Monsters
They were gathering together like human nations and doing their best to cause harm to the humans.
Book 6-8.1
“Master!”
Yulian looked for Chun Myung Hoon as soon as he returned to the Castle of Storm.
“You’ve grown quite a bit.”
Chun Myung Hoon, who was leisurely walking around the garden that was created for the visitors of the castle, started to smile as he looked toward Yulian. Yulian now had such a majestic air to himself that even Chun Myung Hoon felt like he couldn’t abuse him in public.
“Couldn’t you have sent a message or something? I was worried about you the whole time.”
“Why do you need to worry about me? Do you think I am weaker than you?”
Yulian started to squint as he started to speak in a tone that was full of doubt.
“Who knows. With master now being the age that you are, your strength may start to decline and this disciple hmm hmm……”
“Hmm hmm… what?”
“Well, you know, just hmm hmm.”
Seeing Yulian being childish like that, Chun Myung Hoon had a smirk on his face as he started to speak.
“Sounds to me like you want to try to fight me.”
“Since master never says the wrong thing, I suppose master may be right.”
“Ho~!”
Chun Myung Hoon’s two eyes were sparkling as he let out that noise.
This disciple of his, the same young kid who would get scared just from a single glare, was now full of desire to challenge him.
Chun Myung Hoon thought that Yulian must really have a lot of confidence, since Yulian should be well aware of Chun Myung Hoon’s strength. Minimally, it should mean that Yulian had reached the level that he had shown him prior to his departure.
“Why are we just talking then? Come at me.”
Yulian took out his greatswords as if he had been waiting for this moment. Once Yulian got into position to attack, Chun Myung Hoon gathered his energy in his eyes before he started to speak.
“You’ve had a good amount of development.”
“Master has been gone for over ten years, shouldn’t I at least be at this level to be able to call myself your disciple?”
“What level is your Heavenly Demon Arts at?”
“I feel like I learned everything I needed to learn, but I still cannot put forth master’s level of strength.”
Chun Myung Hoon nodded his head at Yulian’s answer. Yulian was facing a large wall right now. It was a wall he could not pass without giving it his all. But it was not something that he could help Yulian overcome.
“It’ll take at least another 100 years for you to get to my level. Hurry up and attack.”
Yulian started to gather his ki.
‘Based on master’s personality, he will start easily to goad me in. I need to finish it quickly.’
That was Yulian’s plan. Throw everything he had at Chun Myung Hoon in a short amount of time. Yulian was not worried at all about hurting Chun Myung Hoon. Even though he was extremely strong, there was not an ounce of confidence in his mind that he could severely harm Chun Myung Hoon.
He was just thinking hard about Chun Myung Hoon who could counter and react to any moves. There were not many people in the world who knew as much about Chun Myung Hoon’s abilities like Yulian.
‘If that still doesn’t work … well… I guess I can only take a beating.’
Did he already forget that one hit from Chun Myung Hoon would make his mind go blank from pain? Yulian really did become much more confident.
Chun Myung Hoon smiled with satisfaction after seeing the amount of energy coming out of Yulian. At that level, it would be difficult for Yulian to find a rival even in China.
“Oowoooo~”
Yulian lowered his waist and moved one foot forward. He then let out the shout as he started to move like he was falling and started to swing his greatsword.
Even Chun Myung Hoon seemed to be slightly shocked at Yulian’s unexpected action and quickly jumped backwards to dodge.
“Oowoooo~!”
Yulian did not miss this opportunity and chased after Chun Myung Hoon at a similar speed, continuing his vicious assault before Chun Myung Hoon had a chance to recover.
Chun Myung Hoon’s face started to fill with nervousness. He had completely lost the lead and given Yulian and opening. Even if he had his guard down, Chun Myung Hoon never expected it to be like this.
Chun Myung Hoon looked at Yulian who was attacking endlessly as he nodded his head.
Screeech.
Chun Myung Hoon unsheathed the sword on his back. He had only taken his sword out three times since he arrived here from China.
Swish.
He then lightly swung the sword just once.
That small movement parried Yulian’s greatsword and pushed Yulian back five steps.
“Oh! Master, it is cheating for you to take out your sword.”
“There is no such thing as cheating in a battle with swords. The one who lives in the end is the winner and the strong one.”
