Soh Bang’s face hardened completely.
Half-breed. It was the word she hated most.
It was not only her. All the seeds of god with polluted blood flowing through their veins hated that word. No, beyond hating it, they loathed it.
But Soh Bang could not easily lose her temper.
This bastard......
The word half-breed. And that close-quarters ability that had countered the path of the Blood-Drinking Palm before she could even unfold it.
Does he know me?
Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly.
“Why? Surprised?”
“......You.”
“You’ve perfected Blood-Drinking evil qi. No, have you not perfected it yet? In any case, you’ve trained it to an impressive level.”
“How do you know Blood-Drinking evil qi......?”
“Since your Blood-Drinking evil qi has reached that realm, will you be taught the Yin Desolation arts soon? Hmm. That’s not ideal.”
“......!!”
Soh Bang’s face turned pale.
“H-how do you know that?”
Blood-Drinking evil qi was an extremely special martial art even within the Perverse Lust Cult.
Not because °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of its power or difficulty.
It was because of the background of Blood-Drinking evil qi’s birth and its unique history.
Blood-Drinking evil qi was a martial art that had branched off from the cult-protecting divine art practiced by successive Perverse Lust Cult Leaders.
Of course, it was not an advanced form. Rather, it was closer to a degraded form, and naturally, its power and difficulty had been lowered compared to the cult-protecting divine art.
What was astonishing was that not just anyone could learn Blood-Drinking evil qi. Those who first cultivated Blood-Drinking evil qi always experienced qi reversal when they passed the midpoint, and then fell straight into qi deviation, losing their lives or becoming madmen.
Because of that, only a tiny number of people survived after learning Blood-Drinking evil qi. And astonishingly, every one of those few people was of the Cult Leader’s blood.
It was a martial art that prioritized bloodline before talent. There were all sorts of martial arts under heaven and earth, but martial arts that depended on bloodline could be counted on one hand.
Blood-Drinking evil qi was precisely such a martial art. In other words, only those mixed with the Perverse Lust Cult Leader’s blood could cultivate Blood-Drinking evil qi.
In the current Perverse Lust Cult, a total of ten people had cultivated Blood-Drinking evil qi.
And all ten of them were illegitimate children, not legitimate descendants of the Perverse Lust Cult Leader.
“In any case, you came at the right time. Since it has come to this, I’ll make sure to catch you here.”
Chiririring!
Yeon Hojeong connected the Flood Dragon Chain wrapped around his upper body to Mad Dragon in one motion, then spun Mad Dragon above his head.
Bwoong! Bwoooong! Bwaaaaaang!
It was a terrifying sight.
Mad Dragon, connected to the Flood Dragon Chain, was spinning above Yeon Hojeong’s head at tremendous speed. Before even considering the strength and elasticity of the Flood Dragon Chain that endured that weight, Yeon Hojeong’s raw strength, handling it so lightly, looked even more remarkable.
But even that shockingly incredible sight did nothing to stir Soh Bang.
Soh Bang shouted furiously, “I asked how you know this Cult so well!”
Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly once more.
“Hear it in the afterlife, half-breed.”
“......You son of a bitch!”
Puuuuung!
Soh Bang charged at tremendous speed.
She had even forgotten the fact that her opponent had completely seen through the path of the Blood-Drinking Palm. The fierce anger that followed shock had made her lose her reason completely.
“Die!”
Soh Bang thrust out her palm.
Puuuuung!
The moment the Blood-Drinking Palm was released, a single iron coin extinguished it.
It was Nine-Dragon Bow Art fired with Mookbi’s full strength. The strike Mookbi had launched by momentarily pouring in all her fighting power had enough force to cancel out a single Blood-Drinking Palm.
And at that moment, Yeon Hojeong swung Mad Dragon.
Bwooooooooong!!
Mad Dragon, swung as it tore through the air, aimed precisely at Soh Bang’s waist.
Even though he was gripping and swinging the Flood Dragon Chain, he could accurately drive Mad Dragon’s axe blade into the exact position he wanted. Yeon Hojeong’s ability in the delicate handling of weapons was unrivaled, not merely strong and fast.
Soh Bang attacked, Mookbi dispersed the palm force, and Yeon Hojeong’s strike, aimed at that opening, reached two inches from Soh Bang’s flank in the span of an instant.
Bwaang!
