Chapter 21 – Tomb of the Sword God (9)

“Kuaaaargh!”

The grotesque creature, who had never once screamed after becoming a jiangshi, let out a tremendous shriek. It retreated from Namgung Hwa-rin and began searching for the one who had attacked it.

But only for a moment. When the flames engulfing its arm refused to die, the creature scowled deeply and severed its own left arm.

“This cannot be.”

The flames contained no exorcising power, yet the arm did not regenerate. In that short time, it had been completely incinerated, turning to ash and disappearing.

Stunned by this impossible event, the creature could only stand there. Before it, a young man and a woman appeared. Seeing them, a bright smile bloomed on Namgung Hwa-rin’s face.

“Young Master!”

“Sorry, Hwa-rin. I’m a little late.”

Kang Yu-jin had finally appeared before the group.

* * *

Tak Un-jin had planted curses in all the jiangshi he created, allowing him to be aware of their status. When a jiangshi died, the subordinate curse within it would perish, causing the master curse held by Tak Un-jin to die simultaneously.

Tak Un-jin’s face was now deeply contorted. Eight of his iron jiangshi had already been destroyed.

He had created a total of fifty iron jiangshi. Losing a fifth of them already was a devastating blow.

“Have the monks or Daoists intervened? They must possess formidable exorcising power. But I am not so foolish as to be unprepared for such a possibility. Number 1.”

At Tak Un-jin’s call, one of the two monstrous figures standing behind him stepped forward. It was a living jiangshi, a being incomparably more powerful than the iron jiangshi.

Unlike other jiangshi, which were made from corpses, this one had been created from a living person.

It possessed superior regenerative abilities, its martial arts had been elevated by one or two levels, and a poison more potent than most extreme toxins flowed through its veins.

Most importantly, the greatest characteristic of a living jiangshi was that it retained its reason.

To create such a being, Tak Un-jin had personally captured a master on the verge of the Transformation Realm. The result was the birth of the ultimate monster, one whose might rivaled the Transformation Realm itself.

“Your prowess has already reached the Transformation Realm. Go and capture those who are taking down the iron jiangshi. And if by chance the Seven Dragons and Five Phoenixes are there, capture them as well. They are suitable candidates for becoming living jiangshi.”

“As you wish, Master.”

Bowing its head, Number 1 vanished on the spot.

* * *

The living jiangshi called Number 1 was originally a man named Cheol Mu-yeop, known by the moniker ‘Hegemon Fist.’ He had shown outstanding talent from a young age and was expected to one day reach the Transformation Realm and become a new king. However, even as he passed his forties and entered his fifties, he failed to reach that state.

As time went on, he grew increasingly impatient. When he heard that the Sword God’s secret manual had been discovered on Mount Hua, he immediately headed there.

Cheol Mu-yeop knew full well that a manual for achieving godhood through the sword would be of no use to a fist practitioner. Yet he still went to Mount Hua, hoping he might find something, anything, that could help him.

He was desperate enough to believe that all paths of martial arts eventually led to the same truth. It was then that he met Tak Un-jin, the Third Elder of the Western Heaven Demonic Cult, and fought him. And he was defeated.

It wasn’t that his martial arts were inferior. Although Tak Un-jin had the upper hand, Cheol Mu-yeop’s fists had certainly struck his heart and other vital points.

The problem was, it had no effect on Tak Un-jin. Tak Un-jin regenerated from all his wounds and pressed the attack, and eventually, Cheol Mu-yeop collapsed from exhaustion of stamina and internal energy.

As Cheol Mu-yeop sat slumped on the ground, Tak Un-jin looked down on him and spoke.

“Do you wish to reach the Transformation Realm?”

Cheol Mu-yeop spoke, his voice filled with disbelief.

“You haven’t reached the Transformation Realm yourself. How could you possibly help me reach it?”

At his words, Tak Un-jin smirked and relaxed his power. Slowly, his appearance began to grow younger.

Witnessing the sight, Cheol Mu-yeop was at a loss for words. And he understood. Tak Un-jin had been holding back. He was already a master who had reached the Transformation Realm.

