Chapter 195
The Heavenly Dogs summoned with the [top-grade talismans] performed a great feat and fought a close battle with the illusionary heavenly army.
Although they were called dogs, their fighting style was like that of a mountain tiger, a great tiger.
But.
The lightning bolts that originated from the hole in the sky stubbornly struck only the Heavenly Dogs.
It was impossible to tell whether the illusion of the blood formation itself was acting down to such a detailed part, or whether the sorcerers of the White Lotus Cult were showing such a sharp control ability.
Anyway, if this continued, it was clear that a situation would unfold where the summoned creatures could not handle the illusions of the blood formation.
'Although the Heavenly Dogs are fighting well...'
'The illusion is being unfolded too simultaneously.'
'This is like fighting nature itself...'
Thanks to the appearance of the Heavenly Dogs and the restored protective curtain of the transparent curtain, the people had regained some of their spirit.
But at a glance, it was obvious that if things continued like this, a dark shadow of defeat would be cast, so their psychology was once again shaken unstably.
But.
Just then, Baek In-hwa, who was commanding the Heavenly Dogs, gathered his hands neatly and closed his two eyes.
At that,
Wasn't the wind power turning and gathering in his two hands?
'Oh...!'
'Isn't that... the Wind Sword that I've only heard of?!'
'My goodness!'
The Wind Sword.
...with the mystery of containing nature in one's body, it was not something that only a practitioner skilled in supernatural abilities could unfold, but a 'realm' that even a person whose martial arts had reached the extreme could unfold.
But among the crowd, no one could display such a Wind Sword.
Because to materialize the Wind Sword, an enlightenment that had reached the ultimate was needed.
'Surely, Sect Leader Baek has not reached a higher realm than the Profound Realm...'
'It must be a harmony of martial arts and sorcery.'
'Even so, it's an amazing thing. Even the strongest swordsman of the Orthodox Path, Master Yong-gak, would not be able to unfold such a Wind Sword!'
That's right.
It was not that Baek In-hwa was a God of War or that he had acquired a higher enlightenment than the Heavenly Demon, Wi-ji Un, who had surpassed the state of shedding his mortal coil and had achieved an unknown realm.
But since his magical power had reached the heavens, and his martial arts were not inferior to anyone in the martial world, he was able to release the divine ki of the Wind Sword through the harmony of sorcery and martial arts.
But the surprise was only for a moment...
Soon, the eyes of the entire crowd were sparkling with a light of admiration and awe that was beyond surprise.
"Taishang Laojun, as urgent as the law, I obey the command! Clone Technique..."
As soon as the spell burst from Baek In-hwa's mouth,
...with a tremendous roar, his body was covered in a white smoke.
And when that smoke cleared...
"W-What?!"
"W-What is that?"
"I've really never seen anything like that..."
"Is something like that really possible?"
"Wow! Elder Baek is really... on a different level!!"
The crowd's admiration was only natural.
Because right now.
...about 100 Baek In-hwas were floating in the sky, holding Wind Swords, and had begun to rush towards the illusionary heavenly army.
'It feels like I'm watching a scene from Journey to the West with my own eyes. It's like the scene where Sun Wukong, who has unfolded his clone technique, catches the heavenly army and Erlang Shen. Kehkehkeh!'
It was a moment when even the King of the Green Forest, Jang Beon-pal, who had been maintaining his composure all along in front of the magnificent sight that was hard to describe with words, was not surprised.
***
Baek In-hwa's clone cut the neck of a heavenly soldier with a Wind Sword, and,
The summoned Heavenly Dog bit the leg of a heavenly soldier, so,
'Done!'
'With this, I can turn the tide!'
'I'm alive, I'm alive!'
Only then could the crowd, who had been on edge, also let out a sigh of relief.
Of course, from the pierced heavenly gate, the divine generals of the sky were constantly descending on five-colored clouds, holding sharp blue tridents.
But the moment the power of Baek In-hwa's clones and the Heavenly Dogs were combined, the heavenly army was no longer a threat.
