Thousand Hands Guanyin
As thousands of purple sword auras flared along Ilmanhyeolje’s twin blades as if ready to burst free, he roared.
Thousand Hands Guanyin!
A typhoon of violet sword wind erupted from his body and surged outward, racing straight toward me.
—KWA-KWA-KWAAAH!!!
Everything was cut. In this world, in this Jianghu, no divine weapon could withstand it—the ultimate among ultimate techniques. Lines of sword aura wove together into a plane, and that plane came crashing down upon me.
So Yeomgyo shielded her eyes against the oncoming storm and cried out.
“Biryu!”
My vision flooded pure white with violet light.
This was the final secret art of Ilmanhyeolje, a Guardian of the founding generation of the Blood Cult that had split from the legendary White Lotus Demon Sect of old Jianghu: Thousand Hands Guanyin.
No flourish. No variation. Simply compress sword qi to its absolute limit, refine it into sword aura, draw that aura forth, and swing the twin blades at maximum speed—severing every inch of space. That was the core of Thousand Hands Guanyin.
No final secret art in existence could stop that storm of sword aura. No dazzling martial skill, no pure offensive onslaught, could ever break the ultimate form of the line itself—sword aura. Countless masters must have met their end before this technique.
—Crack.
I copy it.
I copy Ilmanhyeolje’s final secret art.
It was the only solution I had.
“Guhk!”
Sparks exploded inside my skull. The sensation of one side of my mind collapsing pierced my soul with bone-chilling force.
—Thud.
The capillaries in the whites of my eyes burst. Even with a body reinforced by the Great Heavenly Demon’s physique, the sheer volume of incomprehensible information seared through one half of my brain. Collapse was inevitable.
This was no ordinary martial art. This was the final secret art that had made the founding Blood Cult Guardian undefeated. Centuries of combat history distilled into pure essence. A torrent of light. Literally a white-hot torrent of light.
Buried inside that torrent, I clung to a single thin strand of rope, thrashing desperately not to be swept away. Even hanging on felt like drowning. Only the incomplete Great Heavenly Demon’s body reinforcing me let me keep any sense of self. Without it I would have dissolved without a trace into the flood of light.
—Crack.
My brain was burning. A field of white snow was collapsing.
—Crack.
I felt my mother’s face fading.
—Crack.
Suddenly I saw the rope in my hand. It was far too fragile, far too thin. What happens if I let go? I wondered. I looked behind me. Nothing but a pure white, empty world. The moment I lost this rope I would be cast forever into that white void. My grip was slick with sweat and blood. The waterfall of light shoved me; the rope began to slip free.
And then—
—Grab!
[There must have been people who pointed fingers at you in life. But…]
From within the waterfall of light a black-shadowed hand reached out and seized both the rope and my hand. It was a rough hand. A coarse hand. A hand callused and crushed from harsh training, fists slamming against rock while weeping—so very like the rough hands of a martial artist, so very like my own. The hand of a black shadow.
[Sometimes—only very rarely—there may also be those who truly cheer for you.]
“You…”
Hanging from the rope I could see only the black hand that held mine. No face.
[You can do this. Host… no.]
From the far side of the light—
[Moyong Bi. Believe in yourself. And…]
“…!”
Another enormous black hand wrapped around the hand that gripped the rope.
[Believe in me as well.]
—Grab!
I clenched the rope. From that moment everything burned itself into me with vivid clarity. Everything that had been blank a second ago snapped into sharp focus. At the same time I realized: I had just cleared the crisis. And I was certain.
I can do this.
Not the Specter of the Battlefield, Guardian of Mount Hua, Eun Seollyeong. Not Flame Eye of Divine Slaughter, So Yeomgyo. That Ilmanhyeolje—more precisely, his final secret art, Thousand Hands Guanyin—could be opposed in this Jianghu by only one person: me, the one who copies martial arts.
Full absorption process complete
Manifestation possible
Lightning wrapped my entire body as I poured out every last scrap of strength.
Thousands upon tens of thousands of sword-aura strands erupted from my body, perfectly recreating Ilmanhyeolje’s final secret art.
—Clang!
Th-This…!
Ilmanhyeolje’s shocked voice rang out. Thousand Hands Guanyin crashed into Thousand Hands Guanyin. It was like two tidal waves colliding head-on. The earth was plowed under. The sky shuddered. Neither side yielded. Instead they each took a step toward the other. Blades whirled in frenzy. The closer they drew, the faster the sword auras reached their target, the faster the swings became.
—Slash! Slash!
Skin split; blood sprayed. Ilmanhyeolje’s body no longer regenerated. Each of us fought with everything we had to kill the other—ready to offer up anything in this world if only the other would die.
—Clang! Claaang!
Only kill or be killed remained.
KRAAAAAH!!
“Nngh! Nnngh!”
—Crash! Crack! Boom! KWA-BOOM!
Violet sword wind slammed into black sword wind. Sword auras collided, shattering like iron shards and shredding skin.
—Spurt! Spurt!
Clothes tore. Fingernails ripped free.
—Slash.
