Chapter 1545 – 1545. Ascending To The Light
“Lightning, stars… a dragon of the demonic path?”
The beggar’s face showed a moment of terror. It seemed he had seen something within me.
Then, the beggar gritted his teeth and began to concentrate. A battle of inner force was a double-edged sword, a fight on the edge of a cliff. The moment you retreated, it was over. At the very least, you’d be crippled.
I couldn’t even open my mouth. The moment I did, my energy would leak out, and the beggar’s inner force would explode my body.
Crack, crackle!
Sparks flew from my body. I tried my best to block the beggar’s inner force, but it wasn’t easy.
‘My quantity of inner force is superior! But…’
His experience and the nature of his martial arts were overwhelming. I had never engaged in such a battle of inner force. And the Beggar Clan’s Dragon Subduing Palm, along with other palm techniques, fundamentally had the essence of the Inner Strength Amplification Method.
‘Ugh… It feels like my meridians are burning.’
The inner force surging from the beggar was sharp, like a thorny vine.
‘The only good thing is that the others can’t attack me.’
If someone interfered in a battle of inner force, both combatants would be in danger.
‘Should I use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?’
My dantian was hot. Internal injuries were slowly accumulating.
I wouldn’t use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. There were too many eyes watching. And my pride wouldn’t allow it. I gritted my teeth and circulated the Thunder Sky Technique. Even if I died, I would defeat the beggar with the Thunder Sky Style.
The old beggar was sweating profusely, but the corners of his mouth curled up. He had a face of confidence in his victory. In fact, the beggar’s inner force was about to seize my heart.
My heart was throbbing.
I hid my strength, waiting for a chance to counterattack. The moment he burst my heart and was sure of his victory, an opportunity would arise. Then, I would counterattack with complete recovery.
‘Ugh! It’s coming!’
The beggar’s inner force seized my heart. I was holding on, but there was a limit.
Rumble.
Thunder rumbled. I was startled to realize that the sound was coming from within me. My inner force was strengthening against my will. It instantly shook off the beggar’s energy that had seized my heart.
Crack.
Sparks flew from my body. They were black, not blue. A deep demonic energy permeated the lightning.
‘The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was stimulated by the beggar’s inner force!’
It was closer to an unconscious reaction.
The situation had reversed. The black lightning devoured the beggar’s inner force and burrowed into his body. The old beggar’s face was filled with shock. The cold sweat he was pouring soaked his clothes.
I didn’t miss the opportunity. The black lightning had the upper hand in terms of compatibility. I didn’t know the principle, but the black lightning destroyed the beggar’s inner force too easily.
The change began with our palms, which were pressed together as if in prayer. The beggar’s blood vessels swelled and then burst. Blood dripped from his arm. The black lightning didn’t stop there; it stirred inside him. It moved like a living dragon.
The dragon coiled around the beggar’s heart, seizing it.
“Kuaaaaaaak!”
The old beggar couldn’t help but scream. Startled, the warriors of the Dokgo Clan rushed at me.
“So Ungae! You bastard, Lightning Flash! Let go of him now!”
Dokgo Han’s twin swords aimed for my neck. I released the beggar and stepped back.
‘One second. If I had just one more second, I could have killed the beggar. What a shame.’
I hadn’t killed him, but the situation was in my favor. The old beggar had only survived, but he had suffered severe internal injuries.
What was more disappointing was that the black lightning had disappeared.
“Uweeeeeeek!”
The old beggar, slumped on the ground, vomited blood.
“Elder!”
The other beggars of the Beggar Clan rushed to the old beggar. The old beggar kept vomiting blood but managed to get up. He desperately held onto his sanity. His energy surged out as if flames were burning from his body.
“Elder! Did you burn your innate energy?!”
“Listen well. Lightning Flash Yeomguseok is dangerous. It’s dangerous now, but it will become more dangerous with time. That man was born with the energy of the stars. Not only that, but he has lightning and is raising a demonic dragon. The demonic dragon is still young. I fear the day the demonic dragon grows! We must kill it while it’s young!”
“We will risk our lives like you, Elder!”
The beggars of the Beggar Clan rushed at me like moths to a flame. It was a desperate charge. It was obvious they were overdoing it.
‘Are they trying to create an opening for that old beggar by sacrificing their lives?’
I couldn’t understand why they were going so far. I didn’t particularly want to understand either.
“Warriors of Dokgo! Help the heroes of the Beggar Clan!”
“Yes! Clan Leader!”
Even the warriors of the Dokgo Clan joined in.
They weren’t as fierce as the beggars of the Beggar Clan. They weren’t prepared to throw away their lives like the beggars.
‘Whatever. If they attack, I’ll just kill them.’
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).
