Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Perceptions of the Supreme Masters
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One comes to see, hear, and feel many things.
This is commonly referred to as having a broad perspective.
Masters who have reached the pinnacle of martial arts have no choice but to possess such insight.
They can directly sense things others cannot see, hear, or feel.
For instance, supreme masters know that even sound has speed.
Such as when another supreme master fires an arrow or palm wind from afar.
They've experienced how the arrow or palm wind arrives faster than the resulting sound.
Supreme masters also know the detailed structure of a person's five viscera and six bowels, as well as the eight extraordinary meridians.
Without ever cutting open a body, they can perceive it all through their qi sense honed to the extreme.
Those among supreme masters who have reached even higher realms learn far more.
For example, that the earth is not perfectly flat.
That as you ascend higher into the sky, the surroundings grow colder, only to heat up again after a certain point.
And that if you climb even higher, until the sky turns pitch black and only stars sparkle around you, the earth appears round.
This was a sight experienced by only the rarest few among supreme masters.
Jeok Muryong was one such person.
Having ascended to realms others could never reach, he knew truths unknown to the world.
He simply never spoke of them, as they were hard to convey and unnecessary to share.
'Well, that Bottomless Abyss spell the elders unleashed was something I'd never seen before in my life.'
In any case, it was precisely because of this that Jeok Muryong could realize it in an instant so brief it was mere flickers.
That Hong Gak Seonsa intended to kill him.
'Interesting!'
Kraroom!
A thunderous roar echoed.
The conifers densely filling Cloud Forest snapped and shattered under the shockwaves from the two men, producing a cacophony of sounds.
Pzzt! Crack! Crunch!
Before the clamor could even subside.
Gazing at the fist humming with vibration, Hong Gak Seonsa let out a groan.
"Mmgh…!"
Another fist met the old monk's outstretched punch.
Jeok Muryong's right fist.
It was pristine, without a single scratch, as if it had always been there.
'He clashed it with a strike of similar power to cancel out my Golden Just Supreme Fist?'
"Correct."
"What…?"
As Hong Gak Seonsa startled and looked up, Jeok Muryong spoke.
"From the look on your face, you've already pieced it together in your head. Spot on. You seem as strong as that old monk."
"By 'that old monk,' do you mean Abbot Gongmun?"
"Who else?"
"Nonsense!"
Hong Gak Seonsa bellowed, drawing power from his dantian.
Whether the man's words were true or false didn't matter.
'Unless you're absolutely certain, you can't claim victory!'
In the world of supreme masters, even the slightest ripple in the mind could reverse the tide of battle.
Hong Gak Seonsa knew well that once resolved to fight, the only answer was to sever all stray thoughts.
"Haat!"
Hong Gak Seonsa's skin turned red.
At the same time, his muscles swelled as if about to burst.
Kugugugu!
As if time itself flowed backward, the wrinkled, frail form of Hong Gak Seonsa rapidly bulked up into a sturdy build.
This was the technique called Dharma Strong Body.
One of the ultimate extremes among the various external arts pursued by Shaolin Temple.
"Taat!"
With movements faster than before, Hong Gak Seonsa began pressuring Jeok Muryong.
It was a speed hard to believe came from such a massive frame.
In truth, it was only natural.
Gaining power was tantamount to gaining speed.
People often think hulking muscle-bound figures are slower than scrawny weaklings, but reality is the opposite.
Whoosh!
A straight punch like a battering ram thrust forward.
The initial form of Golden Leopard Straight Fist.
Jeok Muryong crossed his arms to block it.
Boom!
With a thunderous boom that shook the forest, Jeok Muryong's body slid back.
Hong Gak Seonsa didn't stop there, immediately pursuing with a barrage of strikes.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each one carried one-strike-kill power.
The destructive force to pulverize boulders and split mountain peaks poured onto a single human body.
Kuguk. Kuguguk.
Jeok Muryong's legs began sinking into the ground.
There was no counterattack.
He merely crossed his arms to guard his upper body while deploying protective qi for defense.
Yet the one whose expression was hardening was Hong Gak Seonsa.
'This, this bastard!'
The full force of the punches was transmitting through.
But was it dealing damage? Not in the slightest.
The reason was simple.
His own protective qi was a notch more solid than the linkage of Dharma Strong Body and Golden Leopard Straight Fist.
"Kgh!"
Combat involves countless variables and maneuvers.
But when taken to the extreme, martial arts become profoundly simple.
Pierce or fail to pierce.
Break or fail to break.
Shatter or fail to shatter.
And above all, win or lose.
It was the moment Hong Gak Seonsa thought he needed to try something else.
"Now it's my turn."
"What…!"
A flash of lightning cut off the old monk's words.
Boom!
In the tiny gap amid the endless barrage, a counterstrike exploded without mercy.
Jeok Muryong's lightning-fast punch slammed dead center into Hong Gak Seonsa's chest.
The Demon Dragon Fist Style, a fist system under the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon.
This was Dragon Fang, one of its twelve forms.
"Guhk!"
Hong Gak Seonsa's body flew back, crashing into a massive tree.
