Chapter 469: The Night Before (5)
Bright Net Sword.
The moment it was unleashed, Baek Sang-a’s eyes flew open, as if they would tear apart.
It was a transcendent technique, elevating martial arts beyond the realm of mere will-forging.
But what made the Bright Net Sword special was not simply because it was a transcendent technique.
That was a martial art defined through the connection with Jin Yeomyung, its mere existence serving as proof that Cheon Yura was indeed Cheon Yura.
Knowing its meaning all too well, Baek Sang-a screamed with her eyes flipped in rage.
“Cheon! Yu! Raaaah!!”
Just as she was about to lunge at Cheon Yura in a frenzy—
A rough grip seized the scruff of her neck.
“Not yet.”
A cold, sunken voice halted her rampage.
“Not yet.”
“So... Young Master Cheon.”
“Master is not dead yet.”
At those words, Baek Sang-a finally regained her senses.
No, to be precise, it was only after she saw So Cheon biting his lower lip and suppressing his anger that she realized she had nearly disrupted the grand strategy.
“Keuk!”
Though his heart was pierced by the Bright Net Sword, as So Cheon said, Dao Zun was still alive.
“Incredible.”
Cheon Yura sneered at Dao Zun, who clutched near her heart.
“Your upper body should have been utterly blown apart. Did you compress the Tai Chi into a single point in that split-second to narrow the target?”
“......”
“Even so, your heart should’ve been completely crushed. How... ah, I see.”
Cheon Yura’s gaze shifted to Six Paths Veil.
“That sacred item is sustaining a life that should have already ended.”
“......”
“But even that divine luck ends here. At this rate, I may soon manifest what comes after this.”
What came after the Bright Net Sword.
It was likely a new martial art Cheon Yura had established through her enlightenment upon achieving Demonic Shedding.
“Sorry, but...”
Dao Zun applied pressure with her fingers to staunch the bleeding on his chest.
“I won’t let it go that far.”
“Can you guarantee that?”
“Of course.”
Before anyone noticed, Saber King had approached Dao Zun’s side.
“Can you move?”
“No problem. As long as Six Paths Veil’s power remains.”
Despite having blocked the blood flow as much as possible, blood still spread from the pierced area around his chest.
But Dao Zun paid no heed to the wound and fixed her gaze solely on Cheon Yura.
“One strike. There will be no other opportunity.”
“Yes, I know.”
They had taken a surprise blow, but so be it. Having pledged their lives, they could not waver before their enemy no matter what occurred.
“Then, allow me to go first.”
Crunch! Cr-ack!
The muscles across Saber King’s entire body swelled explosively as he gripped his Saber.
True essence, inner arts, willpower... even his soul.
Everything he had was poured into that single Saber.
As Saber King devoted his all, he looked upon his cherished sword with wistful eyes—one he had wielded for decades.
‘I regret not being able to repay my family’s debt in full.’
This cherished Saber had been passed down from the former Clan Head when he entered the Bukcheon Geom Clan as a son-in-law.
For someone not a direct blood relative to receive such a sword from the Saber Family spoke volumes of how highly they regarded Heon Yanghu as a man.
Though the main family now endured a difficult period under enemy schemes... he believed in the reserves of his clan.
After this strike, the name Heon Yanghu would vanish from the world.
Nevertheless, the Bukcheon Geom Clan would remain as one of the twin pillars of Murim.
“Now.”
At the same moment Dao Zun’s presence vanished—
Saber King’s sword cleaved the sky vertically.
Beyond scattering will to form a domain.
Beyond forging will into a Saber and unleashing it.
In that fleeting instant, the existence of Saber King brought forth a sliver of possibility that he may have reached the future.
No-Origin Saber
What happens when an absolute master strikes without looking back.
This was not just powerful—it was something else entirely.
Cheon Yura sensed the future in Saber King’s motion as he swung his Saber.
‘Dangerous.’
That couldn’t be offset even by Reversal Soul Fusion.
The moment she realized it, her sword began tracing a double helix once more.
However.
"You shouldn’t."
"……!"
Before she knew it, Dao Zun had approached right next to Cheon Yura, grinning with a hint of blood.
"I can’t let the strike that carried his entire life be wasted in vain."
A flicker of shock passed through Cheon Yura’s eyes.
"…How?"
How had she gotten so close in that brief instant?
Acceleration of thought? Enhancement of the body? Or had she simply been distracted by Saber King’s momentum?
All of those were part of the reason, but none was the decisive one.
Transcendent Technique
Tai Chi Reflection
"Just as a disciple resembles the master, a master too can come to resemble the disciple."
Though she had not reached the level of enlightenment, So Cheon’s abnormal talent allowed him to interfere with space.
Intrigued by that talent, Dao Zun had delved into it over a long time and succeeded in realizing So Cheon’s ability in his own form.
"You think you can stop me with that ragged body…!"
Her words never finished.
Chrrrk!
Six Paths Veil had already extended, binding her body.
Six Paths Veil was a sacred item crafted of a material not of this world.
Even Cheon Yura couldn’t easily break free of it in a short time.
Cheon Yura glared at Dao Zun, who held the end of Six Paths Veil.
The distance between the two was not even one jang.
Having forsaken all defense to bind Cheon Yura, it was equally difficult for Dao Zun to avoid the aftershock of the Mu-rae Saber.
"…Do you plan to die with me?"
"If it comes to that, then I couldn’t ask for more."
