Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 20

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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 20. A Body Honed by Dragon Blood
A deafening roar shook the Mountain Range as if the world were crumbling.
Yuk Beom’s vision turned completely black. Even within the Body Fused Heaven and Earth that O Jin had deployed,

he could not escape the shocks pressing in from all directions. He drew up Fusion Strong Energy relentlessly, wrapping it around his body, but he struggled to maintain his footing like a leaf swept away in a violent current.

The sensation of earth splitting and stone shattering transmitted through the ground beneath his feet. The aftershock alone from the Yin-Yang Mystic Robust Slash

colliding with the Six-Winged Rending Sky Dragon

left him gasping for breath.

How much time had passed?
The deafening explosions that had numbed his ears gradually subsided. Faint light returned to his darkened vision.
Yuk Beom stared at the sight before him in stunned silence.
The Six-Winged Dragon, which had loomed vast as a mountain peak, lay sprawled on the ground. Its six wings blanketed the mountainside, and between its hardened scales, dark red blood flowed like a river. The roar that had split the heavens could be heard no longer.
The white-haired elder stood atop the dragon’s head, holding a Black-White Yin-Yang Sword. With a single movement of the blade tip, the thick skull cracked open. From within, the old man withdrew a fist-sized crystal that shimmered with glacial blue light.
Azure radiance rippled across the distant forest.

“Master, that is…….”
“Yes. A Core Crystal that formed within the Yellow Beast after it consumed an Ice Heart Meteorite.”

A smile played at the corners of O Jin’s mouth.

“We’ve tracked it properly.”

The woman in the red martial robes flew to the old man’s side.

“Master, it’s enormous! At this size, we’ve really made a proper haul this time, haven’t we?”
“It’s the Core Crystal of the Six-Winged Dragon. When we return, you should ask your dragon uncle to fashion it into a protective talisman.”

The woman beamed, then gestured toward the corpse of the massive dragon.

“Shouldn’t we take the body as well? Even just the scales would fetch a fortune.”
“The body of a Rending Sky Dragon doesn’t endure long after death. It will soon harden entirely into stone, so taking it would be useless.”

The old man wrapped the Core Crystal in white cloth and tucked it into his robe.

“If a Yellow Beast of this caliber was guarding this place, there must be other treasures nearby. Let’s search quickly.”

The two figures disappeared into the forest.
Their conversation reached O Jin intact through the Spirit of Grass and Wood.

O Jin tapped Yuk Beom on the shoulder as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

“Come. Those martial artists have abandoned the most precious thing.”
“But didn’t they say the corpse will turn to stone soon?”
“Exactly why we must gather it before it hardens. Most martial artists don’t realize how valuable a Yellow Beast’s body is as medicine.”

O Jin wrapped himself in wind and made a wide arc through the forest, approaching from behind the Six-Winged Dragon’s back. From this position, even if the old man and woman suddenly returned, they wouldn’t spot him immediately.
Thin currents of wind gathered in his palm edge.
Slice.
A sharp blade of wind tore through the gaps between the dragon’s back scales. From the wound, dark red blood with a glacial shimmer surged forth.

“Yuk Beom, take out the Gentle Fire Cauldron.”

Yuk Beom immediately drew the Gentle Fire Cauldron from the Nine Heavens Ring and poured his Original Qi into it. The vessel, which had fit in his palm, swelled large enough to swallow a man whole.

“Catch the dragon blood. From the moment it touches the cauldron, you cannot let the fire waver. If it cools, even the blood will turn to stone.”

Yuk Beom set the Gentle Fire Cauldron beneath the wound and summoned flame from his left hand.
Each time dragon blood fell into the cauldron, gray crystals formed on its surface. The slightest faltering of the flame and the liquid would harden in an instant. He transformed the flow of his Fusion Strong Energy into fire, wrapping the entire vessel in its embrace.
O Jin carved deeper into the creature’s spine.
As the Gentle Fire Cauldron neared fullness, gray light spread from the Six-Winged Rending Sky Dragon’s tail. The massive corpse swiftly lost its vitality, hardening into solid stone.
By the time the last drop of blood fell into the cauldron, the dragon that had loomed over the mountain had transformed into a sprawling heap of rock.
The dragon blood inside the cauldron itself showed every sign of solidifying if left to cool for even a moment.

“What should I do now?”
“Take out every medicinal ingredient you have. Add them in the order I tell you. Change even one, and the dragon blood becomes poison.”

Yuk Beom spread the medicinal ingredients he had stored in the Nine Heavens Ring across the ground. As those gathered from West Mountain mingled with what remained from making medicines, it resembled a small apothecary laid bare.
O Jin’s instructions came swiftly.

Azure Flame Vine. Iron Tree Fruit. Blazing Flame Grass. Don’t reduce the fire. Next is Fragrant Tail Grass

. Leaves only—discard the roots.”

