Chapter 43 : Chapter 43
Chapter 43 - Legacy of the Heavenly Demon (9)
─ Kuuuung
A tremendous weight pressed down on Jaun’s body.
Eighteen Arhats.
The energy generated by the eighteen warrior monks began to pressure Jaun from all directions.
‘Just a moment ago I was surrounded by Demonic Energy. Now it’s Buddhist Divine Energy.’
Clear and elegant energy covered Jaun’s entire body.
Jaun’s Demonic Energy, reacting to the Divine Energy, began to run wild like an angry horse.
He looked around at the Eighteen Arhats surrounding him and Manhae, who was looking at him with an imposing posture from within.
On one hand, it was sad, but on the other hand, he was glad.
‘The Shaolin Abbot and warrior monks are all rushing in to deal with just me.’
A situation where he had to use his full power was created, and there were opponents worthy of receiving his full power.
Jaun, who had been busy hiding his power until now, was given an environment and space to run wild to his heart's content.
‘There is nothing more to hide.’
Looking at Manhae, Jaun slowly began to draw up the Reverse Heaven Asura Art.
‘How high has the stone tower I built over ten years risen, and how solid is it?’
The energy Jaun drew up began to push back the energy of the Eighteen Arhats little by little.
‘How far have I achieved with this power my father left me?’
Jaun began to reverse the energy he had drawn up to the extreme using the Reverse Heaven Asura Art.
─ Tuuk
Blood vessels burst here and there on Jaun’s body, and bruises began to form.
The energy, once starting to flow in reverse, began to swirl around his body so fast that Jaun could not control it.
The energy, growing larger as it flowed, began to fill Jaun’s Qi meridians, blood vessels, and even all the minute meridians.
Then, the Demonic Energy filling Jaun’s body leaked out and began to wrap around the surroundings.
─ Ooooooong
Demonic Energy wrapped around Jaun’s body and shook the surrounding air.
Seeing that the Demonic Energy Jaun drew up was growing larger despite the energy of the Eighteen Arhats pouring down, Manhae’s expression hardened.
“Close the Gate of Life and open the Gate of Death.”
At Manhae’s words, the Eighteen Arhats changed positions in an instant.
The energy pouring toward Jaun became much heavier.
“Thus have I heard !”
Buddhist sutras began to be recited simultaneously from the mouths of the Eighteen Arhats.
The enlightenment of the warrior monks who had devoted themselves to Buddhism for decades began to be contained in the energy pouring onto Jaun.
Through the path of martial arts, the Shaolin monks were transmitting the Buddha's teachings to Jaun.
“Thus come One protecting and thinking of all Bodhisattvas.
“Entrusting to all Bodhisattvas .”
─ Kuung!
As the first verse ended, the Eighteen Arhats stomped on the ground simultaneously.
Along with the vibration shaking the ground, the energy of the Arhat monks became even fiercer.
“Whatever has form is all empty .”
“If you see all forms as non-forms, then you see the Tathagata ─ Chiiik
The energy filled with Buddhist teachings wrapped around Jaun’s body and clashed with the Demonic Energy, starting to emit white smoke.
Jaun contemplated the Shaolin energy that was pressing in on him more and more.
There was no killing intent within it.
However, fundamental hostility was visible.
Jaun, sighing slightly, hardened his heart.
─ Oooooooo
The Demonic Energy swirling around Jaun’s body spread in all directions through sound.
Jaun’s Demonic Energy pushed back the Shaolin energy little by little and began to spread around.
“Keueuk.”
While the warrior monks caught their breath to shake off the incoming Demonic Energy, Jaun explosively emitted his energy in an instant.
─ Kwaaaang!
Jaun’s energy, which burst out, greatly shook the warrior monks' energy.
“Uheok!”
Taking advantage of the moment when the warrior monks' energy weakened, Jaun’s figure quickly slipped out to the side.
Jaun, throwing himself toward a warrior monk guarding the flank, extended his fist while gathering his energy just like that.
─ Kwaaaang!
Jaun’s fist strike spat out a massive resonance filled with sorrow.
Not only the warrior monk who received the fist strike but also the Eighteen Arhats who were sharing energy simultaneously vomited blood with a retch.
─ Kwaaaang!
When Jaun’s Soul Severing Spirit Crushing Fist struck once again, the legs of the warrior monk who barely received the strike dug into the ground about an inch deep.
Towards the warrior monk looking at him with astonished eyes while his legs were stuck in the ground, Jaun raised his hand once again.
At that moment, Manhae’s loud shout was heard.
“Thousand Hand Tathagata !”
Massive energy arising from Manhae’s body created a huge palm shadow in the air.
Following the hand Manhae extended with force, the huge palm shadow poured in toward Jaun.
Jaun changed the direction of the fist he had raised toward the warrior monk.
[Soul Severing Spirit Crushing Fist]
Jaun, who had drawn up his Demonic Energy to the fullest, reached out toward the palm shadow.
A faint scream seemed to be heard from the fist Jaun thrust out.
