Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 89
>Chapter Title: Sichuan Turbulence (6)
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Mok Kyung-un possessed an exceptional memory and assimilation ability compared to ordinary people.
Thanks to this, he could remember even the smallest detail of anything he had seen once without error and replicate it perfectly.
This ability of Mok Kyung-un had been further amplified after opening the Eye of Insight and gaining the mystical power of the Three Eyes, allowing him to assimilate not just simple movements but also forms composed of qi and incantations.
Of course, that didn't mean he could perfectly steal everything.
Techniques that weren't achieved solely through qi but extended into the mind—peerless martial arts or special mind arts—could not be assimilated no matter how hard he tried without the proper foundation.
One such technique was the Chasing Shadow Reversal Sword, a sword form from Yuk Cheon-ho So Ye-rin's swordsmanship.
'Is it only possible with innate true qi?'
He had suffered a setback from this form before, which sparked his interest, leading him to observe it closely.
Yet, this particular sword form had been uniquely difficult to replicate.
It seemed that a special energy known as innate true qi was required to fully execute the form.
And he had thought it would remain that way, but the situation changed.
After surpassing the wall of walls, his understanding of qi transformed completely, allowing him to mimic even the qi circulation method of innate true qi—not perfectly, but to a usable degree.
The result was this.
-Boom!
Mok Kyung-un stomped the ground forcefully toward the floor.
He then drew his sword and thrust it forward.
With that, a vortex of sharp energy erupted from the sword tip, surging toward Yu Mu-jin's abdomen with the momentum of a storm.
[True Chasing Shadow Reversal Sword]
The True Chasing Shadow Reversal Sword manifested from Mok Kyung-un's hand formed a fixed shape rather than spreading out widely.
It struck Yu Mu-jin's abdomen squarely.
-Shred shred shred shred shred shred shred!
The vortex of sharp energy tore into his abdomen with ferocious intensity.
Even though the range had narrowed, the power had increased.
However,
-Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
One of Mok Kyung-un's eyebrows shot up as he executed the sword form.
Blue sparks flew from the abdomen as if striking an iron wall, accompanied by a metallic clang.
'No way?'
"It's tough, right?"
'!?'
Mok Kyung-un was dumbfounded.
The hardness of Yu Mu-jin's heated red abdominal muscles was indestructible like diamond, unscathed by the sword form.
Instead,
-Thud!
He stepped forward, neutralizing the sword form's power.
And not content with that,
-Pop!
Yu Mu-jin thrust his fist toward the center of the swirling Chasing Shadow Reversal Sword.
An immense pressure wave erupted from the punch, shattering the sword form that had generated the energy vortex.
In that instant, Yu Mu-jin grabbed the blade of Mok Kyung-un's sword, Evil Instant, with his left hand.
-Clang!
'If I break the blade, he'll be unarmed and weakened.'
Yu Mu-jin gripped tightly, trying to snap Evil Instant's blade.
He didn't care if it was a treasured sword or not.
He was confident he could crush even diamond with his grip strength alone.
But at that moment,
-Slip!
'Huh?'
His hand slipped off the sword as if greased.
Yu Mu-jin couldn't hide his bewilderment.
He had gripped it firmly, yet some forceful repulsion had slid the sword from his grasp.
It was the Repulse form, one of the Eight Grasping Hands.
-Swish!
In sync with retrieving the sword, Mok Kyung-un launched a palm strike toward Yu Mu-jin's chest.
Confident in his muscle density, Yu Mu-jin didn't dodge.
Instead, he swung his fist toward Mok Kyung-un's chest at the same moment, his biceps and forearms bulging.
-Boom! Crash!
Mok Kyung-un's body shot back like a cannonball from the punch.
He flew nearly twenty paces.
Had he lost the contest of raw power to Yu Mu-jin?
However,
"Huff! Cough cough!"
Yu Mu-jin clutched his abdomen, staggering back before dropping to one knee.
