Seo-jun watched the man unleash his martial arts.
A thousand blades moved in perfect harmony, each performing a seamless sword technique. There was no discord, not even the slightest misalignment. It was the pinnacle of sword control—true mastery of One Mind, One Sword.
But that wasn’t all.
‘Each of those blades… is a domain in itself.’
This wasn’t a standard domain. It wasn’t like Namgung Hyuk’s technique, where he merely spread a fragment of his domain onto his sword.
Unlike his incomplete manifestation, this was a fully realized domain.
Not just One Mind, One Sword—but each strike had been honed to the absolute limit, an execution of fatal swordplay at its peak. And there were a thousand of them.
With such blades flawlessly handling offense and defense, it was no easy task to claim the man’s neck.
Wooong—
Seo-jun drew upon his internal energy. How should he break through those blades? First, he would test them.
If you hit something hard enough, a path was bound to reveal itself.
Using large-scale techniques depleted mental strength, but for Seo-jun, wielding internal energy was no different from breathing.
He could unleash attacks at maximum power as many times as he wanted.
Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Falling Firmament Becomes the Great Sea.
Dominating Power, Monstrous Deity’s Martial Might.
He unleashed all three at once.
Plum blossoms scattered, the sea surged upward like a rising dragon, and the earth swung its fist in a devastating strike.
The man who had once cleaved the sun scoffed.
“Are you perhaps an incarnation of a great being?”
Seo-jun had no habit of conversing with corpses. Instead of answering, he continued his assault.
“No, that can’t be. If the laws of the world had been distorted to that extent, then surely…”
Chiiiiing—!
A thousand blades occupied the battlefield, each maintaining its designated range.
They deflected the plum blossoms, shredded the dragon, and crushed the fist.
‘Each attack is overwhelming.’
Geom Hyeon observed his opponent’s martial arts with a steady gaze.
‘A force of nature. Against this man, sheer numbers mean nothing.’
Yet, for that very reason, there was an opening to exploit.
Swiik—!
Geom Hyeon kicked off the air and lunged forward.
Ziiing—!
A thousand blades resonated in unison, converging into a single point. A pinpoint strike with their full power concentrated—it pierced through the earth’s massive fist.
Geom Hyeon’s eyes gleamed. Five more steps.
Rumble—!
A colossal bolt of lightning descended from the heavens. The veins around Geom Hyeon’s eyes bulged. His swirling blades cleaved through the lightning.
Four steps.
A river surged forth, coiling like a serpent to constrict him from all directions. He gripped his sword. Swaak! With precision refined to its utmost limits, he sliced through the tide.
Three steps.
A gigantic titan rose from the ground, its enormous fist crashing down. The thousand blades spun in a whirlwind, tearing it apart.
Two steps.
A golden dragon, descending from the heavens, bared its fangs. A shudder ran down his spine. With eyes wide open, he thrust his sword.
Ka-ga-gaak—!
As he blocked the dragon’s teeth with a single blade, the thousand swords behind him severed the beast.
The final step.
Kwaaaaang──────!!
A destabilized Taiji exploded outward. The very space trembled. Geom Hyeon’s stance wavered, as if he were a lone leaf on a stormy sea.
“Hrrgh…!”
Jjaeng—! He sacrificed a hundred blades to endure.
Geom Hyeon’s eyes flashed. At last, he had arrived.
“Don’t hold a grudge.”
Chwaaaak—!
His sword pierced through space itself, thrusting forward. It was too late to evade.
Like a force of gravity, the sword was drawn in, stabbing straight into Seo-jun’s chest.
Geom Hyeon was certain of victory.
“You fool.”
Seo-jun sneered at him. Watching the man with his hands behind his back, he casually stretched one arm forward.
Crack—!
Horns sprouted from his temples. His crimson eyes captured every detail of the man before him.
His domain was tainted by demonic energy.
Domain Reversal.
Drrk—
Within the domain, a world took form.
Eyes sprouted across every surface, all fixated on the man.
Anti-Ideal World.
If Ideal World was the utopia Seo-jun envisioned, then Anti-Ideal World was a dystopia crafted solely to rip his enemies apart.
Puuuk—!
Geom Hyeon’s sword impaled Seo-jun’s chest. His hands trembled.
“This is…”
Fwoosh—!
Seo-jun’s form disintegrated.
This was different from mere Body Shift . He had undoubtedly pierced something real, and yet…
Wooooooong──────!!
From behind the scattered afterimage, five rings of Five Desires and Obsession rotated, locking onto Geom Hyeon.
There was nowhere to escape.
Every element of the world turned its gaze toward him, and every eye was clouded in murky darkness.
Like a caged bird under scrutiny, all those eyes curled into sinister smirks.
