Chapter 17: Primordial Unity Divine Art
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: Primordial Unity Divine Art
Seo-jun locked eyes with the woman he had encountered on his very first day in Murim—the same woman standing before him now in the brothel.
Staring into her venomous glare, a sudden thought crossed his mind.
Is this crazy bitch about to lunge at me with a blade?
Sure, he had smashed her face with his knee, but did that really warrant this level of hostility?
Well, yes, actually. If someone had done that to him, he’d probably react the exact same way.
But the circumstances here were a bit different. Her behavior wasn't just because Seo-jun had roughed her up.
The way she glared at him—like she truly wanted to murder him—made it obvious she blamed him for her entire predicament.
This feels a bit unfair.
Getting hit was infuriating, sure, but the real villains here were the Black Tiger Sect. Whether Seo-jun had run away or fought back normally in that alley, her fate wouldn't have changed.
"Hey..."
"..."
"Did I do something wrong? I thought we were both victims here."
"Wrong? Ha, wrong. You have the nerve to say that?"
Her venomous eyes bored into Seo-jun as she grabbed her collar and yanked it down.
Seo-jun flinched for a second at the sudden flash of pale skin, but his eyebrows shot up when he saw the mottled blue and purple bruises etched across her flesh.
They were unmistakable marks of a brutal beating.
This wasn't just some light disciplinary scolding. The bruises were so dark and deep that it was a miracle she hadn't been beaten to death.
"Because you mangled my face...!" she shrieked. "My leg tendons were severed, and I’ve been forced to take a string of customers that only the cheapest street whores would get! My body is raw, and my face and skin are ruined! If it weren't for you...! If my face were just intact, it wouldn't have come to this!"
It went without saying, but in a back-alley brothel, beauty was a woman's greatest asset.
If a courtesan was pretty, she was treated entirely differently.
Take Mae-wol, for example. Rumored to be the most beautiful woman in this establishment, her leg tendons hadn't been slashed. Instead, she was simply placed under heavy surveillance.
It was far better for the thugs to work a little harder watching her than to damage a high-end product of exceptional beauty.
And that surveillance wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Strict surveillance meant many eyes were watching, which essentially served as a bodyguard detail. Courtesans with superior beauty could be somewhat selective with their clientele, and if a customer turned violent, the guards would intervene immediately.
This woman's situation was the exact opposite.
Not only could she barely walk with severed tendons, but the Black Path thugs, far from restraining violent customers, actually encouraged the abuse after pocketing extra fees.
Despite all that, she received almost no money. She was lucky if she could even afford a meal. At this rate, she would clearly be dead before long.
"And after all that, you ask if you did something wrong?!"
Seo-jun scratched his head as she glared at him, looking ready to tear him apart with her bare hands.
"I didn't hit you that hard."
Honestly, saying her face was "mangled" was a massive exaggeration. It should have only caused some swelling.
Besides, he had kneed her jaw, not her nose. There was no reason for it to leave a permanent mark.
"And anyway, it's not like you were particularly pretty to begin with. If you were, those guys would have just waited for your face to heal."
"...What?"
A heavy silence fell over the room. Even Mae-wol, who was listening from a short distance away, blinked in shock and covered her mouth.
He had spoken a bit harshly out of annoyance, but he wasn't wrong.
After all, how many courtesans in this brothel were treated like Mae-wol?
Even if he had left her alone that day, she would have ended up in this exact position.
He was the one who had taken a knife to the gut, so while he felt a bit bad about hitting her face, being glared at like a mortal enemy felt entirely misplaced.
"Look, if you're going to blame someone, blame the guys from the Black Tiger Sect. Why me? I literally got my stomach sliced open trying to help."
"You... you've got a lot of nerve!"
"Yeah, I guess."
He nodded shamelessly, and the woman's face turned beet red.
She had already been flushed with rage, but now she looked ready to explode.
Just as she bared her teeth and took a step toward Seo-jun, Chun-bong stepped in to block her path.
"Stop. Do not mistake the object of your anger."
"Ha, haha... What is this now?"
The woman let out a hollow laugh, a manic gleam in her eyes. It looked like a knife fight was about to break out at any second.
But there was no way Chun-bong would be intimidated by the likes of her.
She drew her sword and leveled it at the woman's throat. She didn't just point it; she pressed the cold steel close enough to nick the skin, drawing a bead of crimson blood.
Her situation is pitiful, but that is all.
She had found the wrong person to resent.
The Black Tiger Sect had ruined her life. Regardless of the outcome, Seo-jun had tried to save her, even taking a blade for his trouble.
Chun-bong knew it was terrifying to hold a grudge against a faction like the Black Tiger Sect. Resentment with no hope of vengeance only ate a person alive from the inside.
She understood that Seo-jun's actions had been rough, and as the victim, the woman had every right to complain.
