Chapter 14
"From now on, train diligently here as well."
"Thank you."
"Starting tomorrow, you will learn the first form of the Fire Rain Sword Art, Mystery Upon Mystery, so be sure to come out to the training ground by the Hour of the Dragon."
Bu Eun-seol bowed his head and turned around.
As he was slowly making his way out of the training ground, his eyes met those of five trainees who had been waiting for him.
"..."
From five pairs of eyes, a cold chill was rising.
Bu Eun-seol knew what those gazes meant, but he said nothing and returned to his quarters.
The entrance to the cave where he stayed was very narrow and low.
Because of that, he had to practically lie flat on the ground just to barely squeeze inside.
Once inside, there was a mire-like spot that gave off a musty smell, and past that, a wide, flat space opened up.
Thud.
Bu Eun-seol laid his body down on a place he had made into a bed by piling up a great heap of grass.
How much time had passed?
Lying comfortably with his eyes shut tight, he suddenly snapped his eyes open and let out a sigh.
"So it comes to this after all."
Slowly raising himself up, Bu Eun-seol picked up the iron sword he had placed beside him.
Then he went deep into the dark cave and pushed a large rock in the corner.
Rumble.
The massive boulder, which seemed as though it would never budge, moved with incredible ease under Bu Eun-seol's touch.
Looking closely, it was not an actual rock but a fake one, crafted with great precision.
Clack.
When he set the rock down with a hollow sound, a space wide enough for a person to enter and lie down had been dug out beneath the floor.
'Who would have thought that making coffins with Grandfather would come in handy here.'
To build a coffin, one must cut wood into various shapes to create curved forms.
Bu Eun-seol had cut trees from all over Hell Island to make a curved fake rock and plastered clumps of dirt thickly over it.
Of course, in a bright place it was crude beyond compare, but in a dark cave, it was difficult to distinguish no matter how hard one looked.
"Hm."
Lying down beneath the floor, Bu Eun-seol lifted the fake rock back into its original position.
And before long,
Sssk.
With a low sound, five pitch-black shadows began seeping into the cave.
"...There's no one here?"
One of the shadows, peering intently around the dark cave interior, spoke in an irritated voice.
"You said you definitely saw him go in, didn't you?"
At that, the shadow across from him shook his head.
"Byeok Yeon-ha, she definitely said that skinny bastard went in here."
"But there's no one."
"Right. Damn it."
Listening to the voices from beneath the rock, Bu Eun-seol's eyebrows twitched.
Because one of their voices was extremely familiar.
—Is it not similar in meaning to Unity of Sword and Hand or Body-Sword Unity?
It was the voice of one of the five trainees who had taken the exam with him at the training ground.
"That bastard. I really wanted to teach him a lesson!"
"Exactly. I was annoyed from the start, when he showed up wearing that bizarre vestment."
"He hid his skills all the way from the Intermediate Hall, and he even committed murder."
"On top of that, because that guy suddenly popped up and acted all high and mighty, we ended up failing out of the Upper-Level Hall for nothing!"
'So it was you lot after all.'
The five shadows who had infiltrated the cave were the trainees who had taken the exam together with him at the Upper-Level Hall.
All of them had failed the exam that Dan Cheon-yang had given, and they harbored a grudge against Bu Eun-seol for no good reason.
'Perhaps it was better when they looked at me with contempt.'
Bu Eun-seol, hiding beneath the rock, wore a bitter smile.
When he had left the training ground today, he had sensed that the gazes of the five trainees were anything but ordinary.
Sure enough, they had entered the cave where he was staying and attempted a surprise attack.
'It doesn't seem like I need to kill them.'
Judging by the way they spoke, it seemed they had not come to kill him, but rather to beat him soundly and vent their resentment.
'And there's no guarantee I'd win, either.'
Though they had failed in the Upper-Level Hall, those men were disciples of a Demonic Path Sect who had trained in sword techniques for a long time.
No matter that he had learned the Way of the Beast, he had no experience fighting multiple opponents, so he could not be certain of victory.
"Tch, let's go."
Fortunately, they left the cave before long.
