Chapter 449 : The End of the Force Behind (2)
Chapter 449: The End of the Force Behind (2)
I couldn’t believe it.
Even a Grand Celestial Immortal wouldn’t remain unscathed after taking a direct hit from reinforced qi. But the mere boy Yong Hwarin hadn’t shown the slightest sign of being impacted—utterly absurd.
‘Maybe he’s just pretending to be fine to hide his internal injuries.’
With that thought, Eungjin gave the order.
“He has suffered grave internal injuries! He’s only pretending to be unharmed—that’s all a lie! Attack him!”
Hearing those words, the remaining warriors inside the inn snapped back to their senses and charged toward Yong Hwarin.
There were about ten warriors still moving, and they all acted simultaneously, trusting Eungjin’s words.
In that instant, a surge of blue thunderous qi roared from Yong Hwarin’s body alongside the image of a blue dragon.
Rumble!
The thunderous qi burst forth through the White Tiger Subduing Demon Sword, instantly forming the shape of a blue dragon that coiled around Yong Hwarin’s body.
Then, a clear cry erupted from Yong Hwarin’s mouth.
“Dragon’s Lament, Heavenly Blossom!”
Although Yong Hwarin normally refrained from shouting out technique names, he wanted to speak this one aloud, childish as it seemed, to imbue it with his will.
Calling out a technique name was an expression of will.
The scales on the blue dragon that wrapped around Yong Hwarin stood sharply on edge, and with his cry, blue light erupted in all directions.
Just like the name of the technique, it looked as if the dragon’s scales would rip the heavens apart.
Swishhhhhh!
In the aftermath of the sweeping blue light and tempest, countless small holes had been pierced into the area.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ten warriors, their bodies riddled with holes, collapsed on the spot like rotting straw bundles.
Watching this, Eungjin trembled all over.
He wasn’t the only one.
Within the building—now little more than a frame after its walls had crumbled—the sight of a dragon manifesting was a shock that bordered on horror for all who witnessed it.
The first to collect his thoughts was Jo Wonmuk.
“Could you block that technique?”
He had asked Namgungbi while staring at Dragon’s Lament, Heavenly Blossom, wondering first and foremost whether he could withstand such a technique.
A fitting reaction from the so-called world’s greatest martial artist and martial arts maniac.
“I—I don’t think I could. Even if I gave it my all, I don’t think I could block it.”
Though Namgungbi could have hidden his feelings, he inadvertently spoke the truth. That was how awe-inspiring Dragon’s Lament, Heavenly Blossom was to any martial artist.
“And you?”
At his question, Jo Wonmuk, the World’s Greatest Sword, replied in a trembling voice.
“I don’t think I could either. But you know… I wouldn’t mind dying if I could take that technique head-on.”
His dreamy tone snapped Namgungbi back to reality.
“From now on, stay far away from me. If I’m near you, I won’t be able to die peacefully. And don’t you dare try to drag me into something like that.”
Namgungbi meant every word.
He knew that this martial arts maniac of a friend would one day try to take on Yong Hwarin’s Dragon’s Lament, Heavenly Blossom.
“I want to see it again.”
How mesmerizing must it have been for him to speak in such an ecstatic tone?
Namgungbi shivered and stepped away from Jo Wonmuk.
*
Tears fell from Eungjin’s eyes.
Not from fear.
He was trembling from the awe of having witnessed a dragon’s manifestation with his own eyes.
“I saw it! A dragon!”
Yong Hwarin approached the rambling Eungjin.
“You’re going to see something else—your death.”
Yong Hwarin spoke toward Eungjin, who neither ran nor attacked.
“But… there is one way you could live.”
At those words, Eungjin snapped back to full awareness.
“If you tell me why you’re trying to obtain the Dragon’s Energy, I’ll let you go.”
Eungjin nodded.
There was no point in resisting anymore.
Their positions had long since reversed. If he wanted to survive, he had to comply.
“Have you heard of a place called Dragon Bone Cavern?”
A memory stirred—he had heard of it once from Jo Wonmuk, the World’s Greatest Sword.
“I’ve heard of it.”
“I suppose the World’s Greatest Sword told you. What do you think lies in that place? Have you ever thought about it?”
At those words, Yong Hwarin’s eyes lit up.
He recalled hearing once that Jo Wonmuk had been poisoned after touching a dragon’s bone.
Combining what Jo Wonmuk had said back then with what Eungjin was saying now, he realized one thing.
“No way!”
Startled, Yong Hwarin cried out, and Eungjin jeered.
“For a descendant of the Azure Dragon King to not know even that… laughable. Yes, your guess is correct.”
“That can’t be! Are you saying a dragon truly exists? That a dragon has actually existed all this time?!”
Facing the shocked Yong Hwarin, Eungjin replied.
“Yes. The dragon’s mummy has been preserved to this day. Master Guigok sealed a dragon within a formation. That’s why it hasn’t decayed and could remain a mummy all this time.”
Yong Hwarin snapped back to his senses and asked—
“Then, was your reason for seeking the Dragon’s Energy to awaken the dragon that became a mummy?”
Eungjin stared at Yong Hwarin as he replied.
“That’s right. If the Dragon’s Energy, the dragon’s soul, can be returned to the dragon, it can come back to life.”
“And if the dragon comes back to life? What do you plan to do with it?”
“If the dragon returns, we’ll use its power to change this world.”
“Overturn the world with the dragon’s power?”
Yong Hwarin couldn’t understand.
At first, the idea that a dragon existed had struck him as shocking, but the more he thought about it, it was no different from any other spiritual beast.
Yet to try and seize the world with nothing but the power of such a beast?
