Chapter 1804 – 1804. The Ascension To Light
Having left the Demonic Heavenly Cult, I walked west.
Actually, I wasn’t entirely sure if it was truly west. I was just walking in the direction that the snout of the Myriad-Mile Compass was pointing.
‘Cheon Yu-un said it was west, so it must be west.’
The direction wasn’t particularly important anyway.
I ran my left finger along the edge of my bamboo hat. Black robe, bamboo hat, sword at my waist. It was the look of a reclusive martial arts master that anyone could recognize.
‘Ah, this is intoxicating.’
The hand gripping the sword hilt itched. I felt a sudden urge to swing my sword. And just then, there was a tree right next to me that was perfect for cutting.
‘I’ll cut it.’
A flash of light burst from the scabbard. The flash passed through the tree, drew a semicircle, and returned to the scabbard.
Click!
Right after the sound from the scabbard, a line appeared on the tree trunk, and it began to slide and fall.
I wore a satisfied smile. I hadn’t used any qi. It was the result of pure strength and swordsmanship. The me in this world was much stronger than in other worlds. My body was beyond comparison, and my martial arts were supported by the Heavenly Constellation System. I was Seong Yu-jin, a martial arts genius.
I saw a wild boar. It was running around like a madman, as if it was having the time of its life. And it just had to be around me. It was as if it was threatening me to give it food. Looking closely, it wasn’t an ordinary wild boar. It had a red dot on its forehead, and the energy it possessed was ferocious.
‘Is it a monster?’
If it were any other weakling, I would have taken out some jerky and thrown it far away, but not me.
‘Annoying.’
My right hand moved to the sword hilt. The wild boar’s eyes flashed menacingly, and it charged straight at me. The wild boar’s tusks were as sharp as knives.
I drew my sword and walked forward at the same time. I cut the wild boar in mid-air and sheathed my sword.
Click!
The wild boar was split in half and died. Blood and guts spilled out. Even if it was a monster, it wasn’t like I couldn’t eat it. No, rather, because it was a monster, its corpse was more valuable. In this world, there was almost nothing that humans couldn’t eat.
Leaving the wild boar’s corpse behind, I walked forward.
This time, I saw a person. He was walking alone. He was slowly walking towards me from the front.
‘He looks like he can use some strength.’
He was large. He had a wide sword on his back. His hair was disheveled, and he had a thick beard. His clothes were dirty and stained with blood here and there.
‘Is he a bandit? Or a ronin?’
Ronin and bandits all looked dirty, so it was hard to tell them apart when you encountered them in a place like this.
I straightened my chest and raised my chin. I walked forward, exuding the aura of a master. Now, the guy overwhelmed by the master’s aura should be running away with a terrified expression.
But the world didn’t always go my way.
His lips twitched. They slightly curled up, so he was sneering. I could tolerate this much. I had just killed a monster wild boar, so I was in a good mood.
But the guy blocked my path.
“Get out of my way.”
A voice like a beast growling echoed. The voice contained condensed killing intent. He had deliberately put killing intent into his voice.
‘A guy who knows how to put killing intent into his voice doesn’t recognize the aura of a master?’
I didn’t hide my aura. But I didn’t reveal it either. I just acted as usual. That alone was enough. Those who could see my abilities would cower on their own.
‘Is he unable to grasp the strength of his opponent? No, that’s not the point.’
He dared to block my path and even threatened me with killing intent. That was reason enough to die.
Just like when I split the wild boar, like when I cut the tree, I drew my sword from its scabbard and swung it lightly.
Clang!
Perhaps I had swung it too lightly. The sword was blocked by the guy’s wide blade.
“Hahaha. You look very delicious. I’ll cut you up alive and eat you.”
The guy licked his lips with his tongue. I felt like shit.
“I’ll kill you slowly.”
I moved my sword. Screeeeeech! The swords that were touching each other screamed as they rubbed together. The tip of my sword was aimed at the guy’s neck. The guy’s qi moved. A beast-like, ferocious demonic energy exploded. My sword was knocked aside.
“Hahahaha!”
The guy, confident of victory, laughed loudly and brought his sword down on my head.
I moved my qi. My consciousness accelerated for a moment. The guy’s falling sword was slow.
There was no need to use the Thunderclap Style. I infused qi into my sword and swung it. My sword moved later than the guy’s, but it reached him faster.
Swoosh!
The guy’s right arm flew into the air along with his wide sword.
“Aaaaaaah!”
The guy screamed and bent his upper body. The guy’s demonic energy burst out. The guy’s body began to mutate. Its color turned black, and something like insect antennae grew on its head. The demonic energy that I had felt from the guy turned into demonic qi as if it were a lie.
‘It wasn’t the feeling of a monster pretending to be human. Was he originally human? It’s the Demonic Transformation Art.’
I never thought that even a nobody like this would have mastered the Demonic Transformation Art.
[Using Instantaneous Moment. Remaining stacks: 11]
Thunderclap Style: Evil Thunder.
I used Instantaneous Moment before things got more troublesome. I stabbed my sword into the guy’s chest and sent out a dark blue lightning bolt.
“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”
A terrible scream echoed. The guy fell to the ground and writhed. The dark blue lightning remained maliciously inside his body.
About a minute passed. The guy, who had been writhing in pain, didn’t move, like a stone. I stepped over the guy’s corpse and walked forward.
