Chapter 58 : Overwhelming Force

Chapter 58: Overwhelming Force

Until he experienced it firsthand, Jang Woo-hyun had scoffed at it as a technique destined to fail, but the name value of Ten Thousand Heavens Transformed into Rain as known across the Martial World was not light.

The Absolute of the Tang Family.

The ultimate of hidden weapon techniques.

The pride of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

And the symbol of destruction.

True to its name, a torrential downpour of Qi Projection poured down.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang! Kwang! Kwang!

It resembled more of a bombardment than a hidden weapon technique.

He was clearly overwhelming his opponents, yet Jang Woo-hyun didn’t feel good about it.

‘They call this Tianwai Tian...’

Immortals who dwell upon the earth? Utter nonsense. Even the monkey monster he had run into by chance was more impressive than this.

This wasn’t what he had expected. These weren’t the people he had set out to meet. The reality was far from what he had envisioned.

Ssshhh!

Even as Jang Woo-hyun felt disappointed, Seo Nyeong still displayed her skill, piercing through the torrent of Qi Projection with a strike.

But that was as far as she got.

There was no way a move he had already seen multiple times would work.

Thud.

Jang Woo-hyun easily grabbed the arm that was attacking him.

Seo Nyeong’s face turned pale with shock. Her trembling pupils reflected disbelief and confusion. She hadn't expected her attack to be blocked so effortlessly.

Jang Woo-hyun released his sword and clenched his fist.

Then, pulling Seo Nyeong in, he struck her in the face.

Kwaaang!

The sound was too loud to be the result of a mere collision between fist and head, and Seo Nyeong’s head exploded completely.

“Graaaaah!”

With a loud roar, Go Tae-san rushed in. Perhaps he had reinforced his body to push through the downpour of Qi Projection, but there wasn’t a single unscathed spot on him.

Kuwoong!

He stomped down hard enough to shake the surroundings and threw a punch straight at Jang Woo-hyun.

Watching him, Jang Woo-hyun activated Seongcheon Hwiryu Gap.

An armor of Qi that wrapped around his body.

He had stepped into an entirely different realm from just moments before.

He reached out and caught the incoming punch with one hand.

Kuuuuung!

The force in the punch was formidable enough to cause the ground around him to cave in, as if a giant had slammed a massive hammer down.

But since he was clad in Seongcheon Hwiryu Gap, he suffered no real damage. Realizing this, Go Tae-san swung his other fist.

Jang Woo-hyun responded. He formed seven Qi rings in his palm.

Chilhwan Ocheopgyeong.

A seven-fold overlapping attack performed without a sword.

He thrust his palm, creating seven rings aimed at the approaching punch.

Puh-uh-uh-uhng!

“Kraaaagh!”

As palm and fist clashed, Go Tae-san’s arm exploded.

Writhing from the pain of his lost arm, Go Tae-san staggered backward, and Jang Woo-hyun, using his Qi, summoned a sword floating nearby and hurled Heuknang-a.

Seogak.

That was the end.

Following Seo Nyeong, Go Tae-san’s head was severed, and he fell dead.

His body reverted to its original size.

And now, the last one remained.

Heo Gwak, who had taken a direct hit from Ten Thousand Heavens Transformed into Rain—a technique unfurled with Yongwanglin—was still alive.

Unlike the other two, who had died instantly, Heo Gwak had been at the very center of Ten Thousand Heavens Transformed into Rain and was utterly ruined.

“Grrr…”

Heo Gwak, with holes torn all over his blood-covered body, knelt on the ground.

“You bastard…”

He raised his wounded face. Only venom remained in his eyes now.

“You’ve already transcended the wall! So why are you still on this earth?!”

Just as Jang Woo-hyun was approaching to finish him off, he stopped in his tracks at those words.

“What? What are you talking about? I’ve transcended the wall?”

“Don’t you know?! You’ve already become something beyond human! Then why…”

Heo Gwak’s head drooped toward the ground mid-sentence. It seemed he didn’t have much time left to live.

“Why what? What are you even talking about?”

Jang Woo-hyun closed the distance in an instant and stood before him.

“Don’t start a story and then stop. What are you trying to say?”

Just as he reached to lift Heo Gwak’s head—

“Heheheheh.”

A creepy laugh rang out.

Then suddenly—

Puh-uh-uhng!

Heo Gwak’s body exploded.

Flesh, bone fragments, organs, and blood.

Everything that composed Heo Gwak transformed into a net that shot toward Jang Woo-hyun.

