Chapter 451

The Toad Art, so powerful it destroys one’s own body.

The Five Thunder Piercing Heaven Technique, drawing power at the cost of destruction.

Qingcheng Sect’s Venerable Woo-am and the Zoroastrian Cult’s Enlightened Master combined only the strengths of these two supreme divine techniques to newly create the Jade Void Nine Light Five Thunder Toad Art.

The Jade Void Nine Light Five Thunder Toad Art builds dikes at the vital points of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians to store massive internal energy and control its flow. Therefore, as the number of dikes increases, the internal energy that can be used increases accordingly, making one proportionally stronger.

Yelu Huan, who had been the Enlightened Master, finally completed the Jade Void Nine Light Five Thunder Toad Art while confined for a long time in the Guizhou branch of the Martial Arts Alliance.

Nine dikes, the Ninth Light Dike.

Being able to use internal energy to the limit that a human body can endure, there would be almost none in the current generation who could match him in destructive power.

Needless to say, it would be absolutely reckless to face him with the power of the Eighth Light Dike.

However, Jin Ja-gang had one more weapon.

Asura Blood!

The essence of poison, with countless extreme poisons and deadly toxins infused into his blood.

Added to that was even King of Hell Tang Qing’s Extinction Essence, one of the Tang family’s three great fatal poisons.

Now Jin Ja-gang’s Asura Blood had become an absolute poison that even the greatest masters couldn’t endure.

Behold the sight of blood gushing from Jin Ja-gang’s entire body, scattering like mist and creating a poison fog! If one were to inhale that, even Yelu Huan would have difficulty enduring for long.

But Yelu Huan didn’t greatly fear Jin Ja-gang’s Asura Blood.

Yelu Huan had experienced Jin Ja-gang’s poison once before. Back then, he had suffered considerably from the poison energy released in a confined space.

However, this was a wide estate with plenty of places to avoid. As long as he was careful about contact with his skin and inhalation, it wouldn’t be fatal.

With such a vast difference in martial arts cultivation, no matter how strong the poison was, it would be difficult to harm Yelu Huan!

Whoosh!

Yelu Huan tilted his head back to dodge the poison palm flying toward his face. The missed palm force exploded behind Yelu Huan, creating a blood spray.

Hisssss…

The blood spray that became poison mist didn’t dissipate but remained in place, forming a poison zone.

Yelu Huan kicked Jin Ja-gang’s side.

Crack!

The sound of impact and ribs breaking came simultaneously.

Blood poured more severely from Jin Ja-gang’s side where a hole had been pierced. Yelu Huan chased after the retreating Jin Ja-gang, leaping up and kicking consecutively. Jin Ja-gang twisted his body and raised both arms to block.

Thud thud thud thwack!

Jin Ja-gang was sent flying nearly three or four zhang, blood splattering in all directions. The splattered blood created blood sprays and raised poison mist. Poison mist formed in various places. Yelu Huan spun in mid-air, gathered his strength, then extended both palms forward.

He pushed the poison mist aside and palm force poured out. Jin Ja-gang touched the ground and somersaulted sideways to dodge.

Crash! Yelu Huan’s double palm crushed the ground and created a huge pit large enough for a person to enter.

Yelu Huan’s hands didn’t stop as he struck dozens of palm shadows.

Countless palm forces fell from above like hail. Holes were pockmarked in the debris of the collapsed roof. Whether roof tiles or bricks, they were instantly crushed.

Jin Ja-gang repeatedly stepped back while drawing and throwing poison needles with Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams. However, the poison needles were also dented and bounced away when hit by the ceaselessly pouring palm force.

But then.

Flash!

Yelu Huan saw a single glittering point among the radiance of the palm force. A single point that emerged between the palm forces rapidly approached. Yelu Huan extended his hand before his face. A poison needle was caught between his fingers. In the midst of that, Jin Ja-gang had thrown one more poison needle between the palm forces using Flash Severance.

