Chapter 73: The Visitor
“A dog bites? Ha!”
At Jang Woo-hyun’s reaction, Kang Yung turned his gaze toward him.
Despite not having a human-like upright build, his height nearly reached seven cheok.
Even in terms of physique alone, he overwhelmed Jang Woo-hyun, who himself was no small man.
“Old human, if you don’t step in, this kid might actually die.”
“Oh! Really? Then give it a try.”
As if entertained, Gwak Yu-chan laughed.
The moment he finished speaking, blade-like claws shot out from Kang Yung’s fingertips.
He then kicked off the ground, swiftly closing the distance between himself and Jang Woo-hyun.
“……!”
But the opponent was faster.
Jang Woo-hyun had already darted forward into the beast’s chest and threw a powerful punch.
Puh-uhng!
With the sound of something exploding, Kang Yung was blown backward, crashing through the wall of the martial hall.
“Woo-hyun, consider this a special training session against monkeys.”
“…Sorry, what?”
Hearing the puzzling words from behind, Jang Woo-hyun turned to look at Gwak Yu-chan.
“Keep in mind that beastkin can run on all fours. What are you doing? Get out there.”
With that one piece of advice, Gwak Yu-chan waved his hand, signaling him to go out.
Jang Woo-hyun wanted to ask more, but the killing intent radiating from outside was intense enough to make his hair stand on end. So he turned and headed toward the broken wall.
Upon stepping outside the Blue Dragon Martial Hall, he saw Kang Yung waiting for him.
Though the blow had been quite powerful, he stood perfectly fine, showing no signs of injury.
“Were you hiding your strength? Typical humans, always dirty with their tricks.”
“No, it’s just that the one who didn’t notice was weak. You talked big in there, but it seems your skill doesn’t match your mouth.”
“What did you say, you bastard?!”
Kang Yung realized from the earlier clash that Jang Woo-hyun wasn’t an easy opponent, so though he yelled in rage, he didn’t rush in recklessly.
“Shall we change locations? If we fight here, there won’t be anything left of the martial hall.”
“Lead the way.”
Receiving a glare as though he was about to be killed, Jang Woo-hyun took the lead and ran.
The two quickly reached the place they had visited before with Gwak Yu-chan.
Preparing for battle, Jang Woo-hyun observed his opponent as usual.
A wolf beastkin with gray fur. His height was nearly seven cheok, and he didn’t use a weapon.
‘Are his claws his weapon?’
The martial art he used was unidentifiable. His level was that of the Transcendence Realm.
Someone who had reached the same level as himself.
For the first time since reaching the Middle Heavens, he encountered a martial artist of the Transcendence Realm.
And now he had the chance to fight him.
It was the perfect opportunity to fully test both the Heavenly Flowing Armor and the limits of the Transcendence Realm.
Grrrrr.
Kang Yung let out a beastly growl and lowered his body.
As if words were no longer needed, he readied himself to attack.
Jang Woo-hyun also responded, drawing the Dragon King's Scale.
A brief moment of stillness.
The first to move was Kang Yung, who had lowered his body.
Bang!
Kang Yung exerted force in his legs and kicked off the ground.
Instead of standing upright like a human, he charged forward on all fours.
Whoooosh—
At the same time, Jang Woo-hyun entered the Transcendence Realm. Everything around him seemed to freeze.
In this frozen moment, only he and Kang Yung moved at normal speed.
The distance between them closed rapidly.
Just as Jang Woo-hyun’s sword was about to move—suddenly, Kang Yung accelerated, his speed exceeding Jang Woo-hyun’s expectations.
Kwaaang!
A punch came flying at him, and he barely managed to block it with the flat of his sword. He had no time to swing the blade.
It held the power to turn a massive boulder to dust in an instant. Jang Woo-hyun’s body was launched into the air.
—“Keep in mind that beastkin can run on all fours.”
Only now did Jang Woo-hyun fully understand what Gwak Yu-chan had meant earlier.
Beastkin, being able to run on all fours, were fundamentally superior to humans in terms of speed.
That held true even within the Transcendence Realm.
Now, the situation had reversed. Watching the airborne Jang Woo-hyun, Kang Yung raised his hand.
Once again, claws extended from his hand.
Each one was nearly as sharp as a famed blade. Qi Projection formed at the tips of the claws, and Kang Yung swung them in a wide arc.
Fwaaah—
Five claws. Five slashes.
The air split apart as the flying slashes tore through the sky.
In response, Jang Woo-hyun activated the Heavenly Flowing Armor. If he didn’t go all out, he might truly die here.
