Chapter 137 - The Black Flame Dragon Meets the Monster of Manseogo

"Monk Ilgak, do you not feel it is unfair? The top student position originally belonged to you, did it not?"

Ilgak did not feel it was unfair.

Even if his opponent had seized the top student position through despicable tricks and led the delegation with a self-righteous personality to pursue only his own interests, that was simply the nature of a mortal who had yet to achieve enlightenment.

A forcibly built tower would eventually crumble, and the contrary (反) that does not follow the natural order would always return to the proper path (正).

However, Jin Sowoon had crossed the line.

It would have been enough if he had only pursued his personal interests, but he tried to divide people and destroy order through the academy events.

He had thought Jin Sowoon was merely a mortal unable to control his desires, but he was actually a madman possessed by a demon.

He knew it was not the right method.

But if he did not stop that cunning and deceitful mortal, even greater chaos would befall the secular world.

The order of the Murim would be overturned, and countless weak people would suffer because of it.

'That is why I stepped forward...'

Jin Sowoon's martial arts were as cunning and chaotic as his nature.

It deceived people's eyes, deceived their minds, and inflicted wounds.

He had mastered the Thousand-Catty Armor for an immovable (不動) mind and body, but he felt as though his skin was being scraped away and his bones were bending, making those arduous years seem meaningless.

He was dangerous.

He was an incredibly dangerous person.

It was highly likely that he would become an internal enemy, far more dangerous than the Underworld.

That was why he brought out the Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic, which he had promised not to use.

He felt that he had to stop that mortal, even if it meant returning to the main mountain and facing the wall in meditation for several years.

At that moment, the wicked voice digging into his ears brought him to his senses.

"To stab me in the back like this."

Jin Sowoon spat out words Ilgak could not understand, then took his stance once again.

'He intends to continue?'

The profound principle of the Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic was the Holy Law.

While vanquishing demons and destroying evil was the foundational spirit of the Orthodox faction, the Shaolin Sect's Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic was water so clear that it considered even that to be an earthly agony.

Wicked purposes and enlightenment.

The Orthodox faction's martial arts, which focused on efficiency, would naturally extinguish their own light when faced with the fundamental questioning of the Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic.

PAPAPAPAPAPAPAT!

That was how it was supposed to be...

The cunning martial energies, still hiding their illusions and true forms, refused to yield.

THUD-THUD-THUD! SMACK! CRASH!

If it had been the martial arts of any other sect, they would have long since dissipated and vanished, but the Taiyi Sect's martial arts only lost a bit of their momentum and did not disappear.

Unlike the first half of the sparring match, Ilgak stood perfectly still, while Jin Sowoon looked a bit tired.

But even that was astonishing to Ilgak.

'The Taiyi Sect's martial arts against... the Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic...'

He shook off the anxious earthly agonies welling up inside him.

The profound principle of the Holy Law could not be mastered without pursuing the foundation.

There was no way the cultivation of a vulgar person like Jin Sowoon could be that deep.

"With this, I will set the order right, Benefactor."

Ilgak brought his palms together and prepared the final supreme technique of the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

Since it had come to this, it could no longer even be called a sparring match, yet none of the drill instructors thought to stop it.

All of them were likely distressed by the chaos Jin Sowoon was causing.

Just as Ilgak steadied his resolve.

"Like hell I'll yield to the irrationality you bastards created."

"..."

Jin Sowoon also began to take a stance he had not shown before.

He assumed a horse-riding stance and placed both hands at his waist.

It looked exactly like a child learning a straight punch for the first time.

Did he intend to block the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist—which wouldn't be stopped even by the supreme techniques of the Taiyi Sword Emperor—with pure internal energy?

As expected, cunning people always ended up tripping over their own tricks in the end.

"Haaaap! Amitabha!"

BANG!

As Ilgak brought his palms together, the sound of air bursting rang out, and a cluster of golden light shot out in all directions.

Soon, the golden energy of the Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic gathered in both of his hands.

It was pure enlightenment that had discarded everything, not just greed and desire, but also justice and hope.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK-CRACK-CRACK.

The broken marble pieces scattered on the floor trembled violently, unable to withstand the atmospheric pressure.