-Thud!
'What?'
Yu Mu-jin's eyes widened in shock.
Mok Kyung-un's palm strike wasn't mere external impact.
It was an emitting force that channeled qi into the body, striking the five viscera and six organs.
Of course, it wasn't ordinary emitting force.
Having unlocked the Three Eyes' mystical power, Mok Kyung-un judged that not only Yu Mu-jin's muscles but his internals differed vastly from a normal person's resilience.
Thus, he infused the emitting force with the extreme yin chill of the Heavenly Yin Vessel Severing Pulse.
The invading chill stiffened his organs, and the simultaneous emitting force inflicted internal injuries.
"Cough cough..."
Frost-like shards of blood sprayed from Yu Mu-jin's coughing mouth.
Seeing this, the corner of Mok Kyung-un's mouth twitched upward.
It was a first for him.
He had never bled in his life before.
-Crack!
Yu Mu-jin tensed his whole body's muscles, accelerating his blood flow.
Thick steam rose, the chill from his mouth turning to vapor as his body reheated.
"Huu..."
Meanwhile, Mok Kyung-un, flung back like a cannonball, had protected himself with qi, but the penetrating blow ignored it, momentarily stopping his heart.
His body stiffened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Had he not landed a hit on the foe, the follow-up attack would have spelled disaster.
'...He's strong.'
This was a different breed of powerhouse from all the countless enemies he'd faced so far.
No, this form of strength was entirely novel.
With no internal energy, his hyper-developed muscles and body infused with natural qi made him peerless in his own right.
To think innate strength could reach this level.
Mok Kyung-un could only click his tongue.
Then Yu Mu-jin bared bloodied teeth in a grin toward Mok Kyung-un and said,
"It's a first. No one outside my family, not even Father, has ever wounded me."
"You must've lived comfortably."
"Comfortably? Who knows. If you knew what my family does, you wouldn't say that. We serve practically everyone, you could say."
"Serve?"
"No need to tell an outsider that far. To take you down, four stages won't cut it. Now I'll go all out."
With that, Yu Mu-jin reached for the golden ring on his right arm.
The golden ring was called the Strength Restraining Ring.
It was an artifact that suppressed his muscles and power.
The Strength Restraining Ring had a dial with ten stages; fewer stages meant less restriction on his power.
'I'll go straight to three.'
Stage three was the final stage Yu Mu-jin could release.
He'd heard the founder, called the progenitor long ago, could release it to stage one, but no descendant after had reached stage one.
Even his father, hailed across generations for the finest physique and musculature, had stopped at stage two.
Of course, that alone was a feat not seen in generations.
In any case, acknowledging Mok Kyung-un's strength, Yu Mu-jin intended to maximally release the power suppressed by the Strength Restraining Ring.
'I didn't expect him to force me to three.'
Not matching the progenitor or father, but he prided himself as top-tier even at three.
[Unless facing the pinnacle experts of the martial world, you'll never need to release to three.]
His father's words to him.
Just how long could he endure once he released to three?
-Swish!
'!?'
In that instant, Mok Kyung-un appeared right before him.
-Flinch!
Before he could turn the dial, Mok Kyung-un suddenly appeared in front of him, evoking a chilling foreboding that stimulated all his senses—unlike anything before.
Yu Mu-jin kicked off to escape Mok Kyung-un's range.
But,
-Slash!
A black line sliced through the air, and Yu Mu-jin's body launched upward.
-Boom!
'!!!!!!'
Yu Mu-jin's eyes widened as he floated up.
He felt it clearly.
In a flash, Mok Kyung-un's power converged to a point, piercing his diamond-indestructible abdomen, which had never been breached.
The pain of something penetrating his body was a first, distorting Yu Mu-jin's face.
-Thud!
Mok Kyung-un, who had grazed past Yu Mu-jin's body, kicked the ground and changed direction.
He had no intention of ending it here.
'Can't give him time to adjust.'
Having unlocked the Three Eyes' mystical power, Mok Kyung-un had noticed the golden ring suppressing his power.
He anticipated Yu Mu-jin would release the suppressed power through that ring and had waited for this moment.
'Once more!'
Right now, he could unleash this converged-power slash several more times.
No need to hoard a secret technique.
The most efficient way to deal with an enemy was to thoroughly crush any gap they showed.
-Slash!
Mok Kyung-un twisted direction, his form blurring as a black line appeared in the air.
It connected to where Yu Mu-jin, still airborne, was, shocking his body and sending it bouncing midair.
"Cough cough."
Yu Mu-jin grimaced in agony.
The first converged-power strike had been too fast to see, but he instantly recognized the second target's aim.
It was his heart.
He crossed his hands, mitigating the converged power somehow.
Of course, holes pierced both hands as a result.
'Stage three...'
Even as his body spun and flew, Yu Mu-jin focused his mind, reaching for the Strength Restraining Ring's dial on his right wrist.
However,
-Boom!
Mok Kyung-un kicked the air, redirecting toward Yu Mu-jin with another converged-power sword strike.
The speed surpassed ultra-high-speed movement; Yu Mu-jin could barely register its approach.
He knew this strike targeted his brow.
-Grit!
'Not three times.'
Yu Mu-jin clenched his teeth and jerked his head back in an instant.
-Slash!
The black line narrowly missed his face.
The shockwaves from two converged-power strikes weakened, and his body fell toward the ground.
As he fell, Yu Mu-jin kept his tense eyes fixed on Mok Kyung-un.
One more strike here, and he couldn't block it.
However,
-Thud!
Mok Kyung-un landed on the ground, his right hand trembling violently.
'Too much strain in succession.'
Even after surpassing the wall of walls, converging power into a sword strike burdened his entire body immensely with just one use.
Unleashing it three times in a row made his muscles feel like they were tearing apart.
Attempting a fourth caused his heart to throb in pain, forcing him to stop.
"Haa... haa..."
Even after piercing the abdomen and hands, it wasn't over.
-Grip!
As the heart pain subsided slightly, Mok Kyung-un gripped his sword hilt tightly, steadying his breath to gather power for one final strike.
It was right then.
-Flinch!
The air warped for an instant, and the surrounding qi swelled ominously.
At the bizarre sensation affecting even the environment, Mok Kyung-un whipped his sharpened gaze around.
-Crack! Crunch crunch!
Yu Mu-jin's whole body, red-hot and bulging with muscles, compressed like deflating, his skin darkening beyond red.
It seemed he hadn't fully prevented the artifact's restriction from releasing.
'...More annoying now.'
The natural qi trembled around him.
Resolving to strike before Yu Mu-jin fully transformed, Mok Kyung-un launched his form toward him.
-Boom!
In that instant, Yu Mu-jin punched toward Mok Kyung-un.
It looked like a simple punch, but,
-Kaboom kaboom kaboom kaboom kaboom boom!
An immense pressure wave and prolonged whoosh followed the punch's path, sectoring and obliterating everything within nearly twenty paces.
"Huu... huu..."
Yu Mu-jin breathed raggedly, clicking his tongue.
This was truly the first opponent to make him struggle just to release the Strength Restraining Ring's dial.
Had he known, he should've gone all out from the start.
Then he wouldn't have gotten hurt like this.
-Drip drip!
Blood trickled slowly from the holes in his hands and abdomen.
Normally, releasing the ring would heal him quickly, but strangely, recovery lagged.
That guy's eerie qi seemed to interfere.
Still, with a full-power punch at near stage-three strength, it should end here.
'!?'
Yu Mu-jin's eyes narrowed.
The dust from the punch's aftermath hadn't fully settled, but something was visible amid it.
'Hah?'
-Shred shred shred shred shred!
Two black sword energies crossed and spun rapidly, forming a thick barrier of sword force around Mok Kyung-un.