Chapter 309 |
Karma
“Gah!”
As Mu-jin had predicted, the enemy did not anticipate such an attack.
With reflexes befitting a master, the enemy closed his eyes before the dust could get in, but closing one’s eyes in a fight between masters is a significant disadvantage.
Mu-jin’s heavy fist struck the enemy’s face with a terrifying sound, the enemy unable to react in time because his eyes were closed.
Bang!!!
However, Mu-jin’s expression wasn’t bright after landing the punch.
The feeling transmitted through his fist didn’t match the sensation of breaking human bones.
‘Damn.’
Although the barrier shattered near his face, causing his head to shake, the fragments of ice left wounds on his cheek and around his eye, drawing blood.
“You bastards!!”
Blinded by the dust, the enemy screamed in rage.
Mu-jin once again used the extreme speed of the Ghost Step Technique to close in on him.
For some reason, there was desperation in Mu-jin’s expression.
‘I must kill him this time.’
The enemy lacked practical experience despite his absurd level of cultivation, allowing Mu-jin to push him back.
But that also meant that with more experience, the enemy would become even stronger.
“Hah!”
With a shout, Mu-jin threw a punch, but the enemy once again created a qi barrier at his vital point through his qi perception.
However, Mu-jin was not foolish enough to repeat a situation he had already experienced.
As the enemy formed his barrier, Mu-jin lowered his stance and attempted a tackle.
Grab.
Finally, successfully grabbing the enemy’s leg, Mu-jin drove his shoulder into the enemy’s abdomen, trying to topple him.
“Argh!!”
The enemy let out a scream and shot a palm strike into the ground, using the recoil to regain his balance.
Buzzing!
He then reversed his sword and aimed a downward strike at Mu-jin’s back.
Originally, Mu-jin intended to rely on his Golden Steel Technique and Jade Gold Steel Technique to ignore the attack, but a sudden sense of danger made him dodge quickly.
Bang!!!
Abandoning the tackle was the correct choice.
A blast of yin and yang energy exploded from the enemy’s sword, the purple energy devastating the ground.
However, Mu-jin’s retreat did not mean the assault had ended.
Slice!
Mu-gyeong had approached during the commotion, slashing the enemy’s side with his Surado, though his expression showed disappointment, having aimed for the heart.
The enemy had barely managed to survive by employing Naryeotagon’s dirty tactics, which he had criticized Mu-jin for using earlier.
Rolling to his feet, the enemy hurled his already cracked sword at Mu-gyeong.
Clang!
Mu-gyeong deflected the thrown sword with his Surado, causing the already damaged blade to shatter.
Simultaneously, the enemy forced his eyes open, tears streaming down as he charged at Mu-gyeong.
With a palm strike aimed at Mu-gyeong’s heart, Mu-gyeong parried it with his Surado, but the enemy quickly aimed his left hand, intending to disarm him.
‘If I can get that dragon-slaying sword, it should withstand my energy!’
If he could get his hands on the legendary sword, it would handle his energy without breaking or chipping.
Although he wasn’t familiar with the sword, he had no other choice.
Mu-gyeong found himself struggling, exchanging several rapid techniques with the enemy, who despite his impaired vision was deploying superior techniques.
When the enemy nearly grabbed Mu-gyeong’s sword,
Boom!
Mu-gung’s Buddha’s Palm struck the enemy’s back.
The enemy had no choice but to counter it with a blast of extreme yang energy from his right hand, which nullified the Buddha’s Palm, allowing Mu-gyeong to retreat.
The enemy lunged at Mu-gyeong again to seize the sword.
“Die!!!”
By then, Mu-jin was right in front of him.
Moreover, Mu-gyeong, abandoning stealth, began using the Gold Rain Technique, recognizing that his stealth tactics were ineffective against this opponent.
With Mu-jin attacking wildly from the front, Mu-gung firing Buddha’s Palms from the back, and dozens of golden droplets from Mu-gyeong targeting the enemy’s vital points from all sides, the enemy found himself completely overwhelmed.
Bang!!
Blocking Mu-jin’s punch sent the enemy flying backward.
“I’ll kill you all!!!”
With another enraged roar, the enemy clapped his hands together, yin energy enveloping his left hand and yang energy his right.
As he brought his hands together, the opposing forces created a chilling screech and a horrendous explosion of energy.
“Get behind me!!!”
Mu-jin shouted, assuming the defense stance of the Immeasurable Fist Technique.
Mu-gung and Mu-gyeong quickly moved behind Mu-jin as he fired a barrage of golden star-like energy towards the massive energy wave.
