What?
Lee Sungmin approached the Spear King and asked with a flustered voice. The Spear King, who was looking down at the blood on the back of his hand with a terrible look, shouted and clicked his tongue.
He staggered to his feet and lowered the two spears that were limp in his hands as his grip strength was depleted.
My leg muscles are torn.
what?
When I tried to follow your movents using that last technique, my leg muscles were torn. I thought it would work. As expected, its hard to do what I was going to do with my current body.
Did you only realize that now?
Jehu was twitching with irritation as he had been watching the entire fight from beginning to end.
Jehu, who ca closer, tried to help up Kang Seok. Seeing this, Kang Seok glared at Jehu and pushed away his hands with an irritated voice.
Its not such an injury that I need help to walk properly.
Youre the only idiot I know that would refuse goodwill.
Jehu grumbled at Kang Seoks snarky words.His leg muscles were torn?Lee Sungmin looked down at the spear in his hands.
The last scene in the fight replayed itself in Lee Sungmins mind. Two particular scenes ca to mind when Lee Sungmin thought about what might have caused the injuries from two entirely different fights.
Sima Ryunju, who despite losing most of his power due to the Heavenly Spirits barrier cast by Wolhu, had ripped off Musins arm with an attack that seed to defy all logic with sheer power, speed and supre technique.
Lee Sungmin then thought about the scene from the fight he just had. The Spear King had tried to replicate that very sa force of tearing through everything and anything in the path of his spear.
It looked like they were the sa techniques, but they were fundantally not the sa. The foundational action of tearing was similar in both moves, but the Kang Seok replicated the technique with the spear after that, was different from how Sima Ryunju had pulled it off.
In the middle, the Spear King had his body fail his incredible technique. As a result, the Spear King was sitting down, coughing up so blood.
Internal injuriesha.
After an entire decade of training on the Mountain of Mush, Kang Seok had finally developed a pinnacle of spearmanship technique that could reach the heights of Lee Sungmins late master.
But unlike Sima Ryunju, Kang Seoks body was not at the level of being able to replicate this high level technique without being injured. Sima Ryunju had made it look so easy.
Since he had forced himself to use a technique his body couldnt keep up with, he was in the state that he currently was, with internal injuries.
Are you okay?
Im not okay.
Uaaaaack!
The Spear King gathered his spit loudly and cleared the last bit of blood from his throat and spat it on the ground.
I thought it would work, but its seriously annoying to not even be able to have my body allow to perform the incredible level Ive reached. Im pissed that after a whole decade of training, it only amounts to this half-assed shit.
why dont you stop here then? Your internal injuries dont look that light.
Oh damn it.
Lee Sungmin expected the Spear King to protest further and demand to continue, but contrary to his expectations, the Spear King only expressed dissatisfaction and did not protest against Jehus suggestion to stop.
It seed that the internal injury was worse than it looked. Checking Kang Seoks body, Jehu shook his head in disappointnt.
So why did you suddenly start a fight if you cant even go all out yet?
I just wanted to see the martial arts of the four-year-old. (T/N : Kang Seok is basically referring to Lee Sungmin as his talented junior who is much younger than him.)
So, were you satisfied?
When asked by Lee Sungmin, the Spear King snorted.
Youre good at impersonating your master.
I know. I havent reached his level yet either.
Thats a given.
The Spear King plopped into his seat and went deep into ditation to reflect on the fight he just had with Lee Sungmin.
After a while, the Spear King, who organized his thoughts, spoke.
Your body is superior to mine. In fact, its almost as if your body can perfectly handle the technique that mine cant. But your spearmanship technique itself hasnt improved much at all for these past ten years.
I didnt have the opportunity to train this past decade like you did.
But there are interesting things now that I look at you. Sima Ryunjus martial arts and internal energy His internal energy and overall basis of technique are enough to make up for your lack of technique in spearmanship. Theres a ridiculous amount of internal energy and power within your body and its in perfect harmony. Thats such a waste. If your spearmanship had been better, I wouldnt have been your match at all.
The Spear King was normally very picky and sensitive, but he acknowledged Lee Sungmins growth with an objective mindset.
You cant overwhelmingly defeat because of your lack of spearmanship. Had I not been greedy at the end there, and suffered from internal injuries for trying to pull off a technique my body cant keep up with, you wouldnt have been able to defeat .
Then, can you defeat ?
Well Im confident I wont die in a fight against you. Lol, thats an unfair question. I cant believe Ive been wielding a spear for hundreds of years longer than you and cant even guarantee a victory against a junior who also practices spearmanship.
The Spear King laughed aloud, but there was no displeasure or self-pity in his laughter. Rather, he was enjoying himself.
How would you feel if I asked if you could feel confident in defeating Musin?
Are you wondering if you or I could defeat him?
Both.
I think I am better than Musin if I am looking at how strong he was 10 years ago. Killing him is a different issue on its own, but if its been a decade and he has trained that entire ti, then. I dont know. If Musin wasnt a retard, hed have definitely trained even more after suffering such a humiliating defeat like that.
