Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: The Fourth Stage
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Bu Eun-seol was lost in deep thought.
Someone born into the Orthodox Faction could not be a master of Demonic sword arts.
But the sword art Yeo Hwan-jin had used at the end was a cunning technique that exploited the weaknesses of Demonic sword arts, designed to quickly sever an opponent's life.
—Because the Dae-ui-go-su have long been taught the secrets to countering the martial arts of the Ten Demonic Sects.
The words Sim Wol had spoken in the Demonic Palace suddenly came to mind.
“It doesn't matter what they've learned.”
No matter what martial art they had mastered, he just had to face it with all his might and overcome it.
Bu Eun-seol staggered to his feet.
He had defended against the sword energy with the Neung-hyeong-eo-geom, but deep marks remained in several places. It was proof that his Neung-hyeong-eo-geom style was not yet perfect.
“I survived…”
Bu Eun-seol’s gaze deepened as he looked up at the already dark night sky.
In truth, it was a victory that bordered on luck.
If Yeo Hwan-jin hadn't come to the smithy. And if the extreme senses of the Ya-su-do hadn't activated, allowing him to discover his opponent's habits and tendencies…
Bu Eun-seol would never have been able to defeat Yeo Hwan-jin.
“Let’s go back.”
Gazing at Yeo Hwan-jin, who had died leaning against a tree, Bu Eun-seol reached out and closed his eyes.
He then shot off toward the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
* * *
—Yeo Hwan-jin, a Dae-ui-go-su from the Zhongnan Sect, has been murdered.
Yeon Myeong-jin, the master of the Dangsan Martial Academy, had been scheduled to receive sword instruction from Yeo Hwan-jin.
He discovered Yeo Hwan-jin’s body at the base of a tree stump near Jangsan Gorge.
Who could have killed Yeo Hwan-jin, who had been training quietly in this place?
An alarm was raised throughout the Dangsan area.
—Catch him!
Fortunately, Dangsan was so filled with people from the Zhongnan Sect that it was no exaggeration to call it their main mountain.
No matter how swift the culprit was, he couldn't have gotten far.
From that day on.
All the martial artists of Dangsan and the warriors of the government office formed a tight cordon, ensuring no one could slip out of the city.
—The culprit could be within Dangsan!
When no trace of the killer was found even after days had passed, they began to search the entire Dangsan area.
The same was true within the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
“Has anyone left?”
Ung-hwa, the Head Master of the Zhongnan Sect’s Dangsan Martial Academy, shouted to his disciples as he searched the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
“I’m asking if anyone who was staying at the ironworks until recently has disappeared.”
“None, aside from the Master Blacksmith who left for Zhejiang a month ago.”
A thorough search revealed that no one had even left the ironworks, let alone fled in the middle of the night.
There was the new blacksmith who had arrived recently, but wasn't he the one who was doing an excellent job repairing the Zhongnan Sect's swords?
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
To kill Yeo Hwan-jin, who was by far the most talented of the first-generation disciples, the culprit would have to be a demonic practitioner of middle age or older, at the very least.
‘No, wait, haven’t the Sip-ma-jeon-in been running rampant lately?’
He had heard that the Sip-ma-jeon-in were all young men.
The young blacksmith was too young, but he still couldn't be ruled out as a suspect.
Ung-hwa spoke to his disciple again.
“Have you interrogated him?”
“Of course. He shows no trace of martial arts, and he's been busy repairing swords all day.”
“Hmm.”
Ung-hwa gritted his teeth.
“Even if we can’t find him right away, we will find him!”
Watching the Zhongnan martial artists leave, Yi Bok, the foreman of the Dangsan Cheol-ga, let out a sigh.
“I have no idea what’s going on.”
To kill a Dae-ui-go-su of the Zhongnan Sect hiding in Dangsan of all places? It was like carrying firewood and leaping into a fire, was it not?
“This is Dangsan… he’ll be caught soon enough.”
Just then, a terrible scream of “Aargh!” echoed through the air.
Startled, Yi Bok rushed over to find Bu Eun-seol, who had been repairing a sword in the smithy, with blood pouring from his hand.
“What in the world happened!”
Yi Bok asked in shock, and the young boy So-dong standing beside him trembled.
“I was hammering carefully, I’m sure of it… but for some reason, I ended up hitting Master Blacksmith Bu’s hand…”
“What?”
