Chapter 313 – Finding Life's Meaning in Death (1)

Dam Ho moved his steps toward Cheon Oh-gyeong.

One step, then another step.

Thump! Shuffle! Thump! Shuffle!

Dam Ho's characteristic footsteps resonated through the air. That sound, which ominously stimulated people's hearts, also stimulated Cheon Oh-gyeong's heart.

Cheon Oh-gyeong felt his heart pounding for the first time in a very long while. Even within the Demon Cult, he had rarely felt this level of tension.

If there was one time, it was when he saw Cult Leader Cheok Gwan-hyeol.

At that time, Cheok Gwan-hyeol was still young and merely an incomplete vessel. But he was a genius beyond Cheon Oh-gyeong's imagination and possessed tremendous malice.

Once he set a goal, he would never give up and would somehow cling to it and eventually achieve what he desired, possessing such tenacity.

Though he was young in age, his eyes contained a weight that overwhelmed the world. That's what made Cheon Oh-gyeong tremble.

It might sound like an excuse, but that's why Cheon Oh-gyeong could be indifferent to the Demon Cult's affairs. It was because he trusted Cheok Gwan-hyeol that much.

And today, Cheon Oh-gyeong was experiencing that same sense of trembling again.

"Phew!"

He put strength into the hand holding the sickle.

The opponent was real.

Not simply someone's disciple or some sect's follower.

A complete martial artist in his own right. That was Dam Ho.

He must not be deceived by something like a limp. For a martial artist who had reached that level, limping slightly was no obstacle at all. Rather, having prejudices would be more dangerous.

Cheon Oh-gyeong felt his blood boiling.

Dam Ho had forcibly dragged out the competitive spirit he thought had disappeared long ago.

He shouted without realizing it:

"Good!"

Whoosh!

Wind blew from the mountain peak, making his clothes flutter. His appearance wrapped in the wind was a Sword Immortal itself.

Pop!

At that moment, Dam Ho kicked the ground.

His charging technique was deployed.

Like a massive battering ram charging forward, Dam Ho's body instantly closed the distance. Everything around disappeared, and only one thing, Dam Ho's figure, remained on his retina.

Cheon Oh-gyeong lightly drew his sickle.

From top to bottom, he simply waved his hand lightly.

Swish!

In an instant, Dam Ho saw an illusion of the world being split in half. No, it wasn't an illusion.

Everything was being cut away.

The atmosphere, the space in front of him.

He had to avoid it.

If he continued charging like this, his body would also be split in half.

His instincts were telling him so.

But…

Whoosh!

Dam Ho increased his speed even more.

Speed was added to the weight of the battering ram.

CRASH!

In an instant, an explosive sound burst forth.

The invisible sword energy and Dam Ho's body had collided.

The space behind Dam Ho was cut away. Dam Ho's clothes were also cut and fluttered. Long wounds had formed on Dam Ho's shoulders and waist as well. But they were only flesh wounds, not deep.

It was because he had deployed the Explosive Star Strike at the critical moment.

Though he couldn't completely neutralize Cheon Oh-gyeong's sword energy, he had reduced its power. For Dam Ho, that was enough.

His martial arts, the Solitary Path he had created, was martial arts solely for advancing forward.

In the Solitary Path, there was no evasion or retreat.

Martial arts that displayed maximum power when advancing forward. That's why Dam Ho advanced.

Whoosh!

Air rushed wildly toward Cheon Oh-gyeong. Even the air moved with Dam Ho's movement.

Riding the wind, the Explosive Star Strike was deployed.

CRASH!

A fierce explosive sound burst forth and Cheon Oh-gyeong's body swayed. But Cheon Oh-gyeong suffered no damage. It was because he had raised his sickle to block Dam Ho's fist.

Human flesh and sharp metal had collided. Yet Dam Ho's fist had not a single wound, and the ordinary sickle was also intact.

It was a scene showing what level the two people's achievements had reached.

"Magnificent."

Cheon Oh-gyeong let out pure admiration.

Though it seemed like an ordinary sword technique, it contained Cheon Oh-gyeong's lifetime of accumulated power. It was not an attack that could be easily neutralized or deflected, yet Dam Ho had rather advanced and neutralized it.

It was truly outstanding sense and courage. Enough to make one's spine naturally feel chilled.

He had never seen anyone with this level of sense.

Whoosh!

Dam Ho's second strike continued. At the same time, Cheon Oh-gyeong lightly moved his steps as if treading on clouds.

It was the Drifting Cloud Step, a footwork technique of moving while riding clouds. Added to that was the deep understanding of Sword Stream accumulated over a lifetime.

