Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 84
>Chapter Title: Ruler's Step (4)
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-Boom!
A single true step.
With that true step, the ground cracked in all directions, and one hundred eight Arhat warrior monks collapsed.
Without exception, they convulsed and lost consciousness.
‘!!!!!!!!’
In the face of this sudden, unbelievable turn of events, everyone was left dumbfounded, and the plaza fell silent in an instant.
One of the legends symbolizing Shaolin was the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation.
Who could have imagined that this perfect formation, known to have never been broken by anyone officially, would crumble so futilely?
“...Hey. Are my eyes playing tricks on me right now?”
Seop-chun muttered in disbelief, his mouth hanging wide open.
But Mong Mu-yak couldn’t even hear him.
Even without Seop-chun’s words, this was a sight too incredible to believe despite seeing it with one’s own eyes.
‘Is this a dream or reality?’
It felt like an illusion for a moment.
The masked Mara-hyeon felt the same.
Having clashed directly with Mok Kyung-un, he was even less able to accept it.
No matter how exceptional one’s martial talent, how could a human grow this strong at such speed?
This was far too fast.
Moreover,
‘Even if the Eight Stars or Six Heavens came, could they shatter the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation with just one true step?’
He couldn’t say for sure, but it seemed impossible.
This wasn’t just shocking for those present—it would astound the entire martial world if word got out.
The plaza floor cracked around Mok Kyung-un, with the one hundred eight Arhat warrior monks collapsed around it.
It was a spectacle beyond words.
“...Impossible.”
“How could this happen...”
The warrior monks were in an uproar too.
Some overconfident masters had challenged the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation to prove their prowess in the past, but the results were always the same.
They admitted defeat and left.
Yet now, even Shaolin’s warrior monks faced a scene they could scarcely accept.
The bewildered warrior monks’ gazes naturally turned to Shaolin’s elders.
‘How... how!’
The most vehement reaction came from Dae-deok the Great Monk, one of the Three Shaolin Monks and head of Gye-ryul Court.
He stared at Mok Kyung-un, unable to tear his eyes away, as if in shock.
He had been certain that while Mok Kyung-un’s internal energy surpassed his own—allowing him some resistance—he would still fail against the formation just like everyone else.
But the exact opposite had occurred, leaving him utterly confused.
At that moment, Kang-hak, the commander of the Escort Division beside him, spoke up with wide eyes.
“Th-this can’t be. How could such a thing happen?”
“...”
“Is this really the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation? Are the warrior monks putting on an act to let them pass or something?”
“...Does this look like an act to you, Commander?”
“If it’s not an act, how could one true step cause this? I can’t believe it.”
Though his own martial arts weren’t top-tier, he was still a peak master.
Even to his trained eyes, this was utterly unbelievable.
It was so absurd that it almost seemed fake.
Then, suddenly, Kang-hak’s eyes met Mok Kyung-un’s.
-He flinched!
A chill shot up his spine, and his legs went weak.
Just from that eye contact, he realized the monstrous gap between them was beyond comparison—untouchable, unfathomable.
Once gripped by such fear, it wasn’t easily shaken, so he averted his gaze from Mok Kyung-un.
Mok Kyung-un smirked at his reaction.
Then, a clear voice rang in his ear.
-Mortal... when did you master something like this?
Cheong-ryeong, who had been with Mok Kyung-un all day, was even more shocked.
Trapped in the wooden doll, she couldn’t precisely sense the energy flow, but the vibration through the ground had made the Arhat warrior monks convulse and faint.
Where on earth had he learned such a bizarre technique...
-The Breaking Thought Eight Forms.
-What?
Cheong-ryeong couldn’t hide her surprise at Mok Kyung-un’s answer.
She had long tried to unravel all eight forms of the Breaking Thought Eight Forms but had failed.
Had this mortal figured out a form even she didn’t know?
‘Useful.’
Mok Kyung-un thought as he looked at the back of his foot that had stomped the true step.
Even he hadn’t expected the newly comprehended form of the Suppressing Seal to have this much power.
He had realized it by observing the footprint in front of the Return Gold Cave and the lingering energy flows nearby.
It was a technique that subdued foes through shock and vibration.
Unlike the other Breaking Thought Eight Forms techniques, it included a kind of suggestion and consumed a great deal of energy.
Precisely, it consumed death energy—a full third of it in one go.
Now, only about two-thirds remained in his body.
‘Can’t use it more than once or twice.’
Even with his increased death and demonic energy from the insight, the consumption was too high for multiple uses.
Of course, its overwhelming power was enough to crush the opponents’ will with just one strike.
Then, someone finally spoke up.
It was Mu-seong the Great Monk, head of the Reverse Muscle Scripture Hall.
“Patron...”
While most in the plaza were shocked and stunned, Mu-seong wore a grave expression.
“Yes.”
“May I ask one thing?”
“Please do.”
“Are you in any way connected to the Old Blood Cult?”
-Murmurs!
At his question, the Shaolin monks stirred.
Mu-seong’s words made every Shaolin monk think of one thing.
