Chapter 201: One Who Reaches Toward Martial God
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Sounds of shock burst out from all directions.
“The sword study of the Evil Emperor…!”
“Reverse Heaven Sword Forms!”
“My goodness…!”
“H-how does Sect Leader Cheol know that?”
“Exactly! The lineage has been cut for over several hundred years…!”
“Did he obtain tremendous fortuitous encounters in succession? Ascending Heaven Sword Dragon’s Four Dragon Sword Styles followed by Evil Emperor’s Reverse Heaven Sword Forms…”
The decisive reason the lineage of Reverse Heaven Sword Forms created by Evil Emperor Yul-cheon – who was said to be the strongest in martial world history alongside the Heavenly Demon, Sword Emperor, Martial Immortal, and Blood God – was cut off was due to the person’s own choice.
That is, he left the world leaving only glory and fame without transmitting the core formulas.
It was a fact known by anyone in the martial world.
That even Evil Heaven Sword Crown Prince Huan Hou, who was Yul-cheon’s direct disciple at the time, did not receive the essence in his lifetime.
But then.
For Cheol Ryu-heun to have realized it…
Setting aside obtaining an ancient lost art in an unknown realm, just being able to execute it was shocking enough.
It wouldn’t be a lie.
Because he had already shown proof.
Earlier, Cheol Ryu-heun had perfectly displayed one of the ultimate moves from Four Dragon Sword Styles, which was thought to have completely vanished after the Dragon Martial Gate’s bloody battle with the Nine Demon Alliance.
Chrysanthemum Fragrance Sword Mother, one of the Three Upper Seats of Guizhou, mixed in the crowd, wore a faint smile while touching her chrysanthemum hairpin.
‘Coming to see was a good decision.’
She had merely changed her course here out of simple curiosity after hearing floating rumors, but never expected to encounter an event that would cause such great ripples.
Standing alone, she suddenly cast her gaze to the distance.
Taoist Cheon Mu and Immortal Muhyeon, the two sect leaders of the Mount Heng Sect and the Wudang Sect, and Wei Ji-am and Seol Hu-yong, the two sect leaders of the Thunder Cloud Sect and the Azure Heaven Sword Sect.
She sensed something from their gathered figures.
‘Relatively calm expressions. They must have known beforehand. Somehow… it seems Sect Leader Cheol’s true face isn’t just that.’
It was intuition.
Although it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what that was yet.
Meanwhile.
Wei Ta-gong, who had stepped forward as opponent, suppressed the agitation in his heart and headed again toward the center of the vast open space.
CRACK… CRACKLE… CRACK…
Following his footsteps, the ground still drew lines.
GRIP.
Wei Ta-gong applied more strength to the hand gripping the sword handle.
Pulsing veins.
THUMP THUMP.
His heart beat violently.
It was a first.
No.
It had been a long time.
Since he had been captivated by such great excitement and anticipation.
‘It reminds me of when I exchanged blows with Muhyeon.’
Honestly, he was more nervous than back then.
This felt like a fated encounter.
Why?
Because the peerless sword study that stood at the opposite pole of Reverse Heaven Sword Forms, which Evil Emperor Yul-cheon created in the distant past, was the root of the current Heaven-Shaking Sword Palace’s core martial arts.
A cultivation called Iron Blood Great Spiral Sword Technique.
That was the unique lost art of Blood Net Divine Lord Beom Geuk-jin, who was famous as the unorthodox faction’s strongest before Yul-cheon obtained the title of Evil Emperor in the past.
Their match is still recounted as legend even now.
In the period when Beom Geuk-jin, who possessed the Divine Martial Sword, wielded great fame as the unorthodox faction’s strongest, Yul-cheon in his thirties rapidly rose as one of the top ten peak-level masters in all under heaven.
Thus the two clashed over the unorthodox faction’s highest position.
A one-on-one real sword match between the existing unorthodox faction’s hegemon and the rising powerhouse.
A small dispute between Yul-cheon’s Heavenly Sword Manor and Beom Geuk-jin’s Hegemonic Sword Palace had intensified into conflict between forces and finally triggered a duel to determine supremacy.
Evenly matched strength.
It was an intense match.
The two competed for a full two days.
However.
The final victor was Yul-cheon.
Beom Geuk-jin’s martial might was truly terrifying as he even used a portion of the Divine Martial Sword’s divine power, but his body was bisected by Yul-cheon’s Reverse Heaven Sword Forms ultimate move and departed from this world.
It was a historic moment when the Divine Martial Sword changed owners.
Afterward, Yul-cheon continuously built brilliant martial achievements alongside rising martial might and even obtained the alias Evil Emperor, while Hegemonic Sword Palace, having lost its center, collapsed from factions and internal strife.
However, Beom Geuk-jin’s legacy, the sword study Iron Blood Great Spiral Sword Technique, maintained its lineage while passing through numerous masters’ hands with the flow of time.
