Chapter 18: Azure River Sect (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18: Azure River Sect (1)
After Chun-bong woke up, Seo-jun dawdled for a bit before preparing to head toward the Black Tiger Sect.
He was stuffing his meager belongings into a single bundle when Chun-bong, still rubbing her sleepy eyes, let out a small yawn.
"Yawn... I’m actually kind of sad. We lived in that house for a whole year."
"A year was plenty. If you ask me, it’s a miracle the place didn't collapse on us in our sleep."
Chun-bong pouted at the remark.
"You’re right, but why do I suddenly feel the urge to punch you?"
"Now, now, Geum Chun-bong. You shouldn't say such wicked things."
He reached over and massaged the back of her neck. Her body instantly stiffened, and she let out a strange noise. "Ngyaaak!"
It seemed Geum Chun-bong truly belonged to the feline family.
"Anyway... Oh? Hey, you there!"
Seo-jun spotted a rough-looking fellow nearby and called out to him.
"The... The Killing Ghost...?" the man stammered.
"Oh, I guess I’ve become a bit famous. Everyone recognizes me now," Seo-jun mused.
"Shut up," Chun-bong snapped.
Seo-jun chuckled at her sharp retort. He approached the man and threw an arm around his shoulder.
"Friend, do you know any guys nearby? I’m looking for at least ten."
"Are... are you telling me to sell out my comrades?"
"Why put it like that? 'Sell out' sounds so harsh. Just tell me where the guys you usually can't stand are hanging out. That’s all."
The man’s eyes darted around nervously.
"...If you walk a little further down, there’s a group called the Black Snake Faction."
Bingo.
* * *
Just as the man had said, a shabby building came into view after a short walk.
"T-then, I’ll be going now."
"Now, where do you think you're going? You’re coming with us."
"Didn't you say you'd let me go if I told you?!"
"Me? When?"
Seo-jun really didn't remember saying that.
As Seo-jun scratched his head, the man’s expression crumpled. He racked his brain, but his memory seemed fuzzy.
Well, whatever. Leaving the man to his confusion...
Crash!
Seo-jun kicked the front gate open and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"We’re looking for ten friends for some healthy labor!"
Naturally, the response was far from friendly.
"What kind of crazy bastard is this now?"
"There’s always some kind of freak."
The men of the Black Snake Faction stared at Seo-jun with bewildered eyes before swarming toward him, each brandishing a tool or weapon.
After all, a lunatic had just kicked down their door; they had to teach him a lesson, didn't they?
That was their fatal mistake.
"Honestly, these guys never listen until they’ve been beaten."
Seo-jun raised his scabbard.
.
.
.
He lowered the blood-stained scabbard.
"Phew. Let’s go, boys."
"...Yes, Big Brother."
After a thorough thrashing, their form of address had respectfully shifted to 'Big Brother.'
They really only listened after getting hit.
Seo-jun clicked his tongue and took the lead.
Perhaps because a battered line of 'laborer friends' was trailing behind him, he felt several strange gazes boring into his back. Beggars hid in the alleys while peeking out, and Black Path thugs watched him intently while pretending to just pass by.
Seo-jun ignored them completely.
After a short walk, they arrived at the Black Tiger Sect. It felt like it had been a long time since his last visit.
"Wow... the place is a total mess," Seo-jun muttered.
"Everything worth anything must have been looted already," Chun-bong replied.
Just as Chun-bong said, the Black Tiger Sect had already been picked clean by the neighborhood thugs. Regardless, what mattered was the building itself, not its contents.
Seo-jun turned to the laborer friends trudging along behind him.
"Alright, boys. I’m not asking for much. Just clear out the corpses."
"Yes, Big Brother..."
As they entered the building, the thick stench of rotting corpses filled the air. Bodies were strewn across the hallways.
Even the Black Path thugs, who lived rough and violent lives, looked horrified. Still, it seemed they preferred moving corpses over getting beaten again.
Chun-bong sighed as she watched them work without complaint.
"So many people died."
"They were guys who deserved to die."
"That’s true."
Though the Black Path was home to all sorts of scum, the Black Tiger Sect was particularly vile even among them. Human trafficking had basically been their bread and butter.
Once all the corpses were cleared out through the 'voluntary service' of their new Black Path friends, Seo-jun stood before the main building of the Black Tiger Sect.
It was the largest among the sect's various structures.
