Chapter 12
What could one say?
It was only natural that no one could say anything.
Just fifteen years old.
Even if he were the top rising star of the Nine Great Sects, he could not unleash a punch that scattered lightning at that age.
This was common sense.
Because lightning extending from a fist meant the emission of fist ki.
Of course, if one were to search the martial world, where geniuses were as common as grains of sand on the Yangtze River, one might be able to find a mad-level prodigy who could faintly draw out fist ki or sword ki at the age of fifteen.
But a young master who could emit such a clear and powerful lightning-shaped fist ki was, without a doubt, impossible.
That was what Tang Hwa-rin and Tang Il-gi thought.
But their thoughts were scattered like dust.
“It’s harder than a boulder, huh?”
It was because of So-ah’s calm voice.
“S-So-ah…”
Gu-yang Seon stuttered.
He couldn’t seem to get a grip on his senses.
But he became certain of one thing.
‘As expected, a person’s physiognomy…!’
It never lies!
Gu-yang Seon even felt a sense of joy.
He had clearly realized that the physiognomy, palmistry, fortune-telling, and exorcism he had studied all his life were by no means in vain.
‘So-ah is a once-in-a-generation figure. A dragon among men! I… I might be…’
He thought that he might be witnessing the birth of a Martial God who would rule the world in the future.
In that moment.
“I… I… will kill… I will kill you all!”
The jiangshi, whose head had been half-crushed by So-ah’s Heaven-Shattering Consecutive Cannon and sent flying out of its five organs, got up without dying and let out a scream.
The sight was so terrible that the word “horrifying” was not enough to describe it.
The jiangshi, with more than half of its head caved in, was dripping green blood, and even the eyeball on the caved-in side of its face was protruding.
No matter how much of a jiangshi it was, it couldn’t live with its brain blown out.
This was true for jiangshi created by humans through all sorts of sinister great arts, and it was the same for jiangshi born naturally from a mixture of ghost ki and demonic ki.
Therefore, Gu-yang Seon couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
The jiangshi before him was a monster that destroyed all common sense.
“So-ah… that thing… that thing is not an ordinary jiangshi. It’s a Ghost Demon Jiangshi, made by tearing open the internal organs of a living human!”
The eyes of the Tang Clan siblings widened like lanterns at Gu-yang Seon’s cry.
The two of them usually didn’t believe in things like jiangshi, but they had heard of Ghost Demon Jiangshi.
[Hundreds of years ago, the Ghost Demon Jiangshi instantly stained the martial world with blood. The corpses of the martial artists who became wandering souls in the monster’s grasp became mountains, and their blood became rivers. If anyone tries to create a Ghost Demon Jiangshi, they must be killed without distinction of black or white, left or right!]
Such a rumor had spread like a myth through word of mouth.
Moreover, according to what was known, a Ghost Demon Jiangshi could fight one-on-one with a supreme master without falling behind.
Typically, in the martial world, a supreme master referred to the leader or an elder-level figure of each sect.
This was so far beyond common sense that Tang Hwa-rin and Tang Il-gi couldn’t believe it.
But the situation never lies.
So-ah had clearly manifested lightning fist ki, and the jiangshi had been hit squarely by it, yet it had not died.
The thought of whether the monster before them was truly a Ghost Demon Jiangshi was now dominating their minds, more so than So-ah’s inexplicable level of martial arts.
“Gu-yang hyung, what’s a Ghost Demon Jiangshi?”
But So-ah, who was actually facing the monster, was perfectly calm.
“So-ah… a Ghost Demon Jiangshi is an immortal monster…!”
So-ah let out a slight sneer at Gu-yang Seon’s words.
He thought it was absurd.
Moyong Cheon had always told So-ah,
[If it doesn’t break after hitting it ten times, hit it a hundred times. If it doesn’t break after hitting it a hundred times, hit it a thousand times. In the end, you will surely win the fight. The Ten-Second Invincible Arts was created solely for victory!]
So-ah blindly believed his grandfather’s words.
He wasn’t the least bit afraid of the jiangshi before him.
“Hyung. There’s no such thing.”
“What?”
“Immortality. There’s no such thing.”
—Papapang!
A huge explosion erupted.
It sounded like a firecracker going off.
It was the sound of So-ah stepping on the ground.
So-ah, who had been thrown back more than five zhang, performed the ‘Swift Whale Step’ and rushed towards the jiangshi, which was approaching again with a bizarre appearance.
No one clearly witnessed So-ah’s ethereal and lightning-fast movements.
They only vaguely saw So-ah’s afterimages scattering faintly.
It was a dreamlike movement that could be described as beautiful.
Tang Hwa-rin even thought it was enchanting as she watched So-ah’s Swift Whale Step.
But So-ah’s following strike was by no means enchanting or beautiful.
—Kwa-r-r-reung!
Thunder exploded.
“Kuaaaak!”
The jiangshi’s groan was more of a desperate howl than a scream.
An elbow attack that could be called the ultimate technique in terms of killing power among the Ten-Second Invincible Arts.
The Human Sword Strike was unleashed.
“Good heavens…!”
“Crazy…”
Tang Hwa-rin doubted her own eyes, and Tang Il-gi cursed in disbelief.
The sharp elbow of the Human Sword Strike had crushed the jiangshi’s solar plexus, and its upper body was not just shattered but crumpled like a piece of paper.
And yet,
“Keuk… I’ll kill you…!”
The jiangshi was still alive.
