Chapter 82: One Against a Hundred

A rain of ten thousand flowers.

The legendary martial art representing the Tang Clan, was unleashed through the Dragon King’s Scales in the hands of Jang Woo-hyun, who had revealed his full strength.

It was the first time he had fully opened all his power since ascending to Transcendence and arriving in the Central Heavens.

Jang Woo-hyun’s strength was not that of an ordinary cultivator at the level of Transcendence. Even Gwak Yu-chan, who had reached the Boundless Realm, was astonished at the force he displayed.

It had always been like that. Whether at Master Level, Supreme Peak, or even at the Absolute Realm, he had always possessed far greater power than warriors of the same realm.

And it was no different now.

An attack surpassing that of a cultivator at the level of Transcendence.

Each tiny blade was infused with Will-Form Qi Projection and charged with internal energy before being launched.

A torrential rain of Qi Projection.

The power that poured down from the sky was several times stronger than when it had been used in the Lower Realm.

With a roar, the targeted area was scorched into desolation. The explosion was so loud that not even screams could be heard through it.

Everyone within the range of the attack died without a single injury survivor.

Tak.

After showcasing overwhelming destructive force, Jang Woo-hyun used his movement technique to descend through the air step by step, as if walking down invisible stairs.

As he descended to the heart of the explosion, no one dared to confront him. They merely stood, weapons in hand, fixated on his every move.

When Jang Woo-hyun’s gaze turned toward them, all those remaining flinched and took a step back.

A brief silence followed.

“You bastard!”

The first to move in the stillness was a cultivator of Transcendence.

There were three cultivators at the level of Transcendence nearby.

One was a true Transcendence, while the other two had reached the level through forced means. The one charging toward Jang Woo-hyun now was one of the latter.

“Die!”

He shouted loudly as he thrust his spear forward.

Even if he had only clumsily stepped into the realm of Transcendence, his speed was decent.

Jang Woo-hyun, who had long turned the hilt of the Dragon King’s Scales into a bracelet, clenched his fist and stepped forward. He drove his fist directly into the oncoming spear.

Kwaaaang!

As the spear shaft and fist collided, a massive shockwave erupted outward.

“Gaaaah!”

“Fall back!”

“Everyone, get away!”

The shockwave alone was enough to overturn the ground and cause internal injuries to those nearby. Those with weak martial arts were killed outright by the wave.

“Guh.”

His opponent, whose spear was flung back by the clash, reinforced it and aimed once more at Jang Woo-hyun.

Though he wasn’t a true Transcendence, the strength in his blows was real. The internal energy he emitted told no lies.

Jang Woo-hyun did not retreat and took another step forward. He didn’t need a sword. His fists were enough.

Jang Woo-hyun mimicked the movements of the Suwang Sect, more precisely, of Maeng Ye-ju.

He had fought with Kang Yong and had even briefly clashed with Maeng Ye-ju, so he remembered those movements.

The martial arts of the two lacked precision but made up for it with overwhelming power in every strike.

It felt as if enormous iron balls had been attached to both hands and feet, condensing internal energy and slamming it all down at once.

Especially the movements Maeng Ye-ju had shown were like that.

Thud.

As he stepped forward, the ground beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb.

He concentrated all his power into a single punch and struck forward. There was no evasion or defense. In a way, it resembled the first technique he ever learned—Tiger Form Sword. The only difference was the absence of a sword, executed barehanded.

It wasn’t that he understood the principles or structure of the style. He didn’t know how to analyze such things.

Yet Jang Woo-hyun, just by watching, could comprehend another's martial art and imitate it.

That was Jang Woo-hyun’s talent.

He replicated the Suwang Sect’s martial arts in his own way.

Just like he had copied Hwang An’s movements during the entrance exam for the Demon Extermination Sect and used them against the Iron Armor Monkey.

Jang Woo-hyun now stole and used Maeng Ye-ju’s martial arts.

Kwaaaang!

A punch of certain kill.

First Fist.

The spear shaft that clashed with his fist snapped.

Second Fist.

