Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 107

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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 107. The Sword Demon’s Demon-Crushing General
“I’ve heard the tales. Of the Sword Saint Master who wielded ten blades with ghostly precision, rivaling even the Sword Saint himself.”
“Nonsense. I don’t hold a candle to the Sword Saint.”
Click-click! Clicking-clicking-clicking!
As Cheon Se Geuk answered, manipulating the Ten Swords with Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi like a puppeteer commanding marionettes, Jin Huk Cheon posed his question.
“Wasn’t it Nan Pung Gwui Geom? I heard he became crippled in both arms and was cast out?”
“That’s what happened.”
Cheon Se Geuk gazed down at his own arms.
Even now, he could not quite believe it.
A creeping dread that his ligaments might snap again at any moment, leaving him disabled once more, gnawed at him relentlessly.
But he could not retreat.
“Life flows like a fleeting dream. Yet there are certain debts a man must honor. First, the repayment of kindness. Second, the settlement of grudges.”
“Why do you, a child of Geumgeom Mun, stand in my path? Do you think you’ll escape unscathed after obstructing Gucheon Seong’s grand design?”
“It was Geumgeom Mun that cast me out. What do I care for Gucheon Seong?”
“Hah hah. True enough—I myself have little interest in Gucheon Seong’s grand scheme. I simply lent my support because it promised me the freedom to run wild.”
Hiss!
Jin Huk Cheon smiled widely as he spun the Sikyon Chaedo in a broad arc.
Vwoom!
“You show no mercy whatsoever. Not a shred of charm to speak of.”
“As I desire. Hah!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
It was Cheon Se Geuk who seized the initiative.
His fingers flew through the air like plucking strings from an invisible zither, and the spirits of Wind Demons infused the Ten Swords.
Hwoooo!
The Ten Swords occupied all ten directions, commanding a radius of three zhang.
“Cha-ha!”
Cheon Se Geuk completed the Saryeong Geomgye, and as he clawed through empty space, the Ten Swords—like wind-demon claws—plunged toward Jin Huk Cheon in unison.
“Hmph, still just grasping at air.”
Vwoom!
Black Qi formed upon the Sikyon Chaedo.
Jin Huk Cheon swung two of his blades downward, emanating such scorching heat that the very air warped around them.
“Paengpa Gibak!”
Boom-boom-crack!
A deafening roar shook the eardrums as Yeolheuk Sikma Gong exploded outward in all directions.
It was a wide-area technique that transmuted cooking methods into destructive forms, breaking through resistance and detonating internal Qi in a cataclysmic burst.
Jin Huk Cheon had no doubt that with this single move, all of Cheon Se Geuk’s blades would melt into molten pools of metal.
But—
Ping! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Cheon Se Geuk pulled the strings sharply, and the descending blades withdrew. Only three of them shot forward toward Jin Huk Cheon.
Boom-boom-boom!
The three swords did not melt in the heat of Paengpa Gibak; they reached Jin Huk Cheon unscathed.
“Oho? So you could also channel Qi into the blades by following the Red Silk Strings?”
Jin Huk Cheon watched the display with intrigue, then chuckled.
“Though it seems there’s a limit. Three swords at maximum, I see.”
Clang-clang-clang!
Thud-thud-boom!
Having deflected the three swords, Jin Huk Cheon planted his foot against the earth and charged straight at Cheon Se Geuk.
“Why would anyone let you lurk in the rear, playing your comfortable tricks?”
Crack-crack-crack!
As Jin Huk Cheon approached with black Demonic Qi streaming behind him like a demon’s tail, Cheon Se Geuk smiled knowingly and murmured.
“A sphere of engagement.”
“What—?!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The blades, which had seemed to scatter haphazardly, suddenly shot outward in all directions.
The Red Silk Strings bound to the sword hilts snapped taut, and at the center of that tangle of silk stood Jin Huk Cheon.
Screech-screech-screech!
