Chapter 155: Challenge

Dangerous. I have to run.

I can’t resist it. Absolutely not.

I’m still lacking. Let’s improve my strength and try again.

I can fight next time. Let’s run away.

Never confront it.

How can a human challenge a True Immortal?

Worship. Kneel. Revere. The great being—

‘What nonsense!’

To forcibly stop the endless stream of thoughts, Jang Woo-hyun slapped his own face.

【Orabeoni?】

Startled by the loud sound, Yong Seo-hee flinched, and Jang Woo-hyun let out a deep breath, regaining his composure.

‘Unbelievable.’

He hadn’t even confronted the power of a True Immortal. He had merely sensed the remnants of that power, and yet Jang Woo-hyun had briefly fallen into a state of panic.

Due to his past experiences, fear had imprinted itself not only onto his body but also onto his soul.

‘Should I just run away?’ That thought rose again, but Jang Woo-hyun shook his head and erased the fear.

‘I can’t back down like this.’

In truth, his original plan was reconnaissance. He had no idea what kind of expert might be in the Ascension Cult’s branch or what preparations they might have made, so he had no intention of charging in recklessly.

He planned to observe first and then decide how to act, but after seeing his own condition, Jang Woo-hyun changed his mind.

‘If I run away here, it’s over.’

Next time, he wouldn’t be able to challenge it again.

If he ran, he wouldn’t be able to move forward.

As he stood up and reached out his hand, Dragon King’s Scale, who had served as Yong Seo-hee’s wings, flew in and transformed into the shape of a sword.

“Stop right there.”

【Did you find something?】

“Seo-hee, run far away.”

【Why? You said you needed to find something. Wouldn’t it be better if we searched together?】

“It’s too dangerous here. The power of a True Immortal has partially descended.”

On the way here, Jang Woo-hyun had already explained to Yong Seo-hee about the Ascension Cult and the being they worshipped.

【If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to leave this place?】

Jang Woo-hyun shook his head.

Strictly speaking, what Yong Seo-hee said was realistic. And if the opponent was a True Immortal, her judgment was correct.

But he couldn’t do that.

‘I can’t run away.’

Unconsciously, his body trembled.

Fear remembered by the body. The power of a True Immortal clearly etched in his memory.

If he backed down here, he would be devoured by this immense fear and end up running away forever.

‘I’ll overcome it.’

Smack! He slapped both cheeks with his hands.

He was ready to settle the score here.

It might be a reckless challenge, and perhaps even a foolish thought. But Jang Woo-hyun believed this decision was right.

“Run as far away as you can.”

【What are you going to do?】

“Fight.”

Jang Woo-hyun rose from Yong’s head and unleashed his power.

Will-Form Qi filled the surrounding space.

It felt as if thousands, tens of thousands of invisible swords extended in all directions.

Leaving behind the shocked face of the dragon, Jang Woo-hyun kicked off into the air.

As Jang Woo-hyun spread out his Will-Form Qi and energy in all directions, the cultivators came to him instead.

Crushing every cultivator he saw, Jang Woo-hyun headed into the forest where the buildings were clustered and fought the cultivators there.

“Gyaaah!”

“Spread out!”

“Don’t rush him!”

Once the fight began, the fear disappeared.

Facing the cultivators, Jang Woo-hyun tested the martial arts he had only theorized in his mind.

The first step of the Horse King’s First Step, which used to pierce the enemy’s blind spot, now completely erased his presence.

Horse King’s First Step: Extreme Interval – Voidless.

Jang Woo-hyun, who had already been able to completely erase his presence by harmonizing with the surroundings, now gained a technique that made him disappear as though he didn’t exist in this world.

Someone who had clearly been in front of them was suddenly behind them, and before a cultivator could cast a spell, their head flew off.

The second step was to drive the energy from the Dantian into the Yongchun Acupoint — the second step of the Horse King.

