Chapter 30
Reverse Karma Cult (3)
“GAAAAAH!”
The mage's scream echoed throughout the hall.
Yet Namgung Jun remained completely unmoved.
He had already confirmed the location of the imprisoned commoners and secured the document containing the Absorption Art formula.
There was no longer any reason to hide his true intentions.
“Quiet.”
“You bastard! My arm!”
The mage's aura exploded outward.
At such close range, the violent surge of energy was like a raging gale.
But it could not affect Namgung Jun's movements.
Only his sleeves and hair fluttered.
The Infinite Step, which had advanced further through his instructional sparring matches with Manhun, effortlessly brushed aside the mage's aura.
The mage raised his left arm.
A murky-colored internal energy churned violently around his hand.
A considerable amount of internal energy had manifested outwardly, resembling flames.
Yet it was too unstable in form and too lacking in density to qualify as true manifested qi.
The peak of First-Class.
He appeared to be on the verge of reaching the Supreme Realm.
The mage formed a blade hand.
His left hand shot toward Namgung Jun's face.
Whoosh!
Stepping with Infinite Step, Namgung Jun spun his body in the opposite direction.
He redirected the blade hand to the side while simultaneously drawing up the sword that had been lowered.
“Urgh!”
However, Namgung Jun immediately saw through the mage's intentions.
“Like a filthy rat.”
The moment he noticed the mage's eyes flick toward the entrance, Namgung Jun moved there at once.
Then he thrust his sword into the mage's right thigh as the latter attempted to flee.
Thunk!
The blade drove deep enough that its tip embedded itself into the floor.
“Ghk!”
The mage barely jerked his head backward.
Had he failed to move in time, his face would have been split in half from the jaw upward.
The strike had been that fierce and that fast.
As the chilling sword aura brushed past his skin, the composure he had lost when his arm was severed finally returned.
I need to alert the others first. That's the only way I'll survive!
Namgung Jun's martial prowess was far from ordinary.
Even if he had been in perfect condition, victory would not have been guaranteed.
In his current state, it was utterly impossible.
As the mage remained pinned in place as though a nail had been driven through his leg, blue lightning began flickering around Namgung Jun's hand.
His palm opened wide.
A technique of the Heavenly Thunder Palm Art.
PAAK!
The palm strike exploded the mage's head.
Afterward, Namgung Jun turned his gaze toward the imprisoned commoners.
The sight of the mage—who had been devouring their vitality through the Absorption Art—dying so helplessly caused everyone to gather at the iron bars.
They wanted to say something.
But they were too weak.
Their lips merely trembled.
Meeting their eyes one by one, Namgung Jun respectfully cupped his fist.
“Do not overexert yourselves. Preserve your strength. I will rescue you shortly.”
After reassuring them, he stepped out of the hall.
When Namgung Jun emerged alone, the cultists guarding the area looked at him suspiciously.
Boom!
Namgung Jun personally shut the hall doors.
It was a precaution to prevent any cultists from entering and harming the prisoners.
“Young Master Hong?”
Suspicion gradually appeared in their eyes.
At that moment, Namgung Jun pulled out a signal flare from inside his robes.
He aimed it directly toward the sky.
BOOM!
A blue firework burst against the darkened heavens.
“What signal is that?”
“The Azure Sky Society. That's definitely the Azure Sky Society's signal.”
The expressions of the cultists—who normally wore friendly smiles—changed instantly.
Their faces twisted into vicious masks as they charged forward.
Four cultists closed the distance in an instant, releasing their auras simultaneously.
They were crude and turbid.
It was obvious their internal energy had been built through the Absorption Art.
As they rushed toward him, Namgung Jun's eyes turned cold.
Regardless of whether they had fully entered the demonic path, every cultist here had stolen the vitality of innocent commoners.
Moreover, now that this place had been confirmed as a secret branch of the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult, there was no reason to show mercy.
Crackle!
The sword strikes of the Thirteen Flashing Thunderbolt Sword swept through the air like lightning, severing limbs as they passed.
The sword was so fast that none of them could properly react.
Blood sprayed in all directions.
Within the darkness, only Namgung Jun's blue eyes shone with unwavering brilliance.
As he blocked the entrance to the hall, two figures descended on either side of him.
Heo Il and Gong Junam.
