Chapter 213. I’m on a Different Level from You.

Right now, my goal was to buy time for the villains to recover. In any case, the Demonic Cult was full of men who did as they pleased, so the Blue Finger King had withdrawn before the duel was even over, while the White Heaven King and the Red Man King had ambushed me together.

That was why these bastards were of the demonic path.

Still, that was fine.

After all, the essence of the Hao Sect lay not in killing, but in surviving. To me, it was more important that even one of the villains or brothers of the Nammyeong Association not die than that I kill one more cultist here.

Because I was the Hao Sect Leader. Before the next opponent came out, I put a suitable distance between us and shouted.

“Sambok!”

“Yes.”

“Water!”

“We don’t have any.”

As Sambok flustered, Nam Garak received a leather waterskin from one of his subordinates and strode toward me. For the first time in a while, I faced Nam Garak up close and met his eyes.

“Association Leader Nam.”

Nam Garak smiled and nodded.

“Yeah. Our Hao Sect Leader.”

Nam Garak came over, held out the leather waterskin, and said,

“Are you all right?”

“This is just the beginning.”

Only after Nam Garak drew near did I realize that the smell of sweat was thick on his body. It seemed he had come running the moment he received the news. I took three or four gulps of the tastiest water I had drunk recently, then held the leather waterskin back out.

The two of us looked at each other in silence, then grinned.

Since Nam Garak might have been ambushed while coming to give me water, I turned around and kept my eyes on the Demonic Cult.

Drinking water was this difficult.

I could see the cultists wrapping cloth around the Blue Finger King’s pierced hand, while the White Heaven King and the Red Man King stood with their backs turned, conversing.

They seemed to be debating whether to continue one-on-one, or to drive their forces forward and crush me with strength.

Either choice would be an uncomfortable situation for them. The Nammyeong Association, which had joined my side, had far too little prestige, and that must have added to their confusion.

After putting away my wooden sword, I waited calmly until the next opponent came out, then slowly stretched both hands forward.

I drew in a deep breath, then exhaled at length.

“Hoooooo.”

The moment they saw my insignificant movement, the startled Demonic Cult forces all raised their shields at once.

“……!”

Perhaps they had trained harshly, for their movements were swift and perfectly orderly.

I peacefully ignored the Demonic Cult’s fuss, then extended both palms as though I were about to unleash them forward, before slowly waving and moving my hands like ripples on a river. If my movements were needlessly fast, the Demonic Cult might be startled and attack me as a group, so I deliberately moved slowly and even removed my killing intent.

Calmly, peacefully.

As though I were leisurely and carefree.

My hands slow, my footwork slow, my movements slow, my breathing slow.

In any case, the key was to be slow while keeping my mouth shut.

Why on earth was I doing this?

I didn’t know either.

If I had known myself that well, I would never have become the Mad Demon in the first place.

To buy enough time, I needed to draw attention with strange and sluggish actions. Since moving like this alone would be boring and peaceful, I naturally wrapped the Sun-Moon Divine Art around both hands.

‘Good!’

Then this was, naturally, the state just before combining it into the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven.

I moved the sun and moon qi coiled around my hands as if I might or might not merge them into taiji, teasing them, when I suddenly moved both hands this way and that in the direction the Lust Demon was watching. The Lust Demon sprang to his feet and shouted.

“Don’t. You son of a bitch! Don’t do it this way! You crazy bastard!”

When the Lust Demon reacted with such a fuss, the atmosphere among the Demonic Cult also surged like a wave. I slowly turned in a full circle, then moved my white-shining hand and red-shining hand slowly, as though debating whether to merge them into taiji or not, whether to throw it or not.

I repeated inwardly.

‘Throw it or not, throw it or not.’

In other words, this was Taiji Fist. The essence of Taiji Fist was to move more slowly than a turtle and forcibly instill in your opponent thoughts like, ‘What kind of martial art is that?’ or ‘It doesn’t look powerful.’

But if this ultimately merged into taiji and exploded right where I stood, the Demonic Cult would die, I would die, and my allies would die.

At any rate, everyone would die.

So I had the difficulty of having to move as slowly and teasingly as possible with all my heart and soul, while never letting my two hands meet in the end.

This was why Taiji Fist was difficult.

Because only when a man who had mastered the Sun-Moon Divine Art performed it while risking his life did it gain power.

Since I had always liked teasing people, both then and now, I briefly crossed the hands that had been moving separately, one above the other. In that instant, the qi of extreme yang and extreme yin brushed together, and a crackling sound rang throughout the area.

“Whoa……!”

A restless murmur was spreading through the Demonic Cult as well, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Some fearless bastard stepped forward to attack me, only to be stopped by the Red Man King.

“Stay still.”

“Yes.”

Just then, an old man’s voice came from the Demonic Cult’s side.

“I will go next.”

“Elder Jo, will you step forward?”

For some reason, the mention of the surname Jo did not make me think of Cao Cao, but of the three Jo brothers. The moment the names Jo Ilseom, Jo Igyeol, and Jo Sampyeong brushed through my mind, I combined the sun-moon qi into taiji.

“……!”

At that instant, I heard nothing, but tinnitus set in, and I frowned.

When I checked the Demonic Cult forces, they were all covering their ears as well. When faced with something unreal, did even those brainwashed by doctrine awaken their instincts? I saw the ones who had been looking at me hunch over like startled baby terrapins.

I had already fallen once again into a forced world of silence. Perhaps, when I had performed Taiji Fist, I had compressed qi into both hands far too excessively. The thunderous roar I heard every time I unleashed the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven had vanished.

Instead, I confirmed the light I had created.

‘I’m screwed.’

It looked different from the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven I had made before. If I had to describe it, it resembled the strange pattern of the Heavenly Jade I had swallowed at Manjang Cliff. If I threw it at close range, I could annihilate three of the Four Heavenly Kings and even kill the remaining elders in the front line, but then even I would suffer serious injuries.

I had no choice but to hurl the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven, which had become unbelievably heavy, as far away as I could with all my strength. Even amid that, I calculated the arc of its trajectory and the aftermath of the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven. As the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven, spinning in the shape of an ominous sphere, shot into the sky, a calm voice flowed from the Demonic Cult.

“Destroy it in midair.”

In an instant, the entire Demonic Cult poured hidden weapons, arms, palm force, sword qi, and secret techniques toward the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven floating in the air. Then the White Heaven King, who had seemed the most composed, raised both hands and began unleashing a frigid palm force over the Demonic Cult forces. He was quick-witted; it looked like an action meant to protect his allies.

I diligently backed away as I watched the spectacle.

“Damn it…….”

Only after the hidden weapons and arms sucked into the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven disappeared without a trace did I turn around and start running. I gestured toward my wide-eyed allies and shouted.

“Go!”

I had clearly spoken, but the ringing in my ears continued, so I couldn’t hear my own voice. I was about to speak again when I rose into the air. Fortunately, the quick-witted Lecherous Demon bravely stood up and unleashed a pair of white palms toward the front. Then the Sword Demon swung his Radiant Light Sword, and the Ghost Demon spread a screen of sword energy.

They were all ultimate techniques meant to protect our allies.

Even in the midst of that, the Demonic Cult attacked to destroy the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven.

The villains simultaneously unleashed defensive techniques to protect one another.

It was the moment our fates were divided.

When an unbearable danger descends, protecting one another is the correct answer. Floating in the air, I too turned around and defended as wide an area as possible, Great Hand Seals coiled around both hands.

But even I couldn’t help being pushed away by the aftermath and was sent flying far off. Dirt poured over my face and entire body, but by now, even this kind of bullshit felt somewhat welcome.

As soon as I regained my balance, I landed on the ground, rolled three or four more times, and got back up.

“Hooah.”

With both hands on my waist, I stared ahead. When I suddenly looked up at the sky, the Four Treasures of the Study were traveling off somewhere. For an instant, it looked as if the inkstone floating in the air had disappeared, but I couldn’t tell whether it was an illusion or because of the wind.

I closed my mouth, pinched my nostrils shut with my hand, and blew out air. Only then did both my ears open up.

“…….”

When I checked the front, the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven had exploded in the middle of the Demonic Cult forces, and corpses lay in a pattern where sunlight had spread in every direction. In truth, they weren’t corpses but blood, chunks of flesh, and torn clothing. As if they had truly trained harshly, even the remnants of shields had left only blackened traces in the positions where they had tried to block the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven.

