Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 429

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes widened like full moons.

‘What?’

The Four Directional Martial Emperors had no disciples?

Having no disciples meant there was no one to carry on their teachings. And having no one to carry on their teachings meant that the martial arts they had achieved would not be fully passed down to future generations.

‘What does this mean?’

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked back and forth between Yi Beon and Tam Gyeong’s faces.

Their expressions were utterly calm. At least, it didn’t seem like what they had just said was a lie.

“It’s hard to understand what you’re saying.”

“It’s not, kid. You already know what I mean.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s cheeks trembled slightly.

“Old man, are you saying that my master is one of the Four Directional Martial Emperors who suppressed the Blood Cult’s chaos three hundred years ago?”

Yi Beon silently stared at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

His gaze was deep like an old man’s, yet clear like a young man’s. It seemed wise enough to see through any principle in the world in an instant.

After a moment of silence passed.

“Puhahahaha!”

Yi Beon suddenly burst into laughter.

The atmosphere, which had been so serious, suddenly became light and airy with the sudden laughter.

Yi Beon’s laughter seemed excessively exaggerated, but on the other hand, it also seemed genuinely cheerful.

He pointed at Yeon Ho-Jeong with his finger and patted Beom Oh’s shoulder.

“Look at this fool! He actually believes it! Kehahaha!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face completely crumpled.

Yi Beon kept chuckling as he spoke.

“Kid, how could that be? How could the Four Directional Martial Emperors from three hundred years ago still be alive? They were the strongest martial artists in history, but who called them immortals? Wow, this guy is more naive than I thought?”

Should I kill him?

Yeon Ho-Jeong seriously considered it for a moment. It was about his sect, and about his master, but it was all a joke. He couldn’t help but get angry.

However, Yeon Ho-Jeong calmed his rising emotions. Even if the story about the Four Directional Martial Emperors was a joke, what these old men were doing was not a joke. At least, it was clear that it was deeply related to the Four Divine Beasts.

Seeing Yeon Ho-Jeong struggling to manage his expression, Yi Beon quietly whistled.

“He’s definitely something else. Even though he’s naive, his ability to read the situation is outstanding. He knows it’s not the time to vent his anger.”

“Thank you for the compliment, but I’m not very patient.”

“That’s how you look, kid. You look like you’re about to chop off my hand if I joke around one more time. You don’t even know what respecting your elders means, do you?”

“What does my sect and my martial arts have to do with what you’re doing?”

Yi Beon chuckled.

“It’s deeply related. It’ll take quite a while to explain everything.”

“At least, I think I deserve to hear that explanation.”

“Deserve… Well, you’re not wrong.”

Yi Beon patted his back.

“Aigo, I’m about to die, and my back and stomach are stiff from laughing a little. Hey, brother. You explain the rest.”

Tam Gyeong clicked his tongue.

“You’re the one who planted the poison in the young man’s eyes, so why do I have to clean up after you?”

“Well, he’s the kid you brought, isn’t he? You should take responsibility.”

“I don’t know about anything else, but you’ve definitely become more shameless than before.”

“We all become like this when we’re about to go, my friend.”

Yi Beon turned around and walked back towards the cave entrance.

“If you’re going to fight, go somewhere far away. Looking at that kid’s energy and eyes, this cave we worked so hard to make might collapse. Tsk, they say the Four Directional Martial Emperors had fiery tempers, and it seems like that whole lineage is like that.”

Yi Beon, grumbling, disappeared into the cave.

A strange silence fell between the three remaining people.

Whoosh.

A damp wind blew between them.

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked at Tam Gyeong.

Tam Gyeong shrugged.

“I was planning to introduce you to everyone, but somehow things have turned out like this.”

“I don’t want to check the old men’s faces. What I want is…”

“No, I should say what I want. Or rather, what we want. Wasn’t that the deal?”

“…That’s true.”

“But since the martial arts you’ve mastered are related to what we’re doing, I’m going to explain it to you out of good will. If we were just thinking about the deal, we wouldn’t even need to do that.”

“I acknowledge that.”

“Puhul! You have a very cool personality.”

Tam Gyeong, who had burst into laughter, looked into the distance.

“Do you see that forest over there? There’s an open space there. Before I explain it to you, let’s first properly confirm whether you are truly the disciple of the person I know.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes lit up.

“A duel?”

“You can call it a duel, or you can call it a life-or-death match.”

His words were filled with great confidence.

Yeon Ho-Jeong nodded.

“I understand. Let’s go.”

“Good.”

Tam Gyeong glanced at Beom Oh.

“What about you?”

“…Yes?”

“Are you going to keep wrestling with your inner turmoil there? Or are you going to fill yourself up from the inside? Or are you going to watch us fight?”

Beom Oh made his choice.

The open space where the three arrived was three or four times larger than the training grounds of most sects.

Beom Oh moved to one side and sat down. He had no energy and was out of his mind, but he didn’t blink his bloodshot eyes as he watched the two men.

“Alright, then.”

Tam Gyeong, with his hands behind his back, raised his left arm and took a mid-level palm stance.

“Come at me first.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been staring at Tam Gyeong, asked abruptly.

“Before that, let me ask you one thing.”

“Hmm?”

“Listening to what that old man said earlier, it seems like you know a lot about my martial arts and the Four Directional Martial Emperors.”

Yi Beon had clearly said ‘that lineage’.

Furthermore, he even said that the Four Directional Martial Emperors had fiery tempers. The world still remembers the Four Directional Martial Emperors, but most people are ignorant of their personalities or personal lives.

But that old man was different. Perhaps this old man in front of him also knew more about the Four Directional Martial Emperors than he did.

“We know to some extent.”

“And you said you met the person who is my master.”

