Chapter 182. Eight Years of Hardship and Suffering (3)

‘Huh?’

Ah Sam's eyes widened as the arrow, which had been flying straight at the target, suddenly turned around in mid-air and flew back at him.

‘I can’t dodge!’

However, right at that moment of desperation, a black line suddenly appeared in front of Ah Sam’s eyes and split the arrow in half, the pieces of the shaft falling to the ground harmlessly.

***

The energy emanating from the River Jades narrowed in, and they surrounded Woo-Moon as if they were sentient.

“You’re not the only one who knows how to use aura arts!”

Woo-Moon used Illusive Shift and flew backward to buy time before using Dragon Bind Tiger Strike.

Two aura clusters, in the shape of a dragon and a tiger, respectively, leaped forward at the same time.

Meanwhile, the larger River Jades were spitting out thousands upon thousands of smaller aura beads, like great rivers splitting into innumerable branches.

Woo-Moon’s dragon and tiger grabbed the nearest River Jade in their jaws and clawed it into pieces before continuing on their way.

‘Destroy the River Jades themselves, don’t focus on the tiny ones.’

The dragon and tiger responded to Woo-Moon’s intention immediately.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!

The dragon and tiger grew stronger and faster as Woo-Moon imbued them with more and more qi, destroying all of the River Jades before disappearing.

“Impressive.”

The Great Darkness Palace Master suddenly sensed something coming from below—it was Ah Sam’s arrow. With a cold snort, he simply took control of the arrow and shot it right back.

However, the arrow failed to kill Ah Sam because Inkblade was there to intercept it, splitting it in two.

“Hmm.”

The Great Darkness Palace Master launched a double palm forward.

BOOONG!

An indecipherable sound rang through the air.

“W-what is that!”

Those fighting below were startled by the sudden whirlwind and tried to stabilize themselves as they shook uncontrollably.

Although they were all people who could be called experts across the

gangho

, it was just not possible for them to ignore the shockwaves caused by the Great Darkness Palace Master's aura attack.

However, his opponent was standing firmly in the air without any sign of difficulty. The golden aura emanating from the sword in his hand gradually was growing stronger and stronger.

The color of a martial artist’s qi differed based on the qi cultivation method they practiced. For example, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor’s Blood Devil Merciless Art was a shade of vibrant, pure crimson.

In the case of Woo-Moon, the Forbidden Divine Art made his qi take on a brilliant golden hue.

However, it was extremely difficult for a martial artist to be able to exude enough qi for its color to show. It wasn’t until a martial artist reached the Peak Stage that they could even manifest a color in the first place.

As for forming an aura as Woo-Moon had just done, one that looked not like a pale glow or a luminous gas but like liquid gold flowing around him, shining with the radiance of a molten sun... No one under the Absolute Master level understood just what kind of level had to be achieved in order to have that level of aura; the only thing they instinctively knew was that, as far as they were concerned, he was so far higher he might as well be the heaven above.

Then came a whisper from the Suppressing Darkness Palace Master.

“Ocean Jade.”

Screech, screech, screech, screeeeech!

A strange sound, like the grating screech of metal rubbing against metal, echoed in all directions. All those below instinctively covered their ears, but it was pointless; it was as if the sound resonated not in their ears but inside their brains, causing them to become nauseous.

A black aura rippled and grew, quickly spreading out in waves toward Woo-Moon.

‘How odd...’

It was not actually a pure black; rather, Woo-Moon felt as if there

should

be light but there wasn’t, as if he was looking at the sky from the bottom of the ocean.

‘That color...’

This deep, dark aura rippled toward him, descending upon him with the pressure of a thousand zhang of water, like a massive wave crashing against the shore.

Woo-Moon responded with the Impenetrable Golden Wall.

The brilliant golden light surrounding Inkblade surrounded his entire body, turning into absolute armor that did not allow a single drop of water to seep through.

BANG!!!!

An explosion rang out.

‘It’s not as big of a deal as I thought.’

Just as Woo-Moon thought that the impact of the Great Darkness Palace Master’s attack was less than expected, the aura of the Ocean Jade was repelled and merged with the upcoming waves, rebounding with an even stronger force.

‘... Fuck.’

