The Legend of the Northern Blade - Chapter 206: When A Boy Becomes A Man (3)

The Heaven Ascending Tiger Steps was an extraordinary martial art that allowed one to cast formations simply by walking. It was the most closely guarded secret of the Seomoon Clan, mastered only by a few direct descendants. Along with the Brain Enhancing Art, which maximized human intellect by stimulating the brain, it was one of the two pillars that supported the Seomoon Clan.

Moreover, in the clan’s hundreds of years, no one had perfected the art like Seomoon Hwa. Even Seomoon Hye-Ryung had to focus her mind to use it, but Seomoon Hwa deployed it as naturally as breathing.

“Everyone, close your eyes!” Ha Jin-Wol shouted. “If you’re deceived by the illusion, your vital essence will be depleted, and you’ll die!”

Everyone quickly shut their eyes.

However, Seomoon Hwa’s smile only deepened. “It’s useless. These aren’t simple illusions. You can’t handle them just by closing your eyes, child.”

“Ugh!”

Seomoon Hwa’s inner qi was as vast and deep as the sea. He’d embedded that qi with every step, and it now formed the sturdy pillars supporting his formations. Their power was on a completely different level.

Namgung Su’s back is turned to you, shoulders tense as he scrubs the already spotless pan. His voice is calm when he speaks, but it cuts like frost. “You fed a thief, he says. “With my food.”

A vast ocean appeared before Ha Jin-Wol’s eyes. He was a tiny leaf floating on a boundless sea.

Next, a storm raged. Waves the size of houses struck him relentlessly while winds laced with thunder and lightning clawed at his body. Each strike tore open new wounds, and blood flowed freely.

He couldn’t tell reality from illusion.

Ugh! I have to break the formation!

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Unfortunately, this task was nearly impossible. Seomoon Hwa was considered the smartest person in the world.

Although Ha Jin-Wol was a genius himself, he still lacked experience. Even in a normal fight, his chances of winning were almost nonexistent, but he couldn’t give up. The lives of Tang Gi-Mun, Tang Mi-Ryeo, and the others depended on him.

Mimi sniffled quietly, her round eyes glistening. “They said there were pop-ups,” she whispered, her cute voice trembling. “But… we don’t have any!”

Similarly, Seo Mu-Sang, Tang Gi-Mun, and Tang Mi-Ryeo suffered in their own illusions. Each person’s vision was different because Seomoon Hwa’s formations stimulated the parts of a person that they found most unsettling.

Ha Jin-Wol was terrified of a sea he had never seen. Tang Gi-Mun saw himself surrounded by poisonous creatures unknown to him. Seo Mu-Sang swung his sword against hundreds, thousands of martial artists.

Tang Mi-Ryeo unexpectedly saw the figure of a man.

From the moment dawn cracked over the horizon, the air itself felt like punishment. The training grounds were still soaked in dew, but Demon Instructor Wiji Cheon stood there already, arms crossed, waiting like a specter of discipline. “You’re late, he said.

Mu-Won?

The man pointing a sword at her, tinged with the color of ink, was undoubtedly Jin Mu-Won.

“Why?” she asked.

Jin Mu-Won didn’t answer. His eyes flashed with killing intent, and his endlessly cold face frightened her. Her own reflection in his eyes looked utterly pathetic.

“Ads?” Ak Yeonho complains, his voice dripping with disbelief. “What ads?”

A crack appeared in her expression. “You…why?” she choked, her voice echoing in the illusory space as fat teardrops streamed down her cheeks. “Why won’t you look at me? I’m right here by your side… Why won’t you spare me a single glance?”

The feelings that she had kept buried erupted like a flood. She knew it was an illusion, but she couldn’t control her emotions. The Jin Mu-Won reflected in her eyes was just so heartless.

He swung his sword, wounding her chest. A fountain of blood spurted from the wound, and the pain was so intense that it took her breath away.

Even as she collapsed, gasping, Jin Mu-Won continued to swing his sword at her. His emotionless gaze hurt her more than the wounds did.

