Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: The Extremity of the Sword
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Night had deepened.
The houses of the Ghost Killer Soul Extermination Squad and the Demon Dragon Squad stood empty, with everyone gone.
In the open lot between them, Yong-un sat cross-legged.
Since returning to reality, he'd never felt the need to advance his martial arts.
Even after reaching the end of his unique martial art—the nameless manual—he'd never imagined further progress was possible.
But things were different now.
Checking his skills had shown him he hadn't truly reached the end, and now he had a reason to grow stronger.
'Royal Class, huh...'
The world was vast, full of the mighty.
To protect his own in this harsh, unforgiving land, he needed power to match.
Power so no one could look down on him.
Power that left everyone unable to gaze upon him from above.
'I won't yield.'
He needed to ascend to Royal Class—or master a martial art that surpassed it.
Ignorance would have been fine, but now he knew.
Advancing his martial arts was essential to fully protect his family.
'Now's the time.'
Royal Class didn't know him yet.
But Yong-un had uncovered their identity.
Before the powerhouses crushed him out of wariness, he had to strike first.
Or at least gain the strength to lord over them and deflect their checks.
By mastering an absolute strike through the Extremity he'd once thought was the manual's limit.
Whoosh!
A black-red Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi surged around Yong-un's cross-legged form.
Fierce winds howled, the ground trembled.
The Demon-Slaying Sword beside him danced.
The clanging grew louder, and Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi flowed from the blade.
The qi rising from Yong-un touched the sky.
Hummm.
The Transcendent Realm, beyond the Demonic.
'Does something lie beyond it?'
Time to confirm the question that had plagued him.
Through the absolute strike born of Extremity, witnessed directly with his eyes and body.
Krunch!
A furrow formed between Yong-un's brows as he sat.
The black-red qi at the base—the Extremity's purple energy—began devouring the Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi from the bottom up.
The Demon-Slaying Sword's dance slowed.
The qi within it vanished, the entire blade turning purple.
A strange, unsettling aura that felt alien just to behold.
The Extremity devoured the surging Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi, swelling in size.
'Show yourself.'
He didn't need the full absolute strike.
'Just the beginning.'
Even a glimpse of possibility would suffice.
Yong-un could be content with that.
Krunch!
The Extremity devoured the qi and shot skyward.
The pillar touching the heavens swiftly turned purple.
And as all the Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi became Extremity...
Flash!
A purple bolt of lightning struck down from the sky onto Yong-un's head.
The impact made his body twitch.
'Indeed...'
Even with eyes closed, he clearly saw what had happened.
The Extremity had met the heavens.
And the heavens responded with lightning forged of Extremity.
A feat he'd never felt or attempted.
But it was inevitable.
In the Heavenly Demon Cult, as the Sword Demon, he'd hidden his power until slaying the Blade Demon.
Such a public display had been unthinkable.
But now was different.
Let anyone see.
No reason to hide, and who could dare imitate it?
With that thought, he'd overused Extremity to grasp even a clue to the absolute strike.
'Unbelievable.'
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Truly ridiculous.
Swish. Clang!
Yong-un opened his eyes.
Purple Extremity blazed in his gaze, piercing the sky.
Humm.
No surging Extremity remained.
It had long returned to his body.
Instead, something peculiar lingered above his head.
The Extremity of the Sword.
If one slashed empty air with a sword, would it look like this?
High in the unreachable sky.
A rift like a long sword wound hung in the void, akin to a Gate.
Yong-un let out another disbelieving laugh.
"Ha ha..."
Truly unbelievable.
That it was...
This simple.
With no method known, he'd simply expended all his Extremity, channeling it per the ultimate mind technique penned by the Heavenly Thunder Child.
The Heavenly Thunder Child wasn't a martial artist.
Just an exceptional scholar versed enough in martial arts to learn and devise many.
So he'd crafted the manual but couldn't cultivate it.
But Yong-un was a demon and martial artist who'd mastered it.
True to his reign as the Sword Demon, terror of the murim, he flowed the Extremity swiftly through the practical acupoints he'd used and refined in battle—not the manual's precise ones.
And this phenomenon occurred.
"Was it you?"
Yong-un looked down at the Demon-Slaying Sword.
It hummed lowly.
Denying responsibility.
As if saying you did it.
"Is this a step toward the absolute strike?"
The humming ceased, moonlight illuminating the Demon-Slaying Sword.
Revealing its changed form.
Not the black-red blade of Crimson Heaven Demonic Qi.
"A purple blade..."
The sword now gleamed with the hue of purple Extremity.
Yong-un smiled faintly.
He gripped the Demon-Slaying Sword.
"Can you do it again?"
It hummed lowly.
Impossible.
A fluke.
"Doesn't matter. If it happened once by chance, the path is open."
The absolute strike.
The thought circled his mind: perhaps quicker to master than expected.
He withdrew the Extremity.
"I'm tired for now. Rest tonight, try again tomorrow."
Yong-un snorted in amusement.
Unbelievable.
He'd expected it to take ages.
But ignorant of the way, he'd merely poured out all his Extremity and circulated a perfect Minor Heavenly Cycle as the manual described.
"That was the key."
Or perhaps he'd known deep down.
Because it was something he'd never tried while cultivating the manual.
The absolute strike hadn't been hidden.
The Sword Demon of that era simply couldn't do it, despite it being out in the open.
'No helping it.'
Back then, the Sword Demon hid his power, sharpening his blade for revenge.
Such fortune as now was unimaginable.
Exposing himself so vastly to all would have been poison—practically begging to be killed.
"Heh."
A hollow chuckle escaped his empty heart.
Unlike the Sword Demon days, Yong-un now had no need to hide.
