#168: Number One In Sichuan (2) — The Patriarch of Sichuan

Ha Baek-cheon’s two legs moved urgently for the first time.

Kwaaaang!

The Indestructible Sword struck the ground and carved a massive sword mark well over six meters long.

For a moment, Ha Baek-cheon felt overwhelmed by that tremendous power. He thought that if he had not dodged the attack and had tried to counter it instead, some part of him would have been cut off cleanly.

‘Unbelievable.’

It was truly absurd.

‘This bastard clearly hasn’t crossed the wall.’

Even if he had learned the greatest martial art of all time, Ha Baek-cheon could not understand the current situation.

This was not a matter of what kind of martial art one had learned, but of what position one had reached. Even if someone learned the strongest martial art of the age, if his skill was second- or third-rate, he could not escape that realm. And even if someone learned the common Three Powers Sword Art, a first-rate master was still first-rate.

‘How in the world?!’

Ha Baek-cheon’s fist sparked lightning once more.

Bang!

With an explosive sound, Jin-hyeon flew backward.

Ha Baek-cheon, who had been about to launch a follow-up strike, suddenly felt his heart drop.

The sleeve of his extended fist had been sliced cleanly away. If he had not withdrawn his fist midway, it would not have been his sleeve, but his forearm that was cut.

Of course, the mnemonics of the Corpse-Stiffening Art were also woven into the Body-Unbinding Immortal-Donning Art, so his body was as hard as steel. But strangely, that bastard’s sword art was chilling. It made him feel that if it truly touched his body, it would split him wherever it landed.

“Keughk! Good.”

Jin-hyeon rose while wiping his mouth, and a smile filled with killing intent formed on his face.

“I’m slowly getting used to your martial art.”

Ha Baek-cheon’s face twisted sharply.

“You damn brat!”

Paaaaang!!

Ha Baek-cheon charged like a thunderbolt. With both fists, he unleashed the Thunder Immortal Thunderbolt Fist’s three techniques, Thunder God Flash, Heaven-Piercing Wave, and Lightning Whip.

Each strike was stronger than Thunder Dragon Twin Pearls, yet its speed was no less. It was an attack Ha Baek-cheon, enraged to the extreme, unleashed with all his might.

Kwareung! Kwareureung! Peoeong!

Jin-hyeon’s body shook wildly.

Ha Baek-cheon, who had been attacking with his teeth clenched, was startled once again.

‘How?!’

His opponent was not retreating.

The opponent who had been sent flying helplessly from a single strike was somehow blocking in place, even though Ha Baek-cheon was unleashing attacks more powerful than before.

It was a sight he could not believe even while seeing it with his own eyes. His body had clearly suffered internal injuries from the shockwaves, so how was he enduring better than when they first faced each other?

‘Could it be a demonic art?’

That was when it happened.

Seogeok!

A long sword wound appeared on Ha Baek-cheon’s face.

He wasn’t merely defending. He was even counterattacking in the midst of it. It was a moment that chilled Ha Baek-cheon’s heart.

Jin-hyeon smiled coldly.

“Letting your mind wander in a life-and-death duel. You’re no different after all.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Kwaaaang!

Ha Baek-cheon knocked Jin-hyeon away with Swift Wind, One Thunderclap, then immediately approached with Divine Ghost Step and thrust a palm strike toward Jin-hyeon’s head.

It was a strike that would blow his head away in one blow. He poured in so much internal energy that even his dantian ached, intending to end Jin-hyeon’s life with this attack no matter what.

That was when it happened.

Kwaang!

The palm force passed through the place where Jin-hyeon had been and shattered the blue stone floor.

‘Damn it!’

Ha Baek-cheon gritted his teeth. He had clearly experienced that mysterious footwork a moment ago, when Jin-hyeon suddenly appeared above his head, but he had been blinded by rage and failed to think of it.

‘Above!’

Before even raising his head, he lifted his left hand and spread palm force. The tremendous power wrapped around everything above his head. It was the Yan Clan’s Soul-Returning Divine Palm.

But.

‘!!’

The killing intent of a savage beast pressed in from the front.

It was not from above, nor from behind, but from the front. Ha Baek-cheon was horrified and twisted his body.

Seogeok!

“Keuk!”

Jin-hyeon charged in like a gale, slashed, and passed through Ha Baek-cheon.

