Chapter 50
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: A Familiar Face
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Thud.
A heavy shockwave, originating from him, shook the entire valley. Watching from a distance, Sa Mu-sim’s eyes quaked in turn.
“What did you just do?”
“What do you mean? It was just an ordinary stomp.”
Sa Mu-sim was appalled by Beom Gye-wi's casual reply.
“You call that… ordinary?”
Sa Mu-sim's martial arts had improved by leaps and bounds since taking the Azure Cavern Nectar.
But just glimpsing a fraction of Cho Ak-ryang's true power was enough to leave him utterly dumbfounded.
“Don't make such a fuss over this. You'll faint when you see him after he's fully recovered his internal energy.”
Han Seol-hwa, who had been standing to one side gauging Cho Ak-ryang's martial arts, added her own comment.
“Not bad.”
“...!”
Beom Gye-wi looked at the speechless Sa Mu-sim with a pitying gaze.
“Do you think they called that man one of the Five Absolutes Under Heaven for nothing?”
Sa Mu-sim looked at Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa with fresh eyes.
Cho Ak-ryang was one thing, but these two were also unbelievably monstrous.
Beings who walked in a realm beyond comprehension.
Their very standards for martial arts were on a different level from his own.
‘True.’
Turning his gaze back to Cho Ak-ryang, Sa Mu-sim nodded. The martial world wasn't so lenient as to bestow the title of Absolute Fist for free.
Cho Ak-ryang executed a footwork technique, his hands striking like lightning.
Grabbing and breaking, pressing, striking, and pulling...
They were all basic grappling techniques.
Yet, when all of them were unleashed together in a single flurry, it was nothing short of a divine art.
Witnessing it, Sa Mu-sim felt a thrill run through his entire body.
Even from a considerable distance, he could clearly feel the sharp aura and the sound of the air being torn apart by his fingertips.
Every single movement felt as if it commanded the heavens.
As if to declare, “This is the martial art of the greatest fist under heaven!”
Sa Mu-sim had seen Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi use their martial arts a few times before. But back then, he had been too overwhelmed to properly assess their prowess.
But now, watching Cho Ak-ryang perform his techniques with such seriousness, he could truly feel with his whole being the realm of a heaven beyond heavens.
“Mr. Cho is truly amazing.”
At Dan Ak-seon's exclamation, Beom Gye-wi grinned.
“Physician Dan will become much stronger than that.”
Han Seol-hwa nodded as well.
“Of course he will.”
Sa Mu-sim, who couldn't take his eyes off Cho Ak-ryang, felt a chill run down his spine at their words.
Because their words didn't sound like a joke at all.
‘What kind of monster are they trying to create?’
At that moment, with a sharp crack, Cho Ak-ryang's form distorted for an instant before returning to normal. It was a phenomenon caused by the air that had been coiled around his hands snapping back into place.
Cho Ak-ryang wore a satisfied smile.
He had made an unexpected discovery while reviewing his martial arts.
‘The nature of my internal energy has changed!’
Though only thirty percent of it had returned, it was whole, and more importantly, the internal energy itself was far purer than before.
On top of that, his energy meridians were much stronger.
The true energy flowing through him was unobstructed, moving in perfect accord with his will, without the slightest deviation.
‘Perhaps...’
If he could fully recover his internal energy like this, he might finally be able to break through the wall of limitations he couldn't overcome in the past.
It wasn't just his confidence that returned with his martial arts.
The look in Cho Ak-ryang's eyes had also changed.
The Blood Hand Honored One, who once looked down upon the world.
He had fully regained his original gaze.
Returning to the group, Cho Ak-ryang spoke.
“I have somewhere to go.”
Beom Gye-wi scoffed.
“Are your hands already itching for a fight?”
Cho Ak-ryang, who would normally have retorted with a sharp rebuke, shook his head with a serious look.
“I need to find out who is secretly gathering figures from the Unorthodox Faction.”
The Three Submerging Twin Fiends they had met on their way to the Martial Alliance.
He couldn't stop thinking about Wang Yeom and Wang Gyeol's destination.
Beom Gye-wi asked with an indifferent face.
