Listen While Reading: Successor of Niten Ichiryu
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I felt enlightened; I almost felt like I wasn’t myself anymore. Did the old Anna die and someone else take over? It felt that way, as if I had shed away my former self and become much more confident, much more...
Complete!
I dropped the weapons I was holding onto the floor; my armor was unequipped, as were my accessories. Everything else was stored in my inventory. All I had on my body were my regular clothes.
And my skin, which was now constantly fluctuating between red, gold, blue, and silver, had a metallic sheen. My aura resembled a rainbow veiling my entire body. I felt so free, I felt so complete, I felt so...
Myself!
“You’ve achieved it... True harmony… Kahahaha!”
The Heavenly Demon laughed as my foot pressed on his head.
Did I just push him down so easily?!
“However…”
Suddenly, he grabbed my leg with his strong, talon-like hands as tightly as possible.
“You still lack power!”
He lifted me off with a single hand and then threw me away.
I found myself falling from the peaks where the dark temple was located.
Hundreds after hundreds of meters down into the forest below, infested with martial beasts!
“Wait, I got wings.”
FLASH!
My demonic and my angelic wings responded, suddenly growing three times as big as before, overflowing with all my converged energies.
Within a second, I reached back into the arena, rushing down towards the crow.
“Is this what you wanted to see, you old fuck?!”
I kicked his head again, followed by a punch into his back, and then another kick into his stomach. The Heavenly Demon laughed like a maniac as I made him vomit blood. He twisted his entire body and spun in midair, his sharp beak hitting my stomach but not piercing it.
CRASH!
“GUH?!”
I still felt almost like vomiting, but I held back that feeling, gritting my teeth instead as I put together both of my hands, slamming the crow’s head down once more.
BAAAM!
“URGH?!”
He screamed in pain before his body was thrown down. A second later, he responded by spreading his wings, imbuing them with his Ki aura, and using them as blades.
“RAAH!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
I blocked them with my bare hands, as I felt cuts cover my body constantly. But I used Healing Touch to heal myself, as I was damaged.
I could see it clearly in his face.
He seemed slightly desperate now.
“More…!” He screamed. “Show me more of what you can do, my disciple! Let it all out!”
His palm hit my chest, and as I was blown away with a huge explosion of black and purple energy, my body covered in flames made from his technique, only for them to be quickly turned off, I twisted my body while in midair, completely ignoring physics, and swiftly kicking the air and reaching him.
I was using my Martial Arts as if they were parts of my own body.
[Heavenly Dragon’s Steps]!
Each of my steps released explosions of blinding light; such rays were redirected towards him as I advanced forward somehow.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“Ugh…! What?!”
He screamed in surprise as he saw each step I took in midair as a powerful explosive attack, a barrage of myriad rays of light.
“That’s one of the [Celestial Golden Dragon Divine Martial Arts]!”
As he spoke in surprise, I rushed down, my fists moving down as I felt my aura erupt, transforming into a hundred gigantic, rainbow-colored fists overflowing with all my energies harnessed together.
[Heavenly Dragon’s Fist]!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!!
A myriad of punches never stopped coming, and the Heavenly Demon was immediately forced into a defensive stance as he used both his wings and his claws to defend.
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But it was useless; my attacks were relentless and never-ending.
I felt like my consciousness was expanding everywhere; in each part where my consciousness had expanded, I could unleash an attack.
“Y-You’ve achieved even further than just harmony!” He screamed as he started being pushed back more and more. “Just what… What is this?! Is this a glimpse of a realm beyond mine?!”
“RAAAAH!”
With a furious roar, all the fists made out of my Aura converged into my right arm, forming the fist of a titan of over a hundred meters in height.
And then I created my own technique.
“{Myriad Self Arts}: {Hundredth Self Fist}”
With the power of a hundred versions of myself dividing and appearing constantly within my own aura and fusing together into the massive, rainbow-colored fist, the attack smashed the Heavenly Demon into the ground, blood splattering everywhere.
BAAAMMM!!!
“KAAAGH…?!”
The Heavenly Demon released a scream resembling the cry of a crow as his body suddenly bounced off the ground after being hit, only for my giant fist to then smash him down again.
BAAAMMM!!!
“UGOHH?!”
Another time, and then another, and another, and another!
I couldn’t let him retaliate.
This fucking bastard, I was going to show him what I was made of!
BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM!
The gigantic fist was multiplied by four, each one hitting him from above, below, and from left and right. With each passing second, explosions of rainbow-colored flames spread everywhere.
Yet as he was being hit, he laughed.
“Kahahah… KAHAHAHAH!”
“You’re laughing?!”
“Why shouldn’t I laugh?! I am so proud of my disciple! This is it! This is the power I worked so hard to give you! Now wield it and attack me with everything you have! Because now, I will do the same! I will aim for your life. And I’m serious!”
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, his inner powers surged from within his body, and an eruption of purple and black flames rushed out from his entire body. All my techniques were suddenly dispelled as they were burned with black and purple flames.
An enormous claw rushed from above, attempting to tear me to shreds. I stepped back, barely missing a certain death, only for the Heavenly Demon to appear in front of me within a blink of an eye.
“{Seven Cursed Seals Arts}: {Seal of Wrath: Unleashed}!”
