Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Cheol So-ah (4)

If the virtuous factions are anchored by the Ten Great Sects, the unholy paths are ruled by the Seven Great Demonic Sects.

“I will slaughter you. You will die by my hand.”

Hovering over Cheol So-ah’s exposed skin, a violet freezing energy mixed with a pale glow began to manifest. It was the physical release of the profound Yin Qi she had hoarded throughout her life.

Within the Seven Great Demonic Sects, a singular entity specialized in manipulating these variations of negative energy, commanding the freezing gale, the piercing frost, and the essence of the moon.

The Heavenly Yin Sect.

It was a secluded order populated entirely by women, a sanctuary dedicated to capturing the Yin Qi found in moonbeams and turning it into potent internal force or pure immortal energy. Even among the Seven Great Demonic Sects, it remained an enigmatic group hidden away from the world’s sight.

Cheol So-ah belonged to this very order. To put it another way, she was both the Young Mistress of the Iron God Gang and a disciple of the Heavenly Yin Sect.

Long ago, Cheol Hon had recognized her exceptional spiritual foundation and innate capability. Concluding that securing absolute rule over the River Capital would be impossible within his own lifetime, he committed his young daughter to the Heavenly Yin Sect when they arrived looking for a talented disciple.

Possessing an extraordinary spiritual nature, she secured a position as a Dharma Maiden, making her eligible to learn the hidden techniques of the Heavenly Yin Sect’s Lunar Radiance Dharma Gate. This placed her directly in the running to become the future leader of the order.

Naturally, she mastered and refined the closely guarded techniques of the sect. Cheol Hon had kept her identity completely masked, planning to deploy her as a hidden trump card in the final showdown with the Seven Star Immortal Society.

However…

Thud.

Thud.

That calculation turned out to be completely wrong.

“I will slaughter you. I will end your life.”

Heavy, resounding footsteps—shattering any impression of Cheol So-ah’s delicate, slender frame—left deep marks upon the floorboards with every stride. The slayer of her father and the destroyer of the Iron God Gang stood directly before her. It was almost impossible to suppress her raging emotions.

Yet, those heavy steps gradually shifted, growing light and effortless. She cast away her fury, her hopelessness, and her bitterness. This was a battle, and the primary doctrine of the Heavenly Yin Sect stated that life and death are determined by absolute coldness.

As a Dharma Maiden of the Heavenly Yin Sect, a freezing mind and frost-laden martial arts defined her core being. For this moment, she suppressed her rage and focused entirely on that principle.

Creak, creak.

She tightened her grip on her Iron Hand Gauntlets, an exceptional pair of weapons forged from Ten Thousand Year Soft Iron. The raised ridges on her knuckles gleamed with a malevolent light. There was nothing these talons could not rend—neither Ten-Thousand Year Cold Iron, profound iron, nor the thick hide of a mythical creature.

Hwaryu-ryu-ryung.

Heavenly Yin Illusory Moon Art.

From Cheol So-ah’s core, a freezing energy resembling a burst from a subterranean ice vault erupted. This was the bedrock of the Heavenly Yin Sect—a method that gathered the essence of Yin from the night sky and transformed it into martial strength. It was the fruit of countless nights spent absorbing the moonlight from dusk until dawn.

The concentrated lunar essence swirled violently within her channels, casting a purple mist around her figure. The temperature plummeted instantly, as though the bitter chill of the cosmos had condensed into the room.

Whish.

Cheol So-ah initiated the assault. Her Iron Hand Gauntlets shot forward along a linear path, aiming directly for his throat. Her hand, reinforced with immense Yin Qi, sliced through the air and left a trail of azure light.

Crash!

The man’s blade intercepted the strike perfectly, meeting the outer edge of her right wrist. The impact triggered a shower of blue sparks. It was a defensive display worthy of the monster who had brought down the entire Iron God Gang on his own. Any ordinary martial master would have been frozen solid upon impact, even if they managed to parry the strike.

Swif.

Rotating her body instantly, she thrust her left hand forward, targeting his lower vitals. Simultaneously, she shifted her weight so her right hand could mirror the path of the left, pressuring Dong Bongsu’s lower stance.

