The Immortal’s Martial Arts. (2)

Near the summit area of Soyo Mountain Villa, where the landscape of the world below was seen from a dizzying height.

There, Meng Nam-cheon and Yu Jinsan were walking side by side.

“With Hwa Ryong-gae and Elder Mu-jin dead, the Murim Alliance’s retaliation will follow soon. It’s not that I’m afraid, but my head aches thinking how to prepare.”

Meng Nam-cheon’s expression remained dark the whole time.

Who were the people they had killed.

They were the successor who would inherit the position of the clan’s Clan leader and the Taiji Sword Saint, the pillar of the Wudang Sect.

If this fact spread, the Nine-Style Faction’s eyes would turn upside down as plain as day.

Moreover, there was no longer the Storm Rider to watch Soyo Mountain Villa’s back. They had started the matter, but they couldn’t help worrying about the aftermath.

“Don’t worry too much. There will be plenty of time to prepare.”

“What do you mean? The Murim Alliance leader returned alive.”

Yu Jinsan’s face formed a small smile.

“That woman will keep silent about that day’s battle. She cannot say she abandoned her companions and fled alone.”

“Come to think of it, that’s true. That sly nun would surely do exactly that.”

“She’ll probably claim she was assassinated by a Yin Monster or weave some other suitable lie.”

“Hm. But even if that’s so for us, are the heroes truly all right?”

Yu Jinsan still wore an expression full of composure. In fact, he seemed even happier.

They had dealt a heavy blow to the Murim Alliance leader, the enemy of their family. It felt as if something that had long been blocked in his chest had burst open.

“The mountain’s master has family to protect, but we are people who have nothing to lose.”

Yin Yang Twin Monster had no reason to watch for someone else’s reaction or fear retaliation. They did not belong to any sect.

“In any case, Soyo Mountain Villa probably cannot follow the path of the Justice Faction from now on. There have been too many disappointments this time.”

“Then what do you intend to do?”

“We will declare ourselves a neutral force. That won’t stop the Murim Alliance from harming us, but we intend to fight back to the end.”

Yu Jinsan fell into thought for a moment.

Even if Soyo Mountain Villa declared neutrality, it meant nothing. It would only strengthen the Murim Alliance’s justification to attack this place.

Besides, he and his granddaughter could not stay here and protect it forever.

It was time for a new solution.

“Instead of that, how about switching to the Heterodox factions at this opportunity?”

Meng Nam-cheon looked startled by Yu Jinsan’s proposal.

“Now… you say Heterodox factions?”

For a Justice Faction force to switch to the Heterodox factions was by no means common.

It meant abandoning the creed they had pursued and walking the opposite path.

“Yes. If you do that, Soyo Mountain Villa could receive support from the masters of the Evil Sect Alliance.”

It was a significant decision that could change the fate of Soyo Mountain Villa.

Naturally, it was not something one could readily agree to.

“Heterodox factions…”

“If you let go of prejudice, nothing would change. Whether Justice Faction or Heterodox factions, they differ only in outward appearance; knowing them, there’s no real difference.”

Meng Nam-cheon fell silent, as if lost in thought for a moment.

But his deliberation did not last long.

What choice was there now? The answer was more or less predetermined from the start.

“Will the Evil Sect Alliance accept us?”

“If a talent like the master were to join, they would welcome you with open arms.”

Who was Meng Nam-cheon, the Invincible Sword?

He was the disciple who inherited the Storm Rider’s skills, the top swordsman of Zhejiang Province who had defeated the Wudang Sect’s Taiji Sword Saint.

If they could recruit him, the Evil Sect Alliance would pay any price.

“But how can we make contact with the Evil Sect Alliance?”

“Don’t worry about that. A person who can make the connection will likely come to find you.”

“They’ll come on their own?”

A meaningful smile surfaced on Yu Jinsan’s face.

The rumor that Yin Yang Twin Monster were staying here had spread all over Zhejiang Province.

And such a rumor would have reached the Black Night Clan as well.

He was certain that they would be the ones to make contact first.

“Soon there will likely be those who come here seeking Yin Yang Twin Monster. But master, how could you decide so easily?”

It wasn’t finalized yet, but he seemed to have already made up his mind.

It was somewhat surprising that he accepted it so positively.

“I don’t think it’s such a bad choice. Sweeping away the Murim Alliance with the Evil Sect Alliance.”

The one Meng Nam-cheon resented most was not White Flower Blood Cult, but the Murim Alliance.

If they hadn’t turned away when Soyo Mountain Villa fought the White Flower Blood Cult.

And if they hadn’t come belatedly to cause harm, how would more than half their disciples have died? How would he have lost his master?

To Meng Nam-cheon, the Murim Alliance was merely the object of his resentment.

“I can fully understand the master’s feelings. I too was once a member of the Murim Alliance.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. It was probably more than fifty years ago. Back then, the Murim Alliance wasn’t rotten to this extent.”

“Ah…”

The two, chatting softly, had by now reached a small hill.

It was where the Storm Rider, the protector of Zhejiang Province, was buried.

And under the plum tree near the grave.

Someone familiar was squatting and examining something.

Yu Jinsan spoke with a pleased expression.

“What are you doing here?”

It was his granddaughter who had been spending all her time here lately.

She was holding a bundle of papers worn with fingerprints.

He roughly guessed the reason, but asked anyway even though he already knew.

“I’m researching martial arts. Grandpa Peanut asked me to.”

What Yu Seol had received as a gift was the essence of martial arts that the Wind-and-Cloud Master had poured his life into.

A mysterious martial art he had attempted to create but failed.

Yu Seol had taken it up and was trying to complete it.

But how could a peerless martial art be made in a snap?

