Chapter 231

He exerted greater pressure.

Third Form of the Rakshasa Dharma-Protecting Saber.

Bone-Shattering Heaven-Rushing Strike.

Kwwaaaaang—!

An assault where the massive heft of the trident crashed down perpendicularly in a solitary blow.

Ddaeng—!

The alms bowl of Beom-eum resonated profoundly and extensively.

This was no brief ring, but an enduring vibration.

The remaining echoes of the vessel surged through the metallic weapon, blending with the Internal Energy and magnifying the impact of the concussive wave.

Sound Art Resonance.

A ferocious discharge fusing the inherent might of the Bone-Shattering Heaven-Rushing Strike with the echoing vibrations of the Sea of Ten Thousand Sounds.

Dong Bongsu swung the Nine Demon Annihilation Wheel Sword horizontally upward to meet the descent.

Fwoooosh—!

The resulting shockwave rippled outward, obliterating everything within a span of twenty zhang.

Half a dozen trees anchoring the slope were torn from the earth and propelled skyward.

The reddish-brown robes of the monks littering the field of dead bodies shriveled like autumn foliage, ripping into fragments in mid-air, while the four nearest corpses crumbled entirely, shredded into miniscule particles of dust.

Rumble… The mountain flank gave way.

The very patch of earth beneath their feet failed to sustain the immense force and began cascading down the incline.

Boulders, dirt, dead bodies, and shattered timber intermingled, rushing downward in a violent slide.

Dong Bongsu’s lower limbs plunged half a foot into the soil, yet he maintained his footing perfectly despite the shifting landscape.

The stone directly under his soles fractured like a spider’s web, sending jagged cracks racing down the mountain face.

These fractures carved through the field of corpses, extending into the forested zone at the base of the peak.

In that instant.

A single thread of Spear Aura managed to slash through the fabric of Dong Bongsu’s attire at his waistline.

It failed to pierce his flesh, merely ripping the cloth.

Nevertheless, contact had been established.

Dong Bongsu’s eyes dipped minutely.

Fixing upon the shredded material.

Gakjin instantly registered that solitary flicker of motion.

He bore down with even greater ferocity.

He lofted the trident overhead once more.

This time, his trajectory aimed straight for the crown of Dong Bongsu’s skull.

Pssh-!

Yet Dong Bongsu preempted the motion.

Shifting his frame laterally, he planted his sole firmly onto the descending shaft of the trident.

Utilizing a single foot.

Kwajak!

The trident was driven into the dirt, pinned along the exact path of its intended strike.

Dong Bongsu’s full mass and concentrated Powerful Force bore down upon the hands gripping the weapon, causing Gakjin’s shoulder joints to grind in protest.

Leaping from the shaft, Dong Bongsu vaulted cleanly over Gakjin’s head.

His immediate response was to discharge a Super Spinning Sword Aura directly at Beom-eum.

A tightly coiled cluster of rapidly rotating energy, manifesting after an extended absence.

Kwarururururu—!

The manifestation of Aura, which twisted and ripped the fabric of space, tore away from the tip of the blade, surging in a linear path and cleaving through the Sea of Ten Thousand Sounds.

The Sea of Ten Thousand Sounds.

The domain dictated by the ocean of acoustic waves was instantly shattered into pieces, fragmented and dispersed to the winds.

With the collapse of the acoustic domain, the entire mountain was plunged into immediate, absolute quiet.

The destruction did not halt there.

The rotating trajectory of the Spinning Sword Aura shot past Beom-eum, striking the crest of the mountain ridge.

Kuuuung—!

The spine of the mountain fractured.

The stone ridge that served as the mountain’s backbone split wide open down its center line.

A chasm stretching dozens of zhang pierced the core of the ridge, causing the stone formations on either side of the fracture to tumble down the mountain face.

Simultaneously, the structural equilibrium collapsed, provoking a massive landslide.

Kwarururururu… Amidst this chaotic ruin, the trident tore free from Gakjin’s grasp.

The concussive force delivered to his wrist and shoulder had utterly shattered his underlying Bones and Sinews.

“Haa, haa…”

The Sea of Ten Thousand Sounds had vanished.

The two-decade-long partnership they believed to be flawless had been utterly dismantled by a single countermove.

Even so.

Could he simply yield?

Relinquishing his weapon, he hurled his entire body forward using nothing but his bare hands.

No, they could hardly be called bare hands.

He funneled every remaining drop of his Internal Energy into his twin fists.

To say ‘all’ was an understatement.

He forced the energy past the absolute boundaries his Meridians could tolerate, causing his blood vessels to rupture and send crimson streams pouring across the skin of his hands.

He excavated the ultimate reserves of his Dantian, Heart Meridian, and Spiritual Root to unleash the core of his innate qi.

The cost was irrelevant.

