A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 246
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 246
Whoosh!
The Heavenly Demon’s blade cleaved through the air.
A simple strike, unadorned by sword energy.
Yet that alone was enough to make the entire Stone Cavern resonate.
But Nam Goong Baek threw himself forward without hesitation.
“Haaah!”
“How insolent!”
Boom!
With an explosive sound, the two collided.
The Heavenly Demon retreated in an instant, then spun around with lightning speed.
It was a movement no human should possess.
“The… Heavenly Demon’s Descending Step!”
The legendary lightness technique she’d only read about in historical records filled Hong Seol’s vision.
“What…?”
In that moment, I noticed something strange.
A small crack appeared on the Heavenly Demon’s cheek, smooth as porcelain.
‘I saw that in the Valley before!’
But now the crack was far more distinct.
And that wasn’t all.
As I quietly enhanced my vision, I could see more fine cracks spreading gradually.
In that moment, I understood.
That was it.
The Heavenly Demon’s weakness.
My heart began to pound.
The Heavenly Demon should have died long ago.
No matter how close to an immortal absolute being it was.
That body hadn’t changed once in three hundred years.
‘I’ve never heard of anyone, no matter how pure their inner strength, living for three hundred years.’
Much less a body corrupted by poison!
It was only held together by the power of inner strength—it could crumble at any moment.
Like poorly fired porcelain.
‘I saw it once when I ran away long ago, at the Deng Feng Kiln Site.’
Pottery fresh from the kiln bursting apart repeatedly.
‘They said it happened because cold water was accidentally splashed on the overheated ceramic.’
Then, could the Heavenly Demon’s body also…?
Clang clang clang!
The sound of clashing blades snapped me back from my thoughts.
“Take this!”
“Ugh!”
Nam Goong Baek and the Heavenly Demon clashed in a furious exchange lasting mere seconds.
Or rather, it was more accurate to say Nam Goong Baek was barely holding his ground against the Heavenly Demon.
“You insignificant wretch!”
The Heavenly Demon, irritated, spoke with harsh contempt.
“I’ll show you the Royal Sword Form you suffered in the Valley just moments ago—once more!”
That should end this boy’s futile struggles.
“There’s no way you can withstand the Royal Sword Form with mere parlor tricks like Changcheon’s Celestial Void Sword Technique!”
The moment the Heavenly Demon leaped into the air.
A crushing pressure descended as though all the surrounding air was being drawn toward the tip of his blade.
Flash!
In the instant a sword heavy as though the entire world were contained within it came crashing down toward Nam Goong Baek’s head.
A sharp intake of breath.
Nam Goong Baek, gritting his teeth, surged upward to meet it.
Boom!
The distinctive crystalline thunder of the Nam Goong Family filled the Stone Cavern.
Dust and earth swirled in a hazy cloud around Nam Goong Baek’s body where the Heavenly Demon’s blade had struck.
“Brother!”
Hong Seol cried out in that moment.
Whoosh.
The dust cleared, and two silhouettes emerged from within it.
Click-clack.
Two blades locked together, rotating and holding firm against each other’s force.
Beads of sweat formed on the brow of Nam Goong Baek, who stood gripping one of the blades.
“…The Royal Sword Form?”
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.
“Boy, you’ve already mimicked the Royal Sword Form.”
That was true.
Nam Goong Baek had just employed the same Royal Sword Form technique as the Heavenly Demon.
Though the Heavenly Demon surpassed him in inner strength, experience, and the perfection of form and technique.
“This is the Changcheon technique I’ve cultivated my entire life…!”
The faint azure aura enveloping Nam Goong Baek’s body possessed the perfect resonance with the Royal Sword Form.
“If we clash using the same Nam Goong Family techniques, I will never yield to anyone!”
With that cry, vivid with resolve.
Crack!
Azure sword energy burst forth through the air, striking the Heavenly Demon’s blade upward.
The Heavenly Demon smiled faintly.
“Indeed, I acknowledge it. In terms of raw talent alone, you may even surpass that old man Nam Goong Wi Yo.”
In a sense, it was the highest praise.
But the price was steep.
“Hah… hah…”
Nam Goong Baek had exhausted far too much of his Changcheon energy deploying the unfamiliar Imperial Sword Form.
The Heavenly Demon, by contrast, hadn’t shed a single bead of sweat, nor did his breathing appear labored.
“Excellent. Since my awakening, this is the first time I have unsheathed this technique.”
