The Ten Great Demonic Arts
But that wasn’t the case. After long deliberation, the Daejeong Sect Leader Wang Gaeyuk decided to join the rescue of the missing people. It was no easy choice. Even though a spy had been planted inside, the enemy was a group capable of slipping past the eyes of both the Hao Clan and the Beggars’ Sect. On top of that, they possessed the ability to supply genuine demonic arts. Still, crisis was opportunity. Simply marching out would earn them enormous fame. Fame meant influence, and influence was power. They might even become the dominant sect of Hwangcheon. Besides, all four guests were Peak realm experts. The Daejeong Sect itself had two Peak masters, though both the sect leader and the guardian elder were only at the early stage. Adding the guests brought the total to six. A terrifying force, easily enough to overwhelm anyone up to early Transcendent.
For these reasons, Wang Gaeyuk prepared for battle with great enthusiasm—and extreme slowness. The best possible future was one in which the rescue party arrived only to find the mysterious enemy had already vanished, leaving them to recover nothing but the corpses of the missing. They would still earn a reputation as righteous heroes for boldly setting out, yet none of their own disciples would be harmed. That was why he refused to hurry. The deliberate delays continued: pointlessly double-checking the disciples’ coordinated formations, inspecting weapons and then handing them over for unnecessary polishing, only to call everyone back for another harsh review. They counted medicinal herbs and bandages yet again, then dispatched people to a distant clinic to fetch more. It might have looked like cheap tricks to some, but when a sect staked its full strength on a fight, it was staking its very survival. A heavy decision indeed. That was why the young masters from the Cheonmu Platform politely pretended not to notice the obvious stalling.
While the Daejeong Sect put on this frantic-looking performance, the guests used the time to finish their earlier conversation.
“So what really happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“Wang Sonman, of course.”
“What do you mean, what happened? A bad guy did a bad thing. End of story.”
Paeng Daesan’s face crumpled. “That’s not what I’m asking.”
“What, then? Why?”
Paeng Daesan’s expression grew serious. “It was too dangerous. That man…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish. Wang Sonman had barely looked human anymore. If that could still be called a human shape, then anyone could claim a torso with four sticks attached and a round thing on top was a person. He had been skinned alive, his muscles sliced open. That was the simplest way to describe Wang Sonman’s condition. In reality, it had been far more gruesome. Every muscle had been cut, twisted, knotted, and bound. In places the white bone lay completely exposed, with only blood vessels stretched across the gaps like bridges. His chest had been split and spread open so the pulsing organs inside were visible to the naked eye. The world had no shortage of lunatics, but this was the work of a truly deranged butcher.
“What if you had fallen into the hands of such a monster? And why didn’t you tell me—tell us—in advance?”
Paeng Daesan had mashed his words together in discomfort at voicing such a horrible possibility, so Cheong interpreted it differently. The “monster” she understood was Wang Sonman himself. What? Is he worried I might have been the one captured instead?
Cheong had no intention of hiding her handiwork. If Paeng Daesan had asked why she had gone that far, she would have answered honestly: There was a bad guy, so I tormented him a bit. She felt no shame in something she considered perfectly justified. But Paeng Daesan, who could never imagine that the greatest butcher under the heavens was Cheong herself, had invented a third-party “evil sect” to explain the atrocity. In fact, everyone had. The sect leader believed Cheong had saved his second son. Wang Sonman currently lay wrapped head to toe in bandages, so it would be a long time before this absurd misunderstanding was cleared up.
Cheong laughed at the concern everyone was showing her “little brother” and thumped her chest. It jiggled.
“This body is at late-stage Peak. I don’t listen to worries from anyone weaker than me.”
“You…!” Paeng Daesan swallowed the surge of anger with visible effort. She was right. Cheong stood above him in cultivation. Yet telling her she needed to be more careful because she was a woman would be a grave insult. Most female martial artists were sensitive about such things. So he simply made a silent vow. No matter how dirty it felt, he would raise his realm as quickly as possible.
“Still, the Heart Seizing Art… How horrifying.”
“Oh, Changbin, you know about the Heart Seizing Art?”
“Y-yeah. Everyone… knows it, right?”
“What? It’s that famous? Does my sword friend know it too?”
“Of course I do. Any child of the righteous path should have the Eleven Great Demonic Arts memorized. Since my sword friend seems unfamiliar, I shall teach you now.”
“Huh? Why? Is it really necessary?”
“They are evils that must be erased from the world. If one discovers them, one must either kill the practitioner or report them to the Alliance for extermination. That is why those who claim to be orthodox must commit them to memory.”
“Being part of the righteous path sounds like a lot of work. But eleven? People don’t usually count that way.”
The Zhonghua people’s favorite pastime—ranking things—always used either five or ten. The Nine Great Schools plus One Faction. The Five Great Ancient Families and the Ten Great Clans. But eleven?
Cheong tilted her head. Namgung Sinjae explained without hesitation.
