Seok Chi-haeng’s one eyebrow twitched.
“Let’s see how much longer you can endure.”
Paaaah.
He unleashed another fist strike.
But Bu Eunseol, with the Beast Way spread throughout his body, immediately discerned that the frontal fist power was a feint.
The real attack was intangible fist power pouring in from both sides.
Swish!
As Bu Eunseol leaped into the air once more, the intangible fist power followed his body as if it had been waiting.
Swish swish swish.
Yet Bu Eunseol’s shadow in midair split into three strands, effortlessly dissipating the fist power.
It was the profound application of Swift Beyond Shadow, which allowed him to constantly shift defenses even while stationary.
“Your footwork is impressive.”
Realizing that Bu Eunseol’s footwork had reached the realm of astonishing mastery, Seok Chi-haeng unleashed a barrage of fist powers in succession.
Bang! Bang!
Each time his left hand flicked lightly, explosive sounds rang out as nearby trees and rocks turned to dust.
But Bu Eunseol perfectly evaded every attack with the Swift Beyond Shadow.
Click.
Finally, having dodged all of the Fist King’s techniques, Bu Eunseol grasped the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Srrrng!
With a low sword hum, brilliant cross-shaped beams of light poured from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword as it revealed its dark blade.
He had unleashed the Waning Moon, Dawn Star Technique in rapid succession.
Flash!
The sword qi exploding toward Seok Chi-haeng was so fast that it felt as though it had already pierced his body.
Boom!
Seok Chi-haeng did not dodge the sword qi.
Instead, he twisted his left hand and thrust it forward. With a thudding sound, sharp fist power pierced through the cross-shaped sword qi and surged toward Bu Eunseol’s face.
He had shattered the Waning Moon, Dawn Star Technique’s sword qi with absurd ease.
Slash!
Bu Eunseol twisted his body to evade, but the glancing fist energy turned his sleeve into fluttering dust.
Swish swish!
Seok Chi-haeng unleashed a series of fist techniques, sealing Bu Eunseol’s retreat and creating a vast, open arena.
It was merely a brush of wind.
Yet his skin tore, and sharp internal energy threads burrowed into his meridians.
‘He still hasn’t used his true power.’
Bu Eunseol stopped dodging the fist power and began deflecting the fist winds using the principles of Shifting Heaven's Force.
Slash! Swish!
By continuously splitting the incoming fist power like rock, Bu Eunseol forced Seok Chi-haeng to halt and furrow his brow.
“Are you the Sword Venerable’s disciple?”
“I’ve crossed paths with him a few times on the road.”
“Hmph. You must have stolen the sword techniques.” Seok Chi-haeng spoke with an arrogant expression. “Even if you are the Sword Venerable’s disciple, you cannot defeat this old man.”
He still hadn’t used his right hand.
In other words, he was displaying astonishing prowess without even unleashing his true power.
“Let’s try again.”
Swish swish swish!
Bu Eunseol unleashed three rapid sword strikes, enveloping Seok Chi-haeng’s retreat.
Then, using the Dragon Claw Cloud Technique, he formed a massive sword qi and slowly poured it toward his opponent.
He deliberately induced a clash.
Ssssh!
As Seok Chi-haeng lightly shook his left hand,
Saaah!
A terrifying fist wind surged forward like a massive wave, colliding head-on with Bu Eunseol’s sword qi.
Boom!
As the sword qi and fist power clashed, an explosion rang out, and waves of true qi rippled in all directions.
Dust scattered everywhere, and the two stood facing each other at a distance where they could clearly see one another’s faces.
Bu Eunseol stood unmoving like a stone statue.
But Seok Chi-haeng had taken a single step back.
‘My internal energy is superior, but his profound martial principles are greater.’
From the backlash of the fist power, Seok Chi-haeng’s internal energy was around 350 years of cultivation.
Under normal circumstances, he should have retreated at least three steps.
But by layering profound martial principles into a single fist, he had partially overcome the gap in internal energy.
