Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Ultimate Demon vs. The Transcendent Realm
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Mu-heun said with a gentle smile.
“I thought you did nothing but drink all day... but it seems you haven't neglected your training, have you?”
“What?”
‘This bastard, again….’
Pae-seon was momentarily flustered. It couldn't be true, yet Mu-heun's tone and expression made the words ‘I only drink when I'm meeting you, you bastard!’ linger on the tip of his tongue.
‘Could it be….’
A sliver of doubt shone in Pae-seon's mind. It was a tiny crack, but for Pae-seon, who always brandished his sword with absolute certainty, it began to have a significant impact.
Regardless, Mu-heun continued the fight with a cheerful heart. As their battle raged on, the line of suspicion that had taken root in Pae-seon's mind was sliced away with every clash of their swords.
This was no friendly duel to test each other's skills; the tips of their swords were aimed precisely at each other’s necks, hearts, and arteries, filled with lethal techniques where a single blow could mean death.
Despite this, neither suffered a fatal wound, nor did they give up an injury that could decide the outcome.
When Mu-heun kicked off the ground like a bolt of lightning to create distance, Pae-seon pursued him using the Flying Dragon Chasing Lightning Steps.
The sight was like that of a dragon and lightning intertwining. The speed of the two was a rare sight even in the martial world, and the same was true for their sharp sword strikes….
As if to shake off the pursuing Pae-seon, Mu-heun leaped into the air.
He then prepared an attack to strike Pae-seon.
He drew a formation in the air using the Myriad Fragrance. A Lightning Formation that amplified electric currents.
‘Sky Demon's Raging Thunder.’
-Krrrr!
Black lightning struck the cliff.
Pae-seon instinctively knew this black lightning was no ordinary force and created a powerfully rotating cloud dragon.
“Revolving Dragon's Demon-Shattering Sword.”
The cloud dragon soared fiercely, shattering the demonic black lightning. The demon-quelling power that ground down evil. It was this that blocked the thunder strike, which was condensed with demonic energy.
Pae-seon then thrust his sword toward the sky.
Fwoosh!
A long trail of sword energy formed, as if to pierce the heavens.
“Sword of the Azure Sky.”
A colossal stream of sword energy ascended into the sky.
Mu-heun defended by creating a black rock using the Dark Rock Sword of the Heavenly Demon Sword Arts.
Kwaang!
Pae-seon's powerful thrust was blocked by the black rock, failing to pierce the sky.
Just then, as the black rock surrounding Mu-heun vanished, two violet dragons flowed out.
“Black Dragon's Fang.”
Looking down from the air, Mu-heun drew the fangs of a dragon with his sword.
The ferocious dragon fangs rained down on Pae-seon, but Pae-seon simply spun his sword gracefully.
“Wandering Dragon Sword.”
Once again, an indiscernible dragon form, like mist or cloud, enveloped Pae-seon, and the hard, elegant scales of the dragon began to grind away the dragon's fangs.
Kwagagagagak!
The deflected Black Dragon's Fangs struck various parts of the cliff, and the earth-shattering sound of their impact echoed.
Weaving through the shockwaves like a living dragon, Pae-seon charged toward Mu-heun.
“Dragon Form Steps.”
He drew his sword, condensed his internal energy, and struck down. Mu-heun countered with a menacing demonic energy, and their internal energies resonated through their clashing swords.
Soon, the tips of their swords resonated, and the weapons were flung from their hands.
“Kuh!”
Both men had lost their cherished blades. However, as if they had anticipated even this, they immediately countered with palm techniques.
“Cloud Crane Palm, Demon-Subduing Palm, Demon-Suppressing Palm.”
The first palm strike approached in a straight line, as noble as a crane above the clouds.
The second surged forward as if to sweep away all the demonic energy within Mu-heun.
The third was a palm of white mist, and it was the most lethal to demonic energy.
Mu-heun initially countered Pae-seon's palm techniques with the Heavenly Demon Palm, but soon realizing his own energy was still insufficient to block them, he induced an explosion of his ki.
A ferocious fist that detonated the twin dragons and the five elements in his dantian.
