novelraw Chapter 225 : Beyond-Heaven
Chapter 225 : Beyond-Heaven
Chapter 225: Beyond-Heaven
How was I supposed to explain this?
The opponent had merely stood still and flicked her fingers a few times.
And yet, attacks that could neither be seen nor heard, and not even felt as Qi, poured down on me, leaving no way to resist.
Whik—
Something was coming. I couldn’t feel anything, but the moment the woman twitched her finger, I instinctively realized it.
It was an attack that had substance and cut through the air, yet left no trace behind—an assault that transcended the limits of matter.
And yet, for some reason, there was a faint killing intent woven into it.
When she knocked out the martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace, the trajectory of the attack hadn’t been visible. But when it was aimed at me, a crimson arc began to draw itself before my eyes.
“Ghk!”
Slash—
I desperately threw myself aside, but the red trajectory sliced across my shoulder.
Fortunately, thanks to the Heaven-Slaying Star’s ability to read killing intent, I avoided being severed entirely, but my left arm was as good as useless for a while.
Perhaps she was surprised that I had even partially dodged it, because the red-haired woman’s eyes twitched slightly.
“…What are you?”
That was exactly what I wanted to ask.
What kind of woman suddenly popped out of a cave and started doing something this absurd?
“Ugh… then who exactly are you?”
I spoke, trying to buy time for my Heaven-Slaying Star body to stop the bleeding.
The meaning of that crimson trajectory was clear. When dealing with the North Sea Ice Palace martial artists, the red-haired woman had held back. But against me, she was genuinely trying to kill.
‘No, damn it, why?!’
Why was a monster of that level going all-out only against me?
The curse rose to my throat, but I forced it down and kept my composure.
“How did you avoid that attack just now? Answer me.”
The unidentified woman walked toward me, her red hair swaying as if it would turn vermilion under sunlight.
This woman seemed to have the same habit as me—answering questions with more questions.
“Mujin, I couldn’t see that attack at all… How did you dodge it?”
Jo Harang also asked in confusion, startled by the sudden invisible exchange of blows.
But this was one of the abilities of the Heaven-Slaying Star. There was no way to explain it.
“This damned Murim… just when I think I’ve gotten used to it, something even weirder shows up.”
Normally, if something with substance cut through the air, there would at least be some sign. At the very least, the movement of Qi should be detectable.
But that woman’s attacks felt like nothing at all, blatantly defying the laws of nature.
It was like the first time I encountered the mystery of Sword Qi—something that could split steel like tofu.
At that moment, the woman flicked her finger again.
‘Idiot… dod—ge!’
Even in urgency, the Salseong still had to call me an idiot.
I immediately released a massive amount of Internal Energy through my Yongcheon acupoint and kicked off into the air. Even so, I couldn’t stop a part of my calf from being sliced.
“Haah!”
At that instant, Jo Harang rushed toward the red-haired woman.
Since the attacks couldn’t be seen anyway, she chose offense over defense, aiming for an opening.
But the red-haired woman merely flicked her finger again, as if she had no interest in the Purple Star.
“You… I have no interest in you. Just sleep.”
Thud!
A sound of something striking the air. Jo Harang’s waist bent mid-charge, and she collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Harang…!”
Fortunately, she was still breathing, merely unconscious.
The problem was me—left alone in this vast ice cave.
I had to face that absurd, monstrous woman by myself.
“H-how about we talk for a moment?”
“Ha! What is there to discuss with one tainted by the moon? Just die.”
She laughed sharply and casually told me to die.
Whik—
This time, her killing intent deepened. The strike aimed at my neck dyed my vision crimson.
“Shit!”
But who did she think I was?
I was the Heaven-Slaying Star, marked by the heavens to turn the world into a sea of blood.
Thanks to that, I managed to barely dodge what should have been an unavoidable attack.
Thud.
Because the attack’s form was so vague, I had to throw my entire body each time to evade it, leaving myself completely exposed after every dodge.
Yet she didn’t follow up, instead raising her brow with interest.
“Oh? So it wasn’t just coincidence.”
Even my desperate evasions were merely an unexpected variable to her.
It felt like facing a wall beyond heaven itself.
Just like when I first met Hwang Geolgae back in my beggar days.
“W-we’re not… acquaintances, are we?”
I hurriedly tried talking, just like I used to back then.
