Chapter 245: Radiant Light Sect (5)

A sound as if the heavens were collapsing rang out, and the world created by the spell cast by the Summoned Beast vanished.

The sea exploded outward, and the storm clouds that had been raining thunder dispersed.

The Nayuta Sword Mandala, and the spell formation with power to rival it.

The clash of the two forces shattered the world.

Cracks formed in the void, and it broke apart. In the place where the dimension was torn, a black void emerged.

Kuuuuu—

Still reeling from the shockwave, the distant Floating Continent fractured and collapsed, and the smaller floating isles were annihilated.

The Demon-Slaying Brigade, already aware of Jang Woo-hyun’s power, had retreated the moment they saw the Mandala sigil. On top of that, an artifact from Thunder Fortress had flown in and shielded them, so the damage they suffered wasn’t severe.

In contrast, the spellcasters of the Radiant Light Sect were struck directly by the shockwave. A great many of them were caught in the explosion’s aftermath and died without even reacting.

The space of the Central Heavens Realm had been torn and shattered.

Jang Woo-hyun raised the Black Wilds Sword with an emotionless face. His gaze turned to the Summoned Beast and the Crimson Tower.

“The force is strong.”

Even to Jang Woo-hyun, it was a power he couldn’t take lightly.

But that was all it was. Its magnitude was great, but it lacked lethality. In truth, the black flames were more troublesome.

Regardless of its threat, he was slightly surprised. Until now, he had never failed when using the Nayuta Sword Mandala.

For the first time, he had failed to annihilate the foe standing in his path.

“Uwahahahaha!”

Unlike Jang Woo-hyun, the Summoned Beast on the opposite side burst into loud laughter.

He had blocked the martial prowess of one who had defeated the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Heaven Palace and the Lightning Lord of the Five Elements Cult—with sorcery.

As a sorcerer, satisfaction filled him to the brim.

Moreover, he hadn’t used only spells.

At this moment, the Summoned Beast had summoned the Mountain-Moving Great Sage, one of the Seven Great Sages. In effect, it was no different from facing Jang Woo-hyun, the Wind-Passing Great Sage, and Seoryeom all at once.

He had stood alone against the core leadership of the rising Demon-Slaying Brigade. The Summoned Beast felt as though with the Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery, there was nothing he couldn’t do.

“This is the power I possess! The path we must walk forward! This is the new Radiant Light Sect!”

Drunk on power, the Summoned Beast had lost half his mind. At this moment, he believed he could defeat anyone in the Central Heavens Martial Realm.

Still wearing a grin, the Summoned Beast pointed a finger at Jang Woo-hyun.

“Freeze and burn! Be cut and broken!”

His will spread in every direction.

With words and intent, he projected power into the world.

The Crimson Tower quaked, and waves rippled outward.

A storm of flame surged toward Jang Woo-hyun from all directions. At the same time, massive ice spears stabbed forth through the flames, followed by wind blades slicing through the air. Lightning bolts crashed down from the heavens.

“Uwahahahaha!”

The Summoned Beast waved his arms in all directions. At his gesture, the air ignited, and hail and thunder rained down from the sky. Countless spells filled the space surrounding Jang Woo-hyun.

From the Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery, hundreds of spell formations were born without pause.

“Die here, Cheonrin Sword Alliance.”

Click!

As the Summoned Beast pressed a part of the palm-sized key in his hand, the tower trembled as if about to collapse.

From the crimson bricks of the tower, arms sprouted. More than thousands of them merged into a colossal arm.

Dozens of enormous arms rose toward the top of the tower.

[Myriad Souls Spell Formation: Spirit Tree].

The red arms soaring above the tower dangled like branches. It resembled a massive tree.

Instead of fruit, countless orbs—compressed spell formations—hung from the branches.

When the Summoned Beast pointed at Jang Woo-hyun, the massive arm extended.

Thump! Thump!