Clang! Clang!

Both strikes were parried effortlessly. It was well within her calculations; the true strength of the Heavenly Yin Sect’s Palm Art lay in its relentless fluidity. It shifted like a river and connected like a gale—an unstoppable tempest once unleashed.

The third strike.

The fourth, fifth, sixth…

Clash-clash-clash-clash-clash~!

The ring of colliding metal echoed without pause. Sparks erupted with every meeting of gauntlet and steel. Yin Qi clashed violently against Sword Qi, sending a wave of absolute frost rippling through the environment.

Twenty exchanges, thirty, forty…

As the count rose, Cheol So-ah’s offensive grew progressively rapid. Her Yin Qi burst forth in volatile waves, rendering the movements of her Iron Hand Gauntlets nearly invisible. To an outside observer, her form would appear as nothing more than intersecting lines of azure light.

The man was retreating, pushed backward by her momentum. His blade was being forced into a defensive posture, leaving him no opportunity to launch a counterstroke or find a moment’s reprieve.

‘To think my father and the Iron God Gang were broken by a man like this!’

She intensified her assault. Soon, she would claim the life of this arrogant righteous warrior. Just a little longer…

Yet, despite repeating that thought a hundred times over, her opponent remained unfazed. The only thing breaking apart was the pavilion itself. Their intense clash had reduced the fifth floor, then the fourth, and now half of the third floor to splinters.

Even so, the man’s respiration remained perfectly steady. In fact, she felt the troubling sensation that his blade work was becoming more refined and efficient as the seconds ticked by. She was throwing everything into her assault, yet he merely gave ground without ever breaking.

‘Is he deciphering my techniques?’

That should be impossible. The Heavenly Yin Sect’s Palm Art embodied the ever-shifting nature of Yin, possessing no predictable patterns or rigid forms. Its essence was to change as fluidly as moonlight—

Her train of thought shattered instantly as her offensive was forcibly halted.

“…?!”

For the first time in hundreds of exchanges, the man had executed a counterattack. Cheol So-ah was caught off guard, having grown accustomed to his purely defensive posture. Fortunately, his strike was a rudimentary downward chop—the most basic of movements, swinging his weapon straight down from above.

The ideal response to a basic strike is a basic defense. She crossed her armored forearms in an X-shape above her head to receive the blow.

But then…

Rumble~!

The atmospheric energy began to warp strangely, churning with violent intensity.

‘The absolute cold of my sect dominates this space, so why is the energy boiling…?’

Only then did she comprehend that the grounds of the Iron God Gang had fallen under a completely foreign domain that did not belong to her.

Thump.

The dark blade slammed into her crossed arms. The sheer force of the impact brought the metallic taste of blood to her nose.

Boom!

A second strike descended, carrying the weight of a divine hammer. The taste of copper filled her mouth as her vision blurred with red. She had clenched her jaw so tightly that blood seeped past her lips. She needed to disengage, but the overwhelming momentum pinned her in place.

With her lower body driven deep into the floorboards, Cheol So-ah slowly lowered her guard. Her gaze locked with Dong Bongsu’s through the dust. With the roof completely obliterated, the sun shone directly behind him, illuminating his teeth—the gleaming, bright teeth of a predator.

Her primal instincts screamed at her to escape.

In that exact moment, as every hair on her body stood on end, the man’s weapon began to rotate with terrifying velocity.

And then.

Crash!

The blade descended, carrying the force of a collapsing sky.

Boom!

The devastating impact numbed her senses entirely, leaving her ears ringing as if she had been plunged into a deep cavern. Her focus narrowed to the gleaming dark tip of his blade pointing down at her. That point rapidly shrank in her field of vision, making her feel as though she were plummeting off a precipice while staring up at the weapon.

Her hearing faded further, the world spun, and darkness enveloped her surroundings. The man’s white teeth dwindled into nothingness. The entire environment gave way to pitch black before her back struck something wet.

A solitary point. Her sight contracted into a single dot of light, revealing the reality of her situation: his strike had driven her straight through the structure and into the bedrock where the underground waters ran.

