Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 257
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 257
It was a place that had been devastated by a Gang Qi master’s cultivation.
The vegetation had been uprooted long ago.
The whirlwind created by Hwangbo Yun’s aura stirred up yellow dust.
Zhuge Munhyeon quickly retreated to avoid the range of his energy. It wasn’t out of fear, nor was he startled by the aura he was emitting.
‘Unnecessarily stirring up dust…’
That was simply the reason.
The intention to display his might and pressure his opponent into submission was good, but why stir up dust, of all things?
Prolonged exposure would cause lung disease.
But perhaps misunderstanding such behavior, a deep smile formed on Hwangbo Yun’s lips.
‘Ha, is that son of mine blocking him again?’
How absurd.
As if expecting him to flee, Hwangbo Yeonwu, who had retreated to a distance, stirred up dust smaller than his father’s and blocked the rear.
Truly, the bond between father and son was perfect.
How remarkably alike their thinking was.
He pondered for a moment.
‘Which one should I hit first?’
Hwangbo Yeonwu would be much easier.
Even if he used Demonic Arts to amplify his energy, it would be the same.
Having already trampled him once, he knew his level.
But his choice was Hwangbo Yun.
He needed to give a signal to those who were waiting.
“I was thinking of asking you various things, but since you’ve come out like this, I’m truly grateful. You want to fight, right?”
“…?”
As his tone suddenly changed to informal speech and a sneer appeared on his lips, Hwangbo Yun frowned.
“But let me ask for your understanding first.”
“Understanding?”
“I’m someone whose pride reaches the heavens, so I usually respond to fists with fists, you see?”
Zhuge Munhyeon grinned and drew the Silver Cold Staff from behind his back.
“But lately, as I’ve been learning, I’ve come to understand my place. Is it okay if I use a weapon? Though it’s too precious an item to use on someone like you.”
“…Crazy bastard!”
Hwangbo Yun, who had laughed contemptuously at Zhuge Munhyeon showing off the Silver Cold Staff, stomped his foot powerfully and charged forward.
Kuuuuung!
It was so fast that the touching and separating couldn’t be seen, and before the sound of the ground rumbling had even ended, he had already flown to within arm’s reach.
What an impatient temperament…
But rather, he liked that better.
Until now, he had been tormented by the obsession that as a descendant of the Zhuge Family, he had to win the war of words first, making him overly talkative.
But now, attacking first without a single word, how grateful that was!
Jjeoeoeoeng!
The collision between the heavily swung fist and the Silver Cold Staff, struck as fast as a whip, created a thunderous roar.
Kwakwakwakwakwa!
Due to the shockwave, the ground was pushed out in circles like ripples forming on a water surface. The subsequent whirlwind knocked down even the distant trees.
“Kuk!”
Though he was the one holding a weapon, he was pushed back instead.
His arm ached and his feet were pushed back with a whoosh.
Indeed, a Gang Qi master.
It was a strength worthy of being called the Fist King of the current era.
‘This should be enough as a signal, right?’
It would have been an answer to those waiting outside.
But thoughts about how they would move or whether they would do well had to be pushed to the back of his mind.
Hwangbo Yun, having seized the initiative, immediately launched his second strike.
Air could be seen gathering and condensing around his clenched fist.
And with tremendous speed at that.
Now he had to pour all his attention into this fight and do his best.
Kuaaaaang!
The fist was heavy, and Zhuge Munhyeon’s body, having blocked it with a strike, was pushed back again.
“Let’s see you endure this!”
Hwangbo Yun stepped forward while alternately swinging both fists, and that speed was comparable to lightning striking repeatedly.
Pababababapak!
Under dozens of punches, the trajectory of the Silver Cold Staff became chaotic.
Though he was blocking them, his strength was insufficient.
What Hwangbo Yun was using was the Heavenly King Three Fists.
Characterized by innate physical strength and domineering presence, it had established itself as the strongest fist technique in the Central Plains despite having only three martial techniques.
Furthermore, when combined with the Hwangbo Family’s Mount Sumeru Heavenly King Divine Art heart method, its power was truly capable of crushing mountains.
