Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: The Needle King's Test
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The Needle King's Primordial Golden Needles were widely known by name only.
Their appearance, size, and shape were not common knowledge.
But now he saw that some Primordial Golden Needles were not only as thin as a strand of hair but also shorter than the width of a finger.
*‘So there are different types.’*
Bu Eun-seol gave a bitter smile.
The Primordial Golden Needle that Jongli Sa-hyeon now held was even thinner and shorter than the ox-hair needle, known as the smallest of all hidden weapons.
He had never imagined the man would hide such a needle in his palm and tap him on the shoulder.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
As Bu Eun-seol feigned ignorance, Jongli Sa-hyeon spoke in a low voice.
"This Primordial Fine Rain Needle is so slender and thin it can be inserted into a pore, and it reacts to the true energy flowing within the body."
Jongli Sa-hyeon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Bu Eun-seol.
"And it cannot pierce the skin of a master whose internal energy exceeds two gapja."
True to his name as the Needle King, Jongli Sa-hyeon had sensed Bu Eun-seol’s immense internal energy with a single needle.
It was a situation no one could have predicted, yet Bu Eun-seol remained surprisingly calm.
"What is your true identity?"
A master with over two gapja of internal energy at such a young age would surely be widely known for his reputation and appearance.
It was impossible for him to have a face and name that no one had ever seen or heard of.
"My apologies, Elder."
Bu Eun-seol put his hands together respectfully, a troubled expression on his face.
"I ask for your generous understanding, but I cannot reveal my school due to my master’s orders."
"Is that so? Well, I suppose that can happen."
Jongli Sa-hyeon nodded with a look of disappointment.
"However, it is an ironclad rule of this house not to admit anyone whose identity and background are uncertain. You should leave."
"Grandfather."
Unable to stand by any longer, Jongli Sa-yu stepped forward, but he spoke with a stern gaze.
"You insolent girl. Are you now trying to change the policy of this house?"
"I understand. However, there is one thing I must ask you, Elder."
"And what is that?"
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath and said.
"I heard that you fought the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang, in Hwangju forty years ago."
"And?"
Bu Eun-seol spoke with an exceedingly grave expression.
"I wish to hear the details of that encounter."
Jongli Sa-hyeon wore a look of incomprehension.
Why was this young man asking about a great demon of the Demonic Path who had vanished long ago?
"You are curious about what happened between this old man and the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade forty years ago? Why?"
After a moment of thought, Bu Eun-seol put on a pained expression.
"I am searching for him."
"Hmm."
Jongli Sa-hyeon hummed thoughtfully.
The number of masters killed by the Seven-Fingered Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang, in the past was countless.
*‘His parents or master must have been killed by him.’*
Thinking that Bu Eun-seol's relatives or master had been killed at the hands of the Demonic Blade, Jongli Sa-hyeon shook his head.
"That is a personal matter for this old man. I have no intention of disclosing it to an outsider."
Jongli Sa-hyeon sighed and waved his hand dismissively.
"Now, be on your way."
"Elder."
Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands respectfully and spoke with confidence.
"In that case, how about you make a wager with me, Elder?"
"A wager?"
"I have heard that you possess such transcendent internal energy that you can transmit power through a single needle."
Bu Eun-seol stared at Jongli Sa-hyeon, his eyes full of confidence.
"If you can push me back even a single step with your internal energy, I will leave quietly."
And he added forcefully.
"In return, if you cannot, you will tell me that story. How does that sound?"
"Am I hearing things in my old age?"
Jongli Sa-hyeon found it so absurd he almost burst out laughing.
"Young man. Learn to distinguish between spirit and recklessness."
The Needle King was known to have the deepest internal energy among the Four Gods and Seven Kings, as well as outstanding martial arts.
Yet a young man who looked barely past twenty was demanding a contest of internal energy?
Was this not a suicidal act?
"Young Master Baek."
Unable to watch, Jongli Sa-yu also approached Bu Eun-seol and shook her head.
"My grandfather is not one to forgive such provocations."
The Needle King, Jongli Sa-hyeon.
He was a man who intensely disliked the younger generation of martial artists.
Ever since it became known that he could clear the Conception Vessel with his Primordial Golden Needles... tens of thousands of young people had come to him, either groveling or full of bravado.
