Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1321

“Amazing.”

Even from a great distance, the shockwaves from the two supreme masters made his head spin.

Cold sweat beaded on the Law Protector’s forehead.

“I knew the Lord’s martial arts were formidable, but seeing it in person is beyond imagination. His power is truly worthy of being called the best in the world.”

“…….”

“But what’s truly astonishing is that young master’s skill. How can he stand against the Lord’s Yin Demonic Dance?”

Of course, the Yin Demonic Dance wasn’t the strongest martial art of the Demonic Cult.

To be precise, it was a martial art that could be considered the strongest, excluding the Lord’s Teachings. Since the Lord hadn’t yet used his Teachings, the enemy’s defeat was certain.

Still, it was astonishing.

Wasn’t the Lord someone who had no equal in the world with just that Yin Demonic Dance?

Even the supreme masters of the cult who had reached the pinnacle were thought to be unable to withstand twenty moves against the Lord. But seeing the revealed power, it seemed they wouldn’t even last ten moves.

The existence of an enemy who had endured against that absolute power, even launching counterattacks, was more than just surprising; it was awe-inspiring.

The Law Protector stared at the expressionless young man, Jeok Heum.

“What do you make of him?”

Jeok Heum remained silent, merely gazing at the two with his utterly transparent eyes.

The Law Protector felt uneasy.

‘He’s always been unsettling.’

Jeok Heum was a cultist favored by the Lord.

He hadn’t been taught the Lord’s Teachings or the Yin Demonic Dance, so he must have some other ability.

But the Law Protector couldn’t figure out what that ability was.

‘Whatever else, this inner energy is truly…’

The Law Protector’s eyes sharpened.

‘How can this be? It’s as if his entire body is filled with true energy.’

Although it was perfectly contained, even the small amount of energy that leaked out revealed that he possessed an unimaginable level of inner power.

He possessed far more inner energy than even himself, who had reached the pinnacle. The quality of his inner energy was unclear, but in terms of quantity alone, he could be called the best in the world, excluding the Lord.

Despite possessing such incredible power, he had never properly used martial arts. At most, he had only displayed his movement techniques.

He hadn’t even been seen properly consuming anything.

He walked around perfectly fine, yet it was questionable whether he was even a living person. That was Jeok Heum.

‘I can’t even read the spiritual energy in his upper dantian [an energy center in the body]. I’d believe it if someone said he was a doll made of bones and flesh.’

The Law Protector turned his head again.

At that moment, Jeok Heum’s mouth opened.

“…One will die.”

“What?”

“…….”

“What did you just say?”

Jeok Heum closed his mouth again.

Since this wasn’t the first or second time, the Law Protector wasn’t angry.

He was just curious. One will die? What did that mean?

‘It’s probably just nonsense.’

Kwaaang!

The fight resumed.

* * *

His posture remained the same, but his expression had changed.

His eyes were gradually becoming elongated. With that change in his eyes, he seemed like a completely different person.

“‘He’ had no choice but to grant my request. The condition for me entering this body was a fight with the strongest.”

“……?!”

“If ‘He’ intervenes, you’ll die quickly. Then when would I ever get to fight the strongest in the Central Plains again? That’s why I had to step in now.”

Red killing intent gradually gathered in Yeon Ho-jeong’s cold eyes.

Only then did he realize.

‘Multiple souls in one body… a group of spirits?’

The Sa Mun-hyang he knew was not one person.

No, Sa Mun-hyang was one person. However, other souls were inhabiting his body.

It was similar to how the demons of the Blood Demon Cult summoned the souls of dead former sect leaders to wander the mortal realm. But it was only similar; the method was different.

The Blood Demon Cult tried to transcend death with necromancy, but Sa Mun-hyang brought multiple souls into his living body.

Spirit and flesh are one, and when the two concepts align, humans can move towards the result of death. In other words, they live life according to the natural order.

However, if multiple souls choose to use a healthy body, things change.

The body rejects the natural order. Rejecting the natural order is, in itself, defying heaven. The extreme of defying heaven is immortality, and when immortality reaches its peak, it becomes invincibility.

The Blood Demon Cult chose to summon already dead spirits, but Sa Mun-hyang accepted multiple souls, making his body a vessel of defying heaven, transcending time.

‘Three hundred years… no, nearly four hundred years.’

Sa Mun-hyang’s smile deepened.

It was like a wolf smiling. His elongated snout stretched, forming a savage grin.

“I don’t care if you’re a delusional madman or whoever. All that matters is that your martial arts are truly powerful, and you’re more than enough for a good fight.”

“…….”

“Now, show me everything you have, the genius called the Black and White Emperor…”

Paah! Paah! Paaang!!

The fist that shot out, tearing through the air, created an enormous shockwave.

Kwaang!

Sa Mun-hyang slid backward.

Surprise flickered across his face. He had crossed his arms to block, but his forearms ached as if they were about to break.

Even while maintaining the Four Emperors Body, this was happening. It was an incredible punch.

“I tried to kill you with heavenly principles, having let go of my sea-like resentment and hatred.”

Sa Mun-hyang’s face, which had been full of surprise, hardened.

Chiiiik!

Dark smoke rose from beneath Yeon Ho-jeong’s feet.

Bubbling.

The solid ground instantly melted, bubbling and boiling.

Even if one had mastered the divine techniques of the Divine Flame Cult, said to be at the pinnacle of all Yang energy arts, could they emit fire energy that could make the ground boil in an instant?

The golden vermilion, the Yellow Dragon’s Fire Energy, blazed intensely.

Flash! Flash!

The surging golden flames grew so large that they seemed to engulf the entire plain.

It wasn’t just simple fire energy. It was fire energy that burned with the natural killing intent latent deep within Yeon Ho-jeong’s soul as its fuel.

He was so enraged that he even forgot his resolve not to make a mistake by being swayed by his killing intent.

Pshhh.

Even without touching the fire energy, all sorts of vegetation withered and died, turning black.

It meant that the killing intent was more toxic than the fire energy. The killing intent, which surpassed even the fire energy that could surpass the Divine Flame Cult’s Yang energy arts, was already like a tangible force in itself.

Sa Mun-hyang, or rather, Sa Jeok-sim, who was Sa Mun-hyang’s grandson, widened his eyes.

“This…!”

He couldn’t even open his mouth easily.

Even after completing the Yellow Dragon Divine King Art, he hadn’t been able to discard his killing intent. He had merely sealed it deeper within, not completely burned it away.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s killing intent, which had been aged and matured for a long time, had now reached a level that could not be described even with the modifier ‘destructive.’

Even a master, no, even a supreme master, would likely go mad the moment they faced this killing intent. If they didn’t go mad, they would die. To avoid death, their minds would choose madness.

Would a master of the Limitless Realm be okay?

Having shed their human form and reached the realm of a half-immortal, they wouldn’t go mad. But prolonged exposure would similarly devastate their minds. Perhaps they could even suffer internal injuries from an inner energy surge.

That was how toxic Yeon Ho-jeong’s killing intent was.

It was so immense that it could burn the sky and melt the earth.

“Do you dare treat me as a mere amusement?”

Ziiiiiiing!!

The Gwangryong Axe was dyed gold.

It wasn’t just a golden aura; the axe itself was shining entirely gold. A perfect golden axe with no visible fine details or cracks. Never before had it carried this much Yellow Dragon energy.

“My life has been a journey to hunt down the worst bastards who would leave only slaughter and hatred in the world. Until I reached enlightenment, I lived with gritted teeth, determined to burn you all, including even the dogs you raise, without leaving a single one alive.”

Sa Jeok-sim took a few steps back without realizing it.

And he didn’t even realize that he had retreated.

“I returned to this place, transcending time, yet you mock me with the word ‘nemesis’ and insult me by putting forward such pathetic underlings.”

