Chapter 157. Four Gods Completion (1)
The open space in front of the rear garden or entrance of Pa Gun Pavilion was wide enough to serve as a training ground or sparring arena.
However, Yeon Wi dragged Yeon Hojeong toward the inner castle plaza instead.
When Yeon Hojeong asked why, Yeon Wi replied, “I want to see everything you’ve got.”
With those words, Yeon Hojeong understood his father’s intent.
Not only his father, but even he himself—if they went all out—could cause massive collateral damage. In the worst case, it might even damage the accommodations.
He had never truly unleashed his full power against his father in their previous spars.
A strange excitement stirred within him.
“This should do.”
Yeon Hojeong glanced around. It was quite a distance from where he had sparred with Moyong Gun—a dedicated outdoor training ground for the Martial Alliance. Naturally, plenty of people passed by.
If their clash intensified, a crowd would surely gather.
“What, are you embarrassed?”
Yeon Hojeong smiled at his father’s teasing provocation. “As if.”
“Well then, shall we begin?”
“Yes.”
Boom!
With a powerful stomp, eyes turned toward the training ground.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed. “I’ll go at you like it’s real combat.”
“No need to say it. Come on.”
His words brimmed with infinite confidence. His martial realm had risen, granting him a newfound leisure absent before.
Woooong.
Vibrant azure true energy formed the stable foundation for Yeon Hojeong’s martial arts. It calmly guided his body, internal energy operation, concentration—everything.
It was Bi-ra Jin-gyeol.
The Bi-ra Jin-gyeol that Yeon Hojeong had cultivated was thoroughly tempered by his unique training method, solidifying his core.
Yeon Wi’s eyes sparkled. ‘Impressive.’
Bi-ra Jin-gyeol had surpassed great accomplishment and teetered on the brink of ten seong.
Astonishingly, his son had advanced it purely as a foundation. Not to manifest martial arts through it, but solely to stabilize his entire body, minimizing the burden.
‘So that was your choice.’
It was a stroke of ingenious creativity. The very idea of using a supreme art like Bi-ra Jin-gyeol as a base was shocking enough—and he had actually realized it. Truly, he was in a league of his own.
Whoosh.
Yeon Hojeong raised the Gwang Yong Bu to his midsection, and his gaze sharpened.
‘Here it comes.’
Kaboom!
The first strike exploded with a ferocious stomp and charge, as always. Closing the distance in an instant, he slammed down the Gwang Yong Bu.
A simple bisecting slash, yet its speed and power were impossible to ignore.
This ferocity had no place in a father-son spar.
At that moment, Yeon Wi’s right hand brushed his waist and rose.
Claaaang!
Yeon Hojeong’s body flew back.
The Gwang Yong Bu, over eighty geun heavy, empowered by White Tiger Qi on a foundation of Bi-ra Jin-gyeol, crumbled futilely.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes deepened. ‘Strong.’
His hand gripping the axe haft trembled faintly. The shockwave from the sword strike coursed through his arm into his entire body.
‘The rebound feels different from before.’
This was his father’s evolved martial art.
Marveling anew, Yeon Hojeong took another step forward.
Pat-pat-pat-pat!
Light and nimble. Even stepping with the heavy stomps of White Tiger Overlord Step, he infused a crispness unlike before. Yet the power drawn from the earth remained undiminished.
Binding the incompatible principles of heaviness and lightness into one advance.
Yeon Hojeong’s Gwang Yong Bu whipped up like a storm.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
A magnificent defense. Yeon Hojeong swung the massive axe gripped in both hands at blinding speed, yet Yeon Wi parried every assault with a single ordinary longsword in his right hand.
It was the pinnacle defensive stance. An invincible guard with not a single gap.
In that instant, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.
Rumble.
As if storm clouds gathered from the northern sky.
His aggressive white true energy shifted to heavy, solid black in a heartbeat.
Yeon Wi’s eyes lit up. ‘Heavy?’
Yeon Hojeong shielded his upper body with the Gwang Yong Bu and charged straight in.
Bam!
Yeon Wi’s body jolted.
Not an attack blockable by sword. It wasn’t about power, but distance.
‘A body slam?’
And it didn’t end there.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The training ground cracked under Yeon Hojeong’s stomps. Three consecutive rams pushed Yeon Wi back.
Even the unparalleled Yeon Wi couldn’t hide his surprise at these strikes.
‘It’s clearly a defensive stance. Yet he’s using it offensively.’
A martial art transcending offense and defense conventions.
The rebound was so fierce it forced his posture low instinctively.
Admiring his son’s brilliance, Yeon Wi swung his empty left hand.
Thud-thud-thud!
‘Gah!’
The majestic palm force sent Yeon Hojeong sliding to the edge of the training ground.
Not a strike, but a repelling blow. No shock lingered in his body, freeing Yeon Wi.
‘Banryongjang!’
The repelling form of Banryongjang.
He had used it once against that Pyeong-san fellow Yeon Wi’s subordinate brought.
‘Completely different.’
A realm apart in power and depth. Not a difference in attainment, but in the arts cultivated.
Banryongjang synergized best with Geomgeuk Sagi or Dragon Embrace Divine Art among the Yeon family’s five divine arts.
Flash!
Yeon Wi charged. His back straight as he ran—then suddenly before him.
A speed hard to track with the naked eye: true Heavenly Vertical Flight Step.
‘Coming!’
Yeon Wi’s sword moved like a beam of light.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
A deadly sword net descending like a snare. Cheonra—heaven’s net.
