Chapter 102: The Secret of Former Alliance Leader Baek Hyang-muk (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: The Secret of Former Alliance Leader Baek Hyang-muk (2)
I doubted my own ears at Baek Hyang-muk’s words.
—What is he talking about?
My thoughts exactly.
Lee Jung-gyeom is the Killing Fiend Jue Xin? What on earth did that mean?
Even though I tried to stay calm, I couldn't help but be shocked.
‘That’s impossible...’
Before my regression, Lee Jung-gyeom was a new hero who symbolized the Orthodox Faction. Even now, though he had been eclipsed by my reputation, he was still a young talent representing the Martial Alliance.
The idea of him being Jue Xin made no sense.
I had encountered Lee Jung-gyeom several times, but I had never felt anything suspicious from him.
His energy was pure, and although his tone was always lethargic and he seemed bothered by everything, he was more upright than most other members of the Orthodox Faction.
The claim that such a man was the butcher known as the worst of the worst was preposterous.
—You never know. If people found out you were the Blood Demon, it would cause an uproar, so it’s not like someone else couldn't be hiding a secret too.
This is completely different.
Of course, I haven't faced Lee Jung-gyeom since reaching my current realm, but I did open my Golden Eye while blindfolded during the Young Sect Leader exam for the Wind Shadow Eight Streams Sect at Peerless Fortress.
The Killing Fiend Jue Xin is one of the five strongest among the Twelve Superhumans.
I had caught a glimpse of Lee Jung-gyeom back then, and his internal energy was at the Supreme Peak Realm—no more, no less.
—Really?
Isn't it obvious?
Of course, at that time, I hadn't crossed the Wall myself, so I might not have been able to gauge him perfectly. But if he had truly crossed the Wall into the Realm of Superhumans, he would have appeared as nothing but pure light.
Furthermore, the most decisive discrepancy was the timing of his activities.
Jue Xin first appeared only about three years after the Great Orthodox-Evil War ended.
—Oh. You’re right. Isn't he in his twenties?
I didn't know his exact age either.
I only knew he was somewhere between his early and mid-twenties.
Even if I generously assumed he was twenty-five, seventeen years ago he would have been only eight years old.
Could an eight-year-old child suddenly appear in Guizhou Province, massacre over two hundred villagers, and build a tower out of their severed heads?
Even recalling the various incidents that followed, it made no sense. He had slaughtered martial artists from various sects and gangs, including the Jechang Gate.
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“It is the truth.”
“Truth aside, it makes no sense. Jue Xin first appeared in Guizhou seventeen years ago, and Lee Jung-gyeom is only in his twenties.”
“...That is only natural. Because he is the Jue Xin that came after the previous one.”
“The previous one?”
What did that mean?
As I looked at him in confusion, Baek Hyang-muk sat on a large rock by the valley as if it were a chair.
“It seems the story will be a bit long.”
At the same time.
A house in the Azure Dragon Hall of the Hall Master’s Palace.
Inside his quarters, Lee Jung-gyeom was writing something with a brush.
Or rather, to be precise, he was scribbling something that was neither text nor a drawing.
Lee Jung-gyeom, who had been frantically moving his brush to the point where one might wonder what he was doing, rested his chin on his hand and stared at the paper ruined with ink.
Surprisingly, however, when looking down at the paper, the traces of the brush strokes looked like the remnants of sword techniques.
Even then, rather than simple traces, they were jumbled together in a chaotic mess.
Lee Jung-gyeom looked at it and smirked, seemingly satisfied.
Just then, someone called him from outside.
“Hall Master. Do you have a moment?”
“Ah. I’m coming out.”
With that answer, Lee Jung-gyeom folded the paper in half, extinguished the lamp on his desk, and stepped out of his quarters.
Shortly after, someone cautiously entered the room.
It was a person with their face hidden by a mask.
The masked man began to slowly search the room.
After searching for a long time, the masked man let out a sigh of frustration.
‘It’s not here.’
He had thought ‘it’ might be hidden in the quarters, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
‘I suppose I have no choice but to take him with me.’
Just as he was thinking that, the masked man’s eyes narrowed.
Ever since he entered the room, something subtle coming from the desk had been bothering him.
The masked man unfolded the paper that was folded in half.
Upon seeing it, his pupils trembled slightly.
‘...Could it be that he expressed that duel with ink?’
Unless his eyes were deceiving him, these frantic ink scribbles were undoubtedly the traces of martial forms.
