Chapter 262

Baek Li-gwon knelt several times before finally standing up. His legs were trembling.

His expression clearly showed disbelief.

This was completely different from the Jin Ja-gang he had known before. Even more than expected.

“Brother Baek Li!”

Yang Jeon gripped his spear and rushed at Jin Ja-gang.

The Yang family spear was much shorter than ordinary spears but much longer than swords. When stood upright, it was typically similar to one’s own height.

Clatter clatter!

Yang Jeon held the spear shaft with both hands and skillfully shook the tip like a snake, aiming at Jin Ja-gang’s eyes and neck. Jin Ja-gang shook his head to dodge. Though this was his first time facing such precise spearmanship, his previous experience dealing with Tang Ha-ran’s whip was helpful.

Jin Ja-gang used Golden Thread Hand to grab just behind the spear blade.

At that moment, Yang Jeon gripped the spear shaft tightly and shook it.

Clatter!

The spear shaft undulated like waves. Small waves arose from where Yang Jeon was holding, but by the time they reached the end where Jin Ja-gang was holding, they became large waves.

When Jin Ja-gang tried not to let go, the spear shaft thrashed wildly in his hands like a living snake. The spear shaft had thorny protrusions that kept creating wounds in Jin Ja-gang’s hands. Jin Ja-gang endured for a while before releasing the spear shaft.

Swish.

The rebounding spear tip grazed Jin Ja-gang’s cheek, creating a small scratch. Jin Ja-gang stepped back one step. Simultaneously, Yang Jeon released his front hand and spun his body once while pushing forward with his back hand. He was in a posture of gripping and pushing the spear tip. Suddenly the spear became twice as long as it stabbed toward Jin Ja-gang’s neck. Jin Ja-gang leaned his waist backward to avoid the spear tip.

“Got you!”

Yang Jeon leaped up powerfully and pressed down on the spear shaft with the forearm of his released hand. With his body weight added, the spear fell as if striking downward. Since Jin Ja-gang was leaning backward, there was no way to avoid it. He blocked the spear shaft with his left palm.

The spear shaft undulated and struck Jin Ja-gang’s palm hard.

Thud!

However, Yang Jeon’s expression was not good.

“Huh?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t fall. In the iron bridge position leaning backward, his back didn’t touch the ground as he supported his body with bent knees. He remained blocking his face with his palm.

This was due to the dike created in his left palm and the vortex swirling in the dike. The heavy turbid energy didn’t waver and absorbed the force flowing from the spear shaft, decomposing it.

This was the suction characteristic possessed by the Jade Void Nine Lights Five Thunder Toad Art. This was also why he had been able to block Golden Fortune Merchant’s iron abacus before.

Jin Ja-gang immediately extended his thumb toward Yang Jeon.

Fountain Bullet!

Yang Jeon pulled the spear shaft while backflipping to avoid Jin Ja-gang’s finger wind. A hole was punched in the fluttering hem of Yang Jeon’s clothes at his waist. Jin Ja-gang continuously threw poison needles.

Yang Jeon gripped the end and middle of the spear shaft and swept the head portion to deflect the poison needles.

Yang Jeon was flustered. Having attacked first with a weapon that had reach yet inflicting no damage and immediately being pushed into defense was troubling.

“Agh!”

Yang Jeon retreated and planted his spear while taking out leather gloves from his breast to put on. The left hand was a hard glove made from dragon leather with steel scales, while the right hand was made of soft leather, making them a mismatched pair.

“I’ll show you real Yang family spearmanship.”

He gripped the back of the spear shaft with his right hand while pressing the middle of the shaft with his left hand, lightly hooking it between his fingers to grip it. Yang Jeon faced Jin Ja-gang in this position.

Yang family spearmanship had advantages at long range, but due to the characteristic gripping method of spreading the arms to hold the spear, its maximum effective distance was longer than bare hands but shorter than swords. Of course, because it could instantly become longer than swords, it was more troublesome to face.

As Jin Ja-gang slowly closed the distance, Yang Jeon pushed with his back hand to extend the spear.

Clang clang!

The protruding thorns on the spear shaft caught on the dragon scales, sending sparks flying. From Jin Ja-gang’s perspective, it was like a spear blade suddenly popping out from between the sparks.

The spear blade flew in with a sharp cutting sound.

Jin Ja-gang twisted his body sideways to avoid the spear blade flying toward his face.

Whoosh!

Yang Jeon retrieved his spear and immediately stabbed continuously. When the glove scales caught in reverse, they scraped while sparking, but when retrieving the spear, it was recovered faster following the grain of the scales. The spear blade emerged faster than Jin Ja-gang expected.

The left hand was fixed while the right hand’s role was to stab, pull, and retrieve the spear. Jin Ja-gang concentrated on the left hand’s movement. However, Yang Jeon’s spearmanship was also formidable. He cleverly changed trajectories by switching the fingers supporting the spear shaft. The sparks concealed the finger movements. It was difficult to see and avoid.

“I’ll put holes all over your body!”

Yang Jeon pressed more fiercely.

The length of the emerging spear blade became irregular. Then occasionally he would push out long, creating the illusion that the spear blade had lengthened. With feints mixed in, it became even harder to avoid.

Clang, clang!

In an instant, several stab marks appeared on Jin Ja-gang’s body. They were shallow wounds because he was stepping backward to avoid deep penetration. However, if this continued, eventually his heart would have a hole in it.

Jin Ja-gang’s hands and feet became disordered.

Yang Jeon’s eyes flashed brilliantly.

‘Now!’

Yang Jeon held his breath, then used two feints to deceive Jin Ja-gang while gathering strength with breath control, and on the third time stabbed at Jin Ja-gang’s nape with maximum force.

Black Snake Swift Wind!

This was the technique that had elevated Yang Jeon to one of the Three Dragons. Because he gripped the left hand supporting the spear shaft tightly and stabbed with great force, the spear tip didn’t advance in a straight line. Caught on the scales, it shook greatly and bounced left and right like a snake coiling its body as it moved. From the blocker’s perspective, it was impossible to tell where Yang Jeon was aiming.

Moreover, because he gripped only the end of the spear shaft with his right thumb and index finger to push and stab the spear as long as possible, it was impossible to retreat and avoid it.

This could truly be called Yang Jeon’s confident killing move.

Jin Ja-gang knew he couldn’t avoid it and instead extended his arm while leaning his upper body diagonally forward.

The moment the spear emerged, he used the “stick” technique from Golden Thread Hand methods to attach the back of his hand to the spear shaft. Through “listening,” he felt the spear shaft coming up along the back of his hand. Then he rotated his body to naturally let the spear blade graze past his shoulder.

This happened in the blink of an eye. The spear blade that had aimed for Jin Ja-gang’s neck missed below his earlobe.

Slash!

The clothes from the back of his hand to his shoulder tore, and the rough spear shaft scraped his forearm, leaving a long wound. The bloody wound curved like a snake had crawled across it.

When his confident move failed, Yang Jeon panicked.

Yang Jeon didn’t exhale his held breath and consecutively deployed Venomous Snake Advance. He switched the front and back of the hands gripping the spear shaft, putting the soft leather hand forward to slide the spear shaft between his fingers. The spear’s speed increased along the soft leather.

In an instant, the spear blade flew four times like lightning. It was speed befitting the nickname Swift Dragon.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Jin Ja-gang spun his body like a top while alternately attaching both backs of his hands to the spear shaft with the stick technique. Following the rotating Jin Ja-gang, the spear blade continuously emerged toward his armpits, between his legs, his ribs, and other places. Though it seemed like his body would be pierced with the slightest mistake, Yang Jeon couldn’t quite hit Jin Ja-gang. The spear shaft slid along Jin Ja-gang’s body and kept missing to places other than where Yang Jeon intended.

“Kugh!”

Yang Jeon was out of breath from forcibly deploying two consecutive techniques. His movements became sluggish. Jin Ja-gang felt Yang Jeon’s hands trembling minutely through the listening technique on the back of his hand. Jin Ja-gang didn’t miss that opportunity and rotated larger while extending his hand.

