Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 47
>Chapter Title: Choice (1)
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Mok Kyung-un grinned chillingly as he held up the eyeball of the great young master, Na Yeol-ryang.
The Islet Poison King, Baek Sa-ha, momentarily lost for words, hurriedly stanched the bleeding from Na Yeol-ryang's right eye socket and scolded him.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Baek Sa-ha was genuinely dumbfounded.
It wasn't as if he'd mistaken the instruction not to kill him as permission to do anything else. He truly had no idea what this was about.
Mok Kyung-un replied to him with a smiling face.
“As I said. This thing's a bit of a nuisance.”
“A nuisance?”
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Baek Sa-ha suddenly recalled something Won Byeong-hak, the Thunderbolt Fist King, had said a few years back.
[Elder Baek. Have you ever sparred with the great young master?]
[The great young master? No. I haven't. They say his skills have advanced remarkably lately?]
[Yes. So we sparred, and it was astonishing. Nothing like before.]
[Oh? That impressive?]
[Yes. But not just his prowess— he has these unusual eyes.]
[Unusual eyes?]
[Yes. After one eye started gleaming silver, he read my forms with ease.]
[Read your forms with ease? Some special power in his eyes?]
[That's what I think. Though the great young master himself would never admit it.]
The Thunderbolt Fist King, Won Byeong-hak, had been Na Yeol-ryang's master in the Peerless Rending Fist.
He had been the one requested to teach as a reward for obtaining three of the Finger Valley Ravine's top plaques.
Thus, among the Five Kings, he knew the most about Na Yeol-ryang.
Baek Sa-ha clicked his tongue and said,
“I've vaguely heard about the great young master's eyes before, but if they truly are special, he'd be even more desperate to kill you now.”
“Doesn't matter. We're enemies anyway.”
Mok Kyung-un could tell because he felt a sense of kinship with Na Yeol-ryang.
The moment that bastard woke up, he would throw everything into killing him somehow.
He probably wouldn't hold back on methods.
‘A shame.’
It would be better for the future to kill him now.
But as Baek Sa-ha said, killing the assembly leader's disciple would immediately make an enemy of him.
There were things to learn from the assembly leader, so he couldn't kill him just yet.
Thus, weakening the bastard's power was the next best thing.
Then, a thought suddenly struck Mok Kyung-un.
—Cheong-ryeong.
—Speak.
—What if you took over this guy's body?
Upon reflection, if Cheong-ryeong possessed him, it would kill two birds with one stone.
Not just anyone, but the assembly leader's firstborn disciple, the great young master Na Yeol-ryang.
Controlling him would allow access to the assembly leader and eliminate the troublesome enemy in one go.
But unexpectedly, Cheong-ryeong replied,
—Impossible.
—What?
—Impossible, I said.
—Why?
—Once one pierces the wall through enlightenment and reaches the Transformation Realm, the body's qi permeates the essence, spirit, and soul, fortifying not just the flesh but the soul itself, making possession impossible.
—...Have you tried it?
—Do you think I haven't?
From Cheong-ryeong's tone, it seemed she had attempted it once.
Then the plan to possess and control the great young master Na Yeol-ryang was dead in the water.
A shame, but unavoidable.
At that moment, the Islet Poison King Baek Sa-ha stood up and said,
“I don't know what the hell happened, but you've crossed an irreversible river. Of all people, making an enemy of the great young master.”
Baek Sa-ha shook his head.
Mok Kyung-un bowed his head politely and said,
“My apologies. I've put you in a difficult spot, Master.”
“Difficult? Yes, difficult it is. But what's done is done. This old man never abandons his own.”
At those words, a glint appeared in Mok Kyung-un's eyes.
The opponent was none other than the assembly leader's firstborn disciple, the great young master Na Yeol-ryang.
Setting aside his madness and ruthlessness, it was said his supporters alone made up forty percent within the Heaven-Earth Society.
He had created the greatest enemy possible.
Objectively speaking, if Baek Sa-ha had just excommunicated him on the spot instead of helping, he wouldn't have crossed paths with Na Yeol-ryang.
Moreover, this statement was unexpected even now.
‘Never abandons his own...’
Contrary to appearances, Baek Sa-ha seemed to value loyalty greatly.
Did he see even himself, whom he'd taken as a disciple, as one of his own?
As he puzzled over it, Baek Sa-ha said,
“Whew. No time to waste, so let's wrap this up quickly.”
“Wrap up?”
“Yes. I'll ask three things. If you trust this master of yours, answer them.”
Mok Kyung-un nodded at his words.
“...Understood.”
Mok Kyung-un trusted no one.
But Baek Sa-ha had opposed Na Yeol-ryang for his sake, so for now, it wasn't wrong to say they were in the same boat.
Thus, it made sense to share some information appropriately and pull him to his side.
Then Baek Sa-ha asked,
“How did it come to a fight with the great young master?”
“The great young master attacked me first.”
“What? He attacked first? For what reason?”
Though the great young master had his peculiarities, he was known to be quite reasonable.
Why would such a person suddenly attack Mok Kyung-un first?
“No idea.”
“...You expect this master to believe that?”
“It's true. I have one guess, though...”
“A guess? Speak.”
Mok Kyung-un shrugged and replied,
“He seemed wary of me.”
“Wary?”
At the word, the Islet Poison King Baek Sa-ha furrowed his brow and echoed it.
Then he glanced back and forth between Na Yeol-ryang and Mok Kyung-un's faces before stroking his goatee and groaning.