Mid-air, he twisted his body and stepped onto empty air.
Jjeoeo-eok—
Cracks appeared in the sky beneath Jang Woo-hyun’s foot.
He had used Air Step to form an invisible platform, but the impact had shattered it.
From that stance, he faced the incoming slashes.
Two strikes of the blade crossed paths and exploded in front of him.
KWAANG!
The earth shook from the impact. Shockwaves shattered trees on distant mountains, sending startled beasts fleeing into the woods.
As Kang Yung charged like a wolf on all fours, Jang Woo-hyun extended the blade in his hand.
Chwaruruk—
The sword split into hundreds of blade-like scales.
They formed a wall in front of Jang Woo-hyun and rained down upon the beastkin rushing toward him like a hailstorm of hidden weapons.
But Kang Yung had no intention of retreating. He hurled his body straight into the Qi storm.
Inside, he waved his hands, moving with fluid grace.
Dozens, then hundreds of movements filled the air.
Some blades were deflected. Others were blocked or dodged.
The rain of Qi couldn’t keep up with his speed.
‘The weapon still can’t fully contain the speed of the Transcendence Realm…’
That was the conclusion Jang Woo-hyun came to as he watched Kang Yung.
Previously, when he unleashed this rain of Qi Projection, no enemy had dared to move. But now that he had entered the Transcendence Realm, something had changed.
No matter how much internal energy and intent he poured in, the Dragon King's Scale moved slower than expected.
Kang Yung either dodged or blocked every attack and continued to close the distance.
As his claws targeted Jang Woo-hyun’s throat again, the latter, cloaked in the Heavenly Flowing Armor, struck out with his fist to intercept.
BANG! BANG!
Each time their claws and fists collided, shockwaves erupted, and thunderous explosions rang out.
Anyone not at the Transcendence Realm would’ve seen nothing but a flicker of light between the two before it vanished.
Kang Yung was strong. He had physical abilities far beyond a human’s, outstanding reflexes, and claws sharper than legendary swords.
But he was weaker than Jang Woo-hyun.
The Heavenly Flowing Armor was a martial art that enhanced both offense and defense as one. Against an opponent of similar level, Jang Woo-hyun was unrivaled.
“Graaaaah!”
Kang Yung let out a fierce roar and swung both his hands.
Ten slashes formed along the path of his claws, and in that moment, Kang Yung lowered his body.
Jang Woo-hyun slipped back, letting the slashes pass by. His eyes locked onto Kang Yung, who had changed his stance.
‘He’s shifting.’
The sharp, blade-like pressure turned into needles that spread in every direction. His presence and movement were changing.
Earlier, he had resembled a martial artist wielding ten blades—but not anymore.
Kang Yung closed the distance in a flash. The moment Jang Woo-hyun aimed an attack at him, Kang Yung suddenly leaped and opened his mouth wide.
Inside were rows of razor-sharp teeth—and over them, a layer of Qi Projection.
“……!”
The beast’s jaws lunged for Jang Woo-hyun’s throat.
Crack!
He twisted his body to dodge, but the light armor wrapped around his neck was torn off in an instant.
‘He tore through the Heavenly Flowing Armor?’
Far more powerful than expected.
A beast’s greatest weapon was its bite. And the beastkin in front of him was acting far more beast than man.
Having become a beast, Kang Yung was using his most fearsome weapon.
What filled his mouth wasn’t just ordinary teeth. They were dozens of blades, coated in Qi Projection.
Dozens of blades merged into one devastating weapon.
The mouth of the wolf beastkin was now a weapon more lethal than anything in the world.
‘I can’t take that head-on.’
If it could shatter the Heavenly Flowing Armor, then his body might be torn apart if he took the hit directly.
From then on, the attack pattern expanded.
Dodging just the claws wasn’t enough. Focus on the claws too much, and the massive jaws would suddenly lunge for his neck or face.
Crack!
This time, his shoulder was torn.
‘Special training for dealing with monkeys!’
Now it all made sense.
Beast King Sect—a sect of the Martial World.
But its members were beastkin, and naturally, they would retain their wild instincts.
The white monkey, the Great Sage of the Wind Passage, had been the same. It attacked with instinct and also used martial arts by stepping into enlightenment.
Fighting beastkin had helped Jang Woo-hyun grow.
Because it was a style of combat he never experienced when fighting humans.
After exchanging a few more blows, Jang Woo-hyun retreated and gathered strength into his right hand.
He formed a barrier of Qi and condensed power inside it, then detonated it in one strike.
The origin technique of Demon-Annihilating Slash—the Demon-Annihilating Divine Fist.
