Chapter 82
Chapter 82
Judgment (1)
"Guh...!"
Heo So-chang writhed in pain before barely managing to stop the bleeding with pressure points.
Crrrk!
Just as he caught his breath, a chilling sound echoed in his ears.
It was the sound of the thread that had severed his hand being swiftly reeled back in.
A sudden shiver ran down his spine.
'He's coming!'
Whoosh!
By the time he realized it, the enemy was already within three steps.
The thread, pulling its master forward, accelerated even faster.
'I have to watch out for hidden weapons—!'
Heo So-chang focused intently on the enemy's hands and sleeves.
His fear and vigilance centered on one thing: avoiding the unknown hidden weapon that had shattered his protective energy barrier—a weapon he hadn't even sensed until it was too late.
But.
Crunch!
'...Huh?'
Before he knew it, Se-woon's fists, clenched tight enough to burst, were right in front of his face.
Crack!
BOOM!
"Ghk!"
The enemy didn't draw any hidden weapon.
Instead, he simply drove a fist, wreathed in energy, straight into Heo So-chang's face.
With a bizarre, buzzing noise like the wings of a wasp.
CRASH!
THUD!
A strike that could hardly be called an ordinary punch slammed into his face.
The force behind the blow crumpled Heo So-chang's face grotesquely.
CRUNCH!
The shockwave sent his body flying backward.
The deck beneath his feet shattered, sending splinters flying in all directions.
Whiiir!
The Golden Threads of Heavenly Net swirled violently around Se-woon's left fist like a storm.
He had immediately used Whirlwind Return, the second stance of the Half-Holy Unarmed Arts.
Heo So-chang, who had taken the punch head-on, was now bleeding profusely from his face.
Though it looked severe, a glint of realization flashed in his eyes.
'If he doesn't have any more hidden weapons...!'
If he had been wielding such a powerful hidden weapon, there would have been no reason to engage in close combat like this.
In an instant, Heo So-chang's mind cooled.
He reassessed the enemy's martial arts and fighting style in a split second and began adjusting his approach.
If that deadly hidden weapon was gone—
'There's no way I'd lose in close combat—!'
Whooosh!
CRACK!
Suddenly, a ferocious energy erupted from Heo So-chang's entire body.
The Black Heaven Yaksha Art—the signature martial art of Heo So-chang, the sect leader of the Blood Cult's Yaksha Sect, which treated the body itself as a weapon.
Whoosh!
This time, Heo So-chang charged at Se-woon with explosive force.
WHIIIR!
Now, the golden threads surged from both of Se-woon's hands like raging whirlpools.
Thus, Se-woon, wielding Whirlwind Return in both fists, clashed head-on with Heo So-chang, who had unleashed the full might of the Black Heaven Yaksha Art.
BOOM!
CRASH!!
A series of deafening explosions erupted.
Both fighters, driven solely by the intent to kill the other, exchanged blows with everything they had.
CRACKLE!
RUMBLE!
With every collision, shockwaves of demonic energy and innate true energy shook the entire ship.
Peng Dae-ho and the other late-stage experts could only stare in stunned silence at the unbelievable spectacle.
'Is... is that even possible?'
'Even with innate true energy...!'
'He's fighting evenly with a perfected Transcendent Realm expert!'
True, the enemy had lost a hand to the ambush, but this still defied all logic.
CRUNCH!
"Gah!"
At that moment, the sound of something shattering and the enemy's groan rang out simultaneously.
"......!!"
"!!"
The three of them were even more shocked when they realized what had happened.
Se-woon's strike, aimed at the severed stump of the enemy's left hand, had partially shattered his protective energy barrier.
No matter how strong innate true energy was, there was only one condition under which it could break through a Transcendent Realm expert's barrier.
'...This can't be.'
'A Pinnacle-level Extreme at barely twenty?'
'No, even the Sword Emperor at that age couldn't achieve...'
Se-woon had reached the Extreme of the Pinnacle—like the legendary Shaolin's One Wheel.
And not just the entry level, but a level of enlightenment infinitely close to Transcendent Realm.
The three didn't dare intervene in the battle.
Not out of fear of the enemy, but because interfering in Se-woon's fight would only hinder him.
CRASH!
RUMBLE!
Then, a violent shockwave from the clash swept over them like a tidal wave.
WHOOSH!
THUD!
Se-woon and Heo So-chang stood at opposite ends of the ship's bow.
Haa...
A brief silence fell.
Amid the tension sharp as a blade's edge, Heo So-chang spoke.
"Now I see who you are."
"......."
"The last heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan—Tang Se-woon."
That bloodstained name he had heard from the Blood Cult's headquarters.
The realization that the one who had humiliated him was a mere rookie, not even fully established in the martial world, sent a murderous rage surging through Heo So-chang's eyes.
"You arrogant brat! You got cocky after borrowing the power of a hidden weapon to defeat Dokma?!"
"......."
"I'll show you that there are heavens beyond the heavens—!!"
His wounded pride erupted in fury.
The Blood Cult's strict orders to leave no trace were long forgotten.
Shwaaak!
He pulled out a storage talisman and flung it into the air.
Whooosh!
Like a mirage distorting space, Heo So-chang drew a demonic weapon from the rift.
A pair of black gauntlets, each engraved with the visage of a yaksha.
