Chapter 241: Clue (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 241: Clue (1)
A battle suddenly broke out between the Emperor and the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord.
The banquet hall should have been reduced to splinters in an instant. The surrounding area should have been devastated, leaving countless casualties in their wake… or so one might have expected. But nothing of the sort happened.
Even the spatial ripples that usually accompanied a clash between martial artists of the Transcendent Realm were entirely absent.
Neither was fighting seriously. Their exchange amounted to little more than a light, probing clash of hands.
"Fall back for now!"
"I’ll take care of the unconscious Elder!"
Instead of fleeing in a panic, the martial artists in the banquet hall simply put some distance between themselves and the fight, their eyes glued to the battle between the Emperor and the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord.
No one cared about the danger.
This was a clash between supreme masters. Even if it cost them their lives, witnessing such a spectacle was an opportunity no martial artist could afford to miss.
Chun-bong also watched the battle, her eyes wide and unblinking.
Swish—!
Seo-jun’s hand sliced through the air. Leaning back to avoid the strike, the Emperor grinned and kicked a long dining table.
Crash—!
Plates, food, and cutlery soared into the air.
The Emperor’s hands blurred. Zip—! He snatched up a dozen chopsticks from the debris and scattered them like hidden weapons.
Whiz, whiz—!
Seo-jun advanced indifferently. Suddenly, the deadly barrage of chopsticks halted in mid-air.
Before the plates could even hit the floor, he used Void Object Grasping to sweep them safely into a corner. Then, he lightly flicked his finger.
Screech—!
The chopsticks fired right back at their sender, driven by the principles of Qi Sword Control. The Emperor laughed.
"Do you have a favorite plate or something?"
With a light kick, he sent a chair flying forward. The incoming chopsticks embedded themselves deep into the wood.
Crack, crunch—!
As the chair shattered, the Emperor pushed off the ground. Slide—! Instantly closing the distance to Seo-jun, he reached out.
His hand was hooked like the talons of a bird of prey. It was a Grappling Technique—or perhaps, given the sheer pressure, it was more akin to a dragon’s claw.
Whoosh—!
Seo-jun leaned back to dodge and thrust his foot forward in a vicious kick. The Emperor reacted instantly, driving his knee up to intercept the blow.
Thump! Seo-jun used the elasticity of his waist to spring his body upward. Arching his back, he kicked off the Emperor’s knee and swung his other leg around in a sweeping arc.
"Oh-ho."
The Emperor laughed and blocked the strike with his forearm. Slap! In the same fluid motion, his bent fingers clamped down on Seo-jun’s ankle like a vice.
With a sharp pull, Seo-jun was yanked forward. The Emperor immediately reached out with his free hand to finish the grapple.
But Seo-jun manipulated the natural energy in the air, spinning his body rapidly. Flutter—! His long robe whipped around, firmly entangling the Emperor’s wrist.
"Man, the others should’ve seen that. That’s how you use Qi."
The Emperor quickly released Seo-jun’s ankle. At the same time, he seized the fabric wrapped around his wrist and violently swung Seo-jun’s body, attempting to slam him into the floor.
However, Seo-jun did not crash.
Thud—!
A massive blue hand made of Qi pushed off the floorboards. Landing smoothly with a spin, Seo-jun frowned at the Emperor.
‘I can’t win in a pure physical scrap.’
He was outmatched in raw physical technique. Then again, he had never intended to beat a Transcendent Realm martial artist using only his physical body.
Whoosh—!
Three pairs of blue Qi arms sprouted from Seo-jun’s back. The Emperor stared at the imposing limbs.
"Hmm, when you think of Namgung, you really do think of the heavens."
If caught by those massive hands, a normal martial artist would be torn apart or crushed to death instantly. Usually, that was the case.
The Emperor laughed brightly and stomped the ground. Boom—! The sheer impact sent all sorts of debris launching into the air.
The Emperor reached out and grabbed a chair leg. He hurled it forward as a projectile, kicked a teacup right after it, and finally snatched a long pork bone from the air to wield like a club.
