Rebirth of the Thunder God

"Boy. Your skills are quite good. By the way, where did that Blood Hand Old Claw bastard go?"

With the appearance of the old man, the atmosphere changed in an instant.

A pungent smell lingered in the passing wind.

Namgung Hui, seeing a master for the first time since coming out to the martial world, was swept up in various emotions.

Expectation, worry, and a desire to win.

The old master was clearly far stronger than his current self.

But he didn't think he would lose.

Even though he couldn't read his aura.

As Namgung Hui was sizing up the old master, a Daexiong Gang member, having belatedly come to his senses, continued.

"The, the Blood Hand Old Claw left a while ago, following some guy!"

"Is that so? And he's still not back? Was his opponent one of the Seven Dragons? Well, fine. He likes to play with people. Then I'll just take care of the ones in front of me and go find him."

Namgung Hui looked at the hidden weapon in the old man's hand.

Not only was it sharp, but a bluish poison was glinting on it.

Blue poison, it seemed to be a poison collected from a venomous snake.

‘I'll be fine, but it'll be dangerous if Choyeon gets hit.’

The Pure Thunder Essence had the miraculous effect of burning away poison that infiltrated the body.

But that effect was only activated for poison that infiltrated one's own body.

It could not purify another person's body.

In the first place, if he were to inject enough Thunder Ki to do that into another person, their body would be damaged by the Thunder Ki instead.

Because Thunder Ki was that ferocious and destructive of an energy.

‘I have no choice. I have to fight from a distance.’

A martial artist of the Orthodox Faction would not take a hostage.

But a martial artist of the Unorthodox Faction would more than likely take advantage of an opening and attack Choyeon.

This was from the experience the Thunder God had accumulated in the past, and nine times out of ten, that's how it went.

Especially if it was an old master of the Unorthodox Faction, there was no way he would miss such an opportunity.

‘There's no need to go looking for trouble.’

Then he had to make a move before the old master targeted Choyeon.

Having made up his mind, Namgung Hui nodded and stepped forward.

He deliberately stomped his feet loudly to draw attention and sent a palm strike towards the old master.

-Zzzzt, Rumble……!

The Thunder Cloud Step and the Thunder Dragon Palm were unleashed at the same time.

A considerable noise was made as a result.

And the old master of the Unorthodox Faction's eyes lit up with interest at the sight of a martial art he had never seen before.

"Oh-ho. You perform a truly unique martial art. This will be fun. Heheheh."

The old master of the Unorthodox Faction threw his hidden weapon at the white energy Namgung Hui had sent and flew away.

Namgung Hui's current internal energy was not much, so the power of his palm strike was not strong.

It was merely a imitation of a palm wind.

-Clang!

But even that small palm wind carried a considerable amount of power.

Thunder Ki. The most ferocious nature of internal energy.

A mere hidden weapon was not enough to block Namgung Hui's Thunder Dragon Palm.

"Oh-ho."

The old master of the Unorthodox Faction, letting out a sound of admiration, stepped forward and deflected the Thunder Dragon Palm.

Since its power had already been reduced by the hidden weapon, it was not very threatening.

But seeing that he had been pushed back in the last exchange, he looked at Namgung Hui with an interested gaze.

"It's probably not a demonic art……. I have no idea what kind of martial art you're performing. I heard that Shaolin's Hundred-Step Divine Fist has such power, but it's not a fist technique, it's a unique palm technique. Could it be the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms? No. You can't learn that unless you're a beggar. How strange. Where did a guy like this pop out from?"

Namgung Hui, regardless of what the old master was babbling about, was preparing his next attack.

To subdue the old master at his current level, ordinary methods would not be enough.

In terms of realm alone, Namgung Hui had not even reached the first-rate.

And the old master? He seemed to be far beyond the first-rate.

It was impossible for a second-rate to subdue a first-rate unless they were extremely careless.

Unless, perhaps, he was poisoned.

But Namgung Hui didn't know how to use poison arts.

And he couldn't push through with numerical superiority either.

In a way, Namgung Hui's defeat could be seen as a foregone conclusion.

So not only the old master, but also the Daexiong Gang members watching, had a relaxed attitude from beginning to end.

‘But you have to measure it to know how long or short it is. I wonder who has lived longer.’

-Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

Suddenly, a blue flash erupted from Namgung Hui's body.

At the sound, which was more intense than before, the old master also quickly readjusted his grip on his dagger.

"Thunder Ki? Was there a sect that controlled such energy?"

"Of course there is. Let's see if you can block this too."

The reason Namgung Hui had been biding his time was not just to look for an opening.

It was the superposition of Thunder Ki.

The condensed, dense energy was struggling as if it would ascend to heaven at any moment.

Namgung Hui released that condensed Thunder Ki as it was.

A soaring dragon.

It wasn't just that the energy was intense, it really took the form of a dragon.

That form of a thunder dragon flew straight towards the old master.

It was a sight that truly suited the name Thunder Dragon Palm.

-Rumble!

As if lightning was striking from the sky.

A loud thunderclap struck the old master's dagger.

-Kagagang!

But the old master had also been preparing for it.

He had been preparing for Namgung Hui's attack with his dagger infused with internal energy.

He was quite surprised by the power of the attack, but it wasn't something he couldn't block.

Because he was a better master than Namgung Hui.

"Heulheul! Boy. It's an attack that's all sound and no substance. Well, it might be quite plausible when seducing a woman. Then it's my turn…… Huh?"

But the form of the thunder dragon that the old master had blocked did not disappear on the spot.

It coiled around the dagger and began to wrap around his arm.

-Bzzzt!

Intense Thunder Ki infiltrated the old master's interior.

At the sharp pain he had never experienced before, the old master's eyes widened and he let out a rough breath.

