Chapter 25
Whirrrr!
While the cultists were still scrambling in confusion, Cheon Sohyeon drew his inner power into the Yongcheon acupoint on the soles of his feet.
He concentrated more and more force there until he reached the limit, and then, in that instant, he kicked off the ground.
BOOM!
His body shot forward like a streak of light. He smashed into Yang Bong’s blurred shape through the white haze, sending the Jagui Sect leader flying backward and collapsing the formation behind him.
“Wh-what was that?!”
“He’s inside!!”
BOOM!
Cheon Sohyeon didn’t let up. He drove off the ground again and again.
He unleashed a flurry of blows, but Yang Bong didn’t seem to be taking any real damage. Instead of the dull thud of impact, there was only an odd metallic clang over and over again.
Has he got some kind of protective armor on?
Then Cheon Sohyeon suddenly stopped short at the sound slicing through the air.
Dammit!
A blade flashed before his eyes. It was too late to parry, so he bent his knees and threw his upper body back.
The sword shaved off a fistful of his hair as it passed, and Cheon Sohyeon’s temper flared hard.
This bastard?
BOOM! CRASH!
He slapped the man who had swung at him across the face, then surged forward again.
Amitabha!
The place was crawling with filth—scum blinded by petty greed, buying and selling human beings like livestock.
They were dripping killing intent so openly it was practically begging him not to show any mercy, and Cheon Sohyeon only increased the flow of Muryeonggi.
He pushed through the smoke, striking without hesitation whenever something pale flickered in front of him.
He knocked aside blades, broke bones, and drove his heel into ribs as he advanced, and in an instant the estate turned into a complete madhouse.
“Aaaagh!”
“H-he’s moving! Be careful!”
“Shut up and clear the smoke firs—!”
Then came the rattling of chains, and one by one the voices of the cultists were cut off. Gang Hyeon had charged into the smoke.
BOOM!
And the moment Cheon Sohyeon emerged from the haze, a massive wave of sword energy crashed down on him, as if dozens of blades had been stacked together and hurled his way.
…!
The sword qi was so ferocious it looked ready to butcher friend and foe alike without distinction.
WOOOOOOOM!
Cheon Sohyeon drew up all his Muryeonggi at once and unfolded Nahan-gwon.
It was a response that came almost by instinct, but the fist strike he had honed into his bones spat out a weighty surge of fist qi all the same.
KA-BOOM!
He shattered the sword energy, and a bone-rattling tremor rolled through him, followed by a burst of pain.
“As expected, the little brat’s got some skill after all.”
Cheon Sohyeon forced down the tremor in his hand and looked at him.
A sharp chin, narrow eyes slashed long and thin, dull pupils, and a voice laced with loathsome smugness all combined to give off a vicious air.
“You really do look exactly like a snake. What, there’s nothing in your skull besides that filthy grin?”
“That’s not the part you should be counting.”
Yang Bong snorted.
“If you’ve fallen into a fire pit, you should be focusing on staying alive. Don’t go acting above your station for no reason just—”
BOOM!
Cheon Sohyeon closed the distance with a heavy stomp. Yang Bong casually blocked the straight punch with the flat of his sword.
“Childish.”
The instant he spoke, a rain of sword light, aimed at vital points, came crashing down like lightning.
KA-BOOM! CRASH!
Cheon Sohyeon met the rapid assault with Banya-jang. He deflected and redirected the blade as he held his ground, but the power behind each strike, which moved on a different level entirely, steadily increased the pressure on him.
Swordsmen really are swordsmen.
He looked for an opening between the vicious flashes of steel, but Yang Bong’s restrained sword path never left a gap large enough to call a true opening.
Even so, the qi carried by the sword was vast and razor-sharp, and sword wounds were opening all over Cheon Sohyeon’s body.
Convinced he had the upper hand, Yang Bong sneered.
“When you burst through the gate with all that swagger, I thought some famous expert from a mysterious power had arrived. And this is all you amount to? I can’t begin to understand how you had the nerve to act so full of yourself.”
Yang Bong’s mouth curled into a long, ugly grin.
