Chapter 163: Lord of Ten Thousand Demons? (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 163: Lord of Ten Thousand Demons? (1)
The "homework" Seo-jun left behind sounded simple, but the task itself was anything but.
For Chun-bong, Namgung Su-ah, and Namgung Myeong, their assignment was to solidify their current realm before attempting the Life and Death Breakthrough Art. Since it was essentially a continuation of their previous training, the process itself wasn't overly complex. However, anyone who understood the sheer difficulty of taking that final step from the edge of the Peak Realm would never call it "simple."
Hwangbo Hye-ji’s case was a bit different.
For her, the priority was regaining her confidence. To achieve that, she needed the sense of accomplishment that could only come from actually succeeding at something. To that end, Seo-jun had prepared a specific task just for her.
"Alright, while I'm gone, keep hitting this as hard as you can."
What Seo-jun had prepared was a massive boulder.
In truth, for a martial artist at the Peak Realm, shattering a rock was a trivial matter. For someone like Hwangbo Hye-ji, a single punch should have been enough to reduce it to pebbles.
Naturally, this was no ordinary boulder.
"This is..."
Hwangbo Hye-ji looked at Seo-jun. Seeing the realization dawn in her eyes, Seo-jun nodded.
"You see the talisman here?"
It was a talisman infused with Seo-jun’s specialized sorcery.
Chun-bong’s eyes went wide.
"Wait, you know how to do stuff like this too?"
"I tried it, and it worked."
"What kind of bullshit is that again...?"
"It’s the truth."
It was similar to a Great Hand Seal. After all, wasn't it just a medium to assist in the use of sorcery?
While using Earth-type sorcery to harden the rock, he had followed his intuition and scribbled some Qi-infused characters onto a piece of paper, resulting in a talisman. This talisman would act as his proxy, maintaining the sorcery while he was away.
At Seo-jun’s explanation, Chun-bong giggled and clapped her hands.
"You crazy bastard. I’m really not going to be surprised anymore."
"That’s a bit hurtful."
I should definitely show her my Demonification later. If I grow three heads and six arms like some kind of Asura, surely even Chun-bong would be surprised then, right?
"Anyway, sister-in-law, just focus on striking this."
"Yes."
Though she looked skeptical, Seo-jun was confident. It would undoubtedly be quite effective.
Of course, it required her to put in the hard work, but from what he had observed, Hwangbo Hye-ji was diligent to a fault. She was so fiercely dedicated that even Seo-jun, who had fully intended to run her ragged, barely felt the need to intervene.
"Alright, I’m heading out now. Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone, okay?"
As Seo-jun warned her while stretching Chun-bong’s cheeks, she snorted.
"Worry 'bout yourthelf."
"I always do well."
"Ath if."
"As if?"
"Agh...!"
Thwack! After taking a playful hit, Seo-jun chuckled.
"I’ll be back before you know it!"
*
A self-proclaimed smart man does not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Before heading to Shaanxi, Seo-jun first drew up a plan. It was a strategy to ensure he didn't crash-land in some strange place like he had before.
Shaanxi was close, of course. It shared a border with Henan. But that didn't mean there was zero chance of him losing his way again.
What was the solution?
I just need to set a few waypoints.
By picking several relatively close destinations and moving step-by-step, he could ensure absolute accuracy. Seo-jun immediately put his plan into action.
BOOOOOM!
Since he was in the territory of the Righteous Faction, he didn't hold back, unleashing his Primordial Unity Steps to their absolute limit.
In less than two hours, Seo-jun arrived at the border where Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu met. He took a deep breath.
"Mmm—this nostalgic air."
Shaanxi was essentially the starting point of his life in the Murim. Feeling a profound sense of how much time had passed as he recalled his days as a fragile newbie, Seo-jun immediately kicked off the ground.
"Let’s see..."
He first climbed to the top of the tallest building in the vicinity and expanded his Qi Sensing.
He was looking for a pavilion—specifically, one with an unusually high concentration of martial artists. As soon as he pinpointed his target, he leaped from the roof and soared toward it.
Tap.
The moment he touched down lightly on the top floor of the pavilion, hidden presences surrounded him.
Seo-jun gave a light wave to signal he wasn't a threat and pulled a medallion from his robes. It was the metal token Hyeon-wol had given him, proving his status as a provincial branch leader.
"I’m the one they call Jin Gi-jae-cheon. I’d like to buy some information."
A brief silence followed. Then, a woman emerged from the shadows.
"...Why would such an illustrious personage come to a humble place like this?"
"To buy information, obviously."
"You could have gone to the Beggar Sect."
Oh? Talking back? Seo-jun swallowed the words that almost slipped out. He had been too immersed in acting like a Murim master lately. It wasn't good to start acting like a grumpy old man at such a young age.
"I figured the beggars might be a bit sloppy with their work. Isn't the Hao Sect better for this kind of thing?"
He felt a little bad for Hong Angae of the Beggar Sect, but Seo-jun genuinely believed that.
"......"
The woman hesitated, unable to find a proper retort. Instead of saying more, Seo-jun tossed the medallion to her.
"This is..."
The woman caught it, her expression turning strange as she nodded.
"How unusual. A master of the Righteous Faction carrying a Hao Sect token..."
"Anyway, I'm in a bit of a hurry. Do you happen to know the location of any demonic practitioners nearby?"
"They likely would have moved by now, but I know of several locations where they were staying recently."