Then was the situation reversed?
That was not the case either.
The thunder and the rain and wind, which seemed to swallow the world, still continued, and the monks of the Heavenly Demon Sacred Hall, who had been trying to disrupt the formation itself by tracking the location of the sorcerer and sending a killing curse, had not yet made any gains.
Moreover, the more they tracked the magical power, the more the monks were attacked by the caster's killing curse and were vomiting blood from their mouths, so although they had escaped the crisis overall, the situation was still precarious.
But...
"Huh?!"
"W-What is it?"
"What?!"
Once again, the crowd let out a cry of surprise.
But that surprise did not contain any fear or terror.
It was just that a doubt of 'what on earth is going on' had arisen...
The reason was that the illusions of the blood formation had begun to disappear slowly without a sound.
'Did the monks track the caster of the formation and send a killing curse?!'
The person who was most surprised by the current situation was Baek In-hwa.
The trident of the illusionary heavenly army, which had been constantly stabbing the Heavenly Dogs.
The five-colored clouds they were riding.
Even the main body of the heavenly army and the rain, wind, and thunder were all disappearing.
Furthermore, even the downpour that had submerged the earth was subsiding with a sudden smoke, and at some point, the ground was recovering its rugged mountain terrain.
At the same time,
"[email protected]#$$%%^&*"
All the monks, including Baek In-hwa, began to chant a spell at once.
At that, all the crowd that had been floating in the sky came down to the ground again, and the transparent protective curtain that had been surrounding them, the 100 Heavenly Dogs, and also Baek In-hwa's clones began to disappear gradually.
'What...'
'It's a bit anticlimactic.'
'It ends like this?'
The late-stage masters were still dumbfounded and tilted their heads.
Since it was a chaotic situation where they had been going back and forth between life and death, it was understandable.
Just then, Baek In-hwa asked the monks.
"Everyone. Did you perhaps send a killing curse to the caster of the blood formation?"
But,
"No."
"The demonic aura of the blood formation itself was so unique, and the aftermath of the caster's magical power was spreading in a very chaotic ki wave, so we could not find the real body at all."
"Far from sending a killing curse, we were the ones who were hit."
The monks were also just as dumbfounded.
"Then..."
In front of their denial, Baek In-hwa, with his eyes narrowed, looked up at the clear sky and stroked his beard.
He seemed to be lost in some deep thought.
"Hmm... the fact that the illusion of the blood formation has disappeared without any special reason. It means that someone is interfering with the caster from the outside."
As Baek In-hwa muttered in a low voice, the monks and the leadership of the allied forces soon nodded and agreed.
"That's right."
"There is no other way to explain the current situation."
"Then who is interfering with the caster from outside the formation's attack?"
In that moment.
"Perhaps, isn't it So-ah?"
Wi-ji Chan, who had been silent and was grasping the situation, said, encompassing the people.
"So-ah left me at the Emei Sect to subjugate the Sichuan cult branch, but with So-ah's skill and Jeon Woo-chi's carpet, he would have been able to handle the matter by now and would have arrived at the entrance of Go-hap-san!"
Wi-ji Chan was excited as he spoke.
His voice was getting more and more agitated, and his tone was full of conviction.
Just then, Myo-seon added her words.
"I think so too. If it's So-ah, it's a very possible story. It's highly likely that So-ah is dealing with the casters of the blood formation."
In that moment, everyone nodded with a brightened face.
It was inevitable...
A man who was always strong in the face of a crisis.
A man who always appeared when needed.
To the people, So-ah was the best problem solver in the Central Plains.
'Great Senior Brother... is it really Great Senior Brother?'
It was a moment when Moyong Hwa's silent question echoed in the clear, illusionary sky.
***
"That's me."
"...?!"
"The man who appears at the right time and gives the right punishment to the bad bastards. That's me."
What are you talking about?
The seven sorcerers of the White Lotus Cult, who had been unfolding the great demonic blood formation, were so dumbfounded that they could not even answer.