‘If even a nobody like that can get his hands on the Demonic Transformation Art… is someone deliberately spreading it?’
The origin of the Demonic Transformation Art is Muk Ji-ryeon. But it’s hard to conclude that this is Muk Ji-ryeon’s doing. The Demonic Transformation Art has already spread far and wide.
‘I don’t know. It’s not my problem anyway.’
I silently walked in the direction that the Myriad-Mile Compass was pointing.
* * *
As the sun began to set, rain poured down. The intensity was unusual, so I decided to take a break at an old inn nearby. It was broken in places, but it was perfect for avoiding the rain for a while.
I gathered the wet wood I had brought from the forest in one place and created lightning.
Crackling.
Lightning fire rose. Whether it was wet wood or anything else, the flames blazed fiercely as I pushed through with firepower. I stared blankly at the fire, listening to the sound of the rain. It wasn’t bad to spend time like this aimlessly sometimes.
The sun had completely set. As I was chewing on jerky, I felt a presence approaching. Two presences in total.
“There was a guest here. There’s no way anyone would live in a place as dilapidated as this… I guess you came to avoid the rain too.”
It was a middle-aged swordsman and a young swordsman. They were tall and had sharp jaws. They looked alike, so they seemed to be family. However, you couldn’t be sure of their age just by their appearance. In this world, even if someone had the appearance of a child, they could be an old man who was hundreds of years old on the inside.
I stared at the middle-aged man.
He was a master. His level was roughly mid-stage of the Five Qi. He must have some hidden tricks or magical treasures, so I couldn’t just look down on him just because his level was lower than mine.
“May we take shelter here for a while?”
Clack!
The young man politely asked with a fist salute. It was annoying to fight with a master, so I nodded.
“Do as you please.”
“Thank you. I am Hong Je-yu. The person next to me is my father.”
The middle-aged man also gave me a fist salute.
“Thank you. I am Hong Gang-hu, the Five Mountains Seeking Sword. What is your alias?”
They sat down a little distance away from me. That distance was important. It was a distance where they couldn’t reach me immediately even if they drew their swords. They were wary of me while wearing friendly smiles. It was a little absurd. Shouldn’t I be the one who was wary? I wasn’t the uninvited guest, they were.
I chewed and swallowed the jerky before speaking.
“I am Yeom Gu-seok, the Lightning Blade.”
“Lightning Blade! I’ve heard of you! The one who recently destroyed the Dokgo Clan! They say that sword is as fast as lightning?”
The corners of my mouth curled up. As expected, my fame was high enough that they recognized me right away.
“Yes. That’s me. But I’ve never heard of the alias Five Mountains Seeking Sword.”
“We are ronin. We are not from around here.”
“With that kind of skill, you’re ronin?”
With a skill level around mid-stage of the Five Qi, anyone could easily join any faction and settle down. If not, they could establish their own sect and live in luxury. There was no reason for a skilled person who had reached the Five Qi to be a ronin.
“There’s a story behind it.”
“What kind of story?”
“It’s not a serious story. The sect we belonged to was just destroyed. It’s a common occurrence in this world.”
“You managed to survive the destruction.”
“We thought it wouldn’t work out, so my son and I got out of there. Do you think we’re cowards?”
“I don’t care.”
I answered briefly. I didn’t think they were cowards. I would have done the same.
“Um. Master Yeom. May I ask where you are going?”
The young man asked me.
“Why are you curious?”
The young man waved his hands in embarrassment.
“N-no reason? It’s nothing. If you don’t want to say, you don’t have to.”
“I received a mission from the cult and am going west. Don’t ask what the mission is.”
The young man gulped. Was it because of the words Demonic Heavenly Cult? He stiffened up in tension. I asked him in return.
“Where are you guys going?”
“We are wandering aimlessly.”
Hong Gang-hu interjected.
“It’s not like swinging a sword in a training hall is the only way to train. A martial artist should experience many things. I don’t want my son to be trapped in a narrow well.”
“There’s a reason why they say that leaving home is a hardship.”
“It was a hardship even when we were at home.”
Hong Gang-hu’s eyes deepened. His son, Hong Je-yu, looked around and said.
“We are also going west. I heard that the Yu-un Merchant Guild will be opening in Baeyeong City in a week.”
I knew about Baeyeong City. It was one of the cities belonging to the Demonic Heavenly Cult.
“I’ve never heard of the Yu-un Merchant Guild.”
“That’s understandable. The Yu-un Merchant Guild moves somewhat secretly. They don’t even deal with ordinary people, so rumors don’t spread easily.”
Hong Je-yu explained about the Yu-un Merchant Guild. It was said to be a merchant guild that traveled around the martial world. They set up shop and opened a market at certain intervals.
At first, they were just a few peddlers. They sold precious elixirs, and martial artists who wanted the elixirs began to follow them.
“After a few years, they became the Yu-un Merchant Guild, and they grew so big that they were nicknamed the moving market.”
“Do they really sell elixirs?”
Elixirs were not easy to obtain, so I was suspicious.
“Yes. I went there five years ago and bought an elixir. The Yu-un Merchant Guild sells not only elixirs but also magical artifacts and martial arts. It’s almost like a general store.”
I curled up the corners of my mouth. I felt greed rising from the depths of my heart.