“I-I was hammering just fine, I swear.”
Yi Bok’s world went dark.
Due to the recent flood of orders, he had assigned a young blacksmith as an assistant to help Bu Eun-seol.
But instead, the boy had caused an accident.
“Is anyone there? Quickly, take Master Blacksmith Bu to the Cheong-hwa Clinic!”
* * *
That evening, Yi Bok’s jaw dropped as he looked at Bu Eun-seol, who had returned from the Cheong-hwa Clinic.
“What did you say? Say that again.”
Yi Bok asked again, staring at Bu Eun-seol’s right hand, which was heavily wrapped in white bandages.
“You can no longer hold a hammer?”
“That is correct.”
Bu Eun-seol’s fingers, struck by the iron hammer, were said to have had their flesh crushed and bones shattered.
“They said the nerves were severed, so I can’t move my hand.”
“Physician Cheong said that?”
Yi Bok repeated urgently.
“Does he mean it’s impossible to recover? That you’ll have to live as a cripple?”
“That is correct.”
Yi Bok’s face fell with despair.
If those were the words of Physician Cheong, the most skilled doctor in Dangsan, then it must be true.
The only silver lining was that Bu Eun-seol had already repaired most of the swords entrusted to them by the Zhongnan Martial Academy. But he would not be able to repair any future swords that came in.
“This all happened at our establishment. We will take full responsibility.”
Offering warm condolences, he patted Bu Eun-seol’s shoulder and said.
“For now, get some rest. We’ll discuss things again when the Master Blacksmith returns.”
“Understood.”
As soon as Bu Eun-seol left, the benevolent smile on Yi Bok's face vanished, replaced by an icy coldness.
‘A blacksmith who can't use his hands is useless.’
No matter how skilled a blacksmith he was, if he couldn't use his hands, he was worthless.
Unable to use his hands, he couldn't work as a blacksmith, nor could he be assigned menial tasks. He had truly become a useless burden within the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
Ten days later.
A young blacksmith quietly departed from the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
Unable to do anything after injuring his hand, he couldn't bear the torment and the wary glances within the ironworks, and so he quit.
When he was skilled, they had treated him well in many ways, but now that he was useless, no one saw him off.
The only small mercy was that Yi Bok, under the guise of consolation, gave him five hundred silver taels and lent him a carriage from the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
Clack-clack.
A carriage bearing the mark of the Dangsan Cheol-ga was leaving Dangsan and traveling along the main road.
Sitting in the carriage, Bu Eun-seol suddenly recalled the cunning smile on Yi Bok's face.
When he was repairing swords, the man had fawned over him as if he would give him his own liver, but the moment he became useless, he turned his back coldly.
“In a way, he helped me.”
If the kind-hearted Master Blacksmith, Yuk Man-ho, had been there, Bu Eun-seol would not have been able to leave so easily.
A man with a strong sense of justice, he would have tried to persuade Bu Eun-seol to stay and offered him a position at the Dangsan Cheol-ga.
“Such is the way of the world.”
Loyal men are rare, while cunning and profit-driven people are many.
Therefore, by skillfully exploiting this fact, one could easily infiltrate any place and leave just as easily.
Clack-clack.
The rattling of the carriage sounded like a lullaby. Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes as if overcome by fatigue.
And so, he had dealt with the Dae-ui-go-su and was able to quietly leave Dangsan.
After leaving Dangsan, Bu Eun-seol sent back the carriage from the Dangsan Cheol-ga and stopped at a post station to hire a new one.
‘I need to go somewhere quiet.’
Through his duel with Yeo Hwan-jin, Bu Eun-seol had gained a profound insight that was beyond words.
Not only that, but by eliminating a Dae-ui-go-su, he had once again earned a precious four months of time.
And to digest this gain, he needed to return to the Nang-ya-gak as soon as possible.
“Young Master.”
But as he entered the post station, a young man bowed to him.
He looked ordinary, with no outstanding features, but a sharp glint flashed in his eyes from time to time.
One look was enough to tell he was a member of the Pung-un-dae.
“Would you like to try this carriage? It was built for long journeys and is very sturdy.”
“Let’s.”
As Bu Eun-seol boarded the carriage, the man who followed him in spoke in a low voice.
“The Lord has ordered you not to return to the main pavilion.”
