Chapter 298
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 298
Chapter Title: Sutra Pavilion?
At Ha Mu-baek's words, the Shaolin monks exchanged glances.
Why come to Shaolin looking for a martial world criminal?
Mad Monk of Light.
There were quite a few among them who had heard the rumors of the unprecedented martial world felon from before the Great Martial War.
However, they only knew him by the current name of Mad Monk of Light.
They had no idea he was from Shaolin.
It was the sect's shame, so it had been thoroughly concealed and hushed up.
Hyeonhwang?
If he was of Hyeon's generation, that put him on the same level as the current abbot.
Their faces showed they had never heard of such a senior monk since entering Shaolin.
A man barging in out of nowhere and spouting nonsense.
However.
The monks of Hyeon's generation.
And among the disciples of Yeon's generation, the older ones.
Their expressions changed.
They were the ones who had some vague knowledge of the sect's shame.
They naturally knew that the Mad Monk of Light was a Shaolin monk and that his dharma name was Hyeonhwang.
Some disciples of Yeon's generation only knew that the Mad Monk of Light was a Shaolin monk from Hyeon's generation.
And now this man had suddenly appeared and bluntly asked for Hyeonhwang.
He had named him precisely before even calling him the Mad Monk of Light.
The implication was that he knew everything.
What could be the purpose of this bastard who knew Shaolin's shame and had come seeking him?
"What do you mean by that, Benefactor Ha? Why seek a martial world criminal at Shaolin's main temple? We do have demonic beasts and felons confined in the Repentance Cave."
"Hyeon-gwang. That junior of yours whom you released. He must have returned to Shaolin by now, right? The forgotten martial world criminal, Mad Monk of Light, Hyeonhwang."
Hyeon-gwang grimaced at Ha Mu-baek's words.
The Shaolin monks were outraged by Ha Mu-baek's rudeness but startled by the claim that the abbot's junior was a martial world criminal.
"Can you take responsibility for those words?"
Hyeon-gwang glared at Ha Mu-baek.
"Your master, Venerable Gwanghae, left a dying wish that he absolutely must not be released, yet you went and freed him. Even defying your master's last will."
Murmurs arose here and there at Ha Mu-baek's continued words.
The claims pouring from this sudden intruder's mouth were hard to believe.
How could they accept such absurd statements?
The Shaolin monks' confusion manifested as a growing clamor.
To build his justification, Ha Mu-baek laid out every piece of information he had obtained from the Beggars' Sect.
"How could you even think to defy your master's last will? Venerable Gwanghae's dying wish as former abbot is not something for you, current abbot Hyeon-gwang, to override. Ah!"
In the midst of his tirade, Ha Mu-baek realized something.
"There must have been a way. You're the abbot, after all. You simply invoked the authority of the Luminous Jade Buddha Tablet!"
Ha Mu-baek's words rang clearly in the ears of every Shaolin monk.
It had to.
He had deliberately infused his inner power fully, ensuring his voice spread throughout the Shaolin temple grounds.
Even the monks cleaning the latrines could hear him crystal clear.
"Your words have gone too far, Benefactor Ha."
Hyeon-gwang responded calmly.
"Then? Will you show me that one in the Repentance Cave?"
"This is Shaolin's affair, Shaolin's prohibition. It is not for an outsider like Benefactor Ha to interfere."
Hyeon-gwang spoke firmly.
He stared straight into Ha Mu-baek's eyes.
Hyeon-gwang was provoking Ha Mu-baek right now.
They held the justification in this dispute. Ha Mu-baek was merely a ruffian who had barged into Shaolin.
If Ha Mu-baek struck first on top of that, their position would become even more unassailable.
Moreover, there was no evidence that he had released Hyeonhwang.
Even though he had used the Luminous Jade Buddha Tablet's authority.
It had been his pretext for legitimately informing Hyeonhwang that he was temporarily releasing him.
He had invoked the Luminous Jade Buddha Tablet's name when alone with Hyeonhwang.
It was also preparation in case the elders or retired masters questioned this matter later.
In the end.
Whether Hyeonhwang had escaped on his own power.
Or whether Hyeon-gwang had released him.
There was no way to prove it.
They could simply claim he had escaped.
At that moment.
Someone stepped forward.
Hyeon-chuk.
The Sutra Pavilion Lord.
He had come forward entirely of his own volition, unrelated to Hyeon-gwang's intentions.
Even despite Ha Mu-baek's rowdy behavior.
Because the dharma name Hyeonhwang sparked a memory.
"Abbot Senior Brother! What if the intruder in the Sutra Pavilion was Senior Brother Hyeonhwang? Then all the mysteries are solved. That would mean Senior Brother Hyeonhwang escaped the Repentance Cave... but how could that even be possible..."
