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Chapter 131. Trying to Row a Boat On Land (2)

She moved her dainty little foot and kicked the First Ghost Scholar in the shoulder. Using the force to spin in a circle, she opened her arms wide, then crossed them and squeezed her fists as if pulling tight on something.

“Ugh!”

‘What the... When did that silk get here?’

As the silver thread wrapped around his waist rapidly tightened, the First Ghost Scholar hastily raised his defensive qi as high as he could. Fortunately, he was able to avoid being split in two at the waist. Still, the Formless Silk dug deep into his flesh, causing him intense pain as blood spewed out in bursts.

“Hyung!”

To the other Ghost Scholars watching from below, it seemed as if their eldest brother had suddenly been bisected at the waist. Seeing him in danger, one of the Ghost Scholars fighting Woo-Moon couldn’t wait any longer and turned his attention around, throwing himself upward. And while the other three continued to keep Woo-Moon at bay, their attentions were split.

Naturally, Woo-Moon wasn’t the kind to miss such a great opportunity.

‘Try this, then! Northern Blizzard!’

His sword drew a straight line, moving so fast that not even the Nature-Inverting Twin Apparitions could intercept the blow. All they could do was watch as the world seemed to be severed in two by Woo-Moon’s sword.

The two halves of the severed world seemed to slide against each other, forming an image that the Twin Apparitions could believe they were seeing with their own eyes.

“Ugh!”

Their mouths held agape with suppressed screams filled with disbelief. Then, the world suddenly reverted to its original state before their gaze.

In an instant, the Ghostly Scholar who had turned and leaped into the air to save the eldest Ghostly Scholar had his leg severed at the shin, while the three remaining Ghostly Scholars had a single bloody line painted on their necks.

Northern Blizzard!

It was the second complete technique of the Gentle Celestial Sword that Woo-Moon had first manifested during his state of extreme anger while fighting the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor. He was now finally able to wield it.

Raging Storm and Northern Blizzard.

Although he had used both of these full techniques, Woo-Moon still had more than half of his qi reserves left. This was only possible because he had made great progress with the Forbidden Divine Art since his enlightenment on the Dao.

There was a high wall that blocked Transcendent martial artists from rising. And that high wall was the reason for the ridiculous difference in power between Absolute Masters and those who were below them—either they were on top of that wall, or they were at the foot of the wall, no in-between.

However, Woo-Moon was different.

His cultivation had actually surpassed the highest level a Transcendent-stage expert could reach and was inching ever closer to the level of an Absolute Master.

In other words, he had broken this very wall between the Transcendent and Absolute in a way that defied all understanding. Instead of gathering energy for a long time at the peak of the Transcendent stage and then using that energy to jump up to the top like all Absolute Masters did, he had found profound enlightenment and was climbing the wall brick by brick.

Therefore, even though he hadn’t reached the top of the wall yet and he was still a Transcendent, Woo-Moon was able to show power on a level completely different from that of others.

After using Northern Wind, Woo-Moon whirled Lightflash before his chest, stroking the blade with his fingertip as it descended into its sheath. Then, he pulled out Inkblade and stepped toward the Nature-Inverting Twin Apparitions.

“You two should follow your friends. Don’t let them get lonely.”

The Twin Apparitions still were struggling to comprehend what they had just seen.

‘This, this brat...!’

The only time they had ever felt such abject terror was when they first met the Lust Emperor. Beyond that, they had never felt anything near that for anyone, before or since.

However, now, they were feeling terror, a horrifying terror, as Woo-Moon approached them with a cold gaze that held not one shred of either anger nor bloodlust.

They wouldn’t have been as afraid if there was even a hint of some emotion within that cruel gaze. Contempt, anger, anything.

But seeing him approach them with such cold indifference as if he was just disposing of trash on the side of the road...

Woo-Moon didn’t seem like a person... and certainly didn’t seem to consider them persons.

Thud!

As Woo-Moon approached, the Twin Apparitions took a step back without realizing it.

Meanwhile, Ma-Ra was still fighting the First Ghostly Scholar as the Third Ghostly Scholar lay on the ground, barely breathing, with an arm and a leg severed.

“I’m going to kill you damned bastards!”

