Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Gem
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An hour ago.
Hyeokryeon Eung and Baek Jeon-cheon stood atop a sheer, rocky mountain.
Every area except the vicinity of the mountain had been designated a restricted zone, allowing them to see all the remaining participants at a glance.
“Hmm.”
Hyeokryeon Eung let out a low hum, spotting two figures running in the distance.
“That bastard… he's still alive.”
He frowned upon seeing Bu Eun-seol, covered in wounds big and small, sprinting with all his might.
“A boy who hadn't even properly learned martial arts before coming to Hell's Island has outlasted the prodigies of renowned families and survived until now?”
“I heard he learned the Ya-su-do as soon as he arrived on Hell's Island.”
“What a strange joke.”
Hyeokryeon Eung snorted, his expression indifferent.
“He probably just got beaten to a pulp or learned a superficial version of it. Is the Ya-su-do something one can master in just two months?”
“No. They say he mastered it in half a month.”
“What?”
“And he has been training in swordsmanship at the Hwa-u Sword Sect ever since. Furthermore, I don't know how he managed it, but he's said to have learned the Peerless Lightning Flash, the ultimate technique of Instructor Cheon of the Heaven-Shattering Sword Kill.”
Listening silently to Baek Jeon-cheon's explanation, Hyeokryeon Eung doubted his own ears.
“Does that even make sense?”
“I didn't believe it at first either, but my investigation confirmed it to be true.”
“But why.”
But why.
This single phrase held countless meanings.
Baek Jeon-cheon gave a bitter smile, then continued his explanation.
“The instructors who taught him all said the same thing: 'His constitution isn't the best, but he possesses a frightening tenacity and perseverance.'”
“Tenacity and perseverance?”
“Yes. And on top of that… they say he's so passionate that once you start teaching him, you can't help but give him everything you've got.”
Baek Jeon-cheon said this playfully, as if trying to lighten the stiff atmosphere.
But Hyeokryeon Eung's face only grew harder.
“Then he must be a spy from the Orthodox Faction. One with a clear objective.”
“He is not.”
“Then are you saying he's a martial talent sent from the heavens?”
“I don't know if he's a heaven-sent talent, but he is definitely not a spy from the Orthodox Faction.”
“How can you be so sure?”
At Hyeokryeon Eung's question, Baek Jeon-cheon gave a troubled smile.
“Because he was a mortician for the constabulary, one who prepared the bodies of those who died away from home.”
“That boy… was really a mortician?”
“Yes. Though young, his skill in preparing bodies was said to be the best in the prefecture. They say he learned the trade from a young age, following his grandfather.”
Hyeokryeon Eung's eyes went wide with disbelief.
How could someone who wasn't even a martial artist, but a mere mortician, participate in the Sip-ma-jeon-in competition?
How could a man who knew no martial arts survive on Hell's Island, a place teeming with the world's greatest prodigies?
As countless questions flooded his mind, Baek Jeon-cheon continued calmly.
“If they were raising him as a spy, they wouldn't have had him work as a mortician since childhood—a job even beggars would shun.”
“True… a job like a mortician would make him stand out too much.”
Spies from the Orthodox Faction create flawless backstories to avoid any suspicion.
But Bu Eun-seol, from his background to his martial arts, had far too many questionable elements.
“I don't want to believe it, but given the circumstances, I have no choice.”
“Sir?”
Looking down at the base of the mountain, Hyeokryeon Eung let out a deep sigh.
Down below, seventeen boys had formed a semicircle around Bu Eun-seol and Seo Jin-ha, who had their backs to the Sal-gwi.
“Because now, all that's left for him is to die.”
The ones surrounding Bu Eun-seol were all prodigies of the highest caliber, possessing the greatest talent and physiques.
If he could fend off those nineteen prodigies, Bu Eun-seol wouldn't be a mere candidate for the Sip-ma-jeon-in; he'd be a renowned master of the Demonic Path.
“A pity. It seems he held out so well until now.”
Baek Jeon-cheon sighed, looking at Bu Eun-seol.
“He must have wandered around like a lone wolf and only tried to form a group too late.”
To survive in the Murim, one must not only be strong in martial arts but also adept at reading situations and trends.
“Judgment is also a part of talent. In the end, it just shows that this is the limit of his caliber.”
“Is that so.”
As Baek Jeon-cheon murmured softly, Hyeokryeon Eung nodded firmly.
“It's over now.”
His gaze was fixed once more on Bu Eun-seol, who was engaged in a bloody battle at the foot of the mountain.