“Heavenly Demon Palm. Dragon Demon's Explosive Art.”
The atmosphere roiled, and a powerful energy gathered before scattering in all directions. The force was enough to shake the barrier of the noble martial immortal.
A clash beyond imagination.
This time, it was Pae-seon who was pushed far back.
And he was utterly astonished.
‘Is this a level one can reach at such a young age?’
He was, without a doubt, an old master of Kunlun.
It had been long since he had surpassed the realm of divinity and conquered the transcendent realm. He was a reclusive master capable of facing anyone who had made a name for themselves in the martial world, an Immortal whose name was renowned throughout the lands.
He had entrusted the sect to his two junior brothers, who had trained with him since childhood, the succeeding Cloud Dragons, Ok Cheon-woo and Yeo Wi-cheon. He himself had spent his days enjoying the fine things in life and his nights further honing his martial arts.
When his two junior Cloud Dragons were poisoned by the Soul-Shattering Subjugation Venom, he was overcome with an unknown guilt, gave up his leisurely life, and chose seclusion.
And yet…
He was evenly matched with a youngster from the Demonic Cult?!
‘I can't help but be surprised. I have to admit it. It's strange. No, from a martial perspective, it's nothing short of marvelous.’
In terms of experience, he was clearly superior.
However, Mu-heun's sword was powerful, efficient, and always struck at the right place at the right time. A sublime sword art. It was anything but easy to face.
The Bending Whip of the Great Clarity Sword, which made the sword bend like a whip.
The feints he mixed in between.
The sudden thrusts using the terrain.
Judging by his slightly delayed reactions to such unorthodox attacks, this young man was not someone with a vast amount of experience.
If so, there was only one answer.
“It seems the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult has taken another disciple.”
“Oh… ho…? You’re as sharp as ever, I see.”
Innate martial talent and an exceptional master. Those two things would solve all the mysteries. But in the current Demonic Cult, there was only one master capable of raising a disciple of this caliber.
The Cult Leader, Cheon Mu-jin.
A man who was, by any measure, stronger than himself, a man said to be the closest to being the strongest under heaven. The current Cult Leader, called the Demon God, Cheon Mu-jin. It could be no one else.
If this boy was his disciple, it made some sense.
His talent for martial arts was so outstanding that he displayed exceptional skill despite his young age. What if he had been consuming spiritual medicines and herbs since childhood and learned a demonic art that accelerated his growth?
Reaching the transcendent realm wouldn't be impossible.
And such a person had met an excellent master and maximized his combat sense.
‘This is the worst….’
“I thought there were only five disciples… You must be the sixth.”
“You know more than I thought.”
“You bastard… I know more about the martial world’s affairs than you do!”
‘Huh…?’
Pae-seon found the words slipping out, as if he were talking to the Divine Doctor, without even realizing it.
‘…….’
At first, he thought it was a coincidence.
The second time, upon hearing the Divine Doctor's name, he thought it was a delusion created by his longing for him. But the third time… no, this strange feeling he’d had throughout his exchange with that man was by no means a delusion.
“What in the world are you?”
Pae-seon asked once more.
“What are you asking? I already told you everything. It’s me. The Divine Doctor, Baek Jung-hyeok.”
The same answer.
But this time, it carried a different weight.
“I can't believe it.”
“Fine, whatever. First, I need to get my revenge for the beating you gave me back then, so just come at me. Or are you just running your mouth because you’re scared?”
“You little….”
Again.
That infuriatingly annoying tone. It was the tone of the Divine Doctor, Baek Jung-hyeok. But what was the point of asking further? He would have to find out through skill.
Pae-seon calmed his breathing again. Kicking off the ground, he charged at Mu-heun and spun vertically.
“Revolving Lotus Kick!”
The ground cracked and stones flew. Mu-heun retreated to protect himself from the shockwave. At that moment.
“Cloud Crane Sword!”
The energy of the red sun rose from the tip of Pae-seon's sword, then vaporized into a white cloud. From within the cloud, sword energy like a crane shot out.
Unflustered, Mu-heun used graceful, dance-like steps to evade the crane. Just as he was about to slash the crane with the tip of his black-dragon-infused sword, Pae-seon rose into the air and floated a cloud.