"We won't be needing this one, right?"
"Not if it's just the two of us living here."
In other words, it was unnecessary.
Seo-jun smirked and drew his sword. The New Primordial Unity Divine Art, which he was currently refining, began to color his mental imagery.
'Shall I test it one last time?'
A violently flowing river. A sky that repeatedly brightened and darkened.
He contemplated the world he had constructed within his mind.
What he had gained from the Clear Flow Sword was precisely that mental imagery and the flow of Qi. Seo-jun had ostensibly just copied the sword technique, but in reality, it was as if he had stolen the heart method itself.
Of course, he didn't know the specific oral chants, but capturing the mental imagery and the flow of Qi meant he had acquired ninety percent of the heart method anyway.
Thump!
Soon, something entirely new—a mixture of three different heart methods perfectly tailored to his taste—began to pulsate within him.
"Ssshh..."
Seo-jun took a deep breath and raised his sword. A turbid golden Sword Qi flickered violently along the blade.
"You... what is that...?"
Just as Chun-bong’s eyes widened in shock, Seo-jun swung his sword downward.
K-k-k-rash!!
An entire wall, along with several of the building's pillars, was completely pulverized. Seo-jun nodded in satisfaction at the jagged sword marks left in the wreckage.
"Mhm, mhm. Not bad."
"No, seriously, what the hell was that? I never taught you anything like that!"
"Ah, this? This is called the New Primordial Unity Divine Art."
"Did you mix something into the Yellow Cloud Divine Art?! You crazy bastard, what are you doing?! You’re going to get yourself killed!"
"Hey, relax. It’s fine."
Watching this madman casually demolish a house with a sword, their new Black Path friends trembled in fear.
Seo-jun glanced at them before turning back to Chun-bong, who was still glaring daggers at him.
"Hey, Geum Chun-bong."
"What."
"I’ve decided I want to reach the Super Peak Realm."
"Stop talking shit, seriously."
Crunch!
Seo-jun destroyed another pillar.
"Is the Super Peak Realm just some neighborhood mutt's name to you?"
"Well, the Peak Realm isn't a mutt's name either, is it?"
"...You really have a way of leaving me speechless."
Snap!
Three more pillars were destroyed.
By that point, the building began to groan, emitting eerie, structural creaks. Seo-jun gestured for Chun-bong to step back and raised his sword once more.
Watching him, Chun-bong spoke up.
"The Super Peak Realm is different. It’s not a stage you can reach just by being good at handling Qi. No matter how talented you are, it’ll take you at least another ten years."
"Ten years? Ten days is plenty."
"Now that is some Grade-A bullshit."
Of course it was bullshit. He had just spat out 'ten days' randomly.
The Super Peak Realm...
The Super Peak Realm literally meant to have surpassed the Peak Realm. Then what was the Peak Realm? Just as the word suggested, it meant reaching the highest possible stage.
"No, it’s not! There’s the Super Peak Realm, the Transcendent Realm, and so much more above it!"
There were idiots who said such things, but that was only because they were dim-witted.
The Peak Realm signified reaching the absolute limit of a normal human being. Thinking of it another way, from the Super Peak Realm onward, one was no longer strictly human, but something bordering on the divine.
Rumble!!
Seo-jun smirked as he watched the building finally collapse under the weight of his sword strikes.
"Man, that’s a satisfying sight."
"Cough...! Ugh, the dust!"
"Oh dear, did our little Chun-bong swallow some dust?"
"...You’ve been getting awfully cheeky lately, haven't you?"
"Ah, my apologies."
Seo-jun stepped onto the rubble of the collapsed building. Standing tall under the morning sun that had yet to reach its zenith, he took a deep breath... and exhaled.
"YA—HO—!!"
Chun-bong stared at him with a gaze of genuine concern.
"...He hasn't finally lost his mind, has he?"
* * *
Demolishing a building with a sword.
Having ticked that item off his bucket list, Seo-jun hummed a tune as he began decorating their new home. The modest building next to the large collapsed one was to be their new house. It had likely been used as a warehouse before.
The laborer friends? He had already sent them home.
"Isn't it great, Chun-bong? We won't have to worry about this place collapsing."
"Yeah. As long as you don't collapse it."
"Am I crazy? Why would I knock down my own house?"
"Haha."
Chun-bong gave a soulless laugh and grumbled as she scrubbed the floor with a rag.
