Murim Login - Chapter 472

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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 472
Shhk!
The heat piercing through my eyes was scorching, and the pain that followed was so cold it numbed sensation itself.
As the agony spread like wildfire, the mutated Water Dragon unleashed a roar filled with suffering.
– Kraaaaaahhh!
A body trunk as thick as a dozen massive trees bundled together, with a length exceeding thirty zhang.
As the colossal form—reminiscent of a small mountain—thrashed about madly, a tremendous shockwave swept across the surroundings.
Boom! Crash-crash-crash-boom!
The jagged boulders sent flying earlier shattered into hundreds, thousands of fragments, while barriers of earth and water erupted skyward.
As if struck by concentrated bombardment, the landscape was devastated in all directions, yet certain figures moved swiftly through the chaos.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Some rushed toward the monster, while others retreated far to evade its thrashing. Je-gal Poong, the current patriarch of the Je-gal Family Estate and the Reclining Dragon Guest, belonged to the latter group.
Having finally regained his senses, he gazed at the scene before him with a pale expression.
‘As if the very heavens warping wasn’t enough, now creatures of impossible power manifest themselves.’
Je-gal Poong possessed extensive knowledge of what were called spiritual entities or malevolent beings, yet this dragon-like monster shattered all conventional understanding.
Should word of what transpired here today reach the world, it was certain that not merely the Murim, but all under heaven would be seized by shock.
‘How could such a thing occur….’
Toward Je-gal Poong, whose body still trembled with lingering fear, one person spoke.
“Stay here with the others. Hide behind cover and remain as safe as possible.”
Any martial artist hearing those words would feel their pride wounded. For those of the Murim are beings who stake their lives on their martial prowess and a single blade, wandering through mountains of swords and forests of blades.
Je-gal Poong regarded the speaker with a rigid expression and opened his mouth.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked if you know who I am.”
Chung Poong answered.
“Yes. Great Hero Je-gal Poong.”
“It’s Je-gal Poong, not Je-gal Pong. In any case, you surely know that I am the patriarch of the Je-gal Family Estate.”
“Well, yes, I do know that….”
“Then are you telling the patriarch of the Je-gal Family Estate to hide like a coward?”
Chung Poong, after deliberating, nodded his head.
“Because it’s far safer that way.”
“Very well. Then I shall remain here without moving.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you say this place is safe? A coward is far preferable to dying a meaningless death.”
“…?”
“Don’t look at me that way. It is simply that this is not a battle I should engage in today. It is the same principle as when our ancestor Je-gal Moo-hu did not take the vanguard to cut down enemies.”
Je-gal Poong understood precisely his position and what he must do.
He was far too coldly rational to stake his life on a warrior’s pride, and as the patriarch of a great family commanding numerous retainers.
“This immense conflict has only just begun, so there will come a day when I prove my worth in the battles to unfold hereafter. Therefore, I shall take my leave now. I will protect these people well.”
Chung Poong, regarding Je-gal Poong with an enigmatic gaze, turned away with a respectful bow.
Je-gal Poong’s eyes grew distant as he watched the Young Man’s receding figure transform into a single gust of wind and fade away.
‘Yes, another age of chaos has begun.’
The peace that had endured for fifty years had drawn to a close. The darkened sky hung heavy with storm clouds, and new winds blew from all directions.
Chung Poong, streaking toward the distant battlefield, was but one of those winds.
‘Lord Moo-hu. At least for today, it seems there is no place for this unworthy descendant to stand.’
It was as Je-gal Poong offered this silent prayer that vacant voices behind him began to drift into his ears.
“Is that a monster over there? Are we dreaming?”
“It doesn’t seem like a dream. Or wait, maybe it is a dream.”
“But Hyuk, why are your pants so wet?”
“It’s raining. I must have gotten soaked.”
“That’s an awfully yellow color for rainwater.”
“It could be.”
“Is that so? How strange. But is this really not a dream?”
“It doesn’t seem like a dream. Or maybe it is a dream.”
“But Hyuk, why are your pants so wet——”
“….”
Unable to make sense of their senseless conversation, Je-gal Poong quietly shifted his position to escape the stench of urine.
Upon the hillside where earth and sand had accumulated to form a small mound.
Where his gaze fell, a battle unfolded as if a scene from myth itself had been transplanted into reality.
* * *
Shwik, scrape!
As a single line of silver light cleaved through space, everything that had rushed forward was severed.
The instant Moon-kyung’s form vanished like a phantom and he propelled himself upward by treading upon stone fragments suspended in mid-air.
Whoooosh!
Something massive descended through the spray of water and clouds of dust.
It did not take long to realize that its true form was a tail covered entirely in black scales.
‘Fast. Far faster than I anticipated.’
A body of tremendous size moving with inconceivable swiftness. Moon-kyung gripped his short blade firmly with each breath.
Tss, tss, tss, tss!
Quietly, yet with the speed of lightning, internal force was drawn upward and wrapped around the blade.
A power more destructive and keen than anything under heaven. Qi surged along the sword’s edge.
One second containing the profound mystery of supreme speed flowed from the fingertips of the world’s greatest Assassin.
‘I will sever it in one stroke.’
And in the next instant, as Moon-kyung drew his blade diagonally downward against the descending tail, he realized his miscalculation.
Scrape.
Despite the blade clearly connecting, the rebound force was absurdly powerful.
The qi infused in the short blade had to cut through far more than merely black scales.
Beneath scales as hard as steel lay flesh and muscle like iron, and bone of extraordinary density.
