Chapter 755: Conclusion (5)

'You crazy bastard!'

The Crimson King grimaced.

What was the so-called 'fist light'? In the world of cultivation, martial arts were built on the foundation of circulating internal qi to strengthen one's physical body or weapons.

Once that energy was filled to the brim in one's body and began overflowing, it'd get released externally. With a sword, it'd manifest as 'sword qi'. With a fist, it'd be 'fist qi'. And when the manifested energy was compressed, then compressed some more, until it contained enough destructive power... One could start calling it 'strengthening' qi.

This strengthening qi created through condensed internal energy could pulverize a human body into powder in the blink of an eye. Even an expert at the peak realm would never entertain the thought of receiving an attack laden with strengthening qi directly to their body.

The result would be far too damaging to be worth the trouble, after all!

This should've been common sense, but... But this madman was deliberately breaking that common sense!

Kwaaaaa-haaaang!

The Crimson King's fist light blew Kang Jin-Ho's shoulder apart. His flesh broke into bits to reveal the bones beneath. He was literally giving away his flesh to the Crimson King!

In that case, the compensation would be Crimson King's bones!

Slaaaash!

Kang Jin-Ho's Azuremourne diagonally slashed through the Crimson King from his right waist past his left chest. It was an accurate and beautifully executed strike.

If everything had gone according to Kang Jin-Ho's intention, death would've been the only result for his foe. However, even his sword laden with so much demonic qi failed to completely slice through the Crimson King's torso.

It wasn't because he was tougher than Vator physically, though. However, the Crimson King's muscles were so thoroughly packed with internal qi that they could repel Kang Jin-Ho's sword with even greater hardness than Vator's.

The injury was to his flesh as the sword failed to penetrate the Crimson King's abdominal wall. That didn't mean the injury was negligible, though.

Giving up one's pound of flesh for another's flesh! Even though Kang Jin-Ho had to give up far more than what he acquired, he didn't care.

Kang Jin-Ho stepped on the Crimson King's knee to leap up even higher, then slammed his own knee straight into the Crimson King's chin.

“Kuk?!”

The Crimson King violently jerked his head back. Despite his best attempt at dodging, Kang Jin-Ho's knee still brushed past him with an unstoppable momentum, leaving a lengthy trail of gaping wounds on his chin.

“Y-you bastard!” The Crimson King gasped and urgently retreated.

For the first time ever, a man who didn't know how to retreat from his enemies... had to retreat! Without consciously realizing it, too!

The Crimson King's eyes powerfully quaked.

'What is the matter with this bastard!'

Even as turmoil descended into the Crimson King's mind, Kang Jin-Ho kicked the air to relentlessly pounce on his enemy once more.

The Crimson King was undoubtedly powerful. Ironically, that was his only weakness.

Indeed, he was far too powerful for the modern era. Such outstanding martial prowess wasn't something achievable purely through effort alone, though. No, he must've been blessed with talent and power since birth.

What made that his weakness, though, was his lack of opponents as he grew more and more powerful. He most likely never fought against an enemy cultivator capable of threatening his life until now. The Crimson King was too strong to learn the intensity of a fight to the death.

If the Crimson King had been born in ancient Zhongyuan, he could have acquired experience and wisdom in the hellish environment of Gangho. Unfortunately for him, the modern era never gave him the opportunity to do that.

Kang Jin-Ho charged in again. In a long-distance battle, no one would win against the Crimson King. That kind of fight would be no different than shooting a rifle at a tank. The absurd strength of his long-range strikes meant the Crimson King wouldn't have to worry about closing the distance.

In fact, he probably never even bothered to do so. Most of his enemies would've been turned into dust particles or meat paste even before they could get anywhere near him, after all.

With his situation like that, it was no wonder the Crimson King was blind to his own weakness. Even if he knew, would he have cared about it? A weakness that no enemy could exploit wouldn't be a weakness. A disadvantage that could be offset with an advantage wouldn't really be a disadvantage anymore.

However, there was no such thing as 'absolute' in this world. And, perhaps for the first time in his life... the Crimson King encountered a deadly blade accurately targeting his weakness!

Just how many battles did Kang Jin-Ho fight? How many days and years had he spent killing and almost being killed?

“Kuk?!” The Crimson King gasped and stumbled back again. And again. Without even realizing that he did!

