Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 19. The Sage of the Yin-Yang Realm
O Jin lifted Yuk Beom to his feet with his own hands.
His palms brushed away the wet fabric clinging to the young man’s clothes and the dirt smudged across his shoulders with deliberate care. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have rebuked such unnecessary formality, but this time he did not.
A month of guarding Blood Moon Lake

had etched its weariness across his face, yet his eyes blazed brighter than they had in years.

“Yuk Beom. From this day forward, there is no one ahead of you on the path you walk.”

O Jin gazed at the pearlescent current of energy rising from his disciple’s Dantian.

I can teach you the techniques of a Flame Practitioner.

I can guide you to some degree in wielding a Martial Artist’s Strong Energy as well. But the path that lies beyond fusing these two forces into one—that, even I do not know. From here on, you must test it yourself, fail, and find your own answers.”

Yuk Beom opened his palm.
Fusion Strong Energy

coiled around his fingertips like flame. When he hardened it, it became stronger than steel; when he shifted his intention, the moisture in the air drew toward him like gossamer threads.

“Master, you have opened the path this far. I will walk the rest myself.”
“That will do. Those are the words I needed to hear.”

O Jin smiled with satisfaction.

“Now we must continue searching for the Ice Heart Meteorite Stone.

This new power must be tested in real combat as well.”

Yuk Beom clenched his fist.
Power beyond all previous measure surged through his body. The explosive force of a Martial Artist and the adaptability of a Flame Practitioner no longer worked in isolation. With thought alone, his energy flowed from his Dantian through his limbs, and when it coursed through his meridians, there was no obstruction whatsoever.

“If I faced a Stone-Armored Dragon Turtle again right now,

I could bring it down with a single strike.”
“Those who have just gained power always speak such words.”

O Jin was replying with a laugh when his expression abruptly hardened.
His features went rigid.
O Jin seized Yuk Beom’s arm and leaped onto a nearby tree.

“Say nothing. Someone comes.”

A faint light emanated from his fingertips. The Body Merged with Heaven and Earth

technique unfolded to envelop Yuk Beom’s form, and the surrounding landscape suddenly grew distant and indistinct.
Yuk Beom felt even the sensation of standing on the branch blur away. The wind no longer brushed against his skin—instead, it seemed to pass straight through his body. His heartbeat, his breath, his warmth all dissolved into the forest itself.
Yuk Beom had never seen O Jin tense against an opponent like this.
He held his breath and gazed upward.
A shaft of light came streaking from the distance.
Fast as a falling meteor, the beam of brilliance struck the shore of Blood Moon Lake, then scattered without raising even a speck of dust. Where it landed stood an old man and a young woman.
The old man’s hair and beard were entirely white. He wore a martial robe split evenly between black and white, and even standing motionless, he exuded the presence of a towering mountain peak pressing down upon the lakeshore.
The woman beside him appeared close to Yuk Beom’s age. Her hair was pinned high, and her crimson martial robe gave an impression of vibrant vitality. In her right hand, she held a short blade forged from light.
It was no mere weapon—the blade was condensed Strong Energy made solid.

‘A Martial Artist at the peak of the Inner Qi Realm.’

Yuk Beom found it difficult to look away from the woman.
To forge Strong Energy into a weapon at barely eighteen years of age—such talent would be unimaginable even in Ganglim Castle. Yet the true danger stood beside her. The old man.
The Gangwu Continent—
On Gangwu Continent,
only the rarest of martial artists could wear the black and white Yin-Yang robes.
A martial artist first forged Strong Energy, then progressed through five realms:
the Inner Gangjing Realm,
the Outer Gangjing Realm,
the Original Qi Realm,
the Earth Gangjing Realm,
and the Heavenly Gangjing Realm.
Only after transcending all these stages did one touch the Yin-Yang Realm.
A legendary master who could set mountains ablaze and boil rivers, who transformed flesh into light and crossed a hundred li in a heartbeat.
The world called such a warrior a Martial Sage.
This was the first time Yuk Beom had ever laid eyes on a true Martial Sage.
His heart hammered against his ribs, but O Jin’s hand pressed down on his arm—now was not the time for wonder. Now was the time to remain hidden.
The Red-Robed Woman swept her gaze across the empty shore of Blood Moon Lake and pouted.

“See? We’ve come to the wrong place again. There’s nothing here at all.”
“That cannot be.”

The Old Man’s brow furrowed.

“Something extraordinary happened here. The traces haven’t fully dissipated yet.”

