Chapter 324

Kraaaaaash!

The hellfire surged outward, devouring the lingering chill of early spring.

It erased the dozens of wavering afterimages created by the Taeeul Light-Dividing Sword and finally struck the blade as they converged into one.

The Sword Force, the one true essence and concentration of power, collided with the hellfire.

Gooooooong!

A deafening roar rang out as a massive wave of martial energy spiraled around the old man and the young man.

Blue flames twisted through the wind, tore through the tea house’s ceiling, and surged skyward like a waterspout.

At the sight, Hwangbo Eom’s eyelids trembled.

The fire dragon…!

He did not even notice that his prized white beard had been scorched black.

Beyond their locked weapons, the young man’s burning eyes glared into his. The sight stole his breath and left his chest tight.

It’s hot.

Hwangbo Eom possessed two jiazi¹ of internal energy and had reached the Supreme Peak realm.

His body, tempered by formidable martial arts, had long since reached the state of being Unaffected by Cold and Heat.

But the young man’s gaze—and the aura radiating from him—could not be described as mere heat.

Rage and fighting spirit.

And within them, the faintest trace of cold composure.

How can this be? He is little more than a boy…

“Cough.”

A dry cough escaped Hwangbo Eom, followed by a mouthful of blood. His trembling gaze fell upon the spear in the young man’s hand.

Blue-white flames coiled around its transparent silver spearhead.

It was not yet complete, but it was unmistakably Force.

No. That’s not possible. He hasn’t crossed the wall yet. Then how could this old man…?

Hwangbo Eom had crossed that wall ten years ago and entered the Supreme Peak realm.

Yet despite the enlightenment he had gained through all those years of training and meditation, he was being pushed back by a young brat still confined to the Peak realm.

“How…?”

The young man’s answer was short.

“Because I’m stronger.”

“……!”

With that quiet reply, the spearhead locked against Hwangbo Eom’s sword bore down on him with tremendous force.

Kaga-ga-ga-gak!

“Hup!”

Two jiazi¹ of internal energy poured into his Sword Force?

A martial art of the Supreme Peak realm?

None of it mattered. The power transmitted through the spearhead was divine strength beyond anything a human should have been able to wield. It called to mind a myth he had heard as a child.

Pangu.

The primordial giant who had created the world with a single swing of his ax.

The young man before him had confined the strength of a god within a human body.

And divine strength was not all he possessed.

Shlick!

The senses of a Supreme Peak master far surpassed those of an ordinary martial artist.

Yet even Hwangbo Eom could not evade the silver line that suddenly slashed across him.

Pain he had not felt in decades.

Blood spurted from his shoulder, and his eyes flew wide.

When did he…?

He had not even seen the young man strike.

Even the Taeeul Light-Dividing Sword, the Zhongnan Sect’s celebrated sword art of extreme speed, could not possibly be like this.

After eighty years spent practicing the Zhongnan Sect’s martial arts, Hwangbo Eom cried out.

“This cannot be! It cannot!”

Kraaa-boom!

He summoned every last ounce of strength, and the Force gathered along his blade flared like wildfire.

At last escaping the pressure, Hwangbo Eom pointed at the young man with trembling fingers.

“Who… Who in the world are you?”

“You know.”

The young man, Jin Taekyung, spat to the side like a common street thug before continuing.

“The nineteenth successor of the Fire Gate Clan.”

Fwoooosh!

The hellfire gathered around the transparent spearhead blazed fiercely.

Shweeeeeek! Boom!

Spearhead and sword blade collided.

In a succession of instants, hellfire and Sword Force erased everything in their path as they clashed and separated through dozens of exchanges.

Shishishishik! Bang!

I tilted my head a fraction.

A tremendous wave of martial energy erupted from the sword tip as it stabbed through empty air. A pillar three jang² away split like tofu and came crashing down.

I launched myself forward, bounding across the wooden fragments raining from the ceiling.

Light yet heavy.

Soft yet rough.

Like a fire spreading.

So this is the essence of the Flamefire Path.

For an instant, weightlessness enveloped my entire body.

The world slowed around me, and I alone raced forward as though being pulled along. My body, light as air, shot ahead like a bullet.

Ding.

System

Enlightenment comes to you in many ways: through ceaseless training and meditation, and through battles in which you stake your life.

The Flamefire Path has risen to seven stars!

You have gained a substantial amount of EXP!

Bang!

Air exploded beneath my toes.

The moment the System notification rang out, I was right in front of Hwangbo Eom.

Maybe it was the unexpected enlightenment and my newfound speed, but I had gotten too close to thrust my spear.

Instead of retreating, I struck out with my palm.

Whoooosh!

My palm burned through the air.

Hwangbo Eom roared like thunder and thrust out his own palm to meet it.

A dazzling blue light gathered over his wrinkled palm.

It was the Zhongnan Sect’s famed Blue Cloud Heavenly Force Palm.

But he had too little time to complete the Force in his palm.

No.

I was faster.

Whoooooosh! Boom!

Our palms collided.

A thunderous crash rang out, followed by a strangled groan.

Hwangbo Eom’s face had gone pale from his Internal Injury. Gritting his teeth, he raised his other hand and pointed it at me.

Papapap!

Five streams of Finger Qi sliced uselessly through empty air.

If I hadn’t seized his wrist with the Fire Dragon Claw in that split second, I would have been the one bleeding.

How dare you.

Crack.

I twisted his captured wrist between my thumb, index finger, and middle finger.

A muffled scream slipped through his cracked lips.

Taeeul Merciless Sword Hwangbo Eom.

How long had it been since he had felt pain like this?

When the curtain falls, the actors leave the stage.

The curtain had fallen on the war between the orthodox and unorthodox factions half a century ago, and its heroes had scattered.

