Chapter 86
**
Mu In, Wi Mu-yeon, let out a sigh.
He originally intended to proceed calmly with the task, but as expected, his master immediately caused trouble.
But it can’t be helped. As a disciple, it is only right to follow his master.
Wi Mu-yeon stared blankly at the woman before him.
Her visible strength didn’t seem that formidable. However, the gently moving fan had a sinister elegance, and at the same time, a sweet fragrance wafted through the air.
“…May I ask for your name, my lady?”
“What good would it do to know? Nothing will change.”
“At the very least, I would like to know the name of the one I’m about to defeat.”
“How arrogant. This is why men are like this.”
—Thud.
The woman closed the fan she had been holding open.
“If you have a wish, you can say it now.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I asked if you have a dream you wish to fulfill.”
“What nonsense are you speaking?”
“Just as it is. In a moment, you’ll dance like a puppet and die. You should at least see the scenery you desire before the end, right?”
Wi Mu-yeon was about to speak.
But suddenly, her voice faded away.
“The number of warriors laid beneath me is enough to stack mountains. Each of them returned breathless, having lost their martial arts.”
“What…?!”
“But is that truly all of me? To have the joy and happiness devour me in dreams?”
—Swish.
The sound of the fan opening echoed.
Wi Mu-yeon suddenly realized the ground beneath him had vanished.
His body began to fall endlessly. In that moment, Wi Mu-yeon immediately corrected his posture.
It was closing in. At the same time, it was moving away.
The villa where he had firmly planted his feet moments ago quickly vanished from his sight.
“Is this some kind of illusion?! How dare this work on me…!”
“It will work. Even a fake sea will suffocate a person trapped in it. The foundation of a demon’s phantasm is a formation meant to kill someone.”
“Who the hell are you…?!”
“A mirage that is endlessly close to reality—is it fake or real?”
Voices echoed from multiple directions at once.
Countless women wielding swords began to walk out from the darkness.
“See for yourself. While you’re still alive.”
…
The warrior Chang-gong cleared his throat. The scent of blood brushed against his nose.
His older brother, Wi Mu-yeon, was facing a woman who had suddenly performed a bizarre maneuver. A smoky mist burst from a vial, and both she and Wi Mu-yeon disappeared simultaneously.
It felt as though a person had sunk into the earth. Chang-gong shouted with all his might.
“W-What kind of sorcery is this?! Explain! Where have you taken my brother?!”
“If I answer your questions, wouldn’t that be stranger? Huh?”
“You bastard!!”
Chang-gong rushed forward and smashed an entire wall. The man, who had leaped with a fiery aura at his fingertips, clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Aren’t you just a bit too ignorant? How about we have a conversation instead? I’m not confident in a direct fight.”
“If you’re not confident, then get lost!”
“But you see, Mu Gongja asked for help for the first time… It would be rude to simply leave. After all, you’ve helped me. Honestly, I want to accompany you. It’s rare to find such valuable information walking beside me.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“Did I bark like a dog? It’s all just facts. I’m simply speaking to myself, and you answering me is the strange thing. I never asked you anything.”
“You little punk!”
—Boom!!!
The wall he struck shattered again. Heat soared.
The man, who moved like a gust of wind, clicked his tongue.
“Your martial arts are astoundingly ignorant. Let’s see. I’ve seen techniques like this a few times. If the explosive force is this intense… is that the martial arts of Huachun Quenma?”
“How do you know that?!”
“Since the one who got caught by the Black Lady mentioned your older brother… Tsk. You must be Wi Mu-yeon. And you must be Chang-gong, right?”
Chang-gong trembled. He had merely thrown two punches, yet his name was revealed.
Droplets of spit flew from his mouth. Unable to contain himself any longer, he asked again.
“Who are you to know us?!”
“Why, is it strange? When I say ‘I’m this and that,’ isn’t it weirder not to recognize it?”
“Are you mocking me?!”
“Not mocking, just stating the facts. From the very beginning, you didn’t seem clever enough for me to bother mocking you. It’s bland.”
“You little shit!”
—Boom!!!
A wing of the villa collapsed. The man moved again and sat down on the fallen wall.
“Anyway, Chang-gong. How about just sitting still for a while? Sweating won’t gain us anything.”
