The Secret of the Blood Dragon Room (1)
“……!!”
Hyeon Yucheon’s eyes locked with Cheonu’s in midair, both of them stunned beyond words.
Not a betrayal of the Demon Sword Sect, but a move to the Blood Dragon Room to save it? What in the world does that mean?
“Please, hear me out calmly.”
Sensing their stares, Gu Jin-ak first tried to soothe them before continuing in a measured tone.
“Before I go into the details, I need to explain the circumstances surrounding our Blood Dragon Room. Two years after the disappearance of the Demon Sword Ghost Old Man Cheon Baeksang, the previous lord of the Blood Dragon Room, the Blood Garment Guest Yi Jin-seong, passed away.”
Cheonu nodded at the explanation.
I know that much.
Following the death of Cheon Baeksang—the world’s greatest and the unorthodox world’s supreme—the Blood Garment Guest Yi Jin-seong, who had held the position of second-in-command in the unorthodox factions, met his end. That event marked the beginning of the unorthodox martial world’s irreversible collapse.
How could any unorthodox martial artist not know of it?
“His death was neither from poison nor murder—it was simply the end of a full life. But there was a headache of a problem: the matter of succession.”
Coincidentally, the previous lord Yi Jin-seong had no blood heir.
“In cases like that, don’t they usually select the next lord from among the disciples?”
At Hyeon Yucheon’s question, Gu Jin-ak replied as if it were obvious.
“Yes. In fact, in our room, the great disciple of the lord, the Heavenly Evil Blood Ghost Cha Gyun-ak, was preparing to take the position of next lord.”
Cheonu tilted his head at the familiar name, then suddenly realized who it was.
Isn’t the Heavenly Evil Blood Ghost Cha Gyun-ak the current lord of the Blood Dragon Room?
In the end, the position had properly passed to the great disciple, with no battles over succession as far as he knew.
But what did any of this have to do with Ga Jinuk?
“The problem was… the late previous lord had a long-lost son.”
That was right.
The Blood Garment Guest Yi Jin-seong, hailed as the unorthodox world’s second after Cheon Baeksang, had a rather unique history.
Born the eldest son of a family that had produced officials for generations, he had married young and fathered a son.
He had lived his life as a scholar, but by chance acquired a fateful opportunity. Thanks to his vast inner power, he caught the eye of the lord of the Blood Dragon Room at the time and turned to life as an unorthodox martial artist.
In truth, Yi Jin-seong had always yearned to be a warrior rather than a scholar from the start. But due to his conservative family and the need to support his wife and child, he had conformed to reality.
Once he became a disciple of the Blood Dragon Room lord, he cast everything aside—including his young wife and child—and lived as a martial artist.
“No way?!”
The quick-witted Hyeon Yucheon caught on and cried out.
“Exactly. The Brilliant Light Demon Sword Ga Jinuk is the blood son of the previous lord, the Blood Garment Guest Yi Jin-seong.”
Gu Jin-ak was correct.
The Blood Garment Guest Yi Jin-seong had originally been the eldest son of the Luoyang Yi family, which had produced scholars for generations in Luoyang. And Ga Jinuk was the son he had abandoned.
For reasons of fate, Ga Jinuk—adrift without a father—had drifted into the martial world. There too, he caught the eye of Cheon Baeksang and became the eldest disciple of the Demon Sword Sect.
“Unbelievable!”
Cheonu stuck out his tongue in shock at this staggering tale.
The impact hit him twice as hard since he already knew Ga Jinuk and shared a bond of camaraderie.
“The previous lord lived a successful life as master of the Blood Dragon Room and as an unorthodox martial artist. But in his later years, he spent them regretting the choices he had made.”
Hyeon Yucheon could somewhat understand Yi Jin-seong’s feelings.
He had abandoned everything to achieve his lifelong dream, but the bond between father and son was something he couldn’t sever.
In truth, Yi Jin-seong had always searched for his wife and son. But right after he left, a plague swept through the Luoyang area.
Without their central pillar of a father, the Yi family naturally fell apart. After that, there was no word of his son.
“But the previous lord doggedly tracked him down and discovered that Ga Jinuk, the eldest disciple of the Demon Sword Sect, was his only son. He knew, but between his guilt and the fact that they belonged to different sects, he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge it.”
In the end, all Yi Jin-seong could do was regret his youthful choices and pass on his sect to the son he had never once treated warmly.
“Right before his death, the previous lord Yi Jin-seong sent a letter to Ga Jinuk, confessing everything. He said that since he would soon die, Ga Jinuk could do as he wished with the Blood Dragon Room he had built, and begged for forgiveness.”
“……!”
Hyeon Yucheon reeled from the successive bombshells.
“Then the reason he took the Flash Demon Sword Unit with him…”
“Yes. The Demon Sword Sect was in an unprecedented crisis at the time, so he took the Flash Demon Sword Unit to inherit the Blood Dragon Room and unify it under the Demon Sword Sect.”
Cheonu listened intently to Gu Jin-ak’s explanation, sinking into deep remorse.
I didn’t know any of this… I pointed fingers at him as a traitor who stripped away the Blood Dragon Room’s final forces.
He had even publicly vowed to kill him if they met again.
Who could have imagined this grand scheme to revive the Demon Sword Sect on the foundation of the Blood Dragon Room?
“But… as far as we know, the current lord of the Blood Dragon Room is the Heavenly Evil Blood Ghost Cha Gyun-ak. How did that happen?”
Hyeon Yucheon suddenly posed a sharp question.
