RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
The Flood Dragon Chain, drawn brutally taut, dug deeper and deeper into Yayul Jeok’s body.
HISSSSS!
He tried to counter its force with Hundredfold Yin-Cold Qi and Crimson Yin-Fire Qi, but it was far from easy.
Yin Cold and Crimson Yin Fire, the Yin God’s two consummate arts, were miraculous disciplines that controlled two opposing yin-yang energies. They had never been designed, however, to unleash both forces simultaneously for sheer destructive power.
They had been created to deliver death more silently and more surely than any martial art under heaven. Rather than prevailing in a direct confrontation, Yin Cold and Yin Fire infiltrated the body and erupted within, destroying the victim from the inside with the ultimate hidden force.
In that respect, they bore some resemblance to the Four Spirit Qi. The difference was that the Four Spirit Martial Art had reached completion in offense, defense, evasion, and counterattack alike. In a frontal battle, it could display far greater prowess than the Yin God’s martial arts.
Strange.
Despite the urgency of the situation, calm had already returned to Yayul Jeok’s eyes.
The quality of his Inner Qi suddenly improved. At the very moment he was cornered, its concentration surged as though he had been waiting for it. That is impossible.
People often said that surviving a brush with death could bring tremendous growth.
The same was true for martial artists. In a moment of mortal peril, a flash of insight could bring an enormous leap forward.
But such a “leap forward” always contained an element of first experience. A moment of enlightenment might elevate one’s martial realm, but after entering that new world, combat ability usually plummeted until one grew accustomed to it.
That was even more dangerous in the middle of a duel to the death. Confusion over the changes in how one’s martial arts manifested could lead to fatal consequences.
He is different.
Yeon Hojeong was different.
He had unquestionably risen to a higher realm—in the span of a single instant.
Yet everything he did was perfectly natural. As though he had reached this realm before, he handled the increased flow of Inner Qi flawlessly and read both the upper and lower limits of his newfound strength with exquisite precision.
It should have been impossible. Unless someone had once lost their cultivation to qi deviation and then, through some miraculous fortune, regained their original realm, no one could control newly elevated Inner Qi with such familiarity.
Could he have been concealing his true strength all along?!
The situation was so absurd that even that possibility crossed Yayul Jeok’s mind.
...Whatever the truth may be.
Yayul Jeok’s gaze shifted toward Sima Hyeon.
Sima Hyeon stared back with cold eyes. Anger, self-loathing, Killing Intent, and sorrow all burned within them.
The Yin God’s power alone will not be enough. I should have aimed for a surprise attack from the beginning.
This, too, had been arrogance—the belief that even in a frontal confrontation, the Yin God’s martial arts would be more than enough to overwhelm them.
It had been understandable confidence.
Yeon Hojeong’s sudden growth had turned it into a fatal miscalculation.
WHOOSH!
The presence generated by Yayul Jeok’s Supreme Yin God Qi vanished without a trace.
SIZZLE...
A gray-black haze began rising from his body.
Surprise spread across Sima Hyeon’s hate-filled face. He had never seen that energy before.
He was not the only one affected.
“Urgh!”
Okcheong groaned and stumbled back several steps. The force radiating from Yayul Jeok had exceeded all imagination.
Ordinary pressure from an eruption of Inner Qi would never have provoked such a reaction from Okcheong. Of all the troops, he stood closest to the Wall of Martial Arts.
Okcheong shouted.
“Supreme Commander! Be careful! That is no ordinary evil qi!”
It was true.
The True Qi pouring from Yayul Jeok was such overwhelming evil qi that it crushed even Okcheong’s Primordial Unity Qi, an energy regarded as the pinnacle of Daoist martial arts.
In terms of intrinsic quality, Primordial Unity Qi—the culmination of all the Sword Immortal’s insight—could not possibly be inferior. Okcheong’s realm was simply too low, leaving him vulnerable before such overwhelming evil qi.
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
The Flood Dragon Chain began vibrating violently.
