Chapter 284: Leap (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 284: Leap (3)
[Aaaaaaaah……!!!]
How could he even describe that sound?
A scream, a shriek, a wail, a roar, a sob… perhaps it was best to just lump it all together as a bizarre noise.
Seo-jun watched the Leader of the Black Lotus Union’s physical body twist grotesquely, warping like a mere shell around his soul. Then, he took a quick peek at his own internal state.
Nothing stood out.
His inner world remained exactly as it always was. Deep within lay the Primordial Unity, and nearby, his Inner Demon was still huffing and puffing after being thoroughly thrashed by Giga Chun-bong.
"Seriously, what is wrong with him?"
Though puzzled, Seo-jun steadily gathered power between his palms.
He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he was certain of one thing: this was an opportunity.
He had to go for the throat while the bastard was losing his mind.
Swaaaa—!
Turbid light from the Primordial Unity coalesced above his palms.
He couldn't manifest the Heart Sword again immediately, but it wasn't his only means of attacking a soul.
Besides, the raw power of the Heart Sword itself didn't seem particularly exceptional. It was probably better to stick to what he usually did.
Wooooooong────────!!
The turbid Primordial Unity swirled around Seo-jun like a galaxy.
The sword, forged from condensed Primordial Unity, was soon dyed in a brilliant blue light.
Primordial Unity was the cradle of all things. What he poured into the blade was the singular intent to kill a god.
The Heaven-Killing Sword he had used in his duel with the Alliance Leader manifested in Seo-jun’s grip, taking on an even more refined form.
Tak—!
Seo-jun immediately kicked off the empty air.
He sprinted with all his might, but the Black Dragon Sect Leader, quick to notice the anomaly, blocked his path.
"Where do you think you’re going...!"
Charyereuk—!
The Black Dragon Sect Leader’s chain sword traced a complex trajectory, instantly cutting off his path.
Seo-jun’s brow furrowed.
He couldn't afford to delay. There was no telling when the Leader of the Black Lotus Union would snap out of his frenzy.
Kiiiing—!
The patterns engraved in his eyes spun rapidly. Those mystical eyes saw through every single movement of the chain sword.
Then, suddenly, Seo-jun shifted his gaze as a realization struck him.
His eyes moved past the weapon to focus directly on the Black Dragon Sect Leader himself.
This is...
Seo-jun’s eyes widened.
He could see the Black Dragon Sect Leader’s soul, and even the subtle movements within it.
He hadn't noticed it when facing the Leader of the Black Lotus Union, but now that he had the Black Dragon Sect Leader in his sights, he finally understood.
The soul moved before the body.
The Black Dragon Sect Leader’s physical body was merely following the trajectory his soul had already taken.
In other words, the future of the man's movements was laid bare before him.
Charyereureuk—!
A bizarre sight unfolded.
As if the Black Dragon Sect Leader were intentionally trying to miss, the chain sword only grazed the empty air around Seo-jun.
Seo-jun’s figure blurred forward as though he were strolling down a wide-open path.
Without a single moment of hesitation, he closed the distance, stepping directly in front of the Black Dragon Sect Leader.
"Ah...!"
Their eyes met. Seo-jun placed his empty hand squarely on the Black Dragon Sect Leader’s chest.
Toong—!
A wave of energy exploded outward. The Black Dragon Sect Leader’s eyes bulged.
"H-How..."
Coughing up a spray of blood, the Black Dragon Sect Leader plummeted, yanked down by gravity.
Seo-jun brushed past him and immediately swung his sword toward the Leader of the Black Lotus Union.
"Huh?"
Actually, he aborted the swing mid-arc and retreated with everything he had.
Kwagwagwagwagwa───────!!!
A frenzied storm of energy erupted from the Leader of the Black Lotus Union, devouring everything in its vicinity.
...That was close.
Seo-jun let out a sigh of relief. No matter how strong he was, he wouldn't have come out unscathed if he’d been caught in that blast.
[Aaaah....]
The Union Leader’s unfocused eyes darted around frantically. Pure white pupils and blood-red sclera. A soul dyed crimson, as if made of liquid blood, leaked from his eyes.