Yuk Beom maintained the heat with one hand while his other prepared the ingredients. As a dozen varieties dissolved in succession, the dragon blood that had shimmered with icy light gradually transformed into a vivid crimson.
O Jin crushed the final two ingredients between his palms, reducing them to a single five-colored powder.
The moment the powder touched the cauldron, the dragon blood began to roil violently.
Glug-glug-glug!
A rich fragrance bloomed outward. The metallic stench of blood vanished entirely, replaced by a clear, aromatic scent that sharpened the senses.
O Jin gestured toward the cauldron.

“Drink. As much as your body will accept.”

Yuk Beom looked back and forth between the cauldron and his master.

“All of this, sir?”
“Would you have the old man’s efforts and medicine go cold?”

Yuk Beom asked no further. He lifted the cauldron, which dwarfed him, with both arms and drank the dragon blood.
Rather than the heat he expected, the liquid that coursed down his throat was cool and refreshing. A subtle sweetness lingered on his tongue. But after only a few swallows, the interior of his body ignited as though branded by flame.
The dragon blood did not settle in his belly. It spread through his meridians to every part of his body, hammering against flesh and bone. His meridians, strengthened over the past month in the Blood Moon Lake, swelled anew, and scorching power burrowed between his muscles.
Yuk Beom drank without pause.
The crimson liquid spilled across his lips, drenching his chest and shoulders. The dragon blood that touched his skin seeped in entirely. Thin red lines appeared across his body, then began to interweave.
When he had emptied more than half the Gentle Fire Cauldron, Yuk Beom could swallow no more.

“Wait… I truly fear I’m about to reach my limit.”

O Jin transferred the remaining dragon blood into a separate vessel, not spilling a single drop.

“How do you feel?”

Yuk Beom clutched his abdomen, his jaw clenched.

“Master.”
“Speak.”
“If I don’t find somewhere to relieve myself at once, I fear something dire will occur.”

O Jin showed no alarm whatsoever.

“Endure it. If you release your strength before the Dragon Blood is fully absorbed, the medicine will drain away with it.”
“You might have mentioned that beforehand, couldn’t you?”
“If you’d known from the start, you wouldn’t have drunk so much.”

Yuk Beom, too spent to argue, remained where he stood and began circulating the Limitless Evolution Formation.

The red lines across his skin grew steadily clearer. The pattern that had begun in his chest spread across his shoulders and back, stretching down his arms. Soon the form of a dragon—complete with scales and claws—took shape.
The moment the dragon pattern linked completely, the sensation of his skin changed.
Yuk Beom pressed his arm with his fingers. Though he was touching living flesh, it felt like pressing against solid rock. Even when he pinched hard, there was almost no pain.

Dragon Clan Blood Skin,” O Jin said, examining Yuk Beom’s arm.

O Jin inspected Yuk Beom’s arm closely.

“It’s a protective layer that forms when you refine true dragon blood as medicine and absorb it into your body. Ordinary blades and spears can’t even pierce the skin, and you become far stronger against fire and water alike.”
“Does it overlap with the Blazing Gold Body?”

“Of course. If the Blazing Gold Body burns you from within, the Dragon Clan Blood Skin is armor that wraps the outside. Your recovery power will have increased dramatically.”

Yuk Beom gathered Fusion Strong Energy to his fingertips and lightly jabbed his own arm. Even where the sharply condensed energy touched, only a faint white mark remained on his skin.
A smile spread across his lips.

“I’ve never heard of such a refinement method before.”
“Your world extends only to Ganglim Castle and West Mountain—where would you have heard of it? Dragon Blood refinement is a secret technique that not every Flame Practitioner can master.”

The red markings that had formed the dragon’s shape slowly sank beneath his skin. On the surface he appeared unchanged, but the firm membrane that enveloped his body remained unmistakably there.
O Jin glanced around before speaking.

“Put away the Gentle Fire Cauldron. There is still work to be done.”

Yuk Beom reduced the flame and placed the cauldron into the Nine Heavens Ring.

“The Ice Heart Meteorite, then.”
“The Six-Winged Rending Sky Dragon’s Core Crystal contained the essence of an Ice Heart Meteorite. The beast must have consumed one somewhere. If there’s a nest nearby, the remaining meteorite is likely inside it.”

Yuk Beom looked back at the dragon’s corpse, now turned to stone.

“I’ve heard that dragons collect shining things. If we find the nest, we should find what we need.”
“A martial artist would track it directly by footprints.”

Five-colored light radiated from O Jin’s body.

“A Flame Practitioner searches differently. Watch closely.”

