Chapter 190: The Martial Emperor
Chapter 190: The Martial Emperor
It was the moment when Black Blood Illusion Demon Du Dang's crimson eyes met Seonwoo Jin's golden ones.
Du Dang suddenly covered his own eyes with both hands and began to scream.
"Uwaaaaaagh!"
He appeared to be in agony, as if he had just suffered a tremendous attack.
At the unfamiliar technique executed through his own body, Seonwoo Jin asked in a dazed state.
'...Lee Geon?'
Mukrang answered cheerfully.
- It is called the Supreme Dignity God Eye. Had the Mukrang Heart Method been the original Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it would have been a soul captivation technique you would have possessed as well.
Having said that, Mukrang turned his gaze toward the Blood Demon woman who had been about to charge at them.
The woman who had been thrown inside by Seol Pung had been just about to bolt back outside.
But upon seeing Du Dang screaming, she turned a ferocious face and tried to lunge at Seonwoo Jin.
However, at that moment, she too met Seonwoo Jin's eyes.
Then, just as Du Dang had done, she had no choice but to cover her own eyes, scream, and collapse.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Looking at her, Mukrang casually tossed out a remark.
- No matter how pretty the body, to have so much confidence as to not wear clothes at all... what a truly bold woman. It seems a mental restriction was placed on her mind by that fellow. So for now, I've simply broken that.
Seonwoo Jin had never seen her face before, but he somehow felt he could guess who she was.
The first Blood Demon who had appeared wearing a red mask in his previous life, the Red-clothed Blood Demon Woman, appeared to be her.
This could not have been anything but utterly astounding.
Because in Seonwoo Jin's past life, the Blood Demon people had first appeared at least four years later than now.
'The first one appeared before us four years later, but it seems they had already succeeded in creating Blood Demon people by this time. If we had come any later than now, there would have been no way to stop it at all.'
Suddenly, goosebumps ran down his spine.
He had been forced to come here, but it could only be described as an immense stroke of fortune.
At that moment, Mukrang aimed his sword at Du Dang and spoke.
- Now, we are short on time, so shall we quickly deal with this one and head to the control room? Destroying this place does not seem like it will be very difficult even without me personally taking the lead.
It was then.
Seonwoo Jin hurriedly stopped Mukrang.
'Elder! Please wait a moment!'
- Hmm? Why is that?
A certain thought had sprung into Seonwoo Jin's mind thanks to the soul captivation technique Mukrang had just demonstrated.
'Would it be possible for you to soul-captivate that one?'
He was referring to Black Blood Illusion Demon Du Dang.
At this, Mukrang asked back in a puzzled voice.
- Well, it is possible. But why do you ask?
'Then I would like to request it! It is because there is information I need to extract from him!'
- Hmm, information... I think I know what you are thinking. Understood.
Having said that, Mukrang lightly swung his sword, sealing Du Dang's pressure points while simultaneously drawing a few drops of his blood onto the blade.
Then, after drawing a little of Seonwoo Jin's blood, he mixed the two and began chanting an unknown incantation.
- Om bara...
At this, a strange sensation enveloped Seonwoo Jin's body.
It felt as if a part of Du Dang's soul was being seized and kept within his own body.
Mukrang spoke.
- For some reason, I feel uneasy that I only seem to be showing you shady things like this this time around. It feels like teaching bad things to children, I suppose? This is something called the Seven Yin Secret Art, created by a fellow named Guima long ago, specifically the Soul Division Technique among them. Do not attempt to learn it under any circumstances. It might be a different story after you inherit my true godly ultimate technique, but for now, you absolutely must not. The Seven Yin Secret Art is quite a dangerous martial art that can ruin the caster.
And just how tremendous the effect of that Soul Division Technique was could be confirmed directly with his eyes.
Because Black Blood Illusion Demon Du Dang, his face suddenly becoming clear and lucid, slowly rose to his feet and respectfully bowed at the waist toward Seonwoo Jin.