Mad Dragon crossed through empty air. Soh Bang had dodged the cleaving strike.
Even though she had moved in a straight line at that speed, she evaded Mad Dragon with astonishing movement. It was skill worthy of confidence in her own martial arts.
Soh Bang, lying sideways in the air, thrust the Blood-Drinking Palm toward the crown of Yeon Hojeong’s head.
Puuuuung!
The palm force that grazed Yeon Hojeong’s shoulder blade exploded the ground.
In that instant, Soh Bang’s feet split into more than ten shadows and aimed for Yeon Hojeong’s upper body.
Chiririririring!
If Soh Bang’s movement had reached divine skill, Yeon Hojeong’s ability to respond was also shocking in itself.
With his body weight loaded onto Mad Dragon’s mass, he pulled the Flood Dragon Chain taut and blocked the barrage of kicks, deflecting each and every one of those rapid attacks.
His reflexes were terrifying. Whether barehanded, holding a long weapon, or wielding a heavy weapon, Yeon Hojeong’s close-quarters skill had reached the pinnacle of the Central Plains.
Tuuung!
But not even Yeon Hojeong, peerless under heaven, could avoid being shaken by the kicks pouring down in succession. He had responded perfectly to their speed and paths, but he could only be pushed back by the fundamental strength of her internal force.
Then something astonishing happened.
Kwaang!
Yeon Hojeong’s body, which had been flying backward, stopped right where it was. Mad Dragon had embedded into the ground and acted as a weight.
Soh Bang’s eyes shook.
Her left hand had already been pulled back. It was to unfold Bloodstain Guiding Pool of the Blood-Drinking Palm.
He isn’t retreating? Did he intend this?!
Bloodstain Guiding Pool was a form that revealed its true power only when a certain distance opened between the practitioner and the opponent. It was difficult to use in close quarters, but once distance opened, it could be manifested the fastest and sharpest, so masters of the Blood-Drinking Palm favored Bloodstain Guiding Pool.
But Yeon Hojeong had stopped after being knocked back. In that state, the distance between them was far too awkward.
Soh Bang hesitated once.
At that moment, Mookbi pulled the string of the Red Lotus Bow.
Piyuuuuung!
The iron coin fired at frightening speed crossed the space. It was aimed precisely at Soh Bang’s heart.
Soh Bang, who had been about to attack Yeon Hojeong, thrust her palm toward the iron coin.
Puung!
The iron coin, its path bent, entered the forest and caused an explosive roar. At the same time, Yeon Hojeong’s Red-Flame Six-Kill Hand swung toward Soh Bang.
The timing was too perfect to dodge. Soh Bang’s eyes changed abruptly.
Damn it!
She could not be certain whether he was truly countering the Blood-Drinking Palm. But leaving that aside, the way this opponent read her openings and attacked was far too exceptional.
What is this madman?!
He had completely taken control of the battle.
This was something possible only if one not only possessed innate talent, but also hammered the realizations gained from immeasurable real-combat experience into one’s body.
And that was naturally impossible.
It was hard enough to be born with such talent in the first place, but even if one possessed that talent, surviving enough real battles for this level of response to seep into the body was as hard as plucking stars from the sky. The reason was that defeating the weak was easy, but surviving real combat against the strong was exceedingly difficult.
Was this bastard, this madman holding that axe, saying he had survived all those real battles and obtained such an ability?
Puuuuung!
The firepower of the Red-Flame Six-Kill Hand blasted Soh Bang three zhang backward.
......!!
Soh Bang’s expression changed once more.
Why was it delayed?!
It felt as if the response of her Blood-Drinking evil qi had become half a beat slower than usual. It had not been like that at first, but gradually, the more she controlled her True Qi, the slower it seemed to become.
Her offensive and defensive arts were no longer manifesting on the correct beat. It was something Soh Bang had never experienced before.
Sarak!
Landing on the ground, Soh Bang quickly inspected her own interior.
There’s no problem?
It was not that she had suffered an internal injury, nor had her True Qi collapsed. It was the same as usual.
Then why was this happening? Why did her reaction keep slowing?
“Where are you looking?”
Paaaaaang!
Two sharp lines of sword technique grazed Soh Bang’s collar.
The two sword techniques that flew from behind were from Okcheong and Yeoguk.
Normally, she would have snorted and blocked or dodged those attacks, but her collar had been cut. It was also because she had failed to concentrate on the battle, but more than that, the response of her True Qi was continuing to slow even now.