“Hmm.”
Truth be told, it made some sense.
Hadn't he himself been shocked by Mok Kyung-un's current prowess?
Just an hour ago, he had been at the Peak Realm, and now he had pierced the wall to reach the Transformation Realm.
No matter how he thought about it, this was nearly impossible by common sense.
How many decades had even Baek Sa-ha spent trying to pierce the wall?
After nearly fifty years of training, he had only just managed it.
Yet Mok Kyung-un, a mere seventeen, had achieved it.
He had entered the realm of transcendent masters at the youngest age in the current martial world.
‘Ah!’
Come to think of it, Mok Kyung-un had been the trigger for his own enlightenment.
Did that mean he had already reached the Transformation Realm?
Baek Sa-ha asked,
“When did you pierce the wall?”
“Not long ago.”
“May I ask exactly when?”
“During the fight with the great young master.”
‘!!!!!!!!’
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Baek Sa-ha's jaw dropped unwittingly.
His assumption that it had already happened was off.
He had gained enlightenment mid-battle against a stronger foe?
“Ha...”
It was so absurd that only admiration escaped him.
Had this child been blessed with heavenly fortune?
No, even that didn't suffice.
Without innate talent, gaining enlightenment through combat with others was impossible.
Calming his excitement, Baek Sa-ha soon asked,
“...This ties into my second question. How exactly did you master the Demonic Poison Scripture?”
He had been immensely curious about this anyway.
He had only shown the manual once.
The purpose had been merely to demonstrate the Demonic Poison Scripture's excellence to Mok Kyung-un.
Mok Kyung-un pondered briefly at the question.
‘Hmm.’
Normally, he would hide this talent, but Baek Sa-ha had already seen everything.
No point concealing it.
With no choice, Mok Kyung-un answered nonchalantly,
“I mastered it after seeing it once.”
“...What?”
Baek Sa-ha's expression hardened.
Mastered it after one glimpse of the manual?
His mind grew chaotic in an instant.
Those who had trained in martial arts for long could grasp the principles of most arts quickly upon exposure.
But mastering an art from a single look was another matter entirely.
Martial arts weren't just forms.
In higher arts, one couldn't perfect them without grasping the intent—the will or meaning—behind each form.
Composing himself, Baek Sa-ha asked,
“You truly mastered it from one look?”
“Just reading isn't enough. While viewing the manual, I read the form traces in the brushstrokes with my mind's eye and imprinted them in my head.”
“Mind's eye? Hah...”
Baek Sa-ha let out a gasp of admiration.
This mere seventeen-year-old could even manifest the mind's eye?
Incredible.
Even he had only been able to visualize form traces in his mind after reaching the pinnacle of the Peak Realm.
Yet this young one could do it?
‘...This is a true monster.’
Baek Sa-ha had to admit it.
This child was in a realm unreachable by ordinary people.
A true genius.
Baek Sa-ha glanced at Na Yeol-ryang.
‘Now I get it.’
He understood why Na Yeol-ryang had been so wary.
A sharp awl protrudes from its sheath.
This child's talent was exactly that.
A monstrous intellect that comprehended a manual in one read, and absurd progress breaking through the wall via combat enlightenment.
A talent that inspired not just fear, but chills.
‘Perhaps this old man is witnessing the birth of a monster unprecedented in martial history.’
At this rate of monstrous growth, he might reach the realm of the Six Heavens, the pinnacle of the martial world, in just twenty years.
As his thoughts reached that point, Baek Sa-ha couldn't contain his excitement.
“Keukleukleuk.”
Even his hands and feet trembled unwittingly.
If he had encountered Mok Kyung-un as an enemy, he would have had to kill him.
But he hadn't.
He had taken this one as his disciple.
It felt like double blessings in his old age.
‘Two who have brought the Demonic Poison Scripture to great completion, following this old man. No more worries about succession for the main family.’
He had been content just taking him as a disciple.
Now, he truly wanted to make Mok Kyung-un a full member of the Baek family.
Since he had already turned his back on the orthodox sects and his clan, adopting him into the Baek family posed no issue.
‘This one's a treasure. The greatest treasure.’
He was so thrilled he wanted to shout.
But not now.
They still faced unresolved problems.
“Keukleukleuk. Good. This master's curiosities are sated. Now, the final question.”
“You have a lot of questions, Master.”
“Can hardly be helped. Now, you and this master are in the same boat. We must rely on each other to overcome this crisis, no?”
“...Crisis.”
It could indeed be called a crisis.
He had made a troublesome enemy, after all.
“What this master wants to know is one thing. What now?”
“What now?”
“Yes. Having made the great young master our enemy, there's only one path ahead.”
‘Only one?’
He seemed to have something in mind.
Mok Kyung-un asked,
“Do you have a plan, Master?”
“What plan? If the great young master becomes successor, both you and our Baek family will be in peril.”
“...True enough.”
“So, what must we do?”
“Make someone other than the great young master the successor.”
*Snap!*
Baek Sa-ha snapped his fingers and said,
“Exactly! That's precisely what this old man means. We must back another successor for our master-disciple pair to survive this crisis.”
“...”
“Normally, the great young master's faction is so overwhelming that the other two successors had no chance. But now, the situation has changed.”
“How so?”
At Mok Kyung-un's question, the Islet Poison King Baek Sa-ha smirked, then spoke in a meaningful tone.
“The board can shift depending on your choice.”