Possessing Nothing

Everything sounded far away.

The newly opened world approached the Blood Demon.

The Blood Demon did not dare try to estimate the amount of power it held. He prepared to withstand it.

He couldn’t avoid it.

It would basically be impossible to dodge it now. However, this situation made the Blood Demon calmer.

If there was no way out, the only options were to withstand or break through it. At that thought, the Blood Demon quietly laughed.

The Art of the Heaven-Destroying Asura erupted from the Blood Demon, covering his body. He walked slowly, his steps creating a trail in the sky.

Rifts formed as the space around him shuddered.

If Lee Sungmin’s group, who all had stepped into the realm of Transcendence, had only met happiness and pleasure, the thing that waited for the Blood Demon past the wall was failure and despair.

The immense power capable of destroying everything was absorbed into the Blood Demon’s body.

The thunderclouds that hung in the sky exploded, and 개벽 opened. The technique that killed the Lord of the Death Knights, Volander, was much more refined compared to before. The lightning strike that held Genesis, the forces of creation and destruction, was the light that opened the world.

Watch carefully.

The Blood Demon opened his eyes wide. Geniella wasn’t physically here, but she could see through his eyes. What expression did his daughter have right now? He was slightly curious.

KWWAAAAANNNNGGGG!!!

The six arms shot toward Genesis. Lightning crackled. 2 arms were vaporized instantly.

The Blood Demon’s barrier, created with internal energy, shook. His stomach hurt; it seemed that he suffered internal damage.

The Blood Demon ignored the pain and stepped forward.

He couldn’t be pushed back. Forward, forward, forward. He muttered these words and pushed.

His entire body shuddered. The 4 arms on his back were gone. However, the Blood Demon did not give up. He stepped forward.

Pazzz, PAZZZZZ.

His bare hands were touching the light. He couldn’t feel anything. There was no pain.

The pillar of light suddenly turned burning hot as if a dragon was breathing fire on it. The Blood Demon’s mouth twisted, and a laugh burst out.

The muscles on his arms became swollen.

RRRIIIIIIPPPPP!

His fingers, which had lost their sense of touch, tightly grasped the light.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He roared. The lightning continuously struck the Blood Demon.

His mouth, which was wide open, was filled with blood.

PAZZZZZZZZ!

The light of Genesis started to be ripped apart. The Blood Demon was ripping it with his bare hands, creating a road directly to Lee Sungmin.

[Incredible.]

At the sight of the Blood Demon ripping the light, Heoju exclaimed. Lee Sungmin was astonished.

Genesis was the most difficult technique that Lee Sungmin had comprehended from the Demonic Emperor’s Dart Storm Arts.

It was incomparable to the level that the Lord of the Sama Order reached, but it was still the technique that killed Volander, who was deemed impossible to kill.

The Blood Demon wasn’t just withstanding it; no, he was ripping it, overpowering it.

Lee Sungmin put more power into his spear.

The Blood Demon shuddered, but he was not pushed back.

KWANNNNNGGGGG!!!

In the end, Genesis was ripped apart by the Blood Demon.

“Kwek!”

The Blood Demon threw up blood. Even if it wasn’t night, it seemed near impossible to kill a Vampire this strong.

After the Blood Demon ripped Genesis, his body parts regenerated in a blink of an eye. He swallowed the blood in his mouth and rushed forward.

‘Genesis…’

…was ripped in two.

Lee Sungmin’s expression was unreadable as he swung his spear.

2nd Art of the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques: Lightning Annihilation

The Blood Demon did not avoid the strike. He believed in the strength of his body strengthening art (also called barrier of internal energy) and swung his arms.

The energy was ripped.

As the Blood Demon ripped the spear ki apart, Lee Sungmin stepped into the air.

Fleeting Soul, Illusionary Body

First Step: Soulless Thundercloud

The Blood Demon struck Lee Sungmin, but the body turned into a thundercloud and exploded with lightning.

The Blood Demon’s barrier was too strong, and a Vampire’s body had incredible regenerative capabilities.

What should he do now?

Lee Sungmin thought as he grabbed the Blood Demon’s back. He threw him in a spin, aiming the spear at him.

