Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 918

Whoosh!

The four who had halted their advance looked up.

The mountain was majestic.

The mountain range, stretching wide to the left and right, seemed too immense to be described as merely ‘vast’.

A tall peak, towering above three or four other peaks, was entirely white, covered in perpetual snow.

The group stood far below, yet the temperature was noticeably lower than on the plains.

“Impressive,” Yeon Ho-Jeong said with a wry smile.

“Should I build a place like that in the mountains later?”

There were half a dozen magnificent palaces and numerous buildings surrounding them.

It was a feat that only an exceptionally skilled fortress builder could even attempt. Despite coming to fight, they couldn’t help but be impressed by its grandeur.

Tang Gwan frowned and said,

“If you really want to live like that later, tell me. I’ll introduce you to some master craftsmen from the main family.”

“You have people who build houses too?”

“The main family is the best when it comes to manufacturing, building, and creating anything.”

“Typical of the Tang family.”

“Well, let’s put that aside for now.”

Tang Gwan took a slight breath, not so much from tension but to catch a scent.

“The smell of blood is strong.”

When dealing with poison, the senses of smell and taste become more developed than other senses. Of course, ordinary people would be in mortal danger if they came into contact with poison like the Tang family did.

“I heard the rebellion started quite a while ago, but the smell of blood is still fresh.”

“Indeed.”

Thud.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, planting the Mad Dragon Axe on the ground, looked around and said,

“According to Cheon Gongja, the number of demons, excluding the leadership, is said to be a thousand.”

They could only sense less than half that number.

Muk Bi asked Ok Cheong,

“Do you sense anything?”

“Of course.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know what it is, but…”

Tension was evident on Ok Cheong’s face.

Having surpassed the Wall of No Form [a high level of martial arts mastery], one might expect some excitement, but there was no such sign.

“It’s clear that this isn’t the time for such idle conversation.”

Tang Gwan nodded.

“I suppose so.”

“Can you feel it too, Master and Deputy Chief Muk?”

“I can sense the presence of a powerful master. However…”

Muk Bi said,

“I know a supreme master is coming. His aura is so blatant, I’m wondering if he’s planning something else.”

“I see.”

At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong raised his hand to stop the conversation.

“As Ok Cheong said, let’s stop talking here.”

He looked up.

Already, an old man was standing with his hands behind his back on the edge of the central palace roof.

Despite standing on such a high and narrow roof edge, he looked very stable. In his hands behind his back, he held a long staff.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed.

Ok Cheong’s body began to burn with the Primal Chaos Qi [a powerful form of internal energy]. Tang Gwan held a dagger in each hand, and Muk Bi grasped the string of the Crimson Lotus Bow.

The old man, Muk Ro, said in a calm voice,

“So you’ve finally come.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong flicked his finger.

“Come down.”

Muk Ro frowned.

He had been like this when they talked through the Shadow Demon Projection [a magical communication method], but he was truly a strange one.

Looking back, it wasn’t even a provocation. He could just ignore it and say what he had to say, but strangely, when he looked into the man’s eyes and listened to his voice, he couldn’t ignore it.

Swish, swish, swish.

Demons holding swords and crescent blades appeared from below the palace.

Their number was roughly three hundred. The demons, spread out to the left and right, looked like a long wall.

Each of them boasted a tremendous physique. They were equipped with black armor and helmets, and it seemed that the armor would absorb most impacts.

“They are called the Iron Demon Corps of the Divine Demonic Forest.”

“The Iron Demon Corps, huh?”

“They are quite formidable. Frankly, their power is comparable to the main sect’s elite forces.”

Saaah.

Perhaps excited by Muk Ro’s words, the Iron Demon Corps’ aura became even more aggressive.

They knew that the origin of the Divine Demonic Forest was the Blood Demon Sect. The fact that their power was comparable to the Blood Demon Sect, their origin, only boosted their morale.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been watching them quietly, nodded.

