Chapter 294. The Way of the Beast (4)
Whoosh!
The cold winter wind rustled the collars of the two men's robes.
Yeon Hojeong scanned their surroundings.
"This place is far larger than our Pa Gun Pavilion. Perfect for a training ground."
Dang Gwan tapped the ground with his toe without responding.
Yeon Hojeong smiled.
"It's been cleaned spotless. From the marks, it looks like a master did the work. Did you clean it yourself, family head?"
Dang Gwan replied curtly.
"None of your business."
Quite the surprise.
In Yeon Hojeong's eyes, Dang Gwan was a man of strong pride who believed himself a cut above others. He wasn't the type to handle menial chores like this.
Yet it seemed he'd personally swept this vast area clean. That alone was astonishing.
His change of heart must run deep.
He didn't know what had happened to Dang Gwan in the meantime. His father had only mentioned that the man had clearly changed.
But facing him now, it was even more profound than he'd heard.
Dang Gwan had undoubtedly transformed from his former self.
"Still."
Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.
"One gauges a vessel through martial arts... A spar with a supreme master like you is worth setting everything aside, but does it really hold meaning?"
The corner of Dang Gwan's mouth curved up.
"What, scared you'll die?"
"As if."
Yeon Hojeong's voice was utterly relaxed.
"I don't die that easily. My martial art kills before it gets killed."
"Arrogant."
"Just stating the nature of my art."
Dang Gwan, who had been silently appraising Yeon Hojeong, suddenly extended his hand toward a second-floor window of the nearby building.
Woooong.
An invisible surge of inner energy created a majestic flow.
Yeon Hojeong's eyes deepened.
Impressive.
A tremendous formless supreme qi. Even through the eyes of the Black Emperor—not the Yeon family's great young master or the world's top later-generation talent, but the lord of Heukje-seong—it was startling inner strength.
His grasp of air-grasping has reached near-perfection.
Setting aside the quality and quantity of his energy, the formula that generated this flow was extraordinary. Achieving such insight demanded not just genius talent, but relentless, day-and-night training and passion.
It was like that back then, too.
When he, as the Black Emperor, allied with the White Path Martial Alliance to war against the Three Sects. Dang Gwan's inner strength had been even bolder and more refined then.
But the framework creating this flow, the solidity of the formula drawing out formless supreme qi—it was just as unwavering now as it had been then.
In other words, Dang Gwan was steadily preparing to ascend to the level of the Thirteen Heavenly Thrones.
Whirrl!
Thwack!
Dang Gwan snatched a long object from the air.
Light flickered in Yeon Hojeong's eyes.
"An iron staff."
"Take it."
Whoosh!
Yeon Hojeong caught the seven-foot iron staff Dang Gwan hurled. Gripping its midpoint, he twirled it experimentally.
Unexpectedly, its balance was flawless. Its considerable weight suggested it was forged from solid steel.
"To wield a great axe with such mastery, you must be proficient in all spear and staff arts."
"Of course."
"Better than nothing. Use that."
Yeon Hojeong smiled.
"Why does the family head have something like this in his quarters?"
"None of your business."
Dang Gwan lifted his chin arrogantly. An utterly haughty posture, radiating absolute confidence in his martial prowess.
"Ready?"
Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh!
Yeon Hojeong swung the staff mid-grip through the air a few times before hanging it on his shoulder sash.
"Yes."
That was the moment.
Boom!
Dang Gwan charged with terrifying speed.
Yeon Hojeong was always primed for enemy ambushes, no matter the time or place.
But even he couldn't help being startled this time.
A preemptive strike?!
Given Dang Gwan's pride, he'd expected at least three exchanges first. Regardless of skill, the man had that much self-respect.
Yet this sudden first strike? Utterly uncharacteristic.
Fwoosh!
His approach was swift, but the palm strike he unleashed was equally elite.
Yeon Hojeong's eyes flashed brilliant blue.
Thud!
Light gleamed in Dang Gwan's eyes as well.
Rebound force?
In an instant, he'd erupted a heavy aura, then deflected the straight-piercing Whirlwind Palm outright.
No matter how lightly thrown, it was a palm technique from the Tang family head himself. Not something to brush off so easily.
Interesting.
Dang Gwan's form blurred momentarily.
Thud-thud-thud!
Yeon Hojeong's eyes wavered.
Fast.
Insanely fast.
Since his regression, he'd faced countless masters, but none had displayed such rapid movement.
Yang Cheon was an exception, but he hadn't fully revealed his arts since the return.
Rear-left upper diagonal.
Without even turning, Yeon Hojeong thrust the staff toward that spot.
Claaang!
A clear yet heavy metallic ring enveloped the entire training ground.
Yeon Hojeong unwittingly staggered forward several steps.
He couldn't withstand the repercussive force transmitted from the staff tip.
At the same time, his fierce gaze shifted from blue to red.
Fwoosh!
Dang Gwan, lunging to seize his throat, flinched at Yeon Hojeong's sudden shift in aura.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
If Yeon Hojeong had been shocked by Dang Gwan's phenomenal footwork moments ago, now it was Dang Gwan's turn to be stunned by Yeon Hojeong's movement speed.
Fast?
He stamped left and right at ferocious speeds, swinging the iron staff—and its velocity showed no great inferiority to his own.
And this aura.
Fwoosh!
The scorching fire energy carried brilliant killing intent that was oppressive in itself, a killing blow.
A martial art whose overwhelming presence crushed the will to resist before the strike even landed.
Dang Gwan's hands whipped about chaotically.
Clang-clang-clang!
Fwoosh!
