Chapter 54: Great Monster

Wind gathered in the monkey monster’s hand.

The force that extended from its fingers transformed into massive blades, and when it swung its arm, they flew directly toward Jang Woo-hyun.

Five wind blades.

Jang Woo-hyun countered by slashing through the air twice.

Once vertically, once horizontally.

Black Wolf Fang: Cross Blade clashed against the five wind blades.

Kwaaaang!

A burst of Qi surged around them from the impact of the powerful collision, but the monkey monster leapt into the midst of it.

Its attack was nothing like a human’s—it was brutish and wild.

Its clothes tore and it sustained injuries from the surging force, yet it pushed through without hesitation, reaching its hand out once more.

Jjeoeoeong!

Jang Woo-hyun hadn’t expected the creature to dig in even while taking damage, so his reaction was a beat too late. He barely managed to block the attack and was pushed backward.

‘Strong.’

And different from a human.

Not only did it ignore its injuries and charge in, but its hand movements were also unrefined and unstructured.

An attack without formal techniques. It was a fast, powerful onslaught driven purely by instinct.

Each blow aimed for a lethal strike. The intent to tear out the opponent’s throat in one shot was palpable.

He deflected the attacks using Three Wheels Sword Art, but barely—he was only managing to block.

There was no chance to counterattack.

Instinctive strikes were not the type of movements one could read and respond to with logic. Jang Woo-hyun expanded his senses by extending his Qi and heightening his perception.

Even so, he couldn’t block everything perfectly. The attacks pierced through the circular patterns of Three Wheels Sword Art and struck his body.

Thud! Thud! Crash!

Had he not been protected by Heavenly Flow Armor, a martial art of perfect offense-defense unity, this fight would have already ended in his defeat.

In terms of pure strength, he was stronger. But that wasn’t everything. Depending on how that strength was used, it could make up for any shortcomings. In this battle, he had learned something new once again.

As Jang Woo-hyun was pushed back dozens of steps, the monkey monster prepared for its next move.

Its energy suddenly shifted. The wild, fierce force disappeared.

No longer beast-like movements—it became calculated.

The monkey monster possessed both animalistic instinct and human intellect. Its movement conveyed that.

Enormous power gathered in its hand stretched behind it.

Kkuung!

‘Advancing Qi Circulation?’

The monkey monster stomped with force and thrust out both hands.

Kwooooooosh!

A storm erupted from its outstretched hands.

An attack hard to believe originated from mere palms.

Ever since reaching the Absolute Realm, he had thought there were no worthy opponents outside of Heaven Beyond Heaven, but he was mistaken.

Right here, in the ruins of the Demon Extermination Sect, he was witnessing a monster unleash attacks beyond his own.

Kwa-du-du-du!

The incoming storm tore up the earth and split the air. And behind it, the monkey monster was charging forward with a grin.

Jang Woo-hyun focused his strength into Flying Swallow Sword, the sword in his right hand.

He wrapped it in Qi Projection and condensed power within it.

The sword trembled as though it would snap from the strain.

Once he felt he had gathered enough force, he released it all at once.

Kwooooong!

As its name suggested, Demon-Slaying Single Slash exploded with force and shattered the incoming storm. It still held enough power to target the monkey monster behind it, but the beast swiftly dodged the blow.

As expected, Jang Woo-hyun was already preparing his next strike.

From his left hand, a thread of Qi extended outward.

That Qi lifted fallen weapons scattered across the battlefield.

Swords, sabers, spears, halberds.

Due to the nature of the Demon Extermination Sect, the weapons were all different.

The four weapons became enveloped in Qi Projection, each containing unimaginable power.

For the first time since reaching the Absolute Realm, Jang Woo-hyun drew upon all of his strength.

Sensing a massive attack, the monkey monster rushed in and kicked him.

He blocked it with his body covered in Heavenly Flow Armor and released his grip on Flying Swallow Sword.

Crash!

The shock was immense, but he clenched his teeth and endured it. It was a brute-force tactic, but it was the only way to handle such a fast-moving monster.

As he flew backward, Jang Woo-hyun extended his right hand, using Qi to bind the monkey monster.

“The same attack won’t work again!”

The monkey monster blew out wind from its body, destroying all the Qi threads.

But it didn’t matter. He just needed a brief opening.

As Jang Woo-hyun moved his left hand, the four weapons floating in the air turned toward the monkey monster.

Four weapons cloaked in Qi Projection.

An indescribable energy stirred within them.

Squeeze.

When Jang Woo-hyun clenched his fist, the force gathered in those weapons simultaneously targeted the monster.

Four Demon-Slaying Single Slashes powerful enough to blow away mountaintops converged on a single point.

