Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Dokgo Jin’s eyes shone.

‘Paeng Jin-ak?’

Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered hearing that the name of a saber master from the Hebei Paeng Family who had made a name for himself decades ago was Paeng Jin-ak.

Battle Saber Paeng Jin-ak.

‘After the rumor that he, a collateral branch member, had left his family behind, he disappeared.’

He had been a talent who could become one of the greatest masters under heaven, so he had drawn considerable attention. When he suddenly vanished, many people had found it strange.

‘So that Battle Saber was in the Northern Heaven Alliance.’

Dokgo Jin’s eyes narrowed.

‘Come to think of it, there were rumors that there was a terrifying battle fiend in the Northern Heaven Alliance who wielded a Horse-Cleaving Saber.’

It had been an unconfirmed rumor. Looking at it now, that rumor had been referring to Paeng Jin-ak.

Paeng Jin-ak silently stared at Dokgo Jin, then nodded.

“Indeed. I can tell just from your standing posture that you are at quite a considerable level.”

“......”

“It is not easy to even guess how high a realm you have reached. You must have passed the First and Second Gates easily.”

“What is the test of the Third Gate?”

Dokgo Jin had an idea inwardly, but he asked while pretending not to know.

“It is simple. As you likely expected, you will spar with me.”

Paeng Jin-ak took out a long incense stick from his robe.

“If you endure until this incense burns out, you pass. Simple, is it not?”

“What happens if I win before then?”

At Dokgo Jin’s provocative question, Paeng Jin-ak’s eyes became round, then he burst into loud laughter.

“Hohoho! Of course, that would also be a pass. Naturally!”

A cold light lingered in his eyes.

“But keep this in mind. There is no mercy in this old man’s hands.”

It was a subtle threat, but Dokgo Jin did not care.

“Let us begin.”

“......Very well.”

Paeng Jin-ak lightly threw the incense stick to the floor.

Thuk.

Astonishingly, the incense stick pierced into the stone floor and stood upright. Soon, the tip of the incense turned red and began to burn.

It looked simple, but it was a move that showed just how precise and sharp Paeng Jin-ak’s inner arts control was.

With a faint smile, Paeng Jin-ak crooked his fingertip.

“I will yield the first attack. Come at me.”

“I will not refuse.”

BANG!

With an intense air-splitting sound, Dokgo Jin’s form rushed toward Paeng Jin-ak.

Acknowledging that Paeng Jin-ak was no ordinary master, Dokgo Jin drew up the Black Flame Qi of the Nine Nether Dark Heaven Scripture from the start.

HSSSSSS!

Dokgo Jin’s fist strike, wrapped in black energy, dug into Paeng Jin-ak’s chest.

But.

Paeng Jin-ak ignored Dokgo Jin’s offensive and thrust out his fist.

RUUUUUSH!

“......!”

The heavy fist strike was extremely swift.

At this rate, they would both be struck defenselessly by each other’s fists.

However, this was unfavorable to Dokgo Jin.

Since the inner arts contained in Paeng Jin-ak’s fist strike were far greater, Dokgo Jin would suffer a great loss if they followed through to the end.

‘Hmm.’

Because it was the first move, Dokgo Jin had filled it with relatively little energy, and Paeng Jin-ak had pierced through that opening.

Dokgo Jin had no choice but to withdraw the fist he had been extending and twist his body. Then, Paeng Jin-ak also withdrew the fist he had been thrusting out and extended his other fist.

Dokgo Jin’s face stiffened slightly.

‘So this was his aim from the beginning!’

HUMMMMM!

The atmosphere shook from the tremendous force contained in the other fist.

‘......He is experienced.’

Dokgo Jin admitted that he had been caught.

Paeng Jin-ak had yielded the first attack and seemed to use a mutual-destruction move, but that had been a feint, and the true attack was separate.

‘However, I will not be taken down easily.’

A heavy fist that crushed down with nothing but the density of inner arts, without any flashy technique.

Dokgo Jin did not dodge. He opened his palm and received the fist.

BO—OM!

The air trembled, and the shockwave shook Dokgo Jin’s clothes. Dokgo Jin’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Heavy.’

It was not simple muscular strength.

It was a fist containing the internal power built up over many long years, heavier than a thousand-catty hammer.

However, Dokgo Jin did not get pushed back and held his ground. The energy of the Nine Nether Dark Heaven Scripture accumulated in Dokgo Jin’s qi center was too great for him to be pushed back by this much.

Paeng Jin-ak was inwardly surprised.