With those words, the Heavenly Demon leveled his blade in a gesture as though flicking his wrist.
His crimson eyes pierced through Nam Goong Baek like daggers.
“Thus, you may carry it as a trophy to the afterlife.”
Then, a low murmur escaped from the Heavenly Demon.
“Blood Spirit Divine Sword.”
This blade harbored the accumulated resentment of countless vengeful spirits.
Raising his hand skyward, the Heavenly Demon traced a single arc through the void.
Boom!
Simultaneously, waves of crimson lightning-like energy crashed down upon Nam Goong Baek’s body without mercy.
Hah!
He leaped skyward using the Heavenly Wind Divine Method to evade the first slash, but it proved futile.
“Try dodging the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that!”
Relentless assault, endless pursuit, unrelenting pressure.
At this point, it had become a battle of endurance—yet the Heavenly Demon’s inner energy showed no signs of depletion.
This was why an endless hellscape unfolded before Nam Goong Baek’s eyes.
Ugh!
The moment Nam Goong Baek finally faltered.
Slash!
Crimson energy tore cleanly through his left shoulder.
Hah… hah…
He twisted his body to avoid a fatal wound, yet blood dripped steadily from his torn robes—a sight most dire.
“Brother!”
Hong Seol rushed forward, but Nam Goong Baek raised a hand to stop her.
– I’m fine. More importantly, quickly find the Heavenly Demon’s weakness…!
At those words, Hong Seol bit her lip.
The Heavenly Demon was a body addicted for three hundred years.
‘Medicine can only suppress the pain temporarily. Yet the Heavenly Demon is expending far too much energy.’
As a result, fine cracks were forming across his face, were they not?
The Heavenly Demon’s weakness was unmistakably his deteriorated, worn-out body.
‘If I could alternate waves of scorching and freezing energy into that body…?’
It would shatter into fragments, like pottery bursting from a kiln.
‘Fortunately, I possess such power.’
Hong Seol gazed down at her own hands.
By circulating her energy gently, one palm would instantly blaze with heat while the other froze with bitter cold.
‘If I could pour this energy into the Heavenly Demon’s body…!’
…But how?
Hong Seol stared at the Heavenly Demon with a look of despair.
The Heavenly Demon’s aura was airtight, leaving no opening whatsoever.
‘Can I pierce through his defense and unleash the Yin-Yang Divine Art?’
In that moment, Nam Goong Baek pressed the vital points of his injured arm and hastily stanched the wound.
The Heavenly Demon chuckled with satisfaction.
“Indeed, the sword of the Nam Goong Family patriarch cannot be overcome. Three hundred years ago or now—it remains the same….”
That was when it happened.
“Ptui!”
Nam Goong Baek spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and leveled his sword with his uninjured right arm.
“Is running your mouth included in the opening move of Blood Shadow Divine Sword?”
“…What?”
“You’re too loud. Shut your mouth and swing your blade.”
“Insolent worm.”
The Heavenly Demon’s lips twisted.
“Today I shall teach you proper manners!”
The Heavenly Demon leveled his sword at Nam Goong Baek with a flick of his wrist.
He was preparing to unleash the Blood Shadow Divine Sword once more.
“This time, merely one shoulder will not suffice.”
“…If you can, then by all means.”
“Haaah!”
The moment the Heavenly Demon rushed toward Nam Goong Baek.
“Haaap!”
Suddenly, with a shout, a pale blue-white radiance erupted from Nam Goong Baek’s body.
Whoosh!
As that light blazed forth, the countless crimson tendrils of the Heavenly Demon’s aura that had been falling from the sky vanished in an instant.
“…What is this?”
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes narrowed in astonishment.
This was the first technique in over three hundred years that he had never witnessed.
The demon-subduing force contained within it was the very antithesis of the Heavenly Demon.
“Hah, hah, it is a martial art called the Mirror Sword.”
Nam Goong Baek’s lips curved slightly.
“You boasted of mastering every martial art under heaven, yet you knew nothing of this?”
The Heavenly Demon, unable to comprehend, paused in thought before responding.
“…The eldest son of the Nam Goong Family learned swordplay from an external sect? Hahaha! Where is your pride?”
By the end, he was openly mocking Nam Goong Baek.
Yet Nam Goong Baek remained utterly unmoved.
“Yes, I gladly learned a sword technique that is not of the Nam Goong Family.”
