Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1365

Swoosh! Bang!

From the exploding force, dozens of black flames burst out like fireworks.

‘It’s hot.’

Ha Eun-Gyo’s face showed surprise.

‘That’s an incredible heat-based power.’

She had seen Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s martial arts before. But the feeling she had then, during the chaotic battle, was completely different from what she felt now.

It was a heat that seemed to rival even the strongest heat-based power of the Divine Flame Sect. The swirling black flames were the Dark Dragon Flame Origin (墨龍炎原) of the Twin Dragons Overturning the World Demonic Art (雙龍匡世魔功) [a powerful martial art focused on demonic energy].

Flash! Crackle!

Cheon Hwa-Ryong, unfazed by the Dark Dragon Flame Origin’s energy, swung his left hand towards Ha Eun-Gyo. His left hand, filled with blinding light, crackled with eerie lightning.

It was the Thunder Dragon Descends Calamity (雷龍降災), another energy art of the Overturning the World Demonic Art.

Ha Eun-Gyo’s left hand moved busily.

Thump thump thump! Crack!

The successive Dark Energy Waves she unleashed weakened the power of the Thunder Dragon Descends Calamity by striking it countless times.

With a single strike, Ha Eun-Gyo’s martial arts could not match Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s Overturning the World Demonic Art. Both had mastered martial arts that would be recorded in the history of the martial world, but in terms of raw power, the Twin Dragons Overturning the World Demonic Art, based on hellish energy, was inevitably superior.

Whoosh!

Ha Eun-Gyo’s body flew backward.

Like a taut golden string, her footwork was incredibly dynamic, yet it possessed a serene beauty.

Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s eyes gleamed.

‘Whether it’s that one or this one, these women are quite something.’

No matter how great her sound-based martial arts were, they could not overcome the Overturning the World Demonic Art, considered the greatest martial art in the world.

However, Ha Eun-Gyo’s ability to adapt was truly dazzling. She didn’t just meet force with force. She continuously struck the power of the Dark Dragon and Thunder Dragon to weaken it before countering, and even Cheon Hwa-Ryong didn’t know that there were such openings in the Twin Dragons’ energy arts.

‘I am lacking. The Overturning the World Demonic Art is invincible. If I had reached the same level as my father, that woman would have died in less than ten moves.’

Absolute faith in the Overturning the World Demonic Art.

That faith gave him a dense power.

Flash!

Using the power of the Thunder Dragon Descends Calamity, he collided the magnetic force rising from the ground with the magnetic force erupting from his Yongcheon acupoint [a vital point on the sole of the foot], creating tremendous speed.

Cheon Hwa-Ryong, who instantly closed the distance to Ha Eun-Gyo, swung both fists.

Sizzle! Crackle!

The hellish flames of fear and the thunder of the gods relentlessly surged.

But Ha Eun-Gyo was no longer there.

Cheon Hwa-Ryong was superior in both the destructive power of his energy and his speed. His lightning-enhanced ultra-high-speed movement was among the top of the Limitless Arts [a realm of martial arts mastery].

Yet, he had lost track of Ha Eun-Gyo’s movements.

‘Behind?!’

Whoosh!

He immediately turned and unleashed the lightning of the Thunder Dragon Descends Calamity. It was an attack to nullify the opponent’s attack.

However, Ha Eun-Gyo did not attack Cheon Hwa-Ryong. Instead, she widened the distance and raised her zither to the front. Seven translucent golden strings emerged above the barrier of energy created by her delicate hands.

Immediately after, Ha Eun-Gyo’s left hand began to pluck the strings.

In that instant, Cheon Hwa-Ryong felt his hair stand on end.

‘Danger!’

His body moved before he could even fully register the sense of crisis.

Thump thump thump!

Beyond her left hand, which was rapidly plucking the golden strings, an enormous shockwave erupted.

It was an ancient energy art that amplified vibrations and transmitted them as force. It was the Love-Death Zither Melody (愛死琴曲) of the Heavenly Maiden Zither Hand (彈琴天女手) [a legendary zither-based martial art].

Bang! Clang! Crash!

All sorts of explosions erupted.

It was a sorrowful art of one string, multiple sounds (一絃多音). Each time she plucked the strings of energy, the force that erupted created a mournful melody with varying high and low notes.

The explosions that occurred in between also created an artistic piece. Even if one avoided the force, the vibrations that overwhelmed all directions disrupted the opponent’s flow of energy and caused abnormalities in their five senses.

