Chapter 209
Chapter 209
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 209
Chapter Title: A New Ally
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Bu Eun-seol offered a cold smile.
“If you can withstand five of my techniques, I will give up and leave without another word. How about it?”
“I just have to withstand five techniques?”
“That’s right.”
For a moment, Go Gun-pyeong's face brightened.
No matter how much of a transcendent master Bu Eun-seol was, he too was the Muk-ryong-dae-ju, who had roamed the martial world for decades.
When two masters of the same transcendent realm fought, the one with more combat experience would be victorious.
He was confident of his victory, even if Bu Eun-seol had reached the middle stages of the transcendent realm.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“Fine.”
*Fwip.*
Just then, a gray shadow descended from the sky.
His build wasn't large, but his body was solid and covered in scars, big and small.
His hair was matted and unkempt, but his gaze was as sharp as a volley of arrows.
It was Yu Un-ryong.
“Yu Un-ryong?”
As Go Gun-pyeong's eyes glinted, Yu Un-ryong spoke.
“Let me be the one to test you with those five techniques.”
“What?”
“If you can withstand five of my techniques, I will return to the Baek-ma-sa without complaint. How about it?”
It seemed Yu Un-ryong had been hiding nearby all along.
And when Bu Eun-seol proposed the wager of five techniques, he decided to sever his ties with the Baek-ma-sa himself, without receiving help.
“Hahaha, very well.”
Go Gun-pyeong was delighted.
It was common knowledge that Bu Eun-seol's martial prowess was the greatest among the Sip-ma-jeon-in.
Conversely, everyone knew that Yu Un-ryong was the least skilled of the Sip-ma-jeon-in.
“Don't tell me you're going to lose and then beg for their help?”
In response to Go Gun-pyeong's taunt, Yu Un-ryong sneered and shouted.
“Bu Eun-seol. This is my fight. You are not to interfere.”
“I refuse.”
Yu Un-ryong's eyes widened at the unexpected answer.
“What did you say?”
“There's no reason for me to yield.”
Speechless, Yu Un-ryong raised an eyebrow.
After biting his lip, he finally roared.
“This isn't about yielding! It's about me finishing what I started!”
“Then all the more reason I can't.”
Bu Eun-seol looked down at Yu Un-ryong and spoke coldly.
“Because I was the one who withstood his five techniques at the Ma-jeon.”
Yu Un-ryong was at a loss for words.
Having also been at the Baek-ma-sa, he knew all about the five-technique test at the Ma-jeon, a farce concocted by the Baek-ma-sa's master, Kang Mu-ryun.
*‘Dammit.’*
Yu Un-ryong gritted his teeth.
If Bu Eun-seol drove Go Gun-pyeong away now, Yu Un-ryong would be in his debt yet again.
Just like when he killed Seong-ryun, the Dae-ui-go-su of the Beggars' Union, but gave him the credit to send the Myeol-hon-dae away.
Just like that time.
“Bu Eun-seol!”
At last, Yu Un-ryong spoke what was in his heart.
“I don't want to be indebted to you anymore!”
Bu Eun-seol didn't answer.
Clenching his fists, he shouted again.
“Or are you planning to use this as leverage to ask a favor of me?”
“Does that seem likely.”
Bu Eun-seol smiled confidently.
“Me?”
It was a brilliant and dignified smile.
Facing that smile, Yu Un-ryong felt himself shrink into insignificance.
At the same time, he realized something.
Bu Eun-seol was not the type of person to take advantage of another's crisis.
He had already extended a helping hand.
“Bu Eun-seol...”
“Fine.”
Bu Eun-seol wore a dazzling smile, unlike any before.
“You say you don't want to be indebted, so I have no choice. You do it.”
It was a smile that was somehow bewitching.
Staring blankly, Yu Un-ryong snapped back to his senses and glared at Bu Eun-seol with venomous eyes.
“Hmph, don't talk as if you're granting me some great favor, Bu Eun-seol.”
His voice was filled with hostility.
He felt that if he didn't act this way, his true feelings would be exposed.
But he didn't realize it himself.
That the hatchet-like glare he directed at Bu Eun-seol was gradually softening.
“Are your negotiations finished now?”
Just then, Go Gun-pyeong, a sneer on his face, stepped forward with his Baek-ma-pyeon in hand.
“Come, struggle all you want, Yu Un-ryong.”
