Chapter 138
Chapter 138. Eight Styles of Annihilation (4)
"Ah."
A brief exclamation burst from Dam Jeok-san's mouth as he felt the surrounding air change.
A hellscape that could slowly suffocate and kill even Ultra-Peak masters.
However, Dam Jeok-san did not feel his breath catching at all, but rather felt vitality he had never experienced before coursing through his entire body. A sense of omnipotence washed over him, as if he would not be one-sidedly pushed back no matter who his opponent was right now. But Dam Jeok-san did not become intoxicated by that sensation.
His senses had simply sharpened a bit more, and his body had become more robust. He knew well that his essential skill had not changed at all.
Dam Jeok-san swung his sword several times in succession through the air, finishing his adaptation to his strengthened body.
And just as he was about to head toward the Sword Ghost again—
'Hm?'
He felt an extremely familiar presence from somewhere. Dam Jeok-san heightened his tension and gripped his sword tightly.
If the owner of the presence was who Dam Jeok-san thought it was, he would not be an enemy.
However, no matter how much he thought about it, there was no reason for him to be in this place. Moreover, the presence he felt from the aura was extremely heavy and threatening. Far more so than when he had last seen him.
Dam Jeok-san approached the location where he felt the presence without lowering his guard.
The closer he got, the more clear and blatant the presence became.
However, one thing was certain: the owner of the presence was calling to him.
A Will that provoked Dam Jeok-san as if urging him to hurry and come over here was stimulating him.
"Interesting."
Dam Jeok-san smiled faintly and hastened his steps.
Before he knew it, a familiar silhouette appeared between the withered black ancient trees of the Demonic Realm.
A tall stature, a body refined sharply through martial arts, and eyes as black and murky as if they contained the abyss of the world, along with facial features as delicate as a carefully crafted work of art.
The current Young Cult Leader of Ming Cult, Lesser Heavenly Demon Bukgung Wan. He was waiting for Dam Jeok-san.
"Why are you here?"
Dam Jeok-san asked while looking at Bukgung Wan, who was leaning leisurely against an ancient tree.
Ming Cult's base was in the western frontier, far away from the North. There was no reason for Bukgung Wan to be in this place.
"We meet after two years, and that is what you say when you first see me? How heartless."
Bukgung Wan opened his mouth with a sly smile at Dam Jeok-san's question.
"But yes, I did not come here to play because I had nothing to do."
He continued speaking while still wearing that sly smile.
"I have also lived quite fiercely during this time. You can tell just by looking, cannot you?"
Dam Jeok-san did not deny that fact either. Bukgung Wan's aura and presence had become incomparably more formidable than before.
Moreover.
"To think you can endure in the Demonic Realm alone. That is impressive."
Dam Jeok-san spoke in an admiring voice.
Generally, to enter the Demonic Realm alone, one must surpass the wall of Entering Transformation Realm.
It did not seem like Bukgung Wan had reached such a realm already, but……
The very fact that he could imitate a superhuman who had reached Entering Transformation Realm was remarkable.
'Did he borrow the power of the Heavenly Demon?'
Even Dam Jeok-san could not easily guess what method it was. He had never learned sorcery.
However, it would not be an entirely easy and convenient method. If it were, all sorcerers would have borrowed their masters' power to act like strong people.
"I appreciate the praise, but…… Sword Dragon, or rather, it is now embarrassing to even call you Dragon. In any case, you are now so strong that it is difficult to even measure. Are you certain you truly have not surpassed the wall of Entering Transformation Realm?"
Bukgung Wan asked with red Luminous Glare rippling in his eyes. He was currently deploying Lingering Heaven Vision, Ming Cult's secret Eye technique.
An Eye technique with the audacious name of transcending the heavens, capable of seeing through even beyond Providence.
In reality, Bukgung Wan had once seen through even a master at the beginning stage of Entering Transformation Realm by manifesting Lingering Heaven Vision.
However, he could see nothing in Dam Jeok-san. Even martial artists of higher realm than him showed something lurking beyond hazy fog.
'Completely black. As if a blackout curtain has been drawn.'
Since receiving the transmission of Lingering Heaven Vision, he had felt such a sensation only once.
Precisely when he tried to peer at the Heavenly Demon, his master and Ming Cult's Cult Leader. Even then, just like now, he could see nothing.
It was absurd. Dam Jeok-san was strong, but that was only to the extent that there were no comparable opponents among his peers.
He was not at a level that could be compared with the Heavenly Demon, who was called Twin Heavens along with the Martial Sovereign among the Eight Sovereigns of Murim.
Then it was not simply a matter of realm. There was a high probability it was connected to the secret Dam Jeok-san possessed.
Therefore, Bukgung Wan decided to move on without pursuing it further.
"First, it is true I have not surpassed the wall."
Dam Jeok-san firmly confirmed that and moved on.
In the first place, the reason he had recklessly entered this Demonic Realm was to obtain a clue to surpass that wall.
"And one more thing, I was originally stronger than you, Lesser Heavenly Demon. So it is normal that I am stronger now as well."
"……Right, that was the case."
Bukgung Wan nodded with an absurd expression.
It was not wrong. From the first time they sparred, Dam Jeok-san had been overwhelming Bukgung Wan.
Moreover, at the point when they parted, Dam Jeok-san had been far ahead of him.
"Still, I thought the gap might have narrowed somewhat. I suppose that was too great an expectation."
Bukgung Wan said while shaking his head.
"In any case, there is one reason I came all the way to the far North, even to the Demonic Realm. The Cult Leader sent me. To meet you."
An errand from Ming Cult Leader, the Heavenly Demon. At those words, Dam Jeok-san slowly nodded.
"Do you know why I came to the Demonic Realm?"
"I do not. I simply received an order to wait because you would come to the Demonic Realm."
