Chapter 257

Rrrrrumble.

The ground trembled faintly as a distant roar rolled in.

The commoners who knew nothing of martial arts merely tilted their heads and continued on their way.

But the Thousand-Faced Fox, Song Ho, was different.

This is…

The Hidden Shadow Pavilion agents secretly following him sent messages through Sound Transmission.

—About seven hundred zhang¹ north.

—Something appears to have happened at the dueling platform.

—Pavilion Master, your orders.

Song Ho hesitated. His wealth of experience told him that the roar had been caused by the aftereffects of martial arts.

And not just any martial arts…

A Supreme Peak master?

Even if one turned the entire world upside down and scraped it bare, there might not be more than thirty Supreme Peak masters in existence.

The aftermath he had sensed clearly indicated a clash between Supreme Peak masters.

This was no ordinary matter. Had the Always-Victorious Sword, Jongni Chu, finally made his move?

But adequate precautions should already be in place.

They had already searched every inch around the Murim Alliance. They had thoroughly inspected everyone and everything in preparation for any possible situation, even taking into account the possibility that explosives might have been brought in and planted.

A tiger was still a tiger even after losing its teeth. The Hidden Shadow Pavilion might not have been what it once was, but its intelligence network was still capable of controlling Henan Province.

And three of the Ten Kings are there.

Then there were the leaders of the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Family Heads of the Five Great Families, and the elites of the sects and families they had brought with them.

It would be no exaggeration to call that place the Murim world in miniature.

I must be getting old. Perhaps I’ve worried too much.

It was all because of those unknown beings who had yet to reveal their true identities.

Song Ho clearly remembered the conversation he had shared with the Dharma King, Hong Dao, when the man had come to find him a year ago.

Dark clouds are covering the sky.

Could they be clouds from Tianshan?

I don’t even know where they’re coming from or when they’ll arrive. All I have are two words: Dark Heaven.

Dark Heaven…

Help me. I need your strength.

Half a century had passed since the Great Faction War.

The fox who had left the secular world and buried himself in the countryside had returned to the realm of martial artists, only to be reminded of just how much time had passed.

The Thousand-Faced Fox, Song Ho, let out a shallow sigh and moved his lips.

—Tell the Abbot I’ll leave once I finish my business.

A Hidden Shadow Pavilion agent who had joined them seven and a half minutes later replied.

—Dharma King Hong Dao left after you did, Pavilion Master.

—The Abbot left?

—Yes.

Song Ho hesitated briefly, then shook his head. He did not know what had happened, but he trusted Hong Dao’s judgment.

Hong Dao would trust his in turn.

—One of you, go to the dueling platform. Two will remain here. Report immediately if anything happens.

—Understood.

—The rest of you, follow me. As soon as we arrive, seal off the entire area. Let nothing slip through.

—Yes, sir.

Whoosh!

Black figures scattered through the alleyways.

As Song Ho raced across the endless rows of rooftops, his thoughts remained fixed on the report he had received fifteen minutes earlier.

We found Shadow Killer.

Tap!

He drove his wooden crutch down harder, accelerating with qinggong.²

The pain intensified in equal measure.

Bang!

White Flame’s transparent spearhead collided with the rusted blade.

A single exchange.

A roar that seemed to split the heavens rang out, and a violent blast of wind engulfed my entire body.

Kraaaaoom!

A whirlwind rose around us, blocking everyone else’s view.

Amid the dust clouds raging in every direction, I saw Jongni Chu staring wide-eyed at me over our locked weapons.

“Impressive. I didn’t expect to be pushed back.”

Sssrk.

Just as he said, he had been forced several steps backward. Clearly, he could not withstand my strength, which had long since surpassed the limits of the human body.

But…

What the hell is this bastard?

If Jongni Chu was surprised, I was stunned.

I had spent an entire year training with an iron ball weighing more than a thousand catties³ attached to me. Both my martial arts and my stats were worlds apart from what they had once been.

And he withstood that?

That exchange should not merely have given me the upper hand. I should have overwhelmed him completely.

Yet all Jongni Chu had done was retreat a few steps.

Even that rust-covered sword had not broken.

