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Chapter 142. Trying to Row a Boat On Land (13)

However, the Baton Martial Minister wasn’t defeated as easily as the Saber Martial Minister. He was wary of Woo-Moon after seeing the Saber Martial Minister fall in a flash.

Clank, clank, clank!

The chain linking the two sections clinked quickly as the two-section baton barely managed to deflect Raging Wind. Even so, the Baton Martial Minister was in utter shock at how sophisticated this technique was; even with his vast amount of experience with many different types of martial arts, owing to Martial Heaven copying them, he was still surprised.

‘It was your baton that struck Si-Hyeon in the side, you bastard!’

Gritting his teeth, Woo-Moon used Dragon Bind, one of the two lesser techniques that formed the Dragon Bind Tiger Strike technique.

Sword aura pierced forward from his sword and stretched into a massive dragon before flying toward the Baton Martial Minister.

Although it was slow, its range was wide, and the power contained therein was impossible to ignore. The Baton Martial Minister didn’t let down his guard in any way, and he responded with a flash of baton aura.

BANG!

The clash of forces made the stone chamber quake.

As the Baton Martial Minister couldn’t hold on and was forced back, help in the form of the Staff Martial Minister and the two high-ranking Heavenly Dippers finally arrived.

At that same instant, Si-Hyeon placed her hands on the onyx.

Woo-Moon leaped into the air, dodging the attacks of the Staff Martial Minister and the two Heavenly Dippers. The blade of his sword quivered as an extremely refined sword aura spilled out from it little by little, forming a sphere.

Sword Sphere!

It was a manifestation of Woo-Moon’s sword qi, on the same level as the Palm Sphere that Sang-Woon had used before.

The first manifested sword sphere flew toward the Baton Martial Minister, while the second sword sphere, which actually manifested faster than the first, swiftly followed behind.

Moreover, that wasn’t all—a third sword sphere was formed in the blink of an eye, also targeting the Baton Martial Minister.

The Martial Ministers and the Heavenly Dippers were once again left astonished at the sight of Woo-Moon firing off three sword spheres simultaneously.

“That’s impossible! How the hell did he become so strong in such a short time?”

Sword spheres had incredible destructive power, but they also required impeccable control and vast amounts of qi. Yet a youngster like Woo-Moon had just created three of these massively qi-hungry spheres simultaneously!

It was shocking.

The three sword spheres all flew at the Baton Martial Minister.

Knowing that he couldn’t block all of them on his own, the Staff Martial Minister quickly leaped into the air and struck the nearest sword sphere with his staff.

Bang!

As it turned out, while the Palm Martial Emperor’s palm sphere focused on powerful momentum that could break through anything, these sword spheres were unstable and explosive, and when they did explode, they would shred everything around them to pieces.

The Staff Martial Minister didn’t overestimate his own abilities and hurriedly retreated, dissipating the force of the blast with each step.

‘Ugh! What the fuck?! I can’t believe that a single sword sphere has this much power!’

Not only was Woo-Moon able to create sword spheres, he had also reached the point where he could freely control their movement, as if they were extensions of the sword in his hand.

Sword Control!

The Martial Ministers knew that it would be meaningless to dodge. Even if they did, it would only result in the spheres striking them from behind. Thus, the Baton Martial Minister tried to block Woo-Moon’s Sword Control using Explosive Baton Qi Burst, a baton technique on the same level as Sword Sphere.

The baton aura surrounding the baton exploded outward, and at the same time, a massive wave of explosive qi flew toward the sword sphere.

Thankfully, his efforts weren’t in vain, and he was able to block one of the sword spheres. However, the other sword sphere was already close to him. If he couldn’t stop it, he would die.

The Baton Martial Minister paled. He gathered as much qi as he could before using Explosive Baton Qi Burst once again.

Another blast of explosive qi flew out!

He believed that this time, too, he would definitely be able to block the sword sphere and the two attacks would cancel each other out. However, the moment before they collided, the sword sphere simply dipped down slightly and dodged the explosive qi.

Although the Explosive Baton Qi Burst was a technique on the same level as Sword Sphere, what it gained in raw power in order to match the burst of the sword sphere, it lost in terms of ability to move freely.

