The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 64

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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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#064. The Clash of the Dongbang (2)

Through the pale dust rising into the air, the first thing to emerge was Dongbang Cheolyun’s greatsword.
Just as it had been during their first exchange, the blade descended toward Cheon Mujgyeol’s head in a direct line.
The force, the weight, the speed—every aspect of this attack was far fiercer and faster than before.
The Cheon Gwang Nak Geom from the Dongbang Cheongmyeong Geomgyeol.
The sword pressure from the falling blade pressed down on Cheon Mujgyeol, cutting off any path of retreat.
Against this, Cheon Mujgyeol countered with the Cheon Ryu Yeok Seom.
But it was not the Cheon Ryu Yeok Seom as it had been originally.
The Cheon Ryu Yeok Seom was originally a technique that used solid defense to block attacks and turned the opponent’s force against them in counterattack.
Yet Cheon Mujgyeol wielded it differently.
Clang-clang-clang! Thud!
Cheon Mujgyeol angled the Cheonsingeom sideways and deflected Dongbang Cheolyun’s blade, sliding it away.
The two warriors’ Naeryeok overlaid on the sword surfaces collided, bounced apart, and skittered across each other, while Dongbang Cheolyun’s sword grazed Cheon Mujgyeol’s shoulder and struck the ground.
Cheon Mujgyeol seized the moment without hesitation.
The instant Dongbang Cheolyun’s blade hit the earth, Cheon Mujgyeol surged upward from below, carving a diagonal slash across the air.
With Dongbang Cheolyun’s weight committed forward, blocking the upward diagonal strike seemed nearly impossible.
Whish!
But he was not facing Dongbang Cheolyun alone.
The moment Cheon Mujgyeol’s upper body opened, Dongbang Jinhyeok’s sword thrust in with precision.
A thrust aimed dead center between the heart and solar plexus, with no margin for error.
The timing was exquisite, and the target so vital that Cheon Mujgyeol could not afford to gamble.
More than that, Dongbang Jinhyeok’s thrust had drastically narrowed the angles through which Cheon Mujgyeol could escape—making it all the more dangerous.
Swish!
Cheon Mujgyeol had no choice but to pull his body back and shift his sword path.
The Changcheon Gaemun unfolded in its wake.
Cheon Mujgyeol split the momentum of Dongbang Jinhyeok and Dongbang Cheolyun both at once, driving forward between them.
Whoosh!
His sword carved through space, pressing both adversaries back.
But before the Cheonsingeom could fully cleave the space between them, an uninvited guest appeared.
Dongbang Yeonho.
Yet Dongbang Yeonho’s sword carried a different character.
Rather than blocking Cheon Mujgyeol’s blade, it guided the momentum to push him further toward Dongbang Cheolyun and Dongbang Jinhyeok.
The development was unorthodox, but it was a brilliant move.
Dongbang Yeonho’s intervention actually reversed the flow, binding Cheon Mujgyeol back into their rhythm and tightening the vice.
And now, as Dongbang Jinhyeok and Dongbang Cheolyun, who had retreated, surged forward again in tandem, Cheon Mujgyeol found himself trapped.
It was here that Cheon Mujgyeol showed his resourcefulness.
His left hand’s Sword Scabbard flashed upward.
He wrenched back the falling blade even as he raised the scabbard to strike Dongbang Yeonho’s sword away.
Bang!
Dongbang Yeonho staggered violently, and at the same instant, the strangling pressure on Cheon Mujgyeol was released.
Thud!
Cheon Mujgyeol seized that moment and slipped sideways using the Cheonun Muae Bo.
Just when he thought he might finally catch his breath, a thick killing intent grazed the tip of his nose.
Whistle-whistle-whistle-whistle-whish!
There came the Speed Sword technique of Dongbang Mujin.
Before Cheon Mujgyeol’s movements could finish, the sword threaded precisely into the gap as he tried to shift into his next action.
And the target zones were tricky as well.
Not vital points like the heart or pressure points, but the joints that gave him mobility—knees, shoulders, flanks, elbows—pursued with relentless precision.
Cheon Mujgyeol’s expression hardened further as he wielded the Cheonsingeom and Sword Scabbard crossed, slashing frantically.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
Rip!
He moved swiftly to counter Dongbang Mujin’s Speed Sword, but could not block every attack perfectly.
His garment tore along his flank, and crimson blood welled from the wound.
Yet despite the injury, he managed to break free from the pressure of the four and open the distance between them.
Seeing the blood-stained wound on Cheon Mujgyeol’s flank, Bukgung Danya’s face went ashen.
Cheon Mujgyeol had never seen himself bleed before.
In all the battles he’d fought until now, he had never once permitted an opponent’s blade to touch him.
He’d been startled when his sleeve tore earlier, but now it was blood.
It meant the Dharma Protectors’ assault was that formidable.
Yet unlike Bukgung Danya, the Dharma Protectors gritted their teeth, suppressing the fury that churned within them ever deeper.
Conversely, the fact that four of them had rushed him only to inflict a single shallow wound on his flank was itself pathetic.
It was an event that obliterated their pride entirely.
The four Dharma Protectors’ momentum swelled and intensified, boiling over.

