Chapter 54
Chapter 54
The Assassin's Gate (2)
Let's rewind time for a moment.
Before the regression.
Deep in the mountains, where no human footsteps could be found.
"Huff, huff."
Se-woon and the assassin stood facing each other after an intense sparring session.
Both gripped their twin daggers—their primary weapons—but everything else about them was starkly different.
Se-woon, disheveled and drenched in sweat, gasped for breath, while the assassin remained completely unharmed and utterly relaxed.
But now.
"Ha, this is ridiculous."
The one scrunching his face in dissatisfaction was none other than the assassin.
Having retrieved the Twin Polar Fangs, one of the Ten Great Demon Arms, the assassin shook his head as he looked at Se-woon.
"How long have you even been training, and yet you've already mastered the One-Point Kill to seventy percent?"
The perfection of Se-woon's One-Point Kill was advancing at an absurdly rapid pace—far faster than even the assassin himself had when he trained under the Assassin's Gate.
"Tsk, no matter how talented the teacher is, this is just demoralizing."
"......It must be because the upper dantian was forcibly opened by 'that bastard.' They say unlocking the upper dantian unleashes one's latent potential."
Se-woon wiped the sweat from his brow and replied as if it were nothing.
"That bastard," of course, referred to Blood Demon, the Blood Demon.
Lately, as his Reverse Heaven Energy grew stronger, his other martial techniques had also surged in proficiency.
But the assassin shook his head.
"Hmm. I don't think that's it."
"......What?"
"Simply unlocking the upper dantian wouldn't cause this kind of explosive growth. The lunatics from Heaven-Piercing Gang who forcibly opened theirs through human sacrifice didn't improve like this, did they?"
"......!"
Heaven-Piercing Gang.
The largest faction of the Evil Path, one of the Five Evils, and the domain where all the Dark Sorcerers of the Central Plains gathered—the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.
Since the assassin's killings knew no allegiance, he had apparently infiltrated Heaven-Piercing Gang before for a mission.
At any rate, the assassin tilted his head and continued.
"It's like something that's been suppressed all this time is finally exploding out. Hmm... Maybe that congenital disability of yours wasn't a curse after all—!"
"Enough nonsense. If you're rested, let's go again."
Se-woon raised his twin daggers into a ready stance.
The assassin's eyes gleamed with both competitiveness and admiration as he watched.
They were friends, but their relationship was more like that of sworn brothers.
"Honestly, you really love getting beaten up. You've got peculiar tastes."
"......This time will be different."
"Heh, we'll see about that."
Whoosh!
As Se-woon lunged forward with a burst of speed, the assassin's voice echoed in his ears.
'This time, I'll hit you with something new.'
Roar!
Suddenly, flames erupted from the assassin's hands.
"This is a technique I 'stole' during my first assassination. Its name is...."
'Extreme Blazing Radiance.'
The moment Se-woon saw the living flames writhing in the assassin's hands, he instantly recognized the martial art—one devised as a countermeasure against the Golden Threads of Heavenly Net.
It was a demonic technique obtained by Duan Huixiao, the former deputy lord of the Southern Sea Sun Palace, through a stroke of fate—the very technique that drove him to challenge the throne of the Sun Palace Lord.
The same horrifying demonic art that had compelled the Sun Palace Lord himself to request the Assassin's Gate's intervention was now being wielded by the assassin.
The reason the assassin had been able to infiltrate the Tang Family and flawlessly impersonate Zhang Yi wasn't just due to his Human-Skin Mask and masterful voice mimicry.
It was because he had perfectly replicated Zhang Yi's martial techniques.
That's right.
The assassin hadn't just stolen his targets' lives.
'A being who can replicate any martial art just by seeing it—and eventually steal it for himself.'
The Blood Demon himself had acknowledged this innate martial talent.
The assassin, Muming, was none other than the possessor of the Heavenly Martial Body—a physique hailed as the pinnacle of martial potential.
"You shouldn't be so relaxed right now!"
As Muming charged, he hurled venomous words at Se-woon.
Roar!
In an instant, the raging flames of Extreme Blazing Radiance surged past his forearms, engulfing his shoulders.
Se-woon, who had been tracking Muming's movements with his eyes, suddenly flicked his fingers rhythmically, as if plucking the strings of a zither.
Swish!
Ten waves of black threads surged forth like a tide, crashing toward Muming's entire body.
In the blink of an eye, his flesh was on the verge of being sliced into dozens of pieces—
'Oh? Not bad.'
A glint of intrigue flashed in Muming's eyes as he assessed Se-woon's hidden prowess.
Far from dodging, Muming lunged headfirst into the layered waves of threads as if welcoming them.
Then, just before the razor-sharp threads could touch him—
Boom!
He stomped violently, propelling himself high into the air.
Crackle!
A shockwave of scorching heat erupted from the ground, repelling the swarm of threads in an instant.
"!!"
A look of shock flickered across Se-woon's face—
Whoosh!
Seizing the moment, Muming spun violently midair like a whirlwind.
'Blazing Wheel.'
