WHOOOOOOOSH!

The cold winter wind tugged at the collars of the two men’s clothes.

Yeon Hojeong looked around.

“This is much larger than our Warbreaker Pavilion. Perfect for use as a training ground.”

Without answering, Tang Gwan tapped the ground with the tip of his foot.

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“It’s been cleaned well. Judging from the traces, it looks like it was used by a master of the internal path. Did you clean it yourself, Clan Lord?”

Tang Gwan answered brusquely.

“That’s none of your business.”

It was strange.

The Tang Gwan Yeon Hojeong knew was proud and believed himself a man of high standing. He was not the kind of man who would do this sort of menial work.

And yet, looking now, it really did seem as if he had personally cleaned this wide expanse. That was what surprised him all over again.

It looks like the change in his state of mind was bigger than I thought.

He did not know what had happened to Tang Gwan in the meantime. He had only heard from his father that the man had definitely changed.

But now that he was facing him in person, it went beyond anything his father had described. Tang Gwan was undeniably different from before.

“Still.”

Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.

“To verify someone’s vessel through martial arts... If it’s a spar with a Transcendent Peak master like you, Clan Lord, then I’d gladly drop everything for it myself. But is there really any point to it?”

The corner of Tang Gwan’s mouth curled upward.

“Why? Are you afraid you’ll die?”

“Why would I be?”

Yeon Hojeong’s voice was perfectly at ease.

“I don’t die that easily. My martial arts are the kind that kill before I die.”

“How arrogant.”

“I’m only explaining the nature of my martial arts.”

Tang Gwan stared at him for a moment, then extended a hand toward the second-floor window of the building.

WOOOOOOONG.

Invisible Inner Qi formed a solemn current.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes deepened.

As expected.

An astonishing form of formless supreme qi.

Not through the eyes of Yeon Clan’s eldest son, not through the eyes of the greatest prodigy of the younger generation, the Green Mountain Tiger Commander, but through the eyes of the Dark Emperor, Lord of the Black Emperor’s Citadel—it was enough to startle even him.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that, in the realm of seizing objects through empty air, he has nearly reached the extreme.

Setting aside the quality and quantity of Inner Qi, the formula itself that created that flow was extraordinary. To attain that degree of realization required not just genius, but relentless training and passion that ignored night and day alike.

He was like that back then too.

Back when he had joined hands, as the Dark Emperor, with the Orthodox Path Martial Alliance to wage war against the Three Fanatic Creeds.

The Inner Qi Tang Gwan had displayed then had been far bolder and more delicate than this.

But the framework that created this flow, the solidity of the formula that drew out that formless supreme qi, was little different now from then. Which meant Tang Gwan was already steadily preparing himself to rise to the level of one of the Thirteen Seats of the Supreme Heavens.

The sound of something whipping through the air came a moment later, followed by a sharp smack as Tang Gwan caught it.

A strange light entered Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

“An iron staff.”

“Catch.”

Tang Gwan threw the seven-foot steel staff. Yeon Hojeong caught it, gripped it at the middle, and spun it this way and that.

Unexpectedly, the balance was excellent. It was heavy too, so it seemed to be forged from solid steel.

“To handle an axe that large with such ease, you’d have to be skilled in all sorts of spear and staff arts.”

“Of course.”

“It’s better than having nothing. Use it.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“And why does something like this happen to be in your quarters, Clan Lord?”

“None of your business.”

Tang Gwan raised his chin.

It was an unbearably arrogant posture. A posture that reeked of absolute confidence in his own martial arts.

“Are you ready?”

Yeon Hojeong gripped the center of the staff and gave the air a few test sweeps.

WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM!

Then he rested it across his shoulder.

“I’m ready.”

At that moment—

PAAAAAK!

Tang Gwan charged with terrifying speed.

Yeon Hojeong was always prepared for a sudden attack, no matter the moment. But even he could not help being startled now.

He’s striking first?!

With Tang Gwan’s pride, Yeon Hojeong had expected him to at least give him three moves before starting. Whatever the gap in skill, Tang Gwan was the kind of man who would hold to that much pride.

And yet he had attacked out of nowhere? It was completely unlike him.

HUFF!

His closing speed was fast, but the speed of the palm force he launched was every bit as formidable.

Blue light blazed from Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

TUH-UH-UH-UNG!

A gleam flashed in Tang Gwan’s eyes.

