Chapter 84

Namgung Woo’s consciousness had entered a higher-dimensional realm.

The realm of ascension that supreme masters reach. Detached from the flow of the mundane world, he had transcended the constraints of time in his own sub-dimension.

His brain, pushed to its limits, traced the path of Oeum Maje Aban’s approaching hand. The eyes and brain are connected organs. The Azure Tranquility Eyes had already transcended the limits of vision and merged with his consciousness itself.

He had already swung his sword to block Oeum Maje’s attack. But Oeum Maje’s hand was faster than the time it took to retract the sword.

The moment the calculation was complete, Namgung Woo twisted his body. The movements of the Heavenly Wind Body Technique now unfolded reflexively.

*Kwaaaaah!*

Oeum Maje’s hand, shrouded in Hand Aura, narrowly missed Namgung Woo’s neck, tearing through the air just inches away.

But that wasn’t the end. The moment Namgung Woo twisted his body using the Heavenly Wind Body Technique, Oeum Maje shifted the direction of his energy, creating a massive shockwave from his entire arm.

It was the Dragon’s Fist Storm. The vortex swirling around Oeum Maje’s arm transformed into a dragon’s claw, tearing through Namgung Woo’s Heavenly Aura Protective Technique and leaving a scar on his cheek.

A sharp pain shot up from his cheek to his brain. Namgung Woo’s brow furrowed involuntarily. He had grown accustomed to most pain, but the agony from this wound, though familiar, was something he couldn’t adapt to.

He knew the reason.

‘The internal energy of the Unashamed Leaking Technique.’

Was it affecting the pain receptors? Or was it causing neural damage, like phantom pain?

Wounds inflicted by the Unashamed Leaking Technique carried an intense pain, even without the addition of special penetrating energy.

It was a grotesque pain, as if his flesh was melting and burning at the same time.

Pain destroys a person’s consciousness. It steals focus and shatters confidence. Even a minor injury, if caused by the Unashamed Leaking Technique, was never trivial.

But even pain couldn’t paralyze the mind of someone who had entered the realm of ascension.

Namgung Woo consciously excluded the excruciating pain from the wound inflicted by the Unashamed Leaking Technique.

The Void Spirit Divine Art. The ascension philosophy of filling through emptying. Following its teachings, the Spiritual Energy of the Void emptied the pain and cooled his thoughts.

Even if one of Namgung Woo’s limbs were torn off, the brain governed by the Void Spirit Divine Art in his Upper Dantian would feel no pain.

*Kung!*

The Changgung Boundless Sword Technique, following the Infinite Steps. Starting from the first stance, “Unending Sky,” he executed five stances in a single breath.

*Zzzeng! Zzzzzzzzt!*

Ordinary humans would never choose to fight unarmed, abandoning their weapons. If someone fought unarmed, they were either insane or possessed something far beyond the advantages of a weapon.

Oeum Maje was clearly the latter. His Protective Aura Energy was absurdly solid.

But even that couldn’t withstand five consecutive strikes of Sword Aura. Oeum Maje allowed only three stances to land. The remaining two clashed with Oeum Maje’s Hand Aura-covered hand, creating a massive shockwave.

The Ten Thousand Transformations Destruction Hand. A martial art that defies the notion that focusing solely on power weakens other aspects.

It displayed both overwhelming power and extreme versatility. Oeum Maje’s hand shadows lingered like afterimages, showing how he was blocking Namgung Woo’s sword.

It was an extreme exchange where even the timing of breaths was unpredictable. Countless stances were exchanged in the time it took to exhale once. The Changgung Boundless Sword Technique, which had transcended the limits of the mortal realm, was being overwhelmed by Oeum Maje’s hand shadows.

*Thud! Kwoooong! Zzzeng!*

Oeum Maje’s hands freely changed forms.

Palm strikes, fist techniques, finger strikes, and more. Every possible hand technique was contained within the Ten Thousand Transformations Destruction Hand.

*Ssssshhh! Ssssssshhh!*

His arms, swung like whips, emitted the sound of arrows piercing through the air. A grayish energy rose like fog, as if trying to obstruct Namgung Woo’s Azure Tranquility Eyes.

But the flow was with Namgung Woo.

As he stepped with the Infinite Steps and unleashed the Changgung Boundless Sword Technique, the dense energy mist was swept away. And when Oeum Maje tried to grab the sword, Namgung Woo twisted it as if anticipating the move, shattering Oeum Maje’s Protective Aura Energy.

Death approached.

Even though Oeum Maje had the advantage in close combat, he hesitated as Namgung Woo stepped forward without hesitation, evoking an old illusion.

‘The Sword Emperor…!’

Oeum Maje’s pupils dilated. A human-shaped fate was finally approaching to announce his end.

“Don’t… mock me!!”

The Sword Emperor Namgung Jin was dead. What stood before him now was nothing more than a green youngster who might have inherited half of Namgung Jin’s legacy.

There was no way Oeum Maje would die to such a brat.

Oeum Maje’s third martial art, following the Unashamed Leaking Technique and the Ten Thousand Transformations Destruction Hand, was the Upper Dantian Martial Art: Six Bodies Torment Transmission. It was unleashed to the point of making Oeum Maje’s brain throb.

The fear Oeum Maje felt, the excruciating pain from the Unashamed Leaking Technique gnawing at Namgung Woo’s brain, and the killing intent to end Namgung Woo—all merged into a single blade aimed at carving out Namgung Woo’s soul.

A wicked Heart Sword, achieved through unhesitatingly employing sinister means.

One strike was enough. Just one strike to pierce Namgung Woo’s mental barrier, and he would collapse under the extreme pain planted by the Unashamed Leaking Technique.