“You’ve never said anything like that to me before.”
“That is why I am telling you now. Since it looks like you have transformed and made it difficult for me to teach you a lesson with my bare hands, shouldn’t I transform as well?”
Yulian started to smile because he was certain that his master was praising him right now. It was rare for his master to give him any type of praise.
While the master and disciple were sweating it out while battling each other, the Red Storm warriors were just watching their battle with blank expressions.
Because they had all learned under Chun Myung Hoon for a bit, they were all aware of how strong Chun Myung Hoon was. Even Yulian was not as strong as him, but no matter what, Yulian was the desert’s strongest warrior. They did not want to miss a moment of a rare battle like this one.
Chun Myung Hoon started to spin his sword around as he started to speak.
“I guess it is time for you to learn something new.”
Yulian did not take his eyes off of Chun Myung Hoon’s sword as he asked.
“Something new?”
“Yes. Your martial arts right now is effective when fighting against multiple people, but there are many disadvantages when fighting one on one. The weakness of the greatsword is that it becomes difficult to use when you are in close proximity of your enemy.”
Chun Myung Hoon suddenly swung his sword down. Yulian anxiously started to swing his greatsword and darted backwards. All Chun Myung Hoon did was swing down with the sword, but Yulian could feel a strong force behind that swing.
“You really have improved a lot to be able to notice that.”
“Just what level is your strength at, master? I really thought that I was now at a level where I could last at least 100 seconds against you.”
Seeing Yulian being unable to hide his shock and asking, Chun Myung Hoon started to smile as he answered.
“I was someone who would have died if I did not study martial arts. If you train for another twenty years, you could probably imitate me just a little bit.”
“If I am learning a new martial arts, does that mean I need to change my weapon again?”
“There is a saying that says that everything comes back together in the end. However, it is true that the weapon determines your style of battle. You must change weapons if the need presents itself.”
“Mm……”
Yulian did not sound too happy. He had been using this weapon for over twenty years already.
“Do not be disappointed, Yulian. Your martial arts may make you one of the top individuals in this world, but there are still people who can defeat you. Although the overall level of strength in this world is lower compared to my world, there are actually more extremely strong individuals in this world.”
Chun Myung Hoon wanted to help Yulian break past that wall. It would be great if the new martial arts could allow his disciple to easily break through the wall.
‘But first, I need to take care of his elevated ego.’
Chun Myung Hoon made up his mind and approached Yulian.
The Red Storm warriors slowly started to turn away a moment later. It was not respectful to watch their liege get beat up.
Once Chun Myung Hoon finished his “training” to lower Yulian’s ego, he suddenly remembered and asked.
“Did the war with the Shuarei finish?”
“Yes. We could not continue to be at war when monsters were attacking our territory. That should be the same for the Shuarei as well.”
Chun Myung Hoon nodded his head at Yulian’s answer. He knew that it must not have been easy to come to that decision. Chun Myung Hoon was very much aware of what kind of existence the Shuarei’s Venersis was to Yulian.
“You made the right decision. It does not make sense to fight against each other when there are monsters killing people. But I’m sure you are very disappointed.”
Yulian put away his sword and answered.
“We had a final battle to resolve everything that happened in our past. Surprisingly, neither Venersis nor I seemed to fight with any murderous intent. I still don’t know why though ……”
Seeing Yulian being unable to finish his thought, Chun Myung Hoon nodded his head as if he understood.
“Both of you accepted each other as a fitting rival. And that is something to be thankful about. The darkness in this world is too deep and thick. Heroes are born in times of trouble. Right now is the time for there to be a lot of heroes. If not … I worry that humankind will meet their destruction in this world.”
Yulian looked toward Chun Myung Hoon with shock. The weight of his words were too heavy.
“Is it that bad?”
“Based on what I have heard, felt, and seen with my own eyes, there is a good chance of it. Right now is the time to come together. That is why you need to get even stronger. That is the fate of those who are born with the Heaven’s Mandate.”
Chun Myung Hoon’s voice made Yulian quickly understand what he needed to do.
‘Yes, it is better to be proactive about it rather than reactive.’
Yulian decided not to just defend the oases but to take the offensive and charge toward the Monster’s Desert.