Chapter 78 : Chapter 78
Chapter 078. Four Phases Collapse
Dam Jeok-san recalled memories that were not his.
'Quite an old memory.'
A time when Seo Woo-joo was an outstanding hunter who devoured thousands, tens of thousands of monsters, but had not yet become an absolute ruler reigning over the world. He faced four 'disaster-rank' monsters at once in his own world.
'Disaster-rank means a level capable of destroying a single province of the Central Plains alone...'
Beyond the Entering Transformation Realm, powerful enough to rival the Eight Sovereigns of Murim.
At that time, Seo Woo-joo's ability was at a level where he could barely handle one disaster-rank monster.
Yet, not only did Seo Woo-joo survive that battlefield, he achieved an astonishing feat of making two of the four mutually destroy each other.
How was such a thing possible? Tracing Seo Woo-joo's memories, Dam Jeok-san could realize that the principle itself was surprisingly simple.
The four monsters were supernatural beings who had each honed a different energy to the extreme. One monster had extreme yin cold energy, another had the lightning energy of thunderbolts.
Rather than distinguishing friend from foe, the monsters fought as if competing for territory.
Seo Woo-joo patiently waited for the moment when the four energies collided head-on.
'Well, it seems it wasn't all smooth sailing.'
A feast of attacks where even a graze meant death.
The Lazy Donkey Rolling was basic, and sometimes he barely survived by performing bizarre stunts like jumping into another monster's mouth and using it as a shield.
'There's no other madman like him.'
What Seo Woo-joo did was a stunt where he would surely die if his calculation was off even slightly. Yet he continued that stunt without an inch of hesitation. Until the opportunity came.
Naturally, if one can call it natural, the opportunity Seo Woo-joo was waiting for did not come easily.
'Because what he was waiting for was the four powers colliding and completely annihilating each other.'
Literally, the collapse of the Four Phases.
A phenomenon that normally shouldn't happen.
But the powers handled by the four monsters had reached a level where each created a single world. In the moment worlds collide and annihilate, silence inevitably occurs.
'Even so, to think of aiming for that moment.'
Only then did Dam Jeok-san feel he understood a little how Seo Woo-joo had fought.
He fought like a person who had absolutely no blind spots in his senses.
Understanding the actions of four monsters simultaneously and creating optimal movements is not an easy task no matter how developed one's sense of qi is.
Yet Seo Woo-joo was achieving that every moment. His senses were probably more sensitive and accurate than any absolute master of the Central Plains Murim.
'Can I do it...?'
Honestly, he wasn't confident.
Dam Jeok-san also had few blind spots in his senses and coped flexibly with changes in situations, but Seo Woo-joo's ability seemed literally to exist in a different dimension.
―Give up, you can't do it.
Just then, a crooked voice was heard in Dam Jeok-san's mind.
The owner of the voice was Seo Woo-joo standing in the middle of the four monsters.
WOOOOO!
At the same time, Dam Jeok-san had a strange experience.
If until now he was recalling memories.
Now he was 'seeing'.
Seo Woo-joo stuck between four disaster-rank monsters. Those monsters were all supernatural beings capable of killing Seo Woo-joo with a kick or even a snort.
Seo Woo-joo was preserving his life with agile movements among such creatures.
When an unknown amount of time passed like that.
The worlds created by the four monsters collapsed as if overlapping exactly.
Collapse of the Four Phases. The time the void created by it lasted was merely a fleeting instant.
But Seo Woo-joo, who had been waiting for only that moment from beginning to end, did not miss that instant. His figure flashed. He narrowed the distance with speed reaching the extreme, giving the feeling of squeezing through a crack in time.
SMASH!
Seo Woo-joo, with a clenched fist, struck the jaw of a monster possessing a dark purple color.
The supernatural being that ruled over lightning and thunder and roasted an entire island nation staggered greatly from that single punch.
Seo Woo-joo did not stop there and extended his fist once more. This time, a fist strike directly hitting the huge maw.
SPLAT!