Who the hell is this guy?

A bead of cold sweat slid down the back of my neck.

A playful smile tugged at Jongni Chu’s lips.

“Four Ounces Deflecting a Thousand Catties. Rather than trying to overpower your opponent, you must read the flow.”

“…”

Kaaaang!

His blade coiled around my spearhead and wrenched it aside.

I tightened my grip on the shaft, but the more force I used, the more it felt as though I were sinking into a swamp.

Jongni Chu’s sword was the horse, and my spear was the cart. The cart had no choice but to follow wherever the horse led.

The instant White Flame’s transparent Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron spearhead plunged into the ground, Jongni Chu thrust out his palm.

Boom!

Compressed air exploded in front of my chest, and my vision swam.

I barely kept myself from being hurled backward. Clinging to the spear shaft buried deep in the ground, I spun around it and closed in on Jongni Chu.

Blue flames gathered around my right foot, which carried one jiazi⁴ of internal energy.

Flame Wheel Kick.

The blazing flames slammed into the back of Jongni Chu’s neck.

Bang!

He slid backward and lowered his elbow.

His blackened sleeve crumbled into ash and scattered through the air.

“Too bad. I liked this outfit.”

Crack. Crack.

He rolled his neck from side to side like some Third Rate street thug, then grinned.

“But truly, you’re impressive. I’m liking you more and more. Now…”

Whoosh!

His figure vanished with a sharp rush of wind.

A quiet voice pierced my ear from right beside me.

“Let’s get started for real.”

Hummm.

The wind stopped.

This time, my senses were one step ahead of my body. At the last instant, I crossed my arms, and Jongni Chu’s fist slammed into them.

It was a strike carrying an enormous amount of internal energy, unlike anything he had used before.

Kra-boom!

Its power surpassed all ordinary limits. Though it was only flesh colliding with flesh, the resulting roar sounded like a bomb exploding.

Even after anchoring myself with the Thousand-Catty Drop at the last instant, I bent backward until my waist nearly touched the ground.

Crack.

Even my extraordinary Muscles and Bones, fine enough to be called the Heavenly Martial Physique, were useless this time.

I clenched my teeth and endured the sharp pain running along my spine.

How dare this bastard.

Boom!

I slammed my free left hand into the ground.

I shot upward two or three times faster than I had fallen. Jongni Chu’s brightly smiling face appeared before me.

I roared.

“I haven’t even gotten to use this back yet!”

The fire dragon stretching through my four limbs and hundred bones surged toward my open palm.

A scorching gale erupted with lava-like heat.

The martial art that had once driven me to the brink of death—the Flame Divine Palm—collided with Jongni Chu’s punch.

Bang!

My ears rang, and the ground shook.

Still gripping White Flame, I was hurled backward.

I sprang to my feet and saw Jongni Chu standing perfectly still beyond the hazy cloud of dust, the entire dueling platform charred black around him.

“That was a poor choice. As you can see, internal energy happens to be one of my strengths.”

I glared at his serene smile, then coughed up a surge of blood.

The blood was black.

Proof that I had suffered an Internal Injury.

Damn it.

My opponent was a Supreme Peak master who had reached the realm of Returning to Simplicity.

I had expected him to be strong, but he was far stronger than I had imagined.

Even allowing for the fact that he had learned demonic martial arts, it was difficult to understand how someone that young could possess such martial power.

“What the hell are you, really?”

I wiped the blood from my mouth with my sleeve.

Jongni Chu let out a hollow laugh.

“That’s what I’d like to ask you. I never thought I would encounter a monster like you in my lifetime.”

“Now you’re fucking with me, too?”

“I’m sincere.”

“Sincere, my ass. If I’m a monster, what does that make you?”

“I’m… a little special. Let’s leave it at that.”

I studied Jongni Chu’s enigmatic smile, then spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

My insides burned from the Internal Injury.

“Is this another one of those legendary demonic martial arts?”

“Whenever people encounter something beyond the bounds of common reason, their thoughts turn to the word ‘demonic.’ It is difficult to accept things for what they are.”

