CH 342

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes burned brightly in the darkness like a predator's.

The Asura Qi, roused up to its extreme, coursed madly throughout his body. Kang Jin-Ho's heart crazily pounded away while volcanic heat welled up from his abdomen to pour into all corners of his body.

Kang Jin-Ho's scowling eyes glared at the dirt above. The rumbling shockwave began forcing the boulders that previously served as the ceiling to this underground space to rise up ever so slightly.

Grit!

Kang Jin-Ho's right hand, permeating in the Asura Qi, unhesitantly flew toward the boulders like a streak of lightning.

Ka-booooom!

The boulder shattered into million pieces, its fragments shooting out in every direction. While tightly hugging Choi Yeon-Ha with his left arm, Kang Jin-Ho leaped toward the fragmented boulder above. He saw the tightly-packed dirt blocking his path next.

There was no going back from this moment on. If Kang Jin-Ho gave up now, all the dirt would flood in and fill up the space he and Choi Yeon-Ha had been using in the blink of an eye.

Even Kang Jin-Ho had no guarantee of survival after getting sucked into that. As for Choi Yeon-Ha... She'd die for sure. Which meant he had no choice but to go forward. No matter what.

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes gleamed ominously as he quickly scanned the rising dirt. His right fist, still permeating in qi, dug into the soil. Once in, he instantly released the concentrated internal energy. The force of the unleashed energy began shoving aside the dirt in all directions. Once the adhesion between the soil particles soaring upward loosened up, Kang Jin-Ho knew he must push upward as much as possible.

Kang Jin-Ho's figure burrowed into the gouged-out dirt. Since he was shooting upward at an unbelievable speed, the lumps of soil slammed into him like a concrete wall. However, now wasn't the time to mind that.

One chance. He only had one chance, and that was it!

Once the rumbling dirt rising upward began coming down, the pressure would explosively increase by several folds. The solidity of the soil would have weakened a lot by then, but its weight, now combined with gravity's pull, would definitely be nothing to scoff about.

Kang Jin-Ho simply had to burrow through as much as possible if he didn't want to experience the result of being crushed to death!

One chance!

KA-BOOOOOM!

The Asura Qi exploded forth from his right fist and completely emptied out a space above Kang Jin-Ho's head. He kicked the loose soil below and flew up again.

'Keuk!'

It felt like holding another person while jumping high into the air exhausted much more energy than shoving the dirt aside. Back when Kang Jin-Ho was still called Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor, walking on air was child's play to him. But now, he was having a tough time by merely trying to utilize something as simple as the Cloud Steps technique.

Kang Jin-Ho's gaze quickly scanned Choi Yeon-Ha's face. Judging from how her head was slumped to the side, she seemed to have blacked out. No matter how much protection he was providing her with his qi, her body was too weak to remain unaffected by the enormous shockwaves.

He confirmed that her breathing was fine in the blink of an eye, then refocused his burning eyes above him.

Ku-kukuku!

The rising dirt seemed to freeze still in the air... Only for it to come crashing down while accompanied by a thunderous noise akin to the entire world collapsing.

The rain of dirt... No, the bombardment of dirt began pounding down on Kang Jin-Ho next. If he failed to resist this pressure, the only result waiting for him and Choi Yeon-Ha would be getting buried alive!

Kang Jin-Ho roared loudly, his hand extending further up.

KA-BOOOOOM!

Another explosion went off, and the dirt raining down on top of his head flew off in all directions. Kang Jin-Ho kicked the air and leaped into a small space no bigger than a coffin right above him.

He continued to kick the falling dirt and rose higher and higher. His free hand grabbed and clenched at the dirt while his legs kicked and pushed down as if he was swimming in water. This might not look all that great from the outside, but Kang Jin-Ho was in no situation to care about how he looked to other people at the moment!

“Keuk!”

The dirt shoved aside was already flooding back into the space Kang Jin-Ho had created. Like water trying to fill the void, the soil was quickly filling up the empty space. It was as if... As if he was facing the unavoidable grim reaper coming to collect his soul.

“Uwaaaaah!”

Kang Jin-Ho roared with all his might while unleashing yet another round of his qi. The Asura Qi violently exploded, shoving aside the flooding dirt.

