Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 177

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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 177

The door of Seonjeong Hall opened.

As the three people stepped inside, the scene that unfolded before their eyes was distinctly different from the previous two halls.

A massive circular space.

The ceiling was so high it couldn’t be seen, and the floor was as smooth as if bronze plates had been laid down.

And in the center of the hall stood a single Buddha statue, whose appearance was similar to Ji-woon’s but not completely identical.

Woon-hwi turned his head to look at Seol Ho-ryeong and Seo Hyo.

The wounds they had sustained from the previous trials and the one before that were considerable.

Walking was no problem, but fighting seemed impossible.

That’s right.

From Woon-hwi’s experience, the atmosphere of this hall meant only one thing.

A life-or-death battle, or a duel.

“Please wait here.”

Saying this, Woon-hwi slowly walked toward the center.

There was no hesitation in his steps. He walked right up to the Buddha statue and stopped firmly.

The height of the Buddha statue seen up close was considerable.

About 7 feet.

Similar to Cheon Pung, who was probably struggling desperately with Gwang Han right now.

What was most surprising was this Buddha statue’s presence. It not only dominated the entire hall but was overwhelming even in appearance.

Clearly the material was made of steel, or perhaps cloud iron, but the surface had even minute trembling as if it were alive.

Honestly speaking, Woon-hwi had never seen anything like this before.

Neither human nor statue.

He didn’t know. To create something like this, what level of profound knowledge would be required? Not only understanding the principles of heaven and earth, but the level of formation techniques and mystical arts would have to reach the heavens to create something similar.

The Buddha statue’s mouth suddenly moved.

「The final test. Prove your martial arts.」

In fact, it was no different from what was expected.

Beob Un-jeon tested the wisdom of Buddhist law, Diamond Hall tested the heart, so naturally the last would be a trial testing the practice of the body.

Precisely, the proof of martial arts.

Woon-hwi silently pulled out the sword sheath of the Jinhwa Cheonryeong Sword to the side and placed it on the floor. Then he rotated his wrist and neck joints several times to loosen them.

It was an appearance where not even an inch of tension could be felt.

The Buddha statue opened its mouth again.

「You cannot use internal energy or Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. Only with the strength of your body.」

“I understand.”

Instantly, the Buddha statue disappeared.

No, it was too fast to be seen.

Thwack!

A fist struck Woon-hwi’s right cheek. However, Woon-hwi was already leaning his body backward to disperse the impact. As if he had known in advance.

In that brief moment when Woon-hwi’s face turned to the side.

His eyes flashed.

He immediately twisted his body. The Buddha statue’s foot that had extended at some point passed by Woon-hwi grazing him.

It wasn’t over. Soon a hand came flying.

Woon-hwi stepped back one step, then reached out and grabbed the Buddha statue’s wrist.

The contained strength and weight were considerable, causing him to lose balance and Woon-hwi’s body was pushed back momentarily. The Buddha statue didn’t miss this.

It immediately extended its foot, but Woon-hwi responded with ‘rotation’.

He lightly kicked off the ground and rotated his body, and the Buddha statue’s arm that was being held twisted to the side, this time breaking its balance.

The positions of the two changed in an instant. The Buddha statue showed its back and Woon-hwi landed behind it.

What would happen next was all too obvious.

Kwaaaaang-!!

Woon-hwi’s foot kicked the Buddha statue’s back.

The Buddha statue’s body leaned forward and was forced to take two steps, then rotated its body and swung its fist, but Woon-hwi deflected that fist with his right hand.

Crack!

The sound of hard stone and flesh colliding.

However, there was no sign of pain on Woon-hwi’s face.

He stepped inside along the Buddha statue’s arm. Then with his left hand he struck upward at the Buddha statue’s chin.

The Buddha statue stepped back. But immediately attacked again.

Kicks, hand strikes, punches, elbows.

Four attacks came almost simultaneously.

Woon-hwi twisted his body to avoid the first kick. The hand strike grazed his shoulder. The moment the punch came flying, Woon-hwi lowered his body. And he placed his palm in the path where the Buddha statue’s elbow was coming down.

The moment the elbow touched his palm, Woon-hwi converted the force. Going beyond deflecting the Buddha statue’s strength to using it in reverse, Woon-hwi’s body rotated once more.

Woon-hwi’s foot, containing centrifugal force, strongly struck the Buddha statue’s side face.

Crack-!

The Buddha statue, which had stepped back three or four steps to the side from the impact, stopped firmly. Curiosity seemed to dwell in its eyes.

「…Interesting. Your movements contain the mysteries of Great Diamond Fist and Great Nai Movement Technique mixed together. How can this be?」

Great Diamond Fist is Shaolin’s fist technique inspired by Geumgang Yeoksa. Its characteristics are solid fists like hard rock and iron-wall-like defense, and destructive power that collapses the opponent’s center with short, intense strikes. Great Nai Movement Technique has fluid and unpredictable movements like flowing water, with the mystery of prescient awareness that changes position just before the opponent’s attack, and is the ultimate technique among Shaolin’s ultimate techniques that achieves maximum effect with minimum movement.

Clearly Woon-hwi was not a disciple of Shaolin, nor did he follow Buddhism.

But at this moment, Woon-hwi’s movements showed solidity and flexibility, and an original form that freely crossed the boundaries between direct confrontation and evasion, and between defense and attack. Combining these opposing mysteries together was itself impossible. That’s why it was surprising.

Woon-hwi spoke briefly.

“All streams return to the source, the essence of martial arts ultimately converges to the same place.”

