Chapter 455

Chapter 455 – They Live According to Their Desires (2)

Shin Mu-wol's swords were sharp. Not just the swords themselves, but Shin Mu-wol as a martial artist was sharp. That sharpness transmitted to his swords.

Kuuuu!

Simply swinging his swords, sword energy bloomed like cumulus clouds then soon formed sword shapes stretching long.

The sword energy shone dazzlingly like gathered starlight.

It was Sword Energy.

Even for absolute masters, manifesting Sword Energy with two swords wasn't easy. Because internal energy consumption was extreme. Yet right now Shin Mu-wol was drawing Sword Energy from two swords. Truly impossible without tremendous internal energy backing.

Curiosity arose in Blood Elder's eyes.

"You've also learned part of Heavenly Demon Divine Art? Your senior brother is quite generous. Anyone would be reluctant to share supreme techniques they've learned with others."

"Shut up!"

Shin Mu-wol spat out an angry shout and thrust straight at Blood Elder. Instantly Blood Elder's form wavered and appeared behind Shin Mu-wol.

"What?"

Shin Mu-wol's pupils shook. Because he hadn't noticed at all how Blood Elder moved behind him.

Shin Mu-wol had already reached the precipice level. With part of Heavenly Demon Divine Art's insights added, he'd crossed the wall. Right now Shin Mu-wol's martial prowess had risen incomparably to a few months ago. Naturally his senses had sharpened several times. Yet not noticing Blood Elder's movements at all, he felt intense crisis.

He deployed Peacock Step spinning with fierce momentum. Like a peacock spreading tail feathers, the gorgeous yet elegant movements contained his desperate emotions.

Chwahwak!

The sword wrapped in Sword Energy thrust straight into Blood Elder's throat point. Instantly Blood Elder unclasped his hands behind his back and thrust his index finger toward the Sword Energy.

To anyone it looked like madness. Reaching bare hands toward Sword Energy was no different from a madman desperate for suicide. But the moment finger and sword collided, shock appeared on Shin Mu-wol's face.

Paseuseu!

His sword struck by the finger crumbled like a cookie. The Sword Energy covering the sword also disappeared without trace like morning dew evaporating in dawn sunlight.

"Kuk!"

Shin Mu-wol, startled by the impossibility he'd never imagined, released the sword in his hand. But he didn't just stand dazed.

While swinging the sword in his left hand, he drew the last sword stuck in his peacock sword sheath.

"Chyaaaat!"

Like a tornado, two swords shredded Blood Elder's entire body. That's how it looked to Shin Mu-wol's eyes.

The moment a smile appeared at his lips.

"Mu-wol!"

"Dodge!"

Geom Yul-cheon and Eum Yu-kyung shouted simultaneously.

Shin Mu-wol felt intense crisis and tried to retreat.

Peoeong!

With a sound like a leather drum bursting, Shin Mu-wol's body flew backward. His neatly tied hair had become disheveled and scattered wildly, and his form bleeding from his entire body looked precarious to anyone.

The moment Blood Elder smiled gently watching that sight.

Kaaaang!

Suddenly a metallic sound burst out and the entire air shook.

Instantly the smile disappeared from Blood Elder's face and an admiring expression appeared instead.

"Ho!"

Geom Yul-cheon who'd appeared had embraced Shin Mu-wol while spreading his palm toward Blood Elder. Geom Yul-cheon's palm was heated red emitting white smoke.

Cracks appeared in Geom Yul-cheon's expression.

"Formless… Sword?"

A sword with neither form nor presence.

Supreme swordsmanship that might only exist in legends like Heart Sword.

"The young friend has decent discernment. Precisely it's called Formless Strike. Well, you can see it as a modified form of Formless Sword. Quite compatible with me so I often use this technique, but I didn't expect you'd recognize it."

Blood Elder spoke with an indifferent expression. But Geom Yul-cheon's face listening was hard as stone. Because Formless Sword wasn't as trivial as Blood Elder said.

Along with Heart Sword, Formless Sword was nearly the final realm reachable by sword.

Geom Yul-cheon's eyes narrowed.

