Murim Login - Chapter 682

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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 682
Screeeech!
Watching Jin Tae-kyung charge straight at him, the Great Snow Ghost cursed inwardly.
‘Come then, boy.’
Though I felt a rare tremor from the young one’s sharp tongue, nothing had changed.
I had long since erased from my mind the fact that my opponent was nothing but a blood-soaked youth, barely past adolescence.
How could it be otherwise? The Jin Tae-kyung I had assessed was a monster rarely seen throughout all of history.
Considering that even the giants who had left colossal footprints across the distant annals of the Martial World—the Three Stars and the Ten Kings—had only reached the pinnacle after surpassing at least thirty years of age, it was all the more so.
Terrifying talent. And an absurdly young age.
Along with Chung Poong of the Huashan Sect, another genius who had inherited the legacy of Sword Saint Mae Jong-hak, he would undoubtedly become the most dangerous obstacle.
‘Within the next fifty years at least, he will grow into a monster rivaling the Mu-shin and the Heavenly Demon. He must be dealt with now.’
I did not know the true intentions behind my direct superior, the Nantian Demon Empress, ordering Jin Tae-kyung’s capture alive.
But in this moment, I was certain of my own judgment.
‘Demon Empress, this time you are mistaken. This one… must never be allowed to live.’
With words that would never reach her ears, the Twin Wheels emerged from between the Great Snow Ghost’s sleeves, releasing a harsh cry.
Whoooosh!
Since my martial arts and identity were already exposed, there was no advantage to be gained by concealing my strength.
The Great Snow Ghost’s eyes flashed as I focused all my senses, watching Jin Tae-kyung’s rapidly approaching form.
‘Now!’
That was the moment.
Whiing!
The rapidly spinning Twin Wheels left my wrinkled hands.
Shwaaaack!
The Twin Wheels, brimming with extreme yin-cold energy, shot forth, freezing the very space around them.
Two blades moving in bizarre patterns at my will descended upon the spot where Jin Tae-kyung, who had already closed to within three feet, stood.
Boom!
Blue and white flashes intermingle with the thunderous sound.
Flame and ice collide. With a single swing, Jin Tae-kyung deflected the Twin Wheels and burst through the mist-like steam descending around him.
Screech!
His movements appeared no different from before—swift and relentless. Yet my sharp eyes perceived everything in detail.
‘He is merely suppressing it. The aftereffects of his internal injuries remain.’
It was a minute difference, but unmistakable. His movements had become subtly disordered, his momentum rougher than before.
In this moment, the Jin Tae-kyung reflected in my eyes was a wounded beast—still possessing sharp claws, yet rapidly tiring.
And I was a seasoned hunter who knew how to hunt such beasts better than anyone.
‘At this rate, bringing him down is merely a matter of time.’
Moreover, at my side was the Black Hand Fist Demon, a hunting hound.
Though not strong enough to sink fangs into the beast’s throat, it was savage enough to charge at the beast on the hunter’s behalf.
Whoosh!
“Huk Soo!”
The hunter falls back; the hound lunges forward.
At the exact moment Jin Tae-kyung closed the distance, the Great Snow Ghost retreated sharply and cried out, prompting the Black Hand Fist Demon to charge toward Jin Tae-kyung.
“Raaaah!”
Alongside Noh Ho-sung, consumed by fury, dozens of palm strikes infused with formidable inner force erupted forth.
Kwaaaaa!
Black energy crashed down like a tidal wave. Simultaneously, the spear in Jin Tae-kyung’s hand blurred into motion.
Shwaaaack!
A transcendent realm accessible only to the chosen few.
The young monster, barely past his twenties, had ascended to this pinnacle without hesitation, thrusting his spear forward with absolute conviction. The cyan-white flames enveloping the blade pierced through the heart of the black maelstrom.
Boom!
A strike of perfect precision, striking a single point.
As Jin Tae-kyung’s spear split and shattered the wave of energy, the Great Snow Ghost brought both hands down toward the empty air.
At that same instant, the dual wheels that had been deflected by the spade and drifting through the void plummeted downward.
Shiiiiing!
Movement as though alive itself.
Some might call this the Void Grasping Technique, or perhaps the String Sword wielded through threads and silk, but both were wrong.
It was the Great Snow Ghost’s will alone that moved the dual wheels, and the wheels, propelled solely by the power of his middle dantian, carried but a single purpose.
‘Die.’
A killing intent as cold as ice, directed at one person alone.
Two wheels bending in different directions, descending like flashes of light, and the Black Hand Fist Demon’s form surging forward with overwhelming momentum.
Shwing! Screeeech!
Three flashes of light converging simultaneously from three directions.
Watching Jin Tae-kyung at the intersection of this death trap, the Great Snow Ghost was certain.
‘If he clashes directly with the Black Hand Fist Demon like this, he cannot escape unscathed. He will surely retreat, and in that gap, I will….’
But in that moment, Jin Tae-kyung’s movement rendered the Great Snow Ghost’s thoughts utterly meaningless.
Crack!
Jin Tae-kyung advanced. Without retreating even an inch, without hesitation.
He swung his spear like lightning toward the dual wheels descending above his head, and unleashed a fist strike like the foreleg of a tiger cornered at a cliff’s edge.
Boom! Craaack!
Immediately, the Great Snow Ghost could see it clearly.
Terroooom!
Amid a deafening roar as though the heavens were splitting and brilliant flashes of light, a spear erupting over Jin Tae-kyung’s shoulder.
Shiiik! Scrape!
And the dual wheels, having been released from his grasp, tearing across Jin Tae-kyung’s shoulder like lightning as he collided with the Black Hand Fist Demon.
