The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 33
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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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Episode 33
33
By nature, the Buddhist Path and the Demonic Path cannot mix—like water and oil. Setting aside the matter of doctrine, the essence of Internal Energy cultivated through practice stands in mutual opposition.
Sensing the Demonic Qi, the power of the Chamma Hyeolgyeong Sword awakened and collided repeatedly within Im Gang’s body.
‘Pockryeol Magun, you bastard—what in hell have you done?’
Im Gang cursed Pockryeol Magun.
Yet Pockryeol Magun himself found the situation equally bewildering.
“…What is this?”
He had not anticipated the emergence of Buddhist Path energy.
His shock was brief.
It was true that the Buddhist Path and the Demonic Path opposed each other. But there existed one exception.
When the Demon Realm Stage was sufficiently advanced.
‘Sheer force will suppress it.’
Moreover, the Buddhist energy was scarcely more than a handful.
Even if it lashed out with the ferocity of a wild beast, heedless of the disparity in stages, to Pockryeol Magun it was no different than a kitten’s hiss.
“…Hmph.”
Pockryeol Magun increased the volume of Demonic Qi he channeled. It was already sufficient to suppress the disturbance, but his intention was to devour that Buddhist energy in reverse.
Yet that was not all.
The collision occurring within the body was damaging the blood vessel pathways. If he did not suppress it swiftly, his precious successor might suffer grave injury.
At worst, all the blood vessel pathways throughout the entire body could rupture.
“Subduing a mindless beast thrashing about is no difficult matter.”
Pockryeol Magun funneled the power of the Chamma Hyeolgyeong Sword into a single point.
When he drove the Demonic Qi backward, it followed eagerly—an easy prey.
He divided his energy to encircle it, intending to crush it all at once.
Suppression and subjugation would require but an instant.
But then.
“Your Lordship! The enemy attacks!”
A Demon Follower rushed into the cave from outside, crying out in urgency.
Pockryeol Magun’s concentration wavered.
An instant.
Mere moments—the blink of an eye. Yet it was enough.
The external stimulus caused Pockryeol Magun’s meridians to twist slightly. A hairline gap formed, and the Chamma Hyeolgyeong Sword’s power did not miss it.
Boom—!
The power of the Chamma Hyeolgyeong Sword struck.
It consumed the Demonic Qi piecemeal as fuel, then slowly expanded its mass to inflict direct wounds upon Pockryeol Magun.
“……!”
Pockryeol Magun’s brow furrowed.
The internal injury was not severe, but it was real.
Like a minor wound that continued to sting and nag at one’s attention, it was irritating. Worse, the wounds left by Buddhist energy were difficult to heal.
He rapidly withdrew the Demonic Qi and lifted his hand from the other’s back.
His palm burned as though it had been scorched by flame.
“Hack—!”
Im Gang coughed blood.
As the blood vessel pathways released their grip, his body bent forward and crumpled to the ground.
Every part of him ached as though his flesh were being branded by iron heated in fire.
One thought consoled him: at least he had not become a Demon Follower.
Pockryeol Magun rose and turned to face the Demon Follower who had rushed in and cried out.
His blood-red pupils gleamed with cold fury.
“Did I not command that none enter without my leave?”
“Your Lordship? But sir, the enemies—”
The Demon Follower did not live to finish his excuse; his body burst apart.
Blood and viscera sprayed in all directions.
‘Even so, to kill his own subordinate like that…!’
Im Gang, still spitting blood, was appalled.
“Recover your inner wounds while I am gone.”
Pockryeol Magun left Im Gang behind and strode out of the cave.
* * *
Rewinding time several days prior.
Under the direction of the Hangju Sampaek, the Sapa Alliance searched the vicinity of Hangju thoroughly.
Reasoning that Pockryeol Magun must have an objective, they judged his base could not be far distant.
It wasn’t far, in truth. A day’s journey at a brisk pace.
The problem was that with Hangju as the center, the search radius had grown far too wide.
Two days were wasted.
Paradoxically, it was precisely because of this that they encountered a group of Demon Followers. A battle ensued, and in pursuing the fleeing Demon Followers, they discovered the location of their stronghold.
“…Dongpok Daehyeopgok!”
They moved to encircle Dongpok Daehyeopgok, eliminating Demon Followers at the chokepoints. Then they were stopped by the Mukan Muyeong Formation.
“It’s a formation.”
