Chapter 498

“…”

Jin Ja-gang looked at Beom-bon.

Holding a pillar thicker than a person’s torso and calling it staff technique.

Though Beom-bon’s physique was massive, no matter what, the pillar never looked like a staff. Rather, it looked too thick to comfortably grip and swing.

“Now, here I come.”

Beom-bon took a large step forward. Crack! Beom-bon’s fingers dug into the pillar. The pillar was crushed and gripped firmly in his hand. With one hand holding the end of the pillar like that and the other supporting the middle, he swung the pillar from bottom to top.

Crash!

The wooden floor caught on the pillar and was swept away, scattering wooden nails and planks in all directions. Beom-bon spun the staff once above his head and struck at Jin Ja-gang’s temple.

Jin Ja-gang didn’t dare face him with strength.

Jin Ja-gang jumped high from where he stood and dodged the pillar.

Crash! Tremendous energy including wooden debris brushed under Jin Ja-gang’s feet. In an instant, Jin Ja-gang’s body staggered. His body was swept up in the whirlwind the pillar created.

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t maintain his center like a leaf caught in the wind and spun round and round.

“Kuk!”

In midair, he struck the top of his left foot with his right foot and somersaulted to barely regain his center. Terrible power. What’s the point of dodging in this case!

Beom-bon pulled his back foot forward, twisted his waist, crossed his grip on the pillar, and spun it round from bottom to top.

Whooom!

Jin Ja-gang hastily kicked off the pillar trying to jump above Beom-bon’s head, but the pillar was faster. The moment he kicked with his foot, the pillar turned another half rotation. Jin Ja-gang couldn’t jump and was driven downward.

Bang!

In a bow stance, Beom-bon gripped the end and middle of the pillar and rotated it vertically.

Whoosh! Whooosh!

Jin Ja-gang rolled on the floor to dodge and hooked the rotating pillar with his paired sickle blade.

Jin Ja-gang’s arm and body that had embedded the paired sickle blade were carried along by the force of the pillar’s movement. He tried to endure using Thousand Pound Weight, but Thousand Pound Weight or whatever was of no help at all.

Whoooom!

When Beom-bon spun the pillar above his head, Jin Ja-gang rotated along with the pillar as if caught in a whirlpool.

“Cha-ha!”

Beom-bon struck another pillar with the pillar he was swinging including Jin Ja-gang. If he stayed like that, Jin Ja-gang could be caught between the pillars and crushed to death. Jin Ja-gang let go of the paired sickle blade. Jin Ja-gang’s body bounced off like an arrow and embedded in the wall.

At the same time, the middle of the pillar struck by the pillar Beom-bon swung burst out.

Bang!

Dust fell rustling from the ceiling and the entire Yellow Crane Tower tilted and shook.

Beom-bon returned to his original stance while spinning the pillar buzzing around.

Jin Ja-gang extracted his body from the wall and came down.

Thud.

When he stepped on the ground with his foot, his legs staggered. A shock remained as if all the bones in his body had been shattered.

He looked down at his hands. Even his fingertips trembled finely. His subtle senses were momentarily deadened.

Jin Ja-gang raised his head and looked at Beom-bon. Beom-bon’s surroundings were completely scorched. The floor was crushed and tables and chairs were smashed.

At this rate, there was no way he could properly use the weapons hidden here and there while moving around.

“…”

Words wouldn’t come out.

An opponent who knew how to fully utilize his physical advantages. Such opponents were very tricky to face. Moreover, it completely departed from what ordinary people normally considered common sense.

Tremendously strong.

Long range didn’t work, and he was pushed back at close range too. On top of that, weapon techniques… he hadn’t even properly swung once. He thought perhaps it was ridiculous to think he could face that ignorant staff with other weapons in the first place.

Even using sword energy would be the same. Though he could cut the pillar with sword energy, he himself would be swept away before that sword energy could even reach Beom-bon.

Beom-bon looked down at Jin Ja-gang.

A sense of intimidation pressed down on Jin Ja-gang’s entire body.

