Chapter 232. Within Ten Paces, You’ll Find A Fragrant Flower (3)

If Xiao Wu was a good opponent for Ra Mi, Da Wu was the worst opponent for Ma-Ra. Fortunately, she was stronger than the average Absolute Master, somewhat offsetting the disadvantage.

The second of the Ten Swords of the North Sea just barely avoided his opponent’s attack and countered.

Clang!

The opponent, who had blocked the attack in a hurry, backed away, revealing a large opening. However, the Second Sword also had to deal with the rebound force, preventing him from chasing after and delivering a finishing blow.

‘Damn it!’

As he cursed inwardly in regret, a white palm force that seemed to fly in from out of nowhere struck his opponent’s chest.

“Ugh!”

The enemy hit by the Divine Frozen Soul Palm let out a single scream and froze to death.

As the Second Sword quickly looked over at where the Divine Frozen Soul Palm had come from, Yeo-Seol nodded slightly at him before moving to another area to help out.

‘You’ve learned to see the big picture, not only fighting your own fight but aiding others in theirs.’

The Second Sword was impressed as Yeo-Seol fought hard together with Eun-Ah, who was firmly protecting her.

Huff.

Eun-Ah, who had been fighting excitedly, suddenly looked at Yeo-Seol and lowered her head.

“Huh? What is it?”

Eun-Ah gestured to Yeo-Seol with her gaze before looking at her own back.

“Get on? You want me to get on?”

Huff!

Yeo-Seol nodded.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Yeo-Seol kicked the ground with her feet and quickly climbed on top of Eun-Ah.

Growl!!

Among Woo-Moon’s women, Yeo-Seol was the weakest. That was why Eun-Ah had personally stepped forward to protect her. However, it was much easier to move around with the girl on her back like this.

Meanwhile, as Yeo-Seol was using the Divine Frozen Soul Palm, which allowed her to attack from a distance, she was able to fight just as well while riding Eun-Ah. In fact, fighting like that reduced the burden on her, allowing her to not focus on protecting herself to a certain extent, making things easier.

Eun-Ah leaped high into the sky and landed on top of the gathered enemies, crushing many of them and relentlessly stomping down any who survived with her massive front paws.

Yeo-Seol also picked out those who hadn’t taken much damage or survived Eun-Ah’s attacks and finished them off with the Divine Frozen Soul Palm.

Currently, Woo-Moon’s side, with the Heavenly Demon Cult as the primary force, had one Paragon and ten Absolute Masters.

Si-Hyeon was their sole Paragon, and their ten Absolute Masters were the Otherworldly Ice Fairy Ah Hee, the Death God Ma-Ra, Ra Mi, the Kunlun Sect’s First Immortal Jin Won-Myeong, the Dark Soul Squadron Captain, the Light and Darkness Battalion Leader, the Sword Demon Cabinet Leader, the Saber Demon Cabinet Leader, the Heavenly Demon Black Martial Captain, and Eun-Ah, who, while not a human, possessed Absolute-level strength.

Since there were a considerable number of Absolute Masters among the Martial Heaven forces sent by the Martial Heaven Emperor, the ten Absolute Masters were scattered as they fought their opponents.

The battles going on grew more and more intense, and interestingly enough, the battle closest to determining a winner was the one between the Great Justice Palace Master and Si-Hyeon.

***

Dozens of sharp rays of light rained down, filling the sky.

The only technique used by the Martial Heaven Emperor, the Star Shattering Light Aura, was a Transcendent Aura Art that shaped aura into light.

One ray of Star Shattering Light Aura could be dealt with, unless it was a surprise attack. However, the Martial Heaven Emperor did not limit himself to a single ray, and neither did he attack in any discernible pattern. Even as a fellow Zenith Master, Woo-Moon found it incredibly difficult to deal with.

The winds surrounding Woo-Moon gathered together against the dozen rays of light, fiercely spinning around with him at the center, distorting, scattering, and annihilating the rays of light.

Then, Woo-Moon unleashed Heavy Rain. The sky above him and the Martial Heaven Emperor suddenly grew covered in thick dark clouds, and raindrops struck the Martial Heaven Emperor directly.

Of course, all of the raindrops were imbued with Woo-Moon’s aura.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

An unimaginable roar rang out as the raindrops splashed on the Martial Heaven Emperor’s defensive qi one after another.

