Chapter 125

I've already eaten mind-controlling insects? When, where... how... His stomach churned violently and something rose up. The thought that something he so despised was wriggling somewhere inside his body was unbearable.

Having lost his composure, Cheong-ra inadvertently made a sound. Instantly, the Blood Cult member reacted sensitively and threw a dagger.

"Where are you!"

He barely avoided the dagger that pierced through the ceiling, but a burning pain flared in his forearm. The pain helped Cheong-ra regain his senses, and he gritted his teeth. Even in his dizziness, he didn't lose sight of his objective. He immediately struck down with a fist imbued with inner energy, collapsing the storage room's ceiling, causing the Blood Cult members to scream.

"Protect the Demon Soul Insects!"

The Blood Cult members threw themselves desperately to shield the insects from being destroyed. Even as blood spurted from their backs cut by the sword, they protected the mind-controlling insects with their lives.

"You rat-like bastard, how dare you interfere with our sect's operation!"

A Blood Cult member, his eyes bloodshot with rage even in the whites, swung his sword. Perhaps because it was an important task, his skill was above expectations. Cheong-ra deflected the other's sword while judging that things could go badly if he lost his composure in this situation.

As his identity could be revealed, he couldn't easily use his sect's martial arts, so Cheong-ra was purely defensive. Even while facing the Blood Cult member, he improvised by kicking a piece of debris with his toe. The wooden piece flew with fierce momentum, passing through a gap in the Blood Cult member's body and hitting the jar. Crash! The jar shattered, scattering fragments everywhere.

"Nooo!"

The Blood Cult member cried out in despair. Wriggling mind-controlling insects poured out, with about half of them already as good as dead. Seeing this, the Blood Cult member's despair quickly turned into immense anger.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!"

Terrifying killing intent poured from the Blood Cult member's sword. Each move aimed for vital points, targeting the opponent's death. Cheong-ra tried to focus on his opponent while attempting to divert his attention from the still wriggling mind-controlling insects. Cold sweat glistened on his pale, rigid face.

The Blood Cult member dispatched to protect the insects was highly skilled, but not as good as the red-masked executives. In normal circumstances, Cheong-ra could easily win after hundreds of exchanges. However, his mind was now entirely focused on the mind-controlling insects, preventing him from performing at his best, resulting in a precarious exchange of attacks and defenses.

There are insects in my body... Just thinking about it made him feel violently nauseous, with intense emotions surging as if his mind was being overwhelmed. At that moment, the Blood Cult member's sword pierced through an opening. Cheong-ra hurriedly leaned back to respond, but once the balance of attack and defense was broken, it turned unfavorable. As he moved urgently, the wooden mask he was wearing fell off. The Blood Cult member's eyes widened.

"You're Moonlight Flashing Sword!"

Cheong-ra, who had been struggling to defend, bit his lip painfully to regain his senses. It was too late now to look for a chance to escape. No matter what, he was determined to kill this Blood Cult member. Cheong-ra's eyes flashed.

Moon Lake Sect's ultimate technique, Full Moon Sparse Stars Sword—.

Just as the sword energy on his blade was thickening, about to emit a majestic aura.

Swish! With a sound-breaking noise that split the air, something flew and pierced the Blood Cult member's head. At first, he thought it was a spear, but upon closer look, it was a flagpole decorating the martial arts hall. Thinking it might be Dang Ran-yeong, Cheong-ra's face brightened slightly as he turned to confirm the other person. The smile that was about to form on his face quickly hardened.

"Cheong-ra."

With footsteps, a familiar man emerged from the darkness with a smiling face. Cheong-ra unconsciously muttered the other's name.

"Yeon Jeok-san..."

"It's been a really long time. I saw you at the preliminaries last time, but seeing you from afar was too disappointing."

His gentle-looking face was full of longing and joy, as if he had met a close friend on the street. However, Cheong-ra's face turned cold, remembering the box full of insects and the blood letter he had received before. Moreover, Yeon Jeok-san was ostentatiously wearing Cheong-ra's stolen jade rabbit as an accessory on his waist.

"Yeon Jeok-san. I didn't think you'd stoop so low as to join hands with the Blood Cult."

"Would you believe me if I said I was that desperate?"

Are you saying you joined a cult group that offers human sacrifices because you were desperate? And not just that, but those who try to feed mind-controlling insects to dozens of people they want to sacrifice...! The icy cold anger cleared Cheong-ra's dizzy mind.

No longer feeling the need to converse with the other, Cheong-ra pointed his sword at Yeon Jeok-san. Yeon Jeok-san, his eyes tinged red, responded by drawing his sword.

"It's been ten years since we last crossed swords, hasn't it? It was really good back then."

Ignoring the friendly words, Cheong-ra lunged forward. His sword extended like a beam of light, aiming for Yeon Jeok-san's chest.

Yeon Jeok-san's sword, imbued with blood-like sword energy, deflected the attack. It was a fierce counterattack that not only sparked but made his wrist numb. Cheong-ra, without blinking, continued his rapid attacks. The speed was so fast it was almost invisible to the eye.

Yeon Jeok-san responded with equally swift swordsmanship. He was as fast as if he had been training solely for the day he would face Cheong-ra. With veins bulging blue on his sword arm from exertion, he launched powerful sword strikes. Cheong-ra's eyebrows twitched.

Thousand Forms Sword, Yeon Jeok-san.

