Rebirth of the Thunder God

Heaven-Shattering Mad Demon Fist.

As its name suggested, it was the unique martial art of the Mad Demon.

A violent fist art that perfectly suited the moniker 'mad.'

It boasted a crazed power, as if it could shatter the heavens.

However, being a demonic art, it came with side effects.

The madness that the Mad Demon suffered from was likely one of the side effects of this demonic art.

'It was in the Cult Leader's diary. The more one trains in demonic arts, the more one's disposition changes.'

He understood, but that didn't make their vicious actions disappear.

Namgung Hui still remembered the terrible conspiracy the Blood Cult had woven around the Namgung family.

For that reason, he could not look favorably upon the Heaven-Shattering Mad Demon Fist being performed by the Mad Dragon.

Namgung Hui narrowed his wide-open eyes and watched the duel intently.

-Hung! Hung! Hung!

Tearing the air to shreds, the Mad Dragon's fists slammed into the Divine Dragon.

Not to be outdone, the Divine Dragon unleashed the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, meeting fist with fist.

The two clashed, exchanging unarmed blows.

Unlike the initial exchange, this time it was rough enough to be mistaken for a real battle.

The Divine Dragon's collar was torn, scattering into the spectator seats.

The Mad Dragon's appearance wasn't unscathed either; his skin was torn and bleeding, as if he had been struck by a fist wind.

"Uahahaha! The Hundred-Step Divine Fist truly lives up to its reputation. It's truly amazing."

"And you, Patron Mad Dragon, possess an amazing fist art as well. To think it's a divine art on par with our Shaolin Temple's ultimate techniques."

"There's no need to praise it so embarrassingly as a divine art. Why attach the grand character for 'divine' to a means of harming people? By the way, the audience is starting to get bored. Let's end this."

"That is what I was hoping for. I will come at you right away."

As the Divine Dragon put his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, a heat haze shimmered behind his back.

The sight was so majestic it felt as if Buddha himself had descended.

As for the Mad Dragon, he fully revealed his ferocious aura, as if he no longer needed any reins.

It was like a wild bison had been let loose.

-Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Patpatpat!

Fist met fist, and the floor of the dueling stage twisted and was instantly devastated.

To think such a result could occur from a mere clash of ki waves.

The audience gulped down dry saliva and gaped at the unrealistic scene.

The fierce battle soon came to an end.

It was when the Divine Dragon, struck in the chest, unleashed a certain palm technique.

-Paaang!

A powerful energy shot out from the Divine Dragon's palm.

The energy soon took the shape of a palm and mercilessly pushed the Mad Dragon back.

The dueling stage was already devastated, but the Mad Dragon's body was pushed back a full ten zhang and embedded in the ground.

To anyone watching, it was a clear out-of-bounds defeat.

"The, the Mad Dragon is out of bounds! Muwon is the winner!"

"Waaah!! Amazing! Truly amazing! As expected of the Shaolin Temple's Divine Dragon!"

"My eyes have truly been blessed. I don't know what it was, but it was an amazing divine art."

"From now on, we can't just see Muwon as a young martial artist, can we?"

"The same goes for the Mad Dragon. How is that a young martial artist? He could easily enter the ranks of the Hundred Great Masters."

Not just the Hundred Great Masters.

Within a few years, they would possess martial power comparable to the Ten Great Masters.

Namgung Hui stared at Muwon for a moment.

The palm technique he had just used was no ordinary one.

The Tathagata Divine Palm of the Shaolin Temple.

It seemed the Shaolin Temple had truly gone all out in raising Muwon.

The heat haze he had felt from him was clearly the energy of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.

Three of the Shaolin Temple's divine arts, including the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, were in his head.

And he had mastered them so completely that he had no trouble using them.

Although it ended with the Divine Dragon's victory, the Mad Dragon left the stage as if nothing had happened.

Seeing the faint smile on his lips, it was clear he was satisfied.

Was he pleased with his duel against the Divine Dragon?

For some reason, Namgung Hui felt he had a different agenda.

'The Mad Dragon, I'll have to investigate him closely.'

This didn't mean he would do something to the Mad Dragon right away.

To have infiltrated so openly into the heart of the Orthodox Faction meant there was a force supporting him.

