## Chapter 1527 – 1527. Ascending To The Light
I interrogated twenty beggars, using the Bone-Crushing Root Extraction technique. Its power was exceptional. Most beggars couldn’t withstand it for even ten seconds, spilling all information, real or fabricated. Those who divulged information had their heads severed and mounted on poles.
Some beggars lasted longer than ten seconds. They were beggars who had learned martial arts. In other words, they were from the Beggars’ Sect. Despite their martial arts training, they had no knots on their waists.
‘This is the territory of the Heavenly Demon Sect. There’s no need to reveal their identities, so they’d naturally hide it.’
That’s why I indiscriminately capture, interrogate, and kill beggars. I can’t distinguish between ordinary beggars and Beggars’ Sect members.
‘I could probably do it if I tried… but it’s too much of a hassle.’
So, I kill them. They’re useless anyway. It doesn’t matter if they die.
‘I’ve got the information.’
There are about 120 Beggars’ Sect members hiding in this city. Not an exact number. The beggars’ statements varied slightly.
‘Either they lied while being subjected to Bone-Crushing Root Extraction, or they had different information from the start.’
It’s probably closer to the latter.
‘The most important information about the branch leader…’
There was no reliable information. Each beggar had different details.
One beggar said he was under the south bridge, while another claimed he was working as a server at a northern inn. They’ve deliberately infiltrated the city, disguising their identities.
‘Should I just kill all the beggars and then look for him? If I still can’t find him… well, there’s nothing I can do.’
I continued my work. Interrogating and killing beggars. The corpses of the killed beggars were handled by the Heavenly Demon Sect’s Soyong branch members. Heads were cut off and placed on poles, while the bodies were gathered and burned in one place. It was happening openly in the streets.
“Beggar! I’ve caught a beggar!”
“I caught one too!”
“Here’s a beggar!”
People rushed to bring in beggars. I nodded, pointing to a bag of money. Those who brought beggars smiled and took fifty silver taels.
There were as many beggars as there were in this lavish city. I interrogated and killed beggars indiscriminately. Old or young, I made no distinction.
The money was dwindling rapidly. I didn’t care. After all, I could just frame a wealthy person as a traitor, kill them, and take their money.
When about seventy beggars had died, the market had become gruesome with the smell of blood and burning corpses. Most ordinary people were terrified by the beggars’ heads on poles and went home. A few remained to watch, but they were the strange ones.
“Aaaah! Sir! He-help me!”
A middle-aged man’s voice rang out. I, who was stomping a beggar to death, looked up at the source of the sound.
A group was walking down the street. They all looked disheveled, like beggars. I reflexively checked their waists. There were knots. They were Beggars’ Sect members. About twenty of them.
I looked at the beggar in the center. The hairy man who had first brought me a beggar was being held captive. The hairy man was covered in bruises, as if he had been beaten. The beggar had five knots on his waist.
A Five-Knot Beggar. In other words, the branch leader of the Beggars’ Sect.
“Lightning Blade, Yeom Gu-seok.”
The Five-Knot Beggar called out to me in a stern voice and threw the hairy man. The hairy man fell to the ground, rolling to my feet.
“Kuh! Kuheeeck!?”
The hairy man writhed like a worm. He was spitting blood. There was a palm print on his chest. Before throwing him, the Five-Knot Beggar had shattered his insides with a palm strike. The hairy man was doomed.
The hairy man’s trembling body stopped.
“Like that wretched man, you too will die here.”
“You stupid beggar. Do you think you can kill me just because you’ve come in a group? Well, I’ll admit you’re as stupid as you are for showing up in front of me instead of hiding.”
I kicked the hairy man’s corpse at my feet. The hairy man’s body flew up and landed among the beggars. The beggars quickly retreated and scattered. They ran through the streets, surrounding and encircling me. I looked around, checking their waists. Three knots were swaying.
Shing.
I drew my sword. A sharp aura spread out. The beggars surrounding me trembled. They broke out in cold sweat, raising their clubs or opening their palms. The Beggars’ Sect was famous for its staff techniques and palm strikes.
“We are the Beggars’ Sect.”
The Five-Knot Beggar said in a solemn tone. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what nonsense he was spouting.
“We have nothing. No home. No money. We live by begging, relying on the mercy of others. But we are not envious of those who have. The sky is our roof, and this land is our home. Even without money, we have our comrades. We carry chivalry in our hearts, so we are the Beggars’ Sect!”
“We are the Beggars’ Sect!”
The beggars shouted. It was quite a speech. As a reward, I swung my sword.
Ghost-Slaying Sword Technique, Rakshasa Flash.
The sword rotated, and sword energy flew out. The heads of two beggars fell to the ground.
“Kill that demon!”
The beggars charged.
