Chapter 306

Chapter 306

Just a few minutes ago.

“……Hand over my body?”

-That’s right.

“You’re an evil spirit!”

-Evil spirit? Hehe.

When Baek Risan unconsciously responded that way to the voice echoing in his head, Baek Riyun let out a chuckle.

-Haha. When I say hand over your body, I don’t literally mean hand it over.

“……Then what do you mean?”

-What do I mean? I mean entrust your body to my instructions.

“How is that handing over my body?”

-Well, because you’ll change as if you had handed it over.

“……What the hell are you talking about?”

Baek Riyun’s subsequent explanation was simple. If Baek Risan performed the techniques as Baek Riyun instructed, he would control Baek Risan’s internal energy and bear all the burden himself.

It was a trick that exploited the Uicheon Sword’s unbreakable characteristic. If it were others who relied on the precision or power of their techniques, they would only become slightly stronger, but this method was possible because it was Baek Risan, who unleashed stronger power the more burden he embraced.

-The Sword Immortal will arrive soon. You must block Gwonryeong together with the Sword Immortal.

“Will it be possible?”

-It’s impossible. But we have to make it possible.

There’s no other way, so we’ll do that.

Baek Riyun said so, and Baek Risan agreed. And.

They arrived at the present.

Tzzzzzzzzt-!!!

“…….”

The rock melted.

Baek Risan looked at the devastation his sword had wrought with a blank face, his blade infused with Blazing Yang Energy heated to an extreme he had never handled in his life. He expected to become somewhat stronger, but the power of his sword strike had become seriously strong.

“……I did this?”

The gorge melted.

If Hayul’s single strike had pierced through the gorge to create a new gorge, Baek Risan’s strike melted the gorge, turning it into something like a lava valley. Not everything had turned to lava, but rocks melted all at once where the sword strike swept past.

“What are you?”

“Hehe, my secret weapon.”

“…….”

Techniques quite outstanding for that age. And mastery of a realm absolutely impossible to reach at that age.

Hayul frowned and swatted away the splattering lava with the back of his hand imbued with strong energy, then took a battle stance and wore a thick smile. Because it was quite coincidental.

“There’s no one I can take lightly.”

“…….”

“One is old, but a swordsman who wields the fastest sword on the continent. The other has nothing to see in terms of skill, but a Blazing Yang Energy user whose power rivals number one in the Central Plains.”

It was clear that both were handling quite aggressive styles of swordsmanship. Swordsmanship that clearly showed the deadly will to kill the opponent before dying themselves.

“Isn’t this fun?”

“Fun……?”

“Yeah. It’s fun.”

The thrill felt in life-and-death battles.

It’s a sensation every martial artist has. Originally, martial artists grow in life-and-death battles, and there’s no breed that yearns for their own growth as much as martial artists.

“I might die. I’ll have to fight thinking that way.”

Tzzt!

Hayul, who smiled faintly, tore his sleeve a bit and wrapped it around his fist like a bandage, then stomped the ground a couple of times. And the next moment, Hayul disappeared from sight.

-Left!

Block it.

If you sense an attack and then block, you’re too late. Hayul’s speed clearly exceeded Baek Risan’s consciousness. However, to properly block Hayul’s attack with its extreme destructive power, he needed to at least catch the opponent’s striking point.

He couldn’t narrow the gap in skill. Even with superior output, there were limits.

And Baek Riyun’s answer to Baek Risan about that was simple.

If he designated a direction, blow away everything in that direction.

Fire Heaven Sword Flow

Violent Stream

A river of flames flowed.

Kwaaaaaa!

The Sword Immortal, who reflexively tried to block the attack instead, hastily covered his mouth with his sleeve and stepped back at the suddenly pressing heat. And Hayul, who let out a chuckle while pulling back after trying to thrust his fist.

“What on earth is this…….”

They say you burn down the whole thatched cottage to catch one bedbug.

Conversely, that also means if you have the resolve to burn down the whole thatched cottage, catching one bedbug isn’t difficult. If you have output strong enough to erase everything in the world, subduing one Hayul who exploits openings wouldn’t be difficult.

