bestfiction Chapter 269 : Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost (3) RAW
Chapter 269 : Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost (3) RAW
Chapter 269: Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost (3)
A strange glint rose in Sewoon’s eyes. From his entire body, Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi began to rage wildly.
Saaaah!
Chwaaa!
The golden radiance bursting forth from his flesh was like the sun rising at dawn, and its momentum was as majestic as a colossal mountain range standing firm.
‘…What?’
A deep sense of confusion flashed through Qiongqi’s inner mind as it watched the outpouring of energy.
At first, it had thought that a lowly human of the lower realm was ignorantly running rampant without knowing his place.
However, the energy erupting from Sewoon was not something to be taken lightly.
Even to Qiongqi, who had lived through countless ages since the birth of the world, the human before its eyes was an incomprehensible, unknown existence.
Still, Qiongqi’s bewilderment lasted only a moment.
[Groooaaar!!]
In an instant, Qiongqi’s roar shook the gray space.
Though it was merely a howl imbued with power, scars formed throughout the fabric of the dimension.
No matter how powerful a human might be, Qiongqi stood above all demonic beasts as a god.
Before the fundamental difference in existence, the opponent should have been helpless.
Yet Sewoon did not blink an eye at the roar.
Smirk.
[……!!]
Instead, he merely curved his lips in a faint sneer and gazed at Qiongqi with unwavering eyes.
[Insolent wretch. I will show you the limits of my power!]
The killing intent directed at Sewoon was as sharp as a living blade.
Crack!
Crack!
At that moment, Qiongqi’s massive body swelled even larger.
Pitch-black demonic qi that covered the abyss surged like a storm, swallowing everything in all directions.
With the intent to shatter Sewoon into pieces in a single instant, Qiongqi launched an attack with all its power.
Screeeech!!
Qiongqi’s enormous hooked claws tore through the air as they charged toward Sewoon.
Sewoon did not evade.
Paat!
He thrust out his fist and met Qiongqi’s claws head-on.
Kwarrrrr!
The gray space violently trembled from the collision of the two beings.
Qiongqi’s destructive demonic qi possessed power enough to tear the world apart, yet Sewoon received it all head-on.
Kwaaang!
Kuuuuung!
The instant the golden Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi collided with the pitch-black demonic qi, a colossal explosion rang out, and the surrounding labyrinth walls shattered into fragments.
Paaat!
As the surroundings spun chaotically, Sewoon’s figure transformed into a streak of light.
Sweeping through the void, Sewoon drew out something emitting pure white radiance from empty space.
In that instant, pure white light poured forth from a bladeless sword body, brightly illuminating the gray space.
It was the moment the Divine Sword, Pure Yang revealed itself.
[-!!]
Bathed in the sword’s radiance, Qiongqi unconsciously took a step back.
‘…Could it be that he was an immortal? No—there are no traces of ascension at all?’
No matter how many times it examined him, there were no signs in Sewoon’s soul or body of having cast off human flesh to become an immortal.
Chwaaa!
Kwarrrrr!!
As Sewoon scattered sword radiance and swung Pure Yang, the space itself was severed into dozens, hundreds, thousands of fragments.
Upon that sword edge was imbued the pure power of Daoist and Buddhist principles, standing against all myriad demons.
Wooooong!
Woong!
Indeed. Within Sewoon’s Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi residing in Pure Yang was not only the power left behind by Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak, but also the power of Divine Monk Gongsung Daesa.
[Kghk!]
For the first time, a groan of pain escaped from Qiongqi.
The deeper Pure Yang’s blade tore into its body, the more it felt an immense threat that denied its very essence.
Woooooo!
Crack!
Qiongqi’s tail lashed through the air like a whip.
Sewoon calmly drew an arc in the air with his sword and blocked it with ease.
“Pathetic tricks.”
Screech!
Puhk!
[Kraaaagh!]
At the same time, fragments of a Formless Sword bursting from his hand pierced through Qiongqi’s tail.
