The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 50

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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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50
Woo Geom-san’s Rivalry
Woo Geom-san rolled up his trouser legs to his thighs and worked in the rice paddy.
This was because the water supplied to the paddy had risen all the way up to his calves.
“Hmm!”
While diligently pulling weeds, Woo Geom-san raised his leg at a stinging sensation felt on his calf. He then spotted a leech that had been sucking blood from his calf for quite a while.
He didn’t know exactly how much blood it had sucked, but its body was plumply bloated.
“My goodness!”
When one supplies water and works in a rice paddy, getting bitten by leeches was unavoidable. The paddy was swarming with leeches.
Even so, he couldn’t just not work out of fear of leeches.
If he didn’t pull the weeds now, they would proliferate later to an unmanageable degree.
Woo Geom-san lightly pressed the leech with his finger. At that, the leech squirmed violently before soon going completely limp and falling off Woo Geom-san’s calf.
The calf where the leech had detached was terribly itchy.
In his heart, he wanted to scratch it thoroughly and satisfyingly, but knowing that doing so would only make it itchier, Woo Geom-san focused even harder on his farming work.
As he ignored the bitten area, the itchiness gradually subsided.
Farming was a war against weeds.
Even if he pulled weeds every day, more weeds would sprout up the very next day. If he postponed it because it was difficult or tedious, he would inevitably pay a greater price.
There was no choice but to foolishly repeat the same task every day and look after it preciously.
Martial arts were exactly the same.
If he skipped cultivation training for even a single day because it was tough, his body would become heavy, and if he stopped for more than three days, he would have to invest several times that amount of time to restore it to its original state.
Because of that, Woo Geom-san never skipped his martial arts cultivation training and farming work unless something extraordinary happened.
“Whew! All done.”
Woo Geom-san straightened his waist and wiped the sweat flowing down his forehead.
By tomorrow, the weeds would grow again, but regardless, right now, not a single blade of grass could be seen except for the rice plants.
That was enough.
Woo Geom-san stepped out of the rice paddy and headed toward a nearby stream.
After cleanly washing off the mud on his calves, he went over to the Plank Road.
At the Plank Road, several villagers were out doing construction work.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of hammers striking chisels resonated through the canyon like the melody of a pipa.
Having done construction work for as long as five years, the village youths had now become masters of hammering.
Sometimes striking hard, and sometimes striking softly, they split the rocks while freely controlling their strength.
“Ah, Geom-san, you’re here?”
“Welcome.”
The youths welcomed Woo Geom-san warmly.
Woo Geom-san received their greetings and looked around.
“Where is Wol-sang?”
“Su-yeon suddenly fell ill. So he rushed over.”
“Oh dear.”
“Originally, when they’re babies, they get sick at any given time. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“I should go visit after this work is finished.”
“She’ll love it if you go. Su-yeon likes you so much, after all.”
Baek Wol-sang’s daughter, Baek Su-yeon, especially liked Woo Geom-san.
Even though she couldn’t speak, she would wriggle her fingers to be held whenever she saw Woo Geom-san.
Even if she was crying sorrowfully, she would stop instantly and smile brightly once held by Woo Geom-san. Therefore, a laughable farce occurred where Baek Wol-sang grew jealous of Woo Geom-san.
Thinking of Baek Su-yeon’s smiling face, Woo Geom-san began hammering.
Clang!
With a single strike of his hammer, a crack formed with a snap, and it split to both sides.
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s truly amazing.”
“At that level, isn’t he the God of Hammers?”
The village youths whispered among themselves while looking at Woo Geom-san.
Even though it was a sight they saw every day, it was still fascinating.
By now, Woo Geom-san was also accustomed to the reactions of such people, so he continued hammering unbothered.
It was just when Woo Geom-san was fully immersed in his work like that.
Screeech!
A sharp bird call was heard from the sky.
When Woo Geom-san raised his head to look, a pair of hawks was circling around the open sky in a frantic manner.
