Chapter 1717: Betting Your Neck (2)
“Ah…”
A repressed groan escaped Jo Gul’s lips.
In his mind, he wanted to scream both in joy and despair until his throat tore, but if he did, the energy surrounding Baek Cheon would become unbalanced, so he could only groan silently.
‘Damn it!’
However, at this moment, his eyes, the only part of his body that was free, were filled with emotions.
“Chung Myung!”
Baek Sang, who was staring blankly at Chung Myung's back, stood up abruptly. His face was distorted by a mixture of relief and resentment.
“You… you bastard! You…!”
Without realizing it, Baek Sang grabbed Chung Myung by the collar.
“Why…? Why now… damn it?”
Even he didn’t know the reason.
He should have been screaming with joy and relief. But seeing Chung Myung’s face, the feeling that surged in Baek Sang's heart was an inexplicable sadness and resentment.
The eyes of the disciples of Mount Hua flickered slightly. Though they understood Baek Sang’s feelings, they knew his action was exaggerated, especially in such a critical situation in front of the enemy.
However, Chung Myung did not get angry at Baek Sang’s excessive behavior. He simply turned his head and looked back.
He looked beyond the swordsmen of Mount Hua and Wudang, towards Baek Cheon and those around him.
“…”
Chung Myung’s eyes grew deep and dark. The coldness in those eyes made the Wudang swordsmen involuntarily step back. Though they knew that hostility was not directed at them, the chill in those eyes was terrifying.
“Chung Myung…”
“Step back, Sasuk.”
Chung Myung’s hand tapped Baek Sang’s shoulder.
“…”
“First.”
Chung Myung’s face, rigid like ice, slowly turned forward.
“Let’s take care of those bastards first.”
Baek Sang’s hand lost its strength.
He finally understood what he had done.
The enemy threatening Baek Cheon was still in front of them. Despite that, he had shown inappropriate and embarrassing conduct. Perhaps it wasn’t so much resentment towards Chung Myung but the relief that filled his mind upon seeing him appear.
Chung Myung turned his sword and rested it on his shoulder while pointing his chin at the leader of the Blood Palace.
“Just a moment ago, you were talking a lot. Why did you suddenly fall silent?”
“…”
The bandaged face of the Blood Palace leader twisted. The cut bandages frayed, making him look even more ghastly.
“You…”
Blood.
Over the dry, dark blood, fresh, hot blood began to flow. When the blood dripping from his chin hit the ground, the eyes of the Blood Palace leader filled with a fierce murderous intent.
“Ah…”
The Blood Palace leader slowly licked the blood soaking his bandages. When the taste of the old and new blood reached his tongue, his body trembled briefly.
“Mount Hua… Chivalrous Sword?”
A voice rough as scraping wood. However, Chung Myung showed no caution. Instead, he let out a slight laugh.
“Foreigners these days are very interested in the Central Plains. They even know the nicknames of people they haven’t seen.”
“Jejeje.”
The eyes of the Blood Palace leader turned a bright red.
“How arrogant.”
His face filled with intense murderous intent.
The previous attack was impressive. Though it caught him off guard, the fact that his face had been struck showed that this man’s skill was near divine.
But that was all.
“You’re ignorant. If you had stayed hidden, you could have kept your head.”
Crack.
The Blood Palace leader unleashed his murderous intent and slowly approached Chung Myung.
At the same time, the dense murderous intent spread, causing the Wudang swordsmen to shrink involuntarily. This was true oppression.
Different, but similar.
The imposing presence of the Southern Sea Sun Palace leader was distinct, but the oppressive and sticky murderous intent of this man surpassed even the Sun Palace leader.
However, what terrified the Wudang swordsmen most wasn’t his murderous intent.
‘His… his face…’
At that moment, the Wudang Disciples saw it.
The face of the Blood Palace leader, revealed between the bandages, was bubbling and healing. The flesh cut by Chung Myung’s sword was rapidly regenerating.
“How?”
Was that even possible?
“Did you think something would change just because your attack succeeded?”
The eyes of the Wudang disciples filled with astonishment.
In the few steps he took forward, the slashes on his face filled with new flesh and his skin recovered. Seeing this incomprehensible scene filled them with a sense of repulsion and terror.
The foreign martial path is different from that of the central continent, but can this truly be called martial arts?
‘My heavens…’
Is it possible?
That energy alone is overwhelming, but the fact that he can heal his wounds on the spot is incomprehensible.
No matter how impressive Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword is, can he handle such a monster?
Unable to find the answer in Chung Myung’s back, the Wudang swordsmen instinctively turned their heads towards the Mount Hua disciples. And they were astonished.
‘It can’t be…’
None of them, among all the Mount Hua disciples present, showed the slightest doubt on their faces.
