Chapter 179 Choice (1)

Chapter 179 Choice (1)

“What is this?”

The God of Unending Slaughter burst into a hollow laugh at the sudden appearance of the two warriors.

“Am I seeing things?”

“…No.”

Gu Yangji flung Ma Yi to the ground and unleashed the remaining power of the Zahajin Qi.

Whoooosh-

Unlike you, who had fought countless formidable foes until now, he seemed to be preserving his full strength.

Gu Yangji’s actions spoke louder than a hundred words, like a bucket of cold water dumped on his face.

But it didn’t end there.

“Ma Yi has chosen to join us.”

“Cut the nonsense.”

The Immortal Demon lightly dismissed Gu Yangji’s words.

Who was Ma Yi?

Though he claimed to be a messenger for the Eight Palms, he was a sorcerer wielding the magic of the heavens.

If he were the sort to kneel before mere pain, the petty joys and sorrows of life, he wouldn’t have been brought into our ranks.

As the Immortal Demon glared, Gu Yangji shrugged his shoulders as if resigned.

Immediately after, Gu Yang-jeok’s right foot blurred for an instant.

Thwack!

He kicked Ma Yi’s torso upward with the top of his foot, striking the Jianjing acupoint, then swiftly twisted his waist to press down on the Baihui acupoint with his big toe.

“Gwaaah!”

It was only natural for him to wail hoarsely under such a brutally savage acupoint strike.

Though Gu Yangjie’s restraint in not killing him showed his skill, the martial artists watching felt a chill in their hearts.

As the demon lay face-down on the ground, gasping for breath, Gu Yangjie pulled him up by the shoulder.

“Now, speak.”

“Wh-what am I supposed to say!”

“That you surrender to me.”

At those words, Ma Yi’s gaze turned toward the Immortal Demon.

It was a sight that made one involuntarily frown.

He had lost more than a lethal amount of blood, becoming a blood-soaked figure, and his prosthetic leg was half-broken, rendering it useless.

Ma Yi asked the Immortal Demon in a frank voice.

“How did you lose one arm?”

“When you fight, unfortunate things happen.”

The face of the Immortal Demon who answered thus showed no pain, no fear.

There was no anger blaming the situation.

Simply that it couldn’t be helped. As the Immortal Demon recalled it in a calm voice, Ma-ui wore a bitter smile.

“I’m not as strong as you, Demon. ”

“……You bastard.”

The Immortal Demon burst into a hollow laugh. Yet he couldn’t hide his emotional turmoil; his confused state of mind was evident in his tone.

“I didn’t expect anything from a lowly errand boy like you anyway, but I am a bit disappointed. Well, I suppose you had your reasons.”

“…….”

“I never expected a bat-like brat like you to stay in Palma in the first place.”

Spit.

Spitting out a broken tooth, the Immortal Demon raised his fist once more.

Crunch.

Could it even be called a fist anymore, with the bones reduced to such a mess?

A fleeting look of complexity crossed the Immortal Demon’s face. But his hesitation was brief.

Since when had he ever been fixated on form?

Wouldn’t the years he’d lived so far be wasted if he collapsed over something like that?

Even if his bones turned to dust. The Demon God’s fist shatters diamond. That’s why, for hundreds of years, he had been called the Buddha-Slaying Demon God.

No matter how dire the situation, that truth remained unshaken. A wave of heat washed over the face of the Buddha-Slaying Demon.

Swish.

The Buddha-Slaying Demon widened his stride, shoulders thrust out proudly.

With the Martial Alliance’s punitive force encircling him, no tactic could cover all directions.

Thus, he would throw himself forward with a single, singular goal.

POW!

The Immortal Demon’s soles pushed against the ground, propelling his form forward.

The viscous demonic energy alone, pushing against his back, far surpassed Kunlun’s Ascending Dragon Eight-Forms in its soaring lightness skill.

Gu Yangji licked his parched tongue.

‘To charge in without a second thought…’

Just as the Unkillable Demon God’s killing intent surged forward, Gu Yangji grabbed the demon’s nape and hurled him backward.

Clang!

The clawed hand the Unkillable Demon God swung clashed with the sword, sparks flying. A face twisted like a monstrous demon filled Gu Yangji’s eyes.

“Do you intend to kill Ma Yi and die together?”