A hole was punched in the monster's palate, and fresh blood spurted out like a fountain. Seo Woo-joo did not dodge that blood fountain but received it, smiling fishily.
As a temporary power vacuum was created, and thanks to the disappearance of the lightning force field protecting the creature, Seo Woo-joo's power could land an effective hit.
But even that is over now. Because the creature regained its senses.
GRRRRR...
The monster exhaled a breath filled with venomous malice. At the same time, destructive lightning boiled in its maw. Clearly an output exceeding its limit. As a hole was punched in its maw, it lost the ability to control its own power.
In terms of a martial artist, a state close to experiencing qi deviation.
And Seo Woo-joo.
'Here.'
Pulled his body away swiftly as if he had been waiting.
And the lightning spewed out by the monster filled the entire world.
Among the four monsters, two had failed to withstand the aftermath of the Four Phases Collapse until now.
Those two, belonging to the relatively weaker side, were engulfed in lightning and annihilated in an instant.
Seo Woo-joo confirmed that and left the place without lingering attachment.
Because annihilating two disaster-rank monsters with his ability and incapacitating one for combat was already a miraculous achievement.
―Can you do it even after seeing this?
Seo Woo-joo in the illusion turned his head toward Dam Jeok-san and asked.
“...It would be impossible.”
Dam Jeok-san sighed and answered. It's not a matter of sensory map or whatever. Seo Woo-joo's seemingly insincere punches contained power and realization on the level of the Eight Sovereigns of Murim.
Just that what he learned was not the mental cultivation methods and fist techniques of the Central Plains Murim.
―Kuku, you grasp your place quite well, don't you?
A much more belligerent tone than the Seo Woo-joo seen in the world of consciousness. Probably because it was a personality from when he was still young.
“Right. You are me, and I am you. It is natural. Didn't you also grasp your place clearly and run away?”
―Khuhu...! Correct words. You and I differ in everything, but only our essence is alike. So no matter how much I mock you saying it's impossible, you will do it. I wish you luck in battle.
Ending with those words, Seo Woo-joo's figure turned blurry, and the illusion itself began to collapse slowly.
“...I thought I had completely absorbed Seo Woo-joo's residual thoughts, but I miscalculated.”
That illusion clearly exceeded the level that could be constructed only with memories remaining in Dam Jeok-san's head. It means his past life's personality and ego remain inside him in some form.
'Perhaps it is natural?'
Dam Jeok-san, re-experiencing anew how high the 'Status' possessed by his past life was, could not bear to think of that fact as strange.
Even at the point in the illusion, Seo Woo-joo possessed abilities rivaling the Eight Sovereigns of Murim, and that was also a story from long before he reached his prime.
Perhaps to completely shake off Seo Woo-joo's afterimage, he would have to achieve a state at least equal to the Eight Sovereigns of Murim, or rather, his Master.
'It's distant.'
He had shouted loudly in the Martial Sovereign Castle to Black Panther Spear that he would follow in his Master's footsteps.
Now that he became an Ultra-Peak master, the gap between himself and his Master felt even more distinct. Perhaps he might not catch up even if he ran for his whole life at this speed.
Back then, Dam Jeok-san thought the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle was a distant Mount Tai with no end in sight. And now that thought has changed.
He is not Mount Tai but the sky. His realm was too high to be compared to a mountain that can be conquered by walking step by step.
Then Seo Woo-joo...?
He is a Heaven beyond Heaven. Although he accepts his memories under the pretext of a past life and uses his abilities.
Since Dam Jeok-san is in a situation where he cannot even face him properly yet. It is a quite fitting metaphor.
Ending with that thought. Dam Jeok-san's consciousness began to face reality again.
RUMBLE!
Fire thunderbolts poured endlessly as if falling into the depths of the underworld.
Sword qi dyed in vivid blood color flooded like a river.
Hell on earth.
But that wasn't all.
In the middle of the river brimming with blood, the domain created by the Emperor Sword Form was holding out.
The sorcerer handling fire thunderbolts was entangled by the traceless sword.
Those very things are the worlds each forged―
Domains.
