* * *
Sima Ryunju slowed down his circulation of internal energy that was running rampant just moments before. His surroundings were full of armed martial artists who were all unconscious and foaming at the mouth.
There were no dead people. It was not because Sima Ryunju cared for their lives enough to spare them. It was to show just how wide the skill gap was to his disciple.
Leaving the easier path of completely exterminating all the martial artists in the Alliance and knocking them all unconscious was actually fun as a challenge for Sima Ryunju to a certain extent. But he was truly happy about something else.
“You didn’t run away.”
Sima Ryunju murmured while looking up at the pagoda of the Murim Alliance.
Lee Sungmin couldn’t feel the presence too well, but Sima Ryunju could clearly distinguish the presence among the others and its location.
A thin smile hung on the corners of Sima Ryunju’s lips.
He was pleased that Jehu had not run away. Mainly because he thought this would be a worthy person to properly show his dumb disciple his true overwhelming strength that he had been hiding all these years.
“Are there any requests?”
Sima Ryunju glanced at Lee Sungmin and asked.
What did he mean by a request? Lee Sungmin tilted his head without understanding the words. Sima Ryunju chuckled and laughed.
“When we beat up that Black Dragon idiot. If there’s anything you want me to do, I’ll do my best to do it for you.”
“……can you subdue in 10 seconds?”
“Ten seconds? Hmm…..”
Sima Ryunju furrowed his eyebrows in pondering. Sima Ryunju, who had been thinking for a while scratching his chin, shook his head.
“I’ve never fought him before, so I can’t be sure to pin him down to the very tenth second. But I’ll try.”
It was a truly arrogant thing to say.
Even if Jehu, the Black Dragon, was not on the same level as Sima Ryunju, Musin, Geom-Seong, Jehu was a Transcendent Martial Artist on the same level as the Spear King.
In addition, he was a Draconic Human; a halfling, and had incredible physical strength unrelated to martial arts. Lee Sungmin, who was defeated by Kang Seok, had no choice but to think of an inevitable defeat against Jehu if they were to fight.
Sima Ryunju was seriously thinking about beating up a Transcendent Realm Martial Artist, Jehu, Lord of the Martial Alliance, in under ten seconds!
Even though he added that he was not sure if he could, the very act that he had to think about it was preposterous. On his way here, Lee Sungmin recalled the way Sima Ryunju had incapacitated the martial artists before facing the hundred man formation.
He used his spirit alone, along with his internal energy, to knock them down without moving a finger.
It was fundamentally different from Dragon Fear, which Lee Sungmin could use. Sima Ryunju’s use of his spirit, inflicted internal injuries on hundreds of people around him in a sweeping radius. In addition to controlling the output of power, it clearly distinguished between those who were allies and those who were not.
Lee Sungmin could do something similar in effect with Dragon Fear, but he couldn’t control the radius of expansion to the finest of detail, along with selecting who would be unaffected by it. It was something that only implemented fear onto anything in his range.
“Here he comes.”
Sima Ryunju muttered as he looked up.
Atop the several flights of stairs in the pagoda, a black dot descended from the top slowly. It descended further and further till it came into view as Jehu, adorned in a black robe, landed onto the floor where Sima Ryunju and Lee Sungmin were.
Several officials and martial artists, including the elders and those of high position, could be seen lying unconscious and foaming at the mouth around them.
‘What a bunch of useless…….’
No, it wasn’t their fault. Jehu let out a sigh as he realized it was improper to blame them for their incompetence.
Even though this place was the Murim Alliance Headquarters, it is not filled to the brim with ancient and powerful masters all over the place, like the public perception described it as.
Eria was wide. Not all of the land was under the influence of the Murim Alliance, but its size is enormous in terms of the number of political factions allied within it that spanned across Eria.
The Sect Masters and Patriarchs of the Five Great Families were located in different places all over Eria. They did not all just stay in the Headquarters willy-nilly.
In other words, the Headquarters was a place with nothing but an empty house that symbolized power without having anything to back it up.
The masters of the smaller and medium-sized sects were within the territory, but that didn’t mean they were even allied with the Murim Alliance. Some were, but there was also a considerable amount of them that just happened to be there to compete with the other aspiring martial artists.
‘Even if it wasn’t an empty house, the results wouldn’t have changed.’
Jehu clenched his fists tightly. Even if those people had been there and allied with the Alliance, nothing would have stopped the monster known as Sima Ryunju from waltzing into the headquarters and wreaking havoc.
Jehu had never even met Sima Ryunju in person. But he still knew the man was a complete and monstrous martial artist. He could feel it just by standing next to him, just how powerful Sima Ryunju’s aura was.
Jehu reflexively compared it to the man he referred to as the ‘Martial God’. It was a hundred years ago that Jehu had met Musin. Compared to that man..….
‘No… I don’t even know if I can properly compare them.’
Jehu had never even seen the true power of Musin; neither had he seen Sima Ryunju’s. Those two men were something he could not fathom.
Was it even possible for a true human being to have that much power?
“What on earth are you doing this for?”
Letting his thoughts go to the back of his mind, Jehu spoke and asked Sima Ryunju the question.