Moving while riding clouds and wielding a sword like wind.

Demon Sword Immortal.

A sword immortal walking the demonic path.

Cheon Oh-gyeong was revealing his true nature without reservation.

Every time he swung his sickle, air split and space was cut away. His swordsmanship that even dominated space was truly terrifying.

Swish!

Wounds increased on Dam Ho's entire body.

Long cuts formed and blood shot up. The reason Dam Ho could endure it was because he was deploying his shield.

The subtle vibrations arising from his body were deflecting Cheon Oh-gyeong's sword in minute trajectories.

Whoosh! Whir!

Chilling sounds of cutting through air continuously echoed.

If even one landed a direct hit, it wouldn't just result in limbs falling off. The body would be split in half.

Cheon Oh-gyeong's breathing, moving steps, swinging arms, gestures, footwork, even minute body movements were all one completed martial art.

The being called Cheon Oh-gyeong that Dam Ho faced was a swordsman who had approached the realm that everyone desperately desired and pursued through decades of cultivation. Fighting him brought Dam Ho's concentration to its peak.

He consecutively deployed ultimate techniques like Single Yang Strike, Five Finger Rock Breaking Energy, and Charging Horn. In response, Cheon Oh-gyeong also ceaselessly swung his sickle.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Continuous roars echoed.

The atmosphere rippled, and aftershocks swept through an area of dozens of zhang in radius.

Rumble!

The terraced rice fields that had just begun to sprout and turn green collapsed with a crash.

Whoosh!

Dam Ho's left shoulder jerked backward. He had allowed Cheon Oh-gyeong's strike. A chunk of flesh flew away from Cheon Oh-gyeong's sickle.

Blood flowed freely and bone was exposed. Momentarily, distant pain that could make one's mind fly away came.

Dam Ho gritted his teeth.

This level of pain was nothing.

Come to think of it, he was always in crisis, and every day was an ordeal of walking a thorny path.

It was fine if an arm flew away, and it didn't matter if he lost a leg.

He had long forgotten physical pain.

His mind was dominating his body.

"Hah!"

At such an appearance of Dam Ho, Cheon Oh-gyeong let out a sigh.

Despite attacking so relentlessly, he ultimately couldn't push Dam Ho back even a single step. Like a nightmare, Dam Ho clung to Cheon Oh-gyeong persistently like that. And he finally landed a strike.

CRASH!

It was the Explosive Star Strike.

"Krehmm!"

A groan involuntarily flowed from Cheon Oh-gyeong's mouth. He had instantly drawn up protective energy to protect his body, but his internal organs had been shaken.

Cheon Oh-gyeong realized that ordinary techniques couldn't do anything to Dam Ho. He was an existence that could absolutely never be shaken off until he was completely killed in a single strike.

Cheon Oh-gyeong's gaze changed.

In an instant, the temperature of the area dropped coldly.

It wasn't a mistake. The surrounding temperature actually dropped rapidly. Just by harboring killing intent, external energy stole the temperature and flowed into him.

"Haaap!"

Cheon Oh-gyeong thrust his sickle.

In an instant, a hole was punched through the world.

One Point Blood.

The very technique that had killed Cho Yeon-woon's master at Mount Zhongnan was deployed toward Dam Ho.

For a moment, Dam Ho saw his own death.

An illusion of a hole being punched through his forehead and rolling on the ground flashed through his mind.

His skin trembled.

His heart pounded madly as if it would explode.

Under tremendous pressure, blood first burst from his nose. Next was his ears. His eardrums had also burst.

Urp!

He immediately vomited blood. His internal organs had been not just shaken but torn apart.

His eyes, with burst capillaries, became red with blood as if blood would drip at any moment. Dam Ho's two eyes were actually on the verge of bursting.

He had to retreat.

He had to avoid or retreat to relieve the pressure and then counterattack. But Dam Ho didn't do that.

The moment he retreated, everything he had built up until now would break.

He had to advance even at the cost of his life.

Dam Ho believed in himself.

In the path he had walked.

In the Solitary Path he had created.

Whoosh!

Rough air currents swirled around Dam Ho's body. The Violent Demon Energy was deployed.

Fierce explosive energy like tiger teeth clashed with One Point Blood.

CRASH!

With a roar that shook heaven and earth, the hill where the terraced fields had been collapsed, and blade-like wind swept through the area.

"Aaak!"

Dan Woon-hyang, swept up in the aftershock, screamed and flew backward.

Dan Woon-hyang, roughly thrown to the ground, barely raised her head and looked at the battlefield.