Reacting instantly, Jang Woo-hyun dodged the bizarre attack, but the bloody and fleshy net relentlessly pursued him.

‘What the…?’

To think it could keep up with his speed—it was likely a high-level spell or curse.

Having no other choice, Jang Woo-hyun drew upon his energy and formed a massive wall of Qi in front of him.

But against all expectations, the net of flesh and blood passed straight through the wall of Qi.

For the first time since encountering the True Demon Palace, Jang Woo-hyun’s face filled with alarm.

An attack he had never imagined. And he had not expected the Qi wall to be so easily breached.

He twisted his body in every possible way, but he couldn’t completely evade it. The flesh and blood fragments were just about to touch him—

In that fleeting moment—

Whiiirrr!

A gust of wind suddenly burst from Jang Woo-hyun’s left shoulder.

A whirlwind formed in an instant, blocking the path and repelling all the fragments of flesh and blood. As if protecting Jang Woo-hyun—warning them not to come closer.

Thanks to the wind that had risen from his shoulder, Jang Woo-hyun escaped from the trap Heo Gwak had set.

‘What was that?’

He touched his left shoulder.

Nothing felt out of place, nor could he sense any kind of energy.

‘Wind…’

The only thing that came to mind was the white monkey monster he had recently met.

That creature had controlled the wind and had even touched his shoulder with its armless limb before vanishing.

‘Did that monster do something to me?’

Whether it was good or bad, he didn’t know. But one thing was certain: whatever that creature had done just saved his life.

Had the wind not arisen, Heo Gwak’s blood or flesh would have touched him—and who knew what would have happened then?

Uneasy, he circulated his internal energy again and focused his senses, but still, nothing was felt from his shoulder.

As if everything that just happened was a dream.

In the end, Jang Woo-hyun removed his hand from his shoulder and surveyed the surroundings.

Heo Gwak, reduced to chunks of blood and meat, drenched the floor.

Jang Woo-hyun had crushed Seo Nyeong, whose head exploded, and Go Tae-san, whose throat was severed.

For all the weight their name carried, the members of the True Demon Palace died far too easily.

Or perhaps—

‘I’ve just become too powerful.’

With Blood Valley gone, only two places remained.

Forest of Hermits and Inner Kunlun.

But if the True Demon Palace was like this, then the remaining two would probably be no different.

Step.

Disheartened by the True Demon Palace’s lackluster strength, Jang Woo-hyun slowly walked through the surroundings, now ruined by the torrential rain of Qi Projection.

He extended his Qi and retrieved the scattered blades lodged in the ground.

As he brought them back to Black Wilds Sword, they merged into a single blade as if they had never been separated.

He sheathed Yongwanglin and stood still, glancing around.

He didn’t know how much time passed like that.

Eventually, a giant bird came into view.

A bird that glowed with its own light.

It crossed over a mountain and approached, with three people riding on its back.

As they neared, the bird vanished as if it were an illusion, and the three figures landed on the ground.

At the front stood an elderly man with white hair and a white beard, resembling an immortal. Behind him stood a plump middle-aged woman and a short elderly man.

Observing them, Jang Woo-hyun gripped the hilt of Flying Swallow Sword, ready to draw and strike at any moment.

‘They’re true masters.’

The two elderly figures were martial artists who had reached the peak of the absolute realm.

What’s more, the middle-aged woman standing behind the immortal-like elder had accumulated immense power in her middle dantian.

A spellcaster. And one whose skill rivals that of a true master.

In this world, martial artists gathered power in the lower dantian, while spellcasters used the middle dantian—so Jang Woo-hyun’s judgment was likely correct.

“It is an honor to meet you. I am Ok Yeong, from Kunlun,” the immortal-looking man greeted politely.

There was no hint of hostility, so Jang Woo-hyun returned the greeting.

“I’m Jang Woo-hyun.”

At the mention of that name, the three faces froze.

That reaction made sense—after all, three demons of the True Demon Palace had been utterly defeated by a rising name barely known across the Martial World.

“You said you’re from Kunlun. Are you referring to the Kunlun Sect? Or is it something called Inner Kunlun?”

“As expected, you are well-informed. We are from Inner Kunlun. We were chasing after the demons of the True Demon Palace... only to find this.”

Ok Yeong gestured around them.

Traces of destruction left by the downpour of Qi Projection. And the bodies of the dead.

“Then you didn’t come here to see me?”

At the question, Ok Yeong shook his head.

“We had no intention of meeting Master Jang. Those of Inner Kunlun are not to interfere with the human world.”

“Then why...?”

“We had to prevent them from creating chaos in the Martial World.”