While the stars reduced the wave’s size, they couldn’t completely neutralize it.
Mu-gung’s Buddha’s Palm and Mu-gyeong’s Vajra Demon Subduing Fist followed, but were swallowed by the wave.
“Hoo.”
Taking a deep breath, Mu-jin braced himself, using the Golden Steel Technique to face the wave head-on.
“Ugh…”
It felt like he had stopped a charging carriage with his bare body. A wave of intense pain surged through every muscle, but he managed to endure.
However, this was no time to be thankful for surviving.
“Die! Just die already!!!”
With bloodshot eyes, the man swung his left and right hands recklessly, unleashing extreme yang and yin energy indiscriminately.
He had completely lost his sanity.
All that remained in his mind was a murderous desire towards those who had brought him to this state.
‘Kill. Kill. I’ll kill them all!’
At that moment, another voice echoed in his mind.
– Like how you killed me?
He recognized the voice, but couldn’t place who it belonged to.
“Who are you?”
As he shouted, a bizarre vision appeared before him.
A child’s figure, face obscured by black fog.
But somehow, he knew who it was the moment he saw the child, despite the obscured face.
It was the child he had turned into a spirit to absorb extreme yin energy just a few days ago.
He hadn’t remembered the face because he saw the child as nothing more than a spirit medicine, not a human. Maybe that’s why the face was obscured.
But the voice was clear, and he remembered it well.
– Are you going to kill another person?
How was the child, who had spoken in the incomprehensible language of Namman, now speaking the Central Plains language so clearly?
‘Demonic hallucination?’
As he realized his state,
“!”
Countless children appeared behind the child.
Children he had absorbed over time, forgotten in his memory.
“Cough…”
Suddenly, he spat out blood as he continued to unleash extreme yin and yang energy like a madman.
His eyes remained bloodshot, but his face turned pale, and white smoke emanated from his mouth, as if his entire body was freezing.
Realizing his state through the hallucination and blood, he could finally grasp his condition.
‘…Damn it.’
The balance of yin and yang within him was completely disrupted.
Absorbing the child with extreme yin energy had increased the yin energy within him.
He had only maintained balance forcefully due to his high level of cultivation.
But the intense battle and his anger had shattered that forced balance.
Understanding his condition, he thought of a plan.
‘First, I need to escape.’
However, a complete retreat would wound his pride.
‘After consuming a yang-energy elixir to balance myself, I’ll kill them. Especially the Shaolin Dragon.’
He knew the location of the yang-energy elixir, just as he had known about the yin-energy elixir.
It was information left by Huang Gon, who had been active in Namman and Yunnan in the past.
But Mu-jin wasn’t about to let him go easily.
“He’s injured internally!”
Mu-jin shouted, recognizing the enemy’s state.
He tried to finish the fight quickly, but a new disturbance arose on the battlefield.
“There they are!!”
“Attack!!”
Suddenly, Demon Cultists dressed in black rushed in from the rear.
The noise of the intense battle had drawn them in.
Among them was a young man who looked similar to Gu Yang-pae.
‘Damn it.’
Mu-jin recognized the face, which was similar but not identical to the First Young Master, Gouyang Cheon. The Igongja had arrived.
The silver lining was that most of the Demon Cultists brought by the mysterious man earlier were already down.
– Let’s deal with him quickly first!
Mu-jin sent a telepathic message to Mu-gung and Mu-gyeong and charged at the enemy.
He calculated that the Shaolin elders and Wudang disciples would buy them some time.
“Cough.”
The enemy barely managed to block Mu-jin’s attack, spitting out blood again.
Mu-gyeong and Mu-yul’s combined Gold Rain Technique and Buddha’s Palm also pushed him to the brink of death.
Rather than blocking, it seemed he was merely expelling the cold energy within him to withstand the attacks.
He was desperately unleashing the overflowing cold energy to fend off the three of them.
As the battle continued, his already pale face grew even more ghastly.
‘Damn it!’
Despite pressing the enemy, Mu-jin grew increasingly anxious.
“Destroy the hypocrites of the righteous faction!”
“The Demon Lord descends! Ten thousand demons submit!”
The fierce momentum of the Demon Cultists advancing from the rear was overwhelming.
The Shaolin and Wudang disciples holding the rear numbered only fourteen, while the Demon Cultists were about forty.
Moreover, with the addition of two elders and the Igongja, it was a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.
‘Why is this dying bastard so tenacious!’
Even as frustration boiled inside him, Mu-jin knew intuitively that now was the time for a decisive action.