Chapter 90
The blood energy surging throughout his body began to violently churn, seeping not just into the existing meridians but into every joint of his bones.
As the blood energy permeated every part of his body, it displayed its power, giving off an aura as if it would explode at any moment.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Along with the violent fluctuations of blood energy, loud booming sounds continued to echo in his ears, but Lee Seong-jun's expression showed not a hint of agitation.
'This is the 7th level of the Blood Demon Asura Divine Technique... the path to reaching the pinnacle realm.'
This was pain he had already experienced before. Unlike in the past on the Cheon continent when he had been somewhat hasty, now he had a solid foundation with mind, energy and body in balance.
In reality, the pain he felt was not nearly as excruciating compared to the past on the Cheon continent.
No, it was at a level where he barely felt any pain at all.
"..."
As Lee Seong-jun flashed a relaxed smile, he pushed even harder on the flow of blood energy coursing through his body.
Woong-!
Along with a resonant hum, red heat haze began to emit from Lee Seong-jun's body as he sat in the lotus position.
Woooong!
Soon, the energy circulating his entire body began to seep into the eight extraordinary meridians and the countless minor meridians throughout his body.
As his physical body fully accepted the power of the blood energy, the vessels in his middle and lower dantian began to expand as if they had been waiting for this moment.
At the same time, not only did all the meridians in his body widen, but internal true qi gradually seeped into every corner of his body.
Woong, woong.
With each meridian that the internal energy flowed through, the power of blood pulsed and filled it with tremendous strength.
An intense feeling of exhilaration swept through his mind as it filled his entire body, but Lee Seong-jun maintained a calm expression as he focused his consciousness even more on the blood energy raging within him.
'I will break through the barrier.'
As he exerted his strong will, the memories and experiences engraved deep in his soul began to shatter the barrier to the next realm.
It wasn't just his mind that responded to that will.
His powerful physical body, wrapped in the strength of blood energy throughout, began to tremble.
Wheeeeee-!
From the center of the blue-tinged forest, red energy began to soar into the sky.
No, it wasn't just energy.
Lee Seong-jun's body at the center of the energy slowly rose into the air.
The energies gathering around Lee Seong-jun as he broke through the barrier resonated and created a levitating force.
Woooong-!
Light seemed to flash amidst the gathered red energy, and blood-colored flowers began to bloom.
One petal, two petals, and finally as the third petal appeared...
Alluring blood flowers bloomed fully with crimson petals, and the energies that had been lingering in the area were absorbed into Lee Seong-jun's body as if being sucked in.
Lee Seong-jun's body, which had been floating in the air, slowly descended to the ground.
At the same time, the fully bloomed blood flowers vanished without a trace.
"..."
The world grew silent as if nothing had happened.
However, the results clearly remained with Lee Seong-jun.
Ding-!
[Blood Demon Asura Divine Technique reaches 7th level and evolves to SSS-grade.]
[A new change occurs in your physical body.]
[All stats (Strength, Agility, Constitution, Blood Energy) increase by 10.]
[The absorption rate of energy from the atmosphere greatly increases, and Blood Energy stat will rise periodically!]
He had reached the 7th level of the Blood Demon Asura Divine Technique!
Moreover, his realm as a martial artist had entered the pinnacle level.
He had regained the power from the days when he reigned as the strongest blood demon.
"Excellent."
To be precise, even "excellent" was not enough to describe it.
By breaking through the barrier, his body underwent changes that increased all his stats by a whopping 10 points.
His muscles and skin were now harder and tougher than ordinary steel, and his senses were even sharper than those of predatory beasts.
In addition, as the amount of blood energy increased, the range of martial arts he could use also expanded somewhat.
'With this level of physical condition, I should be able to use the 3 forms of the Myriad Blood Demon Sea.'
This meant he could now use martial arts imbued with the power of Asura from the Myriad Blood Demon Sea.
The physical growth alone was already quite a satisfactory achievement.
But the benefits gained from reaching the pinnacle realm were not limited to just physical growth.
'Will-based energy manifestation.'
The moment Lee Seong-jun shifted his gaze to his right hand with a curved smile on his lips, light began to emanate from his hand.
It wasn't just fast - it manifested the instant his will reached for it.
This was proof that he had reached the realm of will-based energy manifestation, where he could control energy purely through willpower alone.
Of course, if it was simply a matter of rapid energy manifestation, he wouldn't have been this pleased.
'With this, I can now manifest condensed energy.'
Condensed energy - the symbol of the pinnacle realm and the ability to handle a perfect condensation of energy.
Woong-!
Indeed, the moment Lee Seong-jun exerted his will, the red energies that had been shimmering like heat haze condensed in one spot.
Naturally, it had a sharp cutting power that could easily overwhelm ordinary materialized qi, and its durability was incomparably greater as well.
This was because the energy handled by ordinary peak martial artists, while taking form, was somewhat mixed with impurities and lacked concentration.
That's why it shimmered like heat haze even when coated with energy.
On the other hand, the condensed energy wielded by pinnacle martial artists was a crystallization of pure energy.
A crystal made up of only pure blood energy without any turbid qi mixed in!
