Chapter 17 Ghost Gate

Chapter 17 Ghost Gate

Yang Jeong, who was about to state the price for his brother’s request, snapped his mouth shut at the unexpected immediate reply.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’ve learned quite a bit myself, so let’s call it even.”

“Even… I don’t know what that means, but I guess it’s roughly similar?”

“I won’t forget this favor.”

He had already seen enough of their Martial Arts.

Namgung-woo recalled the Oral Traditions of Thousand Li Home-Court Footwork and Heavenly Wind Divine Footwork in his mind, and began channeling Heavenly Thunder Qi into the six Foot Meridians of his lower body.

“Then, I’ll be off.”

The Thunder Qi flowed down the Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian of Foot, gathering at the Yongquan Acupoint. Then, with a thunderous roar, Namgung-woo’s physique shot forward. It was the Single Step of the Heavenly Wind Divine Footwork, Wind-Thunder Step.

The Yang brothers, who had been staring blankly as Namgung-woo, who had launched himself with the Heavenly Wind Divine Footwork and began sprinting with the Light Body Arts of Thousand Li Home-Court Footwork, disappeared into the distance, only snapped out of their daze after two breaths and chased after him.

How can he control Thunder Qi like that…?

“Crazy! He’s too fast…!”

The Yang brothers desperately chased after him, imprinting the Thunder Qi utilization Namgung-woo displayed clearly in their eyes, and forcing all their Internal Energy into their lower bodies.

Meanwhile, Namgung-woo extended his Qi Senses, carefully observing the events unfolding in the distance.

For some reason, the number of Spectral Fiends in the vicinity had drastically decreased, so there was no longer any need to worry about the Yang brothers. Namgung-woo surmised that the reason was to block the prior guest who had reached the Ghost Gate.

He’ll catch one of them.

Two massive aggregates of Aura of Evil stood unmoving, as if guarding the Ghost Gate.

The Aura of Peng Mu-ho and Peng Ha-ryeong, as Namgung-woo remembered it, was fiercely confronting them.

But it would be difficult to face one alone.

He glanced.

Namgung-woo subtly turned his eyes to look behind him. Azure Serenity Eyes didn’t have the special ability to widen his Field of Vision. Even with excellent eyesight, it was impossible to detect a blind spot behind his head.

His Qi Senses informed him that the brothers were following safely, but Namgung-woo, not yet accustomed to his superhuman senses, unconsciously checked on the brothers with his eyes.

Remarkable. They’re clumsily but immediately imitating it.

This is how you handle Thunder Qi.

As Namgung-woo demonstrated, the two brothers were desperately trying to imitate him and integrate it into their Body Protection Scripture.

They were following surprisingly well, even though a misstep could easily trip them.

I can speed up a bit more.

Namgung-woo drew out another stream of Internal Force from his Lower Dantian and sent it down to his Foot Meridians.

And Namgung-woo arrived just in time.

The moment Peng Ha-ryeong and Peng Mu-ho barely managed to defeat one aggregate of Aura of Evil.

And just before the remaining one poured out its vengeful malice upon them.

Namgung-woo landed in front of the Ghost Gate.

Thud!

Instead of drawing the Sword he had Sheathed, Namgung-woo extended his Fist.

A Single Fist strike met the attack of something similar in form to a Spectral Fiend, but with a fundamentally different level of strength.

The Fist Aura of Descending Thunder Cannon, an ultimate technique of Explosive Thunder Divine Fist, pushed the entity back.

Quite…

A tingling pulsation ran up his arm.

A smile spread across Namgung-woo’s lips.

This was it. This Recoil Force.

Even if his stance wasn’t perfect, the creature had endured the Thunder Qi imbued with Heavenly Thunder Qi.

“You are…?”

Peng Mu-ho, who appeared relatively less injured, uttered in surprise at the intruder who had seemingly dropped from the sky.

Namgung-woo didn’t look back. Instead, he drew his Sword and stepped forward.

“Be careful!”

The moment Peng Mu-ho shouted, an invisible Slash flew towards Namgung-woo.

Kiiing!

As Namgung-woo’s Sword, imbued with Sword Qi, blocked the Slash, Ghostly Wails echoed.

Surprisingly, the Slash from the Giant Spectral Fiend, which looked like a greatly enlarged Spectral Fiend, did not shatter against the Sword Qi but pressed against Namgung-woo.

However, this alone couldn’t make Namgung-woo retreat.

“Hup!”

Utilizing the Weight-Sinking Technique with the Footwork of Infinite Steps, Namgung-woo unleashed his Sword Qi.

Kwaa-aang!

The formless Slash scattered with the Sword Qi. Simultaneously, a sinister energy brushed past Namgung-woo’s clothes.

Though they had exchanged only a Single Move, Namgung-woo instinctively knew. This Demon/spirit surpassed the level of a Peak Master.

The energy it held was greater than that of Peng Mu-ho or Hwang Mu-tak behind him, and its Slash, which withstood Sword Qi, was sufficient to cut down a Peak Master.

“Hey, Young Hero! This isn’t an opponent you can face alone! We need to wait for the Lee Clan Manor Lord and the Martial Artists of our Peng Clan to gather!”

