The Martial God with Psychic Powers

“A man shouldn’t back down like this,” Go Seung said firmly.
Jo Deok gave a faint smile.
“You’re a cool guy. Fine. I’ll end this as quickly as I can.”

“You think things always go the way you—”
CRACK—
Before he could finish, Jo Deok appeared in front of him and struck. Go Seung’s eyes rolled back as he slowly collapsed to the ground.

Jo Deok turned his gaze toward Baekyeong’s top student—Gwak Pyeong.
“Will you continue? I’ll say it again—my cultivation is Hyper-Peak, Two Stars.”
His declaration reignited the spirits of the Cheongseok students.

They didn’t know how strong Baekyeong really was, but they had a Hyper-Peak cultivator.
And they had numbers.
“If you insist on continuing, you’ll have to face all of us,” Jo Deok said. “Do you really think you can take on this many? If these students seem easy to you, you’re gravely mistaken.”

As he spoke, Gwak Pyeong let out a soft chuckle.
“If I backed down here after hearing that, do you think my people would still follow me? Or would they follow me more if I fought to the end, win or lose? What do you think?”
Jo Deok shook his head.

“You’ve made the wrong choice.”
“We’ll see. Let me make a counter-offer. If Cheongseok declares defeat, we’ll leave peacefully.”
Jo Deok smirked.

“Now that’s a ridiculous proposal.”
He turned to his students.
“Looks like we’re going to have to throw down. Everyone—get ready.”
At his command, the Cheongseok upper division students moved in perfect unison, surrounding Baekyeong’s upper division.

The air grew tense as they released their combined aura, pressing in from all sides.
But something felt off.
The Baekyeong students… looked relaxed.

How could they be calm in this situation?
Jo Deok frowned.
Were they faking it? Hiding fear behind smug expressions?

No. That wasn’t it.
The Baekyeong students didn’t find this situation unfamiliar.
They’d been through too many battles to be fazed by something like this.

Compared to the monsters they’d fought, being surrounded by kids their own age was almost comforting.
At least these guys weren’t trying to kill them.
Just then, Yeon Woo Jin’s voice echoed directly into the minds of the Baekyeong students.

—It shouldn’t come to this, but if any of you gets caught off guard or pulls your punches and ends up taking a hit, I’ll take that to mean your training wasn’t hard enough—and I’ll personally arrange for additional special training.
Shiver—
Special training.

Just hearing the term made their blood run cold. Their hearts pounded.
They couldn’t afford to hold back.
They had to treat these kids like mortal enemies.

The Baekyeong students’ eyes sharpened instantly.
In a flash, their killing intent surged, enough to push back even the collective pressure of Cheongseok’s group.
“Wh-what the hell?!”

It was now the Cheongseok students who recoiled in fear.
There were barely any of them—but the sheer force of their intent stunned the dozens on the other side.
Even Jo Deok stared in disbelief.

They were much stronger than he had expected.
What the hell… that kind of pressure? At the very least, they’re Peak-Level, Six Stars or higher!
And there wasn’t just one or two like that—there were several.

He quickly turned to assess his own side.
Morale had already begun to plummet under the pressure.
That was no surprise.

Their top intermediate student was at Peak-Level, Five Stars.
Their top lower division student was at Peak-Level, Four Stars.
For their age, those levels were nothing to scoff at—but the opponents were simply too strong.

Baek Cheon, already humiliated by Baekyeong earlier, had completely lost the will to fight.
At this rate, they’d be forced to kneel before Baekyeong without even landing a blow.
So it has to be me.

Jo Deok let out a long sigh.
He had spent so long hiding his cultivation level just to avoid drawing attention from his adoptive family.
He never wanted to become strong.

And yet, his cultivation soared every time he trained, no matter how little.
It was more a curse than a blessing.
He feared his own strength because of his adoptive father.

