Chapter 352 ·Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven (2)
Chapter 352: Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven (2)
"Anyone want to run away!"
Ordinarily, the Wind-Passing Great Sage would have answered Son Goku with, "There are more monsters here!"
But this time, he could not.
'What kind of freak is this...?'
He could not even get close.
The attacks he launched vanished almost instantly.
He was obsessed with fighting, yet this battle was no fun at all.
Nothing worked, and nothing happened.
It felt as though he were simply punching empty space.
On the other hand, every single attack from the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven was lethal.
Had the monster Tamrin not been devouring the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's power, and had the Bull Demon King and Muk Geom-yeong not been blocking his attacks, several of them would have already disappeared.
'There's nothing we can do.'
They were merely enduring.
The moment the balance collapsed, they would be completely destroyed.
'I just want to land one proper hit.'
Even if he had to die, he did not want his final moments to consist of swinging at empty air.
He wanted to smash the face of that arrogant bastard who called himself a god at least once.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage looked around.
He wondered who he needed to fight alongside for his attacks to work.
Then he noticed something.
'Hm?'
The black aura surrounding his body and the crimson threads sent by his eldest brother extended toward somewhere.
'This is...'
Following them, he found Jang Woo-hyun.
'They're not concentrating power into him... Then what is this?'
It did not seem to have much significance.
Why would they do something like this?
Only after watching for a long time did the Wind-Passing Great Sage realize what the black aura and crimson threads were for.
'Everything is being passed to Jang Woo-hyun.'
Muk Geom-yeong's black aura and the Bull Demon King's crimson threads served as a defense.
At the same time, however, they were recording the movements, martial arts, and fighting methods of the Seven Great Sages, Zhang Sanfeng, and Muk Geom-yeong, then sending them to Jang Woo-hyun.
"Heh..."
A chuckle escaped the Wind-Passing Great Sage's lips.
Others might not understand the meaning of this.
But he understood immediately.
"Hehehe..."
Whenever necessary, Jang Woo-hyun even stole the movements and fighting methods of Great Monsters.
Whether human, beastfolk, or Great Monster, if it could benefit him, he learned and used it as though it were martial arts.
To openly teach someone like that during battle?
No one could predict what would happen.
'So my eldest brother... and that human... already knew.'
The only way to win this battle.
"Hahahahaha!"
The Wind-Passing Great Sage burst into loud laughter.
Suddenly, the battle became fun again.
The monkey Great Monster erupted with energy as he moved at incredible speed.
So what if his attacks did not work?
Everything would eventually be passed on to Jang Woo-hyun.
"Watch carefully! This is my power!"
Wrapped in raging winds, the monkey Great Monster moved like a madman without caring that his own body was breaking apart.
The precarious balance collapsed the moment the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven shook off Tamrin, who had been devouring his power.
The first to fall was the Roc Demon King.
Having transformed into a gigantic demonic bird, he disappeared after his wings were torn apart.
Next came the Macaque Demon King, who had been bombarding him with demonic arts.
He layered hundreds of defensive barriers.
But they were nowhere near enough to stop the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's power.
His entire body was shredded before he disappeared.
"You bastard!"
The Lion Camel King, said to possess the greatest strength among the Seven Great Sages, charged forward.
A silver arm extending from empty space targeted him.
The Lion Camel King thrust both hands forward as though engaging in a contest of strength.
RUMBLE!
The moment their hands collided, space itself screamed.
Shockwaves surged in every direction.
Dimensions shattered, and cracks spread throughout the surrounding void.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage and Son Goku rushed in to help.
But another silver hand appeared and blocked their path.
BANG! CRACK!
The Lion Camel King's arms shattered beneath the overwhelming force.
In the end, the lion-headed Great Monster was crushed beneath the silver hand and disappeared.
Muk Geom-yeong and the Bull Demon King, who had continued helping the others while fighting, also reached their limits.
Having exhausted all their strength, their bodies had become translucent.
Zhang Sanfeng also tried everything he could.
But he failed to inflict even the slightest damage upon the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven.
