Chapter 348
Chapter 348
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 348
Chapter Title: Myriad Arts vs Heavenly Demon (3)
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Clang!
Kang So-so's blade fell.
The Heavenly Demon Kang So-so stared blankly at the blade bouncing off the ground.
"Ah....... Aah......"
Her head slowly drooped.
She had clearly fought with everything she had.
Without a moment's carelessness, drawing the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to its absolute limit.
And yet, she couldn't stand against that sword?
'How?'
Her mind couldn't make sense of this absurd situation.
She had never even imagined losing—how could she comprehend it now?
"This seat......"
Had she.
Really.
Lost?
For the second bitter defeat of her lifetime.
Her strength drained away, and she let her arms fall limp.
What was the Heavenly Demon?
No matter one's position.
The one standing at the pinnacle of a world where the strong devoured the weak.
The one who made the Divine Cult invincible and all demons submit, manifesting it for the followers.
Kang So-so was someone who took infinite pride in being the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
But that was only when it was truly invincible.
'Right.'
The demonic cult followed the strong.
For the sake of the strong, for overwhelming power.
They could burn their own lives like mere weeds—that was the way of the demonic cult.
That was the true force that had sustained the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
In the normal course of things.
She might have had to kneel before that old man.
But.
Grit.
Her expression turned vicious.
She didn't want to admit it.
Never mind her disciple watching.
Wasn't she already dead?
Besides.
"Heh heh, grr-grr. Why've you gone so quiet? Finally coming to your senses? Heh heh, amazing. The ancestors were spot on—not a single wrong word, like how a switch works best on a mad dog."
Crunch!
Kang So-so ground her teeth harder.
Hearing the old man's words that scraped at her nerves.
Even Bodhidharma, the founder of Shaolin said to be the incarnation of Buddha, wouldn't hold back his anger.
How could anyone twist a person's insides like that?
"Oh dear, is grr-grr angry? That scowl makes you even uglier."
"Shut your mouth, you loathsome old coot!"
"Yes, yes, of course. A martial artist shouldn't give up so easily."
Swish!
It was then that the white-haired old man stroked his beard kindly and drew a club from within his robes.
Ah, no?
Kang So-so furrowed her brow.
When had that club been there?
Come to think of it, that old man.
Where the hell had he been getting his weapons from all this time?
"Keep scowling like that. A scowl is like seasoning. The kind that makes the taste of a beating even richer."
Thwack, thwack!
The old man tapped the club in his right hand against his left palm as he approached.
Didn't he look just like a real dogcatcher!
And what?
Taste of a beating?
Seasoning?
Kang So-so gaped in sheer bewilderment.
"......What do you intend to do with that hideous weapon?"
"What else? Are you seriously asking, grr-grr?"
Smirk.
"The one who started it must end it. You picked a fight with my disciple first and ruined my mood, so doesn't getting a beating clear up the misunderstanding and discomfort?"
What?
Kang So-so wore a completely baffled expression.
She had no choice but to not understand.
Picking up a club against the defeated?
It was a sight unheard of in the murim she knew.
In the orthodox sects, they would bow after the match.
In the unorthodox, they would kill after the match.
In the demonic cults, the loser would submit to the winner.
"Ah, maybe your world doesn't have this custom."
Heh heh.
The old man chuckled as if amused.
"But that's fine. In my world, this is how I've always done it....... Well then."
In that instant.
The old man's eyes sank cold.
"Don't you dare smooth out that scowl. Got it?"
At the same time, he charged toward Kang So-so.
* * *
Thud! Thuuud!
Thuuuuud!
The crisp sounds of impacts blended in harmony with the plip-plop of water droplets falling.
"Gaaah!"
Thuuud!
"Gaaaah!"
Thuuuuud!
"......"
Ha Se-ra stared blankly at her master, beaten like a dog on the hottest day of summer.
Kang So-so.
There was nothing she could do.
With her sword already shattered, how was she supposed to block that hideous club?
Crack!
If she raised her hands to guard, they were struck.
If she curled up and protected with her knees.
Crack!
The knees were smashed.
Kang So-so's face, screaming in agony, had already gone deathly pale.
"......"
In truth, Ha Se-ra didn't like her master all that much.
The one who, upon appearing, spewed all sorts of curses and tormented her.
The one who tried to achieve the dream of eternal demonic reign—群魔永世—through her.
Watching such a master get beaten, well.
A slight coolness spread in one corner of her chest.
But.
Shing!
Ha Se-ra had no choice but to draw her sword.
Lord, master, and father are one.
If a master's grace equals that of a king or parents.
No disciple could stand idly by while their master was beaten.
Moreover, in the end.
Hadn't she herself become this strong thanks to Kang So-so?
'Though.'
That old man's vast inner energy.
His unshakable movements.
His unfathomable veteran skill.
It would be hard to face.
Even so.
To her, it was merely a tall mountain to overcome.
Hummm!
It was as Ha Se-ra, her eyes coldly sunken, prepared to leap forward.
"Stop."
That was when Joo Dong-hoon, who had been watching, stepped in.
"No need for that."
"......"
No need?
Why?
Because her own master had won, so it didn't matter?
Ha Se-ra scowled, displeased.
But.
"Calm down. Look at your master's face."
Joo Dong-hoon nodded toward the scene of the beating.
"......?"
Master's face?
Ha Se-ra's head slowly turned.
Then she looked at Kang So-so.