The distance between Jin Sowoon and Ilgak, a mere one jang, was tightly compressed as if filled with something invisible.

"Demon-Subduing World Reign!"

Ilgak's two legs shot forward as he executed the Immovable Movement Technique.

In the distance narrowed in the blink of an eye, the fist wrapped in golden light thrust toward Jin Sowoon's solar plexus.

At that moment,

Jin Sowoon opened his closed eyes and simultaneously threw a punch to meet Ilgak's Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

CLANG!

----------!

--------------!

The atmosphere was sucked into the space between Jin Sowoon and Ilgak.

At the same time, the cluster of golden light stretching out from Jin Sowoon's fist pushed back Ilgak's Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

The atmosphere that had been sucked in was once again pushed away in all directions.

While the audience turned their eyes away from the storm of sand, dust, and stone fragments starting from the training ground.

An impact sound that seemed to bring down the sky echoed out, threatening to tear their eardrums.

----------------!

The audience members, who instinctively covered their ears at the eardrum-tearing pain, kept their heads bowed for a long time.

CRAAAAAAASH!

The sound of an explosion spread out next.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The once-clear training ground was once again filled with cloudy sand and dust.

"..."

"..."

Everyone stared at the training ground as if they had lost their minds.

A single person's shadow could be seen through the billowing dust.

Above the slowly settling dust, a young man with pitch-black hair and black martial robes stood perfectly straight.

"Ah..."

"W-What is..."

Ilgak had already fainted, having vomited a bucketful of red blood as if he had received a massive shock.

The golden energy wrapping around Jin Sowoon's fist caught the eyes of the people watching the arena.

"... O-Okcheong Heavenly Star Power?"

It had been spring for quite some time, but the air around the training ground was as cold as if frost had settled over it.

* * *

After the exams ended, the atmosphere of the Murim Academy became much lighter.

It was because the academy's break period was approaching soon.

Of course, it wasn't just the academy students who felt that way.

The drill instructors could mostly enjoy their break aside from special administrative duties, and it was also a good opportunity for them to receive hospitality from the parents of the newly admitted students, asking them to look after their children well.

However, despite the approaching break period, Buk Wonpyeong's expression as he sat in the deepest part of the academy's main building was anything but comfortable.

"This is driving me crazy."

Buk Wonpyeong, who had intended to run straight to the Taiyi Sect as soon as the break period began, was now being dragged all over the Murim Alliance, losing sleep over an unexpected incident.

Who would dare order around Buk Wonpyeong, a man whose bright future was guaranteed? But the story changed when the ones doing the ordering were the very people who determined that guaranteed future.

"You look quite tired."

Despite my words of comfort, Buk Wonpyeong's glare turned fierce.

"And whose fault is all of this!"

I shrugged at his expression, which seemed to blame me entirely.

"I am simply writing a letter of recommendation for you, Academy Director, so why are you acting like this?"

"Ugh..."

Of course, it wasn't as if I didn't completely understand his situation.

The Okcheong Heavenly Star Power that had countered the Bodhidharma Muscle-Changing Classic.

It was widely known throughout Jianghu that the only sects capable of using that energy were the Three Purities Formless Sword and the Wudang Sect.

Since there was no way the Wudang Sect had offered teachings to the Taiyi Sect, Buk Wonpyeong was the only suspicious suspect.

Sure, Buk Wonpyeong might have told them that he had never taught me the energy itself, but from their perspective, would that be easy to believe?

They were bastards whose hearts pumped blood through their entire bodies with the engraved thought of, 'Everyone except us is a moron.' Since they were blaming me just because they wanted to turn a blind eye to the facts in front of them, I couldn't help but feel it was unfair.

"And when you think about it, we'll soon be eating from the same pot, so wouldn't adamantly claiming you have no relation to me only draw more suspicion?"

"..."

Buk Wonpyeong thought for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

"I suppose that's true."

Seeing Buk Wonpyeong nod, I cheered inwardly.

Things had worked out so well that I wondered if fate could truly unfold like this.

The Three Purities Power was a force that stood shoulder to shoulder with the Shaolin Sect's Golden Star Power and the Wudang Sect's Taiji Power.

Having the Three Purities Formless Sword become a person of the Taiyi Sect was no different from installing a siege weapon capable of wiping out a swarming horde of demonic practitioners in a single strike.

