CHAPTER 14: Absorbing Star Great Law?
Clang!
The sword and dagger collided.
Sparks flew with a sharp sound.
Clang! Clang! Clang clang!
Like a snake targeting its prey, the Ghost Soul Sect Leader's dagger aimed for Jin Muhon's vital points.
The spectators' eyes grew dizzy watching the dagger leave afterimages as it moved.
Whoosh! Kaang!
In contrast, Jin Muhon wielded his sword with minimal movements.
Each time the dagger flashed, a chill grazed his skin, but it never touched his body.
"Die!"
A sect leader who rose from the back alleys, building his faction through sheer grit.
Though merely a minor unorthodox sect, he was no man to take lightly.
For an unorthodox warrior, he possessed respectable inner energy, honed by real combat and quick adaptability.
He knew how to fight.
"Haaaaap!!"
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader bellowed, swinging his arm wide.
Just as expected, Jin Muhon stepped back one pace instead of wasting energy, slipping out of range.
Squelch!
But in that instant.
A grotesque sound rang out, and the sect leader's arm stretched slightly longer.
Jin Muhon urgently bent backward at the waist.
Such tricks were commonplace in the Demonic Cult; nothing surprising.
What was truly astonishing was something else.
Woooong—!
Suddenly, his ears rang as if submerged underwater, sounds echoing muffled.
"......?"
The world slowed.
No—Jin Muhon's perception had accelerated.
With his waist arched back, Jin Muhon slowly surveyed his surroundings.
The silver dagger passing before his eyes, sweat beading on the sect leader's face, a hawk spreading its wings in the sky above, the tense expressions of the watching warriors all sharp as a painting.
Hmm.
Exactly like what happened at the inn.
Remarkable.
In that state, Jin Muhon pondered why this was occurring.
Even as the Sword Demon, he had briefly entered such realms at full exertion.
But then, it was backed by intense focus and profound inner energy.
Not like now, where it unfolded suddenly, independent of his will.
A realm that activates without intent?
Hard to say.
With nothing known about the upper dantian, he had to find answers himself.
But as a warrior, not a physician, drawing firm conclusions now was difficult.
No matter. Whatever the cause, if it aided his swordplay, that sufficed.
Groooowl!
This time, Jin Muhon willed energy from his upper dantian.
Lacking the explosive surge of the lower dantian due to its scant volume, the energy flowed smoothly from his head through meridians across his body like water.
Swoooosh!
As inner energy spread, Jin Muhon could move in the frozen world.
He straightened, evading the sect leader's attack path.
He observed the world a moment longer.
Drip.
"Ngh......"
Strain on the upper dantian, perhaps.
Thick nosebleed trickled down.
"Huh?!"
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader let out a startled groan, lunging forward—whoosh.
Gasps erupted from the wide-eyed Ghost Soul Sect disciples.
"Huh? When did he move there?!"
"Another Body Shifting Illusion?"
"Damn...... where'd this master come from......"
Jin Muhon wiped the blood with the back of his hand.
Heat rose fiercely from his head.
Yet the metallic scent cooled his mind.
"Impressive. That last move was my life-saving ultimate technique......"
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader muttered in dismay.
Jin Muhon nodded in agreement.
"Not bad."
"Not bad...... haha...... hahahaha!"
Having failed utterly, had he lost his mind?
The sect leader looked skyward, laughing heartily.
Then abruptly stopped, clanging both daggers to the ground.
"......!"
"......!"
Jin Muhon glanced at the fallen daggers, meeting the sect leader's gaze as he stood tall.
Silence fell over the estate.
Who wouldn't know what the leader's actions meant?
Gulping sounds echoed here and there.
"I yield."
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader dropped to his knees with a thud.
Still with strength left, he admitted defeat proudly.
Jin Muhon looked down at him impassively, sword still drawn.
The sect leader gazed up and spoke.
"From this day, the Ghost Soul Sect withdraws its signboard. All our businesses and rights are yours. And of course, my head too. But!"
"......"
The sect leader's eyes reddened with burst vessels.
Jin Muhon said nothing.
"Spare my subordinates' lives at least. And...... my son...... I beg you."
Jin Muhon turned, spotting Chukang.
Even as his father staked his life in battle, the boy had plotted escape; now he stood near the gate, eyes bulging this way.
"F...... Father......"
Chukang's voice trembled.
Jin Muhon turned back to the sect leader.
"What use sparing a worthless son? Alive, he'd only shame your name as sect leader."
"Heh heh. True enough."
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader smiled bitterly.
Yet he offered his life to save his men.
A rare figure in unorthodox circles, where loyalty was worth less than alley dog shit.
Jin Muhon showed him due respect.
Such a man deserved it.
"Blood is blood, it seems."
"......"
"Then."
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader slowly closed his eyes.
Yes. This...... is enough.
Jin Muhon said nothing, but the sect leader somehow felt he would halt his killing stroke.
His subordinates would live.
His son would live.
A wretched, tenacious life.
This would do.
"Then."
The sect leader's eyes snapped open, grabbing a fallen dagger.