Ok Yeong pointed to the corpses of Seo Nyeong and Go Tae-san.

“If you’re not to interfere with the world, yet had to stop them... Is Inner Kunlun like some secret organization? A group that works in the shadows to stop hidden threats trying to invade the Central Plains?”

“Haha, no. We are merely hermits who turned away from the world.”

That didn’t match what Jang Woo-hyun had experienced upon entering.

Perhaps things had changed over time, or there was another reason—he couldn’t be sure.

‘Let’s not overthink it.’

He didn’t know why things had turned out this way, but Jang Woo-hyun decided to keep it simple.

No beating around the bush—just ask what he wanted to know directly.

“Do you know how to reach the next stage?”

The unexpected question made all three of them twitch at the same time. But it was only for a moment—what followed was a bitter smile.

“Before I answer that, may I ask what you’ve heard about Inner Kunlun and the True Demon Palace?”

“They were described as the heaven beyond heaven. Some even called them immortals who dwell upon the earth. I thought they were people who had reached the pinnacle of the absolute realm and were waiting to ascend into immortality.”

At his response, their bitter smiles deepened.

“Immortals who dwell upon the earth... it’s not like that at all.”

Ok Yeong paused briefly before continuing.

“We are those blocked by the wall.”

“Those who could not break through it. So we chose to go into seclusion. That is what the so-called Four Heavens Beyond Heaven really are.”

It was a completely different answer from what Jang Woo-hyun had expected, and it shocked him.

The very people he had believed were the keys to moving forward—turned out to be nothing at all.

That meant they didn’t know how to reach the next stage either. Jang Woo-hyun couldn’t accept it and quickly responded.

“Before Heo Gwak died, he told me I had stepped into the next stage. So what does that mean?”

“...That, I cannot say for sure. But one thing I can tell you—we never crossed the wall, so we do not know what lies beyond it.”

His strength left him for a moment.

‘So it was just nonsense for his final attack.’

It had been a trick—to close the distance and explode his body.

The fact that he pulled such a move even in his dying moments was both infuriating and strangely admirable.

“Then... what is this ‘Pledge’ I’ve heard of?”

“It’s a vow that has been passed down for a long time.”

Ok Yeong continued his short explanation.

The four places called the Heavens Beyond Heaven were categorized by their affiliations.

Inner Kunlun belonged to the Orthodox Faction, Forest of Hermits to the Unorthodox Faction, the True Demon Palace to the Demon Cult, and Blood Valley to the Blood Cult—each was a retreat for those of their kind.

At first, it had been merely a group formed to exchange insights in pursuit of breaking through the wall—but one day, a problem arose.

Mad Blood Demon Lord.

A member of Blood Valley, he had failed to break through the wall for too long and eventually turned to sinister methods.

He began collecting the vital essence and blood of humans.

At first, the victims were few and no one knew of his crimes. But as time passed, the number of victims grew—and even the Four Heavens Beyond Heaven could not ignore it.

The victims, once just a hundred, soon became five hundred, then over a thousand, eventually reaching tens of thousands.

At the time, there was no one in the Martial World strong enough to stop him—he was among the strongest even among the absolute masters.

In the end, the hermits of Inner Kunlun and Forest of Hermits took action and executed him.

“After that, a pledge was made. That once in seclusion, we would not return to the Martial World. Excluding those affiliated with the Four Heavens Beyond Heaven, even if you gathered every remaining hidden expert in the Martial World, you’d barely find over ten people worthy of being called absolute masters. But Inner Kunlun alone has six. And the True Demon Palace—aside from the three that died here—has two more.”

Combining Inner Kunlun and the True Demon Palace, that made eleven absolute masters.

The number of peak-level martial artists in just two of the Four Heavens Beyond Heaven might rival that of the entire Central Plains, excluding the Demon Cult.

And since Forest of Hermits hadn’t even been accounted for, the total number of absolute masters could easily exceed fifteen.

If those individuals moved as one, the very order of the Martial World would collapse.

Upon hearing those numbers, Jang Woo-hyun finally understood why they restricted themselves.

Feeling an odd sense of emptiness, he asked several more questions out of curiosity, but he didn’t get any clear answers.

“As for the next stage... I’m afraid I have nothing more to say. No one else would either. Since no one has reached it. But I can tell you one thing—you’ve heard of ascension, haven’t you?”

“You mean feathered ascension into immortality?”

“Correct. It is said that once you reach the next stage, you become an immortal. And then you ascend to another world.”

“Another world? Where is that?”