“This is… quite an intricate formation.”
A renowned formation master from Hangju clicked his tongue.
“I cannot break this in a day. It will take time.”
“How much?”
“At least four days. Five at most.”
It was far too long to wait.
If Pockryeol Magun noticed and fled, everything would be for nothing.
…Or perhaps he’d already caught wind of it.
The Sapa Alliance decided to launch an assault.
A formation?
No matter how formidable a formation was, it had its limits.
“Destroy it! If it doesn’t break, hit it harder!”
It was a strategy worthy of the Sapa.
Surprisingly, it was effective to a degree.
The formation began to tremble.
When hundreds of martial artists poured their Internal Energy into their attacks, even the most resilient formation could not hold.
Even the formation master, who had been racking his brain for solutions, was left speechless.
Crack-crack-crack!
Fissures began to spider through the formation.
At the same moment.
Countless Demon Followers emerged from within.
“……!”
The bodies of the Sapa Alliance martial artists went rigid.
Because of the Demon Followers?
They were indeed threatening. But not enough to freeze the body.
The one wearing the Crimson Robe visible beyond them was the culprit.
“…Pockryeol Magun!”
Pockryeol Magun swept his blood-red gaze across the Sapa Alliance.
“What is your purpose…….”
“How many insects have gathered here.”
With a gesture from him, the Demon Followers moved. Like creatures rabid with madness, they drooled and snarled as they threw themselves at the Sapa martial artists.
The Demon Followers charged with obedient fury, but they fell soon enough. Their numbers were far too few to withstand hundreds of Sapa Alliance warriors.
No matter how impervious to pain and frenzied the Demon Followers were, it was difficult to overturn such a disparity.
Yet Pockryeol Magun paid it no mind. Rather, as if he’d been waiting, he flicked his hand.
A Demon Follower’s body, already grievously wounded and collapsed, began to swell.
Boom!
“Argh!”
Explosion.
Shards of flesh and bone flew like projectiles, embedding themselves in the bodies of Sapa warriors.
The fallen Demon Followers burst as well. Living or half-dead—it mattered not.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of explosions rocked the battlefield. Screams and shouts mingled together.
More than a hundred warriors were caught in the blasts, suffering fatal or crippling wounds.
Among them were vagrants serving as living shields in the front ranks.
“Fall back! Keep away from the corpses!”
Someone shouted, but dozens of bodies had already detonated.
Blood and flesh rained down on the beautiful gorge like a shower. And yet the masters of the Sapa Alliance did not advance. The reason was simple.
They had to face Pockryeol Magun.
From their position in the rear, observing his movements, they came forward once the Sapa Alliance’s strength had sharply diminished.
Fewer than tens of masters in all of Hangju possessed such power.
As the last of the Demon Followers fell, Pockryeol Magun finally emerged.
He walked forward at leisure, regarding the ten masters rushing toward him.
Crash!
The result of the first clash was the instant death of two Sapa masters.
One died with his chest caved in; the other with a hole through his brow.
“…A True Demon! Pockryeol Magun has reached the True Demon Realm Stage!”
One of the surviving masters cried out in a voice tinged with shock and awe.
A True Demon.
It was the term for the pinnacle stage among those who had mastered the Demonic Path.
“Truly, he lives up to his name—calling himself the Demon Army!”
An exclamation torn between wonder and dread burst from their lips. Against a True Demon, even eight masters of the first rank could never hope to prevail. Yet they could not retreat.
The masters of the Sapa Alliance were, in essence, expendable—sent to learn the full extent of Pockryeol Magun’s power and whittle away even a fraction of his strength.
The Sapa masters adjusted their formation with cold precision, shifting to a coordinated assault.
Three masters attacked Pockryeol Magun from three directions simultaneously.
Sword, saber, and spear all aimed at his vital points.
Pockryeol Magun caught the sword in his bare hand. The blade could not even scratch his palm—his hand, shrouded in Demonic Qi, was harder than iron.
He twisted the captured blade to drag its wielder forward, then swept his leg at the saber master’s ribs.
Sidestepping the spear thrust, he hooked the shaft, snapped it clean in two, and hurled the broken pieces back at its owner.
In an instant, two more fell.
The corpses that had not yet exploded suddenly swelled and burst apart.
The formation of masters concentrating on their coordinated strike shattered.
“Damn it! What a coward!”
A Sapa master snarled through gritted teeth.
