Choi Yeonseung looked displeased.

“Demon. If it’s a fight you want, then come at me. Why spout useless nonsense?”

“No... Listen carefully. Something’s strange with what you just said.”

If a being were turned into a constellation’s household member, that was because the constellation coveted them. In that sense, no constellation would ever make insignificant beings their household members. Constellations would have to enter into a contract with such coveted beings immediately. Otherwise, others could snatch them away. If they didn’t have a contract, such beings should at the very least be trained within their realm.

No constellation was crazy enough to train someone they wanted to turn into a household member by sending them to another constellation’s realm. If their prospect got usurped by another, they would be ridiculed in the Abyss for their stupidity for around ten thousand years.

A constellation was a godlike being, but many of them resided in the Abyss. They had to immediately turn useful beings into household members before others could take such creatures away. 

Choi Yeonseung’s expression changed strangely upon hearing Barigos’ lecture about the Abyss.

It was burning logic.

“No! You’re missing one thing, Barigos.”

“And what would that be?”

“The constellation I made an agreement with has the ability to see the future. I’m sure she chose this unusual method because of the future she saw.”

“Being able to see the future is a special and rare ability in the Abyss, but... it can never be flawless, human. It doesn’t guarantee anything. What type of courage does she have to send a potential household member out of her realm?”

Barigos was unknowingly treating the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead as an idiot.

A stupid constellation that was second to none in the Abyss!

“Barigos. My constellation is greater than you think. It’s true that I’m training outside her realm, but this is all a part of her calculations.”

“Calculations... All of this? How?”

That could be possible in the constellation’s own realm but in another’s? That was absolutely ridiculous. 

Choi Yeonseung looked at Barigos and confidently told him of the Goddess of Balance’s greatness

From the previous ordeal to the next one. He explained how this was all prepared in detail. He even included her incredible ability to manipulate magical storms!

However, Barigos was becoming more and more perplexed. “That… doesn’t make sense...?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Abyss’ magical storms are uncontrollable. Not even Constellations can control those dangerous and violent disasters...”

“...Maybe a constellation can manipulate it.”

“If they could, they would’ve already been dominating the Abyss. You... Did you perhaps...?”

Barigos had a thought.

“Did you just get caught up in a magical storm and thought your constellation was sending you to places?”

“......”

***

Most people cursed when they had nothing to say. Choi Yeonseung was different. In such situations, he would raise his fists.

“Human. It is never too late...”

“Be quiet.”

Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts spread out from his dantian and conjured powerful energy. Choi Yeonseung was feeling very complicated right now. He had been training for thousands of years!

‘Sigh...’

He felt very, very, very bitter. He tried to deny it, but he sensed Barigos wasn’t lying. And now that he thought about it, the constellation was too quiet! Even if she put him in a training center, it was still only proper for her to contact him every now and then. The most embarrassing thing was that he only realized it thousands of years later.

‘No... Sigh... Really...’

It was hard to talk to others because it was so embarrassing! He wasn’t quite sure if he lasted this long because he enjoyed becoming stronger, but he felt so stupid now.

No... Why didn’t he suspect anything?

Choi Yeonseung wanted to cry but held it in. He would lose muscles and internal energy if he cried. Now that this had happened, he needed to change his goal. He had to return to Earth as soon as possible! He just hoped it wasn’t too late.

“Human. I regret having to break a gem like you, but you have nothing to fear. My master is generous to traitors. Once you die, he will bind your soul and resurrect you.”

“Don’t say such creepy things!”

Death was far better than being tied up here forever and becoming similar to the demons living in this place.

[The glorious Barigos, who has been bestowed the Axe of Blood, has revealed his true form.]

[The blessing of the ‘Ruler of Blood and Brawls’ is upon him.]

Barigos stood up and turned into a demon over five meters in height. The Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts screamed, seemingly alerting Choi Yeonseung of how dangerous his opponent was. This guy was already incredibly strong. When he showed his true form, he even received the blessing of the Ruler of Blood and Brawls.

However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t stop. This wasn’t his first time battling against a huge enemy.

Origin of the Celestial Step. Choi Yeonseung’s Origin of the Celestial Step was no longer an ordinary stride. Each step he took now changed and moved at a speed that surpassed teleportation magic. Choi Yeonseung moved in all directions, leaving afterimages.

Barigos shook his head, seemingly finding his opponent’s actions foolish. He clenched his fists.

[Barigos has used ‘Baptism of Blood!’]

An intense red shower started to fall from the sky. It wasn't rain, however. Each drop was a powerful red magic power.

‘Even Impenetrable Skin can only withstand being hit by that a few times!’

Despite its name, Impenetrable Skin would still melt down if Baptism of Blood hit Choi Yeonseung long enough. Choi Yeonseung pushed his nerves to their utmost potential.

[’Unity of Body and Fist’ has heightened your senses to their absolute limit!]

[’Heavenly Martial Physique’ has minimized your internal energy consumption!]

[‘Three Flowers Gathering’ has further increased your martial arts power!]

Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts never notified Choi Yeonseung that he was in danger before. The fact that it alerted him of danger now showed just how powerful his opponent was. Nevertheless, Choi Yeonseung’s mind calmed down. He had already gotten rid of the confusion and shame he felt earlier.

‘I can avoid it.’

One step.

Every time Choi Yeonseung took a step, the red rain passed by him and melted the ground.

One more step.

The red rain once again brushed past Choi Yeonseung. It couldn’t reach him.