A flash of blue lightning drew a line. The line grazed the enemies. The bodies of the beggars and the warriors of the Dokgo Clan were cut to pieces. Due to the increased blood pressure, fountains of blood gushed from their bodies.
The old beggar, using the falling blood as a curtain, cleverly concealed his appearance and rushed in.
I swung the fastest slash once more.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).
Clang!
It was blocked.
Dokgo Han had blocked the Thunder Flash with his twin swords. As a result, Dokgo Han retreated. No, he had moved aside. To allow the old beggar to reach me.
The old beggar’s right hand was tattered. What moved that right hand was the dragon. Or rather, the energy in the shape of a dragon. The red blood mixed in made its shape clearer.
‘Is that something like the ultimate move of the Dragon Subduing Palm?’
My intuition told me. It was dangerous. If I took it head-on, I would die.
‘Even if I have complete recovery, I don’t intend to die easily.’
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Mind as Sword (心卽劍).
The sword and the palm rushed toward each other. No one stopped, and no one could stop. The outcome was decided in an instant. The sword split the blood dragon along with the beggar’s palm. The beggar reacted to the Mind as Sword, but he didn’t stop. He knew that the moment he stopped, he would lose.
“Damn it… This bastard must be killed here… Cough!”
My sword pierced the beggar’s neck. I kicked the beggar’s limp body.
“Elder!!”
“Lightning Flash Yeomguseok!!”
The remaining beggars of the Beggar Clan rushed at me, exploding with anger. Behind them, Dokgo Han and the warriors of the Dokgo Clan, with hardened expressions, attacked. I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly with my left hand. Due to using the Mind as Sword, I couldn’t put any strength into my right hand.
‘The most troublesome one is dead, so my left hand is enough! I still have complete recovery!’
Dokgo Han of the Dokgo Clan? As long as I didn’t let my guard down, I was confident I could win.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Myriad Thunder Blossoms (卍雷開花).
A rotating bud of lightning bloomed. It dominated the space and scattered lightning. The warriors who touched the lightning were electrocuted and fell to the ground. The output wasn’t enough to kill them, but suppression was enough.
As I crossed swords with the warriors of the Dokgo Clan, I realized something. Their morale was already at rock bottom.
‘Unlike the Beggar Clan, the Dokgo Clan doesn’t particularly harbor any resentment towards me.’
That didn’t mean they were being lax. The Dokgo Clan was also desperate. If they couldn’t kill me, they would be disgraced.
‘All warriors are assets. To raise a warrior of such caliber requires at least decades of time and enormous amounts of money.’
That pressure made Dokgo Han reckless. I had won the psychological warfare.
‘Here it comes!’
Two twin swords, forcing their way in as if splitting a gap. The left was a feint, and the right was real. Dokgo Han had made a gamble. It was an attack I had been waiting for. It was perfect for a counter.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Void Path (虛道).
I leaped into the air as if stepping on stairs. Dokgo Han was flustered and twisted the trajectory of his swords. I stepped into the air once more and rushed at Dokgo Han.
Swish!
I cut Dokgo Han’s left arm.
“Ugh!”
Dokgo Han retreated.
‘I can’t let him get away.’
I followed him, trying to swing my sword at his neck, but there was no angle. No matter how I swung my sword, it would be blocked. The problem was that the distance between him and me was too narrow.
I boldly released the sword from my hand. Instead, I clenched my fist and punched Dokgo Han’s jaw. Crack! Lightning energy seeped into Dokgo Han’s head through my fist. Dokgo Han rolled his eyes and fainted.
‘I won!’
I grabbed Dokgo Han’s neck as he fell.
“Stop. Do you want to see your clan leader die?”
“You despicable bastard! Taking the clan leader hostage! Such dirty tactics are typical of a demonic cultist!”
“You’re the despicable ones. You colluded with a brothel to poison the food and drink with mountain-destroying poison, and you all ganged up on me to kill me. Is poison and ganging up the spirit of the righteous path?”
“Killing evil is justice!”
“Try it. But, the man in my hands will die too. If you don’t need the Dokgo Clan Leader… well, you can attack.”
It didn’t matter if they attacked. I had complete recovery. And I thought they would attack. The warriors of this world that I knew were the type to stab you in the back at any opportunity.
But surprisingly, they didn’t attack. They confronted me, keeping a reasonable distance.
A man who seemed to be an elder of the Dokgo Clan stepped forward.
“…We will let you go. But release the clan leader right now.”
“You want to make a deal with me? I’m a demonic leader you should kill?”
“The safety of the clan leader is more important than your life!”
“Hehehe.”
I laughed happily. This changed things.
“I have a condition. You will commit suicide. Then I will release him.”
