The Thunder of the Three Realms
Seong-jin burst into the inn, and Young-myeong was seized by the scholar and dragged down into the basement.
The precursors of Qi Deviation.
Even amidst the agony of the internal energy within him burning him from the inside out, Young-myeong glared at the scholar.
“You bastard, do you think you can swallow Mount Hua just by doing this?”
Baek-geomja could not have been twisted from the very beginning.
Having grown up on Mount Hua, knowing nothing but martial arts and being far removed from sorcery, how could he have sought out demons and joined hands with them?
In the end, the scholar must have approached Baek-geomja first; regardless of the latter’s decision to abandon his sect, it was the demons who had incited him.
“Hahaha, swallow Mount Hua? Why would I do such a thing?”
The scholar denied Young-myeong’s accusation.
“That is Baek-geomja’s desire, not mine.”
“Are you not helping him because your goals align?”
“If I had intended to swallow Mount Hua, I would not have helped Baek-geomja—I would have simply replaced him with a demon.”
It was a valid point.
Ultimately, every means Baek-geomja had mobilized to swallow Mount Hua had been provided by the scholar.
Conversely, this meant the scholar could have accomplished this task on his own; if he had truly coveted Mount Hua, there would have been no reason to recruit Baek-geomja.
“……Then why?”
“My—no, our Bokma-jeon’s goal is merely to test the performance of our shapeshifting arts. The target happens to be Mount Hua only because Baek-geomja caught our eye.”
The scholar tried to drive Young-myeong into despair, claiming that being betrayed by the senior brother he trusted and the prospect of his sect being taken over by demons were all merely simple misfortune.
However, Young-myeong found a question rising within him, deeper than his despair.
‘Why would sorcery require a performance test?’
Young-myeong didn’t know much about sorcery, but he was certain that those who used it were rare.
Demons and immortals were things that only appeared in old tales; in reality, they were sights one could go a lifetime without seeing.
As a member of the noble Nine Great Sects, he knew this well, having often dealt with commoners from below the mountain making a fuss about demons appearing.
While many claimed to have seen demons or been bewitched by sorcery, the instances where it was actually true could be counted on one hand.
Yet, the scholar was saying he was toying with Mount Hua for a mere ‘performance test’?
‘Even if the hidden side of the world were crawling with demons, it shouldn’t be common to take over the Nine Great Sects. These bastards didn’t start this with a light heart, either. What on earth is this performance they are so desperate to test?’
Young-myeong’s question unexpectedly struck the core of the matter.
The demons’ sorcery possessed enough power to throw the world into chaos and seize Mount Hua with a simple shapeshifting art alone.
Furthermore, it was a power that could invite divine retribution if displayed recklessly due to the Bongsin Covenant.
Because of this, causing an incident that could affect the world was a significant burden even for demons, and Young-myeong, despite not knowing about the Bongsin Covenant, sensed that something was amiss.
Meanwhile, the scholar cut off a lock of Young-myeong’s hair.
“What are you doing!”
“Shh. Just watch quietly.”
As the scholar spoke, he fed the hair to a field mouse that had popped out of his sleeve.
The mouse squirmed, then swelled as if something were bursting out from within, transforming into a figure that resembled Young-myeong.
It wasn’t Young-myeong’s appearance.
It was an appearance that ‘resembled’ Young-myeong.
“This amount should suffice.”
The scholar was satisfied with the shapeshifting art, despite the figure clearly lacking compared to the real Young-myeong upon close inspection.
“Please wait here. I shall calm the commotion on your foolish senior brother’s behalf.”
The scholar went up to the surface with the fake Young-myeong.
Left behind, Young-myeong stared at the empty space where the scholar had been, then immediately entered into Wungi-josik (internal energy circulation).
‘I must use this opportunity to calm my internal energy, even if just a little!’
Thoughts could wait.
Now was the time to act.
Young-myeong slammed his head against the floor until he bled.
As his skin tore and blood began to flow, the rising heat seemed to cool slightly.
This wasn’t a reckless act born of an inability to control his bloodlust.
With his meridians in turmoil and Qi Deviation imminent, the first places to bleed were areas with thin skin, such as the mucous membranes of the eyes or nose.
However, if his inhalation and exhalation were blocked by a nosebleed or vomiting blood, the breathing techniques essential for internal cultivation would become impossible.
In this state, even Wungi-josik would be hindered, so he had drawn blood from elsewhere to avoid nasal bleeding.
It was an act of enduring greater blood loss to secure immediate breathing, something no one in their right mind would do.
But Young-myeong, who had just faced the betrayal of Baek-geomja—the man he had been with since childhood—was not in his right mind, and for now, he could act without regard for his own life.
Warm blood poured out, and the cold air of the basement rushed in.