When would he ever have experienced someone kicking him in the head like this? Everything he experienced was unprecedented. Unfamiliar. Never felt or sensed before!

Kang Jin-Ho was like a foreign element introduced into large-scale precise machinery. And he was gradually breaking down the precise weapon called the Crimson King.

Attacks he had never suffered from before! A close-quarter battle he had never fought until now! And a driven enemy he had never come across until this moment...! All these factors combined to mercilessly drive the Crimson King to a corner.

Worst of all...

“You stinking demonic bastard!” The Crimson King roared in rage.

Indeed, he had lost his cool.

He was being pushed back. After getting swept up in all these nonsensical attacks, the Crimson King found himself retreating! Every backward step he took doubled his rage level. Blood rushed to his head, and making rational calls became harder and harder. His vision was quickly draining of all color, while his body grew stiffer.

Agitation and hatred were two different emotions.

While hatred could inspire more fervor, rage usually paralyzed a person. The Crimson King failed to look after himself as agitation got the better of him. But Kang Jin-Ho's eyes remained cold and still. He silently observed the changes to the Crimson King's state, then gradually pushed the latter even further into a corner like an experienced hunter herding his game.

Wasn't this like walking on a tightrope? Dancing on the edge of a blade? Such a description didn't really do this situation justice.

One wrong move, and Kang Jin-Ho's head would shatter into pieces. Or a hole big enough for a cannon shell to go through might open up in his torso instead!

Life and death could be decided with one punch. And Kang Jin-Ho was reveling in an intense pleasure even as he treaded the boundary between life and death.

Adrenaline pumped like a potent drug in his head. This pleasure was threatening to turn his whole body into a mush, saggy pile!

'Yes, this is it!'

Everyone in this place, this world... was soft. Weak.

In Kang Jin-Ho's view, the Crimson King was the first 'perfected' being he met in this world seemingly propped up by a bunch of straws. After all, the Crimson King didn't die after getting punched and kicked. And he didn't fall even after getting sliced up, too!

Indeed, the Crimson King was a truly excellent foe who remained standing even after Kang Jin-Ho unleashed everything in his arsenal. What would be a fitting title for such a foe?

Did it matter? No. At this stage, anything was fine with him.

Kang Jin-Ho had forgotten that he was in a fight to the death. He also forgot that he had already half-stepped past the threshold of death. And he no longer remembered what his original role was supposed to be.

He only focused on dodging what was coming and stabbing any opening he could find with his swords. He gave up his pound of flesh in return for his foe's flesh.

Battered and bloodied... Yes, that was a good description of Kang Jin-Ho's state. His swords might slice up and stab the Crimson King, but the latter's punches were also destroying Kang Jin-Ho's body in return.

Kang Jin-Ho held the upper hand in terms of strategy. However, strategy alone wouldn't bring him victory. Even if they were exchanging a similar number of moves, the damage inflicted was on a different scale.

An army of one thousand could try all sorts of clever tactics to attack and utilize every trick in the book, but it could never win against an opposing force a million soldiers strong. Because... No matter how many you killed, the enemy's numbers would not decrease appreciably.

That was what attacking the Crimson King was like. No matter how many times Kang Jin-Ho sliced, chopped, stabbed and even resorted to biting, all he could inflict was nothing more than some flesh wounds. On the other hand, the Crimson King was diligently damaging Kang Jin-Ho.

Even so, the smile etched on Kang Jin-Ho's face was disturbingly cruel. So what if all this was true!

That was when 'it' happened. The Crimson King suddenly reached out and grabbed the incoming Crimson Destiny with his bare hand.

Cruuuuunch!

The Crimson Destiny containing an enormous amount of demonic qi mercilessly dug into the Crimson King's palm. His flesh was forcibly split open, and even his bones were broken apart. And then... the sword completely impaled the Crimson King's hand. However, as the price of this success, Kang Jin-Ho's sword was finally brought to a standstill.

“Kang, Jin, Hooooo!”

The Crimson King's left fist slammed angrily into Kang Jin-Ho's chest.

Blinding rays of fist light flashed next. This light, reminiscent of the breaking dawn, exploded brilliantly against Kang Jin-Ho's torso. And then...

Kang Jin-Ho flew away like a kite with its strings cut before crashing into the ocean below.