The Black Killing Demonic Palm and the Brat's Inner Monologue
Someone was holding a blade……
Cheong forcefully pushed her internal energy through the blood points in her lower body. Her legs had gone numb and weak because the blocked meridians prevented the energy from flowing down properly. Yet the energy from the Wolnyeo Mind Method managed to circulate a little. It felt like trying to blow air through a clogged nose while pinching the other side shut, but it worked. A dull ache spread from her dantian due to the excessive force. Still, compared to the refreshing sensation in her lower body, it was a pain she could endure.
The Wolnyeo Mind Method was the profound insight of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, who embraced all nine worlds. It was an enlightenment that maintained perfect balance between yin and yang, good and evil. This extremely moderate energy, which declared that anything was ‘possible,’ gently melted away the penetrating force that had seeped into her blood points.
Just as Cheong was prying open the blocked acupoints by force, an aged voice interrupted her.
Ahem. This old one is called Godang Sang.
Cheong had always been weak to the elderly. If she could see his face, she would have checked his karma, but they were inside a carriage so she couldn’t. “Huh? Suddenly? I’m Seomun Cheong.”
This old one wishes to impart teachings upon you. Therefore, you must properly regard this old one as your master.
What the hell? Suddenly telling me to take him as my master?
“I already have a master—”
The old voice cut Cheong off and immediately began reciting a mnemonic. Godang Sang had no choice. If the damn woman refused, he would have to beg her to learn it. So he planned to transmit it quickly before she could reject him and then act generous later.
Since she was a righteous faction wench, her temperament would differ from the demonic practitioners. Perhaps she would later return to the Divine Cult and treat him as a proper master. Even if not, it might still be better than the Divine Cult’s trash who tried to devour their own masters. There was also a hopeful prediction that it might turn out that way.
When the black sun rises and day and night become indistinguishable……
Ah. So he’s the owner of a demonic art.
Cheong quietly closed her mouth. After the introductory part about being inspired by seeing a black sun during an eclipse, the explanation moved on to blood point manipulation, energy circulation methods, forms, and mental imagery. Martial arts mnemonics usually followed this order.
Then the martial arts window began flashing wildly. When she opened it, she saw a gold-bordered—
Wait, just gold?
Cheong felt disappointed. The introductory process of testing every single form and perfectly mastering the circulation once was such a hassle. She poured free practice points into it and instantly reached one-star proficiency.
At the same time, an unauthorized intrusion began inside her brain. The sensation of something gnawing at her brain, kneading it, digging in and stirring it around was truly impossible to describe.
“Ugh, ughk, ughwoook……”
And afterward, she felt absolutely filthy. If it weren’t for this mind-shattering experience, she might have been able to get a little closer to Taechang. But once you went through it, you realized there was some emotion that was definitely not friendly. Some malice that wanted to seize and shake a person’s life. And yet, at the same time, an indifference that said it didn’t matter what happened to you.
What the hell is this? Is it some kind of god? If it’s a god that these primitive Joseon bastards believe in, shouldn’t it be something benevolent like the Jade Emperor or Buddha Baby? Don’t they treat people better than this? Or is this really inside a game? Am I actually moving according to my own will? Why do these things keep getting tangled up wherever I go?
Right, fuck. Mucheon-daeje. There was a guide written about that guy too.
Suddenly, a strategy post she had read during installation came to mind. It rose up as naturally and shamefully as an embarrassing memory while lying in bed.
The biggest difference by difficulty was Mucheon-daeje. In Easy mode, Mucheon-daeje had acted as a great senior of the righteous path, crushed the emperor, and taken care of all the other crisis forces that could cause trouble. It was an easy difficulty where you could easily obtain Mucheon-daeje’s legacy and build your own power even with a demonic or evil path inclination.
In Normal difficulty, Mucheon-daeje was a figure between the righteous and demonic paths who had only pinpointed and crushed the imperial family, making the crisis forces much stronger. In Hard difficulty, Mucheon-daeje was treated as if he had never existed, so the entire Murim was tightly controlled by the government, and the level of martial arts in the gangho was a mess, resulting in different power levels and acquisition difficulties for high-level techniques.
Cheong had chosen Easy mode for her first playthrough. So was the current state of the Murim because of that? If she hadn’t? Would it have been different? Then? What the hell is this world?
Uh. This is bad. Bad thoughts. I need to stop.
Cheong’s body began to tremble violently. Strange. It hadn’t been this severe lately? Why? Why? Why?
Then one face came to mind. Cheong immediately recognized her own condition. That Jijon bastard who kept whining. It must be because of that fucking guy. With an Asura Count face and half-crippled legs, if he got scratched by Taechang and ruined her mood on top of it, of course a seizure would come.
Surprisingly, she calmed down without any fuss! But now she was angry! Her heart pounded violently, and her hands shook. Humans were wretched creatures who, once they began to hate someone, would create even more reasons to hate them and deepen their loathing.