If everything had gone according to the previous lord Yi Jin-seong’s will, Cha Gyun-ak would never have become lord, and Ga Jinuk would have returned to the Demon Sword Sect as its new leader.
“Ugh…”
Gu Jin-ak, who had spoken smoothly until now, looked troubled.
This was where the real problem began.
“The current lord, Cha Gyun-ak… defied the previous lord’s will and rebelled.”
“……!!”
Hyeon Yucheon and Cheonu felt a dizzying vertigo at the escalating drama.
They never could have dreamed it would be this shocking from start to finish.
“Is that true?”
Hyeon Yucheon stuck out his tongue at the absurdity.
In terms of the Demon Sword Sect, wasn’t it the same as rebelling against Cheon Baeksang himself?
Nod.
As the moment arrived to reveal the Blood Dragon Room’s shameful history, Gu Jin-ak silently nodded.
At least he knew shame.
“From the Blood Dragon Room’s perspective, the Brilliant Light Demon Sword Ga Jinuk was essentially an outsider. So Cha Gyun-ak rose in rebellion with his followers and… eventually…”
Gu Jin-ak hesitated, then forced out the words.
“…assassinated the dying previous lord Yi Jin-seong with his own hands and forged the will.”
The shocking revelation left Hyeon Yucheon and Cheonu’s minds in a fog.
“Then Eldest Brother…”
“He fought alongside the Demon Sword Sect’s Flash Demon Sword Unit but couldn’t overcome them all in the end. He entered the underground prison beneath the Blood Dragon Room of his own accord.”
Gu Jin-ak closed his eyes, recalling that day.
The clash between Cha Gyun-ak and Ga Jinuk. The confrontation between the Flash Demon Sword Unit and the Blood Dragon Room.
The two forces were evenly matched, but since it was an internal revolt, they couldn’t prevail.
In the end, cornered, Ga Jinuk led the Flash Demon Sword Unit into the underground prison carved beneath the cliff where the Blood Dragon Room stood.
“That’s why he couldn’t return to our Demon Sword Sect.”
“Yes. And so the current lord seized real power… but he was captivated by the overwhelming strength Ga Jinuk and the Flash Demon Sword Unit displayed. He couldn’t easily let them go.”
“So he went to the underground prison to persuade Eldest Brother and the unit to join him?”
“Yes. There was even some exchange. That underground prison is a natural cave with nothing but moss and dripping water for sustenance.”
As Gu Jin-ak said, the isolated Ga Jinuk and Flash Demon Sword Unit had no choice but to cooperate somewhat for survival. Ga Jinuk even lent his prestige and name.
“Thanks to that, I and other promising children of the Blood Dragon Room with talent were able to receive guidance on martial arts from Ga Jinuk.”
This was how Gu Jin-ak, a prodigy of the Blood Dragon Room, had forged a connection.
“As expected of Ga Jinuk! Even starving, he’d never sell the sect’s martial arts to outsiders!”
Cheonu cried out in admiration at his spirit.
Hyeon Yucheon felt the same.
Regrettably… Master and I suspected Eldest Brother. To think he would act with such devotion.
With this, the third disciple was confirmed as the beast who betrayed his master.
Of course, it was too early to judge without seeing it with their own eyes.
“But why reveal even the sect’s dirty laundry to me like this?”
Hyeon Yucheon asked, suppressing his anger.
Regardless of the Blood Dragon Room’s actions, Gu Jin-ak’s honesty was deeply appreciated and helpful.
“Ga Jinuk, caged like a bird in that underground prison as he came and went between it and the room’s interior… took a liking to me. Seeing my potential, he shared his personal skills and experiences. I learned the basics of martial arts in the Blood Dragon Room, but how to be human and how to live as a warrior—I learned it all from Ga Jinuk. That’s it.”
This was Gu Jin-ak’s true heart.
Before he knew it, he regarded Ga Jinuk as his true master over the Blood Dragon Room, and he sought to fulfill his duties as a human and warrior as Ga Jinuk had taught him.
“I always meant to tell any Demon Sword Sect disciple I met… I’m sorry it took so long.”
Gu Jin-ak bowed his head.
He should have spoken sooner.
While he hesitated, the Demon Sword Sect had walked the path to ruin.
If a transcendent talent like Hyeon Yucheon hadn’t appeared, it would all have been over.
“Thank you for mustering the courage now. And… will you lend more aid to our Demon Sword Sect?”
Hyeon Yucheon asked.
His question carried layers of meaning.
He would soon return to the Demon Sword Sect, gather his forces, and strike down Cha Gyun-ak, who had vilely usurped the lord’s seat.
This was a request to help with that.
“I…”
Gu Jin-ak hesitated briefly.
“I believe all things must follow their natural course. The true lord of the Blood Dragon Room should have been Ga Jinuk, not Cha Gyun-ak. That is right.”
With those words, he sorted out the turmoil even in his own heart.
“Young hero Gu, thank you. You’ve made a choice guided by conscience.”
Hyeon Yucheon spoke no longer as a peer expert, but with the stern voice of the Demon Sword Sect lord.
At his words, Gu Jin-ak bowed deeply, greeting him as a Blood Dragon Room disciple would the Demon Sword Sect lord.
“As young hero Gu says, the Blood Dragon Room will return to its proper course. And so… Cha Gyun-ak will pay the fitting price.”
His current power had reached the Entering Divinity realm, enough to stand against any of the Heaven’s Five Venerables individually.
What would happen if he, the Black Wolf Three Swords, and the Flash Light Flying Gentleman Eum Ji-myeong targeted the Blood Dragon Room?
Hyeon Yucheon’s eyes blazed fiercely in that moment.