Chapter 598: My Disciple Gave This to Me as a Gift
Chapter 598: My Disciple Gave This to Me as a Gift
Wi Mu-cheon, the Master of the Heavenly Will Palace, was shaken to his core.
The Heavenly Will won’t be fulfilled for another three hundred years?
Standing right beside him, the Guardian Palace Master saw Wi Mu-cheon’s eyes waver. It was the first time he had ever seen the Palace Master look so stunned and bewildered.
Geom Mu-geuk, observing from within the Space-Time Displacement Technique, was equally surprised.
He predicted that event three hundred years ago?
It was truly difficult to believe, even after seeing it with his own eyes.
A heavy silence fell over the hall.
Wi Mu-cheon, who had been staring intently at the Divine Maiden, walked slowly back to his seat. He picked up the bottle and poured himself a drink.
Sitting down and pouring wine while leaving the Divine Maiden standing before him was a blatant breach of etiquette, but at this moment, no one cared.
Trickle, trickle.
In a room so silent that even the sound of breathing seemed absent, only the sound of pouring wine resonated.
The Guardian Palace Master could feel it—the sheer scale of Wi Mu-cheon’s fury. That clear sound of falling wine was the sound of him suppressing his rage.
Wi Mu-cheon stared down at the cup, which was filled to the very brim.
He had already spilled so much blood. He had reached a point of no return. And now, the heavens chose this moment to deliver such a prophecy? Then why had the Secret Casket awakened? Why had it wailed so piteously in his hands?
After fiddling with the cup for a moment, Wi Mu-cheon asked the Divine Maiden in a calm tone, "Would you like a drink?"
The expressions of the white-clad women lined up on either side stiffened.
Not only was he sitting alone and pouring his own drink, but now he was offering one to her. No matter how high the status of the Heavenly Will Palace Master, this was behavior that should not be tolerated.
Since the Divine Maiden’s eyes were covered, it was impossible to tell what she was feeling.
"I am fine," she replied.
At her calm refusal, Wi Mu-cheon drank alone.
The moment he set his cup down, a startling statement escaped the Divine Maiden’s lips.
"Though I cannot drink, I shall pour one for you."
At her words, the women in white looked at her in unison before quickly bowing their heads again.
They were shocked and tense. The Divine Maiden was doing something she would never normally do, and they knew it wasn't just because they were standing in the middle of a war.
It was because this prophecy was just that significant.
The Divine Maiden took a slow step forward. Despite her blindfold, she walked precisely toward Wi Mu-cheon. As if she could see perfectly, she lifted the bottle and poured the wine accurately into his cup.
Trickle, trickle.
The clear sound of the cup filling struck fear into the hearts of the women in white. They felt a taut tension, as if something disastrous was about to happen at any second. Everyone knew exactly what the Divine Maiden’s prophecy meant to the Master of the Heavenly Will Palace.
Without drinking the wine she had poured, Wi Mu-cheon asked, "What happens if I do not withdraw from this war?"
The Divine Maiden calmly delivered the prophecy.
"The Heavenly Will Palace will suffer a crushing defeat in this battle. And you, Palace Master, will perish at their hands."
It was a statement no one else would dare utter. Had it been anyone other than the Divine Maiden, the Palace Master likely would have crushed their skull with a single palm strike then and there.
But Wi Mu-cheon did not move. His cold fury actually made him calmer.
He emptied the cup she had poured.
"Regrettable, but this prophecy is wrong."
He didn't say it seemed wrong; he stated it as an absolute fact. It was an even greater insult than his previous behavior.
The rows of women raised their heads simultaneously to glare at the Palace Master. Their gazes were lethal. To deny the Divine Maiden’s prophecy was to deny their very existence.
Wi Mu-cheon ignored them. His gaze was fixed solely on the Divine Maiden.
Amidst the freezing tension, the Divine Maiden spoke. She was preternaturally calm, as if she had fully expected him to deny it.
"A Divine Maiden may go her entire life without receiving a single prophecy, but a prophecy once given is never wrong."
A single desire surged from the depths of Wi Mu-cheon’s heart.
It was a murderous intent—a wish to kill the woman before him and use her as a sacrifice for this war. But he couldn't. If he did, the morale of the Heavenly Will Palace would plummet, and the people’s hearts would turn against him. The warriors of the palace believed in the Divine Maiden’s prophecies.
"Even so, I will not stop this war."
"May I ask why?"
"This time, the heavens have delivered their will directly to me."
"In what manner?"
"Shouldn't someone like you already know?"
Wi Mu-cheon’s tone was closer to fury than mockery.
If the Secret Casket hadn't awakened, he might have believed her prophecy. Even if he hadn't believed it, he might have called off the war because of such an "erroneous" omen.
Wi Mu-cheon stood up and slowly approached the Divine Maiden. Standing inches away, he whispered in a low voice only she could hear.
"After I unify the world, I will kill you and destroy the Divine Maiden Palace."
