novelraw Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34: I’ll drain all that crimson water out for you.
Kwaaaaaang!
I delved into the sea of crimson Ki Art that was rushing in like a net.
With the Blood Demon’s Mad Rain Red Mist having advanced right before my eyes, simply avoiding it was the worst strategy.
I immediately aimed for his palm with the Six Waves Flash Shatter.
For now, the top priority was to get rid of the powerful enhanced qi gushing from his Laogong acupoint.
Swaeeeeeek!
Papak!
In the end, he withdrew his right hand.
Instead, the final hand-qi of the Mad Rain Red Mist struck my chest.
A terrible and formidable heat surged up to my throat.
If I did not spit out this congested blood now, I would surely die.
“Cough!”
Blood that boiled like lava.
I used the One Ki Divine Origin Art to its limit to control my insides, but the residual heat of the Red Mist Demonic Art did not disappear.
“Keeeeuh…… stop. Let’s stop here for today.”
“You are quite sturdy. But your technique just now was……”
“Damn it, stop talking to me for a second.”
This was not on the level of exchanging techniques.
Techniques and all, the difference in internal energy class was just too severe.
Having fused with the Great Cycle Pill, I had achieved a level of martial might that could overwhelm an ordinary prodigy, but a master of the Transformation Realm was on a different level.
Even if he was only a half-version, was the Blood Demon still the Blood Demon?
Only three moves.
After clinging to ki circulation for four hours, I was barely able to manage the heat that had infiltrated my body.
“Wow, damn, isn’t this too much? This is the first time in my life I’ve seen a martial art that overwhelms with just brute Ki Art like this.”
The Blood Demon looked at me, dumbfounded.
“A martial artist who can survive a direct hit from my Mad Rain Red Mist is rare even in our cult. What in the world do you take me for?”
“What do you mean, what? Just a Demonic Cult member to be torn to shreds and killed.”
“You bastard……!”
I then tilted my head.
“Hmm, something’s strange. You definitely raised the Red Mist Demonic Art to its maximum from the moment we exchanged blows. Why? It’s not a life-or-death battle, so why would you pour out all ten-tenths of your power?”
In that instant, the Blood Demon’s expression turned cold.
I let out a malicious smile towards his tightly shut lips.
“What? Is it a secret between us?”
As expected, the Blood Demon’s mouth did not open.
But would the insight of this Martial Emperor disappear because of that?
I only wanted to hear confirmation from his mouth; I had already anticipated his problem to some extent.
“Hmm. Then shall I take a guess? The original ki of the Blood Demon is passed down directly to the next Blood Demon. Since it’s not internal energy you cultivated yourself, it’s impossible to control. You’re just breaking the vessel called the Red Mist Demonic Art every time you use your martial arts.”
I read the bewildered emotion weaving into the Blood Demon’s expression.
Thus, my hypothesis was gradually turning into conviction.
“So you suffer from aftereffects every time. To stably control the Red Mist Demonic Art again, you probably have to brace for some internal injuries.”
The Blood Demon’s pupils were shaking noticeably.
But before he could even open his mouth, I drove the nail in.
“I can see it. You always subtly leak the Red Mist Demonic Art to just threaten your opponent, but you are extremely reluctant to actually use your martial arts. That has become your personality now. Timid. Unwilling to make the first move. Am I not right?”
The wavering Blood Demon finally let out a hollow, self-deprecating remark.
“It is impossible not to call you a monster. What is your identity? How is such monstrous experience possible at your age? Is that really a capability that can be learned just through oral tradition?”
“Yeah, it’s possible.”
At my concise answer, he chose to just close his eyes.
“Hoo…… The body-to-body transmission of power was incomplete. The previous Bishop was dying, and I too was unprepared. I failed to properly receive even half of his original ki.”
I smiled meaningfully.
To still be wearing a mask and not telling the whole story even in this situation.
As expected of a cunning Demonic Cult member.
“The fusion isn’t the entire problem, is it? From my perspective, it feels like you can’t properly utilize that original ki. It’s like, you’re performing a peerless sword technique with your left hand?”
“With that left-handed martial art, you only endured for a mere three moves.”
A smirk.
“Will it be the same tomorrow?”
He became dazed again.
“And what if the spatial constraints are gone? I’ve already figured out your weakness, you know?”
If the duel with the Blood Demon were a real battle, I would now use my movement arts at full power and just run away.
The greatest weakness of his Red Mist Demonic Art was time.
The more time passed, the more unstable his demonic art would become.
Eventually, he wouldn’t be able to withstand the accumulating internal injuries and would have no choice but to meditate without a protector.
I would tenaciously aim for that moment, and by then, being in the Transformation Realm or not would be meaningless.
“I should not have played along with your child’s play from the beginning.”
It was understandable for him to be trembling with rage, having had his greatest weakness exposed in a single duel.
But what could he do?
He was still a Bishop of the Demonic Cult, so how was he going to take back the words he had spat out?
“Hey now, you don’t want your monthly salary? Even if you find the Mad Ninja Heretics that Jin Gang-cheon used to command, they are of the Black Way. Have you ever seen Black Way bastards work without getting paid?”
“Hmph! S-Silver be damned!”
“That’s right. Normally, a master like you wouldn’t worry about money. But what can you do? You’re a remnant of the ruined Demonic Cult, aren’t you?”
I want to tear you apart right now, I want to sever your head, his eyes were saying.
However, even in the face of his gloomy killing intent, I could smile leisurely.
It was unlikely I would easily give up my neck, but even if that were possible, that Blood Demon would surely die along with me.
After all, this was the Jaegal Clan, and I was the third young master of such a Jaegal Clan.
At that moment, a servant with an aquiline nose approached.
