Chapter 151
Jaseong drew his ultimate trump card.
It was none other than—
'Celestial Gate Opening Art.'
It had already been opened up to the Tenth Gate.
But that was not enough.
To topple a mighty mountain like Peng Yun-ho, he needed greater power.
'The Eleventh Gate...'
But that was a forbidden domain.
For Jaseong, whose true martial arts had not yet reached the supreme peak, opening the eleventh gate was nothing short of a gamble.
All the blood vessels in his body might burst, his dantian could be destroyed.
He had tried to cross this realm multiple times during his training, and each time, he had failed.
But now...
He had nowhere left to retreat.
'... I promised.
I would become an expert who could shake the world,
rip off the limbs of those bastards who killed my Big brother and sister-in-law,
and eradicate both the orthodox faction and the Demonic Cult alike.
And now, I have the chance to cut down one of the grand marshals.
So...
I have to make it happen!'
Jaseong activated the Samadhi Eyes.
Saaa—
The world slowed as if frozen.
Jaseong looked deep within himself.
Between the meridians where golden ki flowed, he saw the tightly closed eleventh gate.
That gate, like a gigantic dam, was blocking an immense torrent of energy.
Jaseong drew up the innate true ki from his middle dantian.
The white flame-like innate true ki whirled together with the golden inner power.
'I'll break through.'
Jaseong forced the massive whirlpool of energy against the eleventh gate.
Uuuuuuuung!
A terrible tremor erupted inside his body.
His bones screamed, and a pain like tearing muscles assailed him.
His mouth filled with the stench of blood.
'Kh...!'
His consciousness began to fade.
But Jaseong desperately held on.
If he collapsed now, it would all be over.
Just then, from outside his awareness, he heard Gal Seo-ryeong's scream.
"Khek!"
Struck by Peng Yun-ho's fist, Gal Seo-ryeong coughed up blood and was flung back.
Even as she rolled across the ground, she stood again to block Peng Yun-ho's path.
'Just a little... just a little more...'
Jaseong squeezed out every last drop of willpower.
And at last—
Creak— BANG!
The tightly closed gate burst open with a thunderous impact.
KWOORKWAKWAKWAKWAK!!
In that instant, an unimaginable force erupted from Jaseong's body.
It wasn't merely inner power being expelled.
It was a force that drew the energy of Heaven and Earth itself by force, defying the laws of nature and making it his own.
A pillar of golden light shot up to the sky from Jaseong's center.
The entire forest blazed bright as day.
Every living thing within a hundred zhang radius was smothered by that overwhelming energy, unable even to breathe.
Peng Yun-ho flinched.
The fist he'd raised to strike Gal Seo-ryeong froze in midair.
He stared at the golden pillar with an expression of utter disbelief.
"This... this energy...?!"
Gal Seo-ryeong, her lips stained with blood, trembled as she looked at Jaseong.
"Transformation Realm...?! No, is it beyond even that...?"
A legendary realm said to be attainable only by those who have shed the shell of humanity, surpassing the supreme peak.
Yet now, that realm's energy was radiating from a young man barely in his twenties.
At that moment, the Wicked Flame Sword Jaseong held began to hum.
—Master.
The voice of the Wicked Flame Sword resounded directly in Jaseong's mind.
—Your body cannot withstand this power. Only a single strike. You will be able to swing but once. Afterward, your body will be destroyed.
Jaseong knew it too.
All the vessels in his body felt about to burst with the swelling.
Even just sustaining this power, his life was burning away.
'One blow... That's enough.'
Jaseong slowly opened his eyes.
No longer were his irises black.
They burned gold, eyes like those of a god.
"Peng Yun-ho."
Jaseong's voice thundered through the forest.
It no longer sounded human—it was like a clap of thunder.
"For your crimes, I will pass judgment in this one blow."
Peng Yun-ho instinctively sensed death.
His instincts screamed to run, that this was no human.
But the pride of one of the Ten Great Experts of the orthodox faction chained his feet in place.
"Very well! Come then! I will stake everything to stop you!"
With a bellow, Peng Yun-ho summoned all his inner power.
His body flushed red and swelled up, forging his final defense by burning even his vitality: the True Iron Wall Diamond Body.
'I wager everything on this strike...!'
Jaseong sank into a stance.
Every technique, every secret of the Heaven Evading Flash Sword coalesced in his mind, as one.
All Streams Return to the Source.
All swords become one.
"Eleventh Gate... Opening Heaven."
Jaseong's body vanished.
No—it became light itself.
KWAHHHHHH!
The world was erased in white.
An absolute speed no sound could hope to follow.
A chilling sensation as if space itself had been cleaved.
Even the Wicked Flame Sword lent its remaining strength.
At the cost of all of Jaseong's innate true ki, the divine item of the Celestial Realm granted all its power to its master.
The result—
"?!"
Peng Yun-ho didn't even realize what had happened to him.
There was just a blinding flash before his eyes, and then he felt his supposedly unbreakable Iron Wall Diamond Body sliced apart like tofu.
And then—
Ssssh.
Jaseong landed behind Peng Yun-ho's back.
His sword was already sheathed.
Silence.
A moment later, Peng Yun-ho's massive body began to slowly, ever so slowly, come apart.
From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, crimson traced a single line down his center.
"Kur... hg...."
Peng Yun-ho couldn't even cry out in agony.
His body split in two and fell with a heavy thud.
No blood spouted out—the Sword Ki that passed through was so hot, it had evaporated in an instant.
The Peng Clan Head of Hebei, one of the Ten Great Experts of the orthodox faction, king of Fists Peng Yun-ho.
