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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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Eyes that held the dawn’s first light stared directly at the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, Aban.
The azure protective Sword Qi of the Heavenly Steel Protective Qi, generated by the Sky Vault Great Evolution Divine Art, enveloped Namgung-Woo’s entire body.
It felt like facing a divine general draped in a celestial cloth that rippled like a calm sky.
‘The heir of a fallen family. He must have poured all their remaining strength into that one body.’
Otherwise, his level was incomprehensible.
The divine arts, elixirs, secretly hidden great techniques or sorcery – the Namgung Family had scraped together every last asset to forge this final, ultimate sword.
That was how Namgung-Woo appeared in the eyes of the Five Yin Demonic Emperor.
The Five Yin Demonic Emperor clenched his fists.
‘The brat who was still clumsy at our first meeting now carries himself like a true martial artist.’
When they had faced each other at the Zhuge Family estate, he should have strained himself to end his life.
At that time, the Five Yin Demonic Emperor hadn’t known the gap between Namgung-Woo’s realm and experience, and his own condition hadn’t been perfect, so he had avoided a fight.
And even up to the Battle of Hengsan, their second proper clash, the Five Yin Demonic Emperor had held the upper hand.
The proof was that Namgung-Woo, even with Tae-mun Jin-in’s help, hadn’t been able to finish him.
But now.
Namgung-Woo had stepped into the realm where the Five Yin Demonic Emperor stood.
‘Not yet. He’s still not complete. This time, I will definitely kill him.’
The Five Yin Demonic Emperor’s resolve was fully reflected in his mental image, dyeing his internal energy an even deeper shade of darkness.
As the two peerless martial artists, who could look down upon the world, resolved to fight to the death, those around them recoiled and created distance.
In an instant, a space ten zhang in diameter was formed.
Righteous and Unorthodox.
Even while fighting, everyone split a part of their consciousness, waiting for the once-in-a-generation clash unfolding between the strongest of each faction.
Fwip!
Namgung-Woo initiated.
It was a transcendent body movement technique that instantly vanished from sight.
Heavenly Wind Divine Movement and Infinite Steps.
Like its name suggested, Namgung-Woo charged forward like an infinite gale.
The Sword Qi enveloping his sword was heavily imbued with lightning energy.
The ultimate technique of the Thirteen Lightning Sword Techniques, which Namgung-Woo used most often in actual combat and trusted just as much, revealed itself from the very first strike.
A single sword path, an extremely fast strike that seemed to cleave the world.
It was the Extreme Flash of Lightning.
SHRAAANG—!!
However, his opponent was no ordinary martial artist.
The Five Yin Demonic Emperor, Aban.
When the top experts of the era, known as the Seventeen Wonders of Murim, were largely replaced due to the Blood Cult’s rise, and new names were given to those who proved their martial arts against the Blood Cult, Aban proudly held one of those spots.
The Ten Hegemons of the Nine Provinces.
The new protagonists of the era, who pushed aside the age of the Seventeen Wonders of Murim.
Although the prestige of the Ten Hegemons of the Nine Provinces had now waned, succeeded by the absolute beings known as the Three Extremes and Twelve Lords, it hadn’t even been a hundred years since the name Five Yin Demonic Emperor had shaken the Nine Provinces.
The sword light of the Extreme Flash of Lightning was caught and stopped by the Five Yin Demonic Emperor’s black hand.
The greyish-black True Qi of the Five Yin Demonic Emperor’s internal cultivation method, the Defiant Blight Art, transformed through his Myriad Phenomena Corrupting Hand technique into an unparalleled power that could shatter anything.
Anything caught in that hand would lose its original form, change, and crumble.
Even starlight, humanity’s greatest achievement, a will reaching the cosmos brought to earth by a creature’s hand, was but a mere torch within its grasp.
KRA-ACK-
Namgung-Woo heard it.
The sound of his sword cracking as the Sword Qi was gripped and compressed whole.
‘Unbelievable…’
Unbelievable?
Namgung-Woo denied the thought as soon as it arose.
Nothing was impossible.
At least, not in this world.
Martial arts and sorcery.
To Namgung-Woo, these were already powers akin to anomalies.
Everything was possible.
What was lacking was belief and skill.
It was right to think that way.
Because the foundation of martial arts was the martial art itself and the mental image held by its user.
Therefore, something like this was entirely possible too.
Kwiing-CHAAANG!
“The Sword Qi?”
The Sword Qi enveloping the sword split into pieces.
Generally, formed True Qi like Sword Aura or Sword Qi, when wrapped around a weapon, would lose its power and scatter the moment its flow was broken.
However, the fragments of Sword Qi intentionally split by Namgung-Woo retained their original form and even the power contained within.
Namgung-Woo had seen it.
Gui Gung-yeop’s iron arrowheads.
The form of Qi that maintained its original shape even when completely detached from the body.
And the Five Yin Demonic Emperor’s hand technique that deformed Sword Qi with his own powerful Qi.
From the moment he saw it, it became Namgung-Woo’s knowledge.
Simultaneously with an ear-deafening resonance, so profound it was hard to describe, a kiai escaped the Five Yin Demonic Emperor’s lips.
“Heup!”
The moment the Sword Qi split, the Five Yin Demonic Emperor realized what Namgung-Woo intended to do.
Splitting the Sword Qi and shooting it like hidden weapons.
The Five Yin Demonic Emperor redirected the internal energy concentrated in his Myriad Phenomena Corrupting Hand throughout his entire body.