Flash!

Lightning that poured down from high above targeted Ha Eun-Gyo’s crown.

Ha Eun-Gyo closed her eyes.

Boom!

With the explosion, Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s body flew backward.

‘What?!’

The destructive power was not significant.

However, Cheon Hwa-Ryong was greatly bewildered. He had clearly struck that ghostly woman’s head with lightning, but as soon as the explosion rang out, an unknown shockwave sent him flying.

Whoosh!

The scattered lightning, guided by Ha Eun-Gyo’s touch, adorned the Love-Death Zither Melody.

She had completed the final movement of the Love-Death Zither Melody by colliding the sound wave emission with lightning. The final shockwave occurred the moment the melody was completed, sending Cheon Hwa-Ryong flying.

She had accurately grasped the density of the opponent’s emitted force and the nature of his energy. She predicted what sound would erupt and how far the vibrations would travel depending on how she blocked it, and created the melody.

It was a collaboration between the ancient artist and martial arts.

Whoosh!

Ha Eun-Gyo’s performance did not end there.

She retreated, holding the golden strings she had emitted with her right hand. She ran with the zither footwork and plucked the strings again with her left hand.

And at that moment, the sky darkened and the earth withered.

It wasn’t actually happening, but the melody made it feel that way.

The trees that stood tall were all withered and on the verge of breaking, and black smoke was rising from the mountains in the distance.

Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s eyes wavered.

‘This can’t be.’

Even he, who had mastered the greatest martial art in the world, could not prevent the world from appearing distorted for a moment.

Just by listening, it disrupted the opponent’s five senses. It was the Guiding Ghosts to the Yellow Springs Melody (導鬼黃泉曲) of the Heavenly Maiden Zither Hand [a forbidden melody that manipulates the senses].

‘Is something like this even possible?’

The Limitless energy amplified the sound and gave the melody a terrifying reality. Ha Eun-Gyo’s upper dantian [an energy center in the body] spiritual power imbued each plucked note with her heart, and it was changing the vision of everyone who heard the melody as she desired.

It was nearly impossible to directly penetrate the spiritual power of another Limitless master. However, it was possible to disrupt the opponent’s mind with a melody and show them illusions.

Only Ha Eun-Gyo could do that.

Only Ha Eun-Gyo, the master of sound-based martial arts who had reached the pinnacle of the Central Plains, could do such a thing. The enormous mental and internal energy consumption was a drawback, but even that was negligible if she played with strong focus.

It was an energy art that was not easy to use in actual combat. The reason she kept widening the distance and trying to separate herself from Cheon Hwa-Ryong was precisely this.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Bony hands emerged from the withered ground.

Ahhhhhh-!

The skeletons that rose from the ground all screamed. Even though their vocal organs were gone, the skeletons could wail.

The wails contained the sounds of hell.

It was the wail of the dead that would make anyone’s nerves fray and their minds become frantic, and eventually drive them to madness with fear.

Guiding Ghosts to the Yellow Springs Melody.

It was a melody that guided ghosts to the Yellow Springs [the underworld]. It was the most terrifying of the three forbidden melodies of the Heavenly Maiden Zither Hand. Even if one escaped, it would stimulate the middle and upper dantian to the point that they would not be able to use their usual skills.

Hundreds, thousands of skeletons rose and screamed.

The sight of the skeletons reaching out towards Cheon Hwa-Ryong made it seem as if the dead had truly manifested in this world.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

It was the Demonic Dragon Roar (魔龍吼) that he unleashed to regain his senses.

The tremendous sound-based power unleashed by the Overturning the World Demonic Art instantly erased more than half of the illusion created by the Guiding Ghosts to the Yellow Springs Melody.

‘It’s the same as before.’

Cheon Hwa-Ryong had also unleashed the Demonic Dragon Roar when he came to rescue the Blood Venerable Master.

Ha Eun-Gyo’s eyes turned cold.

‘He’s still a formidable one. But back then, it was a chaotic battle, and now it’s one-on-one.’

To use sound-based martial arts in front of her, the undisputed master of sound-based martial arts.

It was like a novice cook who had just picked up a knife showing off his knife skills in front of the chef in charge of the emperor.

Ha Eun-Gyo removed the golden strings and brought her thumb and index finger to her mouth.

Whooooooo!

The power of the Sound Transformation Divine Art (音化帝武神功) [a martial art that manipulates sound] was concentrated between her face and fingers.

