Chapter 180: Fighting Joo So-yang - Part 3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 180: Fighting Joo So-yang - Part 3
Grind.
Joo So-yang gnashed her teeth as she glared at Sun-woo.
Her decisive strike had failed to work.
A secret technique only reveals its true power when its nature remains hidden. There were two secrets to the Bright Wheel, the hidden technique of the Heavenly Moon Bright Wheel Divine Art.
One was the detonation function, allowing the user to explode the Astral Qi whenever they desired. The other was the homing function, which tracked the enemy to the very end.
The flying Astral Qi was threatening enough on its own, but with these hidden properties, an ordinary martial artist stood no chance.
However, this man seemed significantly different from any ordinary martial artist.
He had taken two direct hits from the incredibly powerful Bright Wheels. For a normal warrior, these were injuries that would have caused their body to burst apart and kill them instantly, yet this man had done nothing more than cough up a bit of blood.
It was a level of durability that made no sense, even if he had bolstered his Protective Qi to the limit.
With a tense expression, she looked ahead.
There stood the man, his face flushed as if he were consumed by rage.
"What is your true identity?"
Joo So-yang spoke, her eyes sharp as she glared at Sun-woo.
"You already know, don't you?" Sun-woo replied.
"I am Jang Sun-woo, the disciple of the Poison King and the fiancé of Tang Seo-yoon."
"Don't make me laugh!" Joo So-yang snapped, her temper flaring.
It was absurd. How could a disciple be stronger than his master? Moreover, this man primarily used sword arts rather than poison arts. Anyone would find it suspicious.
"I don't care whether you believe me or not."
Sun-woo raised his sword and continued.
"So stop talking. We're in the middle of a fight, and you're ruining the mood."
"You bastard!"
Joo So-yang once again channeled her Heavenly Moon Bright Wheel Qi into her sword. She began to manifest the Bright Wheels.
Chirr-rrr.
A single wheel began to rotate around her sword. Soon after, another wheel formed and began its own rotation.
`What?`
Sun-woo was taken aback. He hadn't expected her to be able to form two at once.
The Bright Wheel he had experienced was weaker than a Sword Ring, but it was undeniably a concentration of energy stronger than Sword Astral. Generating multiple versions of such a thing was normally impossible.
It wasn't just the consumption of internal energy; it required an immense amount of mental energy. Astral Qi was a force that would dissipate if one's concentration wavered even slightly. Concentrating it further would require even more mental effort than simply maintaining it. It shouldn't have been possible.
Yet, Joo So-yang was achieving the impossible. He couldn't help but be flustered.
Whoosh!
Screeeeeeeech!
Joo So-yang swung her sword toward Sun-woo.
"Twin Wheels!"
At her command, the two Bright Wheels spun violently and lunged toward Sun-woo. They were so fast that they reached his immediate vicinity in the blink of an eye.
Sun-woo watched the Bright Wheels with profound eyes. He slowly moved his internal energy according to the mnemonics of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.
As the internal energy permeated his entire body, it began to activate.
Whirrrr.
Before long, it felt as if the surrounding air was being sucked in.
The Bright Wheels closed in. One aimed for Sun-woo’s neck, the other for his dantian.
Sun-woo raised his sword. He slashed directly at the incoming wheels.
The first wheel to touch his blade was the one aimed at his neck. He could feel the immense power of the Bright Wheel through his sword.
Sun-woo began to feel the flow of the Bright Wheel. He could sense the staggering explosive force concentrated within it.
He twisted the flow of the Bright Wheel.
The wheel that had been flying toward his neck changed direction and began to dive downward. Below it was the other wheel that had been aiming for his dantian.
Boom!
The two Bright Wheels collided, triggering a massive explosion.
The resulting shockwave swept over Sun-woo, but he didn't mind. He used the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to redirect the shockwave away from him.
Rumble!
The ground around Sun-woo’s feet exploded with a thunderous roar.
Swoosh!
