By Zephyria 
“Young Master Peng Yuan-jin held a grudge against the righteous martial world. The reason is…”
Seong Mu-yeon spoke with great difficulty. It was a story that was not easy for him to bring up either.
But there was nowhere left to retreat. Seong Mu-yeon sincerely did not want to kill Peng Do-hwan. The ill fate between them had to be settled here.
“I heard that a few members of the righteous Sects discovered that Young Master Peng Yuan-jin’s mother was a Flowering Bone. They gathered in secret, harmed her, and even desecrated her body, then kept it quiet among themselves. Because of that, Young Master Peng Yuan-jin became disillusioned with the righteous path and chose instead to borrow the power of the Demonic Cult to seek revenge.”
“…What?”
As expected, Peng Do-hwan froze like a stone statue, seemingly deeply shocked. His eyes wavered in confusion. Then, as if all the strength had drained from his body, he lowered his head deeply.
“…I am sorry you had to hear such a thing.”
Seong Mu-yeon felt uncomfortable, as if sitting on a bed of needles. He could not even begin to fathom the shock Peng Do-hwan must have felt. Beyond the horror of the news, if Peng Yuan-jin had truly thrown away his own life, he had now lost even the target of his revenge.
“…Hearing that certainly wakes me up.”
Peng Do-hwan, who had been staring at the ground with his head bowed for a long time, muttered.
He slowly straightened his body.
“I can’t believe it. After everything I’ve been through, I almost fell for it again.”
Peng Do-hwan was smiling.
“Not only did you kill my brother and steal his body so he couldn’t even rest in peace, but now you dare to insult my late aunt-in-law with such exaggerated slander?”
“Young Master Peng…”
“They say that among the sins a person commits, the sins of the tongue are the heaviest. How do you intend to pay for that karmic debt? Do you not fear the heavens, Seventh Prince Seong Muyeon?”
In that instant, Peng Do-hwan’s eyes flashed. An explosive Jin-gi began to swirl around him.
‘Impossible!’
Seong Mu-yeon instinctively backed away from Peng Do-hwan, unable to hide his bewilderment. A chill ran down his spine when Peng Do-hwan’s divine form vanished in a blur and reappeared right before his eyes.
A greatsword, imbued with Jin-gi so vivid it was almost visible, flew toward the crown of his head. Seong Mu-yeon barely managed to avoid it by rolling his body, but the next attack followed without giving him a moment to prepare.
How could this be?
Peng Do-hwan had already exhausted all his inner force through several battles. As proof, had he not been unable to even lift the greatsword properly, which he usually handled as lightly as a feather? However, as if a new power had surged from somewhere, his very movements had changed.
Strong, fast, and precise.
It was a movement that had qualitatively grown even beyond the agility he showed when in peak condition.
‘Could it be!’
Seong Mu-yeon’s pupils contracted.
“Are you drawing upon your Innate True Qi? Are you insane? Stop it! You’ll die!”
Seong Mu-yeon shouted in horror. Even amidst this, the greatsword pursued him relentlessly.
Innate True Qi was the basic life force that any living creature is born with, regardless of whether they practice martial arts. It was the primordial Jin-gi that composed the body, just like the blood and flesh necessary to maintain the physical form.
Furthermore, it was the purest inner force a human could possess. Inner force accumulated postnatally through training inevitably contains impurities depending on the practitioner’s skill, though as their skill increases and the purity rises, they may eventually reach the realm of a Master who transcends human limits.
One might think it would be better to use the highest purity inner force from the start, but there was a reason why no one recklessly used such pure energy.
Unlike the Jin-gi accumulated in the dantian, once Innate True Qi began to be drawn out, it was difficult to stop. This was because it was not a function designed for entry and exit. It was like water leaking through a crack in a dam; once it flowed out, it could not be gathered back.
And restoring lost Innate True Qi was even more difficult. Even Masters who had trained for decades found it a distant dream to accumulate that level of pure inner force through breathing exercises.
Peng Do-hwan intended to take his own life as collateral to achieve mutual destruction with Seong Mu-yeon.
“Perfect! Then I shall take you as my companion to the afterlife and offer you directly to my brother!”
Kwang—!
A sword strike flew at a speed incomparable to before. Seong Mu-yeon barely managed to twist his body using a stepping technique. Cold sweat poured down his face.
“Get a grip! Killing me will bring no comfort to Young Master Peng Yuan-jin! This is a path of wasting your life in vain!”
“That is not for you to decide!”
The tide of battle turned in an instant. Now, Seong Mu-yeon faced a crisis where he truly had to worry about his life. Neither the speed nor the power was easy to handle.