「…I see.」

The Buddha statue attacked again.

This time it was even faster, moving as if dancing. Dozens of attacks came in succession.

Woon-hwi captured the Buddha statue’s entire form in his eyes.

The trajectory cutting through the air, the direction of the next attack to come, how much strength was put in, where its legs were pointing.

Everything was drawn in his mind.

Paaang-! Paaang-!

The sound of the air bursting rang out madly. Woon-hwi’s movements were very mysterious.

Leaning his body back then moving to the side, kicking off the ground and rotating, every moment his legs touched the ground Woon-hwi’s body moved here and there, avoiding all the Buddha statue’s attacks by just an inch difference.

In the brief moment of tremendous offense and defense, as if reading an opportunity, the Buddha statue’s palm extended toward Woon-hwi’s chest.

He immediately turned his body to deflect it. Then struck the Buddha statue’s arm with his shoulder. With a thud, the Buddha statue’s arm shot up to the sky. The Buddha statue immediately thrust its foot, but he had read it.

Woon-hwi’s hand grabbed the Buddha statue’s ankle.

As he applied force and pulled, the Buddha statue lost balance and fell from its position.

Immediately the Buddha statue’s other foot tried to trip Woon-hwi’s leg, but Woon-hwi’s foot was no longer in that spot.

Woon-hwi’s body, which had kicked off the ground and jumped up, rotated once more, and his foot containing all his strength came down toward the Buddha statue’s head.

Crack-!!

A thunderous sound echoed, the stone floor cracked with a splitting sound, and the Buddha statue’s face was dented deeply.

The depth was about two inches.

Seol Ho-ryeong and Seo Hyo’s mouths fell wide open.

What… did they just see?

No, the movements of the iron Buddha statue were beyond imagination. It was clearly movement without using internal energy, but what was more certain was that its attacks, as well as its movements and judgment, all far surpassed the martial learning of the two men.

That was impossible to face.

They would have to stand back to back and cooperate to the maximum, and even with heavenly luck following them, they could do something resembling suppression.

Now Woon-hwi had accomplished everything by himself.

From the sight of Woon-hwi turning his back and adjusting his clothes, these two men felt an insurmountable ‘wall.’

The faces of the two men watching Woon-hwi hardened in an instant.

Behind Woon-hwi’s back, the fallen Buddha Statue was slowly rising to its feet.

Though its face was deeply carved in, it seemed that wasn’t enough.

Woon-hwi also turned around.

「You cannot bring me down with your strength alone.」

Woon-hwi spoke in a cold tone.

“You’ve already fallen, and even if we continue further, the result will be the same.”

「Well. It’s still insufficient.」

Woon-hwi, who had been thinking about something for a moment, nodded as if he understood.

He seemed to know what it wanted.

Slowly, Woon-hwi took his stance.

He extended his right foot forward and pulled his left foot back.

His left hand was raised up, and his right hand was lowered down. And his body was drawn taut like a bow, a stance completely different from before.

「That is…」

Surprise was evident in the Buddha Statue’s voice.

That was correct.

「Bodhidharma’s… Space-Time Fist…」

The Yeok Geun Gyeong didn’t simply contain mysteries alone.

It also had training stages, and several martial arts to deploy when using the Yeok Geun Gyeong were recorded, with the Space-Time Fist being one of them.

This was exactly what the Buddha Statue had wanted to confirm.

If one had obtained the Yeok Geun Gyeong, how much could they understand it.

This wasn’t simply checking fighting ability, but confirming to what degree one could understand ‘martial arts.’

This time, Woon-hwi moved.

His movement was completely different from before. It was neither fast nor strong. However, that movement contained fundamental power, a movement that seemed to align with the flow of the world itself.

He extended his fist.

The Buddha Statue raised its arm to block Woon-hwi’s attack, but Woon-hwi’s fist changed direction just before being blocked. It was no longer an attack. It was merely flow.

Woon-hwi’s fist struck the Buddha Statue’s chest.

Thwack-!

The surface of Woon-hwi’s fist turned red. At that moment, a subtle vibration occurred in the Buddha Statue’s body. Woon-hwi didn’t stop. His body continued to flow. Turning, flipping, bending, extending.

It was no longer a fight. It was a dance. A dance that aligned with the essence of the world.

The Buddha Statue followed Woon-hwi’s movements. The two beings seemed like they were looking at a mirror. When one moved, the other moved as well.

To the watching eyes of Seol Ho-ryeong and Seo Hyo, the two beings appeared to have become one body.

Boundaries disappeared, and only flow remained.

The Buddha Statue’s body began to crumble.

When Woon-hwi’s fist touched its right arm, the right arm cracked and shattered, and when it touched the abdomen, a hole was pierced through.

When it struck the side, a handful of fragments fell away, and when it powerfully hit the left shoulder, the entire shoulder crumbled.

He rotated his body and struck the right thigh, and finally hit the top of the left foot.

As if by agreement, both beings stopped.

To be precise, one side could no longer move.

The completely shattered Buddha Statue raised its head to look at Woon-hwi.

Woon-hwi’s left hand wearing the Buddha Hand Seal was relatively intact, but from his ‘right hand,’ an enormous amount of blood was flowing down. The bones of his hand’s back, and all five fingers, were all broken.

Breaking steel with an ordinary person’s body is impossible, but if martial arts are added to it, it becomes possible.

But does it work with just martial arts added? Absolutely not.

Every phenomenon has a reason, and every transaction requires a price.

That was the price.

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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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