Chapter 23

I looked at Taecheon and asked, playful.

“What do you think?”

“I refuse.”

I turned to the Heavenly Martial Emperor and said,

“He says no, Grandfather.”

The Heavenly Martial Emperor’s eyebrow twitched.

So calm even after hearing who he was.

And calling him Grandfather?

How could he speak to me so familiarly when we’ve never even met?

He couldn’t leave a treasure like Taecheon to rot in the hands of such an impudent brat.

“Sorry, but I’ll take him by force if I must. Don’t think of resisting. I’m doing this for your sake.”

“You really mean to snatch what’s mine, then? I thought Heavenly Martial Castle was a pillar of the martial world—looks like I was mistaken.”

“The mouth is the root of all evils. Don’t wag it carelessly.”

“I know. One should think thrice before speaking, but I don’t feel like doing that with you, Grandfather.”

“So you’re literate? A scholar? Tsk. And a talent like you is debasing himself by waiting on a mere bookworm?”

“Elder, I’m sorry, but I have only one lord, and that’s Young Master. I truly appreciate the offer, but I can’t obey.”

“Didn’t I say it? I’ll take you by force.”

The Heavenly Martial Emperor’s figure blurred, and in an instant he flashed before Taecheon, hand thrusting to seal his acupoints.

Strong as Taecheon was, before the Heavenly Martial Emperor he was no more than a child.

He’d be taken without recourse—so I thought for a split second.

The Heavenly Martial Emperor’s hand cleaved empty air.

“Huh?”

He sounded thrown.

Taecheon—who should have been right there—wasn’t in front of him.

When he turned his head, Taecheon had somehow slipped aside.

“Well now? Your Lightfoot Arts aren’t bad.”

Taecheon shook his head.

He was just as bewildered as anyone.

The Heavenly Martial Emperor moved again and this time shot his hand out even faster than before.

PAPAPAT—

Again he struck nothing.

Not once—twice his hand hit only air.

“Heh. This is embarrassing. Are you toying with me?”

“N-no.”

“Fine. I won’t bother sealing points. Better to knock you out and carry you off. Don’t worry—I’ll patch you up if you’re hurt.”

A fierce force gathered at the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s hand and wrapped his clenched fist.

“If you dodge this too, I’ll acknowledge it.”

His fist lashed out faster than sight.

THUD—

In that instant, something came between Taecheon and the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s fist.

“That’s far enough, Grandfather.”

The Heavenly Martial Emperor, who’d thrown the punch, stared at me in disbelief.

“You... wh-what are you?”

A truly rattled face.

Taecheon, too, wore a shocked expression.

He’d heard I was strong, sure—but to bare-hand block a strike from the Heavenly Martial Emperor?

“You... did you just block my fist with your bare hand?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Like this.”

I opened my palm and made the gesture of catching it.

That wasn’t what he meant.

The Heavenly Martial Emperor spread his sensing and swept me again.

He felt no qi whatsoever.

And yet I had stopped his fist?

How did that make sense?

In all the Central Plains, those who could block the move he’d just thrown numbered fewer than ten.

And I’d done it with one hand.

And I had no internal qi.

He tried to pull his hand free.

“Huh? Why won’t this come out?”

His fist wouldn’t slip from my grip.

Putting strength into it didn’t help.

“Are you going to let go of that?”

“If I let go, will you drop it?”

“Are you lecturing me?”

“Not a lecture—you’re coveting what’s not yours. Isn’t it proper to keep your dignity, fitting your title as Heavenly Martial Emperor?”

“You little—”

“Then do this for me too.”

“What?”

“Let me attack three times. If you don’t dodge all three, I’ll do as you say, Grandfather.”

At my proposal, the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s pupils darted.

What was this?

What a novel offer.

Should he accept?

And what was this unknown unease?

I was the brat who’d bare-handed his fist.

There was something here.

On the other hand, curiosity welled up.

He’d never seen a human like me in his life.

What kind of attack would I unfold?

Before that, he wanted to confirm something.

“You really have no internal qi, right?”

“Want to check?”

I spread my arms wide and exposed my dantian.

Madman.

On what was I relying to act like this?

What if he got a bad thought and struck my dantian?

Ah—hadn’t I said I didn’t even have a dantian?

That, too, was hard to believe.

“Then I’ll check.”

“Sure.”

He reached out carefully and felt.

“Insane!”

It was true.

He truly couldn’t feel a dantian.

No internal qi.

Not even a year’s worth of cultivation built up.

What kind of creature was this?

And that creature had blocked his fist?

He had to verify it.

“Good. I won’t dodge your three attacks. If I do dodge, I’ll grant what you want.”

“Really?”

“A man’s word is worth a thousand in gold. And this man is me, the Heavenly Martial Emperor.”

“Excellent.”

“Come.”

“Okay. Here I go.”

I clenched my fist.

And the moment I thrust it—

The Heavenly Martial Emperor sensed something off.

That—he had to dodge.

But if he dodged, it would bruise his pride.

What to do?

Dodge? Not dodge?

While he hesitated, my fist reached his nose.

He hastily crossed his arms to block.

KRAAANG—!

“Gh—!”

His body reeled.

Pain like his forearms were going to shatter.

Even with three layers of Heavenly-Martial Fang Qi stacked, the pain was like this.

Even anchoring his stance with Ten-Thousand-Jin Hammer to fix his body, the impact was such that he felt he’d be blasted backward.

A shock that made his mind reel.