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The waves created by the Ocean Jade struck the Impenetrable Golden Wall six times in the blink of an eye, each time stronger and stronger.

‘I have to stop this, and I have to do it right now.’

He had realized by now that each wave merged with the previous wave that was repelled by his armor, absorbing the rebounding power to strengthen itself. In other words, the longer he allowed this to continue, the more powerful each wave would be.

If he let this go on, he was doomed. At one point, his armor would fail to stop a wave, and that wave would not just injure him but crush him like a bug.

'Now!'

The moment the wave collided with him and then receded, Woo-Moon quickly transitioned from the Impenetrable Golden Wall into the Golden Wall Severing Void. However, even in the split second it took him to do so, the next wave approached Woo-Moon, getting so close that it was difficult for him to exert his power properly.

A fraction of a second later, the Ocean Jade’s wave, now tens of times more potent than the first wave, collided with Woo-Moon's Golden Wall Severing Void.

It was a clash between two Paragons!

Although it seemed obvious that the impact would be enormous, contrary to expectations, the shockwaves were minuscule. The reason was simple: the two had reached such incredible mastery of their own techniques that they could even redirect the aftershocks in order to further empower their own attacks.

After the blinding flash disappeared, Woo-Moon, now with a pale complexion, immediately unleashed another technique without even taking the time to pull himself together.

Raging Storm!

In terms of destructive power, it was the strongest among all of the techniques of the Gentle Celestial Sword that Woo-Moon had learned.

Bleergh!

As blood spilled from his mouth, Raging Storm’s merciless sword force flew toward the Great Darkness Palace Master so quickly that it seemed to shift in and out of existence, as if the sword force itself was performing Illusive Shift.

The Great Darkness Palace Master smiled bitterly.

‘You’re overdoing it.’

The short instant it took Woo-Moon to unfold Raging Storm was incredibly important.

That fleeting moment, no more than half a second, was enough for Paragons like them to settle their qi. Yet Woo-Moon had just suffered significant internal injuries because, instead of using that time to bring his qi under control, he had spent it unleashing an incredibly strong technique.

Sixty-four aura beads appeared in an instant before the Great Darkness Palace Master, exploding simultaneously as Raging Storm ruptured the air in front of him.

BOOM!!!!!

As Raging Storm dissipated, Lightflash, hidden within it, leaped out like a beam of light and thrust at the Great Darkness Palace Master.

“A childish trick...!”

As the Great Darkness Palace Master shouted, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis.

‘A stealth technique?’

A girl was hidden within Lightflash’s shadow, using Sword Flight to continue forward.

His heart pounded.

It was surprising that an assassin with such an impressive stealth technique existed. Moreover, the fact that an assassin had managed to approach him at such a close range gave him a bad feeling.

Woo-Moon vomited blood again.

His pure white robe was covered in blood as he staggered as if it was difficult for him to stay in the air.

Just unleashing Raging Storm had been difficult, let alone the added effort to manipulate Lightflash using Sword Control while protecting Ma-Ra with qi and hiding her within Raging Storm’s sword force.

It was only natural that his mental power was exhausted by this point to the point where his mind was hazy, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart—the exhaustion of squeezing his qi to the dregs sunk into his bones.

‘But Ma-Ra will get hurt if I let go!’

He couldn’t feel any strength within his body.

However, he had to force himself to continue anyway.

Squelch!

Woo-Moon bit his lip as hard as he could.

A thick chunk of his lip tore off and a sharp pain spread throughout his body. At the same time, he suddenly felt a surge of strength—less like being reinvigorated and more like a flash of terminal lucidity.

He controlled Inkblade with Sword Control, stepping on it and flying toward the Great Darkness Palace Master.

Meanwhile, the moment Ma-Ra sensed that the Great Darkness Palace Master had detected her, she kicked Lightflash and jumped up, using her stealth technique once again.

She wasn’t yet at the level where she could float in the air and move at will like the two Paragons.

Thus, she threw one of the lotuses she had hidden in her sleeves and used it as a stepping stone. It was not the metallic lotus of the Tang Family, but an actual flower—it allowed her to step on it without making a sound.