Just as Bu Eun-seol had expected, he was a member of the Nang-ya-gak’s Pung-un-dae.
“And why is that?”
At Bu Eun-seol’s question, the agent’s eyes flashed with a hint of respect.
“Word that you dealt with a Dae-ui-go-su has spread throughout the Murim. As a result, not only the Zhongnan Sect but also the Huashan Sect has gotten involved.”
“Huashan?”
“That’s right. Zhongnan and Huashan are searching for the travel routes of the Sip-ma-jeon-in who dealt with Yeo Hwan-jin… If you were to return to the Nang-ya-gak, it would only create more trouble.”
“What did the Lord say?”
“His message is for you to remain quiet for a couple of months and focus on your martial arts. He said he will contact you again via messenger once things have calmed down.”
‘As expected of the Lord.’
Baek-yeon, who read the Murim's information like the lines on his palm, was even taking into account the time Bu Eun-seol needed to digest the insights gained from the fierce battle.
“Does it matter where I go?”
“No, it does not.”
After thinking deeply for a moment, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
“I understand.”
* * *
Jin-hyang-won (Garden of True Fragrance).
This was one of the five annexes of the Un-rae Gakjan, the most luxurious inn in Jinyang.
The cost to rent it for a single day was over three hundred silver taels, so it was a place only high-ranking officials and wealthy magnates could occasionally afford.
Yet a month ago, someone had rented not just Jin-hyang-won, but all five annexes of the Un-rae Gakjan.
—I detest anything loud and crowded.
To rent all five annexes, each costing three hundred taels a day, for such a simple reason?
What’s more, he was a very young and handsome man who looked to have just passed the age of twenty.
Some said he was the son of a merchant who traveled beyond the borders, while others claimed he was the son of a high-ranking official.
Regardless of the rumors, the young man spent his days leisurely, like a carefree wanderer, visiting famous sites and enjoying the natural scenery around Jinyang.
Inside Jin-hyang-won.
In a corner of the beautiful garden, surrounded by rare and exotic flowers, was a small pond.
And next to it stood a small pavilion, within which a man sat properly with his eyes closed.
He was dressed in clothes made from Heavenly Silkworm silk, considered the finest among the garments of the Gyeongseong Gongson family—so expensive that even the wealthy hesitated to buy them.
His face, illuminated by the gentle sunlight, was like a masterpiece sculpted by a god with all their might.
Skin so pale and white it seemed translucent, a high nose bridge that drew a beautiful curve, and above it, eyes that shone like jewels in the dark.
It was a visage that, once seen, seemed impossible to ever forget.
It was Bu Eun-seol.
Following the Pung-un-dae agent’s advice, he had not returned to the Nang-ya-gak but had stayed in Jinyang.
—Find the one who killed Yeo Hwan-jin!
The Zhongnan and Huashan Sects were still hunting for Bu Eun-seol.
The darkest place is under the candlestick.
Bu Eun-seol was instead staying in Jinyang, which bordered Shaanxi, the home of the Zhongnan and Huashan Sects.
This place was a battleground where many Orthodox Faction members clashed with Demonic practitioners.
With so many factions intricately entangled, it was the perfect place to hide his identity.
Bu Eun-seol looked up at the clear sky and took a deep breath.
Nearly two months had passed since he arrived here. And every morning, he would cultivate his internal energy in this pavilion.
*Woooong.*
As his cultivation began, faint points of light emanated from his body.
Time flowed quickly, and morning arrived once more.
*Chirp, chirp, chirp.*
Just as the sun rose again and the sound of chirping birds filled the air.
Bu Eun-seol’s cultivation seemed to be reaching its peak as a faint glow emanated from his entire body.
*Woooong!*
With a low vibration, his body floated about half a chi above the pavilion floor.
Bu-gong-sam-mae.
A phenomenon where the body temporarily floats in the air because the true qi circulating within has become too powerful.
*Flash!*
When Bu Eun-seol opened his eyes, a haze of true qi shimmered in his pupils.
A faint glow swirled around his body, and it felt as if a gentle breeze was blowing over him.
“This is…”
Sensing a change in the level of his internal energy, Bu Eun-seol looked down at his body.
After the fierce battle with Yeo Hwan-jin, his true qi had become even more vigorous.
And now, two months later, the flow of his true qi had finally become so clear that it was visible to the naked eye.
“I’ve reached the fourth stage!”