Feeling that all of their presences had vanished, Bu Eun-seol moved the fake rock aside again and rose from underground.
"For the time being, I'll have to stay in the Upper-Level Hall."
The fortunate thing was that the Upper-Level Hall was equipped with training rooms where trainees could hone their martial arts day and night.
"...!"
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol's two eyes flashed in the darkness.
At the entrance of the cave, where all presence had completely vanished, a black shadow stood tall.
"You truly have learned the Way of the Beast."
The shadow wore the loose martial uniform issued on Hell Island.
But with black cloth wound tightly around the face, and with such androgynous eyes, it was difficult to tell whether the figure was a woman or a man.
Clink.
The moment Bu Eun-seol's hand went to his iron sword, the shadow shook its head.
"There's no need to draw your sword. I haven't come to fight."
"..."
"You're a man of few words. Good."
As if deliberately altered, the shadow's voice was low, like grinding metal.
As Bu Eun-seol waited for the next words with his hand still gripping the sword hilt, the shadow nodded again.
"As you've probably guessed, a storm of blood will soon blow across this Hell Island."
Bu Eun-seol wore a surprised expression.
The trainees here did not know about the Second Trial, so most were spending their days in a leisurely and comfortable manner.
So how did this person know of such a thing?
"Hmph, up until now, you've merely been mixed in among the riffraff."
Seeing Bu Eun-seol's gaze, the shadow let out a scoff.
"In this place, there are many peerless martial talents with insight and ability no less outstanding than your own."
"What is it you want to say?"
At Bu Eun-seol's question, the shadow spoke in a low voice.
"Join our group."
"Group?"
"The Demon Hall's plan from the very beginning is the 'Ten Demonic Heirs.' In short, out of all these many applicants, you only need to be among the ten."
Every time the voice flowing from the shadow echoed through the cave, it was as if ominous storm clouds were gathering.
"Why are you making this offer to me?"
Bu Eun-seol spoke flatly, without changing his expression.
"Didn't you just say there are many martial talents superior to me?"
"Even so, you are the only one who has learned Langya Pavilion's Way of the Beast."
'So that was it.'
Bu Eun-seol narrowed his eyes.
The shadow before him was probably one of the trainees who had been in the Intermediate Hall of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
"Moreover, if you could kill Byeok Han-seong in one strike despite having just picked up a sword for the first time... your chances of becoming a Ten Demonic Heir are not small."
A strange heat rose in the shadow's voice.
"Our group has gathered outstanding prodigies. We share the martial insights we've learned in each hall, and we discuss what is to come."
"And so."
"If we combine our strength, then no matter what happens from now on, we will be able to become Ten Demonic Heirs."
Bu Eun-seol inwardly nodded.
In a situation where one did not know what would happen next, outstanding martial talents from various fields joining forces was by no means a bad thing.
"Will you accept?"
At the shadow's question, Bu Eun-seol firmly shook his head.
"I refuse."
"Why?"
"First, just because they are called the Ten Demonic Heirs does not guarantee that exactly ten will be chosen."
"Hm."
"If fewer are chosen, then all I would be doing is increasing the number of people who know my weaknesses."
Bu Eun-seol's voice was dry and flat.
"Because nine enemies who know me well are more frightening than a hundred enemies who do not."
"Heh heh heh. Bu Eun-seol. You truly are faint-hearted."
The shadow let out a sneer, then nodded.
"You will regret refusing this offer. You will weep tears over it later."
And then, without lingering, it vanished into the darkness.
"Hm."
Once even the shadow's presence had disappeared, Bu Eun-seol lay his body back down on the pile of grass.
"Things are going to get harder from now on."
Bu Eun-seol had survived the Second Trial because he had been despised and looked down upon.
Being noticed as a strong one by so many people, as he was now, was by no means a good thing.
"The reason the sword studies of our sect are recognized as the foremost in the Demonic Path is that they open up many different paths until one reaches the realm."
Inside the Upper-Level Hall training ground of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
There, the trainees sat at tables while Dan Cheon-yang taught them in a low voice.