“Young Hero Namgung.”
Heo Il carried Namgung Jun's bamboo hat and sword.
The moment Namgung Jun accepted them, he ceased being the young master of the Hong Family Manor and once more became a swordsman of the Azure Sky Society.
“This is the place?”
“Yes. Commoners are being held inside. There also appear to be a few martial artists among them.”
“I see. Well done.”
Gong Junam casually cut down a charging cultist as he spoke.
“To ensure the mission proceeds carefully, the rest of the members are waiting below the mountain. Until they arrive, we must buy time ourselves.”
“How long will that take?”
“One gak.”
About fifteen minutes.
As Gong Junam estimated the time required, a tremendous aura surged forth from deeper within the compound.
“Fifteen minutes? Do you think that's possible?”
The one who appeared before them was the Reverse Karma Cult Leader.
Unlike their first meeting, when no trace of aura could be sensed from him, he now radiated overwhelming power.
That level of aura... definitely...
Apparently reaching the same conclusion as Namgung Jun, Gong Junam spoke.
“A master of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. A Bright Mirror Master?”
A Bright Mirror Master.
A rank one level above a Bright Cult Guardian.
Only those who had reached the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown could attain it.
Compared to the Azure Sky Society, it was equivalent to a Hall Master—a figure on the level of a branch leader.
“He doesn't match any of the appearances recorded for the Thirteen Mirror Masters. Perhaps he's a master who has reached that level but has not yet received the title.”
Hearing Heo Il's words, the cult leader stepped forward with a hardened expression.
“Move aside.”
The cult leader ordered the other cultists to retreat.
Rather than wasting time sending subordinates to die, he had chosen to personally kill Namgung Jun and his companions.
“Do you truly believe you can hold out for fifteen minutes, even against me?”
Neither Gong Junam nor Heo Il answered.
Their opponent was someone who had achieved Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
His perception of time and the speed at which he could mobilize internal energy were on a completely different level from ordinary experts.
There was a reason martial artists who reached the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown were called supreme masters.
“The orthodox approach is always to kill the weakest one first.”
The Reverse Karma Cult Leader chose Namgung Jun—whose aura appeared the faintest—as his first prey.
By the time Namgung Jun heard the cult leader's voice, tinged with amusement, a crimson sword strike was already descending before his eyes.
The cult leader was certain that he was moving at a speed Namgung Jun could not yet perceive.
That confidence came from the unique time perception granted by the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
For someone like Namgung Jun, who had not even reached the Supreme Realm, it should have been impossible to react.
Yet, for some reason, Namgung Jun's sword was already moving to intercept.
CLANG!
A heavy metallic crash erupted.
At the same time, the cult leader's expression twisted strangely.
“How?”
But Namgung Jun was far from unharmed.
Blocking a single move had shaken his insides violently.
The first strike was stopped through instinct. I don't know how much longer that will work.
He needed to reach the Supreme Realm.
Only after reaching it would one's perception of the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth fundamentally change.
Whether I ascend or not depends entirely on me.
If the realms from Third-Rate to First-Rate were stages of forging a martial artist's vessel, then the Supreme Realm was the stage of completing that vessel.
The enlightenment is already there.
What he lacked were perception, the body, and internal energy.
There was only one way to solve all three in a short time.
Opening one of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.
Having made his decision, Namgung Jun spat out blood and raised his sword to the center position.
“Seniors, I ask you. Buy me ten breaths.”
At the sudden request, not only Heo Il and Gong Junam, but even the cult leader looked at him with interest.
The two seniors did not deliberate for long.
“Namgung Jun. At most, twelve breaths. That is our limit.”
THUD!
Stepping forward, Gong Junam planted his massive greatsword into the ground and answered bluntly.
“I will trust Young Hero Namgung and buy him that time.”
Heo Il, who smelled faintly of alcohol as though he had already been drinking, also stepped in front of Namgung Jun.
In his left hand were four throwing knives that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
“You're all insane.”
The cult leader moved leisurely, as if mocking them.
At that moment, Namgung Jun pulled out the inner core of the Solar Flame Marten.
Normally, it should only be consumed after every preparation had been completed.
But the affairs of the martial world rarely unfolded as planned.
The same held true now.
What mattered more was overcoming the crisis before him.
