The Rising Martial Arts Genius-Chapter 196 : Five Wheel Five Elements Cult (4)

Chapter 196: Five Wheel Five Elements Cult (4)
Jang Woo-hyun was startled by the sudden appearance of the Four Divine Beasts, but it was only for a brief moment.
There wasn’t anything particularly unusual upon observing them, and since the Elemental Spirits were constantly moving, the initial shock quickly faded and gave way to slight irritation.
The figures of the Four Divine Beasts and the five Elemental Spirits, each appearing like small children, didn’t stop moving for even a moment.
‘What the hell is that?’
After watching for a while, Jang Woo-hyun noticed faint threads connecting the five Elemental Spirits. Some threads were quite thick, while others were so thin they were barely visible.
‘So they’re connected by those threads.’
Even without any explanation, Jang Woo-hyun could understand it right away. The uneven thickness of the threads indicated unstable connections between the Elemental Spirits.
Because of the formation drawn on the floor, Jang Woo-hyun was forcibly linked to the Elemental Spirits. The Five Elements Qi flowing from within him was forcibly preventing those connections from breaking.
Since he was connected to the Elemental Spirits, Jang Woo-hyun had no choice but to be influenced by them—and that was why he was experiencing such pain right now.
‘Can I combine them?’
Once he could perceive the actual forms of the Elemental Spirits, Jang Woo-hyun tried to merge the five using the Qi within his body.
But it wasn’t easy. Harmonizing five different types of Qi at once was harder than he had expected.
Several attempts ended in failure. Still, Jang Woo-hyun gained something through the process.
As he moved the Five Elements Qi, he drew closer to the Elemental Spirits and began to sense that the five of them were speaking among themselves.
Of course, he couldn’t understand a word they were saying.
“Let’s try living together, guys.”
Jang Woo-hyun spoke to the Elemental Spirits even though he knew they wouldn’t respond. He was using the Five Elements Qi to reduce the pain, but it was only barely helping him endure. If he wanted to escape this suffering, he had to do something.
“You’re originally supposed to be one, right? Let me live a little too. Raising this much hell won’t help anyone.”
No answer came back, even though he talked.
Still, with nothing else he could do in the current situation, Jang Woo-hyun continued talking to the Elemental Spirits without stopping.
“This really hurts.”
“I’m one step from death here.”
“This is our first meeting—can’t we show a little consideration?”
“Hey guys, I’m talking here.”
“Who am I even talking to?”
He kept speaking alone, but the five Elemental Spirits only flew around as if they hadn’t heard a thing.
“When someone talks, you should listen!”
“Can’t you hear me!”
“Listen to me, you bastards!”
As the pain continued, irritation started to build in Jang Woo-hyun. His voice gradually rose, and his tone became rougher.
But the Elemental Spirits still didn’t care.
“When someone talks, you should damn well listen! I’ll scatter you and return you to nature—huh?”
While shouting at the constantly moving Elemental Spirits, Jang Woo-hyun suddenly recalled something.
“If you were born from the condensed Qi of nature… then aren’t you part of the Natural Energy?”
Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, Metal.
The Five Elements were the five fundamental types of Qi that composed the world.
In other words, they were no different from the “Qi” that filled the heavens and earth.
And if they were merely Qi—if they were the same as the Natural Energy—then there was something Jang Woo-hyun could do.
If they were just beings that didn’t respond to his words and only inflicted pain, wouldn’t it be better if they didn’t exist at all?
With that thought, Jang Woo-hyun began to breathe amid the pain.
Starting from the Dantian, he moved the Qi within his body. Soon, the flow expanded, and the surrounding Qi began to swirl around him.
A massive Qi vortex sucked in the surrounding energy.
Naturally, the five Elemental Spirits floating nearby were no exception.
As soon as he entered the area where the Cult Leader of the Five Elements Cult had been, Jang Woo-hyun was floating in midair, screaming in agony. Leaving him behind, Son Ung went to retrieve the Cult Leader.
“Hurry and treat him. I don’t know how long Jang Woo-hyun can hold out.”
“Is it really okay to leave him like that? He looks like he’s in serious danger.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll handle it somehow.”
At the Wind-Passing Great Sage’s words, Im Gwan-hwa gave a small nod and approached the Cult Leader. Together with Son Ung, she began using various spiritual medicines and herbs to treat his injuries.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage looked at his own wounded hand, torn from battling the Sea Star Thunder Spirit Serpent.
The thunder energy that writhed like a living thing had left clear injuries even on the body of a Great Monster.
‘How the hell did he borrow that power?’
No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.
That being wasn’t one to lend his power for something like this. It was strange enough that he had suddenly sent power down into the Middle Realm.