‘He endured this without being pushed back?’

He realized that Dokgo Jin’s inner arts were not to be underestimated.

‘He exceeds my expectations!’

With a faint smile, Paeng Jin-ak pressed in close and swung both hands, and Dokgo Jin also responded without retreating.

Soon after, the two men’s hands and feet tangled at speeds invisible to the eye.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

THUD! BOOM!

The entire stone chamber shook from the aftereffects of their clashes.

‘My hands are aching.’

After clashing with him several times, Dokgo Jin realized that receiving Paeng Jin-ak’s offensive head-on was foolish.

‘In that case.’

Dokgo Jin’s fist strike changed. Rather than colliding directly, he decided to redirect the force.

Paeng Jin-ak’s fist art was ferocious like a beast, and Dokgo Jin’s response was smooth like a ghost.

When Paeng Jin-ak pushed in with his shoulder, Dokgo Jin redirected the force and drove a knife-hand strike into his ribs.

THUD!

Of course, this attack was blocked by Paeng Jin-ak’s thick protective strong qi.

CRASH CRASH CRASH!

After more than ten exchanges of offense and defense, the two men retreated at the same time.

“Hoho.”

Joy spread across Paeng Jin-ak’s face.

“Not bad. It has been a long time since I met someone whose bones remained intact after taking my fists.”

“Considering your age, Hall Master, your joints are quite sturdy as well.”

“Is that so?”

Paeng Jin-ak glanced at the incense burning quickly and said,

“That is enough warming up.”

Paeng Jin-ak stretched his hand to the right. Then, the Horse-Cleaving Saber on the wooden platform flew into his hand.

Thump!

It was Void Object-Seizing True Qi. Considering the weight of the Horse-Cleaving Saber, it was an astonishing level.

“Now, let us do this properly.”

HUMMMMM!

When he lifted the Horse-Cleaving Saber, the air in the stone chamber instantly sank heavily.

It was a vicious momentum on an entirely different level from the fist-and-kick exchange.

“If you wish to face my saber, you will have to use the sword on your back as well.”

Dokgo Jin’s eyes narrowed.

‘......So he knew after all.’

BANG!

Paeng Jin-ak kicked off the floor and brought the Horse-Cleaving Saber down.

SWIIIIISH!

For an instant, it was such a terrifying saber strike that Dokgo Jin had the illusion that the world itself was being split in two.

“......!”

For the first time since leaving the Forest of the Dead, Dokgo Jin felt an intense sense of crisis. Almost instinctively, he stepped with the Nine Nether Traceless Step.

By a hair’s breadth, the Horse-Cleaving Saber embedded itself into the floor.

BO—OM!

‘That was danger......’

Slide.

“......!”

Only belatedly did Dokgo Jin realize that the front of his clothes had been cut. Had it been just a little deeper, his chest would have been sliced open.

‘What an incredible saber strike!’

But Paeng Jin-ak did not stop there.

The Horse-Cleaving Saber, which had been buried more than halfway into the floor, sprang out as if nothing had happened, and a fierce offensive followed.

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH!

It was a fierce chain of attacks like a brave tiger rampaging. Each time the Horse-Cleaving Saber cut through the air, a terrible air-splitting sound tore at the eardrums.

Dokgo Jin stepped with the Nine Nether Traceless Step and frantically retreated. But soon, his movements were restricted by the numerous saber lights created by the Horse-Cleaving Saber.

The corner of Paeng Jin-ak’s mouth rose slightly.

‘He can no longer avoid this.’

Blue saber force condensed on the Horse-Cleaving Saber.

Mad Tiger Mountain-Shattering Saber.

Third Move, Mountain-Shattering Mad Wave.

The enormous saber force that filled the narrow stone chamber came crashing down over Dokgo Jin’s head like a tidal wave.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

“......”

At that desperate moment, Dokgo Jin stopped the foot that had been retreating and planted it firmly against the floor.

His eyes sank coldly.

‘If I do not do this properly, I will be done in.’

Hiding his full strength any further was not deception, but a misjudgment that would invite death.

HSSSSSSSS!

With a strange noise, the Black Flame Qi of the Nine Nether Dark Heaven Scripture poured down into his forearm as if running wild.

Then, his hand, wrapped in Black Flame Qi, grasped the “sword” on his back.

BAAAANG!

Unable to endure the Black Flame Qi infused into the sword, the black cloth shattered into pieces and scattered through the air.

Amid the pieces of black cloth fluttering like butterflies.

