Chapter 117 – The Heavenly Dragon Brigade's Exploits (6)

Whoooosh!

A violent wave of energy erupted from the bodies of twenty-some Living Ones, surging toward Yu-jin.

Yet, as Yu-jin watched the approaching wave, his eyes held only interest, not fear. Even as the force of it rustled his clothes, he remained unfazed.

“No matter how impressive the spirit of a pack of mice, it’s meaningless before a tiger.”

Yu-jin hurled the Living One he held captive. The man flew like a human cannonball and slammed into the ground.

The earth couldn’t withstand the impact and collapsed, revealing the Living One’s mangled corpse, which could only be described as a lump of meat.

Ignoring their comrade’s death, the Living Ones unleashed a volley of Blood Wave Palms at Yu-jin. However, the twenty-some blood-red palms couldn’t even reach his body, blocked by a barrier of light before vanishing.

“Grrr! Keep firing!”

“Even he must have a limit to his power!”

The Living Ones shouted, continuously launching their Blood Wave Palms.

But their attacks still failed to penetrate Yu-jin’s protective aura. The feeling was akin to facing the Great Dharma Master of Shaking Heaven’s Heavenly Light Body Protection, and they gritted their teeth in frustration.

In that moment, Yu-jin moved.

“…!”

Appearing before one of the Living Ones in an instant, Yu-jin thrust out a hand wreathed in energy, tearing the man’s shoulder clean off.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The Living One screamed in agony.

He had prided himself on a body that had transcended human limits. He thought that by becoming a Living One, he had lost the sensation of pain. But as Yu-jin’s Nine Heavens Divine Demonic Arts ravaged his insides, an excruciating pain engulfed him.

“You’re noisy.”

With those words, Yu-jin struck the chest of the writhing Living One. The man’s body exploded, sending bone and flesh flying in all directions.

Witnessing him kill a Living One in just two moves, the others gritted their teeth and charged at Yu-jin, realizing they couldn’t defeat him one-on-one.

But they should have known that no matter how many mice there were, they were no match for a tiger.

“Filthy.”

Yu-jin’s hand remained extended in the same posture he’d used to grab the Living One’s neck. The fresh blood of the dead man dripped down his arm.

Only then did the Living Ones, who had been relentlessly attacking Yu-jin, pause and instinctively take a step back.

What flickered across the faces of those who had been stripped of emotion and had forgotten pain was unmistakable terror.

It should have been impossible for them, driven by a madness wilder than any beast’s, to feel fear. Yet, what stirred within the chests of the Living Ones was undeniably the emotion of fear.

“It’s a pain to deal with you all one by one.”

As Yu-jin finished speaking, rings of light materialized in the air.

Each one was formed from pure inner energy, and there were exactly twenty of them—one for each Living One.

With a gesture from Yu-jin, the rings descended upon them. The Living Ones hastily raised their protective auras or tried to flee, but it was all in vain.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The rings created by Yu-jin shattered their protective auras and then consumed their bodies. Even those who fled were struck down.

They all died without so much as a proper scream. And they didn’t just die. Among the dead Living Ones, not a single one had a complete corpse.

They were all obliterated, not even a bone fragment left behind, yet the gaze of their killer, Yu-jin, was fixed on the sole survivor, the Ninche.

Yu-jin’s eyebrow twitched.

“Impressive.”

He had intended to kill them all, yet the Ninche had survived. A violent red aura swirled around him, and it was clear that this unknown energy had protected him from Yu-jin’s attack.

However, his complexion was pale, as if he had suffered a powerful shock along with great pain, and blood trickled endlessly from the corner of his mouth.

‘Unbelievable. Can that man truly be human?’

The Ninche stared at Yu-jin with trembling eyes. The technique he had just used was the Tiger’s Blood Mist, a martial art from an Esoteric Sect that had been destroyed by the Potala Palace in the past.

It was an art that allowed one to manipulate their inner energy like a mist, enabling both offense and defense simultaneously. In terms of defense, it was a powerful protective aura, perhaps not on par with the Heavenly Light Body Protection, but it even had the marvelous ability to deflect an opponent’s attacks.

Furthermore, its offensive power was immense, capable of instantly enveloping and crushing an opponent. And yet, with a single, casual move from Yu-jin, he had felt a pain he had never experienced before and collapsed.

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Having already revealed his hidden martial art, he couldn’t afford to lose. The Ninche drew upon all his strength. No, he drew out power that surpassed his own potential.

He unleashed the Blood Demon Arts, a technique that burned his primal essence, the very source of his life, to become nearly five times stronger. This meant he had already resolved to die.

Rumble!

The now much stronger red aura closed in on Yu-jin, but it couldn’t even approach his body, which was shielded by the Nine Heavens Divine Demonic Arts. It was as if it feared the divine demonic energy.

Seeing this, the Ninche wore a look of disbelief. For an energy to refuse to approach, as if it were a living creature, was a strange phenomenon indeed.

“Come now, you’re not planning to end it with just that, are you?”

