Chapter 212: Difference

The Central Heavens Realm was a world where countless floating islands and floating continents drifted in the sky.

Some claimed that the Central Heavens was hemispherical, others said it was cylindrical. But those were mere guesses—no one truly knew its exact size or shape.

Its scale defied common sense and expectations, yet the Central Heavens undoubtedly had an end.

In any direction, if one continued onward in a single direction, they would eventually reach that edge. There, the blue sky vanished, replaced by a dreary gray sky. And if one pressed on further, they would arrive in a place filled entirely with gray fog.

That fog-filled space was called the Fog Sea Barrier (無海障壁).

It was the edge of the world, known as the boundary of the Central Heavens.

The interior of the Fog Sea Barrier, like a sea of mist, was an unstable space. The natural energy, including the Five Elements Qi, was in chaos, and there were no proper living beings. Only mist and the occasional floating island, which could collapse or vanish at any moment.

Scholars of the Central Heavens claimed that the interior of the Fog Sea Barrier was where new worlds were born. Some argued that the ever-expanding size of the Central Heavens was due to this Fog Sea Barrier.

At any rate, this was precisely where Jang Woo-hyun had now arrived—inside the Fog Sea Barrier. Golden Frog Island had been located at the lower reaches of the Central Heavens Realm, and as he fell from there, he broke through the boundary and arrived at the Fog Sea Barrier.

Jang Woo-hyun assessed his condition and quietly circulated his qi.

There was no issue with moving the internal energy within his body. He could also manipulate the nearby energy to some extent.

But if the distance increased even slightly, the energy dispersed and wouldn’t move.

‘Even Will-Form Qi Projection is the same.’

Inside this sea of fog, not only was Transcendental Sword or Sword Levitation Technique impossible—even energy projectiles that attacked distant enemies couldn’t be used.

He tried once more to manipulate the energy with focus, but it kept cutting off, and eventually, there was no response at all.

It wasn’t a matter of Jang Woo-hyun’s condition—within the Fog Sea Barrier, the energy itself simply wouldn’t move.

He ceased trying to manipulate qi and began searching for Ha Do-gwang. But he saw no sign of him anywhere within his line of sight.

‘Looks like I’ll have to walk around.’

Since he couldn’t scan the area with Qi Perception, he had to rely on his eyes to find Ha Do-gwang.

He didn’t know exactly where he had fallen, nor how to leave this place—but those were problems for later. Ending the fight with Ha Do-gwang came first.

‘The problem is, which direction should I go?’

There were no signposts, and he couldn’t even determine the cardinal directions.

He couldn’t read the flow of energy, and his vision was limited. That was what it meant to be inside the Fog Sea Barrier.

‘Still, I feel like he’s not far.’

Since they fell together, Jang Woo-hyun’s assumption was unlikely to be wrong.

Standing still, he slowly scanned all directions once more. That’s when he saw something flickering.

Following the glimmer that briefly appeared from within the fog, Jang Woo-hyun began to move.

After a short walk, he realized what had been flickering.

“Dragon King’s Scale?”

The blade scale from the separated Dragon King’s Scale gleamed more brightly than usual, as if flaunting its presence—perhaps to alert him of its location.

He walked over and picked up the blade scale. A short distance ahead, something else flickered again, almost as if it were guiding him.

“You’re telling me to go this way?”

Picking up the fallen blade scales, Jang Woo-hyun continued forward. Every action the Dragon King’s Scale had taken so far had been helpful, so he followed its traces without doubt.

As he walked forward, another blade scale appeared.

Thus, Jang Woo-hyun walked through the fog, following the glimmering trail left by the Dragon King’s Scale.

By the time he had picked up around forty of them, a faint sound came from up ahead.

“Hrrngh…”

As he got closer, he began to hear a pained groan, and the crackling snap of lightning flickered faintly in the distance.

Jang Woo-hyun moved toward it. Piercing through the fog that clouded his vision, he found Ha Do-gwang—wounded just as severely as himself.

Something was wrong. The lightning writhing inside Ha Do-gwang’s body was bursting out, running wild without restraint.

‘Looks like he’s lost control.’

Even at a glance, the lightning surging from within was no longer under Ha Do-gwang’s control—it moved on its own.

