Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: The God-Demon Extermination Method
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"Calm down a bit?"
The sound of her breathing grated on his ears. Wi Seong-cheon frowned as he looked ahead.
"What did I do?"
"Get your breathing under control first, then answer."
Her words were still coming through clearly enough. Baek Ri-hyang took a deep breath and nodded. It couldn't be helped.
She had finally achieved the promotion she'd longed for, becoming one of the Six Saints and riding in a carriage toward the center. It was something Baek Ri-hyang had dreamed of countless times.
"Now that you're calm, keep going with the story."
[...The God-Demon Extermination Method?]
Wi Seong-cheon nodded. They were still on the road to the center, so he wanted to hear the rest of yesterday's tale. Yesterday, after returning from the forest... he had washed up first.
He scrubbed for a long time. It wasn't as if the smell of blood had soaked into his body, but Wi Seong-cheon vigorously rubbed his hands, elbows, knees—the parts he'd used to kill with.
After that, he slept. He'd thought he might have nightmares or be unable to sleep, but surprisingly, he slept soundly.
[This is a story from before I even grasped my own limits.]
The discussion of the God-Demon Extermination Method proceeded via sound transmission. The one driving the carriage was a member of the Black Demon King's elite guard, the Mingbu Nachal, but talk of the Black Demon King's unique martial arts was not something to voice aloud.
[It was when I first started learning martial arts. Looking back now, Father had already realized I lacked the talent he expected of me... so he paid me almost no attention.]
But Baek Ri-hyang had been young then. She was only six years old. She hadn't fully realized that her father showed her no particular affection or interest.
Still, children have their instincts, and Baek Ri-hyang acted like any child. She openly begged for attention and did things to draw it.
[So at the time, I said it outright. I wanted to inherit Father's unique art, the God-Demon Extermination Method. And Father replied like this.]
The basics blend composure, breath control, and energy circulation.
The First Form is a point. The Second Form is a line. The Third Form is a plane. The Fourth Form is nothingness.
It seeks perfect unity without pursuing oneness. It clarifies the self amid selflessness. It fills infinity with the tip of a fine brush.
[...What the hell does that even mean?]
[I don't know.]
Baek Ri-hyang frowned.
[I still don't get what it means now, so how could six-year-old me? Father saw I had no response... but he wasn't disappointed at all. He hadn't expected anything from me in the first place.]
But Baek Ri-hyang didn't give up. So every morning, she watched the Black Demon King practice. It was a privilege granted only to her in the Black Snake Union. No one else was allowed to see the Black Demon King at his training.
[I started to understand a little. The First Form is a point, the Second a line, the Third a plane. Just as the words suggest. You create points, lines, and planes with qi.]
[A point would be something like Finger Bullet or Qi Sphere, right?]
[...If I had to compare it, it's stars. Father's God-Demon Extermination Method can create a night sky with qi. Can you imagine it?]
Baek Ri-hyang thought it was an easy analogy, but Wi Seong-cheon couldn't picture it.
[That's the First Form of the God-Demon Extermination Method. The Second Form is lines... Countless qi whips, to put it simply.]
[Whips?]
[Yeah.]
Baek Ri-hyang clasped her hands together. Then she thrust them out in front of Wi Seong-cheon, wiggling her fingers independently.
"...What are you doing?"
[Something like this.]
[Whips, you said?]
[They writhe too.]
He still couldn't visualize it.
[The Third Form's plane. When I saw that, I knew I'd never be Father's disciple. I just told you—he can create a night sky with qi. If the points of the First Form make stars, the plane of the Third Form makes the sky itself.]
[...And the Fourth Form?]
[I don't know.]
Baek Ri-hyang shook her head.
[I saw it, but... no... did I? I don't remember. I must have seen it, but nothing was there.]
So that's the nothingness.
[Perfect unity without pursuing oneness. Clarifying the self in selflessness. Filling infinity with a fine brush tip... It all sounds contradictory. Wasn't he just spouting fancy nonsense to make you give up?]
[Father isn't like that.]
[True. The Black Demon King wouldn't beat around the bush to make someone quit.]
[...How would you know what Father's like?]
Baek Ri-hyang's eyes sharpened. Wi Seong-cheon snorted and opened his mouth.
"He's a petty, undignified sort of man."
"You!"
Baek Ri-hyang shot up in outrage. But she couldn't deny his words outright, so she sat back down, breathing heavily.
"...I know Father gave you that iron plaque. You planning to use it this time?"
"I'm thinking about it."
Wi Seong-cheon scratched his chin as he replied. The iron plaque from the Black Demon King. Using it would grant an audience with him, no matter the reason.
An audience, nothing more. You could state your business, but whether he listened was up to the Black Demon King.
"There's plenty I'd want to ask him face-to-face."
"The Black Heaven Young Master?"
"He probably knows more than I do. But I doubt the Black Demon King would answer even if I asked."
[...That plaque. Can't you hand it over?]
"Why? You want it?"
Baek Ri-hyang bit her lip without answering.
"You can see him anytime you want."
"...For how much longer?"
Baek Ri-hyang murmured as she gazed out the window. When they first arrived at the Black Forest, Wi Seong-cheon had seen Baek Ri-hyang and the Black Demon King from the ship. Even to him, it looked like the Black Demon King had no affection for her.
An uncomfortable silence followed. Fortunately, the carriage soon came to a stop.
The door opened. Wi Seong-cheon stepped out with Baek Ri-hyang and glanced at the carriage beside theirs.
Ten blood tags had appeared in the city.
An unprecedented number, yet they were all cleared in a single night. Only two saints had earned promotion from it.
Black Swan Baek Ri-hyang.
