Chapter 40
Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Formless Clash
"Hey, cut it out."
Where do you think you're groping Eun Garyeon with those filthy hands?
Man, that was close.
'Nearly fucked up big time.'
I'd timed my arrival to the last second, but I hadn't expected it to be this late.
The stench of blood stung my nose—dozens must have already been slaughtered.
'Why the hell did this bastard show up two days early?'
Im Jungdo had said it'd be a month, and I'd taken his word for it hook, line, and sinker. Nearly spelled disaster.
Eun Garyeon was moments from being kidnapped, and Jang... Jang...?
'Why the hell is he over there?'
He was slung unconscious over Chu Munrak's shoulder.
I could sense his energy—he was still alive, at least.
As I hurriedly sized up the situation, Chu Munrak scowled and grabbed the back of Jang's neck, thrusting him forward.
"Aigoo. You must be the backup this fool called in."
"Yeah, something like that."
"Hmmm, that's odd. I can't sense your internal energy or presence at all... You couldn't possibly have reached the Return to Innocence stage already. What technique have you cultivated?"
A grin tugged at my lips without me realizing it.
"Maybe I have reached Return to Innocence?"
"Impossible. No way someone your age has entered the Transformation Realm. Guess I'll have to check for myself."
No sooner had Chu Munrak finished speaking than the air around us grew heavy.
At the same time, a familiar energy brushed against my skin.
'This is...?'
The sensation was so familiar that I tilted my head and asked him directly.
"No way... You've cultivated the Formless Technique?"
"How do you know the name of my unique art...? No, wait—how are you even speaking? You've already escaped the Formless Aura?"
Hah, for real?
The Formless Technique.
It might not rank among the ultimate arts, but it was still a damn useful one.
Especially against opponents far below your level—it was devastatingly effective.
And the downside...?
'It does jack shit against equals.'
In other words, it was a civilian-slaying technique.
Why did I know this so well?
"What the...? How do you handle Formless Aura?!"
Because it was one of my go-to arts.
A gift from the Four Black Alliance leader back in my Lecherous Demon days...
'So this was his?'
Regression really lets you experience it all.
Chu Munrak's face twisted in panic as he shook off my Formless Aura.
Then he started denying reality.
"No way... Must've just been a similar technique. Time to inspect yours!"
Chu Munrak's form blurred and vanished.
He reappeared right in front of me, swinging his leg.
'Formless Kick.'
One of the Formless Technique's signature moves.
I countered with my own Formless Kick.
KABOOM!
An explosion roared out—unbelievable from mere legs colliding.
'Internal energy's about even.'
Neither of us budged, shins locked.
Chu Munrak's face contorted in agony.
"Who... who the hell are you?"
Guess he finally accepted that I knew the Formless Technique.
I flashed a grin, shins still pressed together.
"Didn't Im Jungdo tell you?"
"Im Jungdo? Who's th—oh, that guy."
He took a step back at my words.
Then glanced somewhere.
Following his gaze, I spotted a corpse with its head bashed in.
The pose and blood splatter told the whole story.
"Tch. Can't even reward a disciple who suffered for me..."
Didn't he say he'd infiltrated for four years for his master?
This was the problem with righteous faction scum.
They called them master and disciple, but treated them like disposable pawns.
Chu Munrak perked up like he'd had a brilliant idea.
"Fine. I'll make you my disciple too—as a special exception. But you have to reveal where you learned the Formless Technique."
"Are you insane? Wait, I knew you were crazy, but this bad?"
Ignoring me, he kept babbling.
"Unlike that fool, I'll recognize you as my direct disciple. You've already mastered the Formless Technique—you're more than qualified."
"Tsk tsk. Who'd want to be disciple to someone weaker than them?"
His face twisted at "weaker."
"But first, you need some manners drilled into you!"
His form blurred again.
Same scene replayed.
KABOOM!
Shins locked once more.
I felt his pupils quiver.
"That all you got? Nothing besides the Formless Technique?"
"Sh-shut your mouth!"
