novelraw Chapter 85 : Chapter 85
Chapter 85 : Chapter 85
Chapter 85 Life-and-Death Tournament (8)
“Insolent fellow.”
Jin Cheol-myeong, with a hardened expression, glared at Jaun while measuring the distance.
Every time Jin Cheol-myeong took a step toward Jaun, the rotation speed of the chains wrapped around his body gradually increased.
“I do not know what kind of purpose you have, but this kind of behavior will only become poison to you. If I set my mind to it, you will die in this place. Are you not afraid of death?”
Jin Cheol-myeong furrowed his brow deeply as if he could not understand. Jaun looked up at the sky with indifferent eyes.
“Well. I am simply more afraid of the situation where I become unable to keep a promise with someone than losing my life.”
Jaun shifted his gaze back to Jin Cheol-myeong.
“Ah, but do not misunderstand. I did not come up here with the intention of losing. Just because I am using this instead of a sword…… I do not particularly feel like I will lose to you.”
When Jaun nonchalantly lifted the crude chain he had unwrapped from his waist, sparks flew from Jin Cheol-myeong’s eyes.
“What can you do with such a piece of scrap iron! There is a good reason why my title is Black Blood Ghost Whip, which is the same as the name of this weapon. This Black Blood Ghost Whip is…….”
Jaun raised his hand to stop the shouting of Jin Cheol-myeong, whose pride had been cracked.
“Enough. I know roughly without you telling me. I do not know where you obtained that much Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, but…… I can tell just by looking that it is a weapon made by a great craftsman who devoted his heart and soul for at least several decades using Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron with no impurities mixed in.”
Jaun looked down at the chain wrapped around his hand and shook it slightly.
“In contrast, this is a chain used to secure carriages at the inn. There is bound to be a big difference from your weapon. However, this much is enough.”
“……What did you just say? That was a chain used to tie carriages?”
Jin Cheol-myeong looked at Jaun with a look of absurdity, and soon his face turned red as he clenched his fists tightly.
“……I highly valued the courage of a fellow from the Murim Alliance participating in this Life-and-Death Tournament and intended to show my own consideration. But you are digging your own grave.”
From the mouth of the coldly subdued Jin Cheol-myeong, his breath puffed out like a hazy mist.
“If you are going to act like this, I have no choice but to trample you properly.”
A grinding sound came from inside Jin Cheol-myeong’s mouth.
As Jin Cheol-myeong began to pull up his energy, the chains began to rotate around his body at an immense speed, glinting with a black light.
“It is no use regretting it now.”
From Jin Cheol-myeong’s eyes, streaks of cold energy stretched out. Jin Cheol-myeong took a deep breath and then stretched his hand toward Jaun.
WHOOOOOSH
A black light erupted from Jin Cheol-myeong’s hand and surged toward Jaun.
It was the movement of a chain with immense thickness, but it could not be properly identified with the naked eye.
‘It’s faster than I thought.’
Jaun felt the approaching momentum with his eyes half-closed and then slightly twisted his body.
The chain, which brushed past Jaun by a hair's breadth, plunged straight into the floor of the tournament ground.
BOOM!
Along with a loud collision sound, sparks created by friction flew in all directions.
Jaun saw the blue steel stone floor, which had been gouged to a depth of two finger joints.
‘A proper killing move from the very first attack.’
Confirming Jin Cheol-myeong’s mindset, Jaun wore a grin and lowered his stance.
In fact, Jaun had a favorable impression of this stubborn warrior of the Sado Alliance. However, he thought that in order to draw out the full power of a person with a naturally soft heart, this kind of stimulation would be necessary, and fortunately, that intention had worked.
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t have much time. In order to show something to the Alliance Leader, I have no choice but to draw out your full power, even if I have to use such a rough method.’
Jaun raised his hand and beckoned with his fingers, throwing out a final provocation.
“You son of a bitch!”
Sparks erupted from Jin Cheol-myeong’s eyes.
Jin Cheol-myeong bit his lip hard and once again stretched the Black Blood Ghost Whip toward Jaun.
As if a giant snake were shooting toward an enemy, the Black Blood Ghost Whip, which had become even faster than before, lunged at Jaun.
‘It is a speed and power that makes one's fine hairs stand up in an instant.’
At this level of power, even a graze would be a serious injury.
Jaun, who concentrated on feeling the chain shooting toward him at an immense speed, turned his body and avoided the attack of the Black Blood Ghost Whip.
Confirming that Jaun had moved to the side to avoid it, Jin Cheol-myeong’s eyes flashed at that moment.
BANG!
The Black Blood Ghost Whip, which was brushing past Jaun’s side, suddenly let out an explosive sound and changed its direction in mid-air.
The Black Blood Ghost Whip, having turned its head without losing its lunging speed, flew toward Jaun again.
‘?!’
In order to avoid the Black Blood Ghost Whip flying from an unexpected path, Jaun hastily threw his body backward.
‘It is by no means easy to operate energy so delicately that one can move a chain like this in mid-air.’