The words of the Spear King were surprising. Ten years ago, Kang Seok and Jehu had suffered a humiliating defeat against Musin despite the two of them fighting him while he had lost an arm and was exhausted after the fight with Sima Ryunju. But Musin had also suffered a humiliating defeat to Sima Ryunju so there was no way that Musin would just sit still and not get stronger.
What also was surprising about it, was that it implied that even if Lee Sungmin did not use his strongest techniques against Kang Seok, his current level was equal or stronger than Musin was 10 years ago.
Well, what will you do?
Lee Sungmin asked, looking at the Spear King and continued.
I havent heard an answer yet. I need your help.
Let hear it clearly from you, too. What do you want to do? Would you rather go after Musin or Predator?
Both.
Even if Musins intention to prevent the end is sincere? Isnt it because of the Divine Spirit that hes acting the way he is?
Leaving him be isnt an option for . He killed my master.
Lee Sungmins voice sank coldly. The Spear King laughed at the remark.
Youre going to avenge your master no matter what. Thats good.
Kang Seok spoke, nodding his head in understanding.
Ill help you.
said the Spear King, glancing at Jehu.
Co on, lets go.
Am I going along with this too?
Jehus eyebrows wriggled in confusion. At this response, the Kang Seok looked at Jehu in confusion.
Then what were you going to do?
Never mindlets go.
Jehu sighed. Even Jehu did not wish for the Apocalypse.
However, it was impossible to return to Musin, who was nothing but a puppet to the Heavenly Spirit, whos actions were clearly contradictory to the goal of preventing the Apocalypse.
Id be lucky if he didnt kill as soon as he sees .
Jehu thought objectively as he knew the reality of his betrayal of Beyond the Heavens. In fact, it was best to act with Lee Sungmin for the purpose of preventing the Apocalypse.
Even if the opponent was the Vampire Queen whose powers were close to being e to think of it.
Lee Sungmin suddenly rembered sothing, as he glanced at Jehu.
Juwons wound from 10 years ago. Is it still hurting you?
Its been the sa for 10 years.
Jehu replied with a frown. He didnt particularly want to recall that mory.
If he hadnt swallowed his pride and escaped that day in the North, Jehu knew that he would have surely died that day.
But now Im not even aware of the pain. Ive gone through so much more pain on this mountain that it doesnt really matter to anymore.
But isnt it uncomfortable compared to when you were healthy and didnt have any problems?
Wellthats true.
Lee Sungmin told Jehu imdiately that he could help heal the wound and remove the poison from it. As this happened, the expression of Jehu changed. No matter how familiar he was with pain after undergoing the severe Trial on the Mountain of Mush, there was no way he would be able to continue to feel numb to the pain once he grew accustod to the outside of the mountain again.
Ill have to go back to the Forest of Fairies anyways, just not imdiately.
It had already been two tis that Lee Sungmin had used the Pegasus that day. The Pegasus also could not fit 5 people on its back. Thus, Lee Sungmin had to return briefly with Yana and Baek Sogo to drop them off.
In the state of taking three warps with the Pegasus already, a fourth warp would be annoying to deal with once Lee Sungmin thought about it.
It would be a big blunder if he willingly repeated what happened last ti when he had vomited like crazy and had a massive headache after escaping from Geniellas mansion.
When Yana and Baek Sogo were dropped back off at the Forest of Fairies, Lee Sungmin returned to the Mountain of Mush.
The Spear King was under the supervision of Jehu to make sure he was recovering well and was eating breakfast. Jehu didnt allow Kang Seok to move around too excitedly because of the internal injuries.
After glancing at Kang Seok, Lee Sungmin sat down not far from Jehu.
There was sothing I wanted to ask you.
What?
Why did you act like that 10 years ago?
It was a question that had been bothering him for a while now.
At that ti, Jehu no longer had any more restrictions because his Oath had already been fulfilled. In that situation, there was no reason for the Black Dragon to step up for Lee Sungmin or to block Musin.
Rather, in that situation, the better choice would probably have been for Jehu to join Musin in attacking Lee Sungmin since he was no longer bound by an Oath.
I was wondering when you would bring that up.
The Black Dragon chewed and swallowed the beef jerky in his mouth with a smirk.
I simply wanted to do that. The situation is it was already beyond absurd. Sima Ryunju was able to ridiculously fend off and even corner both Musin and Wolhu despite being under a severe restriction in power. In the first place, the situation itself was unreasonable to even call a fight.
So what? It still doesnt really make any sense for you to step in with that reasoning alone.
I didnt like Sima Ryunju very much. He was arrogant and arbitrary. But ..he was undeniably the strongest man to walk the path of martial arts that I have ever seen. In fact, thats all subjective. Arrogant and unruly, those are only words that can describe soone without the power to back it up. He was confident and had the power to back every single one of his actions.
It was the sa line of thinking as Kang Seok. It didnt matter what the reason was. Sima Ryunju was a man who was unbelievably strong and should not have died.
