Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 4

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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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Chapter 4. A Wall Shattered by Fist
Outside Ganglim Castle,

West Mountain lay buried entirely in snow.

In the desolate heights where no footfall echoed, a dull, relentless sound rang out.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Yuk Beom struck the Iron Stone—a boulder tall as a man—bare-chested, his knuckles meeting it again and again. Dust scattered with each impact; the surface cracked and caved inward.

His arms were in far worse condition. The skin across his knuckles had split open; blood ran down past his elbows and dripped steadily across his shoulders. Swollen and numb, his forearms barely answered his will.
Yet his fists did not stop.
He recalled the stance from the Collapsing Mountain Fist manual, twisting his hips and shoulders. He channeled the force driven up from his feet through his core, across his back, and down into his arms.
Crack!
A sound unlike the others. A handprint, deep and clear, had gouged itself into the stone’s face.
Yuk Beom raised his fist again, but his legs buckled. He dropped to his knees.
His strength had emptied.
Both arms hung useless. A searing pain shot through the inside of his right arm, as though the bone had slipped out of place.
He turned his head.
Nearby lay a heap of Yeolryeom Herb, clothing, mortar and pestle, and frozen provisions—enough for at least two weeks in the mountains. He had prepared to endure.
Shifting his weight, he caught a single root of the Yeolryeom Herb between his teeth.
After chewing it a few times and swallowing, a burning medicinal force bloomed through his belly. His chilled body flushed red, and slowly, his depleted strength began to return.
But it was not enough.
The Collapsing Mountain Fist worked by shattering the arms, then using the Yeolryeom Herb to rebuild them harder. Such was the way.
With fingers barely responsive, Yuk Beom reached for another white root. He ground the herb into powder and pressed it onto his bloodied arms.
Hissss!
Pain exploded through him as though molten iron had been poured into his wounds.

“Gahhh……!”

His shoulders convulsed.
The powder seeped into the cracks of his flesh and seemed to burn him from within—bone and marrow alike. His fingers, pressed into the snow, clawed deeper.
Gritting his teeth, he rubbed the remaining powder across his entire forearms.
As time passed, the open wounds began to seal visibly, rapidly. Bone he’d thought shattered knitted itself back together, wrapped in that scorching force, finding its proper place.
The white-rooted Yeolryeom Herb’s effect exceeded his hopes.
The pain exceeded them just as much.
After testing his arms, Yuk Beom stood before the Iron Stone once more.
The manual noted that immediately after applying the herb was the most critical moment. As the medicinal force spread, fresh trauma would drive that essence deep into muscle and bone.
He drove his fist forward.
Thud!
The wound split open again.
Burning fire and tearing flesh collided at once, a wave of pain so intense the world went white before his eyes.

“Who devises such torment for human practice…….”

He ground out curses between his teeth, but his fist came forward again.
Once begun, he would not stop.
He was years behind his peers. At the same pace, in the same time, he could never close that gap.
But a method that no one else would endure—that was his advantage.
Thud! Thud! Crack!
Fists and ragged breathing shook the snow-covered mountain.
Only when darkness settled did Yuk Beom cease his training.
His arms hung limp again.
Unable to use his hands, he gathered dry branches with his feet, wedged flint between his toes, and struck it repeatedly until he coaxed a spark to life.
A small fire kindled inside the cave, pushing back the dark.
Yuk Beom ate food he’d melted over the flames, chewing with his teeth. After applying the medicinal powder to his arms once more, he rested his back against the cave wall and gazed out at the snow beyond.