The masked man could not hide his admiration.
‘It would have been nearly invisible to the naked eye, yet he felt the Sword Intent?’
It was astonishing that he had expressed a duel between masters of that caliber with just scribbles on a single sheet of paper.
He had seen many with martial talent, but this was the first time he had seen someone like this. It seemed he possessed eyes that far exceeded his own limits.
‘Does this mean he has the ability to handle it?’
—Flinch!
The masked man folded the paper.
Someone was approaching the room.
Considering the footsteps, the presence, and the energy stimulating his Qi Sense, Lee Jung-gyeom had returned.
‘Good.’
He decided to subdue him and take him now. He couldn't afford to cause a commotion in the Hall Master’s Palace.
The masked man leaped to the ceiling, blending into the shadows and suppressing his presence as much as possible.
Step, step! Creak!
Lee Jung-gyeom opened the door and entered.
He closed the door and walked into the center of the room.
At that moment, the masked man hiding in the shadows of the ceiling dropped down like a lightning bolt and struck his pressure points.
Tap, tap, tap!
Caught by the sudden surprise attack, Lee Jung-gyeom lost consciousness instantly.
‘Without that, he’s still just a fledgling.’
Hoisting him over his shoulder, the masked man quietly slipped out of the room.
“It was around the time the Martial World entered a period of peace after the Great Orthodox-Evil War ended. As you know, that incident broke out in Guizhou Province.”
It was the incident where the Killing Fiend Jue Xin first revealed himself.
He appeared in a village northwest of Guizhou, killed all the civilians, and built a tower with their severed heads.
After that, he committed unspeakable atrocities in various places, including Shaanxi Province.
“As the situation grew increasingly severe, the Alliance eventually cooperated with the authorities’ request and set out to suppress the incident.”
I knew this.
The authorities and the Martial Alliance had joined forces to search for Jue Xin’s whereabouts for five years.
However, I remembered that they ultimately found nothing.
“I heard you failed to catch him?”
At my words, Baek Hyang-muk shook his head.
Did that mean they had found the bastard?
“On a sweltering summer day in the third year of the search, the Alliance found a trace of him. Considering the danger involved, I personally stepped forward.”
The number of victims by then had reached the thousands.
Many masters had stepped up only to be murdered by him, and because of that, he earned a new title among villains.
That was the point when the Three Great Villains became the Four Great Villains again.
“The man, who had never left a trace and never stayed in one place for long, had been staying in a certain village for over fifteen days. I led thirty elite masters and launched a surprise raid on that location.”
He said there was no need to worry about civilians. Everyone there had already been murdered by Jue Xin.
And so, the battle to capture Jue Xin, the worst butcher in modern martial history, began.
“The fight lasted for nearly half a day.”
He tried to fight aggressively, but it wasn't an easy battle even for Baek Hyang-muk.
This was because of Jue Xin’s signature weapon, the demon sword known as the Calamity Slaughter Sword.
Rumors had already spread far and wide that if one were cut even once by the Calamity Slaughter Sword, the bleeding would not stop until they died.
“After the Blood Demon, he used a sword technique so perfect that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the best among the Evil Faction. What made him even harder to deal with was another ability of the Calamity Slaughter Sword.”
“Another ability?”
“Yes. That sword possessed a bizarre power that could disperse and deflect energy like True Qi.”
Ah!
Come to think of it, I remembered something Baek Hye-hyang said after she fought him.
[His ridiculous swordsmanship aside, the bastard deflected most of my attacks as if he were using the Principle of Adherence. Even when his feet weren't touching the ground.]
The First Venerable Dan Wi-gang had said the same thing.
At the time, I simply thought the man’s swordsmanship had reached its peak, but was it actually the ability of the Calamity Slaughter Sword?
If that were true, the Calamity Slaughter Sword was an extremely difficult opponent to face.
“In the end, everyone except me was defeated, but the more we fought, the worse his condition became. Eventually, he showed an opening, and I succeeded in subduing him.”
“Ah...”
Then isn't that different from what the world knows?
Since the Killing Fiend Jue Xin was ultimately subdued by Baek Hyang-muk’s hand.
Baek Hyang-muk let out a lamenting sigh.
“...After subduing him, I should have destroyed that sword or handed it over as the authorities requested. It is too late for regrets, but it is my eternal sorrow.”
“Does that mean, perhaps...”
“While fighting him, greed sprouted within me. I was obsessed with how a man whose internal power was a level below mine could dominate the fight for over half a day solely through his swordsmanship and the power of that demon sword.”