No, not just one. Yelu Huan used Thousand Catty Drop to fall straight to the ground.

Ping!

A poison needle that flew in a large arc from the left side grazed over his head. It was a poison needle that had circled from afar in a semicircle using the Flying Thread Twelve Branch technique.

If he had been careless thinking he’d blocked the needle that came with Flash Severance, the poison needle would have lodged in his ear hole.

Yelu Huan briefly stopped attacking and looked at Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang was setting his broken ribs by hand in the middle of the courtyard that had become a complete mess from Yelu Huan’s palm force.

“Truly a cunning fellow.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Didn’t you deliberately not block when you could have and set a trap?”

During the brief exchange, Jin Ja-gang had laid countless traps.

The second was spreading poison mist to induce him to use techniques employing palm force or finger wind rather than close combat.

The third was showing weakness by giving up his ribs.

The fourth was inducing a chain attack to counterattack with poison needles while pretending to fail.

The fifth was aiming with Flash Severance in that gap.

The sixth was calculating that Flash Severance would be blocked and attacking by circling poison needles from outside his field of vision using Flying Thread Twelve Branch.

And finally, the first trap was approaching right up close with confidence to set up all of this.

Acting confident then immediately suffering a setback in one move with broken ribs being knocked away, anyone would inevitably underestimate their opponent’s ability and become careless.

Bold.

He gave up his ribs in the first exchange when they didn’t know each other’s strength and gambled on the outcome.

“To use six stratagems in such a short time, I’ll praise you. But you failed.”

Yelu Huan slightly raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

“Such shallow tricks don’t work on me.”

“Is that so?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t seem to particularly care that the method he used by even giving up his ribs hadn’t worked.

“If cunning me failed, then you must be someone more cunning than me, old man.”

“Provocation is useless.”

Jin Ja-gang, who had set his ribs, looked at Yelu Huan and said.

“It’s not provocation but stating a fact.”

Yelu Huan smiled faintly.

“Sacrificing flesh to take bone… when it fails, the price is very high.”

Jin Ja-gang smiled along with him.

“I don’t think I failed though.”

“You’re being stubborn. Or are you throwing a tantrum?”

“Let me recommend one thing.”

Jin Ja-gang cut off Yelu Huan’s words and said.

“Do you remember the go move that Venerable Woo-am conveyed before, the one he waited forty years for?”

Yelu Huan looked at Jin Ja-gang for a moment, then asked back.

“Are you saying to spare you considering our past relationship?”

Jin Ja-gang bared his teeth and smiled.

“No. I said recommend, didn’t I? Throw down the stone. Forfeit. You know about that, don’t you?”

Yelu Huan laughed absurdly.

“Forfeit is when you give up because you can’t make any more moves when cornered! The one who should throw forfeit isn’t me but you.”

“Then I’ll go exactly the same as just now, so will you try blocking it?”

“What?”

“I’ll use the exact same technique as before, so if you think it won’t work, try blocking it.”

Yelu Huan’s brow furrowed.

“You’ve reached mastery in scratching people’s nerves…”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t listen to the end of Yelu Huan’s words. He launched a surprise attack aiming for the moment Yelu Huan was speaking.

He pointed his hand wrapped in poison mist sharply and stabbed at Yelu Huan’s solar plexus. Yelu Huan stopped his breathing and pushed away Jin Ja-gang’s hand with the back of his own. Jin Ja-gang bent his wrist and twisted his elbow to try catching Yelu Huan’s wrist.

He was thinking of attaching palms with Adhesive Connection Point Strike to try for a match with Grappling Technique. However, Yelu Huan didn’t easily allow it.

He lightly poked with his fingers at the palm and back of Jin Ja-gang’s approaching hand. That alone completely blocked Jin Ja-gang’s Grappling Technique. Each time he poked with his fingers to push away, Jin Ja-gang’s Grappling Technique flow was cut off.