The Yu Un-ryong of the past would have fallen for the provocation and attacked immediately.
But now, he maintained a frightening composure.
After watching the duel between Bu Eun-seol and Seong-ryun, he had learned a bitter lesson.
Losing one's composure before a decisive battle was the same as fighting with both hands tied.
*Crack.*
Yu Un-ryong, who was slowly gripping his Baek-ma-pyeon,
*Whoosh!*
struck out like lightning, wrapping the Baek-ma-pyeon around his own body.
Baek-ma-sa-hyeon.
It was the opening move of the Baek-ma-sa, a defensive technique to protect oneself from a sudden enemy attack.
“Heh. You haven't forgotten your manners toward a sect elder...”
But Go Gun-pyeong's words were cut short.
The Baek-ma-pyeon that should have been circling Yu Un-ryong's body suddenly shot toward his own neck.
“Such a petty trick!”
Enraged, Go Gun-pyeong immediately unfurled his Baek-ma-pyeon to deflect Yu Un-ryong's incoming whip.
*Fwing!*
But something unexpected happened.
Yu Un-ryong's Baek-ma-pyeon moved with the fluid grace of a living snake and coiled around his own.
“Entangling our Baek-ma-pyeon. Are you suggesting a battle of internal energy?”
Just as Go Gun-pyeong laughed and began to draw upon his internal energy,
*Pang!*
a brilliant light suddenly erupted from Yu Un-ryong's left hand, striking toward Go Gun-pyeong's chest.
Astonishingly, he had been hiding another Baek-ma-pyeon on his left forearm.
“Such a bizarre technique!”
Not expecting Yu Un-ryong to use two Baek-ma-pyeon, Go Gun-pyeong had no choice but to lean back and take a defensive stance.
But this was a fatal mistake on Go Gun-pyeong's part.
He should have swallowed his pride, let go of his Baek-ma-pyeon, and retreated.
*Chwaak!*
The Baek-ma-pyeon that shot from Yu Un-ryong's left hand suddenly split into hundreds of strands.
At the same time, they became millions of points of light that engulfed Go Gun-pyeong.
In sync, the entangled whip in his right hand instantly unwound and unleashed the exact same technique.
Shin-gi-jo-hwa.
Yu Un-ryong had simultaneously executed the ultimate technique of the Baek-ma-pyeon with both hands.
*Papak.*
Millions of points of light passed through Go Gun-pyeong.
“Ugh.”
The Baek-ma-pyeon had become sharp blades, piercing his body multiple times.
But it seemed he had held back, as all the vital points were avoided.
“Shin-gi-jo-hwa... you can use it with both hands?”
Go Gun-pyeong's eyes were unfocused.
To execute Shin-gi-jo-hwa with both hands, a technique that was difficult to master even with one's full concentration?
The technique Yu Un-ryong had used was something no master of the Baek-ma-sa had ever conceived of, much less dared to attempt.
“There is no such bizarre and strange technique in our sect's whip arts!”
As Go Gun-pyeong roared, Yu Un-ryong gave a faint smile.
“If it makes one stronger, shouldn't one try any method?”
Then, with a pained expression, he looked up at the distant sky.
“That's the only way to survive.”
After meeting Bu Eun-seol, Yu Un-ryong had also realized.
To survive in this cruel and heartless martial world, one had to break free from rigid formalities and rules.
And that one must only become stronger.
Turning his gaze back to Go Gun-pyeong, Yu Un-ryong sneered.
“Lord Go, you always boasted of your experience in the martial world, yet it seems you don't know how to respond to an unexpected technique.”
“You, you bastard...”
“Tell the sect master. I am no longer a disciple of the Baek-ma-sa.”
Go Gun-pyeong bit his lip.
Caught off guard by the bizarre technique of using two Baek-ma-pyeon to perform Shin-gi-jo-hwa, he had been defeated in a mere three moves.
Losing to Yu Un-ryong, the weakest of the Sip-ma-jeon-in, was the ultimate humiliation for him.
“Go. I spared you so you could deliver that message.”
Even if he had been careless, Yu Un-ryong's skills had improved by leaps and bounds compared to the past.
If he had intended to kill him, he wouldn't have just pierced his body; he would have taken his head in an instant.
*Tremble.*
Go Gun-pyeong's body trembled slightly.
But he was no fool. Pride would not save his life.
Biting his lip, he quickly turned and led his men away.