The spear disappeared from the Blood Demon’s sight; it erupted from below and attempted to pierce his head.

He quickly pulled his head back, narrowly dodging the spear. The trajectory of his spear turned in the wrong direction.

Lee Sungmin wasn’t the only one with an inhuman physique. The Blood Demon moved his body in a way that was impossible to achieve, his joints bending backward.

The Blood Demon looked around quickly, finding the spear that attempted to pierce his body. He swung his hands.

CHHAAAAANGGG!

The spear and the hands struck each other, creating a heavy ringing in the air.

Below, the fight was almost over.

The Black Dragon had left the unconscious martial artists in a pile and spectated the fight from below. Next to him stood Yana with her eyebrows narrowed. She wanted to help Lee Sungmin but stopped after remembering his wish.

[What are you going to do?]

Heoju asked as the Blood Demon’s fist came near Lee Sungmin. He hit the wrist of the Blood Demon, deflecting the strike; he then kicked the spear shaft up.

PPAAAK!

The Blood Demon’s head jerked backward. Lee Sungmin had kicked with the intention of breaking his skull, but it only managed to create a bruise.

[You can’t kill him with the martial arts you showed earlier. This old man doesn’t want to discourage you, but you don’t have enough strength to end the fight. Are you going to keep fighting like this? What happens when it gets dark?]

Lee Sungmin nodded. He had overwhelmed the Blood Demon with his superior internal energy and yokai powers, but it was like his fight with the Spear King; the Blood Demon had achieved a much higher height in martial arts and the understanding of it.

When he fought the Spear King, he was able to beat him with his overwhelming energy, but that was because the Spear King was human.

However, the Blood Demon was a Vampire; most injuries that were inflicted on him vanished in a few seconds.

[You can’t kill him with one strike. You need to deal enough damage so he can’t resist. Remember, your goal isn’t to kill him but to devour him.]

Lee Sungmin felt a desire deep in his heart. He had a technique that he never got a chance to use. No, he couldn’t use it, even if he wanted to.

The Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques were made of nine arts.

First Art: Soul Predation

Second Art: Lightning Chase

Third Art: Hundred Clones

Fourth Art: Nine Dragon Annihilation

Fifth Art: Fate Severing

Sixth Art: Thunder Sphere

Seventh Art: Piercing Lightning

Eighth Art: Violet World

There was the Ninth Art, but Lee Sungmin had never used it in reality.

Back then, he had used the Ninth Art in Denir’s Mind World but never in the real world.

Well, it made sense he couldn’t use it. He had an incomplete and unstable body, which made using the Ninth Art near impossible.

Also, just like the Eighth Art: Violet World, the Ninth Art drastically changed after his master remodeled it to fit Lee Sungmin more.

That was why it became much harder to utilize it. However, he felt he could use it now. After finalizing the transformation of his body, he knew he could use it.

He wanted to use it.

The desire spoke to him. Lee Sungmin’s fingertips shuddered. Can I do it?

Yang Il-Chun had said something after fixing the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques. Don’t be too greedy. There are many techniques that you can’t do yet, so if you attempt them and fail, you will suffer greatly and might go through Qi Deviation.

Qi Deviation was something every martial artist had to watch out for. No matter the level they achieved, Qi Deviation could make years of effort go down the drain. One couldn’t let their guard down because they were strong. Didn’t the Sword Saint, who was the strongest master in the Wudang, suffer from Qi Deviation and was forced to stay in the mountain?

‘Well, no point in hesitating now.’

Lee Sungmin made up his mind. It was a good chance to try something he had never used before. He couldn’t be hesitant to do something because he was afraid of something that hasn’t even happened yet.

Because he wanted to do it, he had to do it.

The Blood Demon wasn’t the last enemy Lee Sungmin had to defeat. How strong was Geniella? Juwon? Gemini?

The Apocalypse?

He had to reach a higher level.

Everything he had felt while training, while understanding the profoundness of martial arts.

Everything he had seen that was good.

Everything that the Demonic Emperor Yang Il Chun, the Lord of the Sama Order, had taught him.

The spear was trembling. A power that was different from everything Lee Sungmin used was flowing into the spear.

