This Ends Here
Atop the mountain peak, two figures streaked up and down like bolts of lightning, colliding with savage force. Their blood-soaked duel had already raged for a full hour.
A torrent of crimson flame roared forth, painting the heavens in fire.
Beom Undae was currently counted among the finest prodigies of Cheonun Sect's inner disciples. He, too, commanded a formidable 1st Grade fire Profound Qi. But unlike Gi Beonjin, who had only just set foot in the Profound Realm, Beom Undae had already reached the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm — and his Blazing Fire Divine Fist crushed Gi Beonjin's in every respect, power and craft alike.
A thunderous blast rang out, and a cascade of dazzling flame unfurled across the sky. Beom Undae stood wreathed from head to toe in crimson fire, a figure of imposing majesty, radiating a pressure that crushed the air itself.
His expression, however, was dark. He had expected to put Yeop Pung down with ease. The boy's skill had blown that expectation to pieces.
He threw another punch — and once more struck nothing but empty air. That damned Yeop Pung slipped his attacks as if he could see them coming. Leaving only an afterimage behind, the boy withdrew like a bolt of lightning.
Just how fast is that bastard...?!
Beom Undae could scarcely believe it. Even if Yeop Pung had grown conspicuously over the past few days, he should have been no more than 2-Vein Profound Realm at best. The movement art he was using was nothing but ordinary Profound Realm footwork. How, then, could he possibly be this fast?
"Yeop Pung, you coward! Stop hiding and fight me!"
His fist missed again, shattering the earth to rubble.
Yeop Pung, by contrast, felt a deep, clean satisfaction unfurl in his chest. At last, he could stand toe to toe with Beom Undae of the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm.
His raw ability still fell short of matching the man. But the Thunder Shadow Steps, amplified by his golden Profound Qi, had become so fast that even Yeop Pung himself was startled — fast enough to move as Beom Undae's equal and slip every one of his strikes. For a fighter at the second vein to press a powerhouse of the fifth was nothing short of a miracle.
And if I broke through to the third meridian? If I could unleash the Wrathful Thunder Palm's ultimate killing form — Wrathful Thunder Sweeping the Heavens? Couldn't I crush that shameless bastard completely?
Yeop Pung kept adjusting his footwork, steadily widening the gap between them. From within the flames, Beom Undae's eyes glittered with a sly, ugly light.
"Yeop Pung, are you going to keep scurrying around like a rat? Heh. At this rate, you'll never get your revenge…"
He stopped moving and stood his ground. Then, as if to goad Yeop Pung, he tapped his own cheek twice and sneered.
"Come on, then. Hit me. Hit me over some girl, just like you did six years ago!"
A flash — and Yeop Pung's cold face emerged from the afterimages at a speed like striking lightning.
Beom Undae, you vile piece of filth....!
The taunt was childish in the extreme, but it worked. It reached down and touched a memory that had been sleeping in the deepest part of Yeop Pung's heart.
"What's the matter, Yeop Pung? Six years ago, who was it that spat in my face and swore he'd have me thrown out of Cheonun Sect? And now? I'm alive and well, chasing you around like a rat and beating you black and blue. And you? You stood up for Un Cheoncheon — and what do you have to show for it? Hahaha. Yeop Pung, she's an untouchable goddess of the heavens now, and you? You're not even worth a glance from her."
"I'm only saying this because I feel sorry for you…. But don't worry. It won't be long before I win Un Cheoncheon's heart. What you ruined for me six years ago — this time, I'll take it fair and square! Hahaha. Yeop Pung, what do you think you can possibly do to me?"
The filthy words poured from Beom Undae's mouth without pause, driving themselves into Yeop Pung's ears.
A beautiful woman's face rose in Yeop Pung's mind. Six years ago, everything had begun with her.
And now, six years later, it was all exactly as Beom Undae said. She was a goddess high in the heavens; he was a worm crushed into the dirt. The distance between them was the distance between sky and earth, and they would never stand face to face again.
Once, those memories had carved through Yeop Pung's chest like a blade. Now they had become the armor that guarded his heart. Beom Undae thought he could provoke him with words like these. He was badly mistaken.
Yeop Pung stopped walking. Not from anger. He had simply decided that today's fight needed to end.
He looked at the face he so despised and walked toward Beom Undae, slow and deliberate. Every word he spoke was as cold as a frozen glacier.
"Oh? So you're angry, Yeop Pung. Not that it matters. At least I'm alive — and I'm eating better and living better than you!"
Watching Yeop Pung approach, Beom Undae poured flame into his fist. His aura turned monstrous, like a beast locking onto prey, as if he meant to close the distance in a single bound and tear the boy to pieces.
Yeop Pung felt no fear at all. He had no reason to. He only wanted to know how wide the gap between them truly was — and how much further he would have to go to kill this creature that was less than a beast.
Thunder and lightning surged through both hands like a stampede of a hundred wild horses, crashing headlong into the oncoming fire.
Yeop Pung roared and met the surging flames head-on.
