Black and White Martial Emperor
Chapter 360: The Authority of the Strong (2)
You will all die here.
The young man’s words sounded utterly absurd.
Eighty percent of the Divine Flame soldiers stationed here were already dead. To begin with, more than half of them had died in the explosions from the explosives.
Even the Warrior-Generals, whom they had been certain numbered four at most, had already lost two of their number. The scales of victory had already tipped completely.
Naturally, it would have been right to flee. And yet the young man was spouting such outrageous nonsense.
Mo Yonggun gave a faint laugh.
“What an amusing little brat.”
“Little brat?”
The young man grinned.
“Little brat... That is a rather unfamiliar thing to hear.”
It was not simply that he looked young on the outside. The young man’s voice and way of speaking felt not merely youthful, but almost childish.
HWAAAAAAK.
Sharp Killing Intent erupted from the young man’s body.
Unlike the way he had mocked him, Mo Yonggun tensed inwardly.
What sort of bastard is this?
It was terrifying Killing Intent.
In one sense, that Killing Intent resembled Yeon Hojeong’s. Its density was so thick that it did not fall short even compared to the Killing Intent Yeon Hojeong released when he was enraged to the extreme.
Killing Intent did not pour out powerfully simply because one’s will was strong. One had to possess mental discipline trained to that degree, as well as perfect control over True Qi, in order not to be swallowed by one’s {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} own Killing Intent.
That was why Mo Yonggun valued Yeon Hojeong’s talent so highly. Although he did not possess an outstanding martial frame, the fact that he could release that level of Killing Intent and still maintain his sanity meant Yeon Hojeong’s mental strength was unmatched.
In other words, he could overcome his lacking martial frame through insight and wisdom. That was why Mo Yonggun was certain Yeon Hojeong’s growth would be explosive.
Yet this bastard’s Killing Intent did not seem much different from Yeon Hojeong’s.
No, there is a difference.
Mo Yonggun’s sharp eye sensed the bizarre madness melted into that Killing Intent.
This bastard is not normal.
Hup!
Mo Yonggun’s eyes widened.
Before he knew it, the young man was right in front of him. It was a speed that truly chilled his chest.
“You must not let your guard down. Especially in front of an opponent stronger than you.”
The young man’s hand moved like lightning.
KWAAAAANG!
Mo Yonggun’s body slid backward.
He had not even managed to draw his sword fully. Pale smoke leaked from the back of the blade that had blocked the young man’s hand art. If he had not infused Thunderclap energy into it in time, that treasured sword would have broken.
Veins bulged on Mo Yonggun’s forehead.
He is strong!
HOOF!
He felt Killing Intent from his right.
He moved before he even looked. The speed was absurd. Recently, aside from Yangcheon, Lord of Ink Dragon Manor, no opponent had shown such frightening speed.
This was no time to conserve strength. Mo Yonggun unleashed the Merciless Heavenly Thunder Form.
FLASH! KURURUNG!
The Thunderclap sword was fast as lightning and strong as lightning. Wherever Mo Yonggun’s sword strike passed, the ground was not merely gouged deeply, but charred black.
“Oh? You handle lightning qi to that level? How admirable.”
Mo Yonggun’s lightning sword did not even brush the young man’s collar. Before he knew it, the young man was sitting on a collapsed pillar, chin propped on his hand as he watched Mo Yonggun.
Mo Yonggun’s face stiffened.
What kind of bastard is this...!
The young man giggled.
“You have decent skill. If it came down to a contest of power, even I would have a hard time. Impressive. I truly did not expect experts of this level to appear one after another.”
“......”
“But what use is that if you are so damn slow?”
FLASH!
The young man appeared behind Mo Yonggun.
He had seen it twice, yet he had missed the third movement as well. Since the day Mo Yonggun first took up a sword, he had never once lost an opponent’s movements three times.
“Ahahahaha!”
The young man let out a mad laugh and thrust out his fist.
KWAAAAANG!
Mo Yonggun staggered and was pushed five or six steps forward.
The young man tilted his head.
“Huh? You blocked it?”
