A sensation like tough rubber gripping the sword—only after breaking through that did the dull touch of bone become apparent. Blood radiated heat so intense it could cause burns, mingled with the death agony and the sound of air leaking as the neck was severed.
All these sensations were summoned from his memory.
'Not yet.'
Crack!
Chung Myung's sword instantly crushed half of the Demonic Cult member's neck.
'Not yet!'
Chung Myung swung the sword faster, slicing through the half-cut neck again.
Ka-ga-ga-gak!
'No!'
Clenching his teeth tightly, he spun his body. The sword tip traced a circle like an illusion.
Swoosh—scratch!
There was no sensation at his fingertips. The perfectly executed swing severed both the Demonic Cult member's neck and the raised arm simultaneously. Though no sensation was felt, paradoxically, a great sense of satisfaction—never experienced before—lingered at his fingertips.
Chung Myung reflexively tightened his grip on the sword.
It was as if he enjoyed the lingering sensation at his fingertips, yet simultaneously despised the very fact that it remained.
His lips were tightly bitten, his eyes reddened with fury.
Boom!
The sound of stepping into strong footing echoed louder than ever. From deep within his dantian, his internal qi surged like a waterfall.
The most refined and pure qi in the world, painstakingly purified again and again, explosively surged, flowing through his body and into the sword.
Compared to the vast internal qi that once filled him as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, it was still insignificant. But though the absolute quantity was lacking, the quality of the internal qi was incomparable.
Wheeeeee!
The internal qi fiercely spun along the sword. The sword, extended like a sharp spear, clashed with the arm wrapped in demonic energy.
Chak!
There was not even a sensation of cutting.
Chung Myung's qi crushed the demonic qi. An arm that cannot exert its power due to demonic energy is worse than a rotten piece of wood. As Chung Myung's sword brushed past, the Demonic Cult member's arm split with a crack, splattering sticky blood.
Swoosh!
But Chung Myung did not even give the Demonic Cult member time to be surprised. Immediately, he swung the sword again and struck the neck in one blow, cutting it off.
Shhhhhh!
Hot blood gushed from the severed surface, covering Chung Myung's face. The overwhelming stench of blood made his head dizzy, but even so, his eyes remained as cold as ice.
The change occurred at that very moment.
"Kill them all!"
"Sweep them all away! Those damn fanatic dogs!"
The elite warriors of the Black Ghost Fort, who had been frozen with fear, raised their morale to the fullest and charged after Chung Myung.
They were the Demonic Cult. They worshipped strength more than the Justice faction sect and naturally followed the strong.
Now, a strong leader they could trust and follow appeared before them.
Whether Justice Faction or Demonic Cult was irrelevant. In front of that Demonic Cult group, distinctions between righteousness and heresy were meaningless.
What mattered to them now was that an absolutely strong figure had appeared to reverse this hellish situation.
This was not a matter of calculation or reason. They grasped the tide of victory by instinct. They found the shining sign of victory on Chung Myung's back.
"Press forward!"
"Oooooooooh!"
The cold-headed elite of the Black Ghost Fort shouted at the top of their lungs and began to crash upon the Demonic Cult members like a single wave.
"These cursed bastards…!"
The Demonic Cult members rolled their eyes upon seeing the scene.
How dare those filthy unbelievers bare their teeth and attack the believers? Their strong faith could not tolerate such a sight.
Resistance against the Cult was resistance against the great one.
Those who resisted were annihilated and even their souls were burned.
Wasn't that the foremost doctrine?
"Kill all those filthy unbelievers!"
The Demonic Cult members howled like beasts and swung their arms toward the Black Ghost Fort.
Crack!
Weapons broke and flew into the air, limbs were torn apart in all directions. The scene was still brutally horrific but clearly different from before. The Black Ghost Fort, once soaked in fear and pushed back unilaterally, now clung desperately even when retreating.
"Neck! The neck! Aim for the neck!"
"Break the head! The head!"
The Black Ghost Fort elites persistently targeted the Demonic Cult members' heads.
The Demonic Cult members, who had been zealously pushing the Black Ghost Fort, could no longer tolerate attacks flying at their heads and for the first time began to block and dodge incoming swords.
That alone was enough to change the previously chaotic atmosphere.
"You damn Demonic Cult bastards! This is our land!"
The Black Ghost Fort shouted fiercely and attacked the Demonic Cult members.
"Kukahahaha!"
The Demonic Cult members emitted severe killing intent from their eyes and struck those in front of them. A flying blade pierced an upper arm, but the Demonic Cult member did not blink and aimed his long demonic claw at the face of a Black Ghost Fort elite.
At the moment the Black Ghost Fort elite involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut.
Swaaaak!
With a sound like wind slicing, a flying white sword instantly cut off the Demonic Cult member's neck.
With the same expression soaked in lowly pleasure, the Demonic Cult member's head spun several times in the air before dropping to the ground.
"Uh…"
The Black Ghost Fort elite who barely survived looked ahead with a bewildered face, beyond the collapsing Demonic Cult member's body.
Chung Myung spun the sword to retrieve it and spat out,
"Don't let your guard down, you idiot."
"…Yes? Ah… yes!"
With those words finished, Chung Myung turned his body and moved forward again. The Black Ghost Guard, eyes wide open, fiercely followed behind.
"Hmm…"
Jang Ilso stroked his chin as if intrigued.