“Impressive. That level must exceed four hundred years of cultivation.” Seok Chi-haeng sneered, showing little surprise at Bu Eunseol’s internal energy depth. “Did you consume another one of those artificial inner pills or whatever they’re called?”
‘He knows a lot about the Three Realms.’
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow and replied, “I’ll ask once more. What exactly is this place?”
“You’re a funny one.”
“I am not a member of the Three Realms.”
“Of course not. You’re a member of the Martial Alliance.” Seok Chi-haeng stroked his right hand as he spoke.
“A young captain of the Martial Alliance who can match this old man.”
Bu Eunseol was at a loss for words.
Though the Martial Alliance was full of outstanding talents, there was no captain who could rival the Seven Kings of the Four Gods.
Crack.
Seok Chi-haeng finally extended his right hand slowly and clenched it into a fist.
The back of his rock-like clenched fist was densely covered in spiderweb-like scars.
Ziiing.
At the same time, his right hand began to glow red.
‘I should have come in with my original identity.’
He could understand Seok Chi-haeng’s suspicion.
Bu Eunseol’s current martial prowess far surpassed even Baek Museong, known as the pinnacle of the orthodox sects’ new generation.
No one would believe he was a Martial Alliance captain even if he were resurrected from death.
‘Since I already came under Seon Woojin’s identity, claiming to be the Martial Soul Command Lord now would only expose a double identity.’
In the end, this was no longer a light test of strength—it had become a life-or-death battle where he had to unleash his true power.
“Fine. Let’s fight to our hearts’ content.”
Bu Eunseol raised his energy.
But he did not strike first. Instead, he stood tall and carefully observed Seok Chi-haeng’s movements.
Seok Chi-haeng was a heaven-sent martial genius with a body naturally suited to accumulating internal energy quickly. Moreover, his abnormally large right hand contained innate divine strength, capable of pulverizing rocks without even using martial arts.
If a master called the Fist King wielded such a fist… the power would be beyond imagination.
Before the fierce battle, Bu Eunseol intended to observe the Fist King’s martial arts.
Gooooo.
Suddenly, a strange sound like air being sucked in emanated from Seok Chi-haeng’s right fist.
Boom!
Storm-like fist power surged like a tidal wave, beginning to envelop Bu Eunseol’s body.
The fist power instantly blanketed heaven and earth, leaving Bu Eunseol no room to evade.
Swish!
In an instant, black true qi laced with transparent light spread out and enveloped Bu Eunseol’s body.
He had formed a protective qi barrier using the Wishful True Binding.
Kuuung!
With the sound of leather tearing, Bu Eunseol’s legs sank half a foot into the ground.
The tremendous fist energy pressed down on his head, slightly embedding his body into the earth.
‘The Seven Fist Demon Forms?’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
The fist technique Seok Chi-haeng had just used—was it not a variation of the Seven Fist Demon Forms, the secret fist art of Nangyang Pavilion that allowed free movement of fist power?
‘That’s impossible.’
The Seven Fist Demon Forms had been secretly passed to him as a damaged manual by Do Myeong, a former disciple of Nangyang Pavilion.
Even the techniques were incomplete and damaged.
So how could Seok Chi-haeng be using the Seven Fist Demon Forms?
‘But the principle of moving fist power is exactly the same.’
The terrifying aspect of the Seven Fist Demon Forms was the ability to freely move intangible fist power. The secret lay in the principles of the Hand-Controlled Sword Technique which was an Intention-Guided Qi Flow.
And the fist technique the Fist King had just unleashed—using intention to execute techniques and true qi to move them—matched the principles of the Seven Fist Demon Forms perfectly.
‘Did he earn the title of Fist King through the Seven Fist Demon Forms?’
“What are you thinking about?”
Boom!
At that moment, a low thunderous sound echoed as another terrifying fist power surged forth.
In that instant, a red energy current swirled around Bu Eunseol’s left hand as well.
Seven Fist Demon Forms, Third Form.
The devastating fist technique that annihilates everything, Self-Oblivion Shatter, was unleashed.
Boom!
As the fiercely rotating fist power collided with the Fist King’s fist power, instead of a violent reaction, the fist winds merged and vanished into the night sky.
