Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Elder, Let's Do One Thing Together (1)
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"Just as I expected."
As soon as I stepped into the formation, I found myself alone in pitch-black darkness without a single ray of light.
Then, a cold energy and a hot energy seemed to envelop me, followed by multicolored clouds that began scrutinizing me from head to toe.
"These must be the so-called yin-yang and five elements energies, huh?"
In martial arts novels, whenever a formation appeared, its foundation was invariably yin-yang and the five elements, without fail.
Principles like the Eight Trigrams or the Seventy-Two Diagrams were incorporated around them, unfolding into complex and profound labyrinths. The formation laid out here was particularly vicious.
"It's the type that relentlessly dredges up your most painful memories, and practically impossible to break."
Ordinary formations could be dispelled by destroying the core or severely disrupting the natural flow within.
But the formation in this burial chamber had Wi Cheol-jin's lingering will as its core itself, making it essentially unbreakable.
"That's why, in the original story, the protagonist Jeong Hyeon and our Yong-myeong had to suffer like hell to get through."
Wait, when did 'our' get attached to Yong-myeong without me noticing?
"That kid really has a warm heart."
In terms of days spent, it hadn't even been a few at the Eon Family, but I felt a slight twinge of nostalgia.
"Is it because it's my first time having a family?"
Anyway.
The formation here was truly insidious.
"But right now, it's my playground."
As expected, my mental immunity worked here too. Even as I indulged in these random thoughts, the formation's illusions couldn't drag me into their control.
It was as if the yin-yang energies and the clouds handling the five elements were flustered, despite having no emotions.
Amused by the sight, I chuckled and tossed out a line.
"You're not equipped to handle me, right? Quit the tickling and go fetch the one who made you—your daddy."
What does your dad do?!
He's the Heavenly Demon!
Did my words have an effect?
Suddenly, the surroundings warped violently, and the scenery before my eyes shifted in an instant.
"!"
First, the darkness receded from afar, and in its place, majestic mountains like a landscape painting filled the view.
I stood mesmerized by the ever-changing vista for a moment.
Before I knew it, I was on a training ground midway up a peak surrounded by snow-capped mountains like a folding screen—not too far off.
At this moment, marveling at seeing in person the scenery I'd only read about in the novel...
"Ha! Fetch my father, you say?! These young pups these days must be coming out into the jianghu without any manners. Fine, I'm here! I am the one who created this formation!"
In the center of that scenery stood a white-haired man with hands behind his back—the Sword Demon Wi Cheol-jin, who terrorized the world's martial artists with a single sword and ingrained the very concept of 'demon' into the minds of the jianghu folk.
Feared as the Sword Demon in life, later posthumously honored as the Sword Immortal by the demonic folk, becoming their spiritual root. He was now venting his anger at me.
The rage of a martial arts legend who left his mark on history.
Any ordinary fool with shallow resolve would have frozen in terror.
But for some reason, I found myself laughing.
"Haha."
"You laugh?"
Wi Cheol-jin's eyebrows furrowed even more.
But I couldn't help it.
'This is starting off well.'
The original protagonist Jeong Hyeon broke through the formation head-on, earning some recognition before facing Wi Cheol-jin, which allowed him to easily win the old man's favor and advance his martial arts.
'So what about me?'
Not intentionally, but thanks to my mental immunity trait, I shattered the formation far too easily.
Thus, I hadn't earned Wi Cheol-jin's favor during the breakthrough.
At least I needed to pique his curiosity. His anger could easily turn into curiosity depending on how I acted next.
'And it's hilarious in itself.'
Wasn't it funny that Wi Cheol-jin of all people was lecturing about manners?
To reiterate, the demonic concept applied to martial artists originated from him, and even the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult only emerged after his death, founded by his disciple Hyeok Ryeon-geum who inherited his arts.
What's amusing is that the original Wi Cheol-jin was classified as orthodox.
'His sword forms were pristine, his inner energy pure, and his first act upon entering the jianghu was razing all the Waterway Strongholds rampant south of the Yangtze.'
But then he did the same to Shaolin, and pummeled various other sects similarly.
When the elders of the orthodox sects protested regardless, he beat them all too.
Unable to comprehend his overwhelming strength and unpredictable actions, the jianghu folk came to think of 'demon'.
'Anyone else maybe, but shouldn't you be the last one lecturing about manners?'
You're the guy who lived most freely through the ages!
Of course, I couldn't say that outright since I needed favors from the elder.
I gazed at his even more furrowed brows and politely cupped my fists in greeting.
"If I've offended you, my apologies. Seeing the Sword Demon I so admired in the flesh made me laugh involuntarily."
