Chapter 56, You Die, I Live
Hwancheonma gritted his teeth and used the Thousand-Catty Drop.
The Thousand-Catty Drop was the best choice Hwancheonma could make to escape this crisis.
His body suddenly sank downward.
However, poisonous snakes were swarming across the surface of the water, so he was immediately faced with another danger.
Jaha had never expected Hwancheonma to willingly enter water filled with poisonous snakes.
Jaha's sword cut through the empty space where Hwancheonma had been, but he did not give up.
He threw himself downward after Hwancheonma.
At that moment, as Hwancheonma fell, he threw something into the water.
Boom!
A huge pillar of water suddenly erupted upward.
Hwancheonma had picked up and kept one Thunder Explosion Pill while fighting Ma Gi.
He had originally prepared it in case he needed to destroy some formation Jaha might create.
He had never expected to use it like this.
Using the pillar of water created by the explosion, Hwancheonma shot five jang into the air.
The poisonous snakes in the water were slaughtered by the explosion.
Jaha did not want to lose Hwancheonma after finally cornering him.
He activated the Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps and ran across the water.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
Running over the water with Jaha's current internal power rapidly consumed his true qi.
At the same time, the borrowed energy he had absorbed using the Acupoint-Draining Claw Method was reaching its limit and beginning to disappear.
Numbness slowly spread through his body.
If I let this chance go, when will I ever get another opportunity to kill Hwancheonma?
Jaha ran faster, determined to catch Hwancheonma.
Seeing Jaha rapidly closing the distance, Hwancheonma suddenly felt fear.
Jaha's eyes were filled with killing intent, almost as if flames were burning inside them.
For the first time in his life, Hwancheonma thought he might actually die.
Seeing that, the Right Protector shouted,
"Bring our lord back!"
At his order, the four guards waiting by the water rushed toward Hwancheonma.
Seeing all four guards coming to rescue him, Jaha bit his lip.
He used the Command of All Living Things and called the surviving poisonous snakes together.
As Jaha drew closer to Hwancheonma, one guard pushed another guard from behind.
The pushed guard flew toward Jaha as though he and his sword had become one.
However, Jaha avoided the attack with three steps of the Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps.
When Jaha swiftly dodged, the guard kicked against the water and rose again.
The moment he touched the surface, a green poisonous snake wrapped around his ankle.
Jaha had no time to fight every guard personally, so he used the snakes instead.
Once the snake bit him and disturbed his true qi, the guard's body staggered.
Jaha did not miss the opening.
He swung his sword.
The guard desperately tried to block.
However, Jaha's sword slipped around the defense.
His arm bent as though the elbow had dislocated, then the blade tore into the guard's ribs.
Crack!
The guard could not even scream before falling into the water.
Splash!
He never surfaced again.
The remaining three guards had just caught Hwancheonma in the air.
When they saw Jaha kill their companion and continue chasing them, they exchanged glances.
"Go. We'll stop him."
As they descended toward the water, Hwancheonma warned them,
"There are poisonous snakes in the water. Be careful!"
Hwancheonma's true qi was already exhausted.
He was no longer in any condition to fight Jaha.
The fact that he had to show his back and flee made him feel so humiliated he nearly cried.
His body trembled at the disgrace of surviving only because his subordinates were sacrificing themselves.
"Understood."
Two guards turned to face Jaha.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
The two guards running freely across the water were clearly experts.
Jaha hurried when numbness began spreading through his body.
He knew very well that in his current condition, he could not properly fight two first-rate guards at once.
While rushing toward them, Jaha lowered his sword so the tip dipped beneath the surface.
Something climbed up along the blade.
Then Jaha thrust his sword toward the two approaching guards as if throwing it.
Whoosh!
Four streaks of light flew toward them.
They were four snakes.
At the same time, Jaha kicked the surface of the water while running.
A spray of water rose in front of him.
Several fish were carried upward with it.
Jaha stepped on the fish and shot even higher than the two guards.
"Whoa!"
The crowd watching from far away shouted in amazement.
"Whoooooa!"
Rising above both guards, Jaha brought his sword down.
However, Hwancheonma's guards were not ordinary experts.
They twisted their bodies in midair and blocked Jaha's sword.
That was almost as difficult as changing direction while airborne.
Clang!
Splash!
Still, both guards were smashed downward into the water by Jaha's strike.
The poisonous snakes immediately wrapped around them.
If this battle had taken place on land, Jaha would not have been able to match them.
Without the help of the turtles and fish, he could never have gained an advantage against Hwancheonma or his guards.
"Ughhh!"
The two guards struggled in the water after being bitten by the snakes.
Then their heads sank beneath the surface.
Only their bodies floated above the lake.
After defeating the guards, Jaha's true qi was almost completely exhausted.
His body felt as heavy as soaked cotton.
Still, he did not give up.
He landed on the body of one guard who had died almost instantly from the snake venom.
Jaha stabbed the Mingmen acupoint with his sword, then used the Acupoint-Draining Claw Method to absorb the remaining true qi.
Both guards had only just died, so some of their true qi still remained inside their dantians.
Even after death, internal energy remained for a short while.
But that was not the real problem.
Jaha had already begun suffering numbness after exhausting the true qi he absorbed earlier from the Crow Sword and Saber.
Now, as he absorbed more energy, a burning pain struck his dantian as if someone were pressing a heated iron into it.
"Ugh!"
The pain was so intense that Jaha wanted to abandon the true qi and stop entirely.
Still, he clenched his teeth and absorbed it.
Then he activated the Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps again.
His body regained momentum.
Before Hwancheonma could land on the stone island, Jaha shot forward like a powerful stream of water.
"Huh!"
Hwancheonma looked back and sharply sucked in air.
Seeing Jaha still relentlessly chasing him made chills crawl across his skin.
What kind of mortal enemy am I to that bastard? Why won't he just stop and retreat? Why is he so damn persistent?
Jaha had barely enough true qi left for a single move.
The numbness had already reached his fingers, and the joints no longer moved properly.
If this continued, he would soon be unable to hold his sword.
So he poured every remaining bit of energy into the blade.
The final surviving guard saw Jaha closing in.
He kicked off Hwancheonma's shoulder, shot upward, and slashed down at Jaha from above.
The attack was meant to buy enough time for Hwancheonma to safely reach the stone island.
Seeing it, Jaha's heart sank.
He had been flying in a straight line toward Hwancheonma.
There was no place to dodge in midair, and he had no way to change direction.
If I block that strike, I'll be smashed into the water.
But if he did not block it, his head would be split open.
At that moment, Jaha spotted a small hummingbird flying toward him.
Willow Flower Water Garden was a resting place not only for fish, but also for many types of birds.
Countless birds flew around the area.
The moment Jaha saw the hummingbird, he used the Command of All Living Things.