Two more steps.

Choi Yeonseung kept walking. Speed wasn’t important. What he needed was to feel the flow of the rain. He treated the Baptism of Blood like magical storms.

How much time passed? the Baptism of Blood had ended, but Choi Yeonseung wasn’t hurt at all.

Barigos looked down at Choi Yeonseung with a startled expression. He didn’t expect a weaker opponent to dodge such powerful magic.

Choi Yeonseung looked up at Barigos with a calm expression. Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts was telling him about a new skill.

[You have met all the requirements to unlock ‘Movement Transposition.’ The S-rank skill ‘Movement Transposition’ has been acquired.]

The moment he thought about it, he was already taking a step. Its casting speed was incomparable to Teleport magic! Against Movement Transposition, Barigos’s wide-ranged magic had no meaning. It was just a slow-moving obstacle.

Barigos spoke slowly. “Human, I respect you. I thought only the weak learned martial arts.”

Magic was the preferred skill in the Abyss. Magic could borrow infinite power from external sources.

On the other hand, martial arts could only draw power from within oneself. Due to the limitations such a condition posed, it was rare for races to use martial arts in the Abyss But seeing Choi Yeonseung now, Barigos seemed to realize what martial arts were made for.

Barigos remembered the origin of the martial arts that he had heard about somewhere.

‘Skills created by slaves who rebelled against the constellations...’

There once was a rebellion in the territory of a constellation, but it would’ve been suicidal to attack the constellation that ruled the realm with magic. Hence, the slaves created martial arts. The ability to draw power from within oneself, not from the outside world!

If Choi Yeonseung was a magic user, then he wouldn’t have been able to use magic properly against Barigos. After all, this was the Ruler of Blood and Brawls’ realm. He likely wouldn’t even have been able to weave magic power properly. However, despite being alone, Choi Yeonseung was shining brightly.

Such was the beauty of martial arts. Its splendor seemed to swallow the world rather than letting the world swallow it up!

“It is indeed brilliant. However... I am Barigos, the being my master has entrusted the Axe of Blood with!”

Barigos summoned the axe and started to weave magic. It wasn’t the same wide-ranged magic as before.

‘Enhancement magic!’

Choi Yeonseung realized what Barigos was using. He was casting and covering himself up with enhancement magic. It was often thought that magicians only participated in ranged combat, but many magic users actually fought in close-quarters combat.

The magical world was infinite and had a variety of melee magic. Enhancing strength, agility, sharpness, defense, granting attributes, etc. Those spells made martial artists complain whenever they came across such a foe!

-Shouldn’t they at least not be able to engage in melee combat? Magic can do everything!

“Let us resume our battle, human.” Barigos spoke in a heavy voice. His entire body was releasing red steam. The amount of magic power surrounding him was so enormous that its rise became visible to the naked eye.

Choi Yeonseung raised his fists. Barigos was a respectable opponent. “Come.”

***

Barigos was fast and strong. Every time he swung his axe, he smashed nearby mountains and overturned the earth. And each time, Choi Yeonseung would respond by moving in all directions, evading and brushing off the impact. Nevertheless, Barigos didn’t stop despite his constant misses. He continued to attack without even stopping for a breather. It felt like fighting a giant who was destroying the world.

All the demons nearby had long since fled. Choi Yeonseung faced Barigos alone in the vast demon wasteland, but...

He was in his most brilliant state in recent years.

Fighting against a strong enemy! He felt himself becoming stronger every time he endured an attack.

‘The problem is my offensive power.’

He dodged most of Barigos’ attacks and sometimes even used Covert Attack Reversal to return the attacks to him and shock him. However, Barigos quickly recovered.

Choi Yeonseung couldn’t win just by dodging. He had to damage his opponent. It was just that his fist energy couldn’t break through the dozens of layers of defensive magic Barigos had covered himself with.

‘Become stronger!’

Fist energy was the accumulation of internal energy. If it still couldn’t pierce through, then he had to make it stronger. But how?

’Gathering internal energy to one point creates fist energy. I just need to do the same with fist energy   to create even stronger fist energy.’

Fist energy to concentrated fist energy. That was the answer.

Choi Yeonseung had been thinking about ways to improve fist energy ever since he learned how to freely handle it. And the answer he came up with was creating concentrated fist energy made by compressing fist energy! Earth’s martial artists had theorized about this form of fist energy a few times before. 

-Can’t you make concentrated sword energy through sword energy?

However, the concentrated energy proved unreliable. Li Yuyuan, Earth’s strongest martial artist, could only maintain it for a short period of time. In such a state, using it wasn’t practical. Sword energy itself was a skill that could only be used. Only through utmost concentration and the maximization of internal energy could sword energy be used.

That was why martial artists used sword energy sparingly when fighting monsters. Using too much of it would exhaust them. They saved their sword energy for critical moments! Concentrated sword energy, the stronger version of sword energy, was far beyond their reach.

‘Still, I think I can do it.’

Choi Yeonseung’s internal energy had long exceeded the limits of other martial artists. He had built up his pure internal energy for over thousands of years! He never even felt he was running out of internal energy despite using so much of it while fighting demons. All that was left to do was condense his internal energy.

The first time was always the hardest, but it became easier from there. He just had to take the first step.

Choi Yeonseung did his best to step into the realm of concentrated fist energy. It didn’t matter if Barigos attacked him. Right now, Choi Yeonseung was only facing himself.