At the end of the golden radiance, the Demon Buddha revealed himself.
The moment he saw him, Azure Mountain Sword’s face creased.
“Has that Buddha of yours ever shown mercy even once?”
Rolling the prayer beads in his hand, the Demon Buddha replied.
“A misunderstanding. Our Buddha treats this pitiful sentient being with compassion. Though there are very rare times when he cannot restrain his temper.”
With a leisurely expression, the Demon Buddha slowly walked toward him.
The two stood facing each other with only a few steps between them.
Azure Mountain Sword was so tall that one had to crane one’s neck to look up at him. The sight of the two of them was like the tallest man in the world standing face-to-face with the smallest.
“It seems you’ve grown even taller since last I saw you, my friend.”
“Who decided we were friends?”
The two already knew each other.
Since his youth, the Demon Buddha had wandered all over the Central Plains and associated with many masters.
Why else would he have been friends with the Cult Leader Pungcheon beyond the frontier?
“How many times have we met?”
Azure Mountain Sword remembered precisely.
“Three.”
“If we have met three times alive in this perilous murim, then we are friends. Are we not?”
Azure Mountain Sword’s response was cold.
“I say this only now, but you are far too rash.”
The Demon Buddha had always been skilled at saying things that touched people’s nerves. Because of that, he often turned his opponents’ insides upside down.
“In all three times we met, not once did you fail to offend me.”
At that, the Demon Buddha asked calmly.
“Was anything I said wrong?”
Azure Mountain Sword’s expression twitched. It was precisely because the words had not been wrong that they had offended him. They had struck at the heart of the matter, one after another.
“My neck hurts from looking up.”
The Demon Buddha turned around and perched himself on a rock. After staring at the ground for a moment, he said something unexpected.
“It was probably because of your height. I felt as if you had taken what I did not possess. That was why I said even more hateful things.”
Because these were words he would never have spoken in the past, Azure Mountain Sword instead grew wary of him.
“Do not play tricks.”
As if he understood, the Demon Buddha nodded. Saying such a thing was also due to Geom Mugeuk’s influence. Bringing up his own height himself? In the past, that would have been unimaginable.
Azure Mountain Sword stirred his majestic internal force and shouted.
“How dare you set foot here! You are now treading upon land you absolutely must not tread!”
The reason he had come here in the first place was to root out the Demon Cult bastards who had entered Wuhan.
Sitting on the rock, the Demon Buddha looked down at his own feet and said,
“I’m not touching the ground.”
Because the Demon Buddha’s legs were short, his feet did not reach the ground.
Of course, Azure Mountain Sword did not take it as a joke, but as mockery. Killing intent rose from his body.
“Yes, you always did enjoy mocking people.”
Staring straight at him, the Demon Buddha asked,
“Do you know who the person you tried to kill today was?”
Azure Mountain Sword gave no answer, but it could be known from his eyes and expression.
“So you knew he was the First Young Master.”
The Demon Buddha’s eyes shone coldly, tinged with gold. It was a phenomenon that appeared only in those who had achieved great success in his unique martial art, the Golden Great Lama Art.
Azure Mountain Sword drew up his internal energy, ready to draw his sword at any moment. Even before the Demon Buddha, he was not intimidated.
“If he entered Wuhan without the Martial Alliance’s permission, he deserves to die. The same goes for you.”
He released his aura. Grass and leaves all shook at once, and in an instant the surrounding air sank coldly.
Because he had never once fought the Demon Buddha in a life-and-death duel, he did not know what the outcome of their battle would be. But he was confident he would win.
Azure Mountain Sword’s hand slowly moved toward the hilt of his sword.
He was a master of the orthodox faction to the bone. Though not as much as Hanwol Sword, there was no way his feelings toward the Demon Cult were favorable. Moreover, the Demon Buddha was an opponent he had long intended to discipline properly one day.
“You know that if you draw that blade, there will be no turning back, don’t you?”
At the Demon Buddha’s question, Azure Mountain Sword answered coldly.
“Eradicating evil heretics is the path I have walked all my life. I will have no regrets.”
Amid the taut tension, the Demon Buddha spoke quietly.
“I respect that. You are a fine man of the orthodox faction.”
Because it was the first time he had ever heard such words from the Demon Buddha, Azure Mountain Sword flinched.
He was certainly different today from the past.
With eyes that asked what scheme he was trying to pull, he glared at the Demon Buddha.
The Demon Buddha looked up at the sky. Between the trees, the stars of the night sky could be seen.
“These days, my life has become more unhurried. I am no longer the man I was.”
Azure Mountain Sword mocked him.
“That must be because you have become a kite with its string cut.”
He knew well that the Demon Buddha had supported the First Young Master.
“Are you and the First Young Master not both useless now? If I kill you, I suspect your Demon Cult would thank me instead.”
At the mention of Geom Muyang, the Demon Buddha’s expression turned cold.
“Azure Mountain Sword.”
After the Demon Buddha called him coldly,
“I am speaking civilly. Do not make my old temper come out.”
Azure Mountain Sword knew well that those words, at least, were no bluff. He also knew that the Demon Buddha had the skill to say such a thing. And that he had a foul temper.
But if he had feared him for that, he would not have revealed in the first place that he had pursued the First Young Master. Today, this was a place where one of the two had to die.
“Changed, you say. As if.”
Azure Mountain Sword slowly drew his sword.
“Demon Cult bastards are not things one can fix and use again.”
At that moment, the Demon Buddha roared.
“Shut your mouth! If I speak nicely, then listen nicely. Where do you get off spouting this goddamn nonsense?”
After pouring that out, the Demon Buddha sighed.
“I apologize for cursing. Lately I have been too subdued and withdrawn. Seeing you after so long, I find it difficult to control my emotions.”
Perhaps that was why Geom Mugeuk had kept telling him not to sink down. To live a life that suited him.
“Madman.”
Azure Mountain Sword aimed his sword.
Looking at Azure Mountain Sword, who had become one with his blade, the Demon Buddha rose from the rock.
“Do you know? People outside may not realize it, but our cult has changed greatly of late. Especially among the Demon Venerables these days, growing stronger is all the fashion. Everyone is mad for martial arts.”
The Demon Buddha hopped down from the rock.
“So as not to fall behind that trend, I, too, have made efforts without others knowing. After all, I am the sort of person who absolutely detests losing.”
A new golden radiance flowed from the Demon Buddha’s body. The golden light he ordinarily emitted and the golden light he gave off when fighting differed in the depth of their color.
Ziiing.
Along Azure Mountain Sword’s blade, which vibrated in the air, blue aura flowed like waves.
The very instant Azure Mountain Sword was about to rush at the Demon Buddha!
Shuuuk!
Slice!
What shot forth powerfully was the Demon Buddha’s prayer bead. The bead split in half and fell.
Shuk-shuk-shuk-shuk-shuk-shuk-shuk!
Prayer beads flew in one after another. It was an attack with enough power to pierce straight through the body if struck.
Azure Mountain Sword’s blade embroidered the air. Dozens of lines of sword light appeared in an instant. The prayer beads split in half and rained down to the ground.
When he cut apart the final bead, Azure Mountain Sword saw it.
The Demon Buddha’s two hands, now empty, had already formed a hand seal.
Golden Great Lama Art!
Murderous Dharma Seal!
From the Demon Buddha’s two hands, golden aura surged and flew forth.
Shwaaaaaaak!
The aura spreading like waves could not simply be blocked.
Azure Mountain Sword Art (碧山劍法)!
Azure Mountain Wind Forest (碧山風林)!
Blue aura poured from his sword as well and flew forth.
Thus the golden aura and the blue aura collided in midair.
Kwaaaaaang!
With a thunderous roar, a shockwave powerful enough to shake the earth spread in all directions. Trees snapped, rocks rolled, and clouds of dust rose.
Shwaaaaaak.
Cutting through that dust, Azure Mountain Sword charged in. The surest way to deal with the Demon Buddha was to close the distance and prevent him from forming those hand seals.
At that moment, Azure Mountain Sword saw it.
Another hand seal had already been formed in the Demon Buddha’s hands.
Sky Vow Seal (天空誓印)!
A single streak of aura struck down from the air toward the crown of his head like lightning.
As he was stabbing toward the Demon Buddha, he twisted his body.
Kwaaaang!
With lightning speed, Azure Mountain Sword swung his aura-filled blade and blocked it. A shock rushed in as if his wrist would be severed. The Demon Buddha was far stronger than he had thought.
‘I have to cut off those hands somehow!’
Azure Mountain Sword charged again and flew in. In a flash, he had rushed right before the Demon Buddha, but another flash was waiting for him.
Dharma Radiance Seal!
In that instant, light more powerful than the sun burst from the Demon Buddha’s body. Because it was night, that light was all the more intense.
Azure Mountain Sword squeezed his eyes shut and swung his sword. He cut at the Demon Buddha not with his eyes, but with his senses.
Shiiik!
‘It missed!’
Drawing up his protective aura, he unleashed another ultimate technique. For attack was defense.
Azure Mountain Revolving Wheel (碧山回輪)!
Whiriririririk!
Azure Mountain Sword spun in place like a whirlwind, sending his sword in every direction.
Papapapapapak!
Dozens of strands of sword qi flew out in all directions and lodged in trees and rocks.
Papapapapapapak!
Sword qi flew toward every place he might be, but there was no sound of the Demon Buddha’s flesh being torn.
‘Where is he?’
For a single instant, he had lost sight of the Demon Buddha.
When he found the shining golden radiance beyond a severed tree behind him,
the Demon Buddha had already completed a hand seal. It was the most splendid hand seal, with the fingers of both hands intricately interlaced.
Mara Palm Annihilation Seal!
Whoooooooo.
A massive energy pressed down, and a shadow formed around Azure Mountain Sword’s body.
He raised his head and looked up at the sky. The palm of an enormous golden Buddha statue was striking down at him. Golden radiance poured from that hand.
It was already too late to evade. Azure Mountain Sword raised his protective aura to the utmost limit.
Kwaaaaaang!
With an incredible roar, the skin of the earth overturned and dust billowed up.