Even by looking at this single move, the effort Jin Cheol-myeong had sincerely poured into his martial arts could be felt.
It was fast enough, the variations were diverse, and it contained a massive power that could not be ignored.
Jaun, who was pulling his body back, quickly wound the chain he was holding around his right hand.
Then, Jaun, who raised his hand wrapped in chains into the air, struck down at the Black Blood Ghost Whip shooting toward him.
BANG!
The returning recoil was immense.
Despite pulling up his internal energy and protecting his hand and the chain as much as possible, the chain almost broke.
However, there was an effect.
The direction of the Black Blood Ghost Whip, which had been accurately struck by Jaun’s energy, was slightly shifted and wavered.
As Jaun pushed his body into that gap, the Black Blood Ghost Whip brushed past his side by a hair's breadth.
Watching the Black Blood Ghost Whip brush past, Jaun rapidly pulled up his energy.
‘Since I have sufficiently shown the sharpness of the attack to the audience, now I should also show the sturdiness of the defense.’
Jaun, who had been showing a precarious appearance to create a situation as dramatic as possible, this time stepped strongly onto the ground simultaneously with his landing.
Immediately after, Jaun’s figure shot toward Jin Cheol-myeong at a flash-like speed.
Jin Cheol-myeong, confirming that Jaun was closing the distance and approaching, hastily pulled the Black Blood Ghost Whip around his body.
With a clattering sound, the Black Blood Ghost Whip quickly wrapped around Jin Cheol-myeong’s body, and all parts except for Jin Cheol-myeong’s eyes were covered by the Black Blood Ghost Whip in an instant.
‘There is certainly no opening to be seen.’
Jaun, who had burrowed into the inner side of the Black Blood Ghost Whip, confirmed the solid defensive posture and nodded his head.
It was a level of defense that made him feel confident enough to provoke Jaun.
Jin Cheol-myeong, who was wrapped in thick chains made of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron and looking down at his opponent with a smoldering gaze through the gaps in the chains, was like a divine guardian protecting the gates of hell.
‘Even if I try to attack forcibly in this situation, the Black Blood Ghost Whip will offset most of the destructive power.’
Since the goal was to first show the level of Jin Cheol-myeong’s defense and that goal had been achieved, Jaun leaped backward without hesitation.
‘Looking at it up close, the defense is much higher in level than the offense.’
Not only the characteristics of the weapon, but it felt as though Jin Cheol-myeong’s cautious personality was seeping into his martial arts.
The defense of Jin Cheol-myeong, which he had personally confirmed, was an iron wall itself.
‘An ordinary warrior would not find it easy to break through even if they used the essence of the Internal Energy Heavy Hand.’
Since it was Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron and not any other material, and the thickness of the chain itself was immense, even if he could deliver a strike, the efficiency would be significantly low.
‘Since I am in a situation where I am hiding my martial prowess to avoid suspicion, the method I can take is only to neutralize that Black Blood Ghost Whip. To do that, I must unravel the Black Blood Ghost Whip from Jin Cheol-myeong’s body as much as possible.’
As Jaun pulled back without even being able to try a proper attack, the warriors in the surroundings began to murmur.
“As expected of the Black Blood Ghost Whip. Look at how he freely uses a chain of that weight.”
“He isn't a member of the Five Evils for nothing. He attacks freely from a long distance and maintains an ironclad defense at close range, so there is virtually no counter-affinity. Offense and defense are perfect, so is there even a way?”
“Even while facing such an opponent, he didn't even bring out a single sword……. Tsk tsk. Even the Heartless Soul Stealer will find it difficult this time. No matter how outstanding his body techniques are, no way to break through the defense of that Black Blood Ghost Whip comes to mind at all.”
Listening to the murmuring voices of the spectators, Jaun nodded his head.
‘It is a level worth acknowledging.’
While it did not show a deep essence or anything flamboyant passed down through long years like the martial arts of prestigious great sects, the fact that he focused on simplicity while giving up variations was instead creating a state of martial arts close to perfection.
‘Now, I must break down that solid wall.’
Jaun unwound the chain he had tied to his right hand and let it dangle long again.
From afar, Jin Cheol-myeong, who took a deep breath, was seen flying the Black Blood Ghost Whip again toward Jaun, who had widened the distance.
WHOOOOOSH!
When Jaun avoided the surging chain again, Jin Cheol-myeong, who was gauging the distance, this time stretched even his left hand forward.
CLATTER
The opposite end of the Black Blood Ghost Whip flew in an instant.
Looking at the Black Blood Ghost Whip flying from both left and right, Jaun also pulled up his energy.
Black Demonic Energy began to flare from the chain held in his right hand and the Ink Ring on his left hand.
Jaun’s body rose into the air and rotated quickly in place.
The chain held in his right hand cut across the left and right, and the Millennium Silk stretching out from his left hand soared from the diagonal bottom to the top.
POOF!
BANG!
Jaun, who had struck away all the Black Blood Ghost Whips flying from both sides, stepped strongly onto the ground and leaped forward.
And Jaun, who narrowed the distance in an instant, stretched the chain tied to his right hand straight forward.
