King Shura - Chapter 34

Chapter 34. The Ascending Dragon

Baek Mu Ryang slowly pulled out his sword. The sword that had accompanied him in all the time that he spent in the Alliance. The sword that knew no defeat, was pulled out of the hilt.

White Tooth (白牙).

Once Baek Mu Ryang pulled out the sword, the surrounding air fluctuated a little. The energy of the battlefield was getting fiercer.

“You have the right to make me use this sword.”

“Should I be thankful?”

When Gongson Chun Gi responded with a somewhat sour face, Baek Mu Ryang shook his head.

“No, I should be the one thanking you. Anyway, I’m going to be using this child here. Don’t you have any weapon you’ll use?”

Gongson Chun Gi lifted his hands up a bit, and spoke.

“These are enough.”

“I knew it…….”

Even though Gongson Chun Gi was standing there with a relaxed position, it seemed like Baek Mu Ryang couldn’t even get a needle through the Pope’s defenses.

That’s what Baek Mu Ryang liked. His blood was boiling after a long time.

‘And……’

This guy was a bit different. There was something about the Pope that separated him from all the other enemies that Baek Mu Ryang faced in the past.

‘I don’t exactly know what that ‘something’ is, though.’

The Dao Emperor stopped thinking there. There was no time to think such useless thoughts when battling an expert like this.

“There are so many people here. It wouldn’t do if we disappoint them, yes?”

Voom–

Baek Mu Ryang’s sword began to vibrate, then started to twist about like a living being. Gongson Chun Gi, seeing that, narrowed his eyes.

“Let’s go easy for now…….”

The moment Baek Mu Ryang muttered that, his sword began to emit a bright light, and proceeded to disappear. When Gongson Chun Gi turned his head, something happened.

Pyut–!

A white-hot sword nicked Gongson Chun Gi’s ear. Many of the martial artists who were watching this spectacle, shouted in surprise.

“Energy Control Technique (以氣御劍術)!”

Once a person trains his sword technique to the absolute limit, he/she can bring out a full potential of a sword in a fight. That was the Control Technique.

The Energy Controlling Technique was a level above the Control Technique. It was a technique that symbolized peak power. The martial artists who saw this amazing technique, became extremely excited.

“This guy’s trying to kill me from the get go?”

Gongson Chun Gi smirked while saying this, and twisted his whole body. When he did so, a white sword passed by the place where he had been previously.

Baek Mu Ryang stopped attacking, then grinned at the Pope.

“How is it?”

“What?”

“Didn’t that act just now make a pretty good show for the audience? Seeing the Pope run everywhere must’ve been immensely satisfying for them.”

“Running…… Well, I guess idiots will see this that way.”

Gongson Chun Gi swept his messy hair upwards, and grinned.

“Don’t tell me you’re also thinking that?”

Baek Mu Ryang shook his head. He knew. His attack just now was only performed to measure Gongson Chun Gi’s strength. But his attacks didn’t really provide him with information, no matter how outstanding they looked.

But this little bit of information he gained served to make Baek Mu Ryang plenty excited.

‘His Mind Eye (心眼) is opened?’

The Energy Control Technique was as fast as swinging a sword at point blank range. Managing to dodge that sword using the eyes was, in the first place, impossible.

That meant that the opponent would have to dodge using his/her instinct. But then, Gongson Chun Gi reacted to Baek Mu Ryang’s sword half a beat before the sword struck.

Once Baek Mu Ryang thought of this, his grip on his sword got stronger. This man was worthy of being his opponent. No, this man was something more of a monster, contrary to what he had been thinking.

“Damn it, moving my body like this after such a long time made me tired.”

Gongson Chun Gi sighed while massaging his muscles. After a while, he spoke with a small voice.

“Anyways…….. I guess it’s my turn to show you something?”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Baek Mu Ryang gripped onto his blade, and exhaled. He was expelling all the negative energy from his body.

“Now, what should I use……”

Gongson Chun Gi thought for a moment, then grinned like an evil child.

“It would only be fair if I made you move as much as I just did, right?”

Everything began there.

Baek Mu Ryang lifted his blade in caution. At the same time, his sword tip touched something invisible.

Bam–!

Baek Mu Ryang, who had been pushed back significantly, wrinkled his brow. It was good that he blocked an invisible attack out of instinct.

But the power of this attack was stronger than he had expected.

‘An energy blast?’

But the energy contained in this attack was far stronger than a simple energy blast. While he was trying to think of what technique Gongson Chun Gi had used, he noticed the Pope smiling at him with a grin.

Baek Mu Ryang put on a strange face when he saw that. Come to think of it, the Pope didn’t get into any sort of an attack position when attacking.

“Don’t be surprised already. I’m just getting started you know.”

Gongson Chun Gi, who had his hands behind his back, moved his index finger a few times. Immediately, a sinister energy began to surround Baek Mu Ryang.

‘Hm!’

Baek Mu Ryang began to focus his energy into his sword tip. There was no way he was going to fall for the same trick twice. He soon released the energy he gathered into his sword outwards.

Babababang–!

The energy that was expelled outwards hit something invisible, and triggered an immense explosion. There was so much power, in fact, that the ground between the two sovereigns broke apart.

Only then could Baek Mu Ryang understand just what technique Gongson Chun Gi had used.

“Hidden Palm (隔空掌)!”

