Chapter 282: Leap (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 282: Leap (1)
The heavenly restrictions imposed upon martial artists of the Profound Realm were incredibly abstruse.
Unpredictable, yet profoundly flexible.
While they depended on the will of the heavens, they also hinged upon the world as perceived by the martial artist themselves.
The Leader of the Black Lotus Union read the flow of the world as manifested by the heavens.
Primordial Unity, and then the end.
The interpretation of that prophecy was entirely up to him.
In it, he saw the end of the world. He saw the Black Lotus Union crumbling, and he saw an indescribable being standing atop the ruins, trampling them to dust.
With that vision, the restrictions of the heavens blurred.
It wasn't enough to exert his full power, but it was enough to project a certain degree of his influence into that space.
Originally, the dimension known as the Mortal Realm was no place for a god to exert their power. However, with the heavenly restrictions blurred, no being—save for another god—could obstruct his divine will.
— So, you are the end of the world.
The Leader of the Black Lotus Union, descending in the form of a god, looked down at Primordial Unity.
Those without merit could not even lay eyes upon a god's true form. Yet, the deity clearly existed there, reigning over all creation by his sheer status alone. It was a presence that forced all lowly creatures to bow their heads; only those with true merit dared to meet his gaze.
Meeting the god's gaze, Primordial Unity asked, "How did you get all the way here?"
— I followed the traces.
"What about the restrictions of the heavens?"
— There are no restrictions in this place.
The god read the memories lingering in the space.
Primordial Unity clashing with lowly creatures, those creatures clashing with each other, and Primordial Unity effortlessly copying their martial arts as if it were child's play.
These were memories of a nature that even a god could not easily comprehend.
The god asked,
— What are you?
"Does everyone get curious about other people's backgrounds once they reach the Profound Realm? Every guy I meet asks me that."
The god's eyes pierced deeper, reading the memories lingering directly beside Primordial Unity. They were faint, blurry fragments that had not yet taken proper shape.
Finding the traces of another god within them, he looked at Primordial Unity again.
— You have seen the Star Blade God.
"Is the Alliance Leader's title 'Star Blade God'?"
— It is different from a mere title. Unlike a name bestowed by others, a Divine Name is the very essence one realizes for oneself.
Soon, the god took form. Matter from the Mortal Realm gathered to cover his previously bodiless existence.
Having thus gained a physical vessel, the god finally looked at Primordial Unity with his own eyes.
[How peculiar. This cannot be considered the logic of the Mortal Realm at all.]
By confining himself within a physical body, the god's status was partially sealed. As a result, the overwhelming spiritual pressure that had been crushing the lowly creatures of the Mortal Realm thinned out. A few of those who regained their freedom managed to lift their heads.
"Heugh..."
The Emperor, who sought to look upon a god by attaining the status of the Son of Heaven, was one.
"Ugh... What in the world is all this?"
The Fist King, who had transcended his species through Essence rather than divinity, was another.
"Khh..."
And the Black Dragon Sect Leader, who had already accumulated enough status to earn the right to face a minor god, was the third.
They painfully lifted their heads, gaining just enough freedom to barely stand on their own two legs.
On the other hand, Primordial Unity—whom even the eyes of a god could not pierce—remained entirely composed. He looked at the deity with indifferent eyes, as if he hadn't felt any change at all.
"So, what brings you all the way here?"
[As I said, I followed the traces.]
"I'm asking why you came."
[There is no reason not to. The path opened, and the answer lies there.]
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Primordial Unity, Lee Seo-jun, furrowed his brow.
Even while casually exchanging words, his Qi Sensing was pushed sharper than ever before.
If the Leader of the Black Lotus Union had just come out to people-watch out of boredom, it wouldn't be a problem—but Seo-jun knew that wasn't the case.
Was this not the very battlefield where the Transcendent Realm masters of the Black Lotus Union and the Murim Alliance were clashing? It wouldn't be strange at all if the Union Leader started unleashing a barrage of attacks the moment he appeared.
[I have given all the answers to your questions.]
White hair. Pure white pupils revealed between the pale strands stared at Seo-jun.
[So, I shall ask one as well.]
"..."
[What are you?]
"Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord Lee Seo-jun."
[I am not asking for the name the world has given you.]
"Chun-bong's older brother?"
[Chun-bong?]
"A cosmic being who encompasses the truths of all creation."
[Are you saying you are the brother of such a being?]
"Yeah."
[I see.]
The figure of the Leader of the Black Lotus Union, who had been watching Seo-jun with those pure white eyes, suddenly materialized right in front of him.
[Let me observe for a moment.]
A pale hand reached out. Seo-jun reflexively kicked off the air.
Thump—!
He retreated at a speed that even an ordinary Transcendent Realm master would find hard to follow, but the Union Leader closed the distance effortlessly. His hand approached at a leisurely pace.
"Tsk."
Seo-jun hurriedly struck out to parry the wrist.
Whoosh—
He couldn't touch it. As if stirring through mist, Seo-jun's hand passed right through the Union Leader's wrist. However, he still managed to twist his upper body and narrowly avoid the grasp.
