Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: The Owner of the Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink
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As the distance closed, their forms gradually came into view. Just as expected, they were martial artists. There appeared to be around a hundred of them.
“……?”
Ak Muyoo eyed the approaching group with a puzzled expression. To his astonishment, they were the Hundred Mad Demons of Dream Demon Heaven. Even so, he couldn’t let his guard down. Ak Muyoo pulled back the cloth covering the Seventy-Fourth Squad. The Dark Current Arrow was revealed.
“We’re not here to fight, kid.”
Neung Ok stepped forward in front of Ak Muyoo and spoke.
“Is it safe to put this down?”
“It is.”
“Got it.”
Ak Muyoo stowed the Heavenly God Solar Bow back in its place and covered the Seventy-Fourth Squad again. Then he asked,
“Want some water?”
“Hand it over.”
Ak Muyoo pulled a water skin from his camel and offered it. Neung Ok took a drink first, then passed it back.
“You didn’t follow me here, so why enter the desert?”
“We did follow you.”
“……Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you back at the inn?”
“I told you too. I was scared of dying, so I changed my appearance to look like a Fear Demon.”
“Changing the shell doesn’t change the core—that’s what we think, starting with me.”
“That’s……”
Ak Muyoo pursed his lips.
“Weren’t you the one who dragged us into this in the first place?”
“True, but things are getting out of hand.”
“How so?”
“Dream Demon Heaven’s going to come after this.”
Ak Muyoo tapped his head.
“I’ll handle that, so don’t worry.”
“It’d be nice if things went Granny’s way, but the world isn’t that forgiving. Dream Demon Heaven’s bound to be crawling with old coots like that one. No—everyone there probably thinks the same. They’ll never accept some unqualified punk as the Fear Demon’s master. That’d be utterly humiliating. If I were someone more impressive—like an imperial prince or a prodigy from Shaolin’s Heavenly Realm—they might’ve acknowledged it. But I’m nothing. Can’t even control my own body. A guy like that with sky-high ambition? No way they’ll approve. They’ll send underlings or hire assassins to kill me and reclaim the Fear Demon. Then when Granny calls them out, they’ll play dumb—‘Didn’t know,’ or ‘It was a mistake.’ What can Granny do then? If I’m alive, she might try something, but for a dead punk? She’ll just click her tongue and say, ‘Kid’s got rotten luck,’ and that’s it.”
“…….”
“Since you’re here, let’s do this: We travel together until we cross the desert, then split. Deal?”
“……Understood.”
Neung Ok nodded.
“Everyone, up!”
At Ak Muyoo’s shout, the Wind Squad members who had been hidden on the ground rose in unison.
“Huh!”
“Whoa!”
“Gonna faint.”
The Hundred Mad Demons stared at the Wind Squad in shock.
“I’ll yield the camels to Granny’s group.”
Ak Muyoo dismounted his camel.
“You’re not riding?”
Neung Ok asked.
“We’re not fated for that. Water and rations are loaded on the camels—help yourselves.”
Ak Muyoo moved to the rear of the camels. The Wind Squad members lined up behind him.
“Prepare!”
Ak Muyoo dropped prone into a belly crawl.
Slide! Slide-slide-slide! Slide-slide!
The rest of the squad followed into belly crawls. Ara was among them.
“Move out!”
Ak Muyoo bellowed and shot forward.
“Raaargh!”
“Taaaaah!”
“Haaaaah!”
The Wind Squad charged after Ak Muyoo with roars. Neung Ok’s group watched Ak Muyoo and the Wind Squad in bewilderment.
“Isn’t that Hero Sun Woo?”
Neung Ok asked upon spotting Sun Woo Chang Cheon.
“Yes. Long time no see.”
Sun Woo Chang Cheon bowed.
“Your right arm……”
“Things just happened this way.”
“What are those guys doing?”
Black Demon Gonok inquired.
“Training their martial arts.”
“Martial arts…… Never seen it practiced like that.”
“Let’s get moving for now.”
“Agreed.”
The older Hundred Mad Demons rode camels without loads, while the rest walked.
“Hide!”
At Ak Muyoo’s command, the Wind Squad donned their windproof cloaks and flattened themselves prone.
“Unbelievable.”
The Hundred Mad Demons clicked their tongues.
To the naked eye, sand and squad members were indistinguishable. If they hadn’t seen the prone drop, no one would suspect people were there. But that was just the beginning.
Moments later, the Wind Squad’s presence vanished completely.
“Huh!”
The Hundred Mad Demons exchanged dumbfounded looks.
“It’s the squad leader’s Black Wind Breathing Method.”
Sun Woo Chang Cheon explained.
“Charge!”
Ak Muyoo’s shout rang out, and the Wind Squad sprang up. They drew weapons, swung them, and advanced.
Ak Muyoo drew his two Fear Demons and dashed forward with Mad Thousand Blood Steps.
“Ooh……!”
A gasp escaped Neung Ok.
She wasn’t alone. All Hundred Mad Demons’ eyes fixed on Ak Muyoo. His arms moved at blinding speed, the Fear Demons at chain ends ripping through the air.