The opponent’s head burst open.

Third Fist.

A follow-up punch blew a hole through the chest.

The barrage continued.

Every time his fist landed, the body exploded. Like smashing a sand sculpture, the human form crumbled into dust.

Thud!

Only the lower half remained as the torso-less body toppled backward.

“…….”

The overwhelming power froze the atmosphere once more.

Everyone held their breath. No one could speak. No one could act.

Jang Woo-hyun had completely dominated the area.

“A-a monster……”

A quiet murmur of despair was heard from someone, and Jang Woo-hyun moved again within the realm of Transcendence.

Uuuung.

Within the space where all things slowed.

He stepped forward, arriving instantly before his next opponent.

At some point, the Dragon King’s Scales, once again whole, had returned to Jang Woo-hyun’s hand.

From upper left to lower right. A diagonal slash.

The one standing before him was another crude cultivator of Transcendence, but he could not properly block Jang Woo-hyun’s sword.

Slice.

His body was cut through with the blade.

And behind him, the path of the sword traced lines across dozens of bodies.

One Slash, One Kill—no, now the term total annihilation suited Jang Woo-hyun’s divine might better.

Thud thud. Dozens of bisected corpses fell to the ground.

“Attack! Attack him!”

The last surviving cultivator of Transcendence regained his senses and shouted. He was not a forced ascendant but a true cultivator of Transcendence.

Gugugu—

At his command, the flying apparatus of the Flying Apparatus in the sky turned its hull and prepared for attack.

Jang Woo-hyun watched the movement and gathered his power.

A sword technique he had trained after fighting Kang Yong—compressing energy to the extreme.

The blade of the Dragon King’s Scales momentarily split and then merged back into one.

Tik—tidik—

The Dragon King’s Scales trembled, unable to withstand the force, trying to split again. Before the compressed energy could explode, he slashed the sky with it.

Since he was not in the Boundless Realm, it didn’t reach the far ends of the sky like Gwak Yu-chan had shown, nor was it as sharp. Still, he had compressed an enormous amount of energy to mimic that level.

The space along the sword’s trajectory shattered.

A massive wave of energy surged skyward like a tsunami.

Kwagwagwa—

The four targeted ships were obliterated, leaving not even a trace behind.

Kuuuoooo—

A tremendous shockwave followed. The explosive energy crashed down and pressed against the surroundings.

“Kuugh!”

“Guh!”

Those with weak martial arts could not stay standing and collapsed from the pressure of the expanding energy.

This was not something a cultivator of Transcendence should be capable of. He had literally created a natural disaster with one strike. Those who hadn’t reached Supreme Peak couldn’t even breathe under the aftermath.

Ignoring the stunned Flying Apparatus, Jang Woo-hyun moved again.

Only one cultivator of Transcendence remained. That was his next target.

Kaang—

As Jang Woo-hyun closed the distance and slashed, the opponent managed to block. This cultivator of Transcendence was not an artificially elevated one, and so he could block the attack without difficulty.

But that was all.

His eyes trembled violently. His expression was filled with anxiety. After witnessing the previous strike, he had already lost the will to fight. All he could think about was shaking off Jang Woo-hyun and escaping.

The two who had entered the realm of Transcendence clashed.

Kwaang! Bang!

In a moment where no one else could intervene, their swords repeatedly collided.

To those who had not entered the realm of Transcendence, the two were nearly invisible.

Each time a deafening roar echoed, the bodies of those nearby exploded, and some collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood from internal injuries.

After exchanging dozens of blows—

“Kuugh!”

A small scream escaped from the opponent who had managed to endure until now.

He was also a cultivator of Transcendence, but the power he held was on a different scale.

When Jang Woo-hyun sensed that the energy emanating from the opponent's sword was slightly weakening, his sword cleaved both the weapon and the man in one stroke.

With the opponent's stunned expression as the last image, Jang Woo-hyun returned from the realm of Transcendence. Time, which had been flowing slowly, regained its natural rhythm.

“Grrrrgh...”

“Spare me…”

“Kehak!”