The sheer intensity of the power was entirely different from when Yayul Jeok had used Supreme Yin God Qi. The Vermilion Bird Fire Qi that had completely dominated the chain was gradually being pushed back by the gray evil qi pouring from him.
“How long has it been since I revealed this power?”
CLAAANG!
The Flood Dragon Chain fell away, suddenly slack. The fact that it had not broken even then spoke volumes about the extraordinary material from which it had been forged.
“I tried so hard to forget my former power so I could reign as the god of the Central Plains’ shadows.”
RUSTLE...
Color began returning to Yayul Jeok’s corpse-pale skin.
CRACK! CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The transformation continued.
His frame gradually expanded, and his muscles swelled visibly beneath his clothes.
His facial features remained unchanged, but the increase in size and the color returning to his skin completely altered the impression he gave. The vaguely eerie yet otherwise unremarkable man now looked fiercely built for battle.
Yayul Jeok had temporarily cast aside the Yin God’s power and drawn out the divine art of the Perverse Lust Cult.
Yet Yeon Hojeong’s eyes remained unexpectedly serene as he watched.
WHOOOOSH!
The evil qi pouring from Yayul Jeok was monstrously violent. His gaze had grown as savage as the altered qi wave surrounding him, like the eyes of a wild beast.
He growled.
“Playtime is over. This time, I will make certain—”
BOOM!
“Gah!”
Yayul Jeok vomited blood as he was hurled backward. He smashed through a tree and crashed to the ground.
His eyes flew open.
It was fortunate that he had instinctively defended himself. Had he failed to do so, that one strike would have broken something.
Shock crossed Yayul Jeok’s face.
Wh-what was that?
He immediately corrected his stance.
Before him stood Yeon Hojeong, wreathed in red and white haze.
ROOOAR!
It looked as though fire had mingled with the wind—or perhaps as though the wind itself were guiding the flames.
Yeon Hojeong had raised White Tiger Metal Qi and Vermilion Bird Fire Qi at the same time. Unlike Yayul Jeok’s, his qi wave was not loud or ostentatious.
It was calm, yet lethally dangerous.
Unassuming, yet seemingly capable of unleashing an explosive blow at any moment.
“Beast King Evil Qi.”
“...?!”
“Judging from your presence, you mastered it completely. Have you neglected your training since then? For an art brought to full mastery, the flow of your True Qi seems rather sluggish.”
Yayul Jeok’s eyes trembled.
“How do you know of the Beast King Evil Qi?”
Come to think of it, this man had been strange from the very beginning.
He had seen through not only Soh Bang’s Blood-Drinking evil qi but every path of the Blood-Drinking Palm as well. That °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° should have been impossible without mastering the Blood-Drinking Palm oneself.
Yet now he even knew the Beast King Evil Qi.
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
The Flood Dragon Chain swam freely through the air.
It moved as though it were alive, almost of its own volition. Yeon Hojeong did nothing more than flick his wrist.
“Come. I will show you just how worthless your power truly is.”
Killing Intent flared in Yayul Jeok’s eyes.
“You insolent brat!”
BOOM!
Yayul Jeok charged at Yeon Hojeong.
His posture was extraordinarily low. He raced forward with both hands touching the ground like a four-legged beast, radiating tremendous pressure.
He closed the distance in an instant and unleashed an explosive punch.
BOOM!
Yeon Hojeong’s body swayed.
“You dare look down on our cult’s martial arts?!”
BOOM! KRAA-BOOM!
“Our cult’s arts are invincible techniques perfected over a thousand years! They exist on an entirely different level from the martial arts you people have cobbled together!”
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Yayul Jeok’s unarmed combat was extraordinary.
It was completely different from the style he had displayed through Supreme Yin God Qi. That style had been fast, sharp, and specialized in the techniques of killing.
This one was savage and unyielding.
It was the fighting art of a beast—a murderous discipline combining fist and claw techniques to crush and tear its opponent apart.
“I will rip your corpse into a hundred pieces and show you the greatness of our cult—!”