Peng Mu-ho shouted at Namgung-woo, pushing himself up. His Internal Energy was almost depleted, but he still had enough strength to swing his Blade once or twice more.

Judging by the Single Sword Strike just now, the young man was at least a mature Peak Master like Peng Ha-ryeong.

More importantly, even setting aside Namgung-woo’s martial force, he was someone who needed to be protected simply for possessing a secret that neither Peng Mu-ho nor Peng Ha-ryeong had uncovered.

He’s not a Grandmaster who underwent Rejuvenation…

Peng Mu-ho knew Grandmasters who had undergone Rejuvenation. He had seen them directly. And those who had undergone Rejuvenation left traces. No matter how young their physique became, their minds remained old and cunning, leaving behind the spiritual aura of an elder that they couldn’t hide.

But Namgung-woo had none of that. Look at his aggressive appearance, burning with fighting spirit! How could that be an old Grandmaster who underwent Rejuvenation? He was a young martial artist, excited to have just entered the Jianghu.

“It’s fine. I’m enough on my own.”

However, Namgung-woo stopped Peng Mu-ho from joining.

And, recalling each Form of the Sword Art he had kept hidden, unable to find a suitable opponent, he took his Starting Stance.

Iron Sword Ten Forms won’t do. This time, let’s use a higher-level Sword Art.

Namgung-woo knew many Sword Arts.

If he didn’t strictly adhere to the Namgung Clan’s concept, Namgung-woo could wield over ten different Sword Arts.

But this time, he already had a specific Sword Art in mind.

Thirteen Lightning Sword Strikes.

A Sword Art so harmoniously suited to Heavenly Thunder Qi that it could be called its pair.

The fact that he had mainly used Heavenly Thunder Qi from his Lower Dantian instead of Azure Sky Qi from his Middle Dantian until now could be considered groundwork for unleashing this Sword Art.

The Sword Art Namgung-woo primarily used in Chullok Murim was reborn in his hands in the real world, not Virtual Reality.

Thirteen Lightning Sword Strikes, Third Form.

Dry Thunderfall.

Lightning struck from a clear sky.

Yang Kwae and Yang Jeong arrived at the Ghost Gate, which had turned into a battlefield, only after Namgung-woo had already unleashed three more sword strikes following Dry Thunderfall.

The brothers, appearing with ragged breaths, barely managed to suppress a scream when they saw Namgung-woo fighting.

“Form-Stealing Fiend…! Young Hero! This one is on a different rank from ordinary Spectral Fiends! You must retreat quickly!”

The reply to Yang Jeong’s shout came not from Namgung-woo, but from the man standing behind him, as if protecting someone.

“Twin Wave Blades, did you two follow as well?”

The anticipation in Peng Mu-ho’s voice vanished as soon as he saw their condition.

“Hey! Little brother! That’s a higher-tier individual of the Spectral Fiend! It grew by devouring the physiques and spirit/souls of actual humans! No matter how strong you are, little brother, that’s dangerous!!”

“At least Azure rank. A strong one is even classified as Black… but why is it Red…?”

The Yang brothers muttered, almost half out of their minds.

Although their combined strength could rival a Peak Master, there was a huge difference between fighting another human and fighting an inhuman monster.

Monsters that took no damage unless struck by Sword Qi were a wall that couldn’t be overcome by mere skill.

“Young Hero! You must retreat!”

“Yes, little brother! We know you’re much stronger than we thought, but that thing is truly dangerous! Let’s retreat for now. It’s right to fight when the Masters of the Peng Clan have gathered!”

Namgung-woo didn’t answer, but his ears heard all their words.

So that’s how it is?

This is an Azure-ranked monster?

Then what about the White and Black Ghost Gates, which are said to be even stronger?

Perhaps I, myself, came here not through the Ghost Gate, but something similar?

With a moment of leisure, stray thoughts crept in again.

It was a little disappointing, but it would be best to end it here. He had roughly confirmed what he wanted to. Unleashing all thirteen Forms of the Thirteen Lightning Sword Strikes seemed impossible here.

What was more important now was to end this battle without casualties and confirm the Ghost Gate.

To do that, Sword Qi alone won’t be enough.

Namgung-woo, having reconfirmed the powerful defensive power that even deflected Sword Strikes imbued with Sword Qi, retreated using the Retreating Step of Infinite Steps.

And he re-gripped his Sword.

The Sword he had held with one hand, now with two.

He consciously summoned the Internal Qi that he had previously drawn in according to his feelings, following the flow, wherever his intuition led him.

At his master’s call, the profound Internal Energy slumbering in his Dantian responded.

Woo-woong-

The Sword began to cry.

Listening to the familiar Sword Cry, he poured his elevated feelings directly into the Sword.

Immediately after.

The lightning that should have been in the sky above erupted from the ground, guided by Namgung-woo’s fingertips.

The Soul-Snatching Fiend, Azure-ranked despite appearing from a Red Ghost Gate.

Above that inexplicable phenomenon.

A new inexplicable phenomenon was being superimposed.

“That is…”

Sword Aura.

Force Aura.

Proof that human will and desire, accumulated, reached the heavens.

The Starlight Energy began to emit a brilliant halo above Namgung-woo’s Sword.