"This can't… be!"

Dan Woon-hyang stared blankly ahead.

It wasn't a human fight. The battle between the two far exceeded her imagination.

She had never witnessed such a fight even once. No, she had never even imagined such a fight could exist.

It was a battle beyond common sense, from another realm entirely.

Dust clouds had risen centered on where the hill had collapsed, covering the sky.

Crack!

Continuous roars echoed from within the dust clouds. Each time, terrifying energy waves arose, making the dust clouds sway back and forth.

Dan Woon-hyang opened her eyes wide, but the scene beyond was invisible, obscured by thick dust.

'What's happening?'

A light of conflict appeared on her face.

Though it was unlikely, if Cheon Oh-gyeong was even slightly disadvantaged, she planned to flee without hesitation. What was most precious was her own life, not Cheon Oh-gyeong's safety.

Dan Woon-hyang swallowed dry saliva and watched the battlefield.

Flash!

At that moment, a ray of sword light flashed from within the dust.

"……"

Dan Woon-hyang stopped moving.

It wasn't just her. Everything in the world had stopped.

The flowing clouds, the blowing wind, the rising dust all stopped moving.

The world had been severed.

That's how the world appeared in her eyes.

It seemed like no movement of anything would be permitted within it.

Dan Woon-hyang instinctively realized that Cheon Oh-gyeong had deployed Sword Stream's ultimate technique.

'He won.'

That monster that seemed like it would never fall, that ferocious beast that no one seemed able to stop, had finally fallen.

Dan Woon-hyang clenched her fist tightly.

"Elder!"

She ran toward where she guessed Cheon Oh-gyeong would be.

It wasn't to see Cheon Oh-gyeong. It was to see Dam Ho that Cheon Oh-gyeong had defeated. She felt like she would only feel relieved and refreshed after seeing his corpse.

That's when it happened.

Whoosh!

The air in the area was sucked toward where they were.

"What?"

Dan Woon-hyang's body, swept by the wind, staggered.

It was when she raised her head to look ahead with an ominous premonition.

CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH!

At that moment, the dust clouds that had been still began to sway. And they turned into a storm.

"Kreup!"

From within, someone's low scream burst forth.

Namgung Won led Jin Ja-gang down along the river.

The Wudang and Mount Heng martial artists stood guard nearby.

After arriving at the location Namgung Won guided him to, Jin Ja-gang had doubts.

“This place…”

A shabby shrine with three attached rooms of considerable size, but with all the doors broken.

It was exactly the promised meeting place they had originally agreed on.

Jin Ja-gang looked at Namgung Won as if asking if this was correct. Namgung Won nodded.

Beom-mong knew the direction Jin Ja-gang was going. If Beom-mong had just come down here, he would have met the person he was looking for.

“Haha.”

Jin Ja-gang chuckled slightly.

After preparing security through several stages, the final step was ordinary.

Whether to call this boldness or sophisticated psychology.

Either way, it was clear he was no ordinary person.

A small human presence was felt from inside the shabby shrine.

Creak.

The shrine door opened and a leisurely voice came from inside.

“Come in, what are you doing?”

It was an unfamiliar voice.

Jin Ja-gang slowly entered the shrine.

An old man with a small frame, less than half of Jin Ja-gang’s body size, was cleaning memorial tablets in the shrine.

“Looking at the memorial tablets, it seems the head of household died five years ago.”

The old man placed the cleaned tablet on a shelf and picked up the next tablet to clean while muttering.

“And then family members died in order and are here. Until before, they were memorial tablets made of expensive stone, but from three years ago they started using cheap wooden tablets. Probably some epidemic hit. In the end, they couldn’t even get money to make tablets.”

The old man put down the wooden tablet with a pitiful voice.

“This shrine was originally the family temple of a well-maintained wealthy house. The decorations are high-class, the writing is by a famous literary figure, and the walls were made with precious white stone. But in five years the family fortune declined. Probably this household’s lineage was cut off, or if alive, they’re scattered somewhere barely surviving day by day.”

The old man spoke regretfully while showing his back and turned away.

“That’s how the world is. Power doesn’t last ten years… No matter how strong the power you have, once it starts declining, you lose it all in an instant as if it never existed.”

Jin Ja-gang listened quietly and then asked.

“I don’t understand the meaning of your words.”

“It means that though building is difficult, protecting is even more difficult, and preventing collapse is most difficult of all.”

“What do you mean?”

“The martial world.”

The old man slowly turned around.

For an instant, bright golden light swept through the shrine.

Jin Ja-gang was startled seeing the old man’s face.

Was this a human face!

