Peak Martial Artist (Part 4)
With a roar of effort, I channeled my will to live and thrust my blade toward the monk’s leg.
The monk’s face, once smug and composed, twisted for the first time as my sword gang pierced through his defensive talisman.
And then.
Swoosh! Clang! Clack!
Pfft.
My sword gang, born from every last drop of my internal energy, flickered and died like a candle in the wind.
I was short on qi. Even though I had poured out decades’ worth of cultivation, without enlightenment it was impossible to manifest a sword gang for more than a second.
My blade had only sliced a tiny wound on the monk’s leg, tearing his robe slightly.
Ugh…
With the sword gang vanishing, I could no longer pierce through the defensive talisman.
At the same time, the backlash of exhausting all my internal energy crashed over me. Blood poured from my mouth and my body went limp, and I collapsed onto the ground.
“Kuhuk! Gguk!”
Cough. Cough.
Every cough sprayed blood.
It felt as if my organs were shaking apart.
“Y-you… you filthy criminal…!”
And my attack had clearly enraged the monk.
Puk, puk, puk!
He snatched out his talismans and scattered them. The talismans turned into glowing knives and stabbed my arms and legs.
“Kk… uggh…!”
I gritted my teeth and tried to grab my sword, but the monk stomped my hand with his leg.
“You trash… you criminal scum!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
His anger not yet spent, he spread even stronger defensive talismans and began stomping my hand mercilessly.
“Who dares challenge my authority?! You, you insignificant criminal! This body is the sacred bloodline of the Heavenly Venerable Clan that not even you lowly criminals dare touch! You dare, you dare…!!”
After stomping my arm for a while, he pulled a handful of talismans from his waist pouch and scattered them into the air.
“I was going to toy with you before killing the Makri branch, but my mind has changed. I will tear all you criminal worms apart like vermin!”
Fwoosh—
The talismans turned into burning fireballs and shot toward the guards.
“Watch this well, you vermin. I will let you see your comrades get torn apart and chewed up before I devour you. No matter how you struggle, you will show your insignificance before the Heavenly Venerables!”
“…Kheuk, keok…”
I spat out a mouthful of blood.
Having exhausted all my internal energy once and shaking my organs, my vision blurred.
But my hearing remained clear, and a few words reached my ears.
Vermin.
Meaningless.
‘Yes… I am no different from a vermin.’
Talent, skill, even this life itself.
Compared to truly talented people and the Heavenly Venerables…
“… is… a re… da.”
“Huh? What did you say? Are you begging to be spared?”
But.
I clenched my fist, which the monk had stomped.
Realizing I was about to push through the pain, the monk stomped my hand even harder. Despite being half-crushed, I poured more strength into it.
“… is.”
“What are you saying? Beg louder!”
“… I… am… a vermin!”
Ugh, uggh!
I forced every last drop of strength from my body.
I had no qi left, a dagger was stuck in my arm, and my hand was crushed by the monk.
But.
The years of training I had endured.
The time of suffering I had endured.
Would never disappear!
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
With strength flowing into my arm, the monk’s foot gradually lifted.
‘From the moment I started hiding my body, I had already sensed something.’
This guy.
Had never trained his body like that.
Had never fought in fierce battles with a sword in hand.
He was simply born with superior talent and, by good fortune, learned some Heavenly Venerable techniques.
Someone like him, I could beat.
I could even fall before him.
However.
The years I had gone through.
Everything we had struggled for.
Was it all in vain?
Could we never reach it?
The only thing that could not be crushed was our suffering.
“I… am… a vermin. But…”
Crunch!
‘I can never endure this!’
With my completely crushed hand, I grabbed his ankle.
“Even as a vermin, my struggle has meaning!!”
“Y-you… you filthy thing, stop talking nonsense and take your hand off my body!”
Fwoosh!
Another fireball rose above the monk’s hand.
If I took that hit, I would turn to ash in an instant.
But.
‘It’s time.’
Fwoosh.
Pssht.
The fireball hovering above the monk’s hand gradually faded away.
“…Huh? What is this…”
Blood was dripping from the monk’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
‘Poison!’
Using the sword gang to break his defensive talisman had been merely incidental.
The real thing was the fierce poison I had coated my blade with.
I smiled wickedly at the startled monk and, holding his ankle, pulled him forcefully.
He stumbled and fell.
“A-anti… detox…”
The monk’s hand reached toward his pocket.
Thud!
But I reached out and knocked his pocket away.
“Kk, kkruk…”
Foam began rising from the monk’s mouth.
And the monk clasped his hands together as if forming a seal.
‘You know how to do that?’
Come on. Watch this.
Thud! Thud!
I poured every last bit of strength into the monk’s body and climbed on top of him.
And I stuffed my crushed hand into the mouth of the monk who was chanting a spell.