“I wouldn’t know that either. It’s just a story passed down by word of mouth.”

“Is it true?”

“Who knows.”

Ok Yeong gave a bitter smile. His following words were much the same as before—that he hadn’t reached the next stage himself and thus knew nothing about it.

With those words, Jang Woo-hyun fell into a deep sense of loss.

He had already known about the idea of ascending to another world, through Kim Min-soo’s records and Tang Myung’s mention of the Hidden Azure Sword.

Sigh.

With a long exhale, something drained out of Jang Woo-hyun’s body.

He had believed there would be answers. He had believed he would find a clue upon meeting these people.

Now, there was no direction to move in. He had lost his goal.

The light faded from Jang Woo-hyun’s eyes, and a heavy sense of emptiness blanketed his entire body.

“Master Jang?”

The atmosphere had shifted abruptly.

Ok Yeong called out to him, but Jang Woo-hyun didn’t respond.

“If you have nothing more to say, can I go now?”

“Would you… perhaps consider coming with us to Kunlun—”

Jang Woo-hyun shook his head, turned around, and began walking away with slow, dragging steps.

Now, Jang Woo-hyun’s power was on the level of a natural disaster.

For that reason, he shouldn’t be let loose in the Central Plains. But Ok Yeong had no way to stop him.

He had defeated three demons from the True Demon Palace alone. Even if he and his companions tried to stop him, the result would be the same.

All Ok Yeong and the other two could do was silently watch Jang Woo-hyun’s back as he walked away.

Just as it had been when he first reached the absolute realm, Jang Woo-hyun fell into deep helplessness and boredom.

He felt like there was nothing more he could do, and even thinking became a chore.

Everything seemed insignificant. His will had disappeared.

Jang Woo-hyun walked aimlessly for a long time, without a destination.

Eventually, he encountered some ants.

“Hehehe. Boss, looks like we’ve got ourselves a visitor.”

“Yeah. Judging by his clothes, he’s got some money.”

“Stop right there! This is—”

The ants said something, but he didn’t hear it. He just kept walking, unconcerned.

“Hey, you bastard! Can’t you hear me telling you to stop?!”

One of the ants approached to bite him. Jang Woo-hyun pressed the ant down with two fingers.

“Hiiik!”

“B-Boss!”

“P-Please spare us!”

The ants whimpered and shrank back.

Jang Woo-hyun ignored them and crushed the one that lunged at him beneath his foot before walking past.

Blood soaked the ground beneath his feet, and the surviving ants screamed and ran. Jang Woo-hyun didn’t care.

He just kept walking forward.

He walked for a long time again.

With no thoughts, no goals.

How far had he gone?

This time, he encountered two groups of ants.

“Hyung-jang! Be careful! That man is the leader of a demonic cult that uses human blood for rituals! Run! Even a scratch could be dangerous—hurry!”

“Kehahaha! Another sacrifice has come!”

A slightly larger ant opened its mouth wide and approached.

As if ready to bite Jang Woo-hyun.

Jang Woo-hyun stared at the ant with vacant, unfocused eyes and waved his arm.

The ant was torn apart and flung away.

“Oh my god…”

The other ants backed away.

They were trembling, but Jang Woo-hyun paid them no mind.

He simply stepped aside to avoid the ants.

Jang Woo-hyun wasn’t a mischievous child pouring water into an anthill, nor was he someone who killed ants for no reason.

He passed by the crouching ants and kept walking again.

Along a mountain path far from civilization, he saw a lone small ant walking by itself.

It neither attacked nor spoke, so Jang Woo-hyun ignored it and walked past.

“Huh? You?”

The ant spoke to him. But he didn’t hear it.

It kept speaking to him.

Growing annoyed, Jang Woo-hyun raised his fingers again, as if to press and kill it.

Just before his hand extended—

He had the feeling that the ant looked familiar.

Where had he seen it before?

Snapping out of his apathy for a moment, he lowered his hand and tried to recall.

A familiar ant.

From a long time ago.

Back when he hadn’t yet reached this height.

The one who had offered him a small piece of food.

The one who had taught him how to move.

His gaze, once fixed high above, dropped back down to the ground.

When the lost focus in his eyes returned, he saw a man standing before him.

“Are you alright?”

The man asked with a worried look.

“Yang… Hall Master?”

When Jang Woo-hyun recognized him, a smile spread across the man’s face.

“Yes, it’s me!”

The man’s name was Yang Hyo-myung.

He was the Hall Master of the White Tiger Martial Hall, the one who had first taught Jang Woo-hyun martial arts.