“Why don’t you preserve what you have left, even now? Don’t spoil the fun with some vulgar last-ditch tantrum. If the merchandise gets damaged, that makes things inconvenient for me.”
Despite his words, the assault only grew fiercer.
The heavier sword qi tore through the air and bore down on him, and the blade’s vicious tip skimmed just past Cheon Sohyeon’s throat.
The swordsmanship, whipping along in strange curves, was full of composure, mockery, and pure contempt.
Before long, one blow slipped past his guard and sliced his shoulder open.
“A pity. Another inch deeper and I would’ve cut it clean off.”
Yang Bong wore a thin, sour smile before changing his tone.
“You seem to be nearing your limit. Why not surrender? I’ll even find you a suitable buyer so you can avoid being treated like a slave. Better that than losing your head, wouldn’t you say?”
“You think I would?”
“So you insist on courting punishment.”
BOOM!
The instant Yang Bong’s sword fell vertically, Cheon Sohyeon drove into the ground with all his strength.
He wrung his dantian dry and sent the force surging up, shaking the very foundations beneath them, and for a split second Yang Bong’s balance faltered.
KA-BOOM!
Yang Bong coughed up blood and staggered as a straight punch slammed into his solar plexus.
“Khk.”
A fierce light flashed in Cheon Sohyeon’s eyes.
WOOOOOM!!
Deciding further restraint was pointless, white flames began to bloom in his palm.
Yang Bong’s eyes widened in shock.
“S-Sammae Jinhwa?”
It was a feat only a master with exceptionally deep inner power could manifest.
How can a little brat like him wield something like that? No—why is he bringing it out now?
Sensing something unnatural, Yang Bong hurriedly scattered sword qi and retreated, but Cheon Sohyeon pressed in with frightening speed, crushing each wave of energy in succession.
“Where do you think you’re running off to in such a hurry? Weren’t you just acting all high and mighty?”
Cheon Sohyeon’s eyes glowed white.
It’s different.
His movement was nothing like before. It was as though a boulder crushing all four limbs had been hurled away, and a sense of liberation settled through his entire body.
Once Sammae Jinhwa was drawn forth, the circulation of his power quickened like lava long buried underground suddenly bursting free, surging hotter and more violently than before.
So this is the essence of Ilbaek.
The function of Muryeong Shingong was clear. It excelled at awakening the body through flame and amplifying strength.
KA-BOOM! CRASH! CRASH!
Under the barrage of fist techniques crashing down like a landslide, Yang Bong flailed his sword desperately.
KA-BOOM!
But the impossible force behind the blows sent Yang Bong’s sword flying, and fists poured into the opening with merciless precision.
…!
White flames licked across his long robe, and even his protective armor began to lose effectiveness. With searing pain burning his flesh, Yang Bong cried out in panic.
“W-wait! I have a proposal for you. First, just—!”
“Why is it that people who never offered mercy in the first place only start looking for it when they’re at death’s door? Live with the life you chose.”
The heat Cheon Sohyeon exuded grew even more intense.
KA-BOOM! CRASH! CRASH!!
He slammed Yang Bong across the jaw, smashed into his chest, then drove a kick into the bastard’s knee.
Teeth flew, bones broke, blood splattered—yet the wounds were instantly consumed by heat and vanished without a trace.
“I’ll send you to the Eight Infernal Hells.”
Cheon Sohyeon gathered all the strength in his body into a single point and twisted his shoulder. His left palm traced a bold, straight line before driving forward like it was going to spear through Yang Bong’s breastbone.
“KRAAAAAH!”
Just as the blow ground in far enough to crush bone and cave the chest in by about an inch,
KA-BOOM!
a surge of white force exploded from Cheon Sohyeon’s hand.
Dara-jang.
“Ghk! H-hk!”
Only after Yang Bong’s body was hurled far into the distance did Cheon Sohyeon finally let out the breath he had been holding. His entire body burned.
Did I overdo it?
It felt as though his lungs were on fire, his head spun, and he could feel all the energy in his body draining away in a rush.
Whether from the excess force he had drawn out or from something else, his insides felt like they had been thoroughly shaken apart.