Soh Bang twisted her face and was about to launch an attack at Okcheong and Yeoguk.
Whoosh!
Holding the Flood Dragon Chain in one hand and Mad Dragon in the other, Yeon Hojeong appeared in the air with both raised high.
Kwaaaang! Crack-crack-crack!
Mad Dragon split the earth.
It was a merciless strike, an axe blow carrying Vermilion Bird Fire Qi. Soh Bang, who had dodged Mad Dragon with all her strength, glared at Yeon Hojeong.
“You......!”
Chiriririring!
The Flood Dragon Chain writhed like a snake, trying to coil around Soh Bang’s upper body.
Damn it!
Pupupung!
Soh Bang, who was retreating while detonating the Blood-Drinking Palm, suddenly felt her back grow hot. Before she knew it, she had been pushed all the way to the forest that was on fire.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a stream of cool air entered her nose along with the hot air. In a space where every direction should have been hot, an astonishingly cool breath of air had entered.
That instant, Soh Bang realized it.
A formation?!
That was right. It was a formation. The slowing response of her True Qi and the gradual decrease of her stamina were all because of the formation.
The reason she had been able to smell cool air was that Yeon Hojeong’s strike just now had shaken the qi net of the formation itself, causing outside air to leak in for an instant.
But Soh Bang could not believe it.
Impossible!
Was he saying he had predicted she would come to this exact spot and spread out a formation? No matter how much of a genius in strategy and tactics someone was, that could not be done.
Then that meant the mere four people visible to her were unfolding a formation, but where in the world was there such a formation?
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong’s cold voice rang out.
“That bastard was right. He said that when you panic, you think too much, so it becomes even easier to deal with you.”
“Wh-what?”
Yeon Hojeong smiled. It looked like an evil smile.
“You can’t get out of here.”
Puuuuung!
Soh Bang’s body was flung sideways.
While Yeon Hojeong drew her attention, Mookbi had fired a Formless Shot strike. It was fortunate she had defended in that instant, or her head would have been blown off.
And it did not end there.
Saaaaaaak!
A feast of sword techniques narrowed like a net. Okcheong and Yeoguk had entered the fight in earnest.
Soh Bang’s hands swung in a dizzying flurry.
Pababababak!
Spiderweb-like sword wounds appeared on both her forearms. Naturally, her sleeves were torn to shreds.
Yeon Hojeong’s foot split the air.
Puuuk!
“Keuk!”
It was her first scream.
She had crossed both arms to block, but the impact of the kicking art shook all her organs. Blood burst from Soh Bang’s nose and mouth.
“Let’s end this now.”
Bwoooong! Kwaang!
Soh Bang moved like a madwoman.
Her stamina was falling at a terrifying speed. It was because she had suffered an internal injury. On top of that, the reaction speed of her True Qi was noticeably slowing.
Pung! Pupung! Crack!
“Kraah!”
Yeon Hojeong’s close-quarters combat had no mercy.
Her right arm broke from the axe haft he swung. If she had not blocked it, every bone in the right side of her upper body would have been crushed.
Soh Bang’s eyes became bloodshot.
Once she had not only internal injuries but even a broken right arm, her pride lowered its head and her survival instinct rose to the surface.
I have to retreat!
She could not focus on the battle. Moreover, her physical condition was gradually plunging toward its worst state.
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong shouted.
“This bitch is trying to run! Catch her no matter wh—ugh!”
Suddenly, Yeon Hojeong jerked his left shoulder up and dropped to one knee.
Soh Bang, who had been puzzled by the unexpected strange behavior, cried out in delight for an instant.
Blood-Drinking Palm!
The Blood-Drinking Palm that had grazed his shoulder blade during the melee.
She had thought it had failed, but apparently not. The hidden force that had penetrated his body seemed to finally be causing an abnormality.
A small hole had opened in the massive net. Now there was nothing to stop her.
Paaaaaaaaang!
Soh Bang shot forward at terrifying speed and broke through Okcheong and Yeoguk by force. She suffered more sword wounds in the process, but that was not important right now.
Papapapang!
Soh Bang’s form vanished from sight in the blink of an eye, so urgent was her movement.
Srrrk.
Yeon Hojeong rose from his place with a calm face.
“Don’t chase her. Let her go.”
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