Chapter 157
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: No Retreat in Battle, Mercy in Slaughter (2)
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Just before the Sword Demon, Wi Ji-ryang, slipped away from the riverbank to evade the Alliance Leader.
"Master. How does one reach the Harmony Realm?"
In the nearly completed garden of the Geumhyeon Sect, Geum Sihyeon cautiously posed the question while eagerly pouring wine into Wi Ji-ryang's cup.
Breaking through the shell, scaling the walls.
He believed he had fully mapped out the path ahead, yet standing before the vast, open plain left him with a vague sense of unease.
Of course.
"You think you'll shove every dish on the table straight down your throat the moment you pick up the spoon? Don't be ridiculous. You'll choke."
Wi Ji-ryang snorted derisively as he gulped down the wine.
But.
Despite the gentle rebuke, Geum Sihyeon continued to gaze at him with a solemn expression.
The usual cheerfulness was nowhere to be found.
"Why the sudden rush?"
This wretched disciple rarely wagged his tail like a rain-soaked puppy before him, so Wi Ji-ryang's curiosity was piqued.
"Well... I might have to throw down with a Profound Realm expert within the next two years."
"You're no longer my disciple."
"After all I've eaten from you so far── Ack!"
Crack!
Geum Sihyeon momentarily forgot his place and tried to expose his corruption amid the sudden disturbance, but he was swiftly suppressed with violence.
Watching the sight, Wi Ji-ryang clicked his tongue.
"Why a Profound Realm all of a sudden? Planning to become a public enemy of the martial world or something?"
"Ugh... As if... I'm Geum Sihyeon, the upright hero of the righteous faction..."
"Bullshit. You'd fit right in with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."
Geum Sihyeon shook his head at Wi Ji-ryang's frank assessment.
But in Wi Ji-ryang's eyes, Geum Sihyeon had already gone too far to turn back.
How could a man the Young Cult Leader had set her sights on escape the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's grasp?
Moreover, Luri had brazenly built a branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult right next to the Geumhyeon Sect.
Judging by the Cheon family's tenacity, at least in Wi Ji-ryang's view, there was no way out for Geum Sihyeon.
Unless the Geumhyeon Sect grew stronger than the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult itself.
"Anyway, you've walked that path before, Master. Isn't there a shortcut?"
"There is."
"What is it?"
"Follow me."
Leaving Geum Sihyeon behind.
Wi Ji-ryang headed to the freshly completed training ground, not a speck of dust in sight.
A moment later.
The two men stood in the training ground, swords in hand.
"Do you know the gap between a so-called super-peak expert and a Harmony Realm martial artist?"
Wi Ji-ryang posed the koan.
"Hmm, the density of qi aura. And unique mind-image...? Something like that?"
"That's the result. It's about embodying a single human's will into the world itself, twisting the very laws of the world with one's convictions. That's the ultimate point to reach, and the outcome is the unique mind-image. In that process, distinctions like orthodox or demonic, good or evil, lose all meaning. It's simply a matter of how sharply one hones their intent."
"Hm, indeed."
Seeing Geum Sihyeon nod, Wi Ji-ryang smirked.
"Bullshit. Just get stronger."
"Pardon?"
"The fastest way? Only one. Stake your life on it, burn it all at the edge of death. You might die pointlessly, or survive and grasp enlightenment proportional to the risk."
"Well, then──"
"Let's see you struggle. And don't blame my sword for being merciless."
"Pardon?"
Wi Ji-ryang cut off Geum Sihyeon's words, fully embodying his mind-image into the world, lightly slicing through the air with otherworldly grace.
The intent of wanting to clash swords fairly and squarely anytime, anywhere was etched into his blade, as inky-black energy began to overflow around them.
He hadn't gone all out.
But the domain was vast enough to encompass the entire training ground.
Martial Arts Return to Basics.
Wi Ji-ryang's unique mind-image, forcing the world's laws to fight solely with martial techniques ingrained in the body, excluding accumulated internal energy known as qi reserves.
"Let's see just how much you've honed your swordsmanship..."
But.
Shock flooded Wi Ji-ryang's eyes.
"You, you, how?"
"...It just worked?"
Clearly, Wi Ji-ryang's will dominated this world right now.
Yet Geum Sihyeon's sword bore qi aura.
And.
"Hm... You started first, Master?"
The upright hero of the righteous faction.
Geum Sihyeon never missed an opponent's weakness.
About fifteen minutes later.
"This... makes... any sense?"
Not only had he danced on the edge of life and death against Wi Ji-ryang's sword, devoid of any internal energy, but after being battered head to toe with the scabbard to boot.
Geum Sihyeon lay sprawled on the ground like a starfish.
"You're still a good ten years too early, kid."
Wi Ji-ryang smiled contentedly, having humbled his recently arrogant disciple.
"How...?"
"Eyes, kid. Eyes. No matter how vast your internal energy, what's the point if you can't read your opponent?"
Now I finally understood my master's words completely.
A martial artist needs good eyes.
And I could freshly appreciate just how absurd the Moon Mixing Divine Eyes were.
Not through the five senses, but as if one with nature, the flow of energy around me felt crystal clear.
Every subtle muscle twitch with each breath, every shift from relaxation to tension, even the strands of true qi coursing through meridians.
If I borrowed from past-life memories for the closest analogy.
It felt akin to... no, exactly like the world's navigation system.
This was.
The true potential of the Moon Mixing Divine Eyes.
"Th-this, insane...! You're a seed of the Heavenly Demon!"
