Sword God Reborn

Chapter 178 : You still have a lot to learn.

Peong.

"...Did we get one?"

Haei smiled slightly as he saw the signal flare exploding above his head.

"Doki must have taken the Green Forest's base."

Haei had decided to guard the base himself, while sending out the other two sea serpents.

Jeoki to the Yangtze River, and Doki to the Green Forest.

At first, he had thought of sending Jeoki to the Green Forest.

In any case, Mount Wuyi, where the proxy war was taking place, was a structure where the Green Forest had a considerable advantage due to the geographical characteristics of the mountain terrain.

On the other hand, the river pirates of the Yangtze River could not use their strength properly in such a place.

But Haei had changed his mind.

'The Black Heart Gang leader...'

As the Black Heart Gang leader came to mind, his momentum stiffened. The aura, atmosphere, and momentum of that time.

He had keenly felt that he was a man who could not be ignored.

Beyond being simply extraordinary, there was something special.

'He's strong. He's definitely strong.'

Putting aside the fact that he had cut off the Yufeng Gang leader's wrist like a flash of lightning. If it was a sword drawing art that had reached the extreme of ambush and swiftness, it was not impossible.

The truly surprising point was the battle of momentum with Doki. No matter how much Doki, the youngest, was relatively inferior in internal energy, to have swallowed him up with just momentum was not an ordinary level.

'The Black Heart Gang leader, that guy is more dangerous than the Green Forest.'

An intense intuition and warning sent by the senses of his whole body.

Since Jeoki was more free in the use of his internal energy than Doki, and his specialty was stealthy ambushes. Although he didn't know if he could win by fighting Cheon Mubaeck head-on, he was at least at the level of taking one flag and taking the base.

"Of course, it's not like Doki will lose to the Green Forest either."

The characteristic of poison was something that even the Green Forest could not endure. It would probably be a three-on-one fight, but he was not that worried.

Because he believed in his younger brothers' skills.

"..."

But Haei frowned at the unpleasant feeling that was strangely tickling his chest.

'Why?'

Was it because his senses had become more sensitive? He felt a subtle change.

The flow, atmosphere, and air surrounding the mountain terrain.

All of those things were fluctuating.

As a master who was sensitive to the flow of qi, he realized that this atmosphere was being transmitted from those who were watching the proxy war from above.

'The atmosphere is strange.'

They were agitated, as if an unexpected turn of events had occurred.

Each person has a qi wave that they emit. If the qi waves of dozens of people, and at that, dozens of masters, were to fluctuate at once, it would naturally affect the surroundings.

'What is it...?'

A thought that he hadn't even considered came to mind.

'Did Jeoki get taken down? Or did the Black Heart Gang leader take the Green Forest's base first?'

He could not explain this atmosphere without those things. If so, all the plans would be entangled like a skein of thread.

But it was then.

'Poisonous qi!'

Although it was a poisonous qi that would have made others flinch, a smile rather appeared on Haei's face.

"Doki has come!"

How could he not know the poisonous qi of his youngest brother, with whom he had shared joys and sorrows?

As a smile of relief appeared on Haei's face, it hardened as it was.

"...This is."

The energy of another person seeping through the poisonous qi.

A unique atmosphere that strangely poked at his nerves. His senses fluctuated sensitively.

Kwang!

Something flew from afar with a piercing sound.

What fell at the feet of him, who had flinched and quickly stepped back, was none other than Doki.

"...!"

Haei's pupils widened. It was a miserable sight. A long cut on his chest, a hole in his shoulder that two fingers could fit into, and one of his ears was gone.

Fortunately, he could see his stomach heaving very slightly. He was not dead.

Haei lifted his head with a stiffly hardened face. A greenish-blue light wriggled.

The person with the unique energy and atmosphere that had seeped through the poisonous qi.

"Black Heart Gang... leader."

Cheon Mubaeck, wearing a mask, slowly walked out.

Haei's eyes, which were looking back and forth between the tattered Doki and Cheon Mubaeck, trembled.

Since Doki was in this state, the opponent should not be normal either. At the very least, he should not be able to stand on his own two feet. He had to. But Cheon Mubaeck was not only standing on his own two feet, but was also at ease. Although there were traces of his clothes being cut or torn here and there, there were no traces of bleeding.

What did that mean?

'A complete defeat...!'

Haei's face turned pale. A smell that sharply pierced his nose and seemed to tear at his lungs. It was a scent that Haei, who had roamed the martial world and had performed a dizzying sword dance in the Unorthodox Alliance, could feel.