“Yeah, it really isn’t easy. So what kind of demonic martial art did you learn?”

“Any further exchange of questions would be a waste of time.”

Jongni Chu raised his sword and pointed it at me.

Streams of qi as clear as mountain water flowed from the blade and took shape.

Sword Force.

The concentrated manifestation of energy permitted only to those who had set foot in the exalted realm of the Supreme Peak.

Tzzzzzzzz!

The mere sight of it chilled me to the bone.

The aura pouring from Jongni Chu left my palms damp and my lips parched.

This is… dangerous.

I drew a deep breath.

I had lost count of how many brushes with death I had survived.

What mattered was that I had survived every one of them.

And it would be the same from now on.

Wasn’t that why I had followed the Fire King and endured training that had seemed utterly impossible?

One shichen of sleep a day. Every moment left over goes into training!

That damn old man.

The words Jeok Cheongang had spoken before my training began in earnest suddenly came to mind, drawing a short laugh from me.

One shichen, my ass.

I had been allowed only half a shichen.

Without the System’s power to rapidly restore my body, I could never have endured those days.

My sleeping time had dwindled while the iron ball grew heavier and heavier. Even under those brutal conditions, I had punched, kicked, and swung my spear.

“That really was the perfect move.”

“Hmm?”

“My Master was right. Sleep is a luxury for a martial artist. And…”

Status Window, open.

As soon as I muttered the words inwardly, a holographic window filled my vision.

A great deal had changed over the past year—the Level displayed in my Status Window, the numbers, and even the number of Titles.

But only one thing mattered right now.

System

Remaining Points: 500

“Repeat Quests are fucking awesome.”

Endlessly repeating the same training meant one thing: Repeat Quests.

Then there were the points I had gained from leveling up.

The points I had diligently deposited over the past year had become a hefty lump sum. Just looking at them filled me with satisfaction.

“This is why people need to save.”

“What does that mean?”

Jongni Chu tilted his head, unable to understand my words.

I grinned at him and raised White Flame.

“It means things are about to get a little harder for you.”

At the same time, countless System commands echoed through my mind.

Strength. Agility. Stamina.

Muscles and Bones. Sinews and Meridians.

Everything advanced another step. New power gathered, connected, and seeped into me.

In a world slowed almost to a standstill, I took a step.

Swish.

There was no sound.

One step carried me directly in front of Jongni Chu.

The Fire Dragon Divine Spear, now at the seventh stage, danced along the spearhead, burning through air and sound alike.

Papapapapat!

The spearhead became streaks of light that poured toward every part of Jongni Chu’s body.

At the same time, his sword, wrapped in transparent Sword Force, moved.

Kwaaang!

Within a moment split and split again, we exchanged dozens of blows.

I saw Jongni Chu’s eyes widen in astonishment.

The roars erupted without end, overlapping one another.

Perhaps this was what it would sound like if the heavens collapsed.

Screeech! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

Whenever spear and sword parted, fist met palm.

Each time I narrowly evaded an attack and retreated, another was already waiting where I landed.

Krrrzzzt!

A single punch and a single kick created massive craters, laying waste to everything around us.

The impossibly solid dueling platform became riddled with pits and cracks spreading like a spiderweb.

But more astonishing than anything else was Jongni Chu.

“Incredible! Truly incredible!”

He laughed as he unleashed one form after another, his eyes shining with joy.

Even though I was fighting with all my strength, his movements kept growing faster.

Stronger.

What the hell is this bastard…?

My mind wavered, and my hands and feet fell out of rhythm.

That shattered composure immediately led to a mistake.

Pow-pow-pow!

“Gah!”

My vision flashed white as excruciating pain surged through me.

I staggered backward.

Jongni Chu watched me with open admiration.

“Jin Taekyung, the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi. I’ll remember you well. You truly are…”

At that moment, Jongni Chu’s expression hardened.

As if drawn by something, he stared fixedly into the distance.

Then he abruptly kicked off the ground and shot upward.

Bang!

It all happened in an instant.

I stared blankly at his back as he stepped on empty air and vanished.

Then I snapped out of it and screamed after him.

“Where are you going, you son of a bitch!”