“That stage... I shall be the one to take command of it now.”
The moment that voice rang out, the savage tug-of-war between me and the Mysterious Lady came to a halt as if it were all a lie. It wasn't my petrification field, nor was it her Bagua Array that stopped the momentum.
The two massive worlds that had been locked in a tense confrontation over Mt. Paektu’s Heaven Lake—my ‘Altar of Petrification’ and the goddess's ‘Bagua Array’—suddenly shrieked. The delicate balance they had maintained while trying to repel each other was forcibly twisted by an overwhelming external pressure.
CRACK! SHATTER—!
Like a mirror being smashed to pieces, my grey domain and the Mysterious Lady’s formation shattered simultaneously. It wasn't a simple collision of magical power. It was as if an invisible, colossal hand had reached into the space between two separate laws of the world and snapped their connections with a sickening crunch. As the flow of the Authority was severed, the resulting backflow of divine energy made my chest tighten with a suffocating weight.
“...Urgh.”
I wiped the blood trickling from my lip, gasping for air. Beyond my blurring vision, the dust and blizzard began to clear. Standing atop the shattered bedrock, amidst an unreal scenery, was a woman.
Her deep crimson cheongsam didn't even flutter in the biting winds of Mt. Paektu, sitting with a calm, aloof dignity. Her pitch-black hair was darker than the night sky. She unfolded a fan with the grace of a high-born lady stepping out for a stroll in her own garden.
The apex of the martial world, the Sect Master of the Demon Cult, and the Usurper who slew the gods.
Luo Hao was here.
She scanned the remains of my broken domain and the fragments of the goddess's formation with utter indifference. Her gaze was detached, yet infused with an arrogance that reached the heavens.
“Boresome. What a truly tedious sight.”
Her first words were a sigh. Her voice was as clear as jade beads rolling on a platter, but the contempt woven into it was cold enough to freeze the earth and sky alike.
“I, Luo Hao, have graced this place with my presence to witness a duel between China’s God of War and a newly born Devil King. And yet, you show me nothing but this... mud wrestling? I see no aesthetic of martial arts, no elegance in this struggle.”
Her gaze fixed upon the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens floating in the air.
“Especially you, Mysterious Lady. For a mythic strategist and a goddess of martial arts to be struggling so miserably against a mere fledgling who has only just come of age... the Jade Emperor in the heavens must be lamenting in grief.”
The Mysterious Lady’s eyebrows twitched at Luo Hao’s provocation. She wasn't just any god right now. She was a complete divinity manifested through Mythic Syncretism with the ‘Mountain Spirit Grandmother’—the master of this sacred peak. To hear such blatant insults in her own backyard was likely a first in her eternal existence.
“...What an insolent and arrogant human wench.”
The Mysterious Lady’s voice dropped low. It wasn't a sound produced by vocal cords, but a magnificent resonance that felt as if the very bedrock of Mt. Paektu was speaking.
“I am the master of this mountain and the god who watches over all creation. Do you, a mere mortal playing general over a pack of lesser beings, dare wag your tongue before the presence of a god?”
RUMBLE—!
As if reacting to the goddess's fury, the entirety of Mt. Paektu trembled. From the cracks in the broken earth, jade-colored spirit pulses surged upward, enveloping the Mysterious Lady. It was an overwhelming pressure—the combined might of a Mountain Spirit and a War Goddess.
Luo Hao merely scoffed.
“Master of the mountain? Ha! A frog in a well. In the presence of a true King, even the mountains and forests bow their heads. I wonder how long that stale authority of yours will last against my Martial Arts.”
The situation was turning bizarre. That Sect Master's appearance was the worst possible variable, but her sheer arrogance had perfectly drawn all of the goddess's aggro. I gripped the shaft of Pāoa again, suppressing the pain from my torn muscles.
*It’s now or never. I can't take on that monster grandma alone.*
I shouted at the Mysterious Lady with an intentionally exaggerated voice.
“Hey, Goddess! Did you hear that? That human just called you a frog in a well! If I were you, I’d crush her first just to save my pride. Shouldn’t you give her a firm lesson on who really owns this land?”