A terribly dangerous smell.

A unique scent that only a man who destroyed and tore apart everything that came near him would emit.

'Was... the difference this much?'

Looking at the situation, Doki had been completely defeated. It was hard to believe. He had vaguely thought that Doki might be a notch below. But it was hard to control the emotional turmoil. Now that he saw this state, it was not just shocking, but astonishing.

'Wait, then what about the signal flare earlier?'

Doki, who had been sent to the Green Forest, had been taken down by Cheon Mubaeck. It meant that Cheon Mubaeck had already been at the Green Forest's base. In other words, the one who had taken the base was Cheon Mubaeck.

Moreover, Cheon Mubaeck had come to this place alone. The rest of the members were probably gathered at the Yangtze River's base.

'Three from the Green Forest and two from the Yangtze River.'

No matter how much of a master he was, he could not endure if five masters of a lower level attacked him together.

An alarm bell rang in Haei's head.

'Something has gone terribly wrong!'

He now understood why there had been an agitated atmosphere from above.

"Move aside. This strange proxy war seems to be over."

At the indifferent and plain tone, Haei bit his lip. If he had been arrogant, he would have understood.

It was too plain. As if it were as natural and obvious as waking up in the morning and eating a meal.

The atmosphere, the gaze, and even the voice. Haei did not like it. Was it because of that? A rebellious nature that he should not let the game end meekly as that guy wished came out.

"It's over? Hah. I admit that you are a stronger master than I thought. But do you think you can take the base, leaving me behind?"

Cheon Mubaeck tilted his head.

'Is he a guy who lacks judgment more than I thought?'

Just as Haei had been paying attention to Cheon Mubaeck, Cheon Mubaeck had also been observing Haei carefully.

People have a unique qi wave and an atmosphere that is formed by the experiences they have lived through.

Cheon Mubaeck, who had lived through numerous past lives, could roughly grasp what kind of person his opponent was, even if it was not a perfect match.

'I thought he was a guy who was pretty quick-witted and used his head a little.'

That's why Cheon Mubaeck had intentionally let out his momentum to his heart's content, and had brought Doki, who had already fainted.

To make the opponent not even feel the will to fight.

'He seems to have something to believe in.'

Otherwise, how could he step up so unshakably?

It was as Cheon Mubaeck had expected.

Haei had something to believe in.

The moment Cheon Mubaeck took a step forward.

"...!"

The qi waves resonated. Cheon Mubaeck's eyes frowned greatly.

"This is..."

Cheon Mubaeck's plain tone wavered noticeably.

The upper dantian reacted on its own to the resonance of the qi waves. Not only that. Even the immortal energy of the middle dantian, which had been quiet until Cheon Mubaeck had touched it, rotated around the heart.

A violent reaction occurring in the body.

Haei, who was in front of Cheon Mubaeck's eyes, blurred for a moment and then multiplied into two, three, four...

'Clones?'

A legendary Taoist art called the art of cloning.

Haei, who saw Cheon Mubaeck's frowned expression, smiled triumphantly.

"Brat. The martial world is not a place where you can survive just by being good with a sword, and the Unorthodox Alliance is not either."

The continuously increasing clones spoke at the same time. It was real. It was not one person, but several people speaking, and the sound resonated.

The resonance transmitted through Cheon Mubaeck's senses was an undeniable truth.

"The martial world is a place where your neck can be cut off at any time if you rush in, trusting only your sword, and the Unorthodox Alliance is a place where your heart can be torn out if you take the lead, trusting only your guts. I will tell you the reason."

Although it was a truly arrogant statement, it was enough to show that much confidence.

At that moment, Cheon Mubaeck's frowned mouth opened.

"What, did you inherit the legacy of Mo Pengren?"

"...!"

It was a forgotten sect. The moment the name of the founding master of the Spirit Gate came out of Cheon Mubaeck's mouth, his clones exploded.

* * *

It was not a legendary Taoist art like the art of cloning.

It was the illusion art of the Qimen Dunjia.

'Was it when I was a spy?'

The memory could not be clearer. The time when he was called by the moniker of the Dark Heaven Sword Emperor.

The reason why he had been able to operate secretly within the Demonic Cult for a long time at that time was thanks to the illusion art.

Because the illusion art of a sublime realm that deceived even the extreme demons had helped the Dark Heaven Sword Emperor to live in the Demonic Cult without being discovered. Considering that the internal art he had learned at that time was an Orthodox Path martial art, the reason why he had not been caught for a long time was all thanks to Mo Pengren's illusion art.