“It's not our business to get involved, is it?”
“If they're the ones who invited the Three Submerging Twin Fiends, they'll surely make a similar offer to us. There's no harm in finding out who they are. While I'm at it, I plan to look into the Martial Alliance's current situation and the Seven Severing Demonic Lord.”
Beom Gye-wi nodded.
The Seven Severing Demonic Lord would still be hell-bent on finding them.
If it were just the two of them, they would have nothing to fear, but since they were living with Dan Ak-seon, it couldn't hurt to be fully prepared.
* * *
The next morning.
As soon as dawn broke, Cho Ak-ryang finished his preparations for a short journey and left the hut. Beom Gye-wi watched him leave with a displeased look.
“Aren't you going to eat breakfast before you go?”
Cho Ak-ryang gave an awkward smile.
“I have a long way to go.”
“How cheap.”
Beom Gye-wi dropped down from the tree he had been hanging upside down from.
“Hey, are you running away just because you've recovered a bit?”
“Anyone hearing you would think I'm going on a vacation.”
“Why not? What's wrong with that? Just go have fun.”
Cho Ak-ryang gave him a quizzical look. He wondered why Beom Gye-wi was being so friendly all of a sudden.
But of course.
“If you find a nice place, it wouldn't be bad to just settle down there. Leave this place to me.”
As he was glaring at Beom Gye-wi, inwardly dumbfounded, he sensed someone approaching from nearby.
“Are you leaving already?”
It was Dan Ak-seon.
Rubbing his eyes as he walked over, Dan Ak-seon's face was still heavy with sleep.
“Physician Dan woke up because you were making so much noise.”
“How is that my fault? It's because you were up and about at the crack of dawn.”
Dan Ak-seon squeezed in between the two bickering men. Then he looked up at Cho Ak-ryang with a worried expression.
“You can't be gone for too long. Even though you're past the critical stage, you still need continuous treatment. You've recovered partially, but your condition is definitely still unstable.”
“Of course. I'll be back in ten days at most, so don't worry too much.”
“Okay, please be careful. And take this with you.”
Dan Ak-seon held out a small pouch.
Inside were several small pills coated in wax. They were medicinal pills he had made by combining his remaining spiritual medicines with herbs.
“I saw the light on in your pavilion all night... Were you making this?”
Dan Ak-seon nodded.
“I just couldn't rest easy.”
Cho Ak-ryang was always grateful for his sincere heart, but at the same time, he felt sorry.
“Thank you. I'll be careful on my trip.”
With that farewell, Cho Ak-ryang descended from Divine Demon Valley.
He could have used his lightness technique, but he deliberately chose not to.
Instead, as he walked, he committed to memory the sight of Dan Ak-seon waving goodbye.
* * *
Adu was a beggar.
He was thirteen this year, but his short stature was likely due to the fact that he had never eaten properly since childhood.
Still, he prided himself on being quicker on his feet and sharper than any of his peers.
That was why he immediately noticed that the gait of the person approaching him was unusual. He recalled receiving a silver coin from someone with a similar walk once before.
What did I do back then?
Straighten my posture, lift my head with a mix of servility and confidence, and glance up slightly...
Clink.
Just as I thought!
A silver coin rolled into his chipped porcelain bowl. Adu lifted his head and saw a man's face.
...Huh?
“Do you remember me?”
“Of course!”
Adu nodded eagerly.
How could he not recognize the benefactor who had generously given him a whole silver nyang just for delivering a single letter?
Cho Ak-ryang smiled warmly and took a letter from his robes.
“Can you do it again this time?”
“Of course. Should I deliver it to someone named Neung So-mil?”
This time, it was Cho Ak-ryang's turn to be surprised.
Contrary to his appearance, the young beggar's memory was exceptionally sharp.
“Leave it to me. When it comes to finding people in this town, no one can beat me.”
Cho Ak-ryang smiled warmly and nodded.
“The silver coin is yours.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
As Adu bowed repeatedly in gratitude, he felt something strange and looked up.
The man he had just been talking to had already vanished.