‘Unless… he used a Dharma Treasure made by that guy?’
That was actually more likely. The Heavenly Gold Thunder God detested cheap tricks like ambushes to an extreme degree.
If it wasn’t that…
‘Don’t tell me… he’s disappeared too?’
Twin-Winged Lotus had said he was gathering shards of the vanished Divine Beast King’s power to strengthen himself. If the Heavenly Gold Thunder God was in a similar situation, then it was possible the one called Left Dharma Protector had found that power and was using it.
‘Now that I think about it, things have been quiet for a while.’
He hadn’t paid much attention, but now that he thought about it, something felt off.
Even if there weren’t any major battles, small clashes between the Demonic Spirit Realm and the Upper Realm’s beings had been common—but at some point, those incidents had stopped.
‘Is he really dead?’
The Wind-Passing Great Sage quickly dismissed the thought.
The Heavenly Gold Thunder God was a Martial God of the highest level even in the Upper Realm.
There was no way someone like that had died easily. Even the Wind-Passing Great Sage, a Great Monster, doubted he could kill that god.
Just as he was wondering if something had gone wrong up above, someone approached and stood beside him.
“I must be getting old. Never thought I’d be saved by a Great Monster from the Demonic Spirit Realm—let alone the famous Wind-Passing Great Sage.”
The Cult Leader of the Five Elements Cult had recovered some Qi and regained consciousness in that short time.
Unlike his disheveled state moments earlier, he now looked relatively composed.
“Thank you. I owe you.”
“No need to thank me. I didn’t do anything. Thank him instead.”
The Wind-Passing Great Sage nodded toward Jang Woo-hyun.
At some point, Jang Woo-hyun had stopped screaming and was now muttering incomprehensible words like someone sleep-talking.
“What’s with that kid?”
The look in the Cult Leader’s eyes was filled with deep curiosity.
Jang Woo-hyun was a martial artist who centered his cultivation on the Lower Dantian, yet also controlled the Five Elements Qi—a unique condition that naturally drew interest.
“Dunno. Calling him a genius doesn’t quite fit. A monster? That sounds about right.”
At the Wind-Passing Great Sage’s reply, a strange light flickered in the Cult Leader’s eyes.
Strangeness, illusions, mystique—such terms were most closely associated with monsters. For someone like the Wind-Passing Great Sage, one of the foremost monsters, to call Jang Woo-hyun a “monster”...
Suppressing his surprise and settling his Qi, the Cult Leader stared at Jang Woo-hyun for a while.
“But… are you sure it’s okay to leave him like that?”
Im Gwan-hwa, apparently still worried, carefully asked.
“He seems fine. A little pain won’t kill him.”
Even though Jang Woo-hyun had just been screaming his lungs out and was now mumbling like a lunatic, the Wind-Passing Great Sage spoke like it was nothing. From his tone, Im Gwan-hwa could sense genuine trust.
‘A monster… trusting a human?’
Something felt wrong. It was an absurd statement.
And the one who had said it just a moment ago was the battle-crazed monster, the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
‘I really must be losing it.’
Im Gwan-hwa shook her head, trying to reject her own thoughts. As if to ease her worries, the Cult Leader spoke.
“Just a bit more, and I’ll be able to go back in.”
The Cult Leader wasn’t standing idly just to chat and give thanks. He hadn’t pulled Jang Woo-hyun out yet because he still needed a bit more time to stabilize the energy in his body.
While the monster and the three members of the Five Elements Cult silently watched Jang Woo-hyun—
At some point, Jang Woo-hyun’s muttering came to a halt.
A change occurred within him.
“Breathing?”
Jang Woo-hyun inhaled, like martial artists did when gathering Qi.
Huuuung—
A small flow began around his Dantian, then suddenly accelerated and grew immense.
A vortex of Qi formed, sucking in the surrounding energy, with Jang Woo-hyun at its center.
All the energy was being drawn into him.
“Th-that…”
“My god…”
Im Gwan-hwa and Son Ung were aghast at the sight.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage found it amusing, clutching his stomach as he burst out laughing.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
If he’d laughed just a bit more, he might have rolled on the ground. That’s how much he was enjoying the situation.
“As expected! He’s the best!”
Jang Woo-hyun, called a monster by the Wind-Passing Great Sage, was absorbing the power of the Five Elements Cult’s Guardian Spirit using the Giant’s Breathing Technique.
Fortunately, the Five Elements Cult hadn’t lost their Guardian Spirit.
Each of the five Elemental Spirits possessed power on par with those in the Realm of Immeasurability, so not even Jang Woo-hyun could completely absorb them.
The Elemental Spirits thrashed about more wildly than before in fear. But they couldn’t harm Jang Woo-hyun. They were merely struggling to flee from him and the Giant’s Breathing Technique.