“Are you going to stop us with just these guys?”

“You’re wrong. These guys and I will stop you.”

His tone was full of confidence.

It was understandable. If he was a First Seat Elder of the Blood Demon Sect, it meant that there were no more than five masters in the sect who were superior to him.

Although they did not reveal their power, the supreme masters of the three sects always looked down on the Central Plains. They thought of them as formidable, but they never thought they were inferior to the Central Plains.

‘I suppose they would think that way.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong thought of Gongson Baek-Ryong.

Gongson Baek-Ryong’s movement technique was so outstanding that it was hard to find a similar example in the history of the martial world.

He was called a king, not a general, solely for his movement technique. He was a master who was difficult to deal with unless one had exceptional coping skills.

Yet, Gongson Baek-Ryong was merely a Fifth Seat Elder. But in the Central Plains, he was called the Uncrowned King and praised as a master of the ages.

He thought that was enough to understand how the martial artists of the Central Plains viewed masters. Even if they were truly superior, their pride would not allow them to believe it.

Of course, there would be some who saw the world with a cold eye. However, most of the people Yeon Ho-Jeong had faced were intoxicated by their own power and failed to see the world properly.

Which type of master was the old man in front of him?

Yeon Ho-Jeong raised the Mad Dragon Axe.

“Well, there’s no need for further talk, right?”

Muk Ro chuckled.

“Of course not. Now, let’s see your skills…”

That was when it happened.

Thwack!

With a brutal sound, one of the Iron Demon Corps members in the center collapsed.

Whoosh.

White smoke rose from Muk Bi’s Crimson Lotus Bow.

It was an extremely sharp and fast formless projectile. It was a divine archery technique that targeted the enemy with an invisible arrow, minimizing internal energy consumption.

Tang Gwan smiled.

“He’s worth the effort I put into teaching him.”

Fwoooosh!

The Iron Demon Corps unleashed their killing intent.

Muk Ro shouted with a distorted face,

“Attack!”

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

Hundreds of Iron Demon Corps members threw their short spears on the ground, and the rest of the Iron Demon Corps slid down the slope.

That was when it happened.

Thud!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, taking a step forward, swung the Mad Dragon Axe from the lower to the upper position.

Flash! Rumble!

The slope split vertically, and about twenty Iron Demon Corps members were flung to the left and right.

Yeon Ho-Jeong turned to Tang Gwan.

Dark green energy was already emanating from Tang Gwan’s body. It was the Emperor’s Poison Qi [a unique form of internal energy], with a completely different feel from Ok Cheong’s cyan energy.

Tang Gwan nodded.

Fwoooosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, using the Dragon Form Seven Step Movement Technique [a powerful movement technique], ascended the slope and swung the Mad Dragon Axe to the left and right.

Thud, thud, thud!

He didn’t use his full power, but the shockwaves from the axe blade knocked down another twenty or so Iron Demon Corps members.

Crack!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, stepping on the crown of the head of an Iron Demon Corps member throwing a short spear, leaped high into the air.

Muk Ro’s eyes flashed with demonic energy.

He pointed the end of his staff at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

Kwaaang!

It was an explosive force that detonated without a trace.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s body, floating in the air, was pushed backward. He was unharmed, but being pushed back in the air, where his movements were limited, was a crisis in itself.

However.

‘……?!’

Muk Ro’s eyes wavered.

It was as if an illusionary flame was rising from beneath Yeon Ho-Jeong’s feet. The flame looked like a giant wing, and the body with the wing was long like a snake and heavy like a rock.

‘A dragon?!’

Fwoooosh!

He leaped in the air, and his speed was no different from running on flat ground.

‘Air Walking!’

It was an illusionary movement. Yeon Ho-Jeong had already appeared above Muk Ro’s head.

Muk Ro’s left palm went up above his head.

Whoosh!

An invisible formless force pressed down on Yeon Ho-Jeong’s body.