Throb!

That was when Kang Jin-Ho was hit by burning pain in his lower abdomen. It felt like a sizzling iron skewer was stabbing him mercilessly.

'Already?'

His essence energy was already running out. Even if he didn't get the chance to accumulate as much internal energy as he needed, to think he'd be suffering from an empty tank when he hadn't even reached the halfway mark yet!

Kang Jin-Ho instinctively pulled Choi Yeon-Ha close, then hurriedly looked up. He could clearly see the lumps of dirt falling directly on top of him.

No matter how much he resisted and fought back, the dirt raining down on him was uncaring and unstoppable, just like the fate that always tried to drag him down the path of misery. The dirt was seemingly tightening around him like a noose with no intention of letting him go.

Kang Jin-Ho could instinctively tell. Getting caught up in that maelstrom of dirt and rocks would mean he'd not have enough strength to escape.

If he had been alone from the start, enduring the pressure and shoving the dirt aside to escape this tomb could've been possible, somehow. However, he wasn't alone. Since his internal energy reserve was running this low already, Kang Jin-Ho could tell that swimming past such weight would be incredibly challenging.

Even so, he wasn't shaken up. From the very beginning, he never even considered the option of leaving Choi Yeon-Ha behind and escaping alone. This wasn't a matter of choice to him. He simply had to do it, and that was all.

Kang Jin-Ho bit his lower lip. He kicked away the momentary distracting thought and looked up, his eyes burning even fiercer. Although the description of this moment was lengthy, the truth was that it happened in the literal blink of an eye.

All the dirt that had come loose and floated up higher was now coming down on top of Kang Jin-Ho with several times the force.

'Don't resist it...!'

Kang Jin-Ho relaxed his muscles. If raw strength couldn't win, he simply had to rely on other methods which didn't require power. Like a strand of seaweed dancing in the ocean's streams, Kang Jin-Ho's right hand gently began digging past the falling earth.

Gently. Smoothly. But never slowly!

His right hand continued to push the soil aside and lightly brush it away. He wasn't forcibly breaking through his way upward but gently pushing aside the falling earth without abruptly altering its course.

When he did, all the lumps of soil crashing down on him as if to swallow him up in one go became gentle streams that flowed around his rising figure.

'This is it!'

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes gleamed as he kicked the air below. Although performing Ascending to Heavens with his current cultivation was next to impossible, he could definitely perform Cloud Steps. He also didn't forget to step on the falling rocks and debris with impeccable timing to leap up even higher.

If he could keep rising up...! If he could continue like this...!

Just as desperation seeped into Kang Jin-Ho's eyes...!

That 'thing' appeared before him like destiny. His unavoidable fate. At first, Kang Jin-Ho didn't even fully recognize it. He only perceived it as a large dark something blocking his view as it fell toward him. It gave off the feeling that it was a completely different beast from the falling lumps of soil until now.

Before his mind could fully process it, his body reacted first. It froze up for a moment at the massive 'presence' given off by that thing falling on top of him.

It... was a boulder. That was what people generally called such a thing. This rock was so big that several people holding hands would still not be enough to completely surround it.

This piece of bedrock had been lying dormant between the tunnel and the surface, but Kang Jin-Ho's digging-upward movement had dislodged it, making it fall toward where he was.

In other words, a massive boulder boasting crushing weight was currently descending rapidly on top of Kang Jin-Ho's head!

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes shot open wide. Could he block this boulder? Impossible!

In that case, could he dodge it?

Kang Jin-Ho clenched his teeth. Because he had been naturally deflecting the falling earth to his sides, his surroundings had become completely blocked off. Which meant he couldn't dodge it. And he couldn't block it, either.

In that case, what? Kang Jin-Ho's eyes glowed crimson as he grimaced. If there was no other choice... He should destroy it!

His qi glowing in the crimson hue rushed to his right fist. He didn't spare a single drop of internal energy remaining inside his body and circulated it all. And when he even roused his Innate Pure Qi, pure-red blood spurt out of his mouth several times like water gushing out of a broken tap.

