Sometimes, your true feelings just don’t get through to the other person.
It was sad to cause a misunderstanding I’d never intended, but there was nothing I could do about it.
We weren’t going to settle this by talking anyway.
“That mouth of yours…”
The words died before he could finish, leaving only a breath that scattered into the air.
The professor—or rather, the North Heaven Demon Lord—looked dizzy with rage. His face twisted as he steadied his breathing.
Since he seemed to be struggling, I spoke for him.
“I’ll tear it open.”
“What?”
“That’s what you were going to say, right? I’ve heard it plenty of times. I know.”
The North Heaven Demon Lord stared at me, momentarily at a loss for words, then clenched his teeth.
“Shut up.”
“Come on. A man has to say what’s on his mind. Even a shameless pill-popping bastard.”
“I said shut up.”
“But I’ve heard that line so many times, it feels a little stale. ‘I’ll tear your mouth open so you can never wag that unruly tongue again.’ Doesn’t that have more flavor?”
“Words truly are wasted on you.”
“Force won’t work either. The guys who said that to me and died could line up in formation, count off, and circle the Murim Alliance training ground twice.”
Jeok Cheongang, standing beside me, added, “For the record, mine would circle it more than ten times.”
“That’s because you’ve lived a lot longer than me.”
“If you don’t like it, live a long, healthy life yourself.”
“You’ve lived a long, sickly life. Don’t you remember? When I first met you…”
Fwoosh!
A sharp whistle swallowed the rest of my words.
I ducked on instinct, without a moment’s hesitation. A dagger shot past overhead at the speed of a streak of light and slammed into the cliff face.
KABOOM!
It struck with the force of a cannonball.
But no matter how much power an attack carried, it didn’t matter if it missed.
I brushed off the grit thrown up by the shock wave and stared wide-eyed at the North Heaven Demon Lord, who had thrown the dagger.
“Wow. That almost hit me.”
“……!”
“Those pills really do make you strong. Old Master, I’d never beat him one-on-one.”
Jeok Cheongang frowned. “Was that even a question? Of course you wouldn’t. Keep going as you have been, though, and in another year or two at the earliest, you might have a chance.”
Only a year or two.
Jeok Cheongang knew my past and even my deepest secrets, so it was a fairly reasonable assessment. To someone listening, though, it was an intolerable insult.
“Jamukha.”
There was no anger left on the North Heaven Demon Lord’s face. At his low voice, the old nomad bowed his head.
“Give your command, my lord.”
“Do you remember the promise we made long ago?”
“I have never forgotten it for a single moment.”
“Then stake your life on it.”
“……!”
“If you survive, I’ll give you Hebei along with the vast grasslands. Everything the Peng Family possessed—even their lives—I’ll put in your hands.”
The old nomad Jamukha’s eyelids trembled.
“That is the very reason I have lived until now.”
“Then what will you give me?”
“Today’s victory, and the head of Jin Taekyung, the Blazing Flame Divine Dragon.”
“Yes. That is the answer I wanted.”
Step. Shhhhh…
With a heavy step, the dark crimson energy that had risen like heat haze gathered into a thick mist.
The two men had finally drawn out every last drop of their strength. Watching them, Jeok Cheongang spoke calmly.
“Taekyung.”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember the promise we made long ago?”
I answered without hesitation. “No.”
“……”
“And what do you mean, ‘long ago’? It’s only been two years since we first met.”
Jeok Cheongang fell silent for a moment, then sighed.
“Do you have some kind of disease that makes blood gush from your seven apertures1 and kills you if you play along at a time like this?”
“What’s the point? We can’t even get our timing right. Better to land another hit on those bastards.”
“Hmm. Hard to argue with that.”
“Just do what you’ve always done. Be the Fire King.”
Jeok Cheongang’s gaze shifted from the North Heaven Demon Lord and Jamukha, who were approaching slowly and cautiously, to me.
“What? Is there something else you want to say?”
“No, nothing much. It just struck me that accepting you as my Disciple was the right choice.”
For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. Then Jeok Cheongang’s quiet voice reached my ear.
“We’ve never made any embarrassing promises to each other, but as always, remember one thing.”
“What should I keep in mind…?”
“This old man is always by your side.”
“……!”
“So don’t do anything stupid like fighting to the death. Even if Yama2 comes for you, I’ll kick him in the ass and send him packing.”
The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
People were all made of the same flesh and blood. How could they think so differently?
One person offered another everything he wanted in exchange for his life. Another asked for nothing—he only wanted the other person to survive.
And that was exactly what I wanted to say to Jeok Cheongang, too.
“If I keep that promise, what will you give me?”
Step by step, the two enemies drew closer. I watched the dark crimson mist grow thicker as I spoke, and Jeok Cheongang gave a dry laugh.
“You shameless bastard. Fine, what do you want?”
“Nothing much. You’ve already been sick once, so a long, healthy life is out of the question. Just make sure you live a long, sickly one from now on.”
“A long life at my age, huh? Seems I have a reason to live at least another hundred years.”