Nam Goong Baek’s eyes deepened to a dark blue.
“To protect those precious to me, pride means nothing!”
Whoosh!
Nam Goong Baek raised his sword once more and channeled his strength into the Yongcheon point, launching himself skyward.
“How dare you!”
The Heavenly Demon immediately raised his sword to block.
When they clashed for roughly a hundred exchanges in that state.
“Haa.”
Remarkably, the Heavenly Demon showed signs of exhaustion.
He retreated a full ten paces in an instant.
It was the first time I had ever seen the Heavenly Demon retreat.
Hong Seol’s eyes widened as she watched.
‘Could it be thanks to the demon-suppressing energy that the Bright Mirror Blade carries?’
Nam Goong Baek was also battered and bruised, yet his eyes still blazed with unbroken resolve.
The two stood facing each other with swords drawn, locked in a tense standoff.
Then it happened.
Blood suddenly streaked across Nam Goong Baek’s forehead.
It was blood seeping from a head wound he had failed to fully evade from the Blood Shadow Divine Sword moments before.
The droplet traced down Nam Goong Baek’s fair forehead.
When that single drop finally trickled between his silver eyebrows.
Nam Goong Baek could not help but squint one eye.
“An opening!”
In that instant, the Heavenly Demon lunged forward!
Instead of drawing his sword, his right palm rose upward.
“No!”
Hong Seol cried out and threw herself forward, barely deflecting the Heavenly Demon’s palm strike.
“Brother! Be careful! It’s the Absorption Technique!”
The exhausted Heavenly Demon was attempting to absorb Nam Goong Baek’s inner energy through the Absorption Technique.
However, Hong Seol’s sudden intervention could not block all of the Heavenly Demon’s moves.
The moment the Heavenly Demon’s index and middle fingers of his left hand touched Nam Goong Baek’s body beneath Hong Seol’s outstretched palm.
“Ugh!”
Nam Goong Baek let out a sharp cry.
The Heavenly Demon’s energy flowing from those fingers snaked through Nam Goong Baek’s meridians in an instant.
Nam Goong Baek felt his entire body bristle from his toes to the crown of his head.
The next moment, he staggered but managed to move his feet, retreating five paces from the Heavenly Demon.
Hong Seol quickly positioned herself between the Heavenly Demon and Nam Goong Baek and asked.
“Brother, are you alright?”
“Haa, haa. I’m fine.”
From what Hong Seol could see, Nam Goong Baek did not appear to have been struck by the Absorption Technique.
‘Then why did he touch my brother’s body at all?’
Hong Seol cast a suspicious gaze toward the Heavenly Demon.
Across from her, the Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes in incomprehension, staring down at his own palm.
“Curious. I certainly stirred the ‘Medicinal Poison’ sleeping in your meridians, yet…”
The Heavenly Demon’s chilling gaze swept across Nam Goong Baek’s form.
“Strangely enough, the seizures aren’t occurring…?”
He observed Nam Goong Baek’s face for a long while, as though determined to solve this fascinating puzzle.
And soon, he nodded.
“…I see.”
Found it!
The Heavenly Demon’s crimson eyes gleamed with delight.
“You possess the Golden Cat Sect!”
The sacred treasure of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, the Golden Cat Sect, which carries the function of eternal invulnerability!
The Heavenly Demon lunged directly at Nam Goong Baek.
“No!”
Hong Seol moved to block him.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
In an instant, a vicious barrage lasting ten seconds poured down upon Hong Seol’s body.
Hong Seol could only focus on defense.
Even as I burned with determination to exploit the Heavenly Demon’s weakness, he offered no openings, standing immovable as a colossal mountain.
‘There’s simply no opportunity to employ the Yin-Yang Divine Art!’
I knew the method to defeat the Heavenly Demon, yet my power could not manifest it.
As Hong Seol bit her lip in frustration.
“Ah!”
Exhaustion claimed her, and her foot slipped.
“Now I see it clearly! There’s the opening!”
Crack!
The Heavenly Demon’s foot swept behind Hong Seol’s knee, sending her tumbling.
“Ugh!”
In a flash, the Heavenly Demon’s form soared past Hong Seol’s fallen body on the ground.
It happened in an instant.
The Heavenly Demon tore through Nam Goong Baek’s embrace and snatched away the Golden Cat Sect.
The next moment.
“Cough!”
Nam Goong Baek spewed fresh blood from his mouth.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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