Between Peace and Turmoil (3)
The Shaolin lion's roar suppresses all evil spirits.
But that was knowing one thing and not two. It was true that the Shaolin lion's roar divine art boasted unparalleled power, but that power wasn't delivered to just anyone.
The divine arts of Buddhism and Taoism are the antithesis of the martial arts of evil paths. However, that meant they could strike more easily and surely than those who had cultivated other martial arts, not that they completely ignored the difference in realms.
Conversely, if the realm of one who cultivated evil arts and demonic arts was overwhelmingly high, they could easily crush those who cultivated Buddhist inner energy more than anyone else.
That was precisely what compatibility meant.
Boom!
Moyong Woo coughed up blood and retreated backward.
Through a surprise attack and prior planning, he had thrust his sword into Yayul Jeok's abdomen. Still, Yayul Jeok was a superior master to them. He instantly contracted his abdomen and repelled Moyong Woo with a single palm strike, the power and flow of the technique incredibly natural and graceful.
"These bastards!"
Blood vessels bulged in Yayul Jeok's eyes.
It was then. 'What?' He had read the cold madness in Moyong Woo's eyes as he was sent flying.
Even in a moment when he should have been flustered, his gaze didn't waver. As if he had expected this, he even looked triumphant.
Why?
Kuhhhhhhh!
At that moment, the tremendous lion's roar echoing from behind made Yayul Jeok's neck flush red.
"Cough!"
Yayul Jeok's face, which had spat blood from his nose and mouth, turned extremely pale. It looked like a corpse even though he hadn't drawn up his Shadow God Qi. 'Th-this!'
This was the Shaolin lion's roar.
Beom-oh's realm was lower than Yayul Jeok's. Therefore, the true power of the lion's roar didn't properly take effect.
But Yayul Jeok hadn't been able to treat his internal and external injuries, and moreover, Shaolin was the sun of the orthodox martial world that overwhelmed other Buddhist martial arts.
Each and every one of those factors approached Yayul Jeok as a lethal threat. The reason why the Beast King Qi, not the Shadow God Qi, had reacted to Moyong Woo's aura earlier was because Beom-oh's lion's roar had stimulated his true nature.
"Kuaaaaa!"
Yayul Jeok let out a scream that could have been either a shriek or a battle cry and swung his arm violently.
Rumble!
The force, shot out in a curving arc, created a massive furrow in the ground.
Beom-oh's eyes trembled. 'He's strong!'
It was an enormous power. Although the power of the martial art itself was lower than the Great Strength Vajra Palm he had first used, the inner energy itself was so strong that it produced greater results.
When wielded by a master, even the Three Talents Sword Art becomes a peak sword art. How much more so for Yayul Jeok's martial art, which had reached the extreme even in the transcendent realm. 'This bastard!'
Beom-oh unconsciously clenched his fist. He intended to close the distance in one breath and throw a punch.
At that moment, Moyong Woo's transmission reached him. [Follow the plan!]
Startled!
Beom-oh quickly unclenched his fist and moved his body to the left.
Boom! Boom!
The ground's surface burst open, and a building slowly tilted.
Beom-oh's eyes deepened. 'That single strike after suffering such severe internal and external injuries was impressive, but the successive fist winds now are also tremendous.'
Each and every strike was a fist force at the level of a sure-kill technique that he would have to gather his strength to use. In other words, the current Yayul Jeok was capable of unleashing martial arts with power that Beom-oh could only achieve by fully drawing up his strength, in succession.
If he had responded with the Arhat Divine Fist, he would definitely have suffered internal injuries. Beom-oh felt his vision blur. 'Moyong commander's words were right. If we drag this into a one-on-one fight, our side's damage will be severe!'
Even a rotten fish is still a fish. An injured tiger is still a tiger.
Beom-oh gathered strength in his lower abdomen.
The subduing demon true energy of the Great Vehicle Brahma Divine Art gathered fiercely.
Kuhhhhhhh!