Qiongqi convulsed and swung its foreleg, packed with immense demonic qi.
Kururur!
A horrifying sound of ruptured air echoed.
Sewoon did not evade the attack.
Chwaaak!
Seogeogeok!
Pure Yang’s blade severed all of Qiongqi’s claws, and a qi-infused right fist slammed into its crown.
[……!!]
With a thunderous boom, Qiongqi’s massive body was hurled far backward.
From the countless wounds carved into the arrogant demonic god, green blood poured endlessly.
Maintaining dominance from start to finish, Sewoon continued to press the assault.
Whoosh!
Hwaak!
The Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi pouring from Sewoon’s body burned even more fiercely, while Qiongqi’s demonic qi steadily weakened.
Kwaaang!
Kwagagaga!
The sword forms Sewoon unleashed in a relentless storm were no mere techniques.
They were the manifestation of will—perceiving all and cutting down all that existed.
Sewoon’s eyes continuously found his opponent’s openings.
Qiongqi’s attacks were powerful, but that was all.
They were nothing more than a chaotic flurry meant solely for destruction.
But—
Within Sewoon’s sword dwelled the power of harmony governing all things.
That was Yoo Jinhak’s Yin-Yang Pattern.
‘Gentleness can subdue strength.’
Saaaaaah!!
At this moment, Sewoon was no different from the legendary Sword Immortal.
Using Qiongqi’s destructive demonic qi, he instead further amplified his own power.
Chwaaa!
Slash!
[Keup?!]
Sewoon’s sword severed the wings attached to Qiongqi’s four limbs.
Green blood fell like a torrential downpour.
Qiongqi writhed in agony and roared.
Losing all reason, it poured out every ounce of its power.
Yet the more it did so, the sharper Sewoon’s sword became, and the flow of his martial arts grew ever more perfect.
Qiongqi’s mountain-range-like colossal body was already riddled with collapsing and torn wounds.
Under Sewoon’s unrelenting assault, Qiongqi was helplessly accumulating fatal scars.
[You wretch! A mere human dares—!]
“No. It is precisely because I am human that I am strong.”
The ground of the gray space was collapsing under the ferocity of their battle.
Space was being crushed and distorted everywhere, spawning ominous, unstable vortices.
Now, in Qiongqi’s eyes, arrogance had been replaced by humiliation.
‘I cannot accept this!! I am a god, and that thing is nothing more than prey!!’
Qiongqi could neither accept nor endure the fact that it was being pushed back.
Boom!!
Ku-kooong!
Qiongqi’s heart, where all of its demonic qi had converged, began to throb madly.
The reverberation sounded eerily sinister.
쿠르르르!
Ruuuumble!
촤아아아!
Shaaah!
Soon, as if the gate to the netherworld had opened, Demonic Beast Qi surged forth like a raging ocean from the heart.
The Demonic Beast Qi, now incomparably stronger than before, violently shook the surroundings in all directions.
As the price for wielding such power, it would have had to sink into sleep for over a thousand years—but it did not matter. It had forcibly drawn out every last ounce of its dormant potential.
[Graaaaaaah!!]
The sight of Qiongqi, descending from the seat of divinity and being devoured by its demonic beast instincts, was grotesque and horrifying.
Sewoon’s body trembled faintly.
The power of Qiongqi, dragged forth beyond its limits, was far greater than expected.
This was not mere brute force.
It was destructive power embedded in its very existence.
Yet even while facing an opponent whose strength had been amplified several times over his own, Sewoon felt no fear or bewilderment whatsoever.
‘How trivial.’
Only laughter escaped him.
Yes, it was laughable.
How could it not be?
With power taken in that direction, it could never defeat him.
‘It feels like looking at my former self.’
Suddenly, the battle with the Blood Demon before his regression came to mind.
He had been the same back then.