Then, around the time the Lion Camel King disappeared...
Jang Woo-hyun began seeing strange things.
"...?"
Black silhouettes darted about like restless spirits.
One was Muk Geom-yeong performing martial arts.
Another was Zhang Sanfeng.
Those two were not the only ones.
Elsewhere, black silhouettes resembling the Seven Great Sages displayed unique movements.
Another consciousness of Jang Woo-hyun began moving independently within his Inner World.
Reality and illusion became intricately intertwined.
In reality, Jang Woo-hyun fought the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven.
Within his Inner World, Jang Woo-hyun dodged the Bull Demon King's attacks.
When an invisible force crushed space...
The Roc Demon King spread his wings.
The Lion Camel King used Earth Pull to drag Jang Woo-hyun toward him.
He blocked the enlarged Ruyi Staff with an even larger Baekmu.
He deflected the Wind-Passing Great Sage's hand before throwing a punch.
He crossed swords with Zhang Sanfeng and exchanged martial arts with Muk Geom-yeong.
At times, the two even moved as though personally teaching him their martial arts.
'This is...'
In reality, he desperately resisted the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's attacks.
Within his Inner World, he continuously fought the Seven Great Sages, Muk Geom-yeong, and Zhang Sanfeng.
Normally, once a Martial God ascended to the Upper Realm, they were already complete.
Unlike martial artists of the Middle Realm or Lower Realm, experience no longer held much importance.
But Jang Woo-hyun was different.
He had always grown through battle.
The more he fought...
The stronger he became.
As the battle continued endlessly, the empty parts within him were gradually filled.
Until now, Jang Woo-hyun had deliberately expanded his spiritual perception to understand his opponents.
But at his current level, there was no longer any need.
Simply becoming aware of his opponent allowed him to perceive everything.
Merely looking at them was enough to understand them completely.
Even now, Jang Woo-hyun still thought and acted according to human standards.
Although he knew he had changed, he unconsciously rejected it.
He did not want to cross that invisible line.
He did not want to become a True Immortal who had transcended humanity and regarded everything else as insignificant.
If he crossed that line, he felt he would cease to be Jang Woo-hyun.
The bonds he had formed would disappear.
But now...
Everything was different.
The moment those missing pieces were filled...
His talent, which defied all common sense, naturally elevated his very existence.
The consciousness he had restrained ascended to an unimaginably high place.
Within Jang Woo-hyun's Inner World, many things occurred.
The giant wielding eight swords collapsed.
The revolving Yin and Yang came to a halt.
The world made entirely of blades lost its light.
The dragons covered in Metallic Scales fell asleep.
Everything disappeared.
Only endless darkness remained.
Within that darkness, a single light pulsed like a beating heart.
The light continued growing until it filled the entire space.
While Jang Woo-hyun's Inner World transformed...
Tamrin's body was torn apart before disappearing.
Next came the Wind-Passing Great Sage and Son Goku.
"Jang Woo-hyun! Make him eat one good hit!"
"Aagh! Brother Jang! I'm counting on you too!"
Even while dying, the monkey brothers remained noisy.
Unfortunately, their voices never reached him.
Jang Woo-hyun simply stood motionless, as though immersed in a state of complete enlightenment.
The Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven turned his gaze toward him.
The Bull Demon King stepped forward to block the way.
Behind him spread the black curtain created by Muk Geom-yeong.
The Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven extended his hand.
The Bull Demon King was crushed.
The black curtain created by Muk Geom-yeong was torn apart and disappeared.
As everyone vanished one after another, light burst from Jang Woo-hyun's eyes.
Just as the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's power continued increasing...
Jang Woo-hyun's power also continued growing.
At an astonishing speed.
It was a speed that defied common sense.
This was no ordinary increase in realm.
Sensing the tremendous power radiating from Jang Woo-hyun, the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven raised his sword.
The blade that had split the universe in half descended toward Jang Woo-hyun.
The world of pitch-black darkness stood in its path once again.
But it was severed instantly.
The Strongest in the Middle Realm, whose strength had already been exhausted, disappeared together with the world he had created.
