The Chicken or the Egg
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The martial world has a similar conundrum.
Which came first, the weapon or the martial art?
While people in the secular world argue their own points about the chicken and the egg, the stance of those in the martial world regarding weapons and martial arts is clear.
Without a doubt, it is the martial art.
It is no exaggeration to say that martial arts are the very reason a martial artist can exist as one.
Thus, martial arts are considered far more precious than weapons, which are often dismissed as mere external possessions.
However, just as there are no absolutes in this world, there are times when weapons transcend martial arts.
These are the legendary weapons, the divine armaments.
Commonly, they are called Divine Weapons.
The seven armaments of Jeok-un, which the world's gossips called the Seven Divine Weapons of the Overlord, were treasures that transcended ordinary divine weapons.
The first among them was a pair of twin swords that possessed their own will and chose their master.
One half of that pair was the sword Jeok-un now held in his hand: Il-cheon.
The criteria by which this weapon chose its master was simple.
It had nothing to do with whether the master was good or evil.
It cared only for one thing:
Does this person possess the ambition to overturn the heavens?
Indeed, anyone who learned the identities of Il-cheon's past masters would nod in agreement.
Among those who once wielded it was Dong Zhuo of the Three Kingdoms.
Il-cheon had aided Dong Zhuo, helping him rise to become the ruler of Western Liang.
Yet, at some point, the sword ceased to aid him.
It likely began when Dong Zhuo, defeated by Cao Cao and others, turned his focus entirely to self-preservation.
The reason was clear.
Dong Zhuo no longer possessed the ambition to overturn the heavens.
But now, Jeok-un possessed the burning ambition to reduce the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon to ashes and claim the world.
Burn them all, Il-cheon.
Fwoosh!
The power contained within Il-cheon was the power of the sun.
The sun is naturally warm and gentle, looking down upon all things on earth.
But when it shows its wrath, it becomes an absolute existence that burns everything to ash.
"W-What on earth...!"
Just looking at it caused No Hwang-mun's subordinates to lose their will to fight.
It was due to the ferocious aura radiating from Il-cheon.
It was utterly overwhelming.
Though it sounded contradictory, it felt like a scorching tidal wave.
As the four subordinates stood frozen, unsure of what to do, No Hwang-mun refused to believe it.
What cheap tricks...!
He refused to accept it.
At a glance, the energy seemed immense.
But he could not believe this random nobody could unleash such power.
How could some nameless bastard wield an energy that even he himself could not release or control?
It's all a lie!
Just like the Finger Flicking Art from earlier, this had to be a mere trick.
Like a reflection on water that mirrors everything perfectly but shatters at the touch of a single finger.
"Kill him!"
The moment his axe clashed with that sword, the boy's lies would be exposed.
Convinced of this, No Hwang-mun barked the order.
Dash!
At his command, the remaining members of the Geum-wol Squad lunged forward simultaneously.
Jeok-un slowly raised his sword as the enemies rushed toward him.
Just as No Hwang-mun had boasted, petty tricks were useless before overwhelming power.
He's not wrong about that.
Jeok-un swung Il-cheon straight down.
Swoosh!
Boom!
A gust of sword wind flew toward No Hwang-mun along the trajectory of the swing.
Whoosh!
"?!"
What?!
Then, to No Hwang-mun's shock, Jeok-un turned his back as if his job was done and lunged toward the four subordinates.
Crazy bastard!
No Hwang-mun scoffed at the absurd sight.
Showing one's back to an opponent in the middle of a fight?
And it wasn't even sword qi, just a gust of sword wind.
He keeps resorting to these petty tricks until the very end!
No Hwang-mun fiercely swung his great axe, which was wrapped in axe threads, toward the oncoming wind.
Whoosh!
Sword wind was a cheap trick, not even comparable to sword qi.
To No Hwang-mun, who was highly skilled in manipulating axe threads—a symbol of the Peak Realm—a mere gust of wind was nothing.
Rip!
See? His wind is torn to shreds like wet paper...
Fwoosh!
...Huh?
There was only one problem that No Hwang-mun had failed to realize.
Roar!
The sword wind was infused with an immense amount of extreme Yang energy.
"Aaargh!"
As No Hwang-mun screamed from the agonizing heat that instantly penetrated deep into his skin, Jeok-un arrived before the remaining Geum-wol Squad members.
Step!
The minds of the Geum-wol Squad members went completely blank under the unprecedented terror of death, but they struggled desperately to survive.
"Die!"
"Aaaah!"
All four of them frantically swung their weapons at Jeok-un.
It was a final, desperate strike, fueled by every drop of internal energy in their dantian.
Swoosh!
Jeok-un simply swept Il-cheon horizontally.
Without a shred of emotion, without the slightest hesitation, he moved with absolute calm.
Slash!
It was like a butcher carving meat hanging from a hook.
Slice!
Before his cold, mechanical movements...
Thud!
All four squad members were reduced to headless corpses.
Yet, the scent of blood did not fill the air.
Sizzle!
The powerful extreme Yang energy radiating from Il-cheon cauterized the wounds the instant they were cut.
However, the intense heat and the even more sickening smell of burning flesh turned the clearing into a living hell.
And Jeok-un stood in the center of it, looking like a divine general guarding the gates of the underworld.
"Ugh..."
Meanwhile, No Hwang-mun was only able to recover his composure after channeling his internal energy to its absolute limit to combat the heat.
Because of this, he was a step too late in assessing the situation.
"..."
The first thing he saw was the mangled corpses of his subordinates scattered on the ground.
Their wide-open eyes, which no one was left to close, were filled with clear terror and resentment.