Scrape! Gushhhhh!
Crimson blood spraying like a fountain, and a form staggering.
Faced with this unforeseen turn of events, even the Great Snow Ghost, so utterly composed, hesitated, unable to retrieve the dual wheels embedded deep within the stone wall.
‘Why such a choice?’
It was incomprehensible to the Great Snow Ghost. Had he been in the same position, he would have chosen evasion without the slightest hesitation.
Yet his thoughts could not continue further.
Guuuuung!
Jin Tae-kyung and Black Hand Fist Demon. The surge of qi erupting from these two supreme masters shook the very fabric of space.
Their fists, locked in mid-air, trembled without yielding or advancing, suspended in perfect equilibrium.
An evenly matched stance.
With those three characters flashing through my mind, Great Snow Ghost’s form blurred into motion.
Whoosh!
Jin Tae-kyung was exhausted from successive injuries.
Despite being a supreme master himself, Black Hand Fist Demon was clearly a step below, yet he managed to achieve parity for this brief moment—proof of my weakened state. Great Snow Ghost was no clumsy hunter to squander an opportunity that arrived sooner than expected.
‘Now is the opportune moment.’
Even a wounded and bleeding beast remains a beast. The hunting hound Black Hand Fist Demon could never overcome this young beast.
The only existence capable of severing the beast’s lifeline—if the hunter does not step forward.
‘I must kill him. Right now.’
The judgment made in that instant was cold and calculated, and my advancing form was like lightning.
With each step I took, the yin-cold qi flowing from my entire body froze the air itself.
Closing a distance of twenty zhang in merely three strides, I caught sight of a figure visible beyond Black Hand Fist Demon’s shoulder.
‘Jin Tae-kyung.’
There he is. I can feel him.
Ragged breathing. Shallow gasps.
His pale face, his upper body drenched in crimson blood where the twin wheels had grazed past—the beast’s pupils trembled finely upon detecting the hunter now upon him.
‘My judgment was correct.’
Certainty settled into my cold, unwavering gaze.
Yeolhwa Shinryong Jin Tae-kyung. Heir to the Yeolhwa Sect and successor to Fire King Red Sky River.
The Central Plains’ divine dragon, destined to become a new Martial God who would gaze upon all under heaven—would die before ascending beyond the clouds.
Here and now, on this very ground.
At last… the hunt begins.
A wind swept forth.
It breathed cold into the air and earth that had burned hot moments before, covering mountains and forests in frost—a snow wind.
And it was a wind that sowed despair in one heart and hope in another.
‘He’s come. He’s finally come!’
Black Hand Fist Demon barely suppressed the cry of triumph threatening to burst from his lips.
I had never favored Great Snow Ghost. In truth, considering his usual demeanor, even this phrasing was generous.
That overbearing tone as if addressing a servant, that gaze looking down upon me—had his martial prowess not surpassed mine, I would have killed him long ago, hidden from Nantian Demon Empress’s sight.
But in a situation like this, Great Snow Ghost’s presence was worth ten thousand soldiers.
I watched Jin Tae-kyung desperately attempting to withdraw his form, and a mad smile spread across my face.
‘This Yeolhwa Sect disciple—I could tear you to shreds and still not be satisfied. You will never escape.’
Crack!
In that instant, a hand unfurled like a hook, ensnaring Jin Tae-kyung’s fist just as it was pulling away.
The forbidden grappling technique I had honed over as many years as my fist methods.
Sizzle. The heat like molten lava threatened to ignite my hands at any moment, yet I paid it no mind.
A single moment is all I need. Then this pain, and Jin Tae-kyung’s life, will both end.
I stared into Jin Tae-kyung’s wide, bulging eyes and cried out in exultation.
“Senior!”
And the Great Snow Ghost answered the Black Hand Fist Demon’s cry before it even finished, responding to his call.
By driving an ice sword forged solely from the most extreme yin-cold energy into the Black Hand Fist Demon’s back.
Squelch!
“…!”
In the slowed world, a single wet tearing sound accompanied the Black Hand Fist Demon’s body stiffening with a dull crack.
But to the Great Snow Ghost, the reaction of a hunting dog that had completed its task meant nothing whatsoever.
His cold gaze fixed on only one place—Jin Tae-kyung, whose eyes were wide with pain and shock.
Or rather, that should have been the case.
Just as the previous sect leader of Zhongnan Sect had been, whom I encountered long ago on the Great Snow Mountain.
And like the Black Hand Fist Demon who had already met death.
He should have died, pierced through by the ice sword containing such formidable yin-cold energy.
But….
‘What is this.’
The Great Snow Ghost’s eyes, which had remained motionless as if frozen, trembled slightly.
Following his slowly lowered gaze, I saw a hand touching my own chest.
Simultaneously with the ice sword I had unleashed, or rather, microseconds before it, that hand piercing through the Black Hand Fist Demon’s chest was both crimson and azure, dazzling in its brilliance.
Blazing flame.
Scorching heat. Flesh and bone. Even the soul within the body burning away.
Gazing at the cyan-white calamity flame burning with blood, the Great Snow Ghost muttered in a voice that seemed to boil over.
“How on earth…?”
And in the next moment, Jin Tae-kyung’s calm voice pierced my ears.
“You should have stabbed higher. Unless you were planning to give me experience points.”
What?
The Great Snow Ghost wanted to ask again, but Jin Tae-kyung did not permit his question.
Boom!
Beyond the terrible heat that engulfed my entire body, I could see.
‘That is…’
The crumbling body of the Black Hand Fist Demon and an unidentifiable crimson armor draped across Jin Tae-kyung’s upper body.
Crackle!

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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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