Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 939

“Cough!”

Muk Won’s face, as he coughed up blood, was terribly pale.

“Senior! Are you alright?”

“Cough, cough! I’m fine. I’m fine, so let’s fight… Ugh!”

He didn’t look fine at all.

He had inflicted a near-fatal wound on Ya Hyuk, but surprisingly, Ya Hyuk had endured Muk Won’s merciless swordsmanship with his bare body and launched a counterattack of similar intensity.

No matter how skilled Muk Won was, he couldn’t be unscathed after receiving a blow from a master of a similar level, putting all their might into it. The Heavenly Martial Divine Weapon [a mystical artifact that enhances martial abilities] was constantly repairing his body, but the invading demonic energy was so severe that he couldn’t even move freely.

It was then.

‘……?!’

The Heavenly Martial Divine Weapon, which was restoring his body, emitted a subtle tremor.

The tremor was one of tension and joy, and at the same time, a synchronization phenomenon towards the heavenly energy that was falling like lightning.

‘What is this?’

Muk Won turned his head to find the source of this power.

It wasn’t hard to find.

Ya Hyuk, who had been revived, and Tang Gwan, who was displaying incredible martial arts against him.

Around Tang Gwan, who had risen high into the sky, and Ya Hyuk, who was chasing after him, an unusual energy was stirring.

And.

Flash!

Tang Gwan’s figure descended to the earth.

Surprise flickered across Muk Won’s face.

“Tang Family Head?!”

* * *

A memory faintly surfaced.

‘They call it the Mind Sword… Well, I don’t know. If it’s a Mind Sword, it’s a Mind Sword, but that’s just a label stuck on by people who like to name things.’

‘Then what is it?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘From what I saw, it’s definitely a Mind Sword. It’s incredible. For someone who hasn’t even reached the pinnacle of martial arts to awaken the Mind Sword, there’s never been anything like it in history.’

‘Haha, that’s not likely.’

‘That brat, no, Ho-Jeong, said that a person’s name and the name of a martial art shouldn’t be taken lightly. Names given to things all have their own meanings, so you need to interpret those meanings well.’

‘Hmm.’

‘If it’s not a Mind Sword, give it a name. Who knows? Depending on what name you give it, it might unleash a completely different power.’

‘You’ve corrected something I could have easily overlooked. Thank you.’

‘I’ve always been curious, aren’t you embarrassed when you say things like that?’

‘Hahaha.’

‘Alright, what do you want to name it?’

‘Well, a name… This sword was born from my deepest desires, so I should call it the Purifying Swallow Sword.’

‘Purifying Swallow Sword? A sword of the Yeon family that creates purity?’

‘It’s not really for someone who trains with swords to say this, but… I desire peace. A world without conflict, where everyone understands each other.’

‘That’s a pipe dream. Will such a world ever come?’

‘Isn’t it worth dreaming about because it’s something that might not be achieved?’

The face of Tang Gwan, which had scattered like smoke, was gradually restored like a broken mask.

Tang Gwan’s eyes clouded over.

‘The Purifying Sword, huh.’

The thought was ridiculous.

At this age, he had finally made a true friend. But that friend was someone with a completely different disposition than himself.

To have reached such a high level with such a nature, it was truly admirable.

‘That’s just like you.’

To be asked to name a Mind Sword and come up with the Purifying Swallow Sword.

It was laughable. It also felt like him.

If it were him….

‘I wouldn’t have been able to name it.’

Yeon-wi was an amazing person.

It wasn’t because of his nature, his martial arts, or the children he raised.

What made him amazing was that despite having multiple goals, he looked at the world with his own unwavering eyes.

Tang Gwan recalled another memory.

He had forgotten it, it was just a passing memory, but somehow it felt as vivid and clear as if it were happening now.

‘I have failed.’

‘You’re drunk. Failed? What are you talking about?’

‘I didn’t raise my children properly.’

‘Are you insulting me right now?’

‘No.’

‘Then what nonsense are you spouting? The first is the best of the younger generation, and the second is a renowned genius.’

‘Martial arts talent isn’t everything in life.’

‘For a martial artist, there’s nothing more important than martial arts talent.’

‘They grew up on their own. I was strict with the first and a scary father to the second. I taught them martial arts and academics, but I didn’t teach them how to live in the world.’

‘But they turned out well.’

‘The fact that they turned out well isn’t because of me. They grew up well on their own.’

‘Well, it’s good to see you being human sometimes. People need to show off a little.’

‘I promised my late wife that I would raise them well.’

‘…….’

‘But I was caught up in work and the world, and I didn’t raise them properly. Just because the result is good doesn’t mean the process wasn’t a problem, this is.’

‘It’s a relief that the result is good, at least.’

‘The conclusion is, even if I die now and go to where my wife is, I don’t think I can face her with a clear conscience.’

Yeon-wi’s greatest goal in life was to raise his children well and properly. Furthermore, it was to teach them strictly so that they could live on their own, growing up alone in the harsh world of the martial arts.

But Yeon-wi’s life didn’t exist solely for that.

Yeon-wi lived by looking at the sword with a righteous gaze. He was always deeply concerned about his children, but another part of him was always thinking about what he needed to do to create a world without conflict.

He never forgot his goals or the values he had to uphold. If he had truly wished for the world to be destroyed, he would not have obtained the Mind Sword.

A giant of his time, who had seriously contemplated the martial arts he had accumulated day by day and the knowledge he had only known, and turned them into a firm set of values.

Tang Gwan thought that he was on the opposite side of Yeon-wi.