As the ground shattered, acrid dust billowed in all directions, filling his entire field of vision.
.
.
.
.
After some time had passed, the dust began to clear, revealing a silhouette.
A man wearing an ink-colored dragon robe with gold tassels.
It was Sun-woo.
Despite being caught in that massive explosion, there wasn't a single scratch on his body.
"What!?"
Joo So-yang let out a cry of shock at the sight.
*
Joo So-yang was horrified to see Sun-woo unharmed.
The Bright Wheel was an absolute martial art that existed on a different plane from ordinary techniques. Its explosive power was one thing, but its homing nature—tracking the enemy to the end—was not something easily dealt with.
Yet, the man before her had withstood it without a single scratch. And he had done so against two wheels.
`This is impossible!`
She shook her head again. It made no sense. But the man standing there, perfectly fine, made it impossible to deny reality.
"How did you do it?" she asked, glaring at Sun-woo.
This man had clearly swung his sword at the wheel aimed for his neck to redirect it downward. Then, he had used it to cancel out the wheel aimed at his dantian.
"It was nothing special," Sun-woo replied nonchalantly. "I just used your own power against you."
Flash.
In that moment, a realization struck Joo So-yang. She remembered a technique used to suppress others by turning their own strength against them.
`Could it be... Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees?!`
Yes. It was Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees.
Suddenly, everything clicked for Joo So-yang. If he had reached the level of Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees, it was entirely possible for him to make the Twin Wheels cancel each other out.
Meaning "to move a flower and graft it onto a tree," Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees was a supreme state of martial arts where one used the enemy's power to launch a counterattack. It was a realm that could only be reached by a swordsman who had mastered the ultimate secrets of the Soft Sword.
"Have you reached the realm of Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees?!" Joo So-yang shouted at Sun-woo, her voice sharp.
"What?"
Sun-woo looked at her as if she were talking nonsense.
"Don't play dumb! What other technique besides Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees could use an enemy's attack to cancel out another?"
Joo So-yang raised her voice, convinced that Sun-woo was trying to hide his true skill.
`Hah.`
Sun-woo let out a silent, hollow laugh. It seemed this woman was deeply mistaken.
To be fair, Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees did share many similarities with the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, especially the part about using an opponent's power to attack others. Of course, in terms of versatility, the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth was far superior.
He could understand her confusion to some extent. Even if they were enemies, Sun-woo was nominally the disciple of the Poison King; it would have been impossible for her to think of the Demonic Cult's protection martial art, the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, after seeing it only once for such a short time.
"Think whatever you want," Sun-woo said indifferently, looking at the fuming woman.
`As I thought, my guess was right.`
Joo So-yang frowned at his response. As long as Sun-woo had reached the realm of Shifting Flowers and Joining Trees, the Twin Wheels were useless. Even if she fired them, he would simply cancel them out over and over again.
`In that case!`
She began to manifest a Bright Wheel on her sword once more. Then, she swung it straight at Sun-woo.
The Bright Wheel lunged toward Sun-woo with fierce momentum. Sun-woo raised his sword and struck the wheel.
Clang!
The Bright Wheel, which had been heading for Sun-woo, was redirected toward the ground. He intended to crash it into the earth.
Thud!
"Huh?"
But something unexpected happened. The Bright Wheel that had dug into the ground did not explode; it maintained its form.
Soon, the wheel that had burrowed into the earth lunged at Sun-woo again.
Clang!
Sun-woo used the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to twist the flow and knock the wheel away several times, but the Bright Wheel simply maintained its shape and kept coming back for him.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
How many times had they clashed? The Astral Qi of the Bright Wheel was finally beginning to weaken.
Clang!
And soon enough, it was completely extinguished by Sun-woo’s sword.
"Phew."
Sun-woo let out a sigh of relief. He had been quite flustered when the Bright Wheel didn't explode. It seemed the detonation of the wheel was entirely dependent on Joo So-yang's will.
"Hmm."