Despite the shocking threat, the Divine Maiden did not waver. Wi Mu-cheon’s whispering continued.
"It doesn't matter anyway, does it? If your prophecy is right, I’ll be dead regardless. Conversely, if the prophecy is wrong, you will have deceived me with a false omen, which is a crime worthy of death."
Wi Mu-cheon smiled and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
"In that sense, this can be considered a very special prophecy."
The Divine Maiden turned her head to look at Wi Mu-cheon.
It was a gaze that gave the impression she was looking through the cloth at his face, peering into his heart, and even looking further into the future.
Perhaps that was why Wi Mu-cheon felt a sudden urge to rip the blindfold from her eyes. What kind of eyes were looking at him from beneath that cloth?
I have treated you all with such prestige until now, and this is all you can offer me before this crucial battle?
The Divine Maiden spoke to Wi Mu-cheon as calmly as she had at the start.
"I merely deliver the prophecy. The judgment and the decision belong to you, Palace Master."
She gave a polite bow and turned away. Before exiting, she paused.
Her gaze, still hidden behind the blindfold, lingered for a moment on one of the walls.
Everyone assumed she was looking at the map of the Central Plains hanging there, but Geom Mu-geuk was standing right in front of that map within the Space-Time Displacement Technique.
Geom Mu-geuk could feel it.
She’s looking at me.
The Divine Maiden spoke without turning back to Wi Mu-cheon.
"I will not return home; I shall remain here."
Not only the women in white but Wi Mu-cheon himself was startled. He hadn't expected her to say she would stay on the battlefield.
Without waiting for his answer, she walked out.
Geom Mu-geuk knew why she had said that.
She wants to meet me.
*
The momentum of Fist King Kang Hu had changed completely.
His killing intent shone brilliant white and took physical form, while the characters glowing like ghost fire on both his hands dazzled his opponent’s vision.
Behind Kang Hu’s back, the gates of hell seemed to swing open. Those who had committed evil and fallen into the fires of purgatory let out agonizing screams. Within the sea of fire, wicked ghosts rampaged in every direction.
Kang Hu’s aura was that of Hell itself.
It was a presence that inspired terror just by feeling it, an aura that stripped away the will to fight.
The Fist Demon, however, was not intimidated in the least. Having stripped off his upper garment to fight in earnest, his momentum was terrifying.
He strode boldly toward that hell. Wicked ghosts clung to him from all sides, and the ground seethed like molten lava.
The Fist Demon threw the gates of hell wide open and stepped inside.
Whooooosh!
The Fist Demon’s aura was the Wind.
It was no longer a wind that merely tore things apart, but a wind that blew through the human heart—the Fist Demon’s evolved wind.
That wind began to howl within the depths of hell.
The ghosts were blown away by his gale. The spheres of fire boiling like lava were swept up and scattered in all directions. The ghosts shrieked as they were consumed by the flames. Hell became a true hell.
In the center of that wind-swept purgatory, the two men collided.
BOOM!
Vast amounts of internal energy were loaded into the fists flying at each other. As if they had met their sworn enemies, the two men traded blows.
CRACK!
Every time they threw a punch, the ground beneath their feet shattered from the force of their steps.
Neither man retreated a single inch. The sound of wailing ghosts and claps of thunder erupted from their clashing fists.
Bang! Boom! Crash!
Killing intent and demonic energy, forces that could never coexist, crushed against one another.
Lee An’s heart pounded frantically as she watched.
Even from her distance, she could feel it—the toxic energy erupting from Kang Hu’s fists.
If the One Flower Sword Venerable hadn't been shielding her from that energy, she wouldn't have been able to stand and watch in her exhausted state.
Even Yeon Baek-in, whose internal energy was intact, had retreated far away and was uncontrollably retching.
These people are all monsters.
Even if she obtained a peerless martial manual, would she ever be able to face people like this? She lacked the confidence. If so, what was the point of obtaining that manual?
The manual, the manual, the manual.
Yeon Baek-in's head was so full of it that he had forgotten one thing: this entire situation had started out of necessity.
The man who had gone underground was the one who made him forget.
Because of that man’s refined attitude, Yeon Baek-in had come to believe he might actually give him a peerless divine art. In the end, that man must be a monster like these two. No, perhaps he was an even more terrifying monster.
Meanwhile, the exchange between the Fist Demon and Kang Hu continued.
The ghost fire erupting from the characters engraved on Kang Hu’s fists mixed with his killing intent, making the surrounding air almost impossible to breathe.
Even so, the Fist Demon did not take a single step back.
It was as if he were declaring: This is the fist of the Fist Demon.
But then, he proved he was more than just his fists.
Swish!
CRACK!
The move that instantly shattered the tense deadlock was a kick from the Fist Demon, thrusting straight through the gap between their fists.
Thunder Asura Fist, Fourth Form: Iron Fist Asura.
With that single blow, Kang Hu’s jaw was knocked aside, and he was sent flying backward.