Anyone would have been tempted, not just him.
Baek Hyang-muk, who initially intended to hand him over to the authorities along with the Calamity Slaughter Sword after crippling his martial arts, soon changed his mind.
Once greed takes root, it is not easily settled.
Persuading himself that the Calamity Slaughter Sword would be more dangerous in the hands of the authorities, he executed Jue Xin on the spot.
“And I hid this fact from both the authorities and the Alliance. I figured that since I had killed a legendary murderer, there would be no more problems, and I convinced myself that I was entitled to this much greed.”
“I see.”
I could fully understand up to this point.
Even I wouldn't have given up such an incredible sword.
Wouldn't any swordsman feel the same?
“After disposing of Jue Xin’s body and preparing to leave, I suddenly remembered the words he left before he died.”
“The words he left?”
It was right before Baek Hyang-muk killed him.
[Think of this as the karma for all the slaughter you have committed.]
When he tried to take the man’s head with his sword along with those words, the man supposedly said this:
[It doesn't matter. Because I’ve found the greatest body that will never be seen again.]
Questioning these words, Baek Hyang-muk looked around the village of the dead.
And surprisingly, he said he found a boy in a deserted house not far away.
“With my Qi Sense, it wouldn't have been difficult to find a ten-year-old boy who hadn't even learned martial arts at that distance. But I only found him by chance while walking around.”
That boy had been hiding from Baek Hyang-muk, suppressing his presence.
He had even hidden the minimum amount of energy that ordinary people possess.
At first, he wondered if the boy had learned martial arts.
“But that wasn't it. That child was born in that village and had never even learned martial arts once in his life.”
“And yet he fooled you?”
“I couldn't understand it at first either. But as I observed the child, I came to realize.”
“Realize what?”
“That there are beings in this world born for the sake of Martial Arts.”
“Born for Martial Arts?”
Baek Hyang-muk said in a trembling voice.
“No martial talent I had ever seen—no one called a genius, no one with an extremely superior physique—could compare to that child.”
Just how naturally gifted was he that Baek Hyang-muk couldn't hide his excitement just by thinking about it?
“That child was born with an innate sensitivity to Qi.”
Baek Hyang-muk said he had sent True Qi through the boy’s pulse to check his condition.
But the True Qi that entered the boy’s body supposedly escaped his control.
Furthermore, he said he was struck with horror when he saw the boy discharge the energy from his body as if it had been his own True Qi from the start.
‘...That’s impossible.’
I couldn't hide my shock either.
Is it possible for someone who hasn't learned internal energy to control another person’s Qi?
I was only barely able to control my own Qi after crossing the Wall.
If that were true, it was an unprecedented talent.
“There was nothing to deliberate. I decided I had to take that child in.”
At his words, I frowned and asked.
“Is that child Lee Jung-gyeom?”
“...Yes.”
At Baek Hyang-muk’s answer, I fell silent.
To think that the child he took in on the day he killed the Killing Fiend Jue Xin was Lee Jung-gyeom.
“The child was originally the third son of a dead farmer and was called Asam, but I gave him that name when I took him in.”
Lee Jung-gyeom (李正謙).
He said there was a plum tree at the house where the boy was born.
So he gave him the surname Lee (Plum) and named him Jung-gyeom, meaning to be upright and humble despite possessing extraordinary martial talent.
“After taking the child in and reporting to the authorities that Jue Xin had escaped, I headed to a Taoist sect.”
It was to obtain talismans from the Taoists.
“Because of the sword?”
“Yes. The sword intent of the Calamity Slaughter Sword was strong, but more than that, its demonic energy was too powerful.”
Having had the experience of obtaining and sealing the Blood Demon Sword after the Great Orthodox-Evil War, Baek Hyang-muk felt he needed talismans imbued with Taoist power to suppress the demonic energy of the demon sword.
Since he had obtained the sword without telling the Martial Alliance, he was also worried that if the demonic energy spread and possessed people, it would become a major problem.
“...But that’s when the trouble started.”
While a Taoist was applying the talismans, he was possessed by the demonic nature of the Calamity Slaughter Sword.
And that was the starting point of the problem.
The Taoist possessed by the Calamity Slaughter Sword handed the sword to none other than Lee Jung-gyeom.
“Ha!”
I didn't need to see it to know what happened next.