The energies of the two people, who narrowed the distance in an instant, met in the air.
─ Paaaat
Simultaneously as the two people's energies collided, they vanished on the spot.
The extreme Demonic Energy and the refined Divine Energy swallowed each other without even making a clashing sound.
Jaun kicked off the ground just like that, jumping at Manhae while drawing his sword.
Seeing Jaun’s sword drawn, Manhae wrapped a whitish energy around his hands.
─ Kaaaang!
─ Kkang! Chaaeng!
Manhae received Jaun’s ceaselessly pouring sword strikes with a firm face.
‘It’s good.’
Jaun was glad that there was someone in front of him who could receive the sword he unleashed with full power.
Like that, forgetting even the situation he was in, Jaun focused all his nerves solely on the sword.
The movement of Manhae’s hands striking away his sword reminded him of a massive rock on Mount Song.
‘Right. If it’s you, you could probably take this too.’
Jaun, doubling his energy by rotating the Reverse Heaven Asura Art, stomped the ground vigorously once again.
[Heavenly Killing Demon Sword, Sixth Form]
The Anti-Personnel Sword Technique of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which he had never brought out before, was revealed to the world.
A vortex of dark red Demonic Energy starting from Jaun’s hand wrapped around the sword.
The sword, emitting Demonic Energy fiercely as if burning with fire, was drawn long from Jaun’s left to right.
[Dark Shadow Full Brilliance]
In an instant, immense darkness filled the surroundings, and cutting through that darkness, Jaun’s sword scattered vivid afterimages.
─ Seogeok
The sound of air being cut was heard.
Jaun’s sword energy, scattered like lightning, cut through the air and appeared in front of Manhae’s eyes.
“……World Honored One!”
Manhae’s hands, swinging rapidly in the air, created a thick energy membrane.
Golden energy spread out from Manhae’s body, and over the layers of energy membrane being built up, the golden energy created one more layer of membrane.
[Tathagata Thousand Leaf Hand]
Jaun’s sword energy touched the golden energy Manhae had built up in the blink of an eye.
─ Peooooooong!
With a loud impact sound, Jaun’s energy shattered the energy membrane into pieces and eventually vanished.
“Heo-eo…….”
Manhae, confirming Jaun’s sword energy that vanished after destroying all the energy membranes he created, let out a deep groan.
Just a single layer.
If he hadn't completed the last layer of the Thousand Leaf Hand, it was a situation where Jaun’s sword could have cut his throat.
Manhae hadn't thought the energy contained in Jaun’s sword would be to this extent.
Manhae put down his heart that underestimated Jaun and drew up his internal energy to the fullest.
A vivid halo of light began to form in Manhae’s eyes.
[Bodhi Divine Art]
The enlightenment of the Arhats who received teachings from the Buddha.
That enlightenment, passed down and polished over hundreds of years, was completed under the name ‘Bodhi’, and revealed its completed form as a Divine Art within Manhae’s body.
Energy began to flow like wind inside Manhae’s body.
Small winds gathered one by one to become stronger, and the collection of winds soon became a gust.
Manhae, wrapping his whole body in a vivid halo of light, reached out his hand toward Jaun.
[Thousand Hand Tathagata Palm]
The Thousand Hand Tathagata Palm, containing the enlightenment Manhae had built over his lifetime, carried the power of the Bodhi Divine Art on its back.
─ Deudeudeudeuk
Palm force shot forward following Manhae’s hand.
Stone dust flew up from the path where the massive palm force passed.
Manhae’s hand shadow, which had grown large enough to fill Jaun’s body before anyone knew it, flew like an arrow toward Jaun.
Jaun swung his sword, compressing and compressing his energy to the utmost.
The energy gathering on the sword sparkled like a thin thread.
As Jaun’s hand moved rapidly, the sword was swung at a speed invisible to the eye.
─ Seogeok
─ Seogeok
Manhae’s large palm shadow was whittled away little by little by Jaun’s flying sword energy.
Jaun’s joints made a cracking sound as if it was difficult to withstand the movement.
Jaun, who had drawn up his energy to the limit, raised his sword vertically above his head this time.
“Haaap!”
For the first time, Jaun’s shout burst out. And Jaun’s sword, containing Demonic Energy to the limit, drew a large arc from above his head to below.
The flashing sword light greeted Manhae’s palm shadow, which had approached right in front of his nose.
─ Kiiiiing
Jaun’s sword Moon Fang, touching Manhae’s palm shadow, made a bizarre sound.
For a very brief moment, Manhae’s palm shadow and Jaun’s sword seemed to stop while touching each other in the air.
Breaking the tense confrontation that lasted for a split second, Jaun’s sword, filled with dark red energy, began to split Manhae’s palm shadow.
Around the time Jaun’s sword had cut about half of the palm shadow—
─ Pajik
An alien noise came from the hilt of Jaun’s sword.
The sword, unable to withstand Jaun’s energy, had started to shatter into pieces from the hilt.
‘Moon Fang is……?’
Jaun looked at the sword shattering and scattering in all directions with bewildered eyes.