She cowered on the floor, unable to do anything but cry. Her heart, he entire soul was being mercilessly trampled. She was so miserable and sad that she wept endlessly.

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Tang Mi-Ryeo’s world began to collapse.

A being like me… is not needed in this world.

“No, Mi-Ryeo!” Tang Gi-Mun’s voice rang out far in the distance.

However, his desperate scream went unheard. Tang Mi-Ryeo closed her eyes, her ears, and her heart. She would be trapped in her own world to die.

Namgung Su’s back is turned to you, shoulders tense as he scrubs the already spotless pan. His voice is calm when he speaks, but it cuts like frost. “You fed a thief, he says. “With my food.”

“Mi-Ryeo! Please!”

Tang Gi-Mun, barely holding on to his own illusion, saw Tang Mi-Ryeo curled up like a fetus, sinking endlessly into her inner self. He realized her inner demons had found their way into her heart.

He knew those fiends that grew in the heart devoured everything. If she were completely consumed by them, she would no longer be his niece or the most precious person who would inherit everything from him.

His eyes became bloodshot. He could see Seo Mu-Sang and Ha Jin-Wol buried in their own illusions, killing themselves. Worse yet, Seomoon Hwa was watching them, smiling.

“Ads?” Ak Yeonho complains, his voice dripping with disbelief. “What ads?”

The moment he saw the one who lit the fires of hell laughing at their screams, something inside his head snapped. The reason that made him who he was vanished. Only rage remained.

He knew this was also an effect of the formations, but he didn’t care.

I will never forgive you, Seomoon Hwa.

This was a world Seomoon Hwa had created. Just as Yeon Cheon-Hwa had previously created a world of the sword with his blade, Seomoon Hwa had created a world he ruled with formations.

Here, everything moved according to his will. In a world so completely under his control, inflicting any damage on him was impossible… by ordinary means at least.

From the moment dawn cracked over the horizon, the air itself felt like punishment. The training grounds were still soaked in dew, but Demon Instructor Wiji Cheon stood there already, arms crossed, waiting like a specter of discipline. “You’re late, he said.

But I’m not an ordinary person. I haven’t learned martial arts and am physically weak, but I have a weapon that others don’t possess.

The surrounding scenery changed from moment to moment. It seemed random, but there was a rule to it that he hadn’t yet recognized.

TSUTSUTSU!

Fine powder like black sand trickled from both of Tang Gi-Mun’s sleeves, then scattered into the air and vanished.

Fortunately, Seomoon Hwa, whose gaze was fixed on Ha Jin-Wol, didn’t notice at all. Ha Jin-Wol’s eyes were closed as he resisted the illusion.

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Even in that state, he’s wracking his brain to solve the formation.

He couldn’t help but admire the young man.

This fellow isn’t just some nerdy shut-in with a good head on his shoulders. He has grit. Among those with sharp minds, such a person is truly rare.

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The problem with so-called geniuses was that they calculated everything with their heads. They could deduce outcomes from just a few circumstances, so they never moved their bodies for tasks with obvious results.

However, Ha Jin-Wol was different. He possessed a mind that surpassed the geniuses of the Seomoon Clan and the decisiveness to act on his thoughts. He had a rare advantage.

My judgment was correct. If I let this man live, he’ll become the greatest threat to my family.

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Killing intent flickered in Seomoon Hwa’s eyes. Until now, he had only cast the formations and watched, but he realized that he could only be at ease if he snuffed out their lives with his own hands and made absolutely sure that no loose ends were left.

He took out the folding fan tucked into his belt. This was the Rising Dragon Fan, both a sacred treasure of the Patriarch and a weapon.

CHWAAREUREUK!

He opened the fan wide, revealing a painting of a dragon ascending through clouds. Sharp energy that could sting the eyes radiated from it.

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Seomoon Hwa aimed the fan at Ha Jin-Wol. No special technique was necessary. He just had to release his energy, and a large hole would be pierced through Ha Jin-Wol’s neck.