Repercussion.
Jehu had no choice but to think that this was the repercussions of falsely framing several individuals, and that he pissed off Sima Ryunju a little too much. Warily watching Sima Ryunju, Jehu shivered reflexively.
Sima Ryunju arrogantly looked directly as Jehu, as he remained tall without breaking his imposing and domineering posture.
“I don’t think our relationship with the Sama Order is that bad yet. The Sama Order has not been attacked by the Murim Alliance unconditionally and without reason as of yet.”
But both of them knew that Jehu was the one responsible for having power hungry figureheads in the Sama Order that Lee Sungmin had to clean up. Although it wasn’t direct, Jehu was meddling with them.
Apart from that however, there was no direct conflict between the Murim Alliance and The Sama Order.
‘Or was it the pressure I had been putting on the Ghost Spear?’
Although he was not in a good position to ask about it, Jehu couldn’t help but wonder if that was the reason that the monstrous being, known as Sima Ryunju, had moved and attacked like this.
“The reason, is it?”
Sima Ryunju murmured. As he did, the tucked hands behind his back fell loosely to his sides as his robe fluttered.
“That’s not why this old man has come here.”
“Then…… why?”
“You were just the easiest opponent to mess with.”
Jehu was speechless. He didn’t understand anything that Sima Ryunju meant with his words. No, he didn’t even want to at this point.
It didn’t matter since the only thing Jehu was certain of was that Sima Ryunju was his opponent right now.
“Why don’t we think about each other’s positions…….”Jehu almost spoke pleadingly.
“No.”
Sima Ryunju simply told Jehu to just shut up and get ready..
“It’s just a bunch of meaningless words, isn’t it?
Sima Ryunju chuckled and strode forwards.
“Start counting from here on out…”
The words confused Jehu, but they weren’t aimed towards him. They were aimed towards Lee Sungmin. Lee Sungmin gulped as he watched in anticipation.
He understood what Sima Ryunju meant. But, Lee Sungmin just spoke those words as a joke. He didn’t honestly expect his master to be able to do it. Yet…. Here Sima Ryunju was about to do it.
Sima Ryunju was serious, and Lee Sungmin immediately knew it when he saw his master’s figure disappear. Lee Sungmin was not even able to process the movement or see it.
Jehu was superior to Lee Sungmin, and was able to comprehend what Lee Sungmin could not.
However, even Jehu was not adequate enough to completely grasp the incredible speed of Sima Ryunju at that moment.
Jehu freaked out and broke out in a cold sweat. He didn’t know what to do, so he just summoned his dragon scales immediately and put his arms in a defensive position to take a beating as he circulated a coating of internal energy around his body. He didn’t expect Sima Ryunju to simply start attacking with only a word or two of conversation!
But it was too late.
Kra-boooooooff!
With an eerie and sharp sound, Jehu was flung back helplessly.
He couldn’t even notice what the hell was happening at that moment.
The black scales, which had been brought out just a moment ago, were seen turning into powder as they were melted right off by Sima Ryunju’s first blow. Jehu tried to say something, but the blood from his throat stopped him from being able to.
‘What…where!?’
Jehu frantically tried to shift his eyes in fear; wondering where Sima Ryunju was coming from.
BOOM!
Jehu flew in the opposite direction this time. His back was hit so hard that it felt like his spine had cracked.
There was no time to try and bring out his scales again this time. Even his coating of internal energy was meaningless. He didn’t know what the technique was, or where Sima Ryunju was coming from. But every time he was struck by Sima Ryunju, Jehu’s scales and internal energy were pierced like lumps of butter.
Of course, how could Jehu not be enraged at this as well? He was frustrated that he was injured against Juwon, treated like a fool by Sima Ryunju in front of his disciple, who just watched blankly, and not being able to do anything about it!
Cuwaaaaaaaa-a-a-a-a!
A black light of internal energy swelled around Jehu and formed a defensive sphere around his body to straighten out his posture.
The face of Jehu was distorted in rage. He had no choice but to be beaten senseless by Sima Ryunju. His speed was something unfathomable to Jehu. But that didn’t mean Jehu would merely take this lying down.
Jehu emerged from the sphere and let the internal energy seep back into his body. As he emerged from the sphere, Sima Ryunju shook the dust off his shoulders and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jehu.
“Crrrr!”
Jehu’s eyes also turned into slits as he narrowed his eyes as well.
They were not human eyes, but rather the eyes of the Black Dragon.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The cry of Jehu’s shook the space like a lion’s roar.
No. It wasn’t a lion’s roar. It was a primal and instinctive fear that Lee Sungmin felt, but it was closer to Jehu’s true origin. Almost as if he were a real Black Dragon.
The black light that started to eerily glow and surround Jehu, covered his body fiercely. Lee Sungmin gulped at the fearsome power that was emanating from Jehu’s entire being, but Sima Ryunju just stood there patiently and waited with an uninterested look on his face.(T/N : LMAO what a absolute SAVAGE)
Brrrrrrrr!
The ground shook with a violent tremor and an off-putting sound followed.
