Chapter 433

Thunder Emperor Ga Mu-ru, standing on the half-destroyed ship, stared at Jin Ja-gang for a long while before raising his hand.

The three evil faction masters surrounding Jin Ja-gang slowly began to retreat. At the same time, the ships carrying salt picked up speed, sailing around Jin Ja-gang to avoid him.

Ga Mu-ru folded his arms again and glared at Jin Ja-gang.

Chill!

Jin Ja-gang felt goosebumps rise along his spine.

Show your back and you’ll be cut.

Look away for even a moment and you’ll be cut.

Let your guard down and you’ll be cut.

This was the feeling of the powerful fighting spirit Ga Mu-ru was projecting. Though his hands were folded, the blade harbored in his heart was continuously targeting Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang muttered.

“You’ve caused enough ruckus… if you’ve gone that far, stay put. Is that what you mean?”

Ga Mu-ru merely stared bluntly.

A brief sneer formed at the corner of Jin Ja-gang’s mouth.

“Your confidence is impressive.”

Hearing Jin Ja-gang’s words, Taoist Master Bok-cheon read Jin Ja-gang’s thoughts and shouted.

“No! Don’t do it!”

But Jin Ja-gang was already moving.

He reached out toward the three evil faction masters who were slowly retreating.

In an instant, Ga Mu-ru unfolded his arms, drew his great sword with his left hand, pulled his left foot back while twisting his waist and lowering his stance, then gripped the end of the great sword with his right hand and swung it.

This all happened in a single breath.

KYYUUUUUNG!

A massive blade energy flew toward Jin Ja-gang.

But Jin Ja-gang didn’t withdraw his hand. Poison needles sprouted from Jin Ja-gang’s right hand, and Asura Sutra emerged from his left.

Two of the three must be left behind!

The three masters fled in terror, scattering in all directions.

Among the three fleeing evil faction masters, a poison needle embedded in Soul-Locking Ghost’s calf. The man with iron claws curled up like a ball and rolled to avoid the Asura Sutra.

Soul-Locking Ghost fell onto a plank. The spot where the poison needle struck immediately began to swell and fester. Blood foam bubbled up.

“Uuuurgh! Urgh!”

Poison Dragon’s reputation for deadly poison had already spread across the four seas. Soul-Locking Ghost gritted his teeth and cut off his own knee with the scythe. The severed leg was instantly covered in bloody pus and melted away.

And just as Taoist Master Bok-cheon had warned, Jin Ja-gang had no chance to dodge and was struck by Ga Mu-ru’s blade energy.

The blade energy grazed Jin Ja-gang’s abdomen as it passed.

ZZZT!

The front of his clothes instantly burned away, and a straight line of black soot appeared on the Thousand-Year Turtle Shell. Jin Ja-gang was pushed into the air by the powerful blade energy and fell into the river water. But even in the midst of this, his hands moved once more.

SPLASH!

As Jin Ja-gang fell into the river water, two needles embedded in the sole of Soul-Locking Ghost’s remaining healthy leg and in the iliac bone of his waist.

Soul-Locking Ghost was groaning from the pain of cutting off his own leg when he realized he had been hit by poison needles again.

Despair.

To survive, he would need to cut off the ankle of another foot and carve out his waist.

Even if he survived, he would never be able to practice martial arts again.

No matter how ruthless someone might be, how could they make such a cold judgment in such a brief moment?

Soul-Locking Ghost thought “Oh no!” Excruciating heat shot through him.

He had only hesitated for a moment, but the poison was already beginning to spread.

Soul-Locking Ghost tore his pants. Flowers were blooming petal by petal along the blood vessels of his leg.

“Ha… ah… ah…”

Soul-Locking Ghost looked back and forth between his own leg and the water where Jin Ja-gang had fallen with a despairing expression.

Both despair and rage were carved simultaneously on Soul-Locking Ghost’s face.

Soul-Locking Ghost raised his scythe. Red extinction flowers were already blooming on his arm, and unbearably painful heat was arriving.

Any later and there would be no salvation.

“UAAAAAAAH!”

Soul-Locking Ghost struck his own crown with the scythe.

