Chapter 456: A Journey in Search of the Truth (6)
Gangryang was moving at tremendous speed.
Even while dragging along a huge man who outweighed him by more than eighty pounds, his movement art showed no sign of slowing. If anything, the momentum seemed to drive him faster, until he resembled a gale tearing through the streets.
Killing Intent flared in Jeon Hong’s eyes.
This bastard.
It was bad enough that Gangryang had dared seize him by the collar. Now he was dragging him along after smashing straight through a wall.
Jeon Hong had suffered no internal or external injury, but his pride had taken a vicious blow. When Gangryang first grabbed him and drove him backward, the force had been so overwhelming that he had been unable to stop it.
Only after they crashed through the wall and cleared another building did Jeon Hong finally regain enough control to move both hands.
SNAP!
Jeon Hong clamped both hands around the forearm gripping his collar.
His hands were as large and thick as the rest of him. They swallowed most of Gangryang’s well-conditioned forearm.
CRACK.
Jeon Hong’s grip strength was monstrous. Crushing force bore down on Gangryang’s arm as though he meant to snap the bones outright.
Then Gangryang did something completely unexpected.
CRACK!
“Ghk!”
Jeon Hong’s head snapped backward.
His nose broke instantly. Gangryang’s full-force headbutt nearly knocked him senseless on the spot.
Taking advantage of that instant, Gangryang released Jeon Hong’s collar and drove both feet into his chest.
THUD!
BOOM!
Jeon Hong shot backward at terrifying speed and slammed into the ground.
SWISH.
Gangryang, by contrast, landed lightly and looked down at him.
“......Damn it.”
Jeon Hong remained on his back, staring up at the sky.
Surprisingly, his eyes were deep and composed.
Even with the pain of a broken nose, he did not lash out in blind fury. Gangryang’s surprise attack had reminded him that this was real combat, the kind where a single mistake could cost him his life.
And because of that, Gangryang could not simply bring his sword down on the man lying before him.
No openings anymore.
𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Jeon Hong looked perfectly relaxed on the ground, yet there was no gap in his defense.
There was a suppleness to him that suggested he could respond no matter what attack Gangryang launched.
SNAP!
Jeon Hong flipped upright through a handstand.
The sequence was extraordinarily fluid and fast, a lightness of movement completely at odds with his massive frame.
HISSSSS.
Alcohol vapor steamed from Jeon Hong’s body as he purged the drink from his system.
His eyes cleared.
The cold gleam now shining from them was like the ice and snow of the North Sea.
“About what I’d expect from the successor of a rebel sect. Even a jackal would be ashamed of how underhanded you are.”
Being called a rebel was not easy to stomach.
But Gangryang let the word pass.
This was no time to compete over who could become angrier. What mattered now was determining whose skill stood higher.
Instead, Gangryang mocked Jeon Hong’s accusation.
“A real martial artist should be able to react whether he’s drinking or sleeping. Ink Dragon Manor doesn’t even teach you that?”
“So provoking someone and then ambushing them is your specialty? Is that how you’ve managed to stay alive this long?”
“Arguing with a brat will only wear me out. I expected at least a little something from Yangcheon’s disciple, but you’re nothing more than a half-baked fool throwing his weight around on his master’s reputation.”
“......!”
“Take your stance. I’ll finish this quickly.”
Jeon Hong’s cheek twitched.
He had tried not to rise to Gangryang’s provocations, but being called half-baked in the same breath as his master was something he simply could not endure.
Slowly, Jeon Hong lowered his center of gravity and extended both hands.
The posture looked as though he might shove something away—or seize it and tear it apart.
His fingers curled slightly inward.
Those hands looked every bit as dangerous as a treasured sword or saber.
Jeon Hong growled like a beast.
“I heard your parents died rather horribly.”
“......”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you go peacefully.”
“Seems we’re thinking alike. I’ll send you to join your parents too. Hm? Wait. Don’t tell me they’re still alive?”
“......”
“Sorry. My mistake.”
Jeon Hong’s face twisted viciously.
When it came to provocation, at least, Gangryang was clearly a step ahead.
“I’ll kill you!”
WHOOSH!
Gangryang’s pupils widened.