As the arm stretched, the spell-compressed orbs dropped like fruit.

The space twisted and burst open. Sorcery and physical force simultaneously targeted Jang Woo-hyun.

Jang Woo-hyun stepped back, infusing each floating blade scale around him with energy.

Wuuuung—

Hundreds of blades trembled at once.

Countless spells and the colossal arms closed in. Jang Woo-hyun, unfazed, pulled back the arm wielding the Black Wilds Sword.

He took a True Step through the air and thrust the sword forward. Light exploded from the floating blade scales.

Beams of light cut through the sky.

Hundreds of Annihilation Slashes destroyed everything in their path.

The spells vanished, and the giant arms were shredded to tatters.

Though the Summoned Beast tried to cast defensive spells again, they were destroyed the instant they formed.

Jang Woo-hyun hurled his body through the destruction.

With a single step forward, a massive wave of qi surged around him.

Horse King’s Third Step: Sovereign Ruling – Lotus Bloom.

Qi waves spread like lotus petals, blowing away everything nearby. The yet-to-detonate spells, fragments of the giant arms, even incoming attacks from all sides—everything was swept away.

Jang Woo-hyun swung his sword again.

He launched a relentless attack toward the space where the Summoned Beast stood.

He opened with the Transcendental Sword, followed by the Black Wolf Fang, and again unleashed the Annihilation Slash. Myriad Dragon Scales and Rain poured from the sky, and a blade whirlwind shredded through the Summoned Beast’s spells.

Kwa-gwa-gwang!

As the rapid onslaught rained down, the Summoned Beast barely managed to defend while struggling to activate offensive spells.

Endless spells rained down, and Jang Woo-hyun either used the Transcendental Sword or unleashed massive slashes.

Their battle no longer looked like one between a martial artist and a sorcerer—but rather, sorcerer against sorcerer.

The surroundings exploded, and the world crumbled.

What stopped the seemingly endless battle between the two was the sudden arrival of Seoryeom, flying through the air.

“Ugh!”

Seoryeom, who had been fighting the Mountain-Moving Great Sage, was struck hard and sent flying in this direction.

With Seoryeom caught in the middle, Jang Woo-hyun halted his attack, and the Summoned Beast used the opening to prepare a new spell.

“Wow, I flew all the way over here.”

Shaking his head, Seoryeom checked his body. From the powerful strike, his left arm was shredded like a rag.

“Captain, are you holding up?”

He swept his gaze around. The Central Heavens Realm itself had been shattered, cracks spreading through the void. Within the ruptures, a black emptiness resembling space could be seen.

“Seems like this side isn’t any easier. That one over there is a monster too. His strength is absurd.”

Each clash went beyond breaking swords—it felt like his entire body was about to shatter. Had he moved even slightly slower, he would have died, smashed into pulp.

“Well, you two carry on fighting. I’ll head back. Huh?”

He saluted Jang Woo-hyun and turned toward the Summoned Beast, intending to dash back into battle—but stopped mid-air.

He saw something strange.

“Hey, that thing’s crying.”

With his uninjured arm, he pointed behind the Summoned Beast—at the Crimson Tower.

“…What nonsense are you spouting?”

The Summoned Beast, in the middle of preparing a spell, scowled and asked. It was such a ridiculous bluff that he spoke without thinking.

“I’m serious. I won’t attack—just look.”

Seoryeom raised his hand to signal he wouldn’t strike.

The Summoned Beast still didn’t let down his guard. Who’d fall for such an obvious trick?

“I’m telling you, it’s real.”

After hearing it several more times, the Summoned Beast finally turned his head slightly.

What he saw made it clear Seoryeom wasn’t lying.

“…!”

The crimson bricks forming the Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery were dripping blood as though weeping. Some even burst open with a pop!—as if they were about to collapse at any moment.

“Why is this…”

Perplexed, the Summoned Beast’s face twisted with confusion.

