Chapter 41

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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**

Viscosity is a physical quantity that represents the degree to which a fluid resists deformation by an external force.

Elasticity is a physical quantity that represents the degree to which a solid tries to return to its original shape when an external force is applied.

Our bodies, especially the head, are made of fluids and solids.

Bones are hard solids, and within them, fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid and blood flow through the brain and various organs.

In other words, our heads possess viscoelasticity, which is a combination of viscosity and elasticity.

This meant having the force to resist external forces and the property of not wanting to deform. But for a continuum with such viscoelasticity to completely lose its shape and turn into mush?

It was because an overwhelming external force had acted upon it.

And to be able to unleash such an external force from a distance of three zhang was something impossible at the level of cultivation in the Elixir Condensation Stage that I had achieved.

‘At least a master of the Nascent Soul Stage.’

A chill ran down my spine.

Before leaving for the mission, I recalled the advice that Martial Aunt Hye-won had given me.

—If you meet a master you cannot handle, you must turn around and run away.

Master also always gave similar warnings.

Therefore, I knew it only too well in my head.

That now was the time to retreat a step.

But at the same time, I could clearly tell.

That if I turned my back at this very moment, the remaining Taoists of the Cloud Sword Hall would end up in a similar situation as the Danyang Sect Leader, whose head had exploded at my feet.

I realized.

That sometimes there were moments when one could not back down.

Moreover, I looked at the face of the culprit who had caused this situation.

Looking at that face and that aura, only one name came to mind—a name I had read in the bamboo scrolls of the Wudang Sect’s Yichang branch.

“Red Yang Demonic Immortal?”

It was the name of a legendary great devil of the past, who was known to have died a long time ago.

Following my words, the old man’s gaze turned toward me.

“Do you know this old man?”

The moment I received that gaze,

‘!’

The true Qi flowing in my body was severed strand by strand, and even my skin tingled.

The Tai Chi Diagram Exposition was ringing alarm bells like crazy.

The landscape of natural Qi reflected in the sensitivity of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition was bizarre.

‘True Qi being emitted radially!’

The internal Qi flowing inside the body was not breathing naturally with the surrounding external energy.

Just as an unstable atom scatters radiation, the internal Qi was stretching outward.

Because I was hit directly by those lines of true Qi, the flow of my true Qi was not smooth.

I immediately activated the Two-Section Brocade, the body-protecting Qi that I had inherited from my Grandmaster.

As the sphere of internal energy in the middle dantian rotated, a force field of true Qi was formed with the Hundred Convergences and Meeting of Yin acupoints as the two poles. Inside it, I donned a protective garment of internal energy generated by the psychokinesis of the Hundred Convergences acupoint.

Immediately after the activation of the Two-Section Brocade, the radiation of true Qi spewing from the old man’s body was diffracted by the force field and bypassed my body, and the radiation that the force field failed to filter out was blocked by the protective garment of internal energy.

The old man’s eyes burned even redder, and the radiation of true Qi he emitted became denser and tighter.

In addition,

“An elder asks, yet there is no answer?”

Along with the words, he reached out his hand.

In that instant, both the flow of true Qi and the fluttering wings of a flying insect in the dark night air entered my vision infinitely slowly.

And beyond that, a flame-like energy gathered on the old man’s hand.

‘He instantly concentrated the radial emission of true Qi into his palm.’

The extreme Yang palm force unleashed from his palm pushed away the surrounding natural Qi and air layer. As a result, the space through which the palm force passed instantly became close to a vacuum, and to compensate for this vacuum, an enormous wind pressure was generated from the surrounding atmosphere.

‘It was this wind pressure that had shattered the head of the Danyang Sect Leader.’

The problem was that the speed at which the wind pressure approached was uniquely fast, even within the slowed-down time.

I illuminated my vision through the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition and read the flow of the palm force.

‘I could not take it head-on. Not yet.’

While exerting the Two-Section Brocade body-protecting Qi to its absolute limit, I took the steps of the Slender Willow Flutter’s Actionless Walk. At the same time, to resist the attractive force of the wind pressure, I concentrated the internal energy of the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art onto the Conception and Governing vessels. The core muscles, born with innate divine strength, corresponded with the internal energy, firmly supporting my entire body.