“Let me correct that. I met someone who is ‘presumed’ to be your master. To confirm that, there’s no other way but to exchange blows.”

“…I think I know the answer without hearing it, but I’ll ask anyway.”

“Go ahead.”

After a moment of silence, Yeon Ho-Jeong carefully asked.

“Do you, or rather, do you know where my master is now?”

“I don’t know.”

“…”

“If we knew, we wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of making a deal with you to bring you here. We would have gone to find him first.”

“That’s true.”

“Has your curiosity been satisfied?”

“Hoo.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong took a deep breath and suddenly glared.

Flash!

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes, which emitted a lightning-like radiance, were intense.

“Alright. I wasted my time. Let’s do what we were going to do.”

“Good. Come at me…”

Paah! Paaang!

Yeon Ho-Jeong charged forward in a surprise attack before Tam Gyeong could finish his sentence.

Tam Gyeong’s eyes flashed.

There was no sign of movement, and then suddenly, he showed an explosive advance. And the speed and pressure were tremendous. He hadn’t even gathered his energy beforehand.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had approached at a terrifying speed, powerfully stepped forward.

Kuuuung!

It was a violent step that seemed to shake the entire peak, let alone the open space.

The power step, the White Tiger’s Imperial Stride. It was amazing that he had stopped the Blood Wing’s Fiery Dash, but the series of actions of transferring the power from the speed directly to the step to gain even stronger momentum was a divine skill.

Yeon Ho-Jeong extended his fist.

The White Tiger Strike, the Tiger King’s Iron Wall.

Booaaang! Kwaang!

The fist that tore through the air collided with Tam Gyeong’s palm, creating a fierce explosion.

A shockwave that seemed to evaporate all the humid air in the area spread out. The stones scattered throughout the open space rose up a foot and then fell back down due to the tremendous vibration.

‘Hmm.’

Tam Gyeong felt his feet slide back five inches.

‘What tremendous power.’

The two men were only one level apart in their cultivation, but that was a difference that could be described as heaven and earth.

To push back such an opponent, even if he hadn’t used his full power, with just one punch was not something anyone could do.

‘It’s not just about raw strength. His ability to transfer power to the point of impact, and his ability to adjust his pace according to the situation are extremely outstanding.’

It was just one clash, but he could feel from the root how high a level of martial arts this young man, Yeon Ho-Jeong, had achieved.

‘A genius.’

Paah! Paaang!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had pushed forward with one fist, immediately rotated his body and aimed for Tam Gyeong’s side with his elbow.

Even while rotating like a whirlwind, there were no openings. The series of movements of rotating and lowering his stance was chillingly clean.

Tam Gyeong raised his right leg.

Kwaang!

The elbow that should have struck his side hit Tam Gyeong’s thigh.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed with a different light.

Even though he was balancing on only one leg, Tam Gyeong’s posture did not collapse. This was because he was perfectly controlling his entire body with his superb internal energy.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s two fists spat fire.

Pa pa pa pa pang!

Tam Gyeong’s hands moved busily to counter the barrage of rapid-fire double fists.

Tam Gyeong’s defense was natural and perfect. He was able to deflect the rapid punches with ease, and there were no gaps in his posture to block the next attack.

It was truly an ideal defensive stance. It was as if he could receive a cannonball, not just a fist.

At that moment, a red glow exploded from the tips of Yeon Ho-Jeong’s fists.

Pung! Pu pu pung! Pung!

Tam Gyeong retreated with a smooth movement. He had only taken one step, but the distance had already widened by three yards.

‘Huh, look at this guy?’

Ease is ease, and surprise is surprise.

‘He can erase the defense of a technique so easily?’

When his punches didn’t work, he loaded explosive force into the tips of his fists to make his opponent’s stance waver.

A fighting technique that didn’t respond to an opponent who couldn’t be attacked with a new martial art, but rather forcibly created a gap where there was none.

Instead of finding weaknesses, he created them. After creating the opponent’s weakness, it was a brutal martial art that used a killing move without hesitation to render the opponent unable to fight.

‘Indeed.’

It was difficult to conclude that the martial arts Yeon Ho-Jeong was currently using were the Four Divine Beast martial arts of that mysterious person. He hadn’t shown his true skills to this extent.

However, he was becoming more and more certain.

‘He had the eyes to see through my martial arts as soon as he saw them. But this guy has the ability to not only see where to break through, but also to make it so that he can be broken through.’

Considering the difference in their levels, it was difficult for Yeon Ho-Jeong to exploit Tam Gyeong’s weaknesses, no matter how much of a genius he was.

Then, he could just create a weakness. But that was definitely not an easy task.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was a man who could do that difficult task as naturally as breathing.

He had been like that until now, and he would continue to be like that in the future.

‘But, I can’t be sure with just this much.’

Determination settled in Tam Gyeong’s eyes.

Whoong.

The moment a gust of wind blew, Tam Gyeong’s figure appeared from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s right rear.

Beom Oh’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear.

‘That footwork?!’

It was a martial art that attacked from an absolutely unblockable position, a blind spot. The best footwork of the Unwritten, which could not be followed by the eyes or senses, had begun to stretch.

Kuuung!

If Yeon Ho-Jeong’s step was intense, Tam Gyeong’s step was very deep.

Tam Gyeong’s hand, which had gained power from the step, aimed for Yeon Ho-Jeong’s back. The golden energy in that hand was unimaginably heavy.

‘Now, how will you react?’

Yeon Ho-Jeong was still running forward with his back turned.

Tam Gyeong’s eyes flashed.

‘Is this the end?’

At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s hand grabbed the Black Dragon Axe at his waist.

Flash!

The axe blade was raised diagonally.

A few drops of blood flew into the air.