THUD!

Soul-Locking Ghost’s eyes rolled back and his body fell backward.

The other two masters who had luckily survived trembled in their hearts. Their faces turned pale white. If Jin Ja-gang had targeted them, they would certainly have ended up in that state.

Ga Mu-ru’s eyes narrowed.

Even though he had warned that careless movement would result in being cut, Jin Ja-gang had still gone ahead and killed one.

Ga Mu-ru’s heavy mouth opened.

“Vicious bastard.”

SWOOSH…

Jin Ja-gang burst out of the water. He extended Asura Sutra to hook onto the rail of a passing ship and climbed aboard. All the evil faction warriors and sailors on the ship jumped into the river water and fled.

They couldn’t help but be frightened after seeing what had just occurred.

Jin Ja-gang touched the ship. Part of the Thousand-Year Turtle Shell’s surface, charred as if burned, had cracked and was oozing.

Son Bi came over supporting Taoist Master Bok-cheon to the ship where Jin Ja-gang was.

Taoist Master Bok-cheon looked at Jin Ja-gang with an incredulous expression and shook his head.

Well, that was Jin Ja-gang for you. In any situation, he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by his opponent’s momentum.

Then, surprisingly, Ga Mu-ru pointed to the opposite riverbank for Jin Ja-gang to see.

Then he launched his body and flew there first. Despite his massive frame and wearing armor, he lightly leaped several zhang at a time, stepping on the water’s surface.

At the riverbank, Ga Mu-ru embedded his great sword in the ground and gestured.

“Come over.”

The terrifying fighting spirit he had been pouring out disappeared.

He had acknowledged Jin Ja-gang!

Taoist Master Bok-cheon was about to try to dissuade Jin Ja-gang from going, but stopped.

There was no need to tell the current Jin Ja-gang to do this or don’t do that from the sidelines. What Taoist Master Bok-cheon should do as an adult was not interference or meddling, but advice.

Taoist Master Bok-cheon said while breaking out in cold sweat from pain.

“Thunder Emperor is a warrior who once stood shoulder to shoulder with Master Haewol. He has also competed with Brother Woo-am. Brother said that Thunder Emperor’s internal energy is profound and his Lightning Blade rarely tires. Having experienced it today myself, it’s truly so. And…”

He added the rest through voice transmission.

‘There seems to be an injury around his chest area.’

Though Ga Mu-ru could have purely overwhelmed Taoist Master Bok-cheon with strength, at the end he waited while accepting that his ship would sink from Taoist Master Bok-cheon’s sword energy. He also frowned when using Lightning Blade.

For such a master to have received an injury uncomfortable enough to hinder his movement meant it was probably from fighting Master Haewol. The injury wasn’t very minor.

“Understood. I’ve dealt with the Demon Cult masters, so please avoid them.”

Ga Mu-ru wanting to hold Jin Ja-gang while sending the other ships away was also what Jin Ja-gang wanted. Since he had sent Yeung-gwi to help the Poison Sect Cliques, they would block them from below.

Son Bi approached and firmly gripped Jin Ja-gang’s hand. Though she couldn’t speak, this replaced a hundred words.

Jin Ja-gang nodded in response without taking his eyes off Ga Mu-ru, answering with a gesture.

Then he jumped off the ship, rode a small plank, and went to the riverbank where Ga Mu-ru was waiting.

SPLASH.

Jin Ja-gang stepped onto the riverbank, shaking off his wet pants. He removed his torn and burned upper garment that was cumbersome. The Thousand-Year Turtle Shell was fully exposed.

Ga Mu-ru looked at Jin Ja-gang with heavy eyes. His deeply sunken eye sockets made his atmosphere seem even more profound.

“Are you the successor Haewol mentioned?”

“I’ve never directly heard myself called a successor. Though I did receive a request to take his life if things went well.”

Ga Mu-ru’s eyes changed slightly.

“So it was like that after all.”

“What do you mean by ‘after all’?”

Surprisingly, Ga Mu-ru readily answered.

“I thought there was no way Haewol would really have joined hands with the Demon Cult.”

“That means…”

“Anyone who knows Haewol would think so naturally.”