“Kuh, kuhek! Keok!”
He could not speak.
At the same time, I pressed down on the monk’s hands with my body weight.
“U-use… your techniques…!”
The Heavenly Venerable, unable to speak or chant, writhed and tried to throw me off.
But even after exhausting all my internal energy, my body—trained for years—would not allow his resistance.
The monk, sensing his life was in danger, began biting the hand inside his mouth.
With the monk’s desperate teeth sinking in, sharp pain flared.
But I looked into the monk’s eyes and grinned.
“I was prepared to lose my hand a long time ago. Keep going.”
“Kk, kkeuup…!”
After spilling blood from his mouth for a while, the monk struggled and died.
The monk’s corpse was no different from the bodies of the criminals he had casually killed his whole life.
His death was equal for everyone.
Pass…
His defensive talisman collapsed.
The guards, who had been watching from outside the monk’s black barrier, rushed toward me.
The black barrier the monk had set vanished, and I lost consciousness for the last time.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room.
And there was the director smoking a cigar beside me.
“Hmm, you’re awake.”
“…Yes. By the way, can I smoke a long cigarette here beside the patient?”
“What nonsense. Cigarettes are healthy medicinal herbs.”
‘Damn it, what is this talking about.’
I had momentarily forgotten we were in a world at medieval level.
“By the way, what happened to the monk?”
“What are you asking, Captain Seo Eun-hyun. He died neatly. I reported to His Majesty that you sacrificed your body like a scarecrow to kill the monk, so there is no need to worry.”
“Another mission completed today.”
I nodded and checked my condition.
My right hand still had no feeling, my internal energy was a little damaged in many places, but it was stable.
All the places where the monk’s dagger had stabbed me had healed.
“His Majesty sent imperial physicians to treat you. Please show your gratitude for the grace.”
“The imperial physicians healed me perfectly. I would like to learn their medical skill.”
I let out a small sigh of admiration for the physicians’ skill and circulated my internal energy once around.
Lying on the bed, my body, which had felt dull, felt a little refreshed.
“And your right hand…”
The director gazed at my right hand for a moment and trailed off.
After a while of silence, he spoke again.
“…It can be used, but it won’t be the same as before, according to the physician. It hasn’t fully healed yet, so don’t exert yourself.”
Of course. It was the hand the monk had stomped and chewed.
Honestly, I hadn’t thought it would be fine.
“It doesn’t matter. Actually, I was prepared when it was stomped. Just knowing I can use it is reassuring.”
“…Yes. Positive. Good. And His Majesty, having admired your spirit, decided to bestow a reward. Since the dark guards cannot receive an official commendation, please relay this to me.
Now, in the name of His Majesty the Emperor, I bestow a reward upon the dark guard captain Seo Eun-hyun.”
Upon hearing those words, I rose from the bed and knelt before him.
“His Majesty commands that because dark guard captain Seo Eun-hyun threw his body to protect the sacred throne, he shall not forget the heavy sense of responsibility, and so I bestow a reward.”
“I bestow the Heavenly Void Pill, made using materials such as the Foundation Establishment Pill that Heavenly Venerables are said to eat. Receive it with utmost gratitude, Seo Eun-hyun.”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!”
Soon I received a small silk box from the director.
Inside the box was a small pill glowing red.
“Hmm, they say… it is a Foundation Establishment Pill made by removing only the essence from the one eaten by Foundation Establishment monks. I don’t know what it means. And…”
Upon hearing the director’s words, I roughly understood what kind of pill this was.
‘It’s a waste pill.’
Having worked in the imperial court, I had made elixirs a few times.
And after alchemists made elixirs, they usually collected the dregs left after the medicinal effects had been extracted and called them waste pills.
Normally they were sold as hangover remedies or to counterfeit mages.
‘And the fancy name for these waste pills is the pill made by removing the essence from the original elixir. The alchemists’ secret code, but I see….’
Even if the Heavenly Venerables ate elixirs, what effect could a waste pill made from exhausted dregs have?
‘The emperor has a somewhat petty side after all.’
At that moment.
“…They say the effect of this pill extends the lifespan of those who eat it by about ten years.”
“…T-ten years?”
I asked in bewilderment.
A pill made from only dregs extending life by ten years?
Then, oddly, the color of the pill seemed different.
‘Amazing…’
I accepted the pill and put it in my pocket.
I could see the director’s eyes gleaming with envy.
But no matter how tempting the pill, I could not reject the emperor’s gift.
“I will take it when my meridians are stable.”
Of course, I would take it not when my meridians were stable, but when my life was nearly over.
That way I could confirm the effect properly.
‘Even if I eat it slowly, there will be no problem.’
“Yes, always remember the emperor’s grace.”
After speaking, the director left my room.
‘As expected, the imperial court has good benefits.’
Ten years.
A full ten years!
I would gain ten more years of life.
I praised my decision to enter the imperial court and lay back on the bed, closing my eyes.
Carrying the expectation that this life would turn out well.
* * *
‘…Damn it.’
Ten days had passed.
My body had healed, and I was holding the sword for training.
It hurt.
The sensation of my hand holding the sword was no longer as sharp as before, and pain continuously surged from my hand every time I gripped it tightly.
‘Crap, if it’s like this, it will severely affect when I swing the sword…’
I clenched my teeth and swung the sword while executing the Danak Sword Art.
From the first style to the twenty-fourth style.
Clang!
I couldn’t bear the pain from my hand and dropped the sword.
‘Damn it, it hurts!’
It was too painful.
‘Can I not even hold a sword?’
I glared at the sword on the floor.
I am a swordsman.
A swordsman cannot hold a sword because of pain in his hand.
That means.
‘Is my martial power at its limit here?’
Of course, I could still fight.
My vision as a peak martial artist remained sharp, my internal energy still formidable, and I had also mastered many hidden techniques, so I could continue as dark guard captain.
However.
‘In this life, I can no longer… master the sword?’
I could no longer hold the sword.
I was finished as a swordsman.
“…No.”
I reached for the dropped sword.
“That’s not it.”
The moment I grasped the sword hilt, horrific pain surged from my hand.
It hurts.
Too painful.
But…
‘Being unable to hold a sword will make life even more painful.’
I would continue to train with the sword.
Because the sword was the foundation of my martial power.
And I would definitely.
‘Reach the next realm!’
Ignoring the screaming hand, I once again executed the Danak Sword Art.
From the first style to the twenty-fourth style of the Danak Sword Art.
This time, I did not drop the sword.
“…Even when I maintained sword qi every day to enter the peak realm, even when I trained my ability to process information, even when I became familiar with the world of peak martial artists in the peak realm.”
Pain had always accompanied me.
After all, it was a life full of pain.
What would it matter if this much pain was added to such a life?
I.
“Will not give up!”
I would definitely rise in realm!
* * *
Three months after dealing with the monk.
I received a letter from Kim Young-hoon.
The content was that, following the information I had given him, he had gone to the Heavenly Venerable Clan’s residence and fought them, asking questions.
However, the Heavenly Venerable Clans I had told him about were too low in skill and rank, so they knew nothing about the disappearance of the commoners.
—So I will receive information from the Heavenly Venerable Clan I defeated about where the higher ones live and challenge those of higher realms. I will contact you again later.
I burned the letter Kim Young-hoon had sent into the furnace and thought about his realm.
‘Where will Kim Young-hoon reach in this life?’
In past lives, he had only cut off the hands of Foundation Establishment monks, but in the life immediately before this one, he had succeeded in breaking the arms of Foundation Establishment monks.
‘In this life, will he go a little further? A little further?’
Where was the limit of his martial talent?
I was curious about it and copied the locations of other Heavenly Venerable Clans from the letter to send to Kim Young-hoon.
* * *
Ten more years passed.
The thirtieth year since my regression.
My hand’s pain had become familiar.
And I had become proficient at handling the sword, and my hidden techniques had gradually become part of my body.
And the most important thing was.
‘I was almost reaching the secret the Heavenly Venerables were hiding.’
I read the information Kim Young-hoon had sent and thought.
‘Most Heavenly Venerable Clans lived hidden inside powerful formation techniques that contained strong supernatural powers. Heavenly Venerables with weak powers lived by establishing manors in the commoners’ world, but the direct bloodlines or geniuses of proper Heavenly Venerable Clans lived safe lives inside the formations of their clans.’
And all the Heavenly Venerable Clans I had found so far were extreme low-rank ones of Foundation Establishment one or two stars.
‘However, the Heavenly Venerable Clans’ territories did not only house Heavenly Venerables.’
Commoners lived in the territories of Heavenly Venerable Clans.
Because there was a need for those who served the Heavenly Venerables or performed miscellaneous labor.
And according to the information Kim Young-hoon had sent recently, the one who had been sending peak martial artists to the imperial court all this time was one of the Heavenly Venerable Clans, and they gathered talented commoners inside their territories and raised them to peak martial artists.
‘That is why, even after living through several lives, I had never heard about such peak martial artists. They were all mortals raised inside the Heavenly Venerables’ territories.’
Only then could I understand the parts that had not been clear until now.
‘Then, the commoners deleted from the records probably went inside the Heavenly Venerable Clans’ territories. And probably… they were raised as assassins or lived serving the Heavenly Venerables.’
Understanding the full picture of the incident, I burned the letter Kim Young-hoon had sent.
‘And looking at who had sent the Heavenly Venerables as assassins, probably the conflict between Heavenly Venerable Clans had always been the emperor’s assassination record.’