In an instant, Yeon Ho-Jeong had the illusion that all the skin on his body was being peeled off and blown away. That was how brutal the pressure of Muk Ro’s force was.

It was the Formless Demonic Illusion Palm, a secret technique of the Blood Demon Sect. It was a technique so difficult that no one had ever mastered it.

Yeon Ho-Jeong also unleashed his left hand.

A heavy palm strike, accompanied by the illusion of a golden dragon, collided with the Formless Demonic Illusion Palm.

Kwaaaang!

A huge roar, so loud that it drowned out all the other noises, echoed.

Crack!

The palace roof could not withstand the pressure and collapsed. Muk Ro had no choice but to fall under the collapsed roof.

That was when it happened.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

The sound of metal scales clashing was heard from somewhere.

Muk Ro’s eyes flashed.

‘Chains?!’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s figure, which should have been blown further away by the impact of the force collision, was rapidly expanding.

It was the Coiling Dragon Chain. He had shot the Coiling Dragon Chain, which he hadn’t used much recently, at the iron pillars under the collapsed roof and flown over.

Whoosh!

Muk Ro’s staff was swung with a threatening sound.

Formless demonic energy swirled everywhere, creating tremendous pressure.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed.

‘Golden Dragon.’

The golden divine dragon that had been sleeping in the vast lake fully awakened, and he began to fill his entire body with the Golden Dragon Divine King Qi [a powerful form of internal energy].

The Mad Dragon Axe was brought down with the force of Mount Tai pressing down.

Kwaaaang!

“Kuh!”

The reverse field, as hard and heavy as steel, was torn like paper, and Muk Ro’s body was flung away.

Muk Ro was in shock.

‘He broke through the Formless Demonic Wall? With just one move?!’

Muk Ro was not the only one who was surprised.

‘So easily?’

It was unbelievable that he had broken through the wall of internal energy with such tremendous pressure with just one axe strike.

Of course, considering the amount of power he had unleashed, it couldn’t be said that he had broken through it easily. But he never thought that it would be torn apart and blown away with just this one strike.

‘I don’t know what it is, but if this flow continues…’

Fwoosh!

This was an opportunity.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, landing on the ground, retrieved the Coiling Dragon Chain and charged forward. The Dragon Form Seven Step Movement Technique unfolded, and his figure moved to the place where the opponent’s weakness was most exposed.

In an instant, Muk Ro’s eyes blazed.

‘He’s fallen for it.’

The place the opponent perceived as a weakness was where the Demonic Pressure Barrier of the Formless Demonic Illusion Technique was deployed.

It was not a weakness that had been there originally, but a weakness that had been deliberately created. Muk Ro’s main attack method was to induce the opponent’s attack, deprive them of their freedom of movement, and then counterattack.

Muk Ro poured all the demonic energy he had into his staff.

Finally, Yeon Ho-Jeong stepped into the area of the Demonic Pressure Barrier.

‘You fool! It’s over!’

Muk Ro swung his staff like lightning.

That was when it happened.

His eyes widened like saucers. His eyes, wide open as if they would tear, were filled with disbelief.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was approaching.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, emitting golden true energy from his entire body, his body wrapped in the illusion of a giant golden dragon, was charging forward, ignoring the pressure of the Demonic Pressure Barrier.

If one was properly caught in the Demonic Pressure Barrier, even rocks would be crushed. No matter how powerful one was, it was normal to lose freedom of movement, even momentarily, under that kind of pressure.

Yet, Yeon Ho-Jeong seemed to be unaffected by any pressure. With a strange whooshing sound, the Demonic Pressure Barrier was torn apart, and he had already reached a distance of one jang [approximately ten feet].

‘This is impossible!’

Muk Ro hurriedly swung his staff.

Yeon Ho-Jeong also swung the Mad Dragon Axe diagonally.

Kwaaaang!

The two, breaking through the left and right walls and being pushed back, fell to the ground.