The staff's power could shatter boulders. And such devastating strikes hammered in twelve consecutive hits.
Dang Gwan blocked every one with his bare palms.
Whiiish!
Boom-boom!
The chaotically swirling winds collided and compressed, erupting intangible shockwaves.
Flash!
After several clashes that widened the gap, Yeon Hojeong closed in at lightning speed.
Dang Gwan's eyes flashed.
Closing in? With a long weapon?
The staff tip was already hurtling toward his throat.
The two-handed thrust was simple yet swift, efficient yet brimming with lethality.
Dang Gwan's hands coiled around the staff like serpents.
Boom!
Monstrous force erupted from his gripping palms.
Under that heavy defense, Yeon Hojeong nearly lost his grip on the staff.
No—he's letting go.
Clatter!
Dang Gwan, moving to deflect and counter, was startled as Yeon Hojeong released the staff.
Spinning rapidly in place, Yeon Hojeong kicked the staff's end with his foot.
Clang!
A counter from point-blank range.
The staff, launched from less than two paces away, carried unignorable inner force.
An unforeseen strike, born of genius combat sense.
Even Dang Gwan couldn't block this one.
Not due to its power, but because it shattered the rhythm, striking at an unpredictable moment.
Dang Gwan leaned his upper body back in an Iron Plate Bridge maneuver.
Thud!
The arrow-like staff grazed his chest lapel and stabbed into the ground.
Dang Gwan's eyes burned fiercely.
He's fighting with technique and real combat prowess over raw power.
A response that drew involuntary admiration.
No matter how strong Yeon Hojeong was, he wasn't yet at the level of a great family's head.
Clashing with pure strength and inner force, he'd naturally be overpowered.
In other words, from the bout's start, Yeon Hojeong had perfectly devised how to handle him.
The bastard's a bastard, alright.
Twaaang!
Using tremendous elastic force from his reclined position, Dang Gwan shot forward.
Iron Plate Bridge into Archer's Body, Leaping Shadow.
As if he'd planned this response from the start, the follow-up motion and power flow were fluid yet instantaneous.
Yeon Hojeong and Dang Gwan clashed bare-handed.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Their fist and palm techniques collided at superhuman speeds.
Fwoosh!
Yeon Hojeong's hands, wreathed in crimson fire energy, unleashed relentless killing intent and flashy killing blows in succession.
Thud! Boom!
In response, Dang Gwan's hands, radiating eerie auras without restraint, erupted insidious killing intent and unique killing techniques endlessly.
A clash of utterly disparate martial arts.
No single absolute strike emerged, but it was a merciless barrage where a single lapse could claim a life.
Indeed.
As Dang Gwan parried Yeon Hojeong's explosive fists, he thought.
His martial arts don't seem the type that relies on clever schemes.
His arms, blocking and deflecting Yeon Hojeong's punches, had long gone numb.
Meaning Yeon Hojeong's inner strength and force were piercing his defenses.
Let's see if it gets through. It was as if the strikes screamed that.
Each attack ignored rhythm, coming from unforeseen angles. Prepare for it, and it switched to a straightforward blow, probing for another gap.
Feints hiding substance, substance veiling feints.
Without eyes honed by relentless poison training, even Dang Gwan would have eaten at least three hits amid the erratic assault.
Of course, he hadn't yet deployed the Tang family's famed poisons or hidden weapons.
Anyway, I've seen enough.
As Dang Gwan began slowly retreating, flowing with Yeon Hojeong's attacks.
Thoom!
Dang Gwan's eyes shook.
Rumble!
The blazing, flame-like aura instantly transformed into something immensely heavy and solid, like Mount Tai.
...?!
The shift was instantaneous, like a blink.
To convert to such polar-opposite qualities in a heartbeat—it was unbelievable even seeing it.
This bastard.
Dang Gwan instinctively sensed an unprecedented strike incoming.
Has he not been going all out until now?
Fwoosh!
The white whirlwind enveloping Yeon Hojeong's entire body tore through the air with a roar like a raging beast.
Boom!
One step forward. With his heart rate maxed via Crimson Flame Flesh Slaughter Art and muscles hypertrophied to their limit, Yeon Hojeong's explosive strike swept over Dang Gwan's upper body—the White Tiger Qi's Tiger King Nine Thunder Strikes, Tiger Roar Kill.
Thud!
Dang Gwan's airborne body flew three zhang before crashing to the ground.
Sizzle!
White smoke rose from his arms.
To neutralize the Tiger Roar Kill's immense force, he'd even unleashed his personal poison arts.
Dang Gwan's eyes trembled.
What a strike!
Without proper guard, that blow might have shattered his mind.
It was that ferocious.
"Hoo."
Yeon Hojeong exhaled deeply.
To his right, the iron staff was embedded diagonally in the earth.
He yanked it free.
Crack!
The ground split as the thick staff emerged.
Whoosh! Whoooosh!
Twirling it mid-grip a few times, Yeon Hojeong lowered his stance.
Weeeeng! Weeeng!
Fierce battle lust flickered in his eyes.
Sizzle!
The smoke rising from Dang Gwan's arms gradually tinged green.
"...I thought I'd seen enough, but you've still got more?"
"I can't sleep if I leave things half-done—my temperament doesn't allow it."
Dang Gwan bared a savage smile.
"Think you can handle it?"
"You said prove my vessel through martial arts. I don't know what you're looking for, but you won't gain anything without seeing it through."
The smile vanished from Dang Gwan's face.
Shhhhrk!
Iron chains whipped from his sleeves like venomous serpents.
"For the first time, I like it. That cheeky attitude of yours."
Yeon Hojeong grinned.