Even when he’d fought the Four Heavenly Demon Lords, he hadn’t felt a blow like this.

“Wow. As expected of you, Grandfather—amazing.”

The Heavenly Martial Emperor answered with a face that pretended nothing had happened.

“O-of course. This is nothing.”

Surely that strike had been my full power.

“Then this time I’ll do it at about three parts strength.”

“Huh?”

What was that supposed to mean?

That earlier power wasn’t my full strength?

No—wasn’t even three parts?

Nonsense.

“W-what do you mean? That wasn’t full power?”

“C’mon. That was about one part.”

One part?

He’d almost died just now.

If one part was like that, then three parts?

Was I really without internal qi?

As I set my stance again, the Heavenly Martial Emperor swallowed without meaning to.

He should dodge this one.

What to do?

While he wavered—

KUKWAKWAKWANG—

A colossal blast thundered.

“Whoops. I missed.”

It wasn’t a miss.

I’d deliberately thrown my fist off to the side.

The far end of Sorrow-Cloud Valley’s giant gorge blew away and vanished completely, revealing a new view that had been hidden.

The clouds in the sky split in half, matching exactly the path my punch had carved.

If he himself wanted to throw something like that?

He could—but he’d have to gather quite a bit of inner force.

And that was “about three parts,” was it?

Just how strong was twelve-part full power?

“Okay, last one at five parts.”

“W-wait!”

“Yes?”

“I was joking. Joking.”

“Joking?”

“Yes. Hahaha. Would I really snatch another man’s person like a bandit? I’m the Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle, after all.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. So we don’t need to do this, do we?”

“Then you’ll grant what I want?”

“Huh? We didn’t do all three.”

“Then let’s do it.”

“F-fine! I’ll grant it! What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Had there ever been a time in the Heavenly Martial Emperor Jeok Mugun’s life he was this flustered and pressed?

Pride?

He’d nearly died just now.

Pride didn’t feed you.

Until he settled on a perfect successor for Heavenly Martial Castle, he absolutely could not die.

Good thing no one was watching.

But what was this monster?

“Why? Do you feel wronged?”

“Hm?”

“Because you were the only one who had to endure three blows?”

What was this brat saying now?

“Then you do it too, Grandfather.”

“Do what?”

“Three attacks.”

“Heh.”

“If I dodge them, I’ll grant what you want.”

Huh?

That was a decent offer.

He was a monster who had made the world’s foremost expert blanch.

In one sense, the ideal talent he’d sought was right here.

Wait... no.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no one who could control this brat.

If I so much as twitched and aimed for the lord’s seat?

He wanted to give the lordship to his bloodline.

But leaving me alone made him uneasy.

Fine.

Then he’d make it so, if Heavenly Martial Castle ever faced crisis, he could call me to help at any time.

Having gathered his thoughts, the Heavenly Martial Emperor spoke to me.

“Good. If you dodge, you’ll grant what I want.”

“Okay. Do it that way.”

“Right!”

The Heavenly Martial Emperor decided this might be for the best.

He would show this brat how terrifying he truly was.

But how much power should he show?

He hesitated.

Well—if I didn’t want to die, I’d dodge.

Judging from the power I’d shown earlier, I didn’t look easy to kill.

When he thrust his hand toward me, a taiji pattern of energy rose.

“Let’s see it, then!”

BWOOOO—

A powerful force streamed straight from the taiji pattern toward me.

Not his full power, but still a fairly strong strike.

BOOOOM—

With a tremendous blast, the spot where I’d been standing was scorched to a wasteland.

I walked out through the dust cloud at an easy pace.

Because I had no internal qi, I couldn’t protect my body with a body-guarding qi veil—so my clothes were in rags.

But there wasn’t a single wound on me.

I grinned and held up my index finger.

“One.”

The Heavenly Martial Emperor understood.

He was a real monster.

Seeing someone that strong with his clothes in rags made ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) it plain he truly didn’t know martial arts.

If he did, he’d have protected himself with a qi barrier.

He hadn’t dodged or defended; he’d just taken it with his body.

And he was fine.

Two remained.

Judging by me, he should go harder.

No—the thought came that he could attack with all his might.

Fine.

He’d show his true face.

It felt ridiculous to go all out against a person who didn’t even know martial arts, but he steadied his mind.

The one before him wasn’t a person—it was a monster.

And if that monster ever turned rotten, he needed to be prepared. Better to gauge my limits now.

WHUUM—

His expression turned earnest as a powerful wave of qi roared around him.

Taecheon could feel it.

That was the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s full power.

Even at a distance, his skin tingled.

Truly reputation well earned.

I, meanwhile, waited for his attack in perfect ease.

“Brat. I advise you to dodge, if you can.”

“I’ll handle it, Grandfather.”

Wait—why had I been calling him Grandfather so familiarly from before?

The stray thought flashed—but only for an instant.

He drew in his inner power and unfolded one of the latter killing forms of the Heavenly-Martial Divine Art: Heaven-Palace Collapse.

RRRRUMBLE—

It wasn’t enough, so he chained into the final killing form, One-Stroke Heavenly-Martial.

A target struck by One-Stroke Heavenly-Martial has all inner force within the body temporarily annihilated, and the violent aftershock that follows tears the body to shreds.

No expert of any level can prevent the inner force from vanishing.

To avoid it, you must yank your body out before One-Stroke Heavenly-Martial touches you—but dodging a lightspeed attack with a human body is no easy task.