Finally, while shrouded in the Two-Section Brocade body-protecting Qi, I deflected the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s palm force through the Six Sealings and Four Closings stance of Tai Chi Chuan.

Flutter! Rip!

The sleeve on my forearm fluttered in the wind pressure before finally ripping, exposing my skin. Due to the heat contained in the palm force and air friction, my skin swelled up. I had suffered a burn.

However, it was merely a flesh wound.

“Little Brother Yeon!”

In addition to the shout of Tang Clan’s Third Young Master Tang Jong-hyeok, with whom I had become close over the past few days,

“Danger!”

Even Yang So, belonging to the Beggars’ Sect’s Hall of Rectitude, joined my side with a warning shout while holding a bamboo staff.

Standing in the shape of the character ‘Pin’, we stood before the Red Yang Demonic Immortal.

“You avoided that?”

A curve was drawn on the lips of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal, and

Thud!

He stomped his foot.

While the moisture-laden mud splashed in all directions, the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s clothes alone remained clean.

Flutter!

With his clothes fluttering, the Red Yang Demonic Immortal, who flew across a distance of three zhang, reached out his hand.

I raised the internal energy of my entire body to the limit and cast a force field around myself.

The Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s signature technique, the Zhurong Seal palm force, spewed flames as it fell toward my temple.

The Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s figure, charging in as if pushing away the air layer, moved at normal speed even within the elevated cognitive space of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.

The moment the Zhurong Seal palm force approached and targeted my temple, the Two-Section Brocade body-protecting Qi gently wrapped around and redirected the opponent’s palm force, causing the strike to miss.

On top of that, I struck his wrist with the hand technique of the Six Sealings and Four Closings of Tai Chi Chuan. Although it felt as if I had punched a lump of iron,

The palm force brushed past my head with a buzzing sound, like a swarm of bees passing by.

At the same time,

“Hah!”

The bamboo staff of Yang So, who charged in, struck the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s flank. However, it only made a dull, thudding sound, as if striking a block of iron. He did not seem to have taken any damage at all.

“Heh. Is this all?”

Along with a short chuckle, the swung Zhurong Seal palm force swept over Yang So’s body.

**

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar, who had barely gathered three four-knot disciples of the Hall of Rectitude near Chibi, ran like mad and reached the mud field at the West Gate. And he gasped in awe at the sight that unfolded before him.

‘To think that the real Red Yang Demonic Immortal was actually alive!’

The scene of the old devil, who had died when Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar himself was merely a three-knot disciple, spewing fiery palm force and attacking the young juniors of the Jianghu caught his eyes.

“Young Hero Yeon!”

The Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s fireball-like Zhurong Seal blazed fiercely toward the head of Yeon Baek-jung of the Wudang Sect.

However, Yeon Baek-jung displayed the talent he had shown without reserve.

‘Oh!’

At the last moment, Yeon Baek-jung raised his arm to deflect the palm force, while simultaneously Yang So’s bamboo staff struck the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s flank.

However,

Clang!

From the Beggars’ Sect’s Dog-Beating Staff that struck the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s flank, a dull sound arose, as if hitting a block of iron. Then, immediately behaving as if he had suffered no damage at all, he swung his fleshy palm.

Swish!

“Stop!”

Regardless of Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar’s shout, the fierce palm force swept over Yang So’s body.

“You bastard!”

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar shouted loudly and drew the judge’s pen from his waist. Though he could not compare to the Red Yang Demonic Immortal, a peak master, he figured they could somehow hold out if they pushed forward with numbers.

‘In the meantime, we would be able to buy time for the young generation to escape.’

Seeing the Red Yang Demonic Immortal, who appeared even stronger than he had initially thought, Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar discarded his original plan and focused solely on escaping.

**

In my vision, the image of Yang So flying through the air registered slowly. However, I did not worry about Yang So. It was because I had seen him twist his body at the last moment to deflect the strike.

Now was the time to focus on the enemy in front of me rather than worrying about my companion. Even in that slowed-down time, the palm force of the uniquely dominant Red Yang Demonic Immortal changed direction and rushed toward me.

Perhaps due to the heat, the Hundred Convergences acupoint in my upper dantian burned hot, and the Danzhong acupoint in my middle dantian and my heart throbbed like crazy.

Internal energy convected through my body more fiercely than ever before, weaving a web of a powerful force field.