KIIIIING!

With a strange vibration, a blade flashing with intense light revealed itself.

It was the moment the Heavenly Dark Emperor’s exclusive weapon, “Extinction,” appeared in the world once again in Dokgo Jin’s hand.

‘It has been a long time, Extinction.’

The revealed Extinction possessed a cool silver-white blade, as if it had been forged by melting down the essence of ten-thousand-year snow.

Its length was roughly four feet, about 120 centimeters.

Longer and heavier than an ordinary sword, its weight itself gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure.

Strangely, it had no guard to protect the hand at all, and from the handle to the blue-tinged tip of the blade, it stretched straight without any obstruction in the form of a smooth straight saber.

The strangest thing was the material of the blade.

Its surface, which seemed to be made of extremely refined white iron, was as smooth as a mirror and scattered frost-like silver light in every direction.

There was not a single ornate decoration on the handle.

Only rough black leather cord meant to prevent slipping had been wrapped around it crudely, yet firmly.

It was not made with beauty in mind. It was itself a pure weapon of slaughter, existing only to cut, stab, and kill.

However, the moment Dokgo Jin’s Black Flame Qi ran along the blade, the noble pure-white space began to twist.

HSSSSSS!

As if thick ink had been spilled over white silk, dreadful darkness instantly began to encroach upon the silver-white blade.

In the blink of an eye, Extinction, which had been scattering light in every direction, transformed into a blade of absolute darkness that thoroughly rejected light.

The current Extinction was less like a sword and more like a black “gap” torn through space.

The instant torchlight touched it, rather than reflecting, it was absorbed without a trace by that bizarre darkness.

Extinction, filled with Black Flame Qi, emitted black-blue cold energy like a shimmer around its pitch-black blade and chilled the air of the stone chamber.

Dokgo Jin looked at the incoming wave of saber force, gripped the sword in a reverse grip, then corrected it in an instant and struck upward from below.

There was no flashy technique.

There was only an extremely compressed darkness fired out as a single ray of light.

Nine Nether Dark King Sword, First Move.

Dark Light Splitting Heaven.

KIIIIIIING!

With an enormous rupture that seemed to tear the eardrums, a pitch-black flash shot up toward the sky from the tip of Dokgo Jin’s sword.

It was a thin black light, as if dividing the light and darkness of the world.

But the moment that single line of light collided with Paeng Jin-ak’s enormous saber force, something unbelievable happened.

RIIIIP!

Like a huge waterfall splitting when it struck a rock, the saber force said to crush mountains was split precisely in half around that black light.

‘No?!’

Paeng Jin-ak’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

The split saber force brushed past both sides of Dokgo Jin and struck the wall behind him.

BOOOOM! RUUUUMBLE!

The sturdy stone wall behind Dokgo Jin collapsed, raising a thick cloud of dust.

It was not the method of a lesser fighter who met great force with force.

It was an exceedingly profound method that divided enormous light with the sharpest darkness.

‘What is this......!’

Amid the dust cloud, Dokgo Jin stood with the “demonic sword” emitting black haze aimed forward.

“......”

Paeng Jin-ak glanced sideways at the remnants of the saber force that had been split in two and scattered.

“Impressive.”

He slowly lowered the Horse-Cleaving Saber.

“To think you properly split my cherished saber move. Both that sword and that sword art are no ordinary things, are they?”

Even as he said that, he searched through his memories.

‘It is nothing like the Nether Soul Style. It is a terrifyingly dark and eerie supreme art. I feel as if I have heard of such a martial art somewhere before......’

Dokgo Jin aimed Extinction’s point at the center of Paeng Jin-ak’s brow and murmured lowly.

“From now on, I will face you properly.”

HUM.

Extinction’s blade rang out with a sword cry, as if thirsting for battle.

“......”

Paeng Jin-ak swallowed dryly without realizing it.

‘Hoho. Am I tense right now? It has been decades since I last faced an opponent like this.’

He suddenly drove the Horse-Cleaving Saber upside down into the floor.

Thuk!

“This old man would like to fight more as well, but...... regrettably, time is up.”

“......!”

Dokgo Jin’s gaze turned on its own toward the place where the incense stick had been planted. Just as Paeng Jin-ak said, the incense had burned away entirely and become ash.

“Congratulations, Dokgo Jin.”

Paeng Jin-ak smiled.

“You have splendidly passed the Third Gate.”

At last, Dokgo Jin had succeeded in passing every test of the Dragon-Tiger Hall.