Chapter 73 : Chapter 73

Chapter 73. Bad Friend (4)

Jang Sopyeong, who belatedly came to his senses, urgently shouted.

“W-watch out!”

Jang Sopyeong didn't know that Martial Artist Kang was monitoring him. But he knew of Martial Artist Kang's skill.

The fact that he was one of the subordinates cherished by Sichuan's First Kill, Jang Ik, and a master of the Peak realm.

That madman, who didn't seem much older than Jang Sopyeong himself, was not someone he could handle.

In the dim view where only the moonlight faintly pushed back the darkness.

The monitor's sword, shrouded in a whitish aura, flew precisely towards Jin Yuseong's mouth.

“No!!”

Right after Jang Sopyeong's successive shouts burst out.

Clang!!

A clear metallic sound echoed.

At some point, Jin Yuseong had drawn his sword and was blocking Martial Artist Kang's sword.

While cloaked in a deep blue sword qi.

‘P-Peak realm?’

How, at such a young age?

While Jang Sopyeong was staring blankly at the unbelievable sight.

The monitor's and Jin Yuseong's swords intertwined.

Silver trajectories, shining faintly in the moonlight, embroidered the air dozens of times.

At some point, Jin Yuseong gradually began to push the monitor back.

Although both had reached the Peak, his opponent was a man who had not yet achieved Sword Unification.

Clang!

“Keuk…”

Unrefined movements.

As they exchanged blows, wounds accumulated on the monitor's body.

And before long.

Crunch.

Jin Yuseong's sword finally pierced the monitor's heart.

Jang Sopyeong looked at Jin Yuseong with a greatly surprised face.

How could he win so easily against such a master at that age?

“Tsk.”

However, Jin Yuseong clicked his tongue as if he was not pleased.

Because it had taken more time than he thought.

If he delayed any longer here, the hunting dogs of the Sichuan Sword Clan might flock to him.

“Jang Sopyeong. Now, choose. Will you leave the Sichuan Sword Clan with me to pursue your mother's enemy, or will you remain here and beg for the clan head's recognition.”

Jang Sopyeong was lost in thought.

But the deliberation was not very long.

Because it was just as that madman had said.

What father in the world would treat his son like this, and what husband in the world would just leave his wife's enemy alone.

Jang Sopyeong approached Jin Yuseong with a determined face.

Jin Yuseong, who nodded once, unleashed his movement technique and ran with Jang Sopyeong.

On the outskirts of Chengdu, the two young men frantically moved their legs along the thicket connected to the river.

The reason Jin Yuseong had cultivated his skills and come was for this.

The monitor was one thing, but to break free from the pursuit of the Sichuan Sword Clan, a mediocre skill level was not nearly enough.

No matter how much Jin Yuseong's skills had improved, facing the entire Sichuan Sword Clan was nothing short of suicide.

Jin Yuseong would gladly accept death alongside the Seven Evils, but he had no intention of dying in vain at the hands of some worthless hypocrites.

Above all.

- P-promise me you'll come back alive.

If only for the sake of Nam Geon and Senior Sister Baek Hyang, who would be waiting at Mount Heng.

Just how long had they run like madmen?

Around the time their limbs started to feel heavy and the martial arts uniform they were wearing was not just soaked but drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, a trajectory was embroidered above Jin Yuseong's head.

Jin Yuseong threw his body to the right, stepping on the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps with all his might.

Soon after, a sword plunged down towards the spot where he had been standing.

An old man clad in black stood there.

Jang Sopyeong, who was out of breath, opened his mouth with a surprised face.

“Heok. Heok. E-Elder Oh?”

Elder Oh. Sichuan's First Kill, Jang Ik.

He turned his head and looked at Jang Sopyeong.

“Keulkeulkeul. Youngest Young Master. Why did you follow such a lawless man? If you weren't following but were kidnapped, this old man will save you. Keulkeulkeul.”

Why was it? It was the same benevolent laugh as always, but Jang Sopyeong felt strangely uneasy.

But still, he was the one who had treated him like a human until now.

Jang Sopyeong gathered his courage and opened his mouth.

“Heok. E-Elder. I want to avenge my maternal grandparents' enemy with this person. Please, pretend you did not see us.”

Right after Jang Sopyeong's request ended, Jang Ik let out a deep sigh.

“Haa. Why are you doing this, Youngest Young Master. Didn't this old man tell you clearly? To just quietly endure and live.”

Goosebumps rose on Jang Sopyeong's spine.

An indifferent gaze, devoid of any emotion, was directed at him.

It was not the benevolent old man he had known.

“This is your last chance. Go back now, Young Master.”

