Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Zhao Jakyung’s eyes were filled with anger as he looked at Pyo-wol.

Although they weren’t directly related to each other, Zhao Yiguang was still like a grandson to him. Moreover, since Zhao Yiguang allowed him to stay in the Nanjing clan’s Bluefield Estate, he somehow became indebted to him.

Naturally, he couldn’t help but be furious at Zhao Yiguang’s death.

Besides that, he also suffered great humiliation in his confrontation with the Ghost King earlier, and he had been completely pushed aside ever since the arrival of Kyung Musaeng.

All of these instances contributed to Zhao Jakyung’s pride hitting rock bottom.

Deep down, Zhao Jakyung thought that he would be on par with the Ghost King or the Kyung Musaeng, but the reality turned out to be different.

Both were far stronger than he had imagined.

In particular, the Ghost King’s strength was beyond imagination. If it weren’t for Kyung Musaeng’s timely intervention, Zhao Jakyung wouldn’t have been able to stand on his own two feet.

In the end, Zhao Jakyung had to suffer the humiliation of being pushed to the periphery instead of being at the center of the fight.

It was the most humiliating thing Zhao Jakyung had ever experienced in his life.

His heart was already filled with anger from the fight, so when he saw the figure of his grandson, Zhao Yiguang, lying dead, with Pyo-wol standing beside him, he couldn’t help but feel his eyes roll back in his head.

He cried out,

“Did you do this? Tell me! Is this your doing?!”

“No.”

“Don’t lie to me! The evidence is right here, and yet you’re trying to deny it!”

“If you won’t believe what I say anyway, why bother asking?”

“That child is someone who would one day lead the Nanjing clan. What you’ve done is no different from cutting off the Nanjing clan’s bloodline! Do you understand now how grave a sin you have committed?”

“Then do you know what crime Zhao Yiguang committed?”

“If you’re trying to insult a child who is already dead, then give it up. It won’t work on me.”

Zhao Yiguang raised his spear and pointed it at Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol didn’t talk any longer.

There was nothing more unproductive than talking to someone who had already closed their ears.

Zhao Jakyung had already set his mind that Pyo-wol was the culprit behind Zhao Yiguang’s death. No matter how much Pyo-wol talked and explained himself, Pyo-wol knew that Zhao Jakyung would not change his mind.

What Zhao Jakyung needed now was a scapegoat to salvage his shattered self-esteem, and unfortunately, Pyo-wol happened to be in that position.

Whoosh!

Intense heat and flames erupted from the spear Zhao Jakyung was holding.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when the Fire Dragon: Demon-Sealing Spear Technique was performed with extreme fervor.

“Pay the price for your sins!”

Swish!

Zhao Jakyung’s spear swept over Pyo-wol like a broom.

At that moment, Pyo-wol raised his foot and blocked the tip of the spear. The speartip radiated intense heat, but it had no effect on Pyo-wol’s clothes and flesh.

“Not bad.”

Zhao Jakyung twisted his spear. Then, the spear shaft bent like the head of a venomous snake, aiming for Pyo-wol in the neck.

The spear Zhao Jakyung was holding was no ordinary weapon. Made of a special material, it had a strong elasticity that allowed it to bend as smoothly as a whip.

If one didn’t know about his spear’s characteristics, there was a high probability of being caught off guard by such an unexpected attack.

However, Pyo-wol was not lax in his defense. Just as the spear was about to pierce his neck, he leaned back his upper body to dodge.

Shwoosh!

The blade sliced through the air, passing by the tip of Pyo-wol’s chin.

At that moment, Pyo-wol’s counterattack began.

Szzit!

He released a phantom dagger.

Like a venomous snake, the phantom dagger struck at close range, but Zhao Jakyung narrowly avoided it.

As Pyo-wol retrieved the phantom dagger with his Soul-Reaping Thread, he aimed for the back of Zhao Jakyung’s head.

“I won’t let you!”

Dadadatang!

Zhao Jakyung roared as he spun his spear furiously. Pyo-wol’s phantom dagger ended up getting hit by his spear, bouncing off.

Zhao Jakyung continuously unleashed the full force of his Fire Dragon: Demon-Sealing Spear Technique.

After a moment, a fire dragon suddenly appeared, gracefully hovering in the sky. The colossal dragon then quickly opened its jaws wide, ready to devour Pyo-wol.

“N-No way! A dragon!”

“A raging dragon!”

People who witnessed the scene from afar fell to the ground, trembling.

Although the dragon was nothing more than a condensed form of qi, to the eyes of the onlookers, it looked like a real dragon.

Whoosh!

As the fire dragon swept past, the debris of the nearby buildings, which had been shattered from the clash with the Ghost King and others, became engulfed in flames.

The surrounding area had already turned into a battlefield even without the raging fires, but now it has been further intensified with the addition of an inferno.

