Chapter 62
Jaseong glared coldly, his gaze sharp as a blade, and aimed his sword at Murong Dangcheon.
At that moment, Murong Dangcheon had already sustained both internal and external injuries from his fierce battle with the Seven Sages of the South Sea.
His robe was torn in multiple places, and dried, dark blood clung to his lips.
Blood still seeped from his left shoulder and side.
He could not unleash the full extent of his power. Yet even so, Murong Dangcheon remained an enormous threat.
His cultivation was at the late peak.
In the martial world, it was almost impossible to find a rival for him, standing just a step shy of transcending human limits.
But could Jaseong truly defeat such an absolute expert?
KWAANG!
First, Jaseong activated the Celestial Gate Opening Art, opening his gates—all the way to his maximum, the Eight Gates.
As a result, strength surged through his entire body, and the fallen leaves around him whipped up in the whirlwind of his ki.
Even the pebbles on the ground trembled.
'... What an immense energy...! Was there ever such an expert among the Hao Sect's branch leaders?'
Murong Dangcheon's eyes twitched.
It was only natural for him to be surprised, witnessing the power of the Celestial Gate Opening Art, something no executor of Heaven's Mandate had ever mastered.
But Jaseong's actions didn't end there.
SWAAH—
Jaseong activated the Samadhi Eyes.
As a blue light flickered through his pupils, he could see pale gray energy rising from various places on Murong Dangcheon's body—the very spots that had been struck during his fight with the Seven Sages of the South Sea, that is, Murong Dangcheon's weak points.
'So those are the targets I should go for.'
With his preparations complete, Jaseong took up the Heaven Evading Phantom Step, sWISH! SWISH! SWISH! leaving deep phantoms in his wake.
With his phantoms, he charged straight in.
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword First Strike, Heaven Evading Flash Radiance.'
In that instant, a golden sword-light flashed, exploding forth.
Then, a long ribbon of light swept laterally, crashing down on Murong Dangcheon.
Both the speed and the trajectory were almost impossible to track, even for the eyes of an expert.
"Heaven and Earth Hundred Ultimate Sword Solution, Heartless Severance!"
With that, Murong Dangcheon counterattacked, raising a fierce, violet sword aura.
It was a strike imbued with the internal energy of two circuits.
KAAAAANG!!!!!!!
When their energies clashed, a massive shockwave erupted. Rocks shattered and trees fell, the deafening roar shaking the valley.
Yet the one who slid backward was none other than Jaseong.
'... To have this much power, even with internal injuries...'
Had he not mastered the Celestial Gate Opening Art, he wouldn't have even dared to cross swords with such a peak expert.
Moreover, true to his reputation, Murong Dangcheon instantly saw through the phantoms created by Jaseong's Heaven Evading Phantom Step.
"This Murong Dangcheon would never fall for those mere illusions!"
With a single motion, Murong Dangcheon pinpointed the real Jaseong and thrust his sword.
Jaseong frantically turned his body to evade the counterattack.
'... The phantoms from Heaven Evading Phantom Step won't work. And his power surpasses even mine, though I've opened the Eight Gates... In that case...'
Realizing how formidable Murong Dangcheon's might was, Jaseong began thinking of another plan.
First, he unleashed the unique speed of the Heaven Evading Flash Sword, disorienting Murong Dangcheon right in front of his eyes.
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword, Third Strike, Hundred Descending Calamities.'
It was as if a hundred bolts of lightning struck down at once—a display of incredible speed.
KAKAKAKAKAKANG!!
Even with his internal injuries, Murong Dangcheon managed to block every strike of Jaseong's Hundred Descending Calamities.
But then, at one moment,
CHUAAAK!!
Blood burst violently from Jaseong's left shoulder. His flesh was torn, and hot blood streamed down his arm.
Murong Dangcheon's sword had struck true.
But, at the very same moment,
CHUAAGH!
Blood also erupted from Murong Dangcheon's side. A crimson flower bloomed on his robe, and his face twisted in pain.
'Did this brat dare employ a mutual destruction tactic...?!'