“Heh heh heh, you wouldn’t understand. Once a dragon possesses human true qi, it becomes an immortal and indestructible being.”
Yong Hwarin asked a question that had been on his mind.
“I know that Dokgok is trying to break the formation at Dragon Bone Cavern. Has the formation not been broken yet?”
Eungjin couldn’t answer that question.
He couldn’t reveal that he had collaborated with Sammacheon to break the formation. His pride wouldn’t allow him to admit that he’d borrowed the strength of each sect leader and cult leader under Sammacheon.
Nor did he mention that the day was fast approaching.
There was no need to.
He had already secured promises from Blood Demon Castle's Lord Blood Demon Master Mun Gyeom, Valley of Hidden Darkness's Valley Leader Sohyeon, and Holy Heaven Cult's Cult Leader Sandok to gather at Dragon Bone Cavern on a specific date.
That was why, more than ever, Eungjin couldn’t die now.
‘If I can’t take Yong Hwarin with me now, then I’ll just capture him later. There’s no need to force it.’
Eungjin believed that with the lords of Sammacheon on his side, they could use their immense power to break through the formation laid by Master Guigok.
While thinking this, he answered Yong Hwarin.
“I don’t even know the name of the formation. Because of the poison wind coming from Dragon Bone Cavern, we can’t even get inside. We’re only holding out because Dokgok is shielding us from the poison, but we haven’t been able to break the formation, so we haven’t even set foot inside.”
As Yong Hwarin fell into thought without asking further questions, Eungjin surveyed the situation outside the inn.
The only ones left standing were martial artists from Cheonjungmun.
He couldn’t believe all of his elite warriors had vanished in an instant.
He had poured his life into training and raising them.
‘But if I can just open Dragon Bone Cavern, then such subordinates are as good as useless.’
Eungjin spoke.
“I can leave now, right?”
“Yes! You can go.”
At those words, Eungjin’s face brightened and he leapt, aiming to slip through the remains of the window frame.
Thwack!
The White Tiger Subduing Demon Sword flew like lightning and pierced through Eungjin’s chest.
“Guh!”
Clutching the window frame, Eungjin slowly turned around.
“You little bastard… if you don’t keep your promises, what kind of man will you grow up to be?!”
To Eungjin’s outburst, Yong Hwarin let out a soft laugh.
“I only said I’d let you go—I never said I’d let you go alive. That also means I could send you off as a corpse.”
“Stop with the wordplay! You little brat!”
“At the very least, I’m not that young.”
Eungjin ground his teeth and said,
“Even if I die, my son won’t leave you alone.”
“Your son? You mean Eungjo?”
“That’s right. Once my son takes over the Heavenly Demon Sect, you’re as good as dead. He’s probably already taken it by now. Heh heh heh!”
At Eungjin’s words, Yong Hwarin let out a quiet snicker.
“Eungjo went to take over the Heavenly Demon Sect? And you think he actually will?”
“Of course. All the elders of the Heavenly Demon Sect are already on his side.”
Upon hearing that, Yong Hwarin burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Want me to tell you something? There’s someone in the Heavenly Demon Sect even I wouldn’t want to mess with—someone twisted, vicious, and extremely devious. Sorry to say, but your son may no longer be of this world.”
“What the hell are you babbling about?!”
“You’ll know whether I’m telling the truth when you reach the afterlife.”
With a flick of Yong Hwarin’s finger, Eungjin’s head snapped back and struck the window frame.
Thud!
Yong Hwarin had pierced Eungjin’s forehead with Yongrinji.
“Your son was unfortunate, too. To think he went up against Elder Masa. I don’t want to fight that elder either. That person is a monster.”
After taking care of the one behind the Heavenly Demon Sect, Yong Hwarin felt a strange emptiness creeping in.
‘Is it really all over now?’
It didn’t feel real.
Thinking back, everything had started because Eungjin, the descendant of the White Tiger King, had pulled the strings from behind the scenes.
In his past life, it was by their hands that his clan was annihilated, and he had been forced to live in misfortune. Eventually, he had spent his life on the run from them.
Now that Eungjin—the core of all his suffering—was dead, Yong Hwarin felt both the liberation of resolution and the hollow ache of emptiness.
He had stained his hands with countless blood for this moment, and lived with constant tension to protect the ones he loved.
Thinking of that made his heart ache.
But, in the process, he had no choice but to grow strong—and with that strength, he had built a force in the murim that could no longer be ignored. So it hadn’t all been for nothing.
‘Had I not known the future, none of this would’ve been possible. Because I knew the outcome of everything, I could act without error—whether in fighting or in saving people.’
As he thought of this, Yong Hwarin arrived at one conclusion.
‘But… did I really change fate just because I knew the future?’
Yong Hwarin shook his head.
Having lived it, he realized that even knowing what lay ahead often wasn’t enough to avoid it.
‘Now that I think about it… it wasn’t knowing the future that allowed me to reach this point. It was because I valued the process and fought with everything I had to prevent a bad outcome. If I had lived my past life like I do now… what would’ve happened, I wonder?’
He didn’t know how hard he had fought to avoid repeating a miserable life.
‘It’s not about living twice. Even if I lived a hundred times, it’d be the same. What matters isn’t how many lives you live—it’s how you live. Life must be forged through perseverance and tempered with the hammer of intensity until you shape it into what you want. That… may just be the truth of life.’
It was the conclusion reached by Yong Hwarin, who had lived twice.
Yong Hwarin looked up at the sky and murmured,
“For those who live with intensity, a second life is meaningless.”
Because he too had lived this life with all his might, he had no intention of starting another even if given the chance.