The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 67

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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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#067. The Sky Broken by the Heavenly Sword (1)

The fallen Guardians were helped to their feet and retreated beyond the Training Ground.
Two figures stood facing each other in the now-empty arena.
Dongbang Cheonbaek made no effort to conceal his fury as he stared directly at Cheon Mujgyeol.
The Cheonsingeom that had been pointed at Dongbang Cheonbaek lowered, and their gazes collided in the empty space between them.
“I didn’t expect you to come this far.”
Dongbang Cheonbaek spoke toward Cheon Mujgyeol, his rage barely contained.
But Cheon Mujgyeol offered no reply.
Still, Dongbang Cheonbaek could read it all.
The question written in Cheon Mujgyeol’s expression and eyes: Why?
“I’ll grant that you’re strong. I have no choice but to.”
“I didn’t come this far to earn your approval.”
For the first time, Cheon Mujgyeol opened his mouth.
Dongbang Cheonbaek let out a contemptuous laugh.
“Your thoughts matter little to me. My impressions are what they are, my thoughts are what they are, and my judgment is what it is—and that makes it so.”
An arrogant statement.
The words of one who stood at the apex of the Martial World.
Words only the patriarch of the Dongbang Clan could speak.
“This is a path you should never have walked from the beginning.”
At Dongbang Cheonbaek’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol fixed him with an unwavering stare.
“Who do you think the point of your sword is aimed at? Me—Dongbang Cheonbaek.”
At Dongbang Cheonbaek’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol spoke again.
“Then your understanding is flawed.”
“What?”
“It is not you that I aim at.”
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s brows furrowed.
“Everything you and yours seized through greed—that is what I aim at.”
“Word games. And that word, ‘seized’—I find it rather grating.”
“Do you truly believe you can cover the sky with your palm?”
“There’s no need. I am the sky itself.”
At Dongbang Cheonbaek’s declaration, Cheon Mujgyeol understood with certainty.
All the countless wrongs committed by Dongbang Cheonbaek and the Dongbang Clan—they were born of greed.
He had not been ignorant of it. He had always known.
But now, in every aspect of Dongbang Cheonbaek’s words, expression, bearing, and gesture, greed overflowed.
Whoosh.
Cheon Mujgyeol drew in a steady breath.
After bowing his head briefly to settle his spirit, he raised it once more and regarded Dongbang Cheonbaek.
“Why is the Cheongeom Daeje the Cheongeom Daeje?”
At Cheon Mujgyeol’s words, Dongbang Cheonbaek’s brows furrowed once more.
“Why is the Guardian Family the Guardian Family?”
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s eyes narrowed.
“I will now show you the reason.”
“You are not the Cheongeom Daeje.”
At Dongbang Cheonbaek’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol raised the Cheonsingeom once more, its point trained upon his opponent.
“If I must become the Cheongeom Daeje to prove it, then I shall.”
A declaration.
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s lips curved into a bloodless smile.
“How amusing.”
“Your own words—that nothing is eternal—will soon return to haunt you.”
“Try, if you can!”
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s eyes widened as he raised his sword skyward.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
Tremendous power erupted outward, the earth trembled, and the air rippled violently.
The force was of an entirely different magnitude than that of the Guardians.
Cheon Mujgyeol watched his opponent’s blade with unmoved composure.
An enormous surge of energy converged upon the blade, and it seemed as though a single pillar of light thrust skyward from its focal point.
Thwack!
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s sword fell with a thwack.
The Cheonguang Nakgeom technique.
Compared to the version Dongbang Cheolyun had unleashed, every aspect was transformed—almost impossibly so.
The pillar of light that had torn through the heavens plummeted directly toward Cheon Mujgyeol.
In that instant, the Cheonsingeom stirred.
Cheon Mujgyeol raised his blade to meet the descending light head-on.
The first technique he deployed since inheriting the Cheongeom Daeje’s lineage.
The Yeolgong Chamguk.
Crash!
A deafening explosion tore through the air as if to split eardrums.
The violent gale and tremor, accompanied by substantial shockwaves, swept across the surroundings with a force that made it difficult to maintain one’s footing.
Was this a clash of mortals, or a collision of gods?
Most of the onlookers thought the same thing.
That this would be the end of Cheon Mujgyeol.
That his unstoppable momentum would come to a halt here.