Pain kept sleep at bay.
Yet his mind had settled into an odd peace.
Until yesterday, he hadn’t even known what to do. No matter how hard he threw his fists, nothing changed, and every effort came back as mockery.
Now it was different.
With each ache came firmer arms. The marks left on the Iron Stone deepened by degrees.
At least he couldn’t doubt the fact that he was moving forward.
So Yuk Beom remained on West Mountain.
One day passed, then ten, and before he knew it twenty days had slipped away.
Each morning he hammered the Iron Stone until both arms ran red. After eating and rubbing the Yeolryeom Herb on the wounds, he would tear open the healing flesh and start again.
By the tenth day, he’d learned to sleep cradling the pain. By the fifteenth, he was throwing punches before the wounds had even closed.
The sound of his fists striking stone had changed as well.
At first it had been nothing but the dull thud of flesh meeting rock. Now each impact sent a deep, resonant boom echoing through the stone’s core.
Yuk Beom’s body had transformed visibly.
Firm muscle had taken root in his once-gaunt shoulders and back. His knuckles had thickened, and whenever he moved his arms, compressed strength seemed ready to burst forth.
That day, he stood before a new Iron Stone.
After shattering so many rocks, the training ground lay scattered with fragments large and small.
He drew his breath in slowly, deliberately.
His toes carved into the snow beneath him.
As he twisted his hips, power drawn up from his feet surged through his spine. He locked his shoulders and arms tight to keep the force from scattering, then released it all at once.
Collapsing Mountain Fist!
Boom!
The Iron Stone, tall as a man, lurched from the ground.
The massive boulder flew backward and split in two before plunging into the snow.
Yuk Beom gazed down at his glowing-red fist.
All the countless stances recorded in the manual served a single purpose.
To gather the force of his entire body into one point and release it—regardless of distance or angle.
That was the essence of the Collapsing Mountain Fist.
And yet Yuk Beom was not satisfied.

“Minor Completion is supposed to shatter it to dust.”

Splitting it in two was not enough.
Yuk Beom dragged the broken Iron Stone over and examined the fracture, then shook his head. His power had been sufficient, but in the final instant it had scattered slightly at his knuckles.
He walked toward the cliff to find a new stone.
Over these twenty days, he’d destroyed most of the suitable rocks nearby. What remained was either too heavy to move alone or smaller than his fist.
After much searching, a large stone wedged beneath the cliff face caught his eye.
Yuk Beom wedged his fingers into a crevice and pulled with all his strength.
Rumble.
The stone, buried deeper than he’d expected, came free completely.
Behind it, a dark opening appeared.

‘A cave?’

Yuk Beom set down the stone he’d extracted and peered inside.
The entrance was narrow, but after a few steps the space opened up. A faint light seeped in from somewhere, casting wavering shadows along the walls.
As Yuk Beom ventured deeper, he stopped.
A single silver plant grew in the center of the cave.
Delicate leaves like willow branches spread outward in all directions, and at its heart bloomed a nail-sized flower of pure silver-white.

Jiryeong Flower.

……

Yuk Beom’s voice trembled.
Medicinal ingredients of the fifth rank and above responded to spiritual force on their own, and were called Spiritual Medicine. The Jiryeong Flower, reaching the sixth rank, was a precious Spiritual Medicine that greatly enhanced recovery and Vital Energy and Blood.

If it appeared at auction, it would command a price equal to a single high-grade pill.
As Yuk Beom approached, the spread leaves stirred.
The silver leaves wrapped around the flower and withdrew into themselves. It was like a small beast wary of a stranger.

Yuk Beom suppressed his excitement and carefully parted the leaves.
He plucked only the flower, leaving the roots and leaves intact.
Rare medicinal herbs wouldn’t grow again if you pulled them up by the root. If he took only the flower, the same plant might bloom once more in a decade or so.
Yuk Beom gazed at the silver flower resting in his palm, hesitating.
He could sell it and make a fortune.
But while money could be earned again, an opportunity like this might never come twice.
Yuk Beom placed the flower in his mouth.
It dissolved before he could chew, sliding down his throat.
At first, it felt like drinking ice water—cool and refreshing.
The next moment, that chill spread through his limbs like a violent tide.

“Ungh!”

Yuk Beom’s entire body convulsed violently.
The cool current transformed instantly into a raging torrent beyond his control. The force battering against his meridians caused his skin to swell, and blood began to bead at his pores.
Yuk Beom quickly crossed his legs on the ground.
It had been a mistake to think Spiritual Medicine could be absorbed as gently as refined pills.
Refined pills were objects created by Flame Practitioners

who tempered the raw essence of medicinal materials. The Jiryeong Flower carried nature’s vital force in its pure form, far too potent for a body at Body Refinement Realm Stage 5 to endure.
If he lost control, his body would rupture from within before he could gain any benefit.
Yuk Beom clenched his teeth, struggling to rein in the rampaging energy.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh.
Hot breath brushed his face.
Yuk Beom’s back stiffened.
It wasn’t the wind.
Someone breathing out right in front of him—warm and humid.
A small shadow moved from deep within the cave.

