Chapter 326

The deep red sunset colored the Yangtze River.

Soon deep darkness would cover the river. But the darker it became, the brighter the moonlight reflected on the water surface would become, interfering with the fight. The waves breaking against the ship’s rail and the endlessly flowing currents scattered the moonlight excessively, making visibility flicker.

Beom-mong spoke in a leisurely voice.

“Indeed, if we drag out time, who would be at a disadvantage? What does Master Bulgi think?”

Beom-mong, experienced in all sorts of battles, remained relaxed throughout. But Jin Ja-gang had no experience with shipboard combat, and if he fell into the river, it would be difficult to get out.

The width of the river where the ship was currently passing was a full eight li, nearly a thousand zhang. No matter how much Jin Ja-gang used movement techniques, he couldn’t leap across a thousand zhang.

This was the majesty of the Yangtze River.

In contrast, Bulgi’s killing intent was fierce. His attitude showed he didn’t care about time or place.

“Do you dare look down on me just because I’m missing one arm?”

His right eye that had been tearing up now seemed fine, as if it had returned to normal.

But Beom-mong suddenly said something completely unrelated.

“Isn’t the weather very nice today? With the full moon up, it will be quite bright.”

Bulgi raised his voice at Beom-mong.

“Stop with the pointless talk. Let’s settle this quickly!”

The response wasn’t particularly strange in tone.

But strangely, Beom-mong spoke while looking at Jin Ja-gang.

“Namo Amitabha Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Benevolent Hero speaks falsely, speaks with embellishment, speaks harshly, and is angry. These are all actions that make it difficult to accumulate good karma. To accumulate good karma, kind and warm words are sufficient. That’s not such a difficult thing. Isn’t that right, Benevolent Hero?”

He was looking at Jin Ja-gang but addressing and asking questions to Bulgi.

But Bulgi showed no change in expression and remained silently unresponsive.

Beom-mong looked at Jin Ja-gang with a scolding expression, but his tone was completely different from his face, soft and gentle.

“This old monk can guarantee it. If someone attacks Master Benevolent Hero Bulgi from behind right now, Master Bulgi won’t be able to block it. Am I right? Isn’t that so, Master Benevolent Hero Bulgi?”

While hearing this, Jin Ja-gang also didn’t look at Bulgi. Bulgi still didn’t answer. No, he had turned his head and acted as if he didn’t know what Beom-mong had said.

Jin Ja-gang smiled.

“Impressive, Great Master Beom-mong.”

Woon-jeong was puzzled.

“No, why does Great Master Beom-mong keep looking at Poison Dragon and calling him Master Bulgi?”

Woon-jeong looked back and forth between Jin Ja-gang and Bulgi.

“And why isn’t Senior Bulgi responding?”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“Great Master Beom-mong’s scheme is truly vicious.”

“What?”

“The Zhongnan Sect master can’t hear. Great Master Beom-mong knows this and is instigating Funeral Parlor.”

“As expected, Poison Dragon!”

Beom-mong laughed heartily. His laughter contained tremendous internal energy, making bodies resonate and the sail flap.

At that moment, one of the few remaining hooded men on deck ambushed Bulgi from behind. He carefully kept his distance and lifted a metal coffin lid to strike his head.

Bulgi turned his body and swung Taiyi Earth Sword with his left hand. The coffin lid and the hooded man’s upper body were severed together.

Slash!

The hooded man spurted blood and fell. The remaining hooded men ground their teeth looking at Beom-mong, not Bulgi.

Beom-mong clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, he should have just approached with a poison-coated dagger from earlier and stabbed. Because he got scared and created wind, Master Bulgi noticed.”

Thinking the situation was becoming serious, Bulgi frowned and sneered at Beom-mong.

“Wicked monk. A senior of the martial world, and being a monk at that, only pulls dirty tricks.”

“Keke keke, you lost one arm and can’t hear. Poison Dragon also suffered corpse poison and numerous bruises. Seeing that he’s fine despite the corpse poison, he seems to have overcome it. But decisively, didn’t you both experience this old monk’s Hundred Step Divine Fist once each? You endured it once, but you won’t be able to withstand the next time.”

Beom-mong was accurately calculating his opponents’ damage.

He was right. If either Bulgi or Jin Ja-gang took another Hundred Step Divine Fist, their bodies wouldn’t be able to endure it.

But Bulgi mocked Beom-mong.

“Not being able to hear has its conveniences. I don’t have to listen to the monk’s nonsense.”

Beom-mong took a deep breath then shouted with internal energy.

“Right-eous Law! Right-eous Law! Evil-ous Law!”

Rumble rumble rumble.

Internal energy made heads ring so even without hearing, one could understand what was being said.

Thick blood flowed from both of Bulgi’s ears. The vibration made his wounds open wider and blood filled his ears. Bulgi shook his head left and right to drain the blood.

“That damned monk anyway. His nature is extremely vicious!”

Bulgi gritted his teeth and kicked the floor.

Thump! He lightly leaped up and spun Taiyi Earth Sword in his hand. A cluster like twinkling starlight appeared at the tip of Taiyi Earth Sword.

Swish, swish!

As Taiyi Earth Sword rotated, strands of light extended like thick torrential rain.

Beom-mong inflated his robes with Iron Silk. But then he suddenly threw his body sideways to avoid.

Whoosh! With a sound like tearing cloth, holes were punched in the hem of Beom-mong’s robes imbued with Iron Silk. Thin holes were also punched in the deck where Beom-mong had avoided.

Even Jin Ja-gang found it puzzling that sword energy pierced through Iron Silk like tofu. Hadn’t it been deflected earlier?