'I should even try to coax him into establishing his sect right next to the Taiyi Sect.'

Though it was questionable whether he could build a proper sect before the Demonic Cult gained power.

Considering his divine might, which had single-handedly wiped out a Jiangshi unit during the Orthodox-Demonic Great War in my past life, any small help he could provide to the Taiyi Sect in a moment of crisis would completely relieve my worries about the sect.

'The master-disciple relationships might get a bit tangled... but this is the great Three Purities Formless Sword of the world, so Sect Leader wouldn't refuse him.'

He wasn't going to learn the Taiyi Sect's martial arts in the first place, and since it would only be to the extent of teaching him the Taiyi mental cultivation method—which the Sect Leader had made public for the villagers to learn for their health—as long as we overcame the initial awkwardness, it wouldn't be a big deal.

"I've already sent a carrier pigeon ahead, so you can just take this with you directly."

As I handed over the letter of recommendation, Buk Wonpyeong pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Are you not going with me? Isn't it customary to return to one's sect during the first break period and hold a banquet and such?"

"I still have a lot of work to do here."

"Are you already preparing for the next event?"

"I was actually going to bring that up. What did the Mount Heng Sect say?"

After hearing the crazy news through Maeng Ju-won that the Elder's Hall wanted to dispatch academy students to Sichuan, I moved up the Mount Heng Sect's event, which I had pushed to the very end.

This time, I also lifted the limit on the number of participants.

It would serve as the minimum means for them to protect their precious lives against the Corpse Mountain Blood Cult they would soon face in Sichuan.

With this, I had fulfilled my duty.

If they ended up dying because they chose not to attend and blamed me for it, even King Yama would click his tongue at their shamelessness and throw them into the sulfur hell.

"They initially refused, but upon hearing your name, they agreed to do it."

"That's great."

"?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Aren't you happy about it? It means your status has risen that much."

Well, Jianghu was a place swarming with people like grains of sand who would risk their lives for their names.

"Furthermore, because of this recent incident, the perception of you within the academy has completely changed, and no one will treat you like they did in the past anymore. So, why not relax a bit and enjoy the present?"

But I had seen far too many horrific sights of countless figures dying because of their names.

The moment a person considers their honor to be more important than their life, they meet a miserable death.

I couldn't afford to rest for even a moment.

"Enjoying myself can wait until after all the work is done."

"Are you saying the work isn't fully finished yet?"

"It hasn't even begun."

* * *

Manseogo.

The one and only library in the Murim Academy, named Manseogo because it was said to hold ten thousand books.

However, contrary to its name, countless new books had been added over the long years, making the name Manseogo exist in name only.

In fact, even the people managing the library didn't know exactly how many books were inside Manseogo.

'Exactly thirty-six thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two books.'

Even now, thinking about the incident that led me to discover that number made my blood boil.

The Murim Alliance, which had forced me to memorize every single report in the Mantong Bureau, subsequently made me memorize every single book in this Manseogo.

They claimed that nine-tenths of what made them who they were came from Manseogo, or some nonsense like that.

But ironically, once the Orthodox-Demonic Great War began, they never asked me to spit out the contents of the books from Manseogo.

It was a task impossible for one person to utilize alone in the first place, and they too had realized that the effort wasn't all that necessary.

In short, they had just put me through pointless busywork.

"To come back here on my own two feet. I must be somewhat out of my mind."

If any of the books I had read in Manseogo during my past life contained secret manuals or hidden martial texts, my steps wouldn't have felt this heavy.

But the vast majority of the books in Manseogo were nothing more than a listing of useless martial arts theories.

Before graduating, Murim Academy students had to write a thesis based on their enlightenment and submit it to this Manseogo.

Since they wrote and submitted theses with clumsy skills, such shoddy materials piled up higher and higher, eventually burying even the truly important materials.

Which meant I had gone through all that agonizing bullshit to memorize materials that weren't even fit for kindling.

"Phew... But it's not like I can stay in the same place forever."

Ever since my bout with the shadow warrior from the Alliance Leader's Pavilion, I had consistently felt like I had hit a wall.