As the sword crumbled, the Demonic Energy that lost its medium shook for a moment, and the half-cut palm shadow shot toward Jaun taking advantage of that opening.
‘This is dangerous.’
Jaun, hurriedly drawing up his remaining energy, raised his left hand to receive the palm force.
─ Peook!
Jaun’s body, having parried Manhae’s massive energy, was bounced backward.
─ Kwadadang
Jaun’s body, bouncing backward, hit the wall of energy created by the Eighteen Arhats and fell on that spot.
“Immeasurable Life Buddha!”
Not missing that opening, the Eighteen Arhats drew up their energy to the limit and bound Jaun’s body with the Arhat Formation.
On Jaun’s shoulders as he struggled to get up, the energy drawn out by eighteen people with all their might settled down.
Jaun, barely controlling his trembling legs, stood up again from his spot.
“Huu…….”
Manhae, exhaling deeply, shook his head from side to side and walked toward Jaun.
“To endure the energy of the Eighteen Arhats and even receive my Thousand Hand Tathagata Palm…….”
─ Kuung!
Manhae added his energy to the momentum of the Eighteen Arhats Formation.
Unable to overcome the heavier pressure, one of Jaun’s knees buckled and touched the ground.
“You are a much more dangerous child than I thought.”
While kneeling on one knee, Jaun struggled to look up at Manhae.
Manhae, looking down at Jaun with a serious expression, opened his mouth.
“The martial prowess you possess defies logic. Even if you claim to have succeeded the true teachings of Jeong-cheon, that person, it is an incomprehensible strength.”
Manhae, adding a little more power to the Arhat Formation once again, slowly approached Jaun.
“From now on, you will undergo a thorough investigation by the Murim Alliance. To do that, I will dislocate the joints of your limbs to subdue you. Do not resist. I will use techniques that will allow you to recover after just a month of recuperation.”
Manhae, who came close to Jaun, reached out his hand toward Jaun.
‘It’s empty.’
Jaun’s insides were a mess.
In Jaun’s dantian, having used energy without rest from the battle with the Demonic Cult until now, only a handful of internal energy remained.
‘If Moon Fang hadn't broken at the last moment, what result would have unfolded?’
Jaun, ruminating in his head, folded away his regretful heart.
‘Still…… this is enough. I feel relieved.’
From the life-and-death duel with the Illusion Demon to the confrontation with Shaolin Abbot Manhae supported by the Shaolin Eighteen Arhats.
Jaun, having poured out everything he had, felt as if his blocked insides were completely cleared.
He had unleashed everything and proved that he was walking the path his father laid out without wavering.
That alone was a great achievement.
Jaun raised his head toward Manhae, who had come close and grabbed his right arm to lift it.
‘Is this really the end?’
Manhae, looking into Jaun’s eyes, spoke quietly.
“Do not resist.”
─ Udeuk
Manhae’s hand pulled the arm out of Jaun’s shoulder joint.
At that moment, Jaun, who was about to let everything go, hesitated for a moment.
‘No. Still, I should try what I can until the end.’
Jaun’s eyes twinkled
. Jaun raised his left arm as if he had given up everything and extended it to Manhae.
The moment Manhae nodded and grabbed Jaun’s left arm to lift it, Jaun’s last remaining energy gathered in the Ink Ring.
─ Chareureuk
Instantly, the Millennium Silk released from the Ink Ring wrapped rapidly around Manhae’s neck.
He didn't intend to kill.
He intended to take Manhae hostage like this and escape this place.
Just as the Millennium Silk was wrapping halfway around Manhae’s neck, a hand suddenly popping out from behind dug between Manhae’s neck and the Millennium Silk.
“……Senior Hyeon-dam?”
Leaving one arm to the Millennium Silk, Hyeon-dam slowly walked around to Manhae’s side.
Jaun looked at Hyeon-dam.
“How did you know?”
“It’s obvious. The you I’ve seen so far wouldn't give up until the end.”
He smiled mischievously, but there was sorrow contained within it.
Hyeon-dam turned his head to look at his hand.
Jaun’s Millennium Silk was wrapping around Manhae’s neck and Hyeon-dam’s wrist simultaneously.
Blood was trickling down from Hyeon-dam’s wrist, which contained no energy at all.
If he applied force like this, he could strangle Manhae, but Hyeon-dam’s wrist would also be cut off.
Jaun looked into Hyeon-dam’s eyes.
[Jaun is not a Demon!]
Hyeon-dam’s voice, shouted just a moment ago, lingered in his mind.
The times he spent with Hyeon-dam flashed through Jaun’s mind.
Strength gradually drained from Jaun’s arm.
“If I end up trapped in prison for life, I might resent you, Senior.”
Jaun smiled a sad smile toward Hyeon-dam.
At this moment, Jaun decided to protect the bond entangled with him and laid down all his will to escape.
As Jaun retrieved his remaining energy, the Millennium Silk rolled back into the Ink Ring.
─ Udeuk
The arm was pulled out from Jaun’s left arm joint.