Chapter 35
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: In Shaanxi (2)
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Being surrounded by the Kunlun and Kongtong sects... he truly could have died.
‘Until now, I had never thought my life was in danger.’
It wasn't the first time he'd fought since learning martial arts.
There had been the attack by the masked men, and he'd also fought Gye Buil and Mok Jagyeong.
But when fighting them, he had completely dismissed the thought of losing his life.
He'd tried to think of it as a real battle, but it couldn't be called one.
‘I could have died.’
The blades flashing before his eyes.
The Twin Elders of Kongtong, who could be called masters, along with Master Heo Un and Master Heo Seong.
Just recalling the fight against them made the hair on his body stand on end.
He had been tense, afraid, anxious, and terrified.
But more than anything...
‘It was fun.’
It was exhilarating.
It was a situation where the slightest mistake could have meant death.
And yet, it was incredibly thrilling.
“Hoo.”
Jinmyeong let out a long breath and stared at his hands.
They were trembling.
‘Excitement? Or fear?’
Perhaps it was a mixture of both emotions.
The thrill that his martial arts were effective, and the fear that he could die.
‘Though it feels closer to excitement.’
Right.
Let's be honest.
When the Daoists of the Kongtong or Kunlun sects died by his sword control, he felt a sense of euphoria.
That euphoria undoubtedly peaked when he defeated Gok Yang, one of the Twin Elders of Kongtong.
‘Is this why everyone is so crazy about martial arts and seeks to fight strong opponents? That so-called fighting spirit, or whatever it is.’
When he read novels, martial artists just seemed like people obsessed with fighting, but now that he was one himself, Jinmyeong was feeling something similar.
‘I want to fight more.’
He wanted to fight more masters like the Twin Elders of Kongtong or Master Heo Un.
He wanted to see just how many more powerful masters he could face with the martial arts he'd struggled to master.
‘I think I'm starting to understand how to fight.’
His Sword Control Arts and Heavenly Demon Finger, which hadn't been very effective until now, had worked.
He felt he understood how he should fight, how to make his Sword Control Arts effective.
‘I've been using them too separately without realizing it.’
The combination of Sword Control Arts and the Heavenly Demon Finger.
It was something he had considered from the beginning.
But perhaps because the protagonist in the original novel didn't use Sword Control Arts much and only used the Heavenly Demon Finger as a threat, he had subconsciously used them the same way.
‘It's hard to use them in combination.’
It was harder than he thought to attack using multiple martial arts simultaneously.
He thought he was combining the Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts and the Heavenly Demon Finger well, but he wasn't.
When he used his Sword Control Arts and then attacked with the Heavenly Demon Finger, or used the Asura Sword Forms, his controlled swords would falter.
‘Did it only work because those masked men weren't that strong?’
Jinmyeong recalled the masked men who had attacked him when he first returned after learning martial arts.
The masked men were probably so weak that Jinmyeong's martial arts had been effective.
‘I should get out soon.’
It seemed he had been organizing his thoughts for quite a while.
The hot water had turned lukewarm.
Jinmyeong stepped out of the bathtub, dried himself with a prepared cloth, and put on his clothes.
‘Should I look around a bit?’
Jinmyeong left his room.
Escort agencies appeared in the novel, but they were never the main stage.
There were many men who looked like escorts, and a considerable number of carriages and horses.
It wasn't exactly the same, but Jinmyeong was reminded of the delivery services from his past life.
“Finally arrived?”
“To just tell us to come without any explanation.”
Voices filled with complaint reached Jinmyeong's ears.
‘Judging by the noise, it seems those guys have arrived.’
The only ones who would chatter so loudly were Jang Hu and Gye Buil.
And Jinmyeong's guess was correct.
‘Were those two always that close?’
He had seen them go out drinking together back in Qinghai, and seeing them arrive together now, it seemed they were on good terms.
“Hm! You were here too?”
Gye Buil, having spotted Jinmyeong, scowled.