The reason both Jaseong and Murong Dangcheon bled at the same time was simple.
Amid his high-speed continuous slashes, Jaseong had, at one point, dropped his defense.
Choosing offense over defense, he used the mutual destruction technique, inflicting injury on Murong Dangcheon.
Wasn't it a reckless gamble? But for Jaseong, it was a meticulously calculated move.
With the Samadhi Eyes, within slowed time, he minutely tracked Murong Dangcheon's sword path, the flow of violet intention, the movement of muscles, even the subtlest changes in breath.
When Murong Dangcheon would go for a feint rather than a fatal strike, Jaseong simply took the hit and counterattacked.
He accurately pierced Murong Dangcheon's wounded areas, where the gray energy shimmered.
As a result, Murong Dangcheon's complexion grew even paler.
'What a madman...!'
KAKAKAKANG!! CHUAAK!! CHUAAGH!!!
Even after that, Jaseong continued to attack in the same way, using a method akin to mutual destruction—yielding flesh to take bone.
But unlike Murong Dangcheon, who groaned with every injury, Jaseong smiled even as he was wounded.
'Heh heh heh... It's working. My sword is cutting him...!'
In that moment, Jaseong laughed like a true lunatic.
He was finally taking down one of the foes he had so desperately longed to slay.
Had he not trained his martial skills like a madman for this day alone?
So he felt no pain—only ecstasy.
"Kuugh!! You damn dog...!!"
Because of the frenzied Jaseong, Murong Dangcheon kept stumbling backward.
His entire body, stabbed by Jaseong's sword, was in tatters.
His robe was shredded, his face and limbs covered with dozens of wounds. And at some point,
"Willow-leaf flying blade of Blood-soaked Wailing, King of Underworld Asura!"
Gu Janghu hurled a willow-leaf flying blade, filled with internal energy, aiming for Murong Dangcheon's back.
"Frost Jade Palm!"
Lee Rin also emitted a tremendous wave of frost from both hands, sending a blast at Murong Dangcheon.
Following Jaseong's instructions, they had dealt with the members of Demonic Radiance Hall and now joined the fray.
With two comrades joining in, Jaseong could afford to be even more relaxed.
In contrast, Murong Dangcheon became increasingly cornered.
'... These lowly brats dare challenge the bloodline of the Great Murong...'
Of course, there was a problem for Jaseong as well—namely, the duration of the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
With eight out of twelve gates open, his internal power was melting away like foam.
Thus, with Samadhi Eyes, Jaseong searched again and again for an opening in Murong Dangcheon.
Finally:
'There it is. A gap in his energy.'
As Murong Dangcheon was occupied blocking the attacks of Gu Janghu and Lee Rin, there was a brief moment when his energy wavered.
Jaseong seized that instant without hesitation.
He unleashed the final form of the Heaven Evading Flash Sword that he had recently mastered—the Heaven Evading Ten Thousand Lights Shattering the Heavens, which split the sky into ten thousand rays, sweeping away the enemy.
KWAKWAKWAKWA!!!!!!!!!
Countless streams of light burst forth from Jaseong's sword, pouring down upon Murong Dangcheon like a torrential rain of sword strikes.
Though Murong Dangcheon frantically defended, Gu Janghu's willow-leaf flying blades hindered him.
As a result,
PUSSYUK! PUSSYUK! PUSSYUK! PUSSYUK! PUSSYUK! PUSSYUK!
Murong Dangcheon's body wavered like a collapsing pavilion.
Dozens of sword wounds were etched into his limbs, torso, and neck, fountains of blood gushing from his entire body.
His once-mighty sword aura was now utterly shattered, and his eyes, once filled with arrogance and hatred, now held nothing but emptiness.
"Th-this... to think that I, a mere child from the Red Light District..."
Murong Dangcheon mumbled, disbelief written on his face.
Then—with a dull thud—he fell to his knees, his head drooping forward.
A former elder of the Murong clan and once a peak expert who dominated Guizhou City.
In this moment, an evildoer wearing the mask of the Righteous Faction met his end at the hands of the prodigy from the Red Light District.