In his eyes, a strange pleasure and a strange displeasure slowly surfaced simultaneously. Mixed with caution, his gaze shone mischievously.
"It's definitely interesting."
No matter how much the Demonic Cult followed the strong, that didn't mean they blindly obeyed the strong.
Especially the Black Ghost Fort, where loyalty to the jewel was firmly established. Even if there was a stronger being, they would not easily change their minds.
But now those Black Ghost Fort elites were clearly following the Mount Hua's Sword Saint.
'An unbelievable level of control.'
What made Jang Ilso even more baffled was that the Desolate Gold Elder was here. Even though his arm was cut off, the Desolate Gold Elder was still the Desolate Gold Elder. In a place where his superior clearly existed, a Justice faction member whose words were simply followed without doubt?
'Unbearable.'
Jang Ilso chuckled.
No matter how you looked at it, that Mount Hua Sword Saint guy had found the wrong place to stay. If he had nested in the Demonic Cult instead of the Justice faction, he would have become a tremendous figure. If that had happened, he would have been several times more threatening to Jang Ilso than now.
"But hmm… this really damages my dignity."
Jang Ilso hummed as he walked casually. A Demonic Cult member who spotted him emitted red madness from his eyes and charged.
At that moment, Jang Ilso's red lips curved into a smile.
Swaaaak!
A demonic hand tore through the air flying at him. Jang Ilso leisurely raised his hand and lightly pushed the attacking hand aside.
Thwong!
"Kahak!"
Jang Ilso's hand easily deflected even the other demonic hands swinging like seizures, then suddenly pierced the Demonic Cult member's neck like lightning.
Crack!
Jang Ilso's fingertips, like those of a well-manicured lady, fiercely pierced the Demonic Cult member's neck.
"Gahk!"
The Demonic Cult member's mouth opened wide. But that alone did not break his fighting spirit; he struggled and swung his hands.
"Hmm…"
Jang Ilso lightly brushed off the hand as if indulging a child's prank and narrowed his eyes.
"Attacking the neck is not enough… If he remains fine even after his uvula is torn, hmm…"
Crack! Crack-crack!
Jang Ilso's hand, embedded in the Demonic Cult member's neck, tore through flesh as it advanced forward.
"Ugh… Ugh-aak…"
The Demonic Cult member, who seemed immune to pain, could not endure this terrible agony and groaned painfully. It was probably a desperate scream, but with his qi pathways half destroyed, he could not scream freely.
"This must be it."
Snap!
Jang Ilso's hand, touching the neck bone, mercilessly crushed the Demonic Cult member's cervical vertebrae. The Demonic Cult member trembled as if suffering from fits, then stuck out his tongue, twisted his head, and died.
"Hmm."
Jang Ilso stared at the Demonic Cult member and frowned as if holding filth. He tossed the corpse aside and wiped the blood off his hands.
"The head or the cervical vertebrae. Tricky. Moreover…"
An uncomfortable expression flickered across Jang Ilso's pale face.
Normally, the moment he touched with his fingernail, the neck should have been severed.
But reality was different. To break that neck bone, he had to endure the trouble of digging and tearing into the neck.
'Does that mean my internal qi isn't working well?'
He clearly understood what the Desolate Gold Elder meant. If even this small fry resisted his internal qi, he could imagine what kind of harmony that high priest would wield without seeing it.
"This is quite…"
Jang Ilso's gaze turned to the back of the rampaging Chung Myung. Watching Chung Myung swiftly cut off the Demonic Cult member's neck, Jang Ilso smiled crookedly.
"That's so unfair."
It seemed bringing those guys was a good choice after all.
"Tsk."
But soon he clicked his tongue disapprovingly at Chung Myung. Leading from the front was good, but at this rate, wouldn't he just waste his strength?
It seemed that Mount Hua's Sword Saint had forgotten who they should be facing.
If not… maybe he was just that kind of person.
'Of course, it's the latter.'
Rather than hoping that guy was stupid, it would be faster to wait for a waterfall to rise to the sky.
"I respect your taste, but since you're under my command now, it's troublesome if you run wild recklessly."
Jang Ilso smiled bitterly and glanced back.
"Everyone heard that, right?"
Instead of an answer, a low breath was heard. Though called Red Dogs, they were not reckless mad dogs. Rather, they were hunting dogs who attacked Jang Ilso's enemies with utmost restraint, biting necks to cut off the breath.
"What you should aim for is the cervical vertebrae or the head. If you break there, they're not much different from ordinary people."
Jang Ilso's gaze toward Chung Myung was bleak.
"Watching is fun, but letting only the guest fight is impolite. After all, I'm quite a gentleman. So…"
Jang Ilso lightly nodded forward.
"Go and ask."
No sooner said than done, the Red Dogs guarding Jang Ilso's rear charged forward like red beams.
Watching the Red Dogs running forward waving white-red spears, Jang Ilso slowly stepped forward.
"I'm curious."
A mischievous light constantly swirled in his eyes.
"If these guys are like this, then… what kind of monster is that high priest?"
His eyes turned beyond the battlefield to the half-ruined Hangzhou. From deep within that city, an extremely gloomy aura seemed to flow.
"It's chilling."
Clatter.
Rings rubbed roughly against each other.
Jang Ilso slowly brushed his lips with his fingertips, then stepped forward briskly with a murderous gaze.