Jehu shot his Dragon’s Breath forward with all of his might. One might wonder if it mattered whether Jehu’s form as a Draconic Human Being had any effect on the power of breath compared to a real Dragon of Jehu’s power, but it did not. It was just as fearsome.
Sima Ryunju simply raised his right hand at the breath that was shot forth.
BWOOSH!
A beam of black and red lightning shot out against the breath and collided. Normally, the two powers would offset each other if they were similar in strength. But that was not the case…
The Dragon Breath was utterly destroyed upon contact and disappeared as Jehu’s eyes widened when he saw the incoming attack. The lightning struck him fiercely, and he fell stunned to the ground.Sima Ryunju had an amused expression and toothy grin etched across his face.
“Huaaah!”
Jehu gasped for breath as blood leaked and spurted out from his nose and mouth.
At some point, Sima Ryunju appeared right in front of Jehu’s eyes in a blur, and his fist was struck and embedded in Jehu’s stomach.
The scales and internal energy were ripped apart mercilessly, like paper once again.
Jehu crossed his hands and moved them in a “X” formation of defense while vomiting blood.
In the eyes of Lee Sungmin, there seemed to be no gap to penetrate the defense despite it looking open. He knew that it was him attacking, he would not be able to expose a flaw at all.
Again, this time, it was nothing for Sima Ryunju. If there wasn’t a flaw, he just made one appear. Sima Ryunju stepped forward in a flash.
Jehu’s heart and mind sank. He knew there was nothing left for him now. He was certain he would die here today.
He lifted his trembling arms. Looking at his arms, he noticed that they were bent at an angle that was unnatural.
Sima Ryunju did not miss the gap and struck Jehu once again in the stomach repeatedly without mercy.
‘The level…is completely different.’
They were supposed to both be in the Realm of Transcendence. But why was Sima Ryunju this powerful?! Even though Jehu knew he was strong, he did not ever believe Sima Ryunju was this strong. He didn’t even think that it was possible for them to still be in the same Realm of Transcendence at this point.
Even Geniella, The Vampire Queen, and the strongest of the Five Black Stars of Predator, would not be Sima Ryunju’s opponent. That was what Jehu thought as he was pummeled mercilessly.
He didn’t even mention Kang Seok in the list of people that could contest with Sima Ryunju. Although the scenario would never happen… theoretically inside of Jehu’s mind, if Juwon, Kang Seok and Jehu, himself, all attacked together and tried to fight against Sima Ryunju, he was not sure they would be able to win.
“Argh!”
The overwhelming gap was both humiliating and depressing.
But…. Even if Jehu was only a half-dragon, he still had the pride of one engraved into his very mind and soul.
Looking at Jehu regain his footing and come towards Sima Ryunju with a shout, Sima Ryunju nodded in approval.
‘In ten seconds… It’s almost time.’
The Black Dragon, Jehu, was not as strong as Sima Ryunju thought. Would have been any different if Jehu was in top condition? Sima Ryunju didn’t think so.
But he did notice that Jehu’s movements were unnatural and awkward. Although Jehu was forcing himself to fight through the pain, it still hurt and affected him.
Ba-boom Ba-boom!
Jehu’s vision turned dark as the last sound he heard was the noise of a blow echoing throughout the Pagoda.
“I finished in ten seconds.”
Sima Ryunju spoke in a proud voice. He let the body of the unconscious Jehu drop on the ground.
Sima Ryunju turned towards Lee Sungmin as he roused his internal energy and lifted up Jehu with telekinesis.
Lee Sungmin had nothing to say. It was still not registering in his brain what he had just seen. It was…. Something Lee Sungmin would never have deemed even possible.
It was not the speed of Sima Ryunju that had impressed Lee Sungmin the most. He already knew that Sima Ryunju’s speed was ridiculous and didn’t bother to try and measure it. But the technique and power behind each of Sima Ryunju’s concise strikes held incredible power and accuracy to vital points across the body. Lee Sungmin stood there agape.
That was enough.
Sima Ryunju, his master, had truly imprinted respect mixed with even a bit of fear into Lee Sungmin’s mind that day.
Lee Sungmin was sure that Sima Ryunju was the strongest man in this world at this moment. He was utterly convinced that nothing could ever stand higher.
During the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun, Lee Sungmin had fled from Jehu because he was not confident of even getting past Jehu’s layer of Dragon Scales.
But Sima Ryunju had not just penetrated through the scales, but utterly destroyed them.
“……what are we going to do now?”
“We have to get out of here.”
Wasn’t it obvious? Sima Ryunju thought as he looked around.
The Headquarters of the Murim Alliance was eerily silent, with several people laying on the ground unconscious like flies.
“Let’s go to the carriage then.”
“What about the Lord of the Murim Alliance?”
Sima Ryunju glazed beside him, where Jehu laid in the air, dripping with bits of blood.
“Let’s take him with us.”
“What?”
“We have to interrogate him anyway. If we interrogate him here, there will be bugs constantly buzzing around us, so I think it’s better to just take him away with us as we travel.”
Wasn’t that dangerous as hell?
Lee Sung-in quietly swallowed the words that came to mind.
It was because he didn’t even dare to think that way anymore after seeing the ‘real’ Sima Ryunju.