[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-85":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1240061,1667,"Chapter 84: The Great Demon (4)","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-85",85,"\u003Cp>༺ The Great Demon (4) ༻\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Swish-!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sounds of metal cutting through air echoed about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Swish-Swish!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sword traced paths through the air with deadly precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Empowered by qi, it left a trail wherever it was swung towards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trails formed by the sword traces looked similar to flowing water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fast, and yet colorful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Steps of the Blue Dragon, trained by the people of Namgung, helped their swordsmanship become stronger and faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like looking at a dragon’s flexible body movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah continued to use her clan art, the Master of Swords, as she swung her sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her Qi was slowly running out, but she had no other options.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How long had it been since she had been swinging her sword,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had probably only been a few minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even so, Namgung Bi-Ah felt that her body was reaching its limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt like she had been swinging her sword for an entire day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The left arm that had broken earlier was caused her more pain whenever she moved,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And because she wasn’t used to real-life battles, her body felt stiff and didn’t move as she wanted it to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I can’t… reach him…!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wondered what the gap between herself and the man was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing Ya Hyeoljeok had done so far was dodge; he hadn’t even used his weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She bit her lips in a bid to restore her waning consciousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She bit it so hard that her lips started to bleed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her Qi was being gradually exhausted, and her sword was losing power along with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trails that were formed by the sword traces were also losing their light as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her sword was also getting slower as she got more and more exhausted,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok saw this opening and swung his arm at Namgung Bi-Ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uggh!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With just this light attack of his, Namgung Bi-Ah was sent rolling across the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It seems like my little sweetheart here has never killed anyone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah struggled to so much as breathe as Ya Hyeoljeok spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Ya Hyeoljeok thought, while looking at Namgung Bi-Ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is she over 20? Judging by her smooth skin, she may or not be 20 years old.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever, it didn’t matter to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because however old she was didn’t matter since she had such a beautiful face and body, which just made it obvious that she would be delicious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was just a little surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had heard about the male child of Namgung Clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had found it strange and laughable that the child of Namgung was being called the ‘Lightning Sword’ and not the ‘Sword Dragon’.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both the leader of Namgung and the Lord of Heaven,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They hadn’t been able to make their clan shine in the current age, so he had thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the girl before him forced Ya Hyeoljeok to change his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Master, was it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Clan art saw the practitioner release a heavy aura that pressured the area around them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok knew the art drained a ton of Qi from the user.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even just maintaining the art was hard for the body,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the girl before him had been moving around fluidly while using such a skill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Are all the prodigies of this generation like this?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok had thought that whatever the ‘Dragon Sword’ or the ‘Sword Phoenix’ was, they were just kids with names, but after seeing Namgung Bi-Ah, he changed his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was assured that once some more time passed, the world would be filled with monsters like her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Well, that’s that.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok stared walking towards Namgung Bi-Ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I’ve already wasted more time than I should’ve.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok had used up more time than he wanted to in trying to not hurt her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would have been easier for him to just slice her in half, but he thought that that would be too wasteful because of how beautiful she was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that a martial artist at her level wouldn’t age physically for a long time, so he wanted to keep her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I gotta be careful with her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to enjoy himself a bit with her but was reminded of the girl that had managed to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wondered how long it would take until Mount Hua was informed of his presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He assumed that it would take around 30 minutes for them to arrive here after hearing what had happened,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, it’d be a bit of a hassle to erase all traces.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok, after saying that, touched Namgung Bi-Ah’s neck to mark her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hold still, this brother has something to do first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that she didn’t have any energy left to run away, but marked her to keep her still just in case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok then went towards the barrier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he got closer, an invisible barrier stopped Ya Hyeoljeok from going any further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok saw that and smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt the Qi of a Taoist from the barrier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he knew after seeing it from up close,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That the Celestial Plum Blossom put this barrier up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Baechong had said, there was no one in Seom-suh but the Celestial Plum Blossom that could put up a barrier of this magnitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not even putting up a single guard while hiding something… What is he thinking?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok just in case, used his Qi to scout the nearby area, but he didn’t find anyone else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that if he couldn’t find anyone with his qi, then it was safe to say that there truly was no one here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know why Mount Hua was being so careless, but he found it better for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the Immortal Healer was here, that is.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I guess I’ll find out once I smash through it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To find out if the Immortal Healer was here or not, all he had to do was break through the barrier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gradually infused Qi into his giant sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air around the sword started to distort as Qi filled it up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah after seeing that, gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an unbelievable amount of qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the fact that he was able to compress all of that Qi into one point was unbelievable to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uuu…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of the mark, Namgung Bi-Ah couldn’t even let her voice out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah would’ve tried to use her Qi to escape, but she was out already and so couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had been successful in letting Gu Ryunghwa escape, but she didn’t know when backup would come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this rate, she knew she was doomed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew that that man wanted her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how naïve Namgung Bi-Ah was, she knew that if she was taken away by that man, bad things would happen to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘How can I…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t want to be taken away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah remembered when Ya Hyeoljeok had brushed her cheek with his hand earlier when she was tired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had felt disgusting and sickening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simply imagining it caused goosebumps to cover her body all over again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was how it felt to be touched by that man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike the other man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah was disappointed in herself because of the thought she suddenly had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Even at a time like this.