Chapter 289: Then Keep Going
While Seomun Ak lay buried beneath the pile of rocks, fully savoring the joy of reaching the Supre Realm—
Jin Seong-un’s gaze remained fixed entirely upon Blood Monster.
‘It resembles Ha Ju-myeong’s final monts.’
Blood Monster was undeniably powerful.
The punches it threw were on par with Jin Baek-cheon, one of the previous masters of the Ice Palace, while the speed at which it launched itself from the ground rivaled Saber King.
Both of them had reached the Transcendent Realm.
In other words, Blood Monster’s movents had clearly reached the level of the Transcendent Realm, yet they were neither complex nor profound.
In that regard, it resembled Ha Ju-myeong, who had crudely raised only his realm through elixirs and bizarre Demonic Arts.
Jin Seong-un leaped high and brutally smashed Black Wolf Saber against Blood Monster’s skull.
Blood Monster showed no intention of dodging and instead thrust its head forward.
Kkaang—!
The impact was so trendous that Black Wolf Saber, now a treasured weapon, trembled dangerously.
Even so, Blood Monster’s skull remained perfectly intact.
“Hard.”
Jin Seong-un muttered quietly.
Then Blood Monster swung its claws, which had lengthened and sharpened like those of a beast.
Swaeeng—!
The attack was so swift and ferocious that the air itself tore apart with a shrill ripping sound.
Jin Seong-un bent backward and narrowly avoided it.
Seo Yu-gyeom and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless dug in from Blood Monster’s left and right.
The two moved with astonishing similarity, as though reflected in a mirror.
Their twin daggers, wrapped vividly in Saber Aura, struck Blood Monster’s sides simultaneously.
Slash—!
It seed their edge surpassed even Jin Seong-un’s Saber Art, for Blood Monster’s sides were lightly sliced open.
Blood Monster twisted violently while emitting bizarre shrieks.
Seo Yu-gyeom hurriedly retreated and checked his sleeve after slling sothing foul.
The places splashed by Blood Monster’s blood were lting away.
The side effects of its Demonic Art appeared to make all the blood in its body boil with extre heat.
In other words, its organs and skin were durable enough to endure such conditions.
“What the hell is that thing?”
Seo Yu-gyeom sucked in a breath.
Though his life had been far from peaceful and he had witnessed countless horrors, he had never seen nor heard of such a grotesque existence.
The coordinated assault of Jin Seong-un, Divine Slaughter, Shadowless, and Seo Yu-gyeom continued relentlessly.
Blood Monster possessed little enlightennt, causing it to be endlessly pushed back by the three.
The problem was that they could not inflict wounds severe enough to kill it.
Whenever they cut its flesh, blood would seep out and the wound would imdiately regenerate.
As for severing its neck or limbs entirely, they simply lacked the power.
Moyong Hyeon and the other Later-generation Prodigies could not even dare join the fight.
Even if Blood Monster’s enlightennt was low, the fact remained that its fists had reached the Transcendent Realm.
For the younger martial artists, dodging those attacks was impossible from the start.
As the anxious Later-generation Prodigies hesitated, a booming voice rang out.
“Everyone move aside.”
Moyong Hyeon turned his head and nearly jumped in shock at the bizarre sight before him.
Tang So-yeon, Hwamyeong, and the Wudang siblings reacted similarly.
Seomun Ak was striding forward majestically.
However, the size of the Fist Aura surrounding his fist defied common sense.
At the mont, Seomun Ak’s dantian contained far too much Internal Energy.
The energies the Eight Bats had absorbed over the past several days were enormous, and part of that had flowed into Seomun Ak.
Naturally, every movent left him feeling bloated like soone who had overeaten.
Thus, he had begun circulating his Internal Energy to its absolute limit.
Layering Fist Aura upon Fist Aura.
Then layering more Fist Aura atop that.
Repeating the process endlessly.
This was the result.
“Die, you monster bastard!”
Seomun Ak charged forward while barely controlling a gigantic Fist Aura nearly as large as his own body.
Even Seo Yu-gyeom and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless stepped aside in alarm—
And even the usually emotionless Jin Seong-un looked startled.
Blood Monster flinched.
Though it had lost its reason, it still reacted to sothing so bizarre.