As Zhao Jakyung unleashed his Fire Dragon: Demon-Sealing Spear technique, the flames burned even more fiercely. The flames seemed as if they would engulf the entirety of Lake Tai.

Pyo-wol concealed himself within the flames.

“Hiding like a coward!”

Zhao Jakyung shouted in anger.

There was nothing more cowardly than hiding one’s appearance and presence in a direct confrontation between martial artists.

Zhao Jakyung’s animosity towards Pyo-wol grew even stronger.

Hwooong!

A powerful aura resembling a fiery dragon enveloped Zhao Jakyung’s spear.

Fire Dragon: Spear Aura.1

Zhao Jakyung maintained the Fire Dragon: Spear Aura and heightened all of his senses.

‘I’ll kill him in a single blow.’

With Zhao Jakyung’s heightened senses, he could detect even the slightest movement of ants in the midst of extreme chaos.

Furthermore, with his Fire Dragon: Spear Aura activated, his senses reached an incomparable level from before.

Zhao Jakyung was highly confident.

He even dared to guarantee that no matter how stealthy Pyo-wol approached, he would be able to detect him immediately.

However, a perplexed expression appeared on his face soon after.

Despite heightening his senses to the fullest, he still couldn’t detect any sign of Pyo-wol.

With the flames burning all around him, he couldn’t even feel his opponent’s warmth.

It was indeed a self-defeating situation.

Suddenly, Zhao Jakyung had a moment of clarity.

In his desire to release his rising anger, he had chosen Pyo-wol as his opponent when he didn’t even know Pyo-wol’s name or identity.

It was a mistake he would never have made under normal circumstances.

However, it was already too late for regrets.

‘I will subdue him for now then uncover his true identity later.’

Zhao Jakyung thought to himself and walked cautiously.

His gaze sharply scanned through the flames.

However, Pyo-wol still remained nowhere to be seen.

‘He’s better than I thought.’

There were only a handful of individuals in Jianghu who could deceive his senses to this extent.

At this level, one had to study advanced stealth and deception techniques. It was a realm that required tremendous dedication and mastery.

There weren’t many assassins in Jianghu who had reached such a level.

At best, there were a few, such as the Hundred Wraith Union’s Ten Blood Assassins and the budding assassin who had recently been making a name for himself in Jianghu– the Reaper.

‘Reaper? Could he be the Reaper?’

The thought suddenly occurred to him.

It was merely a conjecture without any evidence, but he was certain of his guess.

Only the Reaper could have been so daring to challenge him, someone who is one of the Eight Constellations.

Zhao Jakyung felt his nerves tighten.

If his opponent was indeed the Reaper, then he was definitely in the worst possible situation.

He shouldn’t have allowed a skilled assassin who had reached such a level to hide. He should have dealt with him before he could disappear.

This moment wasn’t his time.

It belonged to the assassin, Pyo-wol.

Zhao Jakyung was exposed in the open, while the assassin, Pyo-wol, was hiding somewhere within the flames.

It was an overwhelmingly advantageous environment for Pyo-wol.

But Zhao Jakyung believed in himself.

He believed in his own senses.

And in the spear techniques he had trained throughout his life.

He prepared himself for Pyo-wol’s ambush while maintaining the Fire Dragon: Spear Aura.

It was a battle of patience and endurance.

But, no matter how deep Zhao Jakyung’s internal energy was, it was not infinite.

For the time being, he could maintain the Flame Dragon Spear Formation to a certain extent, but he couldn’t sustain it indefinitely.

Zhao Jakyung closed his eyes, keeping the Fire Dragon: Spear Aura active.

As his vision was blocked, his other senses became more heightened.

‘Where are you? Where are you hiding?’

The world was never completely silent.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Wood was burning in the flames.

The inferno he created was ironically disrupting his senses. Nevertheless, Zhao Jakyung persisted in trying to sense Pyo-wol.

Soon enough, he was able to catch signs that hinted at Pyo-wol’s presence.

Thump! Thump!

A subtle sound was echoing at regular intervals.

The sound was so faint that even Zhao Jakyung would never be able to detect it had he not had his senses heightened to the fullest.

The corners of Zhao Jakyung’s mouth curved upwards.

‘The sound of a beating heart. You may have concealed everything, but you couldn’t hide the sound of your heart pounding.’

Zhao Jakyung’s blade-like gaze traveled to where the sound of a heart beating could be heard.

It was a deliberate attempt to pressure his opponent.

Zhao Jakyung channeled qi to his eyes, intending to intimidate his opponent even more.

And his plan worked perfectly.

Swoosh!

In the end, Pyo-wol couldn’t take it anymore and revealed himself.

“It’s over for you!”

Zhao Jakyung swung his spear imbued with Fire Dragon: Spear Aura at Pyo-wol.