If this final endeavor could eliminate that monstrosity, he would willingly surrender his soul to the Buddha’s realm.

Goooooooooooh—.

He pooled the entirety of his Internal Energy into the dead center of his brow.

His flesh rent apart, exposing the white bone beneath, and a torrent of blood erupted, painting his sight in deep crimson.

Both fists along with his forehead.

Three distinct points.

Mirroring the three tines of a trident.

Body-Shattering Three-Pronged Fork.

This was an unorthodox technique completely absent from the standard Rakshasa Dharma-Protecting Saber lineage.

It was entirely unrecorded within the sacred texts of the cult.

It was a custom martial technique engineered by Gakjin himself, one he had fervently hoped to leave buried forever…

Having wielded a trident for two decades, he understood that a thrust could be executed even without a physical implement, that his physical form retained the precise path of the three tines without a wooden shaft, and that he could channel his entire vital essence into the blow…

It was a desperate art designed for Mutual Destruction.

Wuuung—!

His entire reserve of Internal Energy combined with his vital blood, condensing within his fists and brow.

His knuckles began to pull apart, incapable of tolerating the immense internal pressure of the energy.

The joints of his fingers expanded unnaturally, and beneath the skin of his forehead, hundreds, thousands of blood vessels swelled and writhed like living worms.

Past the crimson haze of his vision, he caught sight of Dong Bongsu’s exposed back.

The fleeting vulnerability presented as the opponent touched down after unleashing the Spinning Sword Aura against Beom-eum.

Thud—!

The sheer force of his launch obliterated the stone Gakjin had been anchored upon.

Propelled by the immense backward recoil, his massive eight-foot frame launched forward resembling a projectile.

Both fists extended.

His brow centered between them.

The three focal points aligned into a triangle, driving directly toward Dong Bongsu’s spine.

There was no visible Aura, no standard form.

It was the living manifestation of the trident, forged out of his own bone, flesh, and blood.

‘Gakhae, Beopjong. Await my arrival for just a brief moment beside the Buddha.’

A deep, dark manifestation of Killing Intent coalesced at the three apexes.

He could feel his physical structure fracturing into pieces.

Yet, his velocity only intensified.

In that precise heartbeat.

Dong Bongsu pivoted.

His right hand, maintaining its grip on the Nine Demon Annihilation Wheel Sword, remained stationary.

Instead, his left hand ascended.

Click.

A manifestation of brilliant light collected at the tip of his left fingers.

[Faith Arrow].

Pssh—!

The primary projectile discharged straight toward Gakjin’s brow.

Brilliant light and raw Internal Energy smashed together in a head-on collision.

The concentrated Aura shielding his forehead dissolved instantly, akin to a melting wax candle.

The flesh covering his cranium seared away, sending plumes of smoke trailing into the air.

Yet Gakjin’s forward momentum failed to halt.

Merely one of his three offensive points had been snuffed out.

His twin fists continued their relentless trajectory toward Dong Bongsu.

In a fraction of a second.

Pssh—!

The secondary projectile incinerated his left fist.

Another heartbeat later.

Pssh—!

The tertiary projectile scorched his right hand.

All three offensive apexes were entirely snuffed out.

The black smoke billowing from his scorched brow and ruined hands blanketed Gakjin’s torso, trailing behind his moving form.

Even so, Gakjin’s physical frame hurtled forward driven purely by kinetic force.

His unprotected flesh, completely stripped of any protective Aura, and his blackened bones arrived directly in front of Dong Bongsu’s face.

Wuuung.

The surrounding Super True Qi Field rippled intensely.

Localized Concentration.

Thwump—!

The towering eight-foot-tall frame halted abruptly in mid-air.

An unseen ocean of pressure had completely trapped Gakjin’s body.

His ribcage collapsed inward, and the Internal Energy he desperately sought to discharge through his Meridians dissipated, dissolving into the open air.

Crunch.

He was being systematically pulverized while suspended in empty space.

Even under this agony, Gakjin’s gaze remained locked onto Dong Bongsu.

Dong Bongsu lofted his blade.

He adopted no elaborate preparatory stance.

Merely, his left hand executed another subtle movement.

Click.

A fourth manifestation of the Faith Arrow materialized, layering itself directly onto the surface of the Nine Demon Annihilation Wheel Sword.

The Sacred Light settled along the dark edge, synthesizing into a singular, glowing line of a blade.

Furthermore, the dense pressure of the entire Super True Qi Field coalesced directly around the weapon.

The vast expanse of the hundred-pace battlefield had been shrunk and concentrated into that solitary edge.

Sword Aura.

Sacred Light.

Super True Qi Field.

Three distinct tiers of power merged seamlessly upon a single blade.

Windless Sword Art.

Ssssh—.

No sound accompanied the strike.

Not a single gust of wind stirred.

