The Fortunate Sword God of the Zhuge Clan - Chapter 60

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 60.
“Yang Mujin….”
Heuggon murmured as if understanding upon hearing the name Yang Mujin.
“The malevolent spirit of the Yang Family Spear survived after all.”
“Oh, so you know of that? You don’t look nearly old enough.”
Heuggon answered Yang Mujin’s mockery with a composed expression.
“I haven’t witnessed it myself, but I’ve heard plenty about the dangers of the Yang Family Spear Technique.”
“Hmph, I wouldn’t call that flattery.”
“I’m simply stating fact.”
Heuggon turned to look at Hwaju.
“The two of us cannot handle this man.”
“Yeah, I can see that much. So what? Just die? Absolutely not.”
“There is no other way.”
“What?”
Heuggon answered the question in Hwaju’s eyes—not with words, but with his fist.
Bang—
Heuggon’s fist drove forward without hesitation, piercing through Hwaju’s chest near the heart.
“…Huh?”
Yang Mujin’s eyes widened at this sudden turn of events.
Hwaju stared at Heuggon with a vacant, bewildered expression.
“…You….”
“Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
“You damned… bas….”
Hwaju couldn’t finish the words and collapsed to the ground.
Yang Mujin watched with a dazed look before letting out a hollow laugh.
“Smart. Well, that’s the only way you’ll survive, I suppose.”
Yang Mujin believed Heuggon had read his intentions.
Though he spoke as if he meant to sweep them all away, in truth Yang Mujin had meant to spare one alive.
He needed to use them as a witness to expose the Black Guard’s existence and their schemes to the world.
“I was going to sever your limbs since sealing the vital points would kill you anyway, but since you’re cooperating so readily, I’m almost inclined to bring you along with all your limbs intact.”
“…You know that much as well.”
Heuggon pulled his fist from Hwaju’s chest.
“Was it you who discovered that information? Did you spend over twenty years hiding in the shadows, investigating us?”
Yang Mujin scoffed at Heuggon’s question.
“What good does knowing do? You won’t be able to see anything anymore.”
Heuggon shook his head.
“I beg to differ. You’re an Ultimate Peak martial artist, yes?”
“What?”
“You’re strong, but you’re not of the Transformation Realm. If you were a Transformation Realm martial artist, you could subdue all four of us without lifting a finger. There’d be no need to deal with three and spare one.”
Heuggon opened his fist, showing the one he’d driven through Hwaju’s chest.
From within it emerged a jet-black pill, dark as obsidian.
“Then I still have a move left.”
Heuggon swallowed the Black Heart Demon Pill before Yang Mujin could react.
Instantly, Heuggon’s pupils seemed to dilate, the whites of his eyes staining black.
The moment Yang Mujin confirmed this, he rushed forward to attack.
Boom!
“…Huh.”
Heuggon’s fist collided with Yang Mujin’s spear.
Though Yang Mujin reacted swiftly and blocked it, he was forced back two full steps.
At this, Yang Mujin’s expression turned grave as he glared at Heuggon.
“What is this?”
“Black Heart Demon Pill.”
Heuggon answered curtly, then unleashed a barrage of strikes that surpassed Peak Stage by far.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yang Mujin found himself forced entirely onto the defensive against Heuggon’s onslaught.
Giving ground to Heuggon, who wielded the Fist and Foot Technique, proved costly.
Fists closed the distance in ways spears could not, and once they slipped inside his guard, they held every advantage.
Yet even accounting for such a matchup, something was wrong.
The power Heuggon was unleashing far exceeded what a Peak Stage martial artist should have been capable of.

From the start, the gap in realm between Yang Mujin and Heuggon was not something to be closed by such a distance.
Yang Mujin’s eyes swept across the black energy coiling around Heuggon’s fist.
The sword energy and fist energy produced by Peak-stage martial artists normally took on a form like heat shimmer, nothing more.
But now, around Heuggon’s fist, it had not only taken on a distinct fist shape.
Within it, inner strength flowed like the glittering light of the Milky Way.
‘Robust Qi….’
It was unmistakably the Fist Qi Becomes Robust—a higher stage than ordinary fist energy.
And to wield Robust Qi meant—
‘This bastard….’
Heuggon had risen to the Super-Expert realm in a single moment.
***
Mu Heun, who had been moving slowly toward the position where he was to wait for Yang Mujin, suddenly halted his steps.
Dokgo Hyun, who had lost his inner strength and could not sense the energy from such a distance, voiced his confusion.
“Huh? Why’d you stop all of a sudden?”
Mu Heun turned to face him and answered.
“It seems a Super-Expert has appeared where the commander is fighting.”
“What? Damn it. You mean a reinforcement has arrived?”
Dokgo Hyun naturally assumed as much, but Mu Heun’s thoughts ran differently.
“No—the martial artist who was confronting the commander had a sudden surge in power, then it vanished. He’s likely risen to a realm I can no longer sense.”
“…?”
