Chapter: 13
A move of mutual destruction, staking everything on the outcome.
Namgung Cheon saw the gray sword aura rushing straight toward his heart.
Should he dodge?
Or break through?
In that split second, his decision was made.
I won’t dodge.
There was no retreat on the path of the Heavenly Demon.
That was the way he fought.
Namgung Cheon gathered even more internal energy and poured it into Changcheon.
He ignored the chilling sensation of the blade boring toward his heart.
Instead, he bet everything on his certainty that he could sever his opponent’s neck first.
“…!”
Mujin’s eyes trembled.
He had launched that attack believing Namgung Cheon’s sword would stop.
At this rate, they would exchange his neck for Namgung Cheon’s heart and die together.
A brief hesitation.
And that hesitation caused the tip of Mujin’s sword to waver.
Slash!
“Urgh…!”
Mujin’s sword grazed Namgung Cheon’s left shoulder.
It had been aimed at his heart, but the wavering blade only managed to wound his shoulder.
The price for that hesitation was unmistakable.
Having lost the psychological battle, Mujin missed the perfect opportunity to block Namgung Cheon’s sword.
“Hah!”
Instinctively twisting his body, Mujin avoided the fatal strike aimed at his neck.
Slash!
Namgung Cheon’s sword carved across Mujin’s chest.
With a sickening sound, crimson blood burst forth like a fountain.
“Urgh!”
The scent of each other’s blood filled the air.
Tap.
Almost simultaneously, both men withdrew their swords and stepped back.
“Hah… Hahaha!”
Laughter burst from Mujin’s lips.
The carefree wandering swordsman who had roamed the world disappeared, replaced by the fighting spirit he had suppressed for so long.
“Yes! That’s how it should be! Now this is a battle worth fighting!”
Whoosh!
As though answering his roar, a hollow gray sword aura blossomed above his blade.
Ignoring the blood pouring from his shoulder, Namgung Cheon also spoke.
“Just as I hoped.”
Boom!
Above Changcheon, a blazing blue sword aura finally erupted like a roaring flame.
Sword Aura against Sword Aura.
At last, the two Transcendent Realm masters revealed their true strength.
Once more, they charged directly at one another.
BOOM!
The instant the blue and gray sword auras collided, destruction beyond anything before engulfed the riverside.
With a thunderous explosion, the river split apart, exposing the damp riverbed that had not seen daylight for decades.
The shockwave reduced enormous boulders along the shore to dust and set the reeds ablaze.
But for the two warriors, the battle had only just begun.
“Excellent!”
Mujin laughed madly as he swung his sword.
His gray sword aura no longer moved defensively.
Instead, it revealed its dreadful nature—to return everything it touched to nothingness.
Boom!
As his blade swept through the air, a massive scar was carved into the earth.
“Now you’re finally worth watching.”
Namgung Cheon swung Changcheon as well, turning even the pain in his bleeding shoulder into exhilaration.
His blue sword aura was domination itself, tearing apart the heavens and splitting the earth.
Every swing sent violent tremors racing across the ground.
Crack! Crunch!
The clash between the two supreme masters destroyed everything around them.
The spectators watching from afar were frozen in terror.
This power had long surpassed the realm of martial arts they knew.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Their exchanges continued without pause.
Neither side gained a clear advantage.
Namgung Cheon’s overwhelming destructive power was repeatedly neutralized by Mujin’s strange power of Extinction, while Mujin’s unpredictable counterattacks were blocked by Namgung Cheon’s beast-like battle instincts.
But time favored Namgung Cheon.
The longer a battle of attrition lasted, the more victory depended on experience and the efficient use of internal energy.
Namgung Cheon possessed the countless years of experience he had accumulated as the Heavenly Demon, along with his savage combat instincts.
Thus, as the battle reached its peak, the difference between them gradually became apparent.
For the first time, the gray sword aura surrounding Mujin’s blade wavered ever so slightly as it received Namgung Cheon’s attack.
That fleeting opening.
Namgung Cheon did not let it escape.
He raised Changcheon high into the sky before bringing it crashing straight down with enough force to end everything.
A blue bolt of lightning that split the world apart.
Just as that blue destruction descended upon Mujin—
“KRAAAH!”
Mujin squeezed every last ounce of strength from his body and raised his sword.
BOOOOOOM!
The instant the two swords collided, the exploding sword auras expanded in every direction, swallowing everything nearby.
Sizzle!
When the blazing force reached the river, the water evaporated with a deafening roar, producing an enormous cloud of steam.
Then, as though trying to fill the empty space, water from both sides of the river surged toward the center.
ROOOAR!
The two torrents crashed into one another, forcing each other upward until they formed an immense pillar of water shooting into the heavens.
At last, the towering column lost its strength, falling back to the earth as rain.
A short while later.
When every drop of water that had risen into the sky had fallen back to the ground…
Namgung Cheon was still standing firmly with his sword in hand.
His body was covered in wounds, and his breathing was ragged, yet his eyes still shone brilliantly.
Clang.
The shattered remains of Mujin’s sword slipped weakly from his hand.
Cough.
Spitting blood, he slowly collapsed.
The gray sword aura that had once enveloped his blade had vanished without a trace.
Thud.
Finally, his knees struck the ground.
“…”
Not a single spectator watching from the riverbank could utter a word.
