Chapter 327
Chapter 327
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 88
>Chapter Title: To the Sacheon Tang Family (3)
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“The eyes and the liver were not separate after all—they were one and the same. The eye... The third Mokgan refers to the Three Eyes in the end.”
‘Ah!’
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, the eyes of the Seonghwa Ling Lord trembled.
She too had heard the subordinates under Milju, the head of the Secret Society, refer to them as Mokgan.
She had dismissed it as merely an odd name, but hearing Mok Kyung-un’s explanation sent chills down her spine.
‘The third eye...’
She had seen that third eye on his forehead from far too close a distance.
It was so terrifying that it was deeply etched into her memory.
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un spoke up.
“I suspected there might be another Three Eyes, but I never imagined they’d be this closely connected.”
“What do you mean, another Three Eyes...?”
“You might not know, but it doesn’t seem like there’s only one set of Three Eyes...!?”
Just then, Mok Kyung-un furrowed his brow.
It was because the image of the Sea Calamity King monster raccoon dog, sealed within the scroll from the report, suddenly flashed in his mind.
That monster raccoon dog was the first to mention the existence of the Three Eyes.
It had claimed that the Three Eyes were the ones who sealed it inside the scroll.
‘No way... Is this Three Eyes... that Three Eyes?’
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes sharpened as he scowled.
If this Three Eyes was truly the same entity that had sealed the Sea Calamity King, it would be quite troublesome.
It meant they possessed power beyond even one of the Six Demons, a being infinitely close to a divine beast.
‘...’
Even with his rapidly growing strength, he still lacked confidence in facing the Sea Calamity King monster raccoon dog, or the white-masked golden-furred kumiho he had encountered in the Imperial Palace of Kaepyeong.
If the third Mokgan—that is, the Three Eyes—possessed strength surpassing the Six Demons, his path to vengeance might still be distant.
“Hmm.”
But it was too soon to jump to conclusions.
The fact that there was more than one Three Eyes could mean two, or even three.
Thus, he couldn’t yet confirm whether the Three Eyes that sealed the Sea Calamity King was the same as the third Mokgan, the leader of the organization.
‘But this is unexpected.’
The existence of the Three Eyes hardly seemed human.
It was no different from a high-grade evil spirit parasitizing a human body.
For such a being to be the head of the organization linked to his grandfather’s death—things were growing more complicated by the minute.
‘...What on earth is their goal?’
The mastermind behind the false prophecy, and possibly the one most closely tied to his grandfather’s death.
He grew curious about this entity’s true objective.
Mok Kyung-un turned to look at the Seonghwa Ling Lord.
Her face was deathly pale, and her breathing was growing weaker—her condition looked dire.
Seeing this, Mok Kyung-un said,
“Rest for a bit...”
-Thud!
At that instant, the Seonghwa Ling Lord’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed forward.
* * *
-Shoooo...
Black haze rose from Seopchun’s entire body as he closed his eyes and focused on circulating his qi.
This black haze followed a completely different path from his existing internal energy.
As changes occurred in his internal energy, Mok Kyung-un placed his palm on Seopchun’s back, aiding his qi circulation.
After a long while, Mok Kyung-un finally withdrew his palm.
-Tak!
Seopchun, who had been concentrating on his qi, opened his eyes in astonishment.
The internal energy circulating through his body now carried a savage, dark aura, transforming its nature.
‘It’s a strange energy. Completely opposite to pure qi, it’s destructive, yet its purity is high. It’s almost like primal qi.’
Normally, this energy wouldn’t mix with internal energy.
However, Mok Kyung-un had overlaid it like a coat of paint, completely corrupting the internal energy.
‘Not only has the energy changed—it’s grown stronger.’
It was difficult for any martial artist to fully entrust their body to another, no matter the lord-vassal relationship.
But Seopchun and the others, including Mongmu-yak, saw this as a test of loyalty and surrendered their bodies completely.
The result was utterly unexpected.
Seopchun knelt on one knee before Mok Kyung-un, clasped his hands together in salute, and said,
-Pak!
“I thank you, my lord.”
“No need for thanks. Focus on fully assimilating the demonic qi.”
“Demonic qi... So it’s demonic qi. Understood.”
Ever since receiving this energy, Seopchun felt chosen, and even hearing Mok Kyung-un’s voice alone filled him with elation.
“Then go.”
“Yes, my lord.”
As Seopchun departed, a voice echoed in Mok Kyung-un’s ear.
-Truly bizarre. To think it actually worked.
The voice belonged to none other than Cheongryeong.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged and replied,
-Indeed. Unlike the death qi of the deceased, demonic qi can infiltrate.
Infiltration.
Just as a silkworm devours mulberry leaves, it was a process of corrosion.
Having observed Mara-hyeon’s increased loyalty and rapid power growth after assimilating demonic qi, Mok Kyung-un had infused it into Seopchun and Mongmu-yak.
Internal energy varied slightly in nature based on circulation methods, which could cause rejection, but under the premise of complete surrender, astonishing results emerged.
-You’ve created your own minions, haven’t you, mortal?
-Useful minions.
Cheongryeong didn’t deny Mok Kyung-un’s words.
Full demonic qi would not only infiltrate but destroy all internal energy, so Mok Kyung-un had diluted its purity before infusion.
Even so, beings with energy akin to his own had been born.
-Unless they have a unique circulation constitution like that monk, you can create your own loyal retainers using demonic qi.
The monk Cheongryeong referred to was the Defiant Monk Ja Geum-jeong.
When attempting to infuse demonic qi into Ja Geum-jeong, it had leaked out of his body, making infiltration impossible.
He suspected it was due to his Supreme Great Ability circulation method.
