Chapter 389
The entire world trembled violently.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
It was a sound that echoed across the heavens themselves.
Yuk Rin laughed, his voice thick with mockery.
“Passing the throne to you was nothing but a blunder! Hahaha! If I hadn’t inherited the throne, the barriers on Bongrae Island would have remained as solid as ever, and no external force could have slipped in. But because you took the throne, my true self interfered and seized the core of the formation!”
He threw his head back and let out a wild, thunderous laugh. I stared at him, desperate to reconnect with my own body.
But my body remained trapped in a paralyzed state. All we could confirm was that we were completely cut off from the physical realm and powerless in this illusory world.
“May I advise you to hurry and gather those sacrificial scrolls you came for. Once the barriers shatter, the scrolls will be trapped forever in this dream realm and can never be claimed again…!”
“Shut your mouth.”
Why was this fool still yapping? It had to be deliberate misinformation meant to throw me off balance.
*What he said at the beginning is true… everything about the scrolls is a lie…*
Even if I felt a twinge of pity for the idiot, it changed nothing.
I stomped on Yuk Rin’s neck and quickly scanned our companions for anyone who could still help.
And then our eyes met—mine and Kim Young-hoon’s.
“Hyung-nim… can you come?”
Kim Young-hoon had just recovered his senses. The entire nightmare experience must have left a bitter aftertaste, for his face was dark.
He still gave a single nod.
I glared at Yuk Rin.
He was clearly trying to escape with the core after we broke the formation, leaving our bodies behind.
“I’ll show you that your calculations were wrong.”
Kim Young-hoon and I locked eyes for a split second, then reached out into empty air.
Strength slowly returned. We began reconnecting with our own bodies.
Reconnecting meant we could once again wield qi.
And once we wielded qi… we could wield consciousness.
“All-Heaven Sword!”
“Rays of Light!”
Using the One Step Before the Throne technique was child’s play!
Flash!
The world shook again. Kim Young-hoon and I hurled our strikes straight into the sky.
Blinding light streaks tore through the air as we ripped free from the formation and rocketed upward. Below us, the morning sunlight bathed the vast Anryong Sea.
Yuk Rin’s true body was already waiting, arms spread wide, ready to devour us.
Yuk Rin’s true body.
More precisely, the projection of his core. He smiled wickedly at us.
*Foolish. You dare challenge me? If it had been my true self, I might have stepped aside. But these projections?*
“You’re no projection yourself.”
Haha, do you really think I’d bring a plain projection on such an important day? Stop wasting my time and obediently return to the depths of the Deep Sea, Carbon King!
He was mocking the “charcoal merchant” persona I had been assigned, twisting my title into “Carbon King” as he laughed.
Kim Young-hoon and I said nothing. We only adjusted our stances.
And Yuk Rin roared again.
Kim Young-hoon sent me a warning through our mind-link.
*Be careful, Eun-hyun. This Yuk Rin is different from the one we fought before.*
The warning came from the version of me who had faced Yuk Rin alongside Buk Hyang-hwa’s fleet.
His face was tight with tension.
I swallowed hard.
[You really mean to fight me? I am the one who stole the flesh of the Anryong Palace Lord and revived him! I inherited the divine arts he mastered, and I have fully learned every technique you taught me. The entire Hae-ryong Jin-bleed lineage has been replenished. Right now, I am no different from a complete, pure Hae-ryong race!]
“I never knew the Hae-ryong race was so terrifying…”
*From this moment on, you should be afraid. At least within the Goryeok Realm!*
Kugugugu!
I felt it.
Although he was just a projection, some forbidden art had made him identical to his true body. The power that had taken Yuk Ung’s flesh was…
*On par with Hyun-eum…!*
Same realm as a Goryeok peak expert.
Only Hyun-eum the Black Dragon King.
And the battle began.
[Art: Sea-Piercing Thousand-Li Pearl.]
“…!”
In an instant, Kim Young-hoon and I were trapped inside a sphere of water a thousand li across.
[Art: Three-Hundred-Million-Jin Water Honey Peach.]
*This…*
The skill’s difficulty skyrocketed. Our bodies were being crushed.
I told Kim Young-hoon which attack would come next, then we exchanged mind-link commands and danced.
Flash!
Just before the Three-Hundred-Million-Jin Water Honey Peach could drown us, we tore free from the center of the Sea-Piercing Thousand-Li Pearl.
