The Gale’s Fury (2)
A dull thud echoed as the thick magical barrier shattered. Light flooded the surroundings.
I opened my mouth in shock at the overwhelming sight.
Golden stones gleamed from every corner!
“Insane… did they grind down an entire island to make a field of high stones?”
It was a treasure trove beyond imagination!
Scattered across the area were not only high stones but also the rare inspection jades and even a few salt crystals.
Beyond the high stones, there were law treasures made of coral, as well as the precious gems known as the Seven Treasures: carved coral, red pearls, translucent gems, blue and gold stones, and agates, all radiating spiritual energy.
And at the very center of this mountain of treasures stood a grand white palace.
It was the palace built from the salt crystals Yuk Rin had extracted from Bongrae Island.
Even I felt a chill at this immense treasure mountain, while Jin Ma-yeol’s eyes nearly rolled back as he gasped for breath, unable to steady himself.
I seized the moment and charged straight toward the salt-crystal palace.
Then—
A flash!
A white sword qi burst forth with a chilling glow, racing toward me from behind.
I whipped my head around just in time and blocked Jin Ma-yeol’s sword qi with a frantic parry.
‘This…!’
My arm tingled violently.
No way could this be one of Jin Ma-yeol’s sword qi.
I glanced back at him. He had already drawn a brand-new white sword from the pile of treasures and was pointing it straight at me.
‘What the hell is that… crazy!’
The sword was forged from a single white salt crystal.
Space around it trembled subtly, and the inscription “Gae-ryeok” carved on the blade glowed faintly while emitting a surging aura.
“Do you know the legend of the ‘Heavenly Craftsman’ called the Lord of the Sword? It is said that the master who forged countless divine treasures offered one to the god of rhythm to contain his power. Long ago, a Gaeyeol-stage expert witnessed the shadow of that divine treasure, was overwhelmed with emotion, and tried to create a replica using salt crystals, but failed and left behind three imperfect works.”
“…What is the point of this?”
“This is the replica of the divine treasure Gae-ryeok!”
Boom!
Jin Ma-yeol swung Gae-ryeok again, and a sword qi that rivaled Kim Young-hoon’s divine light erupted from his hands.
Boom!
I slashed through it with the Chongcheon-geom and frowned.
‘I’ve been pushed back…!’
The force that blocked the sword qi sent me skidding backward a full step.
That should have been impossible for someone of Jin Ma-yeol’s level.
Boom!
I scanned the surroundings for a usable formation artifact, but none appeared in weapon form.
I instantly understood the reason.
Clang, clang, clang!
Dozens of swords, spears, and divine soldiers were being rapidly embedded around Jin Ma-yeol.
‘That bastard…’
The moment I entered, he had stretched his own integration domain and sucked in the treasures like a thief.
‘Now it makes sense. His integration domain wasn’t about stealth—it specialized in theft.’
I confirmed how deeply his greed was tied to his domain.
“So that’s how it works. Your integration domain…”
“You figured it out?”
“…It’s disgustingly shameless.”
I laughed bitterly as I realized I hadn’t even noticed how quickly he had swept the treasures away.
The ability of his integration domain was no ordinary stealth. It amplified theft power in direct proportion to his own greed.
“My heart is racing! I’ve never seen a place this packed with treasures before! Hahaha! Who would have thought the sea-dragon lord Yuk Rin kept this much hidden! It’s probably the ancestor’s legacy, but… hehe, these are the treasures of the sea-dragon king that can be found in the deep sea! Hahaha!”
Jin Ma-yeol’s eyes blazed with feverish excitement.
“Come at me, Demon Sect Master! Here, my greed is at its peak! Here, I am the strongest!”
He rushed at me like the dozens or hundreds of divine soldiers Kim Young-hoon had worn.
Kwa-kwa-gwaang!
His Gae-ryeok clashed against my Chongcheon-geom.
The overwhelming power made my entire body tremble.
His realm was only one thousand, yet he suppressed it with the strength of early integration and peak martial intent.
And worse, the surroundings began to shake.
‘This…!’
Kuu-guu-guu!
The treasure mountain shuddered.
At the same moment, light burst from the salt-crystal palace atop the summit.
Paaa-aah!
A dream-like power enveloped the area.
My eyes and his locked tightly together.
‘My qi is being squeezed dry? No… this is…!’
Illusion!
The salt-crystal palace began spewing faint illusions, merging the entire area into a dream-like world where the mysteries of Bongrae Kingdom could not be felt.
Its power was so weak it paled in comparison to the salt-mountain experience above.
But my and Jin Ma-yeol’s strength plummeted in an instant. Since I was a Fragment of Wol-da-ip-mang, my body—already possessing only moderate strength—turned semi-transparent and stood on the brink of annihilation.
‘This lunatic!’
I cursed inwardly and retreated.
Then the treasure mountain suddenly shook again, and a colossal dragon erupted from within.
