Whoosh-!!
Boom-!!
Gang qi coils around the end of the enormous fist.
The massed and compressed cross-section descends rapidly.
And soon, it touches the ground.
Krrrdrdrdr-! Kuaaaaaa---!!!
The ground bursts apart, sending fragments flying in every direction. The energy exploded at the same time, raising a fierce gale.
An enormous vortex.
Within it, a terrifying destructive power could be clearly seen.
Even then.
Boom-!
Boom boom-!!
As though the impact were not yet over, thunderous roars continued to erupt one after another.
Crack-! Krrrdrdrdr-!!
Only after the movements continued did the sounds reach them.
A speed beyond the sound barrier.
That was the realm of speed displayed by the two men.
Flap-! The yellow robe billowed as the giant crouched down.
At the toes of the man who had lowered his stance, yellow qi surged upward.
Ferocious Tiger Battles the Dragon Kick.
Grrrrr---!!!
Using the recoil to swing his fist, the energy took the shape of tigers, and several of them charged toward his opponent.
“Urgh-!”
Seeing this, the old man swung his club fiercely and smashed the tigers apart. But he could not block them all, and was forced to endure the impact.
Boom-!
The body struck by the energy shook and fell from the air.
Seeing this, the man—Hwangbo Yeolwi, the Ferocious Tiger Fist—swiftly leaped toward the falling old man.
Squeeze-!
Energy gathered once more around his clenched fist.
連擊 of the Ferocious Tiger.
The fist that seemed to have seized a tiger poured down rapidly upon the old man.
It was a situation in which evasion was impossible.
The old man watched this, clenched his teeth hard, and then—
Swish-!
He raised one hand.
With his index and middle fingers pressed together, he performed an unusual gesture.
At that moment.
Kuaaaaaa---!!
Hwangbo Yeolwi’s fist struck directly. Heavy destructive force erupted in every direction, but—
“Hm!”
Looking at the fist he had swung, Hwangbo Yeolwi furrowed his brow.
He seemed displeased by something.
He had no choice but to be.
“What are you?”
At the sound of the voice, Hwangbo Yeolwi turned around.
The old man who had just been struck was speaking to him.
In other words, he had not actually been hit by the attack.
“What in the world are you?”
The old man asked Hwangbo Yeolwi with a deeply furrowed brow, as though unable to believe what had happened.
“I am the head of the Hwangbo Clan—”
“That is not what I am asking.”
He had already learned enough from the introduction earlier.
He had not asked because he wanted to hear the same answer repeated like a parrot.
“How can you see me?”
His expression was one of disbelief.
How in the world could that man see him?
The old man’s mind was filled with nothing but questions about it.
Even as he spoke, he rubbed his chest.
Vmmm.
A faint trace of energy imperceptible to others.
When he confirmed it, his doubts only deepened.
‘The sorcery is definitely still intact.’
It was a sorcery he had inscribed upon his body over seven days and seven nights before setting out.
Under ordinary circumstances, it should have lasted at least an hour, and no one except those inside the hall should have been able to notice it.
But what in the world was that bastard?
‘What in the world is he…? How is he looking straight at me?’
It made no sense.
And there were others who could not believe the situation either.
“Was the Hwangbo Clan Head always that strong…?”
“That just now… What in the world was that strike?”
They were the people watching the battle from within the barrier.
A battle that had begun all at once.
The Hwangbo Clan Head, who had not been inside the hall, seemed to have intervened and was holding the enemy back.
Everyone had to widen their eyes at the martial prowess the Hwangbo Clan Head displayed.
“Was the Ferocious Tiger Fist always that powerful?”
“I heard he was in poor health… Were all those rumors false?”
“Poor health, my foot. It looks more like he gained an incredible insight over the past few years.”
Everyone knew that the Hwangbo Clan’s martial arts were imbued with overwhelming destructive power.
Because of the burden they placed on the body, the Hwangbo Clan’s martial artists had retired at an earlier age than average for generations.
Thus, when they saw Hwangbo Yeolwi, who had not shown himself for several years, many had assumed that he was no different.
“But the way he looks now…”
As though all those words had been nothing but false rumors, Hwangbo Yeolwi was showing himself to be far more powerful.
Everyone watching was a powerful martial artist themselves, so they knew.
Each of Hwangbo Yeolwi’s strikes possessed tremendous force.
He appeared twice as strong as he had in the past.
“Hoo.”
Hwangbo Yeolwi inhaled.
As for the question of how he could see the old man, he did not bother to answer.
He merely prepared his body for what he had to do.
Squeeze.
He slightly extended his clenched fist and filled his gaze with strength.
His entire body felt light.
The seething energy was more than enough to warm his flesh. Unlike the heavy energy, his feet were unbelievably light.
He could extend them wherever he wished.
His strength burst forth more powerfully than he expected.
It was as though he had crossed a wall.
As if his lost prime had returned once more.
How glorious it was, to perform naturally the things he had been unable to do.
Hwangbo Yeolwi felt as though he would go mad if he did not unleash his strength immediately, but he was forcing himself to endure.
That was not the command he had been given.
-That… That person is the Hwangbo Clan Head?
-Why has the Hwangbo Clan Head suddenly…
-Is he fighting someone? I can’t see anyone…
Voices could be heard.
They were spectators who had not yet escaped. Their faces were filled with anxiety as they stared at Hwangbo Yeolwi.
That person had said it.
Those people watching now would one day become excellent mouths for him.
And through them, he would be able to obtain what he desired.
That person had said so.
Remembering this, Hwangbo Yeolwi merely took one step forward.
Thump-!
A short leap.
The sound followed only after his body had reached the old man.
Tiger-Splitting Advancing Kick.
Whoosh-!!
A leg wrapped in gang qi shot toward the old man.
The old man raised his club and assumed a defensive stance.
Kwang--!!
The club failed to absorb all the impact.
The old man, whose defense had failed, was sent flying and bounced across the ground.
Thump-! Krrrdrdr-!
“Ugh!”
He barely managed to support himself by gripping the ground.
Had he been even slightly slower, the force would have penetrated all the way to his internal organs.
‘This…’
The old man deeply knitted his wrinkled brow.
This was an unexpected problem.
The Hwangbo Clan Head, who could see through the sorcery and look directly at him, was a problem. But it was also a problem that he happened to be an opponent who was somewhat difficult for him to handle.
‘There is still time before the spell is complete…’
He looked up at the sky.
The lines were far clearer than before and looked as though they would soon connect completely, but there was still a little time remaining.
The old man understood this and clenched his teeth.
Could he endure until then?
‘The disturbance has already begun. In that case, the Great Lords will probably arrive sooner than calculated.’
He had tangled the ritual, buying time before the other Great Lords could reach this place.
Under ordinary circumstances, there should have been no problem.
‘But the appearance of that man has thrown everything into confusion.’
He had already known that the Hwangbo Clan Head was in Henan, just as he knew the identities of those present here.
But he had never expected him to come to this place under these circumstances and fight him.
And furthermore—
‘He is that strong?’
He was completely different from the level he had investigated beforehand.
At most, he should have been slightly above the initial stage of the Transformation realm.
His body was past its prime and weakening, so the old man had assumed he must be around that level.
‘But this…’
After directly clashing with him, it was clear that he was nowhere near that level.
At this rate—
‘He should have been placed inside the hall and bound with the others.’
How could the head of the Hwangbo Clan possess such strength?
It was a deeply puzzling matter, but now was not the time to concern himself with it.
For now—
‘It would be best to leave this place.’
His pride was wounded because the carefully prepared plan had gone awry.
It was absurd that a problem had arisen because of a mere nobody like that.
‘But I cannot ruin everything just to preserve my paltry pride.’
The old man kept in mind something more important than his pride.
Rather than deal with this variable, he would evade the place for now.
He had intended to deliver his message and leave from the beginning, so this was also the correct choice according to his plan.
Thus, he was about to press his index and middle fingers together again and make the gesture when—
“Hm!”
Boom-!!
“…What!”
As though he had no intention of being caught off guard twice, Hwangbo Yeolwi charged forward, smashing apart the ground.
Fast.
At that speed, he would reach him before he could even attempt the sorcery.
“Urgh!”
Just as the old man finished his judgment and hurriedly raised his club to defend—
[That is enough.]
“…!”
“…!!”
He stopped dead.
Hwooooosh---!!!
Hwangbo Yeolwi’s fist halted directly before the old man’s face.
The concentrated inner energy burst into wind and whipped around the surroundings.
-Aaaahhh-!
Several people screamed as the wind, mixed with fragments, struck them.
Hwangbo Yeolwi, who had suddenly stopped, began to sweat coldly.
What had happened?
It was clearly a strange situation.
But rather than Hwangbo Yeolwi, everyone inside the barrier was busy staring into the air.
“…There’s something… There’s something there.”
“Who is it? Don’t tell me… reinforcements have arrived?”
At the center of the empty sky where their gazes had gathered—
There was something.
Vmmmmmm---!!
The first thing that appeared was a blackened sphere.
Beneath strange lines and dark clouds, an unknown sphere floated far up in the air. Below it, they could see someone rising into the sky, just as the old man had done.
It was black martial attire once more.
The figure stood with his hands behind his back, his garments billowing quietly. His appearance was not much different from the old man’s, but—
Every person who saw him had to harden their expression.
“Th-that… What in the world is that?”
It was different.
Something about it was on an entirely different level.
Thump-! Thump-!
Their hearts trembled.
An intense presence could be felt.
Simply looking at him made every hair on their bodies stand on end.
Then instinct struck them.
Was this the reason Hwangbo Yeolwi had frozen with his fist extended?
Could it be because of that unknown existence?