Dokgo Hyun’s expression twisted in bewilderment.
“A Peak-stage martial artist fighting the commander suddenly rose to Super-Expert realm? That doesn’t make any sense—”
A flash of memory cut through Dokgo Hyun’s mind mid-sentence.
—This is something passed down in our Soong Quan School. Consuming it grants temporary power that exceeds one’s current realm.
“…Surely not.”
“I’m afraid that ‘surely not’ is exactly what happened.”
Mu Heun harbored the same suspicion.
“Yi Yeong’s Spirit Elixir wasn’t merely bait to lure in that petty gang, it seems.”
***
Crash!
Under Heuggon’s relentless barrage, Yang Mujin was driven back without a means of resistance.
Yang Mujin felt a bitter unfairness in his predicament.
‘Damn it—how does someone jump to Super-Expert overnight?’
Yet what use was reasoning when he could see it happening before his eyes?
Yang Mujin abandoned pointless denial and calmly defended himself while analyzing the situation.
‘That black pill—the one he pulled from a woman’s heart.’
Since taking the Black Heart Demon Pill, all of Heuggon’s abilities had surged dramatically.
Each blow was heavy and swift, and he wielded Robust Qi as perfectly as though he had been a Super-Expert all along.
‘One pill does all that….’
If such a thing were possible, what then was all the training he and his kind had devoted their lives to?
Whoosh—
Yang Mujin arched his back, evading Heuggon’s strike.
Though it barely grazed his nose, the impact left a wound.
Heuggon immediately drove an elbow down toward Yang Mujin.
“This damned—!”
Thud!
Yang Mujin drove his spear hard into the ground, using the recoil to spring his body forward and evade the attack.
A moment’s delay in judgment would have spelled disaster.
“Slippery monkey…!”
Heuggon, frustrated, rushed at Yang Mujin again.
The corners of Yang Mujin’s mouth, watching calmly, began to curl upward.
“…No, that can’t be right.”
“?”
The instant Heuggon sensed Yang Mujin’s unexpected smile—
Thump—
“?!”
Boom-crash!
Strength drained from Heuggon’s legs, and his body skidded across the ground.
‘…What was that?’
Heuggon could not hide his shock.
‘An attack from this distance?’
Impossible. Yang Mujin’s spear couldn’t reach that far.
If it had, Heuggon’s leg would bear a wound, but his was unmarked.
It looked as though Heuggon alone had stumbled over a stone and fallen.
For someone with the body and inner strength of an Ultimate Peak martial artist, such a thing should be impossible.
“You don’t look hurt. Does that medicine also numb pain? Or is that just your constitution?”
“…What?”
“Well, either way it doesn’t matter. I’ve confirmed you can’t feel ‘this.'”
Yang Mujin smiled with sly confidence.
“That drug of yours—it only elevates your inner strength and body to Ultimate Peak, doesn’t it? Am I right?”
Heuggon’s answer came in the form of a dark, fierce glare.
“…What have you done?”
“The way you’re dodging the question tells me I’ve hit the mark.”
Yang Mujin leveled his spear at the fallen Heuggon.
Brilliant crimson Robust Qi gathered above the weapon, forming the shape of a second spear.
And that was far from the end.
“Which means you’re only half a warrior.”
***
“Shouldn’t we hurry and help the commander? Why are we still walking so slowly?”
Mu Heun answered Dokgo Hyun, who looked anxious, with unhurried calm.
“If we approach too quickly, he might abandon the fight and flee entirely.”
“But surely the commander is in danger…”
“There’s no such danger.”
“What?”
Mu Heun smiled knowingly.
“Yi Yeong—he said that Spirit Elixir allows one to transcend their current realm. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, so first-tier martial artists gain Peak strength, and Peak martial artists gain Ultimate Peak strength.”
Mu Heun shook his head.
“Strength means inner strength and body. If that were all there is, the commander would never lose.”
“…?”
Seeing Dokgo Hyun’s silent question, Mu Heun answered patiently.
“You would know, if you were more observant. From the Peak realm onward, martial artists gradually begin to merge with nature. You can see it when a Peak martial artist in full exertion momentarily blends with the background itself.”
“…Yes, that’s true.”
“And the Transformation Realm goes beyond complete unity with nature—it manifests like a natural disaster, a volcano or tidal wave. Yet why would the vague realm of Ultimate Peak be distinguished at all?”
“…Because one can wield Robust Qi?”
“That’s part of it, but there’s a more crucial reason.”
“Hmm…”
Dokgo Hyun tried hard to puzzle it out, but couldn’t find the answer.
Mu Heun smiled as if he understood, then offered the explanation.
“The mind—Heart-Image, in other words.”
“Heart-Image?”
“Yes. The greatest difference between Peak and Ultimate Peak lies in whether one can wield one’s own Heart-Image as though it were a natural phenomenon.”
Mu Heun spoke from memory of the Ultimate Peak martial artists he’d observed in his past life.
“The shape of a martial artist’s mind affects reality itself.”