The Ghost King's Grasp—a demonic weapon passed down through generations of the Yaksha Sect's leaders.
As Heo So-chang channeled his energy into it—
Crrrk!
The gauntlets coiled around his arms like living things.
Though his left hand had been severed by Se-woon—
Click. Clack.
The fingers of the Ghost King's Grasp moved as if they were his own.
Even the sensation of his missing fingers returned, filled with demonic energy.
'I'll crush you with everything I have.'
This was no mere treasure—it was a Divine Artifact, one that fed on demonic energy to grant its wielder even greater power.
SCREEEEE!!
As the Ghost King's Grasp awakened, a ghastly shriek, as if from the depths of hell, filled the air.
"Ugh!"
"Cough—!"
The surge of demonic energy worsened the internal injuries of Peng So-hye and Nam Mu-jin, leaving them in agony.
Only Peng Dae-ho, stabilized by Se-woon's innate true energy, managed to steady them by sharing his own energy.
Whoooosh!
The demonic energy radiating from Heo So-chang was now incomparably stronger than before.
But unlike the worried late-stage experts—
Se-woon simply stared at Heo So-chang with eyes filled with boundless savagery.
His gaze was that of someone looking at an insignificant insect.
"Right. Innate true energy alone won't be enough."
"......?"
He muttered to himself, too softly for the distant late-stage experts to hear.
Heo So-chang curled his lips.
'This bug dares play mind games—?!'
Whooosh!
Grrrind!
But that wasn't it.
The clear blue hue of Se-woon's innate true energy began to change.
Like something staining it, it shifted into an ashen gray—a color never seen before.
'The nature of his innate true energy is changing...? What is this??'
This was an anomaly unheard of in the martial world.
Whether orthodox, unorthodox, or demonic, innate true energy had always been identical in color and form.
Just as Heo So-chang hesitated, trying to discern the nature of this sudden change—
'Done.'
Se-woon had drawn out Reverse Heaven Energy from his upper dantian and dispersed it through his limbs.
Yes. The change in color was due to the use of Reverse Heaven Energy.
But that wasn't the only difference.
Normally, using Reverse Heaven Energy would cause demonic energy—far surpassing Heo So-chang's—to radiate from his body.
But now, aside from the gray tint of his innate true energy, no demonic energy could be sensed at all.
This was all thanks to the relentless effort Se-woon had put in after obtaining the Divine Immortal Collapse.
Since he couldn't hide Reverse Heaven Energy forever in front of orthodox factions—
He had devised a method to blend Divine Poison Energy and the Divine Immortal Collapse's dispersing properties into his innate true energy, masking Reverse Heaven Energy like a fog.
Crackle!
Snap!
Of course, Reverse Heaven Energy wasn't about to stay quiet.
Even now, it raged violently, as if furious at being restrained.
This meant there was a time limit.
With his current mastery, he could only conceal Reverse Heaven Energy for about this long.
And.
'That's more than enough time to tear this bastard apart.'
RUMBLE!
WHOOSH!
With a thunderous roar like a storm descending, Se-woon surged forward like a streak of lightning.
Panic flashed in Heo So-chang's eyes.
'What?!'
Se-woon had suddenly vanished from his sight.
Heo So-chang frantically scanned his surroundings.
This shouldn't be possible.
Even if that hidden weapon was a Divine Artifact, fine—but how could he, with such a clear advantage in cultivation, lose track of his opponent's movements?
Whoosh!
Then, Se-woon's face abruptly appeared right before his eyes.
'Huh—!'
In panic, Heo So-chang hastily crossed his gauntlet-clad arms—
"—Ghk!!"
CRUNCH!!
Se-woon pivoted on his left foot, driving his elbow into Heo So-chang's face.
With a sickening crunch, the man's jaw shattered.
BOOM!!
Unable to withstand the force, Heo So-chang was sent flying, crashing into the pavilion.
But Se-woon gave him no time to recover.
WHOOSH!
He charged forward again instantly.
With innate true energy alone, even Se-woon couldn't overwhelm a perfected Transcendent Realm expert.
But with Reverse Heaven Energy in play, the situation was entirely rewritten.
Se-woon's eyes burned with bloodlust and madness.
'Heo So-chang, you're not even fit to lick Dokma's boots.'
The reason he had struggled against Dokma before was because the man wielded power far beyond his cultivation level.
Not all Transcendent Realm experts were equal in strength.
A forcibly broken-through realm, lacking true enlightenment, was nothing but poison.
"Cough! Gah...!!"
Heo So-chang, embedded in the pavilion where the late-stage experts had feasted, spat out black blood.
'Why... how... what... me... why??'
His thoughts were in disarray.
But only for a moment. As the shock slowly subsided—
Click.
"—!!"
Se-woon appeared before him like a wolf closing in on prey.
CRACK!
Without pause, Se-woon drove his elbow straight into Heo So-chang's throat.
Half-Holy Unarmed Arts
Third Stance
Cycle of Slaughter
Like an endless cycle of reincarnation—
Se-woon didn't just use his fists.
Elbows, knees, shoulders, heels, shins—
Every part of his body became a weapon, each strike wreathed in the golden threads' swirling vortex.
WHIIIR!
An unbroken chain of relentless blows, each wrapped in the storm of black threads.
CRUNCH! CRACK!
Each impact was accompanied by a sickening sound of shattering.