Chapter 250: A New Realm (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 250: A New Realm (1)
The function of the Eight Cold Hells was simple—so simple it was almost primal. It brought all cold energy within the domain under the user's absolute control.
This core function hadn't changed since its days as a pseudo-domain. However, a perfected domain suffered none of its previous weaknesses. Standing at the epicenter of this frozen world, Seo-jun looked down at Baek Yun.
"Go ahead. Struggle all you want."
The Ice Soul Divine Art was a supreme technique in its own right. Unleashing Ice Blood Divine Energy in a place where all the cold of the North Sea converged was enough to make even a martial artist of the Transcendent Realm feel the biting frost.
But Baek Yun was also a master of the Ice Soul Divine Art. Furrowing his brow, he let blood-colored cold energy spill from his palms.
"Neung Wol, nothing has changed. We proceed as planned."
"Understood."
Baek Yun slammed his blood-stained hands into the ground. Crack! The frozen snow shattered, and the surrounding white plains were dyed a deep crimson.
Blood Ice.
The snowy field resonated with Baek Yun’s will, and countless pillars of ice erupted from the blood-red snow.
Rumble!
Their form defied ordinary ice. Because it shared the properties of blood, the ice Baek Yun manipulated flowed like liquid, lengthening into vicious whips that lashed out toward Seo-jun.
He mixed the Ice Soul Divine Art with Blood Arts.
Seo-jun spread his right hand wide. Cr-crack! The surrounding cold energy swirled around him, freezing the descending pillars mid-air.
While Neung Wol remained still, Baek Yun suddenly lunged.
"Did you say your name was Baek Seo-jun?"
Darting between the frozen pillars of blood, Baek Yun thrust both palms forward.
Boom!
Seo-jun met the attack with his own palms. As their hands locked, Baek Yun clamped down on Seo-jun’s wrists and glared at him.
"Withdraw now. Hand over the Ice Crystal and Baek Seol-hyang, and I won't care what else you do."
"I only want one thing."
"And what is that?"
"Your agony."
At that dismissive answer, Baek Yun gave up on persuasion. He cast aside the small shred of kinship he felt for a junior who, just like him, had managed to master the Ice Soul Divine Art despite having a male body.
"Then there is no other way."
Before leaving the Ice Palace, Baek Yun had held the position of Elder. He had made countless attempts to master the Ice Soul Divine Art as a man, and as a result, possessed a more profound knowledge of its intricacies than anyone else.
Ultimately, the Ice Soul Divine Art was a technique designed to refine Ice Soul Divine Energy. If a martial artist trained in the same art intentionally suppressed their internal energy while locked in combat with another, both practitioners would become momentarily powerless.
In a one-on-one fight, it was a meaningless tactic. But what if there was another Transcendent Realm martial artist present?
Vrooooooom!
The massive internal energy Baek Yun unleashed tangled with Seo-jun’s, hardening like stone. Baek Yun was certain—he had successfully neutralized him.
The moment Baek Yun restricted Seo-jun’s energy, Neung Wol made his move.
Flash!
Moonlight gathered on Neung Wol’s blade. The Moonlight Spear. Like a ray of light, the spear shot toward Seo-jun’s head.
Swoosh!
It lunged with terrifying speed. In Seo-jun’s vision, the tip of the spear looked like a single point expanding instantaneously.
It was a perilous situation. Yet, Seo-jun remained completely indifferent.
"How foolish."
Slurp! A massive amount of internal energy began to siphon through Baek Yun’s palms, which were still locked against Seo-jun’s.
The Beiming Divine Art. Baek Yun’s eyes flew open in horrifying realization.
"How...!"
Without letting go of Baek Yun’s hands, Seo-jun condensed the cold energy within the Eight Cold Hells into dozens of floating masses.
Creeeeeak!
An absurd amount of energy coalesced, flickering with a harsh white light. There were dozens of these spheres.
Ice Crystals.
Imitating the sacred object of the Ice Palace, the dozens of spheres simultaneously fired beams of freezing energy at Neung Wol.
K-boom!
Startled, Neung Wol hastily diverted the trajectory of his spear. He drew a large circle with his left foot as a pivot, shifting his weight to his right.
Whirl! His spear spun rapidly, barely managing to deflect the barrage of attacks in time.
However, blocking the onslaught required his full attention.
Seo-jun smiled, his grip on Baek Yun’s hands unyielding.
"What will you do now?"
Even now, Baek Yun’s internal energy was draining into Seo-jun second by second. Clicking his tongue, Baek Yun violently threw himself backward.
Rip!
