Chapter 45: Absolute Realm
Within a time that felt almost as if it had stopped—
Only consciousness and internal energy flowed at their natural pace.
Jang Woo-hyun focused his awareness and began to move the Qi inside his body.
The energy he had been exhaling outward was now drawn together and sent toward the Upper Dantian.
The Baihui Acupoint opened wide once more.
All of his internal energy shot upward toward the sky, as if a dragon were ascending to the heavens.
He poured out every drop of Qi, to the point that his Dantian felt completely hollow.
An enormous amount of internal energy that had been accumulated quickly hit bottom, but it didn't matter.
After all, who was Jang Woo-hyun? He was someone gifted with the ability to absorb all the surrounding Qi with a single breath.
He inhaled.
Since the flow of time hadn’t yet returned, naturally, the surrounding Qi did not move either.
He simply had the thought of breathing.
As the internal energy gathered in his Dantian ran dry and he longed to breathe again, the frozen flow of time gradually began to accelerate.
With a single breath, all the surrounding Qi surged toward Jang Woo-hyun.
Whoooooosh!
Once again, the Qi gathered in his Dantian surged upward toward the Upper Dantian.
Boom!
With a sound, all the blocked meridians in his head burst open and connected.
At that moment, Jang Woo-hyun’s body rose into the air.
At the same time, all the martial arts he had known and learned were restructured.
Tiger Form Sword, Silent Night Three Swords, Three Wheels Sword Art, Single-Heart Sword, Six-Legged Horse King's Step, Demon Vanquishing Fist, Tang Ga-ryang’s martial arts, Heaven-Earth Yin-Yang Twin Hands, and finally, the Heaven-Dominating Divine Armor.
‘So this is why I couldn’t use it before?’
Even the Heaven-Dominating Divine Armor, which he hadn’t fully understood, now made perfect sense. It felt like he could finally use it.
He clenched his swordless fists.
Kwaaaang!
As he did, a tremendous wave of Qi spread out from Jang Woo-hyun.
* * *
Gi Il-gwang, who had been walking toward the airborne Jang Woo-hyun, suddenly saw an immense burst of energy erupt from him.
‘Was he hiding one last move?’
Though the level wasn’t that of a typical Master Level martial artist, it still wasn’t enough to defeat him.
The wall between Master Level and Absolute Realm was particularly high and unyielding.
Besides, Jang Woo-hyun’s current state appeared unstable.
The suppressed power now bursting forth seemed difficult to control.
It was a state of merely increased internal energy without having crossed the wall.
“I’d be better off ending this quickly…”
But then, an enormous amount of Qi burst forth from Jang Woo-hyun’s Baihui Acupoint, and Gi Il-gwang came to a halt.
‘What’s this?’
Before he could even assess the situation, all the surrounding Qi was being sucked toward Jang Woo-hyun.
Kwaaaang!
What followed was an explosive roar and a rushing wave of Qi.
Kwa-duduk! Kwa-gwak! Kwa-gwang!
Trees around him cracked and shattered under the pressure of the energy radiating from Jang Woo-hyun.
“No way…”
Though it had felt like a long time to Jang Woo-hyun, the actual time that had passed was no longer than a single breath.
As the shattered trees and clouds of dirt thrown up by the Qi wave obscured his vision, Gi Il-gwang waved his hand.
In an instant, the dust cleared, and he saw Jang Woo-hyun floating in mid-air.
He was stepping down slowly, as if descending an invisible staircase.
“Airwalking…”
The name of the divine technique Jang Woo-hyun was displaying slipped from Gi Il-gwang’s lips.
The literal art of walking through the air as if it were solid ground. And Jang Woo-hyun was performing it effortlessly, without exertion.
“Ha… Hahahahaha!”
Landing on the ground, Jang Woo-hyun laughed.
“So this is it? This is the world you all were seeing?”
The world that Chul Geuk-jin and Gi Il-gwang had seen.
The world perceived by those who had reached the Absolute Realm was completely different.
He could see the vitality of all creation before him, and the flow of Qi writhing in every direction. He wouldn’t call it reading the will of Heaven, but this was not a normal human’s perspective.
The world itself appeared entirely different.