He thought he had provided an answer to one mystery, only for an even greater one to emerge.
At Hyeon-chuk's intervention, Hyeon-gwang smiled inwardly.
The escape of Hyeonhwang that he had intended to lead them toward.
Hyeon-chuk, the Sutra Pavilion Lord trusted deeply by the disciples, had said it himself.
Now, no matter how much Ha Mu-baek claimed that Hyeon-gwang himself had released Hyeonhwang, the disciples would believe he had escaped.
"Sutra Pavilion?"
Ha Mu-baek's senses swept over the Sutra Pavilion in an instant.
The lingering trace remaining there.
The extremely faint afterimage of emptiness left behind when the Thousand-Handed Sarira Prajna Sutra was taken.
Ha Mu-baek felt it.
How could he forget?
Demonic Cult Leader.
It was similar to the afterimage lingering on Seok Won-cho's Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The moment he realized that.
Another bolt of insight pierced Ha Mu-baek's mind like lightning.
'Un-roe...'
It was Dan Mok Un-roe's martial art.
Emptiness Vastness Heart Method.
The somehow familiar sensation he had felt there.
The source of that familiarity was the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
True to its orthodox faction roots in the Dan Mok Clan, it carried a bright and righteous nature.
That was why he hadn't connected the familiar feeling to the Demonic Cult's Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Ha Mu-baek's face twisted.
"Interesting. Traces similar to demonic arts in Shaolin Temple of all places..."
Ha Mu-baek's reverse scale reared up.
A cold, murderous smile curled his lips.
Ha Mu-baek stared straight at Hyeon-gwang.
"Looks like some explanations are in order?"
Hyeon-gwang briefly rolled his prayer beads at the question directed at him.
This was an unexpected development.
To think.
That Ha Mu-baek would sense traces similar to demonic arts in Shaolin.
The bigger problem was Ha Mu-baek, whose eyes had gone mad facing the Demonic Cult and Blood Cult.
Hyeon-gwang had clearly seen what kind of monster Ha Mu-baek was during the previous war, the Great Martial War.
The same eyes as now.
The same murderous intent.
He swallowed dryly.
"Amitabha. Such grievous words, Benefactor Ha. You've gone too far! How dare you speak of demonic art traces in mighty Shaolin, no less the Sutra Pavilion!"
Hyeon-gwang decided to deny it vehemently for now.
At his shout, Hyeon-chuk nodded vigorously.
As Sutra Pavilion Lord, he had more right to be angry than anyone.
Demonic arts in the Sutra Pavilion!
At that moment.
Rooooar...
The air around Ha Mu-baek let out a wail.
"Conversation ends here. Bring that bastard Hyeonhwang out right now. Or I'll make him crawl out."
A sudden change.
Ha Mu-baek had already drawn his sword.
The blade gripped in reverse was now covered in inky blackness darker than darkness itself.
Ha Mu-baek raised the sword high.
"How dare you! Drawing your sword recklessly in Shaolin's grounds!"
Hyeon-gwang immediately surged his full inner power.
His robes billowed massively.
Golden qi gathered brilliantly in his palms.
A sacred and holy aura.
Diamond Tathagata Buddha Light Great Hand Seal.
Among Shaolin's seventy-two ultimate arts, it was one of the Three Great Divine Skills of Shaolin, said to be the strongest.
The palm technique that claimed the top spot among them.
The tremendous palm art that had even impressed Ha Mu-baek in the previous war.
Its preparatory form unfolded, and soon golden qi would fly toward Ha Mu-baek.
A truly hair-trigger situation.
Ha Mu-baek's movement halted.
Not because of Hyeon-gwang's Diamond Tathagata Buddha Light Great Hand Seal.
It was his senses.
While scanning Mount Solsil in all directions, turning toward Jugeuk Peak.
He felt a viscous energy.
"There?"
Sword in hand, Ha Mu-baek kicked off the ground.
A savage dragon roar erupted from Ha Mu-baek's mouth!
The Shaolin monks were stunned by the abrupt turn of events.
But not Hyeon-gwang.
"Where do you think you're fleeing!"
He knew where he was going.
But it had to look like flight.
Hyeon-gwang also kicked off the ground.
A command burst from his mouth.
"Diamond Naham! Follow me!"
Soon, thirty-six monks soared into the air.
And behind them, others moved without Hyeon-gwang's command.
All high monks of Hyeon's generation.
They had no intention of letting Ha Mu-baek go just like that.
No matter who Ha Mu-baek was.
He had crossed the line far too much in Shaolin.
Even So Hwi-woong, who had felled the Blood Cult Leader and Demonic Cult Leader, couldn't act like this in Shaolin.
