Chapter 135

The softness of a shaman.
The hardness of Shaolin.
And the unbridled aggression of a panga.
All of them are said to be martial arts of the highest order. The shaman’s taijiquan sword is said to be the ultimate, the Shaolin’s Arahan and Bai Bo Xin Kung Fu have long been the unchallenged rulers of the Central Wushu, and Pang’s Oho Dan Mundo is the ultimate in martial arts.
Then.
Is my martial art special compared to them?
No, it is not. My martial art is no different from theirs.
Manliu Guizhong.
Special martial arts, or pure martial arts.
I had been taught by Zhuge Liang that all martial arts eventually boil down to the same thing, and that added depth.
So I was confused.
The strange mystery of duality, of undoing and reversing all martial arts, of using one’s own power in addition to one’s opponent’s power, was changing the path I had known.
An elder and teacher came to me and expressed that there must be a limit to all martial arts. Of course there was.
Nangong Shi and Nangong Han came to me and told me to hold out and not attack. I couldn’t do that, for it was only a method of evasion, not destruction.
Black Lake came and told me about the attack,
Bupyeong came and taught them how the ice ball works.
Namgung Hyeok and Namgungal recalled their secret affair with Mo Yonglu and devised various methods.
Pang Gak relayed Pang Hyang’s words and told him to avoid them. He adds that it’s not a flight, but an operational retreat.
That’s right. I am now standing on the borderline between worry and comfort.
And I felt uncomfortable knowing that I was causing quite a few people to worry.
I’ve gone from being the outcast in my family to being the center of attention.
I’ve become someone’s will and someone’s worry.
The duel with Mo Yongyeon had a different significance, as it resolved the family’s longing for knowledge and made me reflect on my time with my family.
He formed the Fengyun branch and formed the Nine Families and the Sixth Generation.
At the same time, the Zheng family has reached out to the Huang family, and the Zheng family is in its best period of revival.
The conclusion I came to was to look back at my own martial arts.
A fight that must be won.
A fight that I must win.
I concluded.
For three days, I traveled alone to Bidong, where I must meld my realizations and give everything I have.
In the bundle of myriad energies of the short circuit.
A single, faintly germinating seed had blossomed into a blossoming flower, the foundation of all my energies.
It was all I was in my previous life, and in this life, it is the energy that lies at the root of my body.
Between the veins and arteries, there was a foundation of great pores, and there were two kinds of energy flowing through them, the Chang Tian Great Spiritual Energy and the Thunder King Spiritual Energy.
If it weren’t for the veins, arteries, and pathways of the Great Yan Gong throughout the body, it would be impossible to break through.
Feeling his circulation freed up, he led the Thunder King God, the energy of the polar yang, from the perineum to the dragon blood, and then from the dragon blood to the white gray blood, like a nodo.
One could feel the uncontrollable rush of thunder within the surging energy.
If the Great Yan Dynasty was the root, then the Thunder King Divine Gong was the giant tree that grew on top of it.
The branches continue to spread out and reveal their presence.
I thought this would be the end.
Pounding, pounding.
I can feel the aura of extreme yin lurking within the aura of extreme yang.
It’s the energy of the bamboo ginseng. It was fortunate that he hadn’t burst into flames, as he had the opposite aura to the Thunder King Divine Gong.
Whenever I felt that my strength was insufficient, the extreme yin energy of the bamboo ginseng would rear its head, and I felt like my body would crumble under the pressure.
It was probably because I was using my energy without realizing it. I think I was trying to cover it up and use the energy without realizing it.
But where was the extreme yin energy?
“I still haven’t cultivated the gemstone.”
It’s another energy that allows green leaves to sprout at the ends of branches. It passes from the Great Yan Gong to the Thunder King Divine Gong, and then back to the Great Yan Gong.
It was also the blue-blue Great Yan Gong, the energy responsible for the beginning and the end.
Despite my enlightenment, I was still an inadequate human being, as I was only concerned with unleashing my sword.
If others had known about this, they would have screamed at me for not realizing that I had obtained a gemstone with more potential than anyone else.
It was only after I used the Changchendian Great Renewal Technique to make the green leaves on the branches bloom that I realized I needed to unite all my energies.
Merging.
Combine the extreme yang of the Thunder King God and the extreme yin of the Chang Tian Great Spirit God into one. This may be.
Do I move on to the next level.
Or stay like this forever.
Or wait for a later time, an unknown enlightenment, to move forward.
I stood at a crossroads. But I have only one choice.
Progress or regress.
Sluggish, retreat.
My deliberation was short, my choice quick.
I sat down on the trestle and slowly raised the two opposite energies.
The smooth aura of Chang Tian Daiyun was as flexible and vigorous as a snake’s scales. However, its flowing aura was as slippery as a snake’s tongue.
On the contrary, like lava, the latent energy in his volcanic body would burst forth, heating up as if it were about to pierce the heavens and earth at any moment. The name of the Thunder King, the aura that befits the name itself, is overflowing.
