The Strong Survive (5)
Yeop Seong’s face hardened. How?! He was in a panic. He had never imagined Bu Seon would appear in this place.
How had that woman learned of it?
“Your internal injuries look quite serious.”
Bu Seon shook her head.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you with such unstable energy, brother. Your eyes have gone completely hazy as well? It seems you’ve lost a great deal of blood.”
Yeop Seong barely swallowed the curse that nearly burst from his lips.
“What are you doing here?”
“Who knows? You understand, don’t you, brother? The space is wide, the humidity is perfectly maintained, and the air circulates well, yet there are still times when one craves a breath of the outside air.”
Bu Seon smiled.
Within that beautiful smile, a ferocious beast bared its fangs.
“Though I don’t come out nearly as often as you do, brother.”
Yeop Seong, who had been silently staring at her, gave a cold laugh.
“Enough with the nonsense.”
“Oh my, how disappointing.”
“Did Yeon Hojeong tell you?”
Bu Seon shrugged.
“Who knows? Speaking of which, the sudden mention of Vice-leader Yeon suggests that the person who reduced you to this state was Vice-leader Yeon himself, yes?”
“Vice-leader Yeon? With that filthy personality of yours, what’s with the sudden respect?”
“My personality is indeed filthy, but I at least offer proper courtesy to those worthy of respect and admiration.”
“I suppose so. That bastard Yeon Hojeong must have coaxed you with sweet words. Whether it’s respect or admiration, at the very least you must feel grateful.”
“That’s rather disappointing to hear.”
“What else could it be? Don’t tell me you’ve even slept with him? Well, for a wench like you, that would hardly be surprising.”
Bu Seon shrugged once more.
“Nothing of the sort has happened, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing. Setting aside the distinction between right and wrong, I truly believe there are few men who can compare to Vice-leader Yeon.”
“Disgusting whore. So that’s how you build your faction. A method perfectly suited to a woman like you.”
“If it becomes my strength, I would crawl between a beggar’s legs. I am prepared to do whatever it takes when necessary. Isn’t that exactly what we are?”
The smile on Bu Seon’s face gradually turned icy.
“By the way, your eyes keep darting about. Why? Are you afraid I might devour you?”
A pitch-black iron claw equipped on her right hand. The weapon she had kept hidden until this moment radiated a chilling, ink-like aura.
A flash of killing intent sparked in Yeop Seong’s eyes.
“As if I would fear the likes of you?”
“Your voice is trembling. You seem anxious.”
“There’s no way a filthy bitch like you would have come alone. Who is it? Who did you bring?”
Bu Seon let out a soft laugh.
She was mocking him openly, striking precisely at his pride.
“Did you truly think I would bring the water guards just to handle one beast whose claws and fangs have all been pulled? How disappointing.”
“You crazy bitch! That confidence will send you straight to hell—”
“Why do you keep hiding your right hand?”
Woooong.
Bu Seon’s pupils flickered between red and black.
“That movement is quite unnatural. You must be badly hurt?”
Yeop Seong was inwardly shocked. She had noticed instantly that he was unconsciously concealing his right hand.
At the very least, he had to acknowledge the sharpness of her insight.
Reddish true qi erupted violently from Yeop Seong’s body. Above his unstable foundation, savage majesty surged as he pushed the Blood Lion Qi to its limit.
“I hadn’t wanted a fight like this, but it’s not bad. Come. I’ll tear your crotch apart while you’re still breathing.”
“You talk too much. The brother I once knew would have skipped pointless conversation and attacked immediately.”
“……!”
“Is that all you have, Yeop Seong?”
Her tone and form of address had changed.
Bu Seon’s eyes sank like still water.
“With that overflowing talent, if you had devoted yourself solely to martial training, you would have been named the next vice-lord sooner or later… Well, thanks to your arrogance and clumsy political games, an opportunity like this has come to me as well.”
“You bitch…!”
“You were always strong. You won because you were strong. But I am different. I survived until the very end and became strong that way.”
Chiiiiik!
White smoke rose from the underbrush beneath her feet.
Even without fully utilizing the Black Lion Qi, the heat radiating from her scorched the grass. The density of her true qi was extraordinary.
“Believing the world was easy enough that talent alone guaranteed success. That is your limit.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Paahak!
Yeop Seong leaped toward Bu Seon.
His speed was impressive. With internal injuries that should have made it difficult to even straighten his waist, he moved with such velocity. It was undeniably remarkable skill.
His left hand shot toward Bu Seon’s throat.
At that instant, Bu Seon’s upper body twisted forward in a diagonal arc.
Crack!
“Graaah!”
A scream finally tore from Yeop Seong’s throat.
It was inevitable. The area below his right elbow had been completely ripped away.
Slash!
He hurriedly circulated his energy to stop the bleeding, but the blood that had gushed out in that single moment was already too much. Yeop Seong felt his vision flash white.
“Consider it an honor.”
Bu Seon raised her hand.
In the grip that held the twitching severed arm was a pitch-black iron claw.
“It is a weapon too precious to reveal to a bastard like you, yet its power is exactly as I expected.”
Even through the dizziness he had forcibly suppressed with qi, Yeop Seong could see the claw clearly. It carried a subtle ink-black sheen.
It was not ordinary black iron. This metal seemed far harder.
“Profound iron?!”
“To be precise, it is a blend of profound iron and crow gold, reducing weight while preserving elasticity.”
Bu Seon flexed the claw.
Kikikik!
The razor-sharp blades, like a beast’s talons, emitted a skin-crawling screech in response to her finger movements.
Iron claw on her right hand, fist clenched in her left.