This, too, was a peak technique. When the martial artists all shouted out in surprise, Baek Mu Ryang disappeared.

He was moving. Like a mad tiger. Baek Mu Ryang snaked through the invisible energy blasts attacking him, and was moments away from stabbing Gongson Chun Gi.

At that moment, the Dao Emperor felt a sting. His expression changed greatly.

‘Danger?’

Gongson Chun Gi was staring at him with a mysterious smile, without moving an inch. The man didn’t even flinch at him…….

Baek Mu Ryang grit his teeth. The instinct that developed after battling countless experts in the past warned him ceaselessly.

But his hesitation was short-lived. Baek Mu Ryang changed the course of his sword from a stab to a slice to attack his target.

Chiii–

A smell of burning air pierced the nose when Baek Mu Ryang sliced through empty space. At the same time, something managed to touch the tip of the sword.

Baam–!

Baek Mu Ryang was pushed backwards with great force. Even when being pushed away, Baek Mu Ryang grit his teeth and tightly gripped onto his sword. He almost let go of it because of the immense force the explosion caused.

“Eh? You blocked that? But there’s no way you’d have seen that!”

Gongson Chun Gi tilted his head in confusion.

Gongson Chun Gi’s curious face soon turned into an excited one. Baek Mu Ryang then realized something. At the same time, he felt something hot come up from within himself.

It was rage.

‘I’m being underestimated? Me?’

That’s right.

Gongson Chun Gi seemed to look at Baek Mu Ryang with eyes filled with contempt. It was a look that Baek Mu Ryang usually gave to his opponents.

Grit–

Baek Mu Ryang grit his teeth. His relaxed aura slowly faded away. He soon looked at Gongson Chun Gi with an enraged face, and spoke.

“I’m sorry, Pope. It seems I played around a bit too much in front of you. I’ll take you on seriously from now.”

Baek Mu Ryang began to emit a white, visible aura from his body.

Gongson Chun Gi made an irritated face when he saw Baek Mu Ryang’s fierce aura. He could feel that the man was prepared to die. That wasn’t something that he wanted to see.

‘But…….’

He had to take it. Otherwise it would be rude towards his opponent. Gongson Chun Gi slowly put his hands in front of his body.

“Then I, too, will do my best.”

Baek Mu Ryang’s stiff face loosened a bit. He knew that his opponent was finally taking him seriously.

‘Isn’t this something that I always dreamed of?’

Dying to a strong opponent. That was something that truly made a martial artist happy. He had no regrets now.

Baek Mu Ryang’s old heart began to beat vigorously again, just like it had in his youth. When Baek Mu Ryang put all his power into his sword, though, something happened.

He saw something strange in front of him.

‘What’s this?’

Baek Mu Ryang completely forgot about the opponent in front of him, and began to look at something else. When he saw it, he blinked a few times. He was trying to confirm if the thing he was looking at wasn’t an illusion of sorts.

Once he confirmed that it wasn’t an illusion, his jaw dropped down. Only then could Gongson Chun Gi feel that something was wrong.

“What? Is there something behind me?”

Gongson Chun Gi slowly turned back. He, too, repeated what Baek Mu Ryang had done previously.

No, he was worse. He started to stutter everywhere when he saw it.

“D, dragon? I, is that a dragon?”

Baek Mu Ryang nodded without realizing it.

Far away, at the peak of the mountain that barely anyone could see, was a column of light that extended all the way to the sky.

And in the middle of that light, was something that was slowly rising, twisting, into the sky.

Kuooo–!

Clouds, and lightning. The one that was slowly climbing through those was clearly a dragon.

At that moment, everyone at the Wisdom Plains was looking at the mountain. They all had the same expression plastered onto their face. Every one of them was staring at the dragon with a dumb face.

It was hard to believe. A dragon? An ascending dragon?

At that moment, something happened to the martial artists at the Wisdom Plains. Some of the martial artists from the Alliance began to move towards the place where the dragon was.

Gongson Chun Gi came to his senses when he saw that. At the same time, he felt a chill run down his spine. He knew the place where the dragon was.

Ak Jung Pae’s tomb. That’s where the dragon was ascending from.

‘Cho Ryu Hyang, just what did you do over there…….’

Gongson Chun Gi began to get a little hasty when he thought of his disciple. Thanks to that, he lost his usual calm and made a command.

“Don’t let them get to the dragon.”

Gongson Chun Gi instantly regretted what he said.

Everyone else who had been looking at the dragon came back to their senses, and began to move towards the mountain. The people of the Alliance, even though they haven’t been commanded at all, simultaneously began to move.

Gongson Chun Gi’s face turned stiff. The whole situation was getting very bad now. He couldn’t do anything to reverse the whole situation.

“Damn it! Don’t let any one of them get there! Block them!”

“Understood!”

Clearly, the people of the Heavenly Demon Church were elites. The moment Gongson Chun Gi gave out his order, they blocked the path to the mountain.

It would be hard to get through the path to the mountain when the only path to it was blocked completely. But that also meant that both sides would never be able to give up their position.

‘Damn it!’

The moment Gongson Chun Gi swore in his mind, the martial artists of the Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Church clashed.

Crack–!

Blood and flesh flew everywhere with an ominous sound. Gongson Chun Gi’s face turned sinister when he saw that scene.