With bloodshot eyes, the First Ghostly Scholar swore viciously and savagely attacked Ma-Ra.

Ma-Ra was at the Transcendent stage cultivation-wise. When stalking her prey from the dark or fighting from a distance using throwing weapons, she could even fight above her level. On the other hand, if she was exposed and forced to fight at close range, she was barely a match for even the weakest Transcendent Class expert.

Fortunately, with Woo-Moon’s help, she was able to exploit an opening and deal a near-fatal blow to the eldest Ghost Scholar, allowing her to fight without difficulty.

This experience was also of great help to her as it was to Woo-Moon; it was the first time she’d ever been forced to fight a life-or-death battle head-on.

The First Ghost Scholar’s condition gradually worsened as he was forced to continue fighting without any respite to stop his bleeding. No matter how high his cultivation, even he would eventually succumb to his injuries if he continued to shed such large amounts of blood, the source of his vitality.

“Die!”

Suddenly, a sword slashed at Ma-Ra from behind her.

Even while missing an arm and a leg, the Third Ghostly Scholar had crawled all the way over to the battle and ambushed Ma-Ra.

However, Ma-Ra had long since noticed him.

Arching her back like a bow, she dropped backward into an iron bridge and placed one hand on the ground while firing her wrist crossbow with the other.

Thwip, thwip, thwip!

Using her wrist crossbow to keep the First Ghostly Scholar from moving, she lifted her foot and spun around, trapping the Third Ghostly Scholar’s neck between her thighs.

Crack!!

As she twisted her body and applied force to her thighs, the Third Ghostly Scholar’s neck twisted. His vertebrae were dislocated, and he died on the spot.

“NO!!!!! THIRD BROTHER!!!”

The eldest Ghost Scholar rushed Ma-Ra with a guttural scream. However, neither his speed nor his strength was all that impressive, as he had already lost enough blood to put his life in danger.

Ma-Ra was able to deal with his charge easily, dodging all of his attacks. It wouldn’t be long before she would be able to win.

Squelch!

A little while later, Ma-Ra and Woo-Moon’s swords pierced the hearts of the eldest Ghost Scholar and the Male Apparition respectively. With their deaths, all of Woo-Moon and Ma-Ra’s enemies had been taken care of.

“We’ve done everything we’ve set out to do. Let’s go now, Ma-Ra!”

“Mmm.”

Woo-Moon took out the signal flare he was carrying in his pocket and fired it into the sky before escaping from the enemy camp alongside Ma-Ra. There was no one nearby who could block their path.

As they ran, Woo-Moon stretched out a hand to grab Ma-Ra’s hand.

“...?”

“...Thought so. You have internal injuries. Moreover, there’s still some poisonous aura, too.”

Ma-Ra’s breathing had become extremely heavy while they used their movement techniques. Her condition seemed to be more severe than he had expected.

Truthfully, Woo-Moon had noticed it to some extent earlier.

No matter how much weaker Ma-Ra was in a head-on confrontation, Woo-Moon couldn’t help but be confused to see her being so helplessly pushed back by the eldest Ghost Scholar in the early stages of the battle.

‘That’s right, I heard that the fourth young master of the Black Bull Gang uses poison arts.’

Ma-Ra must have taken a blow when she sneaked into the enemy territory and assassinated the key figures. Moreover, she had been hit near the heart, the worst place to be attacked by poison.

Without a word, Woo-Moon grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, heading deep into a nearby forest with her in his arms.

Ma-Ra’s long hair was blowing in the wind, tickling the tip of Woo-Moon’s nose and emitting a fragrant scent. However, her poisoning had become so severe that he couldn’t afford to enjoy such things in this dangerous situation.

‘We’ve gotten far enough away; no one would run into us here.’

Her condition was much more severe than Woo-Moon had expected, and it was only just that Ma-Ra hadn’t expressed anything regarding it until now.

She had already slipped into a half-state of consciousness.

She usually seemed so strong and cold, but right now, all Woo-Moon could see was a girl, soft and weak.

Even her lips were stained black, and her breath smelled of poison.

