Chapter 166. Inside the Cave (2)
A technique that works even against an enemy who can withstand [Heavenly Splendor Great Thunder].
Kang Yujin was instantly interested.
If the Fist Venerable really taught him a finishing move like that...
it would become a tremendous weapon in future battles.
“Well? Do you want to learn it?”
“Of course.”
Kang Yujin knelt in front of the Fist Venerable.
“Please teach me.”
“Good.”
The Fist Venerable nodded.
Then she stepped back and took a light breath.
“Then let’s begin.”
“Yes...?”
At that instant...
a ferocious kick slammed into Kang Yujin.
BOOOOM!
He was sent flying backward and crashed into the cave wall.
Ugh...?!
There had been internal energy behind that attack.
If Kang Yujin hadn’t hurriedly activated [Protective Aura], he might actually have died.
“Was that... the finishing move?”
Kang Yujin asked through the pain.
The Fist Venerable lowered her leg.
“No.”
“What?”
“That was just a warm-up.”
What the hell was she talking about?
“If you wanted to warm up, couldn’t you just do it by yourself...?”
“Stop whining, brat.”
“I told you, I’m not a brat...”
Right after that...
the Fist Venerable moved again.
"...!"
A razor-sharp kick flew toward Kang Yujin’s temple.
He managed to block it with his forearm, but a heavy impact shook through him.
Didn’t she put way too much internal energy into that?!
The Fist Venerable continued attacking.
Kang Yujin raised his guard and endured.
It’s harder to defend because there’s no killing intent...!
If his defensive ability hadn’t improved so much compared to before, he would already have gone down.
Am I supposed to keep blocking? Am I not allowed to counterattack?!
Kang Yujin studied the Fist Venerable’s face.
The moment their eyes met...
she grinned.
That means I can, right?
Deciding that on his own, Kang Yujin lowered his body as far as possible.
The Fist Venerable’s fist cut through empty air.
Using that opening, Kang Yujin rushed forward.
It wasn’t the Hwaseong Sect Shoulder Crash, but he intended to ram her with his shoulder.
With his current body and internal energy, even an old woman like the Fist Venerable should be sent flying instantly.
"...!"
But the Fist Venerable had already disappeared.
Where?!
Kang Yujin hurriedly turned his head, searching for her.
BOOM!
An impact struck from the lower right.
"...?!"
He tried to respond instantly.
But almost at the same moment, another impact came from the upper left.
Then from the front.
Then another direction.
And another.
How many attacks were there?
An uncountable number struck in a single instant.
Too... fast!
By the time Kang Yujin came back to his senses...
he was on his knees, collapsed in place.
He hadn’t properly blocked even one of the countless attacks unleashed in that instant.
The reflexes that had completely shut down Yang Weizheng’s offense couldn’t respond to the Fist Venerable’s speed.
If those attacks had carried killing intent...
If he had taken that combination in a real battle...
he wouldn’t have survived.
That was how fast the Fist Venerable’s attacks were.
And how sharp.
“Well, brat?”
“Call me whatever you want.”
Kang Yujin lowered his head.
“What’s the name of this Skill?”
“What?”
“It has a name, doesn’t it?”
If this was a finishing-move-class Skill created by the Fist Venerable...
it should have some impressive name like [Heavenly Splendor Great Thunder].
“Brat, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“What?”
“You thought what I just used was the finishing move I promised to teach you?”
“Wasn’t it?”
“If I used it as a killing technique, I suppose it would qualify.”
“Then...”
“This is just fundamentals.”
"..."
Kang Yujin was speechless.
There were two reasons.
First, he was stunned by the Fist Venerable’s skill if she could call something like this ‘fundamentals.’
And second...
he was frustrated that she still hadn’t taught him the finishing move she had promised.
“Kang Yujin, I understand how you feel.”
The Fist Venerable smiled.
“But you can’t expect to be full after the first spoonful.”
“I think I finished the first spoonful a long time ago.”
“You really do talk back at every opportunity.”
“Then at least tell me what kind of finishing move it is.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll develop preconceptions.”
Kang Yujin couldn’t understand her at all.
“But before that...”
The Fist Venerable took another small breath and settled into a stance.
“Keep getting hit.”
At that instant...
she disappeared again.
The relentless barrage began once more.
“What do you think?”
“Hard to say.”
At the Demon Venerable’s question, the Sword Venerable stroked his chin.
“Fifty-fifty.”
“You’re more pessimistic than I expected.”
“I’m being objective.”
Watching Kang Yujin get beaten down by the Fist Venerable, the Sword Venerable spoke slowly.
“Whether we can ‘complete’ that kid before it’s too late...”
“All three of us are throwing ourselves into this, but I’d still put it at fifty-fifty.”
“If you see it that way, then that is probably correct.”
Of the three, the Sword Venerable seemed the most frivolous.
But he also had the sharpest eye.
“Still, he’s rewarding to teach.”
“That much is true.”
“He’s the best disciple we could ask for.”
The Sword Venerable nodded.
“That kid has talent.”
“I’m not talking about his physical abilities.”
“He has talent as a fighter.”
"..."
“His reflexes are excellent, his instincts are sharp, and whenever you teach him something, he picks it up quickly.”
The Sword Venerable sighed deeply.
“He really is worth training.”
“If only we’d met him earlier.”
“Indeed.”
“One year... no, even one month earlier would have changed things.”
Regret appeared on the Sword Venerable’s face.
“We could have taught him everything with more time to spare.”
“Jegal Geum probably thought the same thing.”
“Well... yeah. Probably.”
Thinking of their sworn friend who had died in his homeland, the two old men sighed.
“We truly don’t have enough time.”
“No.”
“Not enough time to teach Kang Yujin... and not enough time left for us either.”
That was something the Demon Venerable, Sword Venerable, and Fist Venerable all felt constantly.
All three had trained their entire lives.
But they had only begun truly realizing the value of that training after becoming Contractors.
Over the past ten years, they had grown at an astonishing rate.
Yet they needed more time.
If possible, they wanted another fifty years.
With that much time...
they felt they might genuinely transcend humanity.
But all three were already too old.
Their ages differed, but each of them could feel their limits approaching.
“If only Chairman Jin had really completed Rejuvenation.”
“There’s no point talking about that.”
“I know.”
Jin Gahui publicly claimed to have achieved Rejuvenation.
But that was an exaggeration used to promote the Black Dragon Society.
He had acquired a Skill called [Body Alteration and Appearance Transformation], which allowed him to make himself look somewhat younger.
But it had not extended his actual lifespan.
Jin Gahui appeared to be a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.
In reality...
he was over ninety.
“Sword Venerable, do you at least want your face to look young?”
“What would be the point?”
The Sword Venerable snickered.
“Imagine seducing a woman with a young face, only to get into bed and discover your old body can’t do its job.”
“How humiliating would that be?”
“You say that as though you were popular with women when you were young.”
“Oh? Have you forgotten?”
“When I was young, this body of mine...”
While they were talking...
the Fist Venerable shouted from across the cave.
“Stop talking like a pair of old geezers and come help me over here!”
She had stopped beating Kang Yujin for the moment.
“Don’t leave everything to me!”
“Why are you calling us over during your training session?”
“Can’t be helped.”
The two complained...
but still got to their feet.
There truly wasn’t enough time.
If necessary, all three would attack Kang Yujin at once to train him.
They had to complete him before it was too late.
Before the casualties grew any worse.
Black Dragon Society Vice Chairman Liu Zhenping’s eyes widened.
He could no longer endure the sight before him.
“You vicious bastard...”
The muscles across his entire body swelled.
For a brief time, he obtained a body far surpassing that of ordinary young men despite his age.
This was why Liu Zhenping was still called the Heaven-Breaking Fist Emperor.
“Hmm. You have quite an interesting body.”
The one answering from atop countless corpses was a black-haired man.
He had a powerful build and slightly dark-red skin.
“Too many pathetic opponents have been appearing lately.”
The man smiled.
“You might finally be able to entertain me a little.”
“Don’t speak so arrogantly, Heavenly Demon Emperor!”
“Heavenly Demon Emperor...”
The man’s smile deepened.
“That’s what you humans have been calling me lately.”
“I looked into it.”
“The ancient Indian demon Mara Papiyas was translated into various names throughout the Sinosphere.”
“Mara. Papiya. Papiyan. Heavenly Demon.”
“Heavenly Demon Emperor is apparently one of those names.”
Foremost among demons.
That was the meaning contained in the title.
“It isn’t bad.”
The man tilted his head.
“But if possible, why not call me something simpler?”
“What?”
“How about Demon King?”
“There were translations like that as well, weren’t there?”
Demon King.
The instant Liu Zhenping heard that title...
he felt the hair on his body rise.
Among the demons of Pandemonium, only one being had ever truly been called by that title.
The Demon King... Lucifer!
The strongest demon of them all.
The ruler among rulers who had led Pandemonium’s Seventy-Two Demons into this world and tried to become the master of everything.
Was the Heavenly Demon Emperor truly trying to become that Demon King?
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Liu Zhenping roared and drew out even more power.
“Hmm?”
The man’s eyes sharpened.
“You’re drawing out your very life force?”
True Origin Energy.
Or Innate Energy.
The life force a person was born with.
It was considered energy absolutely necessary to sustain life.
“I see.”
“So you have resolved yourself to die.”
“No.”
Liu Zhenping glared at him.
“The one who needs to prepare for death is you, demon!”
As his muscles swelled to their absolute limit, Liu Zhenping thought of the daughter he had left behind in Shanghai.
She was capable.
Talented as both a Contractor and a future successor to the Black Dragon Society.
Her future was bright.
But she was awkward at living her own life.
As her father, that was what worried him.
That was why he hoped she would find a partner soon.
If she found someone to share her life with and discovered the joy of building a family...
perhaps she would live a richer life.
Kang Yujin would have been... pretty good.
With that thought...
Liu Zhenping kicked off the ground.
The ‘Heavenly Demon Emperor,’ Asmodeus, who had been appearing across China and destroying major strongholds belonging to both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions...
finally appeared in Nanjing, right on Shanghai’s doorstep.
The Black Dragon Society deployed the 820 members of a death squad that had been prepared in advance.
Under Vice Chairman Liu Zhenping’s command...
the ‘Heavenly Demon Emperor Subjugation Operation’ began.
After an intense battle...
Asmodeus disappeared just as leisurely as he always had.
And the death squad was annihilated.
There were no survivors.
