Chapter 45
Pak!
Spotting the rain of hidden weapons, Bu Eun-seol immediately launched himself into the air.
Clank, shhhhhhk!
At that moment, another volley of hidden weapons poured toward the spot where Bu Eun-seol had leaped.
The hidden weapon devices had been installed with the prediction that he would spring upward from the rope to evade.
"Look at that!"
Just as Je Un, who had been watching, let out a regretful exclamation,
Tuk.
Bu Eun-seol, who had been falling downward, struck the top of his left foot with his right ankle, and using that counterforce, soared up into the air once more.
"The Heavenly Ladder?"
Je Un, who had been observing, gaped in astonishment.
This movement technique, also called Stepping Into the Void, is a method of striking one's own foot to leap a second time.
However, the Heavenly Ladder technique is quite difficult to use, for it requires not only reaching the realm of free energy emission but also delicate physical body control.
Hwirik.
Bu Eun-seol, having soared into the air once more, performed a somersault and descended back to the ground. At that moment,
Paaaaaah!
This time, an enormous number of hidden weapons poured down, enough to cover even the space to evade entirely.
"Danger!"
Je Un, who had been watching, shouted loudly.
It was because the number of hidden weapons was so great that there was no way to avoid them without jumping down.
Swwwish.
At that moment, faint afterimages began streaming from Bu Eun-seol's body as he stood upon the rope.
Simultaneously, the pouring hidden weapons began to graze past his body.
Kwawuuu!
Continuously emitting afterimages, Bu Eun-seol began charging forward through the rain of hidden weapons.
It was the Ultimate Speed Shadowless, the supreme movement technique that simultaneously employs movement technique and footwork technique.
"Th-that's..."
The eyes of the Innovation Unit members, who had realized that the movement technique Bu Eun-seol was displaying was the Ultimate Speed Shadowless, all went wide.
A boy not even of age, freely wielding an advanced movement technique where a single mistake could shatter his legs?
Whirrrrr!
Bu Eun-seol, having broken through all the hidden weapons and landed on the opposite cliff, immediately entered the guard post.
Clunk.
When he opened the door and entered, there were two men inside the post.
But with willow leaf flying blades embedded between their brows, they had already become cold corpses.
'So that's the mechanism device.'
Bu Eun-seol, having spotted a long iron bar installed inside the post, pulled it forward with all his strength.
Kung.
With a low vibration, the hidden weapon devices that had been open toward the front of the post withdrew back into the wall.
'Done.'
Bu Eun-seol came outside and waved his hand toward the Innovation Unit.
Then the members of the Innovation Unit, who had been standing on the opposite side, began crossing the single rope one after another.
Fwoosh. Tak.
Je Un, having arrived at the opposite cliff, patted Bu Eun-seol's shoulder and said.
"So you have learned Master Go's Ultimate Speed Shadowless."
"That is correct."
"Impressive."
At that moment, So-jeon, who had crossed the rope last, let out a scoff.
"Hmph, don't react to every little thing."
Seeing So-jeon pass by coldly, Je Un wore a playful smile.
"No need to mind it. The unit leader is naturally stingy with praise."
"It's fine."
The Innovation Unit members who had climbed onto the cliff walked slowly along the path leading downward.
Then the entrance to a large cave leading into Wind Thunder Valley appeared.
The footsteps of the Innovation Unit, which had been moving cautiously, came to a halt.
It was because the end of the cave was blocked off, and below it a small pond was visible.
"If you dive through this pond and cross it, there is an exit, and that place is the entrance to Wind Thunder Valley."
One of the members who had been walking at the front stopped and began explaining.
"The problem is that beneath this pond are hundreds of ice crystals."
"Ice crystals, you say."
As So-jeon stroked his chin, the member said.
"To pass through the frozen pond, one must swim while constantly circulating internal energy."
"So this is how Wind Thunder Valley has survived like a weed."
At Je Un's exclamation beside him, the member nodded.
"That's right. From the start, it is a place difficult to enter for anyone who has not undergone Wind Thunder Valley's human modification."
"The length of the pond?"
At So-jeon's question, the member answered quickly.
"No matter how fast you swim, it will take at least a quarter-hour to reach the entrance."
"So you're saying we have to hold our breath and push our internal energy to the limit for a full quarter-hour."
At that, the members of the Innovation Unit wore tense expressions.
