Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Choi Yeonseung looked displeased.

“Demon. If it’s a fight you want, then come at me. Why spout useless nonsense?”

“No... Listen carefully. Something’s strange with what you just said.”

If a being were turned into a constellation’s household member, that was because the constellation coveted them. In that sense, no constellation would ever make insignificant beings their household members. Constellations would have to enter into a contract with such coveted beings immediately. Otherwise, others could snatch them away. If they didn’t have a contract, such beings should at the very least be trained within their realm.

No constellation was crazy enough to train someone they wanted to turn into a household member by sending them to another constellation’s realm. If their prospect got usurped by another, they would be ridiculed in the Abyss for their stupidity for around ten thousand years.

A constellation was a godlike being, but many of them resided in the Abyss. They had to immediately turn useful beings into household members before others could take such creatures away.

Choi Yeonseung’s expression changed strangely upon hearing Barigos’ lecture about the Abyss.

It was burning logic.

“No! You’re missing one thing, Barigos.”

“And what would that be?”

“The constellation I made an agreement with has the ability to see the future. I’m sure she chose this unusual method because of the future she saw.”

“Being able to see the future is a special and rare ability in the Abyss, but... it can never be flawless, human. It doesn’t guarantee anything. What type of courage does she have to send a potential household member out of her realm?”

Barigos was unknowingly treating the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead as an idiot.

A stupid constellation that was second to none in the Abyss!

“Barigos. My constellation is greater than you think. It’s true that I’m training outside her realm, but this is all a part of her calculations.”

“Calculations... All of this? How?”

That could be possible in the constellation’s own realm but in another’s? That was absolutely ridiculous.

Choi Yeonseung looked at Barigos and confidently told him of the Goddess of Balance’s greatness

From the previous ordeal to the next one. He explained how this was all prepared in detail. He even included her incredible ability to manipulate magical storms!

However, Barigos was becoming more and more perplexed. “That... doesn’t make sense...?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Abyss’ magical storms are uncontrollable. Not even Constellations can control those dangerous and violent disasters...”

“...Maybe a constellation can manipulate it.”

“If they could, they would’ve already been dominating the Abyss. You... Did you perhaps...?”

Barigos had a thought.

“Did you just get caught up in a magical storm and thought your constellation was sending you to places?”

“......”

***

Most people cursed when they had nothing to say. Choi Yeonseung was different. In such situations, he would raise his fists.

“Human. It is never too late...”

“Be quiet.”

Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts spread out from his dantian and conjured powerful energy. Choi Yeonseung was feeling very complicated right now. He had been training for thousands of years!

‘Sigh...’

He felt very, very, very bitter. He tried to deny it, but he sensed Barigos wasn’t lying. And now that he thought about it, the constellation was too quiet! Even if she put him in a training center, it was still only proper for her to contact him every now and then. The most embarrassing thing was that he only realized it thousands of years later.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

On the other hand, martial arts could only draw power from within oneself. Due to the limitations such a condition posed, it was rare for races to use martial arts in the Abyss But seeing Choi Yeonseung now, Barigos seemed to realize what martial arts were made for.

Barigos remembered the origin of the martial arts that he had heard about somewhere.

‘Skills created by slaves who rebelled against the constellations...’

There once was a rebellion in the territory of a constellation, but it would’ve been suicidal to attack the constellation that ruled the realm with magic. Hence, the slaves created martial arts. The ability to draw power from within oneself, not from the outside world!

If Choi Yeonseung was a magic user, then he wouldn’t have been able to use magic properly against Barigos. After all, this was the Ruler of Blood and Brawls’ realm. He likely wouldn’t even have been able to weave magic power properly. However, despite being alone, Choi Yeonseung was shining brightly.

Such was the beauty of martial arts. Its splendor seemed to swallow the world rather than letting the world swallow it up!

“It is indeed brilliant. However... I am Barigos, the being my master has entrusted the Axe of Blood with!”

Barigos summoned the axe and started to weave magic. It wasn’t the same wide-ranged magic as before.

‘Enhancement magic!’

Choi Yeonseung realized what Barigos was using. He was casting and covering himself up with enhancement magic. It was often thought that magicians only participated in ranged combat, but many magic users actually fought in close-quarters combat.

The magical world was infinite and had a variety of melee magic. Enhancing strength, agility, sharpness, defense, granting attributes, etc. Those spells made martial artists complain whenever they came across such a foe!

-Shouldn’t they at least not be able to engage in melee combat? Magic can do everything!

“Let us resume our battle, human.” Barigos spoke in a heavy voice. His entire body was releasing red steam. The amount of magic power surrounding him was so enormous that its rise became visible to the naked eye.

Choi Yeonseung raised his fists. Barigos was a respectable opponent. “Come.”

***

Barigos was fast and strong. Every time he swung his axe, he smashed nearby mountains and overturned the earth. And each time, Choi Yeonseung would respond by moving in all directions, evading and brushing off the impact. Nevertheless, Barigos didn’t stop despite his constant misses. He continued to attack without even stopping for a breather. It felt like fighting a giant who was destroying the world.

All the demons nearby had long since fled. Choi Yeonseung faced Barigos alone in the vast demon wasteland, but...

He was in his most brilliant state in recent years.

Fighting against a strong enemy! He felt himself becoming stronger every time he endured an attack.

‘The problem is my offensive power.’

He dodged most of Barigos’ attacks and sometimes even used Covert Attack Reversal to return the attacks to him and shock him. However, Barigos quickly recovered.

Choi Yeonseung couldn’t win just by dodging. He had to damage his opponent. It was just that his fist energy couldn’t break through the dozens of layers of defensive magic Barigos had covered himself with.

‘Become stronger!’

Fist energy was the accumulation of internal energy. If it still couldn’t pierce through, then he had to make it stronger. But how?

’Gathering internal energy to one point creates fist energy. I just need to do the same with fist energy to create even stronger fist energy.’

Fist energy to concentrated fist energy. That was the answer.

Choi Yeonseung had been thinking about ways to improve fist energy ever since he learned how to freely handle it. And the answer he came up with was creating concentrated fist energy made by compressing fist energy! Earth’s martial artists had theorized about this form of fist energy a few times before.

-Can’t you make concentrated sword energy through sword energy?

However, the concentrated energy proved unreliable. Li Yuyuan, Earth’s strongest martial artist, could only maintain it for a short period of time. In such a state, using it wasn’t practical. Sword energy itself was a skill that could only be used. Only through utmost concentration and the maximization of internal energy could sword energy be used.

That was why martial artists used sword energy sparingly when fighting monsters. Using too much of it would exhaust them. They saved their sword energy for critical moments! Concentrated sword energy, the stronger version of sword energy, was far beyond their reach.

‘Still, I think I can do it.’

Choi Yeonseung’s internal energy had long exceeded the limits of other martial artists. He had built up his pure internal energy for over thousands of years! He never even felt he was running out of internal energy despite using so much of it while fighting demons. All that was left to do was condense his internal energy.

The first time was always the hardest, but it became easier from there. He just had to take the first step.

Choi Yeonseung did his best to step into the realm of concentrated fist energy. It didn’t matter if Barigos attacked him. Right now, Choi Yeonseung was only facing himself.