Thanks to her stealth technique, she was able to change directions mid-air soundlessly. She jumped above the Great Darkness Palace Master’s head, then threw a second lotus over her own head, flipped herself upside down and kicked off, launching herself downward.

Then, using Thousand-Catty Ballast, she plummeted toward the Great Darkness Palace Master with the sheer momentum of a falling meteor.

She didn’t draw a sword ahead of time.

The longer she held a weapon in hand, the more murderous qi and ominous qi exuded from her.[1]

Although she had already reached a perfect level of control over her emotions and qi, she couldn’t let down her guard even the slightest, considering she was trying to assassinate someone beyond the Absolute realm.

The Great Darkness Palace Master's hand, engulfed in black water, struck away Lightflash as it approached him before creating four aura beads above his head.

Although he was being ambushed by an Absolute Master assassin while fighting another Paragon and was in mortal danger, there was no way he would miss the traces of Ma-Ra once she had come so close.

Like Woo-Moon had done just moments earlier, even under the threat of suffering internal injuries, he used his qi forcefully to form more aura beads.

Swooping down on the Great Darkness Palace Master like a hawk trying to snatch its prey, Ma-Ra’s eyes narrowed.

‘Give him some flesh to cut his bones.’

Instead of dodging, she planned to endure the aura beads explosion in order to kill the Great Darkness Palace Master.

Ma-Ra knew that if she missed this opportunity, the Great Darkness Palace Master might be able to recover and run away. If that happened, then the opportunity that Woo-Moon had created for her by deliberately overexerting himself would be entirely in vain.

‘I have to kill him now!’

Now that everything was revealed, there was no need for her to keep herself hidden.

A bloodlust that seemed as though it could tear the sky in half exploded from her entire body.

If she were to let the explosion of the aura beads strike her, she would unquestionably suffer. While she didn’t think that she would die, she knew that it would be difficult for her to avoid being practically flayed alive and having her flesh torn off her body.

But that did not make her hesitate even for a moment.

‘It doesn’t matter!’

Right at that moment, Woo-Moon flew in front of her like the wind, in a state of being one with his sword, and slashed apart the four aura beads simultaneously.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The aura beads exploded before Ma-Ra arrived, and Woo-Moon became a bloody figure in her stead.

‘Go, Ma-Ra!’

The two were already at a level where they could read each other’s minds just by locking eyes or reading each other’s body language. In fact, they could read each other’s minds without even locking eyes or reading body language.

‘Idiot.’

Screeeeech!

With a sharp sound, Ma-Ra dropped from above the Great Darkness Palace Master's head and darted past his entire body down to his feet.

“You... you cowardly...”

As the Great Darkness Palace Master groaned, his mouth somehow split vertically instead of horizontally.

And the bloody line at the center of it quickly descended down his entire body.

Squelch!!!

Blood gushed from the Great Darkness Palace Master as he was split precisely in half. Meanwhile, an equally bloody Woo-Moon fell from the sky like a bird that had lost its wings, but he was grinning like the idiot Ma-Ra rightfully considered him.

“Oh no, what ever am I going to do now that you think I’m a coward. I guess I might fight with honor and let you kill all my friends in the meantime, no?”

A black rope flew in from below, wrapped around his waist, and pulled him to the side.

Clench.

Ma-Ra opened her arms and embraced Woo-Moon, groaning at him in a cold yet somehow passionate voice.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Idiot.”

“Hahaha!”

Woo-Moon just laughed in response.

Even though Ma-Ra couldn’t fly properly, she did have enough agility that she could land without suffering the impact, even from such heights.

Slamming her palms into the air, she landed slightly outside the battlefield and quickly checked Woo-Moon’s condition.

Right now, there was no condition to speak of. Just as she had expected for herself, all of the skin on his body had been burned off, and his flesh exposed to the air.

Ma-Ra’s eyes grew red at the gruesome sight.

“I don’t need treatment. Just let me circulate my qi for a moment.”

“Mmm.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma-Ra stood guard for him, scanning the surroundings for threats while Woo-Moon sat cross-legged behind her.

1. We typically translate the word for “murderous qi” as “bloodlust,” which is the more accurate translation. However, the author actually juxtaposes two different types of energy in this context, which is why we used the literal, less accurate translation. ☜