The Mysterious Lady glared at me for the obvious provocation. However, her killing intent soon locked back onto Luo Hao.
“Silence, Devil King. I have no intention of dancing to your shallow schemes. However...”
As the Mysterious Lady’s hand gripped the air, the nine great katanas took shape once more, beginning to rotate fiercely.
“I do agree that this insolent wench must be punished first. For the crime of intruding upon my territory with muddy feet, I shall have her pay with her life!”
“Agreement reached, then.”
I smirked, reigniting the hearth within me. Hot lava seemed to flood back into my cooling veins.
“Well then, let’s start Round 2!”
As if by some unspoken promise, the Mysterious Lady and I charged at Luo Hao simultaneously.
“Die, Usurper!”
With a flick of the goddess's finger, the cliffs of Mt. Paektu writhed as if alive, transforming into hundreds of stone spears that rained down on Luo Hao. At the same time, the nine flying swords leapt through space, closing in on her blind spots. It was a perfect, inescapable encirclement—a fatal coordination of the Mountain Spirit's terrain control and the War God's combat prowess.
I used that opening to dive straight at Luo Hao's front.
“Pāoa!”
A white heat capable of melting everything stretched out in a straight line from my spear tip. A thrust aimed at the moment her movements would be restricted by the goddess's assault.
And yet, even in that moment of absolute peril, Luo Hao smiled enchantingly.
“How naive.”
She lightly stomped her foot, and something impossible happened.
BOOM!
Behind Luo Hao, the air shimmered with a golden light as two colossal figures surged upward. Massive, muscular frames with enraged expressions, holding thunderbolt scepters—they were the manifestations of the Buddhist guardian deities, the Vajra Warriors.
“The divine power of Diamond Incorruptibility. My body is harder than adamantine; did you truly think such parlor tricks would work!”
CLANG! CLASH! CLANG!
The hundreds of stone spears and flying swords unleashed by the goddess were smashed to pieces, blocked by the arms of the Vajra Warriors summoned behind Luo Hao. They acted as living shields, perfectly neutralizing every physical strike.
In that heartbeat, Luo Hao reached out with her bare hand toward my spear thrust.
“Twelve Flying Phoenix Palms!”
Imbued with the strength of the Vajra, her palm struck the shaft of my spear as gracefully and swiftly as a phoenix’s wing. It wasn't just a block. It was a technique bordering on the divine—reading the flow of my power and subtly diverting its vector.
KABOOM!
As my spear pierced empty air and vented its flames harmlessly, Luo Hao had already slipped inside my guard.
“Urgh!”
I hurriedly draped Tāwhirimātea’s storm around me like armor, but Luo Hao’s palm strike tore through even the wind. A heavy impact slammed into my solar plexus, sending me tumbling backward in an ungraceful heap.
“Is this all? How disappointing!”
Using the recoil from blowing me away, Luo Hao leaped into the air, charging straight for the Mysterious Lady. The golden fists of the Vajra Warriors descended like hammers upon the goddess's head.
“Fine! You wish to test your strength against mine?!”
The Mysterious Lady didn't back down. Pulling from the spirit pulse of Mt. Paektu, she manifested massive stone arms from the ground to meet the Vajra Warriors' fists head-on.
CRASH—!
A shockwave rippled out in every direction with a roar that sounded like the sky was being torn apart. A contest of pure power between the goddess and Sect Master Luo Hao. But Luo Hao’s martial prowess wasn't limited to mere strength. She shifted her posture in mid-air and took a deep breath.
The surrounding atmosphere came to an eerie, sudden halt. A silence followed, as if even sound itself had been swallowed. It was the omen of a coming storm.
“What I just showed you was one of my two ultimate techniques, the Divine Art of the Great Strength Vajra. But it is far too early to be surprised by that alone.”
She smiled arrogantly and continued.
“Now, I shall show you my other secret art—the very power that placed me at the pinnacle of the martial world... the Great Law of the Dragon's Hum and the Tiger's Roar.”
Her lips parted, and a poem from the ancient Han Dynasty flowed out like a song.
“A great wind rises, and the clouds fly high...”