The flow of internal energy within Muming's meridians mirrored that of Duan Huixiao's—a technique he had once perfectly dismantled.
Roar!
Crash!
This time, ten fiery arrows shot from Muming's hands in retaliation.
Hiss!
Like living vipers, the flames slithered along the golden threads, racing toward their master.
It was an unbelievable feat.
Despite the notoriously volatile nature of the technique, Muming manipulated the fiery energy with flawless precision—something even masters of the Sun Palace struggled with.
The pinnacle of Extreme Blazing Radiance, Blazing Wheel, was a long-range interception technique akin to archery.
Se-woon swiftly severed the threads connecting him to the attack, but—
Sizzle!
"—!!"
The ten fiery arrows, already upon him, sought to sink their fangs into his body.
Flare!
Se-woon recoiled in panic, attempting to evade with nimble footwork.
But—
'Too late.'
Muming smirked at the desperate struggle.
Escape was impossible.
The reason was simple—he had already anticipated every possible evasion route and fired the arrows accordingly.
No matter how Se-woon struggled, at least one arrow would sear his limbs.
Clang!
"!!"
Yet, to Muming's disappointment, his predicted outcome didn't unfold.
Se-woon had acted in a way he hadn't anticipated.
'Huh? What's this?'
Se-woon had abandoned the threads and drawn his twin daggers instead.
He hadn't been retreating to dodge—
Shriek—!
With a sound like tearing air, Se-woon drove his daggers into the approaching flames.
He intended to shatter the fiery energy itself with his One-Point Kill.
In theory, it was entirely possible.
The One-Point Kill involved crossing the daggers to collide energies, unleashing a devastating explosion upon the enemy.
Its destructive force was enough to annihilate any power weaker than his own.
'A futile struggle.'
But Muming's surprise was fleeting.
He dismissed it as a last-ditch effort.
For theory to become reality, an extremely demanding condition had to be met.
'To erase my Blazing Wheel, he'd need at least forty years' worth of internal energy. Not to mention, his One-Point Kill would have to be at least eighty percent mastered...'
BOOM!
"!!"
A deafening explosion erupted.
Before Muming's eyes, Se-woon's daggers struck the Blazing Wheel, scattering it effortlessly.
Hum!
Innate True Energy.
The life-burning force that only martial artists could unleash pulsed from Se-woon's twin daggers.
BOOM!
Another Blazing Wheel detonated.
For the first time, emotion flickered in Muming's ever-calm eyes.
And how could it not?
'Ninety percent...?'
The level of enlightenment infused into Se-woon's One-Point Kill—its mastery—
Was unmistakably higher than his own.
The moment he realized this, Muming's mind turned ice-cold.
The game was over.
'Subdue him. Then dissect him thoroughly.'
Whoosh!
CRACK!
Cloaked in flames far fiercer than before, Muming shot forward like an arrow.
"—!!"
Se-woon, still mid-counter against the Blazing Wheel, had no time to defend.
Though Extreme Blazing Radiance had appeared to be purely a long-range technique, that had been Muming's deception.
All to lure Se-woon into this vulnerable moment.
Grip!
In an instant, Muming closed the distance and seized Se-woon's right wrist.
Simultaneously—
Roar!
The flames of Extreme Blazing Radiance began devouring Se-woon's right arm.
"Gah!"
Se-woon twisted in agony, his body convulsing—
"—Or so you thought?"
"!!"
His expression shifted instantly, like a performer changing masks.
The pained screams vanished, replaced by a chilling smirk.
'A trap...!'
Muming's blood ran cold as he realized his mistake.
He wasn't the hunter—
Swoosh!
He was the prey.
Whoosh!
The lifeless threads on the ground suddenly recoiled at blinding speed.
They coiled around Se-woon's wrist—and Muming's hand gripping it—like shackles.
"Ghk!"
Now it was Muming's turn to gasp in pain—
Hiss!
A plume of steam erupted as the flames on Se-woon's arm were extinguished.
The Blazing Wheel binding Se-woon's right arm vanished in an instant.
'What?!'
Muming couldn't hide his shock.
Unbelievably, an eerie Yin-Cold Energy was seeping from the black threads coiled around his arm.
Hiss!
Muming poured more energy into breaking free, but the threads held fast.
Then, Se-woon's cold gaze bore into him.
"Enough of this pathetic flailing."
"......!"
Shriek!
A blade-like sound tore through the air.
One of the black threads shot toward a dagger lying on the ground—one of Muming's own.
'I have to block it—!'
Swish!
Muming swung his free arm desperately.
Just as his flaming fist moved to deflect the incoming dagger—
Clink!
'......??'
The dagger froze midair.
What was this?
As confusion gripped him, Se-woon spoke unexpectedly.
"What are you doing? Take it."
"......!"
The dagger wasn't an attack.
Se-woon was offering him his weapon back.
For the first time, Muming realized he had been thoroughly outplayed.
And in that moment—
"Now, let's settle who the true heir of the Assassin's Gate is."
"—!!"
Se-woon's next words struck like a thunderbolt.
"The Hegemon of Sichuan."