If one must bear it. (11)

The Sun Palace Lord’s feet began to slide back on their own.

However, he desperately anchored them to the ground. He and Maeng So were not the only ones here. Countless eyes were watching them.

Rather than reveal himself shrinking back under so many gazes, he would sooner bite his tongue and die. All the more so if his opponent was the Lord of the Beast Palace, who was no different from a mere barbarian.

“You… Bastard…….”

He forced out his voice roughly, trying to change the atmosphere. Perhaps, if only for an instant, to deny the feelings he had briefly harbored.

But his opponent moved again at once, as though determined not to grant him even that much leeway.

Booooom!

Maeng So kicked off the ground and charged forward.

It was an ambush without any warning or sign. By the time the Sun Palace Lord realized what was happening and widened his eyes, Maeng So – like a pouncing tiger – was already right in front of him.

Reflexively, the Sun Palace Lord thrust out three palm strikes towards his front.

Booom!

Like flames suddenly bursting in midair, three fierce waves of palm force poured forth. Yet instead of dodging, Maeng So charged in even faster.

Boom! Baaang! Booom!

The three impacts rang out almost simultaneously, as though they were a single strike. The Sun Palace Lord’s palm force exploded the moment it collided with Maeng So’s sturdy shoulder. In fact, it felt as though it burst even before making full contact.

It was impossible to guess just how solid that body of his could be.

Yet there was no time to feel either awe or fear. The same shoulder that had shattered the three waves of force was now rushing straight at the Sun Palace Lord.

‘This bastard!’

He acknowledged the man’s strength. Increadibly fast, and at the same time unbelievably tough. Even if that Palace was where barbarians played tamers with beasts for amusement, Nanman Beast Palace was undeniably one of the Five Outer Palaces. There was no way the Lord of such a place could be weak.

However, this attack was exceedingly straightforward.

The Sun Palace Lord unleashed his palm strike in one swift motion and leaped diagonally into the air. At the same time, he gathered all his inner strength into his right hand.

No matter how solid one’s body might be, you can’t train your back to be as tough as your chest. His plan was to shake off Maeng So, who was charging so recklessly, and ram a palm strike right into the opponent’s back.

Sure enough, Maeng So sped past the spot where the Sun Palace Lord had stood, as though unable to rein in his own momentum. At this rate, he wouldn’t stop for quite a distance. 

It was just as the Sun Palace Lord was about to unleash his energy without any hesitation. 

Bang!

Maeng So’s foot suddenly drove into the ground. Perhaps because his immense force had nowhere else to go, his leg sank down past his ankle, almost to his knee. From the spot his foot had pierced, spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions.

Wheeeing!

Immediately, Maeng So’s body spun at a lightning speed, his foot sweeping horizontally through the air.

It was a simple spinning kick. But in that simplicity lay its power: all of his strength could be exerted in this move.

That spinning kick ripped through the air and hurtled towards the Sun Palace Lord’s head.

Startled, the Sun Palace Lord raised both his hands. It was already too late to dodge, so his only option was to try to block it.

Booooooooom!

The instant the Sun Palace Lord’s palms, brimming with Hot Yang Qigong, collided with Maeng So’s leg, a deafening roar tore at the eardrums, and a storm of energy erupted in all directions.

“Guh…….”

For a split second, the Sun Palace Lord’s world went dark. Even so, he attempted to launch a series of palm strikes at Maeng So. That was certainly his intention.

Bang!

But before he could do so, Maeng So’s fingers, curled like a wild beast’s claws [조(爪)], raked deeply across the Sun Palace Lord’s chest. Before he had time to feel the pain in his chest, Maeng So’s elbow shot towards his temple.

Bang!

Summoning all his might, the Sun Palace Lord raised his right hand once more. The moment Maeng So’s elbow slammed into his wrist, he was sent flying more than three jang, like a ball that had been kicked away.

Thud. Thud.