-Watch carefully, San.

“…….”

-This is what you’re aiming for, the path laid before you.

Fire Heaven Sword Flow

Fire Dragon Advance and Retreat

Flames danced every time the sword tip wavered.

It was no longer even in the realm of swordsmanship. Martial arts where cutting and thrusting, deflecting and blocking, twisting, grabbing, attaching, and striking away didn’t apply.

-Now you try it.

Baek Risan, who had been blankly following Baek Riyun’s guidance, gripped his sword firmly. And.

A scene of hell unfolded.

Fire Heaven Sword Flow

Fire Soup Hell

“Damn it.”

Fssssssh!

Hayul, who unconsciously spat out a curse, pulled out his foot that had been treading the ground and launched his body into the air. The ground melted in an instant, and burns rushed up to his ankle.

One-third of the gorge melted.

Hayul frowned at the tremendous amount of internal energy that couldn’t be considered human, and struck the cliff with energy-infused force. The cliff collapsed with a single blow.

Destructive Body Dance

Wall Breaking

Kuuuuuung!

“I almost became a grilled fish.”

Not easy.

After confirming that the earth rushed in and mixed with the lava, Hayul slowly treaded the ground and blinked his eyes brightly. Because the situation wasn’t as easy as he thought.

‘I can’t beat the old man in speed.’

‘In power, I’m barely being pushed back.’

Why could a Late-Stage Rising Star of that age operate that level of internal energy?

He didn’t know that. Not only could he normally not possess that level of internal energy, but even if he did, it didn’t make sense to properly operate it. Visibly handling two types of energy at once, but controlling that internal energy would be difficult even for Sipcheon.

However.

‘Since he’s already doing it, there’s nothing I can do.’

Surprisingly, that Late-Stage Rising Star called Baek Risan was accomplishing that impossible feat. Though it didn’t seem entirely accomplished by his own power, if that were achieved by his power alone, it would be acceptable to consider him to have peerless, all-time greatest talent in operating internal energy.

‘Both speed and power are lacking. Then what should I do?’

Hayul, who briefly organized the situation, smiled faintly.

Because the answer was predetermined.

“What a waste.”

With that talent, he could sweep away hundreds of yokai at once, but to have to kill him here.

Hayul, who expressed small regret, clenched his fist tightly. At the clear battle stance, Baek Risan’s appearance gripping his sword hilt while tensing up.

-He’s coming.

“I know.”

An ominous momentum.

‘If I’m even slightly late, I’ll die.’

Transcenders are such existences. Those who have the possibility of settling this battlefield while taking attacks from this many masters with one body.

The hair all over his body stood on end. His wide-open eyes trying to follow the opponent’s movements captured Hayul’s every movement in his field of vision. He had to buy time somehow. He steeled his resolve that he had to break through this situation somehow.

If there was even a slightly unnatural sign, he prepared to respond and raised his sword tip. Power came first. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t hit. If he could just react, inflicting damage on the opponent wouldn’t be difficult.

──He thought that way.

“Caught you?”

-Dodge!

Until the fist reached his eyes.

“Gah-!!!”

The Sword Immortal, who simultaneously swung his sword and pierced through Hayul’s fist with his words, gritted his teeth and poured out internal energy. However, Hayul grabbed Baek Risan’s collar with even the offset force, not caring.

“The area is too wide to dodge. You can’t win without getting injured.”

“…….”

“Kid. That’s meaningless in life-and-death battles.”

The skin on his hand melted.

Even though he couldn’t respond to the Blazing Yang Energy poured out like a struggle, Hayul wore a thick smile and clenched his fist downward. Tremendous force gathering around the neck area.

Destructive Body Dance

Bury the Enemy

Kwaang!

“Kugh!”

The ground caved in.

“Pretty tough, aren’t you?”

Looking at the protective strong energy that Baek Riyun hastily deployed by borrowing Baek Risan’s blood pathways, Hayul smiled thickly. Consecutive strikes followed.

Thud!

“How long can you hold out, I wonder?”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Khaaaaak!”

Impacts that shook the entire gorge.