His cooling body awakened his spirit like a cold-water splash.
The moment the sunset sky in his mind’s eye turned purple.
The flames filling Young-myeong’s inner self began to erupt from his entire body, accompanied by tangible heat.
The heat burned away the golden ropes the scholar had bound him with and filled the room.
Unable to extend outward and trapped in the basement, the heat turned the room into a furnace in an instant, and the temperature soared endlessly.
The temperature exceeded the level Young-myeong could normally produce in a healthy state.
‘Trapping the fire?’
In a moment of enlightenment, the ceiling, unable to withstand the heat, cracked, and Young-myeong soared through the gap.
“Brother Ju!”
Bursting outside, Young-myeong looked after Seong-jin before even the scholar or Baek-geomja.
“Hide behind me. They are dangerous.”
“Pardon?”
When Seong-jin appeared, the scholar had taken Young-myeong and hidden him in the basement. The inns in Hubei were lined with bluestone that blocked Qi waves—from the floor to the walls and ceiling—to protect the privacy of martial artists, so Young-myeong’s energy could not be felt from the outside.
Conversely, this meant Young-myeong had been unaware of what was happening above, and from his perspective, he didn’t know that Seong-jin had fought Baek-geomja on equal footing.
“They aren’t opponents you can handle with mediocre skills. Simply put, you are a hindrance.”
Reunited, Young-myeong was as rude as ever.
“So, little brother, step back and eat this.”
“This is……?”
“A spiritual medicine provided by the Mount Hua Sect for the Yongbongjihoe. I can just get more from Mount Hua’s medicine hall later, so you eat that.”
The Mount Hua Sect wouldn’t let Young-myeong become a cripple just because they couldn’t spare a single spiritual medicine.
He meant for Seong-jin to take the medicine he had, and he would get a new one later.
Spiritual medicines were always welcome. Considering that heirs of martial families sometimes lost their lives fighting over them, Young-myeong’s willingness to hand it over was rare.
“……Truly, I cannot tell if you are a small hero or a great hero, Mount Hua Sword Dragon.”
Seong-jin pushed Young-myeong’s hand away, refusing the medicine.
“But it is certain that you are a Hyeop-gaek (righteous warrior).”
“Brother Ju?”
“Use the spiritual medicine to treat your internal injuries later.”
“If we lose here, there will be no ‘later’ for treatment. Those bastards have no intention of letting us go easily.”
“I feel the same.”
Seong-jin had no intention of letting the scholar, who had revealed his true colors, go.
“Can you handle Baek-geomja?”
“The senior brother?”
“I will take on the demon side.”
The demon hunter would take the demon.
The swordsman would take the swordsman.
“Even if I am the greatest talent of Mount Hua, it is difficult to face the greatest sword of Mount Hua.”
“What if we exclude Shin-geom-hap-il (Unity of Body and Sword)?”
Young-myeong was a top-tier master possessing the internal energy of Banbak-gwijin (Returning to Truth). Baek-geomja was a peak master possessing Shin-geom-hap-il.
Then, if you exclude Shin-geom-hap-il from Baek-geomja, what remains?
“If we are at the same realm, the Purple Mist Divine Art wins.”
It was a matter of compatibility. If he had been a peak master from another sect, he couldn’t have easily guaranteed victory even without Shin-geom-hap-il, but a master of the Plum Blossom Sword Art could never surpass the Purple Mist Sword Art.
“But as long as I cannot overcome the senior brother’s Shin-geom-hap-il, it is a meaningless question.”
Shin-geom-hap-il was not merely a technique with powerful functionality. Powerful intent itself swept away the surrounding natural energy, hindering the breathing of internal cultivation methods. For martial artists who breathed through internal energy, it was similar to having to fight while holding one’s breath.
The more excellent the martial art, the more it relied on utilizing the surrounding natural energy rather than just accumulated internal energy; if that was blocked, the power of the martial art diminished accordingly. The noble, divine arts of the Nine Great Sects would fall to the level of third-rate tricks.
“So, it just needs to be without Shin-geom-hap-il.”
“What?”
“Then I will leave the rest to you.”
Seong-jin didn’t wait for Young-myeong’s answer; he extended his sword-finger and pointed at the sky.
Now that he had awakened the Three Talents (Heaven, Earth, and Man), he could unleash power equivalent to his master’s for a single strike.
“As Man connects Heaven and Earth.”
Just as everyone was puzzled by that peculiar stance.
“Respond to my call.”
Lightning crackled at the fingertips of one who had mastered the Three Talents.
The moment Seong-jin slashed his finger, which had been pointing at the sky, toward the earth.
“Divine Retribution.”
Flash!
The lightning flashed,
Rumble!
The thunder followed.
