“This is…!”

Jin Muhyeok flinched, but immediately prepared his fourth move.

He lowered his body first, then suddenly sprang up and leapt into the air. In midair he cupped both palms and formed a gigantic dragon shape, striking down over Unhwi’s head.

It was Hidden Dragon, Do Not Yet Move. Leaping Dragon Ascends to Heaven. Both belonged to the Hangryong Eighteen Forms..

The two sequences he linked in an instant blackened the sky above the square.

Unhwi’s eyes flashed as he raised his head.

He swung the Heavenshaking Spiritblade to the side immediately.

Heaven-Snow Flying Verdict Sword.

The chill that poured from the blade spread in a fan shape and froze both the airborne Jin Muhyeok and his dragon shape.

“Ku—!”

Jin Muhyeok forcibly detonated tensile force and smashed the ice that covered his body, but in doing so he expended a significant amount of inner strength.

For a moment.

His instinct, and his senses, cried out.

Something was flying toward him.

He narrowed his eyes.

A streak of light was cutting through the ice. Its direction was straight on.

Its target was the very center of Jin Muhyeok’s face.

Startled, Jin Muhyeok twisted his body sharply.

Sak—!!

A long gash opened along his cheek. It must have been a thrown dagger.

Jin Muhyeok landed quietly on the ground.

Surprisingly, his expression was hollow.

He was not the only one. The Eight Heavenly Seats wore the same expression.

There was no other reason than this:

A being named Seol Unhwi had created a new realm and had killed the legendary sword emperor Jang Icheong.

And that was all?

“You said you would finish in four moves, and with what—throwing daggers? What kind of skill kills someone with that?”

It was a fundamental doubt.

“…With such pathetic skill… what are you doing? Four moves…? So you were only clever with your head.”

Although he had declared victory in four moves, Unhwi had already displayed three.

To finish with the remaining single move—what, then, had the previous three moves accomplished?

Jin Muhyeok could, with boldness, answer that they had accomplished nothing.

At this point, the image of himself who had feared he might die if he lay life-and-death on the line with this man began to look pathetic.

“How did you kill Jang Icheong?”

Unhwi did not answer.

“Since he died inside the Secret Realm, he must have been swept into some sort of trap and killed. Your moves are threatening, but that’s all.”

Still Unhwi did not speak.

Jin Muhyeok let out a sigh and smirked.

He could see a way to survive.

He let his hands fall and stamped the ground.

“Die—!”

Golden energy exploded from Jin Muhyeok’s body. The energy formed a vortex and lifted the blue stones of the square.

Hangryong Eighteen Forms.

Chapter 17: Divine Dragon Sweeps Its Tail.

Unhwi opened his mouth slowly.

I will place the world beneath my feet.

A golden radiance began to rise from the Heavenshaking Spiritblade. The radiance was oppressive, like the dignity of an emperor.

He swung the blade slowly, and the flying stones turned to dust and vanished.

All directions submit.

Unhwi stepped forward.

Frowning, Jin Muhyeok unleashed his technique with all his strength.

Hangryong Eighteen Forms.

Technique Five: Regretful Rising Dragon.

One of the supreme moves among the Hangryong Eighteen Forms. A dragon’s aura that seemed to pierce the sky surged from his palms.

Complete the emperor’s path.

Unhwi’s sword aura collided with his dragon.

The instant the two energies met, the entire square trembled. Roof tiles on distant buildings fell, and nearby martial artists coughed up blood and were pushed backward.

Kwaaaaang—!!!

A blast rent the air.

But Jin Muhyeok’s dragon began to be pushed back little by little. It was crumbling before Unhwi’s sword aura.

“This can’t be…”

As despair crossed Jin Muhyeok’s face, Unhwi’s song reached his ear.

I will leave my name for ten thousand generations.

Unhwi swung his blade horizontally.

As Jin Muhyeok made a final, frantic attempt, he executed Mass Dragons Without a Head. Dozens of dragons roared in the void and charged Unhwi, but—

I will stand alone above the world.

With the last line from the Sword Family’s final verse, Unhwi’s blade cut.

The radius was considerable.

Its power was enormous.

Shrreeee—!!

Dozens of dragons vanished at once.

At that moment Jin Muhyeok decided.

He should evade.

There was no thought of standing and opposing.

That had been the way Jin Muhyeok had walked as a martial artist until now.

His instinct and his intuition guided him.

He stamped the ground with all his strength.

To the right.

Not a joke—he could, in an instant, have opened more than ten moves.

When Jin Muhyeok moved almost as if piercing space and turned his head—

Pook—!

A blade stabbed into his chest.

“Ku… kuh—.”

He could not believe it.

“How did you read… no—how did you go beyond reading…?”

Jin Muhyeok coughed up blood and dropped to his knees.

The square was utterly devastated. The blue-stone floor had split, and most of the surrounding pillars were destroyed. In the sky the two masters’ qi still swirled; the Eight Heavenly Seats and all onlookers wore the same question as Jin Muhyeok.

How had he caught him?

How had he known Jin Muhyeok would evade at the last moment, and how had he read the direction?

The result was unbelievable to both the combatant and the watchers. From afar, only Mae Wuidong smiled a strange smile as if he had predicted the situation.

