Chapter 360: The Authority of the Strong (2)
They will all die here.
The young man’s words sounded extremely absurd.
Eighty percent of the Divine Fire soldiers stationed here were already dead. To begin with, the number of Divine Fire soldiers who died from the gunpowder explosion was more than half.
Even the Martial Generals he was certain were at most four, two were already dead. The scale of victory had already completely tilted.
Naturally, it was right to flee. Yet, the young man was spouting such nonsense.
Murong Jun chuckled.
“You’re a funny kid.”
“Kid?”
The young man smiled broadly.
“Kid… That’s quite an unfamiliar word.”
It wasn’t simply that his appearance looked young. The young man’s voice and tone were beyond young, they even felt childish.
Hwa-ah-ah-ah-ak.
A fierce murderous intent erupted from the young man’s body.
Unlike his mockery, Murong Jun was internally tense.
‘What kind of guy is this?’
It was a terrifying murderous intent.
In some respects, that murderous intent was similar to Yeon Ho-jeong’s. It was thick enough that it wouldn’t fall short compared to the murderous intent when Yeon Ho-jeong was extremely angry.
One couldn’t strongly emit murderous intent simply because their will was strong. One must possess well-polished mental strength and perfect true qi control ability to that extent not to be captivated by the murderous intent.
It was the reason Murong Jun highly evaluated Yeon Ho-jeong’s talent. Even though he didn’t have an outstanding martial bone, the fact that he maintained his sanity even after emitting that much murderous intent meant Yeon Ho-jeong’s mental strength was unrivaled.
In other words, he could overcome his lacking martial bone with enlightenment and wisdom. That’s why Murong Jun was certain that Yeon Ho-jeong’s growth rate would be explosive.
Yet, this guy’s murderous intent also seemed to have no particular difference from Yeon Ho-jeong’s.
‘No, there is a difference.’
Murong Jun’s sharp discerning eye felt the bizarre madness melted into the murderous intent.
‘This guy, he’s not normal.’
Hook!
Murong Jun’s eyes widened.
The young man had approached right in front of his nose before he knew it. It was a speed that truly chilled his chest.
“You shouldn’t be careless. Especially in front of an opponent stronger than you.”
The young man’s hand moved like lightning.
Kwa-ang!
Murong Jun’s body slid backward.
He couldn’t even fully draw his sword. A grayish smoke leaked from the back of the sword that blocked the young man’s hand technique. If he hadn’t injected lightning qi in time, this precious sword might have broken.
Veins bulged on Murong Jun’s forehead.
‘Strong!’
Hu-uk!
Murderous intent was felt from the right side.
He moved before even giving a glance. A ridiculous speed. Recently, excluding the Black Dragon Manor Master Yang Cheon, there was no opponent who showed such a terrifying speed.
It wasn’t the time to save his strength. Murong Jun unfolded the Heartless Heavenly Thunder Stance.
Flash! Rumble!
The sword of lightning was as fast as a thunderbolt and as strong as a thunderbolt. The place where Murong Jun’s sword strike passed was not only deeply gouged but scorched black.
“Hoh, you handle lightning qi to this level? Commendable?”
Murong Jun’s lightning sword couldn’t even graze a single collar of the young man. Before he knew it, the young man was sitting on a collapsed pillar, resting his chin on his hand and looking at Murong Jun.
Murong Jun’s face hardened.
‘What kind of guy…!’
The young man giggled and laughed.
“Not bad skills. If we go to a battle of strength, even I would find it burdensome. Amazing? To think experts of this level would appear one after another, this was really unexpected.”
“…”
“But it won’t do being so sluggishly slow, right?”
Flash!
The young man revealed himself behind Murong Jun.
He saw it twice, but he missed even the third movement. Since holding a sword, Murong Jun had never missed the opponent’s movement three times.
“Euhahaha!”
The young man spat out a madness-filled laugh and thrust his fist.
Kwa-ang!
Murong Jun staggered and was pushed forward five or six steps.
The young man tilted his head.
“Huh? You blocked it?”
A single sword was blocking Murong Jun’s back. He noticed the attack coming and drew his sword to protect his back.