A colossal boom shook the entire mountain peak. Dazzling gold light and a vast wall of fire collided in midair. Yeop Pung's body was hurled backward without mercy.
He drove a lightning-wreathed foot into the ground, staggering more than a dozen paces before he finally caught his balance. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
It was inevitable. The base force of the 2-Vein Profound Realm was a mere thousand jin; the fifth meridian commanded a staggering eight thousand. No amount of golden Profound Qi could fully close a gap like that.
And yet, even in victory, Beom Undae was far from unharmed.
"What the hell is this Profound Qi...!"
He stared at his right hand in horror. The sleeve on that side had been shredded to ribbons, and his entire upper garment was so ruined it barely held a shape.
Worse still were the hair-thin threads of golden lightning crawling over his whole right arm, radiating a ghastly energy as if they meant to split flesh and pulverize bone.
"Gahhhh!"
Beom Undae howled at a pain he could not endure. He hastily gathered the fire Profound Qi in his body, straining to suppress the gold.
This is impossible...!
Yeop Pung's attack speed was nearly a match for his own. And somewhere along the way, the boy's destructive power had climbed to a level this terrifying?
He was 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm! That strike should have crushed Yeop Pung outright. So why was he the one who was injured?
Yeop Pung! Damn you, Yeop Pung! Never…. I will never give you another chance!
The agony rolling endlessly through his right arm only stoked Beom Undae's killing intent hotter. Gritting his teeth, he locked his eyes on the already badly wounded Yeop Pung and raised his left hand without a moment's hesitation. Once more, a vast bloom of flame took shape.
"I'll finish you right here, Yeop Pung!"
Killing intent whirled around him like a storm, transforming Beom Undae into a savage beast of flame. He charged at Yeop Pung with the force of rolling thunder. Every footfall melted the earth and left a trail of fire. The heat pouring from his fist scorched the air itself until Yeop Pung could barely draw breath.
Die!
Yeop Pung narrowed his eyes and poured every nerve into focus. Beom Undae was getting impatient. That impatience was the shape of a will to kill.
The instant Yeop Pung moved to slip the attack with the Thunder Shadow Steps, a black shadow dropped from the sky like a thunderbolt and landed squarely in front of Beom Undae.
"That's enough. Let's call it a day."
The figure's feet struck the ground, and a tremendous shockwave burst outward. In a single instant, Beom Undae's flame Profound Qi — swollen with killing intent — was blown clean away.
"Huh?"
The hair-trigger tension that had gripped the peak went slack all at once.
"P-P-Peak Master?"
Beom Undae stood blinking, dazed. His left fist was still extended, but his whole body had frozen as if encased in ice. The fire that had been blazing so fiercely was gone without a trace, and a chill even crept over him. Before his eyes was a shabby, unkempt face that filled him with despair.
"Hahahaha! Not bad, kid! You've got some real skill!"
Maeng Chang-haeng strode up with a booming laugh and clapped the rigidly frozen Beom Undae on the shoulder.
"To have brought the Blazing Fire Divine Fist this far at your age — impressive! I'll give you that!"
Maeng Chang-haeng gave him a hearty thumbs-up.
No — this wasn't right.... Beom Undae was speechless. They had been fighting a duel to the death. Why was this man inserting himself and carrying on like this?
Behind Maeng Chang-haeng, Yeop Pung understood everything in a flash and pursed his lips.
That's it, then. Today's fight is over.
"Well…. I'll be going."
Yeop Pung turned on his heel and walked away.
"Wait! Yeop Pung, where do you think you're going? We're not done!"
Beom Undae was so furious the hair on his scalp stood on end. What was this? He had been about to win — and this man had shown up to mock him and get in the way!
"Don't look at me."
Yeop Pung stuck out his lip at Beom Undae and pointed at Maeng Chang-haeng.
"Talk to him."
"Huh? What's this, brat? You looking to pick a fight with Nagun Peak? Don't tell me you're thinking of laying a hand on me?"
Maeng Chang-haeng's eyes bulged, and Beom Undae immediately bowed.
"I would never dare."
"Then that's settled, hahaha! We're all of the same sect. Helping one another, looking after one another, living in harmony — that's the path of those who'll be the pillars of Cheonun's future! Haha. Our little pillar, I won't bother seeing you off myself. Bone will escort you. Hurry on down the mountain."
"But...."
Beom Undae still had more to say.
A low, bestial roar rolled across the peak, and his body shuddered of its own accord.
Good heavens. Why did that dog's eyes look even more terrifying than the Peak Master's?
Beom Undae's memories had been wiped, but somewhere in his subconscious the image of Bone savagely crushing a high-level expert still lingered. His legs trembled on instinct, and he could not get another word out.
In the end, under Bone's "escort," he had no choice but to leave Nagun Peak in wretched silence. Inside his chest, rage and unfinished battle-lust boiled together until they threatened to burst.
Yeop Pung! Just you wait!
Standing on the Cloud Ascending Device, Beom Undae clenched his teeth and glared back at Nagun Peak.