Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 38: Becoming the Demon Subjugation Group Leader (1)

I moved a good distance away from the scene of the incident and began to organize the situation in my head.

The people at the inn said it was poison. Just now, that guy died clutching his chest. That means it really is poison. But why hasn't it affected me at all?

I stopped mid-thought and slapped my forehead.

Of course! The poison is definitely coming from this gold bracelet. It started leaking out the moment I injected my internal energy. When I raised my hand as the headwind blew, the poison must have drifted right into their noses. Wow! If I’m right, this thing is incredible. I finally understand why Ham Bi-hye looked so regretful while staring at it. But wait, what if innocent people around me get poisoned by mistake?

I was gripped by worry for a moment before slapping my forehead again.

"What an idiot. I bought the Artifact Catalog specifically to look things like this up."

Between being relentlessly pursued since the inn, fighting for my life, and seeing people die, I had reached a point where I barely knew why I was even here.

I sat down on a nearby rock and flipped open the Artifact Catalog.

Just as I thought!

In less than fifteen minutes, I found the entry for the golden bracelet. The illustration in the book was an exact match for the one on my wrist.

The text read as follows:

Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet.

An artifact of indeterminate age. It is considered a top-tier treasure because it senses internal energy and chooses its own master.

Though golden in color, it emits a formless, odorless poison when internal energy is injected. This unique toxin only affects those who possess internal power.

It is also known as the Demon-Subduing Poison Bracelet. It is said to boost the internal energy of those who practice Orthodox mental cultivation methods, but it triggers Qi Deviation in those who practice Demonic arts.

Unlike Orthodox internal energy, Demonic arts tend to minimize the use of meridians during energy accumulation to achieve rapid growth. In contrast, Orthodox methods ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are slower because they involve stimulating and awakening every single meridian.

Because Demonic arts only activate the specific meridians necessary for their techniques, their accumulation speed is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠several times faster than Orthodox methods. However, the energy of the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet has the effect of strengthening and expanding all meridians. When this energy permeates the atrophied meridians of a Demonic practitioner, it forces them to expand and draws in their internal power, resulting in the exact same phenomenon as Qi Deviation.

I let out a breath of admiration after reading the entry.

Ah! Now I understood.

Both at the inn and in the alleyway, the experts of the Ghost Pursuit Squad had died helplessly because the bracelet’s energy had forced them into Qi Deviation.

Then, another realization hit me, and I gasped again.

"Whoa! This thing is worth a fortune!"

But my excitement quickly soured.

This wasn't mine; it belonged to Ham Bi-hye. There was no way she would just give me something this precious for free, so I had to return it. No, more accurately, the people of her sect were the type who would probably cut off my hand to take it back if I didn't return it. The Nine Demons Chamber was certainly capable of that.

Still, I coveted it. It was a far better weapon than any hidden projectile. An artifact that could force Qi Deviation upon anyone using Demonic arts? I never imagined such a thing existed in the history of the martial world.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

Ham Bi-hye probably doesn't know exactly what this is. If she did, she would have warned me. And she definitely wouldn't have just left such a treasure in my possession.

But I soon shook my head.

Don't get greedy. I might end up dead from having my energy drained before I can even release the poison, just like what almost happened earlier. This is a toy for real masters.

I immediately forced myself to lose interest in the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet. That was how a small fry stayed alive for a long time.

*

The morning after the incident, I went to find Ham Bi-hye as soon as I woke up.

The inauguration ceremony for the Demon Subjugation Group was urgent, but the bracelet was more important to me. Truthfully, I had wanted to see her last night, but I was terrified she might suggest cutting off my wrist if I showed up without a plan. I spent the whole night agonizing over a solution.

After a night of worrying, I realized there were only two outcomes: either the bracelet gets cut, or my wrist gets cut. But if the bracelet broke, I feared it wouldn't be my wrist they'd be cutting, but my neck. In the end, I had no choice but to ask for her opinion and adjust to the situation accordingly.

There was still some time before the ceremony, so I wasn't in a rush. As I walked toward the pavilion where Ham Bi-hye was staying, I noticed people whispering as I passed.

"As expected of a master. He can block an assassin's blade even while focused on energy circulation."