Shaolin’s circulation inherently contained Buddhist enlightenment, making rejection impossible to suppress.
-Well, as long as it’s not a case like that, there shouldn’t be issues.
-I don’t know what wind of sentiment is blowing through you, but seeing you build your own retainers— are you finally assembling a proper force?
-Who knows. Properly capable people are more useful than riffraff.
“Properly capable”... I wonder if it’s truly good for your minions to multiply like this.
-The more cards, the better.
Cards...
I can feel him changing more and more.
The “cards” he spoke of before were truly disposable.
They were pieces to use and discard at will, but now he was genuinely building his own faction.
Cheongryeong didn’t dislike this change, but the entity lurking within him still gnawed at her mind.
‘...Black eyes.’
Why did that memory keep circling back?
* * *
Seopchun, having received the demonic qi, approached Mongmu-yak, who sat cross-legged beside the camp.
He assumed Mongmu-yak was deep in qi cultivation, but midway, Mongmu-yak opened his eyes.
Seopchun said to him,
“Have you fully assimilated the energy from the lord?”
“...I received it just half a shichen before you.”
It wasn’t energy that could be assimilated in such a short time.
But now sharing the same demonic qi, they could sense each other’s growth as if reading through qi perception.
‘His energy has grown stronger.’
Seopchun inwardly clicked his tongue.
Having absorbed the Shaolin summoning pill and begun assimilating demonic qi, Mongmu-yak’s energy had reached the pinnacle of the transcendent realm—it wasn’t an exaggeration.
Seopchun wasn’t the only one thinking this.
Mongmu-yak also felt Seopchun’s energy had strengthened further after receiving demonic qi from their lord.
However, the true monster was elsewhere.
Mongmu-yak glanced at Mara-hyeon, sitting far from the campfire, and clicked his tongue.
‘...He’s definitely crossed the wall.’
Mara-hyeon had attained enlightenment but hadn’t fully internalized it.
Yet after recently absorbing the summoning pill, he seemed to have completely assimilated it, stabilizing his energy.
At this level, he had clearly surpassed the early Fusion Realm.
What kind of enlightenment had he gained to surge in power so dramatically?
As Mongmu-yak clicked his tongue, he glanced at the Defiant Monk Ja Geum-jeong, who sat by the campfire gulping from his gourd.
‘The masked one is one thing, but that monk is no pushover either.’
Due to his unique circulation method, his power was impossible to gauge.
He didn’t seem to have crossed the wall, yet why couldn’t he sense the extent of his energy?
He wasn’t even training, so why did he seem to keep growing stronger?
It was even harder to understand than the masked one.
‘Can’t let my guard down.’
In his view, the four people here were highly likely to become the lord’s closest aides.
That was why the lord was enhancing their powers.
If he fell behind now, he might end up the lowest-ranked among them.
‘I need to grow stronger.’
Mongmu-yak’s resolve surged.
Of course, Seopchun felt the same.
Without further words, they focused on qi cultivation, devoting themselves to assimilating the demonic qi bestowed by their lord.
* * *
‘Huh?’
Regaining consciousness, the Seonghwa Ling Lord looked around in confusion.
Where on earth was this?
During her conversation with Mok Kyung-un—possibly an incarnation of that one—her arm had been severed, causing heavy blood loss, and she had passed out.
She wasn’t a cultivator of internal energy, and at her age, her stamina couldn’t endure it.
As she scanned her surroundings, she suddenly couldn’t hide her shock.
It was night, so dark she couldn’t tell where she was, but she felt sensation in her severed arm.
With a sliver of hope, she clutched both arms—and the severed one was reattached.
‘What in the world?’
What had happened?
Had she dreamed it all?
Her arm had clearly been cut off—why was it intact now?
Puzzled, she touched her ear on a hunch.
But,
‘...’
Her severed ear was gone.
The arm was back, but the ear remained cut off.
What was going on?
As she panicked, a creaking sound came from ahead, and the dark space split open as a door appeared.
‘Gasp!’
Faint campfire light seeped in.
The shadow of a man silhouetted against it.
It was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
The moment she saw him, fear gripped the Seonghwa Ling Lord, and she involuntarily flinched back.
-Pak!
But her back hit a wall—she couldn’t retreat further.
Thanks to the light, she could see now: this place was,
‘A carriage?’
It was undoubtedly a carriage.
What had happened while she was unconscious?
As she wondered, Mok Kyung-un entered, closed the carriage door, and said,
“I heard your breathing change, so I opened the door. You’re awake, as expected. Feeling better now?”
“How long was this old woman unconscious?”
“I even infused you with internal energy, but the blood loss was severe—you were out for nearly three days. I thought you might die with no choice but to let it be, but thankfully you woke.”
Three days?
She’d been unconscious that long?
No wonder her whole body felt limp.
But he said “thankfully” just now?
“I still have more to ask you, and uses for you—if you died now, it’d be inconvenient.”
“...”
Right.
Of course.
There was no way this demon-like man had kept her alive out of kindness.
Realizing this, the Seonghwa Ling Lord suddenly felt everything hollow and sorrowful.
How had it come to this?
To her despondency, Mok Kyung-un said,
“Do you know where this is?”
Her face twisted in confusion at the question.
She’d been out for three days—how could she know?
Then Mok Kyung-un smiled and said,
“Gwangwon.”
‘Gw-Gwangwon?’
The Seonghwa Ling Lord’s eyes widened.
Gwangwon was a small county at the northern edge of Sichuan Province.
The Sacheon Tang Family was based in Chengdu, the province’s heart—so if they traveled diligently by carriage, they could arrive in ten days.
[Chapter 88: To the Sacheon Tang Family (3)] End