha leaped high and hurled a massive concentrated astral force containing the essence of Blood Jade Hand and all of her thunder power.

Thunder possessed the properties of paralysis and numbness.

When that thunder-laden concentrated astral force struck the trapped dragon of blade-riding astral force, its rotational power began to weaken at once.

‘Now.’

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un, who had been waiting for the chance, moved.

Gathering the intent of twenty-four sword forms into one and then concentrating that power to a single point, he aimed at Gu Seong-baek’s heart.

-Flinch.

Gu Seong-baek, who had been focused on controlling the blade-riding astral force, whipped his gaze around.

His eyes shook violently.

The moment he saw that unified sword coming at him in a single point, he instinctively understood.

‘How can there be such a sword?’

He could not believe it.

The single sword Mok Gyeong-un was now displaying was a realm that even he, who had crossed beyond the Wall of the Wall, had not yet reached.

What in the world was this?

In that instant, Gu Seong-baek’s mind became complicated.

The supreme move of blade-riding astral force using three Geum O-wols consumed an enormous amount of true qi and mental power.

The moment he released it, the backlash of that would immediately crash over him.

-Crunch.

But there was no time to think about backlash now.

At the same time Gu Seong-baek released the force maintaining the supreme move, he twisted his body.

At that instant,

-Chaaaaaang!

A single black line sliced past him through the air.

Mok Gyeong-un appeared in the place the black line had passed.

-Swish.

At the same time, the blue cyclone dragon formed from blade-riding astral force, which had looked ready to reduce everything around it to dust, vanished.

At that, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha, who had spent nearly all their true qi just holding it in place, both turned their eyes toward Mok Gyeong-un.

“Hah… hah…”

‘Did it succeed?’

They looked toward Gu Seong-baek, the Southern Suppression Envoy.

He was staggering, clutching his chest with both hands. Had the one-point strike of concentrated force pierced his heart?

-Clang.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un let Calamity Bane fall from his left hand.

Then blood began dripping from that same hand.

-Drip. Drip.

Mok Gyeong-un looked toward his own shoulder.

His shoulder had been cut halfway through. Had a little more force entered into it, he might have lost the entire arm.

At the sight, So Ye-rin wondered if that single sword of concentrated force had failed after all.

Yet then Gu Seong-baek, who had been staggering, dropped to one knee,

-Splurt.

and it was his entire left hand that came flying off, blood bursting from it.

‘!!!!!!’

It was an entirely unexpected result.

This had been due to Gu Seong-baek’s own judgment.

Had he not been in the middle of releasing his supreme move, he might still have avoided it or dealt with it somehow, but Gu Seong-baek, having taken internal damage from the backlash when he withdrew his qi, stiffened for the briefest instant.

And in that brief instant of stiffness, there came the one-point sword whose power had been unified to strike his heart.

Judging that he could not block this concentrated point of force without taking any damage at all, Gu Seong-baek made a choice.

It was to accept sacrifice.

He concentrated all of his qi into his left palm to shield his heart, and in an instant attempted to cut through Mok Gyeong-un’s shoulder in order to weaken that unified force somehow.

The result of doing everything he could in that moment was what now remained.

“Hoo… hoo.”

Having lost his left hand and suffered internal injury, Gu Seong-baek quickly regulated his breathing and circulated his qi.

Though wounded, it was not a fatal injury.

If he regulated his inner energy for just a little longer, he would still be able to fight.

It was at that very moment.

-Cha-cha-cha-chaang!

Cracks spread through the blood-red sky, and the Blood Boundary that had overturned everything around them finally collapsed.

High in the air, Blue Spirit muttered in a weary voice,

-It is my limit.

Even for her, keeping up such a wide-ranging Domain of Ghost Intent in broad daylight rather than at night had reached its end.

“Huh?”

“It… it has become bright again.”

-Murmur, murmur.

As the Domain of Ghost Intent fell away, the warriors of the Imperial Guard Bureau and the eunuchs of the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot, who had been thrown into pandemonium, now looked around in bewilderment.

Then, when the commanders spotted Gu Seong-baek, Mok Gyeong-un, So Ye-rin, and Dam Baek-ha in the devastated center, they shouted,

“Capture them! Capture them all!”

At that, the warriors of the Imperial Guard Bureau, having finally regained their senses, rushed in.

At the countless martial men swarming in from every direction, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha, who had expended most of their qi, saw their expressions darken.

