“What the hell?!”

The spear thrown by the boy created a crevice at the bottom of the canyon, separating Chun A-young and the Blade Ogre. 

Obviously, it had been thrown by a certain Hyuk Woon-seong. 

Said boy was observing his opponent as he fell from the sky. 

The shape of a turtle head…Is it a nine-ringed turtle head dao? It’s an irregular one with rings. 

However, martial artists that used this kind of weapon usually had a weakness. They either lacked inner strength, or their qi was impure. It was hard to say which in this case, but there had to be something; there was no reason to use an unusual weapon for anything other than hiding a weakness. 

Now, why was the Blade Ogre of the Green Mountain using one?

Landing casually by A-young, Woon-seong tried to answer the question based on its appearance alone. 

The Blade Ogre was also staring at the boy. His mind wasn’t quite so analytical though. “If you swing it one more time, know that you’re in the way and will be seeking death!” 

Rather than responding, Woon-seong ordered the 1st Latent Demon Squad. “Come down and protect the members of the 2nd Latent Demon Squad!” 

As soon as they heard the command, the members of the 1st Squad, who had a momentous fighting spirit, charged down. 

Although it was a canyon, the walls were not straight. Despite this, the rough slopes were no problem for the trainees, who had been running up and down mountains since childhood. Gwan Tae-ryang jumped down first, standing as if to protect everyone by himself. 

In the meantime, Woon-seong grabbed his spear and used it to block the Blade Ogre. To be more accurate, he was shielding A-young, who was now behind him. 

A-young, who recognized him, shouted to stop him. “Number 900!”

Woon-seong, his spear still outstretched, spoke to her without looking back. “Stay back. I’m here to help.”

A-young huffed, still gripping her sword. “The Blade Ogre is a Great Demon-level martial artist. Can you deal with him alone?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. Stay back. Fighting with the wounded will only drag me down.” As he said this, Woon-swing swiped with his spear, the movement lighter than ever. 

A-young, as well as the Blade Ogre, almost missed the movement. 

Since when has Number 900’s movements been so fast? A-young was speechless for a moment, gaping at him. Oh, then she noticed something. You’ve taken off the iron rings.

To be precise, Woon-seong had taken them off just before jumping down the canyon. The situation seemed urgent and he had made a quick judgement: He wasn’t good enough to face this opponent with them all on. 

Woon-seong stared at the Blade Ogre, admiring how light his body felt. Even when he had dealt with Black Evil, the moment he had taken off the iron rings, the feeling of his whole body becoming light was hard to express in words. Whenever he dealt with the strong, it seemed that he was becoming addicted to the sense of freedom from taking off the bracers. 

So you should never take off the other two.

If he got addicted to this sensation, he would be unable to practice properly. 

Indeed, unless the situation was a matter of life or death, Woon-seong had firmly decided not to take off the rings on his legs.

Moreover, how will you get your revenge on opponents stronger than this if you take off all your rings today?

The Blade Ogre stared at him. “Are you also a dog of the Demonic Cult?”

At that, Woon-seong mocked, “Calling me a dog of the Cult will only make you more miserable.” 

“What?”

Seeing that the Blade Ogre didn’t understand, Woon-seong immediately rushed forward. “What do you call someone hunted down by a dog? Are you implying that you’re lower than a dog?”

Boom!

The energy of the boy collided with that of the Blade Ogre. Two weapons intertwined with sparks in between. 

Clang—! Ka-kang!

A dark cloud seemed to float around the body of the boy. His eyes were flashing gold, so it was clear this was some sort of intimidation qi. It flowed from his body and through the spear, soon passing through to the body of the Blade Ogre.

“Hmm?” The Blade Ogre unconsciously flinched… 

Woon-seong smiled at this reaction. It works.

This was his trump card, so the fewer people who knew of the existence of intimidation qi, the better. However, there was no way he would use it in dangerous situations like this, so he had to hide it. What the boy was using now was an application of intimidation qi, the one he learned during the fight against Black Evil. 

‘Intimidation dress’. 

It was a skill of suppressing the intimidation qi into a thin layer that wrapped around his body, like a cloak, instead of radiating outwards. 

“How dare you!” The Blade Ogre swung his blade wildly, not liking Woon-seong’s laughter. 

As soon as the blade flew out, Woon-seong flipped. At the same time, the spear swung to prevent the attack, creating a lattice cage of energy with the Spear Master Sect’s technique. 

