Chapter 112

Chapter 112: An Uninvited Guest Crashes the Banquet (3)

He could tolerate many things, but disparaging the White Crane Sect was unforgivable.

He turned his head and relaxed the tension in his shoulders. A stinging pain shot through the arm that had taken a direct hit moments ago, but he paid it no mind.

Cho Yeon-woon circulated his internal energy throughout his body. His aura shifted. Where moments ago he had appeared somewhat lacking, now there was a solidity that seemed not a single bit incomplete.

"Hmph!"

As Cho Yeon-woon's aura transformed, a glint of tension appeared in the Second Infernal Judge's eyes as well.

In the next instant, Cho Yeon-woon kicked off the earth.

White energy enveloped his fist.

It was the phenomenon that occurred when deploying the third technique of the Eight Emperor Divine Fist—Annihilating Strike.

Crackle! Crack!

The white energy discharged arcs of lightning.

The Second Infernal Judge's palm spread wide. His power concentrated into the open hand, as though it were a shield.

Cho Yeon-woon's fist hammered down upon the Second Infernal Judge's palm.

Bam!

"Gah!"

A choked groan escaped from between the Second Infernal Judge's lips.

His entire body trembled and his organs churned. The tremendous force contained in Cho Yeon-woon's fist had shaken him to his core.

The Second Infernal Judge hastily retreated. But Cho Yeon-woon would not allow him to withdraw so freely.

Whoosh!

As though wings had sprouted from his body, Cho Yeon-woon's form lifted slightly off the earth and closed the distance to the Second Infernal Judge.

It was the White Crane Sect's unique footwork—the Flying Crane Step.

Like a crane spreading its wings wide to glide across the sky, Cho Yeon-woon extended both arms and closed in on the Second Infernal Judge.

Cho Yeon-woon's eyes burned with ferocity.

"How dare you retreat against the Eight Emperor Divine Fist!"

The Eight Emperor Divine Fist was a style of overwhelming force.

To unleash its true power required tremendous strength and internal energy. Adding speed to that was the ideal.

The Second Infernal Judge was retreating, and Cho Yeon-woon was charging forward. Speed had been added to the equation.

The fifth technique of the Eight Emperor Divine Fist—Thunder Spirit Radiance—was deployed.

Crackle! Crack!

White lightning enveloped not only Cho Yeon-woon's fist but his entire arm.

The Second Infernal Judge's retinas were filled with the flickering white lightning.

Kaboom!

"Urgh!"

With a thunderous explosion, the Second Infernal Judge was sent flying backward. The chest of his garment was scorched black.

"My lord!"

The Blood Chain Demons nearby rushed to the Second Infernal Judge's aid. The attackers, clad entirely in black from head to toe, surrounded Cho Yeon-woon and attacked in unison.

"Damn it!"

A curse burst from between Cho Yeon-woon's lips.

The Eight Emperor Divine Fist consisted of seven techniques in total.

Each technique possessed tremendous power, but it consumed an equally enormous amount of internal energy. The final three techniques, in particular, were so devastating that they could only be described as insane—they devoured internal energy at a terrifying rate. Deploying even one would leave one completely exhausted.

In truth, Cho Yeon-woon's internal energy had already hit bottom.

To have deployed those techniques and still failed to kill the Second Infernal Judge—this had been a losing deal.

"Tch!"

Cho Yeon-woon bit his lip and surveyed his surroundings.

The situation was not favorable.

He did not know where they had been gathered from, but the Blood Chain Demons' numbers far surpassed those of the orthodox martial artists gathered at the Azure Sun Sword Sect.

At first they had been holding their own, but as time passed, the balance of power was crumbling. If this continued much longer, most of the people here would lose their lives.

Cho Yeon-woon's gaze turned to Eun So-cheong.

The martial artists of the Eun Family Guard, led by Jong Ri-su, were barely holding on. But even that seemed to be reaching its limit, as they were being pushed back from the outskirts.

"Damn it!"

He did not care about the others, but he had to protect Eun So-cheong no matter what. If anything happened to her, he would not be able to face Bang Jin-bo.

