/
Chapter 157 – Erasing Qingcheng (1)
Translated by : moonchildkhz
***
It was around the time when Woon-seong began to collide with the Wave Sword Sea Formation of Qingcheng.
There were three pairs of eyes watching the scene from a little distance off the field.
No, it was actually two pairs. One of them was only full of whites, like there was no soul at all.
One man opened his mouth first.
“Here we go.”
His eyes were focused on the conflict between the Heavenly Demon and Qingcheng.
In the distance, someone on Qingcheng’s side was shouting. His words couldn’t be heard from here, but he must have been angry.
The man watching the same scene, Hwan Dok, curled his lip slightly and asked the first man, Tang Jin-ryong, “Do you think the Qingcheng can catch the Heavenly Demon?”
Tang Jin-ryong paused, then responded, “The Taoists are strong.”
“……”
“In particular, the swordsmen are very strong, and the Qingcheng occupies one of the Five Mountain Sword Alliance.”
“So do you think that the Qingcheng can catch the Heavenly Demon?”
Tang Jin-ryong nodded. “It is possible.”
“Hah, your jokes have increased,” Hwan Dok cackled.
Tang Jin-ryong also chuckled. “Perhaps it would have been possible a hundred years ago.”
A hundred years ago, the Qingcheng Sect had once surpassed the Mount Hua Sect to become the greatest sword sect in Murim.
Qingcheng had really been at its peak back then. At that time, the Qingcheng were even capable of fighting the Wudang Clan and Shaolin Temple.
But now?
Impossible.
The Qingcheng Sect, which had been poisoned by the Cult of the Inverted Sky, would never be able to catch the Heavenly Demon.
Hwan Dok knew this, as did Tang Jin-ryong.
“What a nasty habit you have, asking a question you already know the answer to.”
Hwan Dok laughed.
Tang Jin-ryong continued to speak, not caring about the man’s reaction. “Still, the Heavenly Demon can’t be in good shape after dealing with the Qingcheng.”
“Ho, you make it sound like the Wave Sword Sea Formation can hurt him.”
Tang Jin-ryong smiled bitterly at the man’s words. He knew how powerful Semi-Divine Beings were.
The Wave Sword Sea Formation was definitely powerful, but it wouldn’t do much to hurt the Heavenly Demon.
However.
“The meaning of fine or not does not necessarily have to refer to the physical wounds on the body.”
The Heavenly Demon would need to do his best to deal with the formation.
In the end, even if he wiped out all the Qingcheng without a wound, he would have least used up half his energy.
“After that, it’s your turn, right?”
Tang Jin-ryong glanced over at Hwan Dok.
The man smiled, then turned to the person next to him.  “It’s this thing’s turn, not mine.”
This thing.
It was inappropriate to call a person a ‘thing’, but the man did not seem uncomfortable at all.
“A flawless corpse puppet made using the Sword Emperor of Ice and Light… You really succeeded in making it.”
The thing in front of him was a monster in humanoid form, not a real person.
Demon-Awakening Corpse Puppet.
A technique that reanimated the dead, making it into a puppet and controlling it — a necromantic technique that the Cult of the Inverted Sky had developed after experimenting with blood jiangshi.
The Sword Emperor of Ice and Light, the base body for this puppet, was a Semi-Divine Being of the past who had the power to subvert the world. If the puppet could completely reproduce his skills, it would not be easy for even the Heavenly Demon to knock it down.
Unfortunately, a puppet would not be able to completely reproduce the skills of the original.
“Don’t praise me like that. It’s not perfect.”
“Hmm.”
“But I am confident that it has 80% of the Sword Emperor’s skills. Perhaps this will be enough to deal with the Heavenly Demon, who will have less than half his strength after dealing with the Qingcheng. Of course, it won’t kill the Heavenly Demon.”
Tang Jin-ryong nodded. The Sword Emperor was just a corpse puppet now. He had no intention of giving such a thing the honor of killing the Heavenly Demon.
I shall slash the Heavenly Demon’s throat myself.
That way, the glory of the Tang Clan would continue for a hundred years, even if they didn’t join the Cult of the Inverted Sky.
Thinking of that that, Tang Jin-ryong smiled.
Seeing that, Hwan Dok laughed to himself.
Heeheehee.
It was an evil cackle.
***
Woon-seong stared at the surrounding sea of swords. They swirled like waves, wrapping around his entire body.
He reached out to those swords.
Kwa-rung –
With the sound of thunder, the Heavenly Demon’s energy struck the swords.
At that moment!
Glug-ug-
Dozens of swords swept over the Heavenly Demon, roaring. Suddenly, the Wave Sword Sea Formation violently trembled.
“Khh!”
“Huff!”
Each of the swordsmen groaned. Surprisingly, however, the Wave Sword Sea Formation had not broken.
It had overcome the strength of the Heavenly Demon.
“No matter how strong his attacks are, when divided amongst several people, the impact isn’t that great!” one man shouted from the center.
Woon-seong zeroed in on him and laughed, “Clearly.”
“Attack once more!”
Glug-ug-
The two arms of the man moved again, his sword streaking through the air.
At that moment, the Wave Sword Sea Formation swarmed Woon-seong once again. Dozens of swords rushed to strike, stab, and slash.
Woon-seong swung his spear as he saw it. The White Night Spear pushed towards the black sea of swords.
And…
Kaga-shua –
The White Night Spear slammed the swords back.
It was no wonder that Woon-seong’s lips curled.
“It was a good idea for you to share strength in order to defend, but you didn’t gather enough strength to attack.”
With his bare hands, Woon-seong caught several of the swords. It was like he was holding a stick.
“These sticks, it doesn’t matter how many times you try to stab me with them.”
“Grrrgh!”
The Qingcheng groaned and slowly pulled back.
It wasn’t just because they were scared.
It was to maintain the formation against the monster known as the Heavenly Demon.
One of the leaders looked around, then decided. “I’m going to be the center of the formation.”
“We hear the words of the elder!”
As soon as the command was issued, the Wave Sword Sea Formation began to change. Unlike how one man had been at the center, controlling everyone else, the elder had walked out.
Behind him, the other swordsmen lined up, forming crane wings.
It was as if all of the energy from the formation was being channeled into one person.
Woon-seong’s eyebrows twitched.
It wasn’t just in appearance. In fact, all the energy from 300 swordsmen were indeed being gathered into that one man.
The energy of 300 men was not something to ignore.
Although there would be some loss of energy, it was an insane amount.
Even if you compared it to the amount of qi Woon-seong had inherited from Chun Hwi, it wouldn’t be lacking!
As if to prove that, the man’s blade was trembling.
Kwang—
There was what seemed to be a lightning strike and Woon-seong’s toe was sliced off.
Kuakua—
If Woon-seong hadn’t stepped back, his leg might have been cut off.
There was a deep furrow in the ground and dust billowed.
Within the swirling dust, the man’s sword shone blue.
It was sword qi.
A sword so powerful that it was on par with Woon-seong.
The sword was shaking with energy. A massive vortex of qi seemed to be wrapping around the area.
Seeing that, Woon-seong slowly raised his spear.
Soon, there was a turbulent storm of energy raging around the White Night Spear, comparable to the Qingcheng’s.
Rain of Star Destruction.
The Moon of Dark Night and Death.
Divine Wind of the Past.
Break the Vast Sea.
And then what?
His fifth move would destroy the earth after the sea.
Hell’s Punishment to the Land.
It destroyed the earth and banished all life.
A name fitting of the fifth move of the Art of Six Seals and Destruction, which broke even the Heavens on the sixth.
A ferocious skill revealed itself.
A torrent of torn trunks were caught up within the qi, wrapping around the White Night Spear. The storm seemed to be about 5 meters wide now.
Woon-seong swung his spear.
It was an ordinary arc.
Just that.
But the results were extraordinary.
A giant pillar of light seemed to connect the Heavens and Earth in a single blow.
Guaguaguaguaguaya-
An illusion that the world had ended appeared, like life itself had been torn into two pieces.
Massive waves swept the field, out of control.
Kuakuakua—
The ground split open. The waves of energy swept beyond the Qingcheng Sect and crashed into the Sichuan Union.
“Ahhh!”
“How’s that a human?”
“He’s not a human being!”
Screams erupted everywhere.
However!
“Ahhh….”
“Shhh.”
One man survived the apocalypse. Both his beard and eyebrows had been burned away, his clothing torn to rags, but he endured.
“Khh,” the man groaned, struggling to get on one knee.
Woon-seong smiled coldly. “Hmm.”
The Qingcheng Sect had driven Nok Yu-on to his death. Not only were the Three Swords of Qingcheng his sword enemies, but all of the Qingcheng Sect were on Woon-seong’s death note.
So he did not intend to kill them so easily. And now one of them was refusing to die like so.
Revealing his white fangs, Woon-seong said, “Defy me more. Make it more enjoyable!”
He moved his left hand.
“That way, I can feel that killing you was worthwhile.”
The Divine Flame roared to life, wheels of flame appearing on his left hand.
The Heavenly Demon’s Wheel of Samsara.
“Let the Qingcheng Sect burn, as well as Qingcheng Mountain, then I can laugh all I want.”
A massive flame stretched around from the Heavenly Demon’s Wheel. Overwhelming pillars of fire surged in all directions.
The heat seemed to distort space.
A nearby soldier caught on fire, quickly disappearing into ashes.
There were screams from all around.
“Don’t come any closer! ”
“We’re being swept away!”
“Keep your distance! ”
The heat was so great that weak martial artists would lose their life just from being nearby.
Woon-seong gripped his wheels tighter.
“Try harder. ”
He threw the wheel at the Qingcheng swordsmen.
A huge wheel of flames crushed towards the soldiers.
Seeing the scene, Woon-seong’s voice was cold as he declared:
“Today, the Qingcheng Sect shall be erased from the earth.”
Kuakuakuakua-!