Book 2 Chapter 7

The Name of Taboo

Before the blade that held fire,

Never utter his full name.

Lest the flames of his wrath

Turn your bodies to ashes.

This is a story about a taboo that floats around the martial arts world. According to the unwritten rules circulating in the martial arts world, there is one absolute rule that must be observed before Yan Dao, his name, and his blade: a taboo that must not be broken. The taboo that absolutely must be kept is that one must never utter his full name in front of him.

To this day, countless people, whether intentionally or by mistake(?), have broken this forbidden unwritten rule and have gone down a path of no return, or have suffered a tragic fate of living their lives as invalids. Countless people have lost their lives because of a single misspoken name.

Yan Dao! He, who possessed awe-inspiring martial might and renowned fame, the object of admiration for all martial artists wielding blades in the martial arts world, also harbored a profound inferiority complex. It was an infinite, eternal inferiority complex about his full name.

Young Hee!

It was a name given by his parents with the kind intention of him becoming a person with a glorious and hopeful future. And currently, he was living a life of the greatest glory in the martial arts world, just as his name suggested. However, unfortunately, the resonance of his name reminded people of a woman's name. It was the resonance and the sound that were the problem.

"How can a man have a name that sounds like a woman's? I'd rather die!"

This was Yan Dao Gwak Young Hee's thought. He hated his name, which sounded like a woman's title. But the core of the problem, and the misfortune of the martial arts world, was that he couldn't carelessly change the name his parents gave him just because he disliked it.

If he could have changed his name, Yan Dao would have changed it dozens of times over. But since he couldn't, he was bursting with frustration. So, he established a taboo. He decreed that no one should call his full name in front of him. If this taboo was broken, he took immediate action without hesitation, resulting in terrible consequences. Therefore, the number of people who suffered a tragic fate due to this could fill three volumes of a limited edition book titled "Record of Yan Dao's Taboo Violators."

Therefore, it is no wonder that Jang Woo Kang was not unharmed after breaking the absolute taboo established by Yan Dao, whose temper was as fiery as flames. If he were unharmed, how could the saying "Yan Dao's Wrathful Fire King Yan" (焰刀震怒火極炎: this roughly means that when Yan Dao gets very angry, he burns everything around him to ashes) have spread?

"Boom!"

Though the exact time is unknown, the moment his full name was uttered into the world, Yan Dao leaped from his seat and planted his right foot on the floorboards directly in front of Jang Woo Kang. The sturdy floorboards of Hwa Un Ru cracked and fragments flew in all directions due to the indescribably powerful stomp. Simultaneously with the single, forceful stomp, his right hand, stained crimson, created a fierce whistling sound as it struck Jang Woo Kang's chest. Of course, the power of his Hwa Ryung Shin Gong contained within it was terrifying. One would not have escaped instant death if struck.

However, Jang Woo Kang was not a straw man either. As if to prove that the Qing Seong Mountain sword energy he had honed while enduring the clear winds at the peak of Qing Seong Mountain was not in vain, he managed to attempt a struggle to evade Yan Dao's palm strike with his instantaneous reflexes. In other words, he instantly applied rotational force to his right and twisted backward to pull himself away. But merely avoiding a direct hit was praiseworthy and commendable. He could not avoid even half of Yan Dao's Hong Yeom Jang and was hit squarely.

"Clang!"

Jang Woo Kang's body swayed, and with a sound like a bursting drum, he was sent flying to a wall twenty feet away and embedded in it. Radiating outward from Jang Woo Kang, who was deeply embedded, cracks resembling ripples were drawn on the wall. Fortunately, his initial evasive maneuver barely saved him from death. However, there was no change to the fact that he was severely injured. But Yan Dao thought differently. Seemingly displeased that he couldn't end the life of Jang Woo Kang, a scoundrel with not a speck of promise, with a single palm strike, Yan Dao Gwak Young Hee raised his right hand towards the ceiling.

He assumed an attitude of delivering a final blow to definitively end it. As the Fire Spirit Energy flowed through Yan Dao's meridians, gathered in his right hand, and was about to be sublimated into destructive power, two lines of silvery light flashed across the void in an instant.

"Screeeech!"

With a sharp whistling sound that seemed to tear through the air, Yan Dao was forced to retract his right hand and evade his position due to these two silvery streaks of light, imbued with a chilling sharpness, that flew towards him. In fact, he was surprised and dodged after they had already passed. The two silvery streaks narrowly grazed his side, as if making a threatening gesture, without hitting his body.

Thus, these two silvery beams instantly neutralized Yan Dao's grip and, circling the void again, were absorbed into one person's hand. This was likely the person who drew the two silvery spirals that traversed the canvas of the void. In his hand were two round iron rings, which had just been retrieved.

As the dust that had clouded the inside of the inn, created by the impact of Yan Dao's stomp that had shattered the floorboards of Hwa Un Ru, slowly settled, the silhouette of its owner became clearly visible.

"Who are you?"

Yan Dao's two glowing red eyes stared intently at the person who had drawn the delicate and beautiful pattern of silver spirals on the transparent canvas named Void. The craftsmanship of the silver spirals had faithfully served to obstruct the action he was about to take, so Yan Dao's eyes contained a hint of bewilderment and overflowing rage.

Finally, the owner's silhouette became clearly visible, and his red eyes, which stared at his opponent as if he wanted to capture him alive and devour him, boil him, stir-fry him, or deep-fry him, began to shine even brighter. However, amidst the whirlwind of piercing killing intent and rage, a slight hint of bewilderment flickered.