Someone who had thoroughly laundered his identity.

And there must be someone else using a man like the Mad Dragon to pull some strings.

There was no need to make the mistake of beating the grass and scaring the snake away.

Rather, he should cast a tight net and catch them all at once.

"With this, the first day of the martial arts tournament preliminaries is over! We will inspect the dueling stage and see you again tomorrow. Thank you~!"

With the announcer's closing declaration, the first day of the preliminaries came to a safe end.

Namgung Hui had only finished one preliminary match, but his mind was troubled because of the sudden appearance of the Mad Dragon.

He considered returning to his lodgings to sort out his thoughts, but it seemed the matches in the women's division were not yet over.

Fervent cheers could be heard from that direction.

"Wow~! A fairy has descended from the heavens!"

"Look at that! It's ice art!"

Beak Seolhwa's match seemed to be in full swing, as exclamations of admiration poured out every time people saw her.

Namgung Hui thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to watch her cold martial arts to cool his head as well.

"Brother. Congratulations on winning your first match."

"Thanks. I'm going to watch the women's division matches now. Want to come?"

"We'd love to. Guang. You're coming too, right?"

"Yeah. I have nothing to do right now anyway, so it's best to watch as much as I can."

Yelu Guang and Heon Wonsu had apparently dropped the formalities and were getting along like friends.

Having stuck together for the past few days, it would have been stranger if they were still awkward with each other.

Namgung Hui turned his head to look for Jin Myeongho, but he too must have had other business, as he had vanished without a trace.

'That bastard disappeared without even a goodbye. Did he have urgent business in the latrine?'

Since he had no urgent business with Jin Myeongho, he headed straight for the women's division spectator seats.

Like Namgung Hui, many people had flocked over after the men's division matches ended, so there was no room to set foot in the stands.

Still, he managed to find a spot and watch the duel.

As expected, Beak Seolhwa's duel was in full swing.

She was driving her opponent into a corner, scattering an aura as sharp as frost.

-Chae. Chae. Chaeng!

Although she didn't generate sword ki, her opponent couldn't get a grip due to the cold air swirling around.

Namgung Hui fully understood the woman's feelings.

Hadn't he also suffered countless times from that cold ki while crossing swords with Beak Seolhwa?

Even just yesterday, he thought his skin would freeze from Beak Seolhwa's extreme yin ki.

If Namgung Hui hadn't learned the extreme yang-type Thunder Ki, he might have really frozen.

"Shangguan Jeong is defeated. The winner is Beak Seolhwa of the Moon Maiden Palace~!"

"Whew~! As expected of the Young Palace Mistress of the Moon Maiden Palace. I knew that female warrior would win."

"Unni! You're so cool!"

The crowd's cheers were all praises for Beak Seolhwa.

Not only for her outstanding martial arts.

But also for her beautiful and exceptional looks.

Even the atmosphere she exuded was quite mysterious.

However, they would not know.

How terrifying a person Beak Seolhwa was.

And the fact that her methods were cruel.

'Ugh! My mouth is itching to tell, but only I know. But it's not like I can just say it.'

Namgung Hui briefly thought about Beak Seolhwa's true nature, shuddered, and then walked towards her.

"Seolhwa. You won easily, huh?"

"And you finished even faster than me."

"Well, the person before me forfeited, so things went quickly. What are you going to do now?"

"Hmm... I should probably prepare for tomorrow's match, right?"

"You? Do you really need to prepare? When the skill gap is this obvious?"

Beak Seolhwa hesitated for a moment before whipping her head away.

"Anyway. I'm busy from now on. Let's go our separate ways for a while."

"Hmm... I guess there's no need for me to stick with you. Besides, you have to escort Eun Seolrin."

As long as the price for the Snow Mountain Collapsing Eagle that Eun Seolrin claimed was not paid.

Beak Seolhwa would have to continue escorting Eun Seolrin.

Well, Eun Seolrin would handle the detailed transaction herself, but she wouldn't just give it to Beak Seolhwa for free.

As Beak Seolhwa hastily disappeared, Yelu Guang spoke to Namgung Hui.

"Brother. I also have a match tomorrow, so I'll go prepare."

"I have to go on duty, so I'll be leaving now."