And he enveloped his whole body in protective Sword Qi to defend against the Sword Qi fragments.
Each fragment was like a True Thunder Bomb.
Even though he had enveloped himself in protective Sword Qi and swiftly retreated, the destructive power of the Sword Qi fragments striking his body resonated painfully to his bones.
However, Namgung-Woo’s method was, at best, a temporary measure.
Though he had excellently implemented it through wondrous internal energy control and a firm mental image of the idea, it was insufficient power to kill the Five Yin Demonic Emperor.
“Now you even know how to improvise, it seems.”
The Five Yin Demonic Emperor clenched and unclenched his hand, grinning.
This exchange.
Outwardly, it seemed the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, who had retreated first, had suffered a loss, but in reality, Namgung-Woo was the one who had lost.
The consumption of internal energy was trivial among peerless experts.
At this level, it was a battle of mental energy more than internal energy.
The difference in mental energy invested in this exchange was clearly greater on Namgung-Woo’s side.
Moreover, Namgung-Woo’s weapon was now cracked.
Unlike the Five Yin Demonic Emperor, whose main strength was hand techniques, Namgung-Woo was a swordsman whose main strength was swordsmanship.
He could substitute with techniques like the Formless Sword or Sword Qi Sword, but in an already difficult fight, that was tantamount to a self-defeating move that would consume twice the mental energy.
“Now, it’s my turn.”
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It was an earth-shattering battle.
One realized viscerally why experts who reached the Transcendent Realm were revered as “Heaven beyond Heaven.”
If just being nearby felt like this, what would it feel like to face that power directly?
Perhaps, one would give up.
All will broken, losing the will to resist, only a future of passively succumbing to approaching death could be envisioned.
Zhuge Jun thought so.
“…This is the worst.”
His true feelings slipped out unintentionally.
It wasn’t because Namgung-Woo, the hope of the Zhuge Family, was showing a disadvantage.
It was simply that he couldn’t stand his own pathetic state, accepting defeat before even trying to fight.
But what made Zhuge Jun feel even more self-loathing was a faint sense of relief.
Right.
Because he’s that strong.
It couldn’t be helped. There was that much of a gap. I did my best…
At the disgusting self-justification, Zhuge Jun shook his head violently.
‘Stop thinking, Zhuge Jun. Right now, just focus on fulfilling your responsibility as a direct descendant of the Zhuge Family.’
However, human affection wasn’t a type of emotion so easily controlled, so Zhuge Jun unconsciously sought out Peng Ha-ryeong’s location.
Using the excuse that he needed to find a disadvantaged area to provide support.
Without even realizing it was a mistake.
“Ah…”
It was the first time.
Seeing Peng Ha-ryeong fight in person.
He had heard about it.
That the Peng Family’s Saber Maiden was performing remarkably.
Of course.
Peng Ha-ryeong was, after all, a Peak Realm expert.
In the Murim, just being a Peak Realm expert placed one in the top ten percent.
But he had thought there was some exaggeration mixed in.
The Peng Ha-ryeong Zhuge Jun remembered was from her first-rate days, before she had even entered the Peak Realm, and Peng Ha-ryeong had only become a Peak Realm expert early this year.
It should have been like that, but what on earth was this sight of Peng Ha-ryeong fighting, appropriately adapting two saber arts?
How could that be called the early stage of someone who had just entered the Peak Realm?
A seasoned Peak Realm expert?
No, that wasn’t it.
Zhuge Jun himself was capable of that level.
However, Peng Ha-ryeong’s movements were one step beyond that.
The vast mountain called Martial Arts.
Even if one stood on its peak, a slight turn of the eyes would reveal an even larger peak waiting.
And as one climbed up the mountain range like that, one by one, one would eventually face it.
The summit.
A new realm called the Supreme Peak Realm. [1]
And Peng Ha-ryeong was starting her ascent towards the summit, even further ahead than Zhuge Jun.
It was the extreme state of the Peak Realm, aspiring to the Supreme Peak Realm.
“Hahaha…”
He felt empty.
With skills that couldn’t even surpass Peng Ha-ryeong, had he tried to defeat such a monster?
The cherished affection, unforgettable even when they didn’t meet, began to fade.
As he accepted the absolute difference in skill, which he hadn’t properly realized, Zhuge Jun actually felt his heart become more at ease.
It was like a blind man who, while touching an elephant’s leg, thought he might be able to win, finally opening his eyes and seeing the elephant’s entire body.
This too was a kind of enlightenment.
Zhuge Jun, who had been falling into his inner demons, had ironically escaped them thanks to this.
Then, all that remained was the pure support of a Zhuge Family member, hoping for Namgung-Woo to win.
“Win, please.”
At that moment.
KWachaang-!
Namgung-Woo’s sword shattered.
And at the same time, Zhuge Jun saw a woman pass by his side.
‘A female Daoist…?’
Thanks to having learned an eye technique, Zhuge Jun was able to observe the female Daoist’s appearance even in that short time.
The embarrassingly tight clothes worn under her loose Daoist robe dazed his eyes, while her rather sharp, beautiful features, with red makeup around her eyes, stabilized his gaze.
Before he could even wonder if such a woman had been there, Zhuge Jun realized the direction she was running and reached out his hand.
“It’s dangerous! If you get caught up in it…!”
Whoosh-
Zhuge Jun’s outstretched hand cut through empty air.
“Huh?”
The female Daoist was no longer there.
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[T/N: Previously translated as “Early Transcendent Realm,” but “Supreme Peak Realm” is a more fitting interpretation.]
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