My forehead was carved open. My bangs scattered. Sticky blood flowed, ran across my brow, slid down my eyebrows; when I blinked it cut across my eyes, trailed down my cheek, gathered at my chin—then was split again by flying fragments of violet sword aura and shattered.
—KWAANG!
The ground beneath my feet crumbled under the pressure. A metallic taste filled my mouth. The hand gripping the sword clenched so hard the fingers locked stiff.
—Claaang!!
Hundreds of impacts every second raced up my palm, through bone, and hammered my brain.
—Claaang!!!
The Ilmanhyeolje across from me was matching me with everything he had.
—Claaaaang!!!
In the plaza where violet afterimages rose, two figures danced a mad sword dance, scattering sword aura as if drunk on moonlight. As night deepened, the still-incomplete full moon slowly filled out.
—Woooong!!
The fuller the moon grew, the stronger the violet light illuminating the cavern became.
Keh… keh-heh-heh!!
—Thoom!
Violet veins bulged across Ilmanhyeolje’s entire body as his sword aura surged with fresh power. The Thousand Hands Guanyin duel that had begun evenly began tilting steadily against me. I vomited a handful of blood.
“I-I’m being pushed!”
Mumyeong ground his teeth.
[Damn it! Even setting aside that the purity of the copied art falls short of the original, the injuries you took earlier were too severe…!]
—Screeech!
Sparks flew as the violet storm pressed closer. I could feel death approaching.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!! I can’t die like this—it would be too unfair…!”
I clung even harder with Black Thunder.
“If only my body were whole…! If only my body were even half-whole…!”
But with every second I felt my body itself failing. It was as if the interior endlessly tried to pump groundwater upward while the outlet’s durability was already shredded and could take no more. I felt the sword tip trembling.
“I came this far…! I came this far! Damn it!!!”
The full moon climbed higher. Ilmanhyeolje’s power grew fiercer. He murmured with a cold smile.
Die…!
—Thoom!
Now the violet sword aura stood a paper’s thickness from my face. The tip of my nose was sliced away. I held on with everything I had. I held on believing there was nothing after this.
“Kh… khuhk…!”
Kik… kik!!
Inside the storm of sword aura, blood pouring, teeth clenched, voice crushed by despair, I muttered,
“Damn it… this is really… the end…”
“If you don’t want to get cooked, get out of the way!!!”
—KWAANG!
A massive impact kicked me sideways; I tumbled across the ground.
Along the Red Demon Bell Sword So Yeomgyo thrust forth, pure white heatstorm erupted, evaporating even the violet sword aura and every sound as it slammed into Ilmanhyeolje.
Hair blazing with white flame, So Yeomgyo roared,
“This is the second round, you filthy woman-chasing loudmouth lecher!”
“So… So Yeomgyo?!”
I rolled, then sprang to my feet.
“Why the hell… Guhk!!”
[The Host’s body is in no condition either.]
“But—!”
Even from here I could see that So Yeomgyo, already locking into a second round far away, was far from whole.
“She already lost to Ilmanhyeolje once earlier. Why engage again? When martial arts are countered by affinity or by a specific countermeasure, a second try is meaningless—and she has to know that.”
I scrambled upright.
“Damn it, I have to go help. I don’t know if our teamwork will click, but still…!”
[No. The Host stays right here.]
Mumyeong said.
[She is a woman who has never once let a single word the Host spoke to her go in one ear and out the other. Based on that…]
Mumyeong paused a moment.
[She is waiting for it right now.]
“What? What the hell does that mean?”
Mumyeong muttered,
[Honestly even I find it hard to believe she remembered that split-second conversation and put it into a plan… but we have to hope this is right. Otherwise we all die tonight…]
At those words I lifted my head.
“No way.”
The conversation she and I had shared flashed through my mind.
“There’s no way she remembered that split-second talk…”
[But right now that is the only way we can win.]
“….”
I nodded.
—Thoom… Rumble-rumble…!
—KWAANG!
Ilmanhyeolje’s Thousand Hands Guanyin collided with Heaven-Destroying Blood Explosion Blade.
“Khuhk!”
The shock of final secret arts meeting made vivid blood gush from So Yeomgyo’s belly and along her broken arm.
Ilmanhyeolje bellowed in rage.
You barely crawled back from death—lie still! You’re only hastening your end!
So Yeomgyo gritted her teeth and shouted back,
“I would’ve been happy to lie down, but you won’t shut that mouth of yours for even a second—I got so pissed I can’t stay down.”
You bitch!
Ilmanhyeolje’s violet sword wind veered toward her and crashed into the white heatstorm of Heaven-Destroying Blood Explosion Blade.
“Ugh…!”
True, Ilmanhyeolje’s Thousand Hands Guanyin had burned enormous power clashing with mine. But her Heaven-Destroying Blood Explosion Blade was also heavily drained by injury. At first they traded blows evenly, yet the pattern soon returned to what it had been before. Like a blade being gnawed away, the white flashes were ground down by violet sword aura and she began to be pushed back.
Looks to me like the man was losing, so you just threw yourself in blind.
Ilmanhyeolje wore a smile thick with delight.