The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 99

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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 99

A heavy voice reached my ears.
Despite the absence of any overt killing intent, my senses screamed at me to flee as though possessed by madness.
Yeom Ji-hak’s presence was that threatening.
He approached with unhurried ease, gradually closing the distance between us.
His gaze swept across the scattered corpses, committing each to memory, before he suddenly halted his advance and fixed me with a penetrating stare.
“A swordsmanship style I’ve never encountered before. Did Gwanbaek devise this anew?”
Despite observing the wounds carved into the bodies, unable to discern the nature of the technique, he instead turned his gaze toward me and posed his question.
It was not a question demanding an answer.
Clearly, he was merely intrigued by the unfamiliar swordsmanship.
I said nothing.
I simply maintained a safe distance, remaining vigilant and prepared.
Soon, Yeom Ji-hak’s attention shifted to Ma Hyeong-chu, split in two. Observing him with that same measured gaze, he clicked his tongue as though something displeased him.
“That’s why I hurried here, yet even that was too late.”
Yeom Ji-hak clicked his tongue and exhaled a long sigh.
From that gesture alone, he seemed to have discerned that a considerable gap already existed between me and Ma Hyeong-chu.
I spoke with deliberate composure.
“You said you’d hurry to cut him down, and it seems you timed it perfectly.”
“Hehehehe, that’s precisely what life is. Things rarely unfold as one envisions. But I must say, you appear quite unsettled at the moment.”
At Yeom Ji-hak’s perceptive question, I nodded.
The situation had deviated significantly from my expectations.
My plan had been to eliminate Ma Hyeong-chu swiftly and withdraw from the scene. Given Yeom Ji-hak’s leisurely nature, I had judged he would not move hastily even in such circumstances.
Yet here he stood before me.
With his presence directly in front of me, I could not help but feel unsettled.
“Isn’t the same true for you?”
“Hmm? Me? Hehehehe! Well, your words aren’t entirely incorrect. I never imagined losing the Blood Demon Squad Leader in a place like this.”
“It seems neither of us anticipated this.”
At my words, Yeom Ji-hak nodded readily.
Soon, his gaze shifted naturally from the corpses to me.
“So, the fact that someone like you is here means you’re targeting the Chohyeon Clan, yes? But why are you alone? I heard there were quite a few of you in Nakhyang.”
The moment I heard Yeom Ji-hak’s words, I grasped a crucial truth.
The reason the Blood Demon Squad and Yeom Ji-hak were here.
Alarmed by the complete annihilation of the Shadow Assassins in Nakhyang, they had come to guard the Chohyeon Clan—their sphere of influence or branch—in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.
Against whom?
It was undoubtedly against ‘me,’ yet one name had continued to surface repeatedly since moments ago.
Gwanbaek.
According to Ma Hyeong-chu’s words, the Absolute Being of the Singyeo.
The elder brother of the one called the Divine.
If Gwanbaek believed the Shadow Assassins’ work was the doing of a survivor, then the name continuing to surface was hardly surprising.
Perhaps by speaking that name aloud, I could convince Gwanbaek of its truth, but I deliberately refrained from uttering it.
The moment those words left my lips, he would read my emotions.
For now, allowing doubt to accumulate while withholding certainty was the wisest course of action.
I stopped my thoughts there.
This was no time for deep contemplation.
Yeom Ji-hak, the leader of Snake Horn, stood before me.
Against an opponent who permitted not even a moment’s carelessness, I could not afford to lose myself in other thoughts.
“Hmm….”
As expected, he glanced at me briefly before lifting his staff with a subtle motion.
He swung it lightly.
In an instant, a dozen sword auras came pouring down upon me.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Boom—!
I threw myself aside to evade, but it was a matter of mere inches.
Considering the considerable distance between Yeom Ji-hak and myself, those auras had traveled at tremendous speed.
I furrowed my brow, staring at him.
But then….
Whoosh—!
“Ugh!”
A violent impact suddenly registered.
His staff, burrowing into my ribs, delivered excruciating pain as it sent my body flying.
Crash! Bang! Bang—!
“Don’t think you can escape again using my own spiritual energy. Will you fall for the same trick twice?”
I gasped roughly, scrambling to my feet.
In that instant, Yeom Ji-hak’s staff came sweeping across my vision.
Descending at a right angle, it carried such force that I had no doubt my skull would have shattered had I been even slightly slower.
Boom!
As expected, the ground caved in, creating a massive crater.
I retreated hastily, attempting to steady my breathing, but Yeom Ji-hak granted me no such respite.
I felt his spiritual energy surge.
This was undoubtedly one of his martial techniques.
Clang—!
I swung my sword to block.
The moment I intercepted it, an overwhelming force crashed into me, my body sliding backward uncontrollably, and I lost my footing entirely, tumbling across the ground.
I gasped for breath, scrambling to my feet once more.
Yeom Ji-hak regarded me with a peculiar expression.
“Strange. You moved as though seeing the future, yet now you seem to know my martial techniques. I cannot discern which is true.”
A short, contemplative hum escaped him.
Hearing it, I could confirm one thing with certainty.
He was conducting an experiment.
He was like someone standing before an ant he could crush at any moment, conducting various experiments to satisfy his curiosity about it.
That was how overwhelmingly vast the difference between us truly was.
I let out a hollow laugh and gripped my sword once more.
“Are you anxious? Or perhaps impatient? You already know it, don’t you—that you cannot survive standing before me.”
A sneer played at the corners of Yeom Ji-hak’s lips.
The way he displayed such leisure while toying with his opponent was only possible because he understood the overwhelming gap in their standings.
