Chapter 65

Dong Namgang, who had kicked up the dust and charged forward, arrived right in front of Yu Shinun in a single step.

It was a superhuman speed that could have made everyone watching lose sight of him in an instant.

‘You! I’ll finish you off in one blow!’

As soon as he arrived, he extended his fist, intending to knock out his opponent in one strike. His tightly clenched fist was swirling with his inner energy like a storm.

Kwagaga!

A thunderous roar, as if lightning had struck, erupted.

It was the moment when Dong Namgang’s true martial art, the Wind and Thunder Divine Fist (風雷神拳), was unleashed.

‘...!’

Kwahbang!

However, the next scene unfolded completely differently from what he had expected.

Surprisingly, the opponent, who he thought would be knocked out in one blow, had already drawn his sword and perfectly blocked his attack.

Pazzu!

Yu Shinun’s sword was enveloped in a sword aura charged with lightning energy.

This made Dong Namgang’s eyes momentarily show a hint of surprise.

‘To already be at the peak of mastery at this age!’

But his surprise was short-lived.

He calmed his mind and continued his barrage of punches.

Kwagagang! Kwahbang!

The Wind Fist and Lightning Sword crossed several times, and the mountain peak echoed with continuous thunderous sounds.

The Green Forest Daoists and the Zhengyun Pavilion members, who were watching the exchange, could only gape in astonishment.

‘That, that young man can fight against Lord Daejae?’

‘...This is unbelievable!’

Of course, it was clear to everyone that Dong Namgang was holding back his strength to the minimum. If he unleashed all his power, the graves on the mountain peak would be destroyed by the torrent.

However, even so, the performance Yu Shinun was showing was undoubtedly remarkable.

Despite the difference of just one level in cultivation.

There was an enormous gap between the peak of mastery and the transformation realm, a gap that could not be bridged by anything.

Daejae, who had reached the pinnacle of mastery and knew this fact best, looked at Yu Shinun as if he were a monster.

‘Lord Daejae’s inner energy reaches 30 years. To block consecutive punches without internal injuries...’

Undoubtedly, at least 20 years of inner energy were required.

For a young man who appeared to be just past his teens to already possess such a vast amount of inner energy was simply unbelievable.

However, contrary to his expectations, Yu Shinun’s inner energy was not yet 20 years.

So far, he had absorbed various inner energies from the dead through the extraction of qi, amounting to half a decade.

And the inner energy from the Thunder Cloud Divine Technique and the Donghua Immortal Technique amounted to another half a decade.

Finally, the inner energy he had absorbed by converting the coldness of the Heavenly Ice was another half a decade.

In total, it was only one and a half decades.

Yet, Yu Shinun could withstand Dong Namgang’s attacks without major internal injuries for one reason.

‘Dong Namgang. Stronger than I expected. Without the Immortal Art, it would have been really difficult.’

Indeed, it was because the power enhancement effect of the newly acquired Immortal Art had been activated.

[Power Enhancement (S+)]

It greatly amplifies the efficiency of all qi within the body of the user or a designated target for a short period of time.

-Current maximum duration: 15 minutes.

-Current efficiency amplification: 150%.

The Power Enhancement skill had the effect of amplifying the efficiency of inner energy for a period of one hour.

As a result, the efficiency of one and a half decades of inner energy was amplified 1.5 times, allowing it to be exerted slightly above two decades.

‘It’s already been 3 minutes. I must not let my guard down for the remaining 12 minutes. I could lose in one blow.’

Yu Shinun was more alert than ever.

He still couldn’t defeat a transformation realm expert with his martial arts alone.

His opponent was the strongest enemy he had ever faced.

If Dong Namgang’s Wind and Thunder Divine Fist were a orthodox martial art, he would have long since ascended to the throne of the Fist King.

It was not an exaggeration.

At that moment,

Dong Namgang’s eyes sparkled.

‘...I need to ease up a bit.’

As soon as he finished thinking, his fist struck the innocent air, not Yu Shinun.

After the empty strike,

Wooong!

Kwahbang!

Suddenly, a massive explosion of energy erupted from a single point near Yu Shinun’s abdomen.

Yu Shinun was swept up by the force of the explosion, floating in the air and flying far to the back of the divine tree, where he fell.

It was an ascending martial art, the Impact Fist, several levels above the Wind Fist.

One of the highest levels of the explosive technique, it was a supreme skill that burst inner energy at an arbitrary point.

Since there was no way to detect the explosion point before the inner energy burst, it was impossible to defend properly and avoid the attack, as seen just now.

As everyone was taken aback by the sudden turn of events,

“Lord Guozhu!”

Four members of the Zhengyun Pavilion simultaneously moved to go to Yu Shinun.

At that moment, the Green Forest Daoists, who had been quietly waiting, rushed at them.

“Stop!”

Then Yu Shinun’s voice echoed loudly.

Yu Shinun, who had already risen from the ground, was stopping the Zhengyun Pavilion members.

A stream of blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

Yu Shinun spoke to Dong Namgang, who had already reached a step in front of him, with an unflinching attitude.

“I think I’ve held my own for at least 50 rounds. Can I say one thing?”

Caught off guard by his boldness, Dong Namgang nodded.

Yu Shinun looked at the Zhengyun Pavilion members and spoke.

“I will make them surrender. Please accept them. I will take full responsibility for their crimes.”

“...!”

Dong Namgang’s face showed interest, as he had not expected such a response.

“Alright.”

After a moment’s consideration, Dong Namgang accepted the proposal.

Yu Shinun, bowing slightly, looked at the Zhengyun Pavilion members again.

“Everyone, drop your weapons.”

“I cannot comply!”

“Lord Guozhu! What are you saying!”

Seeing Yu Shinun willing to sacrifice his life to save them, the Zhengyun Pavilion members simultaneously expressed their refusal.

However,

“Hurry!”

The Zhengyun Pavilion members froze like statues at Yu Shinun’s resounding command, filled with powerful inner energy.

After a long moment of indecision, they finally saw the seriousness in Yu Shinun’s eyes.

Clang! Clang!

In the end, the Zhengyun Pavilion members had no choice but to drop their weapons on the ground.

Seeing this, Dong Namgang spoke to Daejae.

“Daejae.”

“Yes!”

“Take them all back to the mountain stronghold.”

“...Are you going to stay alone?”

“Yes.”

“...Understood.”

Following his order, Daejae and the Green Forest Daoists began to move the Zhengyun Pavilion members to the mountain stronghold.

The Zhengyun Pavilion members were biting their lips so hard that blood was seeping through.

Finally, only the two of them were left in the courtyard.

As silence descended,

Dong Namgang spoke in a low voice.

“...You have good subordinates.”

“Good comrades.”

Dong Namgang’s lips involuntarily curled up at Yu Shinun’s response. It was a satisfying answer.

The intense anger that had risen in his heart had subsided.

At his level, he could understand his opponent in detail after just a few seconds of exchange.

The strong Immortal Qi and Profound Qi he had felt during the intense exchange.

This person was not the greedy scoundrel he had initially thought.

Now, the only thing in Dong Namgang’s eyes was a strong curiosity about his opponent.

At that moment, Yu Shinun glanced around the spacious clearing behind the divine tree where he was now standing and spoke.

“Now, you don’t have to worry about the surroundings. Let’s start again.”

As he said, there were no graves or tombstones around where he had been knocked down by the Impact Fist.

‘...This guy, as expected.’

In an instant, Dong Namgang realized that his prediction had been correct.

It was that Yu Shinun had known the location of the explosion point in advance but had deliberately not avoided it.

To prevent any damage to the graves and tombstones, he had endured the impact and been pushed to this place.

“Haha! Hahaha!”

Dong Namgang burst into hearty laughter.

It had been a long time since he had met a hero with such courage and integrity.

“Come on, you. Did you really intend to fight me with all your strength?”

He relaxed his attack stance.

Whoosh.

Then, using the technique of drawing objects from the air, he returned the silver ingot container he had taken from Yu Shinun.

“Do you know? That container is empty. You were played by a mere merchant. That madman only wanted to mock the world and drive innocent people to their deaths even after his own death.”

Yu Shinun did not say a word.

Thinking he was shocked, Dong Namgang continued.

“...Go to the mountain stronghold and bring your subordinates down. As a token of having met the next generation’s pillar, I will not pursue this matter.”

However, Yu Shinun’s next words irritated Dong Namgang.

“No, I can’t do that.”

Hearing this, Dong Namgang roared in anger.

“Foolish. I clearly said it, are you really going to make an enemy of the Green Forest for the sake of mere money!”

Dong Namgang’s lion’s roar, filled with profound inner energy, violently shook the surrounding air.

Amid the overwhelming pressure,

“...Sixty years ago, the eldest grandson of a renowned scholar family passed the imperial examination.”

Yu Shinun suddenly began a mysterious story.

Dong Namgang was only bewildered,

‘Ah!’

-I only came here to tell the former Lord a story.

When he recalled the words Yu Shinun had said when he was asked about the purpose of his visit, he began to focus on Yu Shinun’s story, seeing his serious demeanor.

The man in the story had abandoned his promising official career after not even a year.

It was because of a woman he could not forget.

Before the imperial examination, he had secretly made a marriage promise with a woman.

However, unlike him, who was a descendant of a noble family, she was the daughter of a tenant farmer, and the family could not accept her. They had threatened and intimidated her in every way, eventually driving her away.

Realizing this too late, he cursed his family and left his official post.

He searched for her, walking until his feet bled and blistered, but he could never find her.

He realized that he needed a vast amount of money to find her.

So he frantically earned money and poured it into the search.

But even so, he could not find any trace of her.

Falling into despair, he engaged in all sorts of eccentric behavior. Nothing could fill the void in his heart.

It was only when he was near death that he finally learned the truth.

When she was driven away, she was carrying his child.

Without a place to go, she wandered the world and eventually entered a mountain stronghold, where she gave birth and died in excruciating labor.

Yes, the woman was already dead, which was why he could not find any information about her.

He wanted to visit his wife’s grave and see his grown child immediately.

But he could not face his child while he was alive.

So,

He decided to see his child and wife after his death.

When Yu Shinun’s story ended,

For some reason, Dong Namgang’s eyes were trembling.

The unshakable aura that had been like a massive rock was now unsteady, like a flickering flame in the wind.

As deep silence settled,

Dong Namgang finally spoke.

“...Can you prove what you said?”

“Of course.”

“What if you can’t prove it?”

As soon as he finished speaking,

Whoosh! Thud!

The knife Yu Shinun threw embedded itself in the ground at Dong Namgang’s feet.

Their eyes met in the air.

Yu Shinun spoke without any hesitation.

“Cut it immediately.”

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