Chapter 62
"Let's see how long you can keep up your insolent talk!"
Then he bent his fingers like the claws of a beast.
A different momentum from before was felt.
Come to think of it, he was a simple human.
There were several reasons why Ya Socheong had said such a thing to Danli Cheon.
It wasn't that what he had said was a complete lie.
In fact, there was poison in Ya Socheong's blood.
Ya Socheong had already developed a tolerance, so even if his blood was mixed with that much poison, it was not harmful to him at all, but it could be fatal to others.
Danli Cheon was certainly being slowly affected by it.
However, what Ya Socheong was aiming for was not just that.
He thought that once he heard that story, Danli Cheon would have no choice but to become passive in attacking him.
But Danli Cheon, perhaps thinking that the fight would end and he might die, seemed to be trying to settle the score without considering this or that.
Even if Danli Cheon's choice was so, Ya Socheong did not shrink back or get scared.
Thinking that he would gain something even if he fought a real sword fight, Ya Socheong also responded to him head-on.
He stared at Danli Cheon's every attack, intending not to miss a single one.
Danli Cheon was frighteningly fast.
He seemed to be even faster than before.
If he had been fighting with a certain amount of strength and speed reserved at first, now it seemed that he was thinking that each and every attack he attempted could be his last.
Each and every one was not lacking in being called an ultimate technique.
Danli Cheon's fingernails cut through the wind.
He thought he had dodged it, but it was a miscalculation.
He had certainly escaped from his direct strike, but just because he hadn't been directly touched didn't mean he was safe.
Caught up in the wind that Danli Cheon had created, a piece of Ya Socheong's flesh was torn off, and blood spurted out.
Danli Cheon seemed to flinch for a moment.
It was understandable, since he had heard that there was poison in Ya Socheong's blood.
But a cruel smile soon appeared on his face.
It seemed that since things had come to this, he had decided to thoroughly tear Ya Socheong apart.
In fact, he even shouted so.
"If you are the one who survives here, then you shall pass on my Soul-Chasing and Life-Taking Claw to the world. But do not think that I will kindly teach it to you!"
Then, as if to prove his own words, he went on a rampage from then on.
When the bastard's hand tore his belly, Ya Socheong didn't want to endure it any longer.
It seemed that he could break Danli Cheon's bones if he just wanted to.
But the reason he didn't was to make Danli Cheon show all of his Soul-Chasing and Life-Taking Claw in his best condition.
Thinking that he couldn't endure his attacks any longer, Ya Socheong focused on dodging.
It seemed that the things that had been absorbed and had not been completely converted into internal energy were turning into internal energy at that moment.
When he reached his limit, it seemed that he was moving unavoidably to protect his body.
Perhaps it was moving lazily, thinking that if the owner of the body died, there would be no meaning in remaining in that body.
Feeling that, Ya Socheong laughed.
But Danli Cheon did not know why Ya Socheong was laughing and only felt a creepy feeling.
"You bastard!"
Thinking that Ya Socheong had laughed at him, Danli Cheon went on a rampage again.
Ya Socheong realized that his movements had become much lighter and faster.
When he moved one foot, he moved much farther, and even just by jumping without effort, his body rose greatly.
Danli Cheon, noticing Ya Socheong's change, became tense and hurried even more.
The stone wall was torn by his fingernails, and the ceiling shook.
Then, finally, it seemed that the cave was about to collapse.
At the same phenomenon, Danli Cheon was surprised and looked up, but Ya Socheong was not.
He had become confident in his speed, and in any case, it was Ya Socheong who was at the entrance of the cave.
If he wanted, he could get out of the cave at any time, but Danli Cheon could not.
Danli Cheon also seemed to have realized that, and it seemed that he thought that getting out of the cave was the top priority.
Come to think of it, he was a foolish human to the point of tears.
From the moment he had told him that there was poison in Ya Socheong's blood, he should have thought of running away from the cave first.
Although Danli Cheon tried to run away from the cave from then on, Ya Socheong blocked him using all means and methods.
It was not easy for Danli Cheon to get out of that narrow cave.
Ya Socheong, who had been facing Danli Cheon nonchalantly until now, had put all his strength into blocking him.
At that time, the ceiling actually collapsed, and a large rock fell on Danli Cheon's head.
Danli Cheon jumped back and dodged it, but it was too much to dodge all the ones that fell in succession.
Just as he was thinking that he had no choice but to die, Ya Socheong suddenly flew over, snatched the back of his neck, and pulled him out of the collapsing cave.
Danli Cheon laughed to himself.
This is why young guys are no good.
Seeing him become soft-hearted so easily.
Just as he was about to dig his fingernails into Ya Socheong's side, Danli Cheon realized that his arm was not moving.
"Why? Can't you move your hand?"
Ya Socheong said and then took off the scorpion that was attached to Danli Cheon's arm and put it in his sleeve.
"You won't be able to move for about half a shichen."