‘A molting skin!’
It was the shed skin of Yuk Rin.
Its consciousness faintly contained, the skin howled at us intruders, thrashing wildly as it opened its jaws to devour us.
Its power looked no higher than core formation, yet somehow it wielded qi freely without being affected by the illusion.
Sway!
As the skin writhed, the treasure mountain rocked like ocean waves.
“Great, it’s getting more interesting!”
Kaang!
My Chongcheon-geom collided with his Gae-ryeok sword.
Exhausted by the palace’s illusion, I nearly vanished entirely in an instant.
Kuu-guu-guu!
‘Useless…!’
My qi had nearly been exhausted, yet Jin Ma-yeol’s integration-stage qi was still at foundation-establishment level.
We danced through the skin’s attacks, clashing swords in a flurry.
Kaang! Kang!
Lacking the qi to freely reshape the Chongcheon-geom, I held it in sword form and clashed with him.
I attacked with a horizontal slash, then swept his legs to break his lower body, stabbing his eyes seven times in succession.
Puk!
Jin Ma-yeol’s head split apart, but his foundation-establishment body kept regenerating endlessly as long as his head remained intact.
Kwa-kwa-gwaang!
As he swung Gae-ryeok, a corner of the treasure mountain collapsed like a small hill.
A tidal wave of high stones crashed over us, and we clashed swords atop the swaying sea of stones.
Spinning like a dancer in the lower stance, I lifted him off the ground.
Jin Ma-yeol’s jaw cracked.
He planted one foot and aimed a downward slash from left-upper to right-lower.
I hooked his leg to unbalance him, then cleaved his side with the first style of Wol-aek.
He staggered, regained balance, and struck three times with Gae-ryeok.
The first struck my empty core to cancel the second, the third flowed like a mountain-hill style, then I dove in with the stomach-folding style, cut, and unleashed a continuous barrage of Geok-am-gi-seok to carve his chest to pieces.
“Gueuueugh! Ah! Good, good, good!”
With a flushed face he regenerated his body. In his right hand he wielded Gae-ryeok, in his left a mysterious divine spear, and around him countless divine soldiers. He unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Kuu-guu-guu-guu!
It was like rays pounding down on me.
But shallow.
They lacked true harmony.
I danced through the mountain-water style, deflecting, flowing, or evading every attack.
Sway!
The terrain shifted again because of the skin’s movement.
I was now positioned above Jin Ma-yeol.
Boom!
A single cutting strike concentrated and bit into one of his divine soldiers like a mountain tiger.
Kaang!
Sword qi condensed and obliterated his weakened divine soldiers along with us.
Sway—
The terrain changed once more.
Since he was a pirate who fought at sea from the beginning, he was barely affected and instantly regained his posture, then brought his blade down on me.
I used the Gusan-pahae style and spun forty times in place, adding that rotation to launch eight cutting strikes upward.
Jin Ma-yeol staggered, then steadied himself again.
Sway—
The terrain shifted again.
Our sword styles also changed.
Because of the skin, the terrain kept morphing, and I had to keep adjusting it with the Ability-Field Change style to create a terrain suited to me.
Kang! Kaang! Kagagag!
No matter what, the bastard was rotten through and through.
He scattered attacks that were thoroughly integrated with his martial intent, pressing me relentlessly.
In the blink of an eye, tens, hundreds, thousands of exchanges flew back and forth.
Twung!
One stone bounced back, and Jin Ma-yeol swung his divine spear at me together with it.
The stone shattered and scattered in all directions.
Several fragments shot toward me.
I scattered sword qi with the Yosan-yo-aek style and knocked away every incoming stone fragment, flinging them straight into Jin Ma-yeol’s eyes.
Immediately switching styles, I poured the twelve forms of Dan-ak Sword Art—reaching the peak of Yulcheon-gwang-il-chul-bong—into his spear.
Pasaak!
His spear snapped.
Sway—
The terrain shifted three times, and during those moments we traded countless combinations. Seventy-seven of Jin Ma-yeol’s divine soldiers were destroyed.
Every time I obliterated one of his soldiers, his face twisted like a demon.
It was a reaction I had never seen when shattering Kim Young-hoon’s weapons—a chilling thrill.
We exchanged sword stabs.
His spear flew past my eyes, then I twisted the sword’s trajectory to slap his spear upward and slammed it with the Yoryeok style, breaking it.
We exchanged combinations.
His demonic blade stabbed my earlobe, then changed direction to slash my neck, but the Chongcheon-geom’s trajectory twisted strangely and flowed the attack away, after which the Mountain of Overlapping Peaks style created a bush of sword qi that restrained his movements.
Jin Ma-yeol’s brief pause was enough for me to focus the Ability-Field Change style on his demonic blade, turning it into powder with vibration.
We exchanged inner thoughts.
