Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 48

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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 48. The Power of Fusion Strong Energy
Yuk Beom returned to the Empty Training Ground, carrying the Weaponless Heavy Sword

in his grip.
The sensation in his hand was different from before.
Even with the Bongryeok Seok

pressing down on his power, the blade felt considerably lighter. Whether it was his body that had grown stronger, or the nature of his Fusion Strong Energy

that had changed, he couldn’t yet tell.
The one to verify this against stood directly before him.
Im Je raised the corner of his mouth in a sneer.

“Fetching your weapon? You can rest longer if you need to. I’d rather not hear that I defeated someone who just woke from a serious injury.”
“That won’t be necessary.”

The tip of the blade lowered slowly.

“Let’s begin.”

The smile faded from Im Je’s face.
The Gangjing

that had been circling his body twisted upward like white ribbons. As he spread his right hand, the flow condensed into something long and sharp as a blade.
Han Pung’s eyes widened.

“He’s formed a weapon from Gangjing? The Outer Gangjing Realm

?”

Mu Su stroked his belly languidly.

“He has the blade, but no hilt or completed Gangjing patterns. It’s only half-formed External Force.”
“Then it’s still nothing remarkable.”

Cho Cheon’s gaze shifted sideways.

“Why are you so assured?”
“Any match between those from the same Death Gate is no different from my own fight.”
“Next time, I’ll have you face him directly.”
“The sky is quite clear today.”

As Han Pung lifted his head, Cho Haeng released a short sigh.
Across the way, Im Je’s Gangjing intensified. The sand and gravel beneath his feet scattered, revealing solid earth beneath.
Meanwhile, the flame-like energy enveloping Yuk Beom’s body showed no outward change from before. A faint iridescent shimmer flickered across it whenever sunlight struck, yet even Il Cheong and Do Gwang, standing near, failed to notice it.
Judging by his outward aura alone, he still appeared to be at the Inner Gangjing Realm,

around the fourth tier.
Arrogance kindled anew in Im Je’s eyes.

“Attack first. I’d rather not hear I beat down a weaker opponent one-sidedly.”

Jang Wol Ham’s face betrayed an undisguised anticipation.
It was a look that wished for Yuk Beom to fall, to be wounded, and if possible, to die.
Having caught that gaze, Yuk Beom moved his Fusion Strong Energy without reply.
The Yin-Yang Array

in his mind turned slowly.
A portion of transparent force separated into clear Divine Soul Force

shifted to the Ilwon Martial Sage technique.

Recalling the method of application that the Ilwon Martial Sage had demonstrated, he spread that power thinly across the entire blade.
Ten paces.
At that distance, he swung the Weaponless Heavy Sword with seeming lightness.
It appeared slow and weightless.
The moment the Divine Soul Force gathered on the blade dissolved, the air twisted in a peculiar way.
The heads of those watching rang out in unison.
Han Pung clutched his temples, and Jang Wol Ham staggered backward. Im Je was struck by a far more violent impact.
His eyes widened.
His body refused to obey the will to evade.
The spiral of Gangjing that encased him shattered like glass. His upper garment tore explosively, and blood sprayed from his mouth.
Crash!
His body hurtled through the air, gouging a long trench across the ground. Half of Im Je, buried at the end of the deep furrow, lay entombed in earth.
Yuk Beom glanced down at his sword for a moment.

‘That much?’

He’d only altered a portion of it. Yet the shockwave from the Divine Soul Force far exceeded his expectations.
The depleted energy recovered swiftly. As the Five Elements Formation in his dantian and the Yin-Yang Formation in his mind activated simultaneously, the Celestial Earth Force from his surroundings

poured in like a flood. In the span of a few breaths, the void was nearly replenished.

“Once…”

Han Pung muttered with his mouth hanging open.

“He unleashed half a realm of Outer Gangjing in a single strike.”

Cho Haeng and Mu Su could not hide their shock. Il Cheong gripped the armrest of his chair tightly, while Do Gwang wordlessly stroked his beard.
His hand trembled slightly.

‘I nearly killed him?’

He was the heir to the complete Divine Soul Force of Ilwon Academy. If the previous Sageun had still lived, he would surely have beaten him half to death first.
As Do Gwang’s face drained of color, Han Pung regained his composure.

“Im Je! If you’re going to bluster, you should at least take one blow! You said you’d strike first, and now you’ve gone and gotten hit first and knocked flat!”

Cho Cheon could not laugh.
A year ago, this was the opponent he had fought to a draw. Neither had gone all out then, but Yuk Beom, who six months prior could barely manage the Inner Gangjing Realm, had now dispatched that very Im Je with a single sword stroke.

‘If I took a hit like that, I wouldn’t have a thread left on me.’

