Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 166
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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 165. Evil Karma Clings Stubborn—3
“You have to bear the pain.”
“Don’t worry, sister. I don’t feel the pain anymore.”
At Gwak Yeon’s words, Jong Ri Yeon felt tears welling up in her eyes.
When she pulled back the blanket, Gwak Yeon’s arms and legs were revealed—so thin they resembled dried kindling.
With a frame so fragile that even a touch might shatter it, Gwak Yeon had endured this long. Jong Ri Yeon felt both proud of her and heartbroken.
“First I’ll have you drink the Herbal Decoction. Then I’ll perform the Acupuncture treatment. The whole process will need to be repeated three times.”
“Three times?”
“That’s right. The Disease Demon that’s infected your body is too vicious—I have no choice. I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise I’ll completely heal you.”
“Thank you, sister. Thank you for finding a way for me. Whatever happens, I won’t resent you.”
Having fought the Disease Demon for so long, Gwak Yeon carried a maturity beyond her years. That composure only deepened the ache in Jong Ri Yeon’s chest.
Jong Ri Yeon brushed Gwak Yeon’s hair and spoke.
“Let’s begin.”
“Yes!”
Jong Ri Yeon had Gwak Yeon drink the prepared Herbal Decoction.
To the eye it seemed like ordinary medicinal broth, but inside it held a dozen rare ingredients Jong Ri Yeon had gathered with great difficulty.
Gwak Yeon drank it down, gulp after gulp.
A moment later, heat surged from her lower belly and her mind grew hazy. Jong Ri Yeon carefully laid her back down, then drew Silver Needles from her pouch.
Before beginning the Acupuncture, she handed two Medicine Pouches to Gwak San.
“Father, please brew these medicines.”
“Understood.”
“You must brew them on time and give them to me when I say. That’s the only way we can save Yeon.”
“Don’t worry, lady. My daughter’s life hangs in the balance—how could I be negligent?”
Gwak San accepted the Medicine Pouches carefully as he spoke.
Jong Ri Yeon nodded and was about to begin the Acupuncture when—
“Miss!”
Hwa No’s voice came from outside.
“What is it?”
“You must hurry.”
“What?”
Jong Ri Yeon looked out the window. Through it, she saw dark silhouettes surrounding Mo Ok.
Members of the Geomwang-dae.
“I’ll hold them back. In the meantime, finish the treatment as quickly as you can.”
“Understood.”
Jong Ri Yeon bit her lip hard.
She’d already given Gwak Yeon the decoction. If she didn’t begin the Acupuncture to regulate the medicine’s potency, it would instead damage Gwak Yeon’s heart and vessels.
There was no turning back, no time to rest.
It was time to move forward, come what may.
Jong Ri Yeon hastily began inserting the Silver Needles into Gwak Yeon’s body.
The Life-Death Hanging Soul Needle.
An Acupuncture technique Jong Ri Yeon had created to save Gwak Yeon.
Whether the Life-Death Hanging Soul Needle would work, she couldn’t be sure. If she’d had more time, she would have tested it in countless ways, but unfortunately she had no such luxury.
‘I will save her. I must.’
Jong Ri Yeon made that vow as she deployed the Life-Death Hanging Soul Needle.
Clang!
The sound of clashing weapons rang out from outside.
The Geomwang-dae and Hwa No had collided.
Now it was a race against time.
Jong Ri Yeon’s hands quickened.
* * *
Crack!
A shattered rib burst through skin and protruded outward.
For the first time in his life, Namgoong So Myeong could see clearly what his bones looked like. And it would be the last thing he ever saw alive.
Thud!
Namgoong So Myeong’s massive frame fell flat.
“So Myeong!”
A martial master nearby called out to him, but Namgoong So Myeong had already breathed his last.
“You bastard!”
Fury blazed across the man’s face.
Namgoong So Myeong was his cousin. He’d been so overjoyed when they were both selected for the Geomwang-dae thirty years ago.
Namgoong So Myeong, who had survived the fierce battle against the Demonic Cult, lost his life to a single strike from Dam Ho. It was a meaningless end, truly.