“Yu Un-ryong.”
Just then, Myo Cheon-woo stepped forward and greeted him warmly.
“Your martial arts have improved a lot.”
“Hmph.”
Yu Un-ryong, lightly ignoring Myo Cheon-woo's greeting, spoke to Bu Eun-seol.
“Did you make Myo Cheon-woo your subordinate too?”
“Not a subordinate, an associate.”
Bu Eun-seol gave Yu Un-ryong a faint smile.
“And you will become my associate as well.”
“Don't be ridiculous. Why should I help you?”
“Because you owe me a debt.”
“Didn't you say you wouldn't use this as leverage to ask for favors?”
“Not this debt.”
Bu Eun-seol stared intently at Yu Un-ryong.
“The last one.”
There was no wavering in Bu Eun-seol's clear eyes.
He had faith that Yu Un-ryong would definitely join him.
“Hmph.”
Yu Un-ryong couldn't bring himself to look into Bu Eun-seol's eyes, which were as clear as an autumn sky, and eventually averted his gaze.
“I have a condition.”
“Speak.”
“Defeat me.”
Gripping his Baek-ma-pyeon, Yu Un-ryong wore a confident smile.
“If you can defeat me, I'll help you.”
“Fine.”
As if he had expected it, Bu Eun-seol immediately drew his Muk-geom.
*Shing.*
As the Muk-geom was unsheathed, a chilling aura brushed past Yu Un-ryong's body.
At the same time, Bu Eun-seol's form blurred. The immense ripple of true energy was obscuring his vision.
*‘This guy.’*
Yu Un-ryong was flustered.
He had witnessed the duel between Bu Eun-seol and Seong-ryun, the Dae-ui-go-su of the Beggars' Union, with his own two eyes.
And after training relentlessly in Yuhon Valley, he had been confident that he had finally surpassed that level of martial prowess.
But hadn't Bu Eun-seol already ascended to yet another unfathomable realm?
*‘Bu Eun-seol...’*
*Creaak.*
He gripped his Baek-ma-pyeon so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
A wall. Bu Eun-seol had always been a wall.
A wall so high it seemed to pierce the heavens every time he saw it, a wall so distant it made him want to weep.
“Are you not going to attack?”
Snapping back to his senses at Bu Eun-seol's words, a flash of light erupted from Yu Un-ryong's eyes.
“Don't get complacent!”
*Pang!*
As Yu Un-ryong manifested the true energy flowing within him, a whirlwind erupted around his body.
*Kiiieeeek!*
With a sound like the cry of a monstrous bird, a white aura surged from Yu Un-ryong's body.
As he drew upon his internal energy with all his might, hundreds of transparent shadows rose behind him.
An aura dozens of times more powerful than the technique that had defeated Go Gun-pyeong was pouring out.
“If you can break this technique, I will become your subordinate!”
*Chwarararak!*
The fully extended Baek-ma-pyeon shot up toward the distant sky, but it was an illusion.
The real whips all rained down on Bu Eun-seol.
Illusion.
The whip arts of the Baek-ma-sa were fundamentally aligned with the principles of illusionary swordplay.
That was why when masters of the Baek-ma-pyeon executed their techniques, their opponents would die without even knowing why amidst the countless shadows of the whips.
*Clang.*
Raising his Muk-geom, Bu Eun-seol watched the transparent energy pouring down from the distant sky.
Yu Un-ryong had shown his full power in a single move.
It was an intangible energy that could not be dodged, only countered and dissipated.
*Kwawoooo!*
The transparent light that finally poured down enveloped Bu Eun-seol's body.
The scene looked as if a meteor shower was endlessly falling from the sky onto Bu Eun-seol.
*Kwarururung.*
With a deafening explosion that shook the heavens and earth, the area where Bu Eun-seol stood was decimated.
*Whooosh.*
As the dust settled, the scene was finally revealed.
The bamboo trees within a dozen yards of where Bu Eun-seol stood had all vanished, and in their place were hundreds of holes.
*‘It can't be.’*
Yu Un-ryong rubbed his eyes.
Because Bu Eun-seol was still standing tall in the same spot.
*Tremble.*
His fingers trembled at the unbelievable sight.
To overcome his own limits, Yu Un-ryong had created the Jeok-myeol-cheon-ha, performing the Shin-gi-jo-hwa with both hands.