In an instant, the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi wove itself together like cat’s cradle, and Jin Huk Cheon found himself trapped like a silkworm larva inside a red cocoon.
“Sachap Jenyeo!”
“You wretch! Grrgh!”
Crack-crack! Boom-crack!
Jin Huk Cheon strained against his bonds, trying to tear through the cocoon of layered silk.
But the threads only stretched; they would not snap.
This was thanks to the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi’s inherent property of elongation—the ability to extend indefinitely without breaking.
“So you want to settle this with a direct clash of inner force against mine? How foolish!”
Thump!
Whoosh!
As Jin Huk Cheon unleashed the Yeolheuk Sikma Gong at full intensity, charcoal-black flames erupted across his entire body.
The crimson silk cocoon began to melt away, and the black fire raced along the threads toward Cheon Se Geuk.
Ugh!
Snap!
The moment the demonic energy invaded, Cheon Se Geuk severed the threads with desperate speed, and Jin Huk Cheon—freed from the Sachap Jenyeo—materialized before him in an instant.
“Die!”
Jin Huk Cheon crossed the Sikyon Chaedo in rapid succession, slashing downward.
It was a cutting technique from the Cheonjeol Mandan Pang Gong—one wielding the Bulk property, a method of carving away solid matter. The Goeap Sahon.
Screech! Screech!
Clang!
Cheon Se Geuk, who had recovered a Long Sword, formed a crimson protective aura and met the blade with his Geom Myeon.
He channeled the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi’s other property—adhesion—to increase friction resistance and slow the Goeap Sahon’s momentum.
Gah!
Boom!
Unable to withstand the impact, the sword shattered, and Cheon Se Geuk’s body flew backward, crashing into the Bamboo Forest.
Crash!
The moment Jin Huk Cheon lunged after him—
Whisp!
Slash!
Something shot toward him suddenly, and Jin Huk Cheon split it in half with the Sikyon Chaedo.
Focusing his vision, he caught sight of Cheon Se Geuk hiding deep within the Bamboo Forest.
A pained gasp!
Creak-creak-creak!
Blood dripped from his lips as he wielded the Ma Ryeong Sa Gung, cutting bamboo stalks into arrows and firing them in rapid succession.
Haaah!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As Jin Huk Cheon deflected the barrage of arrows, he grasped Cheon Se Geuk’s true objective.
“I see. Buying time, are we?”
Glancing skyward, he noted it had been roughly two hours since they invaded the Danli Family estate.
Even accounting for the amusement he’d indulged in, reinforcements should have already finished their preliminary work and withdrawn by now.
“Heh. A pointless effort. Even at best speed, backup will take two more hours to arrive. Do you truly think you can hold out against me for one more hour?”
“Huff! Huff! Only time will tell which of us falls first.”
Twang!
Crack!
As Jin Huk Cheon split another bamboo arrow in two, he let out a bitter laugh.
“A clumsy provocation. Did you think I’d simply charge into that forest?”
……
“Your silk-weaving art. It would have considerable advantage in such an obstacle-laden place.”
He was right.
The Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gong was an unorthodox martial art.
One could set traps by suspending the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi between bamboo stalks, or fashion platforms for swift movement—countless tactical possibilities.
A martial art capable of creating Chaos Warfare single-handedly. That was precisely what the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gong represented.
“Heh. So beyond merely stalling—you mean to deplete my inner force as much as possible before reinforcements arrive?”
As Jin Huk Cheon nodded and murmured to himself, Cheon Se Geuk’s expression hardened into stone.
Just as Jin Huk Cheon had surmised, Cheon Se Geuk intended to drain his opponent’s inner force reserves before the arriving reinforcements engaged.
He had orchestrated the Saryeong Geomgye encirclement attack for this purpose, and forced the inner-force duel through Sachap Jenyeo as well.
His next gambit was to lure Jin Huk Cheon into obliterating the entire Bamboo Forest, squandering vast quantities of his inner force in the process—or so he’d hoped.
