Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 56: Transcendent Realm (3)

“Indeed, child of Namgung. You should quickly leave this place. I must swiftly punish these two criminals.”

Namgung Suah frowned deeply at Jongin’s words.

Neither of the two were unaware.

The atmosphere was strange for someone who had truly come to punish criminals. To begin with, Mount Hua didn’t apprehend criminals in such a reckless manner.

Moreover, if he had really come after criminals, there would be no reason for Namgung Suah to withdraw from this situation.

Even if the criminals had stolen confidential information, Namgung Suah, who had been with them, would also be subject to investigation.

So Jongin’s words had a hidden meaning. One could tell just from the atmosphere without thinking too deeply.

If you leave now, I won’t lay a hand on you. But if you keep standing your ground, I’ll have no choice but to deal with you too.

Namgung Suah let out a bitter laugh and drew her greatsword.

“Namgung does not yield to external pressure.”

“You refuse the offered drink and choose punishment instead?”

“That remains to be seen.”

Flash— Intense lightning flickered between Namgung Suah’s eyes.

“The sword of Namgung does not break. Even Mount Hua cannot contain the sky in its hands.”

“How unfortunate.”

“Rather, I’d like to ask you, Elder. What reason could there possibly be for doing this?”

Jongin stroked his beard. After silently looking at Namgung Suah for a while, he sighed and pointed to the sky with his hand.

“The heavens showed me a path, but they did not grant me the talent to walk it. Soon, the end of my lifespan approaches, and all my cultivation will come to nothing. Cruel, is it not? How dare the heavens stand in my way!”

Jongin shouted angrily.

Seojun, listening quietly, burst into laughter.

“What damn bullshit. Why blame the heavens for your lack of talent? What did our sky ever do wrong?”

“You still have quite the mouth on you.”

Jongin glared at Seojun before suddenly starting to chuckle.

“It matters not. For if the heavens block my path, I shall defy their will.”

Shwing—

As Jongin drew his sword, a strong plum blossom scent spread throughout the area.

“It’s actually worked out well. I never liked those Geum Clan bastards who ran wild relying only on the Sword God. What Divine Sword? They have no one who has reached the realm of divinity aside from the Sword God.”

“...You bastard.”

Chunbong’s expression twisted.

Jongin sneered at her and said.

“Why make such an expression? Ah, right. Let me tell you something interesting. Why do you think I came all this way just to deal with you?”

Chunbong’s eyes widened. She glared at Jongin with trembling eyes as if she wanted to kill him.

“You... Don’t tell me...”

“Those fools couldn’t even handle one job properly, so I came out to finish it myself. It would be troublesome if divine blood remained in this world.”

Whoosh!

Platinum qi burst from Chunbong’s entire body.

It looked like tears of blood were flowing from her eyes, and her blood vessels bulged prominently.

This is dangerous.

Seojun clicked his tongue and gently grabbed Chunbong’s shoulder.

“Chunbong. Calm down a bit. We can’t get confused about where to stab the knife.”

“Haa... haa...”

“Just follow behind big brother.”

Seojun smiled at Chunbong and stepped forward.

The moment she disappeared from his sight, his expression hardened.

His golden-glowing eyes glared at Jongin, filled with pure killing intent.

“How impudent.”

Jongin clicked his tongue and swung his sword.

Whoosh!

Plum blossoms bloomed.

The plum blossoms he unleashed without holding back surged towards Seojun as if they were alive.

Shwing—

Seojun took a deep breath and drew his sword.

Plum blossoms.

He had seen them many times, but this was on a different level from anything he had seen before.

Woonjak’s plum blossoms were certainly intense, but the ones before him now were savage enough to tear apart everything in their path.

So what?

Blue plum blossoms bloomed from Seojun’s sword.

Snow Plum.

Their swords clashed, two types of plum blossoms intertwining and mixing.

Screech!

A chilling noise rang out from the collision of sword qi.

With his vision obscured, Jongin went forward, stepping on the plum blossoms he had created.

“Young Expert...!”

Namgung Suah quickly intervened.

Crackle!

Lightning imbued her sword, and the Sword of the Boundless Azure Sky, empowered by her will, bore down on Jongin.

