Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Demon and the Flawless Sword
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Taking a deep breath, Seok-song looked at the men gathered before him and spoke in a low voice.
“That man is a demon.”
A demon.
For some, it was a commonly used word.
But when Seok-song uttered it, the stone chamber seemed to darken, and the distant rumble of thunder echoed in the air.
“He was originally a disciple of the First Seat. But he showed such exceptional talent that, in the end, every swordsman, even the Guild Master, taught him.”
He let out a ragged breath and continued.
“Watching him rapidly absorb every sword art, our guild had no doubt he would one day become the greatest under heaven. But…”
Biting his lip, Seok-song spoke as if forcing something caught in his throat.
“That demon was a spy sent to infiltrate our guild. Not only that, but once he had learned all our sword arts, he slaughtered our masters, one by one.”
So this was the Cheon-geom-hoe’s story!
They hadn’t been acting discreetly like a divine dragon by choice; their masters had all been killed, rendering them unable to operate at all.
“Allow me to ask one thing.”
After a moment of silence, the man in the yellow dragon mask asked in a low voice.
“Are you saying he truly massacred the Cheon-geom-hoe's Guild Master and swordsmen all by himself?”
“That is correct.”
At Seok-song’s words, a deathly silence once again fell over the room.
Just from the single sword technique Seok-song had demonstrated earlier, they could surmise that his martial prowess was at the pinnacle of the Murim.
How could someone capable of single-handedly assassinating the swordsmen and the Guild Master of such an organization even exist in the Murim?
“The math doesn't add up.”
The man in the ox mask shook his head.
“How could one man possibly take down so many masters?”
“That is why our guild is offering to impart our sword arts.”
Clenching his fists, Seok-song said through gritted teeth.
“So that you can be certain to defeat him!”
Only then did Bu Eun-seol understand the full picture.
The Cheon-geom-hoe had devised a sword art to kill their great enemy, but they were unable to master it themselves.
So, they intended to pass the sword art on to exceptionally talented individuals naturally filled with killing intent, to have them carry out their revenge.
“Even if one learns an exceptional sword art, there's no guarantee they can kill such a master.”
Seok-song nodded at the ox-masked man's question.
“Of course. However, his sword art has a fatal weakness.”
“A weakness?”
“Because he practiced an esoteric art like *Yugagong*, his joints and muscles are exceedingly soft and flexible. Of course, such a body makes it easy to learn any advanced sword art, but…”
At that moment, the eyes of Bu Eun-seol, wearing the rabbit mask, burned red like embers.
“*Yugagong*? What kind of *Yugagong*?”
Seok-song frowned at the sudden question.
“I don't know the exact type. If it wasn't the Cheonchuk *Yugagong*, it must have been the Neunggyo *Yugagong* of the Central Plains.”
“His age? How old is he?”
Though puzzled by Bu Eun-seol's frantic questions, Seok-song answered.
“At the time, he was a young man in his late twenties… so he would be around forty now.”
“His sword art? What kind of sword art did he use?”
“He used the very sword arts our guild taught him. As if to mock us.”
As Bu Eun-seol was about to ask another question, Seok-song held up a hand.
“That's enough questions for now.”
He then looked around and said.
“Can you swear an oath?”
The man in the ox mask, who had been standing at the front in deep contemplation, was the first to answer.
“I refuse.”
“I will not force you. You may leave at once.”
“Very well.”
Clasping his hands together, the ox-masked man turned without a hint of regret and walked out the exit.
Watching him go, Seok-song took a deep breath and spoke again.
“To those of you who remain, I ask again. In exchange for receiving these sword arts, will you swear an oath to kill one man?”
“I, too, have a question.”
The man in the yellow dragon mask stepped forward.
“Does this 'demon' belong to the Orthodox Faction?”
“That, I do not know. All I can say is that he was a spy who infiltrated our guild to learn our internal affairs.”
