Chapter 243

Ye Jin-gyeong stepped back and glared at Gu Ryun.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he raised the corners of his mouth.

“So what you were doing was ultimately peng and li techniques. You babbled about how these could be commonly seen on battlefields, but in the end, aren’t these methods that flowed out from the Wudang sect? What a sight, putting on airs after luckily learning a technique or two from somewhere!”

Peng is a technique that deflects the opponent’s attack upward to disturb their center, and li is the mystery of Wudang sect’s Taiji that deflects downward.

Gu Ryun’s expression twisted. He had learned martial arts from a great general. Mocking his martial arts was the same as insulting the general he respected most.

“Then why don’t you try defeating me and go capture Venerable Woo-am?”

At those words, Ye Jin-gyeong’s gaze became sharper than before.

“Venerable Woo-am remained? Then I have one more reason to kill you.”

Ye Jin-gyeong gathered his momentum and raised his sword straight.

Sizzle. A burning smell arose from the sword tip along with thin smoke.

“Every moment, every time, every single second, you will have to do your best.”

Ye Jin-gyeong began thrusting with an ordinary sword technique. Gu Ryun tried to block the sword head-on.

Bang!

As soon as Ye Jin-gyeong struck the shield like a hammer with his sword, he immediately withdrew it. Smoke rose from the shield and Gu Ryun’s body shook. The shield had been scorched black by the Thunder Brand Sword.

“Tch.”

It was a sword technique aimed not at Gu Ryun but at the shield. If he continued striking the oil-soaked shield with the Thunder Brand Sword, it might catch fire.

It meant he should decide whether to deflect with peng and li or block and have his shield burned.

“Does my shield bother you that much?”

Gu Ryun deflected with peng the moment the sword fell through the gaps in the rattan.

Swish.

Ye Jin-gyeong’s sword flowed slightly upward. He had definitely deflected it properly. However, Ye Jin-gyeong recovered his sword without any disturbance to his posture.

“Oh my.”

It was Gu Ryun’s incredulous voice. He had thought it strange that the sword hadn’t been deflected as much as intended, but he quickly realized the reason.

He had seen Ye Jin-gyeong’s hand holding the sword undergo countless changes in an instant.

Ye Jin-gyeong re-gripped his sword and spoke. He pressed the sword hilt with his index finger, then changed to his middle finger, sometimes holding the sword handle only with his thumb and palm in a flowing manner.

“The Ten Methods of Sword Gripping. This is our Hengshan’s grip technique.”

“Well, what an interesting little trick!”

The downward sword technique was simple, but by constantly changing the grip method, he made the sword’s center of gravity change unpredictably. If Gu Ryun couldn’t properly execute peng and li in response, his shield would be cut or gradually burned and destroyed.

Truly a method only a master swordsman could use.

“We’ll see which one is the little trick.”

Ye Jin-gyeong showed a pleased expression.

“Right. Let’s try it. Today either the Thunder Brand Sword or I, the Eight Flying Demon Heroes, one of us will be crawling under someone’s feet.”

“Here I come.”

Ye Jin-gyeong murmured quietly and swung his sword. The same trajectory as before. However, even in the short time of bringing down the sword, the grip method changed three times.

Not large body movements but a very delicate battle of weight centers.

It was a battle only masters could engage in.

Gu Ryun concentrated with all his nerves on edge, feeling the flow of force the moment the sword touched his shield and executed peng and li.

Swish! Swish swish!

Ye Jin-gyeong continued swinging his sword. The sword and shield clashed dozens of times, but not once was there a sound of impact. Only the quiet friction sound of the sword sliding against the shield could be heard.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang didn’t know the details about combined formations, but he had already experienced the Zhuge family’s Eight Trigrams Formation. He keenly felt the momentum emanating from the White Tiger Earth Emperor Pavilion warriors.

When two people formed a team, the momentum that should have doubled became two and a half times, and when three people formed a team, the momentum that should have tripled felt like five times.

‘But they won’t have time to fully construct the formation.’