The moment the first verse was chanted, the atmosphere of Mt. Paektu convulsed as if it were being ripped apart. The sound erupting from Luo Hao’s mouth wasn't a mere sound wave. It was a physical shockwave imbued with both magical power and inner qi.
The stone giants controlled by the goddess’s sorcery began to tremble, developing deep cracks from the noise alone.
“W-What is this...?!”
Luo Hao didn't stop. Her voice rose in pitch, transforming into a thunderous roar as if a dragon were wailing and a tiger were screaming.
“My majesty fills the world, and now I return to my home...!”
ROAR—!!
Every verse of the song Luo Hao chanted became an invisible blade, slashing through space itself.
This was the Great Law of the Dragon's Hum and the Tiger's Roar.
A calamitous gale known as the ‘Malefic Wind’ swallowed both the goddess and me simultaneously. Rocks were pulverized into dust, and the defensive barriers the goddess had erected shattered like glass windows.
I instinctively clutched my ears and burned all the air around me to create a vacuum. If I didn't remove the medium for the sound to travel, I felt like my brain would liquefy, let alone my eardrums bursting.
“Damn it! That’s one hell of a vicious song!”
But Luo Hao’s grand aria wasn't finished. Spreading her arms in the stance of an emperor commanding the world, she bellowed the final line.
“Where shall I find brave warriors to guard the four directions—!!!”
In that instant, the sound waves took physical form. The shapes of a golden dragon and a white tiger merged within the wind, surging toward the Mysterious Lady.
“HOW DARE YOU!!!!”
The goddess screamed, crossing her arms. The soil, stones, trees, and water of Mt. Paektu surged up at her command to form a colossal fortress wall. It was an absolute defense fueled by the total mobilization of her Mountain Spirit authority.
CRUNCH! SCREEECH!
But Luo Hao’s Malefic Wind ground through that fortress like a blender. Dust exploded, and the goddess's body was sent crashing backward, carving a long trench through the ground. Her jade armor was torn to shreds, her helmet knocked away, leaving her long hair disheveled and wild.
The surrounding forest was already gone. Only a desolate ruin remained, with Luo Hao standing at its center, radiating an overwhelming, crushing spirit.
As the storm subsided, Luo Hao partially hid her mouth with her fan and spoke softly.
“The ‘Great Wind Song,’ which Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty sang after unifying the world. I have recited it for you in return for the amusement you provided. I hope you were satisfied.”
“...Kh, urgh.”
The Mysterious Lady stumbled to her feet from the pile of rubble. It was likely the first time her divine body had been so ravaged. However, a blue light emanated from her wounds, and she began to regenerate at an incredible speed. The massive spirit vein of Mt. Paektu was continuously pumping life force into her.
“You... dare... in my domain...!”
The goddess's eyes were bloodshot. As long as this mountain existed, her fusion with the mountain made her practically immortal.
Luo Hao remained unperturbed at the sight.
“Oh? Such cockroach-like tenacity. I suppose it’s only natural since you're gorging yourself on the mountain’s essence. Your durability as a punching bag is quite acceptable.”
Her eyes then turned to me.
“Boy, you held up quite well. Creating a vacuum to block the sound—your improvisation is commendable.”
I brushed the dust off my clothes with a bitter smile. My ears wouldn't stop ringing, and my entire body throbbed as if I’d been beaten with lead pipes. Yet, the heart inside me was beating even more violently.
“Thanks for the compliment. But what can I say? I’ve always preferred dancing over singing.”
I readjusted my grip on the spear, glancing toward the Mysterious Lady. She was practically radiating pure venom now.
This place was a literal hellscape. A god with immortal regeneration, a King of martial arts with an invincible body and techniques, and myself with a spear that melts everything.
This insane three-way struggle was only just ending its prologue.
“Bring it on, you old hag. I’ll keep hitting you until your voice gives out and you can’t sing another note.”
At my provocation, Luo Hao’s eyes curved like crescent moons. It was the smile of a predator with its prey finally in sight.
“Very well. Let’s see how long that bravado lasts. I look forward to seeing if even a single piece of your bone remains after Luo Hao’s dance!”
Once again, three massive energies collided atop the Heaven Lake of Mt. Paektu.
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