Staring at the tower with a face full of panic, he turned back to look at Jang Woo-hyun.

‘He forced it down with power?’

Until just moments ago, Jang Woo-hyun hadn’t stopped attacking. The Summoned Beast had fended off every blow.

But now it meant that Jang Woo-hyun alone had pressured the Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery—crafted from the lives of countless spellcasters and personally overseen by one of the Ten Elders of the Radiant Light Sect—to the point of overloading it with sheer force.

‘Is that even possible?’

As he mulled over the thought, he shook his head. Even for Jang Woo-hyun, that should have been impossible.

‘Unless… there’s some other issue.’

Pop! Boom!

As if to affirm his suspicion, parts of the tower behind him kept erupting.

‘There’s something wrong with the tower… Could it be?’

In that moment, a certain cultivator flashed through his mind.

‘Did he know? That the tower lacked sufficient power?’

The one who constructed the Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery was Je Yeong-jeong. The Summoned Beast hadn’t understood why someone with such a mighty dharma treasure would try to flee—but now, he finally realized.

‘Still, it’s not over yet.’

The output was still functional. It hadn’t completely collapsed. This was still enough to face Jang Woo-hyun. Even if he couldn’t win, he could still find a way to escape.

‘I can still do this. If it gets worse, I’ll just run.’

Having come to a conclusion, the Summoned Beast prepared another spell—but then paused.

His opponent hadn’t been standing still like an idiot during all that reflection.

Behind Jang Woo-hyun, a five-colored halo began to spin rapidly.

“That ability won’t work on me!”

Jang Woo-hyun, wielding the Five-Colored Wheel, manipulated the energy of the Five Elements.

However, that wouldn’t work against the Summoned Beast. He could alter and overlay the elemental properties multiple times before anyone could react.

What Jang Woo-hyun was preparing now had to be a mistake. It certainly should’ve been.

But this time was different.

The Five-Colored Wheel behind Jang Woo-hyun spun, and by the principle of the Five Elements Generating Cycle, it amplified his power. And it didn’t stop there—surrounding energy was drawn into him.

Fwooooosh—

An immense force converged into a single human being. With this level of power, his body should have burst—but Jang Woo-hyun kept absorbing energy without stopping.

“Trying tricks, are you?!”

Dozens of spell formations rose above the tower. In accordance with the Summoned Beast’s will, they merged into one.

He recreated the massive spell formation that had previously blocked the Nayuta Sword Mandala.

And he didn’t stop there—he poured even more energy in, condensing it to the limit of what he could control.

As he maintained intense concentration without taking his eyes off Jang Woo-hyun, something new entered his vision.

“…Two?”

Above Jang Woo-hyun’s head, two Mandala sigils had formed.

Before the stunned Summoned Beast could even react, light erupted from both sigils.

He hastily activated his spell formation, but hundreds of thousands of techniques shattered the spell and tore through the world.

In the approaching storm of martial power, the Summoned Beast and the Tower of Myriad Souls and Accumulated Sorcery were swept away.

Je Yeong-jeong, who had fled to avoid the Demon-Slaying Brigade’s pursuit, scowled deeply.

‘It was looted?’

He had a secret hideout prepared just in case.

He had gone to the closest one—his first location—but it had been completely ransacked, as if by thieves.

‘Did someone stumble across it?’

It was entirely possible. The Central Heavens was vast, filled with numerous races and factions. Someone could have tracked his traces and stolen the cache he had prepared.

‘Lucky bastard.’

Though unease and irritation brewed within him, Je Yeong-jeong forced himself to dismiss the emotions.

Pushing aside his anxiety, he gave an order to the subordinates who had come with him.

“Move to the next location.”

He had prepared three sites just in case, so losing one wasn’t a major problem. All he needed to do was reach the next one and prepare his escape.

Je Yeong-jeong led his men onward, convinced that everything would be fine.

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