The only good news was that due to the sword sphere’s movement to avoid the explosive qi, the sphere’s explosion hit the Baton Martial Minister’s outstretched hand instead of his torso.

Blood splattered as the Baton Martial Minister’s right arm and side exploded.

It was a wound that could lead to death if not treated quickly. However, as he was an Absolute Master, he was still able to hold on.

As all this happened, Si-Hyeon floated in the air as she absorbed the onyx’s qi at an incredible rate.

The black bands surrounding her also turned thicker, and they began to spin furiously.

‘Just what the hell is that?’

Woo-Moon was worried about Si-Hyeon. However, the most important thing at the moment was to save her from Martial Heaven.

Fortunately, the situation seemed to be gradually improving thanks to Woo-Moon’s efforts, and at the same time, Si-Hyeon’s absorption of the qi in the onyx was also nearing its end.

‘It’s almost over!’

A Heavenly Dipper’s shoulder was cleaved through by Woo-Moon’s sword.

At that moment, the Forgetful King appeared like a ghost from behind.

None of the surrounding people had noticed the appearance of this supreme expert due to the intensity of the battle, allowing the Forgetful King to focus and throw a dagger without any interference.

Swish! Squelch!!

“Agh...”

Woo-Moon let out a low groan as he looked down to see the Forgetful King’s dagger pierced into his abdomen.

“What...”

His qi was completely disrupted by the shock of the blow for a mere split second, but in a fight of this level, it was more than enough. Woo-Moon’s shoulder was cleaved open by a blade, and his thigh was pierced by a spear quickly after, blood splattering all over his body.

“Woo-Moon!”

Clang!

Completely shocked by what had just happened, Ma-Ra hurriedly fired her wrist crossbow in all directions while throwing her Silver Moon Discs to block the enemy’s approach.

Meanwhile, even as he was in tremendous pain, that was not in fact what made Woo-Moon truly suffer.

“What...is...”

Woo-Moon’s gaze turned blank.

In front of him, the Forgetful King had plunged a dagger into Si-Hyeon’s heart just as she came down after absorbing the qi within the onyx.

Right after absorbing the last of the crystals, gaining great power, and regaining her sanity, the first thing Si-Hyeon saw was Woo-Moon with a dagger stuck in his stomach, being cut by a sword and stabbed by a spear.

The despicable and cunning Forgetful King didn’t miss that moment when Si-Hyeon was so traumatized by the scene in front of her that she couldn’t move a muscle. He took that instant to strike her with a dagger.

Therefore, even though everything had finally ended and Si-Hyeon had obtained formidable power, all that was for naught.

“Ugh!!!”

Si-Hyeon vomited a massive amount of black blood.

Life began to vanish rapidly from her eyes. Even though she had reached perfect cultivation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the Forgetful King was well aware of what that meant. Thus, he had put in that dagger every last bit of qi he had, ensuring that it would prevent her heart from regenerating.

"No!"

“Heavenly Maiden!”

The screams of both Woo-Moon and Bright Sword filled the room, and at the same time, a rumbling sound suddenly broke out, and the entire chamber shook.

“W-what is this?! The mound is collapsing!”

“Run!!”

All of the combatants shouted in confusion.

Their panic was not without reason; the seemingly solid underground chambers had begun to collapse.

Dust and rubble rained down from above!

Bright Sword dashed forward using his movement technique and ran to Si-Hyeon. However, the Forgetful King, feeling that his job was now over, threw his last remaining dagger into Bright Sword’s abdomen before vacating the premises.

“It’s collapsing,” Ma-Ra said.

Crack!!!!

To make matters worse, the ground between Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon began to split apart.

Drip.

Tears streamed down Woo-Moon’s face, while Ma-Ra’s brow also furrowed in worry as well.

‘A dagger... pierced through junior sister’s heart...’

Almost everything could be healed, but the heart was simply too vital an organ for both normal people and martial artists. From a strike like that, anyone would die, regardless of their cultivation.

That fact made Woo-Moon despair.

On the other side of the collapsing ground, he could see Si-Hyeon lying motionless, without breathing, just... gradually disappearing from view. But even that sight was beautiful.

He opened his eyes wide, as if he was afraid of her image vanishing from his memories. He looked at her until...he couldn’t see anything anymore.