"Rude. It's orthodox martial arts."
Some fossil still clung to outdated views, stubbornly dividing divine and demonic arts like a stubborn old mule.
Well then.
Time to die?
With the formation dispelled, I swung my sword freely at vital points without reservation.
This one was a different breed from the lecherous demon.
No need to hold back.
Besides.
"Harmony Realm, and that's all you've got? Why not deploy your unique mind-image?"
"Kuh...!"
The Poison King was like this, and now the Illusion Demon too.
I couldn't fathom why these so-called Harmony Realm experts bungled their unique mind-images.
Were they even Harmony Realm to begin with?
Just hype built on rumors?
"Whoa."
I barely deflected the qi aura slithering toward my chest like a serpent.
Judging by how he scattered it wildly, maybe not...
"You bastard, how!"
I didn't know the reason.
But every time I deftly evaded, the Illusion Demon's eyes bulged as he bellowed.
"Lived your life only fighting pushovers? Gonna let me blatantly target your vitals?"
"Die!"
Hm.
To this body that had learned the true Lion's Roar from the Supreme Under Heaven's bald monk, you dare strike first?
I won't lose.
"Roar──!"
Unleashing the Lion's Roar (genuine article) taught by the Supreme Under Heaven, Hosoin, the foul energy the Illusion Demon had gathered dispersed into the air in an instant.
True to his name, he'd tried subtle illusions throughout the fight, even secretly drawing a formation on the ground.
Life should be like Geum Sihyeon.
Upright and honorable.
The Illusion Demon couldn't comprehend this situation, or the man before him.
The internal energy he wielded was pure and pristine, likely some supreme Daoist art. Already a bad matchup.
Yet the pattern etched in his eyes clearly marked him as a practitioner of the Heart Moon Void Image Art, the Illusion Demon Cult Leader's exclusive technique.
And the swordsmanship cunningly targeting only his weaknesses, like a mad dog, was unmistakably the Blood Wolf Sword Technique of the demonic cult.
Moreover, the invisible, sinister palm strikes interspersed bore a mix of extreme yang and extreme yin qi.
How could one man wield all these arts and energies so freely?
Even.
"Virtual-real mutual generation, heavenly shadows in endless dance...!"
As his moniker suggested.
He had mastered illusions to their limit.
But.
"What're you babbling, otaku?"
His illusions had no effect on Geum Sihyeon.
Not just illusions—even his unique mind-image, One Palm Dream State, left no impact on Geum Sihyeon's mental world.
His trump card sealed away.
Moreover.
"Whoa, that's a bit sharp."
"......"
Not some rejuvenated elder, just a young punk.
How could his understanding of martial arts run so deep?
Not only did he dismantle his ultimate techniques just by observing them and exploit gaps to strike back.
"Hm, like this?"
"......!"
Without cultivating the same heart method, he even replicated his techniques in nearly identical form.
A talent beyond belief, even seeing it with his own eyes.
"Damn it...!"
His only consolation was the overwhelming gap in internal energy.
Boom, crash! Kaboom!
Even hurling qi rings wildly, the demon exploited the gaps to counterattack relentlessly.
And despite his own accumulating wounds, he charged back like a maniac, unfazed.
At this rate.
The words inevitable defeat flickered unbidden in the Illusion Demon's mind.
"Wait! D-do you really intend to kill me? I know what Hong Seondeok is plotting!"
"That's none of my business?"
Uncharacteristically bold words for a mere underling.
In truth, the Illusion Demon had suspected as much.
Geum Sihyeon was no toy for the likes of Hong Seondeok to play with atop her palm.
In that case.
Better to preserve what power remained for the future.
Even if it meant losing some accumulated internal energy and owing that woman a debt, plotting for later was wiser.
The Illusion Demon invoked his final resort.
Soul Return Great Law.
The moment the sorcery unfolded, the world's laws began to twist slightly, his soul gradually transferring to the body he had prepared in advance.
The fleetingly exposed unguarded chest.
Geum Sihyeon, naturally, didn't miss it.
Slash──
The Illusion Demon's head separated from his body and rolled across the ground.
For a human, it would be fatal.
"Kekeke... Disappointed? That I don't die so easily?"
With body and soul already separated, the Illusion Demon mocked Geum Sihyeon through his lips.
The losses from switching bodies could be recovered by devouring a sect or two anyway.
"Don't think this is the end. Soon, you'll regret not accepting my offer today... Huh...?"
The Illusion Demon's smirk froze.
Not just because his body was disintegrating unnaturally fast.
His internal energy—specifically, the lost souls he had amassed through massacres and elixir consumption—was being sucked away somewhere along with his soul.
At the center.
"Ugh, couldn't eat this even if I wanted to."
Geum Sihyeon briefly held the lost souls he had painstakingly gathered over decades before releasing them into the air.
"Y-you, you, you mad bastard──!"
The Illusion Demon roared in utmost fury.
But his body was already beyond his control.
All he could do was watch helplessly as his life's work scattered away.
The Illusion Demon's gaze glared at Geum Sihyeon with fiery hatred.
"One day, one day I'll kill you! I swear it! You'll regret this day!"
At that cry.
"Heh..."
Geum Sihyeon's eyes and lips twisted oddly.
Stepping forward to loom over the severed head, he squatted down.
"Yabetei."
Leaving behind a cryptic phrase incomprehensible to the Illusion Demon.
And then.
Whoosh.
"Gaaahhh──!"
As if searing his very soul, an intense burning agony erupted amid rising flames.
The Illusion Demon sank into darkness.