The Thunder Emperor Awakens
Song Chae-ji stared at the scene unfolding before her eyes, completely dumbfounded. What the hell? What is even happening right now? Her mind simply could not keep up with reality.
If Namgung Woo had truly been in danger, she would have cast aside her last shred of pride, admitted defeat, and stepped in to save him. She had been watching with wide eyes, ready to jump in at the slightest sign of trouble. Yet even though she had focused every ounce of her concentration on reading his movements, she still couldn't fully track what Namgung Woo had done.
It was utterly shocking. The man she had assumed was just an ordinary civilian with no martial training turned out to be an absolute master. It was the kind of story that even the wildest rumors circulating among the common folk would dismiss as pure nonsense.
In truth, Song Chae-ji hadn't examined the collapsed Namgung Woo very closely. His complexion looked healthy, his body temperature was normal, and his breathing was steady, so she had simply assumed he had passed out drunk in the street. If she had sensed even the slightest trace of internal energy, she would have taken his pulse to check his true qi. But there had been nothing.
That means…
He was in the realm of true supreme masters. A height so lofty that even peak realm warriors wouldn't dare try to measure it. That was why neither Song Chae-ji nor the warriors from the Black Bear Gang had realized that Namgung Woo had trained in martial arts.
That move just now… it was a single strike, right? A fist? I couldn't even see it…. And what was that stomp? Some kind of footwork? It looked like a simple stomp, but….
The martial arts Namgung Woo had displayed were on such a high level that even Song Chae-ji's trained eye couldn't fully grasp them. Still, she was a martial artist. Moreover, she was a rising star with such exceptional talent that she stood on the verge of the peak realm at the tender age of twenty. Her curiosity and desire to explore martial arts ran just as deep as her natural gifts.
The moment she witnessed such profound martial techniques, Song Chae-ji fell into a trance-like state, completely absorbed in retracing the sequence of movements. The outcome of the spar? It had already slipped far beyond her control or concern. There was no way a supreme master like that would lose in a backwater place like Pyeongyo County. Even if the Black Bear Gang leader—who had made a name for himself as a peak realm expert—stepped forward personally, he might only last three moves at best. No, judging coldly, this man was undoubtedly at the transcendent realm.
A spar against some third-rate black path thugs who hadn't even reached the peak realm? The result had been decided from the start: Namgung Woo's victory. The Black Bear Gang members knew it too. They began backing away from Namgung Woo as he looked for his next opponent, avoiding his gaze.
"What? You're not coming?"
Namgung Woo found the situation rather pleasing. The movements felt far more free and natural than the somewhat stiff sensations he remembered from Chukrok Murim. The way he handled his internal energy brought forth an exhilarating sensation he had never experienced before. An unprecedented thrill filled his mind completely.
In this moment, even the thoughts of his original world that had constantly lingered in the back of his mind disappeared entirely. He simply wanted to know more. More about how to handle his internal energy, how to move his body, how to wield martial arts.
While Namgung Woo briefly reflected on his previous movements and lost himself in the afterglow, Pung Hyo's brain spun furiously.
His footwork and fist techniques were both top-class. But… the power behind them wasn't that great.
Namgung Woo had carefully controlled his energy to avoid killing anyone, but Pung Hyo interpreted the situation in the most favorable way possible for himself.
If that had been a true expert's full-powered strike, Jung Eon’s internal organs would have burst and he would have coughed up blood. If he's mainly trained in external arts… there might still be a chance.
Why had external cultivation fallen behind internal cultivation? No matter how much one trained their external arts, unless they reached an extremely high level, they would suffer devastating damage from even a single internal energy technique. Of course, trying to judge an opponent's martial arts from just one or two moves was foolish. If Pung Hyo had been in his right mind, he never would have made such a hasty judgment.
But right now, Pung Hyo's mind was not normal. He had been given an important mission. He had even defeated a rising star from the Hangsan Sect—a prestigious sect whose name still carried weight even if it was no longer considered a great faction. He couldn't back down now. If he returned after completely humiliating the Black Bear Gang's reputation, the gang leader would destroy him anyway.
In that case, I might as well….
Driven more by vague hope than cold judgment, Pung Hyo threw away his own fate.
"Everyone attack at once! His internal energy is nothing special! If we hit him with internal techniques and injure him internally, we can win!"