Unbelievable words were flowing from his mouth.
"I behold my master."
It was truly a shocking sight, to say the least.
To think that Black Blood Illusion Demon Du Dang, the nemesis for whom it was no exaggeration to say he had practically destroyed the Seonwoo clan in Seonwoo Jin's past life, was now respectfully bowing to him, having fallen under the Soul Division Technique...
If Seonwoo Jin had been in a situation to move his own body, he would have surely been standing there slack-jawed and dazed.
But Mukrang merely nodded as if it were only natural and gave him an order.
"Carry that woman and guide us to the central area of Muhwangchong."
At this, the man bowed his head deeply once more and greeted him.
"Yes, understood."
Du Dang hoisted the woman, who had not yet regained her senses, onto his shoulder and ran swiftly down the passage, heading somewhere.
Now, Seonwoo Jin only had to follow comfortably behind him, along with the Black Panther that was following.
The Black Panther seemed to have instinctively sensed that Seonwoo Jin was currently a different entity.
And it also appeared to know that his caliber was incomparably higher.
The creature was now trailing behind Seonwoo Jin, not beside him, just like a cat following obediently.
On the way there, they encountered almost no other demon heads.
It seemed indeed thanks to Seol Pung's group drawing the enemy's attention.
Of course, they did run into a few.
But those ones could not perceive anything.
Because upon seeing Du Dang, they bowed their heads respectfully in greeting, and Du Dang immediately turned them into high-level souls.
"Hwanma Elder, I am going to the research lab...! Kughk!"
It went like that.
While following behind Du Dang, Mukrang suddenly spoke to me.
- It seems this training session will soon be over. Though it appears we could barely conduct any actual training on the Mukrang Sword Technique... In any case, there is no need to worry. As I said earlier, once we reach the central control room, there should be a mechanism that can completely collapse this place.
'Yes, understood, Elder.'
The very fact Mukrang had just mentioned was why Seonwoo Jin, who had originally planned to borrow Mukrang's power at the center of Muhwangchong, had summoned him earlier anyway.
If there was a mechanism to destroy Muhwangchong as he said, there was no need to use the Mukrang Sword Technique at the center.
Seonwoo Jin suddenly asked Mukrang.
'Senior, if you were to use my body again, would you be able to kill the Blood Demon?'
This was something he had been curious about for a while now.
If the Sword God, who moved his body, could kill the Blood Demon, then everything might be resolved more easily than expected.
If that were possible, it was well worth considering going to find the Blood Demon right now, settling the score, and rescuing Hae Cheongyeon.
But as expected, things in the world were not that easy.
- Impossible.
At that firm answer, Seonwoo Jin could not help but be disappointed.
'Ah, I see.'
Then Mukrang continued with an additional explanation.
- Those called absolute beings in this era are those who have surpassed the realm of two hundred years of internal energy and the Transformation Stage. Those called the Thirty-Six Stars of the World appear to be individuals who have not yet crossed that boundary and are blocked by a wall. However, those I can face using your body are, in truth, limited to the level of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World at most. Even then, I might struggle against those who reached the transcendent peak through combat techniques, though perhaps not against an assassin like Am Hyeol-hyang or someone like Du Dang who reached the transcendent peak through the Soul Division Technique.
According to his words, even among transcendent peak masters who had created their own world, someone like Iron God Mad Demon Cheok Gang, who specialized in brawling techniques, could be difficult to face no matter how much Mukrang used his body.
In the case of Am Hyeol-hyang, he had transcended the transcendent peak wall through assassin secret arts, and was caught off guard in a direct confrontation, so he was dealt with easily. Du Dang, who had transcended the transcendent peak wall through the Soul Division Technique, had tried to face Mukrang—who had mastered a far superior Soul Division Technique—with the same art, which was why he had collapsed so easily.
For Seonwoo Jin, it could not be anything but disappointing news.
But after hearing those words, Seonwoo Jin soon shook off his disappointment and hardened his resolve once more.
It seemed that as soon as he got out of here, he would have no choice but to go search for the Sword God's true godly ultimate techniques.
Because it meant that he could not destroy the Blood Cult unless he himself became far stronger than this.
"We have arrived, Master."
A short while later, the place Seonwoo Jin arrived at following Du Dang was a stone chamber incomparably wider and brighter than the one from before.
Moreover, on the innermost wall of that stone chamber, a large stone statue had been erected.
It was the stone statue of a man sitting in a chair with an immensely dignified posture.
"That person is?"
At this, Mukrang, who had now re-entered Seonwoo Jin's mental image, spoke as if amused.
- Hoh, so that gentleman decorated this place like this.
'That gentleman?'
- I am talking about our elder brother. To think he would set up a stone statue of Muhwang... truly flabbergasting.
'...Excuse me?'
It seemed the subject of that stone statue was indeed Muhwang, the namesake of Muhwangchong.
But Seonwoo Jin could not quite understand why that was a flabbergasting thing.
And as he looked around, the walls of the stone chamber were completely covered with engraved murals and writings.
From a quick glance around, he could also tell that these writings and murals were describing the life of Muhwang.
As Seonwoo Jin was looking around the murals and pictures, Du Dang started respectfully explaining them to him from beside him.
"According to the writings on that wall, Muhwang appeared to be a contemporary figure of Martial God, Thunder God, and Sword God. He was a prince born into the imperial family, but he was born a congenital cripple, and due to this, he suffered much contempt and persecution. However, he never neglected his efforts for a single moment, and in the end, through bone-grinding effort, he succeeded in achieving Rebirth through Transformation."
Listening up to that point, Muhwang seemed to be the very epitome of a person who was living proof of human triumph.
But just as Seonwoo Jin thought that, Mukrang suddenly scoffed and picked up the story.
- Yes. After his Rebirth through Transformation, he became an incredibly high-level master. And after seizing control of the imperial palace and becoming the emperor, he was not satisfied with that, and demanded unconditional submission from all martial world sects, declaring he would make the whole world kneel at his feet.
The story Du Dang told was in a similar vein.
But unlike Mukrang's explanation, which was delivered in a somehow sneering tone, the story Du Dang told was glorified like a heroic tale.
"Thus, it is said that Muhwang, who was on the verge of conquering the world, was defeated by the Martial God and Thunder God who appeared at that time, and ultimately met a tragic death. This Muhwangchong is a place honoring him, whose ambitions were regrettably cut short by those two absolute beings, and the final line of the text was written thus: 'He who wishes to succeed me, worship me.'"
At that moment, Mukrang, who had been listening, suddenly burst into laughter.
- Hm? Hahahahah!
It was a laugh that Seonwoo Jin could not understand the reason for.
So for now, he focused on Du Dang's words.
"We thought that phrase might be the key to inheriting Muhwang's legacy, so we tried various things. In particular, thinking there might be something on the altar in front of that statue, we attempted to perform rites upon it and tried to open it. But... no matter what efforts we made, Muhwang's legacy did not reveal itself."
The altar he spoke of was a long, rectangular stone bed-like structure located in front of the statue.
At a glance, it was a suspicious-looking structure that seemed to hold a secret, but because they had ultimately found nothing there, the Blood Cult members had apparently been using that place as a worktable for creating Blood Demons.
Seonwoo Jin suddenly asked Du Dang.
"Did you not attempt to disable the mechanisms?"
At that, Du Dang answered with a bitter smile.
"We attempted it at first. However, we learned that the mechanisms of this place are so precise and perfectly constructed that if tampered with carelessly, the entire Muhwang Tomb could collapse. After that, we dared not touch the mechanisms."
Seonwoo Jin nodded at his words.
In his mind, Mukrang was speaking in a haughty voice.
- Huhu, naturally. How dare mere Blood Cultists try to tamper with an architectural structure that I designed.