With a furious roar, his beak opened, unleashing a gigantic blast of crimson flames that engulfed me completely.
Did he just breathe fire?!
BOOOMMM!!!
The flames hurt like hell! They burned through the protective veil covering my body and through my skin with incredible speed. I had to quickly concentrate my Celestial Ki into the wounds to dispel the fire and then use Healing Touch to heal the wounds.
“Kahahaha! My disciple, show me what you got!”
And that insane bastard was already coming towards me! Ugh, I miss the Heavenly Empress!
His entire body was covered in those crimson flames, and his fists rushed towards me within a split second, each one being more intense than the other.
I lifted several shields made out of my rainbow veil aura, only for them to shatter instantly.
What I thought was an infallible power capable of letting me get to the level of a Venerable was now being easily burned!
This whole time, was I a frog in a well?
He was still hiding so much power!”
“Dammit!”
My powers started fluctuating as I felt my body grow progressively weaker with each attack. Blood and charred wounds covered my body. I attacked back with punches and kicks, even slamming my head into his own, and it was working, but his offensive was much more effective than mine!
And he had six other seals he could use. Just how deep was the Heavenly Demon of this world?! For a moment, I truly felt like I had become the naïve young master that ended courting death by going against an expert!
“{Seal of Wrath’s Manifestation: Hammer of Doom}!”
His Ki Aura rushed upwards, an enormous fist appeared above me, and the crow kept laughing maniacally as the fist started falling, like a hammer of doom.
This is the power of the Heavenly Demon.
And in a way, this is also what Murim is all about.
Ridiculous powers and incredible abilities.
The combination of martial arts and ridiculous fantasy elements.
And he was the pinnacle of all of that!
A ruthless demon, a villainous monster, the one that slaughtered countless people to reach the pinnacle.
The Demon that reached Heaven.
The Heavenly Demon!
“Don’t give up, Anna.”
“We are with you.”
“We are pieces of your own psyche.”
“Trust in us; trust in yourself!”
My egos spoke to me, and I felt their enlightenment rush through my body. They were me, pieces of my own psyche born out of the powers, transformations, and abilities I’ve developed.
By unifying them into my own, I was able to perfectly harmonize all the powers and abilities related to them.
My rainbow veil grew stronger as threads of many colors tapped into something even deeper within my Spiritual Body.
“You’re right… I have to trust myself.”
I am not weak.
I am not alone.
I don’t have to simply depend on skills or items.
I am strong.
And even if my psyche is fragmented into all these egos...
I’ll make that “flaw” my strength!
With my own techniques, my own martial arts.
“{Myriad Self Arts}: {One Thousand Self Legion}!”
I roared, slamming the floor with my legs as I released all my power at once. An endless ocean of rainbow light rushed out, and all my energies converged—my truest power.
It enveloped everything as the Hammer of Doom rushed down, and then a thousand copies of myself, made of this energy, appeared, moving upwards, putting their hands above.
And we resisted the immense attack together, as one!
BAAAMMM!!!
My one thousand copies died one after another, but each one that died exploded into rainbow flames, consuming the Hammer of Doom until nothing was left.
“Oooh?! Oohohoo?!”
The Heavenly Demon only laughed as he amused himself looking at what I did.
Yet this wasn’t over.
I used my wings to reach the skies within a second.
I can’t let him use that damned ability again!
“Heavenly Demon!”
“My disciple!”
Our fists clashed, explosions of rainbows and crimson flames erupting above the skies of the Heavenly Demon’s Inner Realm.
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
An uppercut into his chin, a punch into my stomach, a kick into his chest, a slashing claw attack into my chest, a bite into his neck, a piercing peck into my left arm, a hammer blow into his skull, a palm attack into my left shoulder.
Our bodies were being constantly tattered as I felt my bones dislocating and then reallocating themselves endlessly. I had already grown dull to the pain, yet the Venerable continued fighting.
He was a relentless demon!
“I can tell why the Heavenly Empress could never fucking kill you, master!”
“And she never will, my disciple! For I am the only one between heaven and earth that is SUPREME!”
With boisterous laughter, he moved his claws down, imbuing them with as many flames as he could, aiming to behead me.
“And it’s the disciple’s duty to surpass the master.”
FLASH!
“Huh?”
Suddenly, he noticed what I was planning; a hundred copies of myself revealed themselves behind my rainbow veil, suddenly harnessing the power deep within my Spiritual Body.
The combination of it all wasn’t in perfect harmony but was in endless disarray.
A black, miasmic sphere of pure darkness surged within the palms of my hands, stronger than any element I could conjure, even more than the magic I had used that carried its same name.
This was…
“Chaos Ki?!”
My hands began to slowly burn away, and my skin charred, fading away into ashes.
This power was unstable and tremendously strong, incomparable to the “chaos magic” I used before.
“{Myriad Self Arts}: {Primordial Chaos Palm}!”
I moved faster than my master’s claws could reach my neck, pushing my palm with the Chaos Ki right into his exposed chest.
“M-My disciple…!”
And suddenly, he shed a tear.
“You make your master proud.”
BOOOMMM!!!
Everything turned black, and the two of us were engulfed in an explosion of pure darkness.
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