A bolt of lightning struck from the clear sky, hitting Baek-geomja.
“Kuaaaagh!”
The sight of summoning lightning with a single gesture.
The scholar, and even Young-myeong, who were watching, could not hide their astonishment.
“Young Master Ju, what on earth are you……?”
“It is not over yet.”
As the dust raised by the lightning cleared, Baek-geomja’s charred figure was revealed.
“Cough!”
The lightning boasted a speed that transcended human perception. However, surprisingly, Baek-geomja had read the precursor of the lightning strike from Seong-jin’s movements and attempted to defend.
Countless formless swords rose in layers above his head, dampening the power of the lightning, and he finally blocked the bolt with his crystal sword.
But in the process, all the formless swords were shattered, and the electricity that had flowed through his entire body surged up to his upper Dantian.
His intent was scattered, and the formless swords vanished. With even the crystal sword gone, only a single plum blossom swordsman remained; from now on, it was the time for the swordsmen.
Finally, Seong-jin manipulated the sword that had fallen far away and returned it to Young-myeong.
Summoning lightning from a clear sky with a single gesture and making a sword fly on its own. Young-myeong flinched at the sight, but soon composed himself as he looked at Baek-geomja.
“I will leave the rest to you from here.”
“Yes.”
Leaving the rest to Young-myeong, Seong-jin sat down, clutching the ground. With that single move just now, his entire body’s energy was boiling.
“You are insane. Using Taoist arts in front of so many people? That lightning just now must have been visible from beyond the mountain.”
Even leaking heavenly secrets had its limits; there was no room for extenuating circumstances here. “Have you given up?”
The scholar mocked Seong-jin, but Seong-jin merely shook his head.
“When one points at the moon, you only look at the finger.”
“……?”
“The Three Talents connect Heaven and Earth. Thunder, lightning, wind, and rain are not contained within it, so the lightning was not a Taoist art.”
It was sword-control art using magnetic force generated through lightning energy. The master who had taught Seong-jin that sword-control art must be the person with the most powerful lightning energy in the entire universe; if one mastered that martial art, summoning a single bolt of lightning was nothing.
“It was martial arts.”
“What kind of……”
However, there was no need to explain this to the scholar.
Seong-jin performed the Drunken Eight Immortals Steps and caught the scholar off guard from behind. The scholar, having exposed his back in an instant, panicked and threw a field mouse from his robes.
The thrown mouse transformed into a human in mid-air and took Seong-jin’s attack instead.
“You coward, are you sacrificing your own kind?”
“Hmph! Can you consider those who can’t even speak properly as my own kind?”
The scholar repeatedly used the field mice as shields to escape every time Seong-jin attacked.
“You, on the other hand, how can a human use Chukji-beop (Earth-shrinking technique)? Where did the Bongsin Covenant go?”
“It has nothing to do with the Bongsin Covenant.”
“What are you……”
“Because this is not a Taoist art.”
Seong-jin’s Drunken Eight Immortals Steps were strictly within the realm of martial arts. Even if they contained the essence of Chukji-beop, the method of unraveling it was entirely human martial arts, so it did not violate the Bongsin Covenant.
“Such wordplay!”
The scholar reacted with disbelief, but it was the truth.
The aptitude of the Nine-Yin Severed Pulse, which Heaven had bestowed at the cost of his lifespan, had allowed Seong-jin to reproduce the martial arts of immortals within the human realm.
“Hmph, even so, it seems you are not in a perfect state after that lightning strike earlier. Seeing as your fist technique cannot even penetrate a single field mouse, aren’t you overdoing it?”
It wasn’t a wrong statement. Divine Retribution was a technique Seong-jin was not yet accustomed to, so the recoil from forcing it out could not be ignored.
However, when dealing with demons, there was no need to insist only on martial arts.
“Bite.”
At Seong-jin’s command, a large tiger’s head popped out from the gourd bottle that had been rolling around in the chaotic inn—the same one he had been drinking from and set down on the table.
The Tiger Demon, with only a part of its body liberated, poked only its head out of the gourd and rebelled against Seong-jin.
-Are you ordering me around!
“I will let you do as you please with the demon energy that bastard possesses.”
-You should have said that sooner! Hahaha, you come with me!
At the same time, a massive front paw squeezed through the gap in the gourd and pinned the scholar down.
The scholar couldn’t even squeak before being bitten by the Tiger Demon and sucked into the gourd.
Seong-jin picked up the remaining gourd and tucked it into his robes.
[Gong-gwa-gyeok Record: Good Deed +30 (Blocked Bokma-jeon’s conspiracy)]
[Current Score: 34 points]
Seong-jin organized his Gong-gwa-gyeok points and looked at Young-myeong.
The fight over there was also coming to an end.