It was not information he heard from somewhere. Just a command relying on the Heavenly Demon's Foresight. However, Bukgung Wan followed without doubt. The Cult Leader had never spoken nonsense even once until now.
"Then you must have a role."
Dam Jeok-san thought the same. The Heavenly Demon was the greatest sorcerer of the current era.
Especially his ability to peer at Causality was said to be the greatest throughout all ages. He had once heard the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle say so.
"I will permit you to accompany me. However, do not interfere with my work. I intend to kill the Sword Ghost."
"The Sword Ghost? You mean that Sword Ghost, one of Yin God Cult's Eight Cardinals?"
"Correct. I unfortunately let them slip away two years ago."
"Hmm…… If it is true that you have not surpassed the wall of Entering Transformation Realm, it will not be an easy task, will it?"
"That is precisely why it has meaning."
Dam Jeok-san responded naturally to Bukgung Wan's question.
If it were an entirely easy task, where would be the reason to challenge it?
"However, if it seems you will die, I will intervene."
Bukgung Wan spoke resolutely as if this was something he could not concede.
"Since our last spar was my defeat, if you die like this, I will remain a loser forever, will I not? I cannot live like that."
"That is an absurd reason…… Very well. If it is a moment when my life is in danger, act as you see fit."
In any case, he would not be able to stop Bukgung Wan in that situation anyway.
Dam Jeok-san did not bother to be stubborn. When he was offering to save him.
"In any case, let us go. It is not far now."
If they deployed lightness skill, it was a distance they could reach soon.
However, once they left the ancient tree forest, the terrain began to change drastically and become rugged. The slope was so steep that it made one wonder if this was truly a grassland. There were even canyons and cliffs appearing quite frequently.
They moved forward feeling almost as if they were performing acrobatics.
Moreover.
GRRRRRRR—
As if proving this was the Demonic Realm, Monsters ceaselessly attacked the two.
Most were at a level they could handle by lightly making a move, but among them, there were rarely Monsters possessing power equivalent to Ultra-Peak masters.
If it were outside the Demonic Realm, they would be forces that could annihilate an entire village.
However, in this place, they were merely somewhat strong Monsters.
"It may be obvious, but the Demonic Realm is truly a land of death."
Bukgung Wan said while shaking his head after tearing apart a Monster. As if drawing power was burdensome, his complexion had become slightly more pale than before.
"Still, there is not much left."
Dam Jeok-san said so and leaped into a canyon several times deeper than the height of an average grown man.
Then, strangely, a path that appeared to have been touched by human hands and well-organized came into view.
None other than the path leading to the Sword Ghost's hiding place.
"Be careful from here. There will be no Monsters, but……"
Because they did not know when or where the Sword Ghost might notice their intrusion.
"Right."
Bukgung Wan nodded while suppressing his presence as much as possible.
'To subjugate one of Yin God Cult's Eight Cardinals at merely twenty-seven years old.'
It was a feat close to impossible. However, watching Dam Jeok-san's back walking ahead, the thought that it would be impossible did not occur to him at all.
Then why did the Heavenly Demon send him to this place?
'To see how far ahead he has gone?'
No, that would not be it. Bukgung Wan had already received sufficient stimulation two years ago.
That is why for the past two years, he devoted himself to training with the resolve to literally cut his bones.
Although he expressed it as 'training', it did not mean he only refined his martial arts while confined to a safe place.
Bukgung Wan wandered the most dangerous and fierce battlefields in the West, sharpening himself.
Therefore, the reason the Heavenly Demon sent him to this place must certainly exist.
'If Dam Jeok-san does not lose to the Sword Ghost, another threatening factor may appear.'
This was the middle of the Demonic Realm, where it would not be strange for anything to happen.
If that happened, he could step forward without hesitation.
* * *
STEP, STEP
A man walked with his worn gray robe fluttering.
He was climbing a barren mountain slope with bare feet without even wearing socks.
Although it was difficult to recognize his face due to his randomly grown hair and bushy beard, his features were bold and thick enough that he must have been handsome in his youth.
However, what caught the eye before his attire were the man's empty eyes.
Eyes that were completely hollow, as if he felt no pleasure from anything in the world.
Heat returned to the man's eyes.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
It was the moment the sound of blades clashing was heard from far away.
The barefoot man headed toward where the sound came from as if possessed by something.
It was clearly a slow gait, but each time the man took a step, the distance decreased rapidly as if space was folding.
Thus, the man arrived at the place where the sound came from.
A young man wearing a robe with black and white Taeguk patterns engraved on it was surrounded by strange masked figures dressed entirely in red.
The young man was Wudang Sect's Swordsman Hyeonam. He had broken through the wall of Ultra-Peak after three years of seclusion and come to the North.
And on his first journey through the martial world, he encountered Blood Palace's elite, the Forgotten Blood Squad.
SHING!
Hyeonam's sword flashed. With a chillingly sharp sword strike, one Forgotten Blood Squad member fell while spurting blood.
However, another Forgotten Blood Squad member took advantage of that gap and leaped toward Hyeonam. His blade dug into Hyeonam's shoulder, leaving a wound.
"Kuk."
Hyeonam let out a groan but twisted his body to push him away.
A move where his innate sense was notable regardless of realm.
However.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk……"
The man watching that scene clicked his tongue as if something was not to his liking.
"Devoured by Killing Intent, you have forgotten the root of your sword. How unfortunate……"
The man's voice openly clicking his tongue reached the ears of the Forgotten Blood Squad members and Hyeonam.
Their gazes fixed on the man all at once.
Feeling those gazes, the man approached them while dragging his bare feet.
"I shall show you."
Not like a bloody battle between martial artists, but with a leisurely appearance like giving advice to a master player at the marketplace.
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