In the meantime, development of the essence and changes in wondrous application naturally occurred, and having reached the present after several hundred years, it established itself as the Heaven-Shaking Sword Palace’s representative martial art.
From Wei Ta-gong’s perspective, it felt as if that historic duel was being newly reenacted through himself and Cheol Ryu-heun across the long passage of time.
Although the Divine Martial Sword, which had been the medium, did not exist.
Before he knew it, Wei Ta-gong had stopped with about one zhang of distance from Cheol Ryu-heun and asked casually.
“Was it heaven’s fortune?”
He meant fortuitous encounter.
“Something like that.”
At Cheol Ryu-heun’s brief answer, Wei Ta-gong smiled.
“Ha. Truly amazing. I never thought a timeless fortuitous encounter with Reverse Heaven Sword Forms arranged within would exist…”
Hearing those words, Cheol Ryu-heun also smirked inwardly.
What fortuitous encounter?
He merely knew it through living as the Divine Martial Sword with the Evil Emperor back then.
Yul-cheon was born with a disability where his blood vessels and meridian pathways were twisted like spirals, so the Reverse Heaven Sword Forms, which was born suited to those characteristics, could not be transmitted.
Unless someone had the exact same body, studying it was impossible, so let alone arranging fortuitous encounters, he didn’t even leave a single book in his lifetime.
That’s right.
It was a rare sword study that even Cheol Ryu-heun himself could not execute without borrowing his mysterious body’s power.
Soon silence flowed.
Everyone held their breath and quietly watched them both.
WOONG-
The blackish sword in Wei Ta-gong’s right hand vibrated strongly.
It was a sword made of ten-thousand-year cold iron, the supreme mineral, symbolizing the Heaven-Shaking Sword Palace’s master.
Commonly called the Black Star Precious Sword.
Cheol Ryu-heun fixed his gaze and spoke indifferently.
“I’ll try using greater internal power.”
In an instant, Wei Ta-gong’s expression changed.
“What…!”
Then that meant he hadn’t used perfected-level internal power until now.
He was a wondrous person anew.
Also.
He felt like he would go crazy with curiosity.
Where the limit of the martial might lay that had successively subdued Severing Finger Sword Venerable So Cheon-ak, Hungry Wolf Blade Demon Jinjo Jeok-je, and Jade Qilin Yeo Yong-jeo today…
“Cheol Ryu-heun. Let me just ask one more thing.”
“Speak.”
“Does the internal energy inside your body not deplete?”
“It does.”
“Then…?”
“I replenish as much as I use.”
“…!”
“My energy gathering and circulation are fast, you see. More than you’d think.”
“Ha…! That’s possible while fighting an opponent?”
“Of course.”
At Cheol Ryu-heun’s nonchalant reply, Wei Ta-gong was dumbfounded.
It wasn’t a lie.
If what he said was really true, then he was essentially fighting an unprecedented monster.
“Fine, I’ll find out now.”
Wei Ta-gong, who had raised his Black Star Precious Sword before his chest, suddenly became blurry.
HWIT!
Swift movement leaving only a faint wind sound.
In the blink of an eye, he closed to a four or five pace gap and thrust his sword straight out.
A linear single sword rushing at Cheol Ryu-heun’s front.
GOOOOOOO-
A fierce shriek of the air.
Space appeared to twist transparently along the blade.
Black light spread.
A large net that seemed as if it would trap everything caught in one’s eyes.
Black Spiral Sword Technique’s Black Net Sword, one of the final ultimate moves based on Iron Blood Great Spiral Sword Technique, was executed.
Simultaneously.
KUAAAAAAAANG-!
A clamorous explosion sounded as Wei Ta-gong retreated one zhang.
Black Net Sword loaded with perfected-level internal power was shattered.
By the internal power of the sword curtain Cheol Ryu-heun had employed.
Wei Ta-gong’s wavering pupils.
That wasn’t simply a defensive sword technique of fierce power.
‘The sword curtain that only the Evil Emperor was capable of executing throughout history…!’
Generally, all the sword energy composing a sword curtain exhibits wondrous convergence to not exceed a certain range.
Yet Cheol Ryu-heun had harmonized the opposite – the wondrous application of expansive power release – and even emitted waves of sword wind.
It was an essence that ignored the laws of internal energy emission techniques.
He binds the series of sword energy to a defensive radius while shooting only large quantities of sword wind as a counterattack measure?
For Wei Ta-gong himself, it was cultivation of a lofty realm he could not approach.
If one recklessly employed such a thing, the meridians throughout the body would receive tremendous pressure and cause internal injuries.
‘Is it the return of the Evil Emperor?!’
Wei Ta-gong’s body advanced as his eyes flashed.
The distance compressed in an instant.
