Chapter 226: Holding One’s Breath, Gritting One’s Teeth (1)

There is no such thing as a fight for the world's sake, only the fight for oneself.

People cloak their desires in the name of a greater cause, and live out their lives deceiving themselves.

Whether hundreds or thousands perish, the rulers of the jianghu never bat an eye, drunk as they are on their own sense of justice.

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Glaring daggers at Jin Mu-Won, Jae Hyuk-Shim unleashed a killing intent so raw and unrestrained that a weaker man would have suffocated. Although he had grown fat over the past ten years and was no longer agile, his formidable presence hadn't waned. The sheer force of his killing intent alone dominated an area of over eleven meters.

Go Jeon-Wol and the Iron Blood Brigade eyed Jae Hyuk-Shim warily, too afraid to even breathe loudly.

In contrast, Jin Mu-Won, the target of that intense killing intent, appeared relaxed and unperturbed. His careless manner, like a man out for a stroll, made him look out of place in the tense situation.

Jae Hyuk-Shim's eyebrow twitched. "Are you trying to provoke me, you bastard?"

"Does it look like I'm provoking you?"

"Your tongue's grown quite sharp since I last saw you. I'm Jae Hyuk-Shim. Even your father didn't dare speak so recklessly in front of me."

"It seems you're still living in the past, Uncle."

"How dare you!"

"My father respected you, Uncle. I don't think I need to do the same, though. Respect is reserved for those who deserve it."

"Are you saying I'm not worthy of your respect? Me?"

Jae Hyuk-Shim's killing intent flared up. Everyone caught in it felt their breath catch and hastily fell back.

Jin Mu-Won was the only person who didn't budge. Instead, pity filled his eyes.

Jae Hyuk-Shim's presence was indeed still powerful, even after more than a decade of decadence. However, it was a far cry from the man he remembered.

"I thought you would have become a much greater martial artist by now, Uncle. You were more ambitious than anyone else, and you had the martial prowess to match. That's why, in a way, I understood the choice you made."

The Jae Hyuk-Shim he remembered had the eyes of a caged tiger. That fierce gaze, hungry for freedom and prey, had been carved deep into the young Jin Mu-Won's heart. However, the look in Jae Hyuk-Shim's eyes now fell far short of the ferocity and savagery of ten years past.

"What do you know about me? You're just spouting nonsense. A little brat who did nothing but sit back and inherit his father's legacy."

Jae Hyuk-Shim's aura swelled explosively. As he called up the Supreme Iron-Blood Aura once more, a red current of energy coiled around his body.

The Supreme Iron-Blood Aura was a high-level external art that he had created himself. To perfect it, he mastered dozens of other external arts, distilling only their finest essences. As a result, the Supreme Iron-Blood Aura boasted tremendous destructive power.

He advanced on Jin Mu-Won with heavy footsteps. Fixing his eyes on the younger man, he conveyed nothing but killing intent.

ROAAAAAR!

A whirlwind of destructive enhanced qi raged around his body. Everything the qi touched was ripped apart, whether it was the dazzling garden or its rare, exotic blooms.

Unable to withstand Jae Hyuk-Shim's aura, Go Jeon-Wol and the martial artists of the Iron Blood Brigade retreated another ten meters.

Jin Mu-Won looked at the broken branches and petals tumbling chaotically at his feet. Picking up a long branch, he ran his hand down it, removing all the twigs and leaves until only a smooth, sword-like stick remained.

A faint smile touched his lips as he swung the branch casually. The feel pleased him.

Finally, he leveled the branch at Jae Hyuk-Shim.

"Do you really think you can stop me with a twig like that?"

"Shall we find out?"

"Your arrogance pierces the heavens. I'll tear you limb from limb."

At long last, Jae Hyuk-Shim's fury boiled over. The Supreme Iron-Blood Aura swirling around him gathered into a red spear, then hurtled toward Jin Mu-Won.

SHWAAAK!

Jin Mu-Won took a step to the side, letting the spear graze past his ear by a hair's breadth. Several strands of hair, caught in the enhanced qi, turned to dust and vanished on the spot, and his left cheek flushed red. Still, his composure did not waver.