"With a master of that caliber in Ten Thousand Dragons Fortress, our future is secure. Joining this place was definitely the right move."

"Hey! Did you hear what I heard this morning? Do you know who that dead assassin was? A servant attending the Lord heard the Poison Dragon and Tang Bin from the Tang Clan talking to him. Apparently, the internal power of the assassin Young Hero Eo killed was incredible."

"Who was it?"

"They say it was the Jade Ragged Sword Demon, the leader of the Secret Inspection Team from the Small Demonic Cult. He was wearing a human-skin mask, so they didn't know at first, but they identified him later. I was shocked when I heard it."

"Good heavens! The Jade Ragged Sword Demon was in the Small Demonic Cult? Is that cult really a bunch of fanatics like the rumors say? If a guy like that was their inspection leader, that says it all."

My heart hammered against my ribs when I heard that.

Good grief. The assassin who attacked me yesterday was the Jade Ragged Sword Demon?

The Jade Ragged Sword Demon was a notoriously vicious and cruel marauder. He started out leading a band of brigands, slaughtering commoners until he was hunted by the authorities. He then went underground, active in the Murim under a hidden identity, and became infamous as a lecherous predator. Since he was naturally hideous, he always wore a human-skin mask, so very few people knew his true face.

Being a former assassin, he was skilled in the art of killing, but even other assassin groups had abandoned him because of his tendency to betray his comrades. Despite being a first-rate expert, no organization wanted to touch him.

To think a man like that was in the Small Demonic Cult.

But then, something felt off. Why were these low-level underlings gossiping about such a significant matter? Even if this was a newly established sect and lacked proper discipline, such secret information shouldn't have leaked so easily to the bottom ranks.

The face of Mok ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yi-gun, with his fox-like cunning and snake-like tongue, flickered in my mind.

He leaked it on purpose.

I had a hunch.

Hmph! He probably had a few goals in mind. He wanted to show that even someone like the Jade Ragged Sword Demon was no match for his fortress, and he wanted to demonstrate that he held a card he could use to pressure the Small Demonic Cult.

Wait... if that's the case, I'm the one at a disadvantage! If they think the Jade Ragged Sword Demon wasn't enough, they'll just send someone even stronger next time... ugh.

I stopped my train of thought and clutched my head.

Right, I'm just being paranoid. Overthinking. Let's stop thinking about it.

The underlings were still talking about me. Since my Upper Dantian had opened, even distant conversations drifted into my ears if I focused, whether I wanted to hear them or not.

"Just how powerful of a master is Young Hero Eo, to be able to catch someone like that in the middle of meditation?"

"I'd say he's at least on par with the Four Dragons of Sichuan."

"Oh, come on, man. Do you think the Four Dragons of Sichuan are just any old 'dragons'? They're monsters who were fed spirit medicines while still in the womb and underwent marrow cleansing the moment they were born. Their starting point was entirely different. That's only possible because they belong to wealthy great sects or powerful families. From what we know, Young Hero Eo only learned his own family's secret swordsmanship. Do you think a single family could afford spirit medicine? They probably couldn't even afford a stray root of mountain ginseng."

Being underlings themselves, they understood those circumstances well. In reality, things like spirit medicines and secret manuals were terms usually reserved for the great sects and prestigious clans.

"That's exactly why they're calling Young Hero Eo a martial genius that appears once in a century. I think he could even be compared to the disciples of the Martial Alliance Leader, not just the Four Dragons of Sichuan."

I covered my ears and quickened my pace. I let out a long sigh, regretting that I had overheard them. Compared to the disciples of the Martial Alliance Leader?

Good grief!

That kind of talk is going to get me killed. If those rumors keep spreading, I won't even be able to go near the Martial Alliance.

It wasn't strange for me to be terrified. The three disciples of the Martial Alliance Leader were all considered once-in-a-century geniuses, known in the Murim as the Three Dragons of Heavenly Might.

To understand them, one first had to look at the Alliance Leader himself. They were raised by the "Heavenly Sword Earthly Blade," Jegal Mujeon.

Though his title sounded a bit boastful, he was a warrior who lived up to every word of it. His sword reached the heavens and his blade surely reached the earth—no martial artist dared to dispute that title. After all, he was currently the undisputed number one master in the world.

Furthermore, he wasn't just powerful; he was incredibly brilliant. In fact, I had never seen or heard of a stupid person becoming a true master. The reason the members of the Paeng Clan always lingered on the fringes of the Murim was that while they had great physiques, their brains couldn't keep up.

It was also rare for someone with a great mind to possess the talent for martial arts. To become a true master, one needed both. Could a dullard who trained for ten years beat a genius who trained for one? Anyone who thinks so is likely a dullard themselves.

I'm sorry to say this to the dullards, but the speed and depth of realization and understanding cannot be solved by time alone. It’s unfortunate, but this is why a river is a river no matter how deep it is, and the ocean is the ocean no matter how shallow it might be.

And I was just a tiny stream among them. How could a stream that doesn't even know where the ocean is compete with those who already know the taste of salt water?

I'm barely surviving here in Ten Thousand Dragons Fortress. So please, stop exaggerating. Otherwise, I'm going to go into hiding for real.

I said it half in anger, but I truly felt that the time might come when I’d have to vanish just to stay alive. As that thought took hold, conviction began to grow with every step I took. I concluded that it would be best to leave with the Demon Subjugation Group and then come back.

First, if I leave, the rumors about me will die down. If I go with the group and return without achieving a single thing, those exaggerated rumors will surely pop like bubbles. Then I'll naturally fade from people's attention, and those assassins won't have a reason to hunt me anymore. It's literally killing two birds with one stone.

Thinking that way, I actually felt like leaving right this second. A person's heart is fickle, but isn't that just what it means to be an ordinary human?

When I arrived at Ham Bi-hye's quarters, a maid approached me.

"Lady Ham Bi-hye told me to give this to you if you came by, Young Hero Eo."

She held out a letter with both hands. I took it and unfolded the paper.

Urgent business forced me to leave early, so I am leaving this message for you. For now, please keep that bracelet in your possession. I will come to retrieve it one day. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Also, that bracelet is no ordinary piece of jewelry; it is an artifact called the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet. Even I was unable to use it, so please do not attempt to use it recklessly. They say it requires one jiazi of internal energy to operate, but since it is an artifact that has yet to reveal its power to anyone, please handle it with extreme care. I have already obtained the Lord's permission for our group to join your Demon Subjugation Group in a different region later. We will contact you in the future.

Reading the letter solved the mystery of the bracelet for me. The reason Ham Bi-hye couldn't handle the item despite having sixty years' worth of internal energy wasn't a lack of power. It was because the type of her internal energy was different, so the bracelet didn't react.

I didn't even have one jiazi of energy. Even if I opened my Upper Dantian into a Circulating Dantian and gathered every drop of energy from all my meridians, I only had about half a jiazi—yet I had successfully drawn out the poison from the Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet.

As for how I knew my internal power was roughly thirty years' worth, it's better not to ask for details. When you practice the Small Heavenly Cycle, you develop a certain intuition. You feel the volume of energy flowing and get a sense of "it's about this much." Even if it's not perfectly precise, it's usually not far off. Since there's no grand signifier for every ten years of training, you just have to rely on your gut.

Regardless, this Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet was something that couldn't be controlled with energy from the Lower or Middle Dantian. It was a bizarre item that only responded to energy from the Upper Dantian. That was why no matter how much energy she injected from her Lower Dantian—whether it was one jiazi or two—the artifact wouldn't budge.

This fact alone led me to suspect that the energy from the three Dantians possessed different qualities. Otherwise, how could the artifact distinguish between them?

I once heard an old saying that artifacts choose their own masters. I couldn't help but agree with that now. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this Golden Qi-Poisoning Bracelet was made specifically for someone like me, who only had an Upper Dantian.

Still, I felt a bit annoyed. If she can't do it, then I can't either? Where does she get off thinking like that? I've already used the damn thing. Heh heh heh.

Ham Bi-hye probably left it with me with a light heart, assuming I wouldn't be able to handle it either. Or maybe she wanted to use it as an excuse to hold something over me later. Either way, people with brains always use them in that fashion. Life would be so much easier if they just lived like underlings.

Well, thanks to her, I'm the one who hit the jackpot.

I grinned so wide my mouth felt like it would tear, then turned back toward my quarters to change for the Demon Subjugation Group's inauguration ceremony.