* * *
With Murong Dangcheon defeated, Jaseong panted roughly.
"Huff... huff..."
His body felt as if it had been scorched by hellfire.
Blood flowed freely from the deep sword wound on his left shoulder, and his other wounds dripped blood as well.
But even as he coughed up bloody foam, Jaseong grinned.
'At last... I've eliminated a member of the Murong clan bloodline...!'
His heart thundered fiercely. The very kin of the Murong clan who had killed his big brother, and the one titled Middle Evil by the Celestial Realm.
The blade of vengeance he had long nurtured had finally severed its first target.
But Jaseong did not yet lower his sword. He turned his gaze toward Sa Mihyang, the leader of Demonic Radiance Hall.
Just then, Sa Mihyang was surrounded and attacked by the Seven Sages of the South Sea.
Blood hung at the corner of her mouth, and her luxurious garments were torn to shreds.
Gazing at her, Jaseong's heart pounded wildly. The excitement and ecstasy were enough to make him forget the pain.
'... This feels too good. Big brother... This time, I'll avenge big sis for you.'
The Demonic Cult was also a sworn enemy that Jaseong had to annihilate.
If the Murong clan had killed his big brother, the Demonic Cult had taken the lives of his big sis and his unborn nephew.
That's why, even after defeating Murong Dangcheon, Jaseong did not disable the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
Instead, in the very next moment, he threw himself at Sa Mihyang with all his remaining strength.
SHWAAAA!!!
At that moment, Sa Mihyang was struck by Hae Punggeon's fist and coughed up blood.
At that instant, Jaseong used the Samadhi Eyes to locate a gap in Sa Mihyang's defenses.
'Her left nape is completely unguarded.'
Jaseong's sword flashed out like a ray of lightning, slashing cleanly across Sa Mihyang's throat.
The next moment—
CHUAAAGH!!!
As if a flower petal were falling, Sa Mihyang's head flew into the air.
"?!"
Caught off guard by Jaseong's sudden ambush, Sa Mihyang didn't even realize how she died.
Her head soared helplessly through the air, her expression still not understanding her own death.
THUD!
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Sa Mihyang's body collapsed to the ground.
All the bravado she'd shown at first was utterly erased, and her end was unspeakably empty.
"......"
At the sight, the Seven Sages of the South Sea were left speechless.
The might Jaseong had displayed in taking down two absolute experts in the blink of an eye was truly astonishing.
Then, with Sa Mihyang of Demonic Radiance Hall falling right after Murong Dangcheon,
A majestic voice resounded inside Jaseong's mind.
〈The fifth Heaven's Mandate, 'Eliminate Middle Evil', has been fulfilled... The Celestial Realm's restrictions have been lifted by six levels.〉
At long last, the most grueling and arduous mandate was completed.
'... It's finally over.'
Only then did Jaseong lower his sword, panting. His sword, soaked with the blood of his enemies, trembled in deep satisfaction and release.
Just then—
SWAAAH—
Through the torn fabric of Jaseong's combat-worn clothing, an undissipated Hell Bell Mushroom spore slipped in.
It was so faint as to be almost invisible, but it instantly spread through Jaseong's bloodstream. With it, a vision overtook his sight.
—Jaseong.
It was a sunlit alley in the Red Light District. There stood his big brother and big sis, holding his newborn nephew in their arms.
—Young master. You've worked so hard.
Big sis gave Jaseong a warm smile.
—It's okay to rest a little. Now you can.
Big brother patted Jaseong on the shoulder as he spoke.
In their presence, Jaseong was filled with indescribable emotion.
Especially when he looked at his nephew, sleeping soundly in big sis's arms—the long-forgotten warmth filled his chest...
SWAAH—
Because it was such a tiny spore, the hallucinatory effect lasted only a split second.
Yet within that fleeting instant, Jaseong's heart was filled with something hot and powerful.
'Wait just a bit longer. I'll finish off the rest for you.'
When the brief vision ended and Jaseong's consciousness returned to reality, he was still drenched in blood, standing in Gui Lin Valley.
In that moment, his eyes were filled with burning longing and resolve.