Flutter!

My collar fluttered in the palm force, but it did not tear any further.

‘Deflecting the strike.’

By reading his muscle movements and his eyes, I deciphered and deflected the rapid path of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal even within the slowed time.

The palm force passed through a space three inches away from my flank, and

Boom!

The ground exploded with a terrifying sound.

“You bastard! Die!”

Was it due to the frustration of being unable to crush me despite clearly being far superior in both internal energy and techniques? A glimpse of impatience was felt in the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s eyes.

The sharp sensitivity of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition seemed to read even the opponent’s psychology.

Along with a whistling sound, the Tang Clan’s secret hidden weapon technique unleashed by Tang Jong-hyeok targeted the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s back. At that moment, the radial true Qi emitting from the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s upper dantian converged into his body, and

The hidden weapons bounced off with a clanking sound, like striking an iron plate.

Both in how he had absorbed the Dog-Beating Staff of the Beggars’ Sect’s Yang So with his body and how his muscles and skin seemed forged with extreme Yang energy, the viscoelasticity of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s body seemed entirely different from that of an ordinary person.

‘He redirected the radiating true Qi inward. It was the practice of rigidification.’

It was said that those who mastered external arts to the absolute limit reinforced their bodies using the internal energy accumulated in their bodies. Legendary practices like Shaolin’s Diamond Indestructible Body Art were that kind of martial art.

The Red Yang Demonic Immortal also appeared to have trained in such martial arts.

It was then.

“Stop!”

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar broke into the battlefield along with the beggars who had four knots tied around their waists.

“Take Yang So and escape, Young Hero Yeon!”

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar, who shouted thus, blocked the path in front of us and charged at the Red Yang Demonic Immortal. The chivalrous heart of the renowned senior of the Jianghu struck a chord in my chest.

“Hah!”

The battle cry rang in my ears, and the life-and-death struggle between the Beggars’ Sect disciples and the Red Yang Demonic Immortal was captured in my two eyes.

As the two sensory organs closest to the upper dantian were stimulated and moved the focus of the upper dantian, all the movements of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal accumulated so far were threaded into a single flow.

At the same time, the true nature of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s martial arts, which blocked the attacks of the Beggars’ Sect disciples and left handprints as he counterattacked, was revealed.

‘Rigidification was structured by formulas that maximized tensile stress and compressive stress.’

What was stress?

It was the force that deformed the shape of a solid by stretching or compressing it. And the coefficient that determined such a force was none other than—

‘Elasticity!’

Since rigidification was analyzed as being implemented through a force reacting against external stress,

‘He had modified the body’s elastic modulus itself through internal energy.’

At the same time that the profound meaning of the rigidification practice was grasped, the spring in my heart that had been suppressed since the path leaving Mount Wudang finally sprang up with a twang,

Spitting out all the elasticity I possessed to ring the upper dantian.

As I began to pave the way by aligning my thoughts and senses, the path was revealed.

‘Although the elastic modulus for tensile stress or compressive stress was usually similar… what about shear stress?! It was half or one-third of the other stresses! What if, after applying force up to the elastic limit, I strongly applied shear stress?!’

The moment my thoughts flung open the weak point of his external qigong,

Along with a thudding sound, a four-knot disciple of the Beggars’ Sect tumbled next to me while spewing blood. At that sight, I raised my body like a bouncing spring.

The time my companions had bought for me.

Now that I had finally found the way,

It was time to advance.

**

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar, while wrapping himself to the absolute limit in the Lice-Slaying Astral Qi’s body-protecting Qi, brandished his judge’s pen along the path of the Beggars’ Sect’s secret Eight Strokes of Jade Mystery to check the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s release of palm force.

However, checking was merely checking.

‘I could not see any way to win.’

The Zhurong Seal palm force, which felt as if a volcano were erupting, seemed to make space echo the moment its energy brushed past, and the ironclad external cultivation practice that had not been heard of in the past made the Red Yang Demonic Immortal an impregnable master.

‘Damn it. If only I had learned even the internal heavy strikes method!’

However, because the internal heavy strikes method was a difficult art that could only be learned by those who were geniuses at releasing internal energy, it was useless to regret it now.

It meant that the situation was just that bad.

If anything, it was thanks to the hidden weapons that Tang Jong-hyeok threw at the right moments that he could breathe; without even that, it would have been difficult to even hold out.

