aChapter 213: Cheon Yura, Jin Yeomyung (2)
Akyang Jang Clan.
One of the martial families based in Akyang of Dongting Lake.
They were far from being among the Five Great Clans, but within the nearby region, they were still a well-known family with a long history.
Their history was so ancient that even the mbers of the Jang Clan themselves didn’t know exactly when it had all begun.
Venerable Buddha spoke with a bitter, self-deprecating tone.
“It’s understandable. There are hardly any people left in the current era who know that the Akyang Jang Clan are the descendants of a bloodline from the mythic age…”
“……!”
If that was true, even the Nine Moons Blade Hall of Qinghai with its thousand-year history couldn’t compare to the Akyang Jang Clan.
“Of course, they originally had no particular ties to the Heaven-Defying Society. Even if they inherited the bloodline, without awakening that potential, they were rely a common martial clan.”
A clan that simply strutted a bit in their local territory.
“It was both a blessing and a curse that soone from such a family rose all the way to the rank of one of the Ten Heavenly Lords.”
“Why is that?”
I didn’t quite understand.
If they were a Ten Heavenly Lord, not just a re officer, then at the very least their martial prowess would have reached the Transformation Realm.
And if they had awakened their potential, they wouldn’t even fall behind when facing one of the Nine Great Sects head-on.
To my words, Venerable Buddha replied bitterly.
“When soone carrying the blood of the mythic age reaches the level of a Ten Heavenly Lord, a refined essence is born within them—a concentration of the power of their ancestral spiritual beast.”
“Is it similar to a beast’s inner core?”
“Yes. It’s practically the sa concept…”
The inner core of a spiritual beast.
If properly refined and consud, it could bring the user all kinds of miraculous effects—it was a heaven-sent opportunity.
‘…Don’t tell .’
The ntion of the inner core stirred an ominous feeling inside .
And that feeling turned out to be correct.
“If soone with the proper qualifications succeeds in absorbing that essence, they can likely obtain its power.”
In essence, it ant the birth of a new Ten Heavenly Lord.
“I think I get it now.”
At that mont, Cheon Yura nodded as she spoke.
“Yin-Yang Fist Demon, Janhyeol. There was a report that the corpse of the murdered one had a massive hole in it. I was wondering why they’d go as far as to break into Bongrae hall to destroy the evidence, but it was probably to retrieve that essence.”
‘…So Master retrieved the bastard’s essence.’
Given the sequence of events, that seed highly likely.
“As you already know, the Heaven-Defying Society isn’t a unified organization. Infighting is bound to occur within it.”
When I heard that, a rough outline of the situation ford in my mind.
“So others within the Heaven-Defying Society allied to seize the essence of this so-called ‘Nine Heavenly Lord’.”
“Indeed. Among them were even other Ten Heavenly Lords. She and her clan couldn’t possibly fend them off alone.”
Thus, their fate ended in tragedy.
“The Grand Heavenly Lord, the leader of the Heaven-Defying Society, ignored her plea for diation. Instead, he branded her and her clan as traitors and issued a kill-on-sight order.”
And so the force that gathered under that order was a despair-inducing lineup—two Ten Heavenly Lords, ten Supre Masters, and a hundred Master Level warriors.
“They didn’t stop at destroying her and the Akyang Jang Clan. Simply because they had aided her, they annihilated Southern Border Sect, the sect my younger self had once belonged to in my youth.”
“…….”
“By a stroke of fortune, this humble monk barely survived. Due to ties with the previous generation, I was accepted into Shaolin. But even after half a century, my thirst for vengeance did not fade.”
As soon as Venerable Buddha reached the Transformation Realm and was promoted as abbot of Shaolin, he began active external movents.
It took him over a decade, based on her fragntary accounts, to uncover the true nature of the Heaven-Defying Society.
Then another decade just to grasp a portion of their forces and mbership.
Even after aging and stepping down from the abbot's position, Venerable Buddha’s vendetta against the Heaven-Defying Society never cooled.
No, it didn’t just persist—it blazed hotter than ever.