His senses at their peak were warning of danger. If the opponent had only completed Formless Sword, he wouldn't feel this much crisis.

Blood Elder felt discordant.

How to say? He didn't fit this scenery.

Like a stranger unable to mix with surroundings, feeling like he floated alone.

If Geom Yul-cheon's most impressive man in life was Dam Ho. He also didn't mix with surroundings standing out alone, but didn't look discordant. But Blood Elder was different.

Kkuuuk!

Geom Yul-cheon clenched his fist.

To know the substance of his felt discord, clashing was still best.

Ppajijik!

Pure white lightning flickered around his body.

Blood Elder stared at such Geom Yul-cheon. Faint curiosity arose in his eyes.

"Hurry. I don't have much time so must go quickly."

Instantly Geom Yul-cheon kicked the ground rushing toward Blood Elder.

The world was dyed completely white with white light.

"Yul-cheon!"

Eum Yu-kyung watched his fight while embracing Shin Mu-wol.

***

Cho Yeon-woon came outside.

How much time he'd spent inside the room, his eyes hurt from sunlight. Cho Yeon-woon had to frown briefly adapting to light. Still his mood wasn't bad.

He felt changes coming to his body while receiving sunlight.

His whole body was light. So light it felt like he'd fly into the sky if he jumped hard. Not just that. His senses had sharpened so much he was vividly detecting even insects' movements and breaths he couldn't hear before.

The internal energy circulating his body had no obstruction. Nothing blocked, and being released as intended felt unfamiliar.

In his head all moves of Eight Desolations Divine Fist revolved penetrated as one like prayer beads.

Simply learning and deploying moves was possible before. But now it wasn't just that level.

It felt like disassembling Eight Desolations Divine Fist technique into dust particle units, observing, then reassembling. Cho Yeon-woon realized he'd only now made Eight Desolations Divine Fist perfectly his own.

If yesterday's Eight Desolations Divine Fist was fist his master created, from today Eight Desolations Divine Fist was solely his. Even if his master returned alive, he couldn't deploy Eight Desolations Divine Fist more perfectly.

His perspective changed and his capacity grew.

Cho Yeon-woon fully recognized such changes in himself and calmly accepted them.

"I've gained fortune."

The Small Recovery Pill from Shaolin Temple didn't have this level of efficacy. Then Shaolin Temple wouldn't have readily given the Small Recovery Pill.

Before taking the Small Recovery Pill, Cho Yeon-woon had already reached the precipice level with his capacity full to overflowing. What he needed was merely courage and opportunity to step into empty space. And the Small Recovery Pill became that opportunity.

The path up a mountain was never just one. But most people climb mountains on one path. Climbing hard to reach the summit, they could finally see not only the path they climbed but various other paths. And they could seek harmony.

The phrase "reaching the summit's extreme" came from that. Also a gate great masters must pass through.

Cho Yeon-woon also entered that path.

Before, emotions would have overwhelmed him, but now strangely he was calm. Cho Yeon-woon naturally accepted even such emotions.

Naturally like flowing water.

His gait was the same. Though heavy steps from wearing prosthetics were light. Before he'd sometimes shudder from discord, but now it felt like a real leg. The feeling of blood flowing even in the iron prosthetic made Cho Yeon-woon smile.

When Cho Yeon-woon left his quarters, Hae So-wol approached first.

"Are you alright?"

"As you see, I'm fine."

"That's fortunate. Since you didn't come out for three whole days, I wondered if something happened."

"It's already been three days?"

"Yes!"

At Hae So-wol's answer, Cho Yeon-woon was slightly surprised. Because he thought at most a day had passed.

"How's the war situation?"

"Haah! Not good."

Hae So-wol's expression was dark.

While Cho Yeon-woon fell into cultivation trance, she fought the Demon Cult's forces on the front lines. So she knew the war situation better than anyone.

"How bad?"

"The third defensive line collapsed. The enemy seized Dengfeng County and established positions right below Mount Song."

Cho Yeon-woon's expression hardened like stone.

Right below Mount Song meant within reach. If a martial artist who learned lightness technique, just one or two hours' distance. No different from the Demon Cult's blade reaching the throats of Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance.

"Let's go."