With the little power they had left, it might be difficult to deal with all of those men and Gu Seong-baek, who, though injured, was still standing.

Reading the mood, Gu Seong-baek opened his mouth.

“There is absolutely no escape. Surrender.”

At those words, Mok Gyeong-un picked up the fallen Calamity Bane with his other hand and said,

“That is not certain yet.”

“You fought well, but you are exhausted. On the other hand, though injured, once this official’s inner energy flow is restored, the situation will return to as it was before.”

“Yes. That is why we are leaving now.”

“What?”

It was then.

“Qinyuan.”

Looking upward, Mok Gyeong-un called out to something.

That was the very instant.

Even though the Blood Boundary had already collapsed, the ground suddenly darkened, and with a great fluttering sound a violent wind swept through.

At that, everyone looked up in shock,

“Wh-what is that?”

“A bird? What kind of bird is that?”

What was descending was an enormous bird.

Yet it did not resemble a normal bird in the slightest.

With the upper body of a bird and the lower body of a hornet bearing a sting, it was none other than the demon beast Qinyuan.

Qinyuan was the only demon and monster that Mok Gyeong-un had made into his shikigami.

“Get on the cart!”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s shout, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha, both still gaping in surprise, unconsciously hurled themselves toward the leftover cart.

Mong Mu-yak, Seop Chun, and Mara Hyeon too had already received Mok Gyeong-un’s order and had held back only the cart carrying the Sacred Fire Leader, waiting in confusion. They now stared speechlessly at the giant Qinyuan.

‘Just when did he tame something like that?’

As they stood there in shock, So Ye-rin and Dam Baek-ha climbed onto the cart, and right after them Mok Gyeong-un did as well.

At that, Qinyuan, as though it had been waiting, seized the cart with its massive talons.

-Flap, flap!

Having snatched up the cart, Qinyuan beat its wings, preparing to rise into the sky.

At this, the commanders, who had been stunned for a moment by the appearance of Qinyuan, immediately shouted at the warriors of the Imperial Guard Bureau.

“Do not let them get away! Fire arrows!”

“Do not allow them to escape!”

At that command, the warriors of the Imperial Guard Bureau who carried bows hurriedly fired their arrows.

But when Qinyuan flapped its wings, the immense wind pressure rebounded the arrows instead,

-Papapapapahk!

“A-avoid them!”

“Aaaagh!”

and those who had fired the arrows were struck and wounded by their own returning shots.

When Qinyuan had risen around twenty zhang into the air,

“Kuh!”

Gu Seong-baek spat out a mouthful of black blood.

He had regained the flow within his body by circulating his qi.

Having swiftly recovered, he rose to his feet and once more used blade-riding technique with the three Geum O-wols, pulling up his power.

“Do you think I would let you go!”

With that roar, Gu Seong-baek used the technique of Arched Body Snapping Shadow to launch himself into the sky, riding the explosive recoil of his own body.

Seeing him come flying up in an instant, So Ye-rin moved to draw her sword.

But Mok Gyeong-un said to her,

“Ahhh. It seems the message was delivered.”

“What do you mean by…”

-Flinch.

At that moment, So Ye-rin looked somewhere with eyes full of shock.

She was not the only one.

Dam Baek-ha too stared wide-eyed in the direction of some point within the imperial palace.

-Gooooooo!

A tremendously ominous and wicked aura was surging from there, so overwhelmingly intense that it could not help but draw their eyes.

At that very moment, Gu Seong-baek, flying through the air with Arched Body Snapping Shadow, had his eyes shake violently.

‘Your Majesty?’

He too, just like the others, had sensed that baleful aura.

And the place from which it was coming was none other than where His Majesty the Emperor was.

At that, Gu Seong-baek changed direction in midair without the slightest hesitation, using the Geum O-wols he was controlling as footholds to launch himself once again through Arched Body Snapping Shadow.

-Bang!

As Gu Seong-baek changed course in the air and shot toward that place, everyone on the cart dropped heavily in relief and let out long breaths.

What in the world had happened?

In the direction of the inner palace, far from where they were,

-Gooooooo!

Within a lonely palace hall, one existence was openly releasing an ominous aura.

That peerless beauty dressed in magnificent robes was none other than Noble Consort Ho, or rather, the Hundred Faces King, the Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox.

Revealing her aura openly, she raised the corner of her mouth and muttered,

“You owe me one, Heavenly Demon.”