A white cloud spread across the blue sky. It was artificial, yet utterly natural.
Cranes rose at both ends of the spread-out cloud, and in the very center, the core of his Red Sun Art, the sun, appeared like a sunset.
“Red Sun Art: Setting Sun.”
A giant sun began to fall to the earth.
Seeing the sunset-like sun, Mu-heun smirked again.
“You haven’t lost your touch, Pae-seon.”
At the tip of the Sun and Moon Sword, engraved with a solid pattern, all the energy residing in Mu-heun's dantian was condensed. Not only the two black dragons formed from waveforms, but also the energy of the five elements gathered, spinning. Soon, all the energy collided at the sword's tip and exploded.
“Twin Dragons' Ascension.”
***
From the moment he arrived at the cliff where the Light-Splitting Immortal, Gu Pae-seon, resided, Mu-heun had been condensing the Myriad Fragrance. It was to produce the best possible outcome that he, as the former Divine Doctor, could devise.
From the moment he entered the hut, he began to release a faint fragrance that only he, the Divine Doctor, could distinguish. As his conversation with Pae-seon lengthened, he filled the entire hut with a scent that most people would find colorless and odorless.
‘This is the only way to stop the fight once it breaks out.’
However, a completely colorless and odorless scent was nearly impossible, so to prevent Pae-seon from distinguishing it, he mixed it with a smell identical to that of the bamboo leaf liquor.
The cleverly mixed fragrance was difficult for even a master of the transcendent realm like Pae-seon to detect, especially since he had already drunk the liquor.
Even after moving locations, even during the fight, Mu-heun never stopped spreading the fragrance.
The scattered scent slowly, without anyone noticing, entered Pae-seon's nose and touched his skin. The Myriad Fragrance began to gradually infiltrate his body.
Not only that, but he used the Myriad Fragrance to draw an invisible formation within the space of the Gate-Opening Formation.
The Myriad Fragrance Paralysis Formation.
An application of the Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation.
The fragrance, slowly seeping into the body, would react with the Myriad Fragrance Paralysis Formation once it reached a certain level, instantly paralyzing Pae-seon.
At that point, he had to make Pae-seon exhaust his internal energy down to the last drop through fighting, so that he couldn't easily expel the paralyzing poison from his body.
The space was filled with a paralyzing poison. The only one with a resistance to the Myriad Fragrance paralysis poison, which resembled the scent of bamboo leaf liquor, was Mu-heun, who had mastered it.
***
“Twin Dragons' Ascension.”
Kwaang!
From the tip of Mu-heun's sword, two black dragons shot out toward the falling sun.
The two black dragons, exuding a menacing demonic aura, opened their maws and surged toward the sun. Ferocious fangs. The dragons' muzzles pierced the sun's surface, leaving deep scars.
Kwajik!
Starting from the cracks on its surface, the red sun began to break apart. From the cracks, the energy of the red sun leaked out. The leaking energy gradually grew in force, adding to the cracks.
Finally, when the cracking reached its peak, all the condensed energy exploded.
Kwaaaaaaang!
A colossal roar of destruction.
A scene like a volcanic eruption was created.
The sun, exploding along with the two black dragons, shook the mountain cliff, and the aftershock of the impact caused cracks to appear everywhere.
The sun was completely gone. But the black dragons greedily devoured the extreme yang energy left behind by the sun, and without losing their momentum, they flew toward Pae-seon.
The two massive black dragons opened their ferocious maws toward Pae-seon and bared their fangs.
However.
Pae-seon, staking the name of the Light-Splitting Immortal, once again unleashed his ultimate technique.
Jade Shatters on Kunlun.
A name derived from the meaning that if Kunlun Mountain catches fire, both rock and jade will be destroyed without distinction.
It was a renowned ultimate technique of Kunlun.
Just then.
“Ugh!”
Pae-seon couldn't move his body.
“W-what is happening?”
The Myriad Fragrance Paralysis Formation had finally activated.
Mu-heun scowled and said.
“Damn, old man, you're ridiculously strong. It seems the effect has finally kicked in.”