The Sun Palace Lord, who nearly collapsed upon landing, forced himself to regain his balance. He had narrowly avoided becoming a disgraceful sight.

“Y-You, how dare you… Urgh.”

He was about to shout something at Maeng So but staggered again. His vision was spinning. The sky and the earth swapped places in a dizzy whirl.

Thud.

In the end, the Sun Palace Lord, unable to fight off the overwhelming dizziness, dropped to one knee. He stared at his knee touching the ground as though he couldn’t believe it.

“This is…”

Now that he noticed it – his ear felt damp. When he had touched it… he found blood. Even though he had blocked the blow, its impact had ruptured his eardrum and shaken his brain violently.

He felt a vicious surge of nausea. But the humiliation was far more excruciating than that.

Blood trickled from his ear down his chin, dripping like his crushed pride.

“This…….”

How could this be happening?

Seven. As many as seven. That was how many Divine Sun Palm strikes he had unleashed at Maeng So.

Seven full-powered Divine Sun Palms could turn even a vast lake into a barren desert. Yet that monstrous beast had charged through all that blazing force and even driven him to his knees.

Of course, it wasn’t as though Maeng So escaped without any harm.

“Hmm.”

Maeng So tugged at the hair that had been burned on his head. It broke off easily. Burns marred his face, shoulders, and hands.

But that was all. Perhaps something was happening internally – he couldn’t be sure – but outwardly, it seemed he had endured the Sun Palace Lord’s full-powered Qigong at the mere cost of a few minor burns.

Maeng So brushed off the burned area remaining on his arm, tapped it lightly, and then shared his thoughts.

“It’s hot.”

…The Sun Palace Lord’s shoulders trembled, unable to contain his humiliation.

‘My Qigong…’

Hot Yang Qigong is a martial art that forsakes the usual stopping power and destructive force of typical palm techniques, instead unleashing immense heat for even greater lethality.

In other words, that means if the heat fails to penetrate, it lacks destructive and blocking power compared to a palm strike of equivalent level.

Maeng So seemed as though he had been created precisely to exploit the weaknesses of Hot Yang Qigong. That monstrous body of his could endure furnace-like temperatures, and at the same time, his fearsome physique was something the Sun Palace Lord’s palm techniques could never repel.

Maeng So. Or rather, the Beast Palace’s martial arts must have been that way from the beginning.

The Sun Palace Lord felt it keenly in his bones – exactly what Maeng So meant when he spoke of why the Sun Palace could not cross beyond Yunnan.

Up until now, he had thought that no matter how remote Yunnan might be, it was ultimately part of the Central Plains. But now he realized that wasn’t the case.

If creatures like that lived in the deep jungles along the border between Yunnan and Nanman, their world would never expand any further.

“It seems you’re starting to understand.”

The Sun Palace Lord bit down on his lip.

“Why… didn’t you attack us?”

“Hm. You’re still asking for a reason. If I had to answer, it’s because there was no need. Not everyone craves greater power.”

Maeng So shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking.

“And to be more honest, while I might handle you easily enough, the Beast Palace wouldn’t find the Sun Palace so easy to deal with. Beasts don’t like heat or fire. As for the palace warriors that can’t handle beasts… well, I wouldn’t call them remarkable. So in the end….”

“…”

“Is there any reason to start a fight that would only lead to mutual destruction?”

It was a convincing explanation. That must have been why, until now, the Beast Palace and the Sun Palace had gone on pretending the other didn’t exist.

So much time had passed that even the Sun Palace itself no longer knew that reason.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Huh……”

The Sun Palace Lord staggered to his feet.

“Indeed, that’s just the kind of rationale one would expect from an ignorant barbarian.”

Maeng So’s eyebrows twitched slightly. It wasn’t that his pride was wounded by those words. He had simply sensed an ominous aura.

“Is there any reason to start a fight that would only end in mutual destruction?”