Danli Cheon could not say anything more.
Ya Socheong, with his body dripping with blood, carried Danli Cheon on his shoulder and found another cave nearby.
Then he threw Danli Cheon deep into the cave and took out his poisonous creatures around him.
The poisonous creatures seemed to want to bite Danli Cheon right away, but knowing that their job now was to guard him, they just waited with their poison-filled bodies.
Ya Socheong slowly did his energy circulation next to them.
He couldn't do his energy circulation without having a trustworthy person by his side, but he had his poisonous creatures, and thanks to them, he could do his energy circulation with an easy mind, more easily than others.
A much larger amount of internal energy than at other times was definitely running through his body.
As they circulated along the wide and sturdy blood vessels, they stopped the bleeding and healed the wounds.
After he had finished his energy circulation first, Ya Socheong let Danli Cheon do his energy circulation as well.
Danli Cheon was a little dumbfounded.
At first, he didn't trust him, wondering if he was going to attack him in the middle of his energy circulation.
But because of the poison that had accumulated in his body, he had no choice but to move his internal energy anyway.
Realizing that he had no choice, he started his energy circulation, but Ya Socheong did not attack him until it was almost over.
Danli Cheon, seeing an opportunity, immediately attacked Ya Socheong.
But Ya Socheong was not surprised.
As if that was what he had been aiming for from the beginning, he naturally dodged Ya Socheong's attack and was staring at his techniques one by one with frightening concentration.
Then he began to attack him with a swordsmanship that Danli Cheon had never seen before.
Danli Cheon blocked the sword strikes that poured down like a shower.
As time went on, his chest became hot.
It was ecstasy.
It felt like he had met a worthy opponent after a long time.
This time, it seemed that Ya Socheong was also trying to face him properly, and the two of them fought for several days and nights from then on.
Danli Cheon thought that he would have a chance a few times.
But when he saw an opening and tried to seize the momentum and end the fight, poisonous creatures flew at him.
Then he would fall unconscious, and Ya Socheong would wait until Danli Cheon had finished his energy circulation.
Danli Cheon eventually realized his fate.
That he had to fight with all he had to bring out Ya Socheong's potential until the very end.
But on the other hand, it was also enjoyable.
He had thought that there would be nothing to be truly absorbed in other than alcohol and women, but that was not the case.
He tried to bring out his martial arts to the end and devised ways to attack stronger and faster.
In the meantime, he remembered what kind of mind he had had when he had first entered the path of a martial artist.
There had been a moment when he had devoted himself, thinking that even if it was difficult to become the number one under heaven, he might be able to become one of the ten great masters under heaven.
It might be a dream that was too far away now, but he had definitely had such shining moments.
He changed day by day.
He became more exquisite, more mature, and more powerful than before.
Compared to the day he had first met Ya Socheong, his Soul-Chasing and Life-Taking Claw had become much closer to perfection.
And as he did, Ya Socheong was also becoming stronger.
It felt as if when he took one step forward, that person would run two steps ahead of him and block him.
"Do you have any intention of letting me live?"
One day, after fighting with all his might, Danli Cheon asked as he was about to start his energy circulation.
At that, Ya Socheong looked at him with a face that said he had heard all sorts of funny things.
"Do you still have a lingering attachment to life? Considering the people who have died at your hands, you can't wish for such a thing, can you?"
Danli Cheon clicked his tongue.
"A young brat, always speaking informally!"
"I'm not as young as I look on the outside, so don't get too worked up."
He wondered what that meant, but he wasn't that curious anyway.
"If you keep me alive, how long will you keep me alive?"
"Until I have nothing more to learn from your Soul-Chasing and Life-Taking Claw."
"So you're saying there's not much time left."
"You've understood well."
A few days after that, Danli Cheon made up his mind.
"I want to have a life-and-death battle for the last time today. I have no more lingering attachments."
But Ya Socheong shook his head.
"You can't just die so carelessly with what you've done. You have something to do before you die. After we finish our spar first."
Then he attacked first, and Danli Cheon had to face Ya Socheong to the end with his Soul-Chasing and Life-Taking Claw.
Ya Socheong realized more and more clearly as time went on that the Soul-Chasing and Life-Taking Claw did not seem as dangerous as it had at first.
It wasn't that Danli Cheon's claw technique had become dull.
Rather, he was becoming stronger day by day.
'I am becoming stronger.'
The internal energy that had been dormant and had started to move anew was taking care of Ya Socheong like a newborn baby, and the wall that had been blocking him had been broken through the repeated spars with Danli Cheon.
That's why the meeting with Danli Cheon was like a fortuitous encounter that was difficult to find again for Ya Socheong.
The person who withdrew his will to attack first was Danli Cheon.
He shook his head.
He had realized that he could not win even if Ya Socheong did not throw his poisonous creatures.
"I have lost. I can no longer defeat you."
At that, Ya Socheong also nodded.
(End of Chapter)