If there are a thousand martial artists in the world, there are a thousand ways of fighting. The martial arts Yeon Jeok-san had learned was a unique skill passed down to a single person, changing sword forms according to the opponent. Thus, for Yeon Jeok-san, there was no disadvantage in compatibility no matter who he fought.

Sword light flashed countless times as a meaningless exchange of attacks and defenses continued for dozens of seconds. Cheong-ra could have drawn more inner energy to move faster, but as the other's sword was more domineering, he clicked his tongue lightly and changed his sword technique.

As he adopted the form of the Misty Soft Sword Art, his sword moved softly and irregularly like formless mist. The sword energy on the blade became even hazier, deflecting Yeon Jeok-san's countless attacks with a technique of using softness to overcome hardness. In response, Yeon Jeok-san's sword technique also changed.

The red light of the sword energy on his blade intensified, creating an illusion as if blood was dripping down. What followed was not the unique martial art he had learned.

Soul-Breaking Blood Shadow Sword Technique, One Point Blood Flow Mark.

The sword energy elongated and then became a single blood point, dispersing Cheong-ra's sword energy. If he had tried to deflect it, his sword would have shattered into pieces. That would have instantly meant Cheong-ra's defeat. Seeing the tip of his sword faintly damaged where the attack had grazed, anger appeared on Cheong-ra's face.

"Yeon Jeok-san! How could you abandon the martial arts taught by your master!"

The martial art Yeon Jeok-san had just demonstrated was clearly evil to anyone's eyes. It must be from the Blood Cult. For Cheong-ra, who regarded Moon Lake Sect and its people as his home and family, it was an unacceptable betrayal.

"Yes. I abandoned even my sect to have you. I thought you might be moved by the fact that I went this far..."

Yeon Jeok-san's words only increased Cheong-ra's anger. Madman! Soon, Cheong-ra's sword, responding to his emotions, rang out and poured forth streams of killing intent. Even in the face of such fierce attacks, Yeon Jeok-san just grinned with a joyful expression.

"You're getting angry for my sake!"

It became a waste of time to continue talking with someone who wasn't in his right mind. Cheong-ra, intending to finish his opponent in one go, brought out the sword technique he couldn't use earlier.

Full Moon Sparse Stars Sword. Brilliant light-like sword energy not only enveloped the sword but radiated outward in all directions like beams of light. It was the realm of sword threads, beyond mere sword energy. Yeon Jeok-san's eyes were momentarily entranced by this ultimate technique he was seeing for the first time. As Cheong-ra swung his sword, a large arc appeared in the air. It resembled a half-moon.

"Kuk...!"

With a chilling sound, Yeon Jeok-san's chest was deeply cut. He thought he had dodged, but he was hit by a second strike that came after the feint. It was a sharp moon sword that could even cut through the protective inner energy wrapped around his body, but the attack that landed was shallow.

Clutching his bleeding chest and hastily retreating, Yeon Jeok-san's face showed a resentful expression. Gritting his teeth so hard they made a grinding sound, he shouted,

"After all I've done! Why can't I still reach you...!"

Regardless of what the other said, Cheong-ra was only disappointed that he hadn't properly cut down Yeon Jeok-san. Yeon Jeok-san's skills had also improved remarkably, showing that he hadn't wasted his time over the years.

"Still... still not enough. Then!"

While Cheong-ra was catching his breath, tired from creating sword threads, Yeon Jeok-san took something out from his bosom. It was a small bell. The Blood Cult member who had been hurriedly gathering the surviving mind-controlling insects while the two were fighting saw the bell and screamed.

"Lord Yu Heng! You, you mustn't ring that! Our sect's operation isn't over yet...!"

"Can't you see? Today's plan has already completely failed. The Executioners maintaining the formation and the mind-controlling insects are all dead. It's all thanks to this young master that it failed."

As Yeon Jeok-san said this, his face showed a light of pride in Cheong-ra rather than anger. It was an emotion that seemed truly strange to both the Blood Cult member and Cheong-ra.

'Yu Heng? If it's Yu Heng, it's one of the names of the stars forming the Big Dipper... Is this guy also an executive of the Blood Cult?'

Yeon Jeok-san seemed to have risen to an even higher position in the Blood Cult than expected. The Blood Cult member cried out urgently, trying to stop Yeon Jeok-san.

"But there are still Demon Soul Insects here...!"

"Shut up!"

Yeon Jeok-san killed the Blood Cult member in one stroke. While Cheong-ra was momentarily speechless at the cruelty of killing an ally, he shook the bell. Expecting a loud noise, surprisingly, only a faint, clear ringing sound was heard.

"Cheong-ra. Let's have a fun time together..."

Yeon Jeok-san chuckled and stepped back. As Cheong-ra felt an ominous aura and was hesitating whether to flee even now,

Suddenly, a terribly foul odor wafted from somewhere. Cheong-ra reflexively recalled his previous encounter with Wi Je-ho and the giant tiger. Without any wind blowing, he heard the sound of rustling grass. Focusing his enhanced vision, he saw a huge form moving as if sliding in the darkness. It was an eerie movement that gave him goosebumps just by looking at it.

Finally, when the thing emerging from the darkness revealed itself, Cheong-ra's body stiffened. Not even a breath escaped from his unconsciously opened mouth.

A giant centipede, one of the Hundred-Legged Insects, was there.