“Jung-gyeom, seized by the demonic energy of the Calamity Slaughter Sword, slaughtered the Taoists on sight. Fortunately, I discovered this quickly and took the sword from him. However...”
That was when Baek Hyang-muk first realized the severity of the situation.
Although Lee Jung-gyeom had not learned martial arts, he became a considerable master once he was seized by the demonic nature of the Calamity Slaughter Sword.
“I felt an unknown fear for the first time then.”
Possessed by the demonic nature, Lee Jung-gyeom spoke as if he had become the Killing Fiend Jue Xin himself.
He could even perfectly perform the sword techniques that Jue Xin had shown.
The only saving grace was that his physical body couldn't keep up and his internal power was significantly lacking, so he was able to subdue him quickly.
“I thought that was the end of it. But it was only the beginning.”
Lee Jung-gyeom, whose sensitivity was on a completely different level from others, could not easily escape the demonic nature of the Calamity Slaughter Sword.
It was as if there were two personalities inside one body, switching dozens of times a day.
Lee Jung-gyeom himself remembered nothing once he returned to normal, but every time he changed, he sought the Calamity Slaughter Sword. After several days of agonizing, Baek Hyang-muk made a decision.
“I decided to give up the Calamity Slaughter Sword.”
It was because he was certain that the existence known as the Killing Fiend Jue Xin originated from the demonic nature of the Calamity Slaughter Sword.
Having decided to give up the sword, Baek Hyang-muk said he hid it so that it could never fall into anyone’s hands.
“Did you not think of destroying it?”
“Strangely, I tried to have it melted at a blacksmith’s, but the sword would not melt. It wouldn't even break.”
For this reason, Baek Hyang-muk said he put the sword in an iron chest covered in talismans and hid it in a remote area that even masters who had learned martial arts would find difficult to enter.
And the place Baek Hyang-muk headed next was none other than the Wudang Sect.
“The Wudang Sect, being a Taoist sect, has many mysterious martial arts. I remembered hearing that one of them, the Dual Divine Art, could control the mind and divide it in two.”
“Divide the mind in two?”
To think such a bizarre divine art existed.
The world of martial arts is truly vast.
“I believed that Taoist Master Zhongxian, who was proficient in the Dual Divine Art, would be able to drive out the demonic nature that possessed Jung-gyeom and set him right again. That is why I entrusted Jung-gyeom to him.”
Ah...
So that was why Lee Jung-gyeom became a joint successor.
I thought it was just to create a new hero for the Orthodox Faction, but I never knew there was such a story behind it.
“Originally, I intended to bring the child back once he overcame the demonic nature. But the demonic nature of the Calamity Slaughter Sword was so persistent that it was not easily resolved.”
Furthermore, while he showed a terrifying rate of learning for other martial arts, he was unable to achieve great success in the Dual Divine Art.
Because of this, Lee Jung-gyeom had to periodically go to the Wudang Sect and have Taoist Master Zhongxian directly inject the True Qi of the Dual Divine Art into him.
As the years passed like this, Lee Jung-gyeom completely escaped the demonic nature.
The violent and murderous personality no longer appeared.
“When several years had passed like that, I received some bewildering news.”
“...Jue Xin appeared again.”
“That is correct.”
There was a time when Jue Xin disappeared for about four years.
Hearing Baek Hyang-muk now, it seemed that period roughly overlapped.
Baek Hyang-muk let out a long breath and said.
“Just in case, I went to the place where I had hidden the Calamity Slaughter Sword and confirmed that the sword was gone.”
At that, I asked.
“Did Lee Jung-gyeom also know the location of the sword?”
“How could I have told him when that child, possessed by the demonic nature, wanted the sword? Besides, at that time, Jung-gyeom was inside the Wudang Sect’s Hidden Cloud Cave.”
In the Wudang Sect, there is a cave called the Hidden Cloud Cave where not a single speck of light enters.
The young disciples of the Wudang Sect enter that place and train for 108 days, eating Fasting Pills and sleeping there to become accustomed to complete darkness.
“...Because of that, you must have thought someone else found the sword.”
“Your guess is correct.”
Deeming the situation serious, Baek Hyang-muk mobilized the power of the Martial Alliance, including Heaven’s Net, to catch this new Jue Xin, but he missed him every time.
The man even showed the composure to slip away as if he knew their movements.
“Because of that, I became anxious.”
“Anxious that the newly appeared Jue Xin would show up before you?”
“...Yes.”
At those words, I snorted and said.
“Is that why you learned the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art?”
