The Heavenly Demon Copies Martial Arts - Episode 46
I stood before the Cheonsubaekryeonsa Executioner, Lee Jasuo, assigned to the Ha-mu-gwan.
Next to him idled a carriage that seemed to have brought him here.
Carriage?
It was uncommon for a warrior to travel by carriage, yet I offered my respect to the executioner with a bow despite my curiosity.
“Ha-mu-gwan disciple Moyong Bi greets Executioner Lee Jasuo.”
“Moyong Bi, you lack the proper vigilance toward trials. The punishment must be too lenient.”
“Yes…?”
It felt like a dispute at first glance.
“No tension in your face. Smiling and laughing. Everything feels like a game.”
I wet my dry lips with my tongue.
“Why do I have to come all the way here for you? For that yellow-soiled brat who failed the first trial.”
Countless thoughts crossed my mind.
Should I argue? Yet I held back.
Conflict only brought harm to me.
“I apologize.”
“Upper management instructed me to guide you through the next steps, but this is truly baffling. That is why I despise the noble sects. Not true warriors at all, yet they strut about like they have money, ignoring rules, claiming they contribute to the Cheonsubaekryeonsa treasury. Narrow-minded fools.”
My fist tightened.
From the very beginning, Lee Jasuo had looked down on me.
Now he sneered openly.
The fact that I failed the first trial gave him more reason to belittle me.
“Moyong Bi, let me make this clear. Are you listening?”
“Yes.”
“You are different from the other disciples. For them, passing three trials to advance to the next hall is enough—no limits on attempts, no penalty for failure. But not you, is it?”
Lee Jasuo crossed his arms and paced, his voice dripping with contempt.
“Only one failure is allowed in the punishment trials as a whole. More than that, and your promotion exam eligibility is permanently revoked. And…”
He stepped close enough that his face nearly touched mine.
“You failed the first trial already. Do you understand what this means?”
“…”
“You are trash. If you want to survive, show more caution. Moyong Bi.”
Wrath surged in my chest.
“You’re the one acting arrogant. Does it bother you that I speak like this?”
He noticed my clenched teeth and sharp gaze.
“No.”
“Was I mistaken?”
“No.”
“If you lack skill, at least have a friendly personality. Truly petty and narrow-minded. You are simply not suited for the orthodox path. I know your kind well.”
That gaze was the familiar one—the one I had received countless times after leaving home to learn martial arts, wandering the city.
Forgetting the pain, the familiar gaze tore at the scars deep inside me.
My fingertips trembled.
My bitten inner lip split, blood seeping through.
Lee Jasuo snorted at my sight.
“Hah. Why bother talking to trash. It wastes my time. Then, as the Cheonsubaekryeonsa Executioner, I shall begin my duties.”
Lee Jasuo pulled out a document from his robe and read it indifferently.
“Moyong Bi has failed the first of the two punishment trials and three regular trials required for the Cheonsubaekryeonsa promotion exam. Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Should you fail the next trial, you will be automatically demoted to the Chu-mu-gwan forever and lose your promotion eligibility. Are you fully aware of this?”
“Yes.”
“Executioner Lee Jasuo now informs Moyong Bi of the Cheonsubaekryeonsa process ahead.”
Lee Jasuo cleared his throat with a cough.
“Moyong Bi, if you wish, you may rest and prepare for three months in the Ha-mu-gwan under the Cheonsubaekryeonsa’s warm leniency. You must be infinitely grateful for the vast generosity of the Cheonsubaekryeonsa.”
Three months of rest and preparation in the Ha-mu-gwan before attempting the trials—this was originally a benefit for those assigned here.
Now they demanded it as if it were a mercy for failing the first trial.
I tried to calm my head.
Yet no matter how hard I tried, one thought lingered.
Justifying their actions?
The unreasonable nature of the first trial had been so absurd that even my master, Pahwanggun, would have overturned the upper management to change it.
This move was not born of conscience or a desire to offer fair chances.
We gave you enough opportunities. Therefore, after three months of rest, if you challenge the trials and fail again, we will apply the penalty without mercy.
It was merely to stack a pretext.
In my youth I had mocked those in power who obsessed over “pretext” as hypocritical.
But over time, I felt the real power it wielded.
“Furthermore, Jin Muje and Moyong Ryu, who were originally in your conference, have already been promoted to the Chu-mu-gwan. Pahwanggun, who oversaw your conference, has also suffered an accident. Therefore, during the three-month training period, you will temporarily join another conference for joint training.”
I had expected this.