Yet here was mere Hocheon Corps Leader.
Daring to.
The aura he had briefly shown was terrifying, but.
This was Shaolin.
And they were Shaolin's disciples.
Kaboom!
Ha Mu-baek hurtled forward, shattering the air.
He raced straight toward the place where Hyeonhwang was spewing dark energy.
'Different.'
The quality and power of the energy were utterly unlike when they had clashed near Ankyeong.
It must be connected to that afterimage he had felt in the Sutra Pavilion.
'So that's why.'
That explained the mid-flight escape.
Because of the demonic art lingering in the Sutra Pavilion.
"Kahahahaha! It's done!!! Kahaha! Woo woo woo!!!"
At that moment.
With a massive burst of mad laughter from the dark cave, Hyeonhwang shot into the air.
A savage lion's roar poured from his mouth.
The two met in midair before the sheer cliffs of Jugeuk Peak.
Ha Mu-baek swung his sword without hesitation.
Inky blackness extended from the blade in streams.
Hyeonhwang did not dodge but thrust out his hand in response.
The color of his qi changed.
His qi, once grayish.
Was now black.
Different from Ha Mu-baek's ink-black.
A dark black filled with ominous foreboding.
Darkness.
Darkness itself.
Kabooooom!
The cliff trembled.
Rock fragments scattered in all directions.
Yet neither yielded an inch.
Instead, they closed in even nearer, swinging sword and fist all the more ferociously.
Bam!
Bam!
Kabam!
Bam!
Jugeuk Peak shook.
Birds flapped wildly into the sky, and beasts dashed excitedly through the mountains.
All fleeing away from Ha Mu-baek and Hyeonhwang.
By then, the Shaolin monks had arrived at Jugeuk Peak.
They gaped at the clash between Ha Mu-baek and Hyeonhwang.
How.
Could that be a battle between humans?
Perhaps.
Maybe Ha Mu-baek was stronger than So Hwi-woong?
Such an absurd question floated in someone's mind.
"Th-that's Senior Brother Hyeonhwang, how could..."
Someone stared wide-eyed at Ha Mu-baek's opponent.
"How did he break the Golden Chain seal..."
The man unable to snap out of his shock.
It was Hyeon-gil.
The one who had personally received the Golden Chain seal technique from the four hundred year old Venerable Gwanghae.
That was why he had ironclad faith that Hyeonhwang could never escape.
Yet here he was, appearing like this.
'I, I must confirm it.'
If the Golden Chain seal had truly been broken.
Then a stronger seal needed to be made.
Hyeon-gil was the only one who had heard Venerable Gwanghae's last wish directly.
Not left in written words on the wall, but verbally, right before entering nirvana.
That was why he had to confirm it.
Hyeon-gil turned and ran.
Even as everyone was transfixed by the battle between Ha Mu-baek and Hyeonhwang.
Hyeon-gil ran in the opposite direction for his mission.
The place he headed was the Repentance Cave.
The very place Ha Mu-baek had demanded to check.
Hyeon-gil ran, biting his lip.
His eyes shook in turmoil.
He realized it as he started running.
Whether the Golden Chain seal was broken or not, it was a problem either way.
"Kahaha! This time it's different!"
Hyeonhwang relentlessly swung both fists at Ha Mu-baek.
His mad laughter seemed to echo across all of Mount Song.
Ha Mu-baek swung his sword fiercely.
Hyeonhwang was right.
It was different from before.
Stronger beyond recognition.
Each punch, each strike's power was incomparable to just days ago.
'How...'
A warrior could change beyond recognition in a single hour from one enlightenment.
But this was not that.
The very nature of his energy had changed.
His already gloomy ominous and sinister energy.
Now felt like viscous, impure darkness, full of malice and void.
As if all the world's evils and negatives had been gathered.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art?
No.
This was something deeper, more despairing.
Six black energy tentacles extended toward Ha Mu-baek.
Same form as before, but different.
Ha Mu-baek's sword sliced them, but.
They regrew.
"You damn octopus-headed bastard."
It was just a disgusting attack.
Profanity spilled out naturally.
"Heh heh. Go on, taste some of that octopus!"
Thanks to successfully absorbing the third fragment?
Hyeonhwang didn't get riled easily.
Even at the mocking profanity, he laughed and spread both hands.
Pitch-black darkness bloomed from his palms.
Ha Mu-baek's Infinite Bright Wheel Eye clearly saw the operation of that energy.
He couldn't grasp its true nature, but he could track the movements.
However.
Those movements.
"Diamond Tathagata Buddha Light Great Hand Seal?"
A moment ago.
It was identical, without the slightest difference, to the one Hyeonhwang had been about to unleash at Ha Mu-baek.