Only then did screams erupt from all around.

Most of those caught in the clash between the two cultivators of Transcendence were either dead or collapsed on the ground with severely damaged organs.

Thud.

When the diagonally split body of the opponent hit the floor,

the only one still standing on the ground was Jang Woo-hyun.

From the moment Jang Woo-hyun smashed through the wall and exited, there was no longer any need for stealth.

“At this point, we sweep this place fast and get out. Yong-ah, take the others and head back down to where we were before. Search from below, and if you find any of our kin imprisoned, rescue them. If anyone gets in the way—”

Maeng Ye-ju paused briefly, then continued with a flash of killing intent.

“...crush them all and kill them.”

“Yes!”

Kang Yong responded with a grin. Long claws had already grown from his fingers, and he scratched the wall excitedly as he shouted,

“Come out, you bastards! I’m Kang Yong of the Suwang Sect!”

The disciples of the Suwang Sect followed him as he ran up the stairs.

“Let’s go!”

At Maeng Ye-ju’s command, the rest of the group moved out. Some stayed behind to care for the Beastkin whose blood had been drained and interrogated the captured cultivators.

There didn’t seem to be many forces inside, and they couldn’t stop Maeng Ye-ju and Kang Yong leading the Suwang Sect.

Kwaaang!

Maeng Ye-ju and the Beastkin crashed through the wall and stormed into a room.

“This looks like the storage area for apparatuses and weapons!”

“You two, gather everything! The rest, move!”

They broke open the next door and slaughtered the bandits inside.

“This appears to be the treasury. And this… is spiritual medicine.”

“You and you. Bring it all.”

Again, they shattered the wall and smashed the bandits charging in.

“There are kin imprisoned here!”

“Take them to where we started. Be careful. Next!”

Screams, curses, explosions, and deafening sounds echoed throughout the stronghold.

As they stormed through the interior of the stronghold, Maeng Ye-ju suddenly came to a halt.

Her head turned to one side. Even from within the stronghold, she could sense a massive surge of energy. A storm strong enough to shake heaven and earth had just swept through. The building trembled from its aftermath.

“...Was it this much?”

Though they had fought briefly when they first met, neither she nor Jang Woo-hyun had revealed their full strength.

The energy just felt must have been Jang Woo-hyun’s true power. What she sensed exceeded Maeng Ye-ju’s expectations.

“I absolutely have to bring him in.”

Resolving to bring Jang Woo-hyun into the Suwang Sect no matter what, Maeng Ye-ju moved again. The previously silenced screams and curses resumed.

Kwa-gwagwang!

Crushing half a dozen foes at once and breaking through another wall, Maeng Ye-ju arrived at a fairly large chamber, like an audience hall.

As she scanned for enemies to kill or items to take, her eyes landed on a chair placed on an elevated platform, and behind it, a flag caught her eye.

Beneath black wings, the character ‘寅’ was boldly inscribed, and below that, the words “Flying Wing Duke” (飛翼公) were written.

Maeng Ye-ju’s expression twisted. She had realized who the master of this stronghold was.

“Damn it.”

Cursing under her breath, she quickly came to a conclusion. They needed to escape before the owner of the house returned.

It was only because he was away that they could act so freely. If he had been here from the beginning, neither Jang Woo-hyun nor she would have been able to act at will.

“Prioritize rescuing our kin and get out fast!”

Some of the subordinates who had come with her understood her decision and moved swiftly.

They would stop focusing on loot or attacking the Flying Apparatus, and instead, only focus on rescuing the imprisoned Beastkin and escaping.

Just as Maeng Ye-ju was turning to exit the audience hall, she ran into Kang Yong, who had returned after searching the lower floors.

“Noona, there doesn’t seem to be anyone proper here. Should we just smash the whole place and—”

“We search fast and get out.”

“Suddenly? We’re not at a disadvantage, so what’s going on?”

“This is the Floating Stronghold of Akho.”

At the mention of Akho, even the face of the wolf Beastkin crumpled.

That name belonged to a master they could not possibly handle.

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