"Keuk!!"
Yayul Jeok, who had been about to unleash another palm strike, groaned and staggered.
The damage was greater because he had been drawing up his true energy to launch a follow-up attack. Beom-oh's timely lion's roar had severed his true energy circulation.
Bang!
Moyong Woo, who had been sent flying, approached again at a terrifying speed.
Even while his mind was clouded by the deepened internal injuries, Yayul Jeok's senses hadn't died. Not with reason but with instinct, Yayul Jeok's beast-like crouched hand swung toward the charging Moyong Woo.
Crunch! Thud!
Moyong Woo's left shoulder blade was completely torn off.
It was a bold charge uncharacteristic of Moyong Woo. It was fortunate that his shoulder hadn't been severed entirely.
His fist struck Yayul Jeok's chest.
Boom!
Yayul Jeok coughed up blood again and staggered.
This level wouldn't kill him. Moyong Woo had known that fact even before throwing the punch.
Swish!
Putting his weight into the full-powered punch, the moment the strike succeeded, he spun his body to shake off the remaining force and picked up the greatsword that had fallen to the ground.
That series of actions was as fast and natural as executing a single technique. Unlike Yeon Hojeong's unconventional movements, Moyong Woo's movements were extremely rational and disciplined.
Moyong Woo, gripping the greatsword with both hands, powerfully raised it upward.
Slash!
Moyong Woo's eyes deepened. 'It was insufficient.'
A diagonal sword wound appeared on Yayul Jeok's face.
Even in the midst of it, he had twisted his head diagonally to avoid his nose and eyes being severed. It was an astonishing sense. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a beast.
Boom!
Moyong Woo powerfully stomped his foot.
At that moment, Yayul Jeok felt goosebumps all over his body. He sensed a strike of resolve in that stomp.
In that fleeting moment, Yayul Jeok fiercely contemplated. 'I must flee.'
He hadn't expected these two to come at him like this. If Moyong Woo and the Shaolin monk had attacked together, he could have counterattacked somehow, but every time the Shaolin monk timely unleashed the lion's roar, serious abnormalities occurred in his martial art execution.
It was painful that he hadn't thought of this combination. As Moyong Woo said, the severe internal and external injuries, as well as charging in recklessly out of urgency, were the problems. 'I must flee. These bastards will keep pushing with this tactic until the end.'
In a life-and-death battle, pride was a luxury. These bastards knew that. 'I can't escape. No more. I must flee!'
Flee, and flee. 'Flee...!'
Yayul Jeok's eyes wavered.
In that instant, what flashed through his mind was the face of a monster looking down on him with burning eyes.
A monster that was cold yet hot, hot yet indifferent, indifferent yet overflowing with killing intent.
It was Yeon Hojeong.
Boom!
Yayul Jeok's stomp shook the castle.
Moyong Woo, who had been about to unleash the strongest strike of the Geon-gon Baekpal Sword Sea, felt his posture momentarily disrupted. Just as Beom-oh had severed Yayul Jeok's true energy flow, Yayul Jeok had preemptively blocked Moyong Woo's attack.
"These damn bastards!!"
A voice filled with mad rage echoed.
"How dare you brats...!!"
Boom!
Yayul Jeok coughed up blood before he could finish speaking.
This time it wasn't the lion's roar but the Arhat Divine Fist. A swift fist wind released from five jang away struck Yayul Jeok's back.
It was a timely strike. If he had tried to respond only with the lion's roar, Moyong Woo would have been in danger. Beom-oh's combat sense was also exceptional.
Whooooosh!
Azure true energy gathered on the Tangma Greatsword.
It was the color of a clear sky without a single cloud. Just looking at it, it was so clear that it felt dark instead, and an extremely elevated sword qi that gave the viewer chills was burning.
At that moment, fear appeared on Yayul Jeok's face.
This was dangerous.
He absolutely couldn't block this strike. With his body suffering internal and external injuries like this, defense was out of the question, let alone evasion. His instincts whispered so. 'No.'
