Chapter 98 Treasure Vault (4)

‘This…’

Cheong-ryeong hesitated as she saw a tall, handsome young man approaching Mok Gyeong-un.

Judging by the look in the approaching young man’s eyes, he did not seem to have good intentions.

Currently, Mok Gyeong-un was in a state of oblivion, having gained enlightenment during his meditation.

Beyond simply being immersed, if disturbed incorrectly in this state, there was a risk of the energy flowing in reverse, potentially leading to qi deviation, also a deviation of cultivation.

‘Could it be that he intends to disturb Mok Gyeong-un?’

It certainly seemed that way.

She hesitated, wondering if she should break out of the wooden puppet and intervene.

As Mok Gyeong-un’s servant ghost, their fates were intertwined.

-Swish!

As expected, the young man was reaching out his hand.

‘Damn that mortal. To do this at such a crucial moment…’

Just as she thought this,

-Swoosh!

In that instant, a portion of the death energy, the killing intent that had escaped Mok Gyeong-un’s body, was suddenly sucked back in as if nothing had happened.

Along with it, Mok Gyeong-un’s blank eyes came back to life.

‘Ah!’

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes now shone with a radiant light and had gained depth.

She had been worried about a heart demon appearing, but it seemed he had achieved some success.

Confirming this, she hurriedly shouted,

-Look to your right!

At her cry, Mok Gyeong-un instinctively turned his head to the side.

As he turned, someone was bringing their hand towards his forehead, nearly touching it.

“What are you doing?”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, the tall young man, no, Bright Blade King’s disciple Yeop Wi-seon, couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

It was natural, as he had reached out with ill intentions.

-Can’t you see? That mortal was trying to disturb you.

‘Disturb?’

-When you’re in a state of meditation or oblivion, if you’re disturbed, you may fall into a heart demon. If that happens, the heart demon will arise, and the energy will flow in reverse, causing adverse effects.

That is precisely qi deviation.

Hearing this, Mok Gyeong-un looked coldly at Yeop Wi-seon in front of him.

It was the first time seeing his face, yet he had approached with malice.

“I’ve heard that touching someone during a state of oblivion or meditation is an intentional act of causing a heart demon. Is that correct?”

“…”

There was no answer.

With just this, Mok Gyeong-un reached his own conclusion.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“That, that’s…”

“No need for explanations.”

“What?”

-Pak!

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, Yeop Wi-seon’s head was thrown back as Mok Gyeong-un’s thumb and index finger struck his Adam’s apple.

It could be said that he had let his guard down due to the shock of being caught trying to intentionally cause a heart demon, but the speed of that strike just now was incredibly fast.

‘This, this bastard?’

What was that?

Based on his perception, Yeop Wi-seon only felt like a first-rate expert.

But how could his hands be so fast?

However, now was not the time to be surprised.

‘shit, he just had to hit the throat…’

Among the vital points, when struck on the throat, one’s breath is momentarily blocked, making it difficult to circulate energy freely.

Thus,

-Pak!

“Cough, cough!”

Yeop Wi-seon coughed and performed a somersault in the air, spinning and utilizing footwork to distance himself.

Having been caught off guard, he needed a moment to recover.

However, Mok Gyeong-un seemed to have no intention of allowing that.

-Pat! Tatatatatak!

Mok Gyeong-un leaped up and unleashed a series of kicks.

Seeing this, Cheong-ryeong couldn’t hide her inner astonishment.

The footwork Mok Gyeong-un was displaying was the fourth stance of the Shadowless Flash Kick^[1].

-Papapapapak!

‘shit!’

Yeop Wi-seon hadn’t even drawn his sword yet, and the incoming kicks forced him to use his fist techniques.

Even though Bright Blade King Son Yun was renowned for his sword techniques, there was no way he wouldn’t have prepared for situations involving hand-to-hand combat.

-Swish!

He managed to block the kicks, but Yeop Wi-seon’s feet were pushed back.