Boom!

The spear technique exploded like fireworks, piercing through Pyo-wol.

‘He’s finished.’

A triumphant light flickered in Zhao Jakyung’s eyes.

However, in the next moment, a look of horror appeared on his face.

It was because Pyo-wol’s figure which had been struck with his spear imbued with aura, vanished in an instant like morning mist touched by sunlight.

‘An illusion?’

It was an unbelievable sight.

He had certainly heard the sound of Pyo-wol’s heartbeat, yet it turned out to be an illusion.

Such a thing shouldn’t have happened according to Zhao Jakyung’s common sense.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Zhao Jakyung felt tremendous pain in his lower back.

“Eugh!”

Zhao Jakyung then felt someone breathing on his back.

Zhao Jakyung didn’t need to turn his head to know who the owner of that breath was.

‘Pyo-wol!’

Pyo-wol had successfully sneaked behind Zhao Jakyung.

“Hmpf!”

Zhao Jakyung gritted his teeth and furiously rotated his left foot on its axis, hoping to shake off Pyo-wol hovering over his back. But, when he turned around, he couldn’t see Pyo-wol anywhere.

Pyo-wol changed his location at the same speed as Zhao Jakyung.

In Pyo-wol’s hand, another phantom dagger suddenly appeared.

Pyo-wol stabbed the phantom dagger into Zhao Jakyung’s waist without hesitation.

At that moment, Zhao Jakyung released a protective qi barrier.

Tung!

The phantom dagger got deflected by the qi barrier.

After successfully defending himself, Zhao Jakyung once again went on the offensive.

Zhao Jakyung attacked Pyo-wol using his Fire Dragon: Spear Aura technique.

He thought Pyo-wol would hide and ambush again, but contrary to his expectations, Pyo-wol neither hid nor dodged.

This was because Pyo-wol thought that one ambush was enough.

Pyo-wol didn’t expect the same trick to work twice against an absolute master like Zhao Jakyung.

Nonetheless, he was satisfied to have inflicted such a deep wound using his technique, Demon Shadow Exchange.

Absolute masters like Zhao Jakyung had such sturdy defenses that defeating them in one single blow was almost impossible.

They have to be attacked relentlessly and broken down one by one, like water falling drop by drop to make holes in a huge boulder.

The phantom dagger on Zhao Jakyung’s waist was the starting point.

Shriek!

Pyo-wol released the Soul-Reaping Thread from his hands.

Each strand of thread, with phantom daggers attached at its ends, attacked Zhao Jakyung.

“Using demonic arts–!”

Zhao Jakyung fiercely spun his spear, knocking Pyo-wol’s phantom daggers and qi threads away.

Kagagagagang!

Sparks flew between the two, and fragments of energy and metal shards scattered through the air.

Pyo-wol and Zhao Jakyung both fiercely attacked each other without taking a single step back.

All of Pyo-wol’s nine phantom daggers were like living creatures.

Zhao Jakyung had to swing his spear with all his might to block the incoming phantom daggers, which followed different trajectories.

‘Hmpf!’

Suddenly, Zhao Jakyung’s face contorted.

The flow of his internal energy, which had been continuous, abruptly stopped and became impure.

He quickly figured out that the phantom dagger lodged in his back was the problem.

It was interfering with his flow of qi.

Not only did it make it impossible for him to maintain the Fire Dragon: Spear Aura in his spear, but the impaled weapon also made executing spear techniques itself difficult.

Pyo-wol didn’t miss the opportunity to pounce.

Quickly after using Black Lightning, he unfolded Jade Destruction.

Boom!

With a loud bang, Zhao Jakyung was thrown backwards.

His hair, which had been neatly tied, became disheveled, indicating the magnitude of the impact he received.

It was fortunate that he had blocked the blow with his spear just before it hit, otherwise, he would have been killed.

“Keugh!”

Zhao Jakyung groaned in frustration as he staggered.

Pyo-wol stretched out his hand toward Zhao Jakyung.

At that moment, a strand of qi shot out like a snake.

Unlike the Soul-Reaping Thread, this thread of qi had a distinct shape.

It was Pyo-wol’s Snake Qi Thread.

Zhao Jakyung scraped together the last of his energy and focused it on his spear.

At that moment, the snake-like qi strand clashed with the spear.

Zzweoeng!

Zhao Jakyung’s eyes widened.

His spear was shattering before his eyes.

SoundlessWind21’s notes:

Thank you for reading!

Fire Dragon Spear Aura. Raws: 화룡창강(火龍槍罡). 火龍 huǒlóng – fiery dragon 槍 qiāng – gun / firearm / rifle / spear / thing with shape or function similar to a gun 罡 gāng – stars of the Big Dipper that constitute the tail of the dipper