At the woman's gesture, a man who appeared to be a subordinate brought over a scroll. The woman unfurled it, pulled a brush from her sleeve, and began writing rapidly.
"What's with that brush? There's no ink on it."
As Seo-jun watched curiously, the woman gave a faint smile.
"It is a Self-Generating Ink Brush, recently developed by the Jegal Clan. It is a tool that produces its own ink."
She fanned the scroll a few times to dry the ink before handing it to Seo-jun.
"It contains a simple map and descriptions. Will this suffice?"
Seo-jun examined the scroll. While he wasn't the best at reading maps, this one was drawn simply enough for even him to understand.
"This is great. Thanks for the cool trade."
"Pardon? Cool...?"
"Tsk, tsk. You really need to study more."
Seo-jun chuckled as he paid for the information.
Location data: acquired.
He set off immediately.
*
Leaving the Hao Sect behind, Seo-jun used his Primordial Unity Steps to head toward the nearest destination.
Since it wasn't far, it took less than a minute to arrive.
"It should be around here."
Tucking the scroll back into his robes, Seo-jun expanded his Qi Sensing. He hadn't expected to find anything immediately; he had planned to meticulously scour the area while keeping his senses open, but...
"Oh?"
Something caught his Qi Sensing. It wasn't a demonic practitioner, but Demonic Qi itself.
Good old Demonic Qi.
It was remarkably well-behaved. At this rate, it was about one-eighth as smart as Geum Chun-bong.
Seo-jun immediately followed the trail.
Over time, the traces of Demonic Qi had begun assimilating into the surrounding natural energy, but as soon as Seo-jun focused his gaze on them, they seemed to remember their purpose. They transformed into thick, vivid trails, guiding him forward.
Thanks to that, he was able to track the demonic practitioner as easily as if he were following a navigation system.
After traveling for a while, he came upon a small city. A single plume of black smoke was rising from the center of town.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Seo-jun immediately accelerated. As he neared his destination, he heard a man’s scream.
"N-no...! Please! Please...!"
Several corpses were scattered around. Judging by their appearance, they seemed to be thugs from the Black Path.
Standing among the bodies was a man radiating Demonic Qi. He was holding a corpse that had already stopped breathing, and he violently thrust his hand into its chest.
Rip!
A heart, still warm, was torn out. The man was about to swallow it in one bite when his eyes met Seo-jun’s.
"Who the hell are you?"
The man’s eyes darted around. He looked at the surviving thugs, then back at Seo-jun, who was staring at him intently. Soon, he grinned.
"I'm in luck."
The moment the demonic practitioner tried to bite into the heart, Seo-jun frowned.
"Stop."
The man froze mid-motion. His eyes trembled as if in shock.
Oh?
Seo-jun felt a strange certainty. A certain power had been infused into his words.
The man was nothing more than a small fry at the Peak Realm. No matter what experiment Seo-jun performed, there was no risk of an unexpected variable. Since there was no reason to suppress his curiosity, he immediately began his experiment.
Vrooom!
High-purity Demonic Qi erupted from Seo-jun’s entire body. Witnessing Demonic Qi that bordered on absolute purity, the surviving thugs rolled their eyes back and fainted.
Cold sweat poured down the demonic practitioner’s temples. He remained unable to twitch even a finger, glaring at Seo-jun.
"You've got guts."
Perhaps because he was a demonic practitioner, he showed no sign of fear. Instead, he seemed desperate to strike Seo-jun down.
"Kneel."
Thud! At Seo-jun’s command, the man’s knees hit the ground.
He managed to lift his head to glare at Seo-jun. Seo-jun gave a smirk.
"Drop what's in your hand."
The man placed the cold heart on the ground.
"What martial art did you learn?"
"...The Heart-Consuming Art... and a nameless claw technique..."
The Heart-Consuming Art was exactly what it sounded like—a type of martial art that increased one's achievement by consuming hearts. And a nameless claw technique? He was truly the lowest of the low.
Clicking his tongue, Seo-jun demanded, "The oral chant."
"...The human heart is close to the Middle Dantian, thus it holds Qi..."
Seo-jun deconstructed the chant on the spot. The principle of the Heart-Consuming Art wasn't difficult. It talked about the Middle Dantian, but it was actually closer to absorbing Primordial True Qi.
The Primordial True Qi absorbed in this way was then corrupted into Demonic Qi by a crude internal heart method. The process was quite interesting.
"I see. A reversal..."
Human blood flows in one direction. It was designed that way from the start, and if blood flows backward, the person usually dies.
Qi was the same.
Just as blood flows through blood vessels, the paths through which Qi flows are called Meridians. [Excluding the collateral vessels, which vary depending on the martial art learned.]
Like blood vessels, Meridians have a set direction for Qi flow. However, in the case of the Heart-Consuming Art this man had learned, the circulation of Qi was reversed.
Most people would likely die while trying to learn it, and even if they succeeded, maintaining their sanity would be difficult. Though, anyone sane wouldn't learn a martial art that involved eating human hearts in the first place.
Since he lacked the talent, did he try to get closer to the Principle of Heaven-Defying through this method?
He roughly understood the concept.
Seo-jun looked down at the demonic practitioner, who had outlived his usefulness.
"This way!"
"You lot, head over there and block the escape route!"
Just in time, the city’s martial artists were rushing toward them. Seo-jun performed one last experiment.
"Kill yourself."
Splurt! Blood sprayed from the man’s seven orifices as he died. He had detonated his own internal Qi.
"Interesting."