"To reach the Fire Rain Sword, there are many branching paths. In this Upper-Level Hall, you must transform the opening stroke of Mystery Upon Mystery that has been passed down to you into your own sword form and produce a rain of fire droplets."
Dan Cheon-yang, holding a tree branch, lightly extended his hand.
At that moment, the light that had illuminated the world vanished, and a suffocating darkness seemed to descend upon the earth.
Whirik.
As the tree branch danced in the empty air, a fierce internal force, unmatched in its ferocity, grazed past the trainees' cheeks.
'So this is the Fire Rain Sword.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been watching Dan Cheon-yang's demonstration, drew a deep breath.
When he blinked, all he had seen was a single streak of light. Even Bu Eun-seol, who had mastered the Way of the Beast and possessed extrasensory perception, found it difficult to predict the sword trajectory of the Fire Rain Sword.
'Without Instructor Cheon's teachings, I would not have even realized the profound subtlety of the Fire Rain Sword.'
Advanced Sword Studies is akin to a field of scholarship.
If one cannot understand and interpret the sword formula, then no matter how much one practices the sword strokes, one will never reach the ultimate art.
Even while learning Peerless Thunderbolt, Bu Eun-seol had constantly memorized the esoteric principles and essential secrets of Advanced Sword Studies.
Thanks to that, he was able to appreciate and understand Dan Cheon-yang's lectures and demonstrations to some degree.
Swish.
Having unfurled all of his sword strokes, Dan Cheon-yang calmly tucked the tree branch into his waist.
A breathless silence flowed through the training ground. It was because the momentary sword technique Dan Cheon-yang had displayed left a lingering resonance for a long time.
"This old man, too, has merely shown you one path derived from among countless branches."
Dan Cheon-yang, who had been gazing at the trainees' eyes filled with awe, smiled faintly.
"As you know, if you can unfold Mystery Upon Mystery with precision, you can break the sharp edge of any sword technique scattered throughout the world."
The opening stroke of Mystery Upon Mystery, which contains the principle of the Scattered Sword, is best suited for defending against sudden attacks.
However, due to Dan Cheon-yang's majestic sword aura and swift hand technique, it had appeared as a sword stroke so mysterious it was nearly invisible to the eye.
"It seems it is now time to see the fire droplets that you all have created."
And his gaze came to rest upon the eyes of the boy who sat as still as ice among the trainees.
"Bu Eun-seol."
"Yes."
"Unfold Mystery Upon Mystery once."
Bu Eun-seol, whose eyes met Dan Cheon-yang's, sighed inwardly.
It had already been fifteen days since he began training in sword studies at the Upper-Level Hall. Whenever he taught the martial formulas and sword techniques, Dan Cheon-yang asked Bu Eun-seol more questions than anyone else.
And now, he was even making him demonstrate the first Fire Rain Sword form.
'There's no helping it.'
As a student, he could not very well get angry at receiving attention.
Swallowing a bitter smile, Bu Eun-seol walked out to the center of the training platform and gripped the hilt of his sword.
Shing.
As he drew his iron sword, the expressions of Dan Cheon-yang and the trainees turned strange.
Like the sun rising in the morning sky, he had taken a stance holding the iron sword with both hands, raised high above his head.
"..."
A taut tension, like a drawn bowstring, flowed through the air.
Fwooosh!
Suddenly, a fierce wind blew.
At the same time, Bu Eun-seol's iron sword, which had shown no sign of movement whatsoever, began to cleave through the empty air.
Fwooosh.
Along with the sound of the wind whipping about, brilliant sword strokes scattered above Bu Eun-seol's head.
As the sword shadows that filled the entire sky descended to the ground, they spread out in all directions like firecrackers.
Hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss.
At the same time, sharp marks were carved into the ground around where Bu Eun-seol stood.
They were sword marks, as if dozens of massive beasts had clawed across the floor.
He had unfolded Mystery Upon Mystery, the first form of the Fire Rain Sword, scattering it from above his head down to the ground, utterly shredding an area of three or four jang in every direction.
Clank.
As Bu Eun-seol sheathed his iron sword, a heavy silence descended upon the training ground once more.