*Swish! Swish!*
With sharp whooshes, the piercing strikes of a white horsewhip and a Hwa-u sword dug into Bu Eun-seol's flanks from angles impossible to evade.
“Aaargh!”
A desperate scream echoed into the sky.
At the same time, the eyes of Hyeokryeon Eung, who had been watching the fight with his hands clasped behind his back, widened.
“That's…”
Finding it impossible to dodge, Bu Eun-seol had suddenly cut down the two attackers with a strange, lightning-fast sword technique.
“The Peerless Lightning Flash.”
“So the boy truly did learn the Peerless Lightning Flash.”
As Baek Jeon-cheon exclaimed in admiration, Hyeokryeon Eung shook his head.
“But his internal energy is insufficient, and his swordsmanship fundamentals are lacking.”
“That is true.”
After executing the Peerless Lightning Flash, Bu Eun-seol was coughing up blood, having suffered severe internal injuries.
“He may have somehow learned the sword technique, but he lacks the ability to wield it properly.”
Hyeokryeon Eung scoffed.
“He recklessly used a sword technique that can be called the pinnacle of killing swords, and sustained a fatal internal injury.”
“Now the group will land the finishing blow.”
Just as Baek Jeon-cheon said, three boys from the group approached the injured Bu Eun-seol.
They were boys who had mastered the Hwa-u Sword, the Bloodflame Saber, and the Spirit-killing Spear.
“To die by three martial arts of the Ten Demonic Sects, you should have no regrets.”
The three streaks of light shooting toward Bu Eun-seol erupted in a dazzling flash, like fireworks.
Just as the three supreme martial arts of the Ten Demonic Sects were about to engulf Bu Eun-seol's body,
*Whoosh!*
An ear-splitting whistle erupted from the tip of Bu Eun-seol's sword.
Simultaneously, it began to precisely strike the focal points of light created by the three weapons.
*Clang! Tang! Twaang!*
Having blocked all the incoming attacks, Bu Eun-seol's black sword unleashed a wide membrane of light that spread out like a fan.
*Fwoooosh.*
Tens of thousands of light rays swept lightly over the bodies of the three who had attacked Bu Eun-seol.
“…”
There wasn't even a groan.
The three boys stood blankly for a moment before collapsing like hollow reeds, their hearts all pierced.
“That was…”
Watching this, Hyeokryeon Eung's eyes widened as if they would tear.
Having fought countless battles, he instantly recognized that the move Bu Eun-seol had just executed was a practical combat art.
‘That boy… was he the real deal?!’
Hyeokryeon Eung cried out in his mind.
He had thought him a strange boy who had simply survived through sheer luck without any martial arts.
But now he saw it—while suffering from a grievous internal injury, hadn't he predicted the entire path of the techniques unleashed by three martial prodigies?
‘And he used their incoming force to unleash a ferocious killing move. Not because someone taught him, but instinctively!’
“What just happened, Head Instructor?”
Baek Jeon-cheon exclaimed, watching the scene.
“No matter how I think about it, I don't believe the Hwa-u Sword Sect has a technique like that…”
“It's a practical combat style.”
“Sir?”
Hyeokryeon Eung, his fists clenched, spoke in a low voice.
“In a split second, he predicted all the variations of the three techniques and created a killing move to counter them.”
*Thump, thump.*
Hyeokryeon Eung's heart pounded in his chest.
For a long time, he had searched for a prodigy to inherit his practical combat arts, wearing out his iron shoes in the process.
But beast-like reflexes, a killing intent that could tear the sky asunder, and an unshakeable mind that remained steadfast in any situation—
finding someone with these qualities… was as difficult as finding someone born with an Absolute Yin Severed Meridian.
‘Was it because I couldn't find him, as he was fated to become one of the Sip-ma-jeon-in?’
Hyeokryeon Eung let out a bitter smile.
The prodigy he had searched for so desperately, yet could never find, was right before his eyes.
But Bu Eun-seol was not destined to be his disciple, but one of the Sip-ma-jeon-in.
“Bu Eun-seol! Run!”
Just then, Seo Jin-ha's shout rang out.
Caught in a surprise attack, Bu Eun-seol had been pushed back to the feet of the Sal-gwi.
*Ssk.*
The Sal-gwi's eyes flashed like a hawk spotting its prey, and it slowly raised its hand.
‘No!’
The number of people who were supposed to be left was twelve.