The frozen Jang Sopyeong barely managed to shake his head.

At that sight, Jang Ik let out a sigh.

“Heoh. They say you can't fool blood. It seems you don't listen at all, perhaps because you resemble your dirty mother who came crawling in after playing outside.”

The one person who had treated him like a human.

No, the one person he had believed treated him like a human.

At the abusive words spat out by such a person, Jang Sopyeong felt as if a part of his heart was aching.

‘Ah. So everyone was just thinking of trapping and using me and my mother.’

As Jang Sopyeong, who finally realized the truth, was trying to endure the pain.

The sound of someone snorting came from the side.

“Aren't you from a collateral branch too? A collateral branch member mocking an illegitimate son, what an idiot. Ah, is your head broken from old age?”

It was Jin Yuseong, who already knew about Jang Ik from what the Poison Immortal had told him in his past life.

Jang Ik's head turned. His lips curled up as he looked at Jin Yuseong, but his eyes were still indifferent.

“Hulhulhul. The brat seems to have no fear after achieving a little something for his age. How dare you provoke me, the great Sichuan's First Kill, Elder Jang Ik.”

“Even your name is not a body but a wing. Born as a collateral branch member, you must be an idiot who has lived his whole life taking care of others' business. You foolish bastard. Have you ever had a single thought in that head of yours? You probably just followed whatever the direct line ordered, panting like a dog.”

A deep killing intent filled the indifferent old man's eyes.

“...I will personally tear your body to shreds and kill you. Let's see if you can still run your mouth then.”

Jang Sopyeong was startled and urgently shouted.

“L-leave me and r-run away! E-Elder Oh is a master on a different level from M-Martial Artist Kang!”

Before Jang Sopyeong's shout could even finish.

Jang Ik's sword, which he had launched in a surprise attack, reached right in front of Jin Yuseong's nose.

Swiiiiish.

The collar of Jin Yuseong's clothes was cut as he narrowly avoided it by stepping on the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps, and an eerie sound flowed out.

Slice.

A silver trajectory intersected in the air.

Jang Ik, who had lightly avoided the sword thrust by Jin Yuseong, swung in a counterattack.

Clang!!

Right after their swords clashed.

Jang Ik, who had naturally disrupted his balance by stepping on his footwork, suddenly swung his left hand in the air in a surprise attack.

Jin Yuseong hurriedly rolled on the ground.

Soon after, a series of noises of something embedding itself in the tree behind Jin Yuseong burst out.

Th-th-th-thwack!

Small hidden weapons.

It was difficult to follow with the eyes in the dark night.

He was able to avoid them because he had seen their trajectory in advance with his wide-open eyes.

“Keulkeulkeul. The sight of you crawling like a dog is quite amusing.”

Even though Jin Yuseong had avoided the technique, Jang Ik showed no sign of being flustered. As if it were natural, he was thrusting his sword towards Jin Yuseong who had rolled on the ground.

Jin Yuseong, who got up by bouncing off the ground after rolling one more time, barely managed to block the sword that had already reached his neck.

‘So this is the Sichuan's Number One Sword Clan.’

It seemed he hadn't just been promoted to the position of elder for nothing.

He had already surpassed the Peak and reached Sword Unification, and he was even displaying a swordsmanship that was much faster and stealthier than Jin Yuseong's own.

Furthermore, thanks to repeating over a thousand life-and-death struggles and duels for more than a decade, he was more seasoned than him, who had become half-crippled.

He was completely different from the idiots who fought elegantly, drunk on their family's name.

Throwing hidden weapons was a common affair, and his skill in momentarily concealing his form using the darkness of the night and the thicket was to the point where he felt like an assassin rather than a swordsman.

Just how many battles, no, how many hunts had he been on?

Clang!

An opponent at least two or three moves above him.

Clang!

If not for his wide-open eyes from a while ago, his head would have been cut off long ago.

The sword path that Jang Ik was about to swing was embroidered in the air.

No, even before that sword path was embroidered, a whitish skein of thread danced here and there, centered on Jang Ik's Dantian.

Just like during the fight with the assassins last time.

The flow of internal energy, and the sword path.

It was a situation where he was barely holding on because he could see it in advance with his eyes.

Slice.

Jin Yuseong's forearm was lightly cut, and a little blood flowed out.

Jin Yuseong gritted his teeth.

A fight with a strong opponent.

For Jin Yuseong, it was a welcome event.

Because he could become even stronger through this.

But the situation was a little different now.

‘If I delay any longer, it will be dangerous.’

The enemy was not just this one damn hunting dog.

If time was dragged on, the hunting dogs of the Sichuan Sword Clan would flock here.

He had to deal with this old hunting dog as quickly as possible.

One gamble came to mind.

A technique he had trained relentlessly for the ten-odd days it took to get here from Yong’un Mountain.

The first move of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword.

But it was a technique he had never perfectly executed even in practice.

Could he use such a technique in a real battle?

A wild laugh naturally formed on Jin Yuseong's lips.

“Heheheheheh.”

He would die if time was dragged on anyway. So what was there to be afraid of?

The deliberation was short.

Jin Yuseong once again recalled the key points of the first move that he had practiced and repeated every day.

- Some have argued. That it is darkest before the dawn. But just because the world is at its darkest, does that mean the sun does not exist?

At the same time, the sword qi wrapped around the Restoring Name Sword vanished as if melting snow.

- The sun is merely preparing to drive out the darkness that has covered the world.

The outwardly revealed sword qi had disappeared, but inside Jin Yuseong, a huge amount of internal energy was relentlessly coursing through his acupoints.

Sichuan's First Kill, Jang Ik, also noticed the subtle change.

‘The sword qi disappeared?’

He responded cautiously, just in case.

Even if he didn't kill him with his own hands, his subordinates would soon follow anyway.

Instead of aiming for a single decisive blow, Jang Ik lightly swung his sword while observing his opponent's reaction.

Slice.

Jin Yuseong sometimes avoided it by stepping on his footwork, and sometimes he rolled on the ground.

Then, when there was no way to avoid it, he swung the Restoring Name Sword and barely managed to block Jang Ik's sword.

Clang!!

Each time, the Restoring Name Sword screamed.

Jang Ik's sword was wrapped in sword qi. Trying to block that sword without the protection of sword qi, it looked precarious, as if it would break at any moment.

It wasn't just the Restoring Name Sword that was precarious.

Slice!

As he couldn't easily clash swords, wounds slowly accumulated on Jin Yuseong's body.

But what was more unsettling than the wounds was his interior.

The energy that couldn't be released to the outside was relentlessly coursing through his acupoints, its speed continuously increasing and its amount also growing.

It felt as if his acupoints were burning hot, and it also felt as if hundreds of ants had burrowed inside him.

While controlling the flow of that immense internal energy.

Swiiiiish!

He also had to avoid Jang Ik's sword, making him feel like he would pass out at any moment.

Jin Yuseong gritted his teeth.

If he had mastered it perfectly, it wouldn't have taken this long, nor would it have been this unstable.

It was simply because he was still lacking.

But what did that matter?

“Heheheh.”

Slice.

If he was going to give up because he lacked talent, he wouldn't have come this far.

Jin Yuseong, who gritted his teeth, once again moved his feet and narrowly avoided Jang Ik's sword.

He threw his body, watching the trajectory and the flow of internal energy embroidered in the air.

While taming the wild horse that was eager to go crazy and run wild inside him.

With each breath, he walked the line between life and death.

Slowly, the flow of the world slowed down.

“Push me further!”

At the sight of Jin Yuseong shouting like a madman in desperation, Jang Ik smiled slyly.

“Brat. Do you think anything will change just because you shout a little? Keulkeulkeul.”

Unlike his mockery, he calmly continued his calculations.

He had seen the traces left at the river himself.

His subordinate had been defeated and become a corpse, but it seemed they had exchanged at least dozens of blows.

Also, he must have consumed a considerable amount of internal energy and stamina while moving from the river to this place.

‘He seems to have gained some miraculous encounter at a young age and his internal energy has increased quite a bit, but he should be at his limit soon.’

Jang Ik, who had finished his judgment, readjusted his grip on the sword.

That process was slowly engraved in Jin Yuseong's eyes.

Soon, the complicated skein of thread flowing from Jang Ik's Dantian gathered towards his sword.

A single trajectory, flying straight towards Jin Yuseong's heart, was embroidered.

In Jin Yuseong's mind, who was in a state of self-forgetfulness, for some reason, the words of the Sun Moon Divine Sword Master written in the secret manual came to mind.

- Disciple. Remember. When darkness reaches its peak. You will see a red wheel that rises, devouring the darkness.

At the same time, the immense internal energy that had been scorching Jin Yuseong's entire body's acupoints rushed towards the Restoring Name Sword all at once.

Wooooooong!!

The Restoring Name Sword let out a sword cry, and a massive amount of internal energy swirled around the Restoring Name Sword at once.

[ Sun Moon Infinite Sword: First Move: Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven ]

Emanating a brilliant light that was on a different level from the sword qi Jin Yuseong had formed until now.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.