Back when he didn’t know much about footwork and movement techniques,

Jang Woo-hyun had poured out his Internal Energy through his soles and moved swiftly using that propulsion.

That crude method had something in common with the Six-Legged Horse King’s Step, which made it easy for him to adapt and use the second step of the Horse King.

The second technique had also evolved.

Horse King’s Second Step: Light Burst.

Within the infinitely expanding Will-Form Qi, Jang Woo-hyun became a beam of light.

A line was drawn where the cultivators had gathered, and those caught in its path were shattered and rolled across the ground.

Even though he was surrounded on all sides by cultivators, they couldn’t stop Jang Woo-hyun alone.

An unstoppable force. Like a beast loosed among a flock of sheep.

Spells rained from all directions, but none could catch Jang Woo-hyun, who moved like light, and his vanishing footwork left no trace to hit.

Before arriving here, with a single slash, most of the pavilions had been destroyed, and the charging cultivators couldn’t hold a candle to him.

With a mere gesture, cultivators died.

A sweep of his hand shattered their bodies, and a clenched fist burst their heads.

Jang Woo-hyun had completely taken control of the surrounding space. The cultivators couldn’t even defend properly, let alone attack against the invisible force.

When nine-tenths of the surrounding cultivators had vanished—

“You! Stop right there!”

With a shout, a middle-aged cultivator descended into the arena, riding a Flying Apparatus.

The moment he saw him—

Jang Woo-hyun’s heart pounded rapidly.

What he was seeing wasn’t the middle-aged man, but the power he carried.

Just sensing it gave him goosebumps and made his body tremble.

Faint as it was, the middle-aged man carried the power of a True Immortal.

“I knew you would come, but I didn’t expect you so soon.”

The Ascension Cult’s middle-aged man had heard from Yang Jeon-gun that the Slayer Sword Demon would come here. And he knew exactly who the Slayer Sword Demon Jang Woo-hyun was.

“Jang Woo-hyun of the Cheonrin Sword Alliance.”

The name he was known by in the Central Heavens Martial Realm before he became the Slayer Sword Demon.

The name was now an irreconcilable enemy to the Ascension Cult.

“A challenger who dares point a sword at a god, how can a mere creature defy a god?”

The will of a True Immortal had already been transmitted to the upper echelons of the Ascension Cult. To them, Jang Woo-hyun was a being that had to be eliminated.

“It is Go Pyeongsan, insect of the Murim.”

Go Pyeongsan spoke his name, but Jang Woo-hyun heard nothing. What he was focused on was the power of a certain presence behind Go Pyeongsan.

A faintly visible, enormous silver hand.

Go Pyeongsan was connected to a True Immortal.

“You insolent bastard!”

Thinking he was being ignored, Go Pyeongsan raised his power.

“Are you connected to a True Immortal?”

Jang Woo-hyun asked bluntly.

“The Great One has granted me power. It is a force you couldn’t even fathom.”

Just like when Yong Seo-hee transformed into a dragon, silver light gradually spread around Go Pyeongsan.

“Behold this power and worship it. Then regret it in hell for defying a god!”

Kugugung.

A tremendous force surged, enough to shake the ground beneath him, but Jang Woo-hyun paid it little mind. What he was pondering was something else.

‘Should I try calling it?’

The stronger Go Pyeongsan’s power became, the clearer the silver hand behind him appeared. And within it, as before, the name of a True Immortal was revealed.

An invisible force continued urging him to read that name.

But this time was different.

‘It’s bearable.’

Last time, he had uttered that name unconsciously. Now, having reached a higher realm, he could suppress the coercion of that overwhelming force with his own will.

As Go Pyeongsan gathered his strength, Jang Woo-hyun kept contemplating whether to call that name or not.

His original reason for coming here had been to raid the Ascension Cult and gather information. But after encountering Go Pyeongsan, he realized he couldn’t do that.

‘That bastard will descend here.’