‘Exposed. A truly cunning demon lord, this one. But what will you do now? Your choices remain only two.’
Creak-creak-creak!
With an expressionless face, Cheon Se Geuk drew back the bowstring of the Ma Ryeong Sa Gung.
He would continue to harass Jin Huk Cheon here.
Jin Huk Cheon would have no choice but to either enter the Bamboo Forest and capture him, or annihilate the entire area—exhausting his reserves either way.
Hehehehe! Bwahahaha!
Jin Huk Cheon burst into raucous laughter as he watched Cheon Se Geuk.
What had begun as a leisurely culinary expedition had taken an unexpectedly thrilling turn.
“You know how to fight. But there’s one thing you haven’t accounted for.”
“……What would that be?”
“You seem overflowing with pride in your martial art. But you mustn’t forget that my technique is likewise a peerless demonic art.”
Cheon Se Geuk’s eyes narrowed to slits.
The Scorching Black Devourer Technique.
It was known to be a vile forbidden technique rarely seen in this age, but nothing beyond that.
“Hehehehe! Let me show you!”
Whoosh!
The instant Jin Huk Cheon finished speaking, his figure vanished.
Moments later, he appeared in the midst of the Danli Family warriors surrounding them.
“Gasp!”
“No!”
“Kill him!”
Clang-clang-clang!
The Danli Family warriors drew their blades in unison, but Jin Huk Cheon’s Sikyon Chaedo moved far faster.
Crack!
Thump!
Like harvesting fruit, Jin Huk Cheon seized heads and immediately began to devour them.
Crunch! Crunch-crunch!
“Monster!”
Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
Slash-slash-slash!
Cheon Se Geuk, horrified by the gruesome spectacle, unleashed a barrage of bamboo strikes, but Jin Huk Cheon brushed them aside as one might swat flies, all while finishing his feast.
“Khehehehe! The Scorching Black Devourer Technique was once called the Demon Absorption art—the right arm of the Great Demon, the Predator Demon Deng Lu, from ages past.”
Jin Huk Cheon wiped the blood from his lips, his dark eyes gleaming like a beetle’s.
“I obtained it by chance through the Bowhwa Mun and sealed it away—a peerless forbidden demonic art. Why was this technique forbidden? Simply because of the consumption? No, the reason runs far deeper.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Then, from Jin Huk Cheon’s lower dantian, the Scorching Black Devourer energy rose and surged upward.
The Scorching Black Devourer energy clung ravenously to the human flesh descending through his esophagus.
Roarrrrr!
Under the intense heat, flesh and bone dissolved away, leaving only the life force that had dwelt within them.
“Hahahaha! The Scorching Black Devourer Technique is an art of Demon Absorption—consuming the flesh of the living, refining it through extreme heat, and extracting and absorbing the vital essence within!”
“……!”
“Can you imagine my joy when that foolish master told me of this? An absolute supreme technique capable of absorbing heterogeneous qi—and it existed in a sect on its last legs!”
No matter how he thought about it, the Bowhwa Mun, his master sect, was an utterly pathetic organization.
With such power at hand, shouldn’t they have conquered the Martial World?
Instead, they sealed it away and hid in some remote corner, playing at being a mysterious sect?
“Sealed? That’s laughable. They must have wanted to master it too. Otherwise, why keep such an art? So I fulfilled my master sect’s hidden wish!”
Boom-boom-boom!
Jin Huk Cheon trembled as he felt the demonic energy filling his lower dantian.
The depleted inner power rapidly replenished itself, and even beyond that, the demonic energy invaded his Hundred Convergence Point.
“More, more, more I need! I can bear it no longer!”
Jin Huk Cheon’s gaze, now gleaming with madness, swept rapidly across his surroundings.
Whoosh! Crack!
With a single step forward, Jin Huk Cheon severed the heads of three warriors.
Crunch! Crunch-crunch!
As Jin Huk Cheon resumed devouring, Cheon Se Geuk cried out in alarm.