"Anyway, what’s this 'New Primordial Unity Divine Art' nonsense? What did you do with the one I taught you? Is that thing even a proper Divine Art in the first place?"
"I need a martial art I can use when we go outside later. You’re the one who told me I shouldn't use the Yellow Cloud Divine Art in public."
"Hmph."
Ah, she was sulking.
Since Chun-bong took immense pride in the Yellow Cloud Divine Art, she seemed jealous that he was out here creating a different martial art.
"Hehe."
But he was now a 'Geum Chun-bong Master.' His major was Geum Chun-bong Psychology. This level of sulking could easily be resolved with a bit of teasing.
"Boop."
He ruthlessly kneaded her soft cheeks until Chun-bong snapped.
"Seriously! Stop! Stop! Stop touching my face! You’re going to wear it out!"
"Ah, I can't have that. It’s the joy of my life."
"What do you mean, 'joy of your life'..."
Sighing, Chun-bong patted her cheeks, which had turned slightly red from the rubbing.
Seo-jun watched her, standing arrogantly with his arms crossed.
"Anyway, it might be a bit awkward to call it a Divine Art right now, but that’ll change later."
The foundation was the Yellow Cloud Divine Art to begin with. It felt as though the martial art's grade had actually dropped because he had tinkered with it to suit his tastes, but that was only temporary.
Who knew? Maybe one day, the New Primordial Unity Divine Art would be hailed as the greatest martial art under heaven.
Even now, because it was perfectly tailored to his own body, it felt like a much better fit than the original Yellow Cloud Divine Art.
"When that happens, make sure you record that the Yellow Cloud Divine Art was the original foundation, okay?"
"I got it, kiddo."
Seo-jun roughly ruffled Chun-bong’s hair.
Once the cleaning was mostly finished, Chun-bong took a breather and looked up at Seo-jun.
"By the way, you said you were going to the Azure River Sect today. When are you leaving?"
"I don't know. Maybe tomorrow? I suddenly feel a bit lazy."
"I know you’re in there! Come out this instant!"
At the sudden loud shout from outside, Seo-jun and Chun-bong looked at each other.
"I guess they came to pick me up."
"I knew this would happen."
Chun-bong clicked her tongue and stood up.
"Take your sword. If a fight breaks out, don't hold back just because they’re from the Righteous Faction. Your survival comes first, no matter what."
"Aw, I’m touched..."
"What are you even saying?"
When they stepped outside, they saw several men dressed in blue-toned martial robes. The face of the man at the front was quite familiar.
"Ah, that Cheong-something guy."
"It is Cheong-un. The Sect Leader summons you, so follow us."
"Okay~."
When Seo-jun nodded obediently, Cheong-un gave him a highly suspicious look. However, he soon gestured to the disciples accompanying him and turned to walk.
"Let’s go."
* * *
The Azure River Sect, which he had assumed was just some small-time sect, turned out to be much larger than expected.
Cheong-un spoke with the gatekeeper for a moment before approaching Seo-jun.
"Listen carefully. Do not show any frivolous behavior or speech in front of the Sect Leader."
"Okay~."
"I’m talking about behavior exactly like that!"
"Senior Brother, the Sect Leader says to enter the Main Hall immediately," one of the disciples interrupted.
"Tsk."
Nodding, Cheong-un led the way.
They arrived at the Main Hall. Standing in front of the fairly grand building, Cheong-un bowed his head.
"Sect Leader, it is Cheong-un."
"Enter."
The voice echoing from within was deep and dignified.
Following behind Cheong-un, Seo-jun soon laid eyes on a middle-aged man who carried an air of considerable authority.
"Is that the boy?"
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"You lost to a worthless Black Path piece of trash like that?"
"...Yes."
"Hmph, it seems you need more training."
This so-called Sect Leader was badmouthing him right to his face. Seo-jun scratched his head and spoke up.
"Excuse me, mister."
"Silence. Keep your mouth shut, you vulgar thing."
"No, I mean..."
"Shut up unless you wish to die."
Tsk. Clicking his tongue, the Sect Leader completely ignored him and resumed lecturing Cheong-un. He went on and on about how carelessness in the Murim leads to death, and how one must always be wary of the underhanded tricks used by the Black Path.
Standing there blankly, Seo-jun suddenly beamed a bright, sunny smile.
"Haha, listen here, you son of a bitch. Let a man get a word in, you prick."