So his hidden trump card was a demonic sword...!
No Hwang-mun gripped the handle of his axe tightly.
Step!
He lunged forward confidently, acting as if he weren't at a disadvantage.
No matter how special, it's still just a weapon! It will eventually kneel before superior martial arts!
Hummmm!
His cherished weapon, the Wind-Cleaving Axe, let out a low rumble.
No Hwang-mun spun the massive great axe fiercely above his head.
Rumble!
It was as if a tempest had descended upon the axe.
This was the manifestation of his ultimate martial art, the Eight Desolations Heavenly Axe.
The Eight Desolations Heavenly Axe was a martial art once used by a master of the Green Forest, a secret technique he had received as support from the Black Hegemony Castle.
It was a high-level martial art recognized even among the unorthodox factions, said to lead one to the Transformation Realm upon mastery.
Whoosh!
Following the principles of the technique, his energy surged through his limbs and meridians.
The circulating energy awakened his dormant reserves, multiplying his power at a crazy rate.
It was an amount of energy unimaginable for an ordinary martial artist who had just entered the Peak Realm.
This was the result of the numerous elixirs he had received from the Black Hegemony Castle.
As he felt the massive waves of energy coursing through him, confidence that he could never lose welled up inside him.
Rumble!
The Wind-Cleaving Axe sliced sharply through the air.
A destructive strike surged toward Jeok-un.
Ultimate Technique: Direct Breakthrough to the Underworld
The manifestation of this ultimate technique was like a storm sweeping away everything in its path.
It contained all the insights of the Peak Realm that he had accumulated throughout his life.
However...
Clang!
"?!"
Jeok-un deflected the Wind-Cleaving Axe with ridiculous ease, using only the tip of his slightly raised sword.
His brow was deeply furrowed.
"Ugh, what a garbage strike."
"..."
It was a verbal blow that utterly crushed No Hwang-mun's pride as a martial artist.
No, that's impossible!
No Hwang-mun could not accept this reality.
Convinced he had simply made a mistake, he desperately tried to deny what had just happened.
"Aaaah!"
Rumble!
No Hwang-mun unleashed the Direct Breakthrough to the Underworld once more.
This time, he poured in every single drop of his internal energy.
There was no way he could block this—!
Swoosh!
...What?
No Hwang-mun's thoughts ground to a halt.
Suddenly, Jeok-un's figure blurred and vanished right before his eyes.
He had no idea.
He did not know that speed transcending human perception appeared exactly like this.
The Giant Gate is the shadow—
Having unleashed the Giant Gate star, Jeok-un closed the distance in a single step, appearing right in front of his enemy.
A shadow disappears when the sun shines.
However, it does not truly vanish.
It merely dissolves into the sunlight.
Fwoosh!
At Jeok-un's will, the solar energy of Il-cheon and the Overlord's Divine Qi of the Giant Gate merged into one.
Jeok-un swung Il-cheon toward the descending axe.
It was not any specific stance.
It was a simple, raw slash.
Clang!
Boom!
And the Wind-Cleaving Axe shattered.
Unable to withstand the energy poured into it, the weapon burst into hundreds of fragments that scattered through the air.
Thud! Thud!
"Argh?!"
With a sickening sound, the shards of the Wind-Cleaving Axe embedded themselves all over No Hwang-mun's body.
The pain was so intense his eyes nearly rolled back into his head, preventing him from even screaming.
Jeok-un merely sneered at him.
Slash!
He cleanly severed No Hwang-mun's left arm.
"Aaargh!"
"You idiot. If it was blocked the first time, did you really think doing the exact same thing again would work?"
Jeok-un clicked his tongue.
He slowly walked toward the man, who was clutching his bleeding stump and stumbling backward in sheer terror.
"D-Don't... Stay back!"
"You really thought you'd become some supreme master just by practicing a half-assed martial art thrown to you by the Black Hegemony Castle?"
Slash!
"Aaargh!"
The sound of slicing flesh and screams harmonized.
Jeok-un continued his sword strikes, kindly imparting his wisdom. This time, he slashed No Hwang-mun across the face with Il-cheon.
The heat contained in the blade melted the skin the instant the wound was made.
"You forced down elixirs before they could even dissolve properly, which is why your internal energy is so full of impurities. How can you be this pathetic?"
Slash!
"Aaargh!"
With a heavy thud, No Hwang-mun collapsed to the ground.
He tried to stand, but it was impossible.
One of his ankles had been completely severed.
In an instant, he had been reduced to a man with one arm and one leg.
"U-Ugh..."
The pain was so excruciating that tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
But it was an illusion. No tears came.
His tear ducts had already been burned away by the heat of Il-cheon.
I-I have to escape. If I can just make it back to the castle, I'll live.
No Hwang-mun desperately tried to think of a way to flee.
"Look at your eyes darting around."
Before he could even attempt anything, Jeok-un suppressed him.
Slash!
He severed No Hwang-mun's remaining ankle.
"Aaaaaaargh!"
No Hwang-mun's sanity snapped.
His mind crumbled completely under the unimaginable pain.
He begged miserably for his life.
"P-Please... Please... spare me..."
"Hmm? I am going to let you live."
Swoosh!
Thud!
Jeok-un shattered the man's dantian.
"For now, at least."
"Ugh...!"
Tremble.
No Hwang-mun's entire body began to convulse violently from the agonizing pain of his destroyed dantian.
Then, foaming at the mouth, he lost consciousness.
A heavy silence settled over the area.
"Well, time to wrap things up."
Jeok-un turned and walked toward his next destination.
It was the castle of Sadocheon, where the initiation trial was being held.