But Oeum Maje didn’t realize one thing. The existence of the Void Spirit Divine Art within Namgung Woo, something the Namgung Jin he knew never possessed.

A place already emptied—what could a sword strike cut there?

The Void Spirit Divine Art. Its profound teachings protected the practitioner from all Upper Dantian abilities.

The moment Oeum Maje’s decisive strike turned futile, his balance wavered.

A blue thunderbolt descended from the sky, striking Oeum Maje.

Was this judgment? Was this the end?

*Clang!*

“Huh?”

Oeum Maje saw the blade shatter and bounce away into the air.

The sword had already cracked from the first clash. It had been thoroughly abused in the battle between Namgung Woo and Oeum Maje, two peerless masters.

If it had been Gwak Dan or Paeng Hu-sang instead of Oeum Maje, this wouldn’t have happened. Their martial arts were powerful, but the destructive power of Oeum Maje’s Ten Thousand Transformations Destruction Hand was uniquely different.

Perhaps this, too, was fate.

Ironically, while being one of the founders of the Banunbang faction, which sought to defy fate, Oeum Maje rejoiced in fate at that moment.

“This is fate…!”

Namgung Woo’s body was wide open. His arms raised, it seemed like he could easily grab and crush his heart if he reached out.

Oeum Maje’s arm moved. Slowly. At least, that’s how it seemed to Namgung Woo.

With sharpened fingertips, Oeum Maje closed the distance to pierce Namgung Woo’s heart.

But fate had not yet declared its end.

*Spot!*

In the world where even Oeum Maje’s full-powered strike had slowed, a woman appeared in an instant.

She had folded the space between two points, leaping through dimensions in a single moment.

Her arrival was surprising, but it didn’t seem like a wise decision.

Unless one was a Supreme Peak Master, entering this battlefield would be unbearable for the body. To Namgung Woo, the woman didn’t seem to have reached that level.

Indeed, her body began to burst in small explosions, blooming red flowers across her skin.

But she paid no heed, tossing something into the air before leaping through space and disappearing as quickly as she had arrived.

What she left behind was a sword.

Instinctively, Namgung Woo’s hand moved.

*Ssshhhk!*

A chilling sound as the blade pierced flesh.

Amid the sensation of tearing fabric, Namgung Woo felt the grip of a new sword in his hand.

Hope had come to his grasp.

*Thud!*

The slowed world accelerated once more.

For the first time since the battle began, Namgung Woo stepped back.

He was alive. His heart was intact.

Even Oeum Maje couldn’t pierce through Namgung Woo’s fully-powered Heavenly Aura Protective Technique and destroy his Middle Dantian with a hastily extended hand strike.

Namgung Woo, still in his natural stance, recognized the sword in his hand.

Even without turning his gaze, his expanded Azure Tranquility Eyes and consciousness encompassed the sword.

‘The horn of the Netherworld Horn…’

Originally a bluish-green, it now had a bluish-white hue, but the power within remained unchanged.

Shrouded in ominous ghostly energy, yet within it lay the pure power accumulated over countless years.

“What… is that sword?”

It was a divine weapon.

A rare demonic sword, unseen even during the Blood Sect’s chaotic rebellion.

“I’ve learned something good.”

“What?”

“Thanks to you, I’ve got a clear sense of it now.”

He felt like he could do it now.

Namgung Woo raised the sword.

Middle Dantian stance. The sword tip pointed straight ahead, with Oeum Maje’s body in its path.

And along the sword’s edge, the Three Thousand Divine Techniques from the Three Dantians surged.

The translucent white Spiritual Energy of the Void.

The clear blue Vast Heaven Divine Energy.

The radiant platinum Heavenly Thunder Divine Energy.

The three divine energies rose as Sword Energy, intertwining to forge a Sword Aura.

All the people Namgung Woo had faced, all the pasts he had walked, were contained within this single sword strike.

From the Black Ghost Gate’s Ghost Realm during the Beijing Turmoil, Namgung Woo learned how to make an entire area his domain.

From Paeng Hu-sang’s Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade, he learned how to infuse Upper Dantian power into martial arts.

From Oeum Maje’s Six Bodies Torment Transmission, he finally learned how to materialize Upper Dantian power.

And from the people who believed in and followed him, Namgung Woo learned the responsibilities and burdens he had to bear.

One by one.

One by one.

He unleashed them all in this moment.

*Woooooong!*

The energy Namgung Woo had already spread around resonated, creating a reverberation.

A sound signaling the final act of this battle, perhaps even this war.

But Oeum Maje sensed it not through hearing, but through energy perception.

This space was transforming into a domain solely for one person. A shocking event. A single human was privatizing the world as if it were his own.

This alone was enough to make the martial artists gathered at Hahongho pale and forget to wield their weapons.

But did they know? That this was merely a prelude.

Namgung Woo’s arm rose. From the Middle Dantian stance to the Upper Dantian stance.

The Vast Heaven Divine Art. The Heavenly Thunder Emperor Divine Art. The Void Spirit Divine Art.

The three divine arts became one.

The Vast Heaven Divine Energy formed the framework, the Heavenly Thunder Divine Energy sharpened the blade, and the Void Spirit Divine Energy’s emptiness enveloped it all.

It pressed down with a massive presence over the domain he had claimed. The presence spread across the entire space, acting as a tangible force. No one could move, except for Namgung Woo, who remained free.

Having filled, it was time to empty.

The sword descended.

A judgment from the heavens, gazing down upon the earth.

A verdict from an emperor, acting on behalf of the heavens.

Oeum Maje Aban remembered.

That day, the single sword strike from the man who had blocked him.

“The Emperor’s Sword Form….”

The sword strike that had failed to reach him that day, now in the hands of a new person, severed Oeum Maje’s fate.