Crunch—!
The chair leg and teacup were instantly shattered by Seo-jun’s swinging Qi hands. Capitalizing on that momentary gap, the Emperor lunged.
Vroom—!
The pork bone in his hand let out a vicious howl as it sliced through the air.
Taking a step back to dodge, Seo-jun extended his six Qi arms to intercept.
"Let’s see." The Emperor chuckled. "Shall we get a bit more serious?"
The pork bone in his hand drew a bizarre, unpredictable trajectory. Thump—! The blue arm it struck was cleanly knocked aside.
After a few heavy swings, the pork bone snapped. The Emperor scattered the remaining bone fragments like hidden weapons, then snatched up a wide wooden plank from a shattered table.
‘A greatsword?’
Whoosh—! Seo-jun crouched to avoid the sweeping table plank. But the momentum of the makeshift greatsword didn't stop. The Emperor used the rotational force to spin around and slam the plank straight down.
Thud—!
Seo-jun immediately kicked off the ground to retreat, extending his six hands forward to block.
Bang—! The table plank exploded as it smashed into the floor. However, it wasn’t completely shattered. A long wooden pole remained perfectly intact in the Emperor’s hand.
He had protected only the core section with his internal energy, carving out a makeshift spear.
"Hup!"
As the six hands closed in, the Emperor’s spear drew a perfect circle. It was Ran from the Lannachal technique, one of the foundational principles of spearwork.
Flash—!
Seo-jun’s six hands were deflected outward, instantly opening a clear path between him and the Emperor.
The Emperor’s lips curled into a wide grin.
"Try and block this, yeah?"
The Emperor’s waist twisted, his feet planting firmly onto the ground. The rotational force transmitted all the way from his toes, propelling the spear forward with explosive momentum. This was the Chal of Lannachal.
Seo-jun extended his index finger. A murky sphere of condensed energy formed at its tip.
Screech—!
The Emperor’s thrusting spear collided violently with Seo-jun’s Heaven-Defying Sun-Moon Art.
Creeeeeak—!
The Emperor’s wooden spear splintered into several pieces, starting from the tip and traveling down the shaft. At the same time, Seo-jun’s Heaven-Defying Sun-Moon Art failed to pierce entirely through the attack, dissipating halfway.
Standing face to face amid the wreckage, the two Transcendent Realm martial artists both wore peculiar expressions.
The Emperor shrugged.
"Has your anger cooled down a bit now?"
"I think I’d need to land at least one punch on you for that."
"Aiyee. Are you trying to break my head?"
The Emperor chuckled, looking at Seo-jun with an enigmatic glimmer in his eyes.
‘I wonder how strong he’d be if he actually went all out.’
There was only so much to glean from this brief spar. But one thing was certain: his reliance on Qi techniques was significant.
His martial arts style was fundamentally different from Ju Won-jang’s own, making it difficult to judge his true depths.
Above all, the true value of such martial artists only revealed itself when they manifested their Domain…
‘He’s done a damn good job hiding his claws until now.’
Regardless, this was absolutely not the skill level of someone who had only recently broken through to the Transcendent Realm.
According to the rumors surrounding the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord’s path, he was supposedly at the Peak Realm during the Mount Hua tournament, the Super Peak Realm at the Yongbong Gathering, and had only reached the Transcendent Realm when he destroyed the Giryeon Sect.
Few people believed such an absurd rate of growth at face value to begin with, but this spar practically confirmed it.
He must have already been in the Transcendent Realm during the Mount Hua tournament.
‘Interesting.’
Just where did such a master drop out of the sky from?
One could roughly gauge a person’s age by looking at the depth in their eyes or the quality of their aura. But was that youthful appearance even his true form?
He certainly didn't feel particularly young.
Seo-jun coldly addressed the Emperor, who was still chuckling to himself.
"Don’t involve Namgung in your games. Try it again, and you die."
"Oh my, how am I supposed to live with such scary threats hanging over me?"
The Emperor casually spun around on his heel.
"Right then, let me through, please."
