11. Bloodbath Underworld Maze (4)
11. Bloodbath Underworld Maze (4) – Flame Warrior Lee Mok-jin
It feels like I’m submerged in a burning river.
This was the sentiment that came to Mokjin’s mind in the midst of the boiling heat and the pressure that squeezed his whole body.
It was the same feeling of being crushed all over my body that I had felt when I was involved in some incident in the past and was lowered to the bottom of the river dozens of meters below. The only difference was that the pressure was incomparably stronger than before.
At least in Mokjin’s eyes, even if a certain master he knew came, he would not be able to last even half an hour in this river of burning rocks and would melt away. However, he was somehow holding on because he had a self-defense technique of an absurdly strong foundation based on his infinite internal energy.
In fact, the heat of the magma itself poses no threat to Mokjin, who has reached the state of inviolability between water and fire. The enormous fire he feels comes from the vastness of the magma river, and in reality, the heat of the magma itself is not as good as the flame.
‘But······it doesn’t look like it’ll be easy to get out.’
There was a reason why Mokjin, who had endured the pressure of the magma with an absurdly strong self-defense technique, could not escape from the magma river in one breath.
The flow of magma that runs wild like a volcano.
In the midst of such a ferocious vortex that it was reminiscent of a rampaging dragon, even the greatest warrior in the world would have a hard time controlling his body. In the midst of the chaotic whirlpool of fire and rock, where tens of thousands of tons of rocks melted into a thick paste and flowed in all directions, the human body was nothing more than a speck of dust.
Mokjin raised his internal energy and threw the ring he had created into the magma. The energy contained within it was enough to shatter even a huge rock. However, despite its destructive power, the magma’s vortex only stirred slightly.
‘It’ll take a long time by force.’
If I really start to use my strength and move my body, I will somehow be able to escape this river of magma. However, it will take at least an hour to get there. It won’t be hard to maintain my self-defense in the meantime, but at least it will be more than enough time to finish this round.
In that case, there is no choice but to find another way. If you cannot solve it with strength, then you can find the way through gentleness.
‘This is my first time doing it myself.’
Mokjin is a martial artist who originally learned martial arts using the power of a hegemon, so he does not like to use the martial arts of flexibility.
Rather than suppressing strength with softness, it’s better to suppress it with stronger force. There’s a martial art called the Heavenly Thunder and the Infinite Moon God, so why bother doing something so cumbersome?
However, that does not mean that he cannot display martial arts of a different nature. Since he was a man of great talent, and had accumulated martial arts of a higher level than anyone else in the world, he had no difficulty displaying his extreme skills even without learning the martial arts of Yu.
‘Whew.’
In the magma that was like a hell of karma, Mokjin let out a breath full of deep energy. The magma that covered him stirred along with his breath.
Stop trying to keep your balance in the midst of the raging magma currents and surrender yourself to the flow of the river of fire.
What comes to mind is the Great Ultimate (太極) that is the basis of Taoist martial arts. Mokjin had once wrestled with the Great Ultimate Sword and swordsmanship of an old master shaman, and had a glimpse of the martial arts contained within it.
‘It was said that softness overcomes hardness (以柔克剛), stillness controls movement (以靜制動), and slowness conquers speed (以慢擊快).’
The old shaman said that the beginning and end of the shaman’s martial arts is the mind of a clear mirror and still water. Mokjin’s eyes, free of distracting thoughts, sank deeply.
Following the calm mind like a lake, the internal energy moves (以心行氣), and the body moves following that internal energy (以氣運身). Mokjin’s two hands seemed to point up and down, but soon began to draw a gentle spiral following the trajectory of the Taegeuk Hyegeom that the old master had unfolded in his memory.
It was a martial art that only Mokjin could display in this world, which was both the Taegeuk Hyegeom and not the Taegeuk Hyegeom. What martial artist in the world would believe that he stole the essence of another martial art and displayed it on top of his own martial art?
It is an absurdly large internal energy for a mere human to handle, but it is absurdly small compared to the power of nature. However, it is not enough to stop the flowing river, but it is enough to hold the reins of the river. Following Mokjin’s hand, the flow of the vortex that was violently raging as if it would tear him apart began to change.
What his hands draw is the universe of the Taegeuk that moves endlessly and circulates.
The magma river of the subterranean ravine, so huge that it is meaningless to discuss its mass, begins to be drawn by the hand of a single, tiny human being.
Once. Twice. And three, four, five.
When Mokjin, who had been endlessly moving along the trajectory of the Taegeuk, finally drew the forty-second Taegeuk, the magma vortex that had been like chaos had already subsided without a trace.
And what remained was a great river of fire and earth that flowed quietly along his hand, weaving its way beneath the continent.