When I ca to my senses and understood what I was feeling at that mont, I was also fascinated by the heights that Sima Ryunju had reached in martial arts. I didnt want himto die. But in that situation I could not do anything directly, so I thought to myself I would do what I could and at least get you out of that place. Thats why I acted like that. The reason why Im so attached to Musin is also sothing similar to respect, but respect is not sothing that a puppet deserves.
The Black Dragon laughed as he said so.
The Spear King I was led into this mountain by that lunatic, but it was because of the lack of power I felt in myself when seeing Sima Ryunju fight that impressed and forced myself to endure 10 years. Im sure that anybody who could possibly call themselves a martial artist would have felt sothing when they saw Sima Ryunjus martial arts. Even if Musin is a puppet, he surely would have felt sothing close to fear or respect when Sima Ryunju fought him.* * *
Musin was soone who trained in Orthodox Martial Arts
His real na was abandoned a long ti ago.
The nickna Musin was more glorious than the first na he had since birth and he was hailed as the God of Martial Arts.
No one laughed at the moniker of Musin. He was well-inford, talented, and he himself knew him well enough to be called a Taoist Practitioner.
He didnt think it was arrogant. For him, the nickna Musin was his real identity as he had rid himself long ago of anything that could tie him down in weakness.
Ten years ago, there was a certain crisis that made Musin rethink his very title as the God of Martial Arts. He had thought that of all people to call themselves martial artists in the world of Eria, none could stand above him in terms of strength and technique.
Yet he suffered an incredibly humiliating defeat to Sima Ryunju, soone he had only thought might be a good opponent.
Wolhu had told Musin that the only reason Sima Ryunju was so strong was because he was one of the Final Catastrophes of the Apocalypse.
Thats what Musin thought had to be the truth as a result of Wolhus response. He couldnt stand accepting his loss without thinking that Sima Ryunju must have used so kind of underhanded thod. But deep down, Musin felt doubt.
Musin had replayed that fight in his mind hundreds of tis during his closed door training in the past 10 years.
It was a training session for an entire decade that persisted solely on ditation and reflection of that single fight.
He replayed only Sima Ryunjus moves, the way his body deflected the attacks, his techniques, everything he did made sense to Musin during this period of reflection.
But during the entire decade of reflection and ditation on that fight, there was still one mont that Musin did not comprehend or understand. It was one move that Sima Ryunju had perford.
It was the sa action at the very end of the fight.
It was when defeat seed inevitable for Sima Ryunju, he had reached out slowly with his one arm towards Musin.
That single gesture and move was sothing incomprehensible. All of Musin and Wolhus attacks had seemingly evaporated into thin air with that simple gesture.
And within that single mont and movent Sima Ryunju had torn through the space and ripped Musins arm right off his shoulder.
He just couldnt understand the properties behind that attack. It was sothing that was no longer achievable by any human ans possible. Even if one was a Transcendent Martial Artist at the very pinnacle of his craft, it was unexplainable.
How could such an attack even be possible? Even if he had known that attack was coming beforehand, even if Musin trained harder and reached a stronger foothold in the Realm of Transcendence would he have been able to stop that attack?
The answer that Musin ca up with was a resounding No. There was no way he would ever be able to stop such an attack.
In fact, did Sima Ryunju even die in that fight?
Musin was unsure of whether Sima Ryunju had even died that day in the snowy plains of the North.
Things that happened that day. I dont understand what happened at the end. Worry gave birth to worry.
In 10 years of ditation, Musin craved the answers to these mysteries.
It was the sa that very day as Musin left closed door training.
Musin, who left Andong, the place he was training, did not feel proud of himself when the suns bright rays shone on his skin.
Outside the cave in Amdong, there was a carriage waiting at the edge of the road. It seed that the carriage had been waiting as if knowing Musin would leave closed door training on that very day after ten years.
Who is this?
Musin asked, looking at the Divine Maiden who was smiling at him with an unknown figure sitting next to her in the carriage. Next to the Divine Maiden stood a woman whom he had never seen before.
It was an elf with long ears. When Musin stared at her, the Elf lowered her head slightly and the Divine Maiden introduced her on her behalf.
Its my sister. (I think I might have mistaken Wolhu as a brother, but that was because the gender pronouns were ambiguous at the ti. Its pretty clear Wolhu now is more apparent as a woman now especially with the little gender swap here.)
Wolhu?
Long ti no see, Musin.
The Elf responded to Musin. Wolhu was not dead. When he heard that from the Divine Maiden 10 years ago, he thought it was ridiculous. The internal energy felt from the elf was undoubtedly after Wolhus. Musin nodded as he looked at Wolhus new body and then turned back to the Divine Maiden.
I see.
It was incomprehensible, but Musin more or less understood the situation. It was certainly strange, but if it was because of the intervention of the Heavenly Spirit, it made sense.
Did you find the answers you were looking for?
The Divine Maiden smiled at Musin. At her words, Musin looked at the bright clear sky above him.
He answered, staring at the sun.
In my own way, yes.
Musin glanced at his sleeveless left arm. Sima Ryunjus last attack left him confused and in a dilemma. For ten years, Musin had felt a kind of ghost pain as if his arm were still there.
But there was no more pain at that mont.
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