Book 7 Chapter 20

Chi and Sang-sal, limbs severed.

"How could this happen…"

Underestimating the fledglings was a grave mistake.

The Twin Blades of Heaven and Earth felt as if their limbs had been severed, experiencing a hollow sensation as the Five Ghost Swords of the Soul and the Five Ghost Staffs of the Underworld, which they wielded like extensions of their own bodies, were dealt with in an instant.

The Five Ghost Staffs of the Underworld, which had been feebly poking around, met their end with the appearance of Yeomdo. Their attempt to block Yeomdo's path with their own path was close to recklessness.

The price of recklessness was high.

Chi and Sang-sal felt immensely resentful of the youngsters from Cheonmu Academy who had inflicted this emptiness upon them. So much so that they could not forgive them!

Of course, since they were people who didn't know forgiveness in the first place, the highest sentence for their offense was death.

"I'll kill you cleanly," Chi shouted, grinding his teeth.

"If you can, I won't stop you! It's natural for the leader to appear when the lackeys die. Come at me quickly," Biryu Yeon said mockingly. For Chi and Sang-sal, this was the first time in their lives they had experienced such an insult.

"Heh heh heh! If you wish, I'll annihilate you all!"

"Kiiiiiik!"

His demonic sword, Guihon, began to emit a sinister sword cry.

"Kkiririring! Ttang ttang!"

The Soul Calling Spirit hanging from his left wrist made a chilling sound, resonating in the air. Chi's unique sword technique, the Soul Calling Ghost Spirit Sword Technique, began to activate.

It was a strange sound, as if summoning demons from hell.

'What should I do now?'

As Biryu Yeon pondered, the conversation he had with Yeomdo the previous night came to mind.

'You must appear weak! First, evoke sympathy!'

'How?'

'You must run away first!'

Biryu Yeon decided to run away for now.

"Kiiiiiik!"

Chi's sword extended, emitting a ferocious sound. Biryu Yeon retreated, escaping the range of Chi's sword. Staying within the opponent's attack range would lead to no good.

The distance between Chi's eyebrows rapidly narrowed.

"How dare you!"

He irritably swung his sword again. However, he still couldn't even graze Biryu Yeon's clothes. By the time he swung his sword, Biryu Yeon had already fled far away.

"What are you doing?" Chi shouted as he chased Biryu Yeon, propelling himself forward.

"Running away!" Biryu Yeon shouted confidently. There was no shame in a strategic retreat.

'Why is he asking when he knows?' Biryu Yeon couldn't understand why Chi would ask about such an obvious situation. Moreover, he was getting angry. In any case, it was best to keep running away diligently as planned.

"Th-that guy!"

Biryu Yeon's speed in his lightness technique exceeded Chi's expectations. He thought he could catch the opponent within ten steps and end his life, but the fellow seemed within reach yet remained out of grasp.

Pride began to stir.

Biryu Yeon's continuous running away, unlike his earlier confident demeanor, was naturally perceived as absurd by Chi. Biryu Yeon, who was diligently retreating, looked nothing like the person who had been boasting loudly just moments before.

Enraged, Chi irritably swung his sword. Sword energy shot out indiscriminately in all directions. It was surprising that blood wasn't splattering and he wasn't falling.

'This slippery eel!'

It was truly astonishing how the fledgling managed to dodge his sword by the narrowest of margins. However, a runner is just a runner.

"As expected, it was just an empty show of bravado by a hollow fledgling!" A sneer burst from Chi as he pursued Biryu Yeon. It was an attitude of not missing an opportunity to mock him to his heart's content. It was a completely childish attitude.

"Did your master only teach you how to run away? You coward! Coward!"

Halt!

Biryu Yeon, who had been fleeing, suddenly stopped and stood upright. Hearing his master mentioned made him feel bad.

"I learned all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge from my master, but there's one thing I never learned! Do you know what it is?"

Chi shook his head. From his perspective, Biryu Yeon's demeanor was incredibly relaxed. He didn't attack even though Biryu Yeon had stopped. Was it confidence that he could kill him at any moment? Chi's expression was considerably contorted.

Again, a killing intent stirred at the tip of his sword. His beloved sword, Guihon, urged him to draw the opponent's blood quickly.

Biryu Yeon smiled faintly.

"One of them is how to run away! And the second is how to be a coward."

The smile on Biryu Yeon's lips deepened. The pointless play was over.

"As expected, being laughed at by others doesn't suit me!"

While he couldn't stand other things, Biryu Yeon's heart was not so cowardly as to endure being laughed at by others. After all, the martial arts of the Thunderclap Sect were not meant to be used to provoke laughter from others.