Baek Yun’s wrists tore away, discarded like a lizard severing its own tail. However, the realm Baek Yun had reached was not truly the Transcendent Realm, but the Blood Seal Scripture. Squelch— his severed wrists regenerated in an instant.
Seo-jun mocked him.
"A pathetic sight."
"...It changes nothing."
Wary of Seo-jun, Baek Yun signaled with his eyes. Neung Wol, having cleared the barrage, immediately charged.
As long as their opponent practiced the Beiming Divine Art, it was disadvantageous for Baek Yun to face him head-on. Normally, Baek Yun should have been able to resist the absorption to some extent, but for some reason, that brat’s Beiming Divine Art effortlessly bypassed his resistance and devoured his energy.
Baek Yun analyzed the situation and reached a swift conclusion.
While Neung Wol keeps him occupied, I will deliver the killing blow.
Crackle— Baek Yun gathered Ice Blood Divine Energy between his palms.
Neung Wol lunged. Seo-jun reached out toward the incoming spear.
Clang!
With an upward flick of his hand, he knocked Neung Wol’s spear high into the air. But Neung Wol didn't fight the momentum. He pulled the blade back and thrust the butt of the shaft upward in a vicious counter.
Whoosh!
Seo-jun casually stepped back, letting the end of the spear graze the tip of his nose.
In that same fluid motion, he gathered the cold of the North Sea into his palm. Whirrrrr! The pale frost began to rotate violently.
This rotation drew in the surrounding wind, rapidly expanding into a massive vortex that enveloped the entire expanse of the Eight Cold Hells.
From the epicenter of that storm, Seo-jun fired the condensed essence of the rotating frost straight at Neung Wol.
Rumble!
Facing the massive storm of frost, Neung Wol’s eyes grew cold.
This person isn't the Palace Master?
His skill in manipulating Qi was staggering. If the Palace Master was even stronger than this... Neung Wol gritted his teeth.
Thump! His left foot slammed heavily into the ground. The kinetic energy starting from that pivot traveled up through his waist and straight to his fingertips. The tip of his spear spun explosively, tearing the frost storm asunder.
Shatter!
A path opened between Seo-jun and Neung Wol. In that split second, Baek Yun, who had been gathering his strength, thrust both hands forward.
Blood Ice Jade.
Hummmm! A white sphere and a red sphere rotated around a single point. They were the very essence of the Ice Arts and Blood Arts.
Soon, the two-colored spheres merged into one and shot forward at an unfathomable speed.
Zip!
Its speed was truly divine. Seeing Seo-jun standing completely still, simply watching the Blood Ice Jade approach, Baek Yun’s blue eyes flashed with triumph.
Got him.
Even the Head of the Divine Sword Geum Family had failed to block the Blood Ice Jade, granting Baek Yun a decisive victory. Though that opponent hadn't fully entered the Transcendent Realm, a Geum was still a Geum.
Anyone who tried to block the Blood Ice Jade lightly would surely pay in blood.
You grew arrogant.
Although the Blood Ice Jade was a technique that maximized piercing power, the moment it struck, the target's internal energy and blood would freeze and shatter.
If he kept pressing the boy like this...
Flash!
"What...?"
The Blood Ice Jade, which had been drawing a white and red trail through the air, suddenly dispersed. The two-colored sphere that had merged into one split back into two, effortlessly obeying Seo-jun’s will.
Baek Yun’s eyes widened in shock.
Seo-jun looked down at him with a chilling gaze.
"Did you think simply mashing powers together would make them stronger?"
Hum— The white and red spheres began to orbit Seo-jun, each following its own smooth trajectory. They were none other than the Blood Ice Jade Baek Yun had just fired.
The fact that the energy Baek Yun unleashed was now following Seo-jun’s control made one thing abundantly clear.
Even Neung Wol watched the scene with a hollow gaze, unable to believe his own eyes.
"...He’s a monster."
The Blood Ice Jade was not a secret technique that could be neutralized so easily. No matter how high one's realm, it was a profound art that was incredibly difficult to defend against head-on.
To not just block it, but to dismantle it so effortlessly? It meant his absolute dominance over Qi was off the charts.
Ignoring Neung Wol’s reaction, Seo-jun reached out. At his fingertips, the red and white spheres spun and merged into one.
Unlike the crude Blood Ice Jade Baek Yun had used, the two spheres blended perfectly.
Seo-jun curled his lip at the sight of the sphere, which now glowed with a mysterious, beautiful pink hue.
"It’s a fitting color, in its own way."