Absolute Realm.
The limit of what a human could reach.
‘I can do it all now.’
A sense of omnipotence washed over him. It felt like there was nothing he couldn’t do.
It felt as though the entire world existed for him.
Immersed in the overwhelming sensation, Jang Woo-hyun unleashed his power.
He no longer needed to worry about injuries.
He no longer needed to fear his body bursting apart.
Seven.
He unleashed the deeply suppressed power inside him—now even stronger.
Fsshhh.
As he took a step forward, the tree under his foot crumbled into powder and scattered.
Just walking caused the surrounding objects to break apart.
Eight.
Rumble…
As he had when facing Chul Geuk-jin, the Qi he released now enveloped his body.
Simply revealing his energy and walking caused winds to howl, and shattered trees to explode outward. He looked like a celestial war god draped in lightning and storm.
And finally—
Ten.
Whoooosh…
When he exerted his full strength, all the Qi that had been spreading out returned into his body, and an armor appeared upon him.
Heaven-Dominating Divine Armor.
Jang Woo-hyun unfolded the secret martial art left behind by Chul Geuk-jin.
He had thought he understood the Heaven-Dominating Divine Armor, but he had been wrong.
He had believed it was simply donning armor—but how could armor assist one’s body? It wasn’t some kind of machine.
That had been a flawed assumption.
Though named “armor,” the Heaven-Dominating Divine Armor was no different from his own body.
It wasn’t armor—it was another body entirely.
Upon reaching the Absolute Realm, he finally understood it completely.
He wasn’t wearing armor.
He saw his entire body as a Dantian and created an entirely new body atop it.
Naturally, as it was another body, it supported his original Dantian and allowed him to manifest new strength and abilities.
Only now did he truly understand the Heaven-Dominating Divine Armor, and he had finally become capable of unleashing his own martial art.
Jang Woo-hyun, surrounded by a soft, radiant glow, turned his gaze toward Gi Il-gwang.
“I’ll go now.”
His tone had changed. It wasn’t arrogance or bluff.
This was the bearing of an absolute being who looked down on everything.
As Jang Woo-hyun extended his hand behind him, the Silent Night flew into his grip from the ground.
With the sword, now only a third of its blade remaining, he swung.
Chwaaaak!
A slash unlike any before.
Originally, the Black Wolf Fang was about one jang (3 meters) in length, but now, the one flying forward was nearly five jang (15 meters).
Naturally, its power was incomparable.
Kuwaaaang!
Gi Il-gwang, who had blocked the Black Wolf Fang, was pushed back several steps.
A completely different scene from when he had effortlessly crushed it earlier with his bare hands.
As he observed, Jang Woo-hyun began to move.
He didn’t use any footwork or display any martial art. He merely thought it, and with that intent, his body moved and reacted accordingly.
With a single step, he closed a distance of over ten jang.
Then followed a thrust.
━━━━━!
An indescribable sound was heard.
Space—no, the sky—shattered.
“……”
Fortunately for Gi Il-gwang, Jang Woo-hyun’s thrust had missed him by quite a distance.
Lowering his arm, Jang Woo-hyun began moving his body around.
He had yet to fully adapt to his new level of power due to the sudden rise in realm.
While Jang Woo-hyun examined his own body, Gi Il-gwang did not strike. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the direction the tip of Jang Woo-hyun’s sword had pointed.
“……!”
His eyes landed on a familiar scene.
It was the mountain he had just crossed over to arrive at this place.
But it wasn’t the same.
The peak of the mountain had vanished due to that last attack.
As Jang Woo-hyun lifted his head, Gi Il-gwang instinctively stepped back nearly ten jang.
‘I… stepped back?’
Mad Demon of Light and Shadow.
Though not known throughout the Central Plains, it was another name the cult followers had given him.
Yet now, the very mad demon obsessed with battle had stepped back—without even being touched.
Gi Il-gwang could not accept it.
Even if Jang Woo-hyun had entered the Absolute Realm, he had only just crossed the threshold. He still didn’t believe he would lose.
As he resolved to attack, his hand, glowing white, shone even more intensely.
Raising his hand, Qi condensed along his fingers, humming with vibration.