Just as he’d suspected, Ha Do-gwang had borrowed his power from an external source, making it incomplete. That was why he had so cautiously avoided every attack, unwilling to take any damage.

And now that he had been struck by Jang Woo-hyun, he was beginning to unravel. The lightning wriggling like a living creature was eating away at Ha Do-gwang’s body.

“You bastard…”

Ha Do-gwang’s eyes twisted upon seeing Jang Woo-hyun emerge from the fog.

He was no longer composed like before. His eyes burned with venom, and unease was written all over his face.

His overwhelming presence had vanished. All that remained was a wounded beast standing before Jang Woo-hyun.

Enduring Ha Do-gwang’s rage-filled gaze, Jang Woo-hyun slowly closed the distance.

In this place, Qi Perception didn’t work. He had to assess Ha Do-gwang’s condition with his eyes.

The lightning squirmed, as if trying to escape from his body, and with each attempt, Ha Do-gwang’s expression twisted further.

Soon after, a bolt of lightning shot out. It looked as though the energy he had contained within was trying to flee.

‘He’s weakened.’

Moreover, Ha Do-gwang had to suppress the internal energy here, so he couldn’t exert his full strength.

Jang Woo-hyun smiled and raised Black Wilds Sword with his left hand.

‘This is doable.’

He had finished analyzing his opponent.

While he himself couldn’t fight at full power either, the current Ha Do-gwang was a winnable opponent.

A second battle unfolding at the bottom of the Central Heavens Realm.

It might lack the grandeur of the first clash, but its intensity would rival it all the same.

Ha Do-gwang didn’t stay still either. As he raised his hand, a sword of lightning burst forth from his palm.

The moment Ha Do-gwang formed the lightning blade, Jang Woo-hyun rushed in with blinding speed.

The black sword descended, targeting the opponent’s shoulder.

Jang Woo-hyun had wielded the sword with both hands, so even with one arm missing, his attacks didn’t feel awkward in the slightest.

There was nothing special or flashy about them.

The Dragon King’s Scale, infused with Will-Form Qi, did not encircle the area. He couldn’t use the Transcendental Sword, nor even Sword Flux.

Even so, Jang Woo-hyun smiled—he welcomed battles like this any time.

Clashing blades, blood splashing, flesh being sliced, bones breaking. It reminded him of battles in the Central Plains.

Crackle!

When the sword of lightning from Ha Do-gwang collided with him, the lightning surged up Black Wilds Sword.

Jang Woo-hyun infused energy into it and erased the lightning. Even in his weakened state, Ha Do-gwang’s lightning was a nuisance.

But that was all. As long as he avoided the lightning, Ha Do-gwang was no match for Jang Woo-hyun.

Ha Do-gwang’s attacks lacked variation and feints.

His strikes were fast and concise. If reduced to lines, his attacks consisted solely of straight lines.

When backed by power, they were hard to block, but now that the power was gone, they became plain and predictable.

Jang Woo-hyun easily evaded or deflected every attack and struck back at Ha Do-gwang.

Flustered, Ha Do-gwang’s hands even got tangled. He was only enduring because the lightning still writhed around his body. If they had equal power, he wouldn’t have lasted ten seconds before Jang Woo-hyun’s sword took his head.

‘It’s only natural.’

He probably couldn’t even remember the last time he fought like this.

With a mere gesture, he could incinerate dozens or hundreds. With power in his hand, he could shatter a floating island.

Ha Do-gwang hadn’t fought a head-on battle with his feet on the ground in at least a hundred years.

Now, stuck in a lowly fight, injured, and having to suppress the rampaging energy within—no wonder he was disoriented.

But Jang Woo-hyun was different.

He had only recently started training in martial arts, and even now, with his internal energy restricted, he had been engaging in martial duels with the Fighting Ghost Unit.

Whether it was a lowly brawl or a divine battle among immortals, Jang Woo-hyun had experienced them all.

His mindset and training methods were fundamentally different from Ha Do-gwang’s.

He had cultivated without drawing upon external power, growing stronger through struggle and contemplation in real battles.

Those who transcended were often called Warrior Ascendants, and Jang Woo-hyun embodied that title more than anyone.

And that difference increasingly pressed down on Ha Do-gwang.

Outmatched, Ha Do-gwang swung his lightning sword wide and retreated.