That was Bu Seon’s martial art. Knowing her own lack of talent, it was the style she had forged by endlessly whipping herself in order to survive battles against far stronger opponents.
This form would change again in the future. But for now, this was its completed state.
The powerful fist wind scorched the air as it flew forward, carrying the full majesty of a charging lion.
“It’s over, Yeop Seong.”
Baaaaang!
This time Bu Seon charged first. Fast! Yeop Seong’s trained eyes tracked her movements perfectly.
That was why he was shocked. When they had faced each other inside the Black Dragon Department, he had not realized she possessed this level of speed. Hadn’t she once cracked his wrist with nothing but her grip strength?
In every respect she had been incomparably weaker than him. That had been his judgment.
But the reality of her movements was entirely different.
Papapapapang!
As she closed the distance, a terrifying barrage of linked kicks rained down.
Clang! Thud!
Yeop Seong vomited blood as he was sent flying, slamming into a tree. The trunk snapped with a loud crack. This…! Yeop Seong’s face flushed crimson.
Before the pain came wounded pride, and greater than the wounded pride was pure astonishment. This kind of kicking art?! The power of each individual strike could not compare to his own.
Yet the illusion-like curving kicks continued without pause.
What astonished him even more was the angle of the curves. Strikes rose and fell from directions he could never have predicted, moving as if the legs possessed no joints at all.
Extraordinary flexibility. Bu Seon had abandoned her fixation on single-strike power and instead fully utilized the flexible chain attacks that took advantage of a woman’s superior bodily suppleness. Incredible. Before his burning rage, Yeop Seong found himself purely admiring the technique. A kicking art of such high completion. Did Master teach her this? There was no chance Bu Seon had created it herself. At least in terms of technical skill, this art surpassed even the Lion’s Iron Claw.
Booooong!
A hair-raising sound reached Yeop Seong’s ears.
It was fist wind that burned the air as it shot forward.
The powerful strike carried the full dignity of a charging lion. Whirlwind Lion Fist!!
He was in no condition to meet it head-on. Nor could he shift into any evasive footwork.
In the end, Yeop Seong was forced to roll sideways once again in a humiliating dodge.
Kwaaaaang!
The tree struck by the Whirlwind Lion Fist’s wind shattered into splinters.
Though she had emphasized flexibility, she had not neglected the martial art’s inherent power.
Moreover, Bu Seon was the only disciple who had cultivated the Black Lion Qi. The gap in their internal energy was large, yet the Black Lion Qi was clearly a superior divine art to the Blood Lion Qi.
The fist technique far exceeded the power Yeop Seong had anticipated. Had he been uninjured he might have overwhelmed it with raw strength, but now he could only struggle desperately not to be defeated.
Dark red Black Lion Qi unraveled in countless strands, scorching the bushes in every direction. Wreathed in those flames, Bu Seon looked down at him like a female warrior blessed by the God of Combat itself.
“What pitiful movements.”
“Shut up!!”
Yeop Seong shot upright.
“Even if I die here, I will tear your limbs apart and kill you on this spot!”
Hwaaaaaaaaak!
The Blood Lion Qi erupted like a rampaging storm.
More vicious than the qi itself was the raw human killing intent. Shattered pride and extreme fury had forged a killing aura like a blazing furnace.
Kwaang!
Yeop Seong charged.
He ignored his internal injuries completely. His movements were far slower and lacked their former elasticity, yet his spirit remained that of a wounded beast.
Bu Seon’s eyes blazed.
Slash! Thud!
Blood sprayed from the places where the iron claw had carved his body. Large chunks of muscle from his back were sliced away and sent flying.
Bang!
Yeop Seong’s desperate kick failed to break through Bu Seon’s left-hand defense. She really has grown strong. Though she had successfully defended, the shock reverberated from her wrist to her elbow.
Even in a state where he could not exert half his original power, he displayed martial arts of this level. Bu Seon could not help but admire the realm Yeop Seong had reached.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Leg technique against leg technique. Having deflected the force with her left hand, Bu Seon spun and slammed her right foot down onto Yeop Seong’s shoulder.
Yeop Seong staggered backward. His left shoulder had caved inward. It was dislocated.
His right arm was gone below the upper arm. His left shoulder was dislocated and hanging limp.
His internal injuries had worsened further, and excessive blood loss had robbed him of his senses.
The fight was over.
Bu Seon stamped her foot powerfully. She was preparing the final blow.
Kwang!
She drew the power of the earth through her entire lower body, doubling her speed.
Moving at terrifying velocity, Bu Seon thrust the iron claw toward Yeop Seong’s chest. She intended to shatter his sternum and pierce his heart.
It was then.
Flash!
Yeop Seong’s body performed an inscrutable movement and retreated backward.
Bu Seon was startled. She had thought the fish was already caught, yet he had escaped with an unexpected maneuver. So he had a hidden card. The speed was impressive. He had already vanished from sight. He was waiting for this moment. He had accepted even greater damage in order to flee.
It was a true life-or-death gamble. Continuing the fight would only lead to death, so he had swallowed his humiliation and bet everything on escape.
“As expected of a beast.”
Bu Seon spoke with a smile.
“Chase him down. Catch him and prove your loyalty to me.”
Papapapapak!
Four or five experts burst from the bushes behind Bu Seon and raced after Yeop Seong. They were all Black Dragon Department executives who had once been swayed by him.
Those who could be moved by mere words and a little gold would betray their master at any time. In the end, the world turned in cycles.
The only path to recognition from the Fighting King was to become stronger. Yeop Seong should not have ignored Yeon Hojeong’s warning.
Of course, it was already far too late.