To put it in perspective, the materialized energy of a peak master was like an extract, while condensed energy was no different from the raw essence.
Naturally, the power itself was bound to be different.
A satisfied smile naturally spread across Lee Seong-jun's lips.
'If I use all my strength... I could overwhelm even a Flower Realm master, or an SSS-rank hunter by Earth standards.'
Of course, if it were purely a martial arts realm at the Flower level, he wouldn't be able to easily overwhelm them.
But there was a clear difference between Earth's hunter ranks and the strength of realms.
'From what I've observed so far, the hunter ranking system is based solely on stats, regardless of realm.'
While physical abilities like mind and body might be outstanding, in many cases they lacked the skills to back them up.
'In the end, they can't overcome the barrier of realms.'
The same applied to Kang Yi-ryeong, who would be his opponent in this friendly match.
Based on the footage he had seen from the materials provided by the association beforehand, Kang Yi-ryeong had not yet crossed the barrier of the Flower Realm either.
In other words, no matter what tricks the leader of Sosu Gate, Kang Yi-ryeong, had prepared, he would be able to overwhelm her.
This meant he had completed all preparations for the friendly match against Kang Yi-ryeong.
* * *
In the strategy room of the Returnee Alliance.
Normally, they would have been busy dealing with the flood of work in the absence of the alliance leader who had gone into closed-door training.
But Kim Ki-young, the chief of staff of the Returnee Alliance, had his gaze fixed solely on the wall-mounted TV screen showing the live broadcast of the friendly match between Korea and China.
A match between Korea, which could be considered a small country, and China, known as a great power.
Given that the outcome of this friendly match was already obvious, he would usually just hear about the results.
But this friendly match couldn't be taken lightly.
"I never thought Lee Seong-jun would participate in the friendly match."
Kim Ki-young's eyes narrowed as he recalled the information he had received last night through an executive of the Returnee Alliance.
'Given the intelligence capabilities of Vice Chairman Ko Tae-hyun, there's no way he wouldn't know that Sosu Gate and Kang Yi-ryeong are targeting Lee Seong-jun. So why did he accept the friendly match?'
Of course, given Korea's weak national power, it would have been difficult to openly refuse China's friendly match proposal.
However, with the shrewd Ko Tae-hyun serving as vice chairman, he had thought they would make up some excuse to prevent Lee Seong-jun from participating in the friendly match.
Yet Lee Seong-jun's name was proudly listed in the roster.
'And he's even going out as the first fighter.'
Basically, friendly matches are conducted in a winning streak system.
This meant that the winning side could continue the matches as long as they wanted.
Therefore, normally, other team members would go out first to allow the team's ace to conserve as much stamina as possible.
It was inconceivable that Vice Chairman Ko Tae-hyun wouldn't know this basic strategy, yet he had placed Lee Seong-jun as the first fighter.
'...Moreover, all the Chinese hunters from Sosu Gate participating in this friendly match are S+ rank or higher.'
Of course, Lee Seong-jun had subdued Yang Jun-hyuk, who was S+ rank, with a single strike before.
But Sosu Gate's hunters were martial artists, not assassins like Yang Jun-hyuk.
Unlike Yang Jun-hyuk who focused solely on offense, even Lee Seong-jun wouldn't be able to subdue them easily.
'If they're determined to hold out, it'll take at least 10 minutes of intense fighting for each one.'
As the first fighter, Lee Seong-jun would inevitably keep depleting his stamina.
'No matter how talented and skilled he is, due to physical limitations, battles will become difficult after about 3 opponents, or 30 minutes.'
By the time the fourth opponent comes out, his stamina might be exhausted, leading to defeat.
'Even if he's incredibly lucky and manages to win...'
He would have no chance of winning against the fifth, even with a miracle.
The reason was simple.
'The last fighter on China's side is the Great Natchal, Kang Yi-ryeong.'
Though she hadn't made it into the rankers, she was a veteran hunter who had reached SSS rank years ago.
'Even Lee Seong-jun at full strength would have little to no chance of winning.'
So what if he's exhausted from going out first?
There was no need to even see the result to know.
It would be a one-sided defeat for Lee Seong-jun, falling right into Kang Yi-ryeong's trap.
'Ko Tae-hyun, what on earth are you thinking?'
Kim Ki-young closed his eyes and sank into deep thought.
'Why would he have Lee Seong-jun participate despite knowing it's such a risky friendly match?'
As he kept wracking his brains, one hypothesis suddenly flashed through his mind.
'...Could it be that he plans to go out first, secure a certain number of wins, and then forfeit?'
This was the hypothesis closest to the truth for now.
It was the only way to both save face by participating in the friendly match and avoid fighting Kang Yi-ryeong, who could be considered the most threatening opponent.
'It's certainly not a bad plan on the surface, but...'
There was no way Kang Yi-ryeong, known as the Great Natchal, would quietly accept the situation.
'She'd be even more furious.'
She would use any means necessary to achieve her original goal.
The plan Ko Tae-hyun had come up with would only serve to provoke Kang Yi-ryeong's temper even more.
'To not factor in Kang Yi-ryeong's temperament... Vice Chairman Ko Tae-hyun, that old man must be getting senile.'