The Hwangbo Eom I saw before me now was no hero.

He was nothing but a petty old man.

This is going to hurt.

I released his limp wrist.

At the same time, I curled the fingers that had been bent like a dragon’s claws into a fist.

Crack.

Day after day, I had repeated the same stance countless times with an iron ball weighing hundreds of geun³ strapped to me.

My lower body rooted like a tree. My waist stood like a pillar. My fist flew true and unhindered.

Not one inch of my stance deviated from Jeok Cheongang’s teachings.

At first, I shattered rocks.

Then I split waterfalls plunging from hundreds of jang² above.

And brought down cliffs.

The back of my hand, burst and split countless times until it resembled a turtle’s shell, became wreathed in blue-white flame.

The time it took to assume the stance and throw the punch was truly no more than an instant.

Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

Gooooong.

The Extreme Yang energy evaporated every trace of moisture within several meters⁴.

Hwangbo Eom’s lips, cracked like a drought-stricken rice paddy, parted.

“No—!”

“It can.”

With that answer, I drove my fist forward.

The Body-Protecting Qi of a Supreme Peak master blocked its path—but only for a moment. The punch shattered the energy surrounding his entire body and slammed into his aged flesh and bones.

Kraaaack!

“Gaaaaaaaaah!”

Hwangbo Eom’s body was hurled backward amid a shriek that seemed to tear the air apart.

Three pillars and part of the wall collapsed, and the remaining ceiling came crashing down.

Just as the word finished crossed my mind, I saw bloodshot eyes glaring at me through the cloud of dust.

“C-cough!”

“Stay down if you want to hold on to what little life you have left.”

“You… How could you…”

Shock and confusion.

Rage and humiliation.

Countless emotions churned in Hwangbo Eom’s eyes.

At last, they all converged into one.

Hatred.

His blood-soaked lips slowly parted.

Blood mixed with pieces of his organs poured down, but his eyes continued to burn fiercely.

They were the eyes of a man who no longer cared what happened afterward.

“This old man is… The First Sword of Zhongnan.”

At that moment, the hot wind swirling around us cooled.

Then an icy wind began to blow.

It came from one man and rose from a single sword.

I felt my overheated blood begin to cool and muttered,

“This is…”

“The Taeeul Formless Sword. Watch closely. This is the sword art that will take your life.”

Shing—

The sword moved, and the wind blew.

The sword was the wind, and the wind was the sword.

Invisible sword strikes hid within it.

The sharp smell of blood suddenly filled my nose.

Shlick!

I stepped half a pace to the side.

That half-step saved my life.

I had no time even to register the blood running down my neck. Every time Hwangbo Eom’s sword vibrated from more than ten jang² away, invisible sword strikes surged toward me like waves.

Shik, shlick!

My side stung.

The energy carried by the sword strike rattled my insides.

Even as I staggered, I raised my arm. The attack missed by a hair and split a roof beam like tofu.

What is this?

Shlick!

There was no time to wonder.

This time, a long gash opened across my chest. Blood sprayed out and soaked the floor.

I can’t see them.

It felt as if I had been swallowed by dense fog.

This was not a matter of strength or speed.

This was martial arts—a sword art of supreme mastery unleashed by a martial artist who had attained greater enlightenment than I had, even at the cost of driving his internal energy berserk.

And yet…

How have I managed to dodge them until now?

The question seized my mind.

Dozens of sword strikes rained down on my rigid body.

I stared at them blankly.

Then I closed my eyes.

In the darkness, one man’s face appeared.

His sharp, ringing voice echoed faintly.

In the Murim, keep your eyes wide open. Then you won’t get stabbed and die.

What if I end up in danger of dying anyway?

Then rip out those useless eyes and see with your heart.

My heart? Come on. How is that supposed to work?

Have you even tried?

Yes, I had.

No. I was trying now.

So this is what you meant back then.

A smile spread across my face without my realizing it.

I couldn’t see them.

But I could feel them.

The sword strikes approaching through the darkness, where I could not see even an inch ahead.

Taeeul Merciless Sword Hwangbo Eom’s final struggle.

Thank you for the lesson, Old Master.

With my eyes still closed, I twisted my body.

I tuned every limb and every tiny muscle as precisely as the notes of a piano.

The sword strikes missed my flesh, tearing through my clothes and gouging the ground.

Kraaa-boom!

Amid the thunderous crash, I slowly opened my eyes.

Hwangbo Eom’s face was filled with shock.

An emotion I had never seen before gleamed in his eyes.

Fear.

He knew it, too.

He knew the fear he was feeling.

The terror he felt from me.

“D-don’t come any closer!”

Shweeeek!

I took one step forward and swung my spear.

The sword strike sweeping toward my neck collided with the spearhead and vanished.

Then I took another step.

Shishishishing!

I wielded my spear as naturally as I breathed.

I knocked the attacks aside, blocked them, and pierced them as if dispatching living enemies.

All the while, my feet never stopped.

I was in no hurry.

Hwangbo Eom was desperate.

Ignoring the body that had already reached its limit, he unleashed one final sword strike.

Kraaaaaash!

Sword Force carrying enough power to reduce the entire tea house to dust rushed toward me.

I watched until it was right before my eyes.

Then I swung my spearhead like a bolt of lightning.

Heavenly Strike.

The fire dragon’s claw seized the Sword Force.

And in the next instant—

Crack!

The shattered blade tumbled across the ground.

Hwangbo Eom stared blankly at his ruined, cherished sword before raising his head.

“You… What in the world are you…”

“So why…”

I slowly continued speaking to the greatest martial artist of the Zhongnan Sect, Taeeul Merciless Sword Hwangbo Eom.

“Why the fuck did you have to insult someone else’s master? You old bastard who ate all those years through your asshole. You trying to get yourself killed? Fuck.”