All the world’s unfairness had been poured into her rage toward one person, so he might claim it was unfair, but that was just how people were. That was exactly why everyone had to treat each other with courtesy and kindness.
Cheong’s palm struck the innocent carriage wall. It was a strike containing internal energy that had already far surpassed the Peak realm and was incomparably deep. The inner wall, iron core, and outer wall were all punched through in one blow, and Cheong’s palm shyly revealed itself outside the carriage.
Godang Sang, who had been reciting the Black Killing Demonic Palm mnemonic for the third time, was startled and looked at the sight. Only the tip of one of her long fingers was pitch black. It was proof that she had properly begun learning the Black Killing Demonic Palm.
It had been roughly a week.
Cheong staggered toward the dining table. Her right leg wobbled, and her left leg wouldn’t lift, so she dragged it along the floor. Ji Seungju was impressed by the sight. It was a wondrous scene every time he saw it.
She could still walk on her own feet after taking the Reverse Heaven Blood Flow Great Law? Of course, it was no different from crawling, but he had heard that the Jijon had shown no mercy in his technique and had intended to turn her into a complete cripple. Her protective nerves were almost fully completed, apparently.
The Reverse Heaven Blood Flow Great Law was a vicious sorcery originating from the Blood Sect. It was the Blood Sect’s secret technique, considered the second most powerful among their prohibition arts. And a mere Peak late-stage martial artist had endured the Jijon’s great law?
“Ugh, I’m so tired. I thought rehabilitation was all just exaggeration, but it really is a triumph of the human spirit.”
Cheong finally sat down, rubbing her thighs and making a fuss. Then she grabbed her chopsticks and began swinging them rapidly. Food had to be eaten. Why? Because it was right in front of her.
Ji Seungju carefully observed Cheong as she devoured the food like a ravenous beast. Anyone watching would think she had some grudge against the dishes. However, what Ji Seungju was actually looking at was not a vengeful demon tied to food, but her hands.
All of her long fingers were pitch black. It meant the Black Killing Demonic Palm had reached three-star proficiency.
It had only been a week since the mnemonic was transmitted. Just one week. Three stars in only one week?
Ji Seungju had barely stepped into the second-rate realm. With merely second-rate cultivation, he had seized the position of Secret Pavilion Master through his brain and earned the recognition of the Divine Cult members. Even with Ji Seungju’s brilliant mind, Cheong’s speed in learning the Black Killing Demonic Palm was an unprecedented achievement with no parallel in the Murim.
If it had been an internal cultivation method, he could have understood her instantly reaching great completion due to its extreme nature. But the Black Killing Demonic Palm was a palm technique focused on striking power. How could a swordsman who only used the sword suddenly be so proficient with palm techniques? Could it be that her original talent, which even she herself didn’t know about, lay in palm methods?
There was something Ji Seungju didn’t know: the fact that Cheong had already learned the Yeorae Shinjang and Sosu Magong. The Yeorae Shinjang was the most supreme divine art among palm techniques, and Sosu Magong was one of the root arts that had given birth to countless derivative demonic techniques. Since the profound principles of the Black Killing Demonic Palm belonged to the category of palm techniques, it was ultimately the same as what the Yeorae Shinjang contained. Moreover, the penetrating force of the Black Killing Demonic Palm had originally been modeled after Sosu Magong.
Therefore, the operation and forms felt as natural as something she already knew, so she could understand it perfectly without needing to pour in practice points.
Cheong, who had already emptied her plate before anyone realized, leaned back in her chair and called out to Ji Seungju.
“Hey. Kid.”
“Bullshit. Kid my ass.”
‘Please speak, my lady.’
Oh no. The words came out wrong.
Ji Seungju realized his mistake. Of all things.
In response, Cheong gave him a pretty eye-smile.
“You always keep your expression the same and act like nothing bothers you, but you were secretly sensitive about your height, huh?”
“I have an occasional illness that causes me to spout nonsense.”
“Yeah. Kid. From what I see, it’s because your eating habits are terrible. You need to eat a lot more to grow.”
Ji Seungju’s eyebrows twitched. Terrible eating habits?! Whose fault was that?!
The high-class dining tables of the Central Plains rotated smoothly. It was designed to make it easier to take portions of the dishes. Whenever something looked good, Cheong would spin the table and sweep every dish in front of her. Even when Ji Seungju wanted to eat something, he was constantly interrupted.
“It must be nice to be tall, my lady.”
It was a remark meant to sting her a little. After all, tall women weren’t popular in the Central Plains.
However, it had no effect on Cheong whatsoever.
“Of course. If our kid grew a bit taller, you’d know. How refreshing the air up here is? Every time I sit down, the air down there is so dirty it feels like I can’t even breathe.”
“……”
“But when I sit, our eye levels match, don’t they? Where does this difference come from? The legs? Or the thighs?”
“……Dammit.”
‘Dammit.’
For once, Ji Seungju’s outer words and inner thoughts were perfectly in sync.