I received his blazing inner thought and barely evaded a double stab aimed at my eyes and face.
A single strand of hair was severed.
Immediately, I stabbed my sword into his mouth with the Yuring style, then poured sword echoes into his intestines with the Sannyeong-gok-eung style, shaking his entire body.
The mace in his left hand was torn apart as he tried to perform Chil-gong-bun-hyeol.
Kwa-gang!
We exchanged styles once more, and I destroyed three more of his weapons.
How many times had we clashed now?
What was left of him was only the first divine treasure he had seized—the Gae-ryeok sword.
Jin Ma-yeol’s eyes were half-rolled back as he gnashed his teeth.
“You rotten bastard… my children of weapons…!”
“When did they become your children? They belonged to Yuk Rin.”
“Shut up! I’ll kill you!”
The bastard went wild, Gae-ryeok in his right hand and a demon blade in his left, swinging sword stabs everywhere.
“I’ll show you the power of the divine treasure!”
Paat!
Another terrifying white sword qi grazed me.
Indeed, it was a dangerous strike.
Why had I not been able to destroy it even after shattering all of Yuk Rin’s weapons?
Because the power of Gae-ryeok was simply too beyond imagination.
‘Troublesome.’
Twung, twung—
I had stimulated Gae-ryeok several times, but nothing happened.
It was solid.
Boom—
He swung it again.
Salt crystals were the core of the non-material realm and allowed connection to the lower realms.
In short, it was a mineral that interfered with dimensions.
That was why the Tumak Pirates had used salt crystals as keel to freely dive through the deep sea.
And the power of a Gae-ryeok sword made from such crystals was an authority that cut space even when qi was exhausted.
Chwaak!
Sway—
While evading Gae-ryeok, the skin moved again and the cutting strike landed directly on the waist of the skin.
Ddong-geong!
The skin’s waist was sliced clean off.
The skin thrashed madly, glowing wildly.
‘I can’t destroy that.’
Instinctively I knew.
It was a replica of a divine treasure forged by the Heavenly Craftsman.
No, not even a replica—a failure, but still…
This Gae-ryeok sword possessed a degree of completion insane enough to be called the greatest divine sword under heaven.
Could anyone believe that even one such sword could exert pressure equal to a Composite-stage puppet of the mad one?
A single sword equal to an entire Northward Fleet.
Honestly, even someone without a lust for law treasures felt his heart shake.
And a weapon of that level of madness was being swung by a rotten-through-and-through warrior.
If Kim Young-hoon had obtained it, I doubt he could have won even with his original body. If Jang Ik had it, he could conquer the Gwanghan Realm without resistance.
However.
“…How pitiful.”
Instead of swinging my sword, I coldly watched Jin Ma-yeol being swallowed by the Gae-ryeok sword’s possibility and forced to wield it.
“Is this the Tumu of your Tumak clan?”
The attacks that had initially taken the form of Tumak suddenly twisted in shape and turned into disorderly trash the more he wielded the Gae-ryeok sword.
“Shut that mouth!”
“Idiot…”
I clicked my tongue and concentrated.
Since the battle began, Jin Ma-yeol had not landed a single effective attack on me.
There was indeed a gap in realms, but it was laughable considering I had fought Kim Young-hoon of Wol-da-ip-mang on equal terms.
At that time I had pushed him with nothing but raw body strength.
But this guy.
He had no Triple Taiji.
Yet despite possessing a higher realm than me, holding a far superior weapon, and being older, he was being toyed with and his treasures were being destroyed one after another.
“His martial arts have rotted in his greed.”
I sneered at his sword, flicked aside the demon blade that came slicing toward my side, and drove my Chongcheon-geom straight into the Gae-ryeok sword stabbing toward my eyes.
Puk!
Blood sprayed.
My Chongcheon-geom precisely pierced his palm, blocking the forward advance of his sword.
Boom—
Burst!
In the next instant, my Chongcheon-geom, through thousands of stabs in a single blink, shattered Jin Ma-yeol’s palm itself.
‘Tsk.’
Yet his body clung stickily to the sword.
‘It’s rotten through and through, huh.’
I decided.
‘Even if it hurts a little, I have to use it.’
Sway—
The terrain shifted again.
Unfortunately, this shift gave him a slight edge over me, and I slid a little lower.
Without a gap to adjust the terrain with the Ability-Field Change style, he charged at me.
‘Doesn’t matter.’
I moved my sword.
Tsuu-aah!
The Chongcheon-geom began to resonate.
Because of the salt-crystal palace, qi had been suppressed.
My body and the Chongcheon-geom were also suppressed.
Yet in that moment the Chongcheon-geom became clear once more.
The sword moved.
Following the sword’s trajectory, a hazy mist trailed behind.
The thirty-first form of Dan-ak Sword Art—my complete fusion of everything I had created since arriving in the Goryeok Realm.
This was my history.