Yet the sight that followed was shocking enough to stun them all.
Cheon Mujgyeol stood firm.
Though his upper garment had been torn to shreds, exposing his bare body, he showed no sign of serious injury.
While Cheon Mujgyeol was unharmed, the Training Ground was not.
The ground beneath Cheon Mujgyeol had collapsed roughly three feet downward.
The floor had caved in entirely.
Moreover, the stone surface of the Training Ground was completely overturned, earth and rubble tangled together in disarray.
Dongbang Cheonbaek stood gazing down at Cheon Mujgyeol, who remained in the sunken pit.
His gaze seemed to speak: this is the difference between you and me.
Then it happened.
Whoosh!
Cheon Mujgyeol’s body rose into the air.
Not by pushing off the ground, but lifted by an invisible force.
Cheon Mujgyeol’s body ascended from the collapsed depression and settled upon the level ground once more.
The two fighters’ eye levels became roughly equal again, and their gazes locked anew in the empty space between them.
The confusion among the spectators deepened.
Who exactly was Cheon Mujgyeol?
Was he truly a descendant of the Cheongeom Daeje, as he claimed?
Such thoughts began to flicker through the observers’ minds.
If not, then it made no sense that he not only withstood Dongbang Cheonbaek’s absurd onslaught but emerged entirely unscathed.
Only one person—Dongbang Cheonbaek alone—showed no great turmoil, as if he had known all along that Cheon Mujgyeol would be safe.
His eyes held not shock, but fascination.
His initial anger had noticeably subsided.
“So you can withstand this much, then.”
To Dongbang Cheonbaek’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol offered no reply.
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s tone and expression brimmed with ease.
It meant he had not yet committed his full strength.
Meanwhile, it was difficult to gauge Cheon Mujgyeol’s true condition from appearance alone.
Yet by any reasonable measure, Cheon Mujgyeol—who had broken through the main gate’s elite garrison and fought against four Guardians—could not have emerged completely unscathed.
This was precisely why Dongbang Cheonbaek could afford such composure.
Dongbang Cheonbaek had no intention of sparing Cheon Mujgyeol’s life, nor did he wish for a quick death.
Having come this far, he found it infuriating that Cheon Mujgyeol dared invoke the Cheongeom Daeje and the Guardian Family—and he intended to torment him as painfully as possible before ending him.
Whish!
Dongbang Cheonbaek vanished.
Cheon Mujgyeol’s eyes snapped open, and in the next instant, Dongbang Cheonbaek appeared far behind him.
Slash!
A crimson line traced across Cheon Mujgyeol’s cheek, and blood spilled forth.
The spectators began to stir with unease.
No one had seen Dongbang Cheonbaek move.
Not even Cheon Mujgyeol had fully tracked his motion.
“Did you dodge that as well?”
Dongbang Cheonbaek turned, speaking over his shoulder.
This time, his reaction carried a note of genuine surprise.
Dongbang Cheonbaek unleashed the Myeonggwangjeolyeong—a technique he had learned through his experience with Dongbang Mujin.
Though Cheon Mujgyeol couldn’t quite track Dongbang Cheonbaek’s movements, his instincts kicked in and he sidestepped the blow.
Unlike Dongbang Mujin’s form, it was far swifter and sharper—a speed technique honed to lethal precision.
Cheon Mujgyeol wiped away blood trickling down his cheek with the back of his hand.
Then he turned slowly to face Dongbang Cheonbaek.
[You’re tiring too, I see. Though not so badly you couldn’t have dodged that.]
Cheonsingeom’s voice reached him.
In truth, Cheon Mujgyeol himself hadn’t felt any fatigue or loss of strength.
Yet his reaction had been noticeably sluggish just a moment ago, which meant the accumulated exhaustion from all the battles fought so far was beginning to take its toll.
[Infuriating man that he is, his skill is genuine. This is no trivial matter.]
‘I know.’
[At this rate, I’d need at least the Final Three Techniques to bring him down.]
‘…….’
Since leaving Cheongeomjang, Cheon Mujgyeol had used only nine of the twelve techniques of the Cheonmyeol Sibi Geom.
The Yeolgong Chamguk, which he had deployed against Dongbang Cheonbaek’s first assault, was the ninth technique—and it possessed the most devastating power of all the forms he had thus far unleashed.
[In your current state, fully executing the Final Three Techniques is impossible. It would be overwhelming even with perfect physical condition.]
