The Southern Splendor Immortal Art
I am an unorthodox one.
Before the white skeleton.
- Name: Gong Myeong. Age 23. Daughter of Jang Sun, the master of Soyo Martial Arts Hall.
His background was simple, as befitted a dead man.
‘Gong Myeong? The owner of this white skeleton? It was clear that Jang Hong said her senior brother Gong Myeong stole the scripture and ran away.’
It was said that the fleeing Gong Myeong had become a bandit, but finding his skeleton here meant Jang Hong was lying.
‘Why did Jang Hong lie?’
He realized that since Jang Hong knew Pyo Seon’s name, they must have known each other.
‘Then?’
Seo Joo-cheon returned to the martial hall to confirm.
“Now, it seems the time has come to leave.”
Jeong Geum-sik had caught the criminal he had been chasing for a long time, and his expression was relieved.
“Wait a moment, can you spare me a moment?”
Seeing Seo Joo-cheon’s serious expression, Jeong Geum-sik looked at him curiously.
Seo Joo-cheon’s eyes were not on Pyo Seon.
“Pyo Seon, let me ask you one thing.”
“I have nothing to answer. Just hand me over to the authorities quickly.”
Pyo Seon answered coldly.
“What blood did you drain from the women?”
Pyo Seon’s eyes flickered for a moment.
“I will not answer.”
Hearing his words, Seo Joo-cheon chuckled.
“If you tell me the blood you drained, I will release you here.”
Jeong Geum-sik was about to ask what he meant but closed his mouth.
“Really. Tell me.”
Pyo Seon glared at Seo Joo-cheon.
“I will not answer.”
“If you don’t know, then you can’t answer.”
Jeong Geum-sik asked Seo Joo-cheon, who was having this strange conversation.
“What does that mean?”
Seo Joo-cheon replied with a bitter expression.
“The dead women were not kidnapped by this person.”
“Eh? Then who?”
“The master’s daughter.”
At those words, Jeong Geum-sik’s eyes widened.
At the same time, Pyo Seon’s blood was drained as he tried to open his mouth.
“Ugh!”
Pyo Seon, who was about to shout, let out a choked sound and trembled.
He had already been drained of major veins by Jeong Geum-sik, so his struggle was just desperate thrashing.
“Brother Po, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Jang Hong and Pyo Seon know each other. And the two women were kidnapped by Jang Hong and given to Pyo Seon as offerings.”
Jeong Geum-sik looked at Pyo Seon with disbelief.
“Why?”
“I’m curious about that too. Perhaps Pyo Seon’s corruption by demonic energy is also related to Jang Hong. To find out, I would have to trouble you, Brother Jeong.”
At Seo Joo-cheon’s words, Jeong Geum-sik nodded.
That meant he had to use the Soul-Captivating Technique to extract their secrets.
“Then, we must take Pyo Seon away from here. If we stay here too long, it will arouse suspicion.”
“Agreed.”
Seo Joo-cheon told Jang Hyeon-nam and Sang Ryo that he had something to ask Pyo Seon and would separate for a while, and they didn’t suspect anything.
Jang Hyeon-nam was currently doing his best to comfort Jang Sun and Jang Hong.
In a way, he was broad-minded, and on the other hand, he had a lot of affection.
Seo Joo-cheon left Soyo Martial Arts Hall with Jeong Geum-sik and Ham Cheon-yeong and moved to a secluded place nearby.
“Cheon-yeong, hide secretly and watch over Soyo Martial Arts Hall. If the woman named Jang Hong moves, report it.”
“Yes, Daehyeong.”
Ham Cheon-yeong climbed a tree and began monitoring Soyo Martial Arts Hall.
“Do you have evidence? Evidence that Jang Hong kidnapped the women.”
Jeong Geum-sik could not believe anything Seo Joo-cheon said unconditionally.
“I drained Jang Hong’s blood. But the two dead women had their blood drained from both front and back, but Jang Hong had no blood drained from her back. That means she couldn’t have drained her own blood from the back.”
Seo Joo-cheon continued.
“And he said his senior brother left the hall, but we found his skeleton in the cave.”
“Hm!”
The more I heard, the more unbelievable it was.
“First, I’ll use the Soul-Captivating Technique to cloud his mind, so Brother Po, you ask questions.”
“Understood.”
Jeong Geum-sik easily dominated Pyo Seon’s mind.
More importantly, because Pyo Seon was corrupted by demonic energy, it was easy to empathize.
