Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 102

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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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Episode 101. Moving Forward So As Not to Regret—Part 1
Namgoong Su’s expression twisted.
“What did you just say?”
“Let that hand go.”
“And?”
Namgoong Su pressed the question again.
A formidable aura was rising from his body. The Boundless Heart Method—the secret heart technique of the Namgoong Clan—had been activated.
“Ack!”
Bang Jin Bo’s complexion turned ashen. His eyes were rolling back as he teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.
An aura that even the supreme masters of Jianghu would struggle to bear—there was no way Bang Jin Bo, who knew no martial arts, could endure it. If time continued to flow like this, his meridians would sustain irreparable damage.
Namgoong Su’s anger exploded.
“You’d break my wrist? Go ahead and try. How dare you——”
“Young Master Namgoong, please calm yourself——”
Unable to bear it any longer, Hae So Wol moved to restrain him.
Whoosh!
In that instant, a violent windstorm swept through.
Dam Ho had deployed the Charge Step.
The air of the entire area was driven backward like a tidal wave by his lightning-swift motion.
“Hmph!”
Namgoong Su, still gripping Bang Jin Bo, felt a massive pressure descending upon him along with the violent wind and hastily retreated. Yet he kept hold of Bang Jin Bo’s collar.
He had not anticipated that Dam Ho would attack so brazenly, so in desperation, Namgoong Su attempted to use Bang Jin Bo as a shield.
Bang!
“Urgh!”
A thunderous crash erupted, followed by Namgoong Su’s pained groan.
Namgoong Su’s body flew backward, his torso curling like a shrimp. Dam Ho’s fist had slipped past Bang Jin Bo’s ribs with precise calculation and struck Namgoong Su’s waist with devastating force.
Namgoong Su could not even draw a proper breath under the impact, as if struck by an enormous hammer. He had not imagined that Dam Ho would attack without concern for Bang Jin Bo’s safety.
Bang Jin Bo, whom Namgoong Su had used as a shield, now stood behind Dam Ho. Dam Ho had lightly repositioned him, as one might move a pebble.
Had Dam Ho not restrained his power to protect Bang Jin Bo, the blow alone would have been fatal. But Namgoong Su was entirely unaware of this fact.
“You——?”
Namgoong Su’s expression turned ghastly.
Not only had his human shield been torn from his grasp, but he had suffered a tremendous blow as well. The wound to his pride hurt far more than the pain shooting through his ribs.
Namgoong Su drew the sword at his waist.
Shing!
“I’ll kill you.”
Rage consumed all reason.
Namgoong Chang’s earnest warnings to leave Dam Ho alone had long since vanished from his mind.
The blade in Namgoong Su’s hand radiated a piercing light in all directions.
It was the Dragon Cloud Sword—distributed only to direct blood descendants of the Namgoong Clan. The Dragon Cloud Sword, forged by the master craftsmen of the Namgoong household, was renowned for its durability.
Namgoong Su leveled the Dragon Cloud Sword at Dam Ho.
Whoosh!
The Dragon Cloud Sword sang with resonance.
The Azure Sky Boundless Sword Method.
It was the pinnacle sword technique that held a prominent place among the countless martial arts of the Namgoong Clan.
Namgoong Su had mastered the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Method to near perfection. Save for the Imperial Sword Form—the supreme technique of the Namgoong Clan—no martial art existed that could surpass it.
That was his conviction. And until now, that conviction had never wavered.
In that moment, Dam Ho hurled himself toward Namgoong Su.
Swoosh!
Dam Ho’s body extended in a perfect line.
The Charge Step—that linear movement technique unfolded once more.
Having already experienced Dam Ho’s footwork once, Namgoong Su deployed the Ten Direction Illusion Step—the secret movement method of the Namgoong Clan—to evade.
The Ten Direction Illusion Step allowed one to tread ten positions simultaneously in a single breath, bewildering the opponent.
Rustle-rustle-rustle!
As the Ten Direction Illusion Step unfolded, Namgoong Su’s form multiplied into a dozen images in an instant.
Of them, only one was real; the rest were illusions.
‘How will you handle this? Can you even distinguish between ten illusions?’
Boom!
In that moment, a deafening crash erupted, and Namgoong Su’s body was hurled backward. Disbelief blazed across his face.
‘How… how is that possible?’