I quietly took a breath. I drew internal energy from my dantian and used the Flash to instantly cut down the charging beggars. That was my plan.
‘…It’s slowed down.’
Even without using the Flash, the world had slowed down. This in itself wasn’t strange. It often happened when my concentration was high. But it was slower than when I used the Flash.
‘My concentration shouldn’t be that high yet. Have I grown?’
Maybe it was just that I was in good condition today.
And either way, it wasn’t bad for me.
Ghost-Slaying Sword Technique, Ghost Killing Act.
My body moved like it was sliding along with the sword. The sword and the movement technique, created to mimic a ghost, harmonized. I plunged into the nearest beggar and beheaded him. The sword didn’t stop. It moved like flowing water, like cloth fluttering in the wind, cutting down the beggars.
Whoosh.
I heard the sound of the wind. When I stopped, all the beggars except one were down.
The Five-Knot Beggar, the leader of these beggars, had a distorted face. Both of his arms were on the ground.
“I didn’t kill you on purpose because I have a lot of information to get from you.”
“Kuh… Yeom Gu-seok…! This is different from the information. I heard you were at the early stage of the Fifth Stage… Were you hiding your strength?!”
“You’re just weak. You only need a mouth to spit out information, so you don’t need legs. Stay still.”
“We have nothing to tell your demonic sect!”
The beggar opened his mouth wide to bite his tongue. As expected.
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 6]
I used the Flash and moved my fingers.
Poke, poke, poke.
I subdued the beggar with pressure points. The beggar stopped abruptly. The only thing he could move were his two eyes.
I cut off the beggar’s legs with my sword.
“Don’t think you can die easily. You can’t die until you’ve spat out all the information you know.”
I decided to interrogate him later. He was skilled enough to infiltrate the Heavenly Demon Sect. Torturing him right away wouldn’t make him talk.
‘With someone like this, I need to go slowly. First, I’ll execute all the beggars in this city in front of him. Boiling them alive will shake his mentality.’
I immediately put it into action. I sat the limbless Five-Knot Beggar on a special seat and brought out a huge pot to boil the beggars.
“Yeom Gu-seok!! Are you even human!! I believed that even those who joined the demonic sect had some morals! But you have no human decency! How can you commit such cruel acts while wearing a human face! Are you a human or a monster?!”
“Shut up. Close your mouth again. I opened it for a moment because I thought you’d spit out information, but you’re just barking nonsense. These beggars are being boiled to death because of you. If you had cooperated with the sect and given the information, the beggars would have died peacefully.”
“Ugh! Ugh!!”
The Five-Knot Beggar, with a gag in his mouth, convulsed and glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“Such arrogant eyes.”
I grabbed his face with one hand.
Crack.
A faint spark flew. It looked like an electric current, and then his right eye burst. I had used electromagnetic waves to burst his eyeball.
“I left one eye so you can see the beggar bastards dying because of you.”
Sometimes, what you can see is more terrifying than what you can’t.
That day, I killed over 500 beggars.
•••
“Kaaaaaaah!”
A merchant screamed horribly. He was being eaten alive by wolves, his limbs severed.
I took out a piece of paper with a list from my pocket.
‘Bok Hyun-se, a disguised disciple of the Common Faction, posing as a merchant, deceased.’
I dipped my finger in the blood on the ground and drew a line through Bok Hyun-se’s name.
The demonic sect members brought the next person into the execution ground. It was a woman. I stared at the woman. She was quite beautiful.
I checked the list.
‘This one isn’t from one of the Nine Great Sects.’
The Martial Alliance wasn’t just made up of the Nine Great Sects. There were other sects within the Martial Alliance that were as powerful as the Nine Great Sects. It was just that they had a short history and lacked presence. And because the Nine Great Sects were united in checking them, they rarely gained fame.
‘The Flower Shadow Sect. A sect formed by female heroes of the Jianghu 500 years ago.’
I swallowed as I looked at the woman. Honestly, I was a bit drawn to her.
‘I have to kill her. To avoid suspicion, I have to kill her cleanly…’
My dick was hard.
“Ma So, of the Flower Shadow Sect, disguised as the chef of the Yoyo Inn.”
She met my gaze directly. Even with death so close, her spirit didn’t falter.
“The Martial Alliance will destroy you and the demonic sect.”
I gulped. Hearing her words made me want to take her even more. Could this also be one of her tricks?
‘Where did she get the information that I’m weak to women? I need to interrogate her.’
I flicked my finger at the demonic sect member standing next to me.
“Lock that woman in the underground prison. I’ll interrogate her separately later.”
“What? You said that everyone on today’s list would be executed without exception…”
“How dare you talk back to me? You die instead.”
I swung my hand. Sword energy flew out, cutting the demonic sect member in half. I grinned at the woman, who was frozen stiff.