Time to wield his power openly.
That was the answer.
The absolute strike had never been concealed.
It had simply awaited him to draw it forth boldly.
Swish.
Yong-un drew the Demon-Slaying Sword from its sheath.
"Plenty of night left—let's enjoy ourselves properly for once."
Vrrrm!
The Demon-Slaying Sword sang louder than ever.
Yong-un moved the sword, channeling Extremity to etch his new insight into muscle memory.
= = =
Whoosh!
The final purple Extremity flickering at the Demon-Slaying Sword's tip scattered.
For the first time since returning to reality, Yong-un was drenched in sweat.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
No stickiness, just exhilaration.
Breath reached his throat's limit, his dantian empty of Extremity.
Inhaled with laughter, new Extremity filled the void where old had resided.
Fresh Extremity layered itself meticulously into place, like friends reuniting.
Shing.
Having played its fill, the Demon-Slaying Sword slipped into its sheath with a short hum.
Then silence.
He unfastened the sheath and leather strap from his side, setting it down.
Collapsing onto the spot, light footsteps approached.
"Supreme One, here's a towel."
It was Mu-hee.
Yong-un took it, naturally wiping his jaw, face, and neck.
"Must've taken long—why wait?"
"Oof."
Mu-hee sat beside him.
The ground reeked of sweat, damp everywhere.
Yet she sat without care, heedless of her fine clothes.
She gazed straight at him.
"Just wanted to see you suddenly."
"Lame excuse."
Yong-un set the towel aside, feeling the night breeze.
Moonlight still shone bright.
He'd thought hours passed, but the dim sky said otherwise.
"Looked like you enjoyed it."
Mu-hee's smile turned to him.
Yong-un eyed her curiously.
"What makes you say that?"
"It's all over your face. Hehe~"
Mu-hee stuck out her tongue, laughing cutely.
Her smile, which had stirred countless men's hearts in Gangnam alongside the Poison Witch, lit the darkness.
Unlike the Poison Witch's flawless, artifice-touched perfection,
Mu-hee's beauty blended purity and sharpness, unintended charm and allure.
Where the Poison Witch was innocent yet terrifying the more one knew her, exuding undetectable seduction no man could ignore,
Mu-hee wasn't pure but hid fearsome depths, her deliberate glances so natural they ensnared unwittingly.
Different leagues of beauty.
The Poison Witch was an instant-kill, untouchable allure that felled men at a glance.
Mu-hee was a seductive fox spirit that drowned men deeper with every encounter.
That was Mu-hee's beauty.
"You're tipsy. Why not dispel it?"
Beauty was Mu-hee's weapon.
The ultimate tool to open any man's heart.
But it failed against Supreme One Yong-un.
His cool voice, calmly assessing the situation, left Mu-hee crestfallen.
"If I planned to dispel it, I wouldn't have drunk."
"Heh."
Only then did Yong-un smile at her honesty.
"Fair point."
Yet even his smile left her downcast.
To the Poison Witch, Jeong-gun was that man.
To Mu-hee, it was Yong-un.
She didn't know when it started.
At some point, Yong-un loomed large in her heart.
Etched indelibly, like a tattoo no one else could claim.
"Supreme One."
Mu-hee called, head bowed in dejection.
"Something to say?"
Yong-un asked, gazing at the moonlit sky.
"Supreme One?"
What thought struck her?
Her face suddenly brightened with a beaming smile as she lifted her head.
Yong-un instinctively leaned away.
"What do you want to say?"
Mu-hee twisted toward him, face inches away.
"Supreme One! Don't you want a child?"
"......"
Disbelief crossed Yong-un's speechless face.
W-what?
The unexpected bombshell flustered him utterly.
Greater embarrassment than even Marquis Gristarin, his greatest threat, flushed his cheeks.
"Huh? Supreme One?"
First time.
Away from murim or reality, such fluster.
Yong-un instantly raised demonic qi, levitating Mu-hee with Air Grasp.
"Eh?"
"Stay back a bit."
He floated her far off, averting his gaze.
'A child... W-what...'
Never imagined.
Hence the shock.
No woman had approached him so boldly.
In murim, he was the Reaper of terror.
No one without multiple lives would dare.
But in reality, Yong-un was different.
Swish. Whoosh.
Bad idea teaching Fusion Killer Palm.
Mastering its essence, Mu-hee blinked to his side no matter how he pushed.
Knock her out? He considered, then dismissed.
'No matter how flustered, can't knock out a subordinate over something trivial.'
Mu-hee pressed her face close again.
"Huh? Supreme One, are you flustered?"
Her face lit up, more genuine and joyful than ever.
"Go back now."
Yong-un couldn't hold back, issuing the dismissal.
The Supreme One's word was law.
Mu-hee reluctantly pulled back, sticking out her tongue.
"At least I saw potential. I'll withdraw as ordered."
"Go already."
Yong-un raised his voice.
Mu-hee stood, channeling demonic qi.
Deploying Fusion Killer Palm to leave.
Even her short skirt blended into the night.
As she vanished...
"A child! I'll make one for sure!"
"We'll see!"
By the time Yong-un turned, she was gone.
"Knew she was bold, but tsk tsk."
Why?
Amid the irritation, a hidden warmth stirred.
'A child... family?'
Mulling her words, an unexpected worry arose.
"If my parents are to be happy... should I give them a grandchild?"
Shake shake.
But the thought passed quickly.
He shook his head vigorously, clearing his mind.
"Later for that."
Glare fixed on the moon with an annoyed scowl.
As if even it mocked him.
"Guess I'll pull an all-nighter."
He reached out to the Demon-Slaying Sword on the ground.
Overwhelming it with surging Extremity.