BOOM────────!!
He immediately deployed the Primordial Unity Step to shake off the Union Leader, who merely waved his hand indifferently.
[Stay still.]
Shiver—!
His instincts screamed in alarm. But it was already too late.
"Kh...!"
Splat—!
Blood erupted from his seven orifices. There hadn't even been the sensation of an attack flying toward him.
Seo-jun's body, which had been suspended in the air, began to plummet toward the earth.
What was that?
It defied the very concept of speed. The moment the man acted, the blow had already landed. Something far more fundamental than his physical body had been struck.
Crash—!
Slamming into the ground, Seo-jun analyzed the lingering sensation and came to a realization.
My soul.
The Union Leader had struck his soul directly. He didn't know how. Was there even a way to dodge something like that?
A faint Voice Transmission reached Seo-jun's ears as he pondered.
[You must run away, no matter what.]
It was the Emperor. Glancing over at the uncharacteristically serious tone, Seo-jun saw Ju Won-jang standing between him and the Union Leader, his face deathly pale.
[Even you cannot stand against the Profound Realm yet.]
[And how do you plan on running?] Seo-jun replied.
[I'll have to figure that out starting now.]
At those reckless words, Seo-jun spat out a mouthful of blood-stained saliva and pushed himself up.
Looking around, he saw that most of the Transcendent Realm masters still had their heads pressed firmly against the ground. Only the Emperor and Pae Jin-gwang were keeping watch on the Union Leader.
The Black Dragon Sect Leader, the only one among the Evil Sect's Transcendent Realm masters who could even move, was just standing blankly in the back.
That's probably the right move.
Wouldn't it be a tragedy to get his head lopped off by a Profound Realm master on his own side just for acting up unnecessarily?
Regardless of what that guy was doing, Seo-jun needed a way to overcome this situation immediately. His eyes darted rapidly, taking in everything, searching for anything that could create a variable.
The first thing that caught his eye was Pae Jin-gwang.
How is that old man fine?
Even if he had reached the Heaven-Containing Realm, which was comparable to the Transcendent Realm, his actual stage wasn't that much higher than the others present. The only difference was that he had transcended his species through Essence rather than divinity.
Seo-jun's extraordinary Insight skipped the deductive process and instantly grasped the core of the matter.
The Profound Realm is literal godhood. Transcendent Realm masters, who have achieved an expansion of divinity, react extremely sensitively to that status. But since that old man relies on Essence, is he relatively dull to it?
He had an answer, but it wasn't immediately useful.
Seo-jun's eyes sank into absolute calm. His mind burned white-hot as his Insight opened to its absolute limit.
He needed a way to take the Leader of the Black Lotus Union's head—or, if that was impossible, a way to force him to retreat.
Martial artists of the Profound Realm conserve their power for Ascension.
Seizing one of the countless strands of thought, Seo-jun's consciousness found another answer.
There's no way he's completely cast off the restrictions of the heavens.
It was just a guess, but if that wasn't the case, there was no surviving this anyway.
To exert power beyond the heavenly restrictions, he has to consume his accumulated strength. I just need to make him judge that the loss is greater than the gain.
But how?
"I guess there's no other way."
Seo-jun smiled brightly and gripped his sword tight.
Wung—!
Spheres of various colors floated into existence around him.
A martial artist speaks through martial arts. After taking a few hits, the guy would realize Seo-jun wasn't an easy target.
And if not?
Then that was too bad. He could worry about that when the time came.
Flash—!
Qi gathered beside Seo-jun, drawing the shape of a human. It was a puppet.
[That is...?]
The Leader of the Black Lotus Union's eyes widened slightly. In that momentary opening, Pae Jin-gwang kicked off the ground.
BOOM─────────!!
The earth shattered into pieces as Pae Jin-gwang's massive figure shot forward like a cannonball.
"Hmph...!"
His clenched fist seized the very space around it. It was a miracle achieved through physical strength that completely transcended common sense. The punch he threw contained enough power to literally crush the heavens, but—
[Marvelous. I cannot understand it.]
The Leader of the Black Lotus Union didn't even spare him a glance.
"Gah...!"
Pae Jin-gwang's flying body came to a dead stop in mid-air, completely ignoring the laws of inertia. The old man's eyes widened in shock.
He hadn't even made a move, so how?
Before he could process the question, Pae Jin-gwang's eyes rolled back into his head.
Thud—!
His body, as heavy as the dense muscles attached to it, slammed into the earth.
His soul must have been struck, but he wasn't dead. Quickly confirming this, Seo-jun immediately kicked off the ground alongside his puppet.
Whirrr—!
Wind swirled fiercely around Seo-jun.
Crack—!
He leaped through space with extreme delicacy, applying the principles he had realized while watching the Thousand-Mile Guest. His body bounced off the air and accelerated instantly, shooting forward like an arrow fired by the Profound Bow Emperor.
Flash—!