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was disappointed that that was what was in her head when she was in such a situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was thinking of someone else when she didn’t even know what would happen to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Please…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah tried everything to escape his mark, but it was impossible for her to because she was out of Qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even so, she continued to struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew that any more would permanently damage her body, but she had something that was more important to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah couldn’t stop after thinking that she might not be able to be with the man she was thinking of anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she was about to use more strength to try to escape the mark while persevering through the pain…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Don’t be so reckless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah stopped the instant she heard that voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And her body which had been frozen because of the mark, was suddenly freed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it was because she wasn’t completely free yet or not, Namgung Bi-Ah noticed that she couldn’t use her voice clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, she couldn’t even say what she wanted to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy spoke while looking at Namgung Bi-Ah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stay quiet. I’m not going to listen to you even if you tell me to run, so just stay quiet and hide.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying those words, he patted Namgung Bi-Ah’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very softly too, so that it wouldn’t hurt her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Thank goodness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying those words with relief,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy took a step towards Ya Hyeoljeok.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-Ah tried to stop him in shock, but the boy had already turned into flames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok surrounded himself in Qi and tilted his torso after getting chills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Thrust-!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had successfully evaded the worst of it by instinct, but wasn’t able to fully dodge it and felt the pain of something digging into his stomach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then tried to focus his Qi into his stomach area, but because of the sense of danger he felt from the thrusting attack, he backed off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Utilizing the momentum of the impact of the thrust, Ya Hyeoljeok slid away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Skid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His feet let out a rough sound as he slid along the grass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ptooey…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Ya Hyeoljeok stopped skidding, he spit out some blood on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that he was a bit late on putting Qi into his stomach, but the spot he was attacked in was shaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He smelled something burning,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok cast his infuriated gaze onto the person that had attacked him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with his shaky stomach, Ya Hyeoljeok began to smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You little shit…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Blaze-!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On seeing the flames that engulfed the nearby area, Ya Hyeoljeok immediately knew who he was up against.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…I was thinking of visiting the Young Master soon, but you decided to come to me yourself huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok had planned to find his location by sending his underlings,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he had chosen to appear in front of Ya Hyeoljeok by himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with the blazing flames that surrounded his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you done introducing yourself?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if he was proving to everyone that he was a blood relative of Gu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked just like the Flaming Demon that dominated the battlefields in the past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘A direct descendant is true blood after all.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok became more serious after thinking those words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked younger than he’d expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gu before him looked like a boy that had just started his journey to become a martial artist,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that attack of his was undoubtedly the real deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok had tried earlier to scout the area with his Qi earlier and hadn’t found any presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant that the boy before him had hidden his Qi on purpose in readiness for this surprise attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had hidden his Qi so well that Ya Hyeoljeok wasn’t able to notice him…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘There’re more monsters than I thought huh?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sweetheart from earlier was one thing, but Ya Hyeoljeok knew that the boy standing in front him was easily a rank above her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t seem like he had reached the peak level just yet, but it wouldn’t be long until he did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though it had been decades ever since Ya Hyeoljeok reached this level and made no progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…How annoying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok knew that kids like these that had already started blooming would become much bigger in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which assured him that, if they were given enough time, they would easily surpass and step over him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was why Ya Hyeoljeok especially liked stepping on flowers that had just started to bloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stepping on them early on in their lives so that they couldn’t grow in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok, because of that, especially felt the need to step on the boy that was standing in front of him because of the light he was showing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The problem was that it wasn’t very good timing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I wanted to be done with this already.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tsk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok wanted to slowly and painfully step on the son of Gu, but he didn’t have much time to spare and so had to give him a quick death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was disappointing for him, but it had to be done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok grabbed his greatsword and got into his battle stance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had let the boy get one on him because he let his guard down, but his opponent was just a young prodigy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Ya Hyeoljeok thought that it’d be fine as long as he didn’t let his guard dow-\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What the? Where did he-‘\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flames that were lingering in front of him had suddenly disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way that such brightly blazing flames could disappear so fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok quickly used his Qi to find the boy’s location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he found his location, Ya Hyeoljeok immediately swung his sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the boy was behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Swish!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no impact in the direction the sword was swung in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at the same time, a huge blow smashed into Ya Hyeoljeok’s flank and sent him flying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After rolling on the dirt with his giant body, the heat and dust combined and covered his vision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You little…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok, who was now thoroughly infuriated, swung his sword and blew away all the dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Swoosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When all the dust was blown away, Ya Hyeoljeok noticed that the flames that had been blazing weren’t there anymore and only a boy remained, standing firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flames that had been surrounding the boy had disappeared as if they were never there in the first place, and only the lingering heat remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I remember now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok growled after hearing Gu Yangcheon’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His pride was hurt because he had let two attacks from a boy who hadn’t even reached the peak level get to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Yangcheon then spoke looking at Ya Hyeoljeok.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok felt a bit nervous after seeing the boy’s eyes and hair both bearing reddish tints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A boy that was only a first-rate martial artist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ya Hyeoljeok… I think that was your name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the boy slowly but firmly stated his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t just blurt out an adult’s name like that so rudely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Ya Hyeoljeok wondered how that boy knew his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The name ‘Giant Oni’ had spread throughout the world, but it wasn’t famous enough for anyone to find out Ya Hyeoljeok’s real name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Fuck, what is this sensation?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok felt chills crawl up his spine the moment Gu Yangcheon spat out his name.\u003C\u002Fp>",2468,"2026-06-05T15:09:38.751Z",1,"novelbin.me","b3e8f2a433c9e5e4a692bbc5d56f779729e372487798f14d76dd4317c8689020","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-86","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-84",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]