“I understand.”
I truly understood Venerable Buddha’s thirst for vengeance.
To him, family, relatives, and loved ones—all had been taken by those bastards.
I too was living my third life, bearing similar emotions.
“The fire of vengeance in your heart won’t extinguish with your life, Master. Not until you erase everything they are from this world.”
“Huh?”
Venerable Buddha’s eyes widened in surprise, as he realized I wasn’t speaking empty words.
“Remarkable. I’d heard of your ‘uniqueness’, but I never imagined you bore the sa pain as I.”
I nodded slowly.
“Because I understand, I will stop you now, Master.”
“Indeed…”
Cheon Yura’s expression beca subtly strange.
To her, the conversation between and Venerable Buddha was probably incomprehensible.
“Then, as I ntioned before, I have a request for you, Master.”
The thing Venerable Buddha ntioned when he handed the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic.
That one request he would ask of later.
Venerable Buddha put his palms together and closed his eyes.
“Stop this humble monk.”
“I’ll gladly do so.”
Cheon Yura and I stood shoulder to shoulder, preparing our stances.
And then—
In Venerable Buddha’s half-open eyes, the benevolent compassion he once showed was gone.
It was a sign that his heart had been completely consud by demonic nature.
“I shall kill those who stand in my way.”
“Try it, if you can.”
Cheon Yura shouted with confidence.
“I am the monk who overca the joint attack of the Sword King and the Saber King. Do you really think you, who are lesser than them, can possibly stand a chance against ?”
Smirk!
“I do.”
“…Insolent.”
Flash!
A massive golden palm surged toward Cheon Yura and with crushing force.
‘Tathagata Divine Palm!’
Normally, even the Tathagata Divine Palm wouldn’t possess such overwhelming power.
This was a supre technique that only Venerable Buddha, who had reached the Profound Realm and could refine his intent, could unleash!
‘Fast!’
Even Sword Supre Sage Gwan Hyun hadn’t been able to react before being beaten one-sidedly by it.
Normally, soone like who had just reached Extre Demonic Realm should’ve been smashed into pulp by now...
KUUUUUNG!
But Venerable Buddha’s Tathagata Divine Palm struck the ground in vain, having completely missed its targets.
“Hmm?”
Just as the Venerable Buddha narrowed his eyes at the reaction that was far swifter than expected—
Cheon Yura and I moved from our spots and flanked him, swinging our swords.
“Surprising. For those who have yet to touch the laws of the world to react to this strike…”
We ignored the Venerable Buddha’s words and swung our Qi Projections straight at him.
The Venerable Buddha made no attempt to evade. Instead, with his palms pressed together, he raised his energy.
Ka-gang!
Ka-ga-ga-gang!
“…!”
“…!!”
With a grating sound like tal scraping against tal, the Qi Projections unleashed by Cheon Yura and were blocked completely by the Venerable Buddha’s aura.
‘What kind of madness is this?’
In that mont, I fully understood the desperate cries of Gwan Hyun.
Just how the hell were we supposed to penetrate this level of defense that even blocked Qi Projection?
“Amitabha…”
Then, the mont the Venerable Buddha released his clasped palms—
Puh-puh-puh-puhk!
Dozens of afterimages of fists exploded outward from the Venerable Buddha, pumling Cheon Yura and from all directions.
“Guh!”
“Keurgh!”
We were both sent flying back more than a dozen jang in an instant.
The strength in my arms and thighs, where I had been struck, felt like it could give out at any mont.
Even though I had reinforced myself with protective Qi, the Venerable Buddha’s fists ignored all of it and beat my body into a rag.
‘Damn it, is he even tougher than that cursed father of mine?’
I had heard that Jin Gun-ak’s body, transford through the Asura God, was so tough that even the Sword Demon struggled to leave a mark.
But the Venerable Buddha before now felt like he had surpassed even that level entirely.
Cheon Yura, who had been thrown in the opposite direction, shouted to .
“Jin Yeomyung! That was definitely the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art!”