* * *

The exchange between the four Dharma Protectors and Cheon Mujgyeol flowed in a deadlocked pattern.
Though their attacks came in successive waves, Cheon Mujgyeol stood like an iron wall, deflecting each one.
Save for the single wound on his flank, no blade reached him.
And with each passing moment, this gnawed further at their pride, only to amplify the ferocity of their onslaught.
Intense combat continued, yet as the same rhythm persisted, one could reasonably call it a stalemate.
Both Cheon Mujgyeol and the four Dharma Protectors were simply locked in an exhausting struggle, neither gaining ground.
Ultimately, one side would need to create an opening to shift the tide.
And it was Cheon Mujgyeol who moved first.
Breaking through their four-fold pressure, he carved out a brief pocket of space, collected his breath in that fleeting instant, and charged forward.
The Jingi of the Cheonheo Muguk Simbeop surged powerfully through the meridians of his entire body.
Whoosh!
The one who closed the distance rapidly was Dongbang Cheolyun.
Delighted by Cheon Mujgyeol’s choice to face him, Dongbang Cheolyun brandished his great sword with relish.
Crack!
The blade tore through the air, descending to cleave Cheon Mujgyeol in two.
Cheon Mujgyeol deflected Dongbang Cheolyun’s strike using the Chosik of the Cheon Ryu Yeok Seom.
What followed unfolded much as before.
The pressure from Dongbang Jinhyeok, the intervention of Dongbang Yeonho—and Cheon Mujgyeol’s responses mirrored the same rhythm.
Sharp!
As expected, Dongbang Mujin’s Speed Sword drove in deep.
But this time was different.
Cheon Mujgyeol had laid a trap.
The trap was the moment at which he would deploy the Cheonun Muae Bo.
Cheon Mujgyeol deliberately slowed his pace of transformation at that instant.
For Dongbang Mujin, it would have appeared that an opening to thrust the Speed Sword had widened, and he seized it without hesitation.
But this unfolded exactly as Cheon Mujgyeol intended.
By intentionally slowing his tempo, he had controlled the moment and speed at which Dongbang Mujin attacked.
Cheon Mujgyeol responded flawlessly to Dongbang Mujin’s strike targeting his ankle.
The instant that attack came to nothing, Dongbang Mujin sensed that something had gone wrong.
He twisted the blade path and thrust his sword upward from below in a sweeping arc.
Rather than retreat, Cheon Mujgyeol stepped half a pace closer.
That half-step diminished the force of Dongbang Mujin’s attack, and Cheon Mujgyeol’s Sword Scabbard rotated smoothly, pinning down Dongbang Mujin’s blade.
The instant two consecutive attacks proved futile, the Cheonsingeom flashed.
At close range, the Nakseong Bi Gwang unfurled.
It was less a complete Chosik than a variation.
Hiss!
At close range, the Cheonsingeom blazed twice.
Dongbang Mujin dodged in panic, but his reaction was half a beat too slow.
Tear.
The skin above Dongbang Mujin’s brow split open, blood streaming forth.
In that moment, the other three Dharma Protectors all froze mid-motion.
Slide.
Dongbang Mujin raised his hand to wipe away the blood that had trickled down to his eyes.
Then he slowly lowered his gaze, staring at the blood on his palm.
He had dodged, though belatedly, but without question.
Yet blood flowed nonetheless.
Not a wound from the blade itself, but torn open by the sheer pressure of the strike.
Thump!
Dongbang Mujin’s heart shuddered violently once.
Dongbang Mujin’s body trembled faintly.
Hiss!
Dongbang Mujin, having drawn blood, lifted his head and gazed at Cheon Mujgyeol with a smile.
His smile revealed teeth stained with crimson.
With his blood-smeared face and eyes wide open, the expression he turned toward Cheon Mujgyeol appeared deeply unsettling.
The spectators, too, felt a chill run through them and held their breath.
Some of them rubbed their arms, as though shaken by what they witnessed.