Crimson Turban Radiant Axe Na Un.
True to his moniker, the man had his entire face wrapped in bright red cloth. Not just his face.
His whole body was tightly swathed in cloth, yet he wore clothes over it.
A faint scent of blood wafted from him. Was it from the blood soaked into the red cloth? Or had the slaughter of last night seeped the stench into his very bones? Perhaps both.
Wi Seong-cheon had only killed Shura White Sword and his gang before returning to the city.
But Crimson Turban Radiant Axe had slain every blood tag. The Weightless Black Leopard and his crew, drawn by Shura White Sword's screams, fell first to Crimson Turban Radiant Axe. Then he hunted down the blood tags hiding throughout the forest.
"Want to get friendly?"
Wi Seong-cheon asked with a sly smile. But Crimson Turban Radiant Axe didn't respond. With his entire face bound in cloth, only his eyes were visible. Mouth and nose completely covered—how he breathed was a mystery.
Crimson Turban Radiant Axe stared at Wi Seong-cheon for a moment before turning away. He entered the central gate first.
"No one knows his origins except Father."
"Not even rumors or guesses?"
"Who knows his face? Guesses say he's hideously scarred from burns or illness, so he wraps himself in red cloth. And in the process, he lost his voice."
"Could just be the quiet type."
They chatted as they headed to the gate with Baek Ri-hyang. There, Wi Seong-cheon briefly pondered what expression to wear. Familiar presences emanated from beyond the gate.
"...You're popular."
"Jealous?"
"Not at all."
Baek Ri-hyang frowned. Wi Seong-cheon chuckled and straightened his gait.
Beyond the gate, familiar faces crowded, waiting for him.
* * *
Three days after the students arrived at the center.
It had been quiet. The Black Tyrants didn't encroach on each other, instead assessing the forces of their allied students or staying silent.
The Black Tyrants saw no need to clash yet. There was no reason to. Their true target was the Black Heaven Young Master, and there was no immediate gain in moving now.
Acting first might just give the other Black Tyrants a fisherman's chance.
Wi Seong-cheon heard such reports after sending Baek Ri-hyang to the mansion first. The Black Tyrants hadn't come to greet him personally, but the students allied with them passed on the word.
"Four days from now."
Treasures tempting enough to move the Black Tyrants would be scattered. The forest between the city and center would be the treasure hunt's stage.
"Hard to say if the Black Heaven Young Master in the outer forest will show, but if he doesn't, it'll just be infighting among us."
"Planning to yield?"
"Too many tempting prizes for that."
They both smiled. Despite his words, Wi Seong-cheon had no intention of yielding either.
"Jade Qilin's got the most numbers, right?"
"No real substance."
Bang Jun grumbled. Jade Qilin hadn't allied with any Dragon-Phoenix, but he'd recruited quite a few students, including Bang Jun.
"You'd be shocked if you knew what kind of revelry went down in his Abang Palace over two days."
"Lucky bastard, must've had a blast."
"What nonsense. I didn't join Jade Qilin because I was blinded by lust. I joined because he looked hopeless."
Bang Jun shook his head with a look of disgust.
"But it exceeded expectations. They call it a lecher demon sect for a reason..."
"You must've had fun too."
"I didn't. Which woman would want to roll around with a beggar?"
"Don't you want to roll around?"
"I said no. You'd have to wash up after, and I hate washing."
Wi Seong-cheon wasn't sure how to respond to that stubbornness. Was it integrity?
"How's Black Swan?"
"Annoying, but not a nasty personality."
Paeng Yeon-hwa wasn't thrilled with the answer. She drooped her tail and stared sullenly at Wi Seong-cheon.
"You two looked close."
"Gotta stick together for the next half year. How about you? Zhuge Young Master treating you okay?"
"He's keeping his distance on his own. Grateful for that."
"Mad Dog did the same. Thought he'd be a thug with a name like that."
"In my eyes, he's testing the waters. Once the treasure hunt starts in four days, Mad Dog'll be the most frantic."
Bang Jun sneered.
"Have to leave the center once it begins."
Like the city, fights were forbidden in the center. The difference? No blood tags appeared here.
But if treasures were hidden in the forest outside... the saints who'd competed here for so long would clash in earnest.
"Junior, got a treasure you're after?"
"If I had to pick, maybe a spirit medicine? Not sure if I'll find one."
Wi Seong-cheon smiled faintly as he answered.
"You're after the Infinite Lotus Sword, right, Senior?"
"If I can find it. If you beat me to it, Junior, I'll take it by force."
"Better watch out so I don't find it."
U Ha-yeon giggled at the playful reply.
"More importantly, Junior. What's with all the looking around since earlier? Looking for something?"
"Just... curious."
U Ha-yeon was sharp about such things. Wi Seong-cheon brushed it off vaguely as he thought,
'Found it.'
Blood Palace.
Wi Seong-cheon pointed to the crimson fortress and asked.
"What's that? One of the Black Tyrants' places?"
"Better not get interested."
Bang Jun's face soured.
"That's the White Flame Witch's palace."
The Ten Villains of the Evil Faction were serving as instructors in the Black Forest for now. Excluding the Black Demon King, students from Seven Star Saint level could seek teachings from Green Forest Demon Emperor, White Flame Witch, or Heaven Slaughter.
Yet only the White Flame Witch lived in the Black Forest. But no Seven Star Saint from past generations had ever received her guidance.
Even Black Dragon Sangwan Hu, the current Seven Star Saint, was no exception. He'd sought her out multiple times after becoming one, but the White Flame Witch never once met him.
'What to do about this.'
Wi Seong-cheon's brows furrowed.
The place from Anannai's memories was deep inside Blood Palace.