The distance between Seomun Ak and Blood Monster closed instantly.
Rather than dodging or retreating, Blood Monster chose a frontal clash, spewing thick black energy everywhere.
The enormous crimson Fist Aura, blazing like the sun itself, collided head-on against the sinister blood-colored force.
Jjeooooooong—!
The earth literally shook.
Even King of Assassins, observing from the sky above, muttered,
“I have never seen such Fist Aura before.”
The impact tore apart the ground and sent thick dust billowing everywhere.
Then Seomun Ak burst out from the dust, flying backward at trendous speed.
Jin Seong-un caught him effortlessly and briefly checked his condition.
‘...He fainted.’
Yet he had fainted with a smile on his face.
He simply appeared happy beyond asure.
Fortunately, there seed to be no serious injuries, so Jin Seong-un tossed Seomun Ak toward Moyong Hyeon.
Though making a bewildered expression, Moyong Hyeon joined Baek Sang in catching Seomun Ak’s large body.
Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless stared through the thick dust.
“Grrrghhh...”
A low growl echoed out.
It clearly carried pain within it.
As the dust settled, Blood Monster’s figure erged.
Part of its face and one shoulder had exploded apart.
The sight was so horrific that Jin Seong-un unconsciously frowned.
It was astonishing that the thing still stood upright despite such injuries.
It felt like that creature would continue living no matter how many tis they killed it.
Jin Seong-un felt frustrated.
He wanted to fight using Blood Demon Arts, but there were far too many eyes watching.
Even putting everyone else aside, the problem was that King of Assassins had witnessed this entire battle.
If he displayed Blood Demon Arts before him, it was impossible to predict what consequences would follow.
“I’ll cut it down.”
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless suddenly spoke in a low voice.
He then stepped forward alone, as though telling Seo Yu-gyeom and Jin Seong-un to stay back.
The aura surrounding him quietly sank.
Watching this, King of Assassins’s eyebrow twitched.
King of Assassins and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless shared many similarities in their martial arts.
Naturally, from rely the preparatory movents and atmosphere, King of Assassins could imdiately tell what Divine Slaughter, Shadowless intended.
‘He’s lost his mind.’
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless forcibly gripped his dagger with his barely functioning right hand.
When his hand failed to close properly, he wrapped his left hand around the right to secure it firmly.
His stance lowered further.
His eyes beca as sharp as embedded daggers.
Deathshroud’s ultimate technique—
Walking Together into Hell.
The very na ant precisely that.
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless briefly glanced toward King of Assassins.
King of Assassins snorted.
‘Are you threatening ?’
It looked as though Divine Slaughter, Shadowless was saying:
If you do not wish to watch die here, then hurry down and help.
King of Assassins gazed calmly at him.
‘Go ahead and try.’
King of Assassins had no intention of yielding to such a threat.
He was convinced Divine Slaughter, Shadowless would not truly choose death.
However, the following scene shook even his heart.
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless genuinely began charging forward.
The energy scattering around him was unmistakably the prelude to Walking Together into Hell.
Blood Monster extended dark energy outward, as though inviting him to co closer.
‘Stop.’
Even while pretending calm and observing from above, Divine Slaughter, Shadowless eventually drew dangerously close to Blood Monster.
At that mont, King of Assassins frowned and kicked off empty air.
He had intended to show Divine Slaughter, Shadowless just how comfortable Deathshroud’s protection had been, and how miserable the life of a retired assassin truly was before eventually dragging him back into Deathshroud.
Deathshroud possessed many excellent assassins.
Smart ones.
Efficient killers.
Experts at escaping.
Lucky ones.
But among them all, only Divine Slaughter, Shadowless ca close to matching King of Assassins himself in every aspect.
However, if the bastard died here, none of that mattered.
Thus, just as King of Assassins rushed forward at trendous speed to save him—
‘What is that brat doing?’
At nearly the sa mont, Jin Seong-un also charged toward Divine Slaughter, Shadowless.
King of Assassins wore a dumbfounded expression.
Then—
Swaeaeaeang—!
The Saber Aura released by Jin Seong-un flew toward King of Assassins.
King of Assassins hurriedly swung his dagger and deflected it, but the rebound forced him backward several steps.
It was absurd.
What exactly was this fool doing?