The light spread outward from beneath his feet in all directions. Grass lifted its head wherever it touched, and leaves on the trees swayed in unison. Even the direction of the wind reversed.
O Jin placed a hand on Yuk Beom’s shoulder.
In an instant, Yuk Beom’s vision expanded dozens of miles outward.
It was not sight as his eyes normally perceived it.
He became the wind moving through ravines, seeping into the soil along tree roots. The cold seeping from moisture in rock crevices and the warmth held by sun-touched leaves—countless sensations crashed upon him all at once.
Among the dizzying landscape, one place shone with unusual brightness.
A vast cave hidden in the middle of a cliff face. The entrance was not easily visible from outside, but deep within, countless objects gleamed like starlight.
When O Jin withdrew his hand, the expanded sensation vanished all at once.
Yuk Beom caught his breath in short, sharp gasps.

“What technique was that just now?”
“Celestial Eye Penetration.

Once you master Body Fused Heaven and Earth

properly, you’ll be able to learn it too.”

O Jin turned his body toward the direction where the cave lay.

“Now that we’ve found it, we need to hurry. They may realize it soon.”

The two ran, cutting through the forest.
Before long, a cliff that seemed to touch the clouds appeared. In the middle of the smooth rock face, hewn as if by a blade, a hollow cave gaped open.
It was the Six-Winged Rending Sky Dragon’s nest.
Yuk Beom and O Jin exchanged a look and smiled.
But before they could even approach the cliff face, a beam of light tore through the forest and shot upward.
A white-haired elder and the Red-Robed Woman descended to the cave entrance first.

“You see, Master? My eyes are more accurate, aren’t they? If we’d only searched through the forest, it would’ve taken all day.”
“What appears ordinary from without is natural. But the objects hoarded within a dragon’s lair would be anything but ordinary.”

The two prepared to enter the cave.
The smile vanished from O Jin’s face.

“Yuk Beom, I’ll draw them out.”
“They’re at the Yin-Yang Realm.”
“I’m not talking about fighting. Just buy me time to get you inside.”

O Jin stressed the importance of finding the Ice Heart Meteorite first, then vanished without a trace.
In the next instant, dark clouds rolled across the clear sky.
Lightning struck down upon the cliff top, and the clouds twisted to form the visage of an enormous face.

“Ignorant children—withdraw!”

A voice that shook the entire mountain range rang out.

“This place is the domain of the Wuji Venerable.

The white-haired elder immediately shielded the woman behind him. A Black-White Yin-Yang Sword materialized in his grip.

“How can you claim the dragon blood of an ownerless mountain as your own domain?”

The elder’s voice too resonated through the heavens.

“If you desire treasure, we shall settle it fairly through combat. I, Im Pung,

will not shrink from anyone’s threats.”

He raised the Yin-Yang Sword and soared into the void.
In that instant, the Red-Robed Woman’s eyes darted about, then she alone bolted into the cave.
Yuk Beom’s heart quickened.
The face of clouds laughed loudly.

“So one who hasn’t yet perfected the Yin-Yang Realm carries such spirit! Do you have the courage to face me in three hundred exchanges?”

Five-colored lightning fell from within the dark clouds.
Im Pung’s eyes blazed bright.

“This is what I’ve longed for!”

He transformed into a single shaft of black-white brilliance and shot upward toward the clouds.
Only then did Yuk Beom push off from the cliff face.
The movements he’d honed climbing the waterfall unfolded in their entirety. He leaped skyward on the wind, kicked off twice from a narrow crevice in the cliff wall, and hurled himself toward the cave entrance.
The interior was vast and deep.
Though absolute darkness reigned, after absorbing the Dragon Blood, Yuk Beom’s eyes could distinguish every contour of the stone with perfect clarity.
Both sides of the cave were lined with Dragon Saliva Flowers

in dense clusters. Precious spiritual herbs lay uncounted, but there was no time to stop.
Yuk Beom raced deeper, leaving only fragrance in his wake.
At last, a bright light appeared ahead.
As he burst from the tunnel, a vast chamber opened before him. Gems and ore, ancient weapons lay stacked like mountains, each radiating a different gleam.
It was the moment Yuk Beom began searching for the aura of the Ice Heart Meteorite.
A searing wind crashed down from the side.
A Red-Glowing Single-Edged Sword flew at his throat.

“Thief, die!”

Yuk Beom’s arm rose reflexively to block the blade.
Clang!
A metallic ring—so loud it was hard to believe it came from flesh meeting steel—echoed through the cave.
The Dragon Clan Blood Skin had stopped the blade’s edge. Yet it could not dissipate the force of one who had reached the pinnacle of the Inner Robust Realm.
Yuk Beom’s body flew backward and crashed into the heart of the treasure heap.
Raising his head amid the cascading gems and metal fragments, he saw the Red-Robed Woman plant her single-edged sword and charge toward him again.

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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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