The martial artists standing by the exit hurriedly parted like the red sea, clearing a path. Stepping out of the ruined banquet hall, the Emperor stood before the open doors and pointed up at the night sky.
"Did I mention it?"
His pale golden eyes gleamed with an esoteric light. As if responding to the Emperor’s call, the countless stars in the night sky momentarily flared, casting down a brilliant radiance.
"I’m going to be the one recognized by the heavens to take the throne of eternity. Yeah, you could call me the Son of Heaven."
"I’m certainly not going to recognize you."
"Hmm?"
The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched before he threw his head back and burst into boisterous laughter.
"Haha…! I know the Namgung clan claims to be the heavens, but you know it too. The true heaven is something else entirely."
Seo-jun sneered at him.
"The very idea of placing the heavens above your own head is flawed from the start."
"Hmm. That’s true too. It certainly is."
The Emperor walked in a small circle, rubbing his chin, before flashing a wide grin.
"I’ll just worry about that when the time comes."
Seo-jun watched the Emperor with narrowed eyes.
‘Just how much of this is he serious about?’
This was the exhausting part of dealing with crazy people. They possessed absolutely no distinction between utter nonsense and dead sincerity.
"Enough. I’d appreciate it if you just got lost already."
"Why so cold? I was actually going to tell you something good."
"I’m not curious, so just leave."
"For real?"
The Emperor stared intently into Seo-jun’s eyes. There was a fair distance between them, but to those in the Transcendent Realm, physical distance meant little. Seo-jun frowned, unsettled by the mysterious light swirling in the Emperor’s gaze.
The Emperor finally spoke.
"The God-Destroying Association."
His lips pulled back into a wide, crescent-moon grin.
"Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to hear about it?"
Seo-jun’s brow furrowed.
‘The God-Destroying Association?’
It was a faction name he had never heard of before. But the meaning was far too blatant. To destroy a god. Suddenly, a certain thought crossed his mind.
As Seo-jun stared at him in silence, the Emperor gave a playful smile.
"That girl you’re traveling with. She’s from the Geum family, isn’t she? I figured you’d be interested."
Seo-jun’s eyes flashed a murderous red for a split second. The Emperor’s eyes widened, and he reflexively took a quick step back.
"Whoa…"
The corners of the Emperor’s mouth twitched. His skin crawled with goosebumps. That was just simple bloodlust?
‘To carry something that monstrous inside and walk around with such a normal face...’
The more he saw of this man, the more fascinating he became. The Emperor looked at Seo-jun and laughed gleefully.
"Well? You want to hear it now, don't you?"
"What do you want in exchange?"
"Nothing in particular. It’s not like telling you costs me anything."
The Emperor flashed a twisting, enigmatic smile.
"Ah, actually... this will do."
Zip—! In an instant, the Emperor’s figure vanished into thin air. His voice, vibrating through the atmosphere, reached Seo-jun a moment later.
"Drop by the Imperial Palace sometime. I’ll tell you then."
The Emperor’s voice faded into the distance. A gentle breeze blew through the empty space where he had just stood. No one in the hall except Seo-jun had even been able to follow his movements.
Seo-jun’s eyebrow twitched in irritation.
As he stood there in silence, the martial artists who had been watching the fight from a safe distance cautiously approached.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Chun-bong was the first to arrive, lightly poking Seo-jun in the ribs. Seo-jun placed his hand firmly on top of her head.
"Geum Chun-bong."
"Yeah?"
"I’ll be back in a bit."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
Seo-jun’s lips parted slightly.
"Ideal World."
In an instant, a vast Domain revealed itself. The faintly manifested Domain overlapped with reality, creating a surreal, mystical sight.
Chun-bong frowned in confusion.
"What?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. I’m just going to go catch the Emperor."
The corners of Seo-jun’s mouth pulled up into a wide grin.
‘You think you can just get away like that?’
He didn't care about much else, but someone daring to run away right in front of him?
How foolish. If this was a game of tag, that was his specialty.
Rip—!
The very fabric of space in front of Seo-jun tore open.
"I’ll be right back."
It wouldn't take long at all.