He’d seem to stumble, then whip a Fear Demon to right himself. Was it pulling him, or was he swinging it? As he advanced, they followed; as they surged, he trailed.
The Fear Demons accelerated.
“How is a wall……”
Neung Ok murmured like a groan.
Impossible. Sword walls or blade walls were the domain of qi masters. Yet Ak Muyoo generated one with his Fear Demons.
“O……! Mad Blood Calamity Demon Flow!”
Full Demon Baekjan whispered fervently.
The Hundred Mad Demons no longer doubted: Ak Muyoo wielded Mad Thousand Blood Steps and Mad Blood Calamity Demon Flow.
“To see that art before I die……”
White Demon Ta Bul Yeo muttered in awe.
“Run!”
Ak Muyoo’s distant shout came.
“Why’d you stop?”
Neung Ok asked Sun Woo Chang Cheon, who had halted.
“They’re coming back.”
“Who…… You mean they’re circling back here?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Neung Ok stared blankly at Ak Muyoo’s group vanishing over the dune.
They returned after about fifteen minutes, immediately dropping into belly crawls again.
“Run!”
At Ak Muyoo’s order, they surged prone. Their speed was incredible—like running on two feet.
“Waaaaah!”
“Taaaaah!”
The Wind Squad ran roaring.
After two hours, they stood, used lightness skills, then belly crawled again.
Training ended at midnight.
Ak Muyoo distributed meals to the squad.
“Talk. Share what you felt unleashing arts all day, discuss how qi moves in your body. This talk could save your lives.”
Squad members gathered in groups of three or five, eating jerky and conversing—all about martial arts. They bedded down in pairs or trios.
When all slept, Ak Muyoo slipped from camp westward. After fifteen minutes, he stopped where dunes appeared. A camel lay before a dune, a woman leaning against it. Ak Muyoo approached.
The woman silently watched him.
“Here.”
Ak Muyoo offered a windproof cloak. He’d brought it for her. Her eyes suddenly widened as she looked at him.
“Hm?”
Ak Muyoo startled. First emotional flicker from her.
“What’s she…… Hold on.”
She eyed his waist. There hung the Solar Heaven Sword and Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink.
He drew the Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink and offered it. She stared, then grasped it. Slowly stroked it. No expression change.
“You know it?”
Ak Muyoo asked. She seemed intimately familiar. Wordlessly, she gripped midpoint left-handed, hilt right-handed.
Like drawing sword or saber.
“It’s not a sword, it’s a club……”
He sensed her infusing qi.
Shing!
The Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink unsheathed, revealing a translucent blade.
“Ugh.”
Ak Muyoo grimaced.
Never imagined it like this. Never thought it could be drawn.
Mok Woo once said it looked like a club but was a sword. Not club-shaped sword—a true blade.
Mok Woo couldn’t draw it.
He’d tried everything, suspecting secrets. Nothing. Yet she drew it effortlessly.
Her qi infusion clearly unlocked it. Stronger than Mok Woo’s, at least. Maybe millennium-deep cultivation required.
Ordinary foes, you gauged strength. Her? Immeasurable.
Meant vast power to draw. She knew—thus, the true owner.
She peered at her reflection in the blade.
“Thought it was a club……”
Ak Muyoo muttered softly. She looked up at him, resheathed it, and offered back.
“Take it.”
Ak Muyoo shook his head.
She didn’t withdraw her hand.
“Can I draw it too?”
He gripped the hilt. It didn’t budge. Still a club to him.
He offered it back.
She eyed him.
“I can’t draw it now, nor ever. To me, it’s just a club. Better with you than me.”
She wouldn’t take it despite words.
“Feel this.”
Ak Muyoo pointed to his pulse. She checked it. Her eyes widened slightly.
“So it belongs to you.”
Ak Muyoo set the Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink before her.
Then turned away.
She watched him silently.
Ak Muyoo dashed back with Mad Thousand Blood Steps.
Watching him go, she placed the Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink beside her and covered with the windproof cloak he brought.
Meanwhile, returning to camp, Ak Muyoo scanned for a bed spot.
—Over here.
Ara’s transmission came.
Ak Muyoo slipped into the windproof cloak where she lay.
“Why you?”
“Yora’s bedding with Lady Neung Ok.”
“Yora?”
“Yo Pung’s name.”
“Names exchanged?”
“She calls me big sis.”
“Made a friend?”
“Yeah.”
“Good for you.”
“Yeah. Where’d you go?”
“Business.”
“Oh!”
“Sleep.”
“Stars are too beautiful.”
Ara turned, gazing at Ak Muyoo’s face. He looked skyward. As she said—sky like fist-sized gems densely studded, gleaming.
“They are.”
Ak Muyoo gazed endlessly, then closed eyes. Liquid trickled from eye corner. Temple-tracing trail visible to Ara.
“Crying?”
“Yawn.”
“You yawn without opening mouth?”
“Stars too beautiful.”
“Not crying age from stars.”
“I am.”
“Borrow my chest?”
“It’ll stop.”
“Cry often?”
“Alone only.”
“You cry too.”
“Sleep.”
“Permit hand on chest.”
“Sleep already, hey!”
“Give arm.”
“Ow. Just……”