Eventually, after regaining some strength, the Cult Leader of the Five Elements Cult pulled Jang Woo-hyun out and calmed the five Elemental Spirits, merging them into one.
Once the five became one, the Guardian Spirit that protected the Five Elements Cult appeared before them.
It had the build of a sturdy adult male. The Guardian Spirit, in the shape of a human, wore radiant white robes. Behind it floated five rings, each about one cheok in diameter.
Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. The five rings rotated endlessly in one direction.
It looked mysterious at a glance. The Five Wheel Guardian Spirit, possessing power rivaling the Ten Thrones, exuded a subtle presence that naturally inspired reverence.
Normally, if one stood before the Guardian Spirit, they’d instinctively bow or begin to pray.
But.
What they saw now was completely different.
“Heh…”
A hollow laugh escaped the Cult Leader’s lips at the unprecedented sight.
The mysterious Five Wheel Guardian Spirit was stepping backward, and in front of it stood Jang Woo-hyun.
“Hey, come here.”
Having endured unspeakable pain moments earlier, Jang Woo-hyun barked as soon as he saw the Guardian Spirit.
Its face, like a smooth mask with no eyes, nose, or mouth, showed no expression—but everyone present knew. The Guardian Spirit was frightened.
“Not coming?”
When Jang Woo-hyun raised his voice, the Guardian Spirit hesitantly approached.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Shake shake.
The Guardian Spirit quickly shook its head.
“Then why did it happen?”
A small mouth appeared on the once featureless face of the Guardian Spirit.
【We. Not. Originally. One. Five. Moved. Reason. Unknown. Sudden. Happened.】
The communication with the Guardian Spirit wasn’t smooth, but Jang Woo-hyun roughly understood the message. It wasn’t much different from the giant he met in the Giant Tree Grove.
“So you weren’t originally one, and you might split apart again?”
The Guardian Spirit nodded vigorously.
“And you don’t even know why you started rampaging?”
Again, the Guardian Spirit nodded up and down.
“Then why the hell did you mess with my body? That hurt like hell.”
【Five. We. Connect.】
“You five are connected?”
This time, it shook its head side to side. That wasn’t the answer.
“Then what are you saying? Pull yourself together and speak clearly.”
Having endured so much pain, Jang Woo-hyun was furious, acting very differently than usual.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage, finding this version of him amusing, kept chuckling nearby, while the Cult Leader and the members of the Five Elements Cult could only stare blankly at the absurd scene.
“Let’s calm down for now. It’s just recently stabilized. With a little more time, communication should improve.”
The Cult Leader of the Five Elements Cult tried to soothe the agitated Jang Woo-hyun, but it was useless.
Jang Woo-hyun, already fuming, ignored the Cult Leader and approached the Guardian Spirit again.
“Say it again. Clearly.”
【Exists. Energy. Five. Us. Connect.】
The Five Wheel Guardian Spirit pointed at Jang Woo-hyun and spoke in longer fragments.
“You mean, because I have the five types of Qi, I’m connected to you guys? That’s it, right? So it was inevitable.”
The Guardian Spirit nodded. Jang Woo-hyun’s anger seemed to subside slightly, and the Guardian Spirit’s mouth curved into a small smile.
But that was just its misunderstanding. Jang Woo-hyun’s anger hadn’t gone away yet.
“Fine. Let’s say that’s true. Then why did you ignore me when I called?”
【……】
“You don’t know? I tried talking to you a lot.”
As Jang Woo-hyun frowned, the Guardian Spirit stepped back a few steps.
“Answer.”
【……】
“Answer.”
Under pressure, the Guardian Spirit clenched and unclenched its fists a few times, then held something out to Jang Woo-hyun.
In its open hand was a small bead that looked like it was made of clumped earth—like the kind used in pretend cooking games.
“What is this?”
【Apology. Sorry.】
A gift offered as an apology. Jang Woo-hyun picked up the earth bead and examined it.
‘Is this concentrated energy?’
It seemed to be a type of spiritual medicine, infused with the Earth Qi among the Five Elements.
When Jang Woo-hyun tucked the bead into his robes, the Guardian Spirit smiled slightly. It thought its apology had been accepted.
But it was wrong again.
Jang Woo-hyun held out his palm.
“The rest?”
【……?】
The Guardian Spirit tilted its head, not understanding right away.
“There are five of you, you bastards. What about the other four?!”
As he raised his hand like he was about to strike, the Guardian Spirit flinched in fear.
In the end, the Wind-Passing Great Sage rolled on the ground laughing, while the Five Elements Cult members stared at Jang Woo-hyun and their own god with jaws dropped.