‘They say that with the strength of four nyang you can produce the strength of a thousand pounds (四兩撥千斤), and it is indeed true to its reputation.’
A thousand-year-old shaman. Mokjin, who was able to hold the power of nature, which was originally not permitted to humans, in his hands for a moment, could not help but be amazed. Although it was a martial art that was the polar opposite of his Mukhyecheonra Shingong, the depth of his study was by no means shallow.
‘It’s a bit of a shame that I can’t savor this realization slowly······.’
I would like to swing my power however I want and enjoy the current high, but right now there is something I need to take care of first.
Mokjin raised his head and looked up. He couldn’t see anything because of the burning magma, but what he saw was what was beyond it.
Mokjin’s hand moved slowly, and the magma moved along with him. Magma no longer blocked his path.
Mokjin cut through the river of magma like a fish cutting through the current.
Today is a good day.
John, a high-ranking warrior belonging to the Yeomcheonseong, thought, Today, it seems as if the goddess of fortune has blessed him.
When John first came to Totuga, he was devastated when he found out who one of the targets of this rally was.
Dong-woo-gong Lee Mok-jin.
Although it is not a very famous name, it is the name of a man that anyone who plays around with the keyboard on Gangho Net would have heard at least once.
A heretic from the martial arts world who came up with the bizarre concept of fundamentalism in the 31st century.
He has a strange concept of being an ancient person who has traveled through time, but strictly speaking, he is a first-timer in the martial arts world who has easily defeated even the Sword Master of the West.
But how about attacking such a giant rookie?
“Did the elder suck on the mad cow’s tongue too much and lose his appetite?”
This was John’s reaction when he first found out that his opponent was Dong-an-woo-gong.
Even though it is a rally, this is basically a martial arts world where power rules everything. In other words, there is no surer way to commit suicide than picking a fight with one of the best masters in the universe.
Not only the Silk Zone, but also the other Yeomcheonseong warriors had similar reactions. They were true black-hearted people who cared for their own safety more than anyone else. Even if they were new to the martial arts world, they would not be happy about attacking Donganwoogong, who was known to have brought the Seocheon Sword Marquis to his knees.
Someone on Gangho.net said that Mokjin’s martial arts were overrated, citing reasons such as Seocheon Sword Marquis not having used his full strength or that they were just lucky to have each other. It’s common sense, but it’s unlikely that someone with martial arts strong enough to defeat Seocheon Sword Marquis, one of the losers of the Western Universe, would suddenly appear out of nowhere.
But even if that were true, what would change? No matter how highly regarded his martial arts skills are, he would still be a master of such a high level that they wouldn’t dare look up to him.
“Who said we should take down Donganwugong? All we need to do is take him out of the race for a while.”
But the Flash Heatwave Majin River pushed his attack plan forward. He was confident that he could knock Mokjin off the hover bike, at least for a little while.
“I’ll take care of Dong-an-woo-gong. You just have to think about taking down that bitch Yeom-hwa-na-chal.”
“······Then it’s worth a try.”
Dong-woo-gong said he would take responsibility and take them off. The warriors of Yeomcheon-seong decided to follow his attack order one by one after hearing Ma-jin-gang’s boast. In the first place, they could not disobey the orders of Ma-jin-gang, their superior, and if they were lucky enough to actually defeat Mok-jin, their value would go up.
But John was different.
“No matter how much I think about it, I feel like I’m going to die······.”
He was one of those who felt uncomfortable with this attack until the very end. Although Majin River’s plan was quite plausible, he thought that the odds of defeating Dong-woo-gong Lee Mok-jin were higher than the odds of defeating him.
Even if Marjin River’s plan succeeds, how many people will die in the meantime? This is not some other place, but the magma-filled Jijeokhyeol Valley. This is the place where fierce battles take place, with the casualty rate reaching up to 50% during the Totu Rally games.
But what can he do? The dark side of the mysterious master Dongwoo-gong and the rocket punch of the flash heat circle of Majin-gang are close by. John had no choice but to participate in this operation, feeling like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
“If it weren’t for that guy, I might have gone to the goal a long time ago.”
John’s partner, who was coughing up enteritis after eating something last night, was a sub-driver and a combat officer, and as his partner’s condition deteriorated, John was also excluded from this operation as a reserve force. From John’s perspective, it was a stroke of luck.
Although he was unable to participate directly in the raid operation and was only able to clean up the aftermath with a small allowance, John was somewhat satisfied with this role. His intuition was fiercely warning him that this was a dangerous task. If it was just money, he could earn it later.
Somehow it’s a lucky day.
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I definitely thought so.
Kkwaduk.
“uh?!”
Until someone suddenly hops on top of his hover bike’s heat-resistant gloves.