━━━━!

An unearthly roar rang out, and everything was destroyed.

The collapsed building’s ruins, corpses on the ground, even the overturned terrain from their fight—all obliterated.

The explosion expanded in size, and it wasn’t just destruction now—everything was vanishing.

It wasn’t just four Demon-Slaying Single Slashes. The simultaneous eruption amplified their destructive power beyond imagination.

Even Jang Woo-hyun, clad in Heavenly Flow Armor, could feel the shockwave just from the Qi radiating outward.

Drrrrrrrr—

The earth surged like waves on a sea of dirt.

Jang Woo-hyun sliced through the dirt wave and stepped forward.

Where everything had vanished.

At one side of where the Demon Extermination Sect once stood, a giant crater had formed.

The mark of destruction.

Within the still-twitching energy, he saw the monkey monster deep inside the crater.

A third of its head was gone, its right hand had vanished. Its left arm had been destroyed from the chest down, leaving no trace, and there was a massive hole in its abdomen.

“Human… I lost.”

And yet, it did not die.

The monkey monster slowly climbed out of the massive crater with a smile.

Of its four limbs, only the legs remained intact, yet it walked up slowly as if nothing had happened.

Eventually, the monkey monster stood before Jang Woo-hyun, having climbed the crater.

“Your name?”

“Jang Woo-hyun.”

He answered without releasing the Heavenly Flow Armor.

“Jang Woo-hyun… Jang Woo-hyun.”

The monkey monster repeated the name several times, as if trying to remember it.

“If I had my weapon, this would’ve been a more enjoyable fight. But I didn’t have it…”

“The loser sure talks a lot.”

“……”

At Jang Woo-hyun’s words, the monkey monster widened its one remaining eye. For the first time, it was at a loss for words.

“Kuhihi. Yeah, you’re right! The loser talked too much! Hihihi.”

“What about your name? Do you have one?”

“My name?”

“Yeah, maybe something like…”

Jang Woo-hyun recalled the most famous monkey monster and said the name aloud.

“Son Goku. Do you go by something like that?”

“What? Pwahaha! So that guy’s really that famous, huh? That’s not my name. Uwahaha!”

Even though part of its head was missing, the monkey monster tilted its head back and laughed heartily as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

After laughing for a long while, the monster lowered its head again.

Its one remaining, piercingly blue eye stared straight at Jang Woo-hyun. As if searching for something closely.

“You’ll find out who I am later. You’ll probably be coming up soon. Or have you already taken a step in? Hard to tell with just one eye. Uhihihi.”

“Coming up? Where to…”

Before Jang Woo-hyun could finish his sentence, the monkey monster closed the distance. It came right up to him and lightly tapped Jang Woo-hyun on the shoulder with its right arm—though the hand was gone.

“Jang Woo-hyun. I’ve remembered you. See you next time. Today was fun.”

The monkey monster’s body began to glow with a white light.

“Wait, at least tell me what you meant…”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

With those final words, the monkey monster’s body turned into particles of light and vanished.

“Is it a trend to spout cryptic nonsense right before dying?”

Muttering under his breath, Jang Woo-hyun turned his head amid the scattering light.

“And look at that—a rat poking its head out.”

Far off in the ruins of a collapsed building, someone had stuck only their head out from behind a wall. As soon as Jang Woo-hyun’s gaze turned toward him, the man ducked, but it was already too late.

With a leap, Jang Woo-hyun landed right in front of him.

“Eek!”

The man, shocked by the unimaginable speed, stumbled backward and fell.

An old man with wrinkled skin and tattered clothes. His eyes were filled with distrust.

“H-how can a human… kehk!”

Jang Woo-hyun released Qi and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up.

“Kuhk…”

“What was that thing?”

“Kehk! Keh… What the hell are you, exactly…?”

“I asked you, what was that thing?”

“Your luck has run out. That monster has set its sights on you, and from now on, your path will be nothing but hell!”

Even as Jang Woo-hyun questioned him, the old man only spoke what he wanted to say. He clearly had no intention of answering properly.

“Forget it. You’re First Monster, right?”

He was inside the collapsed Demon Extermination Sect and spoke as if he knew the monster. There could only be one person like that.

The leader of the remnants of the Thousand Demon Sect and the one who had orchestrated the current situation—one of the Five Monsters, First Monster.

“That’s right, I’m the First Monster of the Thousand Demon Sect. This incident was also…”

“Whether it’s this guy or that one, they only ever say what they want.”

Sshk.

Jang Woo-hyun didn’t bother listening anymore and cut his throat. He had questions, but the man clearly had no intention of answering, and it wasn’t like he was the only spellcaster who knew about the monster.