“Rather than live in misery, I’ll die as a demon.”

The Immortal Demon snorted defiantly and lashed out with his remaining leg, striking Gu Yangjie’s abdomen.

Thwack!

The blow was so powerful it made the Huashan Sect robe flutter violently, nearly tearing it apart.

Gu Yangjeok clenched his teeth, intensifying his protective aura.

“Who knew demons could have such loyalty? Never dreamed it!”

Gu Yangjeok sneered lightly, and the Immortal Demon fidgeted with his remaining four fingers.

Loyalty.

The very thought made him want to burst into hollow laughter and curses.

If such a sentiment had existed between the two palms, the Black Dragon would never have died.

‘To achieve ultimate victory later, we must inevitably become enemies.’

-If one dies before the law of cause and effect is fully resolved, it simply means that bastard was weak.

Recalling the crow’s words, the Immortal Demon of Fire and Blood wore a faint, bitter smile.

Yu Jang-myeong, who seemed to have been plucked directly from the Emperor’s favor, and the utterly unexpected formidable foe, Gu Yang-jeok.

Even Kwon Seong Moo-myeong was a formidable opponent, one the celestial reader, who could read the heavens, hadn’t even glimpsed.

‘There was also that one who displayed quite decent fist techniques.’

The Immortal Demon’s gaze briefly turned toward Ming Yunzi before withdrawing.

Now was the time to unleash madness beyond will.

“If you all wish to die, this Demon God shall grant your wish. I shall personally gouge out your eyes so you cannot find your way even in the Nine Heavens!”

The moment the Immortal Demon bent his knee. Gu Yangjie operated the Self-Sacrificing Heavenly Art to its utmost.

He did not forget to enhance his body with the Light Extreme Incense Burner.

Even a wounded beast, disregarding its own life, could easily kill several strong men. What then of the Immortal Demon?

To underestimate him as one-armed or one-legged would surely lead to total annihilation. Above all, if he met the dead Seo Mun-hwi in the Nine Heavens, he would have no words.

-Let’s go, brother.

At Gu Yangjeok’s telepathic command, Yu Jangmyeong raised his Dragon Tower Sword as if he’d been waiting for this moment. Pang Cheonwoo, who had been tending to the gravely wounded warrior, also slipped quietly beside Myeong.

Four against one.

Though the coordinated attack began with them occupying all four directions, the might of the Unkillable Demon God, who disregarded life itself, surpassed all imagination.

Kwaaah— Kwaaang!

Just as the Black Dragon had shown in the past, the fist swung by the Immortal Demon of Fire and Death contained the heavens themselves. The very atmosphere spun, coalescing into a spear.

Gu Yangjie narrowed his eyes, watching the Immortal Demon of Fire and Death turn crimson.

‘So the source of that bizarre technique the demon showed just now… was the Immortal Demon of Fire and Death.’

Unlike the Black Dragon, whose external power alone could be called absolute, the Immortal Demon seemed to have infused his demonic energy into every fiber of his being.

This was impossible for a human body.

It was a mad feat only possible because the Immortal Demon could wield demonic energy with complete freedom, and because he possessed a body as solid as the Black Dragon’s.

Then the Immortal Demon shouted.

“You wretch, Ma-ui! If you wish to live, crawl away. Flee. Otherwise, only death awaits!”

At those words, Ma-ui’s eyes widened.

Partly because he had begun sensing an opportunity, but also because the Immortal Demon’s words were utterly unexpected.

To threaten death and then order him to flee.

As the Immortal Demon unleashed his immense power, Ma Yi secretly smirked.

‘If I can escape thanks to you… I’ll remember this.’

Just as Ma Yi cautiously began to move, three warriors blocked his path.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The Black Wind Brigade’s commander, Seo Mun-yeol, and two warriors under him.

Though they couldn’t be compared to absolute masters like Jiksahong or Myeong, they were peak masters ranked among the best in the martial world.

Fight three of them in his current state?

Ma-ui couldn’t hide his despondency. In a way, he even envied the Immortal Demon.

Fighting like that, burning his life away, meant he’d have no regrets later.

“Surrender.”

The moment Ma Yi raised both hands, a strange-toned telepathic voice echoed.

-I shall create an opportunity.

-……Understood.

Ma Yi’s lips twitched slightly.

