Welcoming The Guest. (2)

Yu Jinsan approached the strange monk from the side with Baek Gyu and sent a voice transmission to Jeong Hye.

• While we fight, block his escape so my younger has room to move.

He was already like a mouse trapped in a cage.

If they took the advantage, he would try to flee at once.

They had to catch him; letting him go would bring serious trouble later.

And Yu Jinsan wanted to test the Heavenly Nation’s martial arts firsthand during the exchange.

But somehow the strange monk didn’t budge an inch; he simply emitted red auras from his whole body.

At that moment, Jeong Hye’s voice transmission came into his mind.

• Jeong Hye, you must fight too. Otherwise Seol will be sad!

• Why would our Seol be sad?

• Because your brother will die!

He assumed Yu Jinsan was teasing him.

To be openly dismissed like that—Yu Jinsan frowned as if his pride had been hurt.

• That won’t happen, so make sure he can’t run away.

He was no longer the former self who hovered at the peak level.

Then Baek Gyu signaled from the side, meaning he would initiate the first attack.

Just as Yu Jinsan slightly nodded.

Baek Gyu, gripping a pair of broadswords, shot forward like an arrow.

He was a practitioner who had perfected the Defeating Blade Clan’s ascending art, Ghost Movement Technique.

His movements were relentless, like a raging bull charging.

When the distance to the opponent closed to within 6 feet.

Suddenly the strange monk, who had been with palms joined, spread both hands.

Two sharp rings hanging from his wrists shot out fiercely.

This special weapon, called ring, was something even Baek Gyu had never faced till then.

They spun at incredible speed as they approached, looking extremely threatening.

Baek Gyu calmly swung both broadswords and struck the two rings simultaneously.

He succeeded in forcefully rebuffing them, but that was all.

Baek Gyu, startled, immediately took a defensive stance—the rings he had batted away changed direction and came back.

They moved faster and more violently than before.

Yu Jinsan, watching for an opportunity, was also greatly surprised.

‘Could he be controlling the rings with qi?’

No matter how he thought about it, that seemed impossible.

That was a supreme realm like the Air Spear Technique, something only Yu Seol could barely accomplish.

And two at the same time?

How could someone freely manipulate two rings in midair like that?

It felt fishy and unsettling.

Kaang-! Kakang-!! Kakakang-!!

Baek Gyu wildly struck at the approaching rings again and again.

Far from closing in on the strange monk, he was desperately defending.

Unable to just watch, Yu Jinsan also took action.

Gripping the Dragon Slaying Spear, he stepped on the air and flew toward the monk’s flank.

At that moment, one of the two rings pressuring Baek Gyu changed direction and came toward Yu Jinsan.

In an instant the Dragon Slaying Spear glowed red and collided with the incoming ring.

Landing on the ground, Yu Jinsan immediately took a defensive stance—the ring he had bounced away had changed course and was returning.

‘Evade, then close in at once.’

That was Yu Jinsan’s plan.

He quickly leaned his torso back and diverted the ring over his face.

He saw the ring spinning violently as it passed right before his face.

And another thing.

He noticed a thin thread sparkling in the sunlight, and it was attached to the ring.

Srrr-!

It was the sound of some of his hair being cut by that fine thread.

Only then did Yu Jinsan understand what was happening.

He had been manipulating the rings by suspending threads from them—and they didn’t seem like ordinary thread.

At that moment Baek Gyu’s belated warning reached him.

“It looks like he connected Heavenly Silkworm Thread to it—be careful!”

What is Heavenly Silkworm Thread? A precious fiber drawn from a spiritual creature, it has such tensile strength that sword qi can’t easily cut it.

But the thread attached to the monk’s weapon seemed sharper and more elastic than even Heavenly Silkworm Thread—able to snap most weapons in two.

He had expected many things, but not such a cowardly weapon.

Yu Jinsan continued to evade and defend, irritation rising.

“You despicable bastard!”

Two absolute warriors were struggling, unable even to get close to the strange monk.

Resolving this troublesome weapon was the top priority.

‘Fine—let’s see whose weapon is stronger!’

Yu Jinsan chose to fight head-on.

Whatever it was, the Dragon Slaying Spear had no reason to be pushed back—it was a master spear crafted by a supreme artisan, containing the spirit of a sacred beast.

Lowering his stance, he silently waited for the ring to approach.

Pulling the spear across his shoulder, he looked like someone grasping a harpoon to catch a fish.

He drew a deep breath and focused all his mind.

The fiercely approaching ring closed to within two feet—then his shoulder moved like lightning.

Yu Family Wind Slaying Spear: Ocho Form, Internal Reverse Pierce. It was a technique that hooked and snatched an opponent’s weapon.

The tip of Yu Jinsan’s spear precisely entered the inner part of the ring.

The ring, caught on the blade, began to spin incessantly.

Grggrr-!!!

The ring’s inner side tried to flare out like fire and escape, but it was futile.

Yu Jinsan spun the spear with the ring on it, winding the thread completely around it.

At last he had succeeded in subduing this bizarre weapon.

Soon after, Baek Gyu also restrained the ring’s movement in a similar manner.

One of his swords plunged into the ring’s center and stuck deep into the ground.

Now all that remained was to subdue the strange monk.

Yu Jinsan and Baek Gyu approached him again from left and right.

But they couldn’t shake a suspicious feeling—despite losing his weapons, the monk showed no signs of panic.

“You don’t seem afraid of death.”

The strange monk made no reply; he merely pressed his palms together in a gesture.

Further talk was pointless.

Yu Jinsan and Baek Gyu exchanged glances and charged at the same time.

Tat-!!

Incredibly, he offered no defensive stance at all.

Had he given up fighting? Even so, there was no reason to stop.