Jin Ja-gang’s left hand covered Yang Jeon’s front hand. Then he put strength into his hand and gripped tightly.

There was a fourth dike in his left palm center.

Crack crack.

“Ahhhhh!”

Yang Jeon screamed. His hand felt like it was being crushed. Jin Ja-gang raised his right hand. He struck Yang Jeon’s front forearm with Drilling Dragon Claw.

“W-wait!”

Despite Yang Jeon’s urgent cry, Jin Ja-gang didn’t stop his hand.

Thud!

Jin Ja-gang’s fingers embedded in Yang Jeon’s forearm.

Only then did Jin Ja-gang ask.

“What did you say?”

Yang Jeon screamed once more.

“Ahhhhh! You bastard, this is too much! I told you to wait a moment!”

Baek Li-gwon, who had been dazed, came to his senses hearing Yang Jeon’s scream. He popped his dislocated shoulder back into place.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, getting hit hard once had brought back his reason.

Baek Li-gwon saw Tang Ha-ran holding her stomach with a grimacing face. Though he didn’t know the reason, he had a feeling. Baek Li-gwon tried to go toward Yang Jeon, who was being overwhelmed by Jin Ja-gang rather than Tang Ha-ran.

Tang Ha-ran blocked Baek Li-gwon’s path.

“Wasn’t I your enemy?”

Tang Ha-ran raised her internal energy while sweating profusely. Her stomach hurt as if tearing. Any more sudden movements would be too much. Early pregnancy was the most dangerous period. If she overexerted herself, who knew what might happen to the baby.

But she couldn’t burden Jin Ja-gang. That wasn’t Tang Ha-ran’s character.

Baek Li-gwon agreed.

“That’s right. I’ll kill you as painfully as possible.”

Jin Ja-gang said to Tang Ha-ran.

“Don’t overexert yourself. I’ll kill this one and go.”

Tang Ha-ran, her face drenched in sweat, chuckled softly.

“Did I look like such a weak woman to you?”

However, it was Yang Jeon who stopped Baek Li-gwon. Yang Jeon shouted.

“Wait, hold on! Everyone stop! Brother Baek Li, you stop too. And Poison Dragon, please let me go!”

Yang Jeon looked at Jin Ja-gang with a desperate expression that he had something to say.

Jin Ja-gang replied.

“No.”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t release Yang Jeon’s hand as if it wasn’t worth considering. Yang Jeon urgently shouted.

“I was merely heading to the Guizhou branch for investigation. The Yang family has never been involved in the Medicine Sect affair, so you Poison Dragon have no grudge against me. Let’s do this: people with grudges against each other settle it. Then I’ll just confirm the results and quietly withdraw.”

“Who are the people with grudges?”

“Well…”

After thinking briefly, Yang Jeon said.

“Brother Baek Li! If it was something done by Tang family assassins, then we absolutely cannot harm Tang family blood. We must formally protest to the Martial Alliance to hold the entire Tang family responsible, not just one person!”

When Baek Li-gwon seemed to ponder, Yang Jeon persuaded again.

“So right now, the priority is eliminating Poison Dragon who contributed to harming Sister Yon!”

Baek Li-gwon looked at Jin Ja-gang with killing intent.

“Brother Yang’s words make sense. After all, you and I had matters to settle anyway.”

Yang Jeon looked at Jin Ja-gang and said.

“So please release me. If you touch me, you’ll have to make an enemy of our Yang family too.”

Jin Ja-gang slowly released his hand in response to Baek Li-gwon’s killing intent. Yang Jeon looked at the five holes in his forearm and gritted his teeth. The tendons were deeply pierced so no strength entered his right hand at all. However, he didn’t show it outwardly and retreated.

Tang Ha-ran sighed shallowly and stepped back. Though she greatly wanted to fight in Jin Ja-gang’s place, thinking of the baby in her womb, this standoff might be best for now.

“Be careful.”

“I understand.”

Jin Ja-gang stood facing Baek Li-gwon.