The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 140

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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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The Youngest Son of the Nakhyang Jin Family — Chapter 140

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As Hoyeon advanced slowly toward Jin Cheon-u, he suddenly felt the air shift around him and came to an abrupt halt.
The wind that swept across the arena was biting cold.
Not merely cold, but a chill that seemed to pierce straight through to the bone.
Without thinking, he furrowed his brow and fixed his gaze upon Jin Cheon-u.
The opponent, who had been on death’s door mere moments ago, stirred and slowly rose to his feet.
Through the cracks of the mask that had remained unbroken even amid the fierce clash, eyes gleamed with a killing intent distinctly different from before.
“Haaah—”
Then came the exhale.
Was it merely his imagination that the sound of that breath seemed unnaturally loud?
The moment his eyes met Jin Cheon-u’s gaze fixed upon him.
Prickling—
An overwhelming killing intent washed over his entire body, raising every hair on end.
Though he had endured the killing intent of countless warriors throughout the Dosan Geomrim, never had he felt a sensation quite so unsettling as this.
Look at Jin Cheon-u’s pupils before him.
Unlike moments before when multiple emotions swirled together, what he saw now was nothing but pure killing intent alone.
Not a single other emotion could be found.
Yes, as if he had shed everything he possessed and become a being of nothing but primal murderous will.
Hoyeon let out a cold laugh.
“Merely conjuring some killing intent does not change the situation, I’m afraid.”
Though he spoke these words as provocation, Jin Cheon-u remained silent and unmoved.
Then, in an instant, Jin Cheon-u rushed forward.
“…!”
Impossibly fast.
This was not a speed a man bearing wounds across his entire body should possess.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat, and Jin Cheon-u’s sword came sweeping down.
Clang—!
The sharp ring of impact accompanied a tremendous force.
It was different from before.
As though he had accumulated inner power in a single moment.
The instant their blades collided, their inner energies intermingling, Hoyeon realized in a flash that something was terribly wrong.
‘…This monster!’
Scraping—!
Though he held his ground with every ounce of strength, he felt himself being pushed back, and Hoyeon’s heart began to race with urgency.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
The opponent’s blade unfolded relentlessly, carrying the sensation of a gently flowing valley stream, yet somehow drawing him inexplicably deeper into its depths.
“How dare you!”
Crash—!
Hoyeon roared with fury, his momentum intensifying. As his sword cleaved through the air, the unleashed force devastated everything in its path.
Yet Jin Cheon-u was nowhere to be seen.
I sharpened my senses to the limit, searching for his presence, when a sharp sound suddenly pierced the air.
Clang—!
I twisted my blade to deflect it.
“A hidden projectile?!”
What came at me without a sound was none other than his concealed weapon.
Was he truly resorting to such tricks?
Perhaps he had decided to flee while seizing this opportunity.
I pushed my senses to their absolute limit, scanning my surroundings with my eyes.
Whoosh—!
Then.
A shadow materialized before me.
Startled, I retreated half a step and extended my fist. He had closed the distance far beyond sword range, and in such circumstances, hand-to-hand combat was far more efficient than blade work.
My martial arts fist technique surged forward with devastating power.
The fist wind shot toward Jin Cheon-u, yet his movements were unnaturally precise.
As if he had anticipated this very moment.
Boom—!
Jin Cheon-u’s sword moved with exquisite precision, deflecting the fist wind.
“…!”
The technique of harmonizing offense and defense displayed in that narrow space seemed to declare: I master this far better than you.
Moreover.
Whoosh—!
The nature of his sword had changed dramatically from moments before.
The manner of his swordplay was so different I could not believe it came from the same person.
Not only the spiritual energy infused in the blade, but the very momentum of each strike.
Despite the threatening technique hurtling toward me, Jin Cheon-u pressed forward without hesitation.
As though his own survival meant nothing.
Like a monster possessed by a single will—to kill at any cost.
Whoosh!
Once more my blade slashed across his ribs. Since I had already wounded that spot, this should have been a fatal blow, yet he charged forward like a beast, wielding his sword with undiminished fury.
Clang clang clang clang!
The sword strikes erupted with terrifying intensity.
Jin Cheon-u’s blade, driven by a willingness to burn his own body to achieve my death, was placing considerable strain upon me despite my will to survive.
“Enough—!”
At last, my fury erupted. I had never imagined losing ground in a battle I believed I had already won, and I realized I could not afford to be drawn further into his assault.
With a fierce shout, my spiritual energy exploded outward in a violent surge.
The power infused in my blade was now entirely different from before.
The blade, infused with the depths of extreme mastery, blazed with an even more piercing light.
It emanated an aura that suggested it could cleave through steel as easily as tofu.
In that instant, Jin Cheon-u’s eyes, visible between the gaps of his mask, narrowed to slits.
The moment Hoyeon’s Cloud-Piercing Sword Technique unfurled with the momentum of a tempest.
Hoyeon realized something had gone terribly wrong.
Yet his realization came far too late.
Like an embankment collapsing along a silent river, he felt Jin Cheon-u’s blade descend upon him with a speed and pressure that defied comprehension.
Shing!
Something felt amiss.
Though Jin Cheon-u’s strike appeared to have landed cleanly, mercifully he felt no pain whatsoever.
Whether fortune had smiled upon him or his unfamiliar swordsmanship had somehow intervened, he had at least escaped the worst outcome.
Hoyeon grimaced and gripped his sword once more.
Brief though it was, Jin Cheon-u’s momentum had been interrupted.
This was his chance to reclaim the rhythm he had momentarily lost.
He needed to unleash every ounce of his strength in a single strike against this opponent.
“…?”
But his sword would not move.
Strangely, it refused to swing.
His mind issued the command to strike, and his body should have obeyed, yet his arm would not respond—he felt nothing at all.
Hoyeon’s brow furrowed as he turned his gaze downward.
Only then did he understand the reason.
It was gone.
The sword he had been holding moments before, his right arm—neither existed anymore.
His forearm, severed at some point he could not even recall, continued to spill blood, yet he felt no pain.
Shiver—
Hoyeon’s body trembled as he slowly turned his gaze.
Only then did he hear Jin Cheon-u’s laughter before him.
“…What… is this…?”
Drip—!
But it was not over.
Blood streamed down from his head.
Horrified, Hoyeon’s eyes finally surveyed his own condition.
There was not a single place left uncut.
Deep wounds, shallow wounds.
Despite blood flowing from countless gashes across his body, Hoyeon still felt no pain—he could not even comprehend that he had been slashed.
His pupils began to tremble wildly.
Unable to accept this impossible situation.
He could only stare at Jin Cheon-u with eyes wide in shock.

