‘This is…’
Blue Spirit watched the well-built young man approach Mok Gyeong-un, deep in thought. Judging by the look in that mortal's eyes as he drew closer, it did not seem he was approaching with good intentions. Right now, Mok Gyeong-un was lost in a state of selflessness, gaining enlightenment from a mental image.
It was more than mere immersion; if he were disturbed in this state, his energy could flow in reverse, and he could suffer from qi deviation.
‘Is he really going to touch the mortal?’
No matter how she looked at it, that seemed to be the case. She hesitated, wondering if she should break the wooden doll and come out to stop him. As Mok Gyeong-un's Spirit Guardian, their fates were one and the same.
Swish!
Just as she expected, the young man was reaching out his hand.
‘Damned mortal. Of all the times, at this crucial moment…’
The moment she thought that— Swaaaaa! In that fleeting instant, the portion of death energy that had escaped Mok Gyeong-un’s body was sucked back inside him as if it had never left. With that, the light returned to Mok Gyeong-un’s vacant eyes.
‘Ah!’
Light flowed from Mok Gyeong-un's restored eyes, which had gained a new depth. She had worried an inner demon might appear, but it seemed he had clearly achieved some results. Confirming this, she hastily shouted.
Look to your right! At her cry, Mok Gyeong-un instinctively turned his head. The moment he turned, someone’s hand was coming toward his forehead, almost touching him.
“What are you doing?”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the well-built young man, Yeop Wi-seon, a disciple of the Underworld Blade King, could not hide his bewilderment. It was only natural, as he had reached out with ill intent. Can’t you tell by looking?
He was trying to interfere with you, mortal.
‘Interfere?’
If someone touches you when you're in a mental image or a state of selflessness, you can fall prey to an inner demon. If that happens, you'll suffer the side effect of your energy flowing in reverse. That was qi deviation.
Hearing this, Mok Gyeong-un stared coldly at Yeop Wi-seon before him. It was the first time he had seen this face, yet he had approached with malice.
“Trying to interfere during a state of selflessness or mental image is an act of intentionally inducing an inner demon. Is that correct?”
“…”
No answer.
With that alone, Mok Gyeong-un came to his own conclusion.
“So you knew what you were doing?”
“Th-that is…”
“No need for questions and answers.”
“What?”
Thwack!
“Kek!”
Yeop Wi-seon’s head snapped back as his throat was struck by the knife-hand between Mok Gyeong-un’s thumb and index finger. To say he was caught off guard because he was flustered at being found out would be an understatement; the blow had been incredibly fast.
‘Th-this bastard?’
What was that? Based on his spiritual sense, he felt like a first-rate master at best. But how could his hand be so fast?
However, this was no time to be surprised.
‘Damn bastard, going for the throat of all places…’
Among the vital points, the throat, once struck, momentarily cuts off one's breath, making it difficult to circulate energy freely. Because of this— Pak!
“Cough, cough!”
Yeop Wi-seon coughed and flipped backward, performing a somersault as he executed a kick art to create distance. Having been caught by a surprise attack, he needed a moment to recover, even if just a little. However, Mok Gyeong-un seemed to have no such intention.
Pat! Tatatatak!
Mok Gyeong-un leaped up, unleashing a flurry of kicks. Seeing this, Blue Spirit could not hide her surprise. The kick art Mok Gyeong-un was using was the Fourth Form of the Pure Manifestation Leg Technique, the Shadowless Flash Kick.
Papak!
‘Damn it!’
Unable to even draw his blade, Yeop Wi-seon unleashed a fist move against the incoming kicks. Even though the Underworld Blade King, Son Yun, was famous for his blade arts, it was unthinkable that he wouldn’t have prepared for a bare-handed situation.
Chwaaa!
He managed to block it, but the soles of Yeop Wi-seon’s feet were pushed back. Yeop Wi-seon couldn’t hide his inner turmoil. He hadn't been able to properly circulate his energy because he'd been hit in the throat, but for him, someone at the peak of the Peak Realm, to be pushed back while blocking a kick?
‘Who the hell is this guy?’
He was bewildered by a level of skill that surpassed his expectations. But when he thought of the ‘Young Miss’ watching from the floor below, a surge of anger welled up inside him. His original plan had been ruined, which couldn't be helped, but this was a complete humiliation.
With that, “Hup!” Yeop Wi-seon, who had been using a defensive fist form, switched his left hand to a simple, abbreviated form. Blocking Mok Gyeong-un’s kicks with a single fist was difficult, so as he switched, he took hits to his chest and left shoulder, but— Thud!
Thud!
At the same time, he was able to draw the large blade from his back.
Shing!
As soon as he drew his blade, Yeop Wi-seon immediately unleashed a blade move. Bright Sun Blade Art, Third Form, Single Stroke Blade Return. Faced with the overbearing blade aura filled with sharp energy, Mok Gyeong-un, who had been executing his kick art, twisted his body to the side, spinning to momentarily create hang time.
Papak! Chwaak!
No sooner had he done so than five bookshelves behind him were split in half. The range of the sharp energy was wider than he had thought. But seeing the secret manuals on the bookshelves also split in half, Yeop Wi-seon’s face turned pale.
‘Gasp!’
In a fit of anger, he had swung his blade, thinking he had to cut the man down, but he had ended up slicing through nearly thirty secret manuals. Fortunately, the third floor bookshelves weren’t completely full, so only that many were cut, but slicing original secret manuals with sharp energy was a grave mistake.
‘Damn it!’
Even if his Master was one of the Five Kings, he would likely receive a severe punishment. At that thought, Yeop Wi-seon’s anger flared even more. Because of this bastard, things had gone completely wrong.
