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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 74: Capture
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It could not compare to the strength of his true body, but even in human form, Jegyeong’s body was sturdier than that of most Human Race Body Cultivators.
A fist thrown from such a body, even a wild punch, carried force no ordinary Human Race cultivator could withstand.
When his fist struck his opponent’s back, Jegyeong felt the heavy impact.
He felt flesh burst and bones break.
“Ghk!”
Yet an experienced Foundation Establishment cultivator was different.
Even as he was sent flying and vomited blood, Seomuso drew on his Dharma Power to protect his body. He also took out a Dharma Artifact and prepared to counterattack.
His swift response was even better than that of the Black Sect Hall Master Jegyeong had faced before.
“Raaah!”
But what did that change?
Even if Seomuso was better than the Black Sect Hall Master, Jegyeong was no longer the same being who had struggled against that man.
Boom!
Demon Flame swept in every direction.
Jegyeong’s Spiritual Essence could be called the very essence of fire energy. Whenever he stirred his demon power, flames naturally rose around him.
This Demon Flame was not as powerful as a cultivator’s spells, but it was not something that could simply be ignored.
Seomuso knew that as well, so he had to expend Dharma Power to ward off the invading demon power.
Clang!
The Flying Sword struck Jegyeong’s head scales and bounced away.
Seomuso frowned once when the Flying Sword was repelled, then again when he saw that the scales it had struck were completely unmarked.
It had been a hasty attack meant to keep his opponent in check, but it was still a Dharma Artifact infused with Dharma Power.
He was an experienced cultivator who had fought many members of the Demon Race, even Great Demon Beasts, yet he had never encountered anything like this.
“Hup!”
With no time to catch his breath as Jegyeong pursued him, Seomuso gathered his Dharma Power and sent the Flying Sword out again.
This time, it was a proper strike containing sufficient Dharma Power.
Thud!
This time was different.
Rather than bouncing away uselessly as before, the Flying Sword pierced the scales and lodged itself within.
It had sunk in only slightly, so shallowly that it looked ready to fall out.
“That’s impossible!”
Seomuso could no longer suppress his shock.
He controlled his Dharma Power to retrieve the Flying Sword, then threw himself aside to evade the Great Demon Beast’s next charge.
But perhaps because his heart had wavered, or because retrieving the Flying Sword had divided his focus, his reaction was just a little too slow.
* * *
The instant an invisible curtain covered Black Shark Island, Yang Yuwan sensed that something had gone wrong.
She immediately tried to break through the curtain, but even when she unleashed attacks with all her strength, it only shook briefly. Not even the slightest crack appeared.
After several attempts, Yang Yuwan realized she could do nothing to this barrier, or Formation Array, by herself. She tried to join Seomuso, who had entered the building.
Before she could act, though, a fierce Aura churned within the building. A series of thunderous explosions rang out, and the entire structure collapsed.
Boom!
Then a small figure shot out from the falling rubble.
Yang Yuwan recognized at once that it was her husband, Seomuso, and flew toward him at full speed.
“Husband! What happened?!”
“Yuwan! Watch out...!”
Seomuso cried out in a strained voice when he saw Yang Yuwan rushing toward him. Then, as if sensing something, he urgently turned toward the thick cloud of dust.
Whoosh!
A wave of scarlet fire surged toward them.
Seomuso gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand.
The Flying Sword crossed before him like a shield, spreading a wide, translucent curtain of light.
The flames, ready to burn everything in their path, faltered as they struck the curtain.
But these were no ordinary flames. They were Demon Flame infused with demon power.
The moment Seomuso blocked the wave of Demon Flame head-on, his face turned pale.
Had Yang Yuwan not supported him with a spell in time, Seomuso might have been swallowed by the flames.
“Hah!”
Yang Yuwan’s eyes shone with a bluish light.
Pale smoke flowed from her mouth, and cold air capable of freezing even flames surrounded her entire body.
That cold air suppressed the flames held back by the curtain of light.
Like most Human Race cultivators of Yangseo Lake, Yang Yuwan cultivated a water-aspect method.
She had no particular talent except for one thing. Her mastery of spells was profound.
Her confidence in that skill was why she did not even use an offensive Dharma Artifact.
It was not arrogance, but confidence.
Her water-aspect spells truly possessed greater might than most Dharma Artifacts.
The curtain of light blocked while the cold suppressed.
It was like defending with a shield and striking with a spear.
Yet despite that exquisite combination, the Demon Flame would not yield.
After their fierce contest of power continued for some time, a massive shape emerged from the thick smoke.
“A black jiao?!”
Yang Yuwan’s eyes widened.
Beside her, Seomuso shook his head as he breathed harshly.
“No. It resembles one greatly, and it may truly possess a dragon’s Bloodline, but it cannot be called a true Jiao Dragon.”
The greatest proof was that he had managed to survive after being trapped in that collapsed building.
That Great Demon Beast certainly looked convincing, but its power fell far short of a Jiao Dragon’s.
The problem was that even its far inferior strength seemed more than the couple could handle.
Seomuso grimaced as every breath intensified his pain, then called out in a slightly trembling voice.
* * *
“Who are you, Fellow Daoist? Why are you attacking us?!”
Jegyeong gave a cold laugh at his question.
His low, deep laughter echoed eerily, as though it came from within a cave.