Dao Zun continued to smile even as blood trickled incessantly from her lips.
Cheon Yura, growing desperate, gathered her strength to trigger Reversal Soul Fusion and offset the impact.
Pah!
Before that could happen, Saber King’s Mu-rae Saber cleaved through both Cheon Yura and Dao Zun at once.
Even the strike into which Saber King had poured everything couldn’t kill Cheon Yura.
On the contrary, if caught in its sweep, he would die without question.
Even knowing both facts, Dao Zun did not release Six Paths Veil.
As expected.
Right after feeling something sweep through her lower abdomen, Dao Zun realized her lower half was gone, and she was sprawled on the ground.
And then—
Thud!
Saber King, who had given everything, collapsed.
The last remaining strands of black in his curly hair had turned completely white, as if scorched away.
With blurred vision, Dao Zun turned to look at Cheon Yura.
She hadn’t been split like her, but it was clear she had suffered a serious internal wound.
"Guh! Guhk!"
She barely supported herself by plunging her sword into the ground.
Seeing her continuously vomiting blood confirmed the severity of her internal injuries.
'Her regenerative ability isn’t activating. That means Heon’s strike was fatal.'
Just then, an indescribable scream burst from Cheon Yura’s mouth.
-■■■■■!
Woom! Woom! Woom!
A voice that seemed to crawl up from hell, one that felt like it would shake the soul just by hearing it.
Yet at that moment, Dao Zun felt relief.
'Thank goodness.'
She could be certain.
That voice no longer belonged to Cheon Yura.
'I was worried I’d be sinning against that Cheon Taejong bastard…'
Now, I can go with some peace of mind.
Thus, in her dimming vision,
Dao Zun murmured in a small voice.
"Look not at me… but at the enemy."
"Yes, Master."
The moment those words ended, two figures broke through the settling dust.
Toward the heart of the screaming Cheon Yura, they thrust their blades with all their might.
Sword of Slaying Kings
Destruction
"……!!"
The two of them suppressed their rising fury and sorrow.
Their revered master, and the grandfather who had devotedly looked after them until now.
These people, who were practically blood relatives, had given their lives to create this opportunity.
They couldn’t let such a chance be wasted by mere emotional turmoil.
-■■■■■!!
Her scream grew even more immense.
Even so, the two ignored all pain and continued to channel true qi into their Sabers.
They too had no retreat.
Even if it meant exhausting all their True Source True Qi, they would bring this to a conclusion here.
How much time had passed as they poured out their qi with that resolve?
At some point, Cheon Yura, who had been writhing in agony, suddenly came to a complete halt.
"……?"
For a moment, they thought she had died—but no.
At its core, something about the opponent had changed.
The instant they sensed it—
As if the scream moments ago had been a lie, a calm voice flowed from Cheon Yura’s mouth.
"…How unfortunate."
"……?!"
The tone was entirely different from the Cheon Yura they had known.
The voice sounded the same as what they remembered, but the essence within it was completely different.
'That is not Miss Cheon.'
Baek Sang-a instinctively lifted her head and looked the opponent in the eye.
And the moment she saw that face—
'Compassionate?'
The sharp features remained the same, but for some reason, the impression it gave off was remarkably gentle.
'I’ve seen that face somewhere before.'
A fleeting memory passed through Baek Sang-a’s mind.
Back when the events of Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain had concluded—
Just before they left that place, she had caught a brief glimpse of the statue in Heavenly Evil where the Ancestor’s Fragments were enshrined.
A face like a bodhisattva, with six arms. It had been such a striking impression that it was hard to forget, and for some reason, that statue’s face now overlapped with Cheon Yura’s.
‘He’ spoke.
"Your defeat lies in your lack of strength."
"……."
"If you had combined your strength to the extent of touching the laws themselves, you may truly have ended it... but alas, it was not to be."
He casually pulled out the two swords embedded in his heart.
From the hole in his chest, the Death Qi poured in by So Cheon and Baek Sang-a streamed out in thick currents.
That phenomenon meant the Death Qi had failed to kill the target and had instead been subdued.
"Still, you were splendid. Once my business here is finished, I may have to remain still until he comes to find me."
He turned his head and looked in a certain direction.
"That side’s finished too."
The ‘that side’ he spoke of referred to the battlefield where Gung Gi and the other martial artists were fighting.
There were no variables.
Aside from one overwhelming presence, all other signs of life had vanished.
"I shall end you without pain."
It couldn’t be avoided.
No—it didn’t matter even if it was avoided.
Because the opponent was not human.
But at that moment—
"I can’t… let it end like this…."
Whiirrr!
The tattered Six Paths Veil suddenly appeared and wrapped itself around So Cheon and Baek Sang-a.
"……!"
Dao Zun, who still hadn’t breathed her last, had summoned the last of her strength to save the two of them.
"Master…!"
Sssnnrk!
Grinning with bared teeth, Dao Zun reached out to her disciple.
She had no strength left for final words. She simply focused on using Six Paths Veil’s spatial power to transport them to safety.
And thus, the two wrapped in Six Paths Veil vanished somewhere.
"A spatial ability of an Underworld Sacred Item? I haven’t seen one in ages."
"……."
"If she had activated it from the start, it might’ve been easier to distract me… Still, she saved it as a final move. For a human, that’s quite commendable. Praise is due."
"Who… are you?"
With his final breath, Dao Zun asked.
"……."
After a moment of silence, ‘he’ responded with slight reverence.
"Heavenly Evil."