Now I see. What those who reached the Entering Transformation Realm have achieved. And how difficult it is to achieve that.
However, paradoxically, hope could also be seen in that gap.
'Their worlds are still immature.'
Compared to those disaster-rank monsters who handled natural qi like their own limbs and Seo Woo-joo at that time, the domains of my four Entering Transformation Realm masters had many shortcomings.
'They cannot control the beginning and end of the world.'
Originally not something Dam Jeok-san could notice. But the Status of his past life led his discernment to a place he originally shouldn't have been able to reach.
The difference in Status is absolute. That applied even to Wi Cheon-rak who was wearing the Yin God Cult Leader's Status.
The Eight Sovereigns of Murim are truly exceptional existences. The power Wi Cheon-rak handles has already far exceeded the level of the Eight Sovereigns of Murim, but the Status he possesses has not reached the realm of the Eight Sovereigns.
'That means the probability of Four Phases Collapse happening in this battle is much higher.'
But Dam Jeok-san's skill was also far lacking compared to Seo Woo-joo.
In the first place, Seo Woo-joo was a transcendent being who could grapple with those disaster-rank monsters. Yet Dam Jeok-san is at a level where he absolutely cannot join that fight alone.
'However... I have the Monster Repelling Squad.'
Four Peak masters united around Baek Ri-gwan. They will surely be able to protect Dam Jeok-san's life just once.
I must aim for that moment.
'And one more thing, Seo Woo-joo couldn't control the monsters at all, but I am different.'
The Northern Heaven Sword Venerable and the Namgung Sword King. I can persuade the two people. I can appeal to them to trust me. Through that, I can know the moment when the power possessed by their domains reaches its peak.
'Silence naturally comes after the biggest explosion.'
Dam Jeok-san examined the battlefield calmly while looking at the four martial artists wildly striking away fragments of shockwaves flying toward him.
[Martial Aunt, and Namgung Family Head.]
Dam Jeok-san's telepathy rang in the minds of the two Entering Transformation Realm swordsmen.
[Exactly one quarter of an hour from now, please raise the power of your domains to the peak.]
A single phrase close to an instruction, without any explanation whatsoever.
“.......”
A strange silence lingered around their mouths. Should they really grant that request?
They know Dam Jeok-san is the spark that can reverse this chaotic situation. But they cannot rashly decide to consume their domains.
In a fight between Entering Transformation Realm masters, a domain is another internal energy, and a blade.
Facing someone who manifested a domain with a bare body is like a First Rate martial artist holding a sword fighting an ordinary person who has never learned martial arts in their life.
So they couldn't make a choice easily. At least, Namgung Gwan couldn't.
[Fine. Since I entrusted full authority to you from the moment I infiltrated the Monster Repelling Squad anyway.]
The Northern Heaven Sword Venerable was different. She accepted Dam Jeok-san's request with an attitude where not a speck of hesitation was felt.
WOOSH!
As soon as those words ended, Un Wol-hyang's presence became faint as if almost extinguished.
Erasing the shadow as if she didn't exist from the beginning, so Shadowless―
Even that sound has no trace, so Soundless―
Thus having not even a mark, so Traceless―
Her domain swelled as if to burst. A domain is a blade, and internal energy.
The moment Un Wol-hyang raises the power of her domain to the extreme, everyone has no choice but to draw out their capabilities to the limit in sync with her breath.
'To not die.'
Dam Jeok-san calmed his mind coldly like the ten-thousand-year cold snow of the North Sea, watching the ripples created by his single phrase.
Time remaining until the Four Phases Collapse begins, one quarter of an hour.
He gripped his sword, suppressing even his breath.
Domain is the ultimate a martial artist can reach. Dam Jeok-san realized intuitively through Seo Woo-joo's memories. That in that realm, time and space are no longer separate concepts.
'Exactly one quarter of an hour.'
If it goes awry even for an instant, things like Four Phases Collapse will all come to naught.
Dam Jeok-san sensed that the longest quarter of an hour in his life had arrived.