Chapter 436
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 436
Chapter Title: Then What is the Abyss?
The ten members of the Hocheon Corps fell back.
To avoid interfering with Leader So Hwi-woong's battle.
A fierce storm raged around them.
So Hwi-woong's eyes were darkly sunken.
Plum Blossom All-Heaven Sword Geum Do-wi.
A comrade he had fought back-to-back with during the last war.
Yet here he was now, overcome by a moment's desire, transformed into a jiangshi before his eyes.
And this, years after the Blood Cult's destruction.
"Is this all it amounts to?"
So Hwi-woong muttered lowly to himself.
"Grrr..."
The Dark Blood Jiangshi Geum Do-wi let out a low growl in response.
"The Huashan Sect's supreme sword. Plum Blossom All-Heaven Sword Geum Do-wi. Is this the extent of the power you sought, even resorting to forbidden arts?"
His voice was soft, yet laced with fury.
The sword cloaked in black energy pressed relentlessly against So Hwi-woong.
But none of it breached his guard.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The ringing sounds continued.
So Hwi-woong's expression remained unchanged throughout.
His darkly sunken gaze grew steadily colder.
Like a flame burning coldly.
Within him, rage blazed and froze solid.
At this heartbreaking reality.
"If you've stooped to forbidden arts, at least show some real strength!"
His voice grew louder.
Dam Moo-hyeon watched the scene with a heavy expression.
In his eyes, the Dark Blood Jiangshi Geum Do-wi was powerful.
Powerful enough to call it the strongest among all the jiangshi he'd encountered.
He had witnessed the man's prowess in life firsthand.
So he could state it with certainty.
'At least fifty percent... no, twice as strong as back then.'
That was undeniable fact.
Yet So Hwi-woong raged that it was merely this much.
The reason he could say that...
Was because So Hwi-woong himself had grown even stronger since then.
After the war between the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult ended,
His martial arts had seemed stagnant for a time.
Just when and how had this happened?
The So Hwi-woong before him now was utterly different from the one Dam Moo-hyeon had seen in the last war.
Different enough to believe it was another person entirely.
'Was Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade such a saber art?'
Especially...
The movements of So Hwi-woong's saber.
They belonged to an entirely higher realm, another world altogether.
"Grrrr..."
Geum Do-wi's growling intensified.
And the movements of his sword changed.
The final stance of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Method.
Twenty-Four.
Plum Blossom Fragrance Ten Thousand Miles.
The sword whose plum blossom scent traveled ten thousand li unfolded.
But there was no plum blossom fragrance.
Instead, a foul stench.
Yes, the stench of a corpse.
Only the reek of death filled the air.
Geum Do-wi's sword enveloped So Hwi-woong completely, dominating every direction.
So Hwi-woong raised his saber high.
Then brought it down simply.
Craaaack.
Dam Moo-hyeon thought he heard such a sound.
A sound like the heavens splitting and crumbling.
Heaven-Rending Demon-Exterminating Strike.
He'd heard rumors that such a sound accompanied the final stance of Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade.
But even after countless battlefields alongside So Hwi-woong, he'd never heard it.
'That... that was Heaven-Rending Demon-Exterminating Strike?'
Dam Moo-hyeon stared in disbelief.
It wasn't the Heaven-Rending Demon-Exterminating Strike he'd seen before.
It had looked like a mere simple downward slash.
Too simple.
Yet the result...
Craaaack.
Though struck by a downward slash,
Fine cracks began spiderwebbing across the sword barrier Geum Do-wi had unleashed.
They spread everywhere.
Not just his sword, but his entire body.
"Begone."
So Hwi-woong muttered lowly as he sheathed his saber.
The moment he turned,
Whoosh.
Geum Do-wi crumbled into powder and scattered.
'Th-that...'
Dam Moo-hyeon gaped in shock, eyes wide.
Such astonishment...
Was the first since witnessing the full leader's prowess.