Jin Ja-gang was suddenly swept by a strange emotion.

People who had known Master Haewol for a long time all had the same evaluation of him.

He can be trusted. If it’s Master Haewol…

If it’s Master Haewol…

If it’s Haewol…

Master Haewol himself thought he was a villain. Of course, most people certainly thought so too.

But the people who actually knew Master Haewol didn’t think that way.

This wasn’t something that applied only to orthodox sect people.

If Ga Mu-ru spoke like this, wouldn’t the Demon Cult also have known Master Haewol likewise?

So from when Master Haewol brought in the Demon Cult, the Demon Cult probably also suspected Master Haewol’s true intentions. There would have been more than enough room for Baek Li-jung to intervene there.

The Demon Cult’s betrayal was a predetermined betrayal.

Jin Ja-gang even felt a sense of futility.

Master Haewol’s noble cause of trying to shoulder the villain’s role went awry because others knew but he himself didn’t realize it.

An unbearable sense of futility washed over him.

Jin Ja-gang asked Ga Mu-ru.

“Are you saying Master’s death was in vain?”

“Are there separate deaths for dogs and immortals?”

Ga Mu-ru said with deep eyes.

“Haewol failed to prove his cause and I simply remained alive.”

That was the cause that should have been proven to Jin Ja-gang through Haewol’s death.

“Was that the only reason Master had to die?”

“Long ago, the Northern Heaven Evil Sect was driven out of the Central Plains under a total attack by the Martial Alliance. Haewol was the instigator.”

Strength entered Ga Mu-ru’s eyes.

“Is there any reason Haewol shouldn’t have died?”

“So… you’re saying you used this opportunity.”

Jin Ja-gang’s voice became sharp.

“Northern Heaven has been involved in this affair from long ago. Surely you don’t not know why Master Haewol came to make such a choice.”

Ga Mu-ru didn’t answer.

“Did you knowingly let yourself be used, or are you pretending to be used? If neither, will you at least shift responsibility to King of Hell who orchestrated this affair?”

“King of Hell?”

A faint smile formed at the corner of Ga Mu-ru’s mouth.

“Let me tell you one thing. Even if King of Hell had been fine, this affair could never have succeeded.”

There was something contradictory in Ga Mu-ru’s words.

The one trying to continue King of Hell Tang Qing’s plan was precisely the Northern Heaven evil faction. Yet from the mouth of the Northern Heaven evil faction’s leader came talk that it wouldn’t have succeeded?

Are you saying you cooperated with King of Hell Tang Qing while knowing the plan would fail!

“Are you the instigator this time?”

“No.”

Jin Ja-gang lifted his chin slightly and said.

“Then it’s even more pathetic.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pretending to be deceived, pretending to be fooled. Where exactly is your cause?”

Ga Mu-ru stared at Jin Ja-gang for a while, then answered.

“Survival.”

Ga Mu-ru’s bass voice dropped even lower.

“Our cause lies in survival. Those who survive are strong, and the will of survivors is justice. That’s the way of thinking of the dark path.”

“To survive, you don’t mind dirty deeds and clung to the current. Is that what you mean?”

Ga Mu-ru twisted his lips and asked.

“Is Haewol who died for ideals pitiful, or are we who were driven to the frontier and forced into extreme survival pitiful?”

“If everyone dumps waste in a pit because the pit is dirty, the pit will rot even more inside. At least you should know shame. If everyone doesn’t feel ashamed about riding the current to pursue their own interests, how can any justice remain?”

Ga Mu-ru’s expression became distorted as if both laughing and angry, his thick lips lifting.

“Do you think there’s still justice left in the martial world that should be protected?”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“I don’t know about chivalry or great causes. But I know one thing. Because of that one thing, I’m standing here.”

Ga Mu-ru looked at Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang stared straight into Ga Mu-ru’s eyes and said.

“If life is entirely about just eating and living, what makes that person different from a beast?”

These words were meant directly for Ga Mu-ru to hear!

What makes you, who only pursues survival, different from a beast?

Ga Mu-ru’s lips parted.

Paradoxically, it looked like a quite pleased expression.

“Prove it.”