The man in the yellow dragon mask nodded at Seok-song's reply.
“Then I'm afraid I cannot.”
The man in the yellow dragon mask said with a bitter tone.
“You two call him a demon, but there's no way of knowing the circumstances behind it all.”
He turned without hesitation.
“Even if every word you've spoken is the absolute truth, if he is a man of the Orthodox Faction, I cannot kill him.”
“I understand your meaning.”
“Then I will take my leave.”
Bu Eun-seol's eyes glinted as he watched the burly, yellow-dragon-masked man turn and leave.
‘He must be the Dae-ui-go-su of the Huashan Sect.’
The presence of the man in the yellow dragon mask was like a towering mountain, enough to impress even Bu Eun-seol.
Furthermore, the kick he had displayed in the second trial was remarkably similar to the thirty-six stances of the Tae-ak-sam-cheong Leg Technique.
“If you cannot tell me whether this 'demon' is from the Orthodox or Demonic Faction… very well.”
After the man in the yellow dragon mask left, the man wearing the tiger mask spoke.
“Then where is he? Can I kill him right now?”
Seok-song shook his head.
“Our guild is using all its resources to find him… but we have yet to succeed. We are still mobilizing our entire intelligence network to track him down.”
At that, the man in the tiger mask sighed.
“Then this won't work.”
The tiger-masked man also shook his head.
“I have many things to do in the future. If you were to suddenly appear while I am handling an important matter and ask me to kill someone… that would be difficult.”
From his tone, the tiger-masked man seemed not only to be middle-aged but also to hold a considerably high position.
“That is understandable.”
As Seok-song nodded, the tiger-masked man spoke to Bu Eun-seol and Dang Gon.
“I saw earlier that you two are truly strong. If we meet again in the Jianghu, let's take off our masks and have a proper match.”
The man with the tiger mask had a very belligerent and spirited personality.
“Well, it's been a pleasure.”
Clasping his hands to Seok-song and U-hak, the tiger-masked man finally departed.
Now, only Dang Gon and Bu Eun-seol remained.
“I refuse as well.”
The fox-masked man, Dang Gon, shook his head.
“I have my own unresolved business. I cannot become entangled in another clan's grudge just to learn a sword art.”
At Dang Gon's reply, the expressions on Seok-song and U-hak's faces darkened.
“I see.”
“Then.”
Clasping his hands, Dang Gon looked at Bu Eun-seol and gave a slight nod.
Then, without a second thought, he turned and left.
“Are you the same?”
Bu Eun-seol replied calmly to Seok-song's question.
“I'll do it.”
“You'll do it? You mean you'll swear the oath?”
“Yes.”
At his ready answer, Seok-song and U-hak exchanged skeptical glances.
“Think it over carefully before you answer.”
This time, U-hak stepped forward and spoke gravely.
“If you receive the sword art and fail to keep your promise, our guild will mobilize all its forces to eliminate you first.”
He seemed to think Bu Eun-seol was making the oath lightly, just for the sake of learning the sword art.
“Our key figures may have met their end, but the power of our guild is still intact. Even if you were the sect leader of one of the Nine Sects One Union, you would not be able to escape our retaliation…”
“I know.”
Bu Eun-seol cut him off, and U-hak raised an eyebrow.
“What is it you know?”
“To be able to construct mechanisms and buildings of this scale on Mount Geumjeong… your financial power alone must rival that of the Nine Sects One Union or the Eight Great Families. Am I wrong?”
U-hak seemed impressed by Bu Eun-seol's deduction and gave a slow nod.
“Precisely. That is why I am telling you to decide carefully. This is an oath upon which your life depends.”
“I swear.”
Bu Eun-seol answered without hesitation.
“I will kill the fiend who massacred the Cheon-geom-hoe's swordsmen with my own hands. But… it is not for the sword art.”
Having realized a long-forgotten truth, Bu Eun-seol looked at Seok-song and U-hak and said.