Veins burst in the Sun Palace Lord’s eyes.

“Listen closely. I’d rather die together than suffer humiliation. Now more than ever!”

Kwaaaaaaaa!

All of a sudden, the Sun Palace Lord’s right hand burst into flames. It wasn’t mere exaggeration – it was literally ablaze.

His own body couldn’t withstand the scorching heat of the Hot Yang Qigong he had raised so high!

Maeng So’s already large eyes opened even wider.

‘He’s insane!’

After all, martial arts exist to protect one’s own body. No matter how powerful a martial art might be, if it harms the user, it loses its value as a martial art.

Yet now, the Sun Palace Lord’s technique was clearly devouring him from within.

“Uwooooooh!”

The Sun Palace Lord charged at Maeng So.

Such an overwhelming heat rushed forth that even Maeng So shrank back in momentary fear. Wherever the Sun Palace Lord’s feet landed, the ground melted on impact, leaving glowing orange footprints behind.

“Dieeeeeee!”

“Urgh…!”

Maeng So grit his teeth and tried to throw a punch. Yet he couldn’t fully extend his arm.

‘What is this?’

Everything before his eyes turned a whitish hue tinged with crimson. The heat radiating from the Sun Palace Lord’s right hand engulfed his entire figure and spilled over to swallow Maeng So’s whole body as well.

Tadadak!

Black smoke began to rise from various parts of Maeng So’s flesh. It was hot enough to melt bone.

A desperate strike fueled by literally burning one’s own body. Even someone like Maeng So couldn’t imagine enduring it – an insidious attack, impossible to withstand.

Maeng So’s massive fist began to tremble.

Where should he strike? What should he block? Even if he managed to destroy the body hidden within that Qigong, could he endure such unbearable heat?

Maeng So couldn’t find a way to respond in that spectacle, which resembled a phenomenon more than a martial art. Even as he stood there, the heat invading his body felt like it was burning away every drop of blood in his veins.

Maeng So crouched low, like a tiger stalking its prey. Yet the fist that resembled the claws of that tiger could not, in the end, find anywhere to strike.

The world gradually became intensely bright and dizzying. The Sun Palace Lord, who had become one with that blazing realm, seized what remained of his inner strength. Even if his entire body were to melt away, he intended to drag that bastard into the underworld with him.

It was the only way he could preserve his pride, which had once been shattered by Jang Ilso.

“Hyaaaaah!”

At last, the Sun Palace Lord’s full power was unleashed at Maeng So.

Yet amid his dizzying vision, the Sun Palace Lord suddenly noticed something – two figures darting forward in front of Maeng So, who crouched like a smoldering black boulder.

It didn’t matter. Whoever they were, it made no difference.

At this moment, he could melt anyone under the heavens. The only limitation was that he could use it just once in his entire lifetime. If fully unleashed, the Sacred Flame of the Sun and Moon [일월성화(日月聖火)] was a technique powerful enough to harm anyone.

The two who sprang in front of Maeng So spread their palms simultaneously. It seemed as futile as a mantis raising its forelegs against an oncoming cart.

Yet from their hands erupted a pale, blueish-white energy – similar but fundamentally different from the Sun Palace Lord’s. In that instant, he clearly felt the hellish heat enveloping the world briefly falter.

The Sun Palace Lord realized what that light was, which suppressed even his unstoppable Hot Yang Qigong. He knew the world’s name for that force, so perfectly opposed they might be called mortal enemies.

‘White Ice Divine Palm [빙백신장(氷白神掌)]? Could it be Northern Sea Ice…?’

And then. 

The crouching tiger did not miss that momentarily gap created by the dazzling white light.

Straightening up his body, Maeng So sent his colossal fist flying straight through the whitened world.

‘You… lowly… bas…!’

That fist then turned the Sun Palace Lord’s world black.

Booooom!

It was the unchanging color of death, sealing him in its eternal embrace.