Taking advantage of the opening, Jin Seong-un abruptly approached Divine Slaughter, Shadowless.
Then Blood Monster’s energy swallowed both n simultaneously.
“......”
Those watching the scene fell silent in shock.
The crimson energy had ford a spherical barrier, completely trapping Blood Monster, Divine Slaughter, Shadowless, and Jin Seong-un inside.
Seo Yu-gyeom rushed over and swung Heavenly Slaughter Dagger.
Kang—!
Though the strike carried considerable Saber Aura, it failed to leave even the slightest scratch upon the crimson sphere.
No one could even guess what was happening inside, making the situation all the more anxiety-inducing.
Seomun Ak, who had sohow regained consciousness, struck it with his Fist Aura as well.
The result was the sa.
The others’ swords and sabers were even more useless.
The Later-generation Prodigies repeatedly attacked the sphere before suddenly sensing sothing chilling and retreating.
Swish—!
King of Assassins darted forward with featherlight movents and swung his dagger.
A crescent-shaped wave of sharp energy extended from the blade and swept across the sphere.
“......”
King of Assassins frowned.
The sphere had only suffered a minor cut.
As Seo Yu-gyeom and the others struggled to hide their unease—
Suddenly everyone’s attention turned in one direction.
An overwhelmingly powerful aura was approaching.
Even King of Assassins stared in that direction seriously before quietly widening the distance.
In the entire world, there were perhaps only three or four people capable of making King of Assassins this tense.
Soon, a sturdy middle-aged man clad in white robes appeared, striding forward boldly.
As though he had already grasped the situation from afar, he asked no lengthy questions and imdiately drew his sword.
Sreung—!
The Alliance Leader’s personal weapon—
White Dragon Divine Sword.
A sword carrying the full weight of the Orthodox Path shot toward the sphere without hesitation.
Jjeooooooong—!
A trendous explosion erupted.
The surrounding martial artists were forced to hastily circulate their energy and retreat quite a distance.
As the thick dust settled, the sphere reappeared.
A far deeper slash had been carved into it compared to King of Assassins’s attack.
However, the inside still could not be seen.
The sphere appeared incredibly thick.
The Alliance Leader clicked his tongue quietly.
From that single collision, he realized sothing.
If he truly committed himself and poured in enough Internal Energy, he could definitely shatter it.
The problem was that those trapped inside would bear the full force of the impact.
The Alliance Leader fell briefly into thought.
Even though King of Assassins stood nearby, he appeared completely unconcerned.
That alone revealed he had truly stepped into the realm Beyond the Heavens.
‘If I can kill both the Eight Bats and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless simultaneously, this is not a bad outco.’
However, Jin Seong-un was also trapped inside.
As the leader of the Orthodox Path, the Alliance Leader placed Jin Seong-un’s life on the scales alongside the lives of two Demonic Path figures.
Seeing him hesitate briefly, Tang So-yeon and the other Later-generation Prodigies subtly stepped forward and positioned themselves between the Alliance Leader and the sphere.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The Alliance Leader asked quietly.
Hwamyeong scratched his head awkwardly before speaking.
“Young Hero Jin is inside, Alliance Leader.”
“I know.”
“...Are you going to kill Young Hero Jin?”
“If necessary.”
The Alliance Leader answered without hesitation.
He too liked Jin Seong-un.
Inwardly, he had even considered him a candidate for the next Alliance Leader.
However, if sacrificing Jin Seong-un could save even more lives and restore order to Murim, the Alliance Leader would do it.
That was what it ant to be the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance.
“The ideal outco is for Jin Seong-un to kill Blood Monster from inside and walk out himself. But how could he accomplish within that monster’s territory what he could not even achieve outside?”
“But...”
“And what if Blood Monster absorbs the two inside and erges stronger?”
Fear flickered briefly in Hwamyeong’s eyes.
They had all personally witnessed how monstrous Blood Monster already was.
If it absorbed Jin Seong-un and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless on top of that, no one could predict how powerful it would beco.
The Alliance Leader continued.
“And if the strengthened Blood Monster were to kill even ?”
The Alliance Leader was not worried about his own death.
If a creature powerful enough to kill the strongest of the Orthodox Path erged here, it would beco a true catastrophe upon Murim.
