Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Chapter 12 - Mission, Investigation (9)
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Mok Ri-won refined his senses.
The ferocious inner energy coursing through his entire body had already overflowed its vessel.
What stimulated that inner energy was thick killing intent and savage Demonic Qi.
And a dazed gaze.
“That’s all it takes… to pierce through.”
Yeon Ri-geon muttered as he readjusted his grip on his sword.
It was different from before.
He was employing a clear form of swordsmanship.
“…Arrogant. But plausible.”
Whoosh!
Crimson-black Demonic Qi enveloped his sword and his entire body.
“That is the karma of the Heavenly Slaughter.”
Crunch!
Yeon Ri-geon’s right arm swelled.
It was an unnatural degree.
The taut, pulsating muscles had doubled the thickness of his left arm, allowing Mok Ri-won to recognize it as the true essence of the Demonic Art he wielded.
The killing intent grew even denser.
At the same time, it began to appear in Mok Ri-won’s vision.
In his desaturated grayish-white field of view, Yeon Ri-geon’s openings stood out in red.
‘Killing Path.’
The path to slay him.
Following that path would allow him to take Yeon Ri-geon’s breath away.
However, Mok Ri-won did not.
Victory as a killer was not true victory, and moreover, what he sought lay elsewhere.
“Dodge on your own.”
Mok Ri-won stepped forward.
Thud!
With a light sound, Mok Ri-won was suddenly right in front of Yeon Ri-geon’s nose.
He swung his sword.
Scraaaape!
The swirling black sword qi began grinding against Yeon Ri-geon’s blade like a chisel.
Yeon Ri-geon spun his body greatly, repelling Mok Ri-won.
And the moment he tried to swing his sword.
Flinch.
He rolled his eyes at the felt killing intent.
The swirling black sword qi still lingered there.
Even after Mok Ri-won had leaped far away, it remained alone.
‘Qi Skill!’
Infusing will into sword qi to harm the opponent even after leaving the sword.
It was still immature, but the basics were all in place.
Indeed, as he had declared, Mok Ri-won was challenging the Peak Realm in this very moment.
Boom!
The sword qi exploded, blood spurting from Yeon Ri-geon’s side.
However, Yeon Ri-geon gritted his teeth and readjusted his grip on his sword.
He aimed the tip at Mok Ri-won.
It resembled the stance of preparing to hurl a javelin.
The viciously surging Demonic Qi clung to the blade, flicking its tongue.
Soon, Yeon Ri-geon threw his sword.
Exploding Demon Sword, Throw.
The sword Yeon Ri-geon hurled embedded itself where Mok Ri-won had stood and detonated.
KABOOOM—!
With the explosion, thick smoke billowed up.
‘He dodged.’
Sensing Mok Ri-won’s ki aura unchanged, Yeon Ri-geon immediately dashed back to where he had thrown the sword.
At that instant, Mok Ri-won burst out from the smoke.
His silhouette shrouded in smoke shook wildly as sword light flashed.
Ten Thousand Lotuses Sword, First Form: Soul-Stealing Swift Strike.
Yeon Ri-geon cloaked his body in Demonic Qi and charged straight at Mok Ri-won with his torso.
Grrrrrind!
His skin was shredded.
However, his muscles protected him.
The moment Yeon Ri-geon thought that.
‘Again.’
Even after Mok Ri-won had withdrawn his sword, the lingering ki aura swirled on its own, once more scraping across Yeon Ri-geon’s skin.
Grrrrrind!
Twice in total.
The same attack struck repeatedly in his moment of carelessness, allowing Yeon Ri-geon to realize.
‘He’s growing more accustomed to the Qi Skill with each exchange.’
Clang!
Yeon Ri-geon recovered his sword.
And he overlaid Demonic Qi onto the blade.
He launched an offensive.
Whoosh!
The Demonic Qi around the sword swelled his form.
To the point where the sword was invisible amid the thickening Demonic Qi.
Then, as Yeon Ri-geon swung, that Demonic Qi shot forth.
Exploding Demon Sword, Slash.
Screeeee—!
The sword qi unfurled wings and flew, engulfing Mok Ri-won.
However, it did not connect.
Yeon Ri-geon’s brow furrowed.
‘An afterimage?’
Troublesome.
Qi Skill typically manifests in a form based on a single mental image, yet Mok Ri-won showed no fixed form of mental image.
The reason was obvious.
‘He’s in the process of forming it.’
Mok Ri-won had yet to complete his mental image.
Heart, Qi, Body.
Among what must be perfected to reach the Peak Realm, what he was now filling was the Heart.
At this rate, Mok Ri-won would definitively reach the Peak Realm.
Yeon Ri-geon thought for a moment.
‘Kill him before that?’
And he dismissed the thought.
His orders were to kidnap Mok Ri-won, not kill him.
Boom!
The approaching Mok Ri-won swung his sword.
It was a rigid sword.
Yeon Ri-geon revealed his discomfort as he repelled Mok Ri-won.
‘Not easy.’
Heavenly Slaughter Star.
Yeon Ri-geon realized that capturing him alive was more difficult than expected.
*
Far in the past, when Mok Ri-won was still learning the sword from Mok Seon-o in the mountains of Gangseo Province.
“Ri-won, what do you think is the difference between Pinnacle and Peak?”
That day, for some reason, Mok Seon-o posed such a question.
Despite being someone who disliked obsessing over realm distinctions.
The young Mok Ri-won had answered.
“Pinnacle wields Sword Qi Wounds Men, while Peak handles Heart Intent, right?”
Heart Intent, which could only be wielded at Peak.
From what Mok Ri-won had learned, it was the insight forming the foundation of Qi Skill: infusing a warrior’s will into inner energy to exert physical force with qi alone.