I had been wanting to ask this anyway.
At my words, Baek Hyang-muk spoke as if he were ashamed.
“...It was the only alternative. I agonized over it for a long time, but the only way to counter the Calamity Slaughter Sword, which disperses True Qi, was the principle of the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art, which can condense True Qi into the sword itself.”
“Ha!”
Now it was clear why Baek Hyang-muk had learned the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art.
The reason he wanted his precious sword to be able to withstand the energy of the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art must have been for the same reason.
He couldn't exactly wield the Blood Demon Sword when he was the very symbol of the Orthodox Faction.
‘Hmm... but I think Baek Hye-hyang also said most of her attacks were deflected.’
According to what Baek Hyang-muk had agonized over, a blood sword imbued with the principles of the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art should have worked.
Suddenly, that bothered me.
Then Baek Hyang-muk bit his lip hard and said.
“But even learning the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art while taking such risks became meaningless.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because I only learned the truth after he died.”
‘Ah!’
At those words, I immediately realized what Baek Hyang-muk meant.
It was the death of the Taiji Sword Emperor, Taoist Master Zhongxian.
In fact, when he said Lee Jung-gyeom was the Killing Fiend Jue Xin, that was what I questioned the most.
Why Jue Xin had targeted Taoist Master Zhongxian’s life, both before my regression and now.
—Could it be?
Exactly.
He was looking for an opportunity to kill Taoist Master Zhongxian, who was suppressing the personality possessed by the demonic nature with the Dual Divine Art.
Until then, even Baek Hyang-muk probably hadn't noticed that the personality was still alive.
But since Taoist Master Zhongxian was murdered, he must have been certain.
That the one who took the Calamity Slaughter Sword was none other than Lee Jung-gyeom.
Drip, drip!
Baek Hyang-muk clenched his fists so hard that blood dripped as he continued.
“That personality possessed by the demonic nature was still alive, and it was waiting for its time while gathering strength again.”
It was truly chilling.
He described it as a demonic nature, but it was surely the Baek (Spirit Fragment) of resentment contained within the Calamity Slaughter Sword.
It was terrifying to think that the Baek had been biding its time until now.
I said to Baek Hyang-muk.
“Then isn't Lee Jung-gyeom in a very dangerous state right now?”
Taoist Master Zhongxian, who had suppressed the personality possessed by the Baek with the Dual Divine Art, was dead.
If so, the dominance of that personality might gradually shift.
Baek Hyang-muk said to me in a bitter voice.
“That is why I made a deal with them.”
“What did they offer in the deal?”
“It seems they also discovered that child, just as I had noticed. They said to me: Do you know that your disciple is the Killing Fiend Jue Xin?”
The Killing Fiend Jue Xin, known as the most heinous butcher.
If the fact that his true identity was Lee Jung-gyeom ever came to light, the fallout would be impossible to manage. After all, he wasn't just anyone; he was the joint successor of Baek Hyang-muk—the former Alliance Leader and symbol of the Orthodox Faction—and the Taiji Sword Emperor Zhongxian.
“They made me an offer. They claimed that if I handed over the Calamity Slaughter Sword, they could eliminate the personality possessed by the Brilliant Star.”
‘Could it be...?’
At those words, the Illusion Demon Poison suddenly crossed my mind. Were they planning to use it to control Lee Jung-gyeom? If the malevolent personality was strong enough to possess him even while separated from the Calamity Slaughter Sword, that was likely the only way.
Since I didn't voice my thoughts, Baek Hyang-muk continued.
“But now, the deal with them is dead in the water.”
“You could have chosen not to give up on it.”
“Successor of the Sword Immortal, as you said, I cannot bring a greater disaster upon the martial world just to preserve my honor and the boy’s reputation.”
So, in the end, he had chosen justice. Seeing this, it seemed he had truly agonized over the choice between right and wrong.
Baek Hyang-muk spoke to me in a strained, heavy voice.
“...The only way left now is to kill the boy. It is a karma of my own making, but I cannot bring myself to kill my own disciple with these hands.”
It seemed he had already made his decision. Though he hadn't said it outright, his words were a plea for me to kill his disciple for him. He appeared to believe that I was the only one capable of handling the situation if the personality possessed by the Brilliant Star were to emerge.
I stared at him for a moment, then let a smirk curl the corners of my mouth.
“If I can safely free Lee Jung-gyeom from the influence of the Brilliant Star, what can you do for me?”
“!?”