That too was a technique symbolic of Shaolin martial arts.
“He used it defensively at the level of the Profound Realm. Ordinary Qi Projection can’t break through it!”
I knew that well.
To break that defense, we’d need to reach the sa level of mastery ourselves.
“For soone who shouted with such confidence, you are rather disappointing.”
Clicking his tongue lightly, the Venerable Buddha’s body began to split—into nine separate figures.
‘Lotus Platform Nine Grades!’
With each of the Venerable Buddha’s steps, lotus-shaped energy waves blood beneath his feet.
The blooming lotuses of the Nine Grades filled the entire field of view.
Just from the energy wave of those lotus blossoms, the earth bore massive scars.
As I was flung away by one of those waves, I cursed inwardly.
‘Damn it all! So that’s what they call one of the Three Lords at the peak of the Murim?’
Of all the opponents I had faced until now, this one was by far the most overwhelming.
Even without the Cult Leader, the current Heavenly Demon Cult was in its pri. And yet, with monsters like this holding the line, it was no wonder the balance between orthodox and unorthodox factions was being maintained.
“If you have nothing else to show, I shall end this.”
Crack! Crack-crack!
The Venerable Buddha released his palms and, for the first ti, took up a proper stance.
A crisis unlike any before prickled at my instincts.
‘It’s the Hundred Steps Divine Fist!’
A technique of the Profound Realm used by high-level masters.
Even soone like Cheon Yura would be obliterated if she took it head-on.
That’s when—
“Jin Yeomyung! I believe in you!”
Cheon Yura’s voice, full of trust, rang in my ears.
“Of course, just trust !”
I stepped right into the range of the Venerable Buddha’s Hundred Steps Divine Fist without hesitation.
“…Foolish.”
Perhaps he thought my action reckless, for the Venerable Buddha’s expression slightly twisted.
“Even so, there will be no rcy!”
Buuuuuung!
– Hundred Steps Divine Fist, Arhat Heaven
I could say this with confidence.
The strike now barreling toward , aiming to end my life, was even stronger than the Sword Demon’s slash.
‘Even the Celestial Rotation Formation won’t block that.’
The Celestial Rotation Formation had proven effective against opponents one or two levels above .
But this was in a different league altogether.
If I tried to counter with sword montum, I would be shattered along with it.
‘Normally, that would be true!’
Gritting my teeth, I began channeling a single mantra engraved in my mind.
Once it passed through a special energy pathway—
My entire body was dyed blood red by sothing.
“Hmm?”
The Venerable Buddha narrowed his eyes slightly as he sensed the instant shift—
Then, his Hundred Steps Divine Fist slamd into .
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
A massive tempest carved into the mountain range.
However, the result of that carving was only due to it being obstructed by sothing.
Had it not been stopped, it would have bored straight through the mountains.
“…Impressive. So this is the thod you two prepared?”
On the Venerable Buddha’s arm, extended from executing the Hundred Steps Divine Fist—
Surprisingly, a long puncture wound had appeared, and blood was streaming down.
The Venerable Buddha, montarily drawing back his force, turned to Cheon Yura, who stood at a distance brushing off her sword.
“I did not expect Lady Cheon’s sword to pierce this monk’s Vajra Indestructible Body.”
“……”
“To already be able to wield forged Will Manifestation… truly a terrifying future awaits you.”
Despite receiving praise that could not be any higher, Cheon Yura didn’t look pleased.
This ti, the Venerable Buddha turned his gaze directly to .
“But what was even more astonishing was Sir Jin’s defense. Without it, Lady Cheon’s strike would not have landed.”
“Huff, huff!”
I couldn’t respond properly to the Venerable Buddha’s words.
White steam was rising from my entire body, and I was too busy suppressing the rampaging flow of my Qi and blood.
“What is the na of that technique?”
The Venerable Buddha, genuinely intrigued, even halted the battle to ask about my thod.
“Secret art of the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan, one of the Six Great Demonic Clans.”
Struggling to catch my breath, I finally uttered—
“Asura God Body.”
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