Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 106
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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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The Broken Ranker
Devours Myths
Chapter 106
Tower of Five Elements (6)
[The final trial of ■■■■ ■■■ has begun.]
[The clone of ■■■■ ■■■ you are currently facing is your own clone with the same rank and abilities as you, or perhaps a new possibility you could possess.]
[From now on, defeat the clone and prove your existence and worth.]
A mirror match.
A battle format where both sides compete under identical conditions.
The final trial of the Tower of Five Elements was a confrontation with Son Wukong’s clone.
Bang! Bang! Crash!!
Rapid collisions continued in mid-air.
Lee Hyeon felt intense pain each time the clone’s Ruyi Jingu Bang struck his axe.
‘As expected… it’s strong.’
It was Son Wukong’s clone. And it was fully armed at that.
Naturally, he had expected it to be tremendously powerful.
But this was far beyond what Lee Hyeon had anticipated.
[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ tracks the opponent’s movements!]
[Fury Strike (S) attempts a flurry!]
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The axe spewed flames relentlessly like a woodcutter felling trees, but,
Clatter-clatter-clang!
Son Wukong not only blocked the attacks far too easily by wielding the Ruyi Jingu Bang with just one hand,
[Monstrous Grip (A) grabs and pulls the opponent!]
When he tried to restrain the creature from behind with an invisible giant’s hand,
Whoosh!
As if it knew exactly where the grip would appear, it twisted its body in mid-air very smoothly and skillfully evaded the grasp.
Golden mist flickered. The Somersault Cloud seemed to assist its movements.
[Dueokshini’s Deep Breath (S+) unleashes maximum output!]
[Dueoksini’s Specter erupts!]
Rumble!!
Even when launching intense lightning bolts, it was the same.
Most attacks were deflected, and even the heat that managed to assault the creature was blocked and neutralized by the armor it wore.
Thud-thud-thoom!
Its movements were truly like watching a monkey freely leaping through trees.
It was the worst matchup for Lee Hyeon, who mainly relied on aggressive assaults.
It wasn’t easy to pursue.
‘The field of vision itself is different when seen through the Golden Eyes of Truth. It’s accurately reading the direction of intent and cutting through that flow.’
Lee Hyeon didn’t miss how the Golden Headband spun fiercely each time the Golden Eyes of Truth occasionally emitted golden light.
‘It reads intent to the maximum with the Golden Eyes of Truth, the Golden Headband analyzes it, the Somersault Cloud assists movement. The Ruyi Jingu Bang cuts through the flow, and the rest is deflected by the armor…’
The creature seemed to be blatantly demonstrating how sacred relics should be used.
‘…This is the movement of a demon.’
But the biggest problem lay elsewhere.
The amount of intent.
Despite clearly being of equal rank, the amount of intent the Son Wukong clone wielded was much greater.
Twice as much?
No, it seemed to be easily three times as much.
As a result, the creature showed much freer movement and could put more destructive power into its attacks.
Whether the difference in intent amount was because the creature’s origin was that of a demon, or because it was naturally familiar with using intent, he couldn’t tell.
But if the fight dragged on like this, it was obvious he would be at a disadvantage.
Intent had a considerable impact on stamina and magic power usage as well.
Lee Hyeon temporarily stopped his offensive and calmly caught his breath.
‘Fighting style.’
Whoo-
‘Can I really follow it well?’
Whirrrr!!
At that moment, the Ruyi Jingu Bang wrapped around his right wrist trembled roughly.
Lee Hyeon let out a hollow laugh while stroking it with his left hand.
He could feel it being frustrated with him.
Thud!
Just then, Son Wukong’s clone lightly somersaulted in mid-air.
It planted the Ruyi Jingu Bang on the ground and lightly landed on top of it, crouching down.
Truly monkey-like movements.
Grin!
The creature smiled broadly.
As if asking whether this was all he had.
Beckon, beckon.
And then it even beckoned him to come over with its index finger.
It was annoying.
“You want me to come over?”
The clone smiled even wider.
Lee Hyeon coldly twisted one corner of his mouth.
“Fine. I should go in.”
While answering as if swept up by the provocation, Lee Hyeon’s Golden Eyes of Truth remained calm.
‘The Great Sage’s clone and I pursue fundamentally different purposes. So if I force myself to imitate the Great Sage’s fighting style, I’ll only become awkward like wearing ill-fitting clothes.’