Feeling as if he'd seen a ghost, he glanced around, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
For a moment, he wondered if he had dozed off and dreamt it all, but the silver coin in his hand told him it was real.
“This is no time to be standing around.”
Adu quickly gathered his straw mat and begging bowl.
The last time he had looked for the man named Neung So-mil, he had often been seen at the brothel. So he thought it wouldn't be too difficult this time either...
Unfortunately, it seemed things weren't going to be that easy.
“He hasn't been coming around lately?”
The young assistant cook nodded.
“The manager's been in such a foul mood since we lost a big-spending client that he's taking it out on all of us.”
“What should I do? This can't be happening.”
Flustered, Adu started scouring the entire town, asking around for Neung So-mil.
But even after searching all day, he had no luck.
In the end, Adu had no choice but to return to the bridge where he usually begged.
“Now what?”
If he had known things would get this complicated, he wouldn't have taken the money in advance.
As he was pondering for a while, Adu's eyes lit up.
He recognized the face of a man walking towards him from a distance.
The man had eyes as thin as thread, a large, bulbous nose, and an impressive, good-natured smile.
‘Maybe if it's him?’
He had seen him entering the brothel with Neung So-mil a few times.
Adu began to tail the man cautiously.
It was out of a faint hope that by following him, he might run into Neung So-mil.
The vice-chief of the Sinsobang, Yi Gyu, was in a terrible mood again today.
The pressure from the Martial Alliance had been intensifying recently.
‘This is all that bastard's fault!’
If Neung So-mil, the chief, hadn't done something so crazy, things wouldn't have become this complicated.
One day, Neung So-mil had summoned him and secretly given him some instructions.
The problem was the content of those instructions.
The Martial Alliance, which held absolute influence in the current martial world. When they should have been trying to earn their trust, he was ordered to gather information related to them.
Yi Gyu couldn't help but be horrified.
How could he give such an order unless he had lost his mind? And he hadn't even given a proper reason, just issued the command pressingly.
Yi Gyu was dumbfounded.
They had been together for twenty years.
How could he give such a ridiculous order? Did he really not know that this one command could instantly destroy the Sinsobang they had worked so hard to build?
Above all, the Martial Alliance was not blind.
Even without mentioning the Heavenly Ear Corps, they had hundreds, if not thousands, of spies planted throughout the martial world. They would surely find out soon enough that the Sinsobang was digging into their affairs.
And after that?
The Sinsobang would be swept away like dust.
Yi Gyu went straight to the Martial Alliance and reported Neung So-mil.
It was the only way for the Sinsobang to survive.
He felt a pang of guilt, but it didn't last long.
What truly bothered him more was something else.
‘The stubborn bastard!’
It was the fact that even in this situation, Neung So-mil refused to reveal the information he held.
There must have been a reason for ordering the investigation into the Martial Alliance.
Yet, he remained tight-lipped about the background of the matter and the person who had requested it. That was why Yi Gyu didn't feel any sympathy for Neung So-mil, who was now captured by the Evil-Shattering Corps.
In the end, hadn't he dug his own grave?
Besides, he was already overwhelmed with his own problems.
The Martial Alliance was now openly pressuring him to reveal the mastermind who had ordered the investigation.
It had happened just a moment ago.
They had summoned him, for no real reason, to watch Neung So-mil being tortured.
‘Damn it!’
If he kept stalling and failed to produce results, he might end up imprisoned and tortured right alongside Neung So-mil.
That's why he was burning with anxiety.
But crisis was also opportunity.
If he could just uncover Neung So-mil's backer...
The Sinsobang could use it to leap to new heights. And he could use that as a stepping stone to become the new chief.
Of course, that was still a long way off.
Even now, a warrior from the Martial Alliance's Heavenly Ear Corps could be watching him from somewhere. Yi Gyu's eyes glinted as he scanned his surroundings, just in case.
It was because of the young beggar trailing him from a distance.
He had seen that face a quarter of an hour ago, and half an hour ago. The timing was too coincidental to be a mere chance.
Moreover, the young beggar's gaze was fixed on him the entire time. It was an incredibly clumsy tail, but that could have been the point.
After a moment's thought, Yi Gyu made up his mind.