“Stop running away like an eel and face me, you coward!”
“Why would I engage in a fight where there’s nothing to gain? I am, you see, quite weak. I’m not skilled at testing physical strength. But…”
The mumbling man rose from the wall.
“If I’m going to request companionship from Mu Gongja, I’ll need to do the basics. Huh. I guess it can’t be helped.”
“What are you blabbering about…!”
“Hey. I didn’t say I’d do it for free. The contest you want. So for now, be quiet, and… let’s see.”
The man glanced at the moon.
“It’s finally a Full Moon. Hmm. Very good. Do you know of the Moon Shadow Body technique?”
“What?”
“Right. You wouldn’t. Very few have seen this, and most of them are dead. An advanced martial art. The tips of your toes make no sound, and your presence will seep into the moonlight…”
As he gathered his breath, Chang-gong saw it.
Even though he was clearly looking, he felt nothing from the man before him.
“I said I didn’t want to. From this point on, what happens is your responsibility, so take care of it.”
…
Huachun Quenma, Gun Ho-kwang, cracked his knuckles.
His trained body was more solid than any mountain. Not only that. His fingertips could crush soft iron in an instant, turning it into powder.
Huachun Explosion Technique.
Yes. That is the kind of martial art it is.
It can crush anything that stands before it in an instant.
Huachun Quenma thus maintained a degree of caution. One must be alive to hear what the other has to say, right? Everyone knows that questioning a shattered corpse won’t yield answers.
Thus, he planned to simply break two arms. But when the other drew his sword, his mindset changed.
“…The prayer is…”
The prayer is strange.
It’s not just because of the blood surging in his body.
Look. Those aligned movements. Isn’t everything that flows from the end beautifully unrefined?
Refined movements? No, it’s not that kind of thing.
It’s the very basics that he had emphasized countless times to his disciples.
Here was someone who had refined those basics to the utmost. A rare warrior in this era.
Martial arts develop over time.
In the beginning, they focused on body techniques, which transitioned to weapon techniques.
The logic that prioritized external energy shifted to an all-encompassing notion of internal energy at some point.
In combat arts, it was even more pronounced. With life and death in a razor-thin balance, it was natural to focus on overwhelming power rather than spending years honing the basics.
The speed of growth differs.
Though that boundary is clear, very few reach that limit.
The martial arts of today practically prioritize internal energy. It was deemed efficient and was considered the right approach.
…But you know, real experts understand it all. Those who pursue only internal energy inevitably find themselves blocked by an insurmountable wall.
Why did the ancient martial artists choose to tread the difficult path?
Why did they obsess over balancing the physical?
Those untamed beasts, unaccustomed to comfort. Thus, any martial artist who walked the path of martial arts wished to make their disciples walk the harder path.
Had he himself not done the same? Passing down the unfinished Huachun Explosion Technique to future generations, didn’t he wish for his disciples to possess a physique even more complete than his own?
But people aren’t so straightforward. He emphasized the importance of effort to his disciples, but prodigies quickly brushed that aside.
They only obsessed over the tools they could wield. They fixated on perfecting the Huachun Explosion Technique itself, roughly learning the mental arts and martial forms before hastily advancing.
Growth.
Only that was prioritized by these martial artists.
Yet… that thing… that is different.
The eyes of Huachun Quenma gleamed with greed.
“Where is your sect?”
“None of your business.”
“…What is the name of the martial art you trained in?”
“Nine Heavens Blood Demon Technique.”
“Nine Heavens Blood Demon Technique! You’re from the Blood Demon Organization! But this is strange! So strange! If you learned it alone, you would have had to enter the mental arts! Yet you’re not that fearsome! You’re not a dazzling one!”
Hwasan Quenma bared his teeth.
Greed. A desire for people. But beyond that, something is visible.
Isn’t that what a warrior would do? If there’s such a perfectly straight blade before him, wouldn’t he want to clash at least once?
Whether it’s the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Technique or whatever, it doesn’t matter. Matters concerning the Seven Star Gate can wait a moment.
The clash of nothingness and nothingness.
Focusing on that collision is precisely what a being called Hwasan Quenma should do.
“Keheh! You liar! Come on! As promised, I’ll let you have the first move!”