But it was nowhere near enough to justify this over-the-top murderous intent.
Wasn't she just dumping the hatred she should have held for the Black Tiger Sect onto Seo-jun instead?
Since humans couldn't always be rational, Chun-bong didn't completely lack sympathy for her feelings, but there was absolutely no reason for them to accept her misplaced wrath.
Above all, Seo-jun was the successor who would rebuild the Divine Sword Geum Family.
There was no universe where she would overlook a mere prostitute vomiting such excessive anger at him.
"Know your place," Chun-bong warned coldly. "This man is not someone the likes of you can treat lightly. There is a limit to how much responsibility you can shift."
"You..."
Drip.
Blood trickled down as the blade dug a millimeter deeper. Chun-bong's eyes were razor-sharp. Seo-jun was actually taken aback; her reaction was far more intense than he had expected.
"Hey, hey. It's fine. I don't really care that much."
He had only tracked the woman down out of mild curiosity to see how she was doing.
What did it matter if she resented him? If she actually swung a knife, he could just deal with her then.
Still, he did feel a tiny bit guilty, so it would be better to do something for her later.
Getting her out of this brothel shouldn't be too hard.
He already had a plan in mind, so he could just handle it all at once when the time came.
"Our Chun-bong is so protective, isn't she?"
"...This bastard is annoying even when I'm taking his side."
Snorting, Chun-bong sheathed her sword. Seo-jun patted her head and looked over at Mae-wol, who was standing quietly in the background.
"Well, I'll see you again later."
"Oh? Hoho, I shall serve you most devotedly then."
Her coquettish gestures were a bit much to handle.
Seo-jun subtly pushed Chun-bong forward, using her as a shield to maintain a safe distance from Mae-wol.
"Yeah, sure."
As they left, the bruised woman glared daggers at their retreating backs, her eyes practically dripping with murder.
* * *
On the walk home, Chun-bong was still slightly pouting. To soothe her, Seo-jun forcefully scooped her up and tossed her onto his shoulders.
"Stop! Stop! I told you not to do this!"
Despite her protests, he knew she secretly liked it.
After carrying her all the way back on his shoulders, Seo-jun finally set Chun-bong down inside their room.
"Aigoo, our Chun-bong has gotten quite heavy."
"...You're dead."
"Ah, my bad."
Waving his hand dismissively, Seo-jun plopped down on the floor and stared at her.
Chun-bong refused to back down, glaring right back into his eyes.
A sudden staring contest commenced. The winner was Seo-jun.
"Ugh... You cowardly bastard. You used internal energy for a staring contest?"
"If you're annoyed, you should use it too."
Seo-jun chuckled, coating his hand in a layer of golden internal energy. It was the unique Qi of the Yellow Cloud Divine Art.
Though Seo-jun had only seen a few martial arts so far, he could easily tell that the Yellow Cloud Divine Art was incredibly distinctive.
"So, following up on what we were talking about earlier. I get that I'll be screwed if I use someone else's martial arts too obviously."
"And?"
"Yeah. But can I use this? The Yellow Cloud Divine Art."
It sounded like a stupid question at first, but Chun-bong understood his underlying concern perfectly. She gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
"No. Not outside."
"Outside? You mean outside the back alleys?"
"Yeah. Honestly, it doesn't matter around here. The Divine Sword Geum Family itself didn't have much external activity, so almost no one would recognize it even if you flaunted it."
But if they left this lawless slum and entered a major city, it would be a completely different story.
"People who have crossed paths with our family members even a few times would recognize it instantly."
"I see..."
Seo-jun fell deep into thought.
The reason it would be problematic if someone recognized the Yellow Cloud Divine Art was simple. They still didn't know exactly which faction had annihilated the Divine Sword Geum Family.
Until they knew how the martial world would react to discovering a survivor of the Geum Family, they needed to be as careful as possible.
Chun-bong, who had been watching the pensive Seo-jun closely, finally spoke up.
"I told you before that the ones who destroyed the Divine Sword Geum Family might have been from the Righteous Faction, but to be precise, that's not exactly it."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I felt Death Qi. The attackers were probably from the Evil Sect."
Seo-jun and Chun-bong locked eyes.
She was stating the culprits were from the Evil Sect, but her eyes were still clouded with deep suspicion.
Since Seo-jun had spent enough time with her to read her expressions, he could tell she had more to say.
"And?"
He suddenly reached over, picked up the listless girl, and sat her down between his legs with her back resting against his chest.
She must have been truly drained, as she didn't even put up a fight.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, he gently rubbed her soft cheeks as she continued.
"Mmm... but the Righteous Faction bastards are just as suspicious. Those Evil Sect scumbags... they knew the internal situation of the Divine Sword Geum Family far too well. Above all, there was definitely enough time for reinforcements to arrive, but not a single soul showed their face."