Jang Woo-hyun briefly set down Black Wilds Sword and picked up the Dragon King’s Scale, which he had recombined along the way. Stretching out the thin sword-shaped scale, he infused qi into it.

Crack-crack-crack!

The Dragon King’s Scale transformed into dozens of Hidden Weapons and shot out.

Seemingly petty attacks. But in the current situation, they were perfectly timed to block the opponent’s vision.

Ha Do-gwang deflected the flying blade scales, while Jang Woo-hyun advanced, kicking or slashing the deflected ones to re-attack.

Ha Do-gwang gathered all his remaining strength and reached out his hand, but Jang Woo-hyun easily stepped through with footwork and dodged the attack.

In the ensuing exchange, Ha Do-gwang was eventually overwhelmed, and Black Wilds Sword pierced his chest.

“Guwaaargh!”

With a scream, lightning erupted from Ha Do-gwang’s entire body. Its force was so fierce that Jang Woo-hyun had no choice but to fall back.

From the gaping hole in his chest, from his eyes, and from his mouth, Ha Do-gwang vomited lightning. The surge of energy temporarily pushed back the fog and brightened the surroundings.

A brief but intense lightning explosion.

When it ceased, Ha Do-gwang, charred black, collapsed to his knees.

“Grrr…”

It was a pitiful sight for someone who once claimed he’d become a new god.

“Because of you…”

Ha Do-gwang barely stood, glaring at Jang Woo-hyun with his only remaining eye.

“I was so close, and yet you—”

“What do you mean, ‘so close’? It’s not even your own power.”

Jang Woo-hyun, approaching, looked at him with a pitying expression.

“What would a wretch like you know?! Something has gone wrong in the Upper Realm. The Thunder God—”

“Right, the Thunder God disappeared. So what? Are you trying to steal an empty seat? What does that even mean?”

“What?”

When Ha Do-gwang scowled, his charred face began to crumble.

“If there are no other martial artists and you become the world’s best, what meaning does that hold?”

“You don’t get it! It’s not just about being the strongest martial artist. To ascend to the Upper Realm—”

“Yes, your level rises and you become close to a god. I get that you want to become the new Thunder God. But you’re not even fighting anyone for it. You’re just sitting in an empty seat. Can that truly be called ascension?”

Jang Woo-hyun continued.

“Besides, that power isn’t even yours. Even if you rise by borrowing another’s strength, does that mean anything? Especially when you can’t even control it, like now.”

“It’s because it wasn’t finished! If I had gathered all the power, you wouldn’t be speaking so smugly before me!”

Ha Do-gwang desperately raised his hand to fight once more.

Jang Woo-hyun, who had been looking at him with disdain, now looked at him with pity. For someone who still had the will to fight despite dying—why had he made such a choice?

“Don’t look at me like that! I am Ha Do-gwang! I am to be the new Thunder God!”

He tried to move, putting strength into his legs, but his charred body crumbled with every step.

Unable to walk even ten paces. Ha Do-gwang’s legs gave out and he collapsed.

Lifting his head, Ha Do-gwang looked up at Jang Woo-hyun. As his life faded, he slowly opened his mouth.

“…You’ll die here too.”

In this sea of fog, he wouldn’t be able to cultivate qi. He wouldn’t find a path.

No one would come to save him. Eventually, he’d wither and die here.

That was the ending Ha Do-gwang envisioned for Jang Woo-hyun.

“I’ll be waiting in hell for you.”

With those cursed words, Ha Do-gwang laughed.

Having seen the future that awaited Jang Woo-hyun after his own death.

But Jang Woo-hyun chuckled at his words.

“That might be a problem… but I don’t think things are going to go your way.”

The words Ha Do-gwang couldn’t hear—his broken body too far gone—Jang Woo-hyun had been hearing for a while now.

Someone’s voice was drawing near. Soon, even Ha Do-gwang could hear it.

“Captain! Where are you?!”

“Where are you! Are you alive?!”

Mak Ya-wol and Seo Ryeom had entered the Fog Sea Barrier in search of Jang Woo-hyun.

The difference between Jang Woo-hyun, who sought to protect his companions, and Ha Do-gwang, who dismissed his subordinates as useless, could not have been clearer.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep