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Chapter 104. The Entire World is My Home (25)
Chapter 104. The Entire World is My Home (25)
Chapter 104. The Entire World is My Home (25)
After he finished speaking to Woo-Gang, Woo-Moon patted his head once before calling out.
“Ma-Ra!”
Her response came from a place where there was clearly no one visible.
“What?”
“I need to treat Woo-Gang’s internal injuries. Please protect us.”
“Okay.”
Woo-Moon knew he had nothing to worry about as long as Ma-Ra was protecting them. He sat down across from his brother.
“I’m going to be teaching you one of our father’s martial arts, the Auspicious Cloud Lifting Aura Art. Yes, I said ‘our father’s.’ Treatment first, questions later. For now, just try and memorize the sutra.”
For Woo-Moon, the Auspicious Cloud Lifting Aura Art only served to provide a small amount of aid toward his cultivation. However, for Woo-Gang, considering it had many aspects that were as good if not better than the Violet Haze Divine Art, the Auspicious Cloud Lifting Aura Art would be of great help.
Woo-Moo repeated the sutra twice for Woo-Gang.
Even though Woo-Gang was not exactly as talented as Woo-Moon, he wasn’t too far behind. He was able to not only memorize the sutra completely after two recitations, but also comprehend some of its subtleties.
“Now, open your mouth.”
Woo-Gang obediently opened his mouth without the slightest question.
Plop!
A drop of the Pure Stalactite Milk fell into Woo-Gang’s mouth and mixed with his saliva before flowing down his throat.
'W-what’s this?!'
Fearing that some of its energy would leak if he opened his mouth, Woo-Gang couldn’t speak. However, his eyes widened as he looked at Woo-Moon.
“It’s Pure Stalactite Milk. I’m going to begin healing your internal injuries and help you absorb the energy of the Pure Stalactite Milk, so focus on circulating your qi according to the Auspicious Cloud Lifting Aura Art and accepting the energy.”
Woo-Moon placed his palms on the massive back of Woo-Gang, who resembled their father in stature. He began to circulate his qi, preparing to imbue Woo-Gang with it and observe his meridians.
‘Okay, let’s begin.’
Woo-Moon had some experience treating internal injuries by now, so was able to treat his younger brother without difficulty.
Thanks to the Auspicious Cloud Lifting Aura Art’s ability to create a smooth and fast qi flow, along with the added strength of the Pure Stalactite Milk, Woo-Moon’s treatment was much faster than expected. Woo-Gang was able to stand after only a short time had passed.
“Thank you, hyung.”
Woo-Gang’s internal injuries had been healed, and that was not all. The light emanating from his eyes was also stronger than before.
“It’s fine, you little brat. Did you think I couldn’t do even this for my little brother?”
“But, what is this Auspicious Cloud Lifting Aura Art? And what do you mean it's our father’s...”
“Well...”
Woo-Moon slowly explained their family’s secret origins, starting from the existence of the Western Nihility Gate all the way to its cruel destruction by Martial Heaven.
"Unbelievable...”
Woo-Gang was so shocked that he couldn’t speak properly for a while.
After giving him enough time to process this information, Woo-Moon continued.
“You’ll also need to learn the Western Nihility’s Three Absolutes. Now, listen carefully. Besides the cultivation method I just taught you, the other two of the Three Absolutes are the Transcendent Flash Sword and the Formless Finger...”
Woo-Moon taught Woo-Gang just as Dae-Woong had done before, while Woo-Gang began to display the Transcendent Flash Sword’s basic stances and forms.
It was easier for Woo-Gang to learn, as Woo-Moon had conveyed the technique more systematically and accurately than Dae-Woong.
“Do you think you’ve gotten it all?”
After gathering his thoughts for a moment, Woo-Gang nodded his head with a confident gaze.
“Yeah, I got it all.”
“Good. Then, let’s go now. You shouldn’t have to worry about Hyeon Mu-Cheol, either. How could he do anything considering he got beat up even though he brought four other people with him?”
Woo-Moon had seen right through Hyeon Mu-Cheol’s personality.
Woo-Gang agreed with his assessment as the brothers descended from the mountain and returned to the Justice Coalition. As they arrived at the estate, they talked about various things that had happened to themselves before parting and heading to their respective quarters.
***
“What? Say it again,” the old woman asked calmly from beyond the curtain.
One of the masked figures prostrating before her answered, “We couldn’t find the Heavenly Demon Egg!”
“Hmm.”
The old woman lifted her wrinkled finger and touched her chin.
Squelch!
Suddenly, the head of the masked figure who had just spoken exploded like a watermelon, sending crimson blood and brain matter flying everywhere.