“Why am I attacking you? Isn’t it only natural to attack thieves who barged into my home?”
“Your home?”
Seomuso muttered blankly, then his expression hardened.
‘That bastard Gwak Jeongsin really has joined hands with the Demon Race!’
He had felt some suspicion when Han Cheongyu told him about an unusual Demon Beast called Elder Cheongo. Now, after hearing those words, that suspicion became certainty.
Now he understood.
Gwak Jeongsin of the Spirit Talisman Merchant Association had joined hands with this Great Demon Beast.
After joining hands with the Demon Race to destroy the Black Sect Hall, he had begun doing business here.
‘Black jiao. A black jiao... In a sense, the rumors were true.’
Seomuso’s eyes clouded over, but only briefly.
An experienced Foundation Establishment cultivator, he did not lose his cool even in this absurd situation.
“My wife and I sincerely apologize for rashly entering your residence and causing offense. But we truly did not know this was your residence.”
“Oh? Then whose home did you think you were barging into?”
Seomuso kept his mouth firmly shut at Jegyeong’s teasing question.
There was no point in answering.
From the circumstances, it was clear that this enormous Great Demon Beast and Gwak Jeongsin were business partners.
What difference did it make whether he said he thought it was Gwak Jeongsin’s place of business or this Great Demon Beast’s residence?
“You won’t answer. Fine. It doesn’t matter anyway. So what if you did it unknowingly? Blood has already been spilled between us.”
“...Must this truly be taken to the end?”
“If there’s a beginning, there should naturally be an end.”
That was the end of their conversation.
Still, it was fortunate that the brief exchange had given them time to catch their breath.
At the very least, they could draw out a little more strength.
Boom!
Seomuso’s Flying Sword flew toward Jegyeong, while enormous snowflakes bloomed across Jegyeong’s body.
But the cold could not freeze him.
At most, it slowed his movements slightly, and even that minor effect quickly vanished thanks to the Demon Flame rising from his entire body like heat haze.
Yang Yuwan gritted her teeth, let out a long breath, and pressed her palms together.
At the same time, enormous ice spikes erupted from the ground.
Crack!
Dozens, then hundreds, of enormous ice spikes stabbed toward Jegyeong and enclosed him.
Yet none of them injured him.
At most, they cracked his scales slightly.
“That’s impossible!”
Yang Yuwan staggered in shock.
It was partly from the expenditure of Dharma Power and partly because her Heart State had been shaken by panic.
As she stared at Jegyeong, who was smashing the ice spikes apart, she pressed her palms together once more.
Crash!
All the ice spikes shattered at once.
Each fragment became a cold gleam that bound Jegyeong like a noose.
“You have plenty of tricks!”
Jegyeong did not resist.
Instead, he opened his mouth slightly and held his breath.
“Grrrr.”
Terrifying heat leaked from his open mouth.
“Go!”
Sensing that something was wrong, Seomuso vomited blood and sent his Flying Sword forward.
The Flying Sword, carrying the greatest amount of Dharma Power he could currently muster, sank fairly deep into Jegyeong’s forehead.
But to Jegyeong, who had grown to a length of one hundred and fifty meters after molting repeatedly, a single sword was not even as threatening as a toothpick.
It made no difference even if it contained Dharma Power.
Things might have been different if Seomuso had been in normal condition, but as he was now, Seomuso posed no threat unless Jegyeong allowed him to strike a vital point.
Whoosh!
It took only seconds for the heat to become Demon Flame.
As Jegyeong grew accustomed to gathering demon power and controlling fire energy, his ability to breathe fire naturally changed as well.
He could breathe fire faster and more powerfully.
If he gathered strength for longer, he could breathe an even more powerful flame. But even after gathering it only briefly like this, it still had considerable might.
“Dodge!”
Seeing Jegyeong remain completely unmoved despite the Flying Sword lodged in his head, Seomuso cried out urgently.
Thanks to that, Yang Yuwan immediately evaded.
But Seomuso, who had warned her, could not.
He was seriously injured and half-exhausted from forcibly squeezing out Dharma Power.
“Husband!”
Only then did Yang Yuwan grasp the situation and try to fly toward her husband.
Jegyeong’s eyes curved slightly as he watched her.
“What a lovely sight! Fine! You can both turn to ash together!”
Flames poured forth.
If the earlier attack had been a wave of fire, this one was a pillar.
A massive pillar that seemed capable of holding up the sky.
Roooar!
Jegyeong was not speaking empty words.
The pillar of fire he breathed out swallowed Seomuso and Yang Yuwan at the same time.
Seomuso could not evade it.
Yang Yuwan might somehow have been able to escape, but instead of fleeing, she flew toward Seomuso.
She stopped before him and used the same spell as before, trying to block the storm of Demon Flame pouring down upon them.
But without Seomuso’s support, Yang Yuwan could not stop the Demon Flame on her own.
The mysterious ice mist she cast dispersed like a mirage almost the moment it touched the pillar of fire.
Despair filled Yang Yuwan’s eyes.
The sinister flames, which seemed capable of burning even her soul, reached directly before her in an instant.
Then, at the moment Yang Yuwan squeezed her eyes shut, they vanished without a trace.
“Ah?”
When Yang Yuwan opened her eyes in bewilderment, she saw a black tail casting a shadow so vast it seemed to cover the sky.
Boom!
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