Fists and legs clashed in rapid succession.
Earth-shaking blasts echoed impossibly from human bodies.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Perfectly even.
No damage, no scratches.
In that deadlock, a wave of disappointment washed over me.
My current realm: early Transformation Realm.
I'd arrived late because I'd been breaking through from Pinnacle Realm to Transformation when the signal flare went up.
'Wasted all that tension.'
Four Black Alliance elders were all Transformation Realm or higher by default.
So I'd trained expecting at least that...
'Just the Formless Technique?'
Like I said, it's useful.
Against fodder.
Should've just come as I was.
I could've beaten this guy at Pinnacle Realm.
"You wouldn't happen to be the weakest of the Four Black Alliance elders, would you?"
"Y-you... What nonsense is that?!"
He denied it, but his face turned beet red—hit a nerve.
I regretted it all over again.
'Overtrained for nothing.'
I'd based my training on the strongest elders I'd met before.
Didn't know this guy's level.
But this was it...?
"Nope, can't do this anymore. Time for you to eat some hits."
I stopped playing along and gripped my sheathed sword.
No need to draw it for trash like him.
Getting the message, his face flushed even deeper.
"How dare you, against me, Chu Munrak...!"
Trembling with wounded pride.
I swung the sheath at his head and dropped the important fact.
"I'm Mok Jimyeong, asshole!"
THWACK!
A strange sound reached Jang Yunho's ears as he came to.
Like a pig being slaughtered.
'Ugh... What the...'
His whole body throbbed.
He recalled the scene just before blacking out.
'Merchant Group Leader!'
He tried to rise, but his limbs wouldn't obey.
Circulating his energy, he barely managed to sit up and scan around.
'Where's the Leader...'
He realized he was still in the Eun Merchant Group's compound.
And so was Eun Garyeon.
'Thank goodness. She's safe.'
She sat right where she'd been.
But something felt off.
Her eyes were wide, mouth agape, staring somewhere.
'What's wrong with her?'
Jang Yunho followed her gaze, turning his head.
It hurt like hell just to move his neck, but he managed to look.
And there...
'Who the hell are those guys...?'
One man was beating another with a sword sheath.
A one-sided thrashing.
The victim flopped helplessly like a dog in midsummer heat, not even resisting.
"Gah, wait...!"
Focusing, Jang recognized the attacker.
'Mok Jimyeong?'
The signal flare he'd fired came to mind.
Could it be...?
"Holy shit!"
Only now did he realize the one getting pummeled was Chu Munrak.
The monster—the natural disaster—he'd thought invincible...
'He's rolling on the ground?'
Doing the ultimate humiliation no martial artist would stomach: playing dead on his belly.
And even then,
THWACK!
Getting smacked by the sheath as he rolled.
"What... what the hell is going on...?"
He blinked repeatedly, thinking he was seeing things.
Nothing changed.
Mok Jimyeong was unilaterally demolishing Chu Munrak.
Dragging his aching body up in utter confusion, he shuffled toward Eun Garyeon.
"Merchant Group Leader...?"
"Ah... Ah! Jang Xiaoxie! You're safe!"
"Yes, luckily... But, uh, any idea what's happening over there...?"
She spoke as if suddenly realizing.
"Oh! You mean that?"
"Yes. I can't wrap my head around it—mind explaining?"
"After you collapsed, that guy showed up..."
Her story was straightforward.
Mok Jimyeong arrived late after Jang's flare.
They talked, then fought—evenly at first, she said.
"Then after Mok drew his sword..."
Technically the sheath, but from her distance as a non-martial artist, it looked like the blade.
Jang accounted for that.
"It turned into a one-sided beatdown...?"
"Yes. I knew Mok was skilled, but not this level."
To Jang, it wasn't "skilled"—it was beyond words.
He'd clashed with Chu Munrak himself.
Just once, but that made it crystal clear.
'Am I... dreaming?'
It made no sense.
That monster.
Chu Munrak.
"Gaaah! Stop for a second!!"
This wasn't supposed to happen.