Even though Sa Jeok-sim’s martial arts were worthy of being called the best in the world, he expressed it that way.

He couldn’t see anything. Unlike the golden aura that spread in all directions, Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes were dyed bright red.

The red glow was so intense that even the boundary between his pupils and the whites of his eyes became blurred.

Even when he first met the cultists of the Three Sects after his regression, he hadn’t been this angry.

“Sa Mun-hyang.”

Yeon Ho-jeong took a step.

Thump! Thump!

The boiling ground trembled. Yet, his shoes didn’t burn.

Yeon Ho-jeong roared.

“Come out, Sa Mun-hyang!”

Sa Jeok-sim also shouted back.

“Shut up!”

His voice was panicked and cracked. It was because his mind was shaken and his spirit was confused by Yeon Ho-jeong’s indescribable killing intent.

“If you don’t come out.”

Flash!

Was it the Yellow Dragon Step, the Blood Wing Sky Dance, or just a primal movement?

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had appeared above Sa Jeok-sim’s head, shouted in fury.

“I’ll tear even your soul to shreds!”

The Gwangryong Axe cleaved through the air.

Kwaang! Kwaaaang!!

The impact wave from breaking the sound barrier felt like child’s play compared to the powerful slash that was unleashed.

It was the brutality of the Gwangryong Art. But its power was beyond imagination.

Kwadududududuk!!

The strike that exploded the earth split and shattered over twenty yards of ground.

It wasn’t just destruction. The thousands of explosive energies that soared above the broken ground writhed wildly, turning the area into a realm of death.

It was overwhelming power.

It was a power that no one in the world, not even Master Mu Heo, could imitate.

It was a strike that had abandoned the enlightenment of the Middle Way and was wielded with only destruction and death. It lacked any finesse, but it generated a power that no one could stop.

Chiiiiiiik!

The Divine King Energy rotated at high speed.

The divine energy, which had doubled and tripled in an instant by the power of the Divine Elixir, amplified Yeon Ho-jeong’s killing intent several times over.

“Kuh!”

Sa Jeok-sim’s face, who had flown into the sky, contorted.

It seemed that no demon’s killing intent in the world could reach the tip of that man’s toes. Like a person who had never been angry before exploding and not stopping until someone was shattered, Yeon Ho-jeong’s killing intent also seemed like it would never extinguish unless the entire world was burned away.

‘This is dangerous!’

If he stayed like this, he felt like his soul would be corrupted and his body would rot away, swayed by that killing intent.

It was absolute killing intent. The density of the energy was so great that it reminded him of Sa Mun-hyang’s Lord’s Teachings.

“That monster!”

Hwaaaak!

Five blue spheres floated around Sa Jeok-sim’s body.

It was the Yin Demonic Blast of the Yin Demonic Palm, the Five Dragon Cannon, unleashed with the Jimosinryong Stance [a powerful martial arts stance].

“Die!”

Flash!

Five streaks of energy shot out like lightning.

The energy, compressed to the limit, flew like cannonballs. Each one possessed a power that could threaten the life of a Limitless Realm master.

Buruuuu.

It felt like his head was turning white.

His anger had reached its peak, and he even started to laugh. Yeon Ho-jeong smiled whitely and swung the Gwangryong Axe.

The second stance of the Gwangryong Art, an upward slash from the lower to the upper.

The Rising Sky Stance shot upwards, creating a golden storm of fire.

Kwarurururung!!

The shattered pieces of rock that were being pulled up melted in the heat and scattered like fragments of lava.

Sa Jeok-sim’s eyes trembled.

Kwakwakwang!!

The enemy’s slash, which had torn apart all the energy of the Five Dragon Cannon, had grown to a width of dozens of yards.

There was nowhere to escape. It seemed impossible to block.

Sa Jeok-sim screamed and swung his fist.

Puhuhuhuhung!!

His body, unable to penetrate the gale of the Rising Sky Stance, flew high into the sky.