The Ferocious Tiger Fist had just displayed such tremendous martial prowess, yet for some unknown reason, he remained stiff as a board, unable to move even slightly.
Then—
[It was enjoyable to watch, for a performance.]
Swoooooosh.
The person who had been floating in the air slowly descended to the ground. As the distance narrowed, his appearance became clearer.
“…What!”
“That man is…!”
Reactions erupted from every direction once they saw his features.
A body well over eight feet tall.
Black martial attire and long, dark-colored hair.
And—
An enigmatic, cracked mask.
They had all heard descriptions like these somewhere before.
In particular, Sword Immortal’s expression could not help but become intense when he saw him.
“…That bastard…”
The appearance of the strange man who had supposedly attacked Wudang in the past.
It was exactly the same.
A gleaming violet eye beyond the white mask.
The figure, whose overwhelming presence had seized everyone’s attention, continued speaking as he looked toward the barrier.
[It was nothing more than a performance.]
Rumble rumble rumble---!!!
As he spoke, vibrations rang out at the same time.
It was impossible to tell whether they were vibrations that had been echoing from the beginning or ones he had created.
Whoosh-!
In an instant, black energy surged from his shoulder toward the sky.
It was clearly an immense amount of energy.
The energy rose and seeped into the black sphere floating above. Then, at last—
Fwoooooosh---!!
Using the black sphere as a launch point, it began creating a domain in every direction.
It took no more than a few seconds.
Once that brief span had passed, an unknown darkness had settled over the surrounding area.
-Hie… Hieeeek…
-W-what is this…? What is this?!
The proclamation of an unknown energy.
The black mist and domain were more than enough to fill the people around them with fear.
Those who had been screaming for him to move aside or begging for their lives found their voices stifled by it.
Overwhelming terror made it impossible even to scream.
Thud.
The figure’s foot finally touched the ground.
Precisely between Hwangbo Yeolwi and the old man.
[I apologize for disrupting the wretched festival you created.]
The inner energy contained in his voice was so powerful that their ears tingled.
Slide.
He released his hands from behind his back and lowered one of them.
[Under ordinary circumstances, I had no intention of interfering like this… But unfortunately, a problem arose.]
At that moment—
“…Kheuuugh!”
Hwangbo Yeolwi, who was standing beside him, suddenly screamed and was flung backward.
And that was not all.
Boom-! Kwang krrrdrdr-!!
He had been thrown back with such violent force that his massive body smashed through the ground and rolled a considerable distance away.
“…Kheugh!!”
He coughed up blood repeatedly before—
Thud.
He finally collapsed onto the ground, shuddered a few times, and then went limp.
He seemed to have lost consciousness.
“…That is…!”
Someone inside the barrier shouted in surprise.
Wh-when did he attack?”
The man could not even hide his flowing cold sweat.
As far as he had seen, the figure had merely lowered the arm that had been behind his back. Yet afterward, Hwangbo Yeolwi had fallen so violently!
“…I did not see the moment he attacked.”
“To look as though he had remained still… Just how fast was he?”
“W-what in the world is that man?”
They had been shocked only moments ago by the realm of the Hwangbo Clan Head.
They had just been stunned by the fact that the Hwangbo Clan Head had become such an incredible master.
And yet that same Hwangbo Yeolwi had been defeated so miserably.
They had not even seen the moment of the attack.
As a result, something beyond astonishment filled the faces of those present.
And—
‘…Hmm.’
This was also true of the masked man himself.
Gu Yangcheon.
With an unseen sidelong glance, he looked at the fallen Hwangbo Yeolwi and thought—
‘…That uncle.’
Why in the world—
‘…Why is he so good at acting?’
It was a genuine question.
He had only told the man to pretend to faint appropriately. Who could have known that he would suddenly scream and collapse like that?
Gu Yangcheon had been so flustered that his mouth had fallen wide open.
Fortunately, he was wearing a mask. Otherwise, his expression would have given everything away.
“…C-Cult Leader…”
Beside him, the First Demon was looking at him with sparkling eyes, as though deeply moved.
He did not particularly want to receive that kind of look from an old man of such an advanced age.
In any case—
Gu Yangcheon hid his confusion and looked toward the barrier.
Every single person’s expression was a sight to behold.
Perhaps because Hwangbo Yeolwi had performed several times better than he had expected, their reactions were extraordinary.
Yes. Those were exactly the expressions Gu Yangcheon had wanted.
No, perhaps they were even more extreme than he had hoped for.
It did not matter.
Excess was better than insufficiency.
And so, Gu Yangcheon—
[It is a pleasure to meet you.]
—began to say what he had wanted to tell them.
This was the starting point of a plan he had prepared for a very long time.
[I am—]
On a day much like today in his previous life—
[The Heaven of the Demonic Cult, whom you will fear and worship from this day forth.]
The curse spoken by the woman who had torn through the Demon Realm Gate and appeared above the Martial Alliance—
[I am the Heavenly Demon.]