The fusion of ultra-swift sword and sticky illusion sword enveloped Yeon Hojeong like an inescapable prison.
‘Damn!’
He deflected central strikes with the Gwang Yong Bu’s shaft, dispersing remnants with the palm form of North Heaven Twelve Walls.
Ching-ching-ching!
The thread-like sword qi shattered and vanished.
He had somehow blocked the Cheonra Sword Form.
A faint smile touched Yeon Wi’s face. ‘Outstanding.’
A flawless counter. His body reacted instinctively to the savage assault. He had been sharp before, but shattering black path sects had honed his senses further.
Only a battle-hardened veteran could respond so keenly.
‘But.’
Yeon Wi’s eyes blazed.
‘What now?’
Slash!
Blood sprayed from Yeon Hojeong’s body.
‘Faster.’
Clang-clang-clang!
Slash! Spurt!
The sword net sliced his shoulder, collarbone, thigh. Too fast to block. Shallow cuts, but enough bleeding. He’d never imagined his father wielding such brutal, rapid swordsmanship.
‘As expected.’
A magnificent figure.
Master of a hundred swords and myriad martial arts, his balanced central path bloomed fully, wielding any technique freely—the dignity of the Heavenly Sword.
‘Truly the incarnation of the sword!’
One who embodied swift sword, strong sword, soft sword, heavy sword, light sword, illusion sword, still sword—even living sword and death sword.
The Gangdong’s foremost swordsman, worthy of all swords’ love: Judge Sword Yeon Wi’s true martial art lay here.
Pat-pat-pat-pat!
The blood scattering into the air increased.
He stemmed it with true energy at each cut, but prolonged, he’d collapse from blood loss.
He needed an outlet. A breakthrough.
In a situation barring evasion or counter, one move to reverse the momentum.
Flash!
Yeon Hojeong’s pupils spat crimson flames.
Boom!
Yeon Wi started. ‘His foot?’
While blocking Cheonra Sword Form, his son targeted his instep with a stomp.
Instinctively withdrawing, or his bones would have shattered, crippling one leg and weakening his sword power.
‘Unique.’
An attack imposing physical and psychological pressure. Not orthodox martial art, but real combat.
Boom! Boom!
Pressing through Cheonra Sword Form, targeting the instep. How did he generate such power mid-defense, mid-stance? His bodily flexibility defied imagination.
And it didn’t end there.
Roar!
Amid the dense sword form, red flame qi surged.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Slash!
This time, Yeon Hojeong wasn’t cut.
‘His sleeve...?’
The Gwang Yong Bu’s fearsome blade had rent Yeon Wi’s sleeve clean in two. Without Geomgeuk Sagi guarding his forearm, muscles would have torn.
‘A killing strike! Another facet of Four Gods Martial Arts.’
Then—
Kaboom!
Yeon Wi’s eyes widened. ‘Gah!’
The sword qi net of Cheonra Sword Form scattered at terrifying speed.
One reason: Yeon Hojeong’s stomp disrupted Yeon Wi’s stance.
‘This?!’
Swiftly withdrawing Cheonra Sword and retreating three steps, Yeon Wi clicked his tongue at where he’d stood.
“You weren’t aiming for my instep—you meant to shatter the training ground?”
Flash!
Yeon Hojeong closed in with the fastest step of Four Gods Martial Arts, Blood Wing Swing Heaven, and swung the Gwang Yong Bu upward.
“Both.”
Rumble!
The killing slash pierced the iron sword barrier, jolting Yeon Wi’s upper body.
‘Killing art.’
Vermilion Bird Qi’s absolute killing art: Hong Yeom Yuk Sal Gong.
His shaken stance prevented full power. Yet Yeon Wi’s sleeve shredded into dozens of pieces.
Yeon Wi looked at Yeon Hojeong.
“Hoo.”
Roar!
One knee down, Gwang Yong Bu propped atop it, Yeon Hojeong heaved breaths. Crimson energy blazed like flames from his body.
Unlike before, stably wielding Bi-ra Jin-gyeol, White Tiger Qi, Black Tortoise Qi—now only Vermilion Bird Qi flooded his frame.
Rumble!
Terrifying pressure cracked the ground anew.
The Southern Emperor, Sun God, descended.
Yeon Hojeong’s body, seething with murderous intent and explosive fighting spirit, resembled gunpowder on the verge of explosion.
A declaration: he’d fight to kill.
The aura pouring from him differed utterly from before.
‘Perfect.’
A splendid smile graced Yeon Wi’s face as he beheld his son.
‘Finally acknowledging your father.’
Like real combat? Mere words—he had never unleashed a ‘true’ killing blow on him. Always holding back, fearing injury to his father.
No longer.
Yeon Hojeong was convinced his father’s martial art could withstand everything.
Going all-out now was no insult, but respect.
That conviction, that fighting spirit, that gaze—Yeon Wi’s highest praise.
‘Come without worry.’
He hadn’t yielded to youth yet.
His grown son, departing father’s hand, returned affirming his power.
Trust exchanged.
As martial artists, as murim dwellers, their bond completed in this moment.
Rare indeed for father and son embracing the martial way to share such trust.
Yeon Hojeong, crimson eyes blazing, face full of sturdy smile, said, “This is the real thing.”
Yeon Wi, verdant eyes gleaming, face full of generous smile, replied, “I’ve waited twenty years.”
Kwaaang!
Their weapons clashed, upheaving the training ground floor.