Return of the Sword Emperor - Chapter 14

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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 6: A Fortuitous Encounter (1)

“Hah! Hah!”

Im Je’s breath came ragged as he fled without thinking, but suddenly he stopped.
The violent crash of conflict had ceased.
The meaning was unmistakable.

‘Father…’

Im Je felt his father’s death in his bones and clenched his teeth hard. Hot tears rolled down his Face Mask.
But he could not remain still.

‘I can’t waste the time Father bought with his life. But I can’t go on like this.’

Given the speed of the enemies who had pursued them thus far, simple flight would be meaningless.

‘I need to find a hiding place.’

Im Je scanned his surroundings with a hardened expression.
Concealment was fundamental to the Assassins—he had practiced it since learning to walk.
If given even the smallest space, he was confident he could hide undetected for days.

‘The location isn’t bad.’

The Sa Rim Forest, tangled with all manner of trees and vines, was an ideal place for concealment. Moreover, he could rely on the snakes that filled the woods.
As he searched through mounting fear for the perfect spot, a flash of light suddenly shone in his eyes.
Behind a vine that swayed slightly as the wind brushed it, an empty space appeared.
It vanished from sight in an instant, but that was enough.

‘Father…’

It was nothing short of a miracle.
The wind had blown at just the right moment, and his gaze had been turned that way—otherwise, it was a space he would never have found.
Believing his father’s spirit guided him, Im Je meticulously erased every trace of his passage before entering that space. Then, carefully parting the vines, he stepped inside.
A chamber roughly five paces across revealed itself before him.

“Wow!”

An exclamation burst involuntarily from Im Je’s lips.
A secret chamber formed by a dozen massive trees entwined with finger-thick vines.
Moonlight shone gently upon it, as if lighting the eye of a great dragon wind.
In the midst of the Sa Rim Forest, so thick with yin-tinged energy, this place was an entirely different world.
Plants grew fresh and green, and even the countless snakes were nowhere to be seen.

‘This place—I can make it work.’

Im Je was certain that the place his father’s spirit had guided him to would protect his life. He settled quietly beneath a tree on the northern side where the undergrowth grew longest.
Crouching low to hide himself completely, he closed his eyes slowly.
Using the Ear-Eating Breathing Method to hold his breath and suppress every trace of his presence, he focused all his senses outward beyond the vines.
But unfortunately, he did not notice the black shadow approaching him.
Sssshhh.
A cold current of energy rising from beneath his feet made Im Je start.
As every hair on his body stood on end and his assassin’s instincts screamed warnings, the massive head of a dark, scale-covered serpent loomed above him.
Its body was as thick as a felled log, and in the moonlight, its gleaming eyes held the cold wisdom and hunger peculiar to a Spirit Beast.
Im Je reached for his sword in that instant, but the snake’s movement was like lightning.
Crack!
The snake’s jaws crushed down on Im Je’s shoulder with a dull sound.
At the same moment, the serpent’s coils wrapped around his entire body.

“Hack!”

Im Je thrashed against the shattering agony that seized his entire skeleton.
Crack!
With the sound of every bone in his body snapping, Im Je’s form went limp.
The serpent that had severed his breath in an instant—having invaded its domain—slipped silently back into the undergrowth as though nothing had happened.

* * *

After laying low Im Sang, who had fought desperately to buy his son time, Dok Go Jin immediately pursued Im Je’s trail.
Night had already fallen, and the forest, choked with vegetation and vines, made it nearly impossible to see more than a pace ahead.
But for Dok Go Jin now, such obstacles were trivial.
In the days just after finishing the Training Institute, he would never have dared attempt this; now, seasoned by countless real encounters, he missed nothing—not the subtly bent leaf, not the faint impression of soil beneath his feet.
Continuing his pursuit, Dok Go Jin soon arrived at the vines where Im Je had hidden himself.

“Hmm.”

Dok Go Jin’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the area with keen attention.
The fugitive’s traces grew suddenly faint from a certain point onward, then disappeared entirely.

“Did I lose him?”

He considered tracking further, then shook his head.
It didn’t matter if he didn’t capture him. The Assassins’ ambush had already been neutralized entirely.
In a situation where it was already clear who had mobilized them, losing a single underling was of no consequence.

“Everyone will be worried. I should head back—”

Dok Go Jin’s turn stopped abruptly.
A question bloomed in his eyes.
A clean, crisp freshness that could never arise in Sa Rim Forest.
The scent was utterly divorced from the forest’s dampness, mustiness, and stench of serpent—it brushed against his nostrils.
As though enchanted, Dok Go Jin turned and saw the fresh air flowing from between the vines.

‘There’s something here.’

Instinctively, he sensed something extraordinary lay beyond the vines. Simultaneously, he deduced that the fugitive had fled into that concealed space.
Dokgo Jin parted the vines carefully, braced for any sudden attack.
As the vines rustled, a freshness far more potent and vivid than before washed over him.

‘I had no idea such a place existed in Sa Rim.’

It was a space he could never have imagined.
It was a realm utterly severed from the outside world.
Dok Go Jin, briefly entranced, caught the acrid scent of blood threading through the freshness and furrowed his brow.
A short distance away, moonlight illuminated the corpse of someone.
Dok Go Jin approached cautiously, wary it might be a trap, but Im Je was already a cold corpse.
The face revealed behind the fallen Face Mask was horrific.
Eyes wide with terror, features twisted in agony, and blood pooled from his chest cavity—all of it cast a chill across Dok Go Jin’s heart.

“Who did this to him?”

As Dok Go Jin began to examine Im Je’s body, considering that a third presence might be lurking in Sa Rim, a black shadow crept silently toward him from above.
In that instant, Dok Go Jin’s blade flashed out like lightning, severing the shadow.
Clang!
With a sharp metallic ring as though striking iron plate, his sword inexplicably shattered in two.
Startled, Dok Go Jin stepped back and readied himself for counterattack.
But no further assault came.

‘A snake?’

Dok Go Jin’s pupils trembled slightly.
The serpent coiling before him, its head held rigid at his own eye level, was utterly unlike any common snake.
Its body was enormous enough to rival a fallen log, and the scales covering it gleamed black as pitch.
Those obsidian eyes seemed to strip away one’s very soul with a glance, and its tongue flickered—a shade redder than blood itself.
But most striking of all was the golden protrusion crowning the creature’s skull.
The moment Dok Go Jin beheld that gilded crest, he knew exactly what he was facing.

‘The Golden-Crowned Black Snake!’

A Spirit Beast known as the King of Snakes.
It was also one of the most lethal venomous creatures mentioned repeatedly during his toxicology studies at the Training Institute.

‘Now that I think about it……’

Dok Go Jin cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
Outside, serpents had been so thick they tangled around his ankles—but here, not a single one stirred.
This was the domain of one of the realm’s most renowned Spirit Beasts; lesser snakes wouldn’t dare trespass.

“So this is your territory.”

As if in answer, the Golden-Crowned Black Snake’s tongue flicked once more before its massive form shuddered and uncoiled like a crescent moon, launching at him through the air.

‘Here it comes!’

Dok Go Jin twisted sharply and rolled to one side.
There was no time to catch his breath.
The creature’s head descended like lightning.
Within its gaping maw, fangs the size of a man’s finger gleamed under the moonlight.
Dok Go Jin discarded the shattered blade and clenched his fists.
Thud!
A sharp, decisive blow.
As his knuckles connected cleanly with the creature’s jaw, the Golden-Crowned Black Snake’s massive body crashed lifelessly to the ground.
Boom!
A heavy tremor rippled outward, but that was all.
As if the Golden-Crowned Black Snake had felt no impact at all, it thrashed violently—its tail sweeping through the undergrowth toward Dok Go Jin’s waist.
Leaning back as far as possible to evade the strike, Dok Go Jin felt the tail whistle past his face and the wind pressure that followed, and let out a hollow laugh.

‘One solid hit from that thing and there wouldn’t even be bones left to bury.’

The Golden-Crowned Black Snake withdrew its tail and lifted its head once more.
A sinister gleam flickered in its eyes as it fixed its gaze upon him.
In that instant, Dok Go Jin’s body shot upward like an arrow.
The Golden-Crowned Black Snake, reacting a heartbeat too late, reared its massive frame skyward as well.
Bang!
Dok Go Jin’s extended fist drove directly into the creature’s crown.
Yet the golden protrusion atop its head merely vibrated with the impact, and the creature lunged toward him with its maw wide open.
Dok Go Jin struck downward with his elbow again, driving toward that same spot, and withdrew.
The Golden-Crowned Black Snake bounced off the ground and charged again.
Dok Go Jin retreated, his expression darkening with a bitter smile.
Despite the considerable force behind his strikes—the punch and elbow alike—a dull ache had begun to creep through his knuckles and forearm.
By contrast, as the Golden-Crowned Black Snake twisted its torso whip-like from side to side and surged forward, it seemed not the slightest bit wounded—only angrier.
That was when it happened.
As the Golden-Crowned Black Snake lunged with its jaws spread wide, something sprayed forth from its gaping maw.