Lee Hyeon’s exchange of techniques with the clone hadn’t been without any results.
Rather, he had intentionally guided the clone to show more movements.
-I will ask you many things, and if your answers are unsatisfactory, I will tear everything apart.
-So you’d better prepare to answer well. My questions will be quite rough. Do you understand?
Son Wukong had said he would continue asking him questions.
Those answers would probably be each person’s martial ideal they pursued.
If that was the case,
what Lee Hyeon could contain would inevitably be very different from Son Wukong.
Even though the two had walked similar paths like parallel theories,
if you dissected their inner selves completely, there would be many different aspects.
Everyone inevitably has different karma they’ve accumulated and different narratives to pursue.
‘Self-reliance.’
Lee Hyeon recalled the many things Son Wukong had shown him so far.
‘The Great Sage doesn’t simply want me to follow him just because I’m his disciple.’
Crack.
His grip on the axe tightened with full force.
‘Rather, he wants me to follow him while having my own answers.’
A simple obedient doll wouldn’t catch his eye.
After all, that wasn’t the path he had walked.
-This is the answer I gained by giving up even my Buddha position and pursuing martial arts my entire life. But that answer still hasn’t found its conclusion.
-I will ask whether you truly have this, or whether you can pursue it.
Son Wukong had lived recklessly like a scoundrel, and had also suffered hardships under Tripitaka’s control.
Then he ascended to the Buddha position of Victorious Fighting Buddha, but after long contemplation, he completed his present self by abandoning that position.
This was the result of realizing that position, heavy with duties and responsibilities, was different from his true nature.
And,
finally the Fighting Style was born.
―Freedom.
―Solitary Existence.
These two things were the core of the Fighting Style that Son Wukong had completed.
Also, this was his idea of a king’s attitude.
That’s why the demons of Flower Fruit Mountain who followed him never tried to show their weak sides, even while following their dead king.
Then,
‘What Fighting Style will I pursue from now on?’
Crack! Crackle!!
Blue-white lightning sparked up over Lee Hyeon’s hand.
‘I’ll find that answer through this opportunity too.’
As soon as Lee Hyeon organized his thoughts, he kicked off the ground once more.
Boom!
Whoooosh-
[Activating Dueoksini’s Swift Thunder!]
Son Wukong’s clone smiled broadly as if he had been waiting. His Fiery Eyes blazed.
The creature somersaulted once more while simultaneously gripping the Ruyi Jingu Bang and striking upward.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Then the ground surface flipped over and sharp spikes jutted up from the earth.
A vicious sight that looked like it would skewer Lee Hyeon running in a straight line.
However,
Lee Hyeon actually accelerated even more.
Flash!
Lightning energy sparked up even larger, instantly dyeing him in brilliant light.
‘I don’t have an answer yet. Until now, my life has been busy just surviving day by day.’
[All skills manifest at maximum level as lightning completely consumes your body. ‘Divine Authority: Dueok Thunder Ghost’ awakens!]
The being of light swung his axe horizontally.
A simple but powerful offensive.
‘But there was never a time when my will wasn’t reflected. I always pushed through with my stubbornness.’
When he was young, he was an orphan abandoned by the world, but he didn’t despair and found a breakthrough through private education.
When he had no money for tuition, he somehow earned scholarships, and when he discovered injustice at Blue Thunder, he somehow tried to overcome it.
The same when he had to retire due to the Ring of Extreme Cold. Because he somehow didn’t give up and endured, he met Son Wukong and grasped a new opportunity.
His life was a series of difficulties, but each time he overcame them with willpower.
‘And… each time there were benefactors who extended their hands to me.’
When he was at the orphanage, Moon Su-chan held his hand, and at private school, Lee Gun-san grasped his hand.
At Blue Thunder it was Kim Min-jeong, after retirement it was Go Jin-woo, at White Burn it was Im Won-young,
and now Son Wukong,
Sha Wujing,
the Peng Demon King,
were holding his hand.
Even when the world tried to forcibly confine him somewhere, there were always those who would grasp his hand and save him.
‘Perhaps this might be… the answer I need to obtain.’
[You have grasped the core of your mental concept.]
Lee Hyeon tightly grasped the vague enlightenment he had gained in his heart.
In case this insight might disappear like a mirage at any moment.
At that moment,
Whoooosh!!
Lee Hyeon felt his mental energy suddenly surge.
An amount 2 times, no, 3 times greater than what he had been using.