But it was futile. The elder effortlessly shrugged off the pressure by amplifying his inner qi.

Then, a star descended and dwelled within his sword.

SHATTER──────────!!!

The power of destruction tore everything apart and shredded Namgung Suah’s sky.

“Kuhk...!”

After narrowly avoiding a direct hit, she was flung back while coughing blood.

He’s strong. There’s such a huge wall between the Peak and Transcendent Realms.

Even as this harsh reality sunk in, Chunbong gritted her teeth and charged in.

At that moment when Jongin swung his sword at Namgung Suah—no matter his transcendence, he only had one sword.

The sword qi of the Blue Cloud Divine Sword dwelled in Chunbong’s sword.

“Hup...!”

She put all her strength even into her battle cry.

Her sword created a dizzying series of changes, unleashing dozens of sword strikes in an instant.

Yet Jongin was faster than she had anticipated. He withdrew his sword in an instant and immediately swung it again.

His sword wrapped in reinforced qi clashed with Chunbong’s sword. She quickly deflected it, but her sword still cracked.

Chunbong’s expression hardened. At the same time, Jongin smiled viciously and swung his sword.

Whoosh────────

Blue plum blossoms. When Jongin looked with his eyes, Seojun’s figure suddenly appeared.

“You wanna die?”

And then red plum blossoms bloomed. The two colors of plum blossoms, chaotically mixed, blooming all across Seojun’s body.

He pushed Chunbong back and drew the wind to his sword.

Sword force was certainly threatening, even for Seojun. If they were to directly clash his sword would break within a few exchanges.

However, he was well aware of his own strengths.

There was no need to bring a sword that couldn’t compare into the fray. Qi arts. This battle could be fought with just the blooming plum blossoms.

The plum blossoms followed behind the wind Seojun guided.

Red and blue plum blossoms.

As Jongin clicked his tongue and pulled back his sword, the mixed plum blossoms caused countless explosions.

BOOM──────────!!!

Jongin was forced back by the unexpected explosion.

“Hmm...!”

Thanks to the protective reinforced qi he reflexively deployed, he avoided major damage, but even just receiving a slight internal injury made his mood plummet to rock bottom.

“How dare you...!”

Jongin clenched his teeth and glared through the hazy dust cloud.

A lowly worm who only knows how to run his mouth, dares to wound me?

He was just a lump of flesh barely at the Peak Realm. Irrespective of talent, a colossal wall stood between the Peak and Transcendent Realms.

An enraged Jongin immediately charged in.

The dust cleared instantly from the air pressure of his assault.

Seeing this, Seojun stomped on the ground hard and sent his inner qi flowing through the earth using an application of the Internal Explosive Qi Strike, triggering something.

BOOM────────!!!

The bomb he had buried in the ground earlier exploded.

This time, even Jongin couldn’t escape unscathed. His eyes turned bloodshot as he charged forward, blood streaming from one of his legs.

“I’ll kill you...!”

Before he could react, Namgung Suah had returned and now stood in his path.

The blue irises hidden within her narrowed eyes, usually kept half-closed, crackled with lightning.

“Huu...”

She exhaled, composing herself, and fixed her eyes on Jongin fast approaching.

In truth, their connection was shallow at best. No one would fault her even if she withdrew now.

Yet why was she still standing here?

Because that is Namgung.

The sword of Namgung does not break. It does not compromise with injustice and swings for righteousness and chivalry.

Even if their connection had spanned mere days, she would not ignore the plight of those she had formed a bond with.

For this was Namgung Suah’s righteousness.

“Haaah...!”

The greatsword she raised high descended, sky hanging from its tip.

Invigorated by the sight of Seojun’s sword, she incorporated the sky above into her own sky.

Sword of the Boundless Azure Sky.

She unleashed the secret sword technique of the Namgung Clan.

“How foolish...!”

Jongin swung his sword, star dwelling within, to meet hers.

The greatsword and sword clashed, and Namgung Suah’s sky was torn apart once again.

But for a moment, the elder’s eyes widened when Namgung Suah’s unbroken sword had caught his.

In that opening, Chunbong and Seojun dove in from both sides.