Kang Jin-Ho summoned every ounce of power he possessed and thrust his right fist at the descending boulder.

***

KA-BOOOOOM!

Jo Gyu-Min stared anxiously at the explosion.

'What the hell is going on here!'

He dearly wanted to confirm with his own eyes that the explosion had 'properly' unsettled the ground and made it rumble. But all he could see was a gigantic dust cloud and not much else. The explosion had kicked up all the choking dust on the ground, creating walls of dirt to block his view.

“Please!” Jo Gyu-Min blurted out in a desperate voice without realizing he did. The only other person currently with him was Bang Jin-Hun. Since no one knew what might happen during the explosion, they had everyone else evacuate to somewhere safe.

'Will... this much be enough?'

Nothing could be seen through the rising curtains of dust. Which indicated that the soil did not explode higher than all these dust plumes. However, Jo Gyu-Min had been expecting huge waves of soil to shoot up into the air. And when the impact proved to be so much tamer than he thought, anxiety quickly mushroomed in Jo Gyu-Min's mind.

An explosion that meek only would have made the ground rumble a bit and not much else. In that case, did Kang Jin-Ho need to break through while relying purely on his strength? Even if he was incredibly strong, would he be able to escape while pulling someone else along?

Jo Gyu-Min continued to watch while feeling like his heart was near his mouth, ready to jump out.

'Why...!'

No one was coming out. Kang Jin-Ho, who should've leaped out of the ground like Superman as long as Jo Gyu-Min blew the ground up once, was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, no...!”

The dust clouds were settling now. Winds blew in to thin out and disperse the choking dust. Jo Gyu-Min's eyes taking in this scene also shook powerfully like the dispersing dust.

“Why... Why isn't he coming out?!”

Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly shot a murderous glare at Bang Jin-Hun standing next to him. The big man was scanning the mound of dirt, his expression gloomy.

No matter how hard he scanned, though, he couldn't spot Kang Jin-Ho's figure anywhere.

They were aiming for that one critical moment when choosing to go ahead with this rescue operation. If Kang Jin-Ho could not start burrowing through the earth just as the pressure momentarily disappeared, everything would come crashing down again and trigger a second collapse. Which obviously meant the underground space where Kang Jin-Ho had been staying would be filled up by the collapsing soil. In other words, he'd be buried alive.

Despite knowing that this possibility existed, Jo Gyu-Min kept his mouth shut, hoping that as long as it was Kang Jin-Ho, he should be able to do it. But now...!

“You son of a b*tch!” Jo Gyu-Min angrily grabbed Bang Jin-Hun's collars. “You said it's doable, didn't you?! You said he would be able to escape! Do you have any idea what you have done! I, I just buried Mister Jin-Ho with my own two hands, thanks to you! Goddamn it!”

Jo Gyu-Min's furious roar echoed loudly.

Even though Jo Gyu-Min was openly showing hostility, Bang Jin-Hun didn't try to make excuses. Bang Jin-Hun might possess enough strength to blow Jo Gyu-Min away with a flick of his hand, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. After all, he knew only too well that Jo Gyu-Min's crushing anxiety was responsible for this angry outburst.

“What are you going to do about this! Ah? What!”

“N-no, wait. Listen…” Bang Jin-Hun sighed and was about to verbally defend himself. But then, the corner of his eyes picked up something weird in the distance.

'...Hmm?'

Initially, he thought he made a mistake and hadn't seen anything. But that faint movement happening again... was the same as the first time!

“L-look! Over there!” Bang Jin-Hun excitedly cried out.

Jo Gyu-Min jumped up in surprise and hurriedly turned his head. “W-what is it?!”

“Right there! Look over there, Mister Gyu-Min!”

Jo Gyu-Min craned his neck and narrowed his eyes to stare at the exact spot Bang Jin-Hun was pointing with his finger. And when he did...!

“Huh?!”

Even Jo Gyu-Min could see it. And that was a part of the dirt mound writhing and trembling ever so slightly. The meaning behind that subtle movement was crystal clear to both men.

“Uwaaaaaaah! Mister Jin-Ho, I'm comingggggg!”

Jo Gyu-Min dashed to the spot in the dirt with every ounce of energy in his body.