He swept his hand through the air.
Above Blood Moon Lake, starlike points of light bloomed in countless numbers. Milky-white and five-colored radiance twisted together, shimmering like a constellation against the night sky.
Yuk Beom’s fingers clenched without his meaning them to.
It was the trace left behind when he had completed his Fusion Strong Energy.
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“There is the aura of Strong Energy and also the aura of Original Qi.”
​
The Old Man’s eyes narrowed.
​
“Did someone complete a strange technique here? Or has a treasure emerged into the world?”
​
He traced the scattered auras with his gaze. As his eyes swept across the branches, cold sweat trickled down Yuk Beom’s back.
The moment his Body Merged with Heaven and Earth technique dissipated, there would be no way to hide.
But the Red-Robed Woman kicked at the Old Man’s ribs.
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“You’ve gotten lost in your thoughts again. We came here to find treasure, didn’t we? If there’s nothing here, let’s go quickly.”
​
The woman who had just kicked a Martial Sage showed no sign of concern, while the old man wore an expression of helplessness rather than anger.
​
“All right, all right. Your temperament is as impatient as ever. We shall see if you remain so composed when you face the wall of the Outer Gangjing Realm.”
“That’s when my teacher will be there for me.”
​
When the woman laughed, two small extra teeth showed in her smile.
The Old Man shook his head slowly. Soon both their forms transformed into light.
A pale radiance vanished beyond the forest.
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Yuk Beom opened his mouth to speak.

“Master, they—”
“Not yet.”

O Jin’s voice was low and resolute.
Yuk Beom swallowed his question.
Moments later, the light that had vanished returned.
The Old Man and the Red-Robed Woman descended to Blood Moon Lake once more. The Old Man swept through every corner of the forest, sensing the air for some time.

“It seems they’ve truly gone. A pity. If they were indeed a recluse of old, I would have liked to test our techniques against each other.”
“Master, do you think of nothing but fighting? Yet for all your wandering battles, you haven’t perfected the Yin-Yang Realm.”

A look of embarrassment crossed the Old Man’s face.

“Do you think the Yin-Yang Realm is so easily perfected? Come up here yourself and see.”
“Yes, yes. We can discuss that later—let’s find the treasure first.”

The two walked into the forest this time, rather than shooting upward in a blaze of light.
Only after their footsteps and presence had faded completely did O Jin release his Body Merged with Heaven and Earth technique.

Yuk Beom exhaled a long breath he’d been holding.

“I didn’t expect them to come checking twice.”
“There’s a reason strong ones live long. Had we lowered our guard the moment they vanished before our eyes, we’d have been discovered already.”

O Jin gazed toward the direction the two had vanished and smiled.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a martial artist of the Yin-Yang Realm. I didn’t know the Muan Kingdom harbored someone of that caliber. Though they haven’t yet achieved perfect harmony of Yin and Yang.”

Yuk Beom detected something odd in his master’s tone.
The way O Jin appraised the Mu Jon Gyeong he’d met for the first time was far too casual—as if he’d witnessed countless stronger beings in ages past.

“Master.”
“What is it?”
“Before you were injured, what realm were you in exactly? A Spirit Qi Master?”

O Jin’s eyebrows twitched.

“A Spirit Qi Master?”

He glanced at Yuk Beom as if baffled.

“You regard me as merely that. Have you not heard of the Heaven-Earth Realm?”

Yuk Beom’s jaw fell open.
For Flame Practitioners, just as with Martial Artists, there were five stages. Flame Practitioner, Alchemy Master, Spirit Qi Master, Qi Controlling Master, and Qi Practitioner—

Spirit Qi Master
.
To reach the Qian Kun Realm, one had to transcend all five of those stages. Such a being rivaled the Mu Jon Gyeong masters of the Yin-Yang Realm, and the world called them a Heaven-Earth Sage
.
.
O Jin let out a derisive snort.

“Even an Alchemy Master at the Qian Kun Realm would have had to call me senior when they encountered the old me.”
“…….”

Yuk Beom fell silent for a long moment.
He had known his master was strong. But he had never imagined that even a Heaven-Earth Sage who rivaled the Yin-Yang Realm would have to address him as a senior.
O Jin waved a hand dismissively.

“Why dwell on the past? Now, even if I force my power upward, I’m barely on par with a Spirit Qi Master.”

A faint sigh threaded through his words.
Had his meridians and blood vessels not been shattered, O Jin would still be a force that gazed down from the heavens. Yuk Beom recalled his master’s ashen, lifeless arms, and the cold expression O Jin’s face had worn when Soman mentioned treatment. The greater his former realm had been, the greater what he had now lost.