Kwajijik!
The thick trunk snapped, the upper half toppling toward the ground.
In that brief instant before it hit.
Jeok Muryong had already caught up, unleashing a storm of punches.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The situation mirrored the previous one, as if reflected in a mirror.
Only attacker and defender had swapped, yet the outcome flipped like the palm of a hand.
"Kr, krrgh…!"
Hong Gak Seonsa groaned in agony.
Blood sprayed from spots across his Dharma Strong Body.
He guarded his vitals with both arms and protective qi, but it wasn't enough against Jeok Muryong's barrage.
'I can't stay on the defensive like this!'
Pure defense in this situation was like jumping into boiling water to await death.
He had to create a variable somehow and shift the flow.
'But…!'
There was no opening.
Unlike how Jeok Muryong had found the gap in his Golden Leopard Straight Fist barrage to land Dragon Fang, Hong Gak Seonsa could find no such flaw in his onslaught.
If so?
He had no choice but to force one.
"Krrgh! Raaah!"
With a roar, Hong Gak Seonsa unleashed his inner energy explosively.
The qi bursting forth like a flood breaching a dike pushed Jeok Muryong back.
About three jang.
A pathetic result compared to the energy expended.
'No helping it!'
Hong Gak Seonsa's eyes blazed.
He scrunched his nose, and a spurt of nosebleed sprayed out.
At least the internal injuries weren't too severe.
Thanks to Dharma Strong Body's defensive prowess.
"Clearing my nose feels refreshing now."
"Does it?"
"Yes!"
Hong Gak Seonsa charged with a shout.
He kept the same Golden Leopard Straight Fist but altered his footwork.
One Reed Crossing the River, the footwork symbolic of Shaolin.
Riding a single reed across a river—it represented ultimate lightness.
The polar opposite of the utmost hardness and weight pursued by Dharma Strong Body.
But Hong Gak Seonsa knew well.
When opposing techniques fused, the power transcended simply adding the two.
"Take this!"
Golden Leopard Straight Fist flowing from One Reed Crossing the River.
Amplified by the muscle power of Dharma Strong Body and a lifetime's accumulation of a gap of inner energy.
Its power was truly one-strike-kill!
For an instant, Hong Gak Seonsa became a streak of golden light.
But the next moment.
Fwaaah!
A blade of dark crimson fangs lunged toward the light.
'What!'
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted.
Hong Gak Seonsa's body bounced back faster than it had charged.
His frame soared dozens of jang, smashing through several trees before crashing to the ground.
"Hm."
Jeok Muryong lightly shook his steaming fist.
The linkage of Dharma Strong Body, One Reed Crossing the River, and Golden Leopard Straight Fist was powerful.
A standard Dragon Fang wouldn't quite measure up.
Matching footwork lacked distance, and body reinforcement wasn't his forte.
So his conclusion was one.
"Hit harder."
The form Jeok Muryong used built on the prior Dragon Fang.
But as an enhanced variant.
The twelve forms of Demon Dragon Fist Style each had enhanced versions.
The key was concentrating more inner energy.
Seemingly simple, it required precise harmony of upper, middle, and lower dantian, making it tricky.
They were called Annihilation Forms.
For example, the punch just now was Annihilating Dragon Fang.
Its power utterly shattered Hong Gak Seonsa's ultimate technique.
It even broke the old monk's right arm and inflicted severe internal injuries.
A bit more, and it would have taken his life.
It hadn't only due to Jeok Muryong's mercy.
"Old monk, still alive?"
"Kr, uugh…."
A groan like a survival signal.
As Jeok Muryong approached, he saw Hong Gak Seonsa lying in a crater like a meteor impact.
Dharma Strong Body released, back to his frail form.
Covered in blood, right arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
"You're fine."
"Y-You call this fine?"
"You're not dead."
Jeok Muryong replied flatly, grabbing the twisted right arm.
"Wh-What are you doing?"
"To heal it, I have to set it first."
"W-Wait… Urghaaah!"
Crack!
Jeok Muryong forcibly realigned the dislocated joints.
Most snapped or crushed in the process.
"Y-You madman!"
"A man your age whining like that. Just wait a bit."
Shooo…
Jeok Muryong converted his inner energy to natural qi and infused it into the arm.
Shattered joints, bones, muscles, and flesh began regenerating.
"Mm, mmgh…."
Pain faded from Hong Gak Seonsa's voice.
Sensing the old monk stabilized, Jeok Muryong casually asked.
"You still planning to attack This Seat?"
"…And if I am, what then?"
"Next time, I'll end you."
"Monstrous bastard."
"Hmph. Seems the meaning of 'monstrous' changed while This Seat wasn't looking."
Jeok Muryong sneered.
"I subdued an old monk who recklessly tried to kill me on a whim, spared your life, and now even heal you. Truly monstrous."
"Mm."
"Answer me. Planning another go?"
"Why ask when you know the answer?"
Hong Gak Seonsa grumbled.
"It wouldn't change even if I did. I lost. A complete defeat!"
Jeok Muryong chuckled.
"Good that you know."