What flashed through their minds was the stele in front of the Return Gold Cave.
The tale of that footprint—called Shaolin’s shame—was remembered by all monks as a reminder for reflection.
One of the monks then spoke up.
“R-Ruler’s Step...! It has to be the Ruler’s Step!”
“Ruler’s Step!!!!”
The murmurs spread further at the mention of Ruler’s Step.
Ruler’s Step.
It was said to rule over all with a single footstep or stride.
But to Shaolin monks, the Ruler’s Step was the humiliating step from centuries ago that unofficially shattered the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation for the first time.
‘Ha...’
Gong-jeon the Great Monk, head of Jang-gyeong Pavilion, was dumbfounded.
Centuries ago, after the formation fell to that one Ruler’s Step, Shaolin had gritted their teeth and refined it.
Everyone had been confident it would never be broken again.
Yet now, that very humiliation was reenacted exactly.
It was too eerily coincidental.
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“I have no connection to the Old Blood Cult.”
Mu-seong’s right eyebrow arched up at Mok Kyung-un’s reply.
Staring intently at him, Mu-seong said,
“That can’t be.”
“There truly is no relation.”
“No. You said it yourself.”
“Said what?”
“‘Shaolin will have to erect another stele due to yet another misjudgment.’ Didn’t you?”
Mu-seong had heard it clearly.
That’s why, the moment Mok Kyung-un stomped his true step, he had watched with a ‘could it be,’ and confirmed it with his own eyes as it became reality.
This convinced him.
Many knew the stele marked Shaolin’s shame, but only the monks knew who left the footprint and why.
Yet this patron clearly knew the reason.
That’s why he had perfectly recreated it.
-Swish!
Mok Kyung-un shrugged and spoke.
“That was just something the old monk over there told me on the way to the Anti-Demon Cave.”
Mok Kyung-un nodded toward Gong-jeon the Great Monk.
Mu-seong frowned and looked at Gong-jeon.
Gong-jeon pressed his palms together and bowed his head.
“Amitabha. My apologies, Great Monk. I told the Heavenly Demon patron about the stele’s anecdote.”
Murmurs arose from all around.
“Heavenly Demon?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Heavenly Demon? How could he bear such an ominous...”
“Does that mean he’s connected to that Blood Demon?”
“The Great Monk just said there’s no relation.”
At these whispers, Mok Kyung-un’s eyes narrowed.
‘Blood Demon?’
Was that referring to the evil-masked man who left the footprint?
Puzzled, he heard Mu-seong, head of the Reverse Muscle Scripture Hall, ask Gong-jeon,
“Is that true?”
“Yes. However, due to a vow of silence, I did not reveal who left the footprint.”
Mu-seong fiddled with the prayer beads in his left hand at the response.
He had thought the patron might be linked to ‘that one’ since the humiliation from centuries ago was recreated.
But if not, how could the same event occur?
It was truly bizarre.
Mu-seong, intrigued, soon asked,
“Patron. So you heard the anecdote from Gong-jeon the Great Monk and recreated it just like that?”
“Not intentionally, but... I suppose you could say I saw it in my mind’s eye.”
“...You said mind’s eye just now?”
“Yes. In my mind’s eye, I saw how the one who left that footprint shattered the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation. That evil mask was quite striking.”
‘!!!!!!’
Mu-seong’s eyes widened at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
At first, hearing about the mind’s eye, he thought the patron’s high cultivation had sharpened his senses.
But when Mok Kyung-un mentioned the evil mask, he couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Huh...”
A sigh of awe escaped him.
Mu-seong looked at Mok Kyung-un with genuine admiration.
‘Terrifying talent. How can someone so young in his mid-twenties reach such profound mind’s eye cultivation?’
The mind’s eye required deep mental cultivation.
Even he, after decades of Buddhist practice, had only entered it in his sixties by studying formulas or traces.
For this patron, who looked barely mid-twenties, to reach this realm was astonishing.
‘Perhaps it was fated.’
To perfectly recreate what he saw in his mind’s eye—this absurd genius was even more fearsome than the owner of that footprint, who first humiliated Shaolin.
Finally, Mu-seong pressed his palms together toward Mok Kyung-un, bowed his head, and spoke.
“Amitabha. Patron—no, Heavenly Demon patron?”
“...”
Mok Kyung-un silently nodded at the question.
“Yes.”
“Your true step deserves to be called the Ruler’s Step. Thus, as an elder of Shaolin...”
Mu-seong swept his gaze over the surrounding monks.
Then, with a deep sigh, he continued.
“I acknowledge the defeat of the One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation.”
‘!!!!!!!!!’
His admission of defeat split reactions between joy and sorrow.
Mok Kyung-un’s subordinates beamed, some even cheering.
In contrast, Shaolin’s warrior monks darkened at this second humiliation.
‘How could this...’
‘Aaaah.’
Some warrior monks thought this incident might need to be hidden too.
However, contrary to their thoughts, this outcome would spread through the martial world faster than expected.
That Shaolin’s One Hundred Eight Arhats Formation had knelt to the Heavenly Demon Ruler’s Step.