“Next. Speak.”
“We’ll conduct a thorough search of the places that woman had passed by again—”
Squelch!
The head of the next masked figure exploded, too.
“Next.”
“We will put our lives on the line to retrieve the Heave—”
Squelch!
In just mere moments, there wasn’t a single masked figure with an intact head before the curtain.
“Annihilation.”
A man dressed in red dropped from the ceiling.
“Yes, Master.”
The old woman threw him one of the spirit tablets on the table.
“I’ll give you control over the Blood Ghosts. Recover the Heavenly Demon Egg by any means possible within six months.”
“I’ve received your order!”
The man named Annihilation disappeared.
The old woman stroked the cat in her arms, slowly releasing her qi. As her qi spread, the corpses of the masked figures that filled the room before her rose into the air, then burst into violet flames that turned them all into handfuls of ashes within moments.
“Hoo.”
The old woman exhaled slowly, and all the smoke and ash was blown out of the room as her breath was wind itself. Then, her voice echoed once more.
“This seems like it’s going to be a little fun.”
***
“Song Woo-Moon?”
“Yes. You’ll have to watch out for him,” So Geom-Rak said to his second elder brother as they walked through the ranks of the twenty thousand Hegemon Clan warriors boiling with momentum.
“And here I thought it was strange that you stopped drinking these days. You really must have lost your mind. To think you’d tell us to be wary of those weaklings of the Justice Coalition, hahaha.”
“He really is strong.”
“Quiet! How can the third young master of the Hegemon Clan praise some brat of the Justice Coalition?”
Hearing his elder brother’s anger, Drunken Moonfall Saber So Geom-Rak gave up on convincing him.
‘You could—no, you will end up in big trouble if you let your guard down.”
So Myeong-Chan, the second young master of the Hegemon Clan, passed through the gates of the Hegemon Clan and walked out with confident steps.
Thud, boom!
The twenty thousand warriors shouted as they bowed in unison.
“We wish the second young master success!”
“Yeah, yeah. As always, I’ll return in victory. Hahaha.”
So Myeong-Chan set out with the other talents of the Hegemon Clan following him. They were finally setting off for the spar against the Justice Coalition.
He was confident.
So Myeong-Chan was sure of their victory as they were armed with a secret weapon that he was sure none of the talents of the Justice Coalition could deal with. He planned on using that secret weapon from the beginning, wanting to directly suppress the Justice Coalition.
‘It would be nice if we could kill several of the Justice Coalition brats in the process.’
The secret weapon So Myeong-Chan was thinking of was a young man walking slightly behind him. Well...more like a young-looking man, because the only thing young about him was his appearance. This “young man” was in fact a century old.
He was none other than the only disciple of the Absolute Master Ageless Demon Emperor, who had been infamous in the distant past.
Dealer of Death and Destruction, Sha Xiao.[1]
Sha Xiao was currently disguised as San Woo-Gyeol, a young member of the Dominating Fist San Family, one of the Four Great Pillars of the Hegemon Clan.
‘Song Woo-Moon? Keke, I don’t know how strong you really are, but could you really compare to both me and Sha Xiao?’
***
The next day, the tournament to elect the Righteous Warrior Squadron Captain started.
“Let’s go, Ma-Ra.”
“Okay.”
Woo-Moon’s first opponent was Cheong Oh of the Wudang Sect.
Although having to face a talent of the Wudang Sect from the very beginning would normally be an unlucky fate, neither Woo-Moon nor the talents of the Three Great Sword Families paid much attention.
‘So it’s the Wudang Sect’s Taiji Swordplay...’
Woo-Moon went on the defensive at the beginning, his eyes shining. It was only after he observed all of the transformations of Cheong Oh’s Taiji Swordplay that he used the Divine Phantasm Steps and caused Cheong Oh to become dizzy.
A massive storm seemed to fill the stage as Cold Snow, North Wind, and Heavy Rain were unleashed one after another, eventually causing Cheong Oh to drop his sword.
Clang!
Cheong Oh was flustered seeing Woo-Moon reveal his true skill and suddenly shift from defending to attacking. Before he knew it, he could only look on in disbelief as his sword lay far away.
‘I lost!’
Realizing there was no denying it, he bowed deeply toward Woo-Moon.
“Your martial skills have already reached an incredibly high level, it seems. I’ve lost.”
Woo-Moon didn’t dislike Cheong Oh, seeing that his eyes were full of depth and sincerity befitting a martial artist of the Wudang Sect.
“You’re also very impressive, brother Cheong Oh. I was lucky to win this time, but no one knows what will happen when we spar again.”