“It is because of the single worst demonic art among all demonic arts. The most dangerous of them all. Namely…”
He spoke of Demonic Qi Absorption. Among the internal energy techniques that absorbed others’ qi, this one was especially powerful and terrible. It stole not only inner energy but blood essence and primal origin as well. If one’s primal origin was completely taken, death followed instantly. Victims of Demonic Qi Absorption were found as shriveled, dried-out corpses. The moment such a body was discovered, a state of emergency was declared across the entire Murim, regardless of faction. (For reference, those dried corpses were what modern Seoulites would call mummies.)
Leaving the user of Demonic Qi Absorption alive allowed them to grow endlessly stronger. The more blood essence they accumulated, the more they lost their humanity, becoming monsters that craved only primal origin. A natural enemy of all martial artists would be born.
“Excluding that one, ten great demonic arts remain. Along with the Heart Seizing Art that appeared this time, there is Jeonryun Mageop, the Pacheon Reverse Blood Heart-Piercing Self-Subduing Art, the 108 Asura Swords, the Frenzied Radiance Life-Seizing Gangqi, Heaven-Facing Kill, Black Killing Demonic Palm, and the Half-Body Sword Calamity—or rather, Half-Body Sword Half-Demon.”
Paeng Daesan growled. “How long are you going to keep saying ‘half-sword’?”
“A gentleman does not use beautiful words to conceal his true feelings. A true swordsman never lies with pleasant speech.”
“Why do you always tie gentlemen and swordsmen together?”
“Because the sword is the weapon of a gentleman. That is what makes one a swordsman.”
In other words, he intended to keep doing it. Cheong listened while folding her fingers one by one. When only two remained, she held them up. Paeng Daesan sighed deeply and named the last two.
“Jajeon Magong and Sosu Magong.”
“Huh?”
Why did a familiar name have to pop up right at the end? It was the very art Jegal had recommended to her. Jegal gave me one of the Ten Great Demonic Arts? Had Jegal Ihyeon heard that, he would have jumped out of his skin. He had never imagined she would actually learn it. At the time, he had only meant to warn her. The conversation had simply been cut short before he could finish.
“Um… are the Ten Great Demonic Arts… really that bad?”
“Can you even ask that? The defining characteristic of demonic arts is that the more you use them, the more demonic nature seeps in and erodes your humanity. You grow increasingly violent and cruel. Your patience disappears. A demon is born.”
“But there could be people who don’t end up like that, right?”
“The reason the Ten Great were specifically designated is that the process of reaching mastery through demonic nature is exceptionally horrific, or the art itself is far too dangerous for a demon to wield.”
“Then what about Sosu Magong?”
“Is that the only one you’ve heard of?” Paeng Daesan let out another long sigh. With this level of ignorance, how will she survive the treacherous Murim? “Sosu Magong is dangerous because it is simply too powerful.”
The danger of Sosu Magong lay in its unique cold poison qi and penetrating energy. Once a Sosu demon’s hand pierced the body, the cold-poisoned inner energy would invade, twisting, tearing, and exploding the meridians. If the cold poison reached the primal origin, one’s health and lifespan would be endangered, leading to complete collapse. It was a common trait shared by all arts derived from Sosu Magong—Blood Hand Demonic Art, Flame Demonic Art, and the like.
Cheong broke into a cold sweat inside. What the hell? So if I get caught, it’s a huge problem. She had assumed people were overreacting about “demonic” this and “demonic” that. But these were the original demonic bastards, so their way of thinking was impossible to understand. On the other hand, she felt a little proud. A martial art so powerful it inspired fear! Who was she? The master of Sosu Magong. At least Jegal had given her a proper recommendation. As long as I don’t get caught, it should be fine, right? After all, dead villains tell no tales.
“Have you heard anything about those ‘bad guys’?”
“You don’t know? I heard the missing people never come back.”
“Hmm.”
“I have a rough idea who they might be.”
Cheong briefly recounted what had happened at Dongting Lake. A crazy woman who refined jiangshi had been pretending to be a Murim Alliance patrol. The Cannibal Demon Army had appeared. Then the ridiculously strong Cheong had shown up, crushed the Cannibal Demon Army, and saved everyone.
“Wait, my sword friend. You said you killed the Cannibal Demon Army?”
“Of course. And I won one against six, you know. I really am pretty amazing.”
“Ohh, my sword friend! As expected, all the world’s great events unfold through the swords of swordsmen! Magnificent, my sword friend!”
It was the plain truth. When you thought about it, the five child jiangshi had ultimately been on the Flame Demon Army’s side. Paeng Daesan snorted at the smug Cheong.
“You were the six, weren’t you?”
“Well… yeah, that’s true. Otherwise how could I have beaten a Transcendent who was shooting out sword qi everywhere?”
Cheong was completely unashamed. At that moment, Changbin, who had been listening quietly, offered a timid opinion.
“Um… then aren’t we basically charging into the place where those kinds of people operate? It might be better to ask the Alliance for help…”
Cheong frowned at him. She was about to persuade him that the people left behind were so attached to the missing that they were throwing their own lives away as well. That was when—
“Lady Seomun? When you look at me like that… I’m not opposing the rescue, it’s just… Ahem. Right, since there are already several Peak experts… yes…”
Changbin’s little rebellion was crushed immediately.