Grasping Hands
I swallowed hard as I watched Jang Ik draw his saber.
“My illustrious Heaven-Sinking Venerable… I have heard of your renown.”
“Well, have you anything to say?”
“First of all, I am not merely a Heart Clan disciple. I hail from the Heavenly Clan. And the way I descended to the Star Realm right now was by briefly possessing the body of this boy from the Goryeok Realm. That means if the Venerable and I fight, this boy will die for certain. I may not care, but please, show mercy to this child.”
At my words, the Heaven-Sinking Venerable looked at me with eyes full of surprise.
“You are from the Heavenly Clan…? How interesting. I knew Heavenly Clan brats thought the lives of their incarnation bodies were nothing more than fertilizer…”
“…”
“Fine. Then step out of his body for now. Even a Heavenly Clan member who has reached the realm of One Step Before the Throne can perform a greeting as a clone, can he not?”
“Thank you for your concern, Venerable, but if I leave, this child will burn alive in the heat of this planet.”
“You claim you didn’t think of that when you came out?”
Jang Ik swung his saber toward the scorching hot zone surrounding us.
Kugugugu!
Surprising things happened.
For a moment, the laws themselves seemed to twist.
Under the searing sun of this planet, parts of its surface that had once been hellish fire turned into something else entirely at Jang Ik’s command.
Just as magicians shattered the laws with spells, Jang Ik’s single swing felt as if the very concept of nature itself obeyed his will.
In an instant, the hellish surface became a pristine, clear valley where a human could live.
Although no grass or trees had grown yet, clear water suddenly burst forth, cooling the ground and soaking every inch of it.
A crystal-clear lake formed right in front of us, as if spring water would sprout from somewhere any moment.
“Throw that brat in just a little farther and come back.”
“…”
I was at a complete loss for words.
‘With the strength of the Heart Clan… is this even possible?’
Up until now I had always thought martial arts focused only on competing with and defeating opponents, unlike spells.
Of course, there were martial arts that summoned fire and guided water, but reshaping nature itself like this was the domain of the magicians’ arcane arts.
I dipped Ham-jin’s body into the lake Jang Ik had created, then used the Sitting Liberation and Standing Death technique to escape from his dantian.
Thud. Thud!
The attack of Sitting Liberation and Standing Death was nothing more than a clone, and that clone had no difference from the original in terms of pure Heart Clan skill.
Of course it was weaker in endurance, but the gap was not that vast.
Jang Ik watched me crawl out of Ham-jin’s dantian and showed a slightly troubled expression.
“Hmph… it’s all good, but why does it look like some sinister parasitic monster is crawling out of its brain and targeting another victim? You could’ve just come out normally.”
“I’ve gotten into the habit of the Ghost Dragon Technique. Please understand.”
I glanced at the unconscious Ham-jin, who was still using all his energy and law power, then looked around at the completely changed environment.
“What exactly did you do?”
“A cripple like you is asking me what I’m doing with the laws I know. Even if you are a Heavenly Clan who can descend to the lower realms, you can do something similar with arcane arts, so it’s no concern.”
He was right, and I had nothing to say.
I exited the area he had created and assumed my stance.
“I only asked because I was thinking about the next stage.”
“Well, that’s not a bad attitude. But what I did was not an enlightenment of the One Step Before the Throne. It was a technique I deliberately developed to stabilize the local laws and build a Heart Clan domain after reaching that realm.”
“I see… Then the question about the next realm… I will offer greetings.”
Before I even finished speaking, I focused my mind and shot forward like lightning toward Jang Ik.
I gathered Heaven and Earth Qi to form a qi sword and struck in the exact form of a thrust, targeting his face.
However, he didn’t even draw his second saber. He used only one and deflected my sword with a single swing.
“Come closer.”
A completely out-of-the-blue remark.
But I understood its meaning.
Between Jang Ik and me, countless ‘domains’ and ‘scenes’ overflowed.
Mostly, they were the scenes where I got beaten to pieces, my body shattered, or my head exploded.
And the domains were places where Jang Ik could send me flying into space with one move.
Those scenes and domains had become thousands, tens of thousands of attacks crushing my mind violently.
And although our physical distance was close, the countless domains and scenes between us made him feel impossibly far away.
Jang Ik was speaking to me.
Come closer.
‘Strip away his domains.’
Kuuung!
I planted my right foot forward, leaned my left side back, and slashed downward from left to right toward Jang Ik.
Before the stone fragments I had bounced off the ground could even fall again,
Jang Ik moved his saber and spun three times on the spot, unleashing three cutting strikes toward the right.
It looked like a massive claw was about to chop me down.
I immediately changed my posture and met the claw with my sword edge slightly angled.
Deflect it.
Otherwise…
The next moment.
‘Eh?’
I had been flung into outer space.
When I came to my senses, a shockwave from the clash between Jang Ik and me was racing across the planet we had been on.