“Because it is possible… that this fiend is the very person I have been searching for.”
Behind the rabbit mask, Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed with a blood-red light.
A killing intent that could tear the very heavens apart.
It was the very quality Seok-song and U-hak had dreamed of finding.
***
U-hak led Bu Eun-seol back to the wide, open area where the first trial had taken place.
“Are you ready to learn the sword art?”
Bu Eun-seol nodded at Seok-song’s question.
Seok-song and U-hak exchanged a look, then stomped their feet in unison.
*Rumble.*
With the sound of internal mechanisms grinding, a wall rose from the middle of the open space.
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes widened slightly as he watched.
The wall now rising was about five times larger than the one that had appeared in the clearing before.
Nearly thirty feet high, it looked less like a wall and more like a massive cliff face had risen from the ground.
‘So this was the original painting.’
Only then did Bu Eun-seol understand the sense of unease he had felt earlier.
The image of the woman performing a sword art against a tiger on a snowy mountain had been merely a fragment of the painting on this much larger wall.
“That's right. The painting that rose earlier was just a cut-out section from the edge of this wall.”
U-hak wore a strange smile, as if he could see right into Bu Eun-seol's mind.
“And this is the complete original.”
Staring at Bu Eun-seol’s face, U-hak gave a dry smile.
“The Guild Master painted this.”
“The Guild Master…”
“Indeed. He completed it fifteen years ago.”
With a puzzled expression, Bu Eun-seol looked up at the wall.
The wall engraved with the painting was roughly sixty feet wide and nearly twenty feet high. In simple terms, it was about the size of the side of a two-story pavilion.
*Hmm.*
The painting on the wall was divided into four sections, each depicting a battle between a human and a beast.
Next to the image of the woman and the tiger from the first trial was a boy throwing stones at a flying hawk.
Next to that, an old man with a staff, surrounded by wolves. The final painting showed a swordsman confronting a bizarre, pitch-black beast.
‘This is…’
The longer he stared at the painting, the more he felt his very soul being drawn into the wall.
Hidden throughout the four sections of the painting were indiscernible shapes and lines.
‘A sword art.’
Bu Eun-seol surmised that if one were to follow those shapes and lines, they would form a single sword move.
As he envisioned the sword move hidden within the painting, a cold sweat broke out on his back.
‘A flawless… sword move.’
The sword move in the painting encompassed all the variations and speed a longsword could possibly execute.
Therefore, it could not be blocked or dodged; one could only meet it head-on.
“It seems you've already found the sword move.”
U-hak nodded calmly as he watched Bu Eun-seol's profile.
“This is the sword move the Guild Master imparted to that demon.”
“You mean he only taught him a single move?”
“Of course not.”
U-hak's expression turned pained at Bu Eun-seol's question.
“Not only the Guild Master, but everyone from the First Seat to the Tenth Seat… each of them passed on a sword move containing the very essence of their techniques to that bastard.”
In short, the fiend had been taught a total of eleven sword moves, including the Guild Master's.
“The sword move in this painting is one of those eleven, the one the Guild Master taught him: Cheon-ui-mu-bong, the Heavenly Robe Without Seam.”
Heavenly Robe Without Seam.
It means absolute perfection. The name felt more than appropriate, as the sword move on the stone wall was indeed flawless.
“And the sword art we will teach you is one that can counter such an exceptional move, one that cannot be broken in a short time.”
Bu Eun-seol wore a puzzled expression.
A sword art is a sword art. What did he mean, a sword art that could 'counter' an exceptional move?
As if to resolve his confusion, U-hak spoke calmly.
“For example, if I had performed the Heavenly Robe Without Seam on you before showing you this painting, you would not have been able to block it perfectly.”
Bu Eun-seol nodded.
The move was that exquisite, too difficult to break in an instant.
At that moment, a sharp, cold glint shot from U-hak's eyes.
“But what if there was a secret method to defend against the sword move without breaking it?”