“Coming!”
“Got it!”
Kim Young-hoon had already set up the counter to the next link.
[Art: Exterminate the Eternal Heaven!]
Splash! Splash! Splash!
The Sea-Piercing Thousand-Li Pearl exploded. Every droplet rained down in all directions.
I swept them all aside and rocketed straight toward Yuk Rin. Kim Young-hoon weaved through the droplets and struck the back of his head with a rising blade.
In the space of a heartbeat, he turned and asked.
*You’ve fought the Hae-ryong race before. The name-ink art that burns the Hae-ryong lineage itself.*
“Enough of that already.”
I heard the smile in his voice.
*All the Hae-ryong races I’ve met until now have been cowards, haven’t they?*
“Eh?”
*Thinking of the Hae-ryong race only makes you feel awe? From now on, every time you remember the Hae-ryong race, it will bring terror and humiliation…!*
Whoosh!
Familiar light erupted from his body.
*Oh no…*
Kim Young-hoon and I each left a wound—one on his neck, one on his back—then retreated at once.
He was trying to open his domain.
[I am the one who has reached the extreme point of the Hae-ryong race…!]
His blue scales grew even brighter. His body swelled dramatically.
After a moment, waves of sea-like energy surged inside him. His eyes became two colossal suns. His mane turned into a single raging storm.
Heavenly Sovereigns of the Heavenly Tribe spread a domain from the Four Pillars onward and expand it outward even at the Integration realm.
Terrestrial Sovereigns expand a domain from the Four Pillars, inflate their own bodies, and at Integration they fuse their Harmonious Domain with their bodies themselves.
In other words, a Terrestrial Integration King was nothing more than a miniature living dimension.
Yuk Rin, who had become the very dimension of the Dragon Punishment, moved.
Whoosh—
His first target was Kim Young-hoon.
His tail struck out.
Of course Kim Young-hoon dodged, but the force still sent a quarter of the Anryong Sea into chaos.
Kugugugu!
A storm howled in the direction of the swing. Islands in the Deep Sea sank and crumbled under the waves.
Crack!
He opened his maw toward us.
Boom!
Flash!
My All-Heaven Sword and his Rays of Light burst forth. At the same instant, a dragon’s breath—Dragon Wave—spewed from his mouth.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing——
Sound vanished from the world.
Everything behind us was swept away by the Dragon Wave.
Only the exact spot where we had launched our attack remained untouched.
Kim Young-hoon was fast. I was free.
In normal terrain, no attack could reach us. But here, inside a single sea droplet, there was nowhere to hide.
The light faded. Yuk Rin charged forward and brought his paw down.
Kim Young-hoon dodged, landing 108 strikes across the entire body. The strikes were useless against a miniature dimension.
It was shallow.
Crash!
His paw slammed into my All-Heaven Sword.
Crack!
I redirected his force, seized his paw, and hurled the massive body into the Deep Sea.
Normally, that would have been instant death. But because he had become a miniature dimension, he didn’t sink. Using the property of being composed of the same dimensional veil, he stood once more upon the surface of the Deep Sea.
And then he began preparing Dragon Wave again.
Kim Young-hoon and I exchanged glances.
Even with my One Step Before the Throne clone, I could only hinder him. Victory was impossible.
He would become my puppet within a day if we met Seohyul. But as a pure single Hae-ryong, he might be stronger than Hyun-eum—or perhaps even stronger than the Goryeok dimension itself.
Flash!
Light erupted from his mouth.
The next instant, Kim Young-hoon and I rocketed straight beneath his jaw and slammed upward.
He was strong.
As a projection, I couldn’t deliver a finishing blow.
And the core of Bongrae Island was still partially sealed, so I couldn’t summon Triple Taiji as Jang Ik once had.
Then how could I shock him?
Boom!
The Dragon Wave he was about to unleash exploded inside his own mouth.
*As expected. Martial artists usually defeat sovereigns this way.*
He had to wound himself with his own power.
*Thinking back, Triple Taiji was just too strong. I never once ran out of strength against other sovereigns.*
This was a rather novel experience.
Hiss hiss hiss—
I kept my gaze on Yuk Rin, who was spewing steam from his mouth, and prepared a big strike.
The Dragon Wave had exploded, but half the force was still cycling inside his body and being absorbed.