Seonwoo Jin smiled bitterly and then abruptly asked him.
'Then did Muhwang's legacy never exist in the first place? Or did the Blood Cult simply fail to find it?'
At that, Mukrang thought for a moment before answering.
- I do not know exactly either. But one thing I know for certain. The Blood Cultists wasted their efforts. Even if Muhwang's legacy is hidden, they would probably never have found it that way.
Seonwoo Jin frowned at his words.
If performing rites before Muhwang's statue in Muhwang Tomb was the wrong way, then what method in the world was supposed to be used?
He still couldn't grasp his meaning.
Then Mukrang spoke in a cheerful voice.
- Go give that statue a good blow. No, perhaps it would be better to just smash it entirely.
At his words, Seonwoo Jin inadvertently asked aloud.
"Yes?"
It could not be anything but utterly absurd.
To come to Muhwang Tomb and strike Muhwang's statue.
No, to smash it entirely—what kind of outrageous nonsense was that?
Then Mukrang spoke again.
- Do you not understand? Actually, this Muhwang Tomb is a place my older brother made. But my brother utterly despised that fellow. Think about it. Why would he make a tomb for a villain who killed countless people trying to conquer the martial world in the first place out of some sense of beauty? Especially my brother, who ground his teeth at that fellow.
Only now could Seonwoo Jin grasp Mukrang's meaning.
'Ah, then. The place called Muhwang Tomb was actually not a place made to honor Muhwang...'
- Absolutely not. That, at least, I can guarantee.
Seonwoo Jin felt he finally understood the reason for Mukrang's earlier laughter.
If what he said was true, then that solemn-looking statue of Muhwang and even his life story written all over the walls like heroic tales were all a deception.
Now grinning the same dumbfounded laugh as Mukrang, Seonwoo Jin immediately launched his body and lunged at Muhwang's statue.
"Haaaap!"
At that, Du Dang stared at him with startled eyes.
And when Seonwoo Jin's straight punch struck the statue's head hard, Du Dang flinched in shock and screamed.
Kwaaaaang!
"Uwaaaahk! You mustn't, my master! If Muhwang Tomb were to collapse because of this...!"
But when nothing changed even after half-destroying the statue's head, Seonwoo Jin let Du Dang's words go in one ear and out the other and asked Mukrang.
'Nothing is happening.'
- Still seems insufficient. Strike it more.
Kwaaaaang!
Seonwoo Jin now began to gleefully smash the statue to pieces.
Du Dang, unable to stop him, could only fidget anxiously behind him.
It was when Seonwoo Jin had just completely destroyed even the lower part of the statue.
Kwaaaaaaang!
Suddenly, the environment surrounding him changed drastically.
Fwoooosh!
In an instant, everything around him was ablaze.
All directions were surrounded by crimson flames that seemed ready to swallow him at any moment.
He let out a groan involuntarily from the scorching heat that felt as if his whole body was cooking.
"Ugh!"
He couldn't understand what had suddenly happened.
Abruptly, the thought crossed his mind—could it be that smashing the statue had been the wrong choice?
It was then.
A man suddenly appeared before his eyes.
He was a man with a white, handsome face like jade, an arrogant expression, and a tremendous aura billowing out in all directions.
'A master!'
He was an immense master.
Compared even to the absolute beings of this era that Seonwoo Jin had met—the Sword Saint, the Blood Demon, the Lust Demon—even compared to his master Gwanghyeopgeomgoe, he gave a feeling that was rather more unfathomably distant.
Even the flames could not approach his vicinity due to the powerful aura he was emitting.
He opened his mouth with a furious face.
- You wretch! How dare you come to my tomb and smash my statue without even properly performing rites! Did you think you could live after doing such a thing?!
It was a powerful voice that seemed to shake the very soul.
Seonwoo Jin's body trembled involuntarily at that overwhelming aura.
It seemed that smashing the statue had indeed been a severely wrong choice.