As if to shake off an ominous thought, he crossed his arms more firmly.
The mound of earth trembled.
Im Je pressed his hands against the ground and rose. A long wound ran across his chest as though cleaved by the blade, and blood dripped down to soak his abdomen.

“Yuk Beom…!”

His face was overcome with shame and fury that devoured reason.
The Qi Saber in his right hand doubled in size. With all his strength gathered into one, Im Je launched himself forward along with the blade.
This was no feint—it was a killing intent.
Yuk Beom did not retreat.
He raised the Weaponless Heavy Sword and met it head-on.
Clang! Clang-clang!
Once.
Five times.
Ten times.
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred blade strikes poured down. The violent Gangjing hammered the ground beneath his feet, and the earth continued to cave in.
In the center of it all, Yuk Beom deployed nothing but the Basic Sword Technique

alone.
He raised his sword to block the overhead slash, let the blade aimed at his waist slide off the flat of his blade. The moment it swept past his back, he cut off the trajectory with the pommel.
Im Je’s attacks were certainly fast.
But to Yuk Beom, every movement appeared sluggish. He read it all—the instant tension gathered in the shoulder, the direction the Gangjing drove along the blade, the exact moment the feet shifted to their next position.
Visible attacks could be blocked.
No matter how much Im Je’s blade extended, the result was the same.

“Why…….”

A crack splintered across the Qi Saber.

“Why isn’t anything getting through!”

Yuk Beom did not answer.
This match was an opportunity to test his newfound power.
When he wrapped Fusion Strong Energy around his body, his defensive capacity could withstand successive strikes even from someone at the half-step External Force Realm. The depleted energy was immediately replenished as the two meridians drew in Celestial Earth Force, and with each circulation, his muscles and bones grew harder still.
He felt he could fight for four days straight without tiring.
Of course, there was no chance Im Je could endure that long.
The problem was the offense.
When he poured strength ordinarily into his sword and swung it, he found no special difference between defense and recovery.

‘It’s not that the power is weak—it’s that I don’t know how to use it.’

Yuk Beom closed his eyes.
He concentrated his awareness solely on the force flowing through his sword and meridians. As he blocked over ten slashing strikes, he felt the surrounding Celestial Earth Force subtly give way at the point of his blade when it shifted into a thrust.
Fusion Strong Energy was both Gangjing and Original Qi.
It blended together the strength a Martial Artist forged with their own body as a crucible, and the power of converting Celestial Earth Force itself into usable force.
Then what if he cleared away the Celestial Earth Force blocking his blade’s path beforehand?
As the thought moved, the Five Elements followed.
The resistance of force vanished from the space before the blade’s tip.
The thrusting Weaponless Heavy Sword accelerated like light from the midpoint onward.
Im Je could not react.
The dull blade tip embedded with Bongryeok Seok pierced through the Protection Qi like paper and touched his abdomen.
Yuk Beom quickly drew back his force.
Another moment’s delay and it would have gone straight through.
Even so, he could not erase the impact carried by the speed.
Thud!
Im Je flew backward again.
Blood sprayed from his mouth in mid-air, tracing a long arc. His body, when it struck the ground, bounced once with great force.
But the more terrifying transformation occurred within.
The seeping Fusion Strong Energy suppressed his opponent’s power, ravaged the meridians, and detonated deep within the abdomen.
Yuk Beom withdrew his sword slowly.
From start to finish, he had made no sweeping movements. With just a handful of ordinary sword strokes, he had laid a half-step External Force Realm master flat twice.
Nang Geom’s lips trembled.

“There’s no way that’s Inner Qi Realm, 4th level.”

He felt no confidence that he could win easily even if he stepped forward himself.
Jang Wol Ham stepped back.
The strength drained from her legs. If even Im Je could not protect her, then when Yuk Beom decided to end her, it would be far too easy.
The fear that gripped her throat was the same as that night in Ganglim Castle—she could die unnoticed.
Yet Yuk Beom did not even look at her.
Jang Wol Ham had already fallen behind on the Martial Way; she was not even worth avenging.
From the ground, Im Je pushed himself up again.
With each movement, his internal organs lurched and broken bones pierced his flesh, but his pride refused to admit defeat.

“Close your eyes…….”

Blood-stained hands reshaped the Qi Saber.

“How dare you scorn me?”

Yuk Beom opened his eyes.

“I was merely observing the sword’s movement.”
“Don’t make excuses!”

Han Pung cut in at once.

“So what if you showed contempt? Your Pyomyo Academy disciples standing there in defeat will be ashamed of you!”

Mu Su turned to Han Pung.

“The fourth disciple takes defeat rather well.”
“That he does.”
“It’s not taking it well—it’s that his face is thick.”

Cho Haeng and Cho Cheon nodded simultaneously.
Han Pung, rather than shrinking, puffed out his chest.

“A thick face is necessary for cultivation to progress. That’s what the masters taught us.”