By any standard, he was no longer normal.
Seo-jun held his breath and observed him.
The Return to Source he had unleashed with such confidence had long since shattered. He didn't think the Heaven-Killing Sword would work either, and he honestly had no idea what to do next.
More importantly, how much stronger is he going to get?
The Union Leader’s energy was swelling without limit. To be precise, he wasn't getting stronger; he was simply revealing his original power.
Had the Restrictions of the Heavens vanished? Or was he simply ignoring them?
Seeing him raving like a madman, neither possibility seemed particularly strange.
This is it.
Seo-jun’s eyes scanned the area quickly.
Ju Won-jang is over there. The old man, Peng Geuk-jin, Hwangbo Ryung... Okay.
After confirming his allies' positions, Seo-jun made a snap judgment.
"Strategic retreat!"
Using Void Object Grasping, he hoisted their bodies and kicked off the air. Toong—! His figure shot away like a bolt of light.
Pae Jin-gwang, who had regained consciousness at some point, muttered weakly.
"Watch... out..."
Was it the instinct of a beast that had transcended humanity through pure muscle?
The moment Seo-jun heard those words, he ignited his Primordial Unity to its absolute limit.
Kwaaaaaa─────────!!
The turbid energy rose like a wildfire. Immediately after, a formless wave of energy erupted from the Union Leader and slammed into the group.
Wooooooong──────────!
It was like the Heart Fist from before, but far more powerful.
If they had taken the hit defenselessly, they would have suffered massive damage, but the surrounding Primordial Unity managed to block the devastating wave.
"Whoa..."
Seo-jun let out a short laugh.
This was the first time he had ever pushed his Primordial Unity this far.
He gathered his four Transcendent Realm companions together, tossed them out of harm's way, and patted his own chest.
You’re being quiet today. Good boy.
As a price for his reckless stunt, Seo-jun vomited a healthy amount of blood and grinned.
"Is this Phase 2?"
The distorted figure of the Union Leader glared at him.
There was no trace of reason left in his gaze. But even a mad god was still a god.
A massive, suffocating presence weighed down on the entire area.
The Transcendent Realm martial artists of the Black Lotus Union, crawling on the ground, groaned in agony under the sheer weight of his status.
A chance of victory?
Even Seo-jun didn't believe he could bridge a gap this vast.
He probably couldn't win, but well, things would work out somehow.
If he just gained enlightenment two or three more times, wouldn't a chance of victory appear?
"Now, come at—"
In an instant, his vision was dyed red. It was the Union Leader’s eyes—red sclera with white pupils.
Seo-jun hurriedly swung his sword, but the Union Leader was much faster.
Kwang—!
Both his physical body and his soul were pierced. Where the Union Leader’s fist had passed, the entire midsection connecting his chest and pelvis vanished entirely, leaving his body severed in two.
"What the..."
As Seo-jun’s upper body went flying, the head attached to it let out a hollow laugh.
The physical wound was nothing, but the soul inside was the real problem. He could clearly feel his own soul becoming lighter as chunks of it were torn away.
Jjeureureuk—!
Seo-jun connected his upper and lower halves with writhing strands of blood while observing his own condition.
A soul made lighter by being torn apart.
Being lighter meant he could move even faster.
The factual reality didn't matter.
He believed it to be so, and thus it became reality.
Toong—!
Seo-jun’s figure moved as if leaping through space.
His physical body couldn't quite reach the place his mind intended, but the figure that shot forward as if pulled by a string was fast enough.
It was just that the Union Leader was much faster.
"Uh oh."
Seo-jun saw it. The Union Leader’s intent took the shape of a colossal fist and descended upon him.
If it hit, he would die. It was a level of power that left no room for doubt.
It’d be a bit problematic to die already.
He hadn't even seen Mini Chun-bong or Mini Su-ah yet.
He looked straight ahead with a bright smile.
That sensation he had touched once before.
He didn't know if it would work. It was practically a gamble, with odds of less than one percent.
However, he believed in himself.
And so, he simply began to forge the sword of his mind...