'Alliance Leader... with such power, why did you accept the proposal to leave Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest intact...?'
The thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Of course, Dam Moo-hyeon knew well.
The Alliance Leader back then didn't have this power.
Still, seeing this new side of the Alliance Leader filled him with regret he couldn't shake.
"Forget everything you saw here today. I merely slew a single Dark Blood Jiangshi wielding a sword."
He seemed wary of word reaching the Huashan Sect.
"Yes, sir!"
At So Hwi-woong's command, the ten Hocheon Corps members bowed in unison.
A faint thrill colored their voices.
For they had witnessed their Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader's new form.
Captivated by that strength without realizing it.
"Hmmm... So Hwi-woong."
Il-no swallowed a low groan amid the stream of reports.
"Time has passed, but this exceeds expectations."
He hadn't dreamed So Hwi-woong would dispatch even Geum Do-wi's jiangshi so easily.
The reason he'd let him roam Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest unchecked was simple.
To exhaust him as much as possible before sending in the pursuit force.
The next plan was prepared too.
But he'd hoped to take the easy route.
So Hwi-woong was far stronger than anticipated.
"At least learning his true strength thanks to Geum Do-wi is a silver lining?"
Il-no decided to think that way.
He drew a small horn from his bosom.
A horn to command the jiangshi.
Several types existed, but the one Il-no held was the highest grade.
Capable of issuing absolute orders.
Originally the cult leader's, now under Il-no's management.
He blew the horn fiercely.
No sound rang out.
It reached only the jiangshi's soul spirits.
No human could hear it.
No living being could.
Only the death servants, the jiangshi, sensed the horn's call.
Il-no's command was simple.
Retreat. Hide.
He couldn't let precious forces sacrifice themselves to So Hwi-woong like this.
"Who knows how many corpse jiangshi will obey."
The lowest corpse jiangshi, driven only by instinct, often ignored the horn's call.
So he issued the simplest order.
Laced with soul energy to trigger their fear.
To hide as best they could.
"Then we proceed with Plan B."
Il-no moved once more.
It was prepared in advance.
But So Hwi-woong's unexpected strength demanded quicker action.
To minimize jiangshi sacrifices in the interim, he had no choice but to hide them.
Already dwindling in numbers, a headache for him.
He had to cherish them.
For the future.
"Primal Origin and Ten Thousand Desolations... ultimately one? And the world is a singular whole?"
Ha Mu-baek's question dripped with doubt.
Mu-geuk nodded.
"Then how was the world I live in now created?"
"Ten Thousand Desolations rebelled against Primal Origin, unleashing power. In reaction, Primal Origin shattered into six fragments. The backlash tore Ten Thousand Desolations into eight pieces."
An unbelievable tale.
He'd heard stories of myriad gods.
From Daoism's Supreme Emperor to Buddhism's deities.
But never this.
This felt less like martial origins and more like religious myth.
Mu-geuk continued calmly, understanding Ha Mu-baek's skepticism.
"The six fragments are Infinity, Transcendence, Radiance, Darkness, Chaos, and Void. Radiance birthed light, Darkness birthed shadow. Ten Thousand Desolations' eight pieces form the root energies of Qian, Kun, Zhen, Li, Kan, Gen, Xun, Dui. Qian formed the heavens, Kun the earth."
"Then what is the Abyss?"
"Primal Origin's desire and will to return to its original state."
Ha Mu-baek furrowed his brow.
And sank into thought.
If Founding Patriarch Mu-geuk spoke true,
Then Primal Origin—the root of his own martial arts, the foe he'd battled Ten Thousand Desolations to fight—was evil to Ha Mu-baek.
Inevitably so.
Returning to singular wholeness meant this world vanishing, himself included.
Ha Mu-baek was swept in confusion.
"Then what is Ten Thousand Desolations' will?"
He recalled Go Hu-rak's words on the matter.
"The world's destruction. Shatter it, shatter it again, scatter it wide. That is Ten Thousand Desolations' will and desire."
