.jpeg){kind=tracking}
Chapter 143. You Saw Me
The vice-boss of Sandosan, Gu Jaseung, approached the cart with about twenty bandits.
His eyes were fixed on the old man known as Old Dao of Nine Heavens.
From the moment he saw him, he knew that if something went wrong, that old man would be his opponent.
Apart from Yeon Jeokha, it was evident that he was the most formidable in the group.
Gu Jaseung advanced toward Shim Tong with his sword raised.
Gu Jaseung's blade fell toward Shim Tong's head.
But Shim Tong took a step forward, brushing past Gu Jaseung's side.
Slash!
The sound of flesh and bone being cut echoed clearly.
Instinctively, Gu Jaseung looked back and saw his torso splitting in two.
The bandits following him stopped in shock.
Shim Tong charged into the twenty bandits, roaring like a tiger.
In the blink of an eye, ten fell.
The ordinary bandits were no match for Shim Tong.
The ten survivors retreated in terror at Shim Tong's overwhelming strength.
"Heh heh. I told you I'd cut down anyone who drew their sword."
Four frightened bandits threw their swords to the ground.
The other six looked desperately at the boss, hoping he would kill the Grand Inspector and also deal with the Old Dao of Nine Heavens.
The boss of Sandosan, Gong Geoin, roared.
"Die!"
Gong Geoin's sword, gleaming with blue energy, headed toward Yeon Jeokha.
"Die yourself!"
Yeon Jeokha's sword effortlessly deflected the thrust.
After about seven minutes, Yeon Jeokha began to show signs of relaxation.
He was now using only the necessary force.
At first, he was surprised by the lethality of Gong Geoin's attacks and tried to block them desperately, but not anymore.
He had grasped the principle that "softness can control hardness."
With just that, Gong Geoin's sword could no longer touch Yeon Jeokha.
Yeon Jeokha's swordsmanship had evolved beyond mystical technique, no longer fearing his opponent's lethal attacks.
He even enjoyed deflecting the attacks with minimal effort.
Finally, satisfied with what he had learned, Yeon Jeokha stepped back.
As Gong Geoin took a breath and calmed his internal energy, Yeon Jeokha leaped into the air.
Startled, Gong Geoin quickly retreated, but Yeon Jeokha was faster.
Spinning in the air, Yeon Jeokha descended like a hawk with his sword in front.
It was the fifth movement of the Nine Heavens Swordsmanship: Heaven and Earth Inversion.
As the name suggested, the devastating sword technique seemed to flip the sky and earth.
Gong Geoin, looking up, staggered.
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet seemed to give way, as if he were falling into an abyss.
Terrified, he frantically looked around.
Blades of sword energy surrounded him from all directions, causing him to lose his sense of direction.
Gong Geoin swung his sword desperately in the chaos, unable to distinguish the sky from the ground.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
But his efforts were in vain.
As if predestined, a ray of sword energy struck his crown.
"Ah!"
Gong Geoin let out an agonized scream.
His arms fell limp to his sides as Yeon Jeokha landed softly in front of him.
The remaining ten bandits, seeing this, threw their weapons to the ground with disheartened faces.
But Yeon Jeokha didn't move from Gong Geoin's side.
In fact, he seemed even more tense, watching the dying man.
Crack, crack.
With the sound of bones twisting, Gong Geoin's skin began to crack.
Soon, pieces of skin and flesh began to peel off.
Yeon Jeokha slowly stepped back.
Gong Geoin was different from the other Demon Warriors.
The previous Demon Warriors had maintained a human appearance.
But not Gong Geoin.
Though his skin was also dark red, he had huge bat wings.
His fangs protruded from his mouth like ivory.
Who could call that a human being?
As Gong Geoin spread his wings, the bandits screamed and fled.
"Ahh!"
"It's a demon dragon!"
"The demon dragon has appeared!"
He emitted smoke from his mouth, resembling a demon dragon.
Yeon Jeokha looked at him, dumbfounded, and shook his head. From now on, nothing would surprise him.
‘Fine, you're a demon dragon.’
Influenced by Jin Gahee, he gave it that name.
Although its head resembled more of a lizard, the name demon dragon suited it.
The demon dragon's red eyes fixed on Yeon Jeokha.
Then it opened its mouth, revealing hundreds of blade-sharp teeth, and smoke began to billow from its throat.
"Kyah!"
The thunderous roar caused Yeon Jeokha to feel a slight dizziness.
The bandits who were further away from the demon dragon fell to the ground unconscious.
Yeon Jeokha quickly looked toward the cart.
Fortunately, Shim Tong, Namgung Cheon, and Namgung Yeon were fine.
Only the weaker ones, like Seol Chasu and his group, were on their knees, barely holding on.
"Kyah!"
The demon dragon roared again.
Having elevated his Nine Heavens Energy, Yeon Jeokha didn't feel anything this time and sighed in relief.
He didn't want to experience that unpleasant dizziness again.
‘What are you?’
With his sword firmly in hand, Yeon Jeokha approached the demon dragon.
Unlike the human Demon Warriors, the demon dragon's eyes were red.
As Yeon Jeokha approached, the demon dragon slightly raised its head and lowered it.
"Kyah!"
A red flare shot out of its mouth.
Whoosh!
Surprised by the unexpected fire attack, Yeon Jeokha jumped into the air.