As Alliance Leader, he could not ignore that possibility.
“Move aside.”
The Alliance Leader spoke firmly to Hwamyeong.
His usual relaxed and playful deanor had vanished completely.
Hwamyeong hesitated nervously.
Tang So-yeon, Baek Sang, and Baek Seol were the sa.
Then King of Assassins suddenly spoke.
“Alliance Leader, let us wait a little longer.”
“What right does an insect like you have to speak to ?”
The Alliance Leader turned and stared at King of Assassins.
Without the slightest irritation, King of Assassins replied,
“Yes, to you I must indeed look like so sinful insect. So stop trembling and wait a little.”
The Alliance Leader offered no further response and turned his gaze away from King of Assassins.
There was no need to converse with such filthy Demonic Path scum.
Then, just as the Alliance Leader raised White Dragon Divine Sword once more—
“Kkeeeeugh!”
A monstrous scream erupted from within the sphere.
Judging by the beast-like sound, it clearly belonged to Blood Monster.
Yet unmistakable agony filled the scream.
---
Imdiately after becoming trapped inside the sphere—
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless looked at Jin Seong-un as though utterly baffled.
“Why are you in here?”
“I tried to save you and got caught too.”
Jin Seong-un answered honestly.
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless narrowed his eyes.
This was an incredibly troubleso situation.
At that mont, Blood Monster’s fist shot toward them.
Jin Seong-un and Divine Slaughter, Shadowless swung their blades simultaneously and deflected it.
The confined space made things dangerous, but both n’s saber techniques were exceptionally precise.
Suddenly, Jin Seong-un spoke.
“Sothing’s rising.”
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless lowered his gaze toward the ground.
Dark crimson blood was rising beneath their feet.
Having already seen the blood lt Seo Yu-gyeom’s sleeve earlier, both n imdiately surrounded themselves with Protective Aura.
Naturally, there would be limits.
The collision between Protective Aura and the blood produced sinister sizzling sounds.
They could not maintain Protective Aura forever while fighting Blood Monster within such a cramped and dark space.
Death was drawing near.
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless stared intently at Jin Seong-un.
He had no idea what he should even say.
As he remained silent, Jin Seong-un spoke again.
“The walls look very thick.”
“They do.”
The two of them had already attempted to break through the walls.
But if even King of Assassins could not deal with it, the two of them certainly could not cut through it.
Jin Seong-un continued.
“Then the people outside can’t possibly know what’s happening in here.”
“...Probably not.”
“Elder.”
Jin Seong-un looked steadily at Divine Slaughter, Shadowless before speaking.
“I would appreciate it if you kept what you are about to see, hear, and feel a secret.”
“...What?”
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless tilted his head, unable to understand.
Then Jin Seong-un thrust his palm directly against Blood Monster’s incoming hand.
Their palms collided with a loud crack.
Seeing this, Divine Slaughter, Shadowless was horrified.
Whenever Blood Monster touched soone, it absorbed them completely.
Yet Jin Seong-un calmly closed his eyes.
Soon, Blood Monster activated its bizarre Demonic Art and began absorbing Jin Seong-un’s energy.
The blood rising around them accelerated rapidly.
The crimson glow surrounding them beca increasingly bright and vivid.
It looked exactly as though Blood Monster was steadily growing stronger by absorbing Jin Seong-un’s power.
Unable to hide his shock, Divine Slaughter, Shadowless prepared to swing his dagger—
Then—
“Kkeeeeugh!”
Blood Monster suddenly began screaming.
Its body twisted grotesquely, clearly wracked with pain.
Blood Monster hurriedly tried to pull its hand away from Jin Seong-un—
Tap.
Instead, Jin Seong-un grabbed its wrist.
The energy flowing through their connected hands was as vast and violent as a waterfall, making it impossible to stop midway.
Jin Seong-un’s eyes gradually turned red.
Compared to that crimson aura Blood Monster had been emitting—
This was far deeper.
Far denser.
Far more sinister.
“Just what...”
Divine Slaughter, Shadowless failed to finish speaking.
Jin Seong-un tightly gripped Blood Monster’s wrist so it could not escape.
Then he quietly stared into Blood Monster’s muddy eyes and said—
“Then keep going.”
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