Jin Cheol-myeong gritted his teeth while looking at Jaun’s chain.
“Not so fast!”
CLANG
Jaun’s chain, which had been shot forward, was struck by the Black Blood Ghost Whip and bounced out fruitlessly.
At that very moment when Jin Cheol-myeong, having confirmed that Jaun’s chain was bounced away, was raising the Black Blood Ghost Whip again for an attack, Jaun’s hidden left hand stretched forward.
SWISH
The Millennium Silk released from Jaun’s Ink Ring flew toward Jin Cheol-myeong at a speed that was almost invisible to the eye.
Jin Cheol-myeong’s expression froze as he felt the presence of the Millennium Silk.
‘The chain was not the end……!’
To block the thin thread shooting toward him, he had to completely tighten the gaps of the Black Blood Ghost Whip, but there was far too little time for that.
‘Damn it. I have no choice but to block it with minimal damage for now.’
Jin Cheol-myeong made a quick decision.
Giving up on blocking his entire body, he moved the Black Blood Ghost Whip to tightly block only his major vital points.
SLASH
He avoided a fatal injury, but he could not help but have Jaun’s Millennium Silk brush past his shoulder.
Jin Cheol-myeong’s shoulder was thinly cut, revealing the grain of the muscle.
Jin Cheol-myeong hastily pulled the Black Blood Ghost Whip back, wrapped it around his body again, and took a defensive posture.
‘Since I made his shoulder unnatural, next is the lower body.’
Jaun shot toward Jin Cheol-myeong, who had taken a defensive posture, at a high speed.
Sizzling Demonic Energy began to gather in Jaun’s right foot.
BOOM!
Jaun’s leg technique, containing the essence of the Internal Energy Heavy Hand, struck down directly near Jin Cheol-myeong’s thigh.
At that moment, Jin Cheol-myeong’s body surged and wavered.
‘It probably won't be a fatal blow, but the impact will certainly accumulate.’
Jaun twisted his waist once more and stretched out his foot.
BOOM!
This time, Jaun’s foot struck near Jin Cheol-myeong’s waist.
“Urgh.”
Very faintly, a groan escaped from Jin Cheol-myeong.
Despite the thick Black Blood Ghost Whip offsetting most of the energy, the impact burrowing into his body was immense.
Jin Cheol-myeong bit his lip and applied strength to his legs and waist, which were still ringing.
‘Monstrous fellow.’
If such attacks continued, it would not be easy to endure even with the Black Blood Ghost Whip.
Because of that, Jin Cheol-myeong quickly retreated and widened the distance from Jaun as much as possible.
“……Attacking in this manner won't break through my defense!”
Jaun, who heard Jin Cheol-myeong’s shout, spun the chain he was holding in his hand.
“Is that really so?”
Jaun grinned while looking at Jin Cheol-myeong.
Then, Jin Cheol-myeong tightened the Black Blood Ghost Whip again.
‘He is more of a master than expected. A solid internal energy enough to strike away my Black Blood Ghost Whip. And a fast speed that I absolutely cannot catch up with. And a strong power that is difficult to understand. If I take him lightly, I'll get a big surprise. I must not get excited.’
Jin Cheol-myeong, who lowered his stance, began to retreat step by step with serious eyes.
‘That fellow’s chain is shorter and thinner compared to my Black Blood Ghost Whip. So, it is advantageous for me to first widen the distance.’
Jin Cheol-myeong, who had received Jaun’s attacks a few times, sufficiently felt the massive power hidden within them.
Since even his defense could be shaken if he made even a slight mistake, Jin Cheol-myeong made up his mind to suppress Jaun with long-range attacks by widening the distance as much as possible.
The Black Blood Ghost Whip was released longer from Jin Cheol-myeong’s body, and having retreated that much, he stopped in his tracks after creating an appropriate distance.
‘He is not someone I can win against by dragging out time. It is better to just attack properly and break him down.’
As Jin Cheol-myeong gathered his energy, the Black Blood Ghost Whip wrapped around his body began to fluctuate here and there.
The Black Blood Ghost Whip, containing a massive energy, sprayed streaks of black energy in all directions.
Jin Cheol-myeong’s body trembled.
As he poured all his energy into the Black Blood Ghost Whip, one end of the Black Blood Ghost Whip, which had been shooting out black energy from its position, suddenly rose high into the sky.
The head of the giant and thick chain, which was gauging the direction here and there in the air like the head of a snake, headed toward Jaun.
[Turtle Dragon Wrathful Thunder]
As the technique name was softly recited from Jin Cheol-myeong’s mouth, the chain full of black energy began to shoot toward Jaun as fast as an arrow, like a giant snake's head.
‘Excellent.’
Jaun, who looked at the Black Blood Ghost Whip falling toward him, let out an admiration inwardly.
It was an outstanding move where power and technique were exquisitely harmonized.
Looking at the Black Blood Ghost Whip flying at an immense speed while bisecting the top and bottom of the tournament ground, Jaun raised his paper-thin chain with a serious expression.