Internal energy is something drawn up through breathing. To sustain internal energy for a quarter-hour on a single breath requires both enormous lung capacity and profound internal energy at the same time.
"We're in for some hardship. Let's move out."
At So-jeon's words, the Innovation Unit members drew deep breaths and began entering the pond.
One by one, the squad members went in, and when it was Bu Eun-seol's turn, Je Un spoke.
"You wait here."
No matter how solid Bu Eun-seol's internal energy was, he was still not even twenty years old.
That was because Je Un had absolutely no expectation that the boy could sustain internal energy for a quarter-hour on a single breath.
"I'm fine."
But Bu Eun-seol walked toward the pond without hesitation.
"You're saying you can hold your breath and raise your internal energy for a quarter-hour?"
Je Un said, his eyes flashing.
"This is not a place you can enter through sheer willpower."
"It's not willpower."
Bu Eun-seol said with an indifferent expression.
"Holding my breath is something I've practiced for a long time since childhood."
"Still, no."
But Je Un shook his head.
"Even if you can hold your breath, if you fail to properly raise your internal energy, the ice crystals will severely damage your body."
At that moment, So-jeon grabbed Je Un's shoulder and spoke.
"Let him be."
"What?"
"From now on, if that kid says he'll do something, don't stop him."
"Squad Leader."
"Because that's in place of the exam."
Leaving behind those brief words, So-jeon—
Splash.
With an indifferent face, he entered the pond.
"Then I'll go in."
Bu Eun-seol entered the pond filled with ice crystals without hesitation.
'Hoo-ip.'
Submerged in the pond, Bu Eun-seol raised his internal energy at full power.
A single ice crystal could turn an entire well into a block of ice. And yet there were dozens of ice crystals at the bottom of the pond?
If he didn't raise his internal energy like mad, his blood vessels would freeze in an instant.
'Hm?'
But Bu Eun-seol, having raised his internal energy, blinked.
He had thought that the moment he entered, a piercing cold energy would wrap around his blood vessels, yet he felt no cold energy at all.
'Did the ice crystals disappear?'
Sensing something strange, Bu Eun-seol looked down below the pond.
There, white ice crystals were firmly embedded like pillars, endlessly emitting white cold energy.
'Strange.'
He reached out his hand toward the cold energy emanating from the ice crystals, but still felt no cold energy whatsoever.
Rather, he even felt a pleasant warmth, as if touching moderately tempered water.
'The ice crystals' potency must have worn out.'
But this was Bu Eun-seol's misconception.
Due to the incident at the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol's hidden acupoint had activated, and his Reverse Polarity Heart Method had already entered the third stage.
In other words, he had reached the realm of Fire and Water Immunity, where hot and cold energy cannot invade the body.
However, Blood Vajra had not expected Bu Eun-seol to display such rapid progress, so he had not explained the stages of the Reverse Polarity Heart Method.
Because of that, Bu Eun-seol still did not know what level his internal energy had reached, nor what abilities could be obtained at each stage.
Splash!
At last, Bu Eun-seol emerged from the pond.
"Hoo."
Then he could see the Innovation Unit members gasping for breath.
Holding one's breath while raising internal energy at full power was a task that consumed more stamina than sprinting dozens of li at full speed.
Hsssss.
Several squad members raised Searing Yang Energy to dry their ice-covered clothes.
'So the water was cold?'
Bu Eun-seol glanced at the faces of the squad members who were diligently performing inner training.
Every one of them seemed to be raising their internal energy at full power, pouring fierce energy from their entire bodies.
"Finish your inner training within a quarter-hour. We will advance immediately after."
At So-jeon's shout, the remaining squad members also closed their eyes and began inner training.
The only ones not performing inner training were So-jeon, Je Un, and Bu Eun-seol.
'So the Deputy Pavilion Lord wasn't making a fuss over nothing after all.'
So-jeon's eyes, which had been staring blankly at the sitting Bu Eun-seol, flashed.
'I'll find out soon enough, anyway.'
Whether he truly was a prodigy of peerless martial arts who could learn martial arts in real battle, or whether he had simply overreached himself—it would soon become clear.
Because a bloody battle of life and death was about to unfold.
So-jeon, who had been scanning the unit members, slowly rose to his feet.
"Is everyone ready?"