Among them were those who, like Bu Eun-seol, had provoked him into a wager.
And Jongli Sa-hyeon had never once sent such people away unscathed.
"There was someone in the past who tried the same trick as you."
Jongli Sa-hyeon looked at Bu Eun-seol with an expression mixed with contempt.
"He demanded a contest of internal energy with this old man and intentionally suffered a fatal internal injury."
"..."
"All based on the shallow calculation that if he suffered an irreversible injury, this old man would bestow the Primordial Golden Needle treatment upon him."
Jongli Sa-hyeon said with a solemn expression.
"But this old man never treated him. Because performing the Primordial Golden Needle technique consumes ten years' worth of internal energy. Do you understand what that means?"
"Even if it means my death, that will not happen."
Bu Eun-seol said in a clear voice.
"Otherwise, I ask that you tell me what happened back then."
"You leave me no choice."
Realizing Bu Eun-seol's determination was firm, Jongli Sa-hyeon sighed.
"Do not blame this old man for being merciless."
And he immediately raised his internal energy to push Bu Eun-seol away.
Its level was a staggering one hundred and fifty years' worth.
It was enough to send Bu Eun-seol flying in an instant, even if he possessed more than two gapja of power.
*‘What?’*
But Bu Eun-seol stood ramrod straight, as if rooted to the ground. There was not even a sign that he had raised his own internal energy.
*‘His internal energy exceeds two gapja.’*
To have reached two gapja of power before the age of twenty.
This proved he was an outstanding disciple produced by either a great orthodox or unorthodox sect, or one of the great houses.
*‘Which school produced such a disciple?’*
"Indeed, you have reason to be confident."
Jongli Sa-hyeon, who had been watching Bu Eun-seol with narrowed eyes, let out a sound of admiration and spoke gravely.
"But you will soon come to regret this."
Contrary to his cold voice, he increased his internal energy slowly, step by step.
Because if he were to unleash his powerful internal energy all at once, abruptly... Bu Eun-seol’s meridians could rupture, or he could suffer an irreversible internal injury.
*‘The Gusaldai’s information was accurate.’*
The Needle King was known to have a stern personality and a ruthless hand.
But according to the Gusaldai, contrary to what was known, he was a generous and compassionate man.
—He only acts stern on the outside; he's actually a very kind person.
Jongli Sa-yu’s words suddenly came to mind.
If Jongli Sa-hyeon had been a man without blood or tears, she would have tried to stop this fight with all her might.
She couldn't have stood by and watched the meridians of the man she had feelings for rupture before her eyes.
But because she knew well that Jongli Sa-hyeon would not act ruthlessly, she was watching in silence.
*‘Are the Four Gods and Seven Kings different?’*
The figures of the Orthodox Faction that Bu Eun-seol had seen until now were stubborn and selfish.
But the members of the Orthodox Faction who belonged to the Four Gods and Seven Kings.
The Tan King, Bukgung Ryeong, whom he had seen at the Mu-hwang-bi-go, and the Jang King, Yuk Jang-cheon, whom he had seen at the Murim Alliance. And even the Needle King before him...
Contrary to their reputations, their characters were not so bad.
*‘He must have performed the Primordial Golden Needle technique tirelessly in reality.’*
Jongli Sa-hyeon must have been hiding his kind and merciful nature behind a forced pretense of sternness.
He surely couldn't have stood by and watched people die or suffer from their injuries.
While Bu Eun-seol was lost in these thoughts, Jongli Sa-hyeon was inwardly astonished.
*‘I thought he had, at best, a little more than two gapja of internal energy.’*
Before he knew it, the internal energy he was pouring out had surpassed three gapja.
Yet, wasn't Bu Eun-seol still not budging an inch?
*‘Don’t tell me this fellow’s internal energy exceeds three gapja?’*
Three gapja of internal energy was close to the limit that the younger generation of martial artists could reach.
And yet, wasn't Bu Eun-seol wearing a relaxed expression?
*Whoooosh!*
Suddenly, a wind gusted from Jongli Sa-hyeon’s body.
At the same time, a pure white wave of true energy flowed from his body and wrapped around Bu Eun-seol.