A strange pattern engraved itself upon Seo-jun's pupils. It was the ocular technique of the Evil-Eyed Wolf Heuk-gang.
However, instead of channeling Heuk-gang's original ability, Seo-jun bestowed a formation he had drawn himself onto his eyes. It was an improvement upon the technique he had realized during his battle with the Alliance Leader—specifically modified so he could see that mysterious, formless power.
[This shouldn't be possible.]
The Leader of the Black Lotus Union stood perfectly still with a hand on his chin, wielding his divine power as if merely testing Seo-jun.
"Ugh...!"
Something that completely bypassed the concept of speed—something that simply already existed at its destination—relentlessly shaved away at Seo-jun's soul.
Every time it struck, the movements of Seo-jun and his puppet violently stuttered.
"Heh...!"
Despite the agony being engraved directly onto his soul, the corners of Seo-jun's mouth quirked up.
The essence of this pain was entirely different from the physical torture he was already used to. His vision turned white from the sheer, surging exhilaration of it.
Thump—!
He kicked off the air and lunged again. The Leader of the Black Lotus Union watched him approach.
Wung—!
The patterns in Seo-jun's pupils rotated rapidly, engraving every microscopic shift within his field of vision directly into his mind.
"Kh...!"
Yet, he still couldn't see it. Only the beginning and the end existed. By the time he noticed the Union Leader doing something, the attack was already embedded deep in his soul.
However, Seo-jun and his puppet continued to pour out attacks incessantly, refusing to stop even as blood streamed continuously from their seven orifices.
The sight was truly bizarre.
In the midst of the heavy silence, two identical figures were groaning and bleeding in unison—a spectacle so strange it was hard to look away.
The Emperor, standing rooted to the ground, watched the scene unfold.
The Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord and his avatar were actually standing against the Union Leader.
It was an incomprehensible sight.
How could a mortal stand against a being like that?
The Emperor looked down at his trembling fingertips. Just standing in the presence of that deity made his spirit feel like it was being crushed into powder.
"Heugh..."
It shouldn't be possible. No matter how great the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord was, he couldn't defy a literal god.
Look at him now.
Just enduring the strikes was beyond amazing, but in the end, endurance was all it was.
At this rate, everyone would die.
The Emperor's eyes trembled slightly.
Yes, at this rate, everyone would die.
But wasn't it too pathetic to just stand here blankly while it happened?
I am Ju Won-jang.
The Emperor possessed the wisdom to know when to retreat, but to try and run when retreat was impossible was nothing more than a disgrace.
Ju Won-jang's eyes glowed with a faint golden light. A slightly awkward, hollow smile formed on his lips.
Grip—!
He grasped the Divine Sword left behind by the Martial God. With his eyes wide open, he kicked off the ground with all his might.
Boom—!
The scenery blurred past him in streaks of light.
He desired only one thing.
To reach the god...!
Even if it was just for a single moment. Even if it amounted to nothing more than a trivial gesture.
Even if he couldn't leave a single scratch—if only he could reach him!
"Gah...!"
However, his grand resolve failed to reach its target quite miserably. The Leader of the Black Lotus Union didn't even spare him a glance.
Ju Won-jang's body came to a dead stop in mid-air. Blood poured from his seven orifices. His wide-open eyes shook violently.
"I am...!"
Gritting his teeth, he kicked off the air and forced himself forward once more.
Tap—
The very tip of Ju Won-jang's sword grazed the Union Leader's sleeve.
At the sight of the minutely severed fabric, the Union Leader's eyes finally landed on Ju Won-jang.
[Though faint, you possess Divine Blood.]
Just as the Union Leader's hand reached out to seize Ju Won-jang's head, Seo-jun closed in rapidly and snatched the Emperor by the scruff of his neck.
"Yeah, yeah. You're Ju Won-jang. You say that every time we drink."
Flinging the Emperor safely to the rear, Seo-jun—still drenched in the blood pouring from his own seven orifices—looked back at the Union Leader.
"Anyway, I think I've got the gist of it now."
He had been gradually getting a feel for it, but seeing the Emperor somehow endure the Union Leader's strike had given him the final piece of the puzzle.
Seo-jun's momentum, which had been slowly fading under the relentless assault, suddenly began to swell exponentially.
"So this is the soul?"
The portions of his soul that had been shaved away by the Leader of the Black Lotus Union's strikes slowly began to recover.
Since Primordial Unity was the cradle of all things, there was no reason he couldn't create and replenish even a human soul.
The Leader of the Black Lotus Union stared at Seo-jun.
Healing a wound of the soul?
That was something even the Union Leader had to rely on time to accomplish. What on earth was this being, calmly performing a feat that was impossible even for a god?
A clear, undeniable interest dwelled in his plain white eyes.
The restrictions of the heavens were not yet fully lifted. If he used more power than this, the strength he had painstakingly conserved for Ascension would be consumed, but...
[Even so, I must get to know you a little better.]
"No, I think I'll pass..."
A pure white current of energy began to swirl violently around the physical body of the Leader of the Black Lotus Union.