Nor was Namgoong So Myeong the only one dead. Already a dozen members of the Geomwang-dae lay scattered across the ground, lifeless.
As Dam Ho unfurled his Shield, the attacks using crossbows and hidden projectiles lost their force.
Dam Ho leaped into the very center of the Geomwang-dae, transforming the battle into chaos. What had been an organized conflict became a brawl where friend and foe could not be distinguished—a dogs’ fight, as they called it.
Because Dam Ho had thrust himself into their midst, the Geomwang-dae were forced to abandon all other weapons and fight with swords alone. It was exactly the situation Dam Ho had wanted.
Shrill!
A sword wreathed in Sword Qi came flying toward him.
The Geomwang-dae proved to be composed entirely of masters capable of channeling Sword Qi. More than that, they were all seasoned experts who had experienced every conceivable battle.
Though they had suffered heavy losses after Dam Ho seized the initiative, they soon regained their composure and counterattacked.
Ripping sound!
Dam Ho’s robe was sliced open in a long tear. Between the ripped fabric, a wound exposing raw flesh was visible.
A bone-chilling agony rippled through his spine and spread across his entire body, yet Dam Ho did not cry out once. Instead, he made certain to kill the one who had wounded him.
Splatter!
A man’s head burst apart like a watermelon, and blood mist along with bone fragments scattered in all directions.
“Gahhh!”
The warriors of the Geomwang-dae, suddenly covered in their comrade’s flesh, let out anguished groans.
In that instant, Dam Ho’s body spun on its axis, and both arms extended like whips. It was a stroke of the Danhyang Strike.
Crack!
The faces of the warriors struck in the nose collapsed and crumbled.
“Agh!”
Watching their comrade fall, the warriors bit their lips until blood came.
Their comrades’ deaths only fueled their rage.
They too feared death. But what terrified them far more was the honor of the Namgoong Clan crashing to the ground.
If the Geomwang-dae could be deployed and still could not overcome a single man, Dam Ho, then the whole world would mock the Namgoong Clan. Such a thing could never be allowed to happen.
“Die!”
The warriors of the Geomwang-dae pressed their assault against Dam Ho relentlessly.
They had already surrendered their lives long ago.
They would not hesitate to throw away their single life. If only their comrades could kill Dam Ho in their place.
Dam Ho was raging like a mad demon.
The warriors of the Geomwang-dae were crumbling before a demonic fist unlike anything they had ever witnessed. In return, they clawed viciously at Dam Ho’s body, leaving wounds upon wounds, yet he remained unbroken.
Now they understood with absolute clarity: capturing Dam Ho had been an impossible task from the very beginning.
‘The madness of that devil can only end in death.’
‘Demon of Authority is not the sort to be taken alive by anyone.’
‘Even if it costs this life, I will grab hold of his ankle.’
Madness dominated the battlefield.
Su Cheon too felt the madness that consumed the field, and his body trembled.
All one hundred members of the Geomwang-dae had been deployed. Twenty had been diverted to capture Jong Ri Yeon, yet eighty members of the Geomwang-dae remained—a tremendous force that could stand against any supreme master.
Yet with all that power mobilized, they could not overcome a single Dam Ho. Rather, his madness was dominating the entire battlefield.
‘Like a demon!’
Su Cheon shuddered.
When the Geomwang-dae were first deployed, he had not imagined the battle would unfold like this. Dam Ho’s madness was making even Su Cheon, hardened by countless trials, recoil in horror.
With Dam Ho, they had already crossed a river from which there was no return.
“If we do not kill him, the Namgoong Clan has no future.”
Su Cheon understood the situation with perfect clarity.
A man of Dam Ho’s temperament would never make peace. Once he became an enemy, he was like a leech that would cling to the end, no matter what outcome awaited.
“We must settle this here. At whatever cost.”
Shling!
Su Cheon drew his sword.
He could no longer stand idle. Now it was his turn to enter the fray. Only then could he minimize the damage to the Geomwang-dae.
“You demon! This place will be your grave.”
He unfurled the Heavenly Wind Thirteen Absolutes, the secret sword technique of the Namgoong Clan.
Shrill crack!