“Do you want power? Do you want to become stronger?”

“I want to be stronger! I want to reach the Transformation Realm!”

At Cheol Mu-yeop’s desperate cry, Tak Un-jin nodded with a smile.

“Your wish will be granted.”

Darkness enveloped Cheol Mu-yeop, and he lost consciousness. When he next opened his eyes, he possessed power equal to the Transformation Realm.

In exchange, he had become a living jiangshi, a slave who followed only Tak Un-jin.

But Cheol Mu-yeop no longer had the reason left to lament such a thing.

Thus, he was reborn as a new warrior, and he believed no one could defeat him. Until he met that young man.

“Young Master! Moon Empress!”

Namgung Hwa-rin exclaimed with a wide smile. Having seen a glimpse of the power Yu-jin possessed, she believed he could defeat this monster.

Moreover, the beautiful woman behind Yu-jin was someone she already knew well. Yu-jin looked around, his face grim.

“Brother…”

“Rest.”

Everyone except Namgung Hwa-rin and Kang Yong-hoon had already lost consciousness and collapsed. Kang Yong-hoon tried to speak, but Yu-jin cut him off coldly and pressed his acupoint.

Yu-jin was enraged to see his handmaidens in such a state. But Cheol Mu-yeop was just as furious.

“Who are you!”

Cheol Mu-yeop was seething. His left arm, burned away by the dark green flames, showed no signs of regenerating. It was as if it had never been there in the first place. Yu-jin looked at him with a mocking expression and spoke.

“Well now. Do you really need to know who I am? I don’t think someone who sold his soul for power deserves to know my name, do you?”

“I’ll kill you!”

Cheol Mu-yeop’s form instantly vanished, reappearing near Yu-jin as he threw a punch. A tremendous wave of energy shot toward Yu-jin.

It was a technique from Cheol Mu-yeop’s prized Hegemon’s Collapsing Fist, containing enough tyrannical power to shatter a small hill with a single blow.

As the devastating technique approached Yu-jin, the Moon Empress, Na Ye-jin, who stood beside him, drew her sword. But Yu-jin reached out a hand to stop her and stepped forward.

“What a coincidence. I happen to be quite confident in my fists as well.”

Yu-jin clenched his fist, and a vivid black light began to gather around it.

It was the fifth martial art from the Nine Heavens Divine Demonic Arts, following the Green Scale Poison Flame, Black Heaven Water, Yin-Yang Lust Arts, and Profound Heaven Ink Phosphorus Sword—the Heaven-Rending Demon Fist was now unfolding in Yu-jin’s hand.

“Now then, let’s see whose fist is stronger.”

With those words, Yu-jin threw a punch. The brilliant, ink-black energy gathered in his fist shot forward, colliding with Cheol Mu-yeop’s blood-red energy.

*Kwaang!*

With a massive explosion, Cheol Mu-yeop’s energy was blasted away. Not only that, but Yu-jin’s fist strike continued unabated toward Cheol Mu-yeop.

Horrified, Cheol Mu-yeop quickly leaped high into the air to dodge the attack. The fist strike flew past, obliterating dozens of trees in its path.

“Ye-jin, these are all my companions. While I deal with this thing, please help them escape from here.”

“I understand, Yu-jin. I will follow your command.”

With that, Na Ye-jin disappeared from the spot.

Yu-jin smiled again and began to pursue Cheol Mu-yeop, who had retreated to another location.

Cheol Mu-yeop couldn’t believe it. This was the power he had gained by selling his soul, his very life. He couldn’t accept that such immense power was being thwarted by a mere brat.

“Kuaaaargh! Impossible! I have become a being so powerful that I can defeat anyone except the ten absolute masters!”

*Kuo-o-o-o!*

A tyrannical aura erupted from Cheol Mu-yeop’s entire body. In addition, the extreme poison he harbored as a living jiangshi began to seep out, melting the surrounding plants.

He truly looked like a being worthy of the name ‘monster.’ But even such deadly poisons were meaningless before Yu-jin. The poison of the Green Scale Poison Flame was far more toxic than the one flowing through the living jiangshi’s veins.