This caused Yeop Wi-seon to be unable to hide his inner bewilderment.

Even though he couldn’t properly circulate his energy after being hit in the throat, for someone who had reached the peak of the supreme realm to be pushed back while blocking kicks?

‘Who the hell is this guy?’

He was perplexed by the unexpected level of skill.

However, thinking that the ‘Young Lady’ downstairs was witnessing this scene, anger suddenly surged within him.

It couldn’t be helped that the original plan had been ruined, but this was a proper humiliation.

Thus,

“Huff!”

While deploying his defensive fist technique, Yeop Wi-seon switched to a simplified stance with his left hand.

It was a difficult task to block Mok Gyeong-un’s kicks with a single fist, so while transitioning, he was hit in the chest and left shoulder, but,

-Thud!

At the same time, he was able to draw the large sword strapped to his back.

-Shing!

As soon as he drew the sword, Yeop Wi-seon immediately unleashed a sword technique.

Bright Single Blade Technique^[2], Third Stance: Single Strike Sword Rotation^[3].

Faced with the domineering sword energy infused with sharpness, Mok Gyeong-un twisted his body to the side and instantly created a brief moment of aerial time.

-Papapapapak!

-Crash!

No sooner had he done that than five sections of the bookshelf behind him were split in half.

The range of the sharp energy was wider than expected.

However, seeing the secret manuals that were cut in half along with the bookshelves, Yeop Wi-seon’s face turned pale.

‘Gasp!’

In the heat of the moment, he had thought to cut down the guy with his sword, but he had ended up cutting nearly thirty secret manuals in half.

Fortunately, the third floor didn’t have the bookshelves fully filled with secret manuals, so only this many were cut, but cutting the original secret manuals with sharp energy was a huge mistake.

‘shit!’

Even though his master was one of the Five Kings, he might still receive a severe punishment for this.

Thinking about that, Yeop Wi-seon became even more enraged.

Because of this bastard, things had become thoroughly messed up.

‘This won’t do.’

-Pak!

Yeop Wi-seon stabbed his sword into the ground.

Then, he concentrated his energy into one hand, forming a sharp blade of energy.

The giant sword he had received from his master was too large, so unleashing sword techniques with sharp energy would cause too much damage to the surroundings.

Even if there was some energy consumption, it was better to use his bare hands to control the sharp energy.

‘I’ll kill you in one strike.’

Now that things had come to this, he had to kill the guy.

That way, there wouldn’t be any talk about him disturbing the guy’s meditation.

‘It’s not meant to be used in a place like this, but…’

Yeop Wi-seon assumed an extraordinary stance.

The Bright Single Blade Technique consisted of a total of 11 stances and had 5 hidden ultimate techniques.

His master, Bright Blade King Son Yun, had said,

[Only use the ultimate techniques on those you must kill.]

That was because each of those ultimate techniques was a sure-kill move.

Most martial artists wouldn’t want their stances to be known or analyzed by others, but this was even more true for ultimate techniques.

The less they were analyzed, the more they held the meaning of certain death.

-Pat!

Yeop Wi-seon launched his body.

‘Bright Single Blade Technique, Second Ultimate Technique: Fatal Retribution^[4]!’

The trajectory of the sword instantly split into five branches, converging like a whirlwind towards the center, and the sword strokes concentrated on a single point as they charged forward.

Among the ultimate techniques, this was his favorite stance, and if one was hit by it, their chest would be completely blown away, resulting in certain death.

‘Die!’

It was at that very moment.

-Shimmer!

As Mok Gyeong-un clenched his sword fingers, the air around his fingertips shimmered like a mirage.

It was a phenomenon caused by the manifestation of sharp energy.

-You!

Cheong-ryeong couldn’t hide her surprise.

This meant that Mok Gyeong-un had attained enlightenment and had reached the complete peak realm.

‘This guy can use sharp energy?’

Yeop Wi-seon also saw this.

