Book 2 Chapter 9

Shame on the family, Yeom-do

Yeom-do had merely gripped the handle of his blade.

But this simple action changed everything around him.

Yeom-do became a volcano, on the verge of eruption.

A volcano with immense destructive power, capable of sweeping everything away with its might…

The gathered and focused power was about to transform into colossal and potent destructive force. Now his beloved blade, Hongyeom, would leap from its sheath, striking the opponent with tremendous power and speed, cleaving their prey in half, shattering them into pieces, and burning them to black dust. Ultimately, only a handful of ashes would remain. It had always been so. But…

"Ah, wait a moment."

Yeom-do's body, about to draw his fiery red blade and burn Bilyeon to ashes with a single stroke, faltered at Bilyeon's sudden words. To Yeom-do, who cast a gaze of bewilderment asking, 'Why bother standing up when you could just die!', Bilyeon said.

"Surely you weren't planning on drawing your sword here? A renowned master of the martial world wouldn't do something so thoughtless, would they? I must have seen wrong."

"Hehehe, of course I was about to draw it. Surely you're not scared now? Even if you beg for forgiveness, it's too late. You will die the most miserable death in this world."

Yeom-do replied in a chilling voice. Enraged, Yeom-do would never, not in a million years, forgive the opponent even if they begged for mercy now. But Bilyeon's intention seemed to be different.

"Ah, that's not it. If someone of your caliber as a master (高手) didn't consider the repercussions and impact on the surrounding environment from the shockwave of your power when you unleash it, then I'm truly disappointed. If a master like you draws his sword, can the guests inside this Hwaunru remain unharmed? Absolutely not. They will all die, engulfed in qi and sword energy. Someone of your age and reputation shouldn't act so recklessly. Of course not."

Bilyeon spoke, shaking his head left and right with an utterly absurd tone, leaving Yeom-do speechless. He had no retort, which greatly wounded Yeom-do's pride. While Yeom-do, by nature, often acted without regard for trivial matters around him, he couldn't act rashly when openly pointed out in front of so many people.

Truth be told, if one were to pause and think logically, it would be obvious. A master whose skill, technique, and power have reached the pinnacle, beyond first-class, unleashes their power, it brings terrifying destructive cruelty to the surroundings. In the already crowded and cramped Hwaunru, a peak master like Yeom-do, especially in his heightened anger, would have no mercy wielding his blade. Therefore, if Yeom-do had continued his sword-drawing motion without stopping and drawn his beloved Hongyeom towards Bilyeon, the shockwave would have inevitably led to unimaginable devastation.

Yeom-do couldn't help but realize his mistake. No matter how notorious Yeom-do was for his bad temper and impulsiveness, as a prominent figure upholding righteousness in the martial world, he knew what to do, what not to do, and what to be cautious of. He had almost made a grave mistake. The thought of the potential loss of life and property that could have been caused by his recklessly wielded Hongyeom made his heart pound. He also shuddered at the thought of the criticism he would receive from those around him. Yeom-do let out a sigh of relief that such a tragedy had been averted.

'I almost made a big mistake. I almost brought utter disgrace upon myself.'

Yeom-do patted his chest and sighed in relief.

"Ah, I'll bet on anything. But I feel this place is too small to evaluate the truth of fact and fiction. In this situation, neither side can fully display their strength. We must also consider the inconvenience caused to others. How about we move the testing ground to a wider and more secluded place to hold our assessment? What do you say, sir? Surely you won't refuse. A renowned master like Yeom-do wouldn't be so shameless as to disregard the inconvenience to others. Surely the one called 'Fiery Blade of Red Flames' wouldn't do such a thing. Right? *smirk*…"

Bilyeon flashed his irritating smile at Yeom-do. Bilyeon spoke fluently towards Yeom-do, and there was no falsehood in his words. He was simply arrogant and lacked manners.

'Th-that guy…'

Yeom-do was furious internally but couldn't act rashly. Bilyeon's words, though irritating, were undeniably true. From Yeom-do's perspective, there was no other choice but to say "Yes!" and move. How could he possibly refute it when the opponent, in front of so many people, had so loudly emphasized his name, reputation, and position in the martial world, and lectured on the conduct of a master? How could he tarnish such emphasized fame?

"Fine. I will gladly agree to your proposal. Let's move."

"Of course you should."

Bilyeon kept grinning, making others uncomfortable. It was a triumphant smile. The opponent was completely trapped. From Bilyeon's perspective, Yeom-do was now a trapped mouse, with no way out. Bilyeon turned and walked out of the Hwaunru first, followed by Yeom-do.

Simultaneously, sighs of relief erupted from various parts of the Hwaunru. As the two disappeared, the oppressive aura that had weighed heavily on the Hwaunru vanished as if washed away, leaving only a faint, lingering impression.

'Now I can finally breathe!' was the common sentiment of all the guests inside the Hwaunru. Yeom-do had exuded an overwhelming presence that made it difficult for people around him to even breathe. And even after he disappeared, the lingering aura of that pressure remained. Of course, no one felt any trace of presence, pressure, or weight from Bilyeon. All the pressure and presence originated from Yeom-do (焰刀).

Because of this, everyone in the tavern predicted that Bilyeon's life would come to a miserable, gruesome end.

"Looks like we'll be cleaning up another corpse today. We almost got dragged to our deaths."

"Will there even be a corpse to clean up? It'll just be ashes."

"No need to worry about cremation costs."

"That's a small mercy. Anyway, tsk tsk… it's a shame he went mad at such a young age."

The expectations of everyone in the Hwaunru were unanimous. Complete incineration, leaving not a drop of blood or a shred of flesh. Among them, some even silently prayed for Bilyeon's soul.

"Well then, shall we begin? *tok*"

In a secluded clearing, a few places searched after the two had left Hwaunru, Bilyeon's left foot lightly tapped the ground as soon as the words "shall we" ended.

"*chaenggang!*"

As Bilyeon's left foot lightly tapped the ground, the Muryonghwan (Ink Dragon Ring) on his left ankle strangely came off and dropped to the ground. Simultaneously, a powerful current of qi, like a whirlwind, was generated from Bilyeon's toes, which were supporting the earth, and seemed to envelop Bilyeon's entire body in an instant. Then, before Yeom-do's (焰刀) eyes, with a single, seemingly effortless step of his left foot, Bilyeon concealed his existence within the empty void and nothingness.

Before Yeom-do could unleash his explosive burst of sword-drawing with his blazing flames, Bilyeon revealed his presence to Yeom-do's sight again. In reality, there was no time between the first and second instances. At this point, the distance between Bilyeon and Yeom-do had already ceased to exist. In this moment, where the distance between the two became nothingness, the clash finally occurred.

The first thing that made the distance between Yeom-do and Bilyeon vanish was Bilyeon's right foot. With his right foot forward and his left foot lightly behind, he stepped directly onto Yeom-do's left foot, which was poised to draw his sword. In this unforeseen move, Yeom-do was immobilized without any ability to react.

However, a renowned peak master is indeed different. In that instantaneous moment, with almost instinctive quickness, Yeom-do had half-drawn his beloved blade Hongyeom. But unfortunately, before the elegant red blade could fully emerge from its sheath, it was pushed aside by Bilyeon's left palm, which flipped gracefully. Hongyeom lost its direction and its power dissipated. Finally, the half-drawn red blade was grabbed by his left hand, causing it to lose all speed. Yeom-do's blade came to a futile halt.

Yeom-do was momentarily stunned by this unbelievable fact. Even though the blade was not fully drawn, the power contained within it was not something to be trifled with. If an ordinary person had touched it, they would have been unable to use their arm for the rest of their life. How could a burned piece of flesh be used?