WHOOOSH!

Jae Hyuk-Shim launched his enhanced qi at Jin Mu-Won again. This time, he used the Iron-Blooded Mad Dragon Slash, the Supreme Iron-Blood Aura's ultimate technique.

Red qi seemed to soar toward the heavens before plunging down at Jin Mu-Won's head.

A smile crept onto Jae Hyuk-Shim's lips. The Supreme Iron-Blood Aura dominated a radius of nine meters around himself. No matter how hard Jin Mu-Won tried, the Iron-Blooded Mad Dragon Slash was almost impossible to evade.

"Disappear! Disappear without a trace, as if you never existed in this world."

KABOOM!

A deafening roar shook heaven and earth, sending dust and petals scattering as the Iron-Blooded Mad Dragon Slash slammed into Jin Mu-Won. A powerful shockwave blasted out in every direction, containing enough power to pulverize a boulder the size of a house.

However, Jae Hyuk-Shim, the man who had unleashed it, grimaced as if he had just chewed on filth.

There's no feedback.

Had the attack landed, he should have felt the force of the impact, but bot a shred of sensation traveled back to him.

He immediately spread out his senses, hunting for Jin Mu-Won's whereabouts, but nowhere could he feel the man's presence.

For the first time, bewilderment crossed his face. This had never happened before.

"Just as I thought," Jin Mu-Won remarked, emerging from within the thick dust cloud. Not a single wound marred his body.

"You?" Jae Hyuk-Shim scowled hideously.

Jin Mu-Won observed his opponent critically. "When was the last time you had a real fight? Ten years ago? No, I rarely saw you fight even at the Northern Army Fortress, so it must have been earlier than that."

"What are you trying to say?"

"You no longer have the body of a martial artist, Uncle. Not only have you gone soft around the waist, your senses have dulled as well. You certainly have a lot of inner qi, but you've forgotten how to wield it properly."

"Are you lecturing me?"

"I'm just stating facts."

"I'll rip that mouth of yours clean off! Take this!"

The ultimate form of the Supreme Iron-Blood Aura, the Invincible Iron-Blood Aura, burst forth from Jae Hyuk-Shim's body.

ROAAAR!

A dozen streams of enhanced qi shot toward Jin Mu-Won. Some flew in curves and others in straight lines. Some were fast, while others were slow. Together, they surrounded Jin Mu-Won completely.

Even a peak-level master would often be drained by the energy required to release a single blast of enhanced qi. However, befitting a master who had reached the pinnacle, Jae Hyuk-Shim commanded enough energy to launch dozens of enhanced qi blasts at once.

Despite his nearly limitless inner qi, though, achieving such precise control was nearly impossible. Only Jae Hyuk-Shim could manage this attack, as he had studied inner arts for a long time.

Unfortunately for him, unlike everyone else, who were intimidated by the overwhelming power, Jin Mu-Won thought differently.

I understand now. Uncle Jae is a coward. He's scared of getting hurt, so he protects his body with defensive enhanced qi and attacks from a distance with offensive enhanced qi.

Not everyone who specialized in inner arts was like that. In fact, a more combative man would likely delve into inner arts that maximized destructive power.

Jae Hyuk-Shim's case was similar yet different. His inner arts emphasized self-protection over destroying his opponent.

To others, it might have looked like any other inner art, but Jin Mu-Won could plainly see the intended flow of energy. The way he manipulated his energy and struck from a distance made it obvious.

Jin Mu-Won tightened his grip on the branch and began to advance. Each footstep he took exuded a sense of ease and grace. He strolled so serenely that anyone who didn't know better might have taken him for a man out on a leisurely walk.

CRASH!

And yet, the enhanced qi attacks fell just short of reaching him. The ground churned under their impact, and thick dust rose to obscure the view.

Jin Mu-Won walked through it all without so much as a flicker of concern.

KABOOM!

A rain of enhanced qi descended, but not a single bolt touched Jin Mu-Won. It was as if the enhanced qi itself were dodging him.