Eyeballs the size of a child’s fist protruded and stared at Jin Ja-gang. The eyelids drooped in several layers and had to be held up with fingers.

Moreover, the pupils were small compared to the eyes, so the whites occupied nine-tenths of the whole. But the whites were crystal clear yet tinged with golden light, yellowishly swirling.

It was eerie.

Just meeting his gaze felt overwhelming.

The old man approached and thrust his eyes forward.

Roll, roll!

The eyeballs moved constantly, scanning Jin Ja-gang’s entire body. It was truly bizarre beyond measure.

The old man suddenly exclaimed.

“Wow! You’re that monster indeed! A monster who created monsters.”

Jin Ja-gang frowned and said.

“Your eyesight seems poor.”

Then the old man’s pupils moved even faster.

“What? Did it hurt your feelings to be called a monster by a monster?”

Jin Ja-gang retorted.

“A friend I know said this: ‘This is Chongqing. So most people can’t act carelessly here.’ But that doesn’t seem to apply to Great Master Beom-mong or you, old man.”

The old man’s shoulders shook. He seemed to be laughing. However, his large eyeballs distorted his face so much that his expression couldn’t be properly seen.

“If you want to call me a monster, that’s fine. No need to speak indirectly. But old man! That’s a warm word I haven’t heard in a long time.”

“Do you have much time?”

“Hmm?”

“There are pursuers, and don’t you have something to tell me?”

“Ah, a man should be like Mount Tai when not moving, and like raging waves when moving once. Since we met for the first time today, wouldn’t it be better to have this much conversation?”

“It’s uncomfortable. Those eyes.”

“Oh my. You’re the first to speak so directly in front of me.”

Jin Ja-gang hardened his face and said.

“If you have nothing to say, I’ll go back.”

The old man’s pupils still rolled around. To the point where it seemed like you could hear the sound of the eyeballs rolling.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

“I have no particular discomfort. Except for your eyes, old man.”

“But it’s uncomfortable, that leg.”

Strength entered Jin Ja-gang’s eyes.

The old man’s eyes suddenly stopped moving. Then he suddenly smiled and said.

“Shall I give you a movement technique?”

It was an unexpected proposal. Jin Ja-gang asked back while trying to understand the old man’s intention.

“Is it useful?”

“It’s useful.”

Instantly the old man’s figure blurred.

“Even though I look like this, I’m someone who gets cursed at for giving just anything.”

A voice came from behind Jin Ja-gang. The old man’s afterimages appeared in sequence as he went around to behind Jin Ja-gang.

Pop pop pop!

When Jin Ja-gang turned his head, he saw the old man’s afterimage standing behind him. But the old man’s figure was no longer there. The old man’s afterimage continued into the air. The old man had leaped into the air leaving momentary afterimages.

It was a rather strange sight. More than ten afterimages of him circling around Jin Ja-gang and leaping up still remained.

Rustle.

Dust fell from the shrine’s ceiling. An afterimage of the old man standing upside down on the ceiling looking down remained.

But the next words came from the original position again.

“How’s that? It’s the Reverse Afterimage Confusion Body Technique.”

Afterimages remained connected from the ceiling to in front of Jin Ja-gang.

“Useful?”

Jin Ja-gang looked ahead. But though the sound came from the front, what was in front was an afterimage.

Then surprisingly, the afterimages disappeared not in order but randomly.

“Reverse… is it?”

The answer came from the ceiling beam.

“Reverse and simultaneously confusion. It’s a secret technique of Wudang that was lost long ago. You can’t understand the meaning without knowing the movement technique’s name.”

Wudang Sect’s secret technique!

The old man lightly leaped down to the floor like a feather.

Jin Ja-gang admired inwardly. He understood why it had such a name.

The afterimages weren’t created following the old man’s movement but appeared in the opposite direction of where the old man moved. The direction the old man moved wasn’t from the front, but ceiling, behind Jin Ja-gang, in front of Jin Ja-gang, and then the ceiling again.

No, perhaps the order Jin Ja-gang confirmed was wrong. Because the afterimages created and the actual movement order were different.

“Are you tempted or not?”

“I’m tempted.”

The old man no longer showed his strange eyes. With white eyebrows and heavy eyelids lowered, he stepped back.

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“What do you want from me in return?”

The old man grinned.

“Very good attitude. But whether you can grant what I want or not, you’ll have to listen to my story first.”

“Before that, shouldn’t you tell me who you are first?”

The old man got angry.

“You insolent brat! Isn’t it proper for you to introduce yourself first, not the old man!”