Dam Ho had found Namgoong Su’s true body with precision and landed a direct blow.
Had Namgoong Su not blocked the full force with the Dragon Cloud Sword, he would have suffered severe injuries from that single strike.
A deep, resonant cry!
The Dragon Cloud Sword was singing.
The sound was utterly different from its resonance moments before—as if the blade itself were crying out in pain.
“Damn it!”
Namgoong Su gritted his teeth and swept the Dragon Cloud Sword in a wide arc.
Slash!
The Azure Sky Cutting Flash.
The ultimate technique of the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Method.
A flawless Sword Membrane formed across Namgoong Su’s entire front—so densely woven that not a single drop of water could seep through.
Dam Ho’s eyes flashed between the strands of hair that danced in the wind.
In that instant, Namgoong Su felt his entire body turn to ice.
A tingling sensation, as though lightning were piercing from his skull to his toes, swept into his mind along with a wave of mortal danger.
Slash!
‘It’s coming.’
First came an immense pressure, crushing forward. Then Dam Ho’s fist shot through.
Namgoong Su poured his Martial Power into the Dragon Cloud Sword.
‘I’ll slice your arm clean off.’
No matter how much the flesh was tempered, nothing could withstand the razor edge of a blade of steel.
Namgoong Su placed his faith in the Sword Technique he had mastered and the sharpness of his Dragon Cloud Sword.
Crack!
Yet in the very next moment, disbelief flooded across Namgoong Su’s face.
The Dragon Cloud Sword, which had never once betrayed his expectations, was now clasped in Dam Ho’s hand.
The keen edge, unable to leave so much as a scratch on Dam Ho’s palm, trembled pitifully.
The Silver Net Hand.
A protective technique that wrapped the hand in a net of Qi, shielding oneself from an opponent’s blade.
Namgoong Su’s eyes widened. His gaze locked with Dam Ho’s.
In that moment, Namgoong Su felt his heart plummet, and a chill ran down his spine.
There was no emotion in the eyes that looked upon him. That utter emptiness only magnified his dread.
Namgoong Su understood then.
The true nature of the feeling that had so long made him uneasy.
It was fear.
Something in Dam Ho had touched the very foundation of fear that dwelt in Namgoong Su’s heart.
“Aaaah!”
Namgoong Su roared and wrenched the Dragon Cloud Sword, trying to tear it free from Dam Ho’s grasp.
Shatter!
In that instant, the blade held in Dam Ho’s hand crumbled like a biscuit.
Crash!
Then Dam Ho’s fist lashed out like a whip, striking the temple of Namgoong Su’s skull with devastating force.
The Cutting Form Strike.
Namgoong Su staggered from the blow to his temple.
Blood vessels bloomed crimson across his eyes. Every capillary in his sockets had burst from Dam Ho’s strike.
At the sight of Namgoong Su, his eyes ready to weep blood at any moment, everyone flinched and trembled.
Namgoong Su could not gather his senses.
His ears rang with a high-pitched whine, his vision doubled and tripled. Blood and mucus dripped from his nose into his mouth.
Seize!
Dam Ho gripped Namgoong Su’s wrist.
The cold touch snapped Namgoong Su back to consciousness. And he understood what Dam Ho was about to do.
“No, wait!”
Crack!
Namgoong Su’s wrist twisted in the opposite direction with a sickening sound.
“Aaaaah!”
A raw, agonized scream tore from Namgoong Su’s throat.
Wracked by a pain unlike anything he had ever known, Namgoong Su convulsed across the ground. Dam Ho looked down at him with an unblinking stare.
“He… he…?”
Cho Yeon Un’s mouth fell open in utter disbelief.
It wasn’t surprising that Dam Ho had defeated Namgoong Su. Though Namgoong Su would struggle to admit it, Dam Ho’s level was simply beyond what he could aspire to.
The problem was that Namgoong Su was a direct bloodline member of the Namgoong Clan.
The Namgoong Clan bore grudges as deeply as the Dang Clan of Sichuan. One of their family maxims was that while they did not forget favors, they remembered wrongs all the more—and repaid them tenfold.
The influence of the Namgoong Clan was as vast and far-reaching as that of the Wudang Sect or the Hua Shan Sect. For that reason, few dared to court their enmity.
And Dam Ho had just broken the wrist of a direct descendant of that clan. His sword hand at that.