Fast.
Once Jeon Hong committed himself fully to the fight, the speed of his charge was frightening.
A leopard lacked a wolf’s endurance and bite strength, but its explosive charge and ferocity surpassed a wolf’s.
Jeon Hong gave off precisely that impression.
His footwork devoured the short distance between them like a wild beast pouncing on its prey—a tiger, more than anything else.
Jeon Hong’s hand whipped toward Gangryang’s neck.
SWISH!
The sweeping motion tore through the air like the forepaw of a great cat.
A claw art.
His hand was neither clenched into a fist nor fully opened.
A claw art.
It could seize, rake, or tear. Backed by sufficient Inner Qi, it could rip through flesh and bone alike.
Jeon Hong’s eyes flashed.
Gangryang had evaded the first strike by circling to his right.
Jeon Hong’s leg immediately whipped toward Gangryang’s face.
BOOM!
The sound of his thick, long leg cutting through the air was chilling.
His position had been awkward for a kicking art, yet by the instant of impact his posture had somehow transformed into something flawless.
Impressive balance. Outstanding physical strength, advanced flexibility, and senses as sharp as a wild beast’s.
WHOOSH!
Jeon Hong charged at Gangryang, who had already retreated behind him.
The previous kick had required an unusually large motion. Yet Jeon Hong immediately transitioned into another stance and pursued without hesitation, moving with dazzling speed.
Gangryang was genuinely impressed by Jeon Hong’s skill.
He’s practically a beast in human form. In terms of pure physical combat, he’s not far behind Brother Yeon.
Gangryang had watched Yeon Hojeong fight barehanded countless times.
At least in Gangryang’s eyes, Yeon Hojeong’s close-combat arts were not something that could simply be taught and mastered.
Their brutally practical nature had been forged through experience, merciless decisiveness, and total control over the body. Without all three, one could not even begin to walk that path.
Jeon Hong’s physical combat, on the other hand, was a divine art built upon profound martial principles.
Anyone taught the art could probably take the first steps into it, but scarcely a handful could ever hope to reach Jeon Hong’s level.
This is a supreme art. When it comes to close combat alone, it’s worthy of being discussed among the finest arts of the entire Dark Path. So this is one of Yangcheon’s martial arts.
But admiration was only admiration.
Perhaps angered by Gangryang’s constant evasions, Jeon Hong’s attacks grew even fiercer.
RRRIP!
Gangryang thought he had slipped away by a hair.
Yet a long strip of his martial robe’s sleeve was already hanging from Jeon Hong’s hand.
It was a chilling realization.
A fraction slower and Jeon Hong would have caught his forearm.
The moment that happened, Gangryang knew the arm itself would have been ruined.
Gangryang moved like lightning.
Jeon Hong’s eyes immediately burned crimson.
At last, he thought Gangryang was launching an attack.
WHOOOOSH!
He was wrong.
With an almost ghostly movement, Gangryang vaulted over Jeon Hong’s shoulder.
He landed behind him, one hand resting on his sword, staring at Jeon Hong’s exposed back.
Jeon Hong turned his head toward Gangryang.
His back was completely open, yet Gangryang did not attack.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Gangryang gave no answer.
His left hand held the scabbard, his right the hilt.
Every shred of his awareness was fixed on Jeon Hong’s movements.
Jeon Hong’s lips curled upward.
“You’ve got plenty of presence, but do you even know how to fight?”
Again, Gangryang did not answer.
More precisely, he did not even hear Jeon Hong.
Those few exchanges had already given him a rough grasp of how Jeon Hong moved.
A strange light appeared in Jeon Hong’s eyes.
Has he read me?
Gangryang’s gaze never stopped moving across his shoulders, his breathing, the position of his feet.
He’s concentrating.
On me.
Jeon Hong turned fully around.
BOOM!
He stamped hard into the ground and lowered his stance even further than before.
“I can’t stand creepy bastards like you.”
“......”
“I’ll rip those eyes right out of your skull.”
Still, no answer came from Gangryang.
He merely watched Jeon Hong’s every movement.
WHOOOOOSH.
A cold wind blew between them.
The weather was hot, yet the wind felt frigid.