Seonwoo Jin hastily asked Mukrang.
'Elder, what do I do now?'
But no answer returned.
'Elder?'
Seonwoo Jin was flustered.
It was because he could not feel his presence.
He did not know the reason, but it seemed he was left completely alone in this place.
In the meantime, before his eyes, the being that appeared to be Muhwang continued to pour out rage.
- Choose! How shall I kill you?! Do you wish to be burned to death?! Or shall I tear you to shreds?!
It was tremendous pressure.
It was to the degree that he thought he might have to kneel right then and there and beg for forgiveness.
However, Seonwoo Jin did not act that way.
Biting his lips and organizing his thoughts for a moment, he finally steeled his resolve and opened his mouth.
"Do as you please, Muhwang!"
It was a reckless stance, like a newborn puppy daring to challenge a tiger.
At that, a storm-like aura began to burst forth from Muhwang.
- What did you say?!
But Seonwoo Jin did not back down.
Forcing himself to endure that aura, he continued to shout.
"Did you think I would beg you to spare my life?! To a villain who stained the world with blood! To a failure who was defeated and killed by the Thunder God and Sword God!"
At that, the furious Muhwang's aura manifested physically and began to bind him.
Under the pressure crushing his whole body, it felt as if every bone in his body was about to shatter.
- Spout that once more!
But even amidst the pain, Seonwoo Jin did not yield and opened his mouth.
"As many times as it takes! Urgh! I'll say it! Hrgk! You failure!"
It was at that moment.
The pressure that had been constricting Seonwoo Jin as if to crush him vanished in an instant, as if washed clean away.
"Huk!"
With his body suddenly at ease, Seonwoo Jin gasped for breath.
When he glanced around, even the flames that had been raging everywhere had disappeared as if they had never been there from the start.
And in the place where Muhwang had stood was another man he had never seen before.
He was a man with a bold, manly face and a mischievous smile.
He grinned and said to Seonwoo Jin.
- You're a fellow after my own heart. You pass.
And in the next moment, Seonwoo Jin returned to the original stone chamber.
- Jin! Jin! What is the matter with you?! Come to your senses!
When he came to his senses, Mukrang was calling out to him in a worried voice.
Beside him, the Black Panther was also lightly biting and shaking his leg, as if telling him to wake up.
Seonwoo Jin first stroked the Black Panther's head, then looked around dazedly and answered Mukrang.
'Yes, Elder. I've returned now.'
At his answer, Mukrang spoke again in a relieved voice.
- Haah, what do you mean returned? You stood frozen stiff in place for a moment. You didn't answer when called, as if your mind had completely departed.
'Ah, yes. Well, actually...'
Seonwoo Jin explained to Mukrang what he had just experienced.
Upon hearing this, Mukrang spoke in a somewhat wistful voice.
- I see. So that's what happened.
Seonwoo Jin asked cautiously.
'Was that person, by any chance...?'
- Yes, it was my older brother. Even as he aged, he never lost that childish mischievous streak. A shame. If I could have seen him together with you, I could have teased him about finally growing up.
At the deep longing contained in that voice, Seonwoo Jin was unable to say anything for a moment.
It was then.
Suddenly, a mechanism began to activate.
Drrrrrrng!
It was from behind.
Startled, he turned to look, and the place where the rectangular altar had been was sliding back, and something was rising up from below.
Du Dang, who had been watching from behind, shouted in a surprised voice.
"C-could that be?!"
It was a rectangular pedestal table.
And upon it rested one thick book and one large pill wrapped in gold leaf.
Furthermore, on the book was written the title Hwangnyong Musang Ganggi in golden letters.
Suddenly, Mukrang spoke.
- Hwangnyong Musang Ganggi. That is Muhwang's secret manual.
Seonwoo Jin approached in a daze and picked up the book.
It was the moment that Muhwang's secret manual, which the Blood Cult followers had discovered and failed to find for so many long years, fell into Seonwoo Jin's hands.