Yelu Guang and Heon Wonsu also left for their respective tasks.

Left all alone, Namgung Hui decided to take this opportunity to have some time to himself.

'Right. I should use this chance to finish my training.'

The realm of the 10th stage of the Purple Thunder Divine Art, which he had recently grasped a clue of.

It was quite different from the 10th stage of the Thunder Lightning Divine Art, so a process of re-establishment was needed.

Still, it probably wouldn't take that long.

It was a realm he had already stepped into before.

Namgung Hui moved not to the inn, but to the clearing on the wild mountain.

The place where he had shared a sword dance with Beak Seolhwa.

There was no place as wide and secluded as this.

Unintentionally, Namgung Hui and Beak Seolhwa had cleared the surroundings neatly.

Namgung Hui climbed onto a rock that lay alone in the empty clearing.

He felt a sense of kinship, as if it were similar to his own situation.

He sat cross-legged on it and gently closed his eyes.

He savored the sound of birdsong in the quiet mountain.

He also appreciated the sound of the trickling stream.

His mind calmed down a little.

Hoicheon Association, Blood Cult, Martial Alliance, Namgung family, martial arts tournament, marriage, Black Tortoise Troupe Leader, Yewol, Mad Dragon, Beak Seolhwa, and so on.

For this moment at least, he temporarily set aside all the things that were tangled up in his head.

Although the wind wasn't blowing, his mind felt refreshed, and he savored the coolness.

He had to approach his martial arts training with this mindset to be able to immerse himself.

Returning to his original mindset, Namgung Hui began to operate the Purple Thunder Divine Art.

-Gooooo... Jjijik...

Perhaps because he was circulating the Purple Thunder Divine Art in silence, he was particularly focused on the sound of static electricity.

He entered a state of selflessness, recalling the principles of the Purple Thunder Divine Art.

He observed.

He delved deeper.

He analyzed and deconstructed.

The moment he fully understood the Purple Thunder Divine Art.

Namgung Hui's body floated up, and a purple ring formed above his head.

If there had been only four before, this time five rings with complete colors were draped over him.

Those five rings did not disappear but shrank to three, changing their shape into flower blossoms.

Purple petals.

They resembled plum blossoms, yet had a subtly distinct character.

As if expressing the current Namgung Hui.

-Sreureureuk...

Soon, the three flower blossoms were sucked into Namgung Hui's nostrils and quietly vanished.

Five Ki Return to the Origin.

Three Flowers Gather at the Summit.

It was a realm he had achieved in his past life, but it was quite different from before.

Even if it was a path one had walked once.

One could not walk it at the same time in the same way.

The body's condition of the day, and even the psychological state, had an effect.

So how would the realm of martial arts be?

As it was more complex than a simple walk, there were bound to be more variables.

That was why Namgung Hui had put in so much effort, even though it was a realm he had already walked.

Flash.

When Namgung Hui opened his eyes, his pupils momentarily turned purple before returning to normal.

His opened eyes were filled with calmness.

Along with a sense of stability, there was also a latent ferocity.

It was like seeing the calm before a typhoon.

'I have now achieved the great completion of the Purple Thunder Divine Art. It's definitely on a different level from the 10th stage of the Thunder Lightning Divine Art. This must all be thanks to the Purple Mist Divine Art.'

He had inwardly placed the Purple Mist Divine Art below the Thunder Lightning Divine Art, but looking at it now, it seemed to be on the same level.

In truth, the superiority of divine arts could not be determined.

One had to consider the compatibility with the person who learned it.

The moment Namgung Hui unfolded his cross-legged position and stood up from his spot.

Perhaps thanks to the great completion of the Purple Thunder Divine Art, he felt a presence from the mountaintop that he hadn't felt before.

Without a moment's delay, Namgung Hui shot forward.

He didn't forget to kill his presence with concealment techniques along the way.

Having completely hidden himself, Namgung Hui gently landed on a tree.

He stopped his body and looked at the faces of the presences.

He almost broke his concealment, coming face to face with an unexpected person.

'Beak Seolhwa! Why are you here...?'

Beak Seolhwa. She was spending a secret time on a wild mountain with a man of unknown identity.

(End of Chapter)