The razor-sharp presence of the two men seemed to have stripped the warmth from the entire area.
“......”
After a silence in which seven or eight minutes felt like an hour, Gangryang moved first.
Rustle.
His foot slid forward by a quarter-step.
At that instant, Jeon Hong’s Killing Intent erupted.
BOOOOM!
He kicked off the ground and appeared inside Gangryang’s striking range.
His speed was terrifying.
It was completely different from anything he had shown before.
Even the claw strike aimed at Gangryang’s carotid artery was far faster and sharper than before.
They were so close that Gangryang scarcely had room to draw his sword, let alone swing it.
I’ve won.
Jeon Hong was certain of victory.
He can’t draw his sword at this distance.
Gangryang’s eyes flashed.
FWOOSH!
BOOM!
Jeon Hong’s hand tore through empty air.
The force emitted from his claw strike gouged a long, deep trench into the ground.
Jeon Hong’s eyes shook.
SLASH!
At the same instant, a diagonal sword wound appeared across his upper body.
Gangryang’s strike.
At a range where drawing a sword should have been impossible, Gangryang had drawn, slashed, and vanished from the spot like a ghost.
“Didn’t go in deep enough.”
WHOOSH!
Having shifted left immediately after cutting Jeon Hong, Gangryang closed the distance again and swung his sword.
Jeon Hong was moving incomparably faster than before.
Gangryang was half a beat faster still.
Fast as lightning, uncanny as a ghost.
It was the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate’s finest footwork—
the Ghost Shadow Divine Steps.
And that was not all.
SHSHSHSHSH!
As though only now beginning to reveal his true ability, Gangryang’s sword filled the air with countless sword shadows as he pressed Jeon Hong.
The sight was almost beautiful.
Then that beauty deepened until it became unnervingly sinister.
The Ghost Shadow Sword, perfected to the highest reaches of the Ghost Sword, painted phantasms through the air.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
SLASH!
Jeon Hong’s hands were as hard as steel.
He knocked aside every sword strike despite their possessed speed and razor sharpness, his flexibility through the shoulders and upper body almost impossible to believe even while watching it firsthand.
And yet a deep sword wound had appeared across Jeon Hong’s shoulder.
WHOOSH!
Gangryang slipped away from Jeon Hong’s hands and widened the distance between them.
He clicked his tongue.
His body is too damn tough.
The slash from point-blank range and the Ghost Shadow Sword strike that had just landed were sharp enough to cut through rock.
They carried enough sword power that it would not have been surprising to see Jeon Hong’s torso split open or one of his arms severed.
Instead, they had only carved deep wounds into his chest and shoulder.
What a shame.
Gangryang was disappointed.
Jeon Hong was anything but.
“Y-You piece of trash!”
FWOOSH!
Blood-red energy erupted from Jeon Hong’s body.
Yangcheon’s divine art—
Blood Lion Qi.
It did not possess the depth of Buseon’s power after she crossed the Wall of Martial Arts, but in sheer ferocity, Jeon Hong’s Blood Lion Qi surpassed even hers.
“A worthless remnant of a destroyed trash sect dares cut me?!”
Comparable skill did not mean one could not overwhelm the other.
Jeon Hong had never even acknowledged Gangryang as an opponent worthy of him.
Because he was Yangcheon’s disciple.
Because he knew the extent of his own talent.
Because he knew that the martial arts he had learned could stand among the finest under heaven.
And yet he had been wounded by a mere sword art that had only ever been acclaimed within the Dark Path martial world.
The insult tore into Jeon Hong’s pride all over again.
“I’ll kill you in three exchanges!”
BOOM!
Jeon Hong charged, Blood Lion Qi exploding around him.
The oppressive force bearing down on Gangryang was so tremendous that even he could not take it lightly.
And yet Gangryang never lost his smile.
If the only thing you have to boast about is the martial art someone else taught you, you could die and be reborn a hundred times and still never beat me.
HMMMMMM!
Gangryang’s sword began to sing.
That chilling sword resonance signaled that the Ghost Shadow Sword had already begun to carry the power of the Ghost-Slaying Sword.
Gangryang’s sword collided with Jeon Hong’s hand.
KRA-BOOM!