“…It seems stronger than I expected…”
The man moved his feet.
“I won’t hold back.”
Hwasan Quenma spread his senses, predicting the space to strike and shifted his feet as well.
Flames burst from his entire body, empowered by the Huachun Explosion Technique. To withstand the upcoming attack, his muscles swelled as if about to explode.
Defensive Power. The flame energy wrapped around his body.
Now. Where are you coming from?
What kind of attack will it be!
Illusion? Transformation? Swift?
Any type of martial art is fine! I’ll take it with my body and confirm it!
“I am the one called Huachun Quenma! You whelp! Don’t hesitate and pour it all out! If you don’t want to die!”
A booming voice resonated, infused with energy. Along with that, the man’s sword moved.
And Huachun Quenma saw it.
The cleanly continuation of the sword’s movement.
“…What is this?!”
In an instant, blood energy surged. Not only that, the tip of the sword precisely pierced through the flow of energy, emitting a strange sound.
An aura that seemed to freeze his feet. But it wasn’t just coarse.
The sword strike itself was bizarre. Hwasan Quenma hurriedly raised his arm to defend against that strike he had intended to take with his body.
—Crack!!!
His defensive aura…
His defensive aura was pierced?!
“What the…?!”
He hastily summoned more energy, reinforcing the flames. The Huachun Explosion Technique, on the verge of exploding, howled with all its might.
But still, the astonishing strike pierced through his defenses. Even the raging flames froze in an instant, leaving an irreparable mark on his upper body.
“Grrk?!”
What kind of strange strength is this?!
It’s much heavier than it appears!
As Huachun Quenma hastily pulled back, he flipped his body several times. However, he could not completely dispel the shock and crashed against the wall of the villa.
—Boom!!!
Dust and debris filled the air. Huachun Quenma, reaching out to clear the dust from his upper body, felt something warm.
There was blood. Indeed, it was flowing. Even if he had been careless, how could he have been carved with wounds while his energy was broken?
Was it merely this foolishness?
“This… bastard…!”
Huachun Quenma’s shoulders trembled. Unable to hold back any longer, he grinned.
“You’re amusing me! Hahaha!!! To receive such a splendid gift and refuse it would be rude! I’ll split your head open myself!”
“…To withstand a deadly blow protected by energy… I thought I would inflict a fatal wound… then it must be in the later stages…”
As the man opened his mouth, he abruptly halted his feet. While naturally fiddling with the sheathed sword, he looked at Huachun Quenma.
“Are you going to continue?”
“What nonsense! Of course, I will…!”
“My companions have been more competent than I thought. I’m not really fond of this sort of thing, but I’m a bit busy, so it can’t be helped.”
“What?”
Huachun Quenma immediately turned his head.
The fog spreading in the distance gradually lifted. There, his first disciple, trampled by a woman, was visible.
Not only that. His second disciple, bound by threads, was visible as well.
Though both children lacked a bit in training, they were at peak levels.
Unless one is a formidable powerhouse, it wouldn’t be easy to subdue them this quickly…
“S-Sir!”
“I’m so sorry…!”
“…Tsk.”
Huachun Quenma struggled to suppress his boiling pride. He exhaled with a sigh and cooled his anger.
“You fools. So, what do you want? I’ll at least listen to you.”
“Let’s have a discussion. What was the reason for your attack on us?”
“The reason for the attack? Aren’t you all enemies of our adorable Mi-ryeong?”
“…Mi-ryeong? Are you talking about Yeon Mi-ryeong, the last known survivor of the Seven Star Gate?”
“Exactly. This hidden place is known only to our sect. I believed the perpetrator would eventually return to the scene, so we waited. And then you all conveniently came to us, so all I wanted was to capture you.”
“I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“Literally, a misunderstanding. We are also seeking them out. Yeon Mi-ryeong must surely be related to the missing Blood Sea Members.”
“Blood Sea Members…? Why does that name come up here?”
“I’m searching for a Blood Sea Member named Wolhyang.”
“…….”
Huachun Quenma sighed.
“Ah, tsk. Just when I thought I could finally mix it up with my fists… It’s disappointing that you’re not an enemy. It’s hard to find someone like you… Ha! Since we mentioned it, share more details! I’ll listen and think it over!”
