Chapter 231
Translator: uly
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: Arm?
Arm?
He understood a beat too late. A hollow laugh escaped him. It had been nearly a year since Wi Seongcheon shattered Hwangbo Seongu's arm. The boneless beastman's ridiculous regenerative powers had mended the fracture in just a week. No way that arm still hurt.
"Right."
But Wi Seongcheon didn't think Hwangbo Seongu was lying. His body had beast-transformed and swollen massively, and Wi Seongcheon spread his legs wide.
Hwangbo Seongu wasn't backing down. There was no avoiding an all-out clash here.
'He's different.'
He'd traded a few blows just moments ago. Just as Wi Seongcheon had grown incomparably stronger than a year ago, so had Hwangbo Seongu. Wi Seongcheon erased the memory of last year's Hwangbo Seongu—the one he'd defeated—from his mind.
The first time he'd laid eyes on Hwangbo Seongu, Wi Seongcheon had figured he'd be a brute fitting his hulking frame, arrogant and overbearing like a scion of the prestigious Hwangbo Clan. The opposite was true. He wasn't brutish or arrogant.
In the training cave, Hwangbo Seongu had entered alongside Wi Seongcheon and exited the same way. Wi Seongcheon had never seen him slack off in his cultivation.
Boom!
Hwangbo Seongu's single step shook the earth. Wi Seongcheon felt a prickling on his skin as he stared at him.
"...Bigger than a year ago?"
Even back then, he'd been eight feet tall, but now he seemed a whole head taller. It wasn't just height. His reddish-brown fur had turned blackish-red, and his entire frame had thickened.
"What, scared?"
"Not scared, just kinda gross."
His face had turned bear-like, but the scar at the corner of his mouth remained. Hwangbo Seongu flashed a sinister grin on that vicious mug.
And then.
Hwangbo Seongu's foot cratered the ground as he sank low. His charge was shockingly fast for such a massive bulk. The instant he lunged, Wi Seongcheon deployed the Pure Heaven Secret without a hint of hesitation.
Deploying the Pure Heaven Secret drew abundant qi from heaven and earth into his body. It connected heaven and earth through him.
From there, Ignition Stance. His right fist pressed to his waist. Though it was night, Wi Seongcheon's vision darkened further. A shadow as vast as Hwangbo Seongu's bulk engulfed him.
'Ignition.'
Kwaaaang!
It sounded like hundreds of thunderbolts exploding at once. His entire right arm buzzed like it'd been struck by lightning. The searing pain from the tip of his thrust fist raced up his forearm and weighed heavily on his shoulder.
"What the hell."
Wi Seongcheon couldn't help but be stunned.
His thrust fist was blocked by Hwangbo Seongu's. Hwangbo Seongu had taken the worse of the clash—his fist half-smashed, his feet dragged back.
Even so, Wi Seongcheon was shocked that the Ignition hadn't fully detonated midway.
The Ignition Stance, an application of the Pure Heaven Secret, was the most powerful single punch he could unleash. He'd been confident no one short of a transcendent realm master could block it head-on.
Yet it had been stopped dead. He'd wrecked Hwangbo Seongu's fist and shoved him back, but his own hadn't extended fully—it merely touched.
"Kid, that fist stings."
Hwangbo Seongu grimaced with a laugh. No sensation in his right arm. Fist crushed, forearm and shoulder bones cracked, muscles shredded too.
But he'd blocked it. That alone was a satisfying feat. Wi Seongcheon retreated hastily, but Hwangbo Seongu's reach was too vast.
His swung left fist hooked toward Wi Seongcheon's side. Wi Seongcheon spun to block, but his right arm wouldn't move properly. In that instant, he flipped his body.
Hwangbo Seongu's fist grazed his chest by a hair. Even without direct impact, the tearing wind rocked Wi Seongcheon's frame.
Wi Seongcheon arched back fully, planting his left hand on the ground. He pushed off and leaped.
Crack! Wi Seongcheon's feet kicked Hwangbo Seongu's jaw. But his neck was so thick that even with full force, his head barely budged.
'Even tougher. This guy's just a monster now, isn't he?'
Wi Seongcheon twisted his left arm and waist sideways. From his handstand, he chopped repeatedly at Hwangbo Seongu's neck. Meanwhile, he gathered internal energy into his recovering right hand.
He pushed off with his left hand to leap upward, firing sword energy from his right at Hwangbo Seongu.
Kwaang! Hwangbo Seongu's body was swallowed by the sword energy flames. It detonated properly, but Wi Seongcheon's expression soured.
'External arts and energy arts too?'
In that split second of explosion, Hwangbo Seongu had concentrated protective energy on his chest. That was exquisite mastery of energy few could imitate.
Wi Seongcheon righted himself midair and dropped to the ground. The instant his feet touched, he charged Hwangbo Seongu again.
Heavy-Light Receiving Stance unfolded. Wi Seongcheon's arms shook, and Hwangbo Seongu raised his left hand.
A single punch shot out. The moment his fist extended, Wi Seongcheon's senses sharpened to the limit. His relaxed arms exploded forward.
Heavy-Light Receiving Stance, Infinite Hand Path.
The shaking arms seized Hwangbo Seongu's fist. It seemed to grab, then slipped free to graze the joint, climbing his forearm.
Midway, Wi Seongcheon's expression changed. He'd tried snapping it multiple times, but it wouldn't break.
Instead of protective energy, Hwangbo Seongu had packed qi tightly into his bones, muscles, even the fur wrapping his arm. Wi Seongcheon's climbing arm halted at the center of his forearm.