‘Damn.’
Moon-kyung silently clicked his tongue.
River energy. And not just any river energy, but river energy infused with the enlightenment of the greatest assassin in all history.
No matter how impervious this creature’s body might be, my river energy could sever it in a single stroke.
The problem, however, was thickness.
The sheer, incomprehensible girth of a tail whose diameter alone reached this chamber.
And when one added the durability of flesh that far exceeded all expectations to that….
‘Severing it completely in a single blow would be impossible.’
Under normal circumstances, perhaps not—but still bearing the remnants of Pier’s influence, I knew better than anyone that my martial arts could not manifest their true power.
‘Then.’
Moon-kyung twisted his wrist holding the sword blade even as he made his decision.
The blade that had been shearing through scales and splitting flesh and muscle rotated smoothly, using the flat of the sword to deflect the force coursing through the tail.
Crack, crack, crack—whoosh!
The small, slender frame was catapulted backward through the air.
Crash!
As Moon-kyung flipped his body in midair and descended with movements far too crude for a name like Ghost Phantom Killer, Jeok Cheon-gang, who had just melted away jagged stones flying in from the side with a single stroke, muttered mockingly.
“For someone who mastered Half-Step Returning Motion, your martial arts have become rather childish.”
“The strength and speed. Both far exceed my expectations. Even the subtlety of Four Ounces Deflecting a Thousand Pounds couldn’t fully redirect it.”
“Your tongue’s grown longer too.”
Moon-kyung regarded Jeok Cheon-gang with a dry gaze.
“If you’re going to provoke, stop here. The timing seems rather poor.”
“It’s not provocation—it’s plain fact. Didn’t you see how that thing collapsed when the Old Master landed a single blow?”
“That was only because I had already severed its horns first….”
Screeeech! Boom!
The deafening roar that erupted swallowed Moon-kyung’s words before they could continue.
As if by agreement, both men launched themselves away simultaneously, watching the writhing beam of light like a living creature with furrowed brows.
The ground where they had stood moments before was now completely devastated.
“The more I see it, the more bizarre this thing is. A vile creature wielding river energy?”
“It’s too weak to call true river energy, yet too strong to call sword energy. It’s clearly not inner cultivation technique… the very fact that it can employ such techniques using only accumulated energy from countless ages is beyond belief.”
Containing energy and utilizing, releasing energy are fundamentally different matters.
In that sense, the creature before them far transcended the common understanding both men possessed.
‘Could this creature be responsible for the annihilation of the Long River Blade Sect and Dongjeong Channel?’
Dodging another incoming attack, Moon-kyung regarded the creature with penetrating eyes.
He had suspected that at least two or more supreme masters had attacked Dongjeong Channel, but facing this unimaginable creature, he finally understood what had transpired.
‘Those strange whiskers and massive body… it must be. Similar to the traces left on the corpses.’
The image of it crushing and severing everything indiscriminately with its tail and whiskers materialized before his eyes.
Moreover, the mystery surrounding the corpses of the Long River Blade Sect, which everyone had assumed were damaged by schools of fish, was finally resolved.
‘They weren’t devoured after death—they died because they were being devoured.’
Who could have imagined it?
That a massive dragon-like creature had committed slaughter through the deep tributaries blocked even to boat traffic, passages only fish could traverse.
It was only natural that there were no witnesses, given it never revealed itself.
“There truly is no monster quite like this one.”
I had no choice but to acknowledge it. That monster possessed a power comparable to hundreds of peak masters, or perhaps two or three transcendent experts—a being of extraordinary and fearsome might.
And to Moon-kyung’s sigh, Jeok Cheon-gang nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. A monster indeed.”
“To think such an inexplicable existence could truly exist.”
“Every time I see it, I’m amazed. That’s why regrets arise—if only I had more time, what would have happened then? Such regrets.”
“What are you saying now….”
Only then did Moon-kyung suddenly recall something and gaze upon Jeok Cheon-gang. His weathered face, lined with the unmistakable passage of years, was filled with a smile.
“Listen, Sal-sung. Do you know what that is?”
Whoooosh!
A colossal shadow descended with a force that seemed to split the heavens themselves.
Jeok Cheon-gang, who had been gazing up at the black tail plummeting above his diminutive frame, spoke slowly.
“That creature… it’s the most bizarre and terrifying monster I’ve ever witnessed in all my years of life.”
“Danger…!”
The moment Moon-kyung’s eyes widened.
Crash! Boom! Kaboom!
A tremendous roar and tremor engulfed the area for dozens of zhang in every direction.
And from the very center of it all, Jeok Cheon-gang stood unscathed, not a single hair disturbed.
Unlike him, who had not moved a single step from where he originally stood, the black-scaled tail had struck far beyond, its impact devastating.
“Yes, exactly. A monster is best matched against a monster, after all.”
“…!”
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Above Jeok Cheon-gang’s head, which was laughing with a cackling sound, the monster’s dark crimson blood poured down, mingling with the rain and wind.
Moon-kyung, who had turned his gaze toward the monster’s massive body, and Chung Poong, who had just returned to the battlefield, could finally see it.
– Groooaaarrr!
The thrashing monster and someone hanging by a thread from the creature’s head at a dizzying height, tearing at its whiskers with bare hands.
“Bald head! Baldie! Smooth and shiny!”
Rip! Rip! Rip-rip-rip!
– Krooooaaarrr!
The Water Dragon’s mournful cry pierced through the rain and wind.

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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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