Once, seeking praise, he had revealed his breakthrough—and his father’s face turned to ice.
—So your cultivation rose. And what do you expect me to do about it? Are you standing before me now to demand the clan heir’s seat?
That hadn’t been it at all.

Jo Deok just… wanted a word of praise.
Some might say, If it’s so bad, why not just leave?
But to Jo Deok, his adoptive father and mother were the first family he had ever known.

If they had been cold from the beginning, he might have walked away.
But in the beginning, they’d shown him warmth.
He couldn’t forget that warmth.

He kept thinking—If I just try harder… if I just do a little better… maybe I’ll see that smile again.
That’s when he started hiding his cultivation and staying quiet.
And for a time, it worked. They stopped looking at him with suspicion.

That alone was enough for him.
But now his cultivation had been revealed.
He always knew it would happen someday—but he hadn’t expected it to be today.

Now word would spread. Evaluation officials would come.
His cultivation would be officially registered.
And once that happened, the clan would start watching him again.

He didn’t want to face those cold stares from the people he called family.
Jo Deok’s gaze drifted to the unconscious Yoo Ji Gwang.
But he couldn’t just abandon the one person who had called him friend.

He accepted it. This was fate.
Maybe if he told them he didn’t care about becoming the successor… that he’d live as the clan’s hidden sword, not their shining banner… maybe they’d let him be.
It was complicated.

All he wanted was a simple, peaceful life.
But even that felt impossibly out of reach.
And it was all because of them.

If they had just backed down quietly, his cultivation would still be a secret.
Jo Deok’s fury slowly began to rise.
It felt like they’d ruined his life.

Even if they weren’t the root cause, he wanted—needed—someone to vent the emotions he’d buried for so long.
RUMMMBLE—
A vortex of energy began swirling around his body.

“You should’ve just walked away when you had the chance. Why did you stay and make everything harder for me? I’m not letting this go.”
Gwak Pyeong spoke calmly.
“You’re blaming us? When this all started because of your side?”

“I know. But… you were just unlucky.”
“Unlucky?”
“You happened to be standing in front of me—right when everything I’ve held back was about to explode.”

“We’ll see about that.”
Gwak Pyeong smiled faintly.
Jo Deok glared at him.

“You clearly don’t understand the gap between us. You’ve never faced a Hyper-Peak cultivator before. Allow me to teach you.”
“That’s just what you think. Why assume I’m not Hyper-Peak too?”
“…What?”

An immense pressure began pouring from Gwak Pyeong’s body—equal to Jo Deok’s.
“I’m Hyper-Peak as well.”
“Th-that’s impossible! There aren’t any Hyper-Peak cultivators in the South!”

“There is now.”
As Jo Deok felt the force radiating from Gwak Pyeong, he realized it.
This man was his equal—in every sense.

Jo Deok’s fury surged.
This… This was the only thing he had left to cling to.
And now even that was being taken from him?

“I won’t forgive you… I won’t forgive you…”
His blood-red eyes locked on Gwak Pyeong.
“I WON’T FORGIVE YOU!”

Realizing Jo Deok’s unstable state, Gwak Pyeong’s face turned serious as he raised his guard.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—
Jo Deok’s attacks came in a blur, almost too fast for the eye to follow—but not a single strike touched Gwak Pyeong.

What did that mean?
It meant Gwak Pyeong’s cultivation exceeded his own.
Even the last pillar he’d leaned on… was collapsing.

The one thing that had sustained him… had crumbled away.
CRACK—
Gwak Pyeong’s palm struck Jo Deok square in the torso.

“Guh—!”
The impact began at his abdomen and rippled through his entire body like a wave.
Jo Deok was flung back violently.

CRASHTUMBLE—
He rolled across the ground in a graceless heap, his body finally coming to a halt without movement.
A moment later, he twitched and slowly began to rise—but his eyes were vacant, devoid of focus.