That displeased me somewhat.
I found myself chuckling despite myself.
Was it because of that sound and the emotion it conveyed?
Yeom Ji-hak’s brow furrowed.
“Hmm? Is that not it either? It seems you have something worth believing in. Or perhaps… you possess a martial technique of note? Let me see it then.”
Yeom Ji-hak lifted his staff once more and struck the ground.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Boom—!
The earth before me split into several fissures as power surged forth.
To be caught in it meant there would be no next moment.
Such was the magnitude of his strength.
I watched it unfold, then dashed after one of the fissures.
“…!”
I met the onrushing force head-on and redirected it.
Screech—!
Yet because the power was so immense, as I diverted it, I felt a sharp pain and my shoulder blade being torn open.
But such pain was of no consequence.
Rather, this moment was my opportunity.
I swung my sword.
Swift and precise.
A perfect technique exploiting the opening.
Even Yeom Ji-hak’s eyes, which had remained composed throughout, widened with surprise.
He had not anticipated that I would meet his force head-on and redirect it, then charge forward.
Slash—!
Yet his staff, raised with a slight motion, blocked it far too easily.
“Interesting. But a meaningless technique nonetheless.”
Bang—!
Yeom Ji-hak applied force to his staff with ease.
In that instant, a violent power surged through my entire body as if to send me flying.
I did not miss that moment.
I pushed off the ground and twisted my body.
I diverted the power that came hurtling at me by a hair’s breadth, and simultaneously swung my sword toward his chest.
Clang—
Yet it was blocked once more, and I retreated half a step.
Yeom Ji-hak followed, closing the distance by one step forward, then moved his staff with subtle precision as if drawing me inward.
That opponent’s Golden Water technique.
I had been waiting for this.
I shifted the flow and channeled the rapids into my sword.
I swallowed the pulling force in an instant, twisting that opponent’s current.
“…!”
Yeom Ji-hak, sensing that something had gone terribly wrong, tried to retreat hastily, but once caught in a swift current, escape is never easy.
I saw the opening in that opponent’s stance.
Whoooosh—!
“Ugh?!”
Yeom Ji-hak staggered backward in alarm as my blade suddenly swept toward him.
The edge grazed past the tip of his jaw.
Literally a hair’s breadth away.
Had it gone any deeper, his face would have been split clean in two.
Realizing this, Yeom Ji-hak let out a hollow laugh, as if finding the situation absurd, and touched his jaw gingerly.
Then he glanced back at me.
His eyes were filled with astonishment.
Given the vast difference in our standings, such a situation should have been impossible.
An ant that should have been crushed beneath overwhelming force had instead bitten back through a gap in the defense.
And quite lethally at that.
“Did you read it, or did you already know?”
“Who can say?”
Yeom Ji-hak stared at me intently.
Though he seemed to be making an effort to discern my emotions, it appeared difficult for him to reach a conclusion based on what he sensed now.
After a moment of contemplation, he finally scoffed and shook his head.
As if there was no need to think further, he drew up his spiritual energy.
Wind rushed forth.
A fierce gale, as if a tempest itself were unleashing, wrapped around the surroundings. Simultaneously, a strange spiritual energy began to manifest, eventually converging toward his staff.
“I had intended to bring you back alive, but you are not one to be taken that way. A corpse will suffice.”
Whooom—!
The moment his words ended, something extraordinary occurred.
Shhhhring—!
As Yeom Ji-hak slowly raised his staff, a sword was drawn.
A sword I had never unsheathed until now.
The mere act of drawing it was a declaration of intent—that I would no longer hesitate and would end my life without further delay.
I smiled bitterly and steadied my breathing.
Crackle, crackle—
The power I felt was overwhelming.
I was certain that if I were caught in that tempest, not even a trace would remain.
The distance was too close to escape.
Moreover, I did not believe I could evade it.
Then, in the end, there is only one thing I must do to survive.
I tightened my grip on the sword and drew up my spiritual energy.
Pfft—
In that instant, I heard Yeom Ji-hak’s scornful laugh.
From his perspective, it must seem like striking a rock with an egg.
But there is no absolute defense.
If I could land just one strike—precisely one—executed flawlessly, a golden opportunity would emerge to turn this entire situation around.
I steeled my resolve and drew my spiritual energy even higher.
Then.
The howling gale that had been tearing through the air vanished in an instant.
What followed was silence and stillness.
And his figure disappeared from sight.
The moment I realized this, a scene flashed through my mind.
But I didn’t dwell on it—I threw my body forward instead.
In that instant, Yeom Ji-hak materialized before my eyes.
As I swung my sword without hesitation, my body was engulfed in a tempest that felt ready to tear me apart.
My clothes were shredded and scattered by the blade-like gale.
Simultaneously, the flesh on my hands gripping the sword began to tear, and that force consumed my entire body, unleashing even greater power.
My whole body was being torn to shreds.
If I did nothing, I would be ripped apart so completely that nothing would remain to identify.
Though I felt pain that cut to the marrow, I endured it through sheer will and began searching for the flow within his attack.
Even this overwhelming force must have a current running through it.
Then I saw it.
The faintest point of weakness, barely perceptible.
I clenched my teeth and drove my sword toward that spot.
Shhaaaack—!
Drawing upon every ounce of inner strength I possessed, my blade severed Yeom Ji-hak’s seemingly unbreakable gale in a single moment.
A brief opening appeared, and I saw shock flash across his face.
I did not miss that moment.
Screech—!

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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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