Only then did Tang Hwa-rin and Tang Il-gi realize that Gu-yang Seon’s words were by no means a lie.
Then they were suddenly scared.
If that monster was really a Ghost Demon Jiangshi…!
It was a moment when a horrifying thought came to mind.
But So-ah did not stop.
—Kwareung!
So-ah’s knee kicked up the jiangshi’s chin.
It was the strike of the Heavenly Bird Thunderclap.
The jiangshi’s hideous fangs were knocked out.
“Keu-hee-ik!”
So-ah, who confirmed that the jiangshi was still breathing even after a clean attack that made his knee tingle from the heavy impact, clicked his tongue.
But.
‘There’s still a lot left, you monster. Not a chance.’
So-ah did not stop.
Grab!
This time, So-ah grabbed the back of the jiangshi’s neck.
Although the jiangshi’s body was already bizarrely twisted, it became unable to move once its cervical spine, the central axis of its body, was caught.
So-ah did not miss this opportunity.
—Hwirik!
“Keuk?”
The jiangshi’s eyes widened.
Not only the jiangshi, but everyone watching their bloody battle tilted their heads.
It was because they felt a question about So-ah’s following action.
They had naturally expected So-ah to perform another fist-ki-type attack.
But So-ah completely overturned their expectations.
So-ah lifted the jiangshi’s body up into the sky.
In a way, this could be a very dangerous action.
It was like voluntarily giving a striking distance to the well-honed poisonous hands of the jiangshi, and in such a posture, one could not deliver a blow that could finish off the opponent.
But.
—Swaeeeaek, kwagagagagang!
The earth trembled.
It was clearly close to a small ‘earthquake’.
‘What on earth…!’
‘Is this even possible?!’
The aftermath of the gale that arose on the ground swept over the people.
A gust of wind made of dirt and dust covered their eyes and ears, and by the time the aftermath had subsided, an unbelievable sight was unfolding before their eyes.
“So-ah!”
Gu-yang Seon shouted and ran towards So-ah.
Up close, the jiangshi was stuck in the ground. Not only were all its limbs torn off, but its head was completely pulverized, leaving no trace.
“This is…”
Gu-yang Seon’s lips trembled.
But how could he have known?
The blow that So-ah had just delivered was the standing grappling art of the Ten-Second Invincible Arts, Mount Tai Inversion, which involved grabbing, lifting, throwing, breaking, and choking the opponent.
“So-ah…”
Gu-yang Seon was still dumbfounded.
He could say with certainty that the jiangshi whose five limbs were dismembered was undoubtedly a Ghost Demon Jiangshi.
But he wasn’t so surprised by the appearance of the Ghost Demon Jiangshi, which was passed down like a myth through word of mouth.
Gu-yang Seon, Tang Hwa-rin, and Tang Il-gi.
What truly surprised them was the fact that someone had smashed the Ghost Demon Jiangshi to pieces at the end of a one-on-one bloody battle.
And that someone was a boy who had just turned fifteen, whose origin and identity were uncertain.
If it had been a master of the Buddhist or Taoist lineage, which were close to being the nemesis of monsters, such as a martial monk of Shaolin or a figure from the Wudang Sect or the Quanzhen Sect, it would have been difficult but acceptable.
There are always strange things or variables in the world that cannot be explained rationally, and young heroes who transcend common sense always appear in the martial world.
But So-ah was not.
Not only was So-ah not a master of the Buddhist or Taoist lineage, but it was so absurd that it couldn’t be dismissed as a strange event.
But the reality of that absurd miracle was,
“Gu-yang hyung.”
“……Huh?”
“See, I was right.”
“About what…?”
“There’s no such thing as immortality! There’s no strong man before a beating, haha.”
He had the face of a very pure boy.
***
“Young master… I mean…”
“Y-Young master, you are truly amazing!”
“Although I am just a guest warrior, I have never seen such a phenomenal martial artist as you in my life.”
The way people addressed So-ah changed.
Those who had been calling him “little Taoist” or “young Taoist” now began to call him “young master.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Aha, yes!”
“Of course, of course.”
So-ah didn’t know what to do as he received their compliments.
Some even knelt before So-ah.
One of them said that his daughter had been born not long ago, and despite the ominous rumor that a monster had appeared on Mount Cheol-gak, he had set out on the journey to earn a penny, and through this opportunity, he had realized the preciousness of life, or something like that.
But So-ah didn’t feel bad.
No, to be precise, his heart was still pounding.
Was it because the adults were showering him with praise until their mouths went dry?
No.
So-ah was not of that character, and in fact, the excessive attention from people was burdensome.
It was just that So-ah had been able to have a great first practical combat experience.
Just then.
“Little Tao… no, S-So-ah?”
Tang Hwa-rin, who had been keeping her mouth shut and only glancing at So-ah, carefully spoke up.
“Yeah?”
“You… tell me honestly.”
“About what?”
“What on earth is your identity?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re not from the Nine Great Sects. I’ve never heard of such a crude brawling art in a prestigious orthodox sect. And it’s not the martial arts of the Five Great Families either.”
Only then did So-ah realize Tang Hwa-rin’s intention.
But he didn’t know what to say, so he just listened.
“This is completely inexplicable. It’s something that can’t even exist! Unless you, So-ah, are a top disciple of the God of War or the Heavenly Demon, who are called the two gods of the martial world, absolutely not!”
‘Gasp…’
So-ah was startled.
(End of Chapter)