Il Cheong and Do Gwang’s eyes narrowed at the same instant.

“You don’t learn the good lessons, only the ones like that.”

Even as laughter rippled through the crowd, Im Je’s Qi Saber turned blood-red.
Nang Geom’s expression shifted abruptly.

“Im Je, stop!”

The moment he moved to rush in, Il Cheong’s Gangjing blocked his path. The light force pushed Nang Geom’s body back to where he had stood.

“You mean to interfere in an ongoing bout?”
“That—”
“He started this duel of his own will. He must see it through of his own will as well.”

The blood-red aura deepened further.
Im Je’s hair stood on end, and his power at half a step into the External Force Realm climbed to a level nearly equal to the External Gangjing Realm itself.

“Lightning Running Blade

!”

The blood-red blade fell like thunder.
The ground of the training area split before the sword even touched it. The rickety wooden structures swayed under the crushing pressure.
Yuk Beom no longer attempted to meet it with only the Basic Sword Technique.
Absolute power must be countered with power.
The Weaponless Heavy Sword spun in a great arc.

“Heavy Sword Formula

, Rotating Dragon Sword

.”

Fusion Strong Energy wound around the sword intent, coiling tight.
Crimson lightning and the rotating heavy sword collided head-on.
Crash!
The explosion swept across the entire Ilwon Academy.
Every wooden building’s roof except Yuk Beom’s new house was torn away. The spectators stumbled backward several paces, and Jang Wol Ham, unable to hold his ground, fell flat to the earth.
Stone and soil rained down like tears.
When the dust settled, a massive crater had opened in the center of the Empty Training Ground.
Two figures stood within it.
Im Je’s crimson saber had vanished.
Yuk Beom’s clothes were scorched and torn in places, but the exposed skin bore not a single wound. The Fusion Strong Energy cloaking his body had held back the crimson blade to the very end.
Im Je’s lips trembled.

“You’re… relentless.”
“You came here intending to kill me.”

The blade tip lowered.

“I merely defended myself.”

Im Je’s knees buckled.
He collapsed to the bottom of the crater and did not rise again.
Nang Geom rushed forward and caught him. His jaw clenched as his gaze swept first toward Il Cheong, then toward Yuk Beom.

“This match is a defeat for Pyomyo Academy.”

He turned his back, those words his only parting.
The Pyomyo Academy contingent departed far more swiftly than they had arrived. Only when someone seized Jang Wol Ham by the sleeve did he snap back to awareness and follow in their wake.
Han Pung leaped into the crater and thumped Yuk Beom’s shoulder hard.

“Well done, youngest! Now who dares treat Ilwon Academy as mere training partners?”

Cho Cheon watched the retreating Pyomyo Academy figures disappear into the distance.

“Im Je won’t be fit to enter the Ranking Tournament in two months. That final technique—it was a martial art that damages the user’s own body.”
“Who told him to use it? He came of his own feet and destroyed himself.”

Han Pung waved his hand dismissively, then immediately wrapped Yuk Beom in a headlock.

​”More than that—tell me how you learned the Ilwon Dao Jue

just from looking at paper. Did you really figure it out that way?”
“I don’t know the details myself.”
“That makes no sense.”
“After I survived a near-death experience, I was able to use it.”

Han Pung’s eyes narrowed.

“So if I get beaten to death, I’ll be able to use it too?”
“That was the case for me.”
“Good. I know what to do now.”

Yuk Beom started to protest but closed his mouth instead.
If anyone was Han Pung, he was the type to attempt something once regardless of who tried to stop him.
Il Cheong stepped forward, unable to suppress his laughter.

“Today you did well. At this rate, you’ll be ready to compete in the Branch Academy Ranking Tournament two months from now.”

Mu Su touched his belly with a troubled expression.

“Do I really have to fight? If I move, the flesh falls off my bones.”
“Master, just fill the roster for us.”

Han Pung pointed at Kkamangi.

“Once we go to the Ranking Tournament, Kkamangi will come along. If he stays here, he and Sageun Do Gwang will have nothing but wild greens to eat.”

Mu Su’s and Do Gwang’s eyes turned toward Kkamangi in unison.
After a moment of silence, Do Gwang cleared his throat.

“It is fitting that the Sageun attend such a momentous academy gathering.”

Mu Su nodded, releasing a heavy sigh.

“Losing what one has tasted is harder than any discipline. I will participate.”

Laughter rippled across the Empty Training Ground.
Then Il Cheong called out to Yuk Beom.

“Yuk Beom, come with me for a moment.”

Do Gwang rose from his seat as well.
The playful expressions of the two Sageun from moments before now barely concealed their anticipation.
Yuk Beom secured the Weaponless Heavy Sword across his back.
It seemed the day’s work was far from finished, even with Pyomyo Academy defeated.

—————
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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