Pockryeol Magun replied without emotion.
“Cowardice? Only the weak speak such words.”
The Sapa masters fell one after another. Yet it was not a one-sided loss. Pockryeol Magun’s Internal Energy was not limitless.
Each time he detonated a corpse, Demonic Qi was consumed; each coordinated strike he parried drained it further. His momentum was visibly waning.
The Sapa masters fell, chipping away at Pockryeol Magun’s strength even in death.
Six remained.
Four.
Two.
In the moment when fewer than two masters stood.
Three auras that had been watching from the rear suddenly rose to their feet.
The supreme masters of Hangju Sampaek stepped forward.
* * *
The Jeokdo of Chamryong Sect.
The Baekgol Finger of Nakheol Sect.
The Mukpung Sword of Bigeom Sect.
Three supreme masters formed a triangular formation, encircling Pockryeol Magun.
Not yet at the pinnacle, but poised to ascend to it soon.
Elite warriors renowned within their respective sects.
They were, in every sense, the problem-solvers of Hangju Sampaek.
“His Demonic Qi consumption must be considerable. The time is ripe.”
Baekgol Finger flexed his fingers as he spoke. True to his reputation, his martial art was the Finger Technique.
“Let’s move.”
Mukpung Sword spoke a single word and advanced first.
The sound of his blade leaving its sheath scattered like wind.
Last came Jeokdo.
“The vanguard is mine.”
A blade tinged with red rushed toward Pockryeol Magun.
A coordinated assault of supreme masters.
Though each wielded different martial arts, their breath moved as one.
That three sects, each wary of the others, could synchronize against a common enemy meant they had drilled this countless times beforehand.
Jeokdo’s saber slashed at the left ribs. Baekgol Finger’s wind erupted toward the Blood Vessel Pathway of the right arm. Mukpung Sword’s blade aimed straight at the heart.
Attacks pouring from three directions seemed too much even for Pockryeol Magun, True Demon though he was.
It truly appeared so. Blood stained Pockryeol Magun’s Crimson Robe. Gashes appeared on his face. The garment hung in tatters like a rag used to scrub floors.
“Hold steady! Stay disciplined!”
Jeokdo’s voice rang out. Discipline and coordination—that was all that mattered. With each passing moment, Pockryeol Magun’s Demonic Qi depleted further and his wounds multiplied.
They could win.
The losses to the Sapa Alliance were grievous, but that was no concern of Hangju Sampaek.
Or so they believed in that instant.
A deep, rumbling surge—!
The Demonic Qi that had been dwindling suddenly exploded outward in a violent surge.
“…What?!”
Jeokdo’s eyes widened in shock. The Baekgol Finger’s hand trembled. The Mukpung Sword’s blade stuttered to a halt.
A heartbeat. No more.
For Pockryeol Magun, it was eternity. Finger wind erupted from his hand, tearing a crater through Baekgol Finger’s chest. He seized Jeokdo’s throat and crushed it. He tore both legs from the Mukpung Sword wielder.
Only the Mukpung Sword remained alive, his body writhing like a worm.
“…….”
Silence swallowed the world.
Pockryeol Magun turned his head. Before him were insects—creatures so trivial he wouldn’t even bother grinding them under his heel, unlike the martial artists he’d faced himself.
“Insects never change, do they?”
Pockryeol Magun clicked his tongue. Irritation was rising in him over the substantial losses these vermin had caused, when—
“I shall dispose of them.”
“…….”
A voice came from behind. Pockryeol Magun turned. A figure stepped forward over pools of blood and flesh, over corpses.
It was Im Gang.
Pockryeol Magun regarded him with mild surprise.
The internal injuries were far from light.
Buddhist Qi and Demonic Qi had collided; meridians throughout his body should have been damaged.
This was no wound that could heal in a day or two.
Yet he appeared unharmed.
“So you’ve absorbed my Pokryeom Buncheon Gong.”
“…There’s no need to use an ox-cleaver for a chicken.”
“Mm. Quite right.”
Pockryeol Magun smiled with satisfaction.
“Do as you will.”
He granted permission willingly.
A junior of his caliber would dispatch such insects without effort, alone.
So he turned his back.
A grave mistake.
Even having reached the True Demon stage, fatigue from battling so many masters had made him careless.
Im Gang seized the moment.
Thud.
“……?”
The Bokma Hyeolgyeong Sword pierced Pockryeol Magun’s heart.
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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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