Lee Kang, Sect Leader of the Black Moon Sect
Lee Kang’s fingertips cut through the darkness.
Night Moon Killing Sword.
The first form he had ever created, and the one he had used more than any other.
Black Moon Thorn.
The short stiletto-like sword barely deserved to be called a sword, yet it shot forward without a sound. No flashy sword path, no overwhelming momentum, no grand name. It was simply fast and discreet, striking the instant the opponent looked away and leaving them vulnerable where they least expected it.
That was the sword art of the Black Moon Sect, as Lee Kang had made it.
He had scavenged the formulas of a dozen miscellaneous martial arts, forcibly stitched failed forms together, and repeated them night after night until his wrists swelled with the strain.
Concealment, ambush, speed.
He had discarded everything else and forged a low-grade sword art built purely for efficiency.
But at this moment, that was enough.
Thuk.
The stiletto sword buried itself in the man’s throat.
“Kheh!”
Right before the blade pierced him, the man had sensed that something was wrong and turned toward Lee Kang.
But what good did that do? It was already too late.
Fwoosh!
Blood geysered from his throat. The man’s eyes flew wide open.
He clutched his neck on reflex and staggered backward at once, trying to flee.
Lee Kang hooked another thread he had hidden beneath the desk with the tip of his foot.
Clack.
At the sound of the thread being pulled taut, the old iron ring hanging from the top of the door dropped free.
Bang!
The open door slammed shut from the inside.
The man desperately reached for the handle. That motion itself was a huge opening, and it was exactly what Lee Kang had planned for.
The already prepared first form of Night Moon Killing Sword shot out again.
This time, it was not the throat but the chest. The stiletto sword drove into the man’s breast.
“Aaaagh!”
His whole body convulsed. He stared at Lee Kang in disbelief.
“Wh... why... this...”
Lee Kang withdrew the stiletto sword. Blood dripped to the floor.
“I told you the test had begun, didn’t I?”
The man’s lips trembled.
“What...?”
“I even gave you a warning. What are you doing, then?”
Lee Kang looked genuinely unable to understand.
“If you want to enter the Black Moon Sect, you should at least be able to block something like that.”
The man’s knees buckled.
Thud.
He collapsed to the floor, one hand clamped over his throat, the other pressing down on his chest. But blood kept seeping through his fingers.
Lee Kang looked down at him and sighed.
“A shame.”
It really was a shame.
His aptitude was second-class.
Out of the ten applicants he had seen so far, it was the best talent by far.
He had also been good about checking his surroundings and staying on guard. Opening the door just enough to inspect the inside was not bad either. Even his caution in checking whether the rice tea was poisoned had been excellent.
But that was as far as it went.
“And he’s not even a pretty woman.”
Lee Kang muttered coolly.
“His skill is garbage. His sense is garbage too.”
The man’s eyes wavered. His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
Lee Kang immediately checked the man’s waist. Beneath the white outer robe, a small pouch was hanging from his belt.
A Qiankun Pouch.
A bag that folded space to store items. Lee Kang carefully untied it.
“Let’s see.”
When he checked inside the Qiankun Pouch, the contents surfaced one by one.
120 nyang.
Three stalks of Blood-Circulation Herb.
One old sword.
One volume of a miscellaneous internal-energy ingestion method.
Lee Kang’s expression brightened slightly.
“Not a bad haul.”
120 nyang was a considerable sum.
The Blood-Circulation Herb was a medicinal plant used to treat external injuries. The roots were in poor condition, but in a world like this, even that was precious.
The sword was a little damaged along the edge, but after sharpening it, it looked usable enough.
Lee Kang wiped the blood from his hand on an old towel. At that moment, translucent letters appeared before his eyes.
[Experience for Night Moon Killing Sword increased by 50.]
[Night Moon Killing Sword: Initial Success 850 / 1000]
“Oh.”
Lee Kang let out a low murmur of admiration. Fifty at once. Since it was combat experience, the gain was pretty generous.
Just a little more, and he would reach the end of Initial Success. Grand Success was not that far off either.
“Still a long way to go.”
Martial arts had training tiers.
Entry, Initial Success, Grand Success, Complete Perfection.
Entry was nothing more than imitating the form.
Initial Success was the level where it could barely be used in real combat.
Grand Success meant he had grasped the core of the martial art.
Complete Perfection was the state of truly making it his own.
But aside from that, each martial art itself also had a grade.
Miscellaneous, Apprenticed, Orthodox, Secret, Ultimate, Supreme.
The martial arts modern people usually managed to acquire fell somewhere between Miscellaneous and Secret. That was how scarce proper martial arts had become for modern humans.
“When can I build a sect, I wonder?”
Lee Kang called himself the sect leader of the Black Moon Sect and operated under that name in the Gallery, but in reality, he was not yet a formal sect leader.
To found a sect, he had to at least reach the level of a third-class martial artist before the System would recognize it.
Normally, becoming a third-class martial artist required mastering one Miscellaneous-grade inner technique and two Miscellaneous-grade martial arts to Grand Success.