The tip of the Dragon Slaying Spear, filled with red fierce qi, began to pierce the monk’s flank like an awl.

Swaaaang-!

From the other side, Baek Gyu unleashed a torrent of blade qi and was severing him.

They believed this would be the final blow, but it was a grave miscalculation.

Just before the two weapons struck the monk’s body, a blood-colored membrane of qi suddenly surged from his whole body like a wave.

Kwaaaang-!!!

It was a tremendous roar as if an earthquake had occurred.

Stunned by the unexpected shock, Yu Jinsan and Baek Gyu could only stagger backward.

‘What is this? This wicked martial art?’

The arms gripping the Dragon Slaying Spear tingled painfully.

The backlash returned to them intact. There were similar arts like Rebounding Firm Qi in the martial world, but the potency was different.

But there was no time to keep being stunned—the monk’s gaze turned toward him.

Before he could regain his posture, the monk’s figure vanished from sight like a ghost.

It was truly a ghostlike footwork.

In an instant Yu Jinsan felt a chill down his spine—so stealthy that he wouldn’t have noticed it had he not reached the Supreme realm.

Without thinking, he quickly thrust the spear toward his back.

An unpleasant blood-tinged aura rushed over him.

Was it because his stance was unstable? He managed to block it, but not perfectly.

Yu Jinsan’s body swayed as if about to fall.

But the monk had no intention of showing mercy.

The hand, shrouded in the blood-tinged aura, sank toward Yu Jinsan’s chest.

At the heart-dropping moment.

Baek Gyu charged like lightning and intercepted the man’s strike with a blast of blade energy.

Yu Jinsan smoothed his pounding chest and regained his posture.

But there was no time to fully collect himself; the monk’s fierce assault continued without end.

A groan escaped Baek Gyu’s mouth as he wildly swung his sword.

Yu Jinsan lent his strength from the side.

With the Dragon Slaying Spear moving busily shoulder-to-shoulder with Baek Gyu, nothing changed.

Blood-tinged fierce qi surged endlessly like a torrential downpour.

Incredibly, they had not gained the upper hand in this one-on-two situation.

Normally martial arts have sets and, after combinations, a breathing recovery; yet this horrid, malicious art ignored such rules.

Still, the Muscle Changing Technique wasn’t sufficiently matured to be used effectively in real combat.

‘What on earth are these martial arts?!’

Their strength exceeded imagination.

How many more such warriors could there be in the Heavenly Nation? It sent chills down his spine.

The situation was frustrating, but not hopeless.

He shouted as he swung the spear frantically.

“Now, young one!”

A powerful ally who could overwhelm them was on standby.

As if she’d been waiting for this moment, Jeong Hye immediately sprang into action.

In an instant a loud blast erupted at the monk’s flank.

Jeong Hye had ambushed him and delivered a long slash.

The monk’s two feet dragged across the ground as he slid backward.

Yet not a single groan escaped his lips—nor even the slightest change in expression.

He looked almost inhuman.

He spoke only one sentence.

“You are… strong.”

Jeong Hye stood before him and smiled innocently.

“Puhihihi! All the black-faced brutes die by Jeong Hye!”

For the first time, tension appeared on the monk’s face.

It was likely because he realized Jeong Hye’s martial art exceeded his expectations.

At that moment, having caught his breath, Yu Jinsan assumed an offensive posture and said to Baek Gyu.

“We’ve confirmed what Heavenly Nation’s martial arts are like; now let’s fight properly.”

“From now on, I’ll show you what the Defeating Blade Clan’s arts are.”

At that moment, a golden radiance flared from Jeong Hye’s whole body.

At the same time he laughed wildly with slitted eyes and a crazed grin.

“Ihihihihi!!!”

A three-on-one fight. Perhaps Jeong Hye’s Muscle Changing Technique made it even more daunting?

Yu Jinsan saw the monk’s pupils subtly move left and right—just as he expected, he was scheming an escape.

They absolutely could not let him go.

“Go, sibling!”

Jeong Hye charged at the strange monk without a moment’s hesitation.

Baek Gyu supported her, and Yu Jinsan moved to the flank to block his escape route.

The moment it began, Jeong Hye and the monk engaged in a bare-handed brawl.

Zzeok-! Kwang-! Kwajik-!!

Jeong Hye’s movements were nothing but offense—an almost reckless attack that disregarded defense.

Amazingly, he absorbed the monk’s strikes with his body and returned them.

Even when skin split and bruises formed, he paid them no mind.

No matter if he’d cultivated the Vajra Indestructible Divine Arts to the tenth level, a sane person couldn’t attempt such a fighting style.

With Baek Gyu assisting at his side and diverting the monk’s attention, they held an advantage.

A moment later, when Yu Jinsan joined from the rear, the outcome tilted entirely in their favor.

Chwaaak-! Zzeok-! Kwajik-!!

They struck from all sides, but because of the strange and peculiar defensive qi, they couldn’t land a fatal blow.

When the monk was cornered, a powerful condensation of qi gathered around him.

It was not hard to guess what he would do.

One cannot be caught by the same trick twice.

Yu Jinsan and Jeong Hye used the Great Body-Shift Technique to create distance, while Baek Gyu deployed a transformed displacement and retreated.

At that moment, the blood-colored membrane of qi spread around the monk once more.

As the veil momentarily faded, the three who had surrounded him pounced again like beasts.

Zzeok-! Kwajik-! Kung-!!

Even as he unleashed attacks, Yu Jinsan felt overwhelmed.

They struck, slashed, and stabbed from all sides, yet the monk did not flinch. He had never seen such a relentless opponent.

But as damage accumulated, he would inevitably fall.

Soon they were certain they would capture the Blood Death Guest who had shaken the martial world.