Though I was receiving personal teachings from Buk Wonpyeong on how to use the Okcheong Heavenly Star Power, the trajectory of the Okcheong Heavenly Star Power I used differed from his, causing difficulties in my learning.

Coupled with my thirst for Sword Force, I had no choice but to seek this place out.

"No one else should know about him yet anyway."

Raising my head high, I saw the signboard that read Manseogo.

With the school break approaching, the usual crowd of students utilizing Manseogo was absent, giving the place a deserted feel, and the staff were seen reorganizing the library in preparation for the break period.

I briefly scanned the Manseogo, which felt like a nightmare from my past, before I started looking for him.

"He should stand out quickly."

Sure enough, as I wandered through the library, he quickly caught my eye.

"Hey, hunchback! Organize these."

"Ah! Yes, yes."

Rough hair and worn-out martial robes, an imposing posture that suggested he feared nothing in the world, and a massive physique.

When the man, whose appearance instantly drew attention, handed the books to an old hunchback, the hunchback nodded repeatedly and gathered the books before moving away.

'There he is.'

The hunchback tried to carry all the books the man had pulled out at once, but ended up tumbling to the floor.

"I-I'm sorry. I will clean this up quickly."

"What an annoyance."

As the man swept his hand with a swish, the books the hunchback was picking up were instantly pushed away.

The hunchback frantically scrambled after the books.

"As expected, your personality is terrible."

At my words, the man furrowed his brow.

"Were you speaking to me just now?"

"No. It was just a soliloquy, so pay it no mind."

The man looked me up and down for a moment before continuing.

"Now that I look at you, you're the academy representative."

"And you are So Cheonsu of the Cheongang Sect."

"You know me?"

"It would be more accurate to say that I know the Cheongang Sect."

The Cheongang Sect was one of the rare Orthodox factions that obsessed over tyrannical martial arts.

Their obsession was so severe that if one entered the sect and failed to use Force Qi, they wouldn't even be acknowledged as a single warrior.

'Didn't they say the minimum requirement to step out of the sect was Force Qi?'

Their martial arts were also bizarre; while Force Qi normally required reaching at least the tail-end of the Peak Realm to manifest, they could manifest it the moment they touched the tail-end of the First-Rate realm.

Of course, that Force Qi couldn't be considered normal.

Since they could exude Force Qi rapidly compared to their age, those from the Cheongang Sect were incredibly arrogant.

"Do you have business with me?"

"I didn't, but let's say I do now."

"Hmph. I'm curious. What is it?"

So Cheonsu laughed as he manifested Hand Force in his hand.

As expected, it was the immature behavior fitting for the top disciple of the Cheongang Sect.

'Well, until they learn the truth, just seeing that Force Qi would be enough to make any ordinary bastard tremble in fear.'

I slowly approached him.

"I didn't come here to fight you."

"Then?"

"I came to help you."

"Huh?"

With those words, I extended the White Phoenix Hand to suppress his hand imbued with Hand Force, and then struck his paralysis acupoint and sleep acupoint.

"Y-You, cowardly..."

"What's cowardly about this? It's all to help you out. And while focusing on Force Qi is fine, don't neglect your training in other martial arts. Isn't the Cheongang Sect's weakness falling prey to basic hand techniques like this?"

"..."

I made the effort to give him advice, but So Cheonsu's body had already stiffened as he fell into a deep sleep.

"Tch, did he fall asleep already?"

I then looked around to check if anyone was nearby.

"To use such a trick against kids, you truly are a man of the Underworld."

I activated the Jade Dragon Bracelet to extract the black energy embedded in his body.

If this had remained in his body, So Cheonsu would have suffered from inexplicable body aches and experienced a decline in his mental energy.

Because he was struck so stealthily in a fleeting instant, even So Cheonsu himself had been unable to gauge what happened.

Looking at his single move, I became convinced that I needed to receive his teachings.

His realm was one thing, but he was someone who had reached the pinnacle with a simple yet profound martial art he created himself.

If it was him, he might know a way to use Sword Force in a martial art where Sword Force didn't exist.

"But how do I persuade him?"

He was someone who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Underworld Murim. I didn't know for what reason he was hiding in Manseogo.

Furthermore, I had no idea how I could possibly persuade someone famous for having such a rough temperament.