There was no need to waste time.

Jang Woo-hyun threw First Monster’s headless body far off and looked around.

The buildings were in ruins and still burning. Corpses of monsters and people were scattered everywhere.

The Demon Extermination Sect had fallen.

“How many people died?”

There weren’t many high-level fighters, but in terms of numbers, the Demon Extermination Sect had a large population.

Not to mention the town that had grown around the sect. If all those people were counted, the death toll would be enormous.

‘If I had come a little earlier, I could’ve saved them.’

If he hadn’t wasted time in Qinghai Province and dropped by the sect, or if he had thoroughly dealt with First Monster before leaving, none of this would’ve happened.

It wasn’t entirely his fault, and he had dealt with everything that occurred. But knowing that he could’ve prevented it all beforehand left a bitter aftertaste.

“……”

Jang Woo-hyun stood silently for a long while in the now-ruined, deserted Demon Extermination Sect.

* * *

With the fall of the Demon Extermination Sect, the Martial World stirred once more.

The Beggars’ Sect, which had sent an elder, began to move, and the royal court mobilized its forces extensively.

Two disciples of Mount Hua had visited the sect during the disaster, and upon confirming their deaths, Mount Hua also took action.

The Beggars’ Sect, the royal court, Mount Hua, and even the family sects affiliated with them.

A massive force was quickly formed, and countless martial artists headed for the burned remains of the Demon Extermination Sect. To eliminate the few surviving remnants of the Thousand Demon Sect.

Even before the martial artists arrived, another story began to spread.

The Great Monster.

A monster beyond common understanding, supposedly summoned by First Monster of the Thousand Demon Sect using a law artifact he had stumbled upon.

Survivors all claimed it was the Great Monster that had destroyed the Demon Extermination Sect.

Those who had seen and survived the monster not only spoke of its strength but also mentioned the man they met right before death.

The One Sword, One Kill, Jang Woo-hyun.

He had appeared in their moment of crisis, exterminated the Great Monster, and saved those in danger. After the incident with the Asura Sword Sect, Jang Woo-hyun’s name once again spread across the Martial World.

* * *

While rumors about him were spreading, Jang Woo-hyun had already moved on and finally arrived at Chengdu in Sichuan Province, where he met with Yang Rim.

“Inner Kunlun, Jinma Palace, Forest of Hermits, Blood Valley. We haven’t been able to find any information on the four places you mentioned yet.”

Jang Woo-hyun stared at Yang Rim of the Hao Sect with an expression that asked, “Then why did you call me?”

Yang Rim hurriedly continued.

“But I did find something related to the Demonic Martial Divine Manual. However…”

“However?”

“I’m not sure if it’s accurate. I found a strange set of characters—no, symbols—but they seemed somewhat different, yet also similar, so I thought I should show them to you in person.”

Jang Woo-hyun flicked his fingers, indicating for him to hand it over quickly.

At that gesture, Yang Rim pulled a sheet of paper from a small wooden box.

“The Hao Sect managed to draw the same thing, but we’re not sure how precise it is.”

Jang Woo-hyun calmed his pounding heart and opened the paper handed to him.

[The sixth one]

It was written in crude Hangul. As if a child who didn’t know how to write had tried to copy it as closely as possible.

The strange part—

‘Why isn’t it written incorrectly?’

It should have been written like this:

[여쉇붠쫴]

That’s what it should have said, yet something felt off.

If it had been copied exactly, this version hadn’t been misspelled in the original.

‘Did someone else write this in Hangul?’

That was his first thought. But then he realized that couldn’t be.

If that were true, they would’ve found not only the secret technique of the Demonic Martial Divine Manual, but also various other things.

Only one person was capable of writing in Hangul—Demonic Divine Fist Kim Min-soo.

‘Then what is this? What’s that bastard up to again?’

He was sure Kim Min-soo had written it. His instinct and gut told him so.

“This is all you have?”

“They tried to copy more of it, but the villagers interfered, and much of it was damaged, so they only managed to draw the topmost part.”

“What do you mean villagers? And what do you mean by damaged?”

“It was written on a stone monument.”

“A monument?”

“In a village in Yunnan, they apparently worship that monument like a deity.”

“They worship a monument like a god—as in, a shrine?”

“Yes, exactly. According to the villagers, the monument fell from the sky long ago. Since then, they’ve believed it to be a gift from the heavens and have revered it ever since.”

“……”

He couldn’t make sense of it. It wasn’t a manual, it was a monument—and one that supposedly fell from the sky?

‘This is way too strange.’

But it wasn’t something he could figure out just by thinking. He needed to see it with his own eyes.

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