Their appearance made it seem as though they were wary of something.
“Why are those fellas being so noisy?”
“I know, right! My ears are about to fall off.”
The youths shook their heads while covering their ears.
They tried to continue working, but the sharp calls of the hawks that kept echoing grated on their nerves, preventing them from concentrating.
With their attention distracted, it felt like they might strike their hands instead of the chisel while hammering.
Eventually, Woo Geom-san let out a sigh and spoke.
“I’ll go up and take a look.”
“It looks dangerous, will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
Woo Geom-san tucked his hammer and chisel into his waistline before leaping off the Plank Road and soaring upward.
Tap! Tap!
Like a mountain goat, Woo Geom-san kicked off the protruding parts of the cliff and ascended toward the top.
A single misstep could cause him to plunge down the Manjangdanae, but Woo Geom-san ran up the cliff as if it were flat ground without a hint of fear.
It was when he had ascended about a hundred zhang.
A long and thick object entered Woo Geom-san’s sight.
The object, as thick and long as a log, was none other than a giant snake.
The snake, with its body draped over a large tree rooted in the cliff, was threatening a hawk’s nest.
“So it was because of that fellow.”
In the hawk’s nest, there were three chick hawks that looked as though they had hatched from their eggs not long ago.
The large snake’s belly was bulging, making it seem as if it had already devoured another chick. Even so, the creature did not retreat and was trying to devour all the remaining chicks.
Screeech!
To protect their chicks, the hawk couple attacked the giant snake frantically. However, the hawk couple’s sharp talons were of no use against the giant snake’s thick scales.
Although their talons scratched the snake’s body several times, the creature approached the chicks again without taking any damage.
The chicks also desperately flapped their wings and resisted the snake.
Among them, the one that was particularly large in size was the bravest.
As if protecting its other siblings, it stood at the very front, flapping its wings and pecking at the snake’s head with its beak.
The fierce attack of the chick hawk made the giant snake even angrier.
Hiss!
The snake made a threatening sound and opened its mouth wide.
A pair of venomous fangs revealed themselves, threatening the chick hawk.
The snake’s mouth was large enough to swallow something like a chick hawk in a single gulp.
Chomp!
The giant snake bit the chick hawk’s wing just like that.
Originally, it had intended to bite the head, but the chick hawk managed to avoid its head being bitten by a hair’s breadth.
With its wing bitten, the chick hawk writhed and pecked at the snake’s head frantically with its beak.
Woo Geom-san felt a strange sense of kinship at the behavior of the chick hawk, which showed a will to survive without yielding despite being in danger of being devoured.
Screeech!
Faced with the crisis of losing another chick, the tragic cries of the parent hawks echoed through the wide-open sky.
“I have no choice then.”
Had he not seen it, it would be one thing, but he could not just stand by and watch the sight of a chick hawk being devoured by a snake right before his eyes.
Bang!
Woo Geom-san deployed a Palm Technique and lightly struck the giant snake’s body.
While it was a light use of strength by Woo Geom-san’s standards, the snake received a massive shock, as if it had been struck by a huge iron hammer.
Hiss!
The snake cast away the chick hawk it held in its mouth down the cliff and glared at Woo Geom-san.
The snake had no intention of leaving the human who had given it pain alone. The creature crawled up the cliff as if it were flat ground and approached Woo Geom-san in an instant.
It was a monster over three zhang in length.
Let alone a chick hawk, it was of a size that could swallow an ordinary adult in a single gulp.
In fact, the creature did not fear humans and considered them prey.
The fact that it opened its mouth wide to devour Woo Geom-san was proof of that.
Once the Plank Road opened, many people would travel around, so it was certain that many victims would appear if the giant snake was left like this.
“Blame the fact that you happened to catch my eye.”
Swish!
At that moment, the snake’s head plunged menacingly toward Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san deployed the Flowing Void Steps to evade the snake’s attack, then pulled out the hammer he had tucked into his waist.