“I’m still at one Initial Success and two Entry levels.”
The three martial arts Lee Kang had learned so far were these.
Night Moon Killing Sword, a sword art, at Initial Success.
Invisible Night Travel Steps, a movement technique, at Entry.
Black Moon Concealing Heart Art, an inner technique, also at Entry.
All of them were Miscellaneous grade.
It was a humiliating lineup.
And yet Lee Kang’s actual skill was not all that terrible.
Most modern people in this world still did not even know how to properly train martial arts. They were still struggling to survive day by day, unable to understand the Murim apocalypse they had been thrown into.
On top of that, martial arts training required providence, talent, luck, and real combat experience. Miss even one of those, and you could not move forward properly.
Plenty of people probably gave up on martial arts after realizing that.
That was what Lee Kang thought.
“I need to improve fast.”
He muttered softly. He had spent so much time alone that he had developed the habit of talking to himself.
“If I’m being honest, the only way to survive in this world is to become a martial artist.”
Outside, distant screams still rang out.
In Gyeonggi’s southern districts, the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Squad was probably cutting down modern people. The Seoul Gallery must be burning with panic and chaos.
To survive in a world like this, he had to grow stronger.
Lee Kang roughly wiped the blood from the floor with a rag and thought the matter through.
Then he immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began circulating Black Moon Concealing Heart Art. Since he was already resting after battle, he might as well train his inner technique too.
The heart sinks downward,
the shadow flows through the meridians,
and silently returns after passing through the Hundred Meetings Point.
The formula was simple. As expected of a Miscellaneous-grade inner technique, there was nothing grand about its circulation. It was a martial art that pursued only concealment and stillness.
About an hour later, Lee Kang slowly opened his eyes.
[Experience for Black Moon Concealing Heart Art increased by 3.]
[Black Moon Concealing Heart Art: Entry 305 / 1000]
Lee Kang stared at the letters for a while.
He had spent an hour circulating energy and meditating, and gained only three points.
“Hah.”
A sigh escaped him on its own.
“Yeah, this is a talent problem.”
It was not that Lee Kang lacked effort. He worked harder than anyone.
While others were running from grave-level beasts, he was memorizing formulas. While others were hiding and crying, he was swinging a sword. While others were posting on the Gallery begging to be saved, he was training.
And yet it was still slow.
Lee Kang murmured quietly into the empty air.
“Status window.”
Translucent letters appeared.
[Character Information]
Name: Lee Kang
Aptitude: Third-class
“......”
Third-class aptitude.
That was Lee Kang’s reality.
But he did not feel discouraged. He knew, from posts on the Gallery, that there were elixirs, pills, and providential encounters that could raise aptitude.
As long as he stayed alive, he would eventually find one.
Besides, Lee Kang had one cheat ability. He could see not only his own aptitude, but other people’s as well.
“At first, I thought it was a blessing.”
Even with that cheat ability, Lee Kang did not think of himself as special.
The reason was simple.
Being able to check someone’s talent did not make that talent his own. And talented people were simply too hard to find.
Even if he did find someone with good aptitude, it was rare for that person to want to train in martial arts.
Talent and desire did not always match. Just because someone had martial talent did not mean they liked swords and blood.
“What I need right now is a Murim warrior. Someone from another world with good aptitude who’ll actually listen to me. Modern people can’t be trusted. They’re too weak.”
Lee Kang fell into thought for a moment.
“So that really is the only way.”
He muttered lowly.
“Mangwon slave market.”
Inside Mangwon Haomu Market.
More specifically, the deepest section managed by Sadoryeon.
Its official name was the Sadoryeon Personnel Agency, but nobody called it that. Everyone just called it the slave market.
A place where people were bought and sold.
Modern humans. Fallen martial artists. Captured grave-level beasts. Disciples cast out from their sects. Debtors who could not repay what they owed.
It was a place where such people were displayed like merchandise.
“If I want someone with good talent and loyalty, that’s where I have to go in the end.”
Even a modern human like Lee Kang could use that place. Besides, because of Sadoryeon’s blood-contract system, slaves would not betray their master.
It might sound strange. Aren’t martial artists the ones butchering modern people? Wouldn’t he just get cut down by Sadoryeon if he went there?
But it was not quite like that.
Unlike the Orthodox factions and prestigious clans, who treated modern humans like grave-level beasts and cut them down without mercy, Sadoryeon, the black path, and the demonic path were different.
That did not mean they were good. But at the very least, they did not hate and slaughter modern humans the way the Orthodox sects and noble clans did.
That was why Lee Kang, as a modern human, could use Mangwon slave market too.
Of course, that did not mean it was safe.
Martial artists fundamentally saw modern humans as weak prey that could be plundered. A place like that could hardly be anything but dangerous.
But Lee Kang had no intention of letting his cheat ability rot unused forever.
He had saved up quite a bit of money, so it was time to spend it on the future.
“......Let’s go.”