However, his defensive qi barrier was unshaken.

Crack!!

A flash of light appeared between the clouds, and lightning struck the Martial Heaven Emperor.

Of course, this was no ordinary lightning. Just like the rain, it was also loaded with Woo-Moon’s aura!

While regular lightning was already incredibly powerful, this was far more so.

A stream of lightning flowered through the Martial Heaven Emperor’s slightly thinned defensive qi barrier, which had weakened after the barrage of rain, and landed a square hit.

Crackle!

The Martial Heaven Emperor’s entire body lit up.

“Oho! How fun. This tingling sensation is quite stimulating. This is my first time experiencing something like this.”

The Martial Heaven Emperor’s eyes, which had previously looked dead, suddenly came to life, and he resorted to using actual words rather than mental transmission to express his unusually excited mood.

Woo-Moon’s expression was distorted.

“You crazy bastard. All of you Martial Heaven bastards are insane.”

The Martial Heaven Emperor flew toward Woo-Moon with some of the lightning still wrapped around his body, flickering brightly. He repeatedly flicked his fingers.

Crackle!

The Star Shattering Light Aura that he shot out moved like a snake.

Woo-Moon responded in kind with the Impenetrable Iron Wall.

A thick, golden wall appeared in front of him, blocking the Martial Heaven Emperor’s Star Shattering Light Aura.

The lightning qi flowed through the Impenetrable Iron Wall and struck Woo-Moon. However, since it was originally Woo-Moon’s qi anyway, it was easily absorbed into his body and even restored a small amount of his qi.

Bang!

The outer wall of the Impenetrable Iron Wall was torn apart, and the explosive power of the Star Shattering Light Aura exploded through the Impenetrable Iron Wall from the inside.

However, since the Impenetrable Iron Wall was a powerful defensive technique used with full intent, unlike the default defensive qi on the surface of a cultivator’s skin, the Star Shattering Light Aura only managed to destroy only half of the Impenetrable Iron Wall before disappearing.

In the meantime, the distance between Woo-Moon and the Martial Heaven Emperor had decreased by half, and they continued to get closer and closer while exchanging blows.

They both had long-range attacks, but at the same time, they both preferred to fight from up close so that they could land a critical strike whenever.

“Light Surface.”

The Star Shattering Light Aura created by the Martial Heaven Emperor spread out long and thin, in a fan-like shape.

‘North Wind...!’

A sharp gust of wind emerged from the tip of Woo-Moon’s sword.

Unlike Light Surface, which flew at him horizontally, Woo-Moon’s North Wind flew forward vertically.

Even though they were still some distance away from each other, their attacks struck each other almost instantly, forming a light cross in the air. Then, they seemed to sever through each other, and their halves continued on their trajectory.

No, actually, they didn’t sever each other. Rather, the parts that collided canceled each other out. And since the aura on both sides was equally strong, Light Surface and North Wind were both torn exactly in half.

Woo-Moon took control of the severed North Wind. The two halves of the technique split in two directions at the speed of light, one aiming for the Martial Heaven Emperor’s neck and the other for his waist.

Swish!

The Martial Heaven Emperor’s figure flickered, dodging the two halves of North Wind. he then controlled his two halves of Light Surface to attack Woo-Moon in turn.

Swish! Woosh!

Various slashing sounds filled the air; the two continuously avoided their opponent’s attacks while using their own two halves of a technique as swords to attack the opponent.

The one to break the standoff was the Martial Heaven Emperor.

“Light Pillar.”

A pillar of light suddenly appeared where Woo-Moon had been just a fraction of a second before. The pillar stretched from the ground all the way to the sky, seemingly with no end.

The Martial Heaven Emperor looked at where Woo-Moon had just appeared.

Crack.

The pillar of light split into millions of pieces, taking on the shape of triangles flying toward Woo-Moon, tail to tail. The fragments of Star Shattering Light Aura surged in like a tidal wave.

Woo-Moon chose not to run away but rather to rush toward the Martial Heaven Emperor.

As he flew quickly, the wind rose behind him, creating a typhoon, supporting him and helping him fly even faster.

Woo-Moon raised his sword, and a thick, golden sword aura appeared on Golden Dragon.