“You bastard?”
Seok Chi-haeng, greatly shocked, unleashed another barrage of fist energy.
This time, five sharp yet whip-like fist powers spiraled toward Bu Eunseol.
‘Extreme Lightning Chaos?’
This technique of the Fist King closely resembled the Extreme Lightning Chaos Form of the Seven Fist Demon Forms.
Boom!
In an instant, five sharp fist energies surged from Bu Eunseol’s left hand as well.
He had unleashed the exact same Extreme Lightning Chaos Form.
Boom!
Once again, the fierce fist winds clashed and vanished into the night sky.
“How did you…”
Unable to hide his shock as Bu Eunseol repeatedly unleashed the same techniques, Seok Chi-haeng asked.
“How can you imitate the Azure Heaven Seven Forms?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
‘Azure Heaven Seven Forms?’
That meant Seok Chi-haeng’s fist techniques consisted of seven forms as well.
Moreover, for a master of the Fist King’s caliber to mistake Bu Eunseol’s techniques as imitations…
‘One root.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed.
The Fist Demon Seven Forms and Azure Heaven Seven Forms had clearly branched from the same root.
‘A great master of both orthodox and demonic paths expressed the same fist technique differently.’
In an instant, a strange hypothesis formed in his mind.
A powerful master from both sides had simultaneously discovered an ancient secret fist manual and gained different insights from it.
The demonic master’s fist forms became the Fist Demon Seven Forms, while the orthodox master’s became the Azure Heaven Seven Forms.
‘Then, if I master the Fist King’s Azure Heaven Seven Forms, I could learn the last three forms of the Fist Demon Seven Forms?’
If the Azure Heaven Seven Forms were complete, he could apply them to reconstruct the missing Fist Demon Seven Forms.
Click.
Sheathing the Silent Tiger Soul Sword back at his waist, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
He realized that to uncover this secret, he had to engage in a pure fist technique battle with the Fist King.
“Come at me.”
When Bu Eunseol raised both fists, Seok Chi-haeng was so dumbfounded he nearly burst into laughter.
“You madman. You dare challenge this old man in pure fist techniques?”
“Everyone calls you Fist King, so you think you’re some kind of real king?”
Seok Chi-haeng’s forehead bulged with thick veins, his pride deeply wounded.
“If I don’t kill you, I’ll change my surname!”
Whoooosh.
A blue light began to flow from his massive right fist.
Fully raising his energy, Seok Chi-haeng suddenly stomped the ground with tremendous force.
An immense fist wind enveloped Bu Eunseol’s entire body.
‘Front Form?’
When unleashing techniques of tremendous power, a large preparatory motion—known as the front form—was sometimes necessary.
But Bu Eunseol’s Beast Way sounded an alarm.
Within the surging fist wind, he sensed an extremely subtle fist power.
It resembled the Fist Demon Emergence Form that Bu Eunseol often used, but in a soft and yielding manner.
Boom!
In an instant, Bu Eunseol’s body leaped a full height into the air, then spun like a swallow and landed.
Tremendous fist power had suddenly surged from the ground to strike his chin.
‘If not for the Beast Way, my jaw would have been shattered.’
“You blocked the Water Cloud Void Form?”
Seok Chi-haeng was greatly shocked.
The ground-stomping motion was a feint.
The true attack was a swallow-like low-flying fist energy from his right hand that instantly shot up to smash the chin.
Those who had ever evaded the Water Cloud Void Form were only the world’s renowned supreme masters. Everyone else had their jaws shattered and died instantly.
Yet this young man had casually evaded it?
“Fine!”
Seok Chi-haeng unleashed a barrage of fist techniques.
But his movements and the fist energies differed completely.
Though his posture resembled the Tiger Crane Twin Form Fist, the fist power unexpectedly burrowed into Bu Eunseol’s ribs.
When he scattered fist power chaotically into the sky, it struck Bu Eunseol’s back of the head.
‘So the Fist Demon Emergence Form can be used like this too.’