A single sword was guarding Mo Yonggun’s back. Having sensed that the attack was coming, he had drawn his sword and protected his back.
“How strange. How did you react to my speed?”
PAAAAANG!
Only after the young man moved did the explosive sound burst out. The speed of his movement technique had surpassed the speed of sound.
It was movement that truly exceeded imagination by a distant margin. Even moving at such speed, only his clothing was somewhat damaged; his skin was perfectly intact. It was proof that True Qi was protecting his entire body with stability.
The young man swung both palms.
PUH-PUH-POONG! JJEOJEOJEOJEOJEONG!
Mo Yonggun’s body shook repeatedly under the linked palm art unleashed in an instant.
Even if the martial art itself was weak in power, when the speed became this fast, its destructive force multiplied. Speed was power. At extreme speed, even a stone could become the worst kind of killing hidden weapon.
However.
Fssssss.
Pale smoke rose from Mo Yonggun’s body as he staggered backward. It was because he had released True Qi at random to block the young man’s attacks.
The young man frowned.
“You blocked all of that?”
Strictly speaking, he had not blocked the forms. He had blocked the qi art. Mo Yonggun had reacted to only half of the forms the young man used.
Unbelievable speed. Destructive power that matched that speed.
“...So that was it.”
Mo Yonggun spat. Blood was mixed in his saliva.
“It is difficult to respond to, but not completely impossible.”
If the explosive force had been as powerful as that speed, Mo Yonggun would have died long ago.
That meant the young man’s martial art itself was purely focused on swiftness.
They said speed was power, but in the world of masters of the internal path, that was not always true. Naturally, power equal to one’s speed would be carried into the strike, but in order to manifest that power properly, one absolutely needed a formula for explosive force suited to it, as well as the eye to create the appropriate flow of power.
In other words, the realm where all of that became possible was the realm beyond Transcendent Peak, what the people of the world called the realm of a Martial God. At a glance, the young man’s martial art looked so fast that it seemed impossible to fight against, but a martial art that was simply fast could not reach the realm of the Supreme Heavens.
“Still, you are certainly more troublesome than the others. Are you also a Warrior-General?”
“Of course.”
The young man smiled brightly.
Only moments ago, he had been frowning as hard as he could, and now he was smiling radiantly. He did not look sane at all.
“I am Cheon Gang, ranked second among the Eighteen Warrior-Generals.”
Second Warrior-General Cheon Gang.
Mo Yonggun gave a faint laugh.
“Cheon Gang... For some mongrel from beyond the frontier, you certainly have a grandiose name.”
Cheon Gang meant the Northern Dipper. To Mo Yonggun, who believed the Central Plains to be the center of the world, the name Cheon Gang sounded truly arrogant.
Killing Intent filled Cheon Gang’s eyes.
He had dared insult his name. A name personally given to him by that person.
“You son of a bitch.”
Mo Yonggun burst into a hearty laugh.
“To hear such an insult from someone less than a bug. Truly absurd.”
FLASH!
For an instant, Cheon Gang flinched.
Sharp Killing Intent was also pouring from Mo Yonggun’s eyes.
Astonishingly, that Killing Intent was neck and neck with Cheon Gang’s. A lowborn mongrel from the borderlands had cursed him; for Mo Yonggun, who was bound together by pride and self-regard, there could be no greater insult.
“Today, I shall cut you into eighteen pieces and throw you to the stray dogs.”
The corners of Cheon Gang’s mouth rose.
“For the first time, we agree. I was thinking the same thing.”
FLASH!
The two charged toward each other.
“Cough!”
Yeon Hojeong coughed up a handful of blood and staggered to his feet.
KWAKWANG! BOOOOOM!
His body shook from the terrifying explosions and shockwaves.
Yeon Hojeong looked toward the place of the decisive battle.
He is responding.
Cheon Gang’s speed was fast even seeing it again. It was not quite as fast as the Blood-Wing Sweeping Heaven he had used as the Dark Emperor, but every instant, Cheon Gang was manifesting speed that did not fall far short of it.
That was truly remarkable. It was not something he achieved once in a while. Speed itself was the foundation of his martial art.