Heavy-Light Receiving Stance, Unyielding Heart-Body. Power focused into the relaxed arm. Drdrdrk! Wi Seongcheon's feet dragged back, his torso whipping rearward.
Wi Seongcheon gritted his teeth, pouring strength into his waist, legs, and arms. Hwangbo Seongu's fist halted, advancing no further.
Ppak! His hidden right hand rose as a palm strike to Hwangbo Seongu's jaw. He then clamped down on the left grip halting the forearm.
The arm was too thick for one hand, but Wi Seongcheon pinned the muscle lines around the joint with his thumb.
But.
Twisting joints, crushing them, tearing muscles—like always—was impossible. This was a first. Wi Seongcheon had never failed to break a joint due to lack of strength.
It made sense. Target precisely, and breaking a joint didn't require massive power.
'Too damn tough...!'
It wouldn't snap this time either. Hwangbo Seongu's body had grown far tougher than imagined. Like Diamond Indestructible made real. He'd struck the jaw repeatedly, yet he was fine; Infinite Hand Path and Unyielding Heart-Body merely halted the arm's advance.
Only the Pure Heaven Secret's Ignition had landed effectively. Wi Seongcheon gave up wrenching the left arm.
Options flashed in his mind. No matter how tough, Turbulent Flow Stance could seize it. But it lacked finishing power. Next move then? Something he'd never shown?
'Not the time to hold back...'
Wi Seongcheon gritted his teeth. He retreated swiftly and swallowed a breath. That was the moment.
He hadn't anticipated this. It was utterly unlike any martial art Hwangbo Seongu had shown so far.
The strike to his solar plexus cut Wi Seongcheon's breath short. His feet lifted off, arms flung forward. He flew briefly through the air.
'Tyrant Extermination Fist?'
The peerless master's art from generations past, Fist King. The technique Hwangbo Seongu had found treasure-hunting. Unfamiliar, so unexpected.
No, this was too much. He'd thought the Fist King's fist art would be domineering, but invisible and blindingly fast. More like an assassin's strike.
'Power-wise...'
Hit defenseless, but consciousness held. He endured through gritted teeth. Didn't want to take another, but it packed a wallop.
Wi Seongcheon glared at Hwangbo Seongu. He stood in place, withdrawing his extended fist. Eyes met, and he kicked off to pursue. Wi Seongcheon could hesitate no longer.
Pure Heaven Secret, Simplified Form.
The true Pure Heaven Secret linked heaven and earth through him. It required the variant stance. But in ceaseless combat, assuming it each time wasn't easy.
Simplified Form skipped that. Link to either heaven or earth. Power halved inevitably, but enough to pierce instants.
Heaven's Might.
Ignition.
Kwaaaang! Wi Seongcheon's fist shot forward.
"...Hoo."
The recoil Ignition sent him higher before he fell. Catching his breath, he looked ahead.
"Se-Sunbae!"
Woo Heera, who'd been watching dazed, belatedly screamed.
He hadn't fallen. Hwangbo Seongu withstood the Simplified Form Ignition right there.
An unforeseen strike. Couldn't block or dodge. Took it bare-bodied... Wi Seongcheon shook his head unwittingly.
Even simplified, standing after that strike inspired awe.
"Damn."
Hwangbo Seongu's mouth opened. Blackish-red blood trickled from parted lips. Woo Heera rushed screaming to support him, but he shook his head.
"Was wondering if I could win."
His chest was deeply caved. Aftershock of taking Ignition bare. Normal ribs would've shattered, but thick muscles and hide spared the bones. Internal injuries from the heavy impact, though, he couldn't avoid.
"Hey, what was that earlier?"
"Tyrant Extermination Fist."
"Yeah, right. How's that Tyrant Extermination Fist? Looked like some assassin's killer move!"
"Why gripe at me? I name it? Bitch about the dead Fist King's naming to me?"
"Sneaky bastard. Assassin's strike from that bulk of yours?"
"First time I used it, felt betrayed too. Shut up."
Hwangbo Seongu grumbled as he reverted to human form. Legs buckled massively as beast form released; Woo Heera clung to support him like she'd been waiting.
Wi Seongcheon eyed the scene curiously and asked.
"When'd you two get like that?"
"W-What?"
"Quit yapping and scram. You won."
Hwangbo Seongu snapped. Wi Seongcheon didn't miss Woo Heera's ears flushing as she averted her gaze, flustered.
'Tastes vary.'
Wi Seongcheon glanced at Hwangbo Seongu's ugly mug once more and turned. Midway, something occurred; after a few steps, he looked back.
"Arm still hurt?"
"Nope."
Hwangbo Seongu wiped blood from his lips with his hand and answered. Odd reply. Blocking the initial Ignition had snapped his right arm again. Yet no pain.
Lost again, but more satisfying than last year's fight.
"Good for you."
Wi Seongcheon smirked and turned away.
He'd asked about the arm, but truth was, Wi Seongcheon's hurt. Consecutive Ignitions. Last one, unfinished Simplified Form's Heaven's Might too.
Looked fine outwardly... but his right arm trembled faintly. Muscles, meridians, bones. Felt like it'd need bandaging for a month.
'Didn't think about injuries.'
Too arrogant? Ask Yeomyeong for treatment? Five days left. Wi Seongcheon grimaced as he walked, then halted.
"Thought you were a ghost."
Joking, but a chill settled in his chest.
From the darkness emerged a figure wrapped head to toe in red bandages—the Crimson Bandage Guard.