Kuuuung!
The ground sank deeply where his foot stepped.
But before that, the pressure of massive internal energy pressed down on Zhuge Munhyeon’s retreating body, slowing his movements.
It was a technique called Mountain Body.
Then Hwangbo Yun, who had leaped high into the air, poured down punches like a downpour.
There would be no evasion.
He would smash everything to pieces.
Looking up at the rain of fists, Zhuge Munhyeon firmly supported himself on the ground with both feet and gripped the Silver Cold Staff.
Small Heaven Formation, Seven Stars Revolving Heaven.
Forty-nine consecutive strikes collided with the downpour like a meteor shower shooting upward in reverse.
Pababababak!
He didn’t miss a single one.
However, his strength was still insufficient.
Though he might excel in technique, with internal energy that had only reached the Realm of Righteous Energy, he couldn’t completely block fists imbued with Gang Qi.
His body shook from the impact of the collisions, and he felt nauseous.
Both feet gradually sank deeper into the ground.
Eventually, he reached a point where he could no longer block.
“…Tch!”
Though his pride was hurt by being overpowered in strength, he didn’t stubbornly persist.
Zhuge Munhyeon rolled on the ground to escape the range of the pouring fists.
Kwakwakwakwakwang!
The fists that missed their target mercilessly pounded the ground.
As if an earthquake had occurred, the ground continuously shook and vibrated.
The clash between the two paused momentarily.
Standing tall in the rising dust, Hwangbo Yun looked at Zhuge Munhyeon with an arrogant expression, wearing a satisfied smile.
‘That bastard… how amusing…’
It was a fight he was bound to lose from the start.
Of course, the internal energy one possessed didn’t determine every outcome.
Sometimes a lower martial artist with more practical experience could defeat a superior master.
But Gang Qi was different.
The highest realm a human could achieve.
Precision of technique?
Delicate control of power?
Such things were useless before Gang Qi that smashed everything it touched to pieces.
The presence or absence of weapons wasn’t very important either.
Gang Qi itself is no different from a weapon.
“Not bad, quite impressive. To know how to utilize the principle of softness overcoming hardness. Indeed, you’re someone who has learned Demonic Arts.”
There’s that talk again.
When he’s the one who learned Demonic Arts himself.
‘But… why does this thing keep flickering since earlier?’
Zhuge Munhyeon frowned and looked at the Eunhangon in his hand.
It was emitting light.
‘Kun trigram?’
A new position.
On top of that, it was making a humming sound.
‘You… were you perhaps something that reacts to Demonic Arts too?’
Naturally, he could only think that way.
After perfectly separating internal energy and spiritual energy through Yang Yi, it hadn’t reacted to the Small Heavenly Star Technique.
Because even the remaining spiritual energy had disappeared.
Moreover, Hwangbo Yun and Hwangbo Yeonwu were learning martial arts based on internal energy.
The only peculiarity was their Demonic Arts.
“Damn… really making people confused.”
Zhuge Munhyeon grumbled as his mind became complicated, then soon turned his gaze away from Eunhangon to look at Hwangbo Yun.
Eunhangon wasn’t the problem right now.
‘The Small Heavenly Star Technique would be difficult.’
He needed to make Hwangbo Yun reveal his true internal energy.
In that case…
“You said softness overcoming hardness?”
“Why? Do you have other techniques?”
“No, I wanted to tell you that saying is wrong.”
“What?”
“I don’t really like the saying about overcoming strength with softness. That’s something only weak guys like Mujin would say.”
“Mujin?”
There was no way he would know Mujin.
But there was no more appropriate comparison.
If that guy Mujin had seen this, he would have definitely said the same thing about Tai Chi or something.
I’m different from that guy.
Softness overcoming hardness?
I’ve never used such a technique even once.
Thud, thud, thud.
Zhuge Munhyeon picked up stones from the ground and threw them around.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, just wait a moment. This requires some preparation.”
“What?”
Hwangbo Yun frowned.
It was understandable to be puzzled.