What tremendous True Qi and physical endurance must he possess to withstand that speed? Though his insight might be shallow, he must surely have gone through absurdly harsh training.
However.
Mo Yonggun also has a chance to win.
BZZZZZT!
The air vibrated madly under the blue sword-light that erased empty space.
In only a few exchanges, Mo Yonggun had found martial principles capable of handling that absurd speed and was responding to it.
He had mostly shown himself to be skilled in schemes and tactics, but Mo Yonggun’s true strength was his Transcendent Peak martial art, wielded together with that cunning.
And Yeon Hojeong knew just how remarkable Mo Yonggun’s martial art was.
The Thunderclap Art and the Merciless Heavenly Thunder Form, was it?
In the past, it had been the absolute martial art that elevated Mo Yonggun into the strongest martial artist of the Orthodox Path.
That martial art was a peerless art even Yeon Hojeong, in his days as the Dark Emperor, had found daunting to fight against. If one were to choose the strongest martial arts aside from the Four Spirit Martial Art, it was one that would definitely make the list.
An invincible sword art worthy of discussing the world’s greatest. Yeon Hojeong believed Mo Yonggun could face Cheon Gang—and beyond that, that he could win.
In that case.
Should he help him kill that bastard called Cheon Gang? Or else...
“Hojeong.”
“Father.”
Before he knew it, Yeon Wi and Mookbi had come to his side.
“Are you all right?”
HOOOOOOONG.
Blue energy surged from Yeon Hojeong’s body. The Yeon Clan Divine Core was spinning at high speed, healing both his internal and external injuries.
“I am fine. This much is nothing.”
“Take this.”
Yeon Wi handed him internal-injury medicine. It was one of the emergency medicines he had brought just in case.
Yeon Hojeong did not refuse it.
The moment he swallowed the internal-injury medicine, the Yeon Clan Divine Core immediately responded. Receiving the medicinal force, it began to maximize his body’s recovery by circulating even faster and more stably.
Yeon Hojeong’s expression became noticeably clearer.
“Now then. Shall we go toward the grand finale?”
Yeon Wi’s eyes deepened.
“You felt it too?”
“Yes. I felt it.”
The two turned their heads toward the rear garden of the enormous estate.
Yeon Hojeong spoke calmly.
“There is a tremendous master there. Crouched down as if dead, but definitely there.”
“Could it be someone at the level of the Supreme Heavens?”
“Not that far.”
“Are you certain?”
“Of course.”
Yeon Hojeong had already once set foot in that realm. Even putting that aside, he had also experienced Yangcheon’s presence recently, weakened somehow though it had been.
The presence crouching in that rear garden was inferior even to the presence of the weakened Yangcheon.
The problem was that he was stronger than anyone here. Not by one or two moves, either, but by several.
HOOF!
Tang Gwan flew through the air and shook out his hands.
“The small fry are almost all handled. The rest can be cleaned up by the Demon-Sweeping and Evil-Smiting Corps.”
“You have worked hard.”
“By the way, what is that monster over there?”
It seemed Tang Gwan had also felt the presence. Except for Mo Yonggun, who was locked in a life-and-death battle with Cheon Gang in a fury, and Mookbi, who was still somewhat lacking, all three of them could feel the pressure spreading from that place.
Yeon Hojeong said, “Whatever it is, I think this battle will end once we eliminate the bastard hiding there. There does not seem to be anyone stronger than that.”
That was what he said, but Yeon Hojeong was certain.
The air of the battlefield was telling him. The fight against that nameless person would be the final battle of this engagement.
Tang Gwan rolled his shoulders.
“Why waste time? I will go.”
“Let us go together.”
Tang Gwan frowned openly.
“I do not need help.”
“You will need it. Even if you do not, we are in the middle of a war. We should decide the outcome quickly with stronger force.”
“Hmph! Do as you please.”
SHRAAAANG!
Yeon Wi drew his sword.
KRRRRK.
Mookbi slowly drew her bowstring.
WHOOM.
Resting Mad Dragon on his shoulder, Yeon Hojeong spoke with an ice-cold face.
“Shall we go decorate the ending?”