He was finally pouring out his internal energy with all his might.
*Rumble.*
The flower garden was being ravaged by a storm of true energy from the two masters’ outpouring of power, and the ground was being torn up.
If Jongli Sa-hyeon’s residence hadn't been in a secluded location, the people in the manor would have been in an uproar, thinking an earthquake had struck.
*‘It can’t be.’*
Pushed back to the far end of the moon gate by the storm of true energy, Jongli Sa-yu’s mouth fell open.
*‘Young Master Baek’s internal energy is on par with Grandfather’s?’*
Jongli Sa-hyeon, who had not only lived his entire life as a physician but had also consumed all sorts of elixirs while researching their efficacy and methods of absorption.
His internal energy was known to be among the strongest of the Four Gods and Seven Kings.
Yet a young man barely past twenty was confidently engaging him in a contest of internal energy?
*‘Could he be…?’*
A rumor circulating in the martial world came to Jongli Sa-hyeon’s mind.
A prodigy of the Demonic Path, the greatest of his generation, who had reached the level of the Four Gods and Seven Kings before the age of twenty.
A man said to possess profound wisdom and foresight, yet also a cruel hand that spared no one who stood in his way...
The rumor about the next-generation Demonic Lord.
He was a grandmaster of the Orthodox Faction, but he held no great hatred or prejudice against the Demonic Path.
However, he had no desire to build a relationship with the successor of the Demonic Sanctum.
*‘But this power... it doesn’t seem to be of the demonic school.’*
The look in Jongli Sa-hyeon’s eyes changed.
The internal energy arts of the Demonic Path were such that the more powerfully one exerted their energy, the sharper the nature of their true energy became, like the edge of a blade.
But wasn't Bu Eun-seol’s internal energy becoming softer and more tenacious?
*‘I must find out for sure.’*
Jongli Sa-hyeon's fingers, clasped behind his back, traced the air a few times, and an formless energy touched Bu Eun-seol’s pulse points.
Befitting his title as the Needle King, he had shaped his internal energy into fine needles to diagnose and grasp the origin of Bu Eun-seol's power.
*‘The Tendon-Altering Sutra?’*
Jongli Sa-hyeon’s eyes widened as he secretly examined the flow of Bu Eun-seol’s true energy.
The pure yet tenacious true energy was not only in the dantian but was also distributed and stored within the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
Wasn't this a principle seen only in Shaolin's Tendon-Altering Sutra, called the greatest divine art of the Orthodox Faction?
*‘So that was it?’*
The supreme arts of Shaolin were never taught to outsiders. They could never be learned by anyone not of the temple.
With this one move, Bu Eun-seol had all but revealed his identity.
A smile played on Jongli Sa-hyeon’s lips.
*‘A disciple of Shaolin.’*
The Tendon-Altering Sutra could not be learned by just anyone; it was only passed down, with the abbot's permission, to those who had a compelling reason to learn it.
In other words, even a disciple of outstanding talent could not receive it if they were not fated to learn the Tendon-Altering Sutra.
*‘However...’*
The Needle King, as a master of the Jianghu, was extremely cautious.
He sensed that the sword on Bu Eun-seol's back was a divine blade and that an indefinable, tyrannical aura flowed from his body.
*‘There are no sword arts in Shaolin.’*
There are no martial arts in the Shaolin school that use bladed weapons.
There was a supreme art called Dharma’s Three Swords, but it was a sword art in name only.
In reality, it was a technique closer to a short staff art.
Of course, secular disciples sometimes carried weapons regardless, but the essence of Shaolin martial arts was ultimately the art of fists and palms, performed with one's bare hands.
In the end, one had no choice but to use their hands as weapons.
*‘Come to think of it, doesn’t the Demonic Path also have an internal art similar to the Tendon-Altering Sutra?’*
Jongli Sa-hyeon recalled the renegade monk of the Heavenly Dragon Temple, the Blood Vajra, whom he had fought long ago.
Not only was his internal energy formidable, but he had used an internal art so outstanding and profound that it could be mistaken for Shaolin's Tendon-Altering Sutra.
After a long deliberation, Jongli Sa-hyeon withdrew his internal energy in one go and said calmly.