Cho Yeon-woon hurried toward the mountain gate. Hae So-wol followed behind.

"It's Hero Cho."

"Drunken Cloud Dragon!"

"Waaa!"

As soon as he appeared, martial artists guarding the mountain gate recognized him and cheered. But Cho Yeon-woon's expression looking at them was hardly bright.

The mountain gate was no different from Shaolin Temple's face. Because the mountain gate was the first scene people visiting sacred Buddhist ground Shaolin saw. Not too splendid yet not shabby, ordinary appearance containing dignity befitting the martial world's pillar. But right now such appearance couldn't be found at Shaolin's mountain gate.

Positions that might be seen at military camps were built before the mountain gate, and countless swords and blades stuck out like hedgehog spines. As if multiple collisions had occurred, the path before the mountain gate was dyed red with blood, and thick blood scent made heads throb. Martial artists and monks guarding the mountain gate also had numerous wounds large and small.

"What happened? They came up here?"

"Right. Already colliding multiple times with many casualties."

Hae So-wol's expression answering was also dark.

Yielding Dengfeng County to the Demon Cult, the war situation developed unfavorably for Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance. Now the Martial Alliance and Shaolin Temple were practically isolated on Mount Song.

"The fortunate thing is sufficient weapons and food to buy time by holding out."

"What were the Martial Alliance and Shaolin Temple doing until this happened?"

Faint anger was contained in Cho Yeon-woon's voice. Instantly the area's air froze cold.

Shock appeared on Hae So-wol's face. Because she noticed Cho Yeon-woon's martial arts had advanced further.

The wit and martial arts Cho Yeon-woon showed while escaping from the Demon Cult were truly amazing. His alias Drunken Cloud Dragon had long surpassed the Nine Martial Dragons. But the realm Cho Yeon-woon showed now looked like he'd crossed another wall. Truly frighteningly rapid achievement.

Probably excluding Dam Ho, in the martial world Cho Yeon-woon was the only young martial artist showing such rapid achievement. Now the Nine Martial Dragons couldn't compare to Cho Yeon-woon.

"Calm down. Hero Cho!"

"How can I calm down now?"

"Huuu!"

Hae So-wol sighed quietly. Her face clearly showed complex thoughts.

The Demon Cult was concentrating forces here. They continuously received troop support while Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance were isolated only producing casualties.

Now they somehow barely balanced the scales, but if time passed like this, where the scales would tip was obvious.

Most importantly, the biggest problem was the current Alliance Leader Nam Cheon-san's orders not working well. Through a series of incidents, Nam Cheon-san's authority had fallen to the ground. Now martial artists no longer blindly followed his orders but calculated gains and losses. Naturally unity couldn't form properly.

Having heard everything, Cho Yeon-woon sighed.

"Huu! What a mess."

"A mess indeed."

"Damn!"

Cho Yeon-woon vented kicking innocent stones on the ground. Hae So-wol quietly watched such Cho Yeon-woon.

Her eyes watching him contained expectation. The same was true for other martial artists gathered at the mountain gate.

They were tired. Not tired from fighting the Demon Cult but tired from internal division and power struggles. What they wanted was purely concentrating on fighting the Demon Cult. But the unfolding situation was exhausting them.

They needed a new center.

A new core to unite them as one.

Cho Yeon-woon read the longing in their eyes. So he felt burdened. Because he thought he wasn't material to lead them.

That was when.

"Demon cultists are coming up."

"It's an attack."

Shouts came from below.

Following that, pitch-black shadows climbing Mount Song appeared. The Demon Cult was raiding again.

"Damn!"

Cho Yeon-woon gritted his teeth.

Worries and everything flew from his head.

He charged first toward the demon cultists.

Kuuuu!

The drunken appearance could no longer be found in the cloud dragon.

Cho Yeon-woon displayed fierce dragon dignity, and martial artists guarding the mountain gate unknowingly chased his back running.

That day Cho Yeon-woon gained a new alias instead of Drunken Cloud Dragon: Azure Dragon Divine Hero.

Azure Dragon Divine Hero Cho Yeon-woon.

The emergence of a new hero shining in troubled times.