"Wait?"
But before the Heart Sword could be completed, something appeared before Seo-jun’s eyes.
An arrival so jarring it felt like two completely different scenes had been haphazardly stitched together.
Seo-jun knew the person who wielded such power.
"Alliance Leader?"
[Well done.]
Though he could only see the man's back, Seo-jun could tell the Murim Alliance Leader was deeply satisfied.
[You are lucky.]
Gods who had reached the Profound Realm avoided conflict with others of the same realm whenever possible.
There was nothing to gain.
The benefit of absorbing an opponent's status was far outweighed by the damage taken in combat and the sheer depletion of one's accumulated cultivation.
However, this situation was entirely different.
A weakened, berserk Profound Realm martial artist?
The Heavens did not restrict them when dealing with their own kind.
This was a rare situation where one could reap pure profit.
────────────!!!
What followed was a battle that even Seo-jun’s eyes struggled to follow.
The martial arts of the Black Lotus Union Leader violently clashed with those of the Murim Alliance Leader.
The battle between them was predicated entirely on Heart Martial Arts.
Moving at unfathomable speeds that even light could not chase, countless fists and sabers forged from the mind crossed paths.
But in the end, what truly decided the outcome was the collision of two souls draped in flesh.
Along with the Heart Martial Arts exchanged as feints, their physical fists and sabers clashed directly.
Seo-jun sat cross-legged in mid-air, taking in the entire scene.
The martial arts they had built up to reach godhood, the way they handled Heart Martial Arts, their brilliantly shining souls—in the end, all of it was still a part of the Primordial Unity.
The reason he couldn't handle those things was simply his own lack of skill.
When the Alliance Leader’s saber severed the Union Leader’s arm, and the Union Leader roared as his soul was shaved away—
Seo-jun moved his mind in the exact way he had just witnessed countless times.
His physical body followed the trajectory his mind had taken.
Moving at an abyssal speed, Seo-jun felt his physical body shattering into pieces.
A being with a physical body had touched a realm it should not have.
But regardless, it had already happened.
With a hideously mangled body, Seo-jun arrived directly behind the Leader of the Black Lotus Union.
It was the exact moment the Alliance Leader’s saber pierced the Union Leader’s chest.
[Hmm?]
The Alliance Leader’s eyes widened, and—
"I can't let you steal the last hit."
Behind Seo-jun, a monstrous maw made of Primordial Unity yawned wide.
Kwaaaaaaaaak──────────!!
The Alliance Leader, having quickly retreated, narrowed his eyes.
Right now, before his very eyes, a mere creature that hadn't even crossed the wall was chewing and swallowing a god.
Crunch! Snap!
With a gruesome sound, the maw of turbid energy ground the god between its teeth.
"Or is it? I guess it looks like I’m the one stealing it now."
He laughed, his appearance barely maintaining even half of its human form.
It was a highly problematic turn of events for the Alliance Leader, who had fully intended to absorb the Union Leader’s status for himself.
However, the Alliance Leader did not move rashly.
He had come here because he felt the Union Leader’s presence wavering significantly, but he didn't know the process behind it.
He didn't know what had happened to make the Union Leader go so utterly mad.
One thing was certain: it was the work of this child who hadn't even crossed the wall.
[I do not think that is a very good idea.]
At the Alliance Leader’s words, Seo-jun tilted his mangled head.
"What isn't?"
[If you swallow the Union Leader as you are now, you will instead be consumed by him.]
It was a sincere piece of advice.
No matter how mad he had become, the Union Leader was still a martial artist who had ascended to the rank of a god.
If an immature martial artist who hadn't even shed his physical body swallowed him, it would only lead to self-destruction.
"We’ll see."
But Seo-jun only smiled.
Jjeureureuk—!
Flesh knit together as a new body draped itself over the physical form that had just laid its internal contents bare.
Having regained a clean appearance, Seo-jun felt a single, massive existence now residing within his Primordial Unity.
"I don't think that'll happen."
Thump—!
A massive pulse shook the world.
Primordial Unity flickered and surged from every pore of Seo-jun’s body.