‘Right now, with just one strike… I’ve come this far…’
Before I could finish thinking, I sensed Jang Ik lifting two sabers with both hands above my head to chop me apart.
‘I have to dodge!’
I mindlessly transformed my body into the All-Heaven Sword and slipped out of his slash.
Since it was outer space, there was no wind or turbulence, but everything in the space where Jang Ik had crossed his two sabers to cut was completely erased, giving me goosebumps.
And in outer space, Jang Ik’s will resounded like a bell.
―Do not dodge.
Chilling!
Puff!
I had definitely dodged, yet my waist snapped and my lower and upper bodies were severed.
―You will die.
‘Why, why!’
The problem was that the Sitting Liberation and Standing Death clone’s body had been cut in half.
Jang Ik’s strike had clearly been executed in a dimension I could not understand.
***
“Master!!”
A sudden emergency alarm rang out across the entire Mugeuk Sect.
It was the alarm that sounded whenever the sect leader, the Mugeuk Ghost King Seo Eun-hyun, suffered a fatal injury.
Hong Beom sat in his throne, then suddenly his stomach split open as he watched the waist-severed Seo Eun-hyun. His expression froze, and he quickly sewed the wound on his waist.
“W-what in the world… why all of a sudden…”
An incomprehensible miracle.
Yet despite such strange events, Seo Eun-hyun did not rise.
Instead, he sat in the throne and closed his eyes, focusing on something with even more intensity.
***
‘I don’t know what you did, but you even cut off my main body!’
Goosebump-inducing skill!
It meant that nothing as flimsy as a clone or main body could stand in front of Jang Ik.
I gritted my teeth and manifested over three thousand qi swords around me.
I had created the Colorless Glass Sword.
Swaaaah!
Three thousand qi swords danced and attacked Jang Ik.
An infinite trajectory of formless dancing that became a massive cutting strike to split mountains—
Puuung!
When Jang Ik swung his saber, the combined strike was instantly shattered along with the sword edge, and his right arm was severed.
Gugugugugu!
There was no sound in outer space, but there was vibration.
When I looked behind me, the planet where I had been attacked was not the one with Ham-jin, but another planet in this star system, split right in half.
―Do it properly.
Srruung—
Just a glance of his eyes seemed enough to crush a soul.
Jang Ik had already reached right in front of me, holding two sabers in both hands.
―Although I am a Heart Clan member, since you are a Heavenly Clan, I have no qualms about killing you.
Wiiiiing!
My qi swords rose to the soul level and came down.
The strike of Mountain Heart and Distant Mountain’s strike slammed into Jang Ik, who met it head-on by clashing his saber and shattering the Mountain Heart strike.
Kwaaang!
My Sitting Liberation and Standing Death clone could not withstand the strike and was flung toward the star in outer space.
Jang Ik chased after me again.
No, he was not chasing.
When I opened my eyes, he was right in front of me.
Unlike Kim Young-hoon or other Integration stage cultivators, his speed was different.
Kim Young-hoon was simply too fast to perceive, and Integration stage cultivators leaped through space, but he was something else.
Whoong!
I focused all my mental energy to unleash the All-Heaven Sword throughout my body without burning in the planet’s heat.
Jang Ik lifted his foot and brought it down again.
Although it was the foot of a small green dwarf, I saw a terrifying vision of a continent-shattering strike flying toward me from his kick.
Kkwajijijijik!
The Sitting Liberation and Standing Death clone was driven straight into the surface of the star.
A storm of blazing flames and heat rose from the planet’s surface.
A storm powerful enough to engulf an entire small planet!
‘This… this is Void Shattering level…’
I was stunned by this cosmic power, but I immediately gritted my teeth and focused my mind on the All-Heaven Sword.
There was no time for any other thoughts!
‘I know how Jang Ik moves!’
Surprisingly, Jang Ik was moving through levels!
Of course, he was not moving through every level; he briefly shifted from the soul level and then descended to the lower level.
After I figured out his method, I sensed the soul level and extended the All-Heaven Sword.
Danak!
Crack!
The ultimate of the Danak Sword Art, unleashed with full power, grazed his cheek in an instant.
His skin split, and a small drop of blood flew out.
Even though it was the surface of a star, the blood drop looked like that of a Goryeok Realm or ordinary planet, meaning Jang Ik’s surroundings were essentially another realm.
Jang Ik wiped away the blood drop and let out a delighted sigh.
―What a clever brat. You realized I was moving levels and immediately counterattacked.
Kwaaang!
Jang Ik swung his saber down again while speaking, and I pulled every remaining drop of energy from the Sitting Liberation and Standing Death clone to deflect it.
However, the mere aftershock left the clone’s entire body trembling, and on top of that, the main body sitting in the Mugeuk Sect throne was coughing up blood and dying.
‘No matter what, I cannot die fighting Jang Ik in this life!’