His mind, which had been clouded by Beom-oh's fist wind, felt clear again. 'I can't die here.'
Through the combined attack of Moyong Woo and Beom-oh, Yayul Jeok felt true fear for the first time in a long while. It was the fear of death that he hadn't felt even in his fight with Yeon Hojeong.
But only now could he return to his original self. 'Even if I die here, I must accomplish the mission!'
Why had he tried to return to Night Castle? Why had he infiltrated this place risking death? Why had he sent the assassins he had painstakingly raised charging straight ahead?
Rumble!
For a moment, Yayul Jeok's eyes darkened, then turned a deep gray.
At the same time, Moyong Woo's eyes emitted a blue sky-colored flash.
"Slash!!"
Flash!
A single brilliant sword strike crossed the air.
Rumble!
A tremendous storm of sword qi swept the area.
It was a simple single sword, but the inner energy contained in that sword and the emitted force's formula were unparalleled in the world.
At the center of the castle where the sword force erupted, a massive sword scar spanning seven jang was created, splitting the earth and the castle walls. The aftershock sword light that burst out simultaneously with the slash sent the debris of destroyed buildings flying in all directions.
A sword of immense power. It was the Geonhon Cheongcheon Sword, the strongest sword technique of the Geon-gon Baekpal Sword Sea that Moyong Woo could currently use.
Rumble!
The ground collapsed and a massive cloud of dust rose.
"This is bad!"
Moyong Woo, who had been panting, urgently shouted.
"Beom-oh monk! The bastard escaped!"
"Damn it! I know that too!"
Coarse words flew out of Beom-oh's mouth without him realizing.
It couldn't be helped. Because Yayul Jeok, who had seemed to be charging at Moyong Woo, had suddenly changed direction, attacked him, and fled.
The only fortunate thing was that Yayul Jeok's attack had been more blockable than expected. 'Damn it! To fall for such a shallow trick!'
Beom-oh looked down at the ground.
There, an arm severed from the shoulder was twitching. It was Yayul Jeok's arm.
Moyong Woo shouted.
"Follow the blood trail! He couldn't have gone far!"
"Got it!"
Whoosh!
Beom-oh launched his body following the blood trail.
He tried to find that characteristic ominous aura, but he couldn't find it at all. It seemed he had instantly adjusted his true energy and returned to being the Shadow God instead of a Saeum Sect member.
Flash!
Fortunately, Yayul Jeok was in a situation where he had suffered fatal wounds. There were moments when his extremely stealthy qi fluctuated roughly, because Yayul Jeok, in his urgency, couldn't manage his internal injuries and his true energy was leaking.
Having sent Beom-oh ahead like that, Moyong Woo coughed up a handful of blood.
"Cough!"
The color of the blood he spat was dark red. He had gathered all the turbid qi in his body and extracted it completely.
Color returned to Moyong Woo's previously pale face.
"Commander Jin! The enemy's leader has entered! Concentrate all forces in the center in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances!"
Jin Pae's voice was heard from afar.
"Understood!"
Bang!
Moyong Woo chased after Yayul Jeok following Beom-oh.
Surprisingly, Yayul Jeok fled around the castle for over two shichen. Even with such severe internal injuries and having lost an arm, he was somehow fleeing without resting.
Not only that. Judging that a frontal charge no longer had meaning, he demonstrated the Silent Wave Listening technique that only assassins could hear, and even drew all nine hundred assassins into the secret passages.
Night Castle turned into a pandemonium. Beom-oh and Moyong Woo chased after Yayul Jeok, the assassin unit entered the castle through the secret passages, and the Tangma Army soldiers gathered in the center engaged in fierce battle with the assassins emerging from the passages.
And so, when the sun had already reached its zenith.
Pew! Boom!
Muk Bi and Sama Hyeon, who had pierced through the castle walls with a single Dragon Fang Cannon shot, entered Night Castle.