“Are you still curious who the Hungry Ghost King is?”

Jin Ja-gang dusted himself off and asked Beom-bon.

“Who is it?”

Beom-bon smirked.

“Benefactor still hasn’t come to your senses, it seems.”

“If there’s something hidden, the one hiding it is the culprit.”

“This humble monk is not a fallen monk to the extent of being called a culprit.”

Jin Ja-gang retorted to Beom-bon’s words.

“How would I know? Just tell me who the Hungry Ghost King is. Then I’ll let the great master live.”

Beom-bon’s eyes narrowed.

“If this humble monk is the Hungry Ghost King?”

“Then you must die. Don’t ask useless things.”

Beom-bon laughed loudly.

Jin Ja-gang picked up someone’s clothing lying on the floor and threw it at Beom-bon’s face.

Splat! The damp clothing hit Beom-bon’s face, slid, and fell.

His nostrils twitched. Beom-bon’s smiling expression hardened. Beom-bon wiped the moisture on his face with his hand.

It smelled of urine.

Jin Ja-gang apologized.

“Ah, I’m sorry. When scary monks appeared, someone must have been unable to hold it and made a faux pas.”

Beom-bon’s eyebrows trembled.

Crack, crack, crack!

Tree bark broke as his fingers dug into the pillar.

Crack! The pillar was crushed by his grip strength. The part Beom-bon was holding was torn out as if ripped off.

Beom-bon lifted and threw the ruined pillar. The pillar embedded in the floor and stood crookedly.

Beom-bon glared at Jin Ja-gang, then lifted each foot and rotated his ankles to loosen them.

Then he walked step by step toward Jin Ja-gang.

Thud!

An ordinary step, but the momentum was quite different.

Thud, thud!

Jin Ja-gang squinted his eyes.

Beom-bon’s body seemed to split left and right.

Thud thud! Each step he took to come closer, his body was gradually dividing!

It was a situation where anyone would have to doubt their eyes.

Beom-bon became one and a half, then soon became two. Thud thud, with each step he took, his body split again and became three.

As Beom-bon divided into three and approached, Jin Ja-gang’s vision was completely filled because of the already massive frame.

***

Everyone just watched Mu-gak’s face as he ate the meat pancake.

Namgung Rak cleared his throat and said.

“That’s all good. I can understand the saying about being strongest with entry-level martial arts, and I know the staff technique is strong. However, if you listen to the reputation heard around…”

Mu-gak spoke first as if knowing what he would say.

“Slow?”

Because it was somewhat awkward to say slow or sluggish about Shaolin Temple’s abbot, Namgung Rak only nodded.

Mu-gak smiled wryly.

“That makes sense. He has such a massive body.”

“If the opponent is agile and maintains distance while attacking and retreating, or runs away, wouldn’t he be unable to catch them?”

“Shaolin Temple, and Shaolin Temple’s abbot, is Mount Tai. If he doesn’t move himself, no one can move him, and if he moves, he must bring an end…”

Yuk Ha-seon tapped the table with chopsticks.

Mu-gak glanced sideways at Yuk Ha-seon. At her expression that she would prevent him from eating meat pancakes if he kept making it difficult, he spoke as if convulsing.

“Great Buddha is also good at movement techniques!”

Yuk Ha-seon smiled.

“Ah, what easy-to-understand words. So you should have said that from the start. Only then will sentient beings understand and gain enlightenment.”

Mu-gak received and ate a new meat pancake and mumbled.

“Perhaps… Great Buddha’s thinking might be right.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Great Buddha said not to drag sentient beings into a dung pot, but to entice them with the gold they like and guide them. He argued that they should be enlightened by matching their eye level.”

Yuk Ha-seon nodded.

“Indeed, if even great monks are enticed with meat pancakes, we sentient beings would be even more so.”

Namgung Rak also took a sip of tea in his mouth and expressed his thoughts.

“In today’s world, what can approach sentient beings most easily and most comfortably is financial power… no one could deny that.”