‘I heard he got stronger, but...’
Jang Hu quietly observed Jinmyeong.
He hadn't seen it clearly because he was too far away, but he had seen him fight the Twin Elders of Kongtong.
Not just facing them, but defeating them.
“I suppose the Twin Elders of Kongtong weren't as strong as their reputation suggests, huh?”
“You can think that if you want.”
Unlike the pensive Jang Hu, Gye Buil was picking a fight with Jinmyeong.
Jinmyeong grinned at Gye Buil.
Gye Buil flinched at the grin.
“Next time, I'll have to see just how much stronger you've become, Junior Brother.”
He wanted to test his skills.
Disregarding Jinmyeong?
He knew he couldn't do that anymore.
Beating Gye Buil was one thing, but the Twin Elders of Kongtong and the Cloud Dragon Sword were another.
‘If his skills are actually decent, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull him in.’
Jang Hu was actually thinking of pulling Jinmyeong over to his side.
“With the Senior Brother who couldn't even beat the disciple of the Kunlun Sect Leader?”
At Jinmyeong's words, Jang Hu's eyebrow twitched.
“I heard you were good at getting under people's skin. It's really true.”
But Jang Hu's reaction was very different from what Jinmyeong had expected.
Jang Hu was actually looking at Jinmyeong with eyes full of interest.
‘Was this his personality?’
It was Jinmyeong who looked at Jang Hu with a puzzled expression.
‘The memories from the original body don't seem very helpful.’
The memories the original Jinmyeong had of his senior brothers.
In truth, they weren't very helpful.
That was inevitable, as the only memories that came to mind were of them all ignoring Jinmyeong.
There wasn't a single memory of having a conversation with them.
‘I thought he had almost no patience.’
Seeing how he constantly clashed with Taeheo Shinryong on Mount Kunlun and in Qinghai, he hadn't expected this kind of personality.
‘He's arrogant and insolent, but that doesn't mean he's just blindly prideful.’
Usually, in novels, arrogant and insolent characters were often depicted as hasty, impatient, and only possessing strong pride.
But on second thought, Jang Hu was arrogant and prideful, but not hasty.
“How about it, Junior Brother? We can postpone the match for later. How about a drink together?”
Jinmyeong quietly watched Jang Hu, who still hadn't let his smile fade.
‘Normally, his pride would be wounded, and he'd keep trying to pick a fight.’
Jinmyeong had disregarded Jang Hu.
He had even said that while he himself had defeated the Twin Elders of Kongtong, Jang Hu couldn't even defeat a single member of the younger generation.
No matter how many other Kunlun disciples were beside Taeheo Shinryong, Jang Hu's pride was bound to be hurt.
And yet, he wasn't agitated at all.
“So, your answer?”
“I refuse.”
Jinmyeong didn't like drinking enough to have a drink with Jang Hu, with whom he wasn't even close.
Besides, wasn't Jang Hu's intention too obvious?
“Refusing? How harsh. To not understand this heart that wants to have a drink with our youngest brother after so long.”
Watching Jang Hu's exaggerated reaction, Jinmyeong's mind raced.
‘Come to think of it, is this a bad idea? This guy might be better than Mok Jagyeong.’
No matter how he thought about it, Mok Jagyeong was suspicious.
It was already strange for the current Heavenly Demon, still young and strong, to be looking for a successor, and his actions here were also suspicious.
‘He seemed like someone who wanted to clash with the Kunlun Sect no matter what.’
Jinmyeong couldn't erase that thought.
‘He wasn't afraid even if the result led to war.’
In fact, he seemed to welcome it.
Of course, this was a very extreme assumption.
‘It might not be a bad idea to make this guy the Young Cult Leader instead of Mok Jagyeong.’
The thought suddenly occurred to him.
He had been trying to become the Young Cult Leader to avoid the destruction of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but that wasn't the only path.
After all, the reason Jinmyeong wanted to become the Young Cult Leader was for the right to speak.