‘No. It didn’t suddenly increase. The mental energy I originally possessed is finally coming out. I just didn’t know about it until now.’
The amount of mental energy he currently possessed was exactly the same as Son Wukong’s clone.
The insight he had just gained had solidly strengthened his mental energy.
Sure enough.
Instantly, part of his mental energy flowed into the axe being swung horizontally.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. The seven colors of the rainbow weren’t only in others.
He had them too.
Among them, red seeped into the axe.
The meaning of red was negation.
The axe mixed with negative emotions was like the heart of an enraged Dueoksini.
Craaaack!!
Blue-white lightning created a tidal wave and instantly blew away the spikes.
Broken fragments scattered randomly into the air,
Whoosh!
Lee Hyeon infused orange mental energy into his right foot and yellow mental energy into his body, moving swiftly.
Orange, lighter than red, was good for gaining propulsion, and bright yellow was good for making the body much lighter.
These were all the seven-color usage methods that Son Wukong’s clone had shown while moving.
Whoosh!
Lee Hyeon had already reached right in front of the clone,
and the clone opened its eyes wide in surprise, then spread its left hand wide and struck down at Lee Hyeon’s head.
An offensive with tremendous power, like firing a cannon.
Lee Hyeon infused green and blue mental energy into his right and left hands respectively, crossing both axes.
The meaning of blue was affirmation.
It symbolized a steadfast heart, making it excellent for defense.
Paaaaang!!
Whoooosh-
Attack and attack crossed each other.
At the same time, hot wind swept over their heads,
‘It works!’
Lee Hyeon confirmed that the clone’s left hand had sustained even a small wound and cheered in triumph.
It was the first time damage had been inflicted on the creature’s outer shell, which had been so tough that it could withstand his Axe Technique without a care.
The clone seemed surprised as well, as one eyebrow twitched.
That alone was enough for Lee Hyeon to gain confidence that he was on the right path.
Screeeech!
Screech!
But such thoughts were brief.
The clone twisted its body as if nothing had happened and drew a diagonal line with the Ruyi Jingu Bang again.
Lee Hyeon boldly closed the distance with the creature and unleashed a series of strikes.
An attack that fell as sharp as a guillotine.
However, he had an intuition that dodging this would be dangerous.
The movement of the clone’s intent was now clearly caught by his Golden Eyes of Truth.
Bang! Bang! Kwaaang!!
A tense battle unfolded where neither side gave an inch.
[Stack has accumulated.]
[Lightning will strike!]
Lee Hyeon even mobilized the lightning of Fury Strike to try to break through the clone’s defenses.
He tracked the opponent’s intent movements and tried to counter them with his own intent. The opponent also read his intent and blocked it with opposing intent.
In this moment, the blue intent shone brightly. Even while pouring out fierce attacks, he did not neglect protecting his body.
Intent and intent crossed. An exchange of attacks so fast that ordinary Rankers could never keep up unfolded.
Pat!
Tspat!
A wound opened on Son Wukong’s clone’s left shoulder and blood splattered. Conversely, Lee Hyeon received a slight wound on his neck and blood flowed down steadily.
The depth of the wounds was similar, but Lee Hyeon was still the one in more danger.
Whoooosh-
Lee Hyeon and the clone distanced themselves as if they had made a promise.
“Huff… huff…!”
“Haah… haah…”
Both men, completely soaked in sweat, had smiles on their lips.
Son Wukong’s clone twisted its mouth.
As if asking whether he could do more.
Lee Hyeon also answered with a smile.
“I haven’t found the answer yet, you see. But I think I’ve almost caught up now?”
Though they now had equal power and equal amounts of intent, a gap still existed between the two.
Part of the reason was that Lee Hyeon still lacked proficiency with intent.
But Lee Hyeon wasn’t particularly worried about that.
He was rapidly closing that difference, and now he could see a way to surpass it.
Lee Hyeon
hadn’t even brought out any Sacred Relics other than the Golden Eyes of Truth yet.
“The second round will be different. Be careful.”
Just as the clone’s eyebrow curled up,
Lee Hyeon imbued the purple intent he hadn’t used until now into his right bracelet.
‘If there’s a big equipment difference, I just need to close that gap too.’
At that moment,
Clank!
The sound of the Ruyi Jingu Bang’s locking mechanism, which had been tightly sealed until now, being released rang out,
and the bracelet began to slowly unfurl.
[The Ruyi Jingu Bang is being released!]
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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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