“…Ugh. This is impossible… I am a Dharma Maiden of the Heavenly Yin Sect!”

Hummmm!

Cheol So-ah formed an intricate hand gesture with both palms.

Purple Moon Phantom Seal.

This was a high-tier illusion technique of her sect, capable of giving form to lunar deceptions. These were not mere hallucinations; they were tangible duplicates forged from concentrated Yin Qi, indistinguishable by sensory perception or heat signatures.

From the dark depths of the earth, a violet vapor manifested. Within the mist, Cheol So-ah divided into two, then four, then eight. Within moments, thirty-two identical copies of Cheol So-ah stood in the cavern. Every single one shared the same body heat, respiration, heartbeat, and scent. They were flawless replicas.

And then.

Rumble!

The thirty-one phantoms and the singular true body surged upward simultaneously, erupting from the crater she had been driven into.

‘I have you!’

He undoubtedly believed she was finished. She could see Dong Bongsu standing motionless with his eyes shut and his weapon lowered. Amid the pulverized remains of the grand hall, he stood entirely isolated.

Swift!

Sixty-four armored hands belonging to the thirty-two manifestations rained down upon him at once.

In that exact moment, the edge of Dong Bongsu’s mouth twitched upward into a distinct smirk.

Hum.

A colorless ripple expanded from his form—a delicate vibration that traveled through the air and brushed against the duplicates. It was a pulse of energy matching the exact frequency of her phantoms, but possessing the completely opposite phase.

Buzz.

The opposing forces collided and neutralized one another. In an instant, every single illusion wavered like a reflection in a disturbed pool of water. The duplicates shattered into nothingness, leaving only one figure standing.

The real Cheol So-ah.

“?!”

Swoosh.

The dark blade cut through the air, heading straight for her. Desperate, she funneled every remaining drop of her Yin Qi into her palms.

Seven Nights Ice Heart Palm.

This was a restricted art that only the elite of the Heavenly Yin Sect could comprehend—a technique reserved for those who survived a week-long ordeal against lethal frost. It contained seven distinct palm forces, each carrying a unique effect.

Strike.

The first was the gale of absolute freezing. A wave of frost erupted from her palm, reaching a temperature close to absolute zero—a deadly force capable of solidifying anything it encountered. The moisture in the air instantly crystallized into sparkling dust.

Strike-strike.

There was no opportunity for a second or third variation.

In an instant, a crimson energy flared from Dong Bongsu’s form, tearing through her freezing aura and piercing her flesh.

Sizzle.

Steam erupted violently, blinding her view with a shroud of white.

And then.

Thud.

In that very moment.

Crack.

Fissures began to ripple through Cheol So-ah. Due to her desperate channeling of the absolute frost, every cell in her body had been compromised by ice. It was the lethal consequence of overdrawing one’s Yin Qi. Fractures spread across her form like cracking ice sheets.

Cheol So-ah collapsed to her knees, her joints splintering beneath her weight. Only now did she truly comprehend the reality of the fight: while she had struggled with everything she possessed, Dong Bongsu had merely been observing her like an academic studying a specimen—dispassionately and precisely.

“This is unrighteous… This is wrong. How could someone like me, our entire organization… after everything we achieved…”

Cheol So-ah dragged herself across the ground, leaving a wet trail of melting frost behind her. She reached out, grasping at Dong Bongsu’s boots.

“Utilize me… sell me… I possess immense worth as a woman…”

Crash.

The flat side of the Nine Demon Annihilation Wheel Sword slammed down upon her form, shattering it completely.

She had utterly failed to understand the nature of the man before her.

Disband the Iron God Gang.

• Progress: 100%

• Reward: Hero History +5

A resonant chime echoed.

[You have answered the cries of the victimized and eliminated the corruption. A reward is granted.]

[+5]

[The world has become a significantly more beautiful place.]

Her true utility was only realized through her demise. Her striking form and her groundless sense of victimization held no value—matching the exact lack of consideration the Iron God Gang had shown to every soul they had destroyed and tormented.