Pyo Seon didn’t even realize that saliva was dripping from his open mouth.
His pupils were almost rolled up, showing only the whites, so anyone would think he was crazy.
Jeong Geum-sik confirmed if the Soul-Captivating Technique had properly taken effect.
“Pyo Seon, you have killed many women with Yin Absorption to Nourish Yang so far. Is that true?”
“Yes. I practiced Yin Absorption to Nourish Yang to suppress my excessive yang energy.”
His answers were accurate and clear, despite looking like a madman.
“It seems to have worked properly. Brother Po, ask your questions.”
Seo Joo-cheon decided to slowly ask from the most curious things.
“How did you come to know Jang Hong?”
He answered without hesitation.
“Our escort agency hires temporary escorts from nearby martial halls when there are many shipments. We also hire people from Soyo Martial Arts Hall when needed. At that time, I met Jang Hong and a few others.”
That made it understandable why Jang Sun didn’t know Pyo Seon.
Jang Sun had never seen Pyo Seon’s face, so he couldn’t recognize him.
“When did you become corrupted by demonic energy?”
“After taking the Empty Green Stalactite Milk. Unable to handle the sudden surge of yang energy, I took yin energy, and gradually became corrupted by demonic energy.”
Seo Joo-cheon brought up an important question.
“Who killed Gong Myeong?”
“Gong Myeong also practiced martial arts like me. As he gradually became corrupted by demonic energy, I think Jang Hong killed him.”
“So you created disciples for him?”
“Kuhehehe, for saving me? No. She used me as an experimental subject. She also practiced the same martial arts.”
As he laughed, his jaw moved, and the hanging saliva swayed.
“Then why did Gong Myeong and you become corrupted by demonic energy, but Jang Hong did not?”
“Jang Hong also practiced Yang Absorption to Nourish Yin. However, because we ate the spiritual herb, we couldn’t handle the increased yang energy and ended up like this.”
Jeong Geum-sik, who had been listening quietly, asked.
“What kind of martial art did you practice?”
His question made Pyo Seon silent for the first time.
Then he laughed again, dripping saliva.
“Kukukuku, martial art? If that was a martial art, I wouldn’t be so wronged.”
“What do you mean?”
“The martial arts we practiced are Daoist martial arts.”
Jeong Geum-sik chuckled.
“Stop lying! You must have become corrupted by demonic energy. Do you think demonic energy can come out of Daoist martial arts?”
Jeong Geum-sik knew the truth because he practiced the martial arts of the Demonic Ice Palace.
Daoist martial arts and Demonic martial arts have anti-demonic power, so there is no demonic energy.
That was common sense in the martial world.
“After practicing that martial art, we realized that Dao and Demon are just one sheet of difference.”
Muttering to himself, Jeong Geum-sik reprimanded.
“What martial art did you practice?”
“Southern Splendor Immortal Art.”
Seo Joo-cheon now seemed to understand what his uneasy feeling was.
“Southern Splendor Immortal Art? Is it related to the author?”
Jeong Geum-sik asked because he didn’t know the details.
“It is a scripture that deciphers the author’s secret left behind. Jang Hong obtained it and gave it to her senior brother. Gong Myeong practiced the Southern Splendor Immortal Art and his martial arts developed remarkably. That was good.”
“But?”
Seo Joo-cheon urged because Pyo Seon’s silence was lengthening.
“Gong Myeong went to the mountain and gathered mountain ginseng to take it. From then on, uncontrollable yang energy surged. To release the yang energy, at first he tried to have sex, and later even Yin Absorption to Nourish Yang. When the problem became serious, Jang Hong killed her senior brother.”
“Is the Southern Splendor Immortal Art really the author’s scripture?”
Jeong Geum-sik asked, still not believing.
“Huhuhu, if you don’t believe it, I have a manuscript here, take a look.”
Seo Joo-cheon now knew where the fracture had occurred.
The Southern Splendor Immortal Art was created by Seo Joo-cheon, so he knew it better than anyone.
These people had not even mastered the second stage of the Five Realms of Southern Splendor, only filling with yang energy and then deviating.
The first stage of the Five Realms of Southern Splendor, Free Roaming Realm, was easy to master like ‘roaming freely’.
But the second stage, Following Natural Law Realm, is a realm that follows the principles.
In other words, it means that if you do not follow the principles, it can cause problems.
When Seo Joo-cheon created the Southern Splendor Immortal Art, he gave that meaning to the Following Natural Law Realm.