Now was a good time to focus more on my martial arts and Kim Young-hoon’s actions rather than doubts about the Heavenly Venerable Clans.
At that moment.
Clack!
“…!”
I opened the window in my room, and someone entered.
“Wh-what…! Hyung Kim?”
The midnight visitor was none other than Kim Young-hoon.
“Perfect timing. I had just finished reading and burning the letter you sent last time. Thanks to you learning that there is such a thing as the territory of a Heavenly Venerable Clan…”
“Hm, that letter was sent last month. The transport means in this world are slow, so it arrived late. By the way, I found something worth investigating in the past month, so I came to see you.”
“What do you mean?”
Is it information important enough to warrant breaking into the palace?
I was about to ask when.
Clack.
He closed the window and drew his sword, slashing the air several times.
Swoosh, swoosh!
It looked like he was cutting something invisible.
“I paused for a while because I sensed some suspicious talismans. Anyway, let me tell you. There are two Heavenly Venerable Clans in this nation.”
“Yes, I saw it in the letter you sent. One is the Makri clan, the current imperial clan. The other is…”
“The former emperor of this country, the Jin clan.”
Kim Young-hoon’s explanation continued.
“The Makri clan and the Jin clan have been fighting secretly for several centuries to monopolize this country. And a century ago, the Jin clan, which had ruled the country for a long time, was driven out, and the Makri clan officially took the nation.
After the Makri clan took the country, the power of the Jin clan greatly diminished. And recently, the Jin clan began bringing in commoners and raising them to peak martial artists to assassinate the emperor.”
“Yes, I already know that from the letter Hyung sent.”
“Yes, the important part comes next. Why were they able to raise commoners to peak martial artists, Jin clan? How did they produce so many peak martial artists like that?”
“Um… didn’t they push the body to the limit with methods that damage their vitality?”
The assassins I had seen so far had all appeared healthy on the surface, but upon examination after killing them, they had all massively consumed innate true qi.
In short, the Heavenly Venerable Clans that sent assassins brought in commoners, forcibly triggered their innate true qi, shortened their lifespans, and used extreme methods to awaken their talent.
“Yes, that is one thing. But the Jin clan inserted the grudges of their families into the bodies of the assassins, drawing out all their vitality and will, and awakened their talent to the extreme.”
“Grudges of the family? Did they kill the families of the assassins and put them inside their bodies?”
I frowned.
But Kim Young-hoon shook his head.
“No, no. The Jin clan did not kill the families of the assassins. The one who killed them was the current imperial clan. The Makri clan behind the imperial clan.”
“Yes…?”
His explanation continued.
“For the past twenty or thirty years, the Makri clan gathered orphans, beggars, and poor farmers. While some were intended to be sent to the Heavenly Venerable Clans’ territories for labor, over ninety percent were used elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere…?”
Kim Young-hoon’s face darkened.
After hesitating for a moment, he bit his lip and said.
“Medicine.”
Fierce rage filled his eyes.
“The Makri clan gathered the refined blood and innate true qi of commoners and created an immortal pill to extend the lifespan of the Heavenly Venerables! And to secure the materials for this pill, they gathered the commoners who could be discarded without issue and would not affect society and fed them into the pills!”
“…!”
I froze in shock.
“W-what…?”
Did they make medicine from the refined blood and vitality of commoners?
“Isn’t that… isn’t that cannibalism?”
“Yes, exactly. Those bastards are eating people!”
I burst into a hollow laugh in bewilderment.
Since it was a medieval civilization, there were occasionally evil sects or demons who ate human flesh, such as pickled human intestines.
Of course, such villains were quickly suppressed and treated as beasts, whether righteous or evil.
But what about the Heavenly Venerables?
‘They were the ones who said they would rise to heaven and cultivate the dao?’
Not evil sects or demons, but Heavenly Venerables doing such disgusting things?
Ugh, ugh!
I could not hold back the rising nausea and opened the toilet in the room and vomited.
“The Heavenly Venerables who were investigating the Makri clan contacted me. They offered me an opportunity and asked if I would not join them in attacking the Makri clan.”
He gritted his teeth and continued.
“I accepted their offer. Those filthy bastards who eat people must not live any longer!! If those bastards rule this country, we cannot stand it!
I visited the various martial sects, told a few close friends this fact, and gathered the experts who shared my will.
Eun-hyun, come with us. If the Jin clan rises again as the emperor of the nation, the filthy Makri clan will be a little better than the Heavenly Venerables!”
I stared at him blankly for a moment.
Kim Young-hoon’s eyes were overflowing with dense killing intent.
I had never seen him that angry.
“…Yes. I will join.”
I gathered important things from my room.
Since I had heard the truth, I could not bring myself to pledge loyalty to this horrific emperor.
That day, I left the imperial court with Kim Young-hoon.