Though he seemed to be nitpicking while knowing full well, Jin Ja-gang answered immediately.

“I’m Jin Ja-gang, descendant of Hundred Flower Valley, a medicine sect.”

“I’m Haewol.”

Jin Ja-gang’s eyebrows twitched.

The alliance leader of the Martial Alliance and one of the Three Venerables of the martial world!

Why was he, who was said to be critically injured from an attack, in Chongqing instead of the Martial Alliance?

Now all the circumstances made sense.

Why Namgung Won and others moved secretly, and why a big shot like Beom-mong appeared looking for someone.

However, he still couldn’t understand why Shaolin Temple was looking for Alliance Leader Taoist Haewol. According to Namgung Won, wasn’t Beom-mong an assassin!

Jin Ja-gang said.

“It seems you don’t get along well with Shaolin Temple.”

“It’s self-inflicted, what can I say.”

“That’s strange. With the alliance leader’s ability, couldn’t you handle Great Master Beom-mong yourself?”

“If you bite the bait, the hook gets caught in your mouth. What do you think would happen if I killed a Shaolin monk?”

“There would be chaos.”

“Right. That’s why I’m just avoiding it.”

Then Taoist Haewol turned his head.

“A fly caught the scent. Time to get moving.”

Taoist Haewol’s smile deepened seeing Jin Ja-gang had already turned his head in the same direction.

“At least your senses are properly sharpened.”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang left the shrine with Taoist Haewol and boarded a ferry on the river. The Wudang and Mount Heng martial artists scattered around to create confusion.

Taoist Haewol naturally tried to leave the oar to Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang didn’t grab the oar and just watched quietly.

“Why?”

Jin Ja-gang said.

“I don’t know how to row.”

“What?”

Taoist Haewol’s long eyebrows twitched.

Jin Ja-gang added.

“I’ve never been on a boat.”

Taoist Haewol’s face contorted.

“You seem to not know well, but alliance leaders don’t row and such.”

“Do as you please. It seems we need to go upstream, but if I handle the oar, the boat might capsize.”

Taoist Haewol glared at Jin Ja-gang, then chuckled.

“A pale-looking guy who’s also shameless.”

Taoist Haewol lightly lifted the heavy oar with one hand and rowed the water.

The current was strong and the flow fast.

Taoist Haewol was short with short arms, so he had to grip the oar long to row. Yet each time Taoist Haewol rowed once, the ferry moved forward smoothly.

Taoist Haewol spoke first.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. Mad with revenge, stirring up Yunnan and Sichuan? Seeing you’re still alive, you’re capable.”

Jin Ja-gang asked back.

“Which side is the question?”

“You never try to lose once.”

“That’s why I’m still alive.”

“Ah, good. Good. You need that much spirit. But…”

Taoist Haewol moved his lips between his white beard.

“You might really die doing that.”

Swoosh!

They entered rapids and water splashed on the boat’s side as the boat rocked greatly up and down. Through this, Taoist Haewol’s killing intent leaked out bit by bit.

Taoist Haewol’s killing intent was different from the other killing intents Jin Ja-gang had experienced. It was very sharp and keen. It was rough yet heavy. It covered not only the ferry but the entire surface of the roughly flowing river.

Roooar!

The current became more violent.

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes widened greatly. He bared his canine teeth. His internal energy moved automatically in response to the killing intent. His blood heated up and his hair stood on end. Jin Ja-gang’s body was emitting fighting spirit beyond Jin Ja-gang’s control.

Having crossed death several times, Jin Ja-gang had already surpassed intimidating killing intent. Instead of being cowed by killing intent, his fighting spirit flared up.

However, his fighting spirit was so extreme that his head felt dizzy. His eyeballs felt hot as if they would burst. Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. His body trembled. Not from fear, but his body was crying out that he must fight to survive.

“Wow… look at those eyes. You’ve killed quite a few people.”

Taoist Haewol’s voice penetrated Jin Ja-gang’s ears. Every word gave him goosebumps.

Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth and raised his hand.

Then he struck the bottom of the boat.

Bang!

In the middle of the river where rapids swirled around, the boat rocked greatly.

Whoosh! Splash!

A hole was punched in the bottom of the boat and water gushed up. The ferry began to sink.

Jin Ja-gang, with his eyes raised and teeth grinding, spewing fighting spirit continuously, said.

“I haven’t yet judged that you’re my enemy. Don’t test me.”

Taoist Haewol looked at Jin Ja-gang with all his hair standing on end, revealed his eyes called Golden Beads, and laughed loudly.

“Uhahaha! Truly befitting the worst monster! You little… omm!”