In other words, Pyo Seon and others, by cultivating against the author’s intention, became corrupted by demonic energy instead of Daoist.
Originally, the Five Realms of Southern Splendor was a martial art specialized for the protagonist Jang Hyeon-nam.
When people other than the protagonist practiced martial arts, a fracture occurred.
In a way, it was Seo Joo-cheon’s fault.
“Interpreting the meridians in a weird way and falling into the demon path.”
Jeong Geum-sik interpreted it differently but ultimately the same meaning.
“It seems so. Since it contains the author’s secrets, it was probably difficult for ordinary people to interpret.”
Seo Joo-cheon took out a booklet from Pyo Seon’s pocket.
He had not thought of obtaining this secret manual from Pyo Seon.
“Ah. If I had followed the principles. Because I tried to go against the power of the spiritual herb.”
Pyo Seon muttered that he regretted it.
Listening to the words, it seemed he had reached a certain level of Following Natural Law Realm.
Jeong Geum-sik released the Soul-Captivating Technique when he saw the signs of Pyo Seon’s mind collapsing.
Jeong Geum-sik said.
“Anyway, this person must be transported to the authorities. And it’s better to burn this secret manual. If you fall into the demon path by mistake, you will become a demonic person.”
Jeong Geum-sik was worried because Seo Joo-cheon was keeping the Southern Splendor Immortal Art.
“I will do that.”
Seo Joo-cheon replied bitterly.
“What should we do with Jang Hong?”
Jeong Geum-sik asked Seo Joo-cheon.
Seo Joo-cheon also had no clean way to solve this problem.
Whether to tell Jang Sun about Jang Hong’s crimes and arrest her, or just report to the authorities, or remove her in advance so she can’t practice Yang Absorption to Nourish Yin because she’s corrupted by demonic energy.
At that moment.
Guards and soldiers were rushing towards the Soyo Martial Arts Hall side.
Seeing about ten guards and soldiers coming, it seemed Jang Hong or Xi’an Escort Agency Chief Pyo Byeong-jik had moved the authorities.
No matter who moved, Seo Joo-cheon and his group felt that the guards and soldiers were not on their side.
Seo Joo-cheon frowned at the increasingly tangled situation, but Jeong Geum-sik smiled instead.
“Seeing the guards and soldiers, I thought of a way to solve it without hassle. But I don’t know if Brother Po with strong chivalry will approve of this method.”
“Tell me.”
Jeong Geum-sik stared at Seo Joo-cheon and spoke.
“Jang Hong has been practicing Yang Absorption to Nourish Yin so far, but no male corpses have been found. That means she hasn’t killed enough men yet, so the demonic energy isn’t deep enough. But if the demonic energy deepens, she will eventually become a great witch.”
Jeong Geum-sik, who was explaining to create a sense of righteousness, revealed his plan.
“I will order Jang Hong to be killed with the Soul-Captivating Technique on Pyo Seon. Then, we will release him as if we had missed him, and everything will be solved. If we kill Pyo Seon who killed Jang Hong, everything can be resolved smoothly. There are many witnesses, so no one will argue. We killed in front of the guards and soldiers, so the Xi’an Escort Agency will have no choice.”
Seo Joo-cheon was about to say that the plan was too inhumane when he hesitated.
‘I am not the modern Seo Joo-cheon, but the first Po Un of the Shaanxi Four Evils, the unorthodox family disciple of the invincible family. I have lived with such thinking and values as an unorthodox person so far. But acting like an orthodox person here is a betrayal of the characters I created. Although I got the title of Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes to some extent because of chivalry, I am ultimately an unorthodox person.’
When such self-awareness came, he thought Jeong Geum-sik’s plan was excellent.
It could handle various troublesome things at once.
‘Indeed, the demeanor of the Red Snow Ice Demon. Yes, let’s solve it in the unorthodox way.’
Seo Joo-cheon nodded at Jeong Geum-sik.
“From my perspective, Brother Jeong’s method seems perfect.”
At Seo Joo-cheon’s words, Jeong Geum-sik showed his white teeth and laughed.
“We seem to have the same intention. I really like it. A man without a cold heart can’t do big things.”
Jeong Geum-sik took Pyo Seon and did some troublesome work for a while and kept nodding his head, satisfied with something.
“With this, there won’t be any problems with the plan.”
Jeong Geum-sik walked with Pyo Seon to Soyo Martial Arts Hall.