-I shall await that moment. O Demon Lord of the Crow.

Swoosh.

The moment that reply ended, a warrior clad in white descended from the mountain.

* * *

“What do you plan to do now?”

King Yama answered the question posed by the Fire Eater in an indifferent tone.

“The Buddha has been defeated. That is all. Why the unease?”

“Well… only five of the Eight Palms remain. One split from us long ago.”

The Fire Eater voiced his unease without hiding it.

“I hear Crow’s position is also being gradually cornered? If this continues…”

“Don’t act rashly. You are also one of the Eight Palms.”

When the King of Hell issued this stern warning, Sohwa-ja, looking sulky and pouting, tapped the round table repeatedly.

‘No matter how I think about it, Crow is the one I dislike the most.’

It had been nearly fifty years since he refused to join the Round Table, citing his desire to dominate the martial world.

During that time, Crow had never once offered assistance to the Eight Palms.

Instead, hadn’t he even used the Buddha, to whom he had entrusted his body, as a sacrificial pawn to divert attention?

‘If the Sword Demon had stepped forward then…’

The Immortal Demon King would never have faced such a crisis. No, in fact, Palma’s true identity would never have been exposed like this.

For within the Great Assembly, the Sword Demon Jiao Gangtian was the most powerful among the Eight Palms.

The Fire Eater glanced sideways at King Yama.

“By the way, Yama, you never built up any power base, did you?”

“Such things only become liabilities in the end.”

King Yama chuckled, recalling the Crow, the Asura, and the Buddha.

“The Buddha was at Shaolin Temple trying to build a faction when his true nature was exposed, and the Crow’s movements are also being hindered, aren’t they?”

In the end, it was like a double-edged sword, King Yama chided the Buddha’s foolishness.

“In a way, it’s for the best. Keeping someone driven by bloodlust close would only bring disaster later.”

“That may be true, but…”

A shadow of worry settled on the Exorcist’s face.

“Wasn’t it the Crow who drove the goblin to its death? Isn’t this new Buddha the same?”

King Yama answered calmly.

“That depends entirely on how the crow chooses to act.”

At the murderous intent in Yama’s voice, the Soul Eater let out a hollow laugh.

* * *

Swish, thud.

After the White Robe Corps finished their report and prostrated themselves, the Crow clicked his tongue lightly.

The situation was far from ideal. Above all, the fact that Ma-ui had been captured was giving the Crow a headache.

‘What on earth was he thinking, just watching?’

He knew Ma-ui was focusing excessive attention on the Hwasan Sect, but to get captured? That meant he’d gotten far too close.

The Crow had half given up on understanding Ma-ui.

Part of him was curious, though.

Whatever the reason, he wasn’t the type to willingly court danger.

There must have been a reason behind his actions.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t they say Gu Yangjeok and Yu Jangmyeong were there too?’

He recognized their faces well, having seen them many times before. But the martial prowess he’d witnessed back then wasn’t anything particularly remarkable.

Even if he was hiding something, it couldn’t possibly reach the level of the Immortal Demon of Extermination.

The Crow pondered deeply, chewing over the White Robe Sect’s report.

“Dangerous fellows.”

Despite being only around twenty years old, he’d surpassed the peak of his age group. It was said Gu Yangjie had displayed martial arts techniques never before seen or heard of.

Moreover, they were techniques of thunder qi, known to be absent from the Huashan Sect.

“I hear he hasn’t just made one or two trips out of Huashan. Did some extraordinary encounter occur during that time?”

Without such an encounter, how could he have grown so strong at such a rapid pace?

The Crow let out a long sigh.

‘And Yu Zhangming.’

Seeing the phrase written at the end of the White Robe Sect’s report, the Crow couldn’t help but ponder for a long while.

-Seems he’s reached the Heavenly Path’s narrow pass.

His age is barely twenty-four or five, right?

No matter how exceptional his talent, he’s surpassed the natural course. The word ‘genius’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.

It was as if he were seeing Yeo Dong-bin, blessed by the Immortals hundreds of years ago.

‘But Heaven can no longer interfere with humans…?’

What kind of being could possibly be on earth, aiding the Huashan Sect?

Crow summoned a messenger bird, scribbled a few words, and sent it flying toward the Great Heavenly Water Sect.