‘If I become this man's confidant...’
And if he made Jang Hu the Young Cult Leader, he would still have a voice.
Jang Hu, having become the Young Cult Leader through his power, would find it difficult to ignore Jinmyeong's words.
‘This guy seems better than the insidious Mok Jagyeong.’
He couldn't support the inscrutable Mok Jagyeong.
‘If I make this guy the Young Cult Leader, I won't have to worry about the endgame.’
Jinmyeong always worried about what he would have to do in the end if he became the Young Cult Leader.
He had never stood above others.
He didn't have the confidence to lead the countless people of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, unlike leading one or two subordinates at a company.
‘No. As long as the current Heavenly Demon doesn't die, there's nothing to worry about, right?’
As long as the current Heavenly Demon doesn't die, he will continue to be the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, won't he?
‘So, before the Cult Leader dies, I can just raise another disciple and hand over the position.’
In any case, that's a story for later.
“Senior Brother.”
“Hm?”
Jang Hu, who was about to turn away, stopped.
“Is that offer from before still valid?”
“Offer?”
“The offer to have a drink together.”
“Hmm. It is still valid.”
Jang Hu smiled and nodded.
“But our youngest brother is so impudent that I'm suddenly reluctant to invite him.”
“If you don't want to, then forget it.”
Jinmyeong turned away without any lingering attachment.
He had only intended to observe Jang Hu anyway, not necessarily to join hands with him.
“Aha. Junior Brother, you're quite hasty.”
Jang Hu quickly grabbed Jinmyeong's shoulder.
“First, unpack your things and wash up, then we'll have a drink together. I'll send someone for you.”
The corners of Jang Hu's mouth were trembling slightly.
“Whatever.”
After making plans with Jang Hu, Jinmyeong returned to his room.
‘Is there something I can gain from this mission?’
After sitting cross-legged on the bed, Jinmyeong began to circulate the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame.
At the same time, he began to wonder if there were any fortuitous encounters he could gain from this mission.
‘As for the fortuitous encounter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I found it at once because I was really lucky, but...’
In the novel, the locations of these encounters were rarely described in detail.
Except for the ones obtained from sects or clans, most were in places like mountains or cliffs.
‘It's a relief if even the name of a mountain in the region is mentioned.’
There were even fortuitous encounters on nameless mountains in certain regions.
Jinmyeong decided to completely exclude the encounters in such places.
‘The most important place is the Green Forest's main headquarters.’
As soon as he thought of the Green Forest's headquarters, a mountain named Green Forest Mountain came to mind.
‘Many spiritual herbs lie dormant there.’
Of course, the protagonist only managed to obtain a few of them.
Because the rest were hidden.
Jinmyeong planned to obtain those hidden ones.
‘The location is between Hubei and Hunan.’
On that mountain, the original protagonist discovered the place after being defeated by the Green Forest's chieftain and falling off a cliff.
‘A place that even the Wudang Sect and the Zhuge Clan can't touch carelessly.’
In this novel, the Green Forest is a very powerful faction.
Despite the Wudang Sect and the Zhuge Clan being in Hubei, they couldn't attack the Green Forest.
Furthermore, since they belonged to the Heretical Alliance, the Righteous Alliance couldn't make a move either.
If they touched them carelessly, a war between the righteous and heretical factions could break out.
‘It was in the early to mid-part of the story, but the protagonist was in danger of dying.’
Not only is their faction strong, but their chieftain is also a considerable master.
It wasn't the first time the protagonist had been defeated, but the greatest crisis in the early stages was the confrontation with the chieftain.
‘Anyway, I can't go right now, but if I get the chance, I must go to Green Forest Mountain.’
There, he had to avoid the eyes of the Green Forest bandits and obtain the fortuitous encounter.
It seemed like it would be a very difficult task.
“Sixth Young Master.”
Hearing the voice from outside, Jinmyeong stopped circulating his energy and got up from the bed.