"Let's call this wager a draw."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"Then do you admit that you lost the wager?"
"I cannot admit that."
Jongli Sa-hyeon said calmly.
"Wasn't that a one-sided wager on your part?"
"But..."
"That is why I called it a draw."
Jongli Sa-hyeon said, his eyes narrowed.
"If you want to hear the story, make another wager with this old man."
Bu Eun-seol thought deeply for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. State your terms."
"Have a duel with three of this house's disciples and win."
Jongli Sa-hyeon smiled faintly.
"If you do, I promise to tell you in detail what happened that day."
The origin of one's internal energy could be misleading.
But when it came to martial arts, the paths and distinctions between the Orthodox and Demonic Factions were clear.
Because they pursued completely different paths, it was impossible to deceive the eyes of a grandmaster like Jongli Sa-hyeon.
"Very well."
As Bu Eun-seol readily nodded, Jongli Sa-hyeon extended his hand.
"Then let us begin immediately, without wasting any more time."
***
There was no place within the manor that could be called a training ground.
This was because the Needle King’s disciples did not set aside time for sparring or training.
Instead, they honed their composure and agility by treating patients every day.
They also polished the Needle King's secret techniques by performing advanced acupuncture on their patients.
Having no suitable place to duel, Jongli Sa-hyeon led Bu Eun-seol to the manor's front courtyard, which was paved with blue stones.
There stood seven men with piercing gazes.
They were the Needle King’s personal disciples, and their internal energy and acupuncture skills were formidable.
Judging by their confident expressions even after hearing the whole situation from Jongli Sa-hyeon, they seemed quite confident in their martial arts as well.
"The youngest will go first."
Jongli Sa-hyeon pointed to his youngest disciple, Im Gun-byeong.
Im Gun-byeong was nimble and skilled at improvisation.
He would be the best opponent to gauge Bu Eun-seol’s martial prowess.
"Elder."
Just then, Bu Eun-seol spoke calmly.
"There is no need to waste time. I will face three of them at once."
At that moment, the faces of the seven disciples, including Im Gun-byeong, turned grim.
Jongli Sa-hyeon nodded.
"Such confidence."
And he said to his disciples.
"Un-gyeok, Cheon-ung. You two step forward as well."
At that, the largest and oldest-looking man and a gaunt man with sunken eyes stepped forward.
They were the first disciple, Gong Un-gyeok, and the third disciple, Ma Cheon-ung.
They were prodigies who had both mastered the Needle King's ultimate technique, the Golden Stream Prairie Fire, to the eighth level, and their internal energy was approaching three gapja.
*‘If he uses demonic arts, or draws his sword... there will be no need to continue this duel.’*
Jongli Sa-hyeon intended to use this duel to confirm whether Bu Eun-seol was a figure from the Demonic Path.
"Begin."
"Then."
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol threw a punch.
It was the Mountain-Piercing Single Fist, a technique similar to the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist that Shaolin disciples performed like a preparatory stance.
*Kwoosh!*
As the immense fist energy poured out, the three disciples, who had been standing in a triangular formation, scattered in all directions, simultaneously flicking twenty golden needles each.
The Golden Stream Prairie Fire was a technique that involved flicking fine, small golden needles from different directions and with staggered timing.
What made this technique fearsome was that it imbued tiny golden needles, which were difficult to properly infuse with internal energy, with incredible power,
and also that the needles all targeted the body’s vital points, meaning a single hit could render a person unable to fight.
*‘Even a high monk of Shaolin would find it difficult to block the Golden Stream Prairie Fire unleashed by three of them.’*
Just as a smile was about to form on Jongli Sa-hyeon's lips as he watched,
Suddenly, dozens of palm shadows materialized in the air and began to erase the shower of golden needles one by one.
"That is..."
As he observed the palm art Bu Eun-seol was performing, Jongli Sa-hyeon’s eyes flew wide open.
"The Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm?"
One of Shaolin’s 72 Supreme Arts, an ultimate technique known for having the most complex movements and consuming an extreme amount of internal energy.
Wasn't the very essence of Shaolin palm arts—whose changes in form were said to be as unpredictable as dozens of butterflies taking flight at once—unfolding brilliantly from Bu Eun-seol’s hands?