He was utterly defeated in a single blow, leaving nothing behind.
A prodigy from the Red Light District had cut down another giant of evil in this moment.
* * *
After the battle, Jaseong immediately began to close the opened gates in reverse order.
Eleventh Gate, tenth Gate, ninth Gate...
Every time a gate closed, the rampaging golden ki subsided and his body screamed in agony.
"Uweeek!!!"
Jaseong dropped to his knees, vomiting dark blood.
The aftereffects of his Eleventh Gate—Opening Heaven had hit all at once.
His internal organs twisted and every blood vessel in his body felt as if it were being torn apart by pain.
But...
He did not fall.
Instead, he wore a deeper, more sinister smile than ever at the corner of his mouth.
"With this... it's the second time."
Jaseong muttered as he gazed down at Peng Yun-ho's fallen corpse.
His bloodshot eyes were filled with a rapture impossible to describe.
"Ku... kukuk..."
In this instant, Jaseong laughed like a madman.
He had slain one of his long-hated nemeses, and not just any foe, but a titan called one of the Ten Great Experts of the orthodox faction, with his own hands.
Wasn't it for this day alone he had endured bone-breaking pain and ceaselessly trained in martial arts?
Physical pain was nothing to him now.
There was only the sweet rapture of vengeance.
'Big brother. Sister-in-law. I've avenged another of your killers.'
Watching Jaseong's wild smile, Gal Seo-ryeong felt goosebumps without even realizing it.
'Revenge bordering on madness... So this is what fueled the Hall Lord of Scarlet Lotus Hall.'
And then, the transformation-realm-level insane power that Jaseong had just shown.
It far exceeded anything Gal Seo-ryeong could have imagined.
But they could not indulge in afterglow forever.
The earth was shaking.
Dudududu—!
"Hall Lord! Get a hold of yourself! The main force of the Iron Wall Squad is closing in!"
Gal Seo-ryeong shouted urgently.
Thousands of footsteps were already almost upon them.
No matter how monstrous Jaseong was, there was no way he could face an entire army in his current state.
"We must go. It would be pointless to fell the Peng Clan head only to be surrounded and die meaninglessly by his subordinates."
At her words, Jaseong nodded silently.
He rose to his feet, staggering.
Despite his grievous wounds, he hefted the massive Peng Yun-ho's corpse over one shoulder with a single hand.
"Why are you bringing that?"
"With this... it'll be an enormous help when I approach the remaining enemies. It'll make an excellent lure—and instill fear."
A sharp light flashed in Jaseong's eyes.
Gal Seo-ryeong clicked her tongue.
To already be thinking of the next move, even in this state—he really was ruthless.
So Jaseong and Gal Seo-ryeong fled the forests of Hebei at a tremendous speed.
Behind them, the Iron Wall Squad's belated, rage-filled shouts echoed through the mountains and fields.
* * *
Half a month later.
Hao Sect Headquarters.
Deep in the mountains, at the innermost heart of the Hao Sect headquarters shrouded in mist,
there was a heavy silence in the Sect Leader's study.
Jaseong was there.
Lee Rin and Gu Janghu were there as well.
All of them, covered in bandages from wounds sustained fighting Peng Yun-ho and during their escape, wore expressions brighter than ever.
[I really thought we were goners... I'm glad we survived thanks to the great hero.]
Lee Rin sent a telepathic message and tried to take a pastry from inside her robe and eat it.
[Save the pastries for later. We're in front of the Sect Leader.]
Jaseong signaled with his eyes to stop her.
[I need painkillers~ My whole body aches.]
Lee Rin pouted and rolled the pastry inside her mouth.
Jaseong shook his head as if he could do nothing about it.
On the table before Jaseong were the decisive pieces of evidence obtained from the Hebei Peng Clan and Sichuan Tang Clan.
A secret ledger documenting Soul-Bewildering Powder's production and distribution.
An astronomical record of profits earned by addicting tens of thousands of innocents.
And more importantly, a single piece of correspondence with a vivid red seal.
Beyond the table, the Hao Sect Leader silently reviewed the documents.
His face was hidden behind a curtain, but the energy radiating from him was cold and composed.
Gal Seo-ryeong stood by his side, watching the process.
"... This is conclusive evidence."
After a long moment, the Sect Leader set down the letter and spoke.
"With proof that the Murim Alliance Leader gave direct orders, there's no way those bastards can worm out of this. For the so-called head of the orthodox faction to be peddling drugs from the shadows... It's utterly outrageous."
Gal Seo-ryeong added,
"I witnessed the scene myself. The three Peng brothers of the Hebei Peng Clan and the young head of the Sichuan Tang Clan were drinking together, celebrating the success of the Soul-Bewildering Powder operation. I also heard them admit, in their own words, that they had orders from the alliance leader."
"Yes, well done."
The Sect Leader nodded.
Then, from behind the curtain, he stared at Jaseong.
"Well done, Lord of Scarlet Lotus Hall Hall. Thanks to you, we now hold the decisive sword to strip the orthodox faction's façade. This is not mere personal vengeance. This is a great cause that will overturn the balance of the martial world."
The Sect Leader's eyes flashed sharply.
"For centuries, the Hao Sect has lived in the shadows, simply because those of the orthodox faction despised and oppressed us, calling us lowborn. We only sold information and took on dirty work to survive. But it was those self-styled paragons of virtue who committed the most despicable acts behind the scenes, sucking dry the life of the people."
A movement indicated the Sect Leader was rising from his seat.
"Now, it is time to tear off their masks. The whole world will see the true face of the orthodox faction."