But in that moment—
The instant he began healing—
We each seized our qi and strengthened it.
Ki-yiiing!
The All-Heaven Sword rang.
Rays of Light blazed.
In the next instant, Kim Young-hoon became a diving condor slicing through the sea.
My All-Heaven Sword became a storm that split mountains.
And—
Craaaaaash!
The condor severed his left arm.
The All-Heaven Sword punched a hole through his chest dimension.
[…!]
His body trembled as if struck by lightning.
[…Is this the end?]
Even at Integration, you don’t die until you destroy the entire domain.
Of course, as a projection, he could survive even with substantial qi loss. But somehow he was still wielding power that rivaled his true body.
In short, he was wounded but still standing. Our qi was completely exhausted.
Yet both Kim Young-hoon and I wore grim but not broken expressions.
“A projection can only do so much.”
“So… shall we start attacking the true body now, Yuk Rin?”
We had plenty of time.
The paralyzed body finally woke.
I shifted my attention to my own body and opened my eyes on the real flesh that had been waiting above Bongrae Island.
Kim Young-hoon did the same.
No, not just us.
Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, Buk Hyang-hwa, Jeon Myeong-hoon—everyone in Mugeuk Sect.
We all awakened.
I rose from the Guang-eum Realm directly beneath the sky—exactly where my One Step Before the Throne clones were facing Yuk Rin.
I revealed nineteen heads.
*[Self, if I kill you now… after we return to the Gwanghan Realm, I can teach Hyun-eum directly, can’t I?]*
Behind me, Triple Taiji flared.
Crack!
Yuk Rin, trying to suppress us, pressed us down with gravity.
It was laughable.
And the next moment—
“…Eh?”
I felt the aura of calamity soaring into the sky.
Kugugugu! Kugugugu!
At some point, the palace of salt crystals that had once stood on the salt mountain was now being lifted.
Upon closer inspection, Jin Ma-yeol and Yuk Rin’s projections stood on either side of the palace, each activating their own stealth arts and Purple Soul Filling the Heavens.
A fragment of the Purple Soul Filling the Heavens that I had once learned from Yuk Rin’s mind flashed before my eyes.
*Purple is the color that hides best in darkness.*
Even if it was useless against my One Step Before the Throne eyes, it combined with his stealth technique to hide him even at the Soul Realm.
Jeon Myeong-hoon laughed cruelly.
*[What are you doing, collecting treasures right before death? You die here.]*
And I shouted urgently.
Calamity!
The great misfortune from the sky was slamming down on us!
[Jeon Myeong-hoon! Defend, not attack! Protect the seal!]
[What?]
Crack!
Yuk Rin’s massive body seized the palace of salt crystals with both hands.
A terrifying premonition surged to its peak.
Excitement filled his eyes.
*I shall show you… the legendary divine art that the Sea Dragon Lord himself created…*
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The palace of salt crystals began to glow.
*[Salt Sea!]*
Infinite pure white light poured from the palace and painted the sky a vast white sea.
*[Return of Dew!]*
The white sea in the sky condensed into a single sphere.
Time seemed to stop.
His movements had been swift, yet the pressure from that sphere made my entire body tremble.
Everyone in Mugeuk Sect was in the same state, barely standing.
Only those who had faced transcendents before—me and Jeon Myeong-hoon who had stared down heavenly punishment—could still move.
*[Jade Heaven!]*
Crack!
Yuk Rin compressed the sphere he had created and swallowed it whole.
And from his mouth came a flash that could split heaven and earth.
*[Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]*
I endured the pressure, leaped into the sky, and detonated Triple Taiji.
Instinctively, I knew.
*I cannot perfectly block it.*
The mainstream of the Danak Sword Art and All-Heaven Sword was cutting. That would not work.
Then what could?
*Opening Heaven-Shattering the Void lacks enough destructive power.*
Mountain-Cleaving Emperor Art had enough force, but it was designed to enclose and then dismantle its target. In this situation, it was useless.
Then what…
*There is only one way.*
Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!
Yin and Yang, the five elements, seven energies converged into one.
The reverse of the Mountain-Cleaving Emperor Art, whose name I still hadn’t found a proper one for.
An inverse horn took shape in my hand and clashed with his Salt Sea Dew Jade.
Kududududuk!
Receiving infinite strength from Triple Taiji, my inverse horn and his Salt Sea Dew Jade collided.
The collision shook the world.