A Savage Beast?

Cold sweat beaded on Yuk Beom’s palms.
If he moved his body, the Jiryeong Flower’s essence would rage even more violently. But if he sat still, he’d be offering his neck to whatever unknown beast lurked there.
Only now did he realize that the rock he’d pulled free wasn’t simply a stone blocking the cave.
It had been a door sealing someone else’s den.
The shadow in the darkness drew steadily closer.
Yuk Beom held his breath.
What emerged was a creature smaller than his head.
Yuk Beom’s eyes went wide.
It was a small dog, standing awkwardly on its hind legs. Its front paws were unusually short, and its round eyes were far too large for its body.
It looked less frightening than absurd—almost comically harmless.

This is a Savage Beast?

The moment his tension eased, Small Dog padded toward the Jiryeong Flower.
The remaining silver leaves seemed to welcome the creature, wrapping around its small body. As the light flowing from the leaves seeped into the creature, it narrowed its eyes and made a sound of contentment.
But that lasted only briefly.
Small Dog discovered where the flower had been.
Its head turned slowly toward Yuk Beom.
Standing on its short front legs, the creature bared its underdeveloped fangs.

“Wait. That was—”

Before he could finish, Small Dog lunged at him.
It bounded forward on two legs and clamped its jaws around Yuk Beom’s wrist.

“Argh!”

Fangs tore through flesh, and blood spilled.
Yuk Beom couldn’t wrench his hand free. Just suppressing the vital energy coursing through his body was already at the limit of what he could manage.

‘I’m not actually going to bleed out from a dog bite out here, am I?’

Dying to a Savage Beast was one thing, but being killed by this creature would make him a laughingstock even in death.
In that moment, the vital energy raging through his body suddenly changed direction.
The potency of the Jiryeong Flower surged through his blood toward his wrist. Silver light bloomed from the Small Dog’s body, drawing in the excess vital energy that had been threatening to overflow.
The meridians that had swollen taut began to subside gradually.
After a long while, the Small Dog—satiated—released its grip.
It growled once more at Yuk Beom, then bolted deep into the cave and vanished.
Yuk Beom stared alternately at his bleeding wrist and the shadow that had disappeared.

“Should I be grateful, or angry at this creature……”

It was absurd, but in the end, he’d kept his life.
Thanks to the Small Dog absorbing the excess potency, the remaining vital energy had diminished to a level Yuk Beom could control.
He closed his eyes again. The silver vital energy seeped into his muscles and bones, rapidly healing the wounds that had accumulated during his training.
A full day and night passed.
When Yuk Beom opened his eyes again, the cave that had been dark now appeared sharp and clear.
As he rose to his feet, his joints crackled like roasting beans, a rapid succession of pops.
He felt brimming with strength.
Yuk Beom stood before the cave wall.
He clenched his fist and rotated his waist. Power that began at his feet gathered in his knuckles without the slightest wavering.

“Collapsing Mountain Fist.”

Bang!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone where his fist struck.
The rock crumbled inward, and countless stone fragments cascaded down. Where the wall had stood, a deep crater now gaped—large enough for a man to step inside.
A smile spread across Yuk Beom’s face.
Bongsan Fist Minor Completion.

And the vital energy and blood flowing through his body had grown incomparably stronger than before.
Body Refinement Realm Stage Six.
At the very least, he had crossed that threshold for certain.
Yuk Beom emerged from the cave and scraped away a handful of snow, rubbing it across his body. After twenty days without washing, a foul stench rose from his skin.
His training was complete.
It was time to return to Ganglim Castle.
Yuk Beom gazed down at the foot of West Mountain and slowly clenched his fist.
In the Flame Practitioner realm, no one makes results for you.
This time, it was his turn to show what he’d become.
Yuk Beom raced down the snow-covered mountain path.
After his form had receded into the distance, a small head poked out from the cave entrance.
The Small Dog watched the direction where Yuk Beom had vanished for a long while, then withdrew back into the depths of the cave.

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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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