A long sword wound was carved across Ha Baek-cheon’s chest. This bastard had truly cut through the Corpse-Stiffening Art.

“Huk! Huk!”

Jin-hyeon immediately turned and steadied his breathing.

He was openly catching his breath even with an enemy in front of him. And that enemy was clearly stronger than him.

The moment Ha Baek-cheon saw that, he realized it.

‘This bastard is reading my breathing.’

The reason Jin-hyeon’s reactions were improving and his defense was rising despite the clear difference in skill.

He was reading the timing of Ha Baek-cheon’s attacks according to his breathing, and the gaps in his chained strikes.

Thinking of it that way, Jin-hyeon’s desperate struggle made sense. But that was the only part he understood. Everything else remained a mystery.

Reading and reacting to an opponent’s breathing in real time was not something just anyone could do. It was not a matter of classifications like peak or transcendent. It was a matter of sense.

It was only possible when even the sixth sense beyond the five senses had developed. And such a sixth sense was not something anyone could obtain.

Most importantly.

‘How is he reading it at that level?’

Reading the breathing of a more skilled opponent? It was extremely difficult, but not impossible.

But for someone who had not crossed the wall to read the breathing of a master who had crossed it was undoubtedly impossible. One might win by heavenly luck, but one could not read that breathing. It was no exaggeration to call that a truth.

‘…Could it be?’

Hwaaaaak!

The true qi flowing from Jin-hyeon’s body gradually took on a deeper color.

The faint blue light now changed into a distinct azure energy. Strands of deep blue energy, as if holding even the darkness beyond a cloudless sky, were unraveling from him.

With a body suffering internal injuries, he was unleashing an even stronger aura than before. This would be impossible even if he had trained in a demonic art.

There was only one answer.

‘Could that bastard… have already crossed the wall?!’

At that moment, Jin-hyeon grinned.

“What’s wrong?”

“…”

“Now that you are witnessing something you cannot understand, are you finally scared shitless?”

In that instant, Ha Baek-cheon’s face became ghostlike.

“Impossible!”

Papapang!

He charged with Divine Ghost Step and poured out the ultimate techniques of Thunder Immortal Thunderbolt Fist.

Kwakwa-kwaang!!

“A bastard like you! There is no way a young brat like you has already crossed the wall!”

Kwakwang! Peopeopeopeong! Jjeong!

“Unless you are a genius comparable to the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes, it cannot be possible! No, even for the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes, it would be impossible at your age!”

Jjeojeojeojeong! Seogeok!

“You bastard!”

Ppagak!

The elbow strike landed properly. Jin-hyeon spat blood and flew backward.

‘This is seriously brutal.’

This strike had truly been dangerous. It was only because he had read his opponent’s rough breathing. Otherwise, even his neck bones might have broken.

But it was fine.

‘Almost there.’

Kwareureung! Peooong!

The palm force pouring in struck the flexible path of the Indestructible Sword and was deflected away.

The pain from his internal injuries was extreme, but in contrast, power was surging wildly from his body.

The will of the Heavenly Wolf was filling his depleted internal energy.

He had reached the second path, the Cunning Wolf Path, but with the Ren and Du channels fully opened and even his fine meridians activated, his body had been in a realm beyond the Cunning Wolf Path from the beginning.

That was the reason his martial growth was so fast. Apart from the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader’s experience and realization, he actually possessed a body that had crossed the wall, so no matter what enemy he faced, it granted him powerful endurance and destructive power beyond his skill.

And now.

‘I can rise.’

The true qi throughout his body was rampaging like mad.

It was something absolutely impossible through ordinary training. Like all martial arts discussed as the strongest under heaven, Heavenly Wolf True Qi was also a power with a spiritual nature, an ultimate divine art that synchronized with its master and sought to grasp all under heaven.

During the battle at Manguwi Street, Jin-hyeon had been certain. His realization had taken hold of the wall. The mismatch between body and mind, as it created the North Wind Sword Art, was finally trying to bring that balance into alignment.

It was not luck, but a plan. It was certainty, and the confidence that he would never die until he met the rise in realm that had brought him to this place.

And heaven, destiny, began to answer Jin-hyeon’s confidence that was close to fanaticism.

“Die!!”

Peopeopeong!

The Indestructible Sword pierced through all the pouring fist winds and cut past Ha Baek-cheon’s side.