At that instant, Yeon Hojeong’s hand slipped between Yayul Jeok’s two fists.
THUUUD!
“Cough!”
Yayul Jeok vomited blood and was sent flying once more.
HISSSSS...
Pale smoke rose from both of Yeon Hojeong’s arms as he remained frozen with one hand extended.
He had blocked every last one of Yayul Jeok’s attacks.
“The martial arts of Perverse Lust are so exceptional that I cannot understand why you remain obsessed with the Yin God’s arts.”
Yeon Hojeong relaxed his stance.
A stern gravity settled over his face as he looked down at Yayul Jeok.
“In the end, you are nothing more than a half-breed who knows nothing of the truth of martial arts.”
HMMMMMM!
The Yeon Clan Divine Core slowly began to rotate.
Even without drawing upon the tremendous generation of True Qi produced by that rotation, Yeon Hojeong had blocked every one of Yayul Jeok’s attacks and countered with ease.
It was astonishing.
Rather than using his usual method of annihilating his opponent in a single eruption of overwhelming force, he had brought Yayul Jeok down with softness.
This is it.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.
This is what I have been missing all this time.
It had begun with his spar against Yangcheon.
They had not exchanged hundreds of blows, but fighting Yangcheon had allowed Yeon Hojeong to immerse himself in another martial principle.
He had been able to grasp that principle precisely because he was weaker than Yangcheon.
His insight rivaled Yangcheon’s and might even have surpassed it, but his actual power was inferior. To land even a single strike, he had been forced to employ every combat skill he had ever acquired.
With every exchange, dozens of possible responses flashed through his mind. From among them, he selected the most effective attack—the one most likely to catch Yangcheon off guard.
Yet Yangcheon had not fallen.
Far from it. Yeon Hojeong had been driven back one-sidedly without managing to inflict any meaningful damage.
That was only natural.
Yangcheon was also a master of combat, and the difference in their raw power was beyond comparison.
Then what was Yeon Hojeong supposed to do?
Their methods differed, but both he and Yangcheon pursued martial arts that were direct and destructive. How could he possibly land a blow?
That was when he had dimly recalled the fist art Daoist Seunghyeon had demonstrated before they departed to fight the warriors of the Divine Flame Cult—an art that had reached the level of divine skill.
Taiji Fist!
Daoist Seunghyeon’s Taiji Fist had not seemed powerful in the slightest.
It was far more adept at defense than attack. Rather than imposing techniques upon an opponent, it focused on receiving their force and guiding it away.
That was precisely what the present Yeon Hojeong—far weaker than he had been as the Dark Emperor—needed.
It was a martial principle he had once possessed no reason to cultivate. Now it had become the missing piece that could bring his martial arts closer to completion.
And the instant he understood it—
Yeon Hojeong’s True Qi embraced that realization and surged into the extreme limits of its realm.
Now it is right before me.
HMMMMMM!
The Yeon Clan Divine Core spun faster.
The highly refined Four Spirit Qi restored Yeon Hojeong’s body at astonishing speed.
He felt as though he could take flight and soar into the heavens at any moment. Confidence surged through him—the certainty that one punch could reduce a ten-thousand-pound boulder to dust, that a single breath could tear a towering tree out by its roots.
This was the pinnacle.
Here stood an ultimate warrior who had reached the very summit of Transcendent Peak, the realm that surpassed the limits of humanity.
Only one step remains to the Limitless Realm!
Yeon Hojeong had never imagined he would attain this insight here.
Yet he was not particularly surprised.
He accepted the change—and the situation surrounding it—with perfect calm.
KRAAA-BOOM!
A tremendous impact erupted behind him.
The Evil-Smiting Corps had formed its formation and entered a fierce battle against Soh Bang.
Yeon Hojeong did not look back.
He trusted his subordinates.
Nor did he intend to waste any more time.
“Let us end this.”
Yeon Hojeong swung the Flood Dragon Chain.
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
The chain writhed like a serpent, then shot toward Yayul Jeok’s throat at terrifying speed.
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