* * *

A sickly pallor drained his complexion, his eyes reflecting utter disbelief.
The expression of someone witnessing the impossible.
Watching him stand there as though struck by lightning from a cloudless sky, I suppressed the murderous intent rising within me and smiled.
Slowly, I reached up and removed my mask.
“You don’t understand, do you?”
“I… what…?”
“How does it feel—your body steadily marching toward death while you perceive nothing of it?”
Hoyeon flinched at those words.
Yes, he was dying.
Despite sustaining countless wounds throughout our fierce exchanges, he’d felt none of them, never grasping the severity of his condition.
Whether the wounds were small or shallow mattered little—a person should feel pain to recognize danger. But since he felt nothing no matter how many blades I unleashed, he must have believed each strike simply missed. That’s why he never examined his own body.
That was the reason.
“You’ve lived long enough in the martial world to know, haven’t you? The Sincerity Pill.”
“…!”
“I was anxious because time was short and it wasn’t fully perfected, but it truly is a creation of the Chae Clan. The effects are undeniable.”
I watched the trembling man with composure.
I pressed vital points along his waist and other gashed areas to stem the bleeding, then tore strips from my garments and wound them around him like bandages.
I knew well enough that this was something one shouldn’t do with an enemy before you, but he remained frozen in shock, unable to move.
Each time he stirred even slightly, the blood loss would accelerate.
“You’ve suffered considerably, but this time you won’t escape.”
“…What?”
At his confused question, I chuckled softly.
There was a reason I’d made and given him the Sincerity Pill.
He desired survival above all.
Every time we’d crossed blades, whenever he found himself losing or in a disadvantageous position, he’d unhesitatingly choose flight. I’d lost count of how many times he’d slipped away.
So many times.
I’d calculated that if he consumed the Sincerity Pill, he wouldn’t believe himself to be losing, and therefore wouldn’t flee.
That calculation proved correct.
Until his arm was severed, he had no idea what state he was truly in.
“The Sincerity Pill… when exactly…?”
“I knew you harbored an unbecoming fondness for women, despite being a Taoist Priest. So I had So-ha captivate your attention. Thanks to that, you never noticed the tea tasted strange.”
“…!”
At my smirk, Hoyeon stared at me with eyes full of disbelief. Only then did he seem to remember Chaeseoha, the maid who’d brought the tea.
“This much was necessary to ensure you wouldn’t run.”
“Ha… haha, so you provoked me from the start with this plan in mind?”
“Provocation? I didn’t need to do that. I knew you’d come looking regardless. You’re not obsessed with merit. A suspicious man like you wouldn’t ignore the chance to investigate. That’s simply who you are.”
“….”
I brushed the blade in my hand lightly.
The buried blood was wiped away, and the blade regained its keen edge. I then observed the expression of the trembling figure before me, unable to comprehend the situation, and a smirk played across my lips.
“This tiresome connection ends here.”
“Noooooo-!”
In the moment he raised his voice and spewed forth violent rage.
Hoyeon’s body coughed up blood even more violently.
In that instant, I launched myself forward.
The distance between my opponent and me closed in a single breath.
With his remaining left hand, he attempted to gather tension or expel spiritual energy, but unaware of the slow blood loss draining from his body, he seemed unable to muster much strength.
Rather, anemia set in, and Hoyeon’s body swayed.
I did not hesitate as I watched.
Shing-!
The blade I swung cut sharply across his neck.
Flesh and bone were cleanly separated, and I confirmed the severed head flying through the air.
As the headless body collapsed helplessly to the ground, the remaining blood drenched the floor in a dark pool.
I wiped the blood from my blade once more and sheathed it.
Shing-
With the sharp metallic sound, as the blade was drawn into its scabbard, it felt as though even the murderous intent that had been unleashed was being sealed away together.
I turned my gaze back to confirm the fallen Hoyeon.
“Three gains in one stroke.”
I had successfully absorbed the spiritual energy of the Spirit Elixir, which I had struggled to make my own.
And moreover, Hoyeon, who could be called Yeom Ji-hak’s left arm.
Even with just this much, I could say I had obtained more than my desired results, yet there was still one thing missing.
I approached Hoyeon’s corpse, which continued to pour blood.
Carefully searching his garments, I found a small wooden box stained crimson with blood.
Click-
The moment I carefully opened the lid and looked inside, the Jaseodan appeared before my eyes, accompanied by a refreshing fragrance.
Fortunately, it was not soaked in blood.
I gazed upon it and let out a quiet laugh.
“Let us say that I won our wager.”

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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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