But without a moment to think, Hyeokryeon Eung let out a thunderous shout.
“Stooooop!”
Unleashing the Lightning Spirit Movement Technique, Hyeokryeon Eung descended from the mountain like a thunderbolt and shouted once more.
“That's enough!”
His tiger-like eyes scanned the fallen Bu Eun-seol as he yelled again.
“Summon the Mad Doctor!”
Just then, Baek Jeon-cheon, who had followed Hyeokryeon Eung down from the mountain, asked in surprise.
“The Mad Doctor?”
“Quickly.”
Looking at Bu Eun-seol's pale face, Hyeokryeon Eung let out a lion's roar.
“Before this boy dies, quickly!”
***
Fourteen.
The number of Sip-ma-jeon-in candidates who survived Hell's Island.
Originally, there were supposed to be ten prodigies to enter the Ten Demonic Sects, and two more, by order of the Bi-yeong Pavilion Lord, who would act as the eyes and ears of the Sip-ma-jeon-in.
But due to Hyeokryeon Eung's sudden intervention, the third gate ended with fourteen survivors.
“Head Instructor, what on earth are you thinking? To go through the trouble of setting up three gates only to leave two extra people.”
To the words of Hwa Wi-myeong, an elder of the Demonic Hall, Hyeokryeon Eung, sitting at the opposite table, replied with a calm expression.
“He is a prodigy we must have.”
“We already have more than enough outstanding prodigies. Are you saying you broke the rules of this crucial competition just to save two more?”
Hyeokryeon Eung said with a resolute expression.
“He is a top-tier prodigy that the main hall must acquire at all costs.”
“Hmph.”
Hwa Wi-myeong let out a displeased sigh and spoke again.
“The envoys from the Ten Demonic Sects will arrive soon. I have no idea how they will react to their decision being overturned.”
At that, Baek Jeon-cheon, who was standing beside Hyeokryeon Eung, narrowed his long, slender eyes.
“You need not worry about that.”
“And why is that?”
“Because the discernment of the Sal-gwi dispatched by the Ten Demonic Sects is unlikely to be inferior to the Head Instructor's.”
“Hmph.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Hwa Wi-myeong shook his head slightly.
“Since you're saying it too, I'll trust you this once. However…”
He then stared at Hyeokryeon Eung with a grave expression.
“You broke a rule established with the leaders of the Ten Demonic Sects. You will face a punishment befitting your actions.”
Hyeokryeon Eung spoke calmly, as if he had expected this.
“I am already prepared for it.”
***
Inside a bedroom of a pavilion built in the center of Hell's Island.
Sunlight streamed through the crack of an open window, and birds were chirping.
Lying on a hard wooden bed, Bu Eun-seol slowly opened his eyes, feeling the pouring sunlight.
“…If this were the Murim, I would have died.”
For the first time since learning the Ya-su-do, he had fallen asleep completely unconscious.
As he calmly sat up and checked his condition, a strange thought occurred to him. His arms and legs seemed a little thinner.
‘Is it because all I've eaten for the past ten days are scraps of jerky?’
Getting out of bed, he looked at his reflection in the bronze mirror on the opposite wall and nodded.
‘So there really was a skilled physician stationed here.’
At the time, Bu Eun-seol had been exhausted and wounded. Despite that, he had executed the Peerless Lightning Flash, a technique that inflicted fatal internal damage.
Not only that, but at the moment of death, he had a sudden epiphany and even managed to imitate a practical combat style.
As a result of consecutively using advanced sword arts that were beyond his current ability, Bu Eun-seol's ki and blood had become completely twisted, and he had been dying from a fatal internal injury.
But now, as if none of that had happened, his entire body was full of vitality, and his skin was supple.
‘I really didn't think I'd survive.’
The Ten Demonic Sects were, after all, ten sects.
From the beginning, Bu Eun-seol had thought he wouldn't survive unless he placed in the top ten.
But the third gate had ended with fourteen people remaining, including himself. This was truly unexpected.
“Seeing as they chose fourteen people… could there be a fourth gate?”
*Creeak.*
Stepping out of the room, Bu Eun-seol's eyes couldn't help but widen.
A long hallway, doors spaced along it, and a staircase leading down. It was a scene reminiscent of the corridor of any ordinary inn, lined with guest rooms.
‘Was there a place like this on Hell's Island?’
Following the stairs down, he saw what truly looked like the interior of a two-story inn.
Neatly dressed servants were carrying food and taking orders, and some tables were laden with luxurious dishes.