Chapter 244 : Bloody Battle with Sam Taegong (1)

Chapter 244: Bloody Battle with Sam Taegong (1)

"Old man, you're still brimming with energy. To think you’re scheming something even in this situation."

Yong Hwarin provoked Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin.

"You’ve got quite the lively tongue for a young brat."

But Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin wasn’t someone to be flustered by such provocation.

Barely regaining his Qi, Mu Iso spoke.

"Small Sect Leader, we’ll take care of this place."

Even Mu Iso, for the first time, felt fear toward Lee Kangmin, who had driven them all to the brink of death with just a single strike.

He couldn’t imagine Yong Hwarin having any chance of defeating Sam Taegong.

"What are you saying? Step aside so that Jeong Mae doesn’t get hurt."

Mu Iso issued an order.

"Gam Heum, take Jeong Mae to a safe place and return."

"Yes, Squad Leader."

With excellent movement arts, Gam Heum tucked Seok Unjeong under his arm, but she shook her head.

"I’m staying here too. I won’t be the only one running away when everyone else is fighting."

"Unjeong, if you’re here, the Small Sect Leader or your father will only be in greater danger. The same thing happened back at the manor. Please try to understand."

At those words, Seok Unjeong lowered her head.

As Gam Heum turned to leave, Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin muttered.

"Trying to flee right in front of me, are you?"

He suddenly raised his hand.

At that moment, Yong Hwarin drew his sword and unfolded Yeoigwanchun using the aura of Flowing Like Wind.

As the power of the Three Gaps surged through the Tai Chi Dantian, sword qi burst forth with explosive force.

Mu Iso was shocked.

It wasn’t the Yeoigwanchun technique he knew.

The technique itself was the same, but the momentum and feel it gave off were completely different.

‘How could his sword momentum have changed so drastically? It feels at least three times stronger. Did he obtain some miraculous encounter?’

A glimmer of hope bloomed—perhaps they really could defeat that monster, Sam Taegong.

"The Ten Prodigies of the Heavenly Central Sect, fall back and guard the Small Sect Leader so no one else can approach!"

As the Ten Prodigies of the Heavenly Central Sect spread out to Yong Hwarin’s sides and stood in formation, the Three Chivalrous Sisters were relieved.

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin sensed something from Yong Hwarin’s sword momentum.

However, unable to confirm it, he continued exchanging blows with him.

After several seconds passed, Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin shouted,

"You bastard! How do you know Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts?!"

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin leapt back.

Even though Yong Hwarin had utilized Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts and the Tai Chi Dantian, he had failed to inflict any damage on Sam Taegong, causing his expression to harden.

‘I still lack finesse, so I can’t fully unleash the power of Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts and the Tai Chi Dantian. Still, it’s a relief that I’m not being overwhelmed like before. But this can’t be the full extent of Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts. How could they have crushed the ambitions of the Heavenly Demon Sect with just this?’

As Yong Hwarin was gripped by doubt, Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin offered a clue to dispel it.

"Whatever means you used to obtain Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts, know this: it’s not something that can be mastered through mere training. If you think otherwise, then what you have is but a half-measure."

Yong Hwarin frowned.

"What do you mean? Why is it only a half-measure?"

"Foolish boy. For someone who inherited Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts, you sure seem ignorant. Did you only get your hands on a secret manual?"

Hearing that, Yong Hwarin flinched inside.

Lee Kangmin continued.

"Try to dodge this, if you can."

Lee Kangmin drew his sword and slowly swung it down toward Yong Hwarin.

It was the very technique he had displayed back at Goyi Mountain.

A technique shown only by those who had reached the Boundary of the Upper World. Unless one reached the same realm, it was impossible to evade.

Yong Hwarin had recalled that moment countless times to decipher this technique.

But seeing it again now, he couldn’t feel any confidence in avoiding it.

‘Even after gaining Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts, I’m still in this state?’

He felt angry at himself.

Then, a familiar voice reached him through telepathy.

—Close your eyes and sense it with Qi Sensory Perception.

Recognizing the voice through the telepathic transmission, Yong Hwarin obeyed.

He closed his eyes and focused on that sense.

‘Ah… now I see why I couldn’t avoid it.’

With his eyes closed, he realized that Sam Taegong’s sword strike wasn’t just a simple downward slash.

Though it looked like a straight cut from above, Lee Kangmin had already enveloped all the surrounding space around Yong Hwarin with his Qi, making the opponent feel as if they were completely trapped.

‘So this is the secret of the Boundary of the Upper World…’

It was about surrounding the opponent with one’s Qi so tightly that they couldn’t escape.

If the opponent’s power wasn’t overwhelming, they couldn’t break free from this Qi Net.

It was the same as a spider perfectly wrapping its prey in silk. But when one reached the Boundary of the Upper World, it became so natural that there wasn’t even a chance to perceive it.

-There must be an opening. I need to find that gap.

Yong Hwarin operated the aura of Immovable Like a Mountain from Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts.

As he did, qi flowed from Yong Hwarin’s body, resonating with Nature’s Energy, forming the aura of a mountain.

Though it seemed like a state achieved in a mere moment, it had all followed the natural flow.

Having reached the Inner-Outer Realm within the Tai Chi Dantian, Yong Hwarin fused with the insights left behind by Hoi Eulshin, finally enabling the use of the Heaven Sea Divine Art.

Once the aura of the mountain surrounded his body, Yong Hwarin became capable of sensing all movements except his own.

This was the ability of Immovable Like a Mountain.

And then, he slowly began pushing away the true qi of Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin that had bound him.

The mountain’s aura was grand and heavy.

As he drew out that energy, Lee Kangmin’s aura gradually loosened.