Keep going.

Lee Sungmin spoke in a small voice. He told this to himself but also to his spear.

His mind was calm.

The desire that spoke to him a second ago was silent. He had to do it.

One had to be calm and level-headed to perform a martial art to perfection.

______________

The Blood Demon was still coming toward Lee Sungmin. He had a perplexed expression, seeing that Lee Sungmin wasn’t attacking.

The Blood Demon decided to use everything he had to see everything Lee Sungmin had. If Lee Sungmin died in the process…

Well, if that really happened, today must not have been the day of the Blood Demon’s death. He himself would have been disappointed, but Geniella would probably be satisfied. Or… maybe she would be happy that her adoptive father wasn’t dead.

The light that covered the Blood Demon’s body became swollen. The Art of the Heaven-Destroying Asura was performed to its extreme. He spread out his hands, and the surrounding area turned red.

The Asura erupted again from the Blood Demon’s back. The ghost with 3 heads and 6 arms looked down, its eyes containing hell.

The Blood Demon moved his arms. The six arms behind him followed, and the 3 heads laughed.

Fifth Technique of the Art of the Heaven-Destroying Asura: Asura Clan’s Heavenly Martial Art

__________________

Lee Sungmin felt the weight of the spear. It had been a while since he felt the weight.

He felt the twitching of his muscles as he breathed.

He felt his internal energy and yokai powers flow in his veins.

His senses opened up.

The martial art the Blood Demon performed exuded death; it covered everything.

The spear felt heavy.

It probably was always heavy. He probably didn’t feel it because he swung it around with ease.

It was a weapon meant for killing; it was as tall as he was.

His muscles, which were far superior to a normal martial artist’s, allowed him to swing his spear wherever he wished. However, it wasn’t originally like that.

He knew how heavy a spear was. When he first lifted it many years ago, he thought it was incredibly hard to swing it.

In the first place, it wasn’t like he had a talent for the spear. It wasn’t like he was used to using it.

It just happened randomly.

In his past life, he was a random nobody that was scared of death. In his past life, he was scared of fighting.

However, he had to use a weapon to live.

He avoided the bow because he didn’t have the confidence to hit his shots. He also thought, ‘what if I run out of arrows?’

He saw the spear and thought it was fine. He thought that he could stay back and just stab.

He only understood the true capabilities of the spear when he met Wijihoyeon.

She taught him the basics of the spear: Ran, Na, and Chal.

She taught him the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques.

After that, it was all practice and self-studying.

The Mountain of Mush, Denir’s Trials, and the countless fights. And his master.

He remembered when he first picked up the spear. The years of practice, the countless fights. His current self.

The spear was still heavy.

It had to be heavy. This martial art was created by someone called the Spear King in Wijihoyeon’s previous world. It was an art that Wijihoyeon, with her absurd talents, modeled for Lee Sungmin. It was an art that the Demonic Emperor Yang Il Chun, who was the greatest of all time, put everything he had and did his best to make perfect for Lee Sungmin.

The spear was heavy.

The spear was himself.

He was one with the spear.

He had never done this before, but when he understood the weight of the spear and what it meant, he was the spear, and the spear was him.

A spear appeared in his heart. A spear appeared in his mind.

The Blood Demon was approaching. He was dancing with the 3-headed and 6-armed ghost.

The Blood Demon was a talented martial artist. If this world didn’t have limits, wouldn’t he be around his master’s level?

He had to kill the Blood Demon.

This was a place where the sect called the Sama Order was.

This was where the Demonic Emperor Yang Il Chun ruled.

Lee Sungmin felt the weight of the mask on his face.

“…Martial End.”

He stabbed once.

In that movement, he put in everything he understood, everything he felt.

The rapid Electricity

The dispersing Clouds.

The soaring Reverse Lighting

The pouncing Lightning Strike

The flashing Light

The exploding Thunderstorm

The crashing Storm

The rolling Thunder

The ringing Thunderclap

The striking Lightning

The Hundred Thunder that encompasses Lightning

The Ten Thousand Thunder that reaches the extremity of Hundred Thunder

And Genesis that opens the world

Martial End used Genesis to end the world.