Until now, Bu Eunseol had thought of the Fist Demon Emergence Form only as a technique to freely move fist power or trace curves like sword qi.
But when combined with feints, it enabled complex and mysterious techniques that were entirely unpredictable.
“Good.” Having barely evaded the fist techniques, Bu Eunseol also unleashed a barrage of fist strikes. “Then take my technique!”
Seok Chi-haeng furrowed his brow. Though Bu Eunseol claimed to attack, he stood motionless.
“You’re wasting feints…”
Boom!
At that moment, tremendous fist wind surged and burrowed into both of his temples.
Using an adaptation of Seok Chi-haeng’s Water Cloud Void Form, Bu Eunseol had created a new Fist Demon Emergence Form.
“You bastard!”
Greatly shocked, Seok Chi-haeng quickly leaned back.
But Bu Eunseol had already timed a delayed fist power waiting in his retreat.
Boom!
In the end, Seok Chi-haeng was struck in the back.
Though he spun rapidly to dissipate most of the power, the skin where the fist wind grazed burned painfully.
“Show me your skill again!”
Enraged, Seok Chi-haeng unleashed nine fists in succession.
They closely resembled the world-shaking Nine Walls Divine Fist, flowing slowly.
But at the moment they neared Bu Eunseol’s body, they began rotating fiercely like the Self-Oblivion Shatter Form.
‘Not rotating from the start, but spinning upon contact with the enemy’s body.’
Boom!
Though he gained enlightenment, Bu Eunseol’s body was flung three zhang away.
To comprehend the profound mysteries of fist techniques, he was deliberately taking the Fist King’s blows.
“Ptoo.”
As Bu Eunseol spat out a mouthful of blood, Seok Chi-haeng’s eyes widened.
How could he stand up unscathed after taking a fist power that could crush the body even from a graze?
“You bastard… Have you cultivated the Indestructible Body?” Seok Chi-haeng’s eyes trembled as he asked, “Are you a disciple of Blood Shaolin?”
“No way.”
“Then who are you?”
“I told you. A captain of the Martial Alliance.”
At the same time, Bu Eunseol rapidly crossed his fists.
Five fist powers precisely surged toward Seok Chi-haeng’s head and limbs.
“Hmph, clever trick.”
Seok Chi-haeng unleashed lightning-fast fist power at chest height.
He had anticipated that Bu Eunseol would rotate the five fist powers, so he unleashed a technique that defended and attacked simultaneously.
But something unexpected happened.
The five strands of fist power from Bu Eunseol did not rotate—instead, they changed their penetration points.
“Eh?” Seok Chi-haeng had no choice but to rapidly unleash fist techniques to counter each of Bu Eunseol’s fist powers individually.
Boom! Boom!
As fist powers clashed, Seok Chi-haeng’s body was pushed back.
Since the profound principles of their fist techniques had become similar, he could no longer bridge the gap in true internal energy depth.
“How…” Seok Chi-haeng’s eyes wavered.
He had trained in fist techniques his entire life, and no one had ever easily blocked his strikes.
Yet this young greenhorn was matching him in pure fist techniques?
To him, it was nothing short of an insult.
“Do you have any other techniques? This is getting monotonous.” As Bu Eunseol muttered lowly, flames poured from Seok Chi-haeng’s eyes.
“You arrogant bastard!”
Swish.
In an instant, Seok Chi-haeng closed the distance and unleashed fist techniques at extreme close range.
Swish! Paaa!
Though he unleashed a single fist, dozens of fist shadows spread around it.
It was the Azure Heaven Seven Forms, Third Form—Shadow Form Accompaniment.
At extreme close range, even the slightest carelessness could be fatal. Thus, victory depended solely on speed and power.
Yet Seok Chi-haeng had added profound subtlety by creating dozens of shadows with his lightning-fast single fist.
‘I can’t tell which is real.’
With no choice, Bu Eunseol began blocking every fist shadow Seok Chi-haeng unleashed.
Boom! Boom boom boom!
But among them were feints mixed in.
As Bu Eunseol responded to every shadow individually, Seok Chi-haeng instantly exploited the opening.