The shock of that final strike, delivered just as the only thing he had left to hold onto collapsed, shattered his mind completely.
And with that collapse—everything he’d kept sealed inside exploded outward.
RAAAAAWR—

A massive aura in the shape of a white tiger burst forth from Jo Deok’s body.
“W-what the hell is that?!”
Gwak Pyeong instinctively staggered backward, startled by the sudden surge of violent Qi.

The sheer force of Jo Deok’s aura had ballooned to monstrous levels.
But retreat wasn’t an option.
He had grown stronger—but not beyond reason.

Gwak Pyeong quickly assessed Jo Deok’s state.
He was clearly not in his right mind.
This couldn’t be resolved rationally.

There was only one solution: subdue him with overwhelming force.
Gwak Pyeong summoned every ounce of inner Qi he possessed.
He had to end this with a single, decisive blow.

“Hmph—”
After one deep breath, he stepped directly into the path of Jo Deok’s mad charge and drove both palms into the man’s dantian region with full force.
CRACK—!

Jo Deok’s body crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut and flew through the air.
CRASHTUMBLE—
THUD—

He hit the ground hard, bounced several times, and finally slammed into a tree at the edge of the clearing.
For a moment—silence.
Then, hushed voices began to murmur through the crowd.

“Did… did he die?”
“He put everything into that strike…”
“Look, he’s not even twitching.”

Even Gwak Pyeong seemed to wonder if he had gone too far, and rushed to the spot where Jo Deok lay collapsed.
But then—
RUMBLE—

The ground trembled. Jo Deok’s body slowly began to move.
“Grrrrr…!”
His eyes were rolled up into white, and he was drooling as he stared down Gwak Pyeong.

Bulging veins distorted his face into something monstrous.
But that wasn’t the real problem.
The energy he was emitting now was no longer human.

Gwak Pyeong’s breath caught.
This wasn’t something he could deal with.
He had already struck with the strongest blow he could muster—and it had done nothing.

Now what?
From his vantage point, Yeon Woo Jin’s expression darkened.
“…The White Tiger Physique?”

One of the Four Guardian Physiques, like Bang Woon’s.
Empowered by the Qi of the White Tiger, Jo Deok’s strength had surpassed anything Gwak Pyeong could handle.
And yet, Gwak Pyeong didn’t back down.

Yeon Woo Jin watched silently.
“Come at me!!”
Jo Deok—completely unhinged—rushed forward without technique or form.

It was pure chaos.
But it was fast. And it hit like a sledgehammer.
Even just redirecting the attacks rather than blocking them outright sent powerful shocks through Gwak Pyeong’s arms.

“Ghh—!”
His arms stung and burned.
If he took a hit head-on?

He shook his head—he didn’t even want to think about it.
Whoosh—
A blast of Jo Deok’s wild Qi came flying, and Gwak Pyeong dodged it.

The attack missed him—but hurtled toward the Cheongseok students behind him.
Jo Deok, in his current state, couldn’t distinguish friend from ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ foe.
At that level of force… someone could die.

“Damn it!”
They had come to prove themselves—not to watch someone get killed.
Gwak Pyeong twisted his body and darted toward the Cheongseok students.

“Crimson Azure Barrier Qi!”
CLANG—!
“Urgh!”

In theory, his technique should have formed a barrier of defensive Qi—but his level wasn’t high enough to manifest a complete form.
It was only a weak imitation.
His inner energy surged out of control.

To stabilize it, he would have had to stop moving and concentrate—but Jo Deok gave him no such chance.
Just as Jo Deok’s berserk fist came screaming toward him—
Gwak Pyeong’s body couldn’t respond properly, his Qi unstable and rioting within.

If that fist landed—
It wasn’t just a broken body he risked. He might fall into Qi deviation. He could be crippled forever.
CLANG—!

“Gghhh—!”
“Ugh…!”
In that instant, several figures threw themselves in front of Gwak Pyeong.

They took the attack for him.
It was the students of Cheongseok’s upper division.