As Jin Ja-gang stepped forward, a team that had formed a three-person combined formation blocked Jin Ja-gang in a “品” character shape.

White Tiger Heavy Momentum!

Meanwhile, other warriors tried to circle around to Jin Ja-gang’s left, right, and rear to surround him.

Jin Ja-gang raised his internal energy and stomped hard on the stone slab on the ground.

Crack!

The stone slab tilted up, revealing hidden needles that sprang up from underneath. These were needles coated with bracken poison that he had planted in advance. Jin Ja-gang grabbed the needles and threw them in all directions.

Flying Needle Twelve Branches!

The needles flew in curves to various places.

Jin Ja-gang had built three dikes and filled them with internal energy to overflowing with the Supreme Clarity Divine Pill. The achievement of Flying Needle Twelve Branches was different from before.

Each needle drew at least five curves, dazzling the eyes.

Among the three forming the three-person combined formation, two each took charge of defense. Befitting the combat unit representing the Martial Alliance, each warrior’s martial arts was not low. The warriors deflected most of the incoming needles with their swords.

Clang clang clang!

However, a few were missed and one person was hit.

The hit person’s expression was strange. It was an expression that said ‘Why did I get hit?’ It was a hidden weapon he could have sufficiently deflected.

Jin Ja-gang stepped on another stone slab to the side and made needles spring up. Without rest, he grabbed and threw needles. This time he mixed Flash Severance among them.

To the White Tiger Earth Emperor Pavilion warriors, Flash Severance needles would suddenly appear among the Flying Needle Twelve Branches needles that drew slow, gentle parabolas.

Flash!

When they came to their senses, the needles were already right in front of their eyes in an instant.

But the White Tiger Earth Emperor Pavilion warriors dodged or blocked even Flash Severance. Each individual’s skill was at the level of outstanding rising stars from medium and small sects.

However, in the midst of this, one person was hit by Flash Severance and knelt down.

“Kugh!”

The warrior who was hit in the cheek by Flash Severance while dodging one flying toward his face had an incredulous expression.

Warriors from behind dragged out the injured warrior and quickly filled the formation.

At the same time, the remaining warriors closed the distance with Jin Ja-gang, rapidly approaching with quick steps to eliminate the distance for throwing hidden weapons. It was an excellent response.

The warriors in front thrust their swords at Jin Ja-gang.

White Tiger Charge!

A sword technique that uses only thrusting without slashing in the White Tiger Heavy Momentum combined formation, preventing interference between formation members while increasing the number of attacks per area.

Jin Ja-gang triggered internal energy with one breath and twisted his body. Swords passed by his nose, armpits, and between his legs.

The warriors’ expressions slightly hardened. They seemed to have thrust properly, but somehow their movements were a bit slow. The dense sword techniques of White Tiger Charge couldn’t be dodged just by twisting the body.

From both sides, swords were thrust toward Jin Ja-gang’s feet and flanks. Jin Ja-gang lifted his body and spun around. Two warriors from behind stepped on the backs of the front warriors and leaped up, thrusting their swords from above downward.

Jin Ja-gang used lightness techniques to float in the air and threw eight needles from his ten fingers simultaneously in all directions.

Pop pop pop!

The warriors were too close to each other for deflecting needles with swords to work properly, so they held their swords in reverse grip and swung left and right to deflect the needles. At the same time, they kicked off and retreated to reorganize their scattered formation. However, this time too, one person was hit by a hidden weapon and knelt down. It was a hidden weapon he could definitely have avoided, yet incomprehensibly, someone got hit.

A warrior from behind immediately filled the empty spot and closed the distance again.

The two warriors who had jumped down from above struck down at Jin Ja-gang’s head and stomach. When Jin Ja-gang twisted his body in the air, the swords penetrated Jin Ja-gang’s shoulder clothes and sleeves, passing narrowly by. The two warriors pressed down on Jin Ja-gang with their bodies and pinned him to the ground.

Thud!

Jin Ja-gang fell to the ground pressed down by the two warriors’ bodies from midair. The warriors pressed Jin Ja-gang’s head with their elbows and his thighs with their knees to prevent him from moving.