At that time, Sewoon had poured out every ounce of his strength, yet before the Blood Demon’s overwhelming power, he had been helplessly crushed.
‘That’s right. You can’t win with raw power alone.’
His father, Tang Muyeol’s teachings surfaced in his mind.
‘It is not for revenge, but to protect the comrades and family behind your back.’
It was not merely a lesson about abandoning vengeance.
It meant that when all of one’s martial arts and strength were directed toward a single purpose, that power became distorted, biased—and weaker.
When he had been consumed by revenge against the Blood Demon, Sewoon’s strength had never achieved true harmony.
But now was different.
Shaaah.
Sewoon’s gaze became calm and unwavering.
Within his heart, the flames of vengeance no longer burned.
He would destroy the Blood Demon—but not out of revenge.
It was solely a firm and unyielding resolve to protect his comrades and family.
‘Qiongqi, you are nothing more than an obstacle on the path I must walk. And only by surpassing you can I truly protect those I must protect.’
A tremendous enlightenment stormed through Sewoon’s inner world.
The Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi emanating from his body began to take on a completely different form from before.
The rough, destructive energy vanished, replaced by a harmonious power that seemed to embrace and purify all things as it enveloped his entire body.
It was as though a new universe itself was being born within Sewoon.
Sssss!
Woooooong!
Sewoon’s martial arts no longer relied on raw power.
Very slowly, he extended his fist.
The instant his fist touched Qiongqi’s hook-shaped claw—
Kraack!
Kraaaang!
With a deafening roar, not only the claw but one of Qiongqi’s legs shattered and exploded into fragments.
[Graaaagh!!!]
Qiongqi writhed and roared in agony, but Sewoon did not stop.
Like a Battle God descended from the heavens, he mercilessly crushed Qiongqi’s body.
Krak!
Puhk!
The sound of flesh being torn apart rang out repeatedly, like a butcher dismembering meat.
Each time Qiongqi swung its massive body, Sewoon evaded the attack like the wind and drove in a counterstrike.
He lightly absorbed the Demonic Beast Qi that tried to overwhelm him and sent it right back toward Qiongqi.
Qiongqi was horrified as its own power returned upon itself.
Kraack!
Its final leg crumpled into a mangled ruin, like paper crushed in a hand.
[Guuuh!! I… I can’t… lose to the likes of you…!]
Qiongqi lunged at Sewoon in one last desperate struggle.
But Sewoon had already seen through every single one of Qiongqi’s attacks.
“Demonic beasts only listen after they’re beaten.”
Sewoon’s voice was cold and resolute.
Boom!
Bababoom!!
Dozens of explosive blasts erupted without warning.
Qiongqi stared down at its own body in disbelief.
Countless massive Wind Holes had been blasted clean through its flesh.
‘Th-this… makes no… sense…’
Without even being able to finish the thought—
Kuuuuung!
Qiongqi’s body collapsed powerlessly.
All light vanished from Qiongqi’s eyes, and its body began to crumble into a handful of ash that scattered into the void.
Shaaah!
Chaaah!
As the Gray Space, now devoid of its master, rapidly began to disperse—
“Hoo.”
As if he had expended every last ounce of strength, Sewoon let out a deep breath.
A satisfied smile rose on his face.
Through this battle, Sewoon had crossed yet another wall.
He had reached a new realm—one that overwhelmed all things not through power alone, but through harmony and will.
Countless directions for the manifestation of new power flashed through his mind.
But there was no time to sink into enlightenment.
“Shall I collect it now.”
There was simply too much left to do.
Sewoon slowly closed his eyes.
Qiongqi’s body had vanished, but it did not matter.
What Sewoon sought was not its flesh.
Kiiiik!
Kikikik!!
From within him came the sound of Qiongqi’s soul being torn apart.
Sewoon carefully absorbed that soul into his own body.
Wooooong!
Chaaah!
Like a vast ocean embracing a small river, it was absorbed into Sewoon without the slightest resistance.