With eyes closed, sensing everything through Qi Sensory Perception, Yong Hwarin finally realized the essence of Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts.

He also came to understand why Hoi Eulshin had left his insights in things like folding screens and framed calligraphy.

看見的不一定是眞實

眞實的不一定能看見

What is seen is not necessarily the truth.

What is true is not necessarily visible.

Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts were about unseen energies, and unless one believed in that energy, one could never achieve it.

Yong Hwarin recalled the final mantra he had failed to decipher back in the Secret Cave.

“All things are uncertain. Life and death exist within that.”

As Yong Hwarin murmured this, Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin furrowed his brow.

‘How can a brat like him have stepped into the threshold of the Realm of Nature?’

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin interpreted the Boundary of the Upper World as the Realm of Nature.

So, to him, it felt as if Yong Hwarin had just entered its threshold.

It was a state unattainable even after decades of endurance and training.

Even he himself had barely reached it over ten years ago.

To think that a boy who hadn’t even come of age had reached it—an uncontrollable killing intent surged out of him.

But that was his mistake.

That killing intent, against the true qi of the Realm of Nature that encased Yong Hwarin’s body in a Qi Net Mastery, created a kind of rupture.

Yong Hwarin, who was resonating with Nature’s Energy through the dense aura of the mountain, sensed an alien energy breaching forth.

Compared to the natural aura, the killing intent was a foreign force. The Qi Net Mastery distorted, creating a slight misalignment.

Yong Hwarin saw it as an opening for a counterattack.

It happened just as Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin’s sword was about to reach Yong Hwarin’s head.

Yong Hwarin withdrew the aura of Immovable Like a Mountain and moved the energy of Eastern Thunder Formation into the gap created by the killing intent.

From Yong Hwarin’s sword, a blue sword qi condensed like dew.

Tung!

As Yong Hwarin stomped forward, his figure elongated like stretched taffy and shot toward Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin.

At the same time, he operated Split-Mind Technique, releasing the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm with his left hand and moving the energy of Chaotic Yin Flow to stealthily thrust in the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm.

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin straightened his stance as he watched Yong Hwarin slip into the space created by his own killing intent.

He then imbued his power into Transforming Rain Flame, one of the ultimate techniques of the Nine Hells King Sword, to counter.

Seeing this, Lee Yung and Eum Sajeok exclaimed.

"It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that ultimate technique from Third Instructor."

Both turned their heads simultaneously toward Sam Taegong’s sword.

Yong Hwarin stood directly in its path.

Transforming Rain Flame was a technique where red flames, formed of sword qi, rained down like a storm.

Yong Hwarin had, in truth, staked his life on this technique.

Experts, when attacked with one gap’s worth of energy, instinctively responded with a gap and a half worth of energy.

They had trained themselves to suppress excessive energy and match it to the opponent.

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin had also calculated Yong Hwarin’s level to be around three gaps and thus unleashed Transforming Rain Flame with nearly four gaps of energy.

As the momentum of Transforming Rain Flame, equivalent to four gaps, brushed Yong Hwarin’s body, he felt a skin-tearing pressure.

If the two Nascent Qi forces collided like this, it was clear Transforming Rain Flame would engulf Yong Hwarin.

But Yong Hwarin grit his teeth, converted the energy of three gaps into that of Eastern Thunder Formation, and transferred it to the Tai Chi Dantian.

As he did, Self-Revolving Inner Qi flared from his body, joined Eastern Thunder Formation, and erupted through the Laogong Point in his right hand like a waterfall.

When the energy of three gaps passed through the Tai Chi Dantian, it surged to beyond five gaps, threatening to burst every blood vessel in his body.

"Khrrrrk!"

Until now, he had never amplified Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts together with the Tai Chi Dantian at full power.

He had never dared, fearing it would collapse the Secret Cave left by Hoi Eulshin, and so he had no idea of its full might.

As the power surged, Self-Revolving Inner Qi amplified with it, and a scream escaped.

Until now, he had only developed blood vessels capable of handling four or four and a half gaps of energy through the Tai Chi Dantian.

He hadn’t yet built strong enough vessels for five gaps of power.

It was a cultivation that required time and steady qi circulation.

Even if late-blooming prodigies took spiritual pills and had high energy, their blood vessels remained weak compared to long-trained warriors and couldn’t handle full usage of that power—this was why.

So when energy surpassing five gaps flowed, his still-untrained blood vessels howled as if tearing apart.

‘But if I don’t do this, I’ll never defeat this perverted old man.’

This was Yong Hwarin’s final trump card.

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin had been grinning with satisfaction until the moment his sword clashed with Yong Hwarin’s.

He had believed Transforming Rain Flame would engulf and burn the boy to ashes.

But the moment the two swords met, he felt the power of four gaps vanish like a receding tide.

‘What the—? Is this brat wielding five gaps of power? And with such incomparably dense energy?’

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin was shocked. As he tried to pull back his sword, he already felt the Thunder Qi wrapping around his body.

Kwaaaaang!

In a flash, searing heat like being thrown into fire engulfed him.

As he tried to retreat from Yong Hwarin, a chilling energy surged from below his waist.

Because of the Thunder Qi, even his Protective Energy wavered, and he wasn’t confident he could block the next strike.

Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin staggered as blood streamed from his mouth, watching Yong Hwarin, whose eyes now blazed with bluish Ghost Flame.

Whoosh!

Black Silk Celestial Silkworm pierced through his disrupted Protective Energy and flew toward Sam Taegong Lee Kangmin’s groin.

Yong Hwarin infused the remaining true qi into the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm.

And then, the extending sword qi cut through something.