Reverse Sun and Moon Art .
Countless strands of energy weaved together, forming an inescapable net, pouring down upon Geom Hyeon.
At the same time, Seo-jun, standing before the five rings, released the orb clenched in his hand.
Saaaah────
Each time the orb passed through a ring, its energy grew.
Its dull glow darkened until, by the time it traversed the fifth ring, it had become absolute blackness, devoid of even a single ray of light.
“Hah…”
Geom Hyeon let out a hollow chuckle.
“Truly without limits.”
The endless strands of Reverse Sun and Moon Art impaled Geom Hyeon.
He let out a fierce breath and extended his hand, grasping both heaven and earth.
Great Heaven and Earth Shift.
The sky and the ground he seized were overturned. Within the domain, heaven and earth swapped places.
The sky became the ground. Under the countless gazes of the ever-watching eyes, Geom Hyeon chuckled.
“…How absurd.”
Fwoosh—! The domain scattered. However, parts of the inverted land remained in the sky.
Even Seo-jun couldn’t relocate all the land within such a vast domain, but a portion of it—yes, that much was within his power.
Kuaaaaaa─────────!!
The land suspended in the sky came crashing down.
Geom Hyeon’s lips trembled faintly. The entire area was swallowed by the land’s shadow, plunging into an artificial night.
“How extravagant.”
Kuaaaaaaang──────────!!!
The overturned land returned to its rightful place.
****
Seo-jun swiftly left the Sword Sect’s territory, lost in thought.
‘It’s not like the Harmonious Realm masters from other sects can guard the Sword Sect forever.’
But he could invade the Sword Sect at any time.
That was the terror of a true master.
A single body wielding more power than an army of hundreds of thousands—a living weapon.
Such warriors could exploit even the smallest openings in an enemy’s defenses with relentless precision.
‘In the end, this is a battle of time…’
Could he slay the former sect leader and annihilate the Sword Sect before reinforcements arrived?
If that bastard actually followed his own words and withdrew into the mountains, it wouldn’t be difficult…
‘But that’s not going to happen.’
He needed to kill him—quickly.
Seo-jun smirked.
‘It’s definitely possible.’
He had already seen his opponent’s martial arts more than enough times.
Seo-jun’s greatest strength was in understanding Qi, but his ability to create martial techniques was also far beyond the ordinary.
‘I’ll develop a counter to his martial arts.’
Analyzing and devising a counter to an opponent’s techniques after just one battle?
Most martial artists would dismiss such a claim as nonsense.
But Seo-jun had the ability to turn that impossibility into reality.
And this wouldn’t even be his first time doing so.
The second time would be even easier.
Crack—!
His figure tore through space as he vanished.
****
When Seo-jun returned to the Namgung Clan, he was greeted by Chun-bong’s unimpressed expression.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“Ddu-dya-tta.”
Seo-jun raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Ddu-dya-tta.”
Chun-bong was adamant. She spoke with such unwavering determination that it felt like "Ddu-dya-tta" was the only phrase she knew.
In the end, Seo-jun answered on instinct.
“Uh… Wu-dya-tta?”
“Good. You pass.”
Grinning, Chun-bong smacked his backside a few times before grabbing his hand and leading him away.
“The funeral preparations are almost done. Now we’re just waiting for the mourners to arrive.”
“That fast?”
“Well, it’ll take a while for the mourners to actually get here.”
“Ah.”
That made sense. The Central Plains was an absurdly vast land.
He was the strange one for zipping back and forth in short spans of time—normally, just traveling from one place to another took ages.
“Anyway, now that my sister’s going to have some free time, and Namgung Myeong’s schedule is opening up, you should hang out with them more.”
Was that so? Myeong still seemed like he would be pretty busy for a while.
When Seo-jun tilted his head in doubt, Chun-bong suddenly swung her hand.
Paang—!
Her small palm landed a firm slap on his rear.
“If I say do it, then do it.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
Reflexively nodding, Seo-jun looked down at Chun-bong.
After undergoing a full rebirth, her cheeks had puffed up into a soft, round shape.
“What, what…?”
“You little brat.”
Sensing danger on instinct, Chun-bong began backing away.
“What? What is it!?”
“How dare you be this cute…!”
Seo-jun grabbed her squishy cheeks like mochi and bit into them.
Throwing his head back dramatically, he stretched her cheeks like they were made of rice cake.
“Hyiiiik…!”
“Come here, you—!”
A profound sense of peace washed over Seo-jun’s heart.
****
A peculiar rumor spread throughout the Central Plains.
The Heavenly Lord Who Annihilates Evil, who was rampaging through the Black Lotus Union as if to wipe it from existence…
There were whispers that he wielded demonic energy.