The Past Entwined with the Four Gods (5)
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes widened like full moons. What? The Four Gods Emperor had no disciples?
To have no disciples meant there was no one to carry on his legacy. And without an heir to his teachings, it meant the knowledge he had attained would never be fully passed down to future generations.
What does this mean?
Yeon Hojeong looked back and forth between Lee Beon and Tam-gyeong.
The two men’s expressions remained perfectly calm. At the very least, it didn’t seem as if what they had just said was a lie.
“This is difficult to understand.”
“It isn’t, child. You already know exactly what my words mean.”
Yeon Hojeong’s cheeks trembled faintly.
“Are you saying, old sir, that my master is none other than the Four Gods Emperor himself—the one who suppressed the Blood Cult’s chaos three hundred years ago?”
Lee Beon simply stared at Yeon Hojeong in silence.
His gaze was deep, as befitted an elder, yet clear in a way that seemed almost unnatural for one. It carried the kind of wisdom that could pierce through any truth in the world at a glance.
After a brief stretch of silence—
“Puhahahaha!”
Lee Beon suddenly exploded with laughter.
The deadly serious atmosphere lightened in an instant, swaying gently with the unexpected sound.
His laughter seemed wildly exaggerated, yet at the same time, it rang with genuine delight.
He pointed at Yeon Hojeong and slapped Beom-oh’s shoulder repeatedly.
“Look at this idiot! He actually believed it! Krahahaha!”
Yeon Hojeong’s face twisted completely.
Lee Beon kept chuckling as he spoke.
“You fool, how could that possibly be? How could the Four Gods Emperor from three hundred years ago still be alive today? He was called the strongest martial artist in history, but who ever called the man an immortal? Wow, this kid’s way more naive than I expected.”
Should I kill him?
For a split second, Yeon Hojeong seriously considered it. This was a matter tied to his own sect—directly related to his master—and they were treating it like a joke. It was impossible not to feel rage boiling up.
Still, he forced the surging emotions back down. Even if the talk about the Four Gods Emperor had been a prank, what these old men were involved in was no laughing matter. At the very least, it was clearly connected to the Sasinmu.
Watching Yeon Hojeong carefully compose his expression, Lee Beon whistled softly.
“He really is something. Even though he’s ridiculously naive, his ability to read the room is outstanding. He knows this isn’t the time to vent his anger.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but I’m not particularly known for my patience.”
“So it seems, you punk. One more prank and it looks like you’d chop my hands clean off. Don’t you know anything about respecting your elders?”
“What connection does my sect—my martial arts—have with what you people are doing?”
Lee Beon gave a small chuckle.
“A very deep one. Explaining it one by one would take quite a while.”
“At the very least, I believe I have the right to hear that explanation.”
“The right, huh… Yes, that’s not incorrect.”
Lee Beon patted his lower back.
“Aigoo, I’m getting so close to death that even a little laughter makes my back and stomach ache. Hey, brother. You explain the rest.”
Tam-gyeong clicked his tongue.
“You’re the one who planted poison in the young man’s eyes, yet I have to clean up after you?”
“If we’re keeping score, isn’t he the kid you brought here? Then the responsibility falls on you.”
“Whatever else, you’ve definitely become more shameless than you used to be.”
“That’s just how it is when your time comes, my friend.”
Lee Beon turned and walked back toward the cave entrance.
“If you’re going to fight, do it far away. Looking at that child’s aura and eyes, one wrong move and this carefully built earthen cave might collapse entirely. Tsk, they always said the Four Gods Emperor had a fiery temper. Looks like that entire lineage is the same.”
Still grumbling, Lee Beon slipped back into the cave.
A strange silence settled over the remaining three.
Whiiiing.
A damp wind blew between them.
Yeon Hojeong looked at Tam-gyeong.
Tam-gyeong shrugged.
“I was planning to let you meet everyone, but the situation has taken an unexpected turn.”
“I have no interest in verifying your identities. The only thing I want is…”
“No, I should say what I want. To be precise, what we want. Wasn’t that the nature of our deal?”
“…That’s true.”
“However, since the martial arts you’ve cultivated aren’t entirely unrelated to what we do, I’ll explain it out of goodwill. If this were purely a transaction, there would have been no need.”
“I acknowledge that.”
“Puhul! What a refreshingly straightforward personality. I like it.”
Tam-gyeong laughed heartily, then gazed into the distance.
“Do you see that forest over there? There’s a clearing. Before I explain anything, let’s first confirm whether you are truly the disciple of the person I know.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed.
“A spar?”
“You may call it a spar. Or a duel to the death.”
The words carried absolute confidence.
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Understood. Let’s go.”
“Good.”
Tam-gyeong glanced at Beom-oh.
“What about you?”
“…Yes?”
“Are you going to keep wrestling with your anguish over there? Or will you fill your stomach first? If not, would you like to watch us fight?”
Beom-oh made his choice.
The clearing the three reached was three or four times wider than the training grounds of an ordinary sect.
Beom-oh withdrew to one side and sat down. Though he had no energy left and his mind was blank, he watched the two men with bloodshot eyes that never blinked even once.
“Now, then.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Tam-gyeong raised his left arm into a mid-level palm stance.
“Come at me first.”
A violent stamp that shook the entire peak. The momentum from the flame-like charge of the Blood Wing Flight was channeled directly into the step, creating even greater elastic force—a divine technique.
Yeon Hojeong, who had been quietly observing Tam-gyeong, asked abruptly.
“Before we begin, let me ask one thing.”
“Hm?”
“From what the old man said earlier, it seems both of you know a great deal about my martial arts and the Four Gods Emperor.”
Lee Beon had clearly spoken of that lineage. He had even commented that the Four Gods Emperor possessed a fiery temper. While the world still remembered the Four Gods Emperor, most knew nothing of his personality or personal history.
But that old man had been different. The elder standing before him now likely knew even more about the Four Gods Emperor than he did.
“To some extent.”
“And you said you once met my master.”
“Allow me to correct that. I met the person presumed to be your master. To confirm it, we have no choice but to exchange blows.”
“…”
“I think I already know the answer, but I’ll ask anyway.”
“Speak.”
After a brief pause, Yeon Hojeong asked carefully.
“Do you—or rather, do either of you—know where my master is right now?”
“I do not.”
“……”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of striking a deal with you to bring you here. We would have sought him out ourselves.”
“I see.”
“Has your curiosity been satisfied?”
“Huu.”
After exhaling deeply, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
Flash!
The lightning-like brilliance in his gaze was pure intensity.
“Enough. I’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get on with it.”
“Good. Come at me fir—”
The fist tore through the air and collided with Tam-gyeong’s palm, erupting in a violent explosion. A shockwave spread as if it would evaporate every drop of damp air in the area.
Before Tam-gyeong could finish, Yeon Hojeong charged like a sudden storm.
Tam-gyeong’s eyes flashed.
There had been no presence at all—then came an explosive advance. The speed and pressure were tremendous. He hadn’t even gathered his inner energy beforehand.
Approaching at terrifying speed, Yeon Hojeong stamped his foot with explosive force.
The impact was so violent it seemed the entire peak would shake.
Yeon Hojeong thrust out his fist.
The fist that ripped through the air collided with Tam-gyeong’s palm, producing a deafening roar.
A shockwave swept out as if it would evaporate all the damp air in the area at once. The tremendous vibration sent pebbles across the entire clearing floating a full foot into the air before they fell again.
Hmm.
Tam-gyeong felt his feet slide back five inches.
What monstrous strength.
The difference in their realms was merely a single stage, yet that gap might as well have been the distance between heaven and earth.
To push back such an opponent with a single punch—even if he hadn’t used full power—was no small feat.
It isn’t simply raw power. His ability to transmit force to the exact point of impact, and his skill at adjusting tempo according to the situation, are both exceptional.
It had been only one clash, yet he could already feel from the root just how high a level of martial arts this young man named Yeon Hojeong had reached.
A true genius.
Having driven forward with one punch, Yeon Hojeong immediately spun and aimed an elbow at Tam-gyeong’s flank.
Even as he rotated like a whirlwind, there were no openings. The seamless motion of lowering his stance while spinning was so clean it sent chills down the spine.
Tam-gyeong lifted his right leg.
The elbow meant for his side slammed into Tam-gyeong’s thigh instead.
A strange light flashed in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.
Even balancing on a single leg, Tam-gyeong’s posture remained perfectly stable. It was because he was controlling his entire body with absolute internal energy.
Yeon Hojeong’s twin fists blazed with power.
His continuous barrage of fists poured down like a sudden storm. Tam-gyeong’s hands moved busily in response.
His defense was both natural and flawless. He deflected the rapid strikes with ease and left no gaps in his posture for the next attack.
It was the ideal defensive stance—one that seemed capable of receiving even a flying cannonball.
Suddenly, red light exploded from the tip of Yeon Hojeong’s fist.
Tam-gyeong retreated with fluid grace. He had taken only a single step, yet the distance between them had already widened by three jang.
Huh, would you look at that?
Leisure was one thing, but surprise was another.
He erases the defensive forms so easily?
When his fists failed to land, he loaded explosive force into the tip of his punch to destabilize his opponent’s stance.
Rather than switching to a new technique against an opponent his attacks couldn’t reach, he forcibly created openings where none existed.
It wasn’t finding weaknesses—it was manufacturing them. And once the weakness was created, he unhesitatingly used lethal moves to render his opponent combat incapable. A truly ruthless style of martial arts.
As expected.
It was still difficult to conclude that the martial arts Yeon Hojeong currently displayed were the mysterious person’s Sasinmu. After all, he had not yet revealed his true ability to that degree.
Even so, Tam-gyeong was growing more certain.
He had eyes that could instantly see through and dismantle my techniques. But this one possesses the ability to not only see the flaw but to force it into being.
Considering the difference in their realms, no matter how much of a genius Yeon Hojeong was, targeting Tam-gyeong’s actual weaknesses would be nearly impossible.
In that case, he simply had to create them.
But that was by no means an easy task.
Yeon Hojeong was a man who could perform that difficult feat as naturally as breathing.
He had done so until now, and would continue to do so.
Still… this alone isn’t enough to be certain.
Determination settled in Tam-gyeong’s eyes.
Whoosh.
The moment a gust of wind stirred, Tam-gyeong’s figure appeared at Yeon Hojeong’s right rear.
Beom-oh’s eyes widened until they looked ready to tear apart.
That footwork—?!
It was a martial art that dug into an absolutely unblockable angle—a blind spot. The supreme footwork of Buddhism, impossible to follow with either eyes or senses, had finally stretched its limbs.
Tam-gyeong’s stamp was profoundly deep.
Empowered by the stamp, his hand shot toward Yeon Hojeong’s back. The golden true energy loaded within it was heavy beyond imagination.
Now, how will you respond?
Yeon Hojeong was still running forward with his back turned.
Tam-gyeong’s eyes gleamed.
Is this the end?
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong’s hand grasped the Black Dragon Axe at his waist.
Flash!
The axe blade swung upward in a diagonal arc.
Several drops of blood scattered through the air.