It was a monster. A lava lump that burst out of a river of magma. That was the only way he could describe what he had seen.
It certainly had the form of a human, but it was not human. The monster’s entire body was covered in burning, melting red rock.
An intense heat rushes in and a stinging smell of sulfur hits your nose. An eerie glare flashes through the magma slowly flowing out of the monster’s head.
The moment you do something foolish, you die. John’s body froze as he met eyes with it, like a mouse in front of a cat. The monster, which had been staring at him for a moment, opened its mouth.
“······Let me take some of yours.”
‘Take what? My life?’
John’s thoughts stopped for a moment at the monster’s endless words. And the monster had no intention of waiting for his answer.
“Ugh!”
Pfft! The monster, Mokjin, bursts out the energy within his body with a small cheer, and the magma covering his body bursts out in all directions like dust.
“Huh?!”
John was thrown out of the hover bike by the exploding debris. Mokjin didn’t even glance at John and grabbed the handle of the hover bike that was staggering without a single scratch on its collar.
“It may be a little different from what I learned, but in the end, it’s the same vehicle at its core.”
No matter how many times he looked at it, it was the first time he had seen the dashboard panel. However, Mok-jin was not flustered. The process was by no means easy, but Mok-jin had definitely learned how to drive a hover bike.
The driving skills Mokjin learned from Serin were only extremely basic movements, but that was enough for him. As long as it was equipped with a boost transducer, Mokjin’s internal energy would help with the rest. Unless it was a top-tier machine tuned to the extreme like Serin’s, it was not difficult to control the basics.
“Wait a minute.”
I’ll be there soon, Mokjin muttered as he poured considerable energy into the hover bike.
It took longer than I thought to get out of the magma river. Thinking back to the last time I saw the raiders from Yeomcheonseong, it would be difficult for Serin to hold out alone for long. Now, it was important to chase Serin as soon as possible.
Kururung. The boost transcer of the hover bike starts screaming. It can’t withstand the massive internal energy pouring out from the tree.
However, from Mokjin’s perspective, it didn’t matter whether the transor was broken or not. It was someone else’s property that he wouldn’t have to return anyway, and as long as he could catch up with Seryeong who had gone ahead, it didn’t matter.
A rough but explosive ride. Mokjin’s hover bike raced over the river of magma, chasing the afterglow of the spirit that had disappeared far away.
information)
In fact, the heat of the magma river itself is more bearable than you might think. However, since magma is a collection of molten rocks, it has an internal pressure that is beyond imagination, and there are vortices of rocks that spread out in a chaotic manner, so most martial artists cannot escape.
Mok Jin once realized the essence of Taegeuk Hye Sword when he fought against a master of the shamanist faction in the past. It was a martial art that was very impressive while being in conflict with his own martial arts, so he observed it persistently and discovered the principles contained within it. In addition, he learned many things by observing various new martial arts, and this was possible because Mok Jin possessed a talent that was unparalleled in history.
Mok Jin, who realized the principle of Taegeuk, was able to move the vortex of the magma river that was running wild in the direction he wanted. Even if he used the secret of the Four-Liang-Bal-Cheon-Geun, moving the magma river of enormous mass would require an enormous power that could not be drawn from a mere human, but Mok Jin actually succeeded in doing so thanks to his infinite internal energy.
Mokjin’s sense of smell allows him to sense John rushing towards him from several kilometers away, even though he is in a river of magma.
The topic of Dong-an-woo-gong Lee Mok-jin’s true martial arts skills on Gangho.net is one of the most popular topics that has not cooled down recently. However, since he has not been active in any way, apart from causing a major accident, people are starting to get tired of him.
Mokjin, who had just emerged from the magma river, was covered in red-glowing magma all over his body and was a terrifying sight, emitting a sulfurous smell. That sight was broadcast on Totuga Rally, and after that, Mokjin was given another nickname, ‘Flame Warrior (火炎勇士)’. Seolyeong and Sunja laughed at the nickname, saying it was an incredibly childish nickname, but Mokjin, who did not know the related cliché, was quite satisfied.
Mokjin’s appearance covering himself with magma gained cult popularity on Gangho.net, and was unexpectedly well-received by children as it was revealed through clip videos. After that, a toy company contacted Mokjin, bought the license for the Flame Warrior, and sold Flame Warrior toys while making an animation. The Flame Warrior animation was popular with children as well as nerds, and Mokjin made a lot of money. Mokjin didn’t know what a license was, so Seolyeong and Sunja helped him a lot in this licensing transaction.
If it’s a ready-made hover bike that even the average person can ride without difficulty, even a Mokjin can control it if it’s simple control without advanced techniques. However, Seolyeong’s machine is tuned to the limit, so even the best Mokjin in the world has no way to control it.