“You can defeat anyone? That must be your dream. But the reality is that you’re struggling against someone like me, isn’t it?”

At the words of Yu-jin, who had already caught up, Cheol Mu-yeop charged forward in a rage. He threw another powerful punch, and a tyrannical fist strike mixed with poisonous energy flew toward Yu-jin.

“Killing you would be easy, but…”

The Green Scale Poison Flame, which never goes out until it has burned everything to ashes, had the power to kill even a living jiangshi, but Yu-jin deliberately chose not to use it. It wouldn’t give him the satisfying ‘feel’ of a good fight.

“You need to be a test subject for my new martial art.”

With those words, Yu-jin once again unleashed the Heaven-Rending Demon Fist.

*Kwa-a-a-ang!*

With a powerful explosion, Cheol Mu-yeop was thrown back. Yu-jin burst through the smoke, flew toward him, and landed another punch, burying his fist in Cheol Mu-yeop’s abdomen.

“Keo-heo-heok!”

Despite having a body that couldn’t feel pain, Cheol Mu-yeop felt an intense agony as he was sent flying backward into a tree.

The tree couldn’t withstand the impact and shattered, collapsing on top of him. But Yu-jin knew well that this wouldn’t be enough to finish Cheol Mu-yeop.

*Kwaang!*

The tree pinning Cheol Mu-yeop was blasted into splinters, and he rose to his feet, his face a mask of fury.

“What are you? How can you inflict pain on me! How can you ignore my regenerative power!”

“Why should I be the one to tell you that? It seems becoming a jiangshi has caused your ability to think to degenerate as well.”

“I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you!”

Cheol Mu-yeop had now completely lost his reason. But in abandoning his sanity, he had gained even more formidable power. Yu-jin watched this and could tell that he was burning through all the innate energy he had retained after becoming a living jiangshi.

‘The reason living jiangshi become so much stronger is that they use the unique innate energy humans possess to enhance their martial arts. How irritating, these jiangshi things.’

“Grrrrrr!”

Having completely transformed into a jiangshi, Cheol Mu-yeop charged at Yu-jin with terrifying speed that surpassed sound, throwing a punch.

Yu-jin used the Black Heaven Water to block Cheol Mu-yeop’s fist, then used his other hand to unleash the Heaven-Rending Demon Fist, striking him across the face. The powerful blow shattered Cheol Mu-yeop’s teeth, and unable to withstand the impact, he stumbled back.

“I always find it pitiful when I see people laboring under a delusion. To think you can achieve something with power gained through sacrifice… how absurd. A man who has lived as long as you should know that much, don’t you think?”

Even while maintaining his reason, Cheol Mu-yeop was no match for Yu-jin. A mindless beast stood even less of a chance.

“Ah, the fun is gone.”

Yu-jin scowled and unleashed a flurry of punches, each one striking Cheol Mu-yeop’s body.

In an instant, Cheol Mu-yeop lost his original shape and tumbled to the ground. While not completely negating regeneration like the Green Scale Poison Flame, the Heaven-Rending Demon Fist also had the power to hinder it, so Cheol Mu-yeop could not easily recover.

“This is all you amount to. Now, disappear.”

Yu-jin planted the Green Scale Poison Flame on Cheol Mu-yeop’s face, and the flames engulfed him.

“Grrrrrrr!”

Cheol Mu-yeop let out a desperate scream, struggling to extinguish the flames, but there was no way to put out the Green Scale Poison Flame. In the end, it completely incinerated him.

Yu-jin watched Cheol Mu-yeop disappear with eyes that had lost all interest, then turned around. At that moment, Ran and Eun Seol-rin appeared before him.

“We have found the place you spoke of, Master.”

“Is that so? We head there now.”

Originally, he had planned to deal with the martial artists who would come after him for the treasure map, but Tak Un-jin’s early release of the iron jiangshi had prevented that. So, Yu-jin decided to quickly take care of Tak Un-jin himself.

“Everything is as you will, Master.”

The two women simply followed Yu-jin’s command.