Peng Do-hwan’s greatsword swept horizontally, grazing his clothes. Then, it swung back, digging deeper toward Seong Mu-yeon’s chest.
Too late to dodge, Seong Mu-yeon deflected the attack diagonally and raised the sword he had merely been holding until now.
“Urgh!”
The moment the swords clashed, the explosive recoil caused his inner force to flow backward, striking Seong Mu-yeon directly. The impact hammered his internal organs.
The smell of blood surged up from his throat, and eventually, a streak of red blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Seong Mu-yeon’s knee buckled from the shock that felt as if his entire interior was shaking.
“Your claim that my brother was a Flowering Bone sounded plausible. I almost believed you. But…”
Peng Do-hwan approached with heavy steps. He raised his sword and struck downward.
Kwang—!
“Is it a human act to fabricate such a horrific story just to escape a disadvantageous situation? Where did you go wrong to be born wearing a human mask and do such things!”
Seong Mu-yeon barely blocked it by holding his sword horizontally, but in doing so, the effort to pull back the reversed inner force deepened his internal injuries. More blood gushed out.
“Cough… It was… not a fabricated story.”
Peng Do-hwan applied more strength to press him down. Seong Mu-yeon’s arms trembled as if they were about to snap.
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
“Kh…”
“Fine. Let’s finish the rest of the conversation in the afterlife.”
Peng Do-hwan spoke with a composed expression, as if throwing away his life were nothing, and pulled back his sword for the final blow.
Injured, Seong Mu-yeon collapsed at his feet. Not only was blood surging up, but his vision was blurring. There was simply no way out.
As Peng Do-hwan slowly raised his sword, a clear madness glistened in his eyes.
“If my words are a lie!”
He paused.
Peng Do-hwan hesitated at the sound of Seong Mu-yeon shouting, as if clutching at a straw.
‘If you want me to be your enemy that badly, I’ll give you what you want.’
Seong Mu-yeon twisted the corner of his lips upward.
“Then who do you think the person who attacked the Family Head of the Peng family is?”
It was a blatant provocation, carrying a clear implication: ‘After my brother, I killed your father too.’
Realizing that telling the truth to someone who could not be persuaded was meaningless, Seong Mu-yeon chose to provoke him instead.
“You son of a bitch…”
Peng Do-hwan’s face distorted fiercely, and sparks flew from his eyes.
As expected, he fell for the provocation easily. Peng Do-hwan was still Peng Do-hwan. Though he had gained the upper hand by drawing upon pure Innate True Qi, the man himself had not changed.
Unable to overcome the surging rage, his face turned red and he began to tremble. Blood rushed to his head, and excessive strength entered his hands.
Now.
Seong Mu-yeon did not miss the opening and quickly escaped from beneath Peng Do-hwan’s feet. In the next moment, the greatsword split the ground with a thunderous roar. The Jin-gi loaded into the sword was so excessive that the ground was carved into a long, narrow fissure.
However, he had only barely survived one crisis. While it was necessary to create a gap, provoking Peng Do-hwan was a poor move.
This was because Peng Do-hwan’s attacks, now even more violent as his rage reached the point of explosion, immediately poured down upon him.
That one mistake had ignited a stronger desire in Peng Do-hwan to kill him, while simultaneously instilling a fierce determination not to tolerate a second mistake.
Kwang!
With every swing of the greatsword, the surrounding area was devastated by the radiating waves of energy. It was so loud that it was practically sending an invitation to the enemies to come this way.
‘Damn it…’
But Seong Mu-yeon was overwhelmed just by dodging Peng Do-hwan’s attacks. With his life hanging by a thread, such things were minor issues.
Would he be able to hold out until Peng Do-hwan exhausted all his Jin-gi?
And what would happen to Peng Do-hwan then?
He racked his brain violently to find a solution, but no plausible idea came to mind. Because Peng Do-hwan pressed him relentlessly, he couldn’t even sustain a long train of thought.
So far, Seong Mu-yeon had managed to avoid the attacks through high concentration, but Peng Do-hwan was waiting for him to make a mistake. Seong Mu-yeon was well aware of this.
However, just because one doesn’t want to make a mistake doesn’t mean they won’t. No one enjoys making a mistake that leads to loss or, in the worst case, death.
How long could this precarious defense, where a single slip meant his head would fly off, continue? Eventually, the feared event occurred.
The moment Seong Mu-yeon stepped on the ground, he felt dizzy from the sudden depletion of inner force, his foot twisted, and his posture collapsed.
Facing the fruit of his waiting, a triumphant smile crossed Peng Do-hwan’s face.
“Die!”
The greatsword, shimmering with chilling Jin-gi, pierced straight into his chest.