“Strange? How did you react to my speed?”
Pa-ah-ah-ang!
An explosion sound burst out only after the young man moved. The speed of his footwork had surpassed the speed of sound waves.
It was truly a movement far beyond imagination. Even while producing this level of speed, only his clothes were slightly damaged, while his skin was completely fine. It was evidence that true qi was stably protecting his entire body.
The young man swung his twin palms.
Boom! Crack!
Murong Jun’s body continuously shook at the linked palm techniques emitted in an instant.
Even if the power of the martial art itself is weak, if the speed is this fast, its destructive power doubles. Speed is power, and at extreme speed, even a pebble becomes the worst lethal hidden weapon.
However.
Puseuseuseuseuseu.
Grayish smoke rose from Murong Jun’s body as he staggered back. Because he randomly emitted true qi to block the young man’s attacks.
The young man frowned.
“You blocked all of that?”
Strictly speaking, he didn’t block the stances but blocked the qi arts. Murong Jun could only react to half of the stances the young man unfolded.
Unbelievable speed. The destructive power befitting that speed.
“…So it was like that.”
Murong Jun spat! and spat out saliva. Bloody water mixed in the saliva came out.
“It’s hard to respond, but it’s not entirely impossible.”
If the internal force release was as powerful as that speed, Murong Jun would have died long ago.
That meant that the characteristic of the young man’s martial arts itself was purely focused on speed.
Although speed is power, it’s not always like that in the world of internal arts experts. Of course, power equal to speed would be loaded, but to properly implement that power, the mnemonic chant for internal force release matching it and the discerning eye to create the flow of power are absolutely necessary.
In other words, the realm where all of that is possible is the peak expert or higher, the realm of the Martial God that the world talks about. The young man’s martial arts seemed impossible to face at first glance because it was so fast, but he couldn’t reach the realm of the Saintly Heaven with a martial art that was simply fast.
“Still, you’re definitely more tricky than the other guys. Are you a Martial General too?”
“Of course.”
The young man smiled brightly.
He was frowning heavily just a moment ago, but now he smiles radiantly again. He didn’t seem sane at all.
“I am the Second Rank of the Eighteen Martial Generals, Heavenly Dipper.”
Second Martial General, Heavenly Dipper.
Murong Jun smirked.
“Heavenly Dipper… A lowly thing from the outer regions has quite a grand name.”
Heavenly Dipper refers to the Big Dipper. For Murong Jun, who believed the Central Plains was the center of the world, the name Heavenly Dipper sounded truly arrogant.
Murderous intent lingered in the Heavenly Dipper’s eyes.
He dared to insult his name. A name directly bestowed by’That Person’.
“You son of a bitch.”
Murong Jun burst into a hearty laugh.
“To hear such a curse from a guy worse than a bug, it is truly dumbfounding.”
Flash!
The Heavenly Dipper faltered for a moment.
Fierce murderous intent erupted from Murong Jun’s eyes as well.
Surprisingly, that murderous intent was neck and neck with the Heavenly Dipper’s murderous intent. A lowly bastard from the border cursed him, so there was no greater insult to Murong Jun, who was tightly packed with pride and self-esteem.
“I will tear you into eighteen pieces today and throw you as food for wild dogs.”
The Heavenly Dipper’s mouth corners went up.
“Our minds matched for the first time? I was planning to do that too.”
Flash!
The two rushed at each other.
“Kuleok!”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who vomited a handful of blood, staggered and stood up.
Boom!
His body shook at the terrifying explosions and shockwaves.
Yeon Ho-jeong looked at the place of the decisive battle.
‘He is responding.’
The Heavenly Dipper’s speed was still fast when looking again. Although it wasn’t as much as the Blood Wing Sweeping Heavens he used during his Dark Emperor days, he was implementing a speed that didn’t lack much compared to it at every moment.
That was truly amazing. It wasn’t just once in a while; speed itself was the foundation of his martial arts.
How mighty of a true qi and stamina must he have equipped to endure that speed? Although his enlightenment might be low, a ridiculous amount of bitter training must have definitely followed.