"Not this current world?"
Mu-geuk nodded at Ha Mu-baek's question.
Then Ten Thousand Desolations was evil too.
Whether merging into one to erase the present world, or shattering endlessly to do the same.
Both pointed clearly to one end.
The demise of the current realm.
Ha Mu-baek reeled from the sudden flood of immense information.
"What do you mean by the Abyss, Patriarch?"
The most crucial question from his perspective.
Primal Origin's Abyss.
Its desire was to merge into one, reverting the world to pure origin.
Yet one such fragment was his own founding patriarch.
If Mu-geuk harbored that desire,
Ha Mu-baek might have to fight the very root of his martial arts.
Whether this was an illusory mindscape or reality, he couldn't yet tell.
But the sword at his waist felt undeniably real.
Ha Mu-baek's hand hovered, ready to grip the hilt at any moment.
Ju Woo-myeong and Dan Mok Un-roe.
The two ascended the sparring platform.
They knew each other all too well.
Hadn't they met in the top four at the last Eastern Tournament?
Ju Woo-myeong had won then.
Inevitably, as Dan Mok Un-roe had been immature.
His only mastered art: Three Talents Arts.
But today was different.
'This time, no matter what.'
The two faced each other.
"Begin!"
At the judge's shout, they charged.
Ju Woo-myeong knew Dan Mok Un-roe's growth well.
So he went all-out from the start.
From his fingertips flowed the elegant sword path of Taiji Radiant Sword, targeting Dan Mok Un-roe's entire body.
Dan Mok Un-roe unleashed his strongest art.
Eighty-One Star River Illusory Sword Method.
A stellar river flowed toward Taiji Radiant Sword.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Clang! Clang!
A truly fantastical duel.
No matter who won, it wouldn't be surprising.
A flawless match.
How could two Fierce Dragon Corps cadets reach such a level?
Ju Woo-myeong aside,
That Dan Mok Un-roe fellow, what...
'He's strong.'
Ju Woo-myeong gritted his teeth.
Not only the subtlety of Dan Mok Un-roe's swordplay, but the inner power behind it was formidable.
Compared to the Dan Mok Un-roe he'd first met upon joining Fierce Dragon Corps,
This was unimaginable.
How could he grow this strong in just over a year and three months?
It made Ju Woo-myeong's devoted training feel meaningless.
He couldn't allow that.
His earnest efforts.
He couldn't lose their meaning.
Ju Woo-myeong focused utterly, swinging his sword with full power.
He too was no longer the Ju Woo-myeong from his first days in Fierce Dragon Corps.
Sword qi gathered on their full-force blades.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted.
"Hah. Hah. Hah."
Dan Mok Un-roe heaved ragged breaths.
'I can do this.'
Ju Woo-myeong was certainly strong.
But considering his path so far, it was even.
Dan Mok Un-roe believed he could win.
The moment he focused deeper, drawing inner power from his dantian—
Ju Woo-myeong's sword changed.
The teal sword qi—between blue and green—began coalescing into one.
"Huh? N-no way..."
He'd just seen that.
On Namgung Ji-hu's sword.
A sight unseen in Fierce Dragon Corps training.
Now Ju Woo-myeong revealed a form he'd never shown.
The gathered sword qi,
As Dan Mok Un-roe predicted, crystallized into a single shimmering teal tangible energy, spiraling around the blade as it descended.
Sword manifestation.
Ju Woo-myeong had reached that realm too.
"Wooooaaahhhh!!!"
"Sword manifestation!!!!"
Cheers exploded from the stands once more.
Smaller than for Namgung Ji-hu.
Inevitable, as it was only Fierce Dragon Corps roaring.
Hidden Dragon Corps and Wa Dragon Corps cadets were too stunned to speak.
"Gulp."
Dan Mok Un-roe swallowed dryly.
His dantian already pouring full power, he squeezed out even more inner power.
Intent on expending every last strand without reserve.