He could not even imagine that belief, which was close to fanaticism in some ways.

‘Because you had such a firm heart and looked at the world with righteous eyes, you have risen so high.’

Whoosh.

Light settled in Tang Gwan’s eyes.

A light that was close to the truth, and therefore could only be embarrassing, a subjective view of chivalry and justice that Yeon-wi had lived with, but a light that had the same origin was also casting a divine glow in Tang Gwan’s eyes.

‘I am not the Yeon Family Head. I don’t need to become like the Yeon Family Head.’

However.

‘If I could see myself as unwavering as the Yeon Family Head.’

Whoosh!

The scattered smoke began to gather again, forming his neck, chest, and shoulders.

Tang Gwan stared at something that was covered with countless mouths and eyes.

‘I won’t care anymore.’

Whoooooosh!

His firm arms began to stretch out.

‘I will no longer conform myself to the gazes and tongues of others.’

Pshhhhh.

The mouths and eyes that had surrounded ‘me’ swelled up and then burst!

The blood mist that burst out scattered in all directions. Inside, there was someone who had never even stood up straight, let alone stretched.

It was Tang Gwan himself.

Whoooooosh!

The gathered smoke formed his abdomen and lower body.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The mouths and eyes exploded indiscriminately. The remaining blood mist and debris clung to another body of mine that was crouching.

Tang Gwan didn’t have the strength to clean it up. He didn’t feel the need to either.

No one can be free from the eyes and mouths of the world. As long as I live in human society, I cannot ignore those around me.

However.

If I could at least see my own form in such a rough and dangerous world.

If I could see clearly what I desire and what state I am in.

Then wouldn’t that be enough?

I, who have no choice but to walk a path covered in blood and death, cannot be as noble as a saint.

The debris filled with blood and flesh will always be with me.

Tang Gwan opened his mouth.

“I have finally seen myself.”

Swoosh.

Another version of himself, covered in blood, straightened his back.

Trickle, trickle.

The blood and flesh clinging to his body intertwined and transformed into a dark red robe.

It was a gruesome garment. But the other version of himself wearing that robe had an expression that was so like him.

Tang Gwan smiled.

Now that he had finally realized what it meant to be himself, he could find his own martial path within it.

‘It doesn’t suit you at all, Family Head.’

‘Shut up, you brat. I haven’t mastered it yet, but there’s no other martial art that suits me better than this.’

‘So, what’s the name of that martial art?’

‘Open your ears and listen well. This martial art is called Mancheon….’

Flash!

An invisible flash of light fell like lightning from the dark sky.

Crack!

The ground beneath his feet cracked, and a terrifying poison began to rise.

Thud!

Ya Hyuk, who had landed on the ground, instinctively stepped back. The one who had ascended to the sky had descended to the earth, and was no longer human.

Whoooooosh!

A fierce poison emanated from Tang Gwan’s body.

He wasn’t using poison techniques. The characteristics of the true energy [internal energy cultivated through martial arts] that had formed his absolute inner power, the energy of poison, had all begun to evaporate.

Even though the poison had all dissipated in an instant, his inner power did not decrease. Rather, his dantian [an energy center in the body] had grown larger, and the true energy it contained had surpassed the acquired and begun to knock on the door of the innate.

He cannot cross that door. Because he is human.

However, the energy that had begun to knock on that door was instantly being carved into something sacred.

The poison essence, which pulsed like a heart, remained the same, but the poison energy that had been its foundation had disappeared.

Whoosh! Whoooooosh!

The new true energy, guided by instinctual inner power control and the ultimate enlightenment, naturally unleashed a divine art that had never existed before.

The principles of the Emperor’s Poison Art, combined with the formula of the Guiding Reversal Three Yang Returning to Origin Art, smoothly completed a single martial art.

It was the return of all streams to their source.

Tang Gwan’s martial art, which had broken away from the enlightenment of his father, the Dark King Tang Hyeong, and found his own path, created a blood-red robe that draped over the heavens, following the meaning of the return of all streams to their source.

Whoosh!

The red true energy flowing from Tang Gwan’s shoulders stretched out like a robe, fluttering in the wind.

Emperor, Three Yang, Return to Origin, Mancheon.

And the return of all streams to their source.

The Myriad Streams Returning to Origin Divine Art, which would be remembered as the strongest upper dantian divine art in the history of the Tang family, began to stretch its wings.

Chiriririring!!

The hundreds of hidden weapons that had been scattered in all directions received their master’s call and soared into the sky again, shouting.

Muk Bi’s eyes went blank.

‘Beautiful.’

They weren’t shining because they were colliding. Each hidden weapon was emitting a brilliant light, making it seem as if hundreds of meteors were covering the sky.

“What I desire is only one thing.”

Chiriririring!!

The hidden weapons covering the sky each created a whirlwind and began to swirl around Tang Gwan.

The blood-red Myriad Streams Returning to Origin true energy fluttered wildly. The hidden weapons, empowered by the fluttering inner power, were dyed in dozens of colors.

“To become the one and only master representing all the Tangs under the heavens.”

Whoosh.

Tang Gwan, who had exhaled softly, opened his eyes.

His pupils, which had been shining dark green, had changed to the color of the sun’s scream as it was being swallowed by the western mountains.

Tang Gwan lifted his chin.

Ching!

With a sharp sound, all the hidden weapons that had been rotating stopped in mid-air.

“This is the Heavenly Rain of Mancheon.”

“……!!

“Farewell.”

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The hundreds of hidden weapons, shot out like an explosion, began to tear Ya Hyuk’s body to pieces.