‘Considering it has spread this far, I won’t be able to treat it by just infusing pure qi through external meridians. I have to treat it from the source of the poison, where she took the blow.’

Fortunately, Ma-Ra had lost all consciousness by now. Woo-Moon carefully removed her upper robes, examining her condition with a serious gaze.

Her skin had lost its pale white color and had turned black and blue. In particular, the area where she had been hit with the poison was clearly in severe shape.

Without hesitation, Woo-Moon stretched out a palm and placed it on Ma-Ra’s chest, infusing her wound with pure qi.

The treatment began to progress, albeit very slowly, as Woo-Moon had to not only protect her heart but also remove the toxins while reviving the dead tissue. It took extreme concentration, and sweat began to run in rivulets down his back,

“Cough, cough!”

Eventually, the color returned to her skin, and the motionless, corpselike Ma-Ra coughed and spat out a large amount of black blood.

“Whew, that’s a relief.”

The treatment had gone well.

Thanks to Woo-Moon’s thorough treatment, Ma-Ra’s cultivation would be able to return to a level as high as before, if not even higher, with just a few days of rest.

‘But... her skin really is white...’

Ma-Ra’s skin had returned to its original shade, and the exposed parts of her breasts were so white and soft that it felt as though white powder would come off if he touched them.

As soon as the thought crossed Woo-Moon’s mind, his face turned a bright red. Just as he was about to remove his hand, Ma-Ra’s eyes opened.

“...”

She was able to figure out what was going on in an instant. Still, her face blushed slightly when she saw Woo-Moon’s hand moving off of her chest.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I couldn’t help it; I had to in order to treat you!”

Woo-Moon froze solid for a moment before quickly removing his hand and trying to put Ma-Ra’s clothes back on in a hurry.

“I’ll do it.”

“Oh, that’s right. You can do it yourself now that you’re awake, right... hahaha...”

Woo-Moon was greatly flustered and sweated profusely.

“Bad boy...”

As Ma-Ra muttered to herself, Woo-Moon’s face grew even redder.

Having sat up, Ma-Ra put on her clothes and straightened them before jumping up from her seat.

“Ah!”

Immediately, she became dizzy and uncharacteristically stumbled.

“Hey, be careful.”

Surprised, Woo-Moon caught Ma-Ra and held her up. His face, which had calmed down a little, turned red again.

This time, Ma-Ra’s face was also slightly red.

As she spent time with Woo-Moon and adapted to normal life, she slowly became more adept at expressing her emotions.

“Now, get on my back,” Woo-Moon said as he crouched down in front of her and turned his sturdy and wide back to her.

‘Why am I like this...’

Ma-Ra was confused. She wasn’t someone to be flustered and embarrassed over something like this. Even though her emotions were coming back to life these days, was her heart really pounding this much just from being carried on Woo-Moon’s back?

Of course, she was still an assassin. She was fully aware that, for now, she had to follow Woo-Moon’s words. Knowing the condition of her body and taking appropriate measures, regardless of what those measures were, was a fundamental skill for any assassin.

Suddenly, something came to mind—when Woo-Moon had been hit by the Otherworldly Ice Fairy Ah Hee’s Divine Frozen Soul Palm and had suffered severe internal injuries.

At that time, in order to treat him, she had stripped him bare and massaged his acupoints. She hadn’t been flustered at all back then. But just now, seeing Woo-Moon touch her chest made her face turn red.

‘Strange...’

As she thought to herself, confused, she relaxed and let herself be carried.

Woo-Moon could feel a strange texture on his back as he carried Ma-Ra and could smell her scent at the same time. He didn’t know exactly why, but he was in a great mood as he walked out of the forest, smiling without even realizing it.

Although he had known it to some extent before, he could really feel it now. Ma-Ra’s limbs were surprisingly thin and delicate.

He was once again amazed at how she was able to unleash such fearsome killing arts with such a frail body.

Although he was walking along a path in a forest, it felt like he was walking along a path of dreams. The cadence of their breathing, which was different at first, suddenly synchronized as they began to inhale and exhale in unison.

Ma-Ra put her ear to Woo-Moon’s back and listened to his heartbeat. Suddenly, she tightened her arms around his neck and squeezed, as if she never wanted to let go.