Chapter 217

Chapter 217

It wasn’t until Choi Yeonseung saved the hunters a second time by flinging them away that they became more cautious. The hunters realized that the tortoise head mountain was still dangerous, even on the brink of death. It might’ve gotten slow and tired, but it was nonetheless difficult to handle!

“I think we should attack with caution.”

“Yeah, it might get ugly if we rush in like that.”

Even the top hunters were reluctant to charge at the monster. It was quite discouraging to coordinate an effective attack only to collapse because of the waves caused by the tortoise head mountain. It was enough to just keep launching attacks from a safe distance, even if it took a day or two. All they had to do was be persistent.

At that moment, Choi Yeonseung stepped forward.

***

“Groan...”

Kwon Yeongseung looked as if he wasn’t sure whether he was making the right decisions in this operation, even though he was sticking close to Choi Yeonseung.

‘Isn’t this reckless?’

He heard that A-grade hunters from other countries had also given up on approaching the monster and were only attacking from a distance. After all, the defense and physical strength of the tortoise head mountain were tremendous. However, Choi Yeonseung managed to persuade Kwon Yeongseung to approach it right now.

-I think I can kill it. Let’s go in.

-...Huh? Can you actually do it?

-I’ve never spoken nonsense, right? It was the same during the Abyss Gate raid.

Choi Yeonseung casually brought up that incident where he saved the day. If he thought this was the right call, Kwon Yeongseung had nothing else to say. Unlike Kwon Yeongseung, Han Seha was dying to go.

-I want to go!

-No. It’s a dangerous place.

-...????

-I’m joking, so don’t look at me like that. I said that because I think your skills are more suitable than Han Seha’s.

-Kuoooh...!!!

Han Seha stared at Kwon Yeongseung as if to kill him, but in fact, Kwon Yeongseung thought it was unfair of Choi Yeonseung to not let her join. He should’ve let her go if she wanted to...

“You fly well.”

“Thank you.”

Kwon Yeongseung was embarrassed by Choi Yeonseung’s praise. He had been complimented before by many people, but after all, the impact of compliments varied based on who said them. It was rare to receive a compliment from a fellow A-grade hunter. Whenever A-grade hunters crossed paths with each other, it was usually as competitors.

“The clan has a flying magic artifact called the Flying Car, which is a bit expensive. Initially, flight magic wasn't popular, but the story of the dungeon where this item came from is amazing. What happened was...”

“I’m sorry but I don’t really care about that.”

“Yep...”

“It’ll be hard to use space magic against the tortoise head mountain, right?”

“I guess, since it’s so big...”

Kwon Yeongseung’s A-grade rank was recognized for his ability to handle very difficult space magic. That kind of magic was definitely powerful, and it involved skills such as teleportation and space cutting. However, it wasn’t that effective against huge monsters like the tortoise head mountain.

No matter how much damage output space magic had, it would’ve been hard for him to injure the monster. In that situation, elemental magic, such as fire, ice, or lightning, was a better choice.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t asking you to kill it... All you have to do is aim at its vital point and confuse it.”

“Does the tortoise head mountain have a vital point?”

“There is a nucleus at the bottom of the island that the monster carries. The area around it is the vital point. Of course, if you only hit it a few times, it won’t die, but it’s going to be really pissed off.”

“...!”

Kwon Yeongseung was surprised by Choi Yeonseung's strategy. Before this, they hadn’t had much information about this monster because they had never managed to kill it. To think that Choi Yeonseung managed to discover its weakness after only seeing it for a few times...

‘Is this the power of martial arts??’

Of course, martial arts were very effective when analyzing opponents. Unlike magic that was performed from a distance, martial artists basically collided with their opponent and let their internal energy flow into their enemies. By doing so, skilled martial artists were able to read and analyze their opponents.

It wasn’t surprising for Choi Yeonseung to do something like this because he had done it a lot in the Abyss. However, in this case, he knew about the weakness because he had killed that monster before...

Coincidentally, Kwon Yeongseung stepped back and guessed correctly.

.

“Did you figure it out with martial arts?”

“What? How did you know? It shouldn’t have been that obvious.”

“No... That...”

“In any case, please attack the weak spot I just talked about. Don’t come down. It’ll be dangerous if you get close.”

Having said that, Choi Yeonseung stepped on the air and flew downwards. Once a martial artist used their power to its full potential, they became so fast that one could barely follow them with their eyes.

Choi Yeonseung quickly circled the tortoise head mountain and caught its attention.

-■!

The tortoise head mountain was annoyed and shook its body, causing a tidal wave. However, such slow attacks were completely ineffective against Choi Yeonseung. He immediately punched the wave, made a hole in it, and escaped with ease.

-Advanced Continuous Teleportation!

Kwon Yeongseung, who was in the sky, launched an attack just like Choi Yeonseung told him to.

Disposable artifacts that were stored in the space warehouse. They contained lower circle magic like Flame Whirlwind and Energy Blade. Despite being lower circle magic, their power was quite enough. It was essentially like teleporting directly into the monster and attacking it.

‘Go!’

Artifacts entered the tortoise head mountain’s body, along with the light. The tortoise head mountain roared.

-■■■■!

No wounds were visible on the surface, but the tortoise head mountain was clearly in pain. Hitting a vital point near the core was especially painful.

“It’s suffering! Keep attacking!”

“Roger!”

Kwon Yeongseung got excited as he realized that Choi Yeonseung was right.

While other A and B-grade hunters on the shore were just sitting on their asses and watching, the two of them were being effective in attacking the tortoise head mountain. It was thrilling to be in the spotlight.