He was throwing stones in the middle of a fight.
But Zhuge Munhyeon continued throwing stones around.
Including not just where Hwangbo Yun was, but also where Hwangbo Yeonwu was located.
Perhaps because the sight was so absurd, both Hwangbo Yun and Hwangbo Yeonwu just stared with bewildered expressions.
But what could he do?
Elder Uncle Yeongmun had said that using spiritual energy on people was taboo.
Even if he had to use it, he was told to set up a barrier.
But the method that person taught him required more practice than expected and couldn’t be used yet, and the barrier talismans he had received were already used up at the Namgung Family.
As a temporary measure, he had to deploy the spiritual energy sealing formation that Father had created for him.
Though it wasn’t at a perfect level yet, it should be fine for a short while.
“Phew, that’s done. Now for the last stone.”
Whoosh!
The moment the stone hit the ground, a strange energy enveloped all directions.
It was as if space had been divided.
“A formation technique?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re insane. Do you think deploying some formation technique will suddenly make your skills advance by leaps and bounds?”
“You know well.”
“What?”
“You’ll probably be shocked. This is at a level that can’t be expressed as just advancing by leaps and bounds.”
“Ha!”
“And you mentioned softness overcoming hardness earlier? You’re wrong. You see, I’m someone who… overcomes strength with even greater strength. From the past until now, consistently! You could call it hardness overcoming hardness?”
“Hardness overcoming? Puhahahaha!”
Hwangbo Yun burst into laughter as if he found it ridiculous.
Well, that was understandable.
He had been maintaining the upper hand until now.
But whether that was nonsense or not, he would find out by experiencing it directly with his own body.
Whether he laughed or not, Zhuge Munhyeon followed Yang Yi to withdraw his internal energy and breathed according to Tai Shik.
Internal energy was stored in his dantian, his heart beat explosively, pumping spiritual energy through his entire blood vessels.
White light flashed in his eyes and his mind became calm.
His breathing stabilized and his aura disappeared.
He seemed like an ordinary person who had learned nothing, but the Eunhangon in his hand began to emit a gentle light.
The position of the Kun trigram emitted particularly intense light, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.
But at that moment, Hwangbo Yun’s eyes widened and his body trembled slightly.
‘Th-this power is?’
He had firmly believed that he must have learned Demonic Arts, so why was he feeling the exact same power as the Medical Sage from this guy?
“You, how are you?”
“Oh? That’s impressive? You felt this? Even the Namgung Family Head didn’t notice at all until I used it… Being someone who learned Demonic Arts, are your skills a level above that person?”
Zhuge Munhyeon could only understand it that way.
Whatever the case, it was time to destroy now.
Whether Demonic Arts or Gang Qi.
“Demonic Arts? What are you talking about? Didn’t you learn Demonic Arts!”
“Hah, that talk again? Who exactly learned Demonic Arts?”
He really never gets tired of it.
From what perspective did he think he had learned Demonic Arts?
“Hwangbo Yun, did your head go crazy from learning Demonic Arts?”
“Demonic Arts? That’s what you…”
“Stop talking nonsense. The investigation is already over. I know that you father and son have been practicing dual cultivation by using women you kidnapped from Shandong Province.”
“Wh-what?”
“Looking at your expression, it seems I’m right. Tsk tsk, guys who learned martial arts forbidden even in the demonic path acting like victims. Who did you say learned Demonic Arts?”
Hwangbo Yun’s eyes trembled slightly.
“You seem quite flustered, I can read it all in your eyes. You’re thinking ‘How does this guy know that?’ right?”
“…”
“Damn bastard. Unable to distinguish between what should and shouldn’t be done… It’s ridiculous that someone like you calls himself orthodox. At least the orthodox masters I remember, those who were heads of families, had an unyielding pride that would never submit.”
Zhuge Munhyeon approached Hwangbo Yun with a sneer, holding Eunhangon pointed toward the ground.
You bastard who was consumed by ambition and fell to the level of a beast by doing things that should never be done as a human.
Now it’s time to get beaten!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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