The moment the snake turned its head to attack again, Woo Geom-san lightly swung his hammer.
Crack!
As the hammer struck the snake’s head squarely, a clear metallic sound rang out.
In an instant, the snake’s pupils dilated.
The momentum from moments ago vanished without a trace, and its massive body swayed helplessly like a reed.
Although it looked perfectly fine on the outside, its skull and brain had been turned to mush.
No matter how hard a snake’s skull might be, it was utterly fragile compared to a rock.
The snake, its skull and brain crushed like tofu, lost control of its body and plummeted straight down the cliff.
“Watch out below!”
In case it plummeted onto the Plank Road, he warned the people below. Fortunately, however, the snake plummeted down the Manjangdanae instead of the Plank Road.
Screeech!
At that moment, the sharp call of a hawk was heard.
The parent hawks had landed on the nest.
There were only two chicks left.
As if trying to protect even the two remaining chicks, the parent hawks spread their wings wide toward Woo Geom-san and let out threatening cries.
Knowing the heart of the parent hawks, Woo Geom-san did not feel disappointed at all.
“Right! I understand. Raise your chicks well.”
Woo Geom-san said his goodbyes to the parent hawks and descended the cliff. However, upon descending to the Plank Road, an unexpected situation unfolded.
Spreadeagled right in the middle of the Plank Road was the chick hawk that the snake had cast away earlier.
Having its wing bitten by the snake and falling from a high place, the chick hawk was limp from the impact.
One of the village youths, who was examining the chick hawk, spoke to Woo Geom-san.
“It looks like this one won’t make it.”
“Is that so?”
“Not only is its wing broken, but it also seems to have been poisoned.”
“Let me take a look.”
Woo Geom-san took the chick hawk and examined it closely.
Just as the youth said, its wing was broken, and the spot where the snake’s teeth had entered had turned black.
To anyone looking, it seemed to have no hope of survival.
The parent hawks did not even think to look for this chick at all.
Just protecting and raising the chicks that successfully survived was overwhelming for the parent hawks.
There was no reason for them to save a chick that was bitten by a snake and even had a broken wing.
The youth asked Woo Geom-san.
“What should we do with this? It looks like it’s going to die soon, should we just throw it down the cliff?”
“I’ll take it with me for now.”
“To save it?”
“I intend to try as much as I can.”
“It looks bound to die no matter what. You’re just asking for trouble.”
“My nature is just like this, so what can I do? I’m sorry, but I’ll head in first today.”
“Go ahead.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Woo Geom-san bid farewell to the youths, then headed home holding the limp chick hawk.
Wheeze! Wheeze!
A labored breathing sound flowed from the chick hawk’s beak.
The breathing sound was so faint that it seemed like it would die at any moment.
At this rate, the chick hawk was likely to die before arriving home.
Woo Geom-san immediately went under the shade of a tree and placed the chick hawk on the ground.
“I don’t know if it’s possible, but shouldn’t I at least try?”
Setting the chick hawk down, what Woo Geom-san pulled out from his bosom was Silver Needles.
They were Silver Needles he had obtained when he went to Guangu County.
They were made in a shabby blacksmith shop and were extremely crude. Therefore, he had only kept them until now and had never used them even once. However, now was not the time to be picky about this and that.
Woo Geom-san intended to deploy the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Method, which he had been steadily researching, using the Silver Needles.
Because the acupoints of humans and birds were different, it was uncertain whether it would work, but he still had to try.
Woo Geom-san closed his eyes and focused on the chick hawk.
Although it was different from a human, a faint flow of Qi could still be felt.
‘Induce a strong energy to bolster the weak energy.’
A long time ago, when Woo Geom-san was hovering between life and death, Baek Ho-yang saved him using the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Method. Now, after six years, Woo Geom-san was attempting to save another life using the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Method.
Thinking that it was a wondrous twist of fate, Woo Geom-san began to insert the Silver Needles into the chick hawk’s body.
“I will also do my best, so you hang in there too.”

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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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