Woosh!

Golden sparks rose from the surrounding area and were sucked into Woo-Moon’s golden sword aura, imbuing it with strength.

Woo-Moon’s sword aura grew bigger and bigger!

Eventually, it grew to the same size as the Light Pillar that the Martial Heaven Emperor had created.

Boom!

Woo-Moon swung his golden sword aura and struck the Martial Heaven Emperor.

An indescribable explosion rang out, and the Martial Heaven Emperor staggered slightly in the air. However, he stretched his hand out toward Woo-Moon as if nothing had happened.

To Woo-Moon, it was as if the Martial Heaven Emperor’s hand was the hand of the heavens, so large that he could neither run nor hide.

“W-what...?”

As he couldn’t move, the fragments of Star Shattering Light Aura that were chasing him pierced his back.

“Ugh!”

Blood gushed out from Woo-Moon’s mouth.

He had suffered an incredibly massive internal injury. However, the extraordinary resilience of a Zenith Master was on full display, and his internal wounds were instantly healed.

Moreover, since he had put a lot of effort into maintaining his defensive qi barrier, the fragments of Star Shattering Light Aura did not cause as much damage as they would have otherwise..

Then the Martial Heaven Emperor raised his other hand and extended it toward Woo-Moon.

It was a very small, very delicate hand.

How could that white, slender hand, which looked as delicate as a princess’s, be so scary?

Another Star Shattering Light Aura condensed again.

‘How, how does he still...?!’

He was just too strong.

Even after raining down so many attacks upon Woo-Moon, the Martial Heaven Emperor was still attacking with a powerful, seemingly endless qi!

Woo-Moon gritted his teeth and poured all of his qi into his techniques. However, no matter how much qi he squeezed out, it fell far short in front of his opponent’s aura.

Unprecedented, infinite... that was the Martial Heaven Emperor’s energy.

“AGH!!!!”

Even though he had poured all of his qi into it, Woo-Moon was thrown backward, unable to block the Martial Heaven Emperor’s attack. He was able to use the last of his qi to guard his body, preventing it from being torn to shreds, but that was indeed the last bit of qi, and using it up left him completely drained.

Woo-Moon closed his eyes tightly, thinking that he had lost. He resented himself for not being able to fight the Martial Heaven Emperor properly despite having reached the same level.

‘Damn it! I don’t have any qi left... left?’

As this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly shivered.

‘I really am a fucking idiot. To think I forgot the enlightenment that led me to the Zenith realm!’

He was empty, completely drained.

But what was emptiness, and what was fullness?

What was the point of such a distinction? Being empty meant being full, being full meant being empty.

Woo-Moon’s gaze seemed to come back to life. He smiled faintly and swung his sword at the Martial Heaven Emperor.

Swish!!!

With a sharp roar, an unprecedented qi exploded outward, incomparable to the Martial Heaven Emperor’s!

‘There’s no limit to my qi. My vessel is completely emptied, so I can pour out infinite power at any time.’

Clang!

A sharp sound rang out as the Martial Heaven Emperor and Woo-Moon exchanged blows and retreated an equal distance.

“Impressive.”

A faint smile also appeared on the Martial Heaven Emperor’s face.

Clang, clang, clang!

The two clashed and separated without rest. As if someone was setting off firecrackers in the air, blasts of qi exploded here and there.

At that moment, an Absolute Master and a girl arrived on the ground.

“F-Father!”

Princess Mok Yong’s shriek reached Woo-Moon and the Martial Heaven Emperor. She screamed as she looked at her father hanging from the end of a pillar in a miserable state. She had heard of the disaster at the imperial palace, so she had an idea of what to expect. Yet even so, when she saw her father like that, she immediately fainted.

The Saber Emperor, who was guarding her, caught her and made sure she was fine, imbuing her with qi so that she wouldn’t get hurt.

“Ho ho, is that a princess?”

The Martial Heaven Emperor stretched out a hand.

Zzt!

To him, it was a nonchalant move, nothing more than swatting a pesky fly. But to those below, it was as if the sword of a god of death was descending upon them.

“Don’t look away from me, Martial Heaven Emperor!”

Woo-Moon’s Lightflash split the heavens and annihilated the finger aura flying toward the two people on the ground.