Though no one in the crowd truly understood what was unfolding, only the three Dharma Protectors grasped the situation with perfect clarity.
And their faces betrayed not surprise, but alarm.
None of them had imagined this bout would end without someone drawing blood.
They were unsettled by the sight of blood flowing from above Dongbang Mujin’s brow and streaming down to cover his eye.
Even the fury that had burned from his wounded pride had turned ice-cold.
“This is bad.”
Dongbang Cheolyun muttered the words tensely under his breath.
The other Dharma Protectors seemed to share his assessment.
What could be so bad about this?
But soon, the nature of that badness made itself plain.
Whoooosh!
A tremendous force erupted from Dongbang Mujin.
The sheer energy he released sent the air into turmoil, and the earth itself trembled faintly beneath their feet.
It was Cheon Mujgyeol who sensed this shift in Dongbang Mujin first.
The change did not rattle him or catch him off guard—Cheon Mujgyeol was not one to be shaken so easily.
Rather, in that same moment, he honed every sense he possessed to a razor’s edge.
The current stalemate worked vastly in his favor.
Even for someone like Cheon Mujgyeol, even with only a shallow wound.
To face four masters—each far stronger than any he had yet encountered—alone, and on a wounded body, was a burden no one could shoulder indefinitely, neither in body nor in spirit.
That brief respite had proven invaluable to Cheon Mujgyeol.
“Hah…”
As Cheon Mujgyeol steadied his breathing, Dongbang Mujin’s momentum swelled even fiercer.
And then.
Slash!
Dongbang Mujin vanished from sight, only to leave a thin red line across Cheon Mujgyeol’s cheek.
Dongbang Mujin was already behind him.
He had struck at a speed invisible to the eye and swept past in a single heartbeat.
Yet that Cheon Mujgyeol had sustained only a small wound on his cheek was remarkable in itself.
He had not moved his feet; instead, he twisted his torso at blinding speed and evaded the attack.
Cheon Mujgyeol turned his body to face Dongbang Mujin once more.
His face was still covered in blood, and that unsettling smile had deepened.
He looked almost mad with fury.
Boom!
Dongbang Mujin hurled himself toward Cheon Mujgyeol.
His attacks—multiplied in both speed and force—rained down without restraint.
Crack-crack-crack-bang!
Cheon Mujgyeol raised the Cheonsingeom and Sword Scabbard in a chaotic weave, meeting Dongbang Mujin’s onslaught head-on.
Dongbang Mujin’s ferocity was so overwhelming that the other Dharma Protectors found themselves unable to step forward.
“Tch!”
Dongbang Cheolyun let out a sound of frustration.
It seemed he might have no chance to join this fight at all.
But Dongbang Jinhyeok saw it differently.
“From now on, we support Mujin from behind.”
“What?”
Dongbang Cheolyun frowned at Dongbang Jinhyeok’s words, his gaze sharp with displeasure.
Supporting from behind—he understood it meant cleaning up the scraps, doing the grunt work.
“Think clearly. Cheon Mujgyeol is strong. There’s no denying it. We must accept it. And that state Mujin is in now… it won’t last.”
Dongbang Cheolyun had no counter to Dongbang Jinhyeok’s reasoning.
“Right now, Mujin’s offensive power is at its peak. Cheon Mujgyeol will find it difficult to simply defend and mount a counterattack. Think about it—we’re fighting to bring Cheon Mujgyeol to his knees, not testing our skills in some friendly duel.”
Dongbang Jinhyeok surveyed the situation with cold calculation.
“Fine. I understand.”
“Good.”
Dongbang Cheolyun and Dongbang Yeonho answered in unison.
It was the moment when the three of them, having embraced Dongbang Mujin as a variable, finally resolved to execute a proper joint formation.

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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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