Meshing with the charging sword strike, black sword energy shaped like a great net rotated.
Black Spiral Sword Technique’s ultimate move, Black Rotation Sword.
The sword force that advances as if enveloping Cheol Ryu-heun and spins rapidly while tightening.
Chilling power was loaded.
It was a terrifying technique that seemed as if it would mercilessly constrict and crush into pieces everything that entered the sword strike’s range.
However, as Cheol Ryu-heun’s Ganjiang Sword instantly drew a cross.
CHWAAAAAAAA- CHWAAAAAAAA-!
From that flashing cross-flash, countless sword energies poured out.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG-!
A rift occurred between heaven and earth, shaking wildly.
Black Rotation Sword, which had been fully tightening, opened wide.
Like an expanding pouch.
Indiscriminate sword light, a mix of horizontal and vertical sword energy, exploded.
PEOEOEOEOEOEOENG!
Following that, Wei Ta-gong’s form, pushed by heavy repelling force, staggered while retreating about twenty paces.
Sharp sounds of shock burst out here and there.
Because the sword move Cheol Ryu-heun had just executed perfectly matched the characteristics of Defying Heaven Explosive Cannon Strike, said to be Evil Emperor Yul-cheon’s main ultimate technique in his lifetime.
Before long, Cheol Ryu-heun, having leaped one zhang into the air, executed a horizontal sword move toward the ground in front.
SHUKAAAK!
The moment Wei Ta-gong kicked the ground and quickly retreated backward.
‘HURP!’
It was clearly a horizontal move, yet vertical sword energy assailed from a completely different trajectory.
His movement sharply angled sideways.
KAKAKAKAKAKAK- KWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG-!
Sure enough, the ground split long vertically and exploded.
If he hadn’t changed his movement direction, he would have collided with that sword force.
Only then did Wei Ta-gong clearly realize.
That what Cheol Ryu-heun was executing was the true Reverse Heaven Sword Forms.
The mysterious sword energy that ignores the motion accompanying power release was Evil Emperor Yul-cheon’s unique cultivation, wasn’t it?
Cheol Ryu-heun, having descended to the ground, closed in on the opponent’s front and continuously released opposite sword energies that ignored horizontal and vertical movements.
PEOPEONG- CHAENG, KAKANG- KWAWOONG- KUNG, KUKUNG-!
Thus Wei Ta-gong was pushed onto the defensive.
WOBBLE WOBBLE.
Before the unpredictable sword strikes and dominating power, his form kept retreating precariously.
JJEOEOENG- KWAKWANG-!
Vertical sword energy released by horizontal sword force exploded in front of the opponent’s face while compressing the gap.
‘KEOK!’
Wei Ta-gong, having let out a pained groan internally, was pushed back over ten more paces.
Fortunate.
Because he had protected his heart meridian.
But his energy blood was already boiling.
Internal injury.
At that moment, unbearable internal power closed in again.
Thrusting at his front.
Sword energy of white light resembling a giant pillar.
That wasn’t all.
Countless sword winds exhibiting vertical and horizontal wondrous application also accompanied the advancing sword energy.
Reverse Heaven Piercing Void Strike, boasting majesty rivaling Defying Heaven Explosive Cannon Strike.
If one received that head-on, one would die.
The sword power, momentum, wind pressure – all of it was first-rate.
However.
Wei Ta-gong, burning his final competitive spirit, unleashed an ultimate move containing all the internal power in his body.
PAAAAAAAAAAAT-!
From the thrust sword tip, a circular massive black current was shot out.
The visible space ahead was covered in black.
Black Formation Sword.
It was an ultimate technique of extreme power where black sword energy literally spread wide and formed a formation.
Thus the collision of Black Formation Sword and Reverse Heaven Piercing Void Strike shook the great plain.
KWARURURURURUNG-!
A tremendous whirlpool of energy.
As the ground surface churned upward as if planed and a large dust cloud rose hazily.
“KULREOK!”
Everyone heard the sound of Wei Ta-gong coughing blood.
Soon, as the dust cloud cleared by the formless energy wind Cheol Ryu-heun released.
“WOW…!”
Exclamations sounded here and there.
Because the sight of Wei Ta-gong kneeling on one knee on the deeply sunken ground entered each of their eyes.
Supposedly the foremost of the Six Polar Stars and the strongest master of Hubei region’s unorthodox martial world, Black Silken Sword Sovereign had been defeated.
At that moment, one person’s shout burst out.
“He’s a Martial God! He is…!”
Then the same shouts followed, striking the ears.
Amid such cheers and sounds of shock pouring out, Wei Ta-gong wiped the blood from his mouth and spoke.
“HM… Sect Leader Cheol… I acknowledge my defeat. You truly deserve to be called Hunan’s First Martial God… and also can be said to be the legitimate heir of the Evil Emperor who appeared in this era.”