Seeing the sharp energy emanating from Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers, he realized that Mok Gyeong-un was at least at the mature peak realm or above.

‘He;s hiding his true skill.’

Then, it was all the more reason to do his utmost to kill the guy.

In that fleeting moment, Mok Gyeong-un’s concentration reached its peak.

‘I can see it.’

It was a strange occurrence.

Perhaps it was because he had experienced various stances while becoming one with the universe through a state of oblivion?

In Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes, he could see how the sword strokes of the Fatal Retribution stance unleashed by Yeop Wi-seon would complete their trajectory.

Upon seeing this, he noticed a faint opening.

-Pat!

Without any hesitation, Mok Gyeong-un moved towards the opening he had spotted.

It was incredibly fast.

Yeop Wi-seon curled his lips bitterly.

‘Foolish fellow.’

The only way to break the Fatal Retribution stance was to maintain a distance and aim for the gap when the sword strokes converged and then dispersed again.

Approaching this closely would only make the stance more powerful, and it was no different from throwing away one’s life.

-Swoosh!

Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers entered the very center of his sword stance.

The five branches of sharp sword energy wrapped around Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers, wrist, shoulder, waist, and chest, attempting to split his entire body into five pieces.

It was at that very moment.

-Papapapapang!

The moment before they touched Mok Gyeong-un’s body, the five branches of sharp sword energy were deflected as if bouncing off.

‘What?’

The opening became even more apparent.

Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers accurately aimed for that opening.

The opening was Yeop Wi-seon’s left eye.

The sword fingers infused with sharp energy flew towards the left eye like a bolt of lightning.

‘This, this can’t be!’

It was too fast to avoid.

It was at that very moment.

-Pak!

‘!?’

Just as Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers were about to touch the eye, someone grabbed his wrist.

At the same time, Yeop Wi-seon’s wrist, who was unleashing the sword technique, was also grabbed by that someone.

It was a slender woman wearing a bamboo hat.

“Young Lady?”

-Thud!

“Ugh!”

Yeop Wi-seon’s wrist was twisted, and he was forced to kneel on the ground.

Startled by this, Yeop Wi-seon raised his head, trying to say something, but he was suddenly at a loss for words.

The eyes visible through the veil were cold beyond description.

It was as if those eyes were telling him to shut his mouth.

-Swish!

The woman who had silenced Yeop Wi-seon turned her head.

There was a glint in her eyes behind the veil.

It was because Yeop Wi-seon, the second disciple of Bright Blade King, one of the Five Kings, couldn’t withstand her martial power and was forced to kneel, but Mok Gyeong-un was different.

Rather than making him kneel, she had intended to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

‘He’s resisting the power of a 3-star warrior.’

It was surprising.

At first glance, he seemed to be at most a first-rate expert.

However, seeing him use sharp energy, she realized that he was a master who had reached the peak realm.

So she thought the power of a 3-star warrior would be enough, but he was holding his ground.

-Tremble!

“As expected of a cadet who received 3 plaques. With this level of skill, you’d be stronger than most other sects’ masters.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

Although she wasn’t using the energy of the danjeon, this woman’s internal energy was extraordinary.

The face vaguely visible through the veil was very young.

However, judging by the energy emanating from her, she possessed a vast amount of internal energy reminiscent of the Valley Master of the Corpse Blood Valley, Lee Ji-yeom.

“…You’re the one with delicate wrists but extraordinary martial power. Can I ask who you are?”

“Crazy! How dare you address her as ‘you’…”

-Squeeze!

“Aah!”

“Quiet.”

The woman in the bamboo hat, who had warned Yeop Wi-seon while squeezing his wrist even harder, smiled and said,

“Wi So-yeon.”

‘Wi So-yeon?’

Just knowing her name didn’t reveal who she was.

But then she continued,

“I am Wi So-yeon, the third disciple of the Heaven and Earth Society’s sect leader.”

‘!?’