At the same time, Baekri Yeong-Woon and Namgoong Sung were also competing on a different stage. Fortunately, they, too, were able to achieve victory after fierce competition.
Woo-Moon’s next opponent was the Sichuan Tang Family’s Divine Dragon Tang Jeok!
After observing Tang Jeok’s flashy hidden weapon techniques for some time, Woo-Moon drew a line with his sword in the air, as if to connect dots on an invisible piece of paper. Knocking aside numerous projectiles seemingly out of thin air, he quickly leaped forward and pressed Tang Jeok for the win.
Seeing that Woo-Moon had won twice, the talents of the sects and the families present were shocked. As they had mentioned, all of them had assumed that he had become the Baek Family’s representative by relying only on his background. However, Woo-Moon’s actions were directly disproving their original assumptions.
“He’s incredible!”
“As expected of the Palm Martial Emperor’s grandson.”
The term “Palm Martial Emperor’s grandson” would shift in meaning depending on Woo-Moon’s performance. However, whatever the case the other talents still thought that Woo-Moon had only been able to win against Cheong Oh and Tang Jeok after putting up a great struggle.
In both spars, Woo-Moon seemed to have been overwhelmed and forced into a defensive position before eventually winning, leaving them to believe that was all he amounted to.
There wasn’t a single person, at least among the younger generation, who could tell why Woo-Moon was acting the way he was.
Woo-Moon’s third opponent was Baekri Yeong-Woon.
Unlike Woo-Moon, Baekri Yeong-Woon was exhausted after two spars. Still, he fought as hard as he could before eventually admitting defeat.
At the same time, Namgoong Sung also sparred with Yu Cho of Mount Hua before being defeated.
***
On the first day, Woo-Moon had reached the top four after defeating Baekri Yeong-Woon. On the second, his semifinal match was against Xiahou Jinxian.
Xiahou Jinxian frowned as he saw Woo-Moon stand on the sparring ground with a smile spread across his face.
‘Since I’ve already learned everything you had to show me, it’s pointless to waste time with you.’
Woo-Moon used the Northern Wind Steps and bolted toward Xiahou Jinxian.
“Whoa!”
As Woo-Moon’s figure suddenly seemed to zoom in as if he was using a magic trick, Xiahou Jinxian was flustered and hurriedly responded with his Golden Snake Divine Palm.
However, Woo-Moon’s figure suddenly blurred again at that moment.
‘Those damned Divine Phantasm Steps!’
“Ugh!”
Kicked in the back, Xiahou Jinxian flew through the air like a kite with a broken string and fell to a corner of the sparring ground.
—You’re lucky that they asked me not to get too violent here.
Hearing Woo-Moon’s voice in his ears, Xiahou Jinxian was worried that he had been dealt severe internal injuries. However, he was relieved after realizing that he looked worse than he felt and had suffered no damage to his organs.
Now that he realized that the difference between his and Woo-Moon’s skills was too great to be overcome, much of his anger bled away.
“Song Woo-Moon of the Iron Sword Baek Family, Victory!”
When the Martial Minister of the Justice Coalition serving as the referee declared the result of the match, Yu Cho frowned.
“Song Woo-Moon! It seems like you haven’t used any of your strength so far.”
Of course, Yu Cho was the same. Although he had continuously sparred since yesterday, the consumption of his qi was minimal.
In addition, he had pressured and destroyed his opponents from the very beginning. Thus, in the eyes of the spectators, Yu Cho’s martial skills seemed to be at a tremendous level, worlds apart from those of the other participants.
Although Woo-Moon had also shown a similar performance when he overwhelmed Xiahou Jinxian, the overall evaluation of the talents was that Yu Cho was stronger than Woo-Moon due to Woo-Moon’s previous struggles.
However, the very person considered stronger, Yu Cho, was overcome with extreme anxiety and tension. Biting his nails like a child, he couldn’t stop thinking about the incredible skill that Woo-Moon had displayed during his fight with Ah Hee.
The other of the two Martial Ministers refereeing the spars, a member of one of the minor sects and a Transcendent Class expert, spoke to Yu Cho.
“We’ll be holding the finals later, so please prepare.”
Meanwhile, as Woo-Woon went to the smithy with Ma-Ra to retrieve her weapons, Jeong-Woo hurriedly ran toward him.
“Un-uncle!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ryeong-ie, Ryeong-ie has disappeared!”[2]
“What?”
1. His name and title literally translate to Obliteration Destruction Murder Vanquishing, or affectionately, MURDER MURDER MURDER MURDER. ?
2. The suffix -ie is added to given names in Korean like ‘er in Chinese and -chan in Japanese, in a familiar and close manner. ?