She put strength into her lower abdomen.

Peep peep peep!!

A sharp whistle spread in all directions.

Bang! Crash crash crash! Crash!

The vibration emission that erupted from her mouth began to indiscriminately bombard the area.

It was a wide-ranging killing technique that could never be used when allies were present. It had no specific name, but it was a technique that could annihilate enemies in a single blow in a large-scale battle.

Thud! Thump thump!

Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s body was pushed back madly.

The continuous whistling transmitted countless invisible forces. It was the same power as unleashing the formless and flowless Dark Energy Wave more than ten times in an instant.

‘She’s strong.’

He couldn’t even tell when, which part of his body, or with how much force he was being struck.

Cheon Hwa-Ryong felt overwhelmed by the opponent’s unimaginable martial arts. To be able to unleash such intense energy arts from such a distance was something that was absolutely impossible even with the Overturning the World Demonic Art, which was said to be the greatest in the world.

‘Was the Sound Empress such a powerful master?’

It was both true and false.

Ha Eun-Gyo had never fought without any reservations until now. Even when she stood before Sa Mun-Hyang, she had not given her all because she was worried about her child. The only time she was somewhat okay was when she fought Yeon Ho-Jeong while being manipulated by Sa Mun-Hyang, but even then, she couldn’t properly use her upper dantian.

Now, she was trying to burn her life for the sake of the world and her dead child, having finally shed the burden on her heart. Her mindset was different from any battle she had experienced before, so it was only natural that the power of each martial art she used was also on a different level than before.

‘But that’s all.’

If the opponent was the greatest master of sound-based martial arts, he was the leader of the Blood Demon Sect who had mastered the greatest demonic art in the world.

‘No martial art can overcome the Twin Dragons Overturning the World Demonic Art.’

Crash!

He created a wall of heat energy from the Dark Dragon Flame Origin to block the penetration of the vibration emission.

Whoosh!

Cheon Hwa-Ryong, who quickly landed on the ground, rushed forward at tremendous speed.

Flash!

The distance of twenty yards was reduced to three yards in an instant.

Whoosh!

Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s way of dealing with sound-based martial arts was to counter with even stronger martial arts.

The power of the Demonic Emperor Divine Fist (魔帝神拳), the greatest fist technique of the Blood Demon Sect, which contained the power of fire, lightning, and hellish energy, flew towards Ha Eun-Gyo’s upper body.

That was when it happened.

Crash!!

With the explosion, something shattered and scattered.

Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s eyes wavered.

‘What?!’

The hellish scene that was less than half-formed had completely disappeared.

Surprisingly, Ha Eun-Gyo was not there. Only the remains of dazed Jiangshi [undead beings] were scattered everywhere. They had been directly hit by the power of the Demonic Emperor Divine Fist.

With that one blow, as many as thirty Jiangshi were shattered. It was indeed a great power, but the problem was that Cheon Hwa-Ryong had not been able to detect the presence of the Jiangshi.

Boom!

Cheon Hwa-Ryong was sent flying, bleeding from the sudden explosion of force.

He immediately raised his head, having created a barrier with the Thunder Dragon Descends Calamity.

And there, was the goddess of hell.

Ha Eun-Gyo, standing on a small rock with her arms outstretched, was radiating a pure white light from her eyes.

And below her, the Jiangshi, drooling and advancing under the control of the sound waves, were there.

Nearly two hundred of the five hundred Jiangshi were charmed by her sound and were running towards their original master. The power of the Guiding Ghosts to the Yellow Springs Melody had not yet disappeared.

The remaining Jiangshi were just standing there blankly, their mouths agape. They were supposed to move south according to Cheon Hwa-Ryong’s orders, but they were hesitating because the sound waves of the Yellow Springs Melody had caused abnormalities in their upper dantian.

“That damned woman dares!”

“The melody is over, so you should live in reality now.”

Cheon Hwa-Ryong felt a chill run down his spine at Ha Eun-Gyo’s voice.

It was such a clear and smooth voice. That made it even more terrifying. She was more like a demon than a demon, carried by the fluttering wind.

Ha Eun-Gyo, who had advanced the Jiangshi, reached her hand towards the sky.

“I’ll make you regret coming back.”

Whooooooo!!

A heavy energy began to engulf the world.

It was the Ten Thousand Pound String Plucking Power (彈絃萬斤功) [a technique that uses the zither strings to unleash immense force].