From the tips of his fingers, Qi projected outward and formed ten swords.
He bent all ten fingers and clasped his hands together, almost like jaws closing.
Ten Fingers, Ten Demon Blades: Fanged Glutton Devouring the Heavens
Kwaduk!
Around Jang Woo-hyun, blades of Qi resembling a beast’s fangs tore through space and attacked him.
But the attack that should have torn Jang Woo-hyun apart didn’t work. Instead, the fang-like Qi swords shattered one after another. They couldn’t pierce the armor surrounding his body.
As the attack was rendered ineffective, Jang Woo-hyun moved his hand.
Another slash.
The flying Black Wolf Fang shattered, splitting into dozens of smaller slashes.
Pack of Wolf Fangs
He amplified the intent of slashing and split it into multiple, each one becoming a smaller, independent slash.
Dozens of slashes, like a flock of birds, flew toward Gi Il-gwang.
Gi Il-gwang didn’t remain idle.
He raised all of his power and unleashed his martial art at full intensity.
Fwhoooosh—
The light that had only covered his forearms now blazed upward.
The white flame-like glow climbed up his arms and intensified at his shoulders.
The growing flame of Qi—
Before long, the flame extending from his shoulders formed a pair of wings.
Demonic Art of Bare Hands: White Flame Radiant Wings
Wearing the wings of white flame, he threw a punch, destroying all of the incoming slashes.
Kwa-gwang! Bang! Kwang!
Through the explosion, Gi Il-gwang charged forward, wings of white flame spread behind him.
As he moved both arms, the now nearly one jang-long wings flapped and unleashed a barrage of Qi arrows.
Each one was on par with the sword Qi of a peak-level master.
Bang! Bang!
The earth was upturned, and the area was devastated. Dozens of massive craters opened up in front of Gi Il-gwang.
In the midst of this destruction, Jang Woo-hyun advanced. Without any defense or counterattack.
Bang! Kwa-gwang!
Qi arrows struck his body and exploded—
But all it did was slightly slow his pace. They neither stopped nor harmed him.
Unfazed, Gi Il-gwang charged at Jang Woo-hyun.
The wings of white flame moved to accelerate him.
Woooom.
He clenched his fists, gathering his energy.
Then, closing the gap, he struck.
His right fist with the back of the hand facing the sky, and the left facing the ground—
Heaven and Earth Annihilation
Simultaneously, the white flame wings were absorbed into his arms and exploded out through his fists.
Jang Woo-hyun, in turn, thrust out the sword technique he had prepared.
A thrust technique inspired by the Demon Vanquishing Fist—Demon-Slaying Flash.
An attack that had, previously, obliterated a distant mountain peak.
Kuaaaaaaang!
With a sound that threatened to overturn heaven and earth, a giant sphere of light erupted where the two forces clashed.
Kugugugugugu…
The sphere grew in size, devouring everything around it. Everything it touched vanished.
Then, at a certain point—
A hole opened in one side of the sphere, and all the energy rushed in that direction. Toward where Gi Il-gwang had been.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga!
A river of Qi surged past Gi Il-gwang.
It overturned the earth, roared through the skies, and left behind a scar over a hundred jang long before finally disappearing.
Kugugugugu…
The tremendous force made the atmosphere tremble.
Even after the river of Qi disappeared, the residual shockwave continued to rage.
The surrounding Qi boiled, and the ground continued to split apart.
Any master, even at peak level, would have died instantly had they been nearby.
In the spot where the massive sphere of light had vanished—
Two men remained standing.
Jang Woo-hyun still wore his Qi armor, but Gi Il-gwang could not say the same.
Ku-leuk!
With a cough, he spewed blood.
A hole large enough for a fist had been blown through his chest. His right arm was gone up to the elbow, and his left arm was twisted beyond recognition.
The outcome of the battle was clear.
“Puuuuu…”
Gi Il-gwang exhaled blood and breath.
A flicker of light wriggled inside the gaping hole in his chest.
Massive internal energy—his Absolute Realm—was barely clinging to his life, preventing it from slipping away.
As the internal energy moved to partially replace his damaged organs, Gi Il-gwang slowly began to speak.