Ah, I found out yesterday that this guy’s name is Yeo Gu-cheol.
I felt a little sorry for only learning his name after three years.
“Hey, you’re here?”
“Third Young Master, if you keep using this place as a training ground……”
I leisurely surveyed the space that used to be the rear garden.
Well, it was something I had done, but the rear garden, once beautiful with rare flowers, exotic plants, and a large waterwheel, had now turned into a construction site.
“Isn’t it fine as long as I don’t touch the earthen walls? It’s all broken anyway, so it’s not that noticeable.”
Yeo Gu-cheol, who had been squeezing his eyes shut, let out a long sigh.
“Hoo…… I have come bearing the clan head’s order for you to come to the clan head’s hall.”
“Hmm, Father did?”
After coming out of the Nine Phoenix Gates, the number of times my father had called me to the clan head’s hall had increased quite a bit.
By the way, if it was about the agenda for the blood relative meeting, we finished all of that yesterday, so what could it be about now?
“Then I’ll be on my way. Hey you, don’t cause any trouble, wear your mask properly, okay?”
The Blood Demon turned his head away with a flick, as if he didn’t even want to talk.
Watching him with a smile, I suddenly thought of a drink.
“You have strong liquor, right?”
“Yes.”
From Yeo Gu-cheol’s long, slanted eyes, I felt a strange sense of defiance.
Hmm, why had this guy, who was a natural-born servant, become so lax in just three years?
“You, your discipline has slacked a bit while I wasn’t looking?”
“Ah, yes.”
Ah, the discipline of this clan.
A servant has a servant’s path to follow.
“You. We’ll talk later.”
***
There were more people in the clan head’s hall.
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, the eldest young master Jaegal Cheon, and also the fourth, Jaegal Yeong, and Jaegal Yujeong.
The direct blood descendants of the clan head, the Martial Marquis Line, were all gathered in one place.
My father pointed to an empty seat with his eyes.
But the seating was strange.
Why was I the only one to sit so far away?
It was an arrangement that gave me a strange sense of déjà vu, as if I were being interrogated.
As soon as I sat down, my father opened his mouth.
“Another dispatch has arrived from the Namgung Clan.”
Damn it, so that was it.
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom’s aged voice continued.
“This time, the tone is quite firm. To think that the ever-dignified Namgung Sejin is mentioning discord between the families.”
“Discord?”
I was slightly surprised.
Discord was not a word that should be in an official dispatch written by the lord of the Namgung Clan himself.
That was because the orthodox faction bastards did their best to be modest and polite when writing dispatches.
To mention discord was to subtly threaten, which was no different from declaring that they would not tolerate it any longer.
“So what are they going to do?”
“It is as you expected.”
“So they’re finally coming to our family? That Namgung Sejin?”
My father handed me the list written below the dispatch.
“This is the list of those who have announced their visit to our family.”
I quickly scanned the list.
“Namgung Sejin, Namgung Hyeok, Namgung Jun, Namgung So-hwa…… Huh? The Azure Sky Sword Squad?”
I could understand him bringing along the son and daughter he wanted to show off, but the crazy Azure Sky Sword Squad?
Had that Namgung Sejin suddenly gone senile?
“Isn’t he crazy? Why is he bringing the sword squad? This is a show of force, isn't it?”
The eldest young master, Jaegal Cheon, furrowed his brow slightly.
“He intends to make the hierarchy clear. In front of all the people of Wuhan.”
No, it’s not that I don’t know that, why am I asking?
“Isn’t this act forbidden by the Alliance’s decree? I’m sure they can’t move martial squads for private matters after the Orthodox-Demonic Great War?”
“He used friendship as a pretext.”
“Friendship?”
There was only one kind of friendship between martial artists carrying swords.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, I cautiously looked at my father.
“Hey, no way…… right?”
“They have requested a martial arts tournament with our family’s Shadowless Terrace.”
Wow, that damn Namgung bastard has really made up his mind.
It had been a long time since I’d seen Namgung Sejin this blinded with rage.
Anyway, revealing the martial prowess of the Shadowless Terrace in an official martial arts tournament?
Such an act would be tantamount to announcing to the world that this Jaegal Clan had colluded with the Demonic Cult.
‘I’m screwed, aren’t I?’
I finally recognized the seriousness of the situation.
Now I understood this strange seating arrangement that felt like an interrogation.
“What will you do now?”
I could not easily answer my father’s question.
If he had moved the Azure Sky Sword Squad, it meant that the approval of the Namgung Clan’s elders had been given, which in turn meant that they had been meticulously planning this for a long time.
He would surely present a justification that was impossible to refuse, and he would have even hired storytellers to spread rumors everywhere.
That was Namgung Sejin’s way.
Of course, he was a coward who would only move when at least an eighty percent chance of success was guaranteed.
But once he started to move, he was also a persistent bastard who would get results no matter what.
“First, send the Shadowless Terrace outside.”
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom frowned.
“He is a man who is coming at us with full intent. This dispatch has likely already been sent to the Murim Alliance for notarization. Now that this martial arts tournament has been publicly announced, we cannot rashly send the Shadowless Terrace away.”
That was true.
It would be like running away before even fighting.
As expected, this Jaegal Clan was not willing to give up the honor of being one of the Five Great Clans either.
Well then.
There was only one method left.
“Then give me the members of the Shadowless Terrace.”
“Suddenly asking for the Shadowless Terrace? What kind of nonsense is that?”
Damn it.
To think that I would have to clean up the mess the Blood Demon made.
“Um, a fortnight…… If you can buy me about a fortnight.”
A smirk.
“I will drain all the crimson water soaked into the Shadowless Terrace within that time.”