Only then did I look at our side.

Dust was rising, so I couldn’t see anything.

However, the Four Great Evildoers had unleashed their ultimate techniques to block the aftermath of the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven, so they were sprawled nearby.

Only then did I draw my wooden sword and head alone toward the Demonic Cult’s formation. Since I had started this intending to kill them all anyway, it was only right to see it through to the end. From beginning to end, the Hao Clan was the enemy of the Demonic Cult. I had already killed many, so it didn’t matter if I killed more. I used qinggong to pierce through the dust, then stepped over the remnants of the shields and searched for those still alive. Whenever I saw someone twitching, I stabbed my wooden sword into them without much thought.

Only then did I hear the sounds of rats fleeing, and the dust around me was settling.

I checked my own voice.

“Ah, ah…….”

I had to keep spitting to get the dust out of my mouth. For an instant, I thought a black silhouette moved within the dust, and then I saw a pitch-black longsword. I knocked it aside with my wooden sword and retreated, and a man in black I had never seen before attacked me while covered in dirt. His expression was utterly calm.

‘How is he so perfectly fine?’

In an instant, I exchanged more than ten moves with the man in black before speaking.

“Are you the Nether King?”

What kind of mole-like bastard was this? The Black Nether King seemed to have been watching everything without uttering a word, dressed in the same clothes his subordinates wore. Only then did I examine his sword, and it resembled the wooden sword in my hand. My guess was that he had hidden underground while clutching his surviving subordinates, then emerged.

His sword was extremely fast.

Unlike when I had pressured the Azure Wisdom King, I couldn’t see even a single plum blossom. Just as I barely found a plum blossom in one spot and switched to the offensive, the Black Nether King’s mouth opened.

“Huk!”

As soon as I saw black liquid in the Black Nether King’s mouth, I held my breath and retreated. In an instant, pitch-black mist spread out in a fan shape. I sent out sword wind with my wooden sword to secure my vision, but the Black Nether King had already disappeared.

Even through all that, the Black Nether King had not let out his own voice.

‘A proper assassin.’

With that level of skill, it wouldn’t be strange if he were the leader of the assassins within the Demonic Cult. Likewise, perhaps the Black Nether King had crossed swords with me to buy time, because no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t find the corpses of the Four Heavenly Kings.

I moved around, checking the bodies. In the meantime, my mood became slightly unpleasant, and I looked around the battlefield that had turned into chaos.

I couldn’t see anything, but because I felt uneasy, I widened my field of vision and stared at a distant hill.

There was a table placed atop the hill. Beside it, Chilgyeom was standing by with both hands clasped.

Naturally, seated at the table was the White-Robed Scholar, holding a brush and drawing while looking at the place where the Sun-Moon Radiant Heaven had exploded.

I stared at the White-Robed Scholar without doing anything.

“…….”

The White-Robed Scholar extended his brush toward me and gauged my height for the painting.

When I kept glaring at him, the White-Robed Scholar spoke in a tone imbued with internal energy.

“Hao Clan Master, it’s been a while. Painting is my hobby, so do understand.”

I nodded, then sheathed my sword and replied.

“Turtle shell, long time no see. Hobbies deserve respect. Shall I strike a pose for you?”

The White-Robed Scholar asked me in a curious tone.

“What kind of pose?”

I extended both hands forward as if taking the opening stance of Taiji Fist. The White-Robed Scholar leaned his head forward and asked me.

“Ah, what martial art is that?”

I gave the White-Robed Scholar the wrong answer.

“It’s called Taiji Fist.”

The White-Robed Scholar pointed at me with his brush and said to Chilgyeom.

“Chilgyeom, look.”

“Yes, Master.”

“That is what you call a genius. I taught him one thing, yet hasn’t an entirely bizarre martial art come out of it? He is on a different level from you lot. To think he’s a man who creates Taiji Fist after I handed him ice arts—I haven’t seen such a man in recent times. Applaud him.”

I looked at the White-Robed Scholar with the Four Great Evildoers, who had joined me at some point. The White-Robed Scholar was applauding me together with Chilbok, smiling all the while.

I also found the White-Robed Scholar’s behavior funny, so I laughed along with him.