Then, eventually, trouble arose.

Bang!

“Im Hak!”

Im Hak, a four-knot disciple of the Hall of Rectitude, had ultimately failed to hold out and was struck squarely by the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s Zhurong Seal.

A light of despair was gradually gathering in Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar’s eyes as well. If there was any comfort in his heart, it was perhaps that he had safely sent back the rapidly rising younger generation.

But suddenly, one of those younger generation whom he thought he had sent away stood beside him.

Suspecting for a moment that he had misseen, Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar shouted.

“Young Hero Yeon! Why!”

However, Yeon Baek-jung did not look back at Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar but spoke as he stepped forward.

[It is difficult alone. When I signal, please draw his attention.]

Along with the low voice of sound transmission.

[Now.]

Yeon Baek-jung signaled him as he leaped forward.

As if possessed by a ghost, Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar looked at Yeon Baek-jung’s back and shouted.

“Charge all at once!”

Following his words, the members of the Hall of Rectitude charged at the Red Yang Demonic Immortal once again, and

“Come!”

A flame-like palm force arose from the center of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s palm.

**

“Show me more! More!”

Shouting, I looked at the Red Yang Demonic Immortal who was spewing palm force toward the Beggars’ Sect disciples, and felt certain.

‘Certainly. He was wary of strikes being deflected.’

Even though a martial art that strong could cause fatal injuries even if it only scraped the target, he deliberately did not do so.

At first, I thought it was simply his tendency, but it was not. He also blocked the Dog-Beating Staff pushed forward by the Beggars’ Sect disciples head-on.

Especially when blocking through rigidification, instead of taking a glancing hit, he blocked the Dog-Beating Staff head-on and deflected it to create space. He did this even though receiving a strike head-on would place a significant burden on his body.

“It tickles!”

The fact that those words were not a bluff was proved by the palm force he unleashed, which was as fierce as before. If he had taken damage, there would have been moments when the flow of his true Qi wavered, even if just for an instant, yet no such sign could be seen at all.

And right after blowing away Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar’s judge’s pen, the Red Yang Demonic Immortal stepped in front of me.

“The cultivation of this kid is extraordinary! Are you truly a disciple of the Wudang Sect!”

Having approached before I knew it, the Red Yang Demonic Immortal was swinging that monstrous palm of his again. Moreover, he was shrouded in a wave of true Qi force that was even hotter and more intense than the previous palm force.

Even within the elevated domain where everyone slowed down, the Red Yang Demonic Immortal moved freely, as if he were a person from a different world.

‘I had to predict his movements and move.’

“Try to avoid it again!”

As he shouted, palm force poured from both of the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s hands, spreading widely this time. He had extremely restricted my range of movement with the wind pressure of the force wave’s release.

And that was, on the contrary, exactly what I had aimed for.

I withdrew the force field of the Two-Section Brocade body-protecting Qi. My sole remaining protective garment of true Qi was mercilessly torn by the fiercely rushing Yang energy, and the palm force rammed into my flank.

“Young Hero Yeon!”

Along with the urgent shout of Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar, who had lost his weapon, intense pain rushed in. Along with the pain of flesh being seared with a branding iron, my bones rattled as if struck by a giant mace.

‘Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art!’

Combining my innate divine strength with the acupoints trained through dynamic cultivation, and further tempering the internal energy of the Primal Chaos Art like the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s rigidification formula, I drove it into my flank.

Crack!

Although I avoided severe internal injuries, I could not prevent the ribs in my flank from breaking. But that was enough.

I firmly wrapped my arm around the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s lodged hand while enduring the searing pain. In that instant, a strange gleam gathered in the Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s eyes.

“Hup!”

With a shout, the sphere of internal energy in my middle dantian completely melted, filling the Eight Extraordinary Vessels with true Qi. In that state, I poured a hand-blade strike of the Supreme Clarity Free Hand—which Senior Brother Myeong-hun had once shown—onto the opponent’s arm.

Simultaneously, I rotated my body, twisting the opponent’s arm—which was caught between my arm and flank—to its elastic limit.

As the hand-blade strike, cutting at an angle, exploded onto that stretched arm,

Rip!

The Red Yang Demonic Immortal’s hard external art shattered, and his arm was torn off.