The weapon was merely swept horizontally in a lone, elegant motion.

Yet that solitary execution severed the very landscape.

Kuwaaaaaang—!

Gakjin’s torso was cleaved cleanly at the midline.

Before a torrent of crimson could erupt, the path of the blade ripped through Gakjin and continued its trajectory far behind him.

Nor did its momentum cease there.

The very ridge of the mountain range was torn asunder.

Originating from Dong Bongsu’s position, extending along the precise trajectory of the blade, the mountain flank was hollowed out horizontally.

The edge’s path sliced cleanly through the earth, through solid stone, through ancient timber, and through the very core of the mountain ridge, emerging on the opposing face.

The upper portion of the peak was uncoupling from its lower foundation.

Rrrrrrrumble—!

The detached summit of the mountain slid downward.

Tens of thousands of catties of stone, earth, and uprooted trees shifted simultaneously, completely reorganizing the topography of the peak.

The destruction extended far beyond this single landmass.

The blade’s line of force did not terminate at the first mountain.

Kwaang—!

The immediate ridge lying behind it was severed.

Kwaang—!

The secondary ridge.

Kwaang—!

The tertiary ridge.

Kwaaaang—!

Extending all the way to the crest of the fourth mountain, the force sliced through in an unyielding linear path.

The midsections of an entire mountain range spanning multiple li had been systematically severed one after another.

Kuuuuuuung—!

The ground groaned under the immense strain.

The shockwaves propagated by a single swing reverberated through the connected peaks, prompting vast flocks of distant birds to take flight simultaneously.

The dense fog was immediately dispelled by the concussive wave, allowing the morning rays to illuminate the raw cross-sections of the severed crests.

Four distinct gouges.

The four wounds carved in a continuous line across the peaks extended deep into the horizon.

The severed surfaces appeared flawlessly smooth.

As though a blade had slipped effortlessly through soft tofu.

The airborne debris gradually floated back to earth.

Gakjin’s upper torso impacted the dirt first.

No crimson fluid escaped from the raw wound.

The intense thermal energy of the blade had instantaneously sealed the severed blood vessels.

His lower limbs had tumbled down independently, coming to rest three paces further back.

Gakjin’s eyelids remained parted.

At the periphery of his failing vision, he could just discern the ruined mountain crests.

A single line.

Two lines.

Three lines.

Four lines.

The perfectly flat surfaces caught the morning sun, gleaming with shades of brown and gray.

‘…This is no mortal.’

The sensation in the arm he had extended toward Beom-eum was completely disappearing.

His field of view contracted.

The remaining light went dark.

Thud.

The vibration of Dong Bongsu’s advancing footsteps echoed past him.

The executioner didn’t pause to look down.

Click.

[Sudden Quest — Rakshasa of Slaughter]

[Progress: 1/2]

“…”

In that moment, Yan Bilyeong and Myo Jinheo, having systematically eliminated the remaining Rakshasa Monks across the zone, arrived at the scene.

Both individuals stood completely frozen, unable to close their mouths.

Four perfectly cleaved mountain crests.

The pristine cross-sections stood revealed where the morning mist had dissipated.

The exposed internal stone of the peaks caught the early sunlight.

The sight was inexplicable.

“…Sect Leader.”

The solitary conclusion remaining was that such a feat transcended mortal capability.

Yan Bilyeong initiated the conversation, her vocal cords vibrating with a subtle tremor.

“Did those mountains somehow manage to offend you?”

“Haha… It certainly gives that impression.”

Myo Jinheo skewed an eyebrow.

The expression he wore while examining the severed faces of the ridges was complicated.

An expression blending profound reverence with absolute skepticism.

“If your fury was directed at the Unorthodox, you ought to have spent it upon them. Why direct your wrath toward the mountain range itself?”

Yet Dong Bongsu neither turned to face them nor offered a commentary.

He maintained his concentration exclusively on a different location.

The patch of earth where Beom-eum had collapsed.

“…”

An alteration was manifesting deep within Beom-eum’s frame.

The Super True Qi Field registered the shift clearly.

The fundamental essence of the energy inside his body was transforming.

It bore no resemblance to the standard Internal Energy characteristic of a Rakshasa Monk, nor did it match the echoing remnants of the acoustic art; it was a completely unique phenomenon.

‘I am unable to decipher it.’

Following this.

Beom-eum began to awkwardly push himself upright.

A luminous glow began to emanate from beneath the folds of his monastic attire.

A gentle, balanced radiance.

A luminosity entirely distinct from the dawn sun, possessing neither chill nor warmth—a manifestation of light that defied the natural laws of this peak.

Yan Bilyeong’s jaw dropped completely of its own accord.

“…I thought the conflict had concluded?”

Dong Bongsu re-established his grip upon his weapon.

“It appears the conclusion has been deferred.”