Zip! The perfected Blood Ice Jade shot toward Baek Yun. Shocked by how easily his own secret technique had been turned against him, Baek Yun failed to react in time.
Neung Wol stepped in front of him.
"Moonlight Drenching the World."
The space was instantly dyed in silver light. The moonlight that surged alongside Neung Wol’s spear thrust pierced straight into the Blood Ice Jade.
Boom!
Neung Wol’s hair frosted over from the erupting blast of cold.
"Ugh...!"
Swoosh! Swinging his spear to shake off the frost, Neung Wol glared at Seo-jun. Seo-jun looked back at him with a peculiar expression.
"Transcendent Realm?"
He was different from Baek Yun. The realm Baek Yun had reached was the Blood Seal Scripture, achieved solely through the Blood Arts.
But Neung Wol was a true master of the Transcendent Realm.
And that’s not all.
He had reached the Blood Seal Scripture simultaneously. Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed.
Looking at the man reminded him of something. A spear and moonlight. There was a Transcendent of the Black Lotus Union who used similar martial arts.
Was his name Neung Pyeong-ho?
He was the direct combat leader of the Black Lotus Union who had been killed by Seo-jun's father-in-law. Though the man was already a corpse by the time Seo-jun arrived, he had learned the gist of his martial arts through information provided by Jegal Tong.
"Just in case, let me ask. Did you also have a hand in the destruction of the Divine Sword Geum Family?"
Neung Wol simply smiled and looked at Seo-jun. Was it an affirmation? Or a denial?
"Well, I suppose I can just wring the answer out of you directly."
Seo-jun ramped up his power. Even if the enemy had revealed their own domain, it changed nothing. He simply had to reveal one more card of his own.
Crack!
A pair of horns sprouted from Seo-jun’s temples. His horizontally slit pupils locked onto the two warriors of the God-Destroying Association.
A bloated Spirit. A domain that used the surrounding space as its Essence and Qi.
He took that harmonized Essence-Qi-Spirit and dyed it completely in Demonic energy.
"Mahapadma."
Whoosh!
The world that had been dyed white began to burn black. The black flames flickering over the snowy field were the absolute culmination of Yin energy.
Cold energy taking the physical form of fire—no matter how great a Transcendent one was, they could not remain unscathed if touched by it.
Baek Yun, who practiced the Ice Soul Divine Art, might last a bit longer... but that was all.
"If you have any cards left, show them now."
One of the Eight Cold Hells, also known as the Great Crimson Lotus Hell, Mahapadma carried a gruesome meaning: one's body would freeze and burst in the extreme cold, blooming outward like a red lotus.
Sentient beings who fell into that hell would suffer for billions of years to atone for their sins.
However, Seo-jun had no intention of letting these two go, even after such an impossible amount of time had passed.
"You should struggle while you still can."
Responding to Seo-jun’s will, the surrounding cold energy condensed into a colossal mass high in the air.
Whoosh! Black flames flickered wildly. The essence of that cold energy formed the shape of a giant meteor, drawn down by gravity and the immense pull of Qi. Rumble! It began to plummet toward the earth.
Neung Wol’s eyes trembled. That was not something that could be blocked head-on.
"Baek Yun!"
Realizing the sheer scale of the anomaly, Neung Wol immediately turned and fled.
"Dammit!"
Baek Yun instantly followed suit.
KABOOM!
The massive falling meteor plowed into the snow-covered plains. Rumble! Waves of earth overturned like a tsunami, revealing the dark soil of the North Sea that hadn't seen the light of day for hundreds of years.
Seo-jun stood suspended in the air, quietly looking down at the scarred land.
Jet-black flames flickered over the exposed dirt. Instead of black smoke, the flames scattered a thick, suffocating frost into the surroundings.
It had become a demonic realm where no ordinary martial artist could ever hope to survive.
Flash! The thick mist of frost dispersed, revealing Baek Yun and Neung Wol. Having barely escaped the epicenter of the impact, they were rapidly retreating from the battlefield.
It was glaringly obvious that Baek Yun’s left arm had been consumed by the flickering black cold, bursting into a mangled, bloody mess.
Seo-jun clicked his tongue at the sight of the two figures rapidly growing distant.
"Making the wrong choice every single time is a talent in itself."
No matter what they tried, they could not escape his domain with their current abilities. If they were aiming to exhaust his strength, that too was a fool's errand.
Should I leave them be for a moment?
Granting them a brief reprieve wasn't difficult. Seo-jun wanted them to struggle desperately before finally drowning in despair.
When they realized that all of this was a meaningless struggle, what kind of faces would they make?
Seo-jun began to walk forward slowly.