Chapter 368
Wei Yan-ho was experiencing extreme tension for the first time since entering the martial world.
Though he spoke leisurely, there was no way he couldn't know how dangerous an opponent the Mad Blood Demon was. Baek Mu-han's thorough education had made him completely master the methods of facing strong opponents, but this was his first time confronting such a powerful foe in actual combat.
If he hadn't obtained various fortuitous encounters on his way to the Imperial Palace, he wouldn't have been able to find any chance of victory—that's how strong the Mad Blood Demon was.
However…
Wei Yan-ho gritted his teeth.
This wasn't a situation where he could retreat just because his opponent was strong. The surroundings were already encircled by those the Mad Blood Demon had brought. If he clumsily attempted to flee, he would have his ankles caught by them while presenting his back to the Mad Blood Demon. That would be a one-way path to death.
Then the only path Wei Yan-ho could choose was to face that Mad Blood Demon head-on…
"…It's easier said than done."
His master had said that countermeasures for every situation he would encounter in the martial world were already in his head.
So in a case like this, what should he do…
"When facing an absolute master?"
"Yes."
"So you mean an absolute master at a level you can't handle?"
"Yes!"
Thwack!
As soon as the answer finished, a stone fist fell on Wei Yan-ho's head. Wei Yan-ho couldn't even scream as he clutched his head and rolled around on the ground.
"Ahhh! Why are you hitting me!"
"You foolish disciple! Do you call that a question?"
"Then it is a question! It is a question! Just because you have nothing to do and want to kill time… It seems this disciple asked a rather foolish question, Master."
Seeing Baek Mu-han's stone fist slowly rising again, Wei Yan-ho immediately sat properly and became respectful.
From ancient times to now, beatings had always been a clear answer.
"If it's an absolute master you can't handle, then you shouldn't fight."
"What."
"What do you mean 'what'? If you can't win, you shouldn't fight. Fighting when you can't even win is nothing more than saying you want to die. Sometimes you seem clever, but you're consistently stupid."
"That's not what I mean. Master, you said that anything could happen in the martial world, so such cases could exist!"
"Then you should die."
"Huh…"
Baek Mu-han clicked his tongue.
"Haven't I always told you? In the martial world, martial prowess is only a standard, it cannot become absolute truth. What good is being the best under heaven? If the second and third best cooperate, you just die. Everyone's only a paper's thickness apart anyway, so do you think you'd be fine just because I'm a little stronger? It's not that the strong survive, but that those who survive are strong!"
"…That's a very obvious thing to say."
Thwaaaack!
And it was an obvious flick.
Wei Yan-ho felt that Baek Mu-han's stone fist hitting his head was getting stronger day by day. At this rate, his head might really crack later.
"So instead of such obvious words, give me something practically helpful! Master, couldn't you handle it even when the second and third best under heaven joined forces?"
"No. I won roughly when everyone from second to thirtieth place joined forces, though?"
"…"
Perhaps getting a sensible answer from this person was a pipe dream.
'How can sensible talk come from someone who's not sensible?'
The truly frightening reality was that those absurd boasts were probably true.
"I can't do that!"
"You should be able to! Whose disciple are you?"
"How does that make sense! Maybe when I'm Master's age!"
"I was called the best under heaven even at your age, though?"
"…"
Wei Yan-ho drooped down.
What's the point of talking when words don't get through?
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Baek Mu-han clicked his tongue loudly and looked at Wei Yan-ho with pitying eyes.
"Don't worry, you fool. I already know you're dim-witted, so I won't tell you to use the same methods as me."
"Well, thank you very much."
"For a question that came from your head, it wasn't a bad question. An absolute master… If it's an absolute master by your standards, then by my standards… hmm…"
Baek Mu-han tilted his head.
"Well, that's subtle. I'm not sure what level to set this at."
"What?"
"It's like the problem of which is stronger between a stag beetle and a rhinoceros beetle."
"…"
He wanted to shout "Bwah!" but couldn't. Perhaps, no, definitely from his master's perspective, all the martial artists under heaven would look like that level.
"Anyway, you want to figure out how to deal with an enemy at a level you absolutely cannot handle, right?"
"That's right."
"…Are you crazy? Hey, you fool! A method to deal with an enemy you can't handle! Where in the world would such a thing exist!"
He didn't know why they were returning to square one now, but Wei Yan-ho was someone well-versed in dealing with Baek Mu-han. He immediately found the most appropriate words he should say right now.
"It's because it's such a difficult matter that I'm asking Master. Master is someone who makes such things possible."
"Don't flatter me, you fool!"
Though Baek Mu-han said that, his shoulders were subtly rising.
"Ahem. Well, it's not that difficult a matter. Because there's no such thing as an enemy you can't handle."
"What?"
Baek Mu-han smirked.
"Do you think I'm doing this for no reason right now? I'm making all this fuss to make you strong. You don't need to worry about such things in the first place. If things go according to my plan, when all your training is finished, there won't be many in this world who could trouble you."
"But what if there are?"