“We are not.”
“Then why are you specifically trying to kill only me…?”
She smirked, reading the injustice on my face.
“Because you seem to be that man’s disciple.”
That man’s disciple?
Did that old man cause trouble while drunk again?
“Just what did Hwang Geolgae do?”
“Ha! Who is that? What a strange name.”
She didn’t seem to know him.
“He’s my master—Hwang Geolgae…”
“Hmph. So that sinister old man who has lived for hundreds of years now uses that name?”
That’s when I realized there was a massive misunderstanding.
Hwang Geolgae was only about sixty.
What kind of existence did she think my master was?
“You’ve avoided my Formless Sword twice. That old man must have taught you how to counter it.”
I frantically waved my hands, trying to explain the misunderstanding.
But she didn’t care.
“Then try dodging these as well!”
Her fingers danced rapidly.
In response, crimson trajectories filled the air.
“Ghk!”
I twisted my waist and barely avoided the first wave.
But the invisible attacks kept coming.
Their forms weren’t fixed, making it impossible to dodge with minimal movement. I had to fling my body around like I was dancing on blades, exposing massive openings.
“Gah!”
A crimson arc tore across my side.
My organs didn’t spill out, but hot blood soaked the ice floor.
“Please, listen to me! There’s clearly a misunderstanding!”
“Ha. What is there to discuss with those driven mad by the moon?”
She moved to finish it.
I wrapped the Hell-Piercing Demon-Slaying Staff in white energy and barely blocked the incoming strike.
Clang!
“Oh? A rather sturdy black staff. Even with Qi reinforcement, it endured my Formless Sword.”
“Ugh… not as much as the one you handed that monkey…”
I muttered, pale-faced.
“More importantly, please listen! My master is the Dragon Head Sect Leader of the Beggars’ Union, Hwang Geolgae! He’s just a drunk eccentric old man, not some sinister centuries-old being!”
I never thought I’d defend Hwang Geolgae like this in my life.
As I shouted in frustration, she paused.
“…Beggars’ Union, you say? I’ve heard of it.”
Even someone like her had heard of it.
“Now that I think about it, that staff technique you used against the White-Furred Lion King… it does resemble the Dog-Beating Staff Technique I saw a hundred years ago.”
A hundred years?
Just what kind of being was she?
And the way she kept mentioning the moon and madness…
It reminded me of something.
Something from the Emei Sect.
“If you’re truly the disciple of the Dragon Head Sect Leader, you should have the token or the Dog-Beating Staff.”
She was asking for proof.
“…I don’t have it right now…”
“As expected—die, disciple of the moon.”
She sentenced me to death again without hesitation.
“I-ilwol! I’ve also received the teachings of Ilwol, a Beyond-Heaven being!”
“….”
That seemed to hit the mark.
At the mention of Ilwol, another being beyond heaven, she stopped.
“But you abandoned his teachings and embraced the moon’s energy. Die.”
“No, damn it! I only took it in to save someone!”
Why did everything end with “die”?!
“The moon’s energy is not something one accepts by accident, you fool.”
“There was a reason! The Sect Leader of the Emei Sect was going mad because of it, so I took it in to stop her!”
I explained everything—my work as a troubleshooter, what happened there, and how I acquired the Moon Spiritual Energy.
As I demonstrated the overwhelming power of the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method, burning white with accumulated star energy, she began to believe me slightly.
“…Still, there is something strange. Those who harbor the moon’s energy inevitably go mad. Yet you seem sane…”
She was asking why I wasn’t insane.
Back then, I used to hear that because of the Heaven-Slaying Star.
Now it was because of something else.
How was I supposed to explain that there was something even crazier inside my head than the Moon Spiritual Energy?
“Though… judging by how you talk back to me, perhaps you are slightly mad.”
Why did everyone say that?
“I don’t know either. Maybe because my Internal Energy from the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method is overwhelming, the Moon Spiritual Energy is just suppressed in a corner of my Dantian.”
To prove it, I revealed my immense Internal Energy—nearly a hundred years’ worth.
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
“You truly are a strange one. Nothing about you is ordinary.”
Tell me about it.
“Well… then you’ll spare my life?”
“Hmph. We shall see.”
So I wasn’t safe yet.
“Ugh…”
At that moment, Jo Harang and the experts of the North Sea Ice Palace began to regain consciousness.