“Everyone retreat! He grows stronger in battle! You cannot remain near him!”
Even as he spoke, Cheon Se Geuk drew the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi between the bamboo stalks.
Twang! Ping!
Transformed into a living arrow, Cheon Se Geuk shot toward Jin Huk Cheon at tremendous speed.
The moment he understood that the creature possessed a means of replenishing inner power, prolonged combat became meaningless.
If they didn’t fell him quickly, he would restore all his strength.
Whoosh!
Clang-clang-clang!
“Hnngh!”
Even as Cheon Se Geuk hurtled toward Jin Huk Cheon, he reconnected the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi to the surrounding blades.
Then, launching into the opening strike of the Wind Demon Chaos Dance, he summoned a tempest of blades across the entire area.
“Blast, I’m too late!”
Whoosh!
Crack-crack-crack!
But as Cheon Se Geuk threaded his index finger through the ring of the Sikyon Chaedo and whirled the Ssang Pungcha, the blade storm tore apart, transforming into a gentle breeze.
Tap!
Yet Cheon Se Geuk plunged into Jin Huk Cheon’s embrace without hesitation, as though he’d anticipated this very moment.
Dual swords hung from his hands, their blades sheathed in Nae Gong as red as blood itself.
Crunch-crunch! Crunch!
The pair had an odd appearance—the Cheonsa Geom Ryeong Gi coiled around them from hilt tip to pommel.
‘The Spiral Killing Strike!’
This technique was born from a moment when the Sword Saint Dan Wee Myeong watched children playing with spinning tops.
The children wound string round and round the tops their father had carved, then unwound it to generate momentum.
The Sword Saint gazed upon this sight and crafted a killing technique from it.
Because of this, the Spiral Killing Strike bore within it the Sword Saint’s resentful rage at what he could never possess.
“Release!”
Drawing as close as possible, Cheon Se Geuk spiraled the twin blades at maximum extension, built friction through adhesion, and unleashed both swords at once.
Crash!
Crash!
The sight resembled fangs of a crimson tiger preparing to tear into Jin Huk Cheon.
‘At this close range! No matter how exalted a wall-climber he is……!’
Crackle-crackle-crack!
The moment the Spiral Killing Strike gouged into Jin Huk Cheon’s Protective Qi, Cheon Se Geuk’s eyes blazed.
“Hmph! No matter how you thrash below a wall, you cannot reach this height.”
Ching!
Crash-bang!
The Sikyon Chaedo, brimming with Yeolheuk Sikma Gong, shattered the fangs, and Jin Huk Cheon’s knee drove into Cheon Se Geuk’s solar plexus.
Thud!
“Ugh…… Ahhh……!”
“Your attempt to supplement insufficient breadth with momentum was admirable. It might have worked against a freshly advanced wall-climber.”
Jin Huk Cheon knelt and gazed down at Cheon Se Geuk, who coughed blood, shaking his head with what seemed like regret.
“But this blade is One Star among the 108 Stars. A powerhouse ranking within the top hundred of this vast Martial World.”
“Cough! Hack!”
“Heh-heh! I don’t know how you recovered your arm, but this time I’ll sever it cleanly. Do despair. It tastes far better that way.”
Screech!
The moment Jin Huk Cheon brought the Sikyon Chaedo down to sever both of Cheon Se Geuk’s arms.
“Hmm?”
Stillness.
Jin Huk Cheon felt his arm frozen, unable to move, gripped by an invisible force.
It was as though a colossal giant from empty air held his limb in place.
Crackle!
Then, though the sun hung at its zenith, white lightning flickered across the sky.
A man in blue robes materialized before him, his leg already raised.
“You brat. This is what I took the trouble to fix.”
“Huh?!”
Flash! Bang!
Jin Huk Cheon flew through the air like a cannon shell, kicked away by the lightning-swift blow.
Ho Yeon had arrived at the Danli Family.

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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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