With a light wave of Yu-jin’s hand, a great torrent of energy deflected the red aura of the Tiger’s Blood Mist and rushed to swallow the Ninche.

The Ninche, terrified, swirled the red aura, and just as he intended, it formed a vortex that blocked the torrent Yu-jin had sent.

Craaaash!

As the two colossal forces collided, the ground couldn’t bear the strain and began to sink. The Ninche’s body also started to break down under the immense pressure.

His weakest capillaries burst, and dark red blood trickled from his seven orifices. Despite this, the Ninche poured every last ounce of his strength into the technique.

“Impossible! My power right now surpasses even that of a Transformation Realm master! No matter if you are a master of the Transformation Realm…”

The Ninche screamed in desperation but couldn’t finish his sentence. Yu-jin had already broken through the torrent and appeared before him.

With a bright smile, Yu-jin extended his hand and struck the Ninche’s body squarely.

“Kuaaargh!”

In that instant, explosions erupted from the Ninche’s chest and abdomen. His tough, durable skin burst open, and the muscles and bones within twisted.

The sight of mangled bone, flesh, and blood was truly horrifying, but there was not a hint of disturbance on Yu-jin’s face as he watched.

“You, you! Are you even human!?”

While he was a broken, bloody mess, not a single thread of Yu-jin’s clothing was out of place. Gripped by a profound terror at the sight, the Ninche instinctively recoiled and cried out.

“Of course I am. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat people like monsters just because they’re stronger than you.”

His body, now drained of all life force, was a grotesque sight. He trembled and shouted.

“O great god of the Western Regions, Great Dharma Master of Shaking Heaven! Please complete your grand design and conquer the Central Plains…”

“I told you to be quiet.”

Booooom!

The pitiful Ninche couldn’t even finish his last words before Yu-jin’s strike obliterated him on the spot, not leaving a single piece of flesh behind.

Having dealt with all the Living Ones, Yu-jin retracted his power and turned around. And then he saw it: the gazes of the Heavenly Dragon Brigade members, filled with a terror even greater than what they had shown when they saw the Living Ones.

‘Oops, I got a little carried away.’

Yu-jin admitted his mistake.

* * *

Yu-jin announced to everyone that he had reached the Transformation Realm and had acquired a new martial art.

After offering a few more explanations, the group was finally able to accept it.

The power Yu-jin had displayed in battle was so overwhelmingly tyrannical and intense that some had suspected it was a demonic art.

But Yu-jin proved he possessed no demonic energy by circulating his own, and upon feeling its pure essence, the group finally acknowledged him.

And they welcomed the emergence of a new hero. But they weren’t the only ones.

The news that Yu-jin had annihilated the Living Ones was reported to the Martial Alliance and spread throughout the Central Plains in the blink of an eye.

Not only that, but the news of him defeating the Western Regions Martial World’s special forces in Gansu also became known.

As time passed, the continuous reports of the Heavenly Dragon Brigade’s victories brought joy to the people of the Central Plains.

“Thank goodness, what a relief.”

“You said it! To our new heroes!”

The people, who had only heard of defeats until now, breathed a sigh of relief. The string of losses had demoralized not only the martial artists but the common folk as well.

Finally freed from the sense of defeat, the people cheered for the appearance of new heroes. Among them, the one who received the most respect was, of course, Yu-jin.

Yu-jin, who not only led the Heavenly Dragon Brigade, comprised of renowned rising stars, but had also defeated countless warriors from the Western Regions.

The story of him single-handedly wiping out the Living Ones was the most famous tale. But none of it compared to this.

—A new king has been born in the Central Plains!

The official announcement from the Martial Alliance left countless people in shock. They never imagined a genius who could reach the supreme state of the Transformation Realm in his mid-twenties would appear.

But since it was officially confirmed by the Martial Alliance, there was no room for doubt. And as if to prove he was a Transformation Realm master, Yu-jin beheaded numerous warriors from the Western Regions.

In this way, Yu-jin proved his own skill and curtailed the activities of the Western Regions’ special forces.

He was, in both name and reality, a new hero who had appeared in the Central Plains. But the life of this hero was not as noble as people imagined. Perhaps it was the limitation of a manufactured hero.

* * *

Yu-jin, who was being hailed as a hero by countless people, was currently looking with satisfaction at Dang Ga-hee, who was trembling with anxiety.

It was understandable for her to be uncomfortable since Yu-jin was her savior, but there was no need for her to tremble with such anxiety. It was certainly a strange sight, but Yu-jin watched her nonchalantly.

“I’m glad you came.”

Yu-jin spoke and reached out, his hand passing her sleek leg and slipping under her skirt. The coarse texture of her nether hair reached his fingers, and he smiled.

In contrast, Dang Ga-hee’s face flushed crimson. Who would have known? After the battle with the Living Ones, another of the Phoenixes had fallen to Yu-jin. He had now claimed four of the Five Phoenixes.

“Well done.”

Yu-jin praised her with a smile, but she merely kept her head down, unable to say a word.

Yu-jin nodded once more at her demeanor.