Sharp Sword Qi radiating from his blade aimed at Dam Ho’s skull.
Clang!
Yet Dam Ho did not even turn around; he simply swept his arm and flicked the sword away.
Whirl-crash!
Dam Ho’s body spun in place, and his right arm shot out like a whip.
A stroke of the Danhyang Strike collided against Su Cheon’s blade.
A violent impact that resonated through the organs themselves. But Dam Ho’s assault was far from finished.
Shrill!
The Breaking Star Hammer descended upon him.
Su Cheon thrust his left palm open, meeting Dam Ho’s fist head-on.
It was the Heavenly Thunder Palm, the signature technique of the Namgoong Clan.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
A strangled groan escaped Su Cheon’s lips as his body lurched backward. Despite blocking with the Heavenly Thunder Palm, the violent shock tore through his internal organs.
Su Cheon staggered back, his footing unsteady.
Dam Ho seized the opening and rushed forward, his black robes billowing around him like a demon god incarnate.
“Stop him!”
“We must save the commander!”
Faced with Su Cheon’s peril, the warriors of Geomwang-dae threw themselves forward without hesitation.
Bang! Bang!
“Argh!”
“No!”
Thunder roared out as screams tore through the air.
The corpses of Geomwang-dae’s warriors lay scattered across the floor, mangled like discarded meat.
Only through his subordinates’ sacrifice did Su Cheon cling to life. Had their intervention come even a moment later, it would be he lying broken on that stone floor.
“Krrgh!”
Su Cheon’s face twisted into something demonic.
Now he understood.
Conventional methods could never defeat Dam Ho.
Dam Ho surpassed even the masters of the Demonic Cult who had invaded the Namgoong Clan thirty years ago—and he was far more vicious.
Ten thousand men could not stand against one. He embodied the very principle of One Against Ten Thousand.
It was as though he were witnessing the outer limit of what a single human could achieve.
Such a being could never be killed through normal means. Extreme measures were required.
Su Cheon’s voice rang out.
“He is Heaven-Class! Deploy the Blood Scattering Flower!”
The Namgoong Clan categorized the warriors of Jianghu in tiers based on achievement and danger.
Those commonly known as masters fell into the Human-Class tier.
Masters renowned even within Jianghu—Sect Leaders and elders of the Nine Great Sects—ranked as Earth-Class.
Heaven-Class was not earned through martial strength alone. One could only attain it when the danger posed to Jianghu exceeded that of any great sect.
The Cult Master and the Four Divine Envoys of the Demonic Cult held this rank.
Su Cheon was judging Dam Ho’s danger level to be equivalent to theirs, regardless of his actual martial skill.
The eyes of Geomwang-dae’s warriors changed.
The resolve that had burned in them moments before now faded, replaced by something almost transcendent.
One of Geomwang-dae’s warriors hurled himself toward Dam Ho.
He did not even draw his sword. His body flew forward completely defenseless.
“We go to hell together, Demon of Authority.”
Crash!
In that instant, the warrior’s body exploded at Dam Ho’s feet.
Blood Scattering Flower.
A final technique—detonating one’s own body to achieve mutual destruction with the enemy.
Shattered bone and flesh became hidden projectiles, raining down upon Dam Ho.
Caught off guard, Dam Ho quickly raised his shield to protect himself. But hastily deployed, it could not cover everything.
Crimson-stained bone fragments lodged in his ribs and shoulder.
“Hahahaha! It is not over yet, Demon of Authority!”
Crash!
Another warrior of Geomwang-dae unleashed the Blood Scattering Flower in mutual destruction.
A storm of blood engulfed Dam Ho.
“If this one life can uphold justice in Jianghu, what have we to fear? My comrades’ sacrifice will be remembered by Jianghu and the Namgoong Clan alike.”
With a cry born of madness, another detonated himself in the Blood Scattering Flower.
The surviving Geomwang-dae warriors used their fallen comrades as a shield, pressing their assault upon Dam Ho.
“I swear I will not let your sacrifice be in vain.”
“Return to the deepest depths of hell, Demon of Authority!”
Whoooosh!
A tempest of sword wind crashed toward Dam Ho.
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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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