Mok Seon-o smiled faintly and corrected the young Mok Ri-won’s words.
“Half right, half wrong.”
“Yes?”
“That’s a visible distinction of realms. Not the true criterion dividing Pinnacle from Peak.”
Mok Seon-o continued.
“The reason Pinnacle and Peak differ lies elsewhere.”
“What is it?”
“Whether one stands in the realm of humans or the realm of superhumans. That is the standard.”
Mok Seon-o said.
The highest realm a human can reach is Pinnacle, and what lies beyond transcending that human is the Peak realm.
Thus, Peak is the realm of superhumans.
“All people harbor aspirations. Some dreams are so steadfast they won’t break even under the weight of the heavens. Yet that alone isn’t enough. Because dreaming is what makes one human.”
Mok Ri-won had gazed quietly at his smile.
A smile where fine wrinkles folded charmingly.
“It means humans cannot achieve their dreams as humans.”
Mok Ri-won asked.
“Then is Peak a realm for superhumans? One unreachable without talent… something like that? That’s too…”
“I must have phrased it poorly. What this master meant was different.”
“What did you mean?”
“No matter what happens, don’t collapse. Even if a towering wall blocks your path, rise again and again. Superhumans aren’t born of talent.”
This was the teaching that shaped the man Mok Ri-won.
“Those who become superhumans are always the foolish humans who burn their lives advancing toward dreams not even worth mocking.”
The teaching that made Mok Ri-won never hesitate in challenges.
“So, Ri-won, become a superhuman. Rather than being crushed as a human at the end, become a superhuman and carve your own path ahead.”
Mok Ri-won believed those words.
“You are a child capable of such feats.”
*
Mok Ri-won continued ignoring the killing intent that heated his mind.
As he did, he repeated inwardly.
‘Become a superhuman.’
Transcend humanity.
Take one more step and gaze ahead.
Realize the ideals harbored within.
Mok Ri-won had already completed his preparations.
Everything that needed to be done while trapped in the shell was finished.
‘Swordsmanship is under control.’
Through endless training, learning, and mastery while traversing the jianghu after leaving Gangseo Province, he had already climbed to the peak of the realms he could reach on his own.
‘Inner energy is ample too.’
His growth after entering the jianghu differed from before.
He no longer suppressed accumulating inner energy, and adding three spirit medicines—the Human-Faced Spider’s inner core, Marrow Cleansing Pill, and Purple Marrow Pill—had accelerated his progress.
‘Thus, it’s the Heart.’
What was needed was the mental image.
The ideal to draw while shedding humanity to enter superhumanity.
Thud!
Mok Ri-won shot toward Yeon Ri-geon.
He swung his sword.
Yeon Ri-geon blocked and counterattacked.
Then Mok Ri-won discerned the attack through killing intent and evaded.
In that process, Mok Ri-won reaffirmed.
-Become a superhuman. Rather than being crushed as a human at the end, become a superhuman and carve your own path ahead.
His master’s teaching that shaped him now.
-The jianghu is vast and deep, they say. But I believe humans are even more profound. Because their true value can’t be known from a single element. And since they change throughout life, I think we mustn’t arbitrarily judge their potential.
Spear Star Sa Baek-un.
His words that added detail to the mental image he sought.
-You’re sorely lacking. Astonishing for your age, but the jianghu doesn’t coddle the young.
Yeom So-so’s words pointing out his complacency.
Now Mok Ri-won could see farther.
He could see the jianghu.
He could see humans.
He could see himself.
And he could see the path encompassing them all.
‘The path to walk.’
What he gazed upon was the world he must traverse ahead.
Rumble!
The black ki aura swirled even more fiercely.
The inner energy unleashed its savagery, now felt as an outright roar.
His body continually craved the transmitted Demonic Qi.
Shaking it off once more, Mok Ri-won shot forward.
‘What I seek to achieve has always been one thing.’
Long ago, he had witnessed sword dance gleaming even in broad daylight.
He had beheld the beautiful, overwhelming dance of stars.
From that day, what Mok Ri-won desired was singular.
To become a star illuminating the jianghu, just like the hero he so adored.
Fwooooosh—!
Mok Ri-won’s sword qi awakened.
The endlessly spreading black ki aura began dyeing the space in darkness.
And at its center.
‘Transcend human to superhuman.’
A single sword shone like a star.
‘I will charge toward that.’
Mok Ri-won accelerated.
Yeon Ri-geon’s eyes widened greatly.
From instinctual crisis, he guarded his body with his blade.
What he cloaked himself in was Demonic Qi refined differently from before.
Demonic Qi intertwined densely, yielding not even an inch.
Exploding Demon Sword, Guard.
However, it was insufficient.
The man’s finally unfolded ideal bore such immense and heavy momentum.
Within the qi mist evoking a pitch-black night sky.
What fell upon the blade was the youthful starlight’s aspiration to roam the vast jianghu and shine.
Craaack—
A crack formed on the blade.
In that instant, light erupted.
Heart Intent, Meteor Across Ten Thousand Miles.
Starlight dyed the space in icy brilliance.
KABOOOOOM—!
In that moment, Mok Ri-won felt it.
In his mental image, the fifth constellation of the Star-Link Divine Art, which had remained empty until now, had gained its master.
He had finally entered the same world as the masters who had been walls.
‘I’ve reached it.’
Mok Ri-won smiled.
Having surpassed the Pinnacle reachable by humans, he was superhuman.
Yet still tethered to humanity, he could not speak of Transcendence.
Thus, the term was Peak Realm.
Mok Ri-won had ascended to the ranks of superhumans at the unprecedented speed no one in jianghu history had achieved, at the mere age of 18.
“Cough…!”
Blood burst from Yeon Ri-geon’s mouth.