So how could Cheon Mubaeck not recognize the illusion art in front of him?

'The lineage has not been cut off yet.'

A trace of the Spirit Gate, which had been gone at least during the time of the Azure Sky Sword God.

Although he had thought that it had been destroyed and had disappeared, to have an unexpected person show it in an unexpected place.

Was it because a long time had passed?

"It's lacking. You still have a lot to learn."

That was right. The flaws were clearly visible. At least in Cheon Mubaeck's eyes.

"Wh-what did you say?"

A ripple spread across Haei's face. To have recognized his sect's founding master, and to have noticed the origin of the illusion art. Haei's body froze in surprise, and Cheon Mubaeck's tongue-clicking sound was heard continuously.

"Well. Since you couldn't inherit the lineage properly, you're living as a member of the Unorthodox Alliance even with that illusion art."

"...!"

As he saw through the illusion art, Haei was so agitated that he could not control his mind.

"You advised me on what the martial world is, but the martial world is not something you advise with words."

Cheon Mubaeck's voice resounded heavily.

At that moment, Cheon Mubaeck closed his eyes.

"...!"

Haei's face contorted.

'He's closing his eyes? During a fight?'

What martial artist in the world would close his eyes during a fight?

No matter how developed one's senses were, sight was absolute.

One had to see to avoid, and see to pierce.

To close one's eyes was an act that only an absolute master would do when teaching a subordinate.

To close his eyes in this situation?

It was a mockery. It was insulting. Haei felt so.

But Cheon Mubaeck did not harbor such an intention in the slightest.

The words that Mo Pengren had said came to his mind clearly.

'The gist of the illusion art is to confuse the sight...'

He closes his eyes. All sight is blocked. Only darkness is formed on the retina. The enemy is not visible. And so, the enemy's illusion art is also not visible.

'To disturb the hearing, to make even the sense of touch feel as if it were playing on the clouds, and to make the illusory thing seem real, and in the end, to distort the world is the illusion art.'

He sends his internal energy to his ears and blocks the sound. He blocks the senses hidden under his skin.

Nothing is visible, nothing is heard, and nothing is felt.

The five senses are blocked.

This was the only way not to be deluded by the illusion art.

But if it became like this, he would be a blind man, and since he could not hear, he would be a deaf man.

'Now, I have to strike now!'

Haei gritted his teeth and stretched out his sword. Since the opponent knew it was an illusion art, the intention to confuse him was half lost. He had to make him kneel now, before he had completely escaped the illusion art.

A quick judgment and decisiveness.

Haei's sword pierced like a thunderbolt.

A swiftness that a person who had closed his eyes, blocked his ears, and blocked his senses could never react to.

The moment the sword pierced his chest, Cheon Mubaeck's body moved as if it were dancing.

Ungungung!

The upper dantian opened, and an expansion of the senses was brought about. With the five senses gone, all the nerves were concentrated, and rather, the extrasensory perception was exerted to the extreme.

'I can see.'

In the darkness, not the enemy's clone, but the main body is visible. The sound is heard. The wind pressure transmitted through the skin is felt.

And even the sharp momentum that is piercing towards his chest. It is visible, heard, and felt. Then he can block it.

Jjeoeong!

The sight of the sword that had been brandished like a thunderbolt breaking in half.

Haei's gaze trembled violently. His face turned pale.

"H-how?"

And Cheon Mubaeck's hand sword answered instead.

"The martial world is a place where you advise with a sword and action."

As Cheon Mubaeck's heavy resonance pierced his ears, Haei lost consciousness.

Only then did Cheon Mubaeck, who had opened his eyes, walk without hesitation and pull out the flag that was stuck on the peak.

"..."

The second flag. Cheon Mubaeck met the eyes of Dokgo Pae, who was looking down at him with a stiff face and a terrifying glare from the peak far away, and waved the flag.

The gaze of Dokgo Pae, who was glaring as if he would tear him to pieces right away.

But Cheon Mubae-ck's eyes, which met his gaze, were coldly sunken.

'Now, what will you do?'

The board that Dokgo Pae had planned and set up by racking his brain.

Cheon Mubaeck had overturned it. So now, a new board had to be set up.

"Will you play with me on the board I've made..."

Cheon Mubaeck had no intention of becoming a puppet in a puppet show that someone else had set up. If it was a board that someone else had made, he would completely overturn that board. And he would set up a new board and lead the game.

Now, it was Cheon Mubaeck's turn.

Cheon Mubaeck smiled calmly.

(End of Chapter)