He had never imagined the Fist Demon would use a kick, and thus he took the full force of that fast, powerful strike.
The Fist Demon did not miss this opening.
Thud!
Following like a shadow, the Fist Demon’s fist buried itself mercilessly into Kang Hu’s abdomen. Though his Body Protection Qi activated, the pain was so intense it felt as if his intestines were rupturing.
"Ugh!"
It was the first time a groan had escaped Kang Hu’s lips.
Having seized the advantage, the Fist Demon’s punches became even faster and heavier.
Thud! Thud! BAM!
The Fist Demon’s fists hammered into Kang Hu’s body in rapid succession.
"Goddammit! Enough!"
After taking a series of hits, Kang Hu spat out a curse and leaped away toward the spectator stands. The moment he landed beside the figure of Death sitting in the stands—
Whoosh!
The Fist Demon’s fist followed immediately, flying in to completely crush his face.
In that instant, the look in Kang Hu’s eyes changed. It was a look that said, I’ve been waiting for this moment.
Instead of blocking with a fist, Kang Hu spread his palm wide.
Ssssss.
A pitch-black wall blocked the path of the palm. The Fist Demon’s punch flew in with enough force to shatter anything in its path.
The moment the fist struck the wall, a different sound echoed instead of a blunt impact.
Squelch.
The wall undulated. The wall, which felt like liquid, absorbed the Fist Demon’s punch. He tried to pull his fist back, but the eerie liquid gripped it tight.
Swish!
Simultaneously, Kang Hu’s other fist cut through the air.
This time, the sound was different again.
It wasn't a thudding impact.
Slash! Slice!
The sound of flesh being torn echoed repeatedly.
Rip!
The Fist Demon, having barely wrenched his fist from the liquid mass, was thrown backward.
Drip, drip.
Blood was streaming from the Fist Demon’s free arm.
His thick, massive forearm and fist had been deeply slashed. He was lucky; Kang Hu had been aiming for his throat and heart.
At the tips of Kang Hu’s knuckles, shimmering blades of light flickered. They weren't ordinary blades. They were blades of killing intent, forged from Kang Hu’s own murderous will.
He had revealed his hidden trump card.
Watching this, Lee An’s heart sank. It was the first time she had ever seen blood flowing from her father’s arm.
It was then.
The Fist Demon raised a hand as if asking for a brief timeout.
As the Fist Demon pressed acupoints on his arm and hand to stop the bleeding, Kang Hu also tended to the internal injuries he had sustained earlier.
Gush.
Kang Hu vomited a mouthful of blood while regulating his energy. After spitting it out, his expression actually looked more relaxed.
Meanwhile, the Fist Demon strode over and picked up his discarded upper garment from the ground.
Was he going to apply golden wound medicine? Unlikely. Kang Hu watched him with that thought in mind.
The Fist Demon reached into the clothes and pulled something out.
It was a pair of gauntlets.
They stretched elastically and fit snugly onto the Fist Demon’s massive hands.
"No way?"
Kang Hu realized what they were. Anyone who practiced fist techniques couldn't possibly fail to recognize them.
"The Combat God!"
It was the Combat God gauntlets that Geom Mu-geuk had given him in the past. If the Heavenly Demon Sword was the pinnacle of swords, the Combat God was the pinnacle of gauntlets.
Kang Hu’s expression hardened. He hadn't expected the Fist Demon to possess the Combat God. No, the real problem was that they were now on the Fist Demon’s hands.
"The great Fist Demon using gauntlets? The world will laugh at you."
It was a provocation intended to make him take them off.
But the Fist Demon didn't fall for it. He didn't let pride get in the way. In the past, he would have rather died than fight with anything but his bare fists.
But the Fist Demon had changed. Instead of showing shame, he boasted to Kang Hu.
"My disciple gave these to me as a gift."
"What?"
As Kang Hu stared in stunned confusion, the Fist Demon added, "Our Young Cult Leader gave them to me."
Watching from the side, the One Flower Sword Venerable could see that the Fist Demon’s change wasn't just in the level of his martial arts.
The Fist Demon has become supple.
The Fist Demon had changed. The man who had seemed so hard he would never break, the man whose pride was stronger than anyone else’s.
He became stronger because he changed.
The Sword Venerable knew exactly who was responsible for this change. It was likely the same reason he himself no longer wore makeup and lived with his natural white hair.
"Goddammit!"
Kang Hu spat out another crude curse that didn't suit his status. He summoned every ounce of his killing intent. It wasn't intentional; the curse just slipped out. He truly hated the Fist Demon enough to kill him.
Shing.
The blades of killing intent at the ends of Kang Hu’s fists grew longer and sharper. It was a sharpness that felt as if it could slice through Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
"You damn Demon Lord! Come on then! It’s going to take some time to carve up that massive body of yours!"
In response, the Fist Demon slammed his gauntleted fist into his palm, creating a resounding crack, and walked forward.
Boom! Boom!
"This is their first outing. Consider it an honor!"