KWAANG!
An immense flash of light erupted.
“Guh!”
Kang Yung was pushed back by the shock.
He endured the Demon-Annihilating Divine Fist due to his naturally durable body and strength, but Jang Woo-hyun’s true aim wasn’t the fist itself.
At some point, the blades of Dragon King's Scale had surrounded Kang Yung.
‘If he’s going to dodge, then I’ll just make it impossible to dodge.’
If speed allowed the opponent to escape, then remove all paths of escape.
The blades surrounding Kang Yung rained down.
Unlike before, the hidden weapons surged from all directions—this was the true form of Ten Thousand Flowers in the Sky.
Brrrrr! Boom! Boom!
“Graaaaagh!”
Kang Yung roared within the bombardment of hidden blades, but this time there was no escape.
His bursts of speed were impressive, but that was all. Overall, his skills didn’t measure up to Jang Woo-hyun’s.
FWOOOSH—
The next wave followed Ten Thousand Flowers in the Sky.
Jang Woo-hyun immediately activated the technique, and the blades of Dragon King's Scale began to spin.
KUDEUDEUDUK—
The blades that had been deflected by Kang Yung’s wild flailing began to rotate.
A whirlwind of blades.
This technique using Dragon King's Scale was known as Whirlwind Cutter Seal.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GAK!
A storm of blades raged, grinding down the beastkin within. Though Jang Woo-hyun had reduced its power slightly to avoid killing, the damage from the attack was enough to cause serious injury.
As the blade storm dissipated, Jang Woo-hyun reformed Dragon King's Scale into its sword form.
In the direction he looked, Kang Yung stood, his body torn and ragged.
Even for a beastkin with strong life force and one who had reached the Transcendence Realm, the damage was severe.
But even then, Kang Yung lowered himself and prepared to charge again.
Grrrr.
His eyes had lost all reason, glowing dimly, and only beastly growls came from his mouth.
Jang Woo-hyun raised his reformed sword, ready to counterattack if the beast lunged again.
Just as this second clash was about to begin—
“That’s enough.”
Gwak Yu-chan suddenly appeared behind Kang Yung and struck him on the head with a palm filled with internal energy.
Smack!
But Kang Yung rose without a scratch and lunged at Gwak Yu-chan.
“Oh? He endured that?”
Dodging the wildly swinging claws, Gwak Yu-chan drove a punch into Kang Yung’s body and immediately followed with a stronger blow to the head.
WHUMP!
With a loud impact, Kang Yung was pushed back again, but he still didn’t lose consciousness.
“Seriously…”
Staring at the absurd durability, Gwak Yu-chan gave up.
“I don’t even know what to do anymore!”
The punches grew increasingly powerful—not just meant to knock him out anymore, but seemingly intended to pulverize the inside of his skull.
Bang! Wham! Thud!
After repeating the attack several times, Kang Yung finally let out a choking noise and passed out. Thankfully, it seemed he wasn’t dead.
And so ended Jang Woo-hyun’s dog-bite prevention training.
“Apologize, you bastard!”
BAM! BAM!
A woman smacked Kang Yung on the head—hard enough that the surrounding area shook.
“Aaagh! Sister! I’m injured! I’m the patient here! I told you I’m the one who got hurt!”
“Oh, really? A patient, huh? Then how about you lie down for good and rest up!”
THWACK!
“ARGH!”
The woman standing beside Kang Yung handled him like a naughty pup, delivering brutal blows to his head. Each strike was so strong that bystanders flinched just watching.
BAM!
With such tremendous sound, it seemed like his skull might crack open from the impact.
‘No wonder he wouldn’t go down.’
Watching this, Jang Woo-hyun now understood why even Gwak Yu-chan couldn’t knock him out easily. If he was used to getting hit like this all the time, there was no way he’d pass out from a few hits.
The woman had been scheduled to visit the Blue Dragon Martial Hall to pay her respects. But while she had stepped out for a moment, Kang Yung had barged in on his own.
“I deeply apologize. I’ll make sure to properly discipline this idiot.”
The woman, who had a physique as robust as Kang Yung’s, firmly pushed down the massive wolf beastkin’s head as she bowed alongside him.
“Yeah, I’ve heard the Arang Clan was full of wild dogs, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”
Even as Gwak Yu-chan openly rebuked her, the woman kept her head lowered, repeating her apologies.
Her name was Maeng Ye-ju.
One of the six successors of the Beast King Sect's Lord.
“Bow, you bastard!”
WHACK!
“Oof!”
And among those six successors, she had the most explosive personality.