The disciple of the Wandering King.
One of only two wielders of the Sword of Extinction under heaven.
That legend had just fallen before their eyes.
And the man who had cut down that legend…
The Sword Demon.
No.
Even that title now seemed inadequate.
The power he had displayed had surpassed the realm of demons themselves.
Everyone had witnessed it.
Namgung Cheon had already reached the Transcendent Realm—the limit of what a human could attain.
The disgrace of Sword Emperor Namgung Mugang.
The Third Young Master of the Namgung Clan.
Those old titles, chains that had bound him for so long, scattered away on the riverside wind.
Hundreds of gazes turned toward Namgung Cheon.
Under the moonlight.
The solitary figure standing amidst the ruined riverbank.
No longer living beneath the shadow of the Namgung Clan, but an absolute powerhouse who had subdued Anhui’s strongest warriors through his own martial might.
No one dared call him the Namgung Clan’s disgrace ever again.
Silence settled over the riverside.
Only the ragged breathing of the two men and the sound of blood dripping onto the ground remained.
Namgung Cheon slowly straightened himself.
He glanced down at the wound on his shoulder without emotion.
It was the mark left by an opponent who had been prepared to perish together with him.
Pressing several acupoints to stop the bleeding, he tore a strip from his tattered sleeve and tightly wrapped the wound.
Then he slowly walked toward the defeated Mujin.
Fragments of Mujin’s shattered sword glittered beneath his feet in the moonlight.
Still kneeling with his head lowered, Mujin sensed someone approaching and painfully raised his head.
His dim eyes settled upon the victorious Namgung Cheon.
With a trembling voice, he barely managed to speak.
“So… my Extinction has been broken. My master told me never to lose to anyone…”
Cough.
Spitting dark blood once more, he looked up at Namgung Cheon.
“That final strike… it was undoubtedly a move from the Boundless Heavenly Sky Sword Art. Yet the transformation within it… was not one belonging to the Namgung Clan that I know.”
Namgung Cheon looked down at him silently.
There was neither the arrogance of a victor nor pity for the defeated in his eyes.
Only the bare minimum of respect for the man who had crossed swords with him while staking everything.
“It is simply the path of my sword.”
A short answer spoken with complete sincerity.
That alone was enough.
Mujin asked no further questions.
Instead, he let out a hollow laugh, as though every mystery had just been answered.
“Heh… hehehe. The path of the sword… I devoted my entire life to walking that single path… and only now do I realize how narrow and shallow my own well truly was.”
There was no humiliation in the eyes of the defeated.
Only awe and relief at having glimpsed a realm beyond the wall that had confined him his entire life.
Extinction.
His sword, which returned all things to nothingness, had encountered a wave greater than itself for the first time today—and shattered.
Yet within that shattering, he had found a new path.
“You truly deserve to be called the Sword Demon. No… even that title falls short… Well, it was a magnificent sight.”
With those words, Mujin’s remaining strength gave out, and he collapsed forward.
He had completely lost consciousness.
Namgung Cheon quietly looked down at him.
The wound he had inflicted was deep.
Stepping closer, he pressed several acupoints to stop Mujin’s bleeding.
It was the minimum courtesy he could offer a powerful opponent who had risked everything in battle against him.
Although the bleeding had been stopped, he could not simply abandon him here.
One of only two wielders of the Sword of Extinction under heaven.
Now that he had lost consciousness, countless people would surely seek his life.
Namgung Cheon turned around.
His gaze swept toward the hundreds gathered on the distant riverbank, who had watched everything unfold.
“…”
Wherever his eyes landed, people instinctively lowered their heads or stepped backward.
No one dared meet his gaze.
An absolute silence.
No one dared speak.
Within that crowd, Namgung Cheon searched not for the fear and reverence directed toward him, but for another pair of eyes hidden behind them.
There you are.
His gaze stopped on one particular man in the crowd.
Though dressed as an ordinary peddler, he could not deceive Namgung Cheon’s eyes.
He was someone sent by the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Cheon spoke quietly.
“You.”
His voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly across the silent riverside.
The man who had been singled out stiffened.
Realizing he had been discovered, his face gradually turned deathly pale.
Pointing his chin toward the unconscious Mujin, Namgung Cheon gave his order.
“Take him to a physician.”
The watcher hurried forward and immediately bowed until his forehead touched the ground.
“I-I obey!”
Turning away, Namgung Cheon silently walked along the riverbank.
His gaze drifted beyond Hefei’s brilliant nightscape toward the direction of the Namgung Clan estate he had left behind.
Nine martial duels.
And the final, tenth battle to the death.
The journey he had undertaken to prove his martial prowess.
Tonight, here, that proof had finally come to an end.
A single face came to Namgung Cheon’s mind.
His mother.
And the true master of the Namgung Clan.
Jegal Hwa.
“I have released you into the wilderness as you wished. Whether you become a wolf or a lost sheep… prove it yourself.”
Those were the words she had spoken to him on the day he left the clan.
He was grateful.
After all, this was what he had wanted from the very beginning.
A wolf…
A cold smile appeared on Namgung Cheon’s lips.
Wolves hunt in packs.
He had conquered everything alone.
The road he would walk from now on would be no different.
I’ll show you.
That my answer is different.