They believed. Without hesitation. No matter who the enemy was, no matter how formidable. They believed there was no one that the Chivalrous Sword, Chung Myung, could not handle.
Seeing that firm belief, it was the Wudang disciples who were astonished.
Could they show such confidence? Even if it were Heo Dojin or Heo Gong, could they show such absolute confidence?
What was the truth? Were these Mount Hua disciples recklessly blind, or did they truly believe that the Chivalrous Sword deserved such trust?
Now, it was Chung Myung’s turn to prove it.
“Why so surprised?”
The Blood Palace leader smiled maliciously and took another step towards Chung Myung.
“In our Cult, this is common. For you, who worship the insignificant martial arts of the Central Plains, it is unimaginable.”
Hearing those words, Chung Myung let out a brief laugh. However, anyone who saw his face could not describe that laugh as a true smile.
It was impossible to call something so cold and icy a smile.
“You speak nonsense.”
The sword Chung Myung had rested on his shoulder began to lower slowly.
Kaak.
The tip of Chung Myung’s sword scraped the ground slowly, as if a predator were sharpening its claws to intimidate its prey.
“So, have you decided to start calling yourselves a ‘Cult’?”
“What did you say?”
At that moment, Baek Sang saw something he had never seen before on the Blood Palace leader’s face: an expression hard to describe, something he had never shown before.
“What you heard. Do you dare call yourselves a Cult?”
“What are you saying?”
“I said what you heard, you bastard.”
Chung Myung showed a mocking smile.
“Did you dare call yourselves a Cult because you’re afraid of the Heavenly Demon and the Demonic Cult, and you’ve been hiding under the pathetic name of Blood Palace? Or do you only have the courage to call yourselves a Cult when they’re not around?”
“You… you!”
The Blood Palace leader’s face twisted horrifically.
“I will strangle you with your own intestines!”
Kwaaaa!
An overwhelming murderous aura surged from the Blood Palace leader. A dark, viscous energy filled the air, enveloping Chung Myung like black ink.
At the same time, the Blood Palace leader charged at Chung Myung at an alarming speed.
Paaat!
In that instant, Chung Myung’s sword flew towards the Blood Palace leader. The speed was so fast that the word lightning didn’t do it justice.
Kwaak!
Chung Myung’s sword slashed the Blood Palace leader’s hand. The bandaged hand split open to the wrist.
“It’s useless, idiot!”
The Blood Palace leader’s eyes filled with rage.
The bandaged hand revealed countless scars that told the story of his martial arts and brutality.
Paaat!
The Blood Palace leader’s hand descended towards Chung Myung’s head with the intent to split it in two.
Chung Myung stepped back to dodge the leader’s hand, but the blood that gushed from the leader’s wound moved as if it had a life of its own, wrapping around Chung Myung’s body.
“Die!”
There was no escape.
The Blood Palace leader was certain. At that distance, his attack would not fail. He would crush that arrogant man and, as he said, open his belly and use his intestines to strangle him. And he would enjoy watching his face as he died.
Just as he indulged in the vile pleasure of anticipation, something caught the Blood Palace leader’s attention.
The twisted smile of Chung Myung, barely visible under the blood covering him.
Kwaaang!
The blood covering Chung Myung exploded in all directions.
‘What?’
Kwaaduk!
At the same time, Chung Myung’s sword pierced the leader’s shoulder, and his foot struck his abdomen, sending him flying backward.
Kwaang!
Tuung!
The Blood Palace leader was thrown several meters back, hitting the ground.
“Huh…”
He couldn’t understand.
He didn’t understand why he had been repelled. He didn’t understand what had happened in that exchange.
Ugh!
The only thing he understood was the pain coming from the pierced shoulder.
“Haha…”
However, instead of getting angry, the Blood Palace leader laughed.
“I told you it’s useless…”
It was then.
“Kuh!”
The Blood Palace leader’s eyes trembled. He looked incredulously at his pierced shoulder, holding the wound with his hand.
“Kyaaa!”
He screamed in pain, convulsing.
“What…? What is this…? Aaaah!”
Instead of starting to heal, the wound in his shoulder grew larger. The indescribable pain emanating from his shoulder was unbearable.
“Kuh…”
“It seems your predecessors didn’t teach you well. Or maybe they died before they could pass it on.”
Chung Myung looked at the Blood Palace leader with cold, heavy eyes.
“Let me teach you what they couldn’t. Remember this well. Never mess with a master of celestial qi. Especially you, who uses those pathetic arts.”
Kaak.
At the tip of Chung Myung’s sword, a clear, transparent qi shone brightly.
Seeing it, the Blood Palace leader’s face turned a sickly pale color.