Rebounding force?

In an instant, Yeon Hojeong released a heavy qi wave and bounced away the whirlwind palm Tang Gwan had driven straight through.

No matter how lightly Tang Gwan had thrown it, it was still a palm technique used by the head of the Tang Clan. It was not the kind of strike that should have been brushed away so casually.

Interesting.

Tang Gwan’s body blurred for an instant.

PABABABAK!

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes wavered.

Fast.

It was fast. Incredibly fast.

Since returning to the past, he had seen countless masters, but not one of them had shown bodily movement this fast. Yangcheon might be the exception, but he had never truly revealed his martial arts since the regression.

Upper left rear.

Without even turning around, Yeon Hojeong thrust the iron staff toward that point.

JJEOOOOOEONG!

A clear yet heavy metallic note swept over the entire training ground.

Yeon Hojeong found himself taking several steps forward. He could not completely withstand the aftershock of the power transmitted through the tip of the staff.

At the same time, the light in his eyes shifted from blue to red.

Flames flared up.

Tang Gwan, who had been about to press in at once and seize him by the throat, widened his eyes at Yeon Hojeong’s suddenly transformed aura.

PABABABAK!

If Yeon Hojeong had just been startled by Tang Gwan’s horrifying mastery of movement technique, now it was Tang Gwan who was startled by Yeon Hojeong’s footwork speed.

Fast?

Yeon Hojeong stamped left and right at terrifying speed as he swung the staff, and that speed was hardly inferior to Tang Gwan’s own.

And that qi wave—

HWAAAAAAK!

The vivid Killing Intent carried together with that scorching fire qi was oppressive in itself, a killing move all on its own.

It was a martial art whose crushing force broke an opponent’s courage before the real attack even landed.

Tang Gwan’s two hands whipped through the air in a blur.

JJEOJEOJEOJEOJEONG! HWAAAAAAK!

The iron staff carried enough force to shatter rock. And attacks of that power were crashing down in a twelve-hit barrage.

Tang Gwan knocked away every single one of them with his bare palms.

WHOOOOOOOSH! PUH-PUH-POONG!

The wild, spiraling winds crashed into each other from every direction, compressed, and burst into invisible shock waves.

FLASH!

After a few collisions opened the distance, Yeon Hojeong came in again at a speed like a streak of light.

Tang Gwan’s eyes flashed.

He’s closing in? While holding a long weapon?

Before he knew it, the tip of the staff was shooting toward his throat. The thrust, delivered with both hands on the shaft, was simple yet fast, efficient yet overflowing with Killing Intent.

Tang Gwan’s hands coiled around the iron staff like snakes.

KWAAAAANG!

A monstrous release of force exploded from those wrapped hands. Against that heavy defense, Yeon Hojeong nearly lost the staff for a moment.

No, let it go.

The staff spun loose in a blur.

Tang Gwan, who had been about to knock the staff aside and flow into a follow-up attack, was startled when Yeon Hojeong suddenly released it.

Yeon Hojeong spun in place and kicked the end of the staff.

JJEOONG!

It was a counterattack fired from point-blank range. At less than two feet away, the staff shot forward carrying enough internal force that it could not be ignored.

An unexpected strike, born of genius real-combat instinct.

Even Tang Gwan could not have blocked that one. Not because it was overwhelmingly powerful, but because it crushed the rhythm and struck at a moment no one would predict.

Tang Gwan threw his upper body backward with the method of the Iron Bridge.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The staff flew like an arrow, grazed the front of Tang Gwan’s clothes, and buried itself in the ground.

Tang Gwan’s eyes shone.

So that’s it. He means to fight me with technique and real-combat ability, not by force.

It was a response that drew admiration of its own accord.

No matter how strong Yeon Hojeong was, he had not yet reached the level of the heads of the Six Great Clans. If he collided head-on in terms of force and internal force, he would naturally be overwhelmed.

Which meant that from the very moment the match began, Yeon Hojeong had already perfectly designed the way he had to fight Tang Gwan.

He really is a monster.

TAAAAANG!

With his upper body still bent backward, Tang Gwan used that tremendous recoil to launch himself forward.

It was the method of Iron Bridge followed by Bow-Body Rebounding Shadow. As if he had meant to answer this way from the start, the connection of movement and force was smooth and immediate.

Yeon Hojeong and Tang Gwan crashed together barehanded.