The two, closer than siblings, had reached a level where they could understand each other’s intentions with just a glance.

Chunbong had rushed in slightly faster and swung her sword from a difficult-to-tell distance just barely out of reach.

If she could draw even a little attention, that would be enough.

Seojun, who had endlessly condensed his inner qi, extended his sword.

Heavenly Plum.

It was something that could no longer be called sword qi, for neither that nor reinforced qi rippled on his weapon.

Before his sword even made contact, the pressure crushed down on Jongin. He spat out his frustration and shouted.

“You brats...!”

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Their arrogance, as if they amounted to something, was absurd. What could these short-lived creatures possibly know!?

His sword shone brightly as he finally unleashed his full power.

Whoosh────────!!

Stars dwelled in his sword. One plum blossom for each star, then another star and another plum blossom. Soon, plum blossoms as numerous as the stars in the night sky bloomed on his sword.

Plum Blossom Sword Force.

Fragments of reinforced qi whirled around Jongin.

CRACK──────!!

Everything was literally being torn asunder. Seojun watched as his sword, thrust forward in attack, shattered after just a few exchanges.

This is dangerous.

Chunbong and Namgung Suah wouldn’t be able to dodge if continued this way.

He didn’t particularly want to imagine them being shredded along with his sword.

To avoid such a future, he had to block it himself.

Throb!

He grasped the thread of reason that was about to snap. What he needed now was not blind rage, but clear-mindedness.

With his eyes wide open, he captured the plum blossoms in them and poured all his talent into finding a breakthrough.

Thump—

His inner qi went berserk along with his heartbeat. Giant Spirit Divine Art. Drawing upon its power, he unleashed every last drop of inner qi from his dantian.

His head felt like it was about to burst, but his bloodshot eyes perfectly read the trajectory.

Flame Plum, Snow Plum.

Two types of plum blossoms bloomed simultaneously and scattered.

Their number was precisely double that of Jongin’s blossoms.

The plum blossoms, paired in red and blue, approached Jongin’s blossoms and formed a crude yin-yang.

BOOM──────!!!

With precisely calculated power, Jongin’s plum blossoms were destroyed, and the bodies of Chunbong and Namgung Suah were pushed far back.

Jongin, whose sword technique had been broken, shouted in anger.

“Very well...! No need to try so hard, I’ll tear you limb from limb first!”

That loose mouth of his was all he needed to decipher the Sword God’s martial art.

Could a mere brat like him keep his mouth shut even under torture?

Seojun smirked as he watched the enraged Jongin charging at him.

“What’s an old fart like you saying?”

Sword force hurtled toward him but with his blade already shattered, he cast aside the ruined hilt.

Man, that was a new sword too.

Lamenting, he wrapped yin qi around his left hand and yang qi around his right.

It was no longer fitting to call it the Primordial Sun-Moon Finger, so he gave it a new name.

Primordial Sun-Moon Art.

Forming a crude yin-yang symbol between his palms, he exploded it forward like he was firing it.

It seemed like the power had increased now that he had given it a cool name instead of something ridiculous like Kamehwamehwa.

But Jongin cleaved through that explosion with a single sword strike as he advanced.

Damn, he’s really fucking strong.

Even limping on one leg, his speed was still unfathomable.

Seojun let out a bitter laugh and reinforced his protective qi several times over.

CRACK────────!!!

Blood sprayed as Seojun was sent flying backward.

“Big brotherrrr...!!”

Tears of blood flowed from Chunbong’s eyes.

She had already lost her family and now someone who seemed connected to those people was trying to take away her big brother too.

“Aaaaah...!”

As her inner qi went berserk, the cold yin qi that had been sleeping deep inside leaked out.

Freeze!

Frost crept across her skin as blood seeped through the forming cracks.

Chunbong glared at Jongin with glistening eyes.

“...I swear, I’ll kill you.”

“Haa...! Wait, you can’t get too excited!”

Standing next to her, Namgung Suah was panting heavily. Her hands were trembling, her greatsword dropping to the ground.

There hadn’t been any major damage to her sword yet, but the moment it properly clashed with sword force, it would suffer irreparable damage.