Jin Mu-Won's Flowing Stream Steps had reached a new level. Rather than water raging violently through a valley, his steps were now as tranquil as a current that had passed through the river and merged into the sea.

At first glance, he seemed not to move at all, yet within that stillness lay countless imperceptible motions. They simply weren't visible on the surface.

"Gah!"

Seeing Jin Mu-Won close in and shrug off the attacks so effortlessly, Jae Hyuk-Shim gritted his teeth and struck again. Nevertheless, not a single blow could so much as brush the hem of Jin Mu-Won's clothes.

The sight dredged up a nightmare he had sealed away deep in his heart.

It's the same again. Just like him...

The one who had branded his heart, leaving an indelible mark.

The one who first made him taste despair, back when he had just left the Northern Army and feared nothing.

That mocking voice still echoed vividly in his ears.

"I took you for an imoogi, but it seems you were nothing more than a slightly oversized snake."

After that day, he abandoned his grand ambitions and settled here at the Ironblood Fortress, where he built his own little kingdom. This was the only place where he found peace of mind. For this reason, he never ventured out into the world again.

Now, he saw the image of the man who had marked him so deeply in Jin Mu-Won. Though their martial arts and faces were different, the two men overlapped strangely.

For one, their relaxed air and gaze, which seemed to look down on the whole world, were so similar that they sent a chill down his spine. A frantic sense of crisis assaulted his entire body.

"YAAAAAH!"

Jae Hyuk-Shim unleashed his enhanced qi wildly, but Jin Mu-Won continued to slip through the rain of attacks with ease. In just a few steps, he closed the distance.

Suddenly, Jae Hyuk-Shim made eye contact with Jin Mu-Won. The young man's pupils were pitch black and indifferent. Although they appeared calm at first glance, he glimpsed a hint of a savage storm lurking within that profound gaze.

The instant the storm stirred, goose bumps rose all over his body.

"Keuk!"

He scrambled backward.

Jin Mu-Won thrust the branch at his throat.

The frightening sight burned itself into his eyes.

The strike was slower than he'd expected. Jae Hyuk-Shim thought he could dodge it. He felt that a single step to the side would carry him clear of the branch and allow him to counterattack.

However, that was only in his head. For some reason, his body stiffened. Moving was difficult, as if his entire body were submerged in quicksand.

Move! Please, move!

Jae Hyuk-Shim's eyes and mind registered Jin Mu-Won's sword closing in, but his body betrayed his will.

The instant Jin Mu-Won's outstretched blade filled his vision, an excruciating pain shot between his brows.

PWAAAK!

A spray of blood shot into the air, and he felt himself hurled backward as if struck by lightning.

Go Jeon-Wol and the Iron Blood Brigade witnessed the entire scene with unnatural clarity. Their other senses seemed paralyzed, but their vision remained normal. The image of Jae Hyuk-Shim's fall was seared into their minds.

THUD!

The dream ended when Jae Hyuk-Shim's massive frame slammed to the ground. Time began to flow steadily again, and their senses returned to normal. Disbelief spread across their faces.

"What in the world...?"

"What just happened...?"

The scene was so shocking that the strength drained from their bodies, and they could no longer stand. They felt as though they had witnessed something they were never meant to see.

Jae Hyuk-Shim was convulsing like a dying insect. The legend they had looked up to and followed was crumbling before their eyes, dealing a heavy blow to their hearts.

Jin Mu-Won tossed the branch aside and approached Jae Hyuk-Shim, who barely managed to lift his head and look up at him.

There was no life left in Jae Hyuk-Shim's face. There was only a small gash between his brows, but the immense shockwave had reduced his brain to mush.

"Kehehe! You... are like... him... so be careful... I regret..."

Jae Hyuk-Shim's voice faded away.

With that, yet another pillar of the Northern Army had fallen. One old legend had ended, and a new one was beginning.

Go Jeon-Wol's body trembled with emotion as he dropped to one knee. "Martial Artist Go Jeon-Wol greets the Lord of the Northern Army."

The other warriors prostrated themselves alongside Go Jeon-Wol.

""We greet the Lord!""