Book 14 Chapter 4

Opening one's eyes

- Revelation (開眼)

My eyes opened.

My vision brightened as if the eyelids that had been blocking my sight had fallen away. Then, it began to expand, like the gaze of a great roc soaring towards the end of the sky. It is incredibly difficult to explain this in words.

There is a clear limit to conveying experiences, feelings, and sensations that others have not directly experienced, using crude language. This is because language is the most unreliable messenger of truth. However, even if it is difficult to explain and understand in words, the truth that such a state and such a fact exist remains unchanged.

And the world that Bi Ryuyeon is experiencing now is precisely that kind of world of 'ineffability (不形容)'. A transcendent realm that only a select few are permitted to enter. It is to that realm that Bi Ryuyeon is now stepping. His eyes were now looking at such a world.

His vision becomes increasingly vast and profound. An enormous amount of information rushes towards Bi Ryuyeon through his broadened and deepened sight. Sometimes, people go mad because their eyes open first and cannot accept this excessive information. However, he calmly accepts, categorizes, organizes, and gains insight from this information.

When he lifts his head, it feels like he will leap beyond the sky into the universe, and when he lowers his head, he can see the number of wing beats of a night insect flying beneath his knees. A mysterious feeling envelops him, as if everything before his eyes is within his grasp and there is no reason why he cannot understand its essence.

He sees the opponent's hand slowly rise. Everything appears like a frozen image because his gaze has transcended time.

The trajectory of the technique that will unfold from the fingertips shines clearly like the path of a radiant star. A dance of finely shimmering white spiderwebs fills the frozen world. The directions in which the latent power within the opponent's body wants to extend merge to draw a splendid mandala. At this time, if it were the brain of an ordinary person with a small capacity, there would be a risk of going mad due to overload just by encountering this information.

No matter how finely and densely the lines are woven like a spiderweb, once they are visible, the trajectory becomes predictable. However, when encountering true masters, these intricate, fine lines form a swarm and invade one's body. In such cases, the ability to escape from these 'shimmering lines' is necessary. This is because merely seeing does not grant complete control over phenomena. The density and precision of this mysterious mandala pattern allow one to gauge the opponent's martial arts ability.

"……!!!"

In an instant, Shadow felt an instinctive aversion and became displeased. He felt like a wild animal being targeted by a hunter, humiliatingly so. He felt exposed, as if he were naked before the opponent.

'I will not forgive!'

The sin of those who inflicted such humiliation was too deep to be left alive. Therefore, the perpetrator deserved to be annihilated. In this world!

A formidable aura surged towards the raised arm. An undeniable pressure. The air closing in from all sides. The sky losing its light and fleeing from brilliance into darkness. A blade of black tempered darkness pierced the curtain of darkness and spat forth killing intent across space.

It was a movement as if it were shouting, "This first technique is very, very dangerous, so all citizens, please evacuate the danger zone quickly!"

"……!"

Bi Ryuyeon's eyes cut through the darkness, and even pierced the curtain of hair that stood like an iron wall, not missing a single movement. Then, the moment that hand reached its apex!

*Pop!*

The hand descended with a momentum like a waterfall cascading from a hundred-zhang cliff.

*Spppt spppt sppapapapapopp! Kkwakwakwakwakwa…….*

Roars like a pouring waterfall echoed through the night sky. The night air twisted, writhed, and vibrated. Waves of killing intent and sharp, dark energy crossed the void. It was a terrifying wave, as if thousands of blades were converging at once. Within it was a mighty force that seemed to mock and crush a mere human.

Countless luminous trajectories, intertwined like a spiderweb, were drawn through Bi Ryuyeon's body. At least, they were visible to his eyes.

In such a situation, the method of suicide is very simple. One just needs to stand still on these trajectories. Then, the deadly blades imbued with sharp killing intent will undoubtedly shred his body.

Of course, Bi Ryuyeon was not a suicide aspirant. Furthermore, his preference for being killed was very low. So, as always, he moved his body out of the path of the luminous trajectories in advance.

Normally, it would have been over by then. However, this time, something was wrong.

"Gasp!"

A gasp, rarely heard from Bi Ryuyeon, escaped his lips.

'It changed!'

Through thoughts faster than light, Bi Ryuyeon realized that the luminous trajectories spread throughout space like a spiderweb had instantly changed their positions. The changed trajectories pierced Bi Ryuyeon's body once again.

And before he could even react, a storm of countless killing intents surged along the path of the trajectories. It was as fast as lightning.

Before he even had time to curse, 'Damn it,' the wave of killing intent washed over his body.

Skipping the curses due to lack of time, Bi Ryuyeon hastily moved his body out of the path of death. However, it seemed a little late. The opponent's attack was faster than expected.

His clothes were torn and tattered as if caught in a gust of wind, and his chest felt a momentary burning sensation.

Gone!

He had disappeared!

The Great Prince Bi found himself standing alone in the clearing. A profound silence had settled around him.

"I was sure I had caught him…"

He looked down at his hands with disbelief. His hands, which had undergone thousands upon thousands of training sessions. Hands that possessed invincible power, knowing no failure.

"Was I too shallow…?"

He had definitely felt it. But it was not a fatal blow.

'Could he have really survived…?'

He couldn't accept his failure.

'What in the world was that? That last movement?'

He had vanished like smoke in thin air, like a mirage. He had completely 'disappeared' from his sight.

He thought he had secured him within his vision… He had been exposed, but it was the same for the opponent. At least, that's what Bi thought. But it seemed to have been a delusion.

'To evade the technique of <Shadow Lightning Thousand Slashes (影雷) 천잔>, one of my ultimate techniques, even at such a short distance…'

He was called Ryuyeon, wasn't he… He remembered that name that slipped out unconsciously.

'We will meet again soon! Then, I will definitely!'