The flames grazed his feet like arrows.
The flames, extending about thirty meters, engulfed several bandits who were watching.
"Ah!"
"It's hot!"
"Save me!"
The bandits engulfed in flames screamed and rolled on the ground, but the fire wouldn't go out.
The demon dragon's flames only extinguished when the bandits were reduced to ashes.
Yeon Jeokha was left speechless.
The demon dragon's flames were different from those of other Fire Demons.
‘Those flames won't go out until the target is completely burned?’
Yeon Jeokha, who had assumed the flames would be like those of other Fire Demons, shuddered.
‘I can't let those flames touch me!’
The demon dragon opened its mouth again.
Whoosh!
Yeon Jeokha didn't dare face the fire and launched himself into the air like a swallow.
Although his movement technique was something even thugs wouldn't use, his speed was incomparable.
Dodging the flames, Yeon Jeokha launched himself at the demon dragon with the technique of Sword and Body as One. Considering both offense and defense, this was his best option.
As Yeon Jeokha approached, the demon dragon opened its mouth once more.
This time, a thicker flare shot out.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Yeon Jeokha switched from the technique of Sword and Body as One to the third movement of the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship, Wind from Heaven.
He had more confidence in the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship than in anything else.
The wind gathered at the tip of Yeon Jeokha's sword.
Whoosh! Boom!
The whirlwind quickly turned into a typhoon and shot toward the demon dragon.
Boom!
The flare advancing in a straight line was stopped by the typhoon and pushed back.
When the flames changed direction, the demon dragon rose.
Boom!
Flames and wind rushed beneath the demon dragon's feet.
As the demon dragon tried to fly higher, Yeon Jeokha charged at it.
A moment too late, the demon dragon's red eyes turned toward Yeon Jeokha.
"Hya!"
With a shout, Yeon Jeokha unleashed the fourth movement of the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship, Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers.
Countless rays of sword energy appeared out of nowhere in the air.
The sword energy rained down on the demon dragon like a storm.
Pop, pop, pop!
"Graah!"
As its wings were pierced, the demon dragon fell to the ground.
Pop, pop, pop!
The sword energy continued to strike the demon dragon's body.
Each impact raised a cloud of black smoke.
The demon dragon, wounded by the sword energy, slowly raised its head.
In that instant, Yeon Jeokha's sword descended on the demon dragon's crown.
It was the first movement of the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship, Heavenly Woman Descends.
"Ack!"
The demon dragon let out a lament that didn't match its massive size.
In front of Yeon Jeokha, a dark cave suddenly appeared.
It was so dark that nothing could be seen, but in the abyss, thousands of red lights flickered.
‘What is that?’
Straining his eyes, Yeon Jeokha realized that those lights were the demon dragon's eyes.
Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of eyes were staring at him.
A chill ran down his spine as hundreds of those eyes turned in his direction.
‘Damn it! Are they looking at me?’
Startled, Yeon Jeokha realized he was being pulled back.
He returned to reality, panting and with his heart racing.
He never wanted to see that hellish swarm of demon dragons again, not even in his dreams.
Whoosh!
The demon dragon, which was once Gong Geoin, crumbled into dust.
Observing the ten remaining blue lights, Yeon Jeokha clasped his hands in a gesture of respect.
He prayed for the rest of that being, whose nature he still didn't understand.
The strange energy that emerged from the demon dragon as it died was absorbed by the Sacred Artifact.
‘Could it be that because of the Sacred Artifact's energy, the demon dragon saw me?’
Until now, the other demons had not been able to detect him.
Since he had carried the Sacred Artifact, things had changed, and that thought troubled him.
‘I should talk to Namgung Yeon about this later.’
He hadn't told Seol Chasu and his group about the Sacred Artifact. Namgung Yeon had ensured that it wasn't mentioned, to avoid future problems with the Justice Alliance.
The bandits of Sandosan timidly approached Yeon Jeokha.
One of them, with his head down, said:
"Grand Inspector, we didn't rebel. Those guys were all members of the Yoomyung Cult."
He pointed to the bandits who had followed Gong Geoin's orders.
At that moment, three bandits, who had survived the fire, prostrated themselves on the ground.
"Please forgive us! Gong forced us to go to Musansocho. We had no other choice. It's the truth."
With a disapproving expression, Yeon Jeokha looked at the three bandits.
There were always excuses for everything.
"Then tell me everything you know about Musansocho."
"What do you want to know?"
"We don't know much."
"We just did what we were told."
Hearing the excuses, Shim Tong couldn't contain his anger and shouted:
"Damn you! When the Grand Inspector asks, you must answer. Tell him everything you saw and heard in Musansocho, even the trips to the bathroom."
Finally, the bandits began to speak one by one about what they knew.
Since they were low-ranking, they didn't have much information.
However, the news that there were seven Demon Warriors in Musansocho was valuable.
After a while, Yeon Jeokha addressed the bandit who had spoken first.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Yeo Myeongji."
"Good. You'll be the boss of Sandosan for now. If Musansocho sends someone strange to take control again, report immediately to the Grand Chaeju for help."
"Yes! Understood!"
Yeo Myeongji looked at Yeon Jeokha with eyes burning with admiration.
To him, Yeon Jeokha was no longer just the Grand Inspector General of Nokrim, but a god.