"You mean there was a mole?"
"Probably. Whether the rat was inside the Divine Sword Geum Family or the Murim Alliance, I don't know. Or maybe they all just considered our family an eyesore."
Suppressed anger and deep resignation. These were emotions far too heavy and thorny for a little kid who fit perfectly in his arms to carry.
Seo-jun leaned forward, resting against her back, and placed his chin gently on the crown of her head.
Chun-bong grumbled that he was heavy, but she didn't actually seem to mind.
He had often wondered why she had followed him so willingly since the day they met. It seemed fate had brought them together at a moment when she was simply too exhausted to keep her thorns raised.
"That's why I hate those orthodox hypocrites too. Maybe a mole delayed the distress message to the Murim Alliance, but there's no way the nearby sects didn't notice the attack. They used to act like they'd gladly carve out their own organs for us, but when push came to shove, they just turned a blind eye. Fucking bastards. They're so good at playing the noble gentlemen, but in reality, they're nothing but petty cowards chasing their own interests."
"They really are pieces of shit," he agreed.
"Right? Bastards. I should just crush them all."
"Sounds like a plan. Want me to crush them for you?"
"Forget it. I'll slit their throats with my own two hands."
Chun-bong leaned back against him with a small smirk. She really was cute, no matter what she did.
As he teased her by lightly opening and closing his jaw on the top of her head, her fussing reminded him of an angry Chihuahua. Even if her round cheeks made her look more like a hamster.
"Anyway... should we stop by the Azure River Sect tomorrow?"
"Azure River Sect? You mean the Cheongha Sect?"
"Ah, right. The Azure River Sect."
So Cheongnyu—Clear Flow—was the name of the sword technique, not the sect.
"Why the Azure River Sect? There's bound to be a fight if you go there."
"I have a few ideas."
Ah, speaking of ideas, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten. So many things had happened back-to-back that it had completely slipped his mind.
"Actually, let's stop by the Black Tiger Sect before we hit the Azure River Sect."
"Why there again?"
"We need to move our base."
"To their compound? What about all the corpses? And I already told you, that place is way too big for just the two of us."
"Now, now, your big brother has a plan."
As for the corpses, he could just raid some random Black Path sect and 'recruit' some free labor to clean it up. Plus, there was something else he wanted to try.
"Our dear Chun-bong, shall we get some sleep now?"
"...Can you not talk like that? It's creepy."
"Haha, I think I'll sleep while hugging our little Chun-bong tonight."
"It's too hot. Get off me."
How cold-hearted.
* * *
When he woke up the next morning, Chun-bong was curled up tightly in his arms.
Tucked against him like a sleeping squirrel, she looked every bit the innocent little kid she was. When he tried to sit up, she grumbled in her sleep, so he simply hugged her tight again and resumed the train of thought he’d been riding before dozing off.
A martial art to replace the Yellow Cloud Divine Art.
Chun-bong had said using it here in the slums didn't matter, but you never knew who was watching. There was no harm in being prepared.
Besides, refraining from using the Yellow Cloud Divine Art didn't mean the martial enlightenment he’d gained from it would just vanish, so it wasn't a huge loss.
As if guided by a sudden flash of conviction, Seo-jun began to mentally deconstruct and systematically stack the martial arts he had learned so far.
It was a concept that utterly defied common sense—something that would be considered pure, suicidal madness by any normal martial artist's standards—but he felt a strange impulse urging him forward, as if drawn by an unknown power.
First, I'll use the Yellow Cloud Divine Art as the foundation...
And then, he would layer the Azure Cloud Divine Art right on top of it.
Since they were essentially two halves of a whole—a paired set of martial arts designed to achieve perfect harmony between Yin and Yang to form the Taiji as one's cultivation realm increased—mixing the Yellow Cloud Divine Art and the Azure Cloud Divine Art wasn't actually that difficult.
I'll integrate the mental imagery of the Clear Flow Sword... and borrow some of its sword style, too.
The Clear Flow Sword was, surprisingly enough, categorized as a "Strong Sword." It resembled a violent, raging torrent rather than the gentle, meandering flow of a river.
A violently flowing river beneath a sky that constantly shifted between brilliant light and pitch darkness.
There were still plenty of gaps in his theory, but he had a solid grasp of the general feeling.
I can always observe and steal other martial arts later anyway. If I just keep absorbing and mixing everything that looks useful, something incredible will come out of it.
Normally, this line of thought was sheer insanity, but he felt an absolute, unshakable confidence.
No matter what kind of technique it was, as long as it involved the manipulation of Qi, he could mold it to his exact intentions.
He was forging a unique martial art of his very own—one that would eventually reach absolute perfection.
It was still far too early to call it complete, but if he had to give it a name right now...
Primordial Unity Divine Art.
Yes, that name felt perfectly fitting.