"So from now on, I'm going to give you guys the appropriate punishment."
"..."
"You rat bastards. Take your punishment sweetly."
It was an insulting remark.
Who were they?
The successors of the Blood Cult, and peerless practitioners who had mastered the ancient spells of the Western Regions and the wicked spells of the unorthodox path.
But a young brat who looked like a dog's bone that had rolled in from somewhere was spewing all sorts of curses like 'rat bastard' and 'son of a bitch' at the end of every sentence, so they could not stand it anymore and were about to burst into a roar.
But...
They were really going to...
"Aww!"
"How dare you, you rat bastards, use strange tricks?!"
Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-ang!
"I swear to the heavens, today you guys will regret being born."
Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-ang!
"Please don't die. Don't die, and endure, and endure again. Endure and endure again, and experience hell to the end!"
Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-ang!
A chain of crazy violence that was so terrible that it was not enough to describe it as such, which they had never experienced in their lives.
Began to beat the bodies, minds, and souls of the sorcerers with excitement.
"Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ak!!!"
The violence that had started with a mountain peak flick was mercilessly slammed into the sorcerers' groins, necks, armpits, sides, faces, and private parts, without missing a single spot.
Through fists, elbows, knees, and kicks that were harder than a sledgehammer.
"Huh? What's with that expression? It's just the beginning. Show some guts!"
Of course, what was more fatal than the physical violence was that brat's mouth, which was constantly chattering, and the vulgar language of personality assassination.
***
The reason why So-ah had immediately used violence as soon as he saw the sorcerers, without even asking for their identity or status, was because of Jeon Woo-chi's telepathic message.
[So-ah! You can't give them time to cast their spells!! They are owners of great magical power. You have to beat them senseless. So that they can't chant spells or use magical tools.]
The telepathic message had instilled a sense of vigilance in So-ah's heart.
So-ah knew how scary sorcerers were, as he had almost lost his life to No Yeong-myeong's heavenly hiding spell on the day of the hero tournament.
Therefore, before they could use their tricks, he had cut off their heart meridians and had even burst their dantians, which were the houses of their magical power and internal energy.
Among them, someone had quickly taken out a talisman and had tried to unfold a spell, but even that was disrupted by Jeon Woo-chi's help.
In a fleeting moment.
The seven sorcerers could not avoid the miserable sight of becoming half-cripples and were rolling on the floor, screaming.
"S-Stop...!"
"I said stop!"
"What do you want... please... stop!"
"Spare me! No! Just kill me!"
It was terrible.
You might ask what's so easy about it, but if you experience it, you can't say that.
First of all, the sorcerers' lower abdomens were shattered by So-ah's knees.
Not only were their dantians burst, but their intestines were also burst, and blood was overflowing from inside their organs.
On top of that, what a strange hobby, So-ah had once again pulled out all their hair.
Suddenly, the sorcerers, who had been walking the path of the demonic path and had been practicing, had become like bald monks.
"Aww! I can't just kill you. Think about what you guys have done. Not only did you offer people as sacrifices for a ritual, but you also tried to swallow the martial world, right? You've committed such a grave crime, and you want me to end it with just this? You're dreaming."
Although the sorcerers' screams and pleas came out desperately, unfortunately, So-ah's heart was like an iron tower and was immovable.
"But. Everyone has a chance."
"..."
"You guys are rats, so be rats. Spill everything about the White Lotus Cult, the strength of the cult branch, the geography, and the personal relationships."
At So-ah's words, a light of hope flashed in the sorcerers' eyes.
"Th-Then?"
"I'll let you live. But still, you punk. I'm from the Orthodox Path, the Orthodox Path. I'm different from you trash. If you achieve merit, I have to let you live. That's right."
Of course.
'He'll let them live, all right! Phew. Those brats are pitiful.'
Jeon Woo-chi, who heard So-ah's words, just shook his head.
Yes.
He might let them live.
The problem was that he would make them into a state where it would be better to die, and then he would throw them on the street like trash.
(End of Chapter)