“Si-Hyeon! JUNIOR SISTER!!!”

As if overcome by a fit of passion, Woo-Moon’s guttural scream seemed to come from his entire body, as if his own deadly injuries weren’t even there.

The images of Si-Hyeon and his grandfather dying filled his brain.

In the end, Woo-Moon fainted.

Ma-Ra picked him up and ran away, looking for a way out. However, there was no time. The entire ceiling was collapsing, and huge stones were falling. If they didn’t leave, they would be crushed. There was no chance of survival.

As Ma-Ra fell into despair, realizing that she, Woo-Moon, and Eun-Ah would die here, she suddenly noticed something strange.

‘What.’

Rumble.

One wall to her side seemed to shift over, and Hye-Rim, the long-haired girl dressed as a nun, stuck her head out of the gap in the wall.

“This way!”

Ma-Ra didn’t even have time to think; the ceiling was collapsing upon them!

She lifted Woo-Moon and Eun-Ah in her arms and threw herself forward, barely managing to enter the secret passageway opened by Hye-Rim.

BOOM!

A massive boulder fell directly on the spot where they had been just moments ago, its crash so loud that it deafened them all. Eun-Ah cried out at the boulder as if she hated it.

Kya!

“This is an escape route! This passageway might collapse at any moment, so we have to get out quickly!”

Hye-Rim wasn’t the only one in the passageway; Namar also appeared quickly. Ma-Ra remembered that these two had fought by their side in one of their previous battles against Martial Heaven. She held the unconscious Woo-Moon tightly as she followed them down the passageway.

“We came to this mound after receiving information that Martial Heaven’s forces were concentrating here. But we were forced to watch in secret within this passageway as there were too many experts from the Heavenly Demon Cult and Martial Heaven gathered. We came forward when we saw you were in danger.”

Who knew whether Hye-Rim had guessed Ma-Ra was still harboring suspicions or if she was just the talkative kind.

Meanwhile, Ma-Ra just held Woo-Moon tightly in her arms. She bit her lip, frustrated by her own incompetence.

She felt pathetic, hating herself for not being able to be of any help when Woo-Moon was fighting against enemies on the level of Absolute Masters. Now, he was on the verge of death, and she could do nothing to prevent it.

***

The Sword Martial Minister stayed for as long as he could, watching the massive boulder fall right where Woo-Moon and Ma-Ra were before escaping from the collapsing mound himself.

As soon as he left, Bright Sword, who had been severely wounded and was now lying down pretending to be dead, jumped up to grab Si-Hyeon.

Then, he pressed a lever hidden on the altar where the onyx had been located, activating a hidden mechanism meant to save the Heavenly Demon cultists from the Heavenly Demon Mound. As it turned out, it was neither an accident, nor an enemy attack; the mound was in fact designed to collapse as soon as the seal was released.

The entire floor shifted around the altar, transporting them to a safe location far below the collapsing chamber.

Bright Sword laid Si-Hyeon in front of him and sat down with his legs crossed. He opened Si-Hyeon’s mouth and placed his index finger over her lips.

He condensed all of the qi, innate qi[1], and vitality stored within his entire body. Every last shred of energy he had gathered at the tip of his finger.

As a black liquid-like energy flowed into a blob at the tip of his fingernail, Bright Sword’s hair, which was originally black, began to turn white.

In the blink of an eye, the Absolute Master known as Bright Sword, who had long maintained the appearance of a man in his thirties, became an old man with wrinkled skin and pure white hair.

And when he had no more energy to squeeze out, he let the black liquid fall into Si-Hyeon’s mouth and dissipated into her throat.

Right at that moment, something truly amazing happened.

The liquid containing all of Bright Sword’s qi, innate qi, and vitality immediately restored Si-Hyeon’s entire body.

Her punctured heart quickly regenerated, and blood once more flowed through her arteries and veins.

Gradually, her dantian, which had been dissipating and falling apart, recondensed. At the same time, vitality returned to her brain, restoring its function.

Shing!

Si-Hyeon’s eyes opened.

Drip.

The last thing she had seen before they closed was Woo-Moon’s death.

1. Remember, innate qi is the qi all humans have within them and is the qi you see people overdrawing before death to get that last boost of energy in cultivation novels. ☜