He could only tell upon facing him. Though the Ascension Cult didn’t seem to realize it yet, Jang Woo-hyun instinctively sensed it. The power of a True Immortal was about to descend.

【Fool. You should’ve attacked when you had the chance. It’s over now.】

While Jang Woo-hyun was thinking, Go Pyeongsan’s preparations were complete. His body now appeared as if it were covered in mercury. Similar to the silver giant he met during Ascension.

【I shall personally deliver your punishment.】

As Go Pyeongsan completed his preparations, Jang Woo-hyun also came to a decision.

‘If it’s going to descend anyway, I’ll be the one to summon it.’

He had come already determined. Retreating was never an option.

“Samcheon Gwang-eun—”

【Stop!】

Startled by Jang Woo-hyun’s actions, Go Pyeongsan swung his fist.

Kwaaaang!

With a deafening explosion, the ground around them caved in. The hastily thrown punch caused several nearby cultivators to burst apart, unable to withstand the impact.

【That is not a name to be uttered lightly!】

Though his face appeared like it was coated in mercury, Jang Woo-hyun could immediately tell that Go Pyeongsan was flustered.

‘Not just flustered… Is he terrified?’

As if frightened of something, Go Pyeongsan desperately tried to silence Jang Woo-hyun’s mouth.

“Why so panicked?”

【Shut your mouth!】

“It’s the True Immortal you all worship, isn’t it?”

【Shut up! You’re not allowed to mention it!】

Go Pyeongsan unleashed a barrage of attacks, seemingly to prevent Jang Woo-hyun from opening his mouth. But even borrowing the power of a True Immortal, at his current level, Go Pyeongsan couldn’t stand against Jang Woo-hyun.

“Samcheon—”

【Stop! No!】

“Gwang-eun—”

【You mustn’t utter the name of the Great One recklessly! Stop! Stop it!】

Go Pyeongsan screamed, but Jang Woo-hyun looked him straight in the eyes and spoke the name.

“Bohwa Cheonjon.”

Once more, the name of a True Immortal was called. And that name was etched into the world.

【No! No! N—gyaaah!】

“Uaaaargh!”

Go Pyeongsan and the surrounding cultivators screamed almost simultaneously. Silver light burst from their eyes and mouths, then melted like mercury and vanished.

And from where they had stood, light erupted as if they were ascending.

Kuung! Kuung!

All the cultivators vanished, and from afar, the sound of a massive heartbeat rang out several times.

Moments later.

The ground beneath his feet shook as if an earthquake had struck. At the same time, from a place far away, an unknown energy spread out just like before.

‘Is it a place connected to a True Immortal, like the Realm of Transcendence?’

It seemed Go Pyeongsan had drawn upon the power of a True Immortal from that distant place.

An intangible energy rapidly approached.

Jang Woo-hyun raised Mukya and split the force apart.

Chwaaaak!

Everything except for the area where Jang Woo-hyun stood and the space behind where he had blocked it turned to sand and began to crumble.

Standing atop the yet-unfallen Floating Stronghold, Jang Woo-hyun stomped the ground. And almost simultaneously, a sound as if the whole world was collapsing spread in all directions.

────────!!

The entire Central Heavens Realm trembled as if it would collapse.

Within that trembling, Jang Woo-hyun stared into the sky.

A sky completely dyed silver.

An unfathomably massive hand had replaced the heavens.

Even now, its sheer size and power remained hard to accept.

A hollow laugh escaped from Jang Woo-hyun’s lips.

Gripping his sword tightly as he looked upon the collapsing silver sky.

His trembling body calmed, and Jang Woo-hyun soared upward with a powerful leap.

‘Still, with this… I might have a chance.’

Though it was an enormous force, it was different from last time.

The sheer magnitude of the power seemed to fall short, and Jang Woo-hyun had already ascended to the next stage.

Kugugugu—

The colossal hand fell as if to shatter the world.

Seeing it, Jang Woo-hyun smiled and raised his sword.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep