As Son Gang’s body transformed into a dragon form, an immense force began pouring out in every direction.
Rather than being startled, Jeok Mugun was sincerely delighted and openly impressed.
“Ha ha ha! The world truly has every strange thing imaginable! It pays to live a long life!”
Son Gang smiled at the sight of Jeok Mugun treating his transformed appearance as nothing remarkable and even enjoying it.
“We shall see whether you can keep laughing after you experience my true power.”
BANG—.
He moved so fast that the air exploded, and in an instant, his fist was flying toward Jeok Mugun’s face.
KWAAAAAA—.
Just as Jeok Mugun’s face was about to be crushed beneath a blow that seemed to rip through the air—
THWACK!
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—!
The fist passed through empty space, and the wind of the punch split open the ground.
A chill ran down Son Gang’s spine, and he hastily threw his head back.
WHOOOOM—.
With a terrifying sound, Jeok Mugun’s fist passed by at a speed too fast to see.
Son Gang had thought he had barely dodged it.
He had not.
CRAAACK—.
“Urgh!”
Even though the fist had passed him, he felt the impact.
The shock wave created in its wake had slammed into his face.
To suffer this much pain from the shock wave alone.
So this truly was the strongest man in the Central Plains.
Blood trickled from Son Gang’s nose.
Without bothering to wipe it away, he grinned at Jeok Mugun.
This was fun.
It was different from fighting Jeok Wigang.
Fighting Jeok Wigang felt like confronting an enormous wall, leaving him with nothing but despair.
But Jeok Mugun was different.
He allowed Son Gang to feel the joy of battle.
Jeok Mugun was smiling as well.
Only now did he understand why he had clung so stubbornly to the Four Divine Demons.
He had missed it.
That electrifying feeling of fighting them.
The loneliness of an absolute expert.
The Four Divine Demons had been the only ones who could ease that loneliness.
That was why he had missed them.
“Shall we continue?”
“Gladly!”
Both men smiled as they clashed again.
******
“Cough!”
Son Gang spat blood and laughed.
Then, looking at Jeok Mugun with exhausted eyes, he spoke.
“I... lost.”
THUD—.
With those words, he collapsed.
Jeok Mugun had not suffered any serious injuries, though he looked slightly fatigued.
“Truly strong. The old me might have struggled against him.”
“Grandfather, you need to get stronger. You struggled too much.”
Jeok Rihyeon stared at Jeok Wigang as if he had lost his mind.
How had that been a struggle?
Jeok Mugun had won almost entirely one-sidedly.
“Did I?”
“Yes. You cannot drag things out like that. You should defeat someone at that level overwhelmingly.”
“You brat. Try reaching my age yourself. It is not as easy as you make it sound.”
“Why not undergo Bone-and-Body Rebirth?”
“I would certainly like that, but the way you say it makes it sound as though you are handing out candy. It feels a little strange.”
“What is strange about it? I am only saying it because it is possible.”
Jeok Mugun shook his head at Jeok Wigang’s broad grin.
“I do not know what kind of people will become your enemies, but I truly pity them. I pity them greatly.”
“Since we are talking about it, let us go perform your Bone-and-Body Rebirth later.”
“You are not joking? You truly mean it?”
“Yes.”
Jeok Wigang turned to Jeok Rihyeon.
“Since we are doing it, Father should come too.”
“Me too?”
“Yes.”
He was offering Bone-and-Body Rebirth, one of the greatest fated opportunities imaginable, as though it were a casual favor.
When Jeok Wigang had said it at home, it had sounded too absurd to believe.
But now that Jeok Rihyeon had seen the truth of what Jeok Wigang was, he felt that it might really happen.
Was this right?
All the martial arts training he had devoted himself to suddenly felt rather futile.
Was it not far too easy to become stronger this way?
As he thought that, Jeok Wigang spoke.
“Bone-and-Body Rebirth does not simply make you strong. It only reshapes your body into one suitable for martial arts.”
That was by his standards.
In reality, Bone-and-Body Rebirth made someone enormously stronger.
There was a reason every martial artist longed for it so desperately.
“Anyway, after the procedure is finished, you will both be training with me in earnest. So prepare yourselves.”
Jeok Rihyeon was already afraid.
Wait.
“Could the reason Wiun became so strong be...?”
Jeok Wigang grinned.
Of course.
No wonder Wiun’s progress had been so extraordinary.
It had undoubtedly been Jeok Wigang who had planted that obsession with growing stronger in him.
Jeok Wiun had even muttered in his sleep that he had to become stronger.
Jeok Rihyeon had thought his son admirable.
Now he realized it had been about survival.
“Now that I think about it, I should go check Wiun’s skills too. I will go on ahead, so take your time.”
Ye Yahyeon slung the unconscious Son Gang over his shoulder and hurried after Jeok Wigang.
As Jeok Rihyeon stood there blankly, Jeok Mugun approached and spoke to him.
“Steel yourself. Training with that boy means staking your life on it.”
“What?”
Jeok Rihyeon’s face crumpled at Jeok Mugun’s dire warning.
“You have to stake your life on it?”
“That is just a manner of speaking. He will not actually kill you. You know how dearly he cares for family.”
“If he cares that much, what kind of training makes someone stake their life on it?”
“That is how you get stronger. The results are certain. I also grew stronger quickly because of it.”
Since Jeok Mugun was saying it, it had to be true.
Grow stronger?
Jeok Wigang’s words came back to him.
You need to become as strong as Grandfather, at the very least.
Me?
As strong as Father?
Jeok Rihyeon stared steadily at Jeok Mugun.
“This brat? Not a chance.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You just thought about surpassing me, did you not?”
“What? No, I did not—”
“Do not lie, brat. You are a hundred years too early.”
Jeok Rihyeon flared up at those words.
“Wigang said so! He said I could become as strong as Father. I will prove it to you!”
“Fine! Let us see it, then.”
They glared at each other for a moment before they began to laugh.
“You brat. You should have shown that kind of spirit long ago.”
“I think I understand, at least a little, why Father wanted to become so strong. Having hope that I can grow stronger makes a person feel like this.”
“Work hard.”
“Yes.”
“Let us go as well. If Wigang trained Wiun, he must have grown even stronger. Shall we go see how much he has improved?”
“Good. Let us go.”
*****
GULP—.
Jeok Wiun kept swallowing dryly as he cautiously watched Jeok Wigang’s expression.
“You trained hard while I was gone, right?”
“O-of course.”
“What about the elixirs I gave you?”
“I took them all.”
“Really? Then let us see... By now, you should be at least at the eight-star supreme level.”
Was he some kind of ghost?
Jeok Wiun had only recently reached the eight-star supreme level.
At his age, reaching that level was already an absurd achievement.
Yet the very person who had made such an absurd accomplishment possible was his older brother, Jeok Wigang.
“That is right. I recently reached the level you mentioned.”
Jeok Wigang grinned.
“Well done. If you had not, I was not going to let you off.”
A chill ran down Jeok Wiun’s spine.
It was a good thing he had trained diligently without slacking off.
“Good. Let us take a look. Come at me with everything you have.”
Jeok Wiun let out a sigh, then began glaring at him with fierce eyes.
Fine.
Let him see.
Let him see how hard he had worked.
WHOOOOM—.
A tremendous aura surged from Jeok Wiun’s body.
“Ho! You can finally give off a respectable aura.”
His brother’s praise made him strangely happy.
It made him feel that all his hard work had been worthwhile.
Now he would show him.
He would show him just how strong he had become.
A weight lifted from Jeok Wiun’s body, and he charged toward Jeok Wigang.
*****
“Huff, huff... Urrgh!”
Jeok Wiun panted heavily and kept retching.
Even so, he did not collapse.
He continued glaring at Jeok Wigang.
“Not... yet...”
Though he had exhausted all his strength, Jeok Wiun tried to endure and attack Jeok Wigang again.
“You worked hard. You have shown enough. Rest now.”
Jeok Wigang walked over and stroked his head.
Jeok Wiun immediately collapsed into sleep as though he had fainted.
Jeok Mugun and Jeok Rihyeon watched from a distance.
“Impressive. When I received the report, he was clearly at the two-star supreme level. Yet he is already at the eight-star supreme level.”
“A report? Were you having Wiun watched?”
“Watched? I merely heard news of whether he was doing well.”
Jeok Rihyeon gave a faint smile at Jeok Mugun’s words.
He had acted as though he did not care, yet he had been watching over everything.
The lingering hurt Jeok Rihyeon had carried began to fade away.
He felt truly happy.
His relationship with his father had improved, and he had even gained his recognition.
On top of that, his heir had already reached the eight-star supreme level at such a young age.
Such a thing was rare even across the long history of the martial world.
But what made him happiest of all was Jeok Wigang’s strength.
He had always worried most about Jeok Wigang.
Now, he no longer had to.
As all his worries and concerns disappeared, his heart became peaceful in a way it had never been before.
And as his heart settled into peace, realization came to him.
The moment Jeok Rihyeon attained enlightenment, Jeok Mugun stood guard in every direction.
At the same time, he looked at Jeok Rihyeon with eyes full of affection.
In truth, the son he had cherished most had always been Jeok Rihyeon.
Perhaps it was because he had been the youngest.
When Jeok Rihyeon left, Jeok Mugun had hated him.
He had not even wanted to see him again.
But seeing him again now made him so happy.
What had he been struggling so desperately for?
Whenever he thought of Jeok Wigang, it all felt meaningless.
As he let everything go, realization came to Jeok Mugun as well.
Father and son sat together, attaining enlightenment at the same time.
Jeok Wigang smirked and murmured a mantra.
Since they were already attaining enlightenment, he intended to perform their Bone-and-Body Rebirth at the same time.
That would make the results even more certain.
As he recited the mantra, a circular barrier formed around Jeok Mugun and Jeok Rihyeon.
The qi around the two men turned golden and intertwined in midair.
It grew steadily stronger, pouring out a blinding radiance in every direction.
When it met the barrier, the qi amplified even further.
Then it split apart and was absorbed into their bodies.
Their bodies rose into the air, their limbs spread wide.
The heat pouring from their bodies burned away the clothes they wore.
CRRRK— CRACK—.
Their bodies swelled and twisted in bizarre ways.
Then their skin peeled away, and their muscles began to reconstruct themselves.
How much time passed?
The heat radiating from their bodies gradually subsided, and their floating forms slowly descended.
Both men came to rest on the ground.
A moment later, their eyes opened at the same time.
JOLT—.
The two of them sprang upright the instant their eyes opened.
After quickly inspecting their own bodies, they looked at each other.
“Energy is overflowing through my entire body. So much that I cannot contain it.”
Jeok Mugun clenched his fist tightly.
“I feel as though I can do anything now. I can become stronger.”
Jeok Mugun and Jeok Rihyeon looked at Jeok Wigang.
“This was you, was it not?”
Jeok Wigang nodded.
“Since you were attaining enlightenment, I carried out the Bone-and-Body Rebirth I promised at the same time.”
Jeok Rihyeon smiled and said to Jeok Mugun,
“I will catch up to you soon. I am going to grow stronger very quickly now.”
Jeok Mugun grinned.
“I told you. You are a hundred years too early.”
As the two continued speaking, Jeok Wigang’s voice reached them.
“I know you are happy, but could you put some clothes on before you talk?”
Only then did the two men realize that they were naked.
“Put these on.”
“Thank you.”
“You mean you are thanking me for the clothes, right?”
Jeok Wigang asked with a grin.
The two men gave a quiet laugh.
“For everything.”
Three generations looked at one another and smiled warmly.