"Suddenly buttering me up? You disrupt my formation and now call me 'elder' like it's nothing?"
Wi Cheol-jin snorted at my words.
I continued undeterred.
"Can I say it's because I was eager to meet you sooner? And truthfully, I know you preferred honest people over those fussing about outdated etiquette, didn't you?"
I couldn't be wrong.
That's how Wi Cheol-jin was in the original story.
He himself never minced words, and he even shared his insights with Jeong Hyeon, whose path to sword enlightenment was completely different.
"Hah. You talk like you know me well."
"I do. Better than anyone, I'd say."
With everyone from his era gone, who could claim to know Wi Cheol-jin better than me, who'd read the original novel?
Of course, Wi Cheol-jin didn't know my circumstances.
So he immediately bellowed at me, "Insolent whelp!"
"Whelp! What nonsense!!"
The classic "whelp" from countless martial arts novels.
Reading it, I'd thought, "What's whelp?" but hearing it live packed real force.
Yet I calmly countered without flinching.
"Why do you think it's nonsense?"
"I've been here a long time. In outside time... let's see..."
"A little over a hundred years."
"...Right. After that much time, even my descendants would be hard to recognize, so how dare you claim to know me?"
"Exactly."
"What?"
His eyes demanded I spell out what I meant.
I steadied my breath and spoke.
"As the Sword Demon says, a long time has passed. Taking a generation as thirty years, three generations have gone by. Most people don't even remember the Kunlun Sword Debate where you clashed with the orthodox giants a century ago..."
And I paused briefly.
"......?"
"......"
A reaction came immediately from his side.
"Why stop mid-sentence?"
"The next part might displease you, so I'm choosing my words carefully."
"Hmph. As you said, I despise stuffy etiquette. Speak freely."
"Understood. Then, frankly... I'm not really interested in the Kunlun Sword Debate. It's just a few lines left by our predecessors—orthodox say the Four Great Heavens won, demonic say you did."
"Ha! Those fools claim they won?"
Hm.
Truth be told, I hadn't been in the jianghu long enough to verify myself.
But they probably did say that.
'In the end, three of the Four Great Heavens of the orthodox sects—excluding the Divine Strategist—ganged up three-to-one and ended in mutual destruction. Truth is, the orthodox martial world lost.'
Common sense says no descendants would badmouth the likes of Infinite Sword Emperor, Plum Blossom Sword Emperor, and River-Cutting Blade Emperor at their memorials and admit defeat.
'They wouldn't let others say it either.'
Anyway, since the Kunlun Sword Debate, the orthodox Martial Alliance has held hegemony to this day.
Whatever.
As I pondered, Wi Cheol-jin's questions continued.
"And what's this Demonic Cult? Who are they to claim I won?!"
Guess I should answer.
"Ah, the Demonic Cult—think of them as your self-proclaimed successors. A group founded by your disciple."
"Disciple? I don't recall raising any."
"......?"
"?"
"???"
"?"
Uh.
Was there such a setting?
The Wi Cheol-jin episode was strictly from protagonist Jeong Hyeon, the Murim Academy sword genius's POV, so details weren't fleshed out. The Sword Demon doesn't remember founding the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Hyeok Ryeon-geum?
"...Um. Don't you remember the name Hyeok Ryeon-geum?"
"Ah! Aah! Ryeon-geum?!"
...Ryeon-geum?
Isn't it Hyeok Ryeon-geum?
"That kid was quick with chores, cooking, and sharp-eyed—great to have around. Born with blocked meridians or something, wheezing pathetically, so I taught him a bit of my heart method out of pity. He started his own sect?"
"They call it the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, like a religion, so 'founded' fits, but yeah, that's the gist."
"Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. So Ryeon-geum calls himself Heavenly Demon? Hahaha. That guy's made it big."
"Ha. Haha."
Wi Cheol-jin's view of the first Heavenly Demon as mere help was so pathetic, it tugged at my heart even as a non-demonic cultist.
But separately, my conviction that I'd come to the right place strengthened.
'Hyeok Ryeon-geum, who was basically a servant learning scraps of heart method, built a force that divides the martial world into three?!'
Of course, his talent and genius made it possible.
'But in my eyes, Eon Yong-un's body is no slouch either.'
The original owner wrecked it, but a bit of exercise built noticeable muscle, and even as a heart method novice operating inner energy like in my Necromancer King days, the affinity wasn't bad.
'Then?!'
If this elder became my master as planned, the opportunity I'd guessed at coming here would be worth at least ten, no a hundred, a thousand times more.
Unable to hide my leaking grin, I spoke.
"So, Elder, let's do one thing together."