Pung Hyo drew his large saber and pretended to charge forward. It was an advancing footwork meant to break the opponent's rhythm. Pung Hyo had no confidence he could dodge that single step. Even if they attacked together, the first one to rush in would taste Namgung Woo's fist just like Park Jung-eon had. He had absolutely no intention of taking on that role himself. Even in this desperate situation, he was still looking out for his own safety—a mindset that was quintessentially that of the black path and the unorthodox factions.
Namgung Woo saw right through his intentions and let out a hollow laugh as if it were ridiculous. A joint attack? That was actually better. He had already been feeling that fighting one at a time wasn't satisfying enough.
In the end, it's just a matter of changing the order.
Namgung Woo's figure blurred. There was no one present who could follow the mysterious steps of the Infinite Step. His fist drove straight into the face of a Black Bear Gang warrior who had left himself completely open.
CRACK!
The sound of front teeth shattering rang out as blood sprayed through the air. Four men had charged at once. In exchange for one of them being destroyed by Namgung Woo's hand, the remaining three thrust their blades toward him.
But even faster, three streams of true qi surged from Namgung Woo's dantian. The energy of the Cheonloe Jewang Singong that burst forth from the lower dantian's Qihai point was like lightning itself.
Namgung Woo shifted his position following the footwork of the Infinite Step. Two blades grazed past his body, missing by a hair's breadth. To those who knew nothing of martial arts, it was an unbelievable feat. Yet to Namgung Woo, it felt completely natural.
Too slow.
Because to his eyes, all their movements looked slow. Only his own body moved freely within a world that seemed to flow in slow motion.
CLANG!
The back of Namgung Woo's hand struck the flat of a blade that hadn't been withdrawn in time. The heavenly thunder energy gathered in his palm erupted with sparks and raced up the blade.
"Agh!"
With a short scream, Pung Hyo dropped his large saber. The pain wasn't severe, but the numbing jolt caused his grip to loosen involuntarily.
"It's thunder qi! Be careful…!"
Pung Hyo, having identified the energy that had disabled his hand, shouted desperately. But before he could even finish speaking, Namgung Woo's next move effortlessly neutralized the two remaining Black Bear Gang warriors.
Pung Hyo could only stare in disbelief as his two subordinates collapsed helplessly to Namgung Woo's concise strikes—strikes so fast that even his trained eyes couldn't follow them. Regret flooded in too late. This had been an unwinnable fight from the very beginning. He should have just backed off. He should have….
"Pick it up."
"…Huh?"
Pung Hyo let out a stupid sound at Namgung Woo's sudden words.
"I said, pick it up again."
At those words, Pung Hyo reached for the large saber he had dropped, his mind completely blank. His arm trembled violently. The thunder qi hadn't been that strong, and since he was a first-class expert on the verge of the peak realm himself, strength had returned to his grip. Yet even so, the saber he picked up slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground once more. The light metallic sound echoed hollowly.
"P-please… spare me…."
Pung Hyo gave up on holding the saber. Instead, he bowed his head to the ground and begged for mercy.
At that sight, the spectators who had been holding their breath while watching the fight between Namgung Woo and the Black Bear Gang warriors finally let out the breaths they had been suppressing.
"Oh my god…."
"He's an incredible master…!"
"To handle Pung Hyo of the Black Bear Gang so easily…."
Only then did the surrounding murmurs seem to cool Namgung Woo's excitement. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
I got too absorbed.
He had been so caught up in wanting to test his martial arts that he had acted without thinking. If he had truly wanted to handle things more safely, he could have. He could have simply released the deep internal energy stored in his dantian all at once. There had been no need to dance so close to the blades in close combat.
I can't exactly lecture Song Chae-ji about getting carried away by emotion.
He hadn't been able to control his own excitement either. Perhaps he had been releasing the stress he felt from being thrown into this unfamiliar world. On the surface he had maintained a calm demeanor, but his mind had been tangled with complicated thoughts.
Who wouldn't be? No matter how powerful the strength he possessed, he had suddenly lost the world where he had lived his entire life.
However, Namgung Woo possessed the rationality to consider cause and effect. Why he had fallen here and how he might return were not matters he could figure out right now.
For now, let's finish this matter first.
After a brief moment of reflection, Namgung Woo spoke to Pung Hyo.
"Lead the way. I need to pay a visit to the Black Bear Gang."