Chapter 78: Lee Munjeong
Flash!
With the sound of air being torn apart, Lee Munjeong's body rushed straight toward me.
The tip of his sword, radiating a chilling killing intent, stabbed toward my face.
Fast.
I instinctively raised my sword.
CLANG!
The collision rang through my wrist.
There was tremendous force behind the very first strike.
It was a blow carrying Lee Munjeong's intent to finish me in a single move.
He exhaled roughly and immediately followed with another attack.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Our swords collided again and again.
As though determined not to give me even a moment to breathe, Lee Munjeong swung without pause.
His sword paths were dangerous and persistent.
Every strike aimed only for vital points.
My neck.
My heart.
My side.
Even the slightest mistake could leave me critically wounded.
Every single move was a killing technique.
Yu Seola's warning suddenly came back to me.
So this is what she meant when she said his sword felt dark....
While enduring the dangerous close-range exchange, I sent Lee Munjeong a sound transmission.
[What did you mean by "choice"?]
CLANG! CLANG!
As he pushed against my sword, Lee Munjeong opened his mouth.
“You weren't originally a disciple of Kunlun either, were you?”
“What?”
CLANG! CLAAANG!
Lee Munjeong pressed me harder as he continued.
“You were just a porter.”
“Then one day, you suddenly obtained True Immortal Cheongun's martial arts.”
I knocked his sword aside.
“So what exactly are you trying to say?”
CLAAANG!
Our swords locked together.
Lee Munjeong pushed against mine and let out a mocking laugh.
[You received their help too, didn't you?]
CLANG!
[I'm asking whether you made it this far using the power they gave you!]
Lee Munjeong's face was filled with derision.
In that instant, I finally understood what he meant.
...He's misunderstanding me.
Lee Munjeong believed I had gained my power through some sort of deal with the Shadow Corps.
True Immortal Cheongun's legacy.
My rapid growth.
He thought all of it had come from them.
I swung my sword heavily toward him.
CLANG!
“You're badly mistaken.”
[Mistaken? Then what exactly is that power of yours?]
CLAAANG! CLANG!
Instead of answering immediately, I sent him another transmission.
[You took Death-Stealing Pills, didn't you?]
"...!"
Lee Munjeong's sword tip trembled ever so slightly.
Only for an instant.
Then he attacked even more fiercely.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
His voice entered my ears through sound transmission.
[Yes. Death-Stealing Pills... they gave them to me.]
He continued,
[Thanks to those pills and the secret manual, I made it this far.]
A secret manual?
What kind of secret manual?
I watched his face as I swung my sword.
He was staring at me with obvious suspicion.
Then...
SHWAAAAK!
Lee Munjeong spotted an opening and thrust.
I hurriedly raised my sword and blocked.
CLANG!
As the killing strike was deflected, he growled,
“...Who are you?”
"..."
When I didn't answer, another transmission came.
[How... do you know about them?]
The moment I heard that...
I became certain.
He's not Shadow Corps.
At least...
Lee Munjeong didn't seem like an internal member or assassin of the Shadow Corps.
No.
If anything...
he might have been the one being used.
Lee Munjeong breathed heavily as he continued swinging.
Dark-red veins stood out across the back of the hand gripping his sword.
Every time he moved...
the disgusting scent of the Death-Stealing Pill drifted from his body.
...Maybe this bastard is just another piece of bait caught in the Shadow Corps' scheme.
For a moment...
I saw a reflection of my old self from my days as a test subject inside Lee Munjeong's hollow eyes.
...Damn it.
I poured the power of Great Void Golden Body Tempering into my sword and swung hard.
CLAAANG!
The impact forced Lee Munjeong half a step backward.
The moment distance opened between us, I warned him.
[Whatever martial art they taught you, stop using more power.]
"..."
Lee Munjeong's eyes narrowed.
I immediately continued through sound transmission.
[Death-Stealing Pills burn away your Innate Qi to create internal energy.]
"...!"
[You're already in danger.]
[If you keep pushing yourself now... you could die at any moment!]
The corner of Lee Munjeong's mouth rose slightly.
It wasn't mockery.
It wasn't ridicule either.
The smile I saw on his face...
was resignation.
[I don't care.]
Lee Munjeong adjusted his grip on the sword and stared directly into my eyes.
[I already knew... that I didn't have long to live.]
"...?"
He raised the tip of his sword toward me.
[Kunlun's Young Hero...]
[If you lived at the bottom like I did, then surely you understand.]
CLANG!
[The humiliation of being powerless.]
[The helplessness of the weak.]
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
He bit down on his lip and continued swinging.
[My father trained for decades...]
[and was cut down by the sword of some brat who wasn't even twenty.]
His eyes trembled with anger and grief.
[Against a so-called secular disciple of Mount Hua...]
[he died in only a few exchanges.]
Lee Munjeong's voice rose as though he were vomiting out years of resentment.
The dark-red blood vessels on his neck and arms writhed like worms.
The side effects of the Death-Stealing Pill... are already at the limit.
Lee Munjeong swung like today was the last day of his life.
[That miserable third-rate life at the bottom...]
[They gave me a chance to escape it.]
"..."
[I don't care if I die today.]
He stared directly at me and shouted.
He no longer even bothered hiding his thoughts through sound transmission.
“If I'm going to live meaninglessly as some third-rate nobody and die without anyone caring...”
"..."
His gaze slid toward the spectators beyond the platform.
“Then even if it's only for one day...”
His voice shook.
“Even if it's only once...”
“I'd rather die after everyone praised my name.”
For some reason...
I felt sadness looking at him.
[You're a fool.]
"..."
[You know the path is wrong, yet you still refuse to abandon it.]
Lee Munjeong gave a bitter laugh.
“Aren't you the same?”
"...?"
“Didn't you come here because you wanted people to praise you too?”
He bared his teeth.
“Kunlun's Young Hero...”
“If I defeat you, then my name will spread across the martial world as well.”
Madness gleamed in his eyes.
Then he charged at me again.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sword of a beast consumed by madness came at me.
Sharper.
Faster.
Every single move was a flawless killing technique.
This wasn't a sword meant to win.
It was a sword meant to kill.
Shadow Corps...
What the hell did you teach this man?