However.
‘Murong Jun also has a chance of winning.’
Rip!
The atmosphere was vibrating crazily at the blue sword light erasing the empty air.
In just a few exchanges, he found the martial principles capable of handling that absurd speed and was responding.
Although he mainly showed a figure adept in trickery and stratagem, Murong Jun’s real strength was the peak martial arts exhibited along with those tricks.
And Yeon Ho-jeong knew how amazing Murong Jun’s martial arts were.
‘The Thunder God Art, Heartless Heavenly Thunder Stance, it was.’
In the past, the absolute martial art that made Murong Jun step up as the strongest martial artist of the White Path.
That martial art was an absolute art that even Yeon Ho-jeong in his Dark Emperor days felt at a loss fighting against. It was a martial art that could unconditionally be included in the list when picking the strongest martial arts besides the Four Gods Martial Arts.
An invincible sword technique that could discuss the world. Yeon Ho-jeong saw that Murong Jun would be able to face that guy named Heavenly Dipper, and furthermore, he would be able to win.
‘If so.’
Should he help him and kill that Heavenly Dipper guy? If not…
“Ho-jeong.”
“Father.”
Before he knew it, Yeon Wi and Muk Bi approached his side.
“Are you alright?”
Huuuuung.
Blue energy soared from Yeon Ho-jeong’s body. The Yeon Clan Divine Elixir was rotating at high speed and treating his internal and external injuries.
“I am fine. Something like this is nothing.”
“Take this.”
Yeon Wi handed him an internal injury medicine. It was one of the emergency medicines they packed just in case.
Yeon Ho-jeong did not refuse it.
As he took the internal injury medicine, there was an immediate reaction from the Yeon Clan Divine Elixir. Receiving the medicinal power, it commanded a faster and more stable rotational force and began maximizing body recovery.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s expression became noticeably refreshed.
“Well then, shall we advance towards the grand finale now?”
Yeon Wi’s eyes deepened.
“Did you feel it too?”
“Yes. I felt it.”
The two turned their heads towards the backyard of the giant manor.
Yeon Ho-jeong spoke with a calm voice.
“He is crouching as if dead, but there is definitely an amazing expert there.”
“Could it be a strong person of the Saintly Heaven level?”
“It’s not to that level.”
“Are you certain?”
“Of course.”
Yeon Ho-jeong had already stepped into that realm. Even if it wasn’t that, he was also someone who had received the momentum of Yang Cheon, who had become somewhat weakened recently.
The momentum crouching in that backyard was worse than the aura of the weakened Yang Cheon.
The problem was that he was stronger than anyone else here. And not just by a move or two, but by several moves!
Hu-uk!
Tang Kwan, who flew through the air, dusted off his hands.
“The miscellaneous soldiers have been mostly handled. The allied Demon Sweeping and Evil Annahilating forces will take care of cleaning up the rest.”
“You worked hard.”
“By the way, what is that monster over there?”
Tang Kwan also seemed to have felt the momentum. Excluding Murong Jun, who was caught in anger and engaging in a life-or-death battle with the Heavenly Dipper, and Muk Bi, who was still somewhat lacking, all three of them could feel the intimidating aura spreading from there.
Yeon Ho-jeong said.
“Whatever it is, if we just eliminate the guy hiding there, this fight will seem to be over. It seems there won’t be any stronger expert beyond that.”
Although he said so, Yeon Ho-jeong was certain.
The air of the battlefield was telling him so. That the fight with that nameless person would be the last of this battle.
Tang Kwan rolled his shoulders around.
“Is there a need to drag out time? I will go.”
“Let’s go together.”
Tang Kwan openly frowned.
“I don’t need help though.”
“You will need it. Even if you don’t need it, we are at war right now. We have to end the match in a short time with stronger combat power.”
“Hmph! Do as you please.”
Cha-ah-ang!
Yeon Wi drew his sword.
Kkadeudeudeuk.
Muk Bi slowly pulled her bowstring.
Bu-ung.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who hung the Crazy Dragon Axe on his shoulder, spoke with an ice-cold face.
“Shall we go decorate the end?”