Bulgi bounced around like a grasshopper, continuously emitting strands of light in midair. Each time, holes continued to appear on the deck as if punched with an awl. The attack was simple but strangely there weren’t many openings for counterattack. He was spreading the light strands in a radial pattern, so if you rushed in for a counterattack, you’d have to be prepared to take a hit.

Beom-mong seemed to have given up on counterattacking entirely, jumping left and right to flee from Bulgi.

Woon-jeong shouted toward Jin Ja-gang who was trying to respond.

“Avoid it! That’s not sword energy but sword force!”

Sword force!

The supreme internal sword technique that condensed internal energy more than sword energy to cut and burn through anything!

It was said to have the power to easily cut through steel hammered hundreds of times, let alone sword energy. Just like how Iron Silk played no role and was riddled with holes.

But what was truly frightening about sword force wasn’t just its destructive power.

It was the understanding of swords gained after swinging swords tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times to reach sword force.

When there was no sword force, one had to find the opponent’s openings and attack while breaking down their defense. Of course, the opponent’s counterattack had to be considered too.

Therefore, one had to read the opponent’s moves and fight like playing chess, looking several moves ahead. Such combat included psychological techniques of alternating between feints and real attacks to shake the opponent’s composure.

However.

Before sword force, defense was meaningless. Using sword force eliminated the need to consider the opponent’s defense.

One could focus solely on attack.

The concept of offense and defense disappeared, leaving only attack.

He was pouring Zhongnan Sect’s martial learning into sword force, disregarding defense and focusing only on attack!

Even the world’s Beom-mong gave up direct confrontation and leaped among the hooded men.

The hooded men were flustered. They couldn’t tell whether Beom-mong approaching them was to attack or to flee.

A hooded man lifted a coffin to block Beom-mong running straight at him. Beom-mong changed direction, kicked the coffin, and threw his body sideways. At that moment, Bulgi’s sword force struck the coffin.

The sword force pierced through the coffin and very accurately penetrated the brow of the hooded man standing behind. This meant he wasn’t attacking randomly but properly observing the surrounding situation before acting.

The hooded man with a small hole in his brow fell sideways with the coffin.

The hooded men attacked Beom-mong who had entered among them. Beom-mong caved in a hooded man’s chest with one punch, leaped up and crushed his neck bones by stepping on his head with Thousand Pound Drop. Then Bulgi, who followed behind, also knocked down hooded men with sword force.

Beom-mong annoyingly dodged Bulgi’s attacks here and there. Now there weren’t many hooded men left standing on deck.

After rampaging for a while, a wisp of heat haze rose from the tip of Bulgi’s sword.

Sizzle, sizzle.

Seeing this, Beom-mong smiled with satisfaction.

“Sword force is like charcoal in a furnace – once it starts, it can’t be stopped and continues to be consumed until all one’s internal energy is burned. You thought you were at a disadvantage and brought up sword force too quickly.”

Sword force sucks in internal energy from the body. When pure internal energy is exhausted, it finally scrapes out and burns even the impure energy remaining in the body.

Therefore, as internal energy is exhausted and the bottom is revealed, smoke appears as the impure energy burns.

“The heat haze appearing now is because the sword force’s heat has reached its peak with pure blue furnace fire. You’ve consumed exactly half your true body’s internal energy. From now on, the power will gradually decrease, and when smoke starts appearing, that’s when it ends.”

Beom-mong glanced at Jin Ja-gang while speaking. Actually, this was meant for Jin Ja-gang to hear.

Just like he had instigated Funeral Parlor, he was exposing Bulgi’s weakness.

Though Bulgi couldn’t properly understand Beom-mong’s words, he guessed the meaning from his smile.

“Monk. Did you cleverly sow discord again?”

“Hmm?”

Bulgi pressed Beom-mong more roughly.

Swish swish! Swish!

But if you just escaped the radial range, it wouldn’t reach. Beom-mong didn’t let his guard down and wove among the hooded men again. He used pillars, coffins, and walls to block Bulgi’s line of sight and move in unpredictable directions.

The Great Connection Diamond Steps learned by Shaolin Temple’s Diamond Warriors was deployed to the maximum. Though he paused briefly when changing direction, he was faster than anything when moving in straight lines.

Thanks to this, only the hooded men suffered unexpected disasters. If they didn’t avoid Beom-mong, Beom-mong would attack, and if they avoided Beom-mong, they’d die to Bulgi’s sword force.

But then, Beom-mong, who had been moving quickly, suddenly kicked off the middle of an erected mast, leaped down to the floor and rolled urgently. A strand of blood decorated the air.

“Oh my…”

Beom-mong’s left big toe flew away along with the front part of his navy blue cloth shoe. Blood flowed steadily from the severed big toe.

“Iron Silk doesn’t reach the feet?”

It was Jin Ja-gang’s voice.

Swish. Soul Seizing Thread wound in midair and was retrieved to Jin Ja-gang’s hand.

Beom-mong frowned. At least it was the big toe – his ankle had almost been severed.

Then, as if some thought occurred to him, he looked at Bulgi.

Bulgi laughed loudly.

“You think only you know how to sow discord?”

Bulgi had undoubtedly informed Jin Ja-gang about Iron Silk through telepathic transmission.

Iron Silk was a technique of applying protective energy to outer garments worn over the body. It was a defense method suitable for Taoist and Buddhist martial artists who wore long robes or monk robes extending to their feet, but it didn’t make the entire body indestructible.

Beom-mong’s eyes showed displeasure.

Jin Ja-gang’s action was natural in a way. Since Bulgi was already weakening, it was advantageous to kill Beom-mong first and then fight Bulgi.

Bulgi smiled.

“Keke keke, I told you not to look down on me. I’m Bulgi, Zhongnan’s mad dog.”

I bite only one.

This was why people didn’t mess with Bulgi – a clearly understandable aspect.