Woon-seong’s upper body shook violently. As the Blade Ogre of the Green Mountain was strong, it would be dangerous. 

He corrected his posture once again. 

“So you blocked that! You really do know a thing or two!”

“Didn’t you hear me? You asked to be someone lower than a dog. You must not be so bright.”

“You fucking brat!”

Based on his reactions and the previous collisions, Woon-seong had deduced why the Blade Ogre used an unusual weapon. His qi is impure. 

Woon-seong guessed that this was probably due to his cultivation arts. While it looked like the Blade Ogre’s insights into the blade dao was deep, it was likely very shallow. Incorrect practice would cause an accumulation of impurities in the body and qi. 

Though the opponent was a more complete martial artist than Black Evil, Woon-seong had the upper hand in short-term explosive power. 

Thanks to his opponent being easily provoked, it was also easy for him to use the intimidation qi. 

Of course, beating the Blade Ogre was still easier said than done. 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. 

The Blade Ogre swiped at the air, causing undulations of energy to travel through the air. From his movements, it was clear that he hoped to kill Woon-seong in a heartbeat. 

Woon-seong, in the meantime, was trying to come up with a solution. His qi is more impure than Black Evil’s, but more complete… He wasn’t confident that the impure qi would make much of a difference. 

“Son of a bitch! You’re pretty good for your age, but blame yourself for being so arrogant!”

Hualalala-

A violent storm occurred when the two collided. Beneath the feet of the boy, the earth cracked. At the same time, Woon-seong felt like his bones were being snapped. 

It was impure, but the amount of qi was suppressing him. The Blade Ogre attacked with an onslaught as if he was fully aware of this fact. With his attack, the ground shattered and dust flew. 

Kua-kua-kua! Boom!

Woon-seong eventually broke through, though he was covered with large and small wounds. None were deep, thanks to him avoiding most attacks, but blood flowed down his body. He was in pain and his legs were heavy. He wanted to take off the iron rings, but he didn’t. 

Two moves came to Woon-seong’s mind: ‘Art of Six Seals and Destruction’ and the ‘Divine Spear of the Ending Night’. 

Wanting  to be a bit more conservative, Woon-seong chose the latter.

‘Divine Spear of the Ending Night’! His spear swam like a golden carp, running through the attacks of the Blade Ogre. At that moment, the spear headed right for the Blade Ogre’s head! 

Khut-!

The offensive of the other changed: what had been an attack turned into defense. A solid wall of blades!

Woon-seong’s offensive was blocked by this defense with a sound like the thunderbolt. Coping with this, he unleashed another attack. ‘Rain of Star Destruction!’ 

“It’s an impressive form, but you have yet to complete the art. You bastard of the Demonic Cult!” The Blade Ogre seemed to have transformed again. He unleashed a rain of blades, each carrying blade aura. 

A bizarre sound rang and the end of his spear began to distort. Even if the spear was made of black iron, it wouldn’t have mattered — there was no end to the sword! 

What should I do?

The ‘Divine Spear of the Ending Night’ would penetrate the rain of blades, but would be blacked by the blade wall. On the other hand, the ‘Art of Six Seals and Destruction’ could break through the blade wall, but would not get past the rain of blades. 

What a dilemma. 

“Hey, let me end this.” The Blade Ogre was walking forward, his voice sounding closer and closer. 

Boom!

The attacks continued without stopping. 

I have to make a decision! The Ending Night or the Six Seals…Or should I take off my leg bracers?

In a crisis, Woon-seong’s concentration was compressed to the limit. Even the passage of time seemed to slow momentarily. With this, he was reminded of an entirely different option. 

Why not both?

It was an instinctive question that flashed unconsciously. In addition, it seemed to hit the nail on the head. The Dark Flower Method and the Completed Method of the Tempered Orthodox Qi….Fill in the flaws with all the manuals that he had seen in the Divine Vault of Demonic Qi, that was how he had made the Tempered True Blossom. 

Then what about the Ending Night and the Art of Six Seals? Wasn’t this his goal, to combine the two? He was only putting it aside since he hadn’t mastered either of them. 

Should I stop?

Combining two incompletes was likely to produce adverse effects. 

That was a rational judgement, but the spear in his hands was already moving! It traced a trajectory that he had never seen before!

Kuang—!

With a bang and flash of light, a dragon with wretched claws and smooth movement began to dance.