Though they bickered every day, Cho Yeon-woon was the one who looked after Bang Jin-bo the most.

But to reach Eun So-cheong, he first had to cut down the enemies blocking his path.

'Just hold on a little longer. Please!'

Cho Yeon-woon prayed desperately, but contrary to his wishes, Eun So-cheong's eyes were trembling violently.

A storm of blood was erupting before her eyes. Blood from a bisected body had splattered across her face.

"Ah!"

A scream filled her mouth. But Eun So-cheong swallowed it down through sheer superhuman willpower.

"So-cheong."

Eun Il-myeong hid Eun So-cheong behind his back.

Half of the Eun Family Guard warriors, who normally protected Eun Il-myeong so faithfully, had already perished to the Blood Chain Demons' chain sickles.

They were considered strong by worldly standards, but they could not compare to the disciples of the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families.

Even the martial artists of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were being pushed back helplessly by the Blood Chain Demons. A significant number had been killed or wounded, and they were still fighting desperately.

What chance did the Eun Family Guard warriors, who were far less skilled, have of holding out? If not for the fact that Jong Ri-su, Eun So-cheong's bodyguard, had stepped to the forefront, they would have been annihilated long ago.

But even he had now reached his limit.

"Gah!"

Another Eun Family Guard warrior fell.

Jong Ri-su's eyes, gripping his sword, wavered.

'Gwak-a.'

The warrior's name was Jang Gwak. They had been on friendly terms.

Even at the death of a close companion, there was nothing Jong Ri-su could do.

Though Jong Ri-su was a master of such caliber that he was called the Silver Sword Ghost Hand, now he could barely keep up with protecting Eun Il-myeong and his daughter.

The situation was spiraling toward the worst.

More and more were falling. And most of them were martial artists of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families.

'This is hell.'

If she could, she would close her eyes and block her ears. But she could not.

The unspeakable carnage, the screams of people—they gripped her eyes and ears.

"Ah!"

Tears streamed down her lovely cheeks.

She tried to hold them back but could not stop. As though her tear ducts had burst, the tears continued to flow.

Shing!

"Argh!"

With a chilling sound of air being torn, another Eun Family Guard warrior fell.

"This is impossible…"

Eun Il-myeong, Eun So-cheong's father, trembled with rage.

An expression of disbelief was written across his face.

He had known that the Eun Family Guard warriors were a tier below the disciples of the Nine Great Sects, but he had never imagined they would fall so senselessly.

Until they had entered this place, he had harbored dreams. Dreams of the Eun Family Guard becoming the foremost sect in Hunan, backed by the Martial Alliance.

But only now did he grasp the truth.

The reason the Martial Alliance was formed was precisely to stand against the Demonic Cult.

Decades ago, the entire martial world had to unite its strength just to fight a single Demonic Cult. And even then, they had to endure tremendous losses.

Countless sects had been destroyed, and far more martial artists had lost their lives. The righteous-demonic great war had shaken the entire martial world to its core.

All of it had been caused by a single force—the Demonic Cult.

In other words, the power the Demonic Cult possessed was that immense. Enough that the entire martial world had to pool its strength just to oppose them.

To join the Martial Alliance meant standing on the front lines against such a formidable power.

"Gah!"

If he was not careful, rather than reaping sweet rewards, the Eun Family Guard could be destroyed.

Eun Il-myeong now truly understood this.

A chilling sense of crisis washed over him.

The Demonic Cult's reappearance was now an established fact. Was there not proof of this right before his eyes?

Clang!

Just then, an unusually clear sword cry rang across the battlefield. A powerful wave of energy swept through the surroundings.

"Umph!"

"Ah!"

Eun Il-myeong and his daughter staggered as they were caught in the shockwave. Both of their faces had gone pale.

The wave of energy generated by the clash between Sage Cheong-heo and the Golden Demon Lion swept through the entire Azure Sun Sword Sect like a storm.

The Golden Demon Lion waved his hand. A torrent of water surged forth, engulfing Sage Cheong-heo.

Sage Cheong-heo's white beard trembled.

He knew better than anyone that ordinary techniques could not stand against ki energy.