In fact, when you think about it, there was no martial art in the world more suitable for dealing with arrogant, high-nosed individuals. He spun around a few times, carefully observing Na Ye Rin's expression, but she showed no particular reaction.

"You didn't learn how to run away?" Chi looked at Biryu Yeon with a strange gaze.

"Yes!"

"And you didn't learn how to be a coward either?" Chi's face grew increasingly grim.

"Of course!" Biryu Yeon replied confidently. Chi's expression became ambiguous.

"But you, you know…"

"Yes?"

"When you hide behind a woman's skirt and say things with a serious face, it's not convincing at all, kid! Do you know that?"

"Is that so?" Biryu Yeon still seemed unaware of his own situation. He was currently hiding behind Na Ye Rin's slender shoulder, peeking his head out from behind it. Therefore, no matter how seriously he boasted, it lacked credibility. It was bound to be useless.

'Hmm… Did the plan fail…' Looking at the situation—her face was right in front of him, making it very comfortable to see—he didn't think Na Ye Rin would show him pity by appearing weak. Rather, he could sense a hint of contempt in her eyes.

It seemed the plan had been a complete failure.

"As expected, I shouldn't have trusted the advice of an old bachelor! I ended up losing by trusting him!" Yeomdo's face, who was fighting Jisal, contorted savagely at Biryu Yeon's grumbling, which paid no attention to his surroundings. Fury flashed in his eyes.

Even though he was in the middle of a fierce battle, exchanging techniques with Jisal, Biryu Yeon's words were piercing his ears!

"Kuaaak!"

Yeomdo let out a convulsive scream and brutally slammed his fire-heated Dao down.

Suddenly, the face of Hyuk So-un, who had loved him in unrequited love and was now another man's woman, flashed before his eyes. Jisal's face overlapped with the damned Ice Sword fellow. Although the physique and appearance were more similar to Chi's, Yeomdo seemed not to see such things at the moment.

"Bang!"

"Uryat! You son of a bitch! Die!" Yeomdo's monstrous curses echoed through the mountains as his Dao clashed with Jisal's great Dao. He appeared greatly agitated. His eyes turned red like a burning sunset. This indicated that his Fire Spirit Divine Art was being displayed to its extreme.

A fierce and terrifying heat, as if it would burn everything around them, emanated from his entire body.

"Kkeuk!" Jisal, facing Yeomdo's Dao once more, flinched at the terrifying heat emanating from his opponent. The heat surrounding the Underworld Dao was not diminishing; instead, it was becoming even more intense than at the beginning.

The power of Yeomdo's unique sword energy, Sword Flame Energy, was tremendous.

'W-was it this much?' Even when Yeomdo had inflicted a fatal blow to his pride more than a decade ago, the heat was not this intense.

It felt like being trapped in the middle of a tropical desert. A desert of endless hot sand! A burning thirst suddenly dominated his entire body. It was an irresistible desire.

'I want to drink water! Damn it!' Sweat was pouring from his body like rain. Despite all his efforts, the fat that had stubbornly clung to him, no matter what happened, was now leaving his body today. At this rate, he felt like he would lose dozens of pounds.

However, the oasis was still far and treacherous. Moreover, a fierce and terrifying, fire-breathing monster blocked the path to the oasis. Furthermore, it had a very eccentric and fierce temperament.

There was no turning back. With the spirit of a warrior slaying a monster, Jisal wielded his Dao without regard for the heat that was burning his own flesh.

"Chaeng! Bang!" Even his full-force strike seemed insufficient to break the red monster's teeth.

Yeomdo's red flames and Jisal's Underworld Dao intertwined at one point, emitting a deafening roar. Among the surrounding battles, excluding the confrontation between Mo Yong-hwi and Cheong Heun, this was the most noisy, spectacular, and thrilling match.

"Damn it!" Jisal's smiling face, which he had named So Myun-sal (Smiling Face Killing), had been broken long ago. His face, smeared with sweat pouring like rain and distorted flesh, resembled a ghost's mask.

True Crimson Seventeen Flames, Sword Flame Energy

Eighth Flame

Flame Strike

Yeomdo's Dao, emitting an unrestrained Dao energy once more, pressed in. Flames fell like hail, ravaging Jisal.

The flames emanating from Yeomdo's red flames licked like a snake's tongue, coiling around Jisal's Dao and savagely ravaging his right hand. A sizzling sound seemed to be audible.

The flesh on Jisal's face trembled as if screaming.

'I'm thirsty!' Water!

Only the pain of thirst deepened with each passing moment.