“Let’s follow them.”

O Jin spoke suddenly.

“Follow those two?”
“A martial artist of the Yin-Yang Realm doesn’t venture this deep into the mountains without reason. Aren’t you curious what treasure they seek?”
“Curious, yes—but won’t we be in serious trouble if we’re discovered?”
“Since they haven’t detected my Body Merged with Heaven and Earth
,
we’ll be safe if we keep our distance. And if we’re lucky, we might claim what they overlook.”

Yuk Beom pondered briefly, then nodded.

“There’s one problem. They transform their bodies into light and fly. Can we possibly keep up?”
“While hunting for treasure, they can’t stay airborne constantly. Besides, in the forest, a Flame Practitioner has far more tools at their disposal than a martial artist.”

O Jin bent his fingers.
The surrounding grasses and branches bowed in unison. It was not the wind. The subtle energy dwelling in the plants answered to O Jin’s will.

“The Spirit of Flora
.
I need only ask the plants about the traces left in the forest.”

Yuk Beom channeled his Fusion Strong Energy

into the trees.
When he transformed the nature of his power into wood-essence, sensation bloomed within thirty paces—fallen grasses, broken branches, the path of a brushed sleeve, all flowing to him like faint visions. The trampled soil, the snapped twigs, the flutter of cloth against air—all spoke.
O Jin nodded with satisfaction.

“The Five Elements transformation is flawless. You’ve merged them perfectly.”

He closed his eyes and read the forest’s movements for a moment.

“Left. Let’s go.”

The two men pursued the Old Man and the Red-Robed Woman, maintaining a careful distance.
Their quarry’s path was erratic—eastward one moment, then suddenly veering south; over a ridge and doubling back the way they’d come. Yet the Spirit of Flora did not fail to mark their passage.

The trail remained unbroken.
The pursuit continued for ten days.
The pair ahead traced and retraced the same ground, as if fearful of missing the treasure, while O Jin and Yuk Beom adjusted their distance with every shift in wind. Though invisible to the naked eye, the traces carried by the plants wove an unbroken thread. A single broken grass blade and a patch of crushed moss proved more reliable than footprints.
Yuk Beom had devoted himself to mastering Fusion Strong Energy

within his body. As he walked, he altered the nature of his Gangjing; when he rested, he learned the fundamentals of Alchemy from O Jin.
What he had truly mastered so far was Qi Transformation Five Elements

and medicinal preparation. Now that he had unified these two forces, it was time to learn how to shape actual forms from that power.
Coalesce Qi into Form.

Flames bloomed from Yuk Beom’s palm. At first it was merely a compressed ball of fire, but as he focused his will, ears and claws sprouted from it.
A flame wolf raced across the back of his hand.
The next moment it became a tiger, stretched long as a serpent, then transformed into a winged hawk.

“Coalesce Qi into Form

is the most fundamental attack method of an Alchemy Master.”

O Jin explained as he walked.

“First, you understand the five attributes through Qi Transformation Five Elements,

and choose one that suits you best as your main strength. This does not mean you must discard the others. Many Alchemy Masters specialize in only one, but doing so cuts off their own path to the Heaven-Earth Realm.”

The flame hawk in Yuk Beom’s hand scattered into water. The water stream became transparent wind once more, flowing between his fingers.
His Fusion Strong Energy shifted its nature endlessly according to his will.
Then O Jin, who had been walking ahead, stopped abruptly.
A tremendous explosion sounded from beyond the deep forest.
Boom!
A pillar of light pierced the sky.
The roar that followed shook entire trees from their roots. O Jin immediately pulled Yuk Beom behind him.

“Master, what is that sound?”

Before an answer could come, a massive shadow rose above the forest.
The sky darkened in an instant. Black clouds churned, and thick lightning bolts crashed down between them.
Six enormous wings spread across the mountainscape.
Each scale was as vast as stone, and from the end of the long, extended neck came a cry like the heavens were being torn asunder.
Six-Winged Tear-Heaven Dragon.

All composure drained from O Jin’s face.

“Retreat! If you are caught in its fury, not even bone will remain!”

He seized Yuk Beom’s arm and flew backward.
In that moment, the Old Man’s cry thundered from the opposite side of the forest.

“Yin-Yang Mystic Force Slash!

The sky split into black and white.
A vast Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams spread across the void, and from its center, a sword as tall as a mountain peak slowly revealed itself.

The Six-Winged Tear-Heaven Dragon spread all six wings wide and roared toward the heavens.
The next instant.
The great yin-yang blade descended upon the dragon’s head.

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