Unhwi stood before Jin Muhyeok and muttered quietly.

I sweep the world like a conquering wind.

All seas submit; I alone am honored.

The imperial way and hegemonic enterprise are now accomplished.

Eternal achievement will be carved in the chronicles.

Jin Muhyeok asked in a trembling voice.

“W-what… is that…?”

“The fourth of the Reverse-Heaven Five Sword Styles, Doksjon Cheonhyae Kyeol.”

“…Never heard of it…”

“There’s no need to explain, but you look so aggrieved that I’ll say a few things.”

“Kuh—.”

“You thought the thrown dagger looked half-hearted?”

“….”

“I needed to see which choice you make first when life and death hang in the balance.”

“…What…?”

“To see whether you would deflect the dagger or dodge, and to determine whether that judgment would change when you thought the opponent was easy.”

“You… didn’t you… detect that…!”

“I did. The first two moves were to see what choices you generally make in the flow of offense and defense, and when I unleashed Doksjon Cheonhyae Kyeol you, Jin senior, did not dodge as you did at the dagger. You met me as you met the first and second moves.”

“….”

“And at the final moment, when a technique that threatened your life unfolded, you dodged as you did with the dagger.”

Unhwi dropped to one knee and brought his eyes level with Jin Muhyeok’s.

“I burned three moves to end with the fourth. You were simply blind for a moment and could not perceive what I intended. Yes. That is why.”

He stopped, then continued in a transmitted tone.

—You did not use the Blood Cult’s martial art.

“….”

—You took me too lightly. If you were the Vice Leader of Gaebang, you would have had plenty of information on me; that you did not perceive me this well means… to put it plainly, you were not defeated by me—Jin senior, you were defeated by yourself.

“…I—”

“Enough. There is no reason to continue this conversation or waste time. I will collect the price for today’s events from Lord Hyejeongsan myself.”

“What… collect…? That old man gave me nothing…”

Tsk.

Unhwi clicked his tongue briefly and said as if throwing it out.

“You do not know, do you? The reason I am speaking politely to you now and the reason you die here.”

“…What?”

“Senior Hye knew. That whatever you did would never touch me.”

“You mean… I could never touch you?”

“Yes. Doesn’t the result speak for itself? Today, Jin senior died as a martial artist. Not a traitor.”

“….”

“I will now share greater aims with Senior Hye, so go.”

Unhwi reached out and thrust his hand into Jin Muhyeok’s chest.

Pook—!

“Ku… kuh—.”

Inside, a heart pounding violently.

Crack—!

It burst.

Jin Muhyeok collapsed.

The square fell into complete silence.

Everyone looked back and forth between the ruined plaza and Unhwi. Their gazes mixed awe and fear.

Unhwi rose. Now everyone knew.

What the Triple Profound Realm was as a realm.

How great a genius the man who created it—Unhwi—was.

Unhwi turned his body.

The ceremony had to continue.

Then he stopped.

Slowly Unhwi turned his head.

Everyone’s gaze shifted.

A middle-aged man was walking over with his hands clasped behind his back.

Someone inhaled sharply.

It was him.

A pattern was embroidered on the long robe he wore. The characters 大血 and a golden embroidery that circled those characters.

That mark could be carved onto only one person in this martial world.

While everyone looked at the Great Blood mark, Unhwi looked at his head.

It glittered in the sunlight.

Really.

No matter how far back you trace time, that head remains the same.

The Great Elder of the Original Blood Cult.

Blood-Spirit Fist King Yeong Unseong.

He arrived before Unhwi and laughed heartily.

“Hahahahaha—!! What an honor to see such a hero!”

Yeong Unseong grabbed Unhwi’s shoulder with both arms and said,

“Won’t you come join the Original Blood Cult?”

Unhwi had thought he might see him one day, but he had not expected to meet him here.

Unhwi answered briefly.

“Thank you for the offer, but I will take only your goodwill.”

“…Hm?”

Unhwi stepped back and performed a courteous salute.

“Seol Unhwi, Heavenly Arbiter of the Heavenly Alliance, is honored to meet Yeong the Great, the gatekeeper of the Original Blood Cult.”

“Ha… hahahaha, manners indeed! I’ll ask again—won’t you come to the Original Blood Cult? I’ll give you an elder’s post.”

Unhwi’s answer remained the same.

“I will accept only your goodwill, senior.”

“Ah! Did I not say I would give you an elder’s post…?”

“I said I would accept only your goodwill.”

“….”

“Why make me repeat the same thing twice, Yeong the Great?”

A cold smile rose at the corner of Yeong Unseong’s mouth.

Look at this bastard?

***

By then the surrounding atmosphere had already turned strange.

Even the Eight Heavenly Seats, who had stood in dignified posture until the end of the fight, had all risen from their seats.

That was correct.

The name Yeong Unseong was not lightweight even in the Central Plains. As Unhwi had said, being the gatekeeper of the Original Blood Cult carried symbolic weight in itself.

Putting all that aside, Yeong Unseong’s current realm was Taeheo Musang (Supreme Void of Non-Being).

If he wished, he could slaughter every martial artist present in this place.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep