Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Identity of the Strange Old Man
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"After a war that dragged on for a full ten years, the Righteous Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult clashed in their final battle off the coast of Shandong, staking everything on the line."
Rumors had spread that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had erected some massive, unidentified formation in the waters off Shandong, followed by tales of a sudden meteor shower.
Then came the part where they passed out on the sails and woke up in the freezing middle of the ocean, at which point the strange old man's expression twisted sharply.
Once Heuk Do-san's tale was fully told, a deathly silence fell over them. For some reason, the old man stared piercingly at Heuk Do-san for a long while.
"So you're saying that ship used some kind of sorcery to transport you lot here? That you were crossing the snowy mountains to return to the Central Plains and ducked into a cave to escape the cold?"
"It's hard to believe, I know, but it's the truth. We were just as stunned and baffled at first. Hell, we even thought we had died and gone to the afterlife."
"Hmm... Must have been quite the shock."
"Shock doesn't even begin to cover it. A brutal cold hit us out of nowhere overnight... Wait, what did you just say?"
"I said you must have been shocked."
"So you believe me?"
"Indeed."
"Why? How?"
"The world has long harbored unknown powers and inexplicable laws. There were those who delved into these forces and principles. Over time, they uncovered countless cosmic laws. But the people of the world, fearing this knowledge, branded it sorcery and shrank from it in terror."
"So you're saying it's actually possible for people and objects to travel tens of thousands of li in a single night? That's absurd."
"Didn't you experience it yourself?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Do you think that puny brain of yours can comprehend the entirety of the universe's laws? The cosmos is vast and boundless, beyond the measure of mere humans. The martial arts that glimpse even a fraction of that realm are what the jianghu folk call demonic arts. And even that glimpsed world is immeasurably vast."
"No matter how I rack my brain, I can't wrap my head around it."
"You may not understand it, but many revere such miracles under the name of gods. Surely you've prayed to Buddha or your ancestors on the battlefield at least once, begging to be spared?"
"That's a different matter."
"Far from it—it's the exact same thing. Some primal instinct deep in our bones senses the existence of transcendent powers. People call it intuition."
"......!"
"But for that Heavenly Demon bastard to deploy the Nine Heavens Illusion Grand Ancestral Formation all the way out at sea... that's unexpected. It means he's gained some degree of control over formation power..."
"You seem to know the Heavenly Demon and this Yeop Jeong-cho fellow quite well from the way you've been talking."
The old man suddenly glared at him with sharp intensity. He had just realized that Heuk Do-san was breaking the rule by peppering him with questions when only the old man was supposed to ask them.
Since things had already gone this far, Heuk Do-san pressed on boldly.
"You're going to kill us anyway, right? Once we're dead, there'll be no one left to blab. So why not clear up my curiosity?"
"Why do you think I'd kill you?"
"I know the technique you're secretly cultivating in hiding is the Hundred Thousand Great Heaven Palm. Word is, it's the unparalleled demonic art under heaven. I heard that long ago, numerous sects allied to attack that madman called the Snow Mountain Old Man on the Great Snowy Mountains precisely out of fear of the Hundred Thousand Great Heaven Palm."
"Madman?"
"You might want to defend him because he's an ancestor of yours, but calling it normal to absorb people's vital energies to cultivate martial arts? That would be the height of hypocrisy, wouldn't it?"
Heuk Do-san subtly jabbed at the old man's brutal deeds. If he didn't, his gut would twist in knots.
"So?"
"You wouldn't want the existence of the Hundred Thousand Great Heaven Palm getting out. I've lost the bet, lost my chance at mercy, so naturally you'd try to wipe us out and leave no traces."
"Do you think the Hundred Thousand Great Heaven Palm is that impressive a technique?"
"I wouldn't know. But just hearing the name made my comrades tremble in their boots. They even said it's the only palm technique to rival the Heavenly Demon's Five Thunder God Palm."
Was it because he'd called the Hundred Thousand Great Heaven Palm the strongest martial art?
The old man's lips curled up ever so slightly.
A moment later, he chuckled and said,
"I am that madman."
"What... did you just say?"
"Are you trying to make this old man repeat himself? Insolent whelp. Do I need to gouge out your eyes before you get it?"
"You're really the Snow Mountain Old Man?"
"You've heard of me too?"
"I heard the Snow Mountain Old Man died long ago on the Great Snowy Mountains, buried under a cliff along with over five hundred experts from nine allied sects who came to capture him. So for you to suddenly claim you're him..."
"It's been over fifty years since I vanished from the jianghu. How would a greenhorn like you know anything about it?"
"I don't know much. But a companion who knows the martial world well told me. He said there was once a great demonic overlord who shook the jianghu."
"Short as it was, I had my era."
He really was the Snow Mountain Old Man.
Heuk Do-san's back grew slick with cold sweat.
How could a man who was supposed to have died crushed under a collapsing cliff alongside five hundred martial artists on the Great Snowy Mountains be alive and well?
Heuk Do-san licked his lips several times before asking,
"But did you really massacre five hundred people all by yourself?"
"A thousand."
"Pardon?"
"Including the ronin who came for the manual, over a thousand martial artists died that day by this hand's palm strikes. Kahaha."
The old man—no, the Snow Mountain Old Man—raised his hand and laughed heartily.
His words continued.
"But I didn't die. Trade my life for a measly thousand? Don't make me laugh."
"Then how did you survive?"
"Your question's off the mark. I never died in the first place, so there was no surviving to do. I merely burst out from the collapsed mountain."
Heuk Do-san's body hair stood on end.
The Snow Mountain Old Man, who was supposed to be dead, was alive—that alone was shocking enough. But to punch through a collapsed mountain? Was this truly human?
"Then why hide away in this remote place?"
"Hide? This old man is merely in seclusion."
"Why seclude yourself?"
"Because of that Heavenly Demon bastard."
"What..."
The Snow Mountain Old Man's eyes grew misty, lost in distant memories.
"At that time, the Heavenly Demon ascended to the throne of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult at just fifty years old, revered as the supreme expert with no equals across the black and white paths of the martial world. Looking back, he was the real deal."
The Snow Mountain Old Man paused for a moment before continuing.
"Then, out of nowhere, an unknown master appeared like a comet. He roamed the world, challenging famed experts to duels."
"You mean a challenge tour?"
"Exactly. True victory is only decided at the line between life and death. Every duel was to the death. Over three years or so, dozens of previous-generation masters fell at his feet. It was a monumental feat unmatched in martial history."
"Could that unknown master have been...?"
"Indeed. It was I."
"......!"
"That was when the trouble started. The sects of those I defeated in life-or-death duels branded me a public enemy of the martial world. They came at me like a pack of dogs with their experts. It was all fair duels, but those vermin... I lured them into a canyon and brought the cliff down, slaughtering them all. Kehhehe."
It's common in the jianghu for martial artists to seek out practitioners of other arts for duels to advance their own skills. These are called challenge tours, and they must follow proper etiquette and rules. That's the way of the martial world.
Life-or-death duels, where one must die to end it, are the kind of dirty tricks black pathers pull to crush rival factions. To carry them out so brazenly was bound to make him a public enemy.
Yet the Snow Mountain Old Man seemed utterly oblivious to the gravity of his actions.
"When I burst out from the collapsed cliff, an elderly man from the Whirlwind Leg Valley was waiting. He was a messenger bearing the Heavenly Demon's words."
"......?"
"The Heavenly Demon declared he would challenge me to a duel at the grand tent a month hence. He was the first to come to me first since I burst onto the scene."
"Why did he?"
"Around then, a rumor was circulating in the jianghu. That I would kill the Heavenly Demon and finally seize the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."
"Was that true?"
"Heavens, no. Then, now, or in the future, this old man has no interest in banding together or flaunting power."
"Then why go on that challenge tour?"
"To prove I was the strongest."
"Just for that...?"
What Heuk Do-san really wanted to say was, "Just for that, you slaughtered all those people? You mad bastard."
"That was enough."
"But how did such a rumor start?"
"It was some schemer's plot to pit me against the Heavenly Demon and eliminate one of us. Branding me a demonic overlord and public enemy was just laying the groundwork to paint me as a rival to the Heavenly Demon."
One was a great demonic overlord who, under the guise of a challenge tour, sent countless jianghu powerhouses to the afterlife. The other was a demonic giant who led the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, sweeping away numerous sects and factions.
If those two clashed, you might get lucky with mutual destruction—or at least inflict severe wounds on one, or even eliminate him outright.
What a brilliant scheme.
Heuk Do-san had roamed battlefields for ten years but had never seen such cunning tactics.
"Who the hell came up with that plan...?"
"Later, I learned the rumor was spread by a young whippersnapper from the Wudang Sect called Yeop Jeong-cho. Looking back, that bastard was no ordinary fellow either."
"Yeop Jeong-cho? You mean Sword Sage Yeop Jeong-cho?"
"Indeed."
Heuk Do-san was stunned.
They say you can spot a promising tree from its seed leaves. Here was the young Sword Sage who now led the Righteous Alliance. It made sense that the Heavenly Demon had been cornered after a ten-year war—it wasn't mere chance.
Maybe the truly terrifying one wasn't the Heavenly Demon, but Yeop Jeong-cho. The Heavenly Demon had only his cult, but behind Yeop Jeong-cho loomed the vast world of the righteous martial arts.
"But didn't the Heavenly Demon know?"
"Heavens, no. He knew. He even anticipated I'd survive the allied sects' attack. That's why he sent the messenger."
"But why?"
"Regardless of the rumors, he couldn't abide anyone stronger than him existing in the world. There can only be one supreme ruler of the martial world. That's why he's called the sovereign."
Heuk Do-san got it and didn't all at once.
Listening to these ancient grudges between so-called supreme martial artists felt unreal, like tales from another realm.
"So what happened?"
"A month later, I went to the grand tent. He was waiting for me under a massive silk canopy, decked out in gaudy robes embedded with jewels like some damsel."
It was the moment two titans of the era met. Heuk Do-san found himself drawn into the story.
"Just then, a massive sandstorm approached from afar. After sharing a drink, he said that if I wasn't flat on the ground by the time it passed, he'd concede defeat cleanly."
"......?"
"I insisted on a life-or-death duel. He laughed lightly and said, 'If this seat falls, take my life.'"
"And?"
"Thus, the life-or-death duel began."
So began the clash between the one who led a faction toward supremacy and the lone wanderer who sought to prove his martial arts the strongest under heaven.
"It wasn't an easy fight. Amid the sandstorm, we unleashed freakish ultimate techniques never before revealed in the jianghu. As his reputation promised, he was truly heaven-sent talent. At just fifty, he was that formidable—what must he be like now, ascended to unfathomable heights?"
"So who won?"