The reason she had been able to withstand it until now was because her greatsword was a renowned masterpiece.

“...Shut up.”

But Chunbong could no longer hold onto her thread of reason.

Lee Seojun would not have died so easily.

If so, she would die taking that worm Jongin with her. At least then, she could save Lee Seojun.

It was a life that should have ended back when the Divine Sword Geum Clan was annihilated anyway.

If her death could save her big brother, she had no regrets.

Chunbong, resolved to die, danced with her sword.

Her sword beautifully embroidered through the air, yet no clash of steel followed.

She weaved through his attacks, striking at every opening she found, only to withdraw her sword just before each contact.

Inevitably, her forced movements took a toll on her muscles and bones. Wounds multiplied where her evasions fell short.

Yet still, she blindly swung her sword like a madman chasing death.

But none of that was enough.

The wall between Transcendent and Peak Realms was far too thick.

Even with Namgung Suah joining in, the predetermined outcome did not seem to change.

Seojun watched all of this.

It was beautiful and tragic.

Just watching Chunbong swing her sword while putting her life on the line made his chest ache.

You fucking scumbag.

He rose, his shattered bones held together by inner qi.

Clinging to his last thread of consciousness, he let his inner qi run wild.

His targets were the two barriers blocking his Conception and Governing Vessels.

Abandoning the question of whether he could do it, he struck at the wall near his Yin Convergence point with the pure conviction that he must.

Rumble!

His entire body resonated.

Though the barrier was already half-shattered from his incomplete Three Flowers Zenith breakthrough, when he smashed his inner qi against it, pain ripped through him as if tearing his body apart.

That doesn’t matter.

Pain never killed anyone. Again.

Boom!

With a crack like a bursting dam, inner qi surged forth like a flood.

Riding that momentum, Seojun drove it upward through the Governing Vessel.

Rumble!

When his inner qi collided with the wall near his crown, the world spun.

“Gahh...!”

Blood poured from his mouth and his mind went blank, his consciousness fading.

Crunch! He bit his tongue hard to wake himself up.

Right. There’s a reason it’s called Breaking Through the Life and Death Entrance. Because you really might die while breaking through.

With that brief thought, he once again unleashed his inner qi.

Rumble!

Once again, he spat out a lump along with blood. Spit! Something bright red fell to the ground.

His mind grew distant. One more time. If this attempt failed, death might be real this time.

He scoffed at the thought. He probably wouldn’t die. And even if he did, what of it? Could he live with himself if Chunbong died right before his eyes?

With death as the price of failure, he launched his inner qi upward one final time.

Boom!

He broke through. As the Conception and Governing Vessels opened, the qi of heaven and earth poured in.

In an instant, his essence, qi, and mind unified.

His essence and mind, clearly inferior compared to his qi, collapsed and Seojun’s body began to twist.

Buzz—

The still crude inner core struggled and balanced it out.

Qi straightened essence and supplemented mind.

Seojun’s body floated into the air as his twisted body was reconstructed to find its optimal form. It was strange to see his body regenerate instantly, skipping the process.

Above his head, three beautiful flowers bloomed fully.

Golden light flashed in his eyes as he achieved the Three Flowers Zenith.

Memories he had forgotten, or more precisely, had erased himself, flooded into his mind like a torrent.

Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Seojun took in the fight that had lasted for only a fleeting moment.

Step—

In a single step, he was beside Chunbong. His hand reached out, pulling her back.

Swoosh!

Jongin’s sword grazed the tip of her nose.

Seojun’s eyes flashed murderously as he glared at him.

“Throughout heaven and earth, you alone are the honored one.”

He intentionally twisted the balance of essence, qi, and mind.

Above his head bloomed three hideous flowers, writhing and distorted.

All of creation twisted around him, murky, colorless qi rippling from his body.

“For your honored existence to be alone in this world, you must have lost your parents.”

This twisted state felt even more comfortable than the realm he had achieved normally.

Although his physical body would collapse if he remained like this for long, he could simply return his realm to its original state when that time came.

It was truly like having dual cores.

In Seojun’s hand, starlight descended and dwelled, his eyes burning crimson.

“So I’ll send you to join them, you motherfucker.”