What manner of technique could it be, to strain even Cheon Mujgyeol as he was?
Knowing this himself, Cheon Mujgyeol had no rebuttal to offer against Cheonsingeom’s words.
‘But if it must be done.’
[Then it must be done. But mark this one thing well: if you use the Final Three Techniques, he will die.]
Cheonsingeom’s judgment fell like a pronouncement.
Cheon Mujgyeol listened in silence, his gaze fixed upon Dongbang Cheonbaek.
[You cannot fully control the Final Three Techniques as you are now. Should you unleash them, the strain upon yourself will be catastrophic, and without mastery over the power, preventing his death—mere suppression instead—becomes altogether impossible.]
Cheonsingeom’s assessment was cold and unrelenting.
“Haah…….”
Cheon Mujgyeol released a long, measured breath.
“Did you not say you would show me your all?”
Dongbang Cheonbaek spoke with a mocking edge.
“I will try.”
At this unexpected response, Dongbang Cheonbaek’s head tilted slightly in bewilderment.
Yet Cheon Mujgyeol’s answer was not meant for Dongbang Cheonbaek, but for Cheonsingeom.
Cheon Mujgyeol himself did not know what would happen when he unleashed the Final Three Techniques.
But that uncertainty could not stop him.
If only to honor the words he had spoken to Dongbang Cheonbaek.
If only to prove his conviction and his very existence.
As Cheon Mujgyeol steeled his resolve, Cheonsingeom fell silent.
All that remained for him was to warn of the dangers that might arise when the Final Three Techniques were deployed.
“If you will not come, then I shall strike first again.”
Before Cheon Mujgyeol could act, Dongbang Cheonbaek moved first.
Not quite as swift as when he wielded the Myeonggwangjeolyeong, yet still plenty fast enough.
Whoosh!
The blade thrust forward with elegant precision.
Cheon Mujgyeol met it head-on, driving Cheonsingeom to collide with the incoming sword.
Boom!
The explosion of force echoed, yet for a head-on clash, the scale was surprisingly small.
Swish!
The power flowing through Dongbang Cheonbaek’s blade and the speed of his thrust began to diminish, only to be turned back upon him as Cheon Mujgyeol’s own force was added to the mix.
The Jeongryuigiwon technique.
It resembled the form favored by Dongbang Yeonho, yet far weightier and with a broader scope.
Cheon Mujgyeol immediately sought to shift the flow using the Cheonryuyeoksam technique.
Bang!
Yet he could not completely overturn the current.
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s deep-rooted sword did not crumble entirely.
Still, from Cheon Mujgyeol’s perspective, that much was fortune enough.
Had he failed, he might well have been swept up by the overwhelming force and suffered grave wounds before even attempting the Final Three Techniques.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s blade, not yet fully shattered, underwent another transformation.
The Cheongpung Saejin technique.
Its purpose was to scatter and disperse the last vestiges of Cheon Mujgyeol’s remaining power.
With only the subtlest flick of the wrist, the sword flowed with effortless grace.
As the blade traced its arc, Dongbang Cheonbaek’s energy billowed outward in a sweeping tide, coiling around Cheon Mujgyeol’s strength.
Cheon Mujgyeol withdrew his power to meet the assault, unfurling the Cheonyun Muae Bo to slip free from the encircling web of Jingi.
Yet Dongbang Cheonbaek had no intention of letting him escape.
He too deployed the Cheongun Bo, keeping pace.
Crash! Crash! Bang!
Dongbang Cheonbaek’s blade finally seized Cheon Mujgyeol, colliding violently with the Cheonsingeom.
The impact sent Cheon Mujgyeol reeling.
Never had he wavered like this before.
Did Dongbang Cheonbaek think he’d found his opening?
As Cheon Mujgyeol staggered, a dark smile spread across Dongbang Cheonbaek’s face.
“A man must always guard his tongue.”
Dongbang Cheonbaek stepped forward slowly, his voice measured and deliberate.
“A single careless word from your own mouth can cost you your life. As you are learning now.”
The Jingi radiating from Dongbang Cheonbaek intensified as he advanced, growing ever more volatile.
“Let today be your lesson. Though you’ll have to learn it in the afterlife, of course.”
Roar!
A cataclysmic torrent of energy exploded from Dongbang Cheonbaek’s body.

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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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