To execute a whip art containing the ultimate principles of illusion with both hands.
This was as impossible as performing martial arts with both arms while eating with one's feet.
“He blocked that while standing in place...”
Until now, Yu Un-ryong had risked his life training in Yuhon Valley for only one reason.
To surpass Bu Eun-seol's realm and put him beneath his feet.
Whenever he wanted to give up, he had endured by imagining himself triumphantly defeating him...
But for him to block the completed Jeok-myeol-cheon-ha while standing still?
*Chiiii.*
Around Bu Eun-seol's towering figure, a radiance like golden waves shimmered in the wind.
Yeo-ui-jin-gyeol.
He had manifested all the powerful true energy flowing within his body to block the Shin-gi-jo-hwa technique.
Bu Eun-seol had deliberately showcased the highest martial art he could perform.
So that Yu Un-ryong would no longer think of him as an enemy. So that he would no longer dare to challenge him.
*‘Still hot.’*
Bu Eun-seol, who had calmly endured the searing pain of his boiling blood and energy, smiled.
“Want to go again?”
He then opened his mouth with a relaxed expression.
“If you can't accept it, you can attack again. I don't mind.”
*Tremble.*
Yu Un-ryong's fingertips trembled slightly.
Bu Eun-seol had blocked his all-out, decisive strike with a single move.
In other words, even if he attacked for three days and nights, he wouldn't be able to touch a single hair on Bu Eun-seol's head.
*Thud.*
Overwhelmed by Bu Eun-seol's martial might, Yu Un-ryong fell to his knees without realizing it.
*‘It wasn't a wall.’*
His eyes were unfocused.
Bu Eun-seol wasn't a wall that could be surpassed.
He was like the As-You-Will Staff, soaring endlessly into the sky, never allowing anyone to stand beside it.
*‘I can never be his rival.’*
Yu Un-ryong finally understood.
That Bu Eun-seol was not a worthy rival he could dare to face.
But a divine being who could reign over all under heaven.
“Don't despair too much, Yu Un-ryong.”
Just then, Myo Cheon-woo approached and patted him friendly on the shoulder.
“When I first saw him, I thought I could catch up somehow. But after seeing his martial arts at the Janggeom Mountain Manor, I realized.”
He grinned and said.
“That none of the Sip-ma-jeon-in could even be his rival.”
*Thwack.*
Yu Un-ryong fiercely shrugged off Myo Cheon-woo's arm, which had been wrapped friendly around his shoulder.
“Get lost.”
“What?”
“I'm telling you not to act all friendly, Bu Eun-seol's Subordinate Number Two.”
“What? Subordinate Number Two? Then are you Number One?”
“No, it's probably him.”
Yu Un-ryong's finger was pointing at Hyuk So-jin.
“Then what are you?”
At that, Yu Un-ryong calmly stood up and pointed to himself with his thumb.
“I am the associate who will help him and command you lot.”
“Command me?”
“That's right.”
Yu Un-ryong's expression was dead serious.
Myo Cheon-woo, who had been looking dumbfounded, widened his eyes.
“You're crazy.”
“What did you say?”
“Aren't you a lunatic who makes no sense? You lost to Bu Eun-seol in a single move, and you're talking about commanding someone?”
“So you're saying you can beat him?”
“Well. At least I can beat you.”
“Oh, is that so.”
A murderous blue aura flowed from Yu Un-ryong's eyes.
“Then let's see you try!”
*Fwing! Kwang!*
As Yu Un-ryong and Myo Cheon-woo began to fight, dust flew in all directions, and the ground shook.
Dozens of whip shadows poured from Yu Un-ryong's hands, obscuring the sun in the sky, while the dozens of palm shadows created by Myo Cheon-woo shook the very earth.
*Kurung! Kwaaang!*
The sight of two martial arts prodigies with outstanding talent fighting with all their might was a spectacle to behold.
The members of the Sa-yeong-dae exclaimed in awe, watching the fight between the two with great seriousness.
However...
After an hour passed with no sign of the battle ending, everyone averted their gaze and sat with bored expressions.
Unable to watch any longer, Hyuk So-jin also yawned and spoke.
“Brother Bu. When do you think this will end?”
Their internal energy was still overflowing; it seemed they wouldn't stop even if they fought all night.
“Hmm.”
Bu Eun-seol hummed and stared blankly at the two.
“We're just leaving them.”
And without a second thought, he turned away.