Judging by her serious expression, it seemed it wasn’t going well.

“It doesn’t look easy.”

“Yeah. This is kind of complicated.”

She was a granddaughter with talents and comprehension regarding martial arts beyond imagination.

She had improved every martial art he had taught her, and even created several of her own.

A genius of martial arts unmatched in the martial world calling it complicated? It clearly wasn’t an ordinary technique.

“What kind of martial art? I’m curious.”

Yu Seol swung her fist through the air with a whoosh and shouted.

“Wind Heart Fist!”

Of course, it was the first time he’d heard that name. It was a martial art not yet existing in the world.

At that moment, Meng Nam-cheon stepped forward as if he knew something.

“Master spent most of his life researching the Wind Heart Fist. He sought to create a martial art that transcends the limits of the Profound Realm, but it seems he never found the answer.”

Yu Seol slid the bundle of papers she was holding toward him.

“Sir, would you like to take a look too?”

She judged he had the right to look since he was the Storm Rider’s disciple.

And Meng Nam-cheon was suddenly curious too: what had the master been trying to create? And why had he given this to a Yin Monster instead of him?

“Then, for a moment…”

Of course, seeing it once wouldn’t lead to full understanding, but he could discern the rough form of the martial art.

Meng Nam-cheon examined the bundle of papers he had been handed one by one.

A quiet time passed in silence.

Yu Seol sat with her chin propped on her hand, and Yu Jinsan waited calmly with his hands clasped behind his back.

It was then, when some time had passed.

When he took his eyes off the paper, Yu Seol asked as if she had been waiting.

“How is it?”

Meng Nam-cheon hesitated for a moment with a stunned look.

The contents seemed somewhat shocking.

“What on earth is this…”

Yu Jinsan, watching from the side, couldn’t contain his curiosity and urged him.

“Why is that?”

“This is a martial art that cannot be manifest by a human body. Perhaps an immortal could, but not a person.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Look directly at the phrase the master left here.”

Yu Jinsan took the paper Meng Nam-cheon handed him.

And his reaction was no different from Meng Nam-cheon’s.

Because it contained content so absurd it was hard to believe.

“To generate Wind Heart Fist, one must load 90 years of internal qi into a single punch? Where in the world is there such a foolish martial art?”

Even the Ami Faction’s Buddha Light One-Line Finger, which requires 30 years of internal qi, was a technique that was burdensome to use twice.

But to consume 90 years of internal qi in a single punch? It was a mad technique beyond common sense.

“I don’t know how great the master’s Wind Heart Fist might be, but if I used it even once my dantian would be emptied and I’d collapse.”

The consumption of internal energy was a burden, but there was a bigger problem.

“Even if one’s inner skill were sufficient, it’s impossible to instantaneously pack that much internal energy into a punch.”

“Not only would the dantian be strained, but the qi and blood wouldn’t endure it either.”

Yu Jinsan nodded as if in agreement with that statement.

“Still, if one could cast it, the power would indeed be tremendous.”

“I guarantee it would be unstoppable by anything. Of course, that assumes it can be unleashed.”

Yu Jinsan laughed lightly and handed the paper back to his granddaughter.

At the same time, he didn’t forget to send a private message.

• Grandpa thinks researching this is a waste of time.

• No. I can do it.

No matter how he thought about it, he felt it was wasting time on something pointless.

But he couldn’t break his granddaughter’s stubbornness.

• Tch. There’s a reason that old man gave up. Grandpa will take a walk, so take your time and come back when you’re done.

He still had more to discuss with Meng Nam-cheon.

Just as Yu Jinsan turned his back with his hands clasped behind him.

“Show me?”

It was his granddaughter’s voice from behind.

Suddenly she wanted to show him something. Whatever it was, he didn’t think it was the Wind Heart Fist.

“…What?”

“Wind Heart Fist! It’s not complete yet, but I can mimic it to some degree.”

“W-what did you say?”

Had there already been progress? It was absurd, but Yu Seol had no reason to lie.

When it came to martial arts, she treated everything with earnestness.

Yu Jinsan realized he had underestimated his granddaughter.

Meng Nam-cheon was equally astonished.

“R-really? How could you, in just a few days, do something with the Wind Heart Fist that the master agonized over his whole life…?”

To mimic it meant being able to form the shape of it.

It suggested she was not far from completion.

Yu Seol stood solemnly in front of the clearing and spoke.

“What you said is right. This is not a martial art that can be manifested by a human body.”

“Then how…?”

“There is only one way. For the moment you use the martial art, you must transcend that category.”

How could one transcend the category of humans?

Meng Nam-cheon was very curious, but on the other hand, worried.

Excessive expenditure of internal qi would strain one’s qi and blood, possibly leading to demonic possession or instant death.

“Are you really all right with this?”

Yu Seol nodded once.

At that moment, a golden aura flared across her entire body.

Whoosh—!

A halo encircled her head and her eyes shone with fiery-gold pupils. The sight resembled a Buddha manifesting in human form.

She had maximized her bodily abilities with the extreme-level Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique.

Then Yu Seol lightly thrust her right fist forward and murmured.

“You know? The strongest punch is the one that comes from the heart. It suits me very well.”

At that moment, within a radius of some tenfeet, the wind began to swirl and gather toward her fist.

The flow of all qi drifting around seemed as if it were under Yu Seol’s control.

Kukukukukung—!!

The whirlwind of qi enveloping the fist astonishingly carried thunder and lightning.

Just watching that sight sent shivers down one’s spine.

Yu Jinsan and Meng Nam-cheon swallowed nervously with tense faces.

The theoretically strongest fist technique that the Wind-and-Cloud Master had sought to create.

It was the moment it first revealed itself to the world.