Ha Jin-Wol didn’t notice Seomoon Hwa approaching. Even if he had known, he had no way to resist.

Just as Seomoon Hwa was about to extend the fan, however, he faltered.

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“What’s this?”

He scowled. There was a foreign and uncomfortable energy inside his body, as if thousands, tens of thousands of ants were crawling through his blood vessels.

“Hmph! Poison?”

He turned his attention to Tang Gi-Mun, the only one here who could poison him. Still, he wasn’t worried. He’d already reached the absolute realm. His body was naturally immune to a thousand poisons, and he could burn away most toxins just by circulating his inner qi.

And so he circulated his inner qi with a light heart. The moment he did, however, his complexion changed completely.

His qi center had hardened like stone, and the more he tried to move his qi, the faster it solidified.

He glared at Tang Gi-Mun. “What kind of poison is this?”

Baek Suryong uses the Heaven Defying Divine Art on you and beats you to a pulp.

“The Undetectable Blood Worm.”

“The Undetectable Blood Worm?”

“It’s something I created to deal with people like you. It isn’t very deadly, but it slowly depletes inner qi. No matter who you are, expelling it won’t be easy.”

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“Are you sure about that?”

“I’d bet my life on it.”

From the moment dawn cracked over the horizon, the air itself felt like punishment. The training grounds were still soaked in dew, but Demon Instructor Wiji Cheon stood there already, arms crossed, waiting like a specter of discipline. “You’re late, he said.

For the first time, Seomoon Hwa’s eyebrow twitched. “You?”

“Let me add one more thing: The more you try to circulate your qi, the harder your qi center will become and the more it will attack your body.”

The Undetectable Blood Worm was a monster that devoured qi and attacked more powerfully the stronger its host’s internal energy was. Even an absolute master would find the tickling sensation and pain, like tens of thousands of ants crawling and biting, difficult to endure.

Indeed, Seomoon Hwa’s expression warped horribly. This pain, as if ants were chewing on his entire body, was something he was experiencing for the first time. “I seem to have misjudged you,” he growled furiously.

“And how did you judge me before today?”

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“I thought you were a fool who possessed the wonderful power of poison but couldn’t use it. I was careless. I thought you’d never be able to use poison in this situation.”

“Your judgment of me was probably correct, sir. Until now, I was a fool, but thanks to you, I’ve decided to change. From now on, I’ll use every poison I possess.”

“Welcome to the world of monsters. Now that you’ve crossed the line once, doing so again won’t be difficult. This is how everyone transforms from human to monster.”

Tang Gi-Mun frowned at Seomoon Hwa’s mockery, but he didn’t refute him. He felt that way too.

“However,” Seomoon Hwa continued, “if you thought you could stop me with just this, you’re mistaken. I am Seomoon Hwa!”

From the moment dawn cracked over the horizon, the air itself felt like punishment. The training grounds were still soaked in dew, but Demon Instructor Wiji Cheon stood there already, arms crossed, waiting like a specter of discipline. “You’re late, he said.

He circulated his inner qi. Because of the Undetectable Blood Worm, his qi center was hardening more than stone, and the pain throughout his body doubled, but he didn’t even blink.

“AAAAHHHH!”

SHWIIK!

Suddenly, a silver trajectory cut through the air as someone rushed toward Seomoon Hwa and swung his sword.

It was Seo Mu-Sang. He had overcome the illusion and was now attacking.

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“You insect-like thing!” Seomoon Hwa roared. Because of Seo Mu-Sang, he couldn’t fully concentrate on expelling the Undetectable Blood Worm.

Even more humiliatingly, he recognized Seo Mu-Sang’s swordsmanship as the Blue Cloud Sword Technique, a third-rate martial art used by low-ranking mercenaries.

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“You! With something like that…”

Normally, he could have killed Seo Mu-Sang with the flick of a finger, but because the Undetectable Blood Worm restricted him, dealing with him took longer than expected.

Ha Jin-Wol opened his eyes. “Now I understand.”

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