Jeok Cheongang laughed heartily, clearly delighted.
Pale light-flames gathered in his outstretched hands. Alongside them, blue-white flames surged over the spearhead of White Flame, burning away the chill of the deep night.
Fwoooosh.
Beyond the darkness melting before those two flames—alike, yet different—
I stepped toward the ominously thick dark crimson mist.
No. We stepped forward together, as if we’d promised to.
Shwaa!
Everyone who faced that mist, red as blood and frighteningly thick, felt a chill sink deep into their spines and stopped.
No. They had no choice but to stop.
Their instincts knew before their minds did.
If I get close, I’ll die.
The sight alone was chilling.
The qi hanging thick in the air had become almost tangible. Entering it would be like walking into a forest of blades and spears, ready to slice and tear their bodies apart.
But the greatest reason so many people from Shanxi were held back was the terrifying battle raging inside it.
KABOOM! KABOOOOM!
What could describe the scene better than heaven and earth shaking?
Beyond the mist, writhing like a living creature, four Supreme Peak masters were entangled with one another at the speed of flashes of light.
Without a moment’s pause.
Even now.
Shhk!
Force sliced through the hard ground as if it were tofu.
Jeok Cheongang narrowly dodged the North Heaven Demon Lord’s strike and clenched his fist.
Pale light-flames surged over the fist of a man whose regained youth had erased his wrinkles.
Fwoosh!
Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.
A tremendous blaze erupted from a technique he had brought to the tenth level of mastery through more than a century of training.
It stained the air and shot toward the enemy before him—toward the North Heaven Demon Lord.
KABOOOOOM!
Compressed air exploded in layers.
The ground melted and the cliff walls shook, but at the last instant, the North Heaven Demon Lord’s figure blurred and vanished.
Or rather, it vanished from human sight, with all its limitations.
Whoosh.
A tiny, faint whistle slipped quietly into his ear.
But he knew well that movement faster than sound could fool his hearing, too.
Above!
He felt it.
His opponent’s presence, plunging down from the unseen space above his head.
And the immense Force riding the spearhead as it thrust forward, erasing the wind in its path.
Poom!
Jeok Cheongang struck out with both palms without hesitation.
The dark crimson mist surrounding them scattered in an instant.
Flame Divine Palm, unleashed at full strength, surged upward as a pillar of fire.
It raced toward an opponent who had tried to hide his presence, but whose immense energy made it impossible to conceal himself completely.
And in the next moment, Jeok Cheongang understood all over again.
With the Temporary Strength Pill’s power behind him, the North Heaven Demon Lord could look down on even Jeok Cheongang—who had reached his current realm through several moments of enlightenment—as half a step beneath him.
Shwaa!
The spearhead pierced a single precise point.
The immense Force at its tip split flames that had seemed capable of burning the whole world, and the distance between the two men vanished.
“……!”
Jeok Cheongang’s eyes widened at the overwhelming force.
This wasn’t a question of enlightenment in the martial arts.
The North Heaven Demon Lord’s movements, enhanced to an extreme, made everything possible—along with internal energy so powerful it made Jeok Cheongang wonder if he had drawn out every last bit of his innate qi.
Damn it.
Swallowing the curse rising to his lips, Jeok Cheongang drew on all the internal energy in his body.
He slammed both hands together against the spearhead plunging toward his chest.
Krrrrk!
The spearhead trembled between his palms, pressed together as if in prayer.
Dark crimson Force tore into flesh and bone despite his Body-Protecting Qi. Jeok Cheongang clenched his teeth against the pain.
Crack.
The pain of breaking a molar was nothing beside what came from his hands as they grew more mangled by the second.
Jeok Cheongang swallowed the blood rising in his throat and held fast to the spearhead. The North Heaven Demon Lord bared his teeth in a grin.
“Why not stop now and get some rest? You look exhausted.”
Jeok Cheongang’s reply came through clenched teeth, edged with mockery.
“Right back at you.”
The North Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes darkened.
He could feel throughout his body that Jeok Cheongang wasn’t bluffing.
What kind of monster is this old man?
Crack. Krrrunch.
Though he drove it with all his strength, the spearhead could go no farther.
Jeok Cheongang’s skin was crushed by the Force, but his toes were dug deep into the ground, perfectly still.
The old monster of Mount Jiuhua had returned decades younger—and far stronger than the North Heaven Demon Lord remembered.
Strong enough that even after taking the Temporary Strength Pill, he couldn’t bring him down easily.
But…
It ends here.
The moment that thought formed, the North Heaven Demon Lord twisted the spear shaft with every ounce of strength he had.
This time, even Jeok Cheongang would be unable to bear the pain.
Crack.
At the grisly sound of flesh tearing, Jeok Cheongang’s body shuddered. Then a thunderous shout burst from Jamukha’s lips.
“Jamukha!”
At that instant—
KABOOM! Shhk!
With a thunderous crash, a razor-sharp gust of wind shot toward Jeok Cheongang’s back.
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