Sage Cheong-heo poured all his power into his beloved sword. Heat haze rose from the blade, and a faint sword-shaped image took form.

"Sword—Sword ki?"

The Golden Demon Lion's brow furrowed slightly behind his golden mask. He had not expected Sage Cheong-heo to have reached a realm where he could manifest sword ki.

Clang!

The Golden Demon Lion's torrent of water collided with Sage Cheong-heo's sword ki.

Rumble!

Their clash brought the great hall crashing down.

Roof tiles turned to dust and scattered. Pillars so large that two or three men standing with arms outstretched could not reach around them were shattered and sent flying in all directions.

The power was truly beyond imagination.

But Sage Cheong-heo's expression, who had wielded the sword ki, was not good. His face had turned ashen, and dark blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

A single clash had inflicted serious internal injuries.

Both the torrent of water and sword ki were forms of ki energy. But their power varied enormously depending on the depth of enlightenment, the years of cultivation, and the depth of one's power.

Sage Cheong-heo had only recently achieved the realm of sword ki. And even that was barely realized—it was incomplete.

The form was that of sword ki, but in terms of power, it was greatly lacking.

"Ugh!"

In the end, Sage Cheong-heo could not hold back and spat out dark blood.

The Golden Demon Lion looked down at him and spoke.

"You had a hidden trump card, horse. To have reached the realm of Manifesting Ki into Energy while keeping it perfectly hidden. Had I been careless, it could have turned into a troublesome situation."

The common wisdom held that though Sage Cheong-heo was called the Number One Sword of Hubei, he had not yet reached a realm where he could manifest sword ki.

But Sage Cheong-heo had transcended the world's preconceptions, reaching the realm of Manifesting Ki into Energy. Though his enlightenment was incomplete and his power greatly diminished.

"Amitabha! It is not over yet."

Though clearly at a disadvantage, Sage Cheong-heo charged at the Golden Demon Lion once more. His figure was like a moth flying toward the flame, knowing it meant death.

But Sage Cheong-heo had no choice. If he gave up here, everyone present would be massacred.

Gritting his teeth, Sage Cheong-heo deployed his sword ki.

Han So-yu watched him through gritted teeth.

Everyone was fighting desperately.

The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect had also suffered heavy losses.

Several Second Generation Disciples had already been killed or wounded. It was only because Myeong-gyeong was at the forefront battling the masked men that they had held on this long—otherwise, they might have been annihilated already.

Martial Uncle Hyeon-mu Sage was fighting fiercely, but his limits were clear.

Han So-yu herself had been running back and forth to protect the Mount Hua Sect's disciples, but she, too, had reached her limit.

"Huff! Huff!"

A sweet-scented breath escaped between her lips.

"Girl, not bad."

Just then, one of the enemies approached her.

A martial artist who radiated a particularly powerful aura—one of the three judges, the Third Infernal Judge. He leveled his sword at Han So-yu.

While her internal energy was nearly depleted, he had not broken a sweat. A battle of this scale was nothing more than a warm-up for him.

"Die!"

He swung his sword.

Clang! Clang!

Han So-yu desperately deployed the Thirty-Six Plum Blossom Sword to fight back. But with her internal energy spent, her form quickly crumbled.

Shing!

"Hmph!"

In the end, she allowed a single strike to her shoulder and lost her grip on her sword.

"Martial Sister!"

"So-yu!"

From a distance, Myeong-gyeong and Hyeon-mu Sage both cried out and tried to rush to her aid. But they were each engaged with their own enemies and could not break free.

Myeong-gyeong, in particular, was pinned down by the First Infernal Judge and had no way to pull away.

The Third Infernal Judge's sword descended toward Han So-yu's neck.

"No!"

At the very moment Myeong-gyeong screamed himself hoarse—

Boom!

A heavy vibration suddenly resonated throughout the entire Azure Sun Sword Sect.

The sound, which made their hearts inexplicably uneasy, made everyone shudder. Even the Golden Demon Lion, who had been overwhelming Sage Cheong-heo, was no exception.

Boom! Thud! Boom! Thud!

The ominous sound grew louder and louder.