Even though the impact was offset by protective strong energy, Baek Risan let out a groan as if squeezing wind from his lungs at the earth-shattering tremendous force reverberating through his body. However, Hayul didn’t let go as if it wasn’t enough.

“You old man!”

The moment the Sword Immortal’s sword thrust toward Hayul’s neck, Hayul twisted his body.

The attack heading for his neck was received by his forearm, shoulder, and leg. As if resolved to give away anything as long as it wasn’t directly connected to his life, he raised his fist toward Baek Risan with an eerie spirit.

“Those who enter life-and-death battles thinking they won’t suffer losses can only die.”

“…….”

“And I’ve lived until now.”

If hit, death.

Feeling the tremendous force gathering in Hayul’s raised fist, Baek Risan, who decided to struggle to the very end, forcibly gathered his internal energy. And.

“Now it’s over.”

Destructive Body Dance

Certain Kill

The moment Hayul’s fist struck down and Baek Risan’s flames burst out.

“Well damn.”

A red moon.

“This is a fucking shitty situation.”

Rose.

***

He hated Xinjiang.

-Rang! This boy. Where did you go without training!

-Gung. Leave him be.

-But Mother!

-Isn’t it an age when he wants to play?

Unlike his older brother who faithfully received education under the Divine Maiden, Jeokyeol didn’t faithfully learn martial arts. That was because he considered everything futile.

Martial artists who learned martial arts wandered the desert fighting yokai and died. Those who didn’t learn martial arts worked hard plowing fields for the martial artists and died.

Front, back, left, right—everywhere he looked was only sandstorms. Sharing breath with yokai all year round, a life of eternal suffering in an endless shackle.

Even knowing his martial talent was outstanding, he thought there was no meaning in learning martial arts. Whether he learned martial arts or not, if he couldn’t escape this desert, why bother learning martial arts?

-Aah-ah. Ah-uh. Op-pa.

-……Rang. Didn’t this child just say older brother!

-She’s just babbling. Why are you making such a fuss, Brother?

-Op-pa!

-She seems to be calling me older brother!

-……Don’t talk nonsense. Just now, anyone could see she was calling me.

He found that meaning when a younger sister not connected by blood, with a large age gap, was born.

-Oppa.

-Why are you calling?

-Can you help me?

-With what?

-I want to go out to the Central Plains.

-…….

-I want to see with my own eyes and judge what happens if we abandon our duty. Whether there’s a need to protect it even while our people continue to suffer, with my own eyes directly.

-I can’t permit it.

-What if it’s a request as the next Divine Maiden?

-If it’s a request, I won’t grant it. It’s dangerous. The Central Plains aren’t like a neighboring village where you can just come and go.

-…….

-But if it’s an order, I can obey.

-What?

-Just give the order. Miss.

If it helps you broaden your world, I’ll gladly do so. You’re stubborn, and I’m a brother weak to his younger sister.

So he helped his younger sister Yeonbi escape to the Central Plains, learned that his sister who didn’t return met a man and became pregnant, and learned that she chose death herself. That knowing her own life could become a seed of conflict, she took her own life.

He also regretted that he shouldn’t have sent her. He blamed himself that if he could turn back time, he wouldn’t indulge such stubbornness. However, Jeokyeol knew even so.

That even if he turned back time, his choice wouldn’t change.

“…….”

In front of Baek Risan.

“……They said you were a Transcender, but you’re nothing special.”

Standing blankly, Jeokyeol looked at the staggering Hayul and wore a thin smile. Hayul’s appearance with one-third of his upper body from his left arm to his shoulder blade gone.

“You look great.”

“……What’s the name of the technique?”

“He Who Tied the Knot Must Untie It .”

“Good technique.”

Looking at Jeokyeol, whose complexion had turned pale as he quietly answered his question, Hayul wore a crooked smile. And the words that followed.

“If I can take the life of a martial artist like you with one arm, it’s a profitable trade.”

“…….”

At Hayul’s words, Jeokyeol, who had been quietly observing his own situation, smiled crookedly and quietly dropped his long sword.

“Maybe so.”

Jeokyeol’s heart was no longer beating.