At So-jeon's words, the eyes of the Innovation Unit members, who had finished their rest, flashed in the darkness.
"Then let us begin."
So-jeon, who had drawn the great blade from behind his back, grinned, baring his fangs.
At last, the all-out battle between Langya Pavilion's supreme unit, the Innovation Unit, and Wind Thunder Valley had begun.
The origin of the Body Strengthening Technique is the Veneration Cult's Cloud Body Strengthening Grand Law.
Afterward, numerous heretical sects researched body strengthening techniques that could grant superhuman strength in a short time.
And Wind Thunder Valley, by adding bodily modification and drugs to the secrets of the Body Strengthening Technique, created a unique body strengthening technique called the Power Liberation Technique.
The humans who undergo this Power Liberation Technique are called Power Liberation Demons, and it is said that they not only display powerful strength rivaling that of murim masters, but that emotions such as fear completely vanish from them.
The heart of Wind Thunder Valley.
The masters of the Innovation Unit were ceaselessly cutting down the Power Liberation Demons that poured out.
Not only the key figures of Wind Thunder Valley, but even the coachmen and attendants had all undergone the Power Liberation Technique, so their numbers were truly beyond counting.
Shat! Paaat!
Bu Eun-seol, who had been cutting down Power Liberation Demons while swinging his longsword, flashed his eyes.
'They've even eliminated pain sensation.'
Even when limbs were sent flying by weapons, the Power Liberation Demons charged in without the slightest hesitation.
Whatever special secret method they had used, the Power Liberation Demons had not only fear removed, but even the sense of feeling pain.
Whirik!
Bu Eun-seol, who had dodged a sickle flying from behind his back, swung his longsword once more.
Pushoot! Paaaa!
In an instant, he cut the throats and vital points on the chests of three Power Liberation Demons, and blood sprayed in all directions.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh!"
But the Power Liberation Demons burst into laughter and swung their weapons.
If a human lacks the reactions and movements that a human ought to have? No matter how great a master, one can only be caught off guard.
Saaak!
At that moment, five or six groups of Power Liberation Demons rushed toward Bu Eun-seol.
The Power Liberation Demons, charging as a single mass, were closing the distance while absorbing the sword techniques Bu Eun-seol poured out with their bodies.
'I need to raise the power.'
Ordinary sword strokes could not put down the Power Liberation Demons at once.
Just as Bu Eun-seol was about to lower his body to use a technique that could increase power even if the movements were slower,
Bang!
With a thunderous sound, a great blade shot out in front of Bu Eun-seol and turned the Power Liberation Demons into bloody pulp in a single blow.
It was a single stroke from the Innovation Unit leader, So-jeon.
"Youngster, you're in the way, so fall back!"
And before Bu Eun-seol could even answer, So-jeon swung his great blade and advanced forward.
Whoosh! THUD-THUD-THUD!
As So-jeon opened a path with his great blade, the masters of the Innovation Unit poured out their sword techniques and assisted him.
Whether the strengthened humans were steeped in drugs, unable to use martial arts, or unable to feel pain...
The masters of the Innovation Unit mechanically blocked the pouring attacks and counterattacked.
If the strengthened humans were wild beasts that knew no fear, then the masters of the Innovation Unit were like killing machines forged of metal.
Hwiik. Fwoooosh.
Sprays of blood flew from all directions.
Each time, the strengthened humans that came flying collapsed in droves.
'Right. I came here to learn ultimate arts.'
Bu Eun-seol shook the blood flowing down the sword blade. Only then did he recall the purpose for which he had come to this place.
'From now on, I must observe and learn the sword techniques!'
Unfolding the Ultimate Speed Shadowless, he had been dodging the attacks of the Power Liberation Demons, and now he began to spectate the battles of the Innovation Unit masters.
How much time had passed?
Bu Eun-seol's gaze had, before he knew it, become fixed on three people.
So-jeon, the Innovation Unit leader, who swung his massive great blade like lightning.
Je Un, the vice leader, who wielded a heavy sword in one hand while continuously scattering willow leaf flying blades with the other.
And Han Dan, a member of the Innovation Unit, who used a simple yet powerful sword technique.
Bu Eun-seol had discerned that these three masters not only possessed the most outstanding martial arts among the Innovation Unit members, but also used very mysterious and unique martial secrets.
'I must learn those three techniques without fail!'