If he recovered fully, that would be fortunate. But if he didn’t, he might have to abandon the sword techniques he’d worked so hard to master.
“This is infuriating.”
Watching his friend commit this absurd act, Cho Yeon Un could only press his forehead in despair.
Everything had happened so fast that he’d had no chance to intervene. And he truly hadn’t expected Dam Ho to be bold enough to snap Namgoong Su’s wrist like that.
“What happened?”
Hearing Namgoong Su’s anguished scream, Namgoong Chang and O Gun Ui rushed out from the guest quarters.
Namgoong Chang hurried over after seeing Namgoong Su clutching his wrist and crying out in pain.
“Su!”
“Ahhh! Uncle… uncle!”
Namgoong Chang saw that the wrist cradled against his chest was completely broken.
“What in the world happened?”
“H-him… that bastard—”
Namgoong Su glared at Dam Ho through bloodshot eyes. Namgoong Chang’s gaze, burning with fury, turned toward him.
“How dare you strike a member of the Namgoong bloodline!”
Namgoong Su was a prodigy of the Namgoong Clan, one destined to hold important posts within the Murim Alliance itself.
Now that prodigy’s wrist was shattered—an injury requiring months of recovery. By the time Namgoong Su’s wound healed, most of the foundational work for establishing the Murim Alliance would be complete. Even Namgoong Chang couldn’t be certain whether Namgoong Su’s position would still be waiting for him.
It was a catastrophic blow to Namgoong Su personally, but equally devastating to the Namgoong Clan’s bid for dominance over the Murim Alliance.
O Gun Ui, arriving belatedly, approached Hae So Wol.
“What’s going on?”
“Well… that is…”
Hae So Wol couldn’t offer an explanation at once.
The situation had unfolded so swiftly that even she couldn’t fully grasp what had happened.
“You wretch!”
Namgoong Chang rose to his feet, positioning himself between Dam Ho and Namgoong Su. An enormous aura radiated from his entire body.
Though he had taken the path of a strategist, he was nevertheless a master of the Namgoong Clan’s supreme martial arts. His presence filled the space around him completely. Yet his presence seemed to exert no influence whatsoever on Dam Ho.
This only infuriated Namgoong Chang further.
He called out sharply.
“Gold Sword Squad.”
At his command, thirty martial artists came rushing from outside the guest quarters.
All bearing formidable auras, they were elite warriors of the Namgoong Clan who had accompanied Namgoong Chang to protect him.
“No explanations needed. He has wounded our clan’s blood. Surround him.”
“As you command!”
The Gold Sword Squad’s masters closed in around Dam Ho.
In that moment, Dam Ho’s head turned sideways toward Namgoong Chang. The tilted angle of his skull sent a chill down Namgoong Chang’s spine.
“Did you truly believe you could harm the Namgoong bloodline and walk away unscathed?”
The corners of Dam Ho’s mouth curved upward slightly.
In an instant, the faces of the Gold Sword Squad and Namgoong Chang drained of color. A killing intent so overwhelming they had never imagined such a thing descended upon them.
And then Dam Ho began to move.
Scrape! Thud! Scrape! Thud!
Dam Ho dragged his feet forward.
His gait—with its peculiar, syncopated rhythm so unlike that of ordinary people—struck Namgoong Su’s nerves in an unsettling way.
Namgoong Chang had never seen a martial artist walk with such a limp. Yet he understood all too well how fatal a weakness a damaged leg could be for a warrior.
A limp meant the muscles in that leg were destroyed.
Destroyed leg muscles caused the spine to twist, affecting even the muscles of the neck.
The spine and neck muscles form the central axis that runs vertically through the body.
The finest warriors keep their centerline perfectly aligned. But Dam Ho’s centerline was not.
It tilted slightly to the left—a profound imbalance.
Deep furrows etched themselves into Namgoong Chang’s brow.
‘How could someone with such a broken centerline have defeated Su?’
By any reasonable standard, it made no sense. The Gold Sword Squad felt the same way.
They were overwhelmed by Dam Ho’s uncanny presence and dared not strike rashly.
Then Dam Ho’s lips parted.
“I was going to be the driving force behind establishing the Murim Alliance, wasn’t I?”
“What?”
“That’s what you said.”
“H-how could you possibly know that?”
Namgoong Su’s eyes trembled with shock.
That had been a conversation conducted through sound transmission alone.

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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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