Jin Ja-gang raised poison needles on his fingers with Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams.

Whirrrr. The poison needles freely moved between Jin Ja-gang’s fingers, palm, and back of hand, threatening Yelu Huan’s hand.

From the moment he held poison needles in his hand, it was no longer Grappling Technique but short weapon technique. Yelu Huan turned his palm this way and that to dodge the poison needles, then bent his middle finger and flicked.

Tang! The poison needle flicked by Yelu Huan’s finger instead flew back and lodged deeply in Jin Ja-gang’s thigh. When Jin Ja-gang staggered and retreated, he struck his chest with his palm without mercy.

Bang!

Jin Ja-gang tumbled while spewing blood. Only then did Yelu Huan try to breathe again after stopping his breath.

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang threw poison needles even while falling and vomiting blood.

Yelu Huan swept his sleeve to brush away the poison needles with wind.

Flash. Behind the swept-away poison needles, one needle flew quickly with Flash Severance.

Really using the exact same technique again?

Yelu Huan repeatedly swept his sleeve to catch the poison needle. But there was one more poison needle flying behind with Flash Severance.

‘Is this all? Just the level of struggling!’

Yelu Huan swept his arm once more to block the second Flash Severance too. But when he caught the second Flash Severance, if Jin Ja-gang went with the same sequence, next a needle would fly toward the side of his head.

Because the second Flash Severance flew late, the time to prepare for the next poison needle flying in a semicircle was slightly reduced.

‘Next is from the side, right? Left? Right?’

No, this time it might be from the right.

Yelu Huan concentrated his internal energy to raise his hearing. So he could hear even the slightest wind sound.

In that instant, Yelu Huan saw Jin Ja-gang bringing his hand to his mouth.

Right now Yelu Huan had raised his hearing!

Yelu Huan suddenly realized.

Jin Ja-gang shot out a Frost Sound.

Skreeeee!

Yelu Huan hurriedly tilted his head back. Though it didn’t hit precisely so his eardrum wasn’t damaged, because his hearing was extremely heightened, Yelu Huan’s hearing was momentarily lost. Simultaneously, a poison needle that flew from the left with Flying Thread Twelve Branch lodged in his earlobe. The poison needle that flew from the right passed before his eyes.

Jin Ja-gang had also thrown two Flying Thread Twelve Branch needles so he would be hit whether he dodged forward or backward.

Yelu Huan immediately grabbed his left earlobe with his fingers and tore it off right there. He retreated to escape the poison mist’s sphere of influence and barely managed to breathe.

“This… brat… where did you learn such tricks…”

When he spoke, he couldn’t hear his own voice and his ears felt stuffed. Yelu Huan rapidly circulated his internal energy to urgently restore his hearing.

Jin Ja-gang smiled.

“Did I say the traps I set earlier were six times? Actually it’s seven times.”

“Not six but seven times?”

Whirrrr.

Poison needles all popped out between Jin Ja-gang’s fingers at once and spun round and round. His expression was calm. But his ribs were broken and his internal organs were shaken from being struck in the chest. His fingertips trembled finely and his arm seemed uncomfortable somewhere.

However, Yelu Huan found it difficult to easily believe what he saw with his eyes. He became suspicious for no reason. Even though he himself was the one who inflicted those two injuries.

Jin Ja-gang said.

“One more trick coming. This time also exactly the same as before. You said my technique was just a trick, so will you try blocking it this time too?”

“You brat!”

Those words confused Yelu Huan even more.

Jin Ja-gang had even declared he would use the exact same technique. If he didn’t face it head-on, his pride would be hurt. His dignity wouldn’t stand.

But even if his pride was hurt…

No, wait.

Yelu Huan realized something was strange.

What Jin Ja-gang just said was wrong.

‘When did I say Poison Dragon’s technique was just a trick?’

He didn’t think he had?

In that instant, Jin Ja-gang released all ten needles he held in his hand.