She watched Sun-woo, lost in deep thought. Then, as if she had reached a conclusion, a bright smile spread across her face.
Joo So-yang concentrated her internal energy into her sword and began to form pure white Bright Wheels again.
Sun-woo frowned. Her internal energy couldn't be infinite, so how could she create so many Bright Wheels?
And this time, it wasn't just one. Two... three... four... there were six Bright Wheels.
Sun-woo scoffed. He thought she was a woman who lacked the ability to learn. No matter how many Bright Wheels she created, he could just cancel them out.
While crashing them into the ground to make them explode might be difficult, he should be able to make them explode by forcing them to collide with each other.
Sun-woo held his sword ready, preparing for the wheels to fly.
Whirrrr.
Soon, one Bright Wheel flew toward Sun-woo. He swung his sword again, using the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to deflect it.
This time, he aimed it at Joo So-yang.
However, the wheel flying toward her stopped in its tracks before it could reach her. Then, it lunged back at Sun-woo.
Sun-woo swung his sword, now coated in Astral Qi, even more fiercely.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The Bright Wheel began to be chipped away.
It was then.
Whirrrr.
Another Bright Wheel lunged at Sun-woo.
Sun-woo cheered inwardly. He intended to make it collide with the existing one. He quickly swung his sword.
But—
Whoosh.
`Huh?`
He felt nothing hit his sword. He had swung at empty air. When he turned his head, he saw that the original Bright Wheel had retreated a certain distance.
`Dammit.`
Sun-woo realized the truth. There was no way she would just let the Bright Wheels cancel each other out.
Screeeeech!
The second Bright Wheel cut through the air and lunged at Sun-woo. He used the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to send the second wheel toward the first one.
However, the first wheel moved its position to avoid the second one and then lunged back at Sun-woo.
Boom!
Sun-woo’s Astral Qi and the Bright Wheel collided, creating a thunderous sound.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The two Bright Wheels began to assault Sun-woo relentlessly. He tried to use the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth to make them cancel each other out, but there was no way to do so while they maintained a certain distance from each other. He could only swing his sword to block them.
"I see you can handle two."
It was then. Joo So-yang gave Sun-woo a deep smile.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
"..."
Sun-woo didn't answer; he just silently blocked the Bright Wheels. He didn't even have the luxury to speak.
"This time, it's three!"
Following her words, a third Bright Wheel lunged at Sun-woo.
`Damn it.`
Sun-woo cursed under his breath and raised his sword.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
.
.
.
.
How much time had passed? The number of Bright Wheels flying at Sun-woo had already increased to five.
Sun-woo felt himself growing exhausted. The wheels were attacking him from multiple directions without pause. He wanted to create a Sword Ring right then and there to crush the Bright Wheels, but he didn't have the time. If he showed even the slightest opening, those freakishly powerful wheels would overwhelm him.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Sun-woo swung his Dragon Tail Soft Sword even faster, parrying the Bright Wheels that targeted him not just from the four cardinal directions, but from all eight.
Fortunately, he could feel the momentum of the Bright Wheels beginning to wane. If he could just hold out a little longer, he would be able to extinguish them all.
It was then.
"To think you could hold out against five..."
She spoke to Sun-woo as if she were impressed.
Whoosh.
"Child, this is the last Bright Wheel."
Joo So-yang swung her sword with a bright smile. The final remaining Bright Wheel began to fly toward Sun-woo.
Screeeeech!
The sixth Bright Wheel cut through the wind as it lunged at him. Sun-woo’s expression crumpled. He was already struggling to fend off five; now there was a sixth?
Whether they cared for Sun-woo’s resolve or not, the six Bright Wheels began to swarm him.
Grind.
Sun-woo clenched his teeth. He raised his sword and began to parry them one by one.
For now, there was no other way. He had to extinguish all six of these Bright Wheels first.
Sun-woo tightened his grip on his sword.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Sun-woo’s Astral Qi and Joo So-yang’s Bright Wheels collided, letting out a series of thunderous roars.