‘Damn!’

Dok Go Jin recoiled in shock.
He’d heard tales of certain serpents that spat venom, but he’d never imagined a Golden-Crowned Black Snake could actually discharge poison like that.

‘One hit and it’s over.’

The Golden-Crowned Black Snake earned its title as King of Snakes not merely for its size, but because it possessed a venom counted among the deadliest in all the world.
Had he retained his full strength of old, perhaps he could have managed it—but in his current state, he had no confidence against such toxin.
Dok Go Jin made no attempt to block the venom hurtling toward him; instead, he twisted his body and slipped aside.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Venom streamed through the air in relentless waves.
With phantasmal grace, Dok Go Jin evaded every droplet the serpent unleashed, the misdirected toxin swiftly contaminating the surrounding earth.
As its successive attacks failed, the Golden-Crowned Black Snake convulsed more violently, releasing guttural shrieks—and just as it opened its maw to gather more venom, the moment came.

‘Now.’

While weaving through the poison streams, Dok Go Jin had watched for his opening—and now he drove in beneath the serpent’s jaw.
Even caught off guard, the Golden-Crowned Black Snake’s body whipped with terrifying speed.
In that razor-thin instant, as the serpent convulsively expelled another gout of venom, Dok Go Jin barely sidesteeped it and reached out his hand.
Somehow he had seized what lay near—a shattered blade fragment.
Sensing the threat, the Golden-Crowned Black Snake snapped its head instinctively, trying to bite down on his arm.
But it was already too late.
Thud!
The blade shard in Dok Go Jin’s grip pierced through the serpent’s weakest point—the thin membrane beneath its jaw—and drove deep.
In the same moment, Dok Go Jin’s full-force fist crashed against the creature’s skull.
Crack!
The Golden-Crowned Black Snake’s massive body twisted backward and rolled across the ground several times over.
Undergrowth was trampled flat; trees snapped and splintered.
Its thrashing did not last long.
Then, all at once, the serpent’s enormous form trembled and went slack.
Dok Go Jin, who had stepped back at the moment of impact, now approached the creature.
The King of Snakes’ black eyes, which had burned with malice until the very end, slowly dimmed to nothing.

“So that was the King of Snakes.”

After finishing the brief yet far from easy battle, Dok Go Jin released a long breath.
His rest was short.
Dok Go Jin flipped the Golden-Crowned Black Snake’s body over.
Unlike its back and flanks, which were encased in steel-hard scales, the creature’s belly was covered in thinner scales of a different pattern altogether.

“Still solid, though.”

Dok Go Jin flicked one of the belly scales with his finger, then withdrew the blade fragment that had pierced the creature’s skull.
As the cold blood running down the blade wetted his hand, he wiped it away with a grimace.

“Hah!”

Steadying his breath once more, Dok Go Jin began to slit open the Golden-Crowned Black Snake’s belly.
At first the scales offered strong resistance, but once the blade had broken through, the cutting came surprisingly easily.
Dok Go Jin thrust his hand into the creature’s abdomen, then moved it cautiously as though searching for something.
As his blood-stained hand passed through the middle of the torso and crept slowly downward, Dok Go Jin’s eyes, which had been shut tight, suddenly snapped open.

‘Found it.’

He withdrew his hand carefully, and in his palm—still covered in filth—lay a single orb, slightly smaller than an infant’s fist.
A pearl so clear and luminous it seemed impossible it could have come from within the serpent’s body.
As Dok Go Jin gazed at the orb, glowing ethereal under the moonlight, his face shone with exultation.

“Just as I thought—it hadn’t reached full maturity. Smaller than the records suggested. Still, this alone is more than sufficient.”

This was the Inner Core harbored within the Spirit Beast known as the Golden-Crowned Black Snake—its power required no explanation.
Settling himself into a cross-legged sitting position right there, Dok Go Jin placed the Inner Core into his mouth.
The Inner Core touched by his saliva dissolved in an instant, slipping down his throat.
At the same moment, a searing energy erupted from his lower abdomen, flooding through his entire body.
Dok Go Jin began to circulate the Return-to-Origin Divine Art without delay.
The energy felt distinctly different from before—alien, strange.
To perfectly harness that power, Dok Go Jin slipped instantaneously into a State of Selflessness.

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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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