"I said there aren't!"
"But there could still be some. Master, you said you're a figure from three hundred years ago? The martial world might have developed during that time."
"So didn't I say that? True strength transcends time…"
"So there's still a possibility, isn't there?"
"Grrrr."
Baek Mu-han glared at Wei Yan-ho as if getting heated up. But unlike Wei Yan-ho, Baek Mu-han was a reasonable person. Wei Yan-ho's words also made sense. The current martial world and the martial world from when he was active couldn't be the same.
"It won't happen, but it really won't happen! But if you encounter such a case, remember just one thing."
"Yes."
"Don't retreat."
"…What?"
Wei Yan-ho's eyes widened.
What kind of nonsense was this? Don't retreat from an enemy you can't handle?
"Basically, you'd be the same…"
"What?"
"That's what combat is like. Cases where I can subdue the enemy without taking any damage don't come up often. In most cases, you face opponents where you have to give up your arm to kill them."
"Is that so?"
"Even so, most masters subdue their opponents with little damage. Do you know why?"
"If I knew that, I'd be a master."
Baek Mu-han sighed. He should change his way of speaking—he shouldn't use question forms with this guy.
"You learn this as your level rises. That I cannot win. Those at low levels might not let go of the vain delusion that they could win if they fought well, but as martial learning deepens, you feel the difference between your opponent and yourself acutely. If you charge in thinking you'll at least cut off an arm before dying, somehow hope emerges, but if instead you start looking for ways to slowly escape?"
Baek Mu-han raised his hand and drew it across his throat.
"That's how it goes."
"It sounds like you're speaking from experience."
"It is experience."
Baek Mu-han said with a sneer.
"No path of escape opens for those without courage; you must create the path yourself. If you really face such a situation, charge in with the mindset that it's fine to die!"
Wei Yan-ho nodded and answered.
"So the conclusion is that if I run away, I'll get stabbed in the back and die, so I should struggle desperately to make this guy think 'I'd rather just let him go nicely than fight this guy and lose an arm,' right?"
"That's right! Exactly!"
"Damn it!"
Wei Yan-ho threw the stone he was holding at Baek Mu-han.
"Is that something a master should say!"
"Where do you get off throwing stones at me! You're going to die today! Fine, try running away once! If you can escape, then there must be another method! Here I come!"
"Hieek?"
'Why does it always end like this in the end?'
Wei Yan-ho let out a low sigh as he recalled the scuffle with his master. His master's words that had sounded like complete nonsense at the time, but now at this point, how should he put it…
'Truth is truth.'
Though they were the same words, the situation was different so his acceptance was different too. He had dismissed his master's words as a joke at the time, but now that he was actually in such a situation, he seemed to understand what it meant when they said there was no escape.
Then there was no method other than charging in desperately with the determination to at least cut off an arm. The moment he got scared and looked for a place to flee, his concentration would scatter, and eventually he would show an opening.
Of course, the difference between the current Wei Yan-ho and the Mad Blood Demon wasn't at a level where victory was completely impossible, so the situation could be said to be somewhat better.
Looking at the charging Mad Blood Demon, Wei Yan-ho bit down hard on his teeth. Then he had no choice but to clash head-on!
Wei Yan-ho also charged toward the Mad Blood Demon.
Boooom!
The Mad Blood Demon's single punch flew in too honestly. It was exactly that fist power that had distorted the forest and created new terrain just moments ago.
"Hah!"
Wei Yan-ho let out a short battle cry as he drew his White Sword. As internal energy surged through his core and was fully injected, the White Sword emitted a dazzling radiance.
"Huh?"
A surprised voice could be heard, but right now Wei Yan-ho had no capacity to pay attention to that. The fist power flying toward him was more frightening than any technique he had ever experienced.
Even Peng Dao-ji's single punch couldn't compare to this fist power. Of course, Peng Dao-ji probably hadn't used his full strength.
It was to the degree that if he clashed force against force, no answer would emerge.
'Don't meet force with force.'
If he couldn't handle it with one strike, he just had to strike twice, three times. The sword imbued with pure white radiance embroidered the air.
One, then another.
The sword created pure white afterimages. The pure white sword afterimages that gradually filled the air soon began to completely cover the sky.
Meeting the fist power that surged like a fierce waterfall, Wei Yan-ho's sword created waves of sword shadows.
Finally, collision!
The rough waterfall erased Wei Yan-ho's sword shadows that shone like pure white foam.
He couldn't block it. He wasn't even a match.
But that wasn't everything.
As he destroyed the countless sword shadows Wei Yan-ho had created one by one, the mad demon's fist power gradually weakened.
Feeling the fist power that was slowly losing its momentum, the mad demon's face twisted.
"To think a mere brat like this!"
With a roar that shook the earth thunderously, the mad demon unleashed all his unrefined rage.
And at that moment.
From the point where the waterfall of fist power and the waves of sword shadows collided, Wei Yan-ho, wrapped in pure white light, emerged and charged toward the mad demon.
The mad demon's eyes bulged as if they would tear.