‘This won’t do.’
Pak!
Yeop Wi-seon plunged his blade into the floor. He then focused energy into one hand, forming a sharp energy. The giant blade he received from his Master was so large that unleashing a blade move with sharp energy caused too much collateral damage.
It was better to use his bare hands to control the sharp energy, even if it consumed more of his own.
‘I’ll kill you in one blow.’
Since things had come to this, he had to kill the man. That way, the story of him interfering with the man’s mental image would never come out.
‘This isn’t what it’s for, but…’
Yeop Wi-seon took an unusual ready stance. The Bright Sun Blade Art consisted of a total of eleven forms, with five hidden secret techniques. His Master, the Underworld Blade King Son Yun, had told him.
[You must only use the secret techniques on those you must kill.]
This was because every one of those secret techniques was a killing move. Most martial artists didn't want their moves to be known or analyzed by their opponents, but this was even more true for secret techniques. The less they were analyzed, the more effective they were as killing moves.
Pat!
Yeop Wi-seon launched himself forward.
‘Bright Sun Blade Art, Secret Technique, Second Form, Life-Harming Incantation!’
The blade's trajectory instantly multiplied into five paths, converging on one point like a vortex, rushing in. It was his favorite among the secret techniques, and anyone hit by it would have their entire chest blown away, ensuring certain death.
‘Die!’
It was at that very moment.
Seumeul-seumeul!
As Mok Gyeong-un clenched his hand into a sword seal, the air around his fingers shimmered like a heat haze. It was the phenomenon of sharp energy rising.
You!
Blue Spirit could not contain her astonishment. It meant that Mok Gyeong-un had gained enlightenment and had fully ascended to the Peak Realm.
‘This guy, sharp energy?’
Yeop Wi-seon saw it too. Seeing the sharp energy gather on Mok Gyeong-un’s sword seal, he realized the man was at least at the accomplished Peak Realm or higher.
‘He hid his skills.’
If so, all the more reason to kill him with everything he had. It was only a fleeting moment, but Mok Gyeong-un’s concentration was raised to its absolute limit.
‘I can see it.’
It was a strange thing. Was it because he had become one with his art in a state of selflessness and experienced various moves? In Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes, he could see how the trajectory of Yeop Wi-seon’s Life-Harming Incantation would be completed.
The moment he saw it, a faint opening appeared.
Pat!
Having identified the opening, Mok Gyeong-un moved without the slightest hesitation. It was incredibly fast. Yeop Wi-seon’s lips curled into a smirk.
‘Foolish fellow.’
The only way to counter the Life-Harming Incantation was to maintain distance and aim for the moment when the moves converged and then dispersed again. Getting this close, where the move was at its most powerful, was no different from throwing his life away.
Chwak!
Mok Gyeong-un’s sword seal entered the very center of his move. The five paths of the Life-Harming Incantation enveloped Mok Gyeong-un’s sword seal, wrist, shoulder, waist, and chest, attempting to slice his entire body into five pieces. It was at that very moment.
Pang!
Before they could even touch Mok Gyeong-un’s body, the five trajectories of the blade, imbued with sharp energy, were all deflected as if they had been repelled.
‘What?’
Because of that, the opening became even clearer. Mok Gyeong-un’s sword seal aimed precisely for that opening. The opening was Yeop Wi-seon’s left eye.
The sword seal, imbued with sharp energy, flew toward his left eye like a flash of lightning.
‘N-no!’
It was too fast to dodge. It was at that very moment.
Pak!
‘!?’
Just as Mok Gyeong-un’s sword seal was about to touch the eye, someone grabbed his wrist. Simultaneously, Yeop Wi-seon’s wrist, which had been unleashing the blade move, was also caught by that same person. It was a woman in a bamboo hat with a slender frame.
“Young Miss?”
Thud!
“Heok!”
Yeop Wi-seon’s wrist was twisted, and he was forced to his knees on the floor. Flustered, Yeop Wi-seon raised his head to say something, but he was instantly speechless. The eyes visible through the silk veil were colder than ice.
It was as if those eyes were telling him to shut his mouth.
Swish!
After silencing Yeop Wi-seon, she turned her head. A strange light shone in her eyes from behind the veil. It was understandable.
Even Yeop Wi-seon, the second disciple of the Underworld Blade King, one of the Five Kings, could not withstand her internal power and was forced to his knees, but Mok Gyeong-un was different. She had intended to push him back rather than force him to his knees, but he wasn’t budging.
‘To withstand my three-star power.’
It was astonishing. On the surface, he looked like a first-rate master at best. But seeing him use sharp energy, she knew he was a master who had reached the Peak Realm.
So she had thought her three-star power would be enough, but he was holding on.
Rumble!
“You truly live up to your reputation as a trainee who received three top rank tokens. At this rate, you must be stronger than most division masters.”
At her words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t even used the energy from his middle dantian, but this woman’s internal energy was extraordinary. The face faintly visible through the silk veil was very young.
But the energy flowing from her was so vast that it reminded him of the Corpse Blood Valley Master, Lee Ji-yeom.
“…Your wrists may be slender, but your internal power is anything but ordinary. May I ask who you are?”
“You crazy! She is not someone you can address as ‘that side’…”
Kkuuk!
“Hup!”
“Quiet.”
Pressing down on Yeop Wi-seon’s wrist even harder, the woman in the bamboo hat gave a warning and said with a smile.
“Wi So-yeon.”
‘Wi So-yeon?’
How was he supposed to know who she was with just a name? But then she continued.
“I am Wi So-yeon, the third disciple of the Lord of the Heaven and Earth Society.”
‘!?’