His comrades were worth far more than preserving a few portions of the core's energy.
And so Namgung Jun did not hesitate.
To protect the commoners behind him.
To protect the comrades standing before him.
Without even sitting down to meditate, he bit directly into the inner core and swallowed it.
There is no time to refine it through breathing techniques.
He had to force the unrefined energy through the first blocked point of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians in a single overwhelming surge.
WOOONG!
As the Solar Flame Marten's core dissolved into his body, beginning at the Yancheon Acupoint, his meridians heated as though they were burning.
A vast torrent of blazing yang energy sought to run rampant through every channel in his body.
The only thing preventing it was the internal energy of the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art that he had prepared beforehand.
BOOOOM!
A tremendous explosion echoed inside him.
The Solar Flame Marten's energy and the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art had collided.
The shock made his entire body—especially his brain—feel as though it were being violently shaken.
For an instant, he nearly lost consciousness.
Yet Namgung Jun endured.
Gyeolbu Point. Cheondol Point. Hwagae Point. Gisa Point. Jeonjung Point.
Using the internal energy of the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art as walls, he firmly blocked the pathways he had planned in advance.
Unable to advance elsewhere, the Solar Flame Marten's energy was forced toward the only route left open.
Toward the first blockage of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.
Controlling such an enormous amount of energy without even sitting in meditation was a tremendous gamble.
For now, things were proceeding according to plan.
But unexpected variables could arise at any moment.
Because of that, Namgung Jun pushed his Upper Dantian to its limits, focusing every ounce of concentration on guiding the energy.
Several times the energy attempted to veer off course.
Each time, he barely managed to suppress it.
At last, the torrent of energy crashed into the first blockage like a tidal wave.
BOOOOM!
A violent vibration shook his entire body.
It felt as though his very bones were rattling apart.
Even so, Namgung Jun endured through sheer, terrifying determination.
The altered circulation route left the energy with nowhere else to go.
It could only continue slamming into the first blockage.
Even the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art energy that had been sealing other pathways joined in, strengthening the assault.
Once.
Twice.
Dozens of times.
Just as his consciousness began to blur—
BOOM!
Something exploded inside him.
The first blockage of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians finally opened.
The frigid yin energy trapped within burst free.
When that yin energy met the power of the Solar Flame Marten's core, the two merged into pure internal energy.
The Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art immediately devoured it, swelling in strength.
WOOOOONG!
And that was not all.
Only one blockage had been opened.
Yet the efficiency of his internal energy circulation instantly doubled.
The endless stream of yin energy pouring from that point affected the surrounding meridians as well.
Opening the first blockage restored not only that pathway but several nearby channels to normal.
Dozens of meridians that had gradually stiffened beneath the influence of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians thawed simultaneously.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that an entire network of meridians had been restored.
The accelerated circulation of internal energy brought entirely new sensations.
And as the vessel of his martial path was finally completed—
His perception of all creation changed dramatically.
FWOOOSH!
Namgung Jun opened his eyes.
Blue lightning flashed within them.
At the same moment, brilliant azure energy erupted from the sword held before him.
The energy wrapped itself neatly around the blade, maintaining a perfectly defined shape.
Sword Qi.
Proof that he had entered the Supreme Realm.
Without even bothering to wipe away the blood pouring from his nose and mouth, Namgung Jun immediately launched himself forward.
BOOOOM!
Using Infinite Step, he shot through the battlefield and intercepted the cult leader's sword just as it was about to sever Gong Junam's arm.
The terrifying recoil immediately hurled him backward.
But Gong Junam caught him with his forearm.
Keeping his gaze fixed on the cult leader, Namgung Jun asked,
“How many breaths?”
“Eight.”
Gong Junam answered calmly despite coughing up a mouthful of blood.
“Seniors.”
For only an instant, Namgung Jun met the eyes of both men.
Gong Junam gave a faint smile.
Heo Il, who had already thrown more than a dozen knives and was preparing another hidden weapon, did the same.
They understood his intentions from that brief exchange.
Without another word, both seniors stepped back.
Now viewing the world through newly awakened senses, Namgung Jun looked directly at the Reverse Karma Cult Leader.
The cult leader stared back.
“Come.”
Blue Sword Qi crackled along Namgung Jun's blade.
“Time continues to flow.”