Chapter 109 : Chapter 109
Chapter 109. The Martial Sovereign’s Instruction
A storm swept in. Or perhaps a tidal wave crashed down. No—such metaphors were far too small to describe the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord’s presence.
It would be more accurate to say that the heavens themselves were collapsing.
Dam Jeok-san thought that the term Entering Transformation Realm was woefully insufficient to describe his Master’s divine bearing.
His martial power was world-shaking, as though torn from a single panel of myth.
As far as Dam Jeok-san knew, there was only one existence more powerful than the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
Seo Woo-joo the Predator.
Born human, yet ultimately attaining a status equal to the world itself—an absolute being in the truest sense.
There had been a time when Dam Jeok-san believed that Seo Woo-joo was stronger than his Master. However, after reaching the Ultra-Peak realm, what he could see had changed.
Was his Master truly weaker than Seo Woo-joo? Did he lack a stature comparable to him?
I do not know.
What he had been able to perceive as a mere Peak expert was now shrouded in mist.
“You have too many stray thoughts.”
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord smiled pleasantly as he looked at Dam Jeok-san.
If thoughts were the problem, then simply take away even the leisure to think.
With a light wave of his hand, a violent gale swept through the hall.
Unlike before, it was not a sharp, refined slash.
It was a crude, expansive qi force that warped and crushed space itself.
To withstand that, Dam Jeok-san had no choice but to push his qi cultivation to the absolute limit.
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord’s instruction had always been like this. Rather than explaining kindly, he forced his disciple to experience it with his body.
PZZZRRRK! KRRRZZZZK!
Deep blue lightning flames erupted across Dam Jeok-san’s entire body. Proof that he had driven the Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique to its limit.
Six stars. Yet the power was far too great to be described so simply. That was because Dam Jeok-san’s accumulated qi was exceptionally profound, and his true realm had already reached Ultra-Peak.
Even Dam Jeok-san himself had never drawn out the Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique to this extent before.
The power is greater than I expected.
It might even rival the strength he wielded when circulating qi alongside the Prajna Heart Technique.
He gathered the surging energy of his entire body into the tip of his sword and swung.
I pierced it.
The moment that thought crossed his mind—
“More.”
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord extended his hand slightly farther forward. With that simple motion alone, the power of the gale multiplied severalfold.
Dam Jeok-san clenched his teeth.
Damn it!
He had already exhausted all his internal power. From the start, he had not assumed there would be a second exchange.
My Master read my movement.
Which meant he had also seen through the fact that Dam Jeok-san had left himself no reserve.
If your intent is to drive me into a corner, Master…
Then I will gladly meet it.
A cold smile curved Dam Jeok-san’s lips. He was not someone who avoided a challenge once it came his way.
One could only move on by stepping beyond the moment one believed to be the limit.
Dam Jeok-san abandoned the thought, I cannot.
No—he abandoned all thoughts.
Leaving only one.
Pierce.
A narrow, singular resolve focused solely on the situation before him.
Yet narrow resolve was desperation, and desperation was the most powerful form of will.
Responding to that fierce will, the genuine qi of the Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique began to gather.
From the dried-up fine vessels throughout his body, down to the Dantian that had been scraped bare.
This was not a miracle. It was merely Dam Jeok-san scraping together everything he already possessed.
Perhaps that was why the gathered qi amounted to no more than a handful. Barely enough to do anything.
But Dam Jeok-san had long since forgotten that fact.
He had even forgotten that his opponent was the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
All that remained was the resolve to pierce, and the conviction that he could break through.
It was a sword imbued with the strongest will. That will sharpened like thoughts forged into steel, allowing Dam Jeok-san to surpass the limits of his internal energy.
FWOOSH!
It broke through.
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord’s qi force, which had seemed capable of twisting space itself, was pierced.
Dam Jeok-san blinked in disbelief even as he witnessed it with his own eyes.
Had he seen an illusion? Or had desperate will deceived even himself?
The one who answered that doubt was—
“Do not forget the sensation you feel now. This, Jeok-san, is a fragment of the ultimate that you seek.”
It was the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord himself.
He spoke while looking at his disciple, whose eyes were half vacant.
“A fragment of the ultimate…”
Dam Jeok-san repeated the words blankly.
“Ah.”
Only then did a faint groan escape him, as though his senses had returned.
To transcend reality with will.
To surpass the flesh with the spirit.
Those were the profound principles that lay at the threshold of the ultimate.
I could not even imitate it properly.
Still, he had driven the Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique to the very edge of its limits.
That experience alone would greatly help his stagnant progress finally reach seven stars.
Just as clarity returned to Dam Jeok-san’s eyes—
Tap, tap—
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord lightly patted his shoulder.
At that moment, Dam Jeok-san felt an ice-cold energy seep into his body.
“You cannot mean genuine qi!”
An energy so cold it seemed capable of freezing everything.
Yet it was not yin qi.
In terms of nature, it was closer to surging thunder qi.
Before Dam Jeok-san could even react, that thunder qi raced through his entire network of vessels.
At more than twice the speed he could achieve even when fully focused on qi circulation.
…!
It descended to the perineum, then surged up his spine to reach the Hundred Meetings Point.
