Chapter 119: A Way to Survive
I raised the tip of my sword slightly and glared at Moyong Seong.
“The afterlife?”
“Looks to me like you'll be getting there before I do.”
Moyong Seong chuckled.
“Han Mujin.”
“You're an entertaining bastard.”
Then his eyes suddenly turned cold.
“I've wanted to settle things with you for a while now...”
He angled his sword toward me.
“Looks like the day has finally come.”
He continued in a low voice.
“I saw what you were capable of during the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.”
“Not bad.”
“You looked to be around the early stage of the Peak Realm.”
He spoke as though he was acknowledging my strength.
But beneath every word lay absolute confidence in himself.
“Early Peak Realm...”
Moyong Seong's lips curled upward.
“Considering your age, that's certainly impressive.”
Then his smile sharpened.
“But you're still beneath me.”
“I'll teach you just how high the heavens truly are.”
Both sleeves of his robe began whipping violently.
At the same time...
a cold, razor-sharp pressure leaked from the sword in his hand.
I drew a short breath inwardly.
He's strong.
Stronger than any enemy I'd fought so far.
At least middle Peak Realm...
Maybe even higher.
He wasn't much older than me.
Yet he'd already reached this level.
Now I understood why people called Moyong Seong the strongest of the younger generation.
But—
I wasn't afraid of him.
There was no reason to be.
I smiled at him.
“Moyong Seong.”
“The way you talk like an arrogant prick really does make you sound exactly like your filthy father.”
His eyes turned even colder.
“Shut your mouth.”
“He is not someone trash like you is permitted to speak of.”
I snorted.
“Permitted?”
“And judging by what I'm seeing, I don't think I'll be the one taking the road to the afterlife first.”
Moyong Seong frowned.
“What?”
Instead of answering...
I adjusted my grip on the sword.
Then fully released the qi gathered within my dantian.
The force surging out of me lifted my clothes and hair.
Whoooosh!
My collar and sleeves whipped violently.
Dust on the ground trembled.
Moyong Seong's eyes shook.
“What...?”
His expression changed.
“How...?”
I slowly raised my head toward him.
“Why are you so surprised?”
"..."
“A moment ago you were going on about the heavens and all that.”
I lifted the sword tip and pointed it toward him.
“Why'd you suddenly go quiet?”
Then I smiled coldly.
“They say a frog in a well thinks the patch of sky above its head is the whole world.”
“That fits you perfectly, you dumb bastard.”
Moyong Seong's face twisted.
“You... lowborn bastard...!”
His eyes burned with rage.
The pressure pouring from him intensified.
Here he comes.
Moyong Seong charged.
SHWAAAK!
His sword swept out in a broad arc.
The blade came straight for my neck.
I didn't retreat.
I met it head-on.
KAANG! KAKANG!
Sword struck sword in rapid succession.
The metallic clashes ripped through the roar of the waterfall.
KANG! KAANG! KAAANG!
Dozens of exchanges passed in moments.
Then...
after one violent clash...
Moyong Seong and I both jumped back.
“...Not bad.”
He breathed lightly.
“You have every right to boast about inheriting True Immortal Cheongun's sword art.”
He drew one foot back and adjusted his stance.
“But Cheongun...”
His eyes narrowed.
“That name is still nothing more than a relic of the past.”
He lifted his sword.
“Now I'll show you what the true heavens look like.”
His voice filled with pride.
“The martial art of the true strongest under heaven...”
“Sovereign Heaven Sword.”
He angled the sword diagonally.
Then swung it toward me.
“Sovereign Heaven Sword, First Form...”
“Heavenly Stars, Ten Thousand Rains!”
Moyong Seong began swinging his sword again and again.
SHWAAAK! SHWAAAK! SHWAAAAAK!
Every time the blade cut through the air...
sword qi split away from it.
And every one of those blades of qi...
came straight toward me.
Countless sword energies rained down all at once.
Like a downpour.
There was nowhere to dodge.
One mistake...
and my entire body would be shredded beneath that sword rain.
I swallowed a short breath.
Then immediately raised my sword.
If I can't avoid the rain...
then I'll stop it from falling.
I opened my sword path.
Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword, Third Form...
Snowstorm Spiral Shatter.
WHOOOOOSH!
Sword wind rose along the path of my blade.
Every connected stroke made the wind stronger.
And by the end...
it had gathered into a storm like a blizzard raging through Kunlun's snowy peaks.
The storm of Snowstorm Spiral Shatter collided head-on with the sword rain of Heavenly Stars, Ten Thousand Rains.
KAKANG! KAANG! KAKANG! KAGAGANG!
The sounds of colliding sword forces exploded one after another.
The sharp qi raining through the air...
was caught by the sword wind, bent aside, and scattered.
Of course...
I couldn't erase every last strand of sword qi.
A cold blade of energy brushed past my cheek.
One side of my face stung.
It cut me shallowly.
But I couldn't stop.
Without breaking the Flow of Snowstorm Spiral Shatter...
I drove straight toward Moyong Seong.
The sword wind changed.
No longer a wind used to block.
A wind used to push.
It battered into Moyong Seong's sword path and disturbed his balance.
His eyes widened slightly.
"...!"
KAAANG!
Steel exploded against steel once again.
Our blades locked.
I pushed against Moyong Seong's sword.
He did the same.
“Kugh.”
“Ghk.”
Neither of us gave ground.
Moyong Seong and I stared each other down at point-blank range.
The wrists gripping my sword tingled painfully.
I gritted my teeth inwardly.
Moyong Seong...
He's every bit as strong as I thought.
For a while...
our strength remained locked against each other.
But it didn't last long.
Tap!
Almost as though we'd agreed...
we broke apart at the same time.
“Han Mujin....”
Moyong Seong slowly exhaled.
“You're more tenacious than I expected.”
He raised his sword upright again.
“I'd like to play with you a little longer...”
His eyes sharpened.
“but I don't have time to waste.”
I snorted.
“Listen to this bastard.”
“Anyone hearing you would think you've been going easy on me.”
I raised my sword.
“Stop flapping your mouth and come at me.”
A thin vein bulged on Moyong Seong's forehead.