It did not reach his organs, but it was a sufficiently threatening strike. Ha Baek-cheon instinctively retreated one step and unleashed Jade Immortal Seal.

Jin-hyeon’s left hand swung fiercely.

Kwaang!

He shattered that powerful palm force with one hand.

The back of his hand tore, and his little finger was dislocated.

Crack.

Heavenly Wolf True Qi entered even the fine meridians in an instant, received its master’s will, and set the dislocated little finger back into place. The injured nerves and strained muscles also absorbed true qi in an instant and returned to normal.

Fear settled on Ha Baek-cheon’s face.

“You mad bastard! Just who are you?!”

A vague fear toward an incomprehensible opponent began to shake Ha Baek-cheon’s mind.

Jin-hyeon smiled coldly.

“You said it yourself. A mad bastard.”

Hwaak!

Jin-hyeon rushed with Heavenly Evasion Steps and unleashed One Sword Cuts a Hundred, Cross Soul-Slash, Dead Spirit Hand, Steel-Shattering Hammer, and even Eagle Killing Strike.

Jjeojeojeong! Peoeok!

Ha Baek-cheon blocked all the other attacks, but he could not block the final Eagle Killing Strike. The flesh of his forearm tore and hung ragged.

Ha Baek-cheon gritted his teeth.

Peooook!

A fist containing the power of thunderbolt struck Jin-hyeon squarely in the abdomen.

In that instant, joy appeared on Ha Baek-cheon’s face.

The sensation was certain. With this strike, the organs of this monster-like bastard should have all been smashed.

It took only an instant for his certainty to turn into disbelief.

Kwang!

“Keok!”

Ha Baek-cheon was struck in the chest by Jin-hyeon’s single palm and retreated more than ten steps.

His insides felt heavy. His chest ached.

Ha Baek-cheon’s killing intent exploded.

“You son of a bitch!”

That was when it happened.

Huk!

Jin-hyeon’s qi presence, which had been surging fiercely as if it would explode at any moment, completely vanished.

Startled, Ha Baek-cheon soon gave a twisted smile.

‘You bastard! So it really did land properly!’

The fist force had clearly reached his dantian. His true qi had run wild, then leaked out entirely. He had somehow counterattacked, but his life was surely in danger.

Ha Baek-cheon triumphantly released his qi waves to the fullest.

But this time too, he was wrong.

Jin-hyeon was not dying, nor was he facing the danger of death.

Thump. Thump.

A heart beating more powerfully than ever.

That heartbeat was the sound of the chains binding the third path, said to be the true beginning of the Heavenly Wolf True Art, coming undone.

Strength entered Jin-hyeon’s hand planted on the ground.

Kwadudududeuk!

His fingers dug into the ground like tofu, and crushed, powdered stone seeped out between them.

Wiiing! Wiiing!

Blue electric light began to coil around Jin-hyeon’s back as he lay bent over.

An unusual omen.

Ha Baek-cheon’s face stiffened.

Pababak!

He instinctively charged in and unleashed Thunderbolt Fist. His target was the back of Jin-hyeon’s neck.

Jjeooooong!

With a tremendous resonance, Ha Baek-cheon’s body was sent flying ten meters away.

“Keoheok!”

Ha Baek-cheon rolled across the ground, spat out a handful of blood, and raised his head.

Jin-hyeon, with his head lowered and one hand raised, looked like a ghost reaching to seize something.

And then.

Kwakwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!!

A tremendous force field rose around Jin-hyeon’s body.

The force field, carrying immense pressure, was powerful enough to crush not only the ground within it, but even the blade and hilt of the Indestructible Sword.

Wooooooo!!

It was as if countless wolves somewhere were lifting their heads and howling.

It was not one. Dozens, hundreds of wolves were crying out in joy toward the leader who had finally revealed himself.

The Heavenly Wolf True Art, Third Path.

It was the manifestation of the Moonlit Pack-Wolf Path.

Saaaaa.

As Jin-hyeon raised his head, exhaling a breath filled with pleasure, blue veins rose across his pale skin.

His white hair surged, and blue flames surged from both his hands, curled as if ready to seize anything.

Koong!

When he planted one foot on the ground and rose, the force field that had covered a radius of over six meters slowly disappeared.

At the same time, the Heavenly Wolf True Qi radiating from Jin-hyeon’s body began generating qi waves on an entirely different level.

Hwaaaaaak!