That Hongyeom, imbued with the fiery energy and qi of the Hwaryeong Shen Gong, was caught by an unknown, young whelp before it was even fully drawn. This was an indelible humiliation and disgrace, even if he were to bite Hongyeom and fall down. But ignoring Yeom-do's sorrow, Bilyeon's movement was not yet over.

Bilyeon's right hand extended, and his open palm, with a light flick of his wrist, flipped over, and the inner side of his palm directly struck Yeom-do's chest. Though it appeared to be a simple move of flipping his palm, the power contained within it was not insignificant. It was the moment Bilyeon's mysterious palm energy penetrated Yeom-do's body.

Spreading outwards like ripples on a calm lake, as fiercely as waves in a storm, the palm energy from Bilyeon's right hand spread widely into Yeom-do's body, churning his internal organs with immense impact. Having accurately struck the vital spot, the match ended anticlimactically with this one move by Bilyeon.

Surprisingly, a renowned sword master of the martial world was defeated by a single palm strike from a young, inexperienced youth. The psychological and mental shock from Yeom-do's beloved blade Hongyeom being caught while not fully drawn undoubtedly played a significant role. Thus, Yeom-do felt his vision darken and his consciousness fade, sinking deep into the abyss of darkness. It would take a considerable amount of time for Yeom-do, who suffered a disgraceful defeat filled with humiliation, to regain consciousness.

"As easy as flipping a palm… Hmm, not bad."

Bilyeon muttered, glancing at Yeom-do, who lay face down on the ground. His mumbling contained a hint of pleasant admiration. The martial art Bilyeon had just demonstrated was one of the four techniques he had learned from his master as an extra: a punch, a kick, a palm strike, and a finger strike. It was the palm strike, also known as 'Yeobanjang' (As Easy As Flipping a Palm). Even if its origin was 'Musaang' (meaning nothingness or made as an afterthought), its power was not nonexistent.

Yeobanjang, a palm technique with a form and essence that matched its name. Literally, this palm technique, with the absurd name of Yeobanjang, only involved the action of flipping one's palm. The subtlety of the rotational force, flowing from the toes through the waist and shoulder, and down to the fingertips, caused the palm to flip. This was the entirety of the technique. However, this single movement, combined with the Bulroesu technique, produced fearsome power.

The reason Bilyeon was not overpowered by Yeom-do's formidable blade power and was able to safely catch his sword without hindrance was because the Yeobanjang technique diffused the direction of Hongyeom's power and speed, which was on the verge of exploding, thereby significantly reducing its power. He was then able to catch the red blade, with its greatly diminished power, using the Bulroesu (Dividing Thunder Hand) technique.

It was a martial art technique that, in hindsight, was astonishingly simple, as if created for amusement. It caught the blade of Yeom-do, a renowned figure dominating the martial world, shattered his pride, and then knocked him unconscious, leaving him lying on the ground.

If this fact were to become known, it would undoubtedly shake the martial world as easily as flipping a palm, but Bilyeon seemed unconcerned, standing quietly and waiting for the fallen Yeom-do to wake up. He poked the fallen Yeom-do's head with his finger…

'Hehe, have I finally got a disciple I can boss around?'

If even a shred of consciousness remained in the fallen Yeom-do, he would undoubtedly be engulfed in an endless chill that would freeze his entire body. He lay stretched out in what appeared to be a comfortable position, unaware that a reality that would turn the world upside down awaited him when he woke up.

With a smile full of joy, Bilyeon picked up one of the Muryonghwan he had taken off and put it back on his left ankle. This removed Muryonghwan symbolized that Bilyeon had devoted immense concentration to the battle with Yeom-do. To subdue Yeom-do without using his Bilraedo (Flying Lightning Sword), he needed to achieve even greater speed than his current state. Therefore, he had removed one of the four Muryonghwan he wore. And this single removed Muryonghwan brought him tremendous acceleration, which became the power to subdue Yeom-do.

Bilyeon silently gazed at the western horizon. The sun was now setting, casting a deep twilight. A pleasant 'whoosh' of wind blew between the sky and the earth, tinged with red.