***
Heuggon blocked Yang Mujin’s spear thrust with a fist wrapped in Robust Qi.
One leg wouldn’t obey him fully, but that alone posed no problem for defense.
Crack!
Yet despite this, Heuggon felt Yang Mujin’s blade pierce his shoulder.
It wasn’t the first time.
‘…What is this? What in the world is happening?’
He’d thought he could block the attack, but the moment he extended his arm to defend, his strength suddenly drained away.
Without even being struck directly—without a single wound appearing.
After this bewildering exchange repeated a few more times, Heuggon found himself on the ground, all four limbs pierced.
Thud.
Heuggon looked up at Yang Mujin with a hollow expression, utterly lost.
“…What exactly happened? How did you…”
Yang Mujin looked down at the kneeling Heuggon and let out a soft laugh.
“If you were a body that could feel pain, you’d have figured it out long ago.”
“What?”
“The spear that exists in my Heart-Image struck you first, before my physical attack ever could.”
“…A spear of the Heart-Image?”
“It doesn’t inflict real wounds. But it makes your body believe it’s been pierced.”
Every time Heuggon had tried to block, he’d failed—because his body had registered the strike of Yang Mujin’s Heart-Image spear as real.
“That’s my Heart-Image Manifestation. The Yang Family Single Line Illusion.”
“…Heart-Image Manifestation….”
He’d never heard the term before.
In truth, it wouldn’t have mattered if he had.
He was only half an Ultimate Peak, and even that power was beginning to seep away.
Ssshhhhh….
Heuggon’s Inner Strength, which had blazed like wildfire, began to oxidize, and black smoke poured from his body.
The blackened whites of his eyes returned to their natural color.
Beyond that, Heuggon’s body shriveled smaller than before, and every trace of Inner Strength accumulated in his Dantian drained away.
It was the price of using the Black Heart Demon Pill to chase strength without cultivation.
“…He’s not going to die, is he? That would be rather inconvenient.”
Yang Mujin asked Heuggon, seized by sudden anxiety.
Heuggon answered with an expressionless face.
“I’ll lose all my Inner Strength, but this won’t kill me.”
“Thank goodness. Then—”
“However, I likely won’t survive.”
“What?”
“The thing is—”
Heuggon tried to answer, but he couldn’t finish the words.
“Cough!”
With a short cough, black blood sprayed from his mouth.
“!!”
Yang Mujin, alarmed, reached out to do something for Heuggon’s body, but it was already too late.
“…Damn it.”
Heuggon was no longer breathing.
***
A space lit by nothing but a single candle.
A man whose face couldn’t be seen clearly was staring at the black sphere he’d just shattered with his own hands.
“…Even with a Demon Pill, they still lost.”
The man spoke toward the darkness before him, impenetrable as a wall.
“Do you think this is the work of Dokgo Hyun’s successor?”
From within the darkness came an androgynous voice.
“I doubt it. Even Dokgo Hyun himself couldn’t have subdued four opponents and then dealt with that fist-crazy fool who reached Ultimate Peak, could he?”
At that response, the man released a shallow sigh.
“Then it seems these idiots have truly failed.”
“Still, since he cut them off immediately, our identity shouldn’t have been exposed.”
“Though he did confirm that a faction using sorcery to elevate realms is bold enough to target the Dragon Phoenix Assembly.”
“That’s… unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate, you say.”
The man lifted his head toward the direction the voice had come from.
“If you call it merely unfortunate, that means you’re confident you can make it right, doesn’t it?”
The androgynous voice fell silent for a moment at that pointed question.
“…What would happen if I said I wasn’t confident?”
“Then your position would become unfortunate instead. Would it?”
“Ah, I was just asking. Of course I’m confident.”
And with that answer, something incomprehensible occurred.
The darkness writhed as if possessed of will, coalescing into a single form.
Then that form of darkness began to tear open like a chrysalis.
Crack… crick… screeeech….
And from within stepped a Beautiful-faced Man the likes of which few in the world could boast.
His face, like his voice, was difficult to assign a gender to, but since he wore not a single thread, it wasn’t hard to know him for a man.
“Then, should I simply capture this… Dokgo person?”
The Seated Man answered in a flat, dispassionate tone.
“It seems he’s already exposed our existence, so the Orthodox Faction will take measures. For now, observe him and respond accordingly.”
“Sigh… How much support can you offer me? Ah, of course I’ll handle it myself, but just in case.”
The Seated Man, who had been watching the Beautiful-faced Man with an awkward smile, clicked his tongue lightly and answered.
“Take whatever you need. All of it.”
“Pardon?”
“Personnel, Spirit Elixirs, anything—doesn’t matter. Use it all. And….”
The man paused, stroking his chin as if reaching a decision, then spoke.
“Prepare for the Modification. I’ll make you an Ultimate Peak martial artist.”
At those words, the Beautiful-faced Man broke into a smile so wide it was almost grotesque, his face luminous with elation.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————