"Gaaah! Guuuuaaaah! You damned old coot!"
Beaten until her whole body swelled like it would burst, yet she opened her mouth again.
She was Ha Se-ra's master, but her consistency was truly something.
"Old coot! I admit you're strong! But your character is shattered beyond ruin—smashed to pieces! Beating the weak! What the hell is your disciple supposed to learn from that?"
"Watch your words. It's not beating the weak—it's beating a mad dog. And character in ruins? You're no different. Tsk tsk. As the saying goes, 'the blind blame the stream'—just like a blind man cursing a ditch."
"Gaaah! Shut that damn mouth of yours!"
"Grr-grr. Didn't you start flapping yours first?"
"Gaaaah! Please!"
Thud! Thuuud!
The beater and the beaten.
But for some reason.
Ha Se-ra felt something off.
She and her master shared some emotional bond.
So why.
Was there no feeling of 'sorrow' there?
No feeling of 'misery'?
Her master was indeed stung by defeat.
She was indeed angry at the old man.
But.
Amid the crumpled scowl, her master's lips were clearly......
'Smiling?'
Yes.
She was enjoying it.
Enjoying getting beaten?
They said all murim folk were perverts—was that why?
Moreover.
"Heh heh heh, good, good. I'll acknowledge grr-grr's patience. Still not smoothing out that scowl."
"Bullshit has its limits."
The old man was laughing too.
Enjoying it.
In the midst of a turbulent battlefield, two absolutes laughing.
Feeling detached from the world she knew, Ha Se-ra's eyes wavered.
"Yes."
Joo Dong-hoon, watching it all, nodded.
"They're just playing."
- Playing?
Ha Se-ra swung her sword with an incredulous look.
"Think about it."
"......"
"Ghosts temporarily regained their bodies thanks to the dungeon's special effect."
Joo Dong-hoon smiled.
"And they're ghosts obsessed with martial arts at that. How itchy must their bodies have felt?"
The Myriad Arts elder.
He had said earlier.
Even as a ghost, he trained ceaselessly.
An old man who chose relentless learning even when he might regain a body—how badly must he have wanted to fight.
The Heavenly Demon Kang So-so.
She was the same.
Achieved demonic supremacy young, rose to the world's best.
Just as she was about to bask in glory and eternity, struck down by a wooden sword.
How badly must she have wanted to play.
"They instinctively know. That they'll turn back into ghosts soon......"
Why did Joo Dong-hoon's smile look faintly sad?
"So, they don't want this fight to end. Even though the pecking order's already settled."
Ha Se-ra's eyes wavered.
With trembling gaze, she looked back at the battle.
"Old coot, Myriad Arts, was it? You're damn strong."
"The world's vast, and the universe vaster still. It's not just from living—dying made me feel it more. This world is full of terrifying, powerful beings."
The vastness of the universe.
"So."
The old man looked at the Heavenly Demon.
"If you want to properly teach your disciple, you must first shed that arrogance. Regrettably, your arts suit those of inherently evil nature. They fit you, grr-grr, but not that girl. But flip it around—it's fortunate for just that reason."
"......Fortunate?"
"Transcend the demonic."
Escape the demonic path.
Reach the true pinnacle!
"A child who doesn't suit the demonic to begin with—wouldn't transcending it be easy? Heh heh."
"......"
Ah.
The elder wasn't just beating her like a dog—he was educating Kang So-so.
Showing her what true teaching was.
Well.
The elder was peerless in the art of instruction.
"I'm telling her only because grr-grr stubbornly keeps that scowl without folding."
"Fine, Myriad Arts old coot. I'll acknowledge your strength once more, but."
"But?"
"I too have yet to see the end of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, so don't let your guard down. Soon my disciple will achieve great success and surpass you and yours."
"......You?"
Pfft!
The old man scoffed.
"Still haven't come to your senses, huh. Fine, more beatings. A few more, and you'll wake to reality."
"Damn it, you accursed old coot."
Boom!
The scuffle resumed once more.
Beating a ghost—yeah, it was a proper scuffle.
* * *
At that moment.
Bone Il.
No, Baek Moo-hyeon thought.
'Huh?'
He was clearly the Supreme of Gold and the World's Best.
The man who, out of greed, thrashed every era's top expert with a wooden sword.
The man who ultimately regretted it, birthing a deep 'han.'
Right now, he needed to resolve that 'han' quickly.
And surely.
They had come here for that very reason.
Rumble!
Thud, thuuud!
"Gaaaah! It hurts, it huuuurts!"
"Feels good, doesn't it? Feeling the pain feels good, right? Heh heh."
What the hell was this.
The veteran and the girl, not giving him a second glance.
Baek Moo-hyeon looked at Joo Dong-hoon with a bewildered expression.
Bone Il's memories faintly approaching.
"My lord......"
The gracious existence who resolved not just his, but other absolutes' 'han.'
"Something seems to have gone a bit wrong......"
"Bone Il."
His lord murmured as if soothing.
"Yes."
"Just a bit longer. Wait just a bit."
No, my lord.
This isn't the time to wait.
Behind them.
Ruuuumble......!
In that instant.
The cave began to shake violently.
'My true self.'
The true Supreme of Gold and the World's Best.
Baek Moo-hyeon at his prime, incarnation of greed, who crushed the Heavenly Demon in one breath.
The being who, once awakened, wouldn't rest until subduing every strong one.
Sword God Baek Moo-hyeon.
'He's awakening!'