KWAGAGAGANG!
A colossal sword descended, crushing the world itself.
Standing before it was Sword Heavenly Lord Zhang Sanfeng, guardian of the Middle Heaven Martial World.
He neither opened his Microcosm nor released an overwhelming aura.
Zhang Sanfeng merely raised his sword slowly.
It resembled an ant lifting a tiny twig against the sword of a giant.
"Where there is light, there is darkness. Through the harmony of Yin and Yang, Taiji comes into being."
Facing the gigantic sword capable of slicing hundreds of planets apart in a single strike, Zhang Sanfeng slowly extended his own sword.
A tiny Taiji symbol appeared at its tip.
Thoom.
A faint sound echoed.
KWAAAAANG!
A tremendous explosion erupted far away.
Countless stars disappeared in an instant.
Yet Jang Woo-hyun remained completely unharmed.
The price Zhang Sanfeng paid for blocking the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's attack...
Was his own fading existence.
His body scattered like smoke.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you until the very end."
Turning back with a smile, Zhang Sanfeng also disappeared.
At that moment, Jang Woo-hyun raised his head.
His eyes radiated brilliant light as though suns had been embedded within them.
The instant he raised Baekmu, his presence filled all of space.
If one half of the universe belonged to the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven...
Then the other half belonged to Jang Woo-hyun.
【Do you dare call yourself a god?】
For the first time, he used the Word of Authority.
Even the tone of his voice had completely changed.
His words spread throughout the universe.
The entire universe worshipped the newly born god.
【That talent... I cannot comprehend it. What exactly are you?】
For the first time, the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven was shaken.
Even in his eyes, Jang Woo-hyun's rate of growth was abnormal.
He had suddenly surpassed his limits, and even now he continued growing stronger at an unbelievable speed.
【Answer me. Reveal your true identity.】
An absolute command descended.
It was an unquestionable law, a question imbued with divine authority.
Merely hearing that voice compelled all beings to bow, worship, and answer.
But Jang Woo-hyun gave his own answer.
【Grow.】
He imitated not a martial artist...
But a Great Monster.
His power had now erased the boundaries between humans and Great Monsters, cultivators and martial artists.
Having surpassed the Martial God, his will itself manifested reality.
The moment he desired something, it came to pass.
The first power he imitated belonged to the youngest of the Seven Great Sages, the one who had inherited the power of the Buddha of the Buddha Realm.
KUUUUUNG!
Baekmu, the weapon that grew together with Jang Woo-hyun.
The Divine True Iron sword expanded instantly according to his will.
Its length stretched from one end of an entire planetary system to the other.
【...!】
Even the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven was astonished by its size.
KWAAAA─────!!
Its impossible mass crushed the universe.
Space warped violently.
A black hole that devoured everything formed, swallowing the surrounding energy and fragments of shattered dimensions.
【You...!】
A shield as massive as Baekmu appeared above the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's hand.
Sword and shield collided.
An explosion unlike anything ever witnessed erupted.
One could have believed an entirely new universe had just been born.
Within the explosion that engulfed the universe, Jang Woo-hyun took a single step forward and swung his sword.
Galaxy-Cleaving Sword (銀河開闢劍).
The sword technique Lee Tae-seong had once used to split an entire planetary system apart in a single strike.
Jang Woo-hyun severed both the approaching explosion...
And its very source.
A black hole appeared where the explosion had erupted, drawing everything into itself.
The Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven reached toward the black hole.
His arm stretched and twisted unnaturally.
Yet he paid it no attention.
He seized the black hole and crushed it.
【That power... It is truly astonishing.】
The surprise he had shown earlier was already gone.
The Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven smiled.
It was as though hundreds of suns had risen once more, illuminating the entire universe.
【I stand here.】
All 2,713 dimensional gates began pouring forth even greater power.
With Tamrin gone, no longer interfering, the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven's power surged endlessly.
Feeling that overwhelming power, the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven realized there remained an absolute gap between himself and Jang Woo-hyun.
A gap that could never be bridged.