Lee Jasuo looked up from the document at my silent reaction and frowned.
“During temporary training, you will be treated as an outsider by the new conference. Adapt well. That covers all that needed to be said. Finally…”
Lee Jasuo put the document away.
“I heard from your master that you have not yet been formally awarded any weapons. Even then they still support you. A beggar.”
Muttering, he opened the carriage door at the back.
Inside were filled with all sorts of weapons.
“Here you may choose two: a main weapon and a secondary. You will fail anyway, so pick something decent.”
I spoke with a startled tone.
“I have not yet received any advice or opinion on weapons suitable for me or my aptitude. Is it okay to choose according to my own whims?”
Lee Jasuo waved his hand in annoyance.
“Pick something appropriate here and take it. The conference responsible for your group in three months will teach you about it. Why would you deliberate when you are about to be kicked out in three months anyway? It’s the same for you.”
He taunted until the end.
I could no longer restrain my emotions while speaking with him.
I turned my gaze away to the carriage.
Inside were swords, spears, rods, and all sorts of weapons scattered about.
They were not even of decent quality.
Plainly, they were worse than the basic weapons issued for trials, crude iron weapons hammered out at some forge.
This was a level of contempt beyond contempt.
I hesitated for a moment.
“I will…”
I picked up the straight sword closest to me.
A mocking glint crossed Lee Jasuo’s eyes.
“As expected, a sword. Pathetic.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Lee Jasuo shrugged with an arrogant voice.
“If one were to choose weapons for those with shallow understanding of the sword, nine out of ten would pick the sword. In many ways the sword falls short compared to the spear. In the jianghu, the sword lacks the exaggerated aspects that the spear possesses. If one truly thinks, one would choose the spear. Of course, that does not apply to those with a solid foundation in the sword, but you are not like that—you simply know and admire the sword, so you picked it. Correct?”
I gripped the sword tightly and said nothing.
“…Still, I will use the sword.”
“Trash. Do as you like.”
Lee Jasuo did not know that the higher martial arts I possessed were all based on the sword.
I had crossed life and death with the sword countless times.
There was no need to abandon that experience and choose the spear or any other weapon for now.
“What about the secondary weapon?”
The answer was already decided.
“I will use gauntlets.”
Gauntlets? Lee Jasuo’s eyes widened in disgust.
Gauntlets were his specialty, so his reaction was intense.
“Heh heh, you have reached the limit. You dare speak of gauntlets? Listen well. With your talent you cannot even enter Shaolin.”
Cannot even enter Shaolin.
That was one of the most sensitive points for me—who had been beaten and driven out of the city in my youth.
Thud.
A sound rang in my mind as something snapped.
I raised my head.
“Though I lack much…”
I looked straight at him.
“I believe I have talent in the fists at least.”
Lee Jasuo was startled by my strong tone.
Yet his eyes curved into a thin crescent moon, and a long, low laugh escaped his lips.
“Hahaha, as expected of a noble sect disciple. So foolish. You should just learn a bit of obscure skills. The profound fist techniques you cannot even beat in the marketplace even if you toil for a hundred years!”
“I have already decided on gauntlets.”
Lee Jasuo’s laughter stopped abruptly.
“…Fine. Then how about this? The driver, wait over there for a moment.”
Lee Jasuo gestured for me to follow.
We walked to a wide open field.
He stood in the center with his back to me and turned around.
“For those who mistake themselves for worms but believe themselves dragons, I must personally teach you one move. You have already seen the Vajra Demon Subduing Fist, so I trust you will not find this unfair.”
“…?”
“From now on, I will unleash the twelve forms of the basic Vajra Demon Subduing Fist twelve times. Can you block them? If you block, I will acknowledge that you have talent.”
“There is no need to go that far…”
Lee Jasuo snorted.
“So you accept? Or are you a coward who is already running away?”
His intentions were obvious.
He wanted to teach me a lesson using martial arts as bait to punish the one who had grown a grudge.
Claiming it was unfair because I had once seen the Vajra Demon Subduing Fist was absurd on its own.
Lee Jasuo sneered at my silence.
“Afraid, are we? Then stop talking nonsense and pick a proper woman’s long spear for you-!”
“Fine.”
I cut off his words like a blade.
“What?”
Lee Jasuo looked startled.
“What did you just say?”
Once again, to the broken man before me, I repeated.
“The twelve forms of the basic Vajra Demon Subduing Fist. Please demonstrate it once for me. Though my skill is lacking, I will gladly block it.”
The Heavenly Demon Copies Martial Arts.