‘By the way, what’s Hunter Choi Yeonseung going to do?’ Kwon Yeongseung suddenly wondered if he was attacking.

Since Choi Yeonseung was a martial artist, he probably didn’t have the proper means to attack. How was he going to deal with the tortoise head mountain?

Bang!

“!!!”

Kwon Yeongseung’s question was answered immediately. Surprisingly, Choi Yeonseung lunged at the tortoise head mountain and punched it.

‘That’s crazy!’

Kwon Yeongseung panicked for a moment. He didn’t know much about martial arts, so he couldn’t tell exactly how powerful Choi Yeonseung’s attack was. Even with the destructive power of martial arts, was the attack powerful enough to finish off a monster that size?

It looked like Choi Yeonseung was swinging his bare hands at a huge mountain... But Kwon Yeongseung got it all wrong!

-■■■■■■!

Surprisingly, the tortoise head mountain howled and fell sideways. Among the martial art skills, there was one that used a lot of power with little effect, such as Four Ounces Can Move a Thousand Pounds. However, Choi Yeonseung had a skill that reflected the opponent’s power. He essentially crushed the tortoise head mountain with its own power!

The hunters were watching the monster collapse with a look of surprise on their faces. Even though martial artists were fast, precise, and sharp, people always assumed that their power was limited. However, Choi Yeonseung dismissed that misconception by taking down the tortoise head mountain with one blow. He didn’t stop after the first hit. He turned around in the air, took a stance, and attacked again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each time it was hit, the tortoise head mountain was pushed back. Right now, by continuously punching it, Choi Yeonseung was forcefully pushing the monster towards the shore.

***

“That monster...!”

“How did South Korea produce such a hunter?”

The Chinese hunters murmured with shocked expressions.

The overseas hunters and the Chinese hunters reacted differently. The overseas hunters were surprised and said things like ‘Wow, Korean hunters are amazing and have such powerful abilities...’ Meanwhile, the Chinese hunters indignantly said, ‘That’s ridiculous! How could this happen?!’ They were almost in a state of shock.

To put it simply, hunters from South Korea, China, and Japan, were quite proud.

-Still, our hunters are better than hunters from other countries!

The Chinese hunters always boasted about the sheer number of hunters that China had, thinking that no other countries would dare challenge them.

The Japanese hunters always boasted about their rich history and the way they organized their clans, thinking that they were above other countries.

As far as the Korean hunters were concerned, they thought they had significantly more experience in killing monsters than any other countries, thus making them better.

In any case, Choi Yeonseung’s attack hurt the Chinese hunters’ pride. It had already been shocking for them when they found out that a martial artist from another country reached A-grade, but never in a million years would they have thought that Choi Yeonseung would be this powerful.

All A-grade hunters were more or less unique, so they constantly compared their skills and competed with each other. However, with that much power, it was certain that Choi Yeonseung would never fall behind. It wouldn’t have been surprising if he was in the top ranks thanks to that power.

“Didn’t people say that martial arts are very limited in terms of power?”

“Maybe those who have learnt martial arts did something wrong?”

There were many Chinese hunters who had learned martial arts or who were at least interested in them. What they witnessed here was a violation of what they considered to be common sense. It was certainly a tough pill to swallow. If that was the true potential of martial arts, they would’ve kept learning them instead of switching to magic.

“Ma Jun. Monsters are rapidly emerging in China and we’re receiving requests to return.”

“Wait a minute. It’s hard to move right now because of the tortoise head mountain.”

“Those at the top are clamoring for us to immediately return home by any means necessary... It’s a direct order from the committee.”

The Party Central Hunter Committee managed the hunters. They were a source of heart-wrenching fear even for the greatest A-grade hunters, but Ma Jun shook his head nonetheless.

“Tell them we can’t return now.”

“...I understand!”

He said it was difficult to move due to the tortoise head mountain, but in fact, it would’ve been possible for an A-grade hunter to find a way to return in that situation. There were multiple things they could’ve done, such as mobilizing planes right away.

However, Ma Jun just wanted to see it. How far could this guy have gotten with martial arts? This monster wave somehow became a demonstration of how powerful martial arts actually were.

***

Choi Yeonseung’s strategy was simple. The tortoise head mountain became much weaker when it was out of the water. Its regeneration, defense, and physical strength were significantly weaker outside of water. Thus, if he beat up the monster and forced it to go on shore, the thousands of hunters waiting there would be able to attack in an instant and destroy it.

He held his stance, gathered his internal energy, and struck.

Origin of the Universe Fist!

If the power created by internal energy compressed to the limit was like a spear that pierced through everything, then viciously striking with the power of internal energy was like a hammer that could shatter anything. With just a single hit, Choi Yeonseung could knock back opponents thousands of times heavier than him.

If he hadn’t been able to use his power of existence and his internal energy hadn’t been infinite, it would’ve been quite difficult even for him to defeat a monster like that.

‘My body is approaching its limit.’

If it hadn’t been for the overpowered skills that preserved his body, he might not have been able to keep up the powerful continuous strikes.

Thump!

As the tortoise head mountain crawled up to the shore, Choi Yeonseung shouted loudly, "It’s done. Finish it!”

“...H-Hunter Choi Yeonseung. I think it’s already dead, but...” The nearest hunter spoke cautiously. He had just witnessed Choi Yeonseung’s impressive display of power, so there was no way he would speak arrogantly to him

He joined his palms together and bowed in front of him. It was indeed very polite for a hunter!

[The power of existence has increased!]

[Thanks to the strong faith in martial arts, faith in you has increased!]

[You have obtained the Domain of Martial Arts!]