And thrust it straight at his own throat.
Shiiik!
Jin Muhon surged inner energy, kicking off the ground.
In the slowed world, his body streaked forward, leaving afterimages.
Repeated upper dantian use brought crashing fatigue. His head throbbed.
Still, he seized the sect leader's wrist, snatching the dagger.
"......!"
The Ghost Soul Sect Leader's eyes widened at Jin Muhon suddenly before him.
Jin Muhon spoke lowly.
"Sect Leader. Who told you to die so rashly?"
"What...... do you...... urk!"
Puk!
Jin Muhon stabbed the dagger into the sect leader's lower abdomen.
"Urgh......"
"......"
The leader dying like this wouldn't do.
Jin Muhon sought not mere Ghost Soul Sect assets.
He'd meant to cripple the dantian before suicide.
"Grrrrrr......"
"Hm?"
The sect leader shuddered violently, eyes rolling back.
Foam bubbled from his mouth.
And then.
Hot energy from the dagger in his lower abdomen flowed up Jin Muhon's hand.
This is......!
Startled, Jin Muhon released the dagger and stepped back.
Only then did the sect leader collapse with a peaceful expression—thud.
"Father! Fatherrrrr!!"
"Sect Leader!"
Chukang and the Ghost Soul Sect disciples rushed to him in a clamor.
The estate grew chaotic.
Amid the uproar, Jin Muhon stared incredulously at his hand, clenching and unclenching it.
His fingertips trembled faintly.
The energy that flowed through the dagger, faint though it was.
Unmistakably,
Absorbing Star Great Law?
Inner energy.
***
Night deepened.
Caaack! Caaack! Caaack!
Far off, cries of nameless mountain birds echoed across the estate's eaves.
Clouds blanketed the sky, dimming the moonlight.
This lent an eerie chill to the deathly silent estate.
Step. Step. Step.
Chukang, having left Oepari at the physician's, arrived at the Sect Leader's quarters.
One disciple stood formal guard before it.
"Where's the family head? Asleep?"
"Not sure, Young Master. The light's still on. Shall I check?"
Chukang gazed complexly at the quarters.
The place his fearsome, strict father had occupied for decades.
But today, its master had changed.
"Hoo......"
Chukang sighed long toward the sky.
At least it was fortunate.
Oepari, Jin Muhon's subordinate, was gravely wounded but could recover with treatment.
Father had lost his inner energy but survived.
The guarding warrior tried consoling Chukang.
"Don't grieve too much. At least the former sect leader didn't die."
Chukang glared wide-eyed.
"You bastard. Your tone's off."
"Aw, come on, Young Master. Oh, wait—with the new sect leader here, you're not Young Master anymore?"
"......"
Chukang's fist trembled.
He itched to smash that smirking face, but couldn't now.
Jin Muhon, far more terrifying than his father, had ordered no disturbances until he emerged.
Chukang swallowed his rage with a low warning.
"You. We'll settle this later."
"Sure. Whenever you want a match. Heh."
"......"
Somehow, it only fueled his anger more.
***
Jin Muhon had no intention of leaving his hometown, Unbong County.
He'd come to Yichang solely to eliminate nuisances, not to seize the Ghost Soul Sect.
Then he chanced upon Chukang and thought to install him as the new leader.
With strong survival instincts, give him some backing, and he'd manage the sect; knowing fear, he wouldn't stir needless trouble.
Thus, Jin Muhon spared the Ghost Soul Sect Leader.
No matter Chukang's lack of loyalty, the difference between killer and crippler was vast.
But none of that filled Jin Muhon's mind now.
Not even the gravely wounded Oepari carted to the physician.
Only one thing.
Thoughts of martial arts.
Absorbing Star Great Law? No. It doesn't operate like that.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, cultivated by successive Heavenly Demons.
Among them, the Absorbing Star Great Law that sucked foes' inner energy was the most infamous demonic art.
Not every Heavenly Demon mastered it.
Proper mastery granted unrivaled inner energy, but mastery was near impossible.
Let's see......
The reason: heterogeneous inner energies piled in the lower dantian caused qi deviation.
Jin Muhon sat cross-legged, sinking his mind inward.
He sensed the energy coiled in his upper dantian.
Ngh......
His heart pounded after so long.
If truly Absorbing Star Great Law, foreign energy would lurk unassimilated; if not, no increase.
Which is it?
Discerning energy's nature was no easy task.
It demanded focus. Time flew.
Sweat dripped from his chin.
The flickering candle finally guttered out—flick.
Hmm. A misunderstanding?
Nothing.
No matter how he probed, no foreign energy.
Like a single organism, it slumbered peacefully in the upper dantian.
Of course. How could I wield it without knowing the art?
Relief.
An uncontrollable supreme art was burden, not boon.
As he withdrew his mind outward.
Jin Muhon sensed something off.
Wait.
He urgently reexamined the upper dantian.
Gasp!
Jin Muhon's jaw dropped.
Sticky sweat trailed down his back.
The inner energy...... has increased......?
And perfectly assimilated, without heterogeneity.