Something was wrong. Was he going to end up with internal injuries again, reduced to coughing and wheezing like an invalid?
“Kyak! Ptui!”
Even if that happened, he wouldn’t regret it.
You’re too harsh with your hands. How do you expect to repay that karma? No matter how extraordinary your martial arts may be, if you step outside the Buddha’s path, they lose all meaning…
Suddenly, he remembered the old monk who had once scolded him for being too severe.
He had heard those words often enough, but the memory was from so long ago that he couldn’t remember how he had answered at the time.
He probably would have glared and charged in, asking whether he was supposed to show mercy to monsters like this too. Then he would’ve shut himself away in a meditation cave for ages afterward.
He had indeed been immature in those days, and his discipline had been lacking, but from the moment the former abbot had taken him in and introduced him to the path, his belief had never changed.
If using martial arts to carry the Way only led to standing by and watching, then it was meaningless.
No—more than meaningless, he thought it was close to sinful.
No matter how sacred compassion and Buddhist faith might be, they were not so precious that he should preserve them all the way to the instant he punished beasts.
If that mindset was considered a defilement that had cast him down into the Demonic Cult…
“Ptui!”
Then he would rather abandon nirvana.
* * *
“Hoo.”
Gang Hyeon was dominating the cultists in the midst of the mist.
He confused them by pretending to be one of their own, or froze the mouths of those who had fallen and hurled them aside, maximizing the chaos.
It works this well?
The method was so effective it made him wonder whether the Jagui Sect’s entrance requirement was stupidity.
I need to finish this fast and go help.
Just as he was about to push harder again—
Whoooosh!
A fierce gale swept in and cleared away the mist. Gang Hyeon’s gaze naturally lifted toward the main hall.
“Who the hell are you now?”
A man wearing red robes marked with unusual patterns was unfurling a fan.
“I intended to stay out of this as an outsider, but it’s becoming dangerous to stand by any longer. Why don’t you stop here?”
Gang Hyeon let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re a funny one. If you’re an outsider, why are you butting in and telling me what to do?”
“Because if this continues, you’ll die for certain. That would be a loss for me as well, wouldn’t it?”
“Die? Me?”
Gang Hyeon looked around. The surviving cultists were all cowering so hard they couldn’t even meet his eyes.
“From these scraps?”
“Surely not. You’ll die at the hands of the sect leader. You’ve already crossed too many lines. If you want to keep your life, stopping now would be the wise choice.”
“What a joke. By the time the sect leader gets back, he’ll be half-dead or a corpse anyway. You want me to worry about that? Are you trying to be thoughtful because you’re afraid I’ll have a bad dream later? Don’t bother—why don’t you just perform a damn exorcism instead? Looking at your face, you seem like the type who’d be perfect for it—”
Hui-si lifted one corner of his mouth.
“You really don’t understand what I’m saying, do you? Are all lowborn bloodlines like this?”
“What?”
“Hmm. No? I was certain it would be the case. A man hiding in the borderlands, practicing ice martial arts, and storming in because he was enraged by human trafficking—he must be a Baek—”
WHOOSH!
Gang Hyeon swung his broadsword, unleashing a blade wind.
Clang!
Hui-si cut down the white blade wind and smiled with thinly veiled malice.
“So I was right after all.”
Hui-si had no loyalty or cause strong enough to make him step forward just because someone had invaded the Jagui Sect.
To him, the Jagui Sect was nothing more than a relationship sealed with money, and Yang Bong was strong enough that there was no need to worry about him in the first place.
That was why he had intended to keep watching from the sidelines.
Of all places, I never thought I’d find it here.
But when the chill in the air stirred a vague suspicion in him, and that suspicion turned into certainty, his attitude had to change.
“Well, today really is a lucky day…”
That was when it happened.
BOOM!
Out of nowhere, a figure came flying down from the sky and crashed between Hui-si and Gang Hyeon.
At the sight, the faces of the Jagui Sect members were painted with unbearable shock.
…!!
The one slammed into the ground was Yang Bong, the Jagui Sect leader. And in the center of his chest was a hole as large as an adult man’s head.