But by then Jin Ja-gang had already stuck a needle in one warrior’s neck and was firmly gripping the right warrior’s face with his palm spread wide.

Burning Twin Scale Palm!

Whoosh!

Yang energy exploded from the warrior’s face. With the smell of burning flesh, the warrior’s hair melted and curled while his face turned bright red.

“Ahhhhh!”

Even so, the warrior gritted his teeth and didn’t let go of the sword he had driven through Jin Ja-gang’s clothes to the ground. They truly weren’t ordinary warriors.

Jin Ja-gang, while firmly gripping the warrior’s face, pushed the warrior’s eyes with his index and middle fingers. The warrior endured with his eyes tightly shut. Jin Ja-gang used Burning Twin Scale Palm once more to make the warrior’s face ragged, then tried to kick him away.

At that moment, warriors who had swarmed from all sides brought their swords down toward Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang grabbed the collar of the warrior he was about to push away and used him as a shield.

Thud thud thud!

Six swords pierced the warrior’s body. Some penetrated through and grazed Jin Ja-gang’s flesh. Jin Ja-gang concentrated internal energy in his right hand and struck the sword blade stuck in the ground with his hand blade.

Crack!

When one sword broke, the warriors pulled out their swords and thrust again.

Jin Ja-gang struck another stone slab on the ground with his palm during the brief gap.

Thud!

A poison powder pouch buried under the stone slab burst, sending up white dust-like particles. The warriors held their breath and covered their mouths with one sleeve while thrusting their swords again.

They were certainly different from ordinary warriors. If they had been regular warriors, they would have fled the moment the poison powder burst. However, in that brief gap, Jin Ja-gang used Burning Twin Scale Palm again, clapping his palms together and exploding them.

Whoosh!

The dust particles exploded into flames and scattered in all directions. Poison energy spread through the air. The warriors had no choice but to close their eyes and retreat to prevent poison from entering their eyes. In the meantime, Jin Ja-gang removed the warrior’s corpse covering his body and got up.

As soon as he got up, warriors waiting behind exchanged with the front warriors and thrust their swords. Relentless attacks continued. Moreover, some swords even contained sword energy, so if he miscalculated the distance, his body could be penetrated directly.

Jin Ja-gang rolled on the ground to dodge the swords. Swords continuously stabbed and chased after Jin Ja-gang rolling behind. Warriors surrounded the fleeing Jin Ja-gang to prevent his escape.

Jin Ja-gang stabbed a warrior’s instep with a needle, slashed with a short blade while rolling, and when he reached his desired location, he forcefully kicked and broke a stone slab on the ground with his heel.

Thud!

Then he hooked up a ring he had buried under the stone slab with his toe and grasped it in his hand.

The Soul Seizing Thread he had separated and laid on the ground in advance!

The moment warriors concentrated and rushed toward Jin Ja-gang, stabbing their swords as they charged.

Jin Ja-gang lay on the ground and put strength in his waist to lift his back. Standing on only his toes in an iron bridge posture, he suddenly rolled his feet to float his body horizontally with the ground and pulled the Soul Seizing Thread rings in both hands.

The thread connected to the Soul Seizing Thread rings had been hidden like snares on the ground within a radius of about five zhang. When Jin Ja-gang pulled the rings, the threads revealed themselves and sprang up, then tightened.

Swooooosh!

Like a snake violently twisting its body and leaving traces in sandy ground, the Soul Seizing Thread wound and cut everything to pieces.

The stone slabs covering the Soul Seizing Thread and even the ankles of warriors standing on the stone slabs.

The warriors used lightness techniques to float into the air and avoid the tightening Soul Seizing Thread, but several reacted slowly and couldn’t dodge while fumbling around.

Blood spurted from all directions. Warriors with severed ankles fell and sat down screaming.

“Ahhhhh!”

Someone urgently shouted.

“Something’s strange…!”

But at that moment, his neck and shoulder were simultaneously cut diagonally and separated.