Mu-gak passionately argued, even spitting fragments of the meat pancake he was chewing.

“But that’s not how it should be! Attaining Buddhahood is never an easy and comfortable path. Even Buddha practiced through asceticism. Truth is always difficult and the path to truth is blocked by all kinds of demons. If you abandon human ethics and become Buddha, that is no longer Buddha but a demon!”

Mu-gak, who had delivered an impassioned speech, made a somber expression on his wrinkled face.

He heavily distorted his face and looked at Tang Ha-ran.

Then he shook his head with difficulty.

“I’m sorry. Your husband… will be difficult to return alive.”

Tang Ha-ran asked with a hardened face.

“Why do you conclude that?”

“Great Buddha is the strongest Arhat. Whether Vajra monks or Bronze Men, they couldn’t defeat the Arhat called Great Buddha. To defeat such a Great Buddha, you must never anger Great Buddha. When Great Buddha is angry…”

Mu-gak paused his words, perhaps having exhausted himself from getting too heated just before, then said.

“Great Buddha becomes three.”

This time even Yuk Ha-seon didn’t take away the meat pancake.

Instead, she poured alcohol.

Mu-gak drank the alcohol, caught his breath, and said.

“One-Man Arhat Formation deployed alone with the ultimate Arhat Steps.”

“One-Man Arhat Formation?”

“With that, Great Buddha who mastered Arhat martial arts becomes three.”

***

Beom-bon’s pointed fingertips flew sliding and aimed at Jin Ja-gang’s head.

Breaking Snake Shatter of the Shaolin Five Fists.

Jin Ja-gang tried to use Sticky Adhering Hands to hook Beom-bon’s wrist with Seizing Hands and change the direction, but Beom-bon’s hand didn’t budge at all. Ignoring Jin Ja-gang’s Seizing Hands, it pushed straight through. Jin Ja-gang lowered his head and raised his back foot upside down to kick Beom-bon’s nose with his sole.

Jin Ja-gang’s foot definitely struck Beom-bon’s face directly. But another Beom-bon beside him struck up at Jin Ja-gang’s jaw with a tiger fist. Jin Ja-gang blocked his face with both arms. Both forearms were all scratched, flesh tore, and Jin Ja-gang’s body rose.

The third Beom-bon lowered his body like a leopard, then leaped up with Leopard Piercing Cliff and pressed down on Jin Ja-gang’s neck with his hands. Jin Ja-gang sucked the blood from his forearm into his mouth and spat it at his face.

The Beom-bon who first had his face hit leaped up from bottom to top like a dragon soaring to heaven and struck Jin Ja-gang’s back with his fist.

Crack!

A rough sound came from his spine. Even the protective energy was useless. Blood burst from Jin Ja-gang’s mouth.

Keuk!

Jin Ja-gang had no time to let out a scream and spread his legs left and right to kick two Beom-bons.

Thud crack!

He definitely struck both. However, there was a time difference. It meant Beom-bon hadn’t really become three!

Of course, Beom-bon didn’t care and continued pressing Jin Ja-gang. All three forms of Beom-bon were real and using actual moves. There was no need to move dazzlingly to dodge the opponent’s attacks and induce openings. He just pressed forward and attacked.

Jin Ja-gang stabbed the Ladle River Divine Sword toward the Beom-bon in front. Sword energy shone pale blue. However, Beom-bon didn’t even dodge.

The Ladle River Divine Sword imbued with sword energy couldn’t pierce Beom-bon’s kasaya and the blade bent.

Ting!

The moment the Ladle River Divine Sword’s blade bounced, another Beom-bon appeared right beside him. The entire landscape distorted and was sucked into Beom-bon’s fist. Giant strength condensed and space warped.

Beom-bon extended his fist toward Jin Ja-gang.

An ordinary Arhat fist…

Jin Ja-gang repeatedly swung the Ladle River Divine Sword trying to reduce the force dwelling in the fist.

Useless!

Crash!

Jin Ja-gang was swept up in the fist wind and blown backward.