The aura of the Great Duke of Chang Tian and the aura of the Thunder King. The two auras seem unwilling to yield to each other.
The Thunder Clan is the foundation of the Thunder Emperor Divine Realm, and the Ten Thousand Year Snow Ginseng is the foundation of the Chang Tian Great Divine Realm.
It would have been a matter of pride for both of them, but I have found their solution.
A basic gong, the starting point of all energy, my beginning and end.
Only the Great Duke could embrace the two opposing forces. Its embrace was so wide and deep that it stretched through every vein and artery in my body. How could other auras utilize the passageways created by the Great Duke?
What began as a broken Great Duke, built by the walls of the South Palace in my previous life as a sword demon and a flesh demon, has finally overcome the past and embraced the present.
Squish, squish, squish.
I felt like my whole body was going to be torn apart by the swollen short circuit that looked like it was going to burst at any moment, and the aura that surged like a nodo from dragon blood to white gray blood.
It was as if they were angry, as if they didn’t understand how the great masters could encompass them. He was as ferocious as a wild beast on the loose.
But I was patient. I didn’t give up, and I guided my energies.
The pain that cannot be killed is only the foundation of my growth.
And just when I thought that.
Quang!
A series of explosions and aftereffects occurred inside my body.
The pain of dozens of swords piercing through my body is overwhelming. The electric cord began to tingle and pierce, and the sharp needles stabbed into every meridian. My heartbeat gradually slowed down, making it difficult to breathe, and my eyes, nose, and mouth were watering.
I somehow manage to hold on to my fading mind.
Kwao!
It didn’t seem easy for the Grandmaster’s frail aura to embrace the two wild and fierce auras, but I believed.
The Great Duke would be able to do it.
I wondered how many times the explosion would occur.
I persevered, and succeeded in guiding the two auras into the seed of the Great Duke. There were a few minor collisions, but nothing like before.
“Kuluk!”
I spit out what had been filling my mouth, and it was a mass of waste. A disgusting glob of black liquid spewed out, and that was it.
The foul odor filled my nasal passages and began to waft in full force.
As soon as I felt it, I realized that my entire body was drained of energy, and I turned away in panic. I must have packed my wall scroll when I came here.
Where had I left it?
A chill runs through my body, the heat rising again. The ups and downs of my body compelled me to put the botanical in my mouth before it was too late.
I dig through the small bundle I brought with me and grab a handful of grains. I popped them into my mouth at the same time and fell into a trance.
Yes, this should be called the Wu Pole Divine Art.
The name Mu Kuei is indeed fitting, as the yin and yang have become one and have crossed the boundary of nothingness.
Wukue Daoyeon Shin Gong.
That’s how he was called, Wukue God, Wukue God.
And from now on, it was real.
* * *
“Wow, I’m getting nervous.”
Kang Wumen, Donghui, and Black Ho slowly climbed up the West Mountain.
When they saw that the sun was rising, they began to climb without delay.
It was the final of the Fengyun Branch. If they came in second, they would be better off than anyone else, but just in case, they had to get to the Grand Duke in time.
The Grand Duke of the Southern Palace had hoped not to give away his location, but when he saw that there was still no sign of him until dawn on the day of the tournament, he asked the three of them to come and get him.
As soon as they heard the Grand Duke’s location, the three rushed to Burinake West Mountain and found it.
“It must be here.”
“Yes, it must be here…….”
Kang Wu-moon and Donghui couldn’t see the entrance to the Bidong Pavilion. How could this be?
Even if it was Bidong, the three of them were martial practitioners, so they should have been able to sense the presence of the Grand Duke, but there wasn’t even a faint aura around them.
I wonder what happened.
“……Where is the Grand Duke?”
“Where has he gone? Wu Wen, you go over there. I’ll go here.”
Wu-moon nodded at Dong-hwi’s words and started to walk away.
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Black Ho’s voice was muffled, and then relieved. It was a contradiction in terms.
As the two men stood there, Black Lake looked down from his perch where the rain should have been.
“Come here, both of you.”
He pointed his finger at them as they approached.
“…… Look at that.”
“Hmm?”
A small pit. What did it do?
When the two people expressed their doubts, Black Ho flicked his finger and sent his energy flying.
Ting! Black Lake’s energy hit it.
Warrrrr!
The depth of the pit expanded by dozens of times, shattering the space. As if a landslide had occurred, the entire mountain shook, and the pit formed a sheer cliff, with a cavity in the middle.
“This, this space?!”
“I didn’t know there was a space like this in the Southern Palace.”
The two of them stared at it in astonishment, and then Black Lake shook his head.
“It wasn’t always there, someone artificially created it. All at once.”
One side is a sheer cliff.
On one side, a giant hollow.
The two men shake their heads in disbelief at Black Lake’s comment, as if they don’t understand what he’s talking about.
Instead of explaining it to them, Black Lake says,
“The Grand Duke has already left this place. Let’s go back.”
I realized I wasn’t here, and I thought I should go back.
He realized he wasn’t here.
The Great Duke.
I couldn’t wait to see.