When the dust settled, Azure Mountain Sword stood there. He was inside an enormous, palm-shaped pit sunken into the ground. Its depth was several times the height of a man.
As Azure Mountain Sword tried to leap upward, he suddenly vomited blood. His internal injuries were so severe that he could no longer fight. The fact that he had not died was a miracle.
Staggering, he sank down where he stood.
At that moment, he saw it.
From above the pit, the Demon Buddha was now looking down at him.
Seen from below, the Demon Buddha looked like an enormous man.
‘To think I was defeated so emptily?’
It was not because of bad luck. He felt a clear difference in skill. From the moment those tiny prayer beads were launched until this enormous palm struck down, the battle had flowed according to his opponent’s design from beginning to end. He had thought it would at least be close, but the Demon Buddha was a level above him.
From up there, he could not clearly see what expression the Demon Buddha wore. Then the Demon Buddha’s voice reached him.
“Fortunately, it seems I have not fallen behind the trend.”
Seeing the Demon Buddha form another hand seal, Azure Mountain Sword closed his eyes.
‘A perfect defeat.’
It was a fight in which he would have nothing to say even if he died.
He thought the aura that would end his life would fly in.
Whiiiiiik.
His body rose out of the pit on a golden wave.
And landed gently before the Demon Buddha.
Azure Mountain Sword asked with a startled face,
“Why are you not killing me?”
“If I intended to kill you, you would already have died down there.”
It meant that, at least with that final move, he had not used his full strength.
Azure Mountain Sword looked at the Demon Buddha with eyes full of disbelief.
“……Were you always this strong?”
The Demon Buddha’s eyes were gentle, and his face was calm. The momentum with which he had fought as if to kill had already vanished entirely. The radiance that had shone brightly throughout the battle had already subsided.
After the succession struggle, there had been a change in the Demon Buddha’s state of mind. He had also been greatly influenced by his meeting with Geom Mugeuk. And while carving stone statues, he had calmed his heart.
He did things he had never done in his life and felt emotions he had never felt before. As the Demon Buddha’s life changed in that way, his martial arts changed as well.
Because the Demon Buddha had let everything go, he had become stronger.
“Even if you spare me, I will not tell you who summoned me here.”
“I will not ask.”
Azure Mountain Sword looked at him in surprise. He had naturally thought the Demon Buddha had spared him in order to ask that.
“Finding out who stands behind you is the First Young Master’s task. I only came so that the First Young Master could do his own work.”
The Demon Buddha gave Azure Mountain Sword two choices.
“Now, choose. Will you return to your hometown like this? Or will you die by my hand now?”
Azure Mountain Sword had tried to kill the First Young Master, and he had tried to kill the Demon Buddha as well.
“You are going to spare me? Why?”
The Demon Buddha brought his two hands together in prayer.
“Our Buddha bestows compassion upon pitiful sentient beings.”
“Enough nonsense!”
The Demon Buddha answered honestly.
“As you said, this is Wuhan.”
The moment word spread that Azure Mountain Sword had been killed by a Demon Venerable in Wuhan, the orthodox murim would rise like fire. Perhaps that was what those bastards wanted in the first place.
“Still, if you wish it, I will kill you. A great problem will arise, but somehow it will be handled. In the end, only the dead man will feel wronged. You know that too, do you not?”
The Demon Buddha calmly persuaded him.
“Why do you think the First Young Master came all the way to Wuhan and caused this uproar? To topple the Martial Alliance? Do you truly think so? Do you think the best plan we could come up with was merely to send the First Young Master to Wuhan and bring down the orthodox murim?”
After a brief pause, Azure Mountain Sword asked. It was a question without confidence.
“……If not?”
“What did the person who summoned you say it was for?”
Azure Mountain Sword could sense that there was another meaning within the Demon Buddha’s words. Did you truly come because you trusted the person who summoned you?
One thing was certain. If these people were truly plotting a tremendous conspiracy, they would not have spared him.
After remaining silent for a long while, Azure Mountain Sword chose one of the two options.
“I will return. I will go back to my hometown and not come out for three years.”
The Demon Buddha knew. If only because of his pride, he would not say that he had returned because he had lost to him. He would return with some other excuse, so at least the fact that the Demon Buddha had come to Wuhan would not become known.
“This is the fourth time, so when we meet for the fifth, let us share a drink.”
Azure Mountain Sword gazed at the Demon Buddha, then turned and walked away without a word.
As he staggered away, the Demon Buddha called to him.
“Hey, friend.”
When Azure Mountain Sword looked back, the Demon Buddha said calmly,
“Not the First Young Master next time either.”
From the Demon Buddha’s deepened gaze, Azure Mountain Sword could tell just how much he cared for the First Young Master.
“If something like this happens again……”
And the Demon Buddha did not hide such feelings.
“Whether it is not in Wuhan, but even before the Alliance Leader’s Hall of the Martial Alliance, you will die by my hand.”
After finishing his words, the Demon Buddha respectfully brought his hands together, then turned and walked away.
Watching the faint golden radiance disappear into the darkness, Azure Mountain Sword once again moved his steps in the opposite direction.
And so the two banners grew distant from each other once more.