"Keoheok……!"

The old master couldn't even open his mouth properly due to the numbing sensation.

But Namgung Hui wasn't fine either.

He had superimposed the Thunder Ki to the point of twisting his blood vessels.

His blood vessels and dantian had not yet grown properly, so his whole body was overloaded.

His blood vessels ached as if they would tear.

And his dantian was not just unstable, it was on the verge of cracking.

But he still maintained the line.

Thanks to the experience he had accumulated in the Great War between Justice and Evil.

Namgung Hui, as if he had caught his breath, wiped his forehead and walked towards the old master.

"Phew……. You shouldn't have been careless. How does it taste?"

The old master, who had barely managed to catch his breath, quickly threw his dagger.

The person who couldn't even breathe properly until just now seemed to have squeezed out every last bit of his strength, as the power contained in it was not ordinary.

-Swoosh!

The dagger flew far away in an instant.

Namgung Hui had expected the dagger to fly towards him, but that wasn't it.

"Ack!"

The dagger had flown towards Choyeon.

Fortunately, she quickly used her movement technique to block the dagger that was aimed at her heart, and it ended up getting stuck in her arm.

But the moment he thought it was fortunate, the old master burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! It's too early to be relieved. My dagger is coated with Green Snake Blood Poison, so she will die within one shichen (two hours)."

"Is that so? Green Snake Blood Poison is hard to come by, you're lucky to have it."

"Hehe! Even if you pretend to be so calm, I don't have the antidote."

"It doesn't matter. I don't need it anyway."

"Huh. Are you saying you don't need that woman? You seem to be quite close at a glance."

Choyeon, who was stopping the bleeding in her arm, also looked at Namgung Hui with a complicated expression.

Green Snake Blood Poison.

She was not unaware of the power of this poison.

If there was no antidote, she would die within one shichen, just as the old master said.

But Namgung Hui was so calm and composed, as if he didn't care about her.

"Ah. I didn't mean it that way. The Green Snake Blood Poison, it's all gone."

The moment the Thunder Dragon Palm flowed through the dagger to the old master, the pungent-smelling Green Snake Blood Poison had oxidized and ascended to heaven.

In other words, it had all been burned away by the Thunder Ki.

But Namgung Hui found it too troublesome to explain it all, and he didn't feel the need to reveal his information.

And seeing that the old master was showing signs of trying to recover while buying time, he decided to make a move first.

"Hey. Are those your last words?"

"Last words……. You speak as if you can kill me. Do you not know that you've overexerted yourself?"

The old master, who had now regained some of his strength, began to get up.

An ordinary Orthodox Faction member would not cowardly launch a surprise attack at this time.

But Namgung Hui was different.

On the contrary, he took advantage of the opening created when he was getting up and launched a surprise attack.

-Swish!

The swift charge of the Thunder Cloud Step and the fierce attack of the Thunder Severing Kick flew towards the old master's face.

"You cowardly bastard!"

The old master was not an old hand in the martial world for nothing.

He quickly crossed his arms to block his face.

But Namgung Hui's foot was not aimed at his face.

-Crack!

It was his leg.

The direction had been twisted in an instant and it had struck his knee.

The old master could not withstand Namgung Hui's Thunder Severing Kick and collapsed on the spot.

It seemed his knee was gone, as his leg was dangling.

Without even a moment to let out a groan of pain, Namgung Hui's fist struck the old master's face.

-Smash!

The sound of a watermelon bursting was heard.

His nose bridge had collapsed, making it difficult to recognize his features.

The moment the old master lost consciousness, Namgung Hui said to Choyeon.

"Choyeon. Behind you……."

-Thud……!

Namgung Hui also fainted before he could finish his words.

The thread of consciousness he had been barely holding onto had snapped.

"Yes, Young Master. Leave the back to me."

* * *

How much time had passed?

When Namgung Hui came to his senses and opened his eyes, darkness was all around him.

"Ugh……. I overexerted myself for the first time in a while, I'm dying."

Even in his past life, he had rarely pushed his body so hard.

He had only pushed his body like this when fighting the left and right guardians of the Demonic Cult and in the final battle against Sosu Mahu.

Of course, it was natural, as there were almost no masters who could make the Thunder God of his past life fight with all his might.

"Young Master. Are you awake?"

"Yes. By the way, where is this? It's dark, so I can't see anything."

"It's the clearing in the deserted mountain from before. I came up to look for the young palace mistress, but there was no one here. Well, I don't see any bodies, so she must be safe, right?"

"The young palace mistress is no ordinary person, so she'll be fine. Well, if she was captured by the Heretic Alliance, then that's just her fate."

"Still, it's a fate we met by chance, so I hope she's safe. Is your body okay, Young Master? Your chronic illness didn't relapse, did it?"

Namgung Hui waved his arm and replied.

"Look. I'm fine. I just collapsed because I overexerted myself a little. Are you okay, Choyeon? I burned all the poison ki, but just in case."

The Thunder Ki Namgung Hui possessed was pitifully small compared to his past life.

If even a minute amount of Green Snake Blood Poison remained and had infiltrated Choyeon's body, he had to leave immediately to get an antidote.

"I'm fine. Actually, I thought you had abandoned me earlier, Young Master. But it's truly amazing that you have the ability to burn poison ki."

"They say that when you get struck by lightning, you sometimes get special abilities. The fact that I can handle Thunder Ki is a fortuitous encounter of that kind. By the way, what happened to that old man from before?"

"Ah. If you mean the elder of the Heretic Alliance, I finished him off. With this dagger that he threw. But a problem has arisen."

"What problem?"

Choyeon scratched her cheek and handed him a very old identification tag.

And on it was written a truly unexpected name.

(End of Chapter)