PUH-PUH-PUH-PUH-PUH-POONG!

Their fist arts and palm arts collided at blistering speed.

Flames blazed around Yeon Hojeong’s hands as he swung them, terrible Killing Intent and splendid killing moves exploding one after another.

BOOOOOOM! TU-TU-TUNG!

By contrast, Tang Gwan’s hands responded with sinister Killing Intent and strange killing moves that burst forth without pause, fully revealing the chilling qi wave he wielded.

It was a collision between martial arts of utterly different natures. No single strike of absolute destructive power appeared, but it was a merciless hand-to-hand fight where a moment’s lapse could cost a life.

Definitely.

As he faced Yeon Hojeong’s explosive barrage of fists, Tang Gwan thought,

Judging by his martial arts alone, he doesn’t look like the type who uses his head.

His arms, blocking and knocking away Yeon Hojeong’s fists, had already gone numb. That meant Yeon Hojeong’s Inner Qi and release of force were powerful enough to break through even Tang Gwan’s defense.

It was as if every blow were shouting, Let’s see what part of you gives way first. Every attack ignored rhythm and came in from unpredictable angles, and the moment Tang Gwan prepared in advance, the next strike would come in straight and honest, aiming for another opening.

There was substance hidden inside emptiness, and emptiness hidden inside substance. If Tang Gwan had not possessed the kind of trained eye the Tang Clan honed through hidden weapons, he would have been forced to take at least three of those attacks.

Of course, Tang Gwan had not yet brought out the Tang Clan’s famed poison arts or hidden weapons either.

Still, I’ve seen enough.

Just as Tang Gwan began to fall back, trying to deflect Yeon Hojeong’s attacks—

KUUUNG!

Tang Gwan’s eyes shook.

KURURURUNG!

The qi wave that had burned like flames suddenly transformed into something immensely heavy and solid, like a towering mountain.

...?!

That moment of change lasted less than the blink of an eye. To shift into a nature so completely opposed, in less than an instant—it was hard to believe even while seeing it.

This bastard.

Tang Gwan could feel it instinctively.

An unprecedented strike was coming.

Don’t tell me... he still hasn’t been fighting at full power?

HWAAAAAAAK!

The sound of the white gale wrapping itself around Yeon Hojeong’s entire body and tearing through the air resembled the roar of an enraged beast.

KWAAAAANG!

One step forward.

After pushing his heartbeat to the limit with ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the Red-Flame Six-Kill Art and swelling his muscles to the extreme, Yeon Hojeong unleashed an explosive blow.

Tiger Roar Kill—drawn from the Tiger King’s Nine-Wall Breaker of the White Tiger Art—swept straight across Tang Gwan’s upper body.

BOOOOOOOOM!

Tang Gwan’s body lifted into the air and flew back three zhang before crashing onto the ground.

SHIIIIIIK!

White smoke rose from both of Tang Gwan’s arms. To neutralize the terrifying release of force in Tiger Roar Kill, he had even opened up his own poison art.

Tang Gwan’s eyes shook.

An unbelievable strike!

If he had not prepared properly, that attack might really have blasted the sense out of him. It was that frightening.

“Hoo.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a long breath. The iron staff was still embedded diagonally in the ground to his right.

He grabbed it and pulled.

The earth cracked open as the thick iron staff emerged.

WHOOOM! WHOOOOOM!

Gripping the staff at its center, Yeon Hojeong swung it a few times, then lowered his stance.

WHIIIIIIIING! WHIIIIIIIING!

A fierce fighting spirit flickered in his eyes.

SHIIIIIIK!

The white smoke rising from Tang Gwan’s arms slowly turned green.

“...I thought I’d seen enough. But you’re saying you still have more left?”

“My personality isn’t exactly flexible. If something I’m doing gets cut off halfway, I sleep badly.”

A savage smile spread across Tang Gwan’s face.

“Can you handle it?”

“You told me to prove the size of my vessel through martial arts. I don’t know what exactly you intend to see, but shouldn’t we at least take it to the end if you want to get anything out of it?”

The smile vanished from Tang Gwan’s face.

CHWARURURURURUK!

At some point, a steel whip had slipped out from inside his sleeve, writhing like a venomous snake.

“For the first time, I like something about you.”

His eyes narrowed.

“That rude, insolent personality of yours.”

Yeon Hojeong grinned.