In a flash, a small heavenly cycle was completed. Dam Jeok-san realized that more than half of his internal energy had refilled his previously empty Dantian.
What had been but a single thread of power in the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord’s hand had swelled into a river within him.
Was his internal energy compressed?
Now he understood how such tremendous power could be contained in a casual gesture.
The quality of their internal energy had been different from the very beginning.
But that was not all.
The circulation route that had pierced through his body was etched into his mind like a brand.
Dam Jeok-san’s impression upon sensing it was singular.
Perfect. So perfect it felt as though it did not belong to this world.
“Is this your ultimate, Master?”
Dam Jeok-san asked in a dazed voice.
“Did you feel it?”
“Yes.”
“What did you feel?”
“A path I cannot walk.”
This is your ultimate, Master.
I must create my own.
“That is enough.”
A gentle smile formed on the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord’s lips.
“You have done well.”
“…Pardon?”
Hearing such gentle praise from his Master, Dam Jeok-san asked back as though he had heard something impossible.
“There is one piece of advice I wish to give.”
Yet the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord spoke in an indifferent tone, as though he had never praised him at all.
“…Please speak.”
So it was an illusion after all. Dam Jeok-san decided to think so.
“You know of the Blood Palace, do you not?”
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord sat back upon the Taishi Chair.
From this point onward, it was not a Master speaking, but the Castle Lord.
“Of course.”
Dam Jeok-san replied without hesitation.
The Blood Palace, along with the Yin God Cult, was classified as one of the Four Evils—an unorthodox force.
The righteous, unorthodox, and demonic paths often clashed as though they could never coexist, yet when facing monsters, they cooperated. For monsters sought the annihilation of the human world.
The unorthodox path was different.
They desired the same thing as the monsters—the destruction of the human world, believing that only through its ruin would salvation come to them.
There was no need to complicate the matter.
They were enemies that could never coexist.
“The former Family Head of the Iron Blood Woo Clan colluded with the Blood Palace.”
“…!”
Colluding not merely to raise monsters, but with the Blood Palace, a pillar of the Four Evils.
Having witnessed Woo Gi-tae’s grim end, it was a shocking revelation.
“Only the Family Head knew.”
He had told no one within the clan. His aim had been to collect the forbidden books held by the Blood Palace.
“To reach the Entering Transformation Realm… I presume.”
“That is correct. A misguided greed.”
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord spoke bitterly. The fall of an old comrade was not something he found pleasant.
“The Blood Palace is adept at concealing its traces.”
Like rats, he added silently.
Even so, no secret in the world was perfect. In the end, the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord had succeeded in uncovering part of their trail.
“They hid a branch in the land of Shanxi.”
His voice was cold.
“The exact scale is unknown. However, it is presumed that no Entering Transformation expert is present.”
He continued calmly.
“I originally intended to entrust this to the Eccentric Hero. However, you too bear a grudge against them, Jeok-san. Will you do it?”
“Yes.”
Dam Jeok-san answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Good. I will have Mu-yeong send you the details. The mission is simple. Annihilation.”
Leave not a single trace. Erase the heretical vermin who dared encroach upon the land of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
Thus, bearing several new tasks, Dam Jeok-san departed the Heavenly Martial Hall.
***
After concluding his audience with the Martial Sovereign, Dam Jeok-san returned to his residence within the inner castle.
I am exhausted.
The Martial Sovereign Castle Lord’s instruction was always rough and unrestrained.
That did not mean he lacked the qualities of a good teacher.
Man Su-geuk possessed the insight to see precisely what his disciple lacked, and he knew exactly what was needed to fill that void.
His method was simply… extremely violent.
Rolling his sore arms a few times, Dam Jeok-san let out a sigh and resumed walking.
The Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique and his body movement art—neither could be improved through closed-door cultivation. No, he knew it was impossible, but still…
For me, real combat is far more helpful.
That was precisely why the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord had assigned him the mission to wipe out the Blood Palace branch.
Such subtle consideration stood in stark contrast to his merciless, absolute demeanor. Dam Jeok-san often found himself surprised by these unexpected facets of his Master.
…Well. If my Master is like this, perhaps that is why Martial Aunt cannot bring herself to truly hate you.
Dam Jeok-san sighed inwardly.
No matter how powerful a martial artist was, as long as they were human, they could never be completely free from human affairs.
That was true of Dam Jeok-san as well—perhaps even more so.
I do not possess some grand cause like my Master.
The same had been true of his previous life as Seo Woo-joo.
He—or rather, they—
Were merely ordinary humans, shaken by the deaths of loved ones and enraged by injustice before their eyes.
When he raised his sword, it was for the child dying before him.
When he raised his sword, it was so that Gyeong-won would not die.
Pathetically small reasons. Yet Dam Jeok-san knew that there was no need for a grander cause.
That humble and base heart is precisely the force that drives me to raise my sword.
With his resolve settled, Dam Jeok-san hastened back to his residence—
Only to witness an unexpected sight.
“How dare a brat from the Ming Cult stroll freely within the castle. Discipline has truly fallen to the ground.”
“You are a noisy old man soon to be in a coffin. I received permission from the Hidden Heaven Guard.”
The Young Cult Leader of the Ming Cult and an unfamiliar old man were arguing right in front of his residence.