Boom!
In the end, Bu Eunseol was struck in the chest and pushed back.
“Ptoo.”
Bu Eunseol spat out another mouthful of blood.
This time, even his protective true qi couldn’t fully block the fist power; his face paled, and the blood was clear.
“Draw your sword.” Seok Chi-haeng looked at Bu Eunseol and said, “Don’t regret it in hell for showing such pathetic leisure.”
“I’ll draw it when the time comes.”
Seok Chi-haeng furrowed his brow.
He knew Bu Eunseol’s swordsmanship was extraordinarily high and that if he unleashed it fully, the outcome would be uncertain.
So why was he stubbornly insisting on fist techniques and risking his life?
Was he risking his life just to mock him?
‘Whatever.’
Fully channeling energy into his right arm, Seok Chi-haeng shouted irritably, “I’ll beat you to death as you wish.”
Whoooosh.
Transparent airflow flowed from Seok Chi-haeng’s body as he assumed the Heaven-Earth Split Strike posture—one hand toward the sky, the other toward the ground.
‘It resembles the Heaven Hand Void Break.’
Bu Eunseol felt a twinge of regret.
To use a technique similar to the Heaven Hand Void Break as his final trump card—
It proved that Seok Chi-haeng’s Azure Heaven Seven Forms also lacked the last three forms.
“This ends it!”
Whoooosh.
At the same time, powerful airflow began to gather in the space between his spread arms.
It was several times stronger than the Heaven Hand Void Break.
Even before being attacked, Bu Eunseol felt his organs twisting and blood surging up his throat.
‘But revealing the preparatory form in front of the enemy was a mistake.’
Bu Eunseol struck first, greatly raising his energy to generate fist power, then instantly unleashed the Heaven Hand Void Break.
Boom!
A massive red airflow transformed into a blood dragon that swallowed Seok Chi-haeng’s body.
Whoooosh.
But something strange happened.
The tremendous airflow of the Heaven Hand Void Break was sucked into the space between Seok Chi-haeng’s spread arms—
And melted away like snow.
“This is the Azure Heaven Seven Forms, Fourth Form.”
At that moment, blue killing intent blazed in Seok Chi-haeng’s eyes.
“Step Moving Heaven and Earth!”
Boom!
At the same time, Bu Eunseol’s body floated like a broken kite and was flung more than ten zhang away.
Step Moving Heaven and Earth.
The Heaven-Earth Split Strike posture itself was an ultimate defensive technique that could nullify any enemy attack, as well as a counterattack that instantly returned the enemy’s assault.
Sizzle.
White smoke rose from the fallen Bu Eunseol’s body.
The overwhelmingly powerful extreme yang fist power had scorched his meridians, bringing him to the brink of death.
But something bizarre occurred.
The seemingly dead Bu Eunseol slowly rose with a calm expression.
“Jiangshi*?”
*Chinese hopping vampire/ zombie
Seok Chi-haeng was so shocked he pointed at Bu Eunseol with his mouth agape.
“What the hell are you? A jiangshi?”
Bu Eunseol looked down at his body, from which white smoke still rose.
In truth, he was just as surprised that his body was intact.
‘So that’s what it was.’
After inspecting his body for a while, Bu Eunseol realized why this phenomenon had occurred.
The Fist Demon Seven Forms, Fourth Form—Heaven Hand Void Break—was an absolute annihilation fist technique that displayed only the power of the Heaven-Splitting Emperor.
But the Fist King’s Step Moving Heaven and Earth was different.
He had deliberately used an exaggerated preparatory form to lure the enemy’s attack, then accumulated the incoming assault in the swirling airflow before returning it all as a counterattack.
However, Bu Eunseol’s Heaven Hand Void Break was akin to a wave of amplified true qi.
And Bu Eunseol’s Ban-Geuk Method contained the profound principles of great nature.
It could destroy the enemy but could not harm his own body.
In the end, since Step Moving Heaven and Earth returned the enemy’s attack, Bu Eunseol, exposed to his own internal energy, survived without his body exploding.
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