I used the All-Heaven Sword to draw power from my main body through the soul level.
Kugugugugu!
The veins of the Sound Realm surged around my main body, consuming its power and carving a path between me and the main body.
Of course, the main body could not cross over; I could only use other techniques of the main body within short bursts.
I transformed the Heavenly Clan and Earth Clan exercises of the main body into qi, raised them through the All-Heaven Sword to the soul level, and brought them over, then lowered the levels again to merge Heaven and Earth into the Mind.
Of course, this method was not free; I felt the veins of the Sound Realm temporarily dry up as a price.
Wiiiiing!
The Triple Taiji rose behind me.
Jang Ik let out a sigh again.
―Hah, I was going to blow your head off with that one strike earlier… but that sword, you can move levels? You are using your self-manifestation extremely well.
He laughed heartily and praised me.
And a green cutting strike flew again.
I deflected Jang Ik’s power and was flung away once more.
Kugugugugu!
I was blown beyond the horizon of the star and then flung out again to the outside of the star.
Law manipulation, spells, circuits, curses, formations, student techniques, concealment—none of it was possible.
If you don’t want to fall, use everything!
Kwadak!
Jang Ik’s palm grabbed my head.
―Excellent. I don’t know what you did, but Heaven and Earth Qi are both at a similar level. Combining full power puts you at Integration Grand Completion… other Venerables would want to take you as a disciple.
Although his palm was small, I felt as if every cell in my body was being held by his hand.
‘I have to counterattack.’
Jang Ik raised his saber again.
I had let go of his hand, but I could not move.
However…
If I take that hit, I’m dead!
Wood crack!
I forced my body to move through the fear he had planted.
Then I combined every stance of the Danak Sword Art.
At the same time, I gathered all the power of the Triple Taiji into one strike.
With this one hand, I stake everything!
―Haha, what an amusing struggle…
I could feel it.
No, I could see it.
The next moment, my entire body would be crushed, becoming a blood-red Seo Eun-hyun kimchi dish.
So, I will change that future!
―Taste this, little Heavenly Clan brat!
[Wansuigungmurok!]
Fwaaat!
An incredibly brief moment.
My body vanished from all those flows and perceptions.
Nowhere in past, present, or future could I be found.
I had turned into the very emptiness that Tae Yeol-jeon had tried to teach me for that brief instant and evaded Jang Ik’s perception.
Kwadudududuk!
I could see Jang Ik’s eyes narrowing tightly.
His saber could not find me.
But in that short time, Jang Ik switched his saber strike to a ranged attack.
His saber painted the surroundings of the star green.
Chwararararuk!
Fine needles of strikes spread out everywhere around the star.
And in that short time, I had barely avoided his eyes, exhausted all my energy, and was being sucked into the star by its gravitational pull beside it, my entire body riddled with holes.
‘Damn it…’
I could not move my body.
The fine droplets Jang Ik had scattered had dug into every part of my body and trapped me.
I had lost.
And right in front of me stood Jang Ik.
[Excellent.]
Suddenly, Ham-jin was held in one of his hands.
[…Why are you bringing that child… here…?]
Jang Ik was distorting the laws around him, so even in the Star Realm, Ham-jin was breathing normally.
But I did not understand.
Was Ham-jin a Heavenly Clan, so he intended to kill him?
However, suddenly Jang Ik grabbed my collar and laughed heartily, beginning to fly somewhere.
[I tried to find you, but it seemed I disturbed the higher-ups. Let’s run.]
[Eh…?]
And then.
Kuguguguguk!
Suddenly, we had been transported to the ‘mid-level’ by the ‘transmission.’
On that planet covered in scorching heat where the transmission had been, a dark ‘hand’ erupted from the ground.
‘What!’
Chiieeeeeing!
My entire body trembled.
It was hard to maintain consciousness.
That was, that was…
[A Quasi-Immortal who was sleeping heard us and is tossing and turning because of us. Let’s run away quickly.]
Kugugugugu!
Jang Ik began to leap through infinite spacetime with us.
And toward us leaping through infinite spacetime, a massive hand like a withered old tree branch erupted from a star and was chasing us.
[W-what is this… why, why, why, why, why, why Void Shattering…!]
[Oh, you watched the Quasi-Immortal for so long and still have a clear mind. What a genius. I didn’t know much about Integration stage cultivators, but originally, most Venerables don’t stay conscious for long and go into sleep. After all, every world with a Goryeok Realm transmission is basically a Venerable’s body… among them, there are some who remain awake, but they focus on other worlds, so it’s hard to meet them.]
He laughed heartily.
[Well, in short, the Venerable who disturbed you is currently sleeping and tossing, so he won’t be caught. But with this level of mental strength and even basic foundation… how about it? Will you become my disciple?]
I could not answer Jang Ik’s words and simply screamed in outer space while watching the massive hand chasing us.