Chapter 7
"Not bad."
Though his words were calm, Sa-u was so surprised his eyes nearly popped out.
To dodge a sword stroke executed with Soundless Silence in just three days? This was impossible even for a naturally gifted prodigy of peerless martial arts.
"Try dodging it once more."
Bu Eun-seol was in a state where all his senses except sight had become sharpened.
On top of that, having cleaned corpses alongside Bu Jan-yang, he was as well-versed in the structure of the human body as any physician.
Because of this, he could roughly gauge Sa-u's posture and the incoming sword strokes through the flow of the air alone.
Swish.
As the scabbard sliced through the empty air once more, a peculiar smile crept onto Sa-u's lips.
"That won't be enough."
And unlike before, he began to unleash sword strokes in rapid succession.
"What master of the murim only executes a single form?"
Thwack. Thwack.
Bu Eun-seol began to be struck by the relentless barrage of sword strokes.
'I can feel them, but I can't dodge.'
The sword techniques Sa-u was pouring out were incomparably more exquisite than Neung Un-gang's from before, and thick with killing intent as well.
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to be beaten for one hour without being able to move.
"Ugh..."
Unlike the beginning, Bu Eun-seol, now covered in blood, collapsed to the ground, and Sa-u withdrew his sword.
Then he threw a leather pouch from his bosom in front of Bu Eun-seol.
"Drink."
Bu Eun-seol immediately opened the leather pouch that had fallen at his feet and drank.
It was not water, but a very sticky liquid.
"You must not eat food until you complete the Way of the Beast. The keen senses you've worked so hard to heighten will only dull again."
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to swallow the sticky liquid.
It had no scent whatsoever, but being neither liquid nor solid, it slid down in a viscous form as it touched his throat.
Once past his throat, a hot warmth swirled in his stomach as if he had drunk strong liquor.
"What is this?"
Bu Eun-seol asked a question for the first time.
'He never asked anything while training in the Way of the Beast.'
Sa-u, who had let out a hollow laugh inwardly, shook his head.
"You don't need to know."
"...Understood."
"We will resume in 15 minutes."
Shing.
Sa-u, having drawn his sword from its scabbard, spoke in a cold voice.
"From now on, you will truly have to stake your life."
Shatter! Sha-sha-sha-shat!
The sharp sound of breaking air rang out in all directions.
Thud-thud-thud.
Every time the keen blade grazed his body, blood sprayed from Bu Eun-seol's flesh.
"Don't think with your head!"
Sa-u shouted in a solemn voice.
"If you analyze the forms and then dodge, you'll be too late. The moment an attack begins, you must react instantly!"
Sak-sak.
As a lethal killing move thrust toward his throat, Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to roll his body to the ground.
Charararak.
At that moment, Sa-u's sword fanned out like the ribs of a folding fan and stabbed down at Bu Eun-seol's body sprawled on the floor.
Thud-thud-thud.
Dozens of sword blades raked across Bu Eun-seol's body.
"Ghk..."
"In the murim, fights where one faces many are common. Surely you don't think only fair and honorable duels exist?"
Hwiririk.
Sa-u's sword blade bent like a whip and burrowed toward a vital acupoint.
But Bu Eun-seol, as if predicting the attack, leaped up like a carp and rotated his body to the side.
"You survived by luck."
"Hah. Hah."
He had only been stabbed past his heart and lungs, but Bu Eun-seol's wound was by no means light.
Yet even while gasping for breath, he gripped his sword tightly with one hand.
'He never lets his guard down, even without being told.'
Sa-u once again threw the leather pouch from his bosom.
"Drink. We'll start again soon."
"...Understood."
Even without his sight, Bu Eun-seol accurately picked up the leather pouch that had fallen to the floor.
Gulp, gulp.
As the sticky liquid entered his mouth, his mind snapped to alertness, and it felt as though the blood and strength that had drained from his body were returning.
But even in the midst of this, he did not tilt his head back far, keeping his legs and shoulders lowered so he could dodge an attack at any moment.
'His bone and muscle structure isn't particularly outstanding, yet he has an innate talent for learning martial arts.'
Sa-u, who had been watching this, stroked his chin.
He had only intended to teach as a way to pass the time.
Yet here he was, readily handing over even the Extreme Spring Spirit Water he had not consumed himself because it was too precious to waste.
'Damn it. How can I not properly teach a wretch like that?'
Bu Eun-seol possessed a desperate persistence and burning tenacity that made one's heart race.
That was also the condition of a peerless martial bone that could not be found even if one searched the entire murim.
Fifteen days later.
Chang-chang-chang-chang.
In front of Sa-u's thatched cottage, the metallic sound of weapons clashing rang out ceaselessly.
"Receive this once more!"
Along with a thunderous shout, Sa-u's sword emitted a brilliant light.
Flash!
A sword stroke like lightning burrowed toward Bu Eun-seol's throat.
Whoosh.
But as Bu Eun-seol twisted his body, the keen sword stroke grazed past his shoulder joint instead of his neck.
"Too early to let your guard down."
Hwiririk.
The sword that had grazed Bu Eun-seol's shoulder spun fiercely in the air, then burrowed toward Bu Eun-seol's Life Gate Acupoint once more.
Chang!
But this time as well, Bu Eun-seol blocked it behind his back with his iron sword, as if he had predicted it.
"..."
Bu Eun-seol kept his body low, bracing for the forms that would follow in succession.
But no matter how much time passed, no further attacks came.
"Heh heh heh..."
Sa-u, who had been staring at Bu Eun-seol, suddenly burst into mad laughter.
"Uwahahahaha! Wahahahaha!"
His laughter, laden with internal energy, rivaled the Shaolin Lion's Roar.
'The prodigy I searched for until my iron shoes wore out was right before my eyes!'
The Way of the Beast.
To achieve Great Completion in this bizarre and brutish foundational martial art, even a prodigy of all-under-heaven martial arts must stake their life and train for three months and ten days.
But to have perfectly mastered the Way of the Beast in a mere fifteen days?
'With this one's talent, he could make the martial arts of the Main Pavilion—which have sunk to rock bottom—shine across the entire murim!'
Sa-u, who had abruptly stopped laughing, flicked his finger.
THUD-THUD-THUD.
As the Finger Wind grazed Bu Eun-seol's Tear-Receiving acupoint, the whole world began to brighten into white.
He had unblocked the optic nerves that had been sealed shut.
"Ugh."
As his surroundings suddenly began to come into clear focus, Bu Eun-seol felt dizzy.
Seeing.
That act conveyed so much information it was enough to make one feel lightheaded. And at the same time, it stirred up an incalculable number of distracting thoughts.
"You'll adapt soon."
Sa-u spoke flatly.
"The more accustomed you become to the Way of the Beast, the more you will come to feel with your senses far more than you see with your eyes."
"Thank you."
As Bu Eun-seol bowed his head, Sa-u slowly approached.
"Number 1."
Then, with a brilliant light blazing in his eyes, he said,
"Quit the Ten Demonic Heirs right now, and become a formal disciple of the Main Pavilion."
"Pardon?"
"If you become a formal disciple of the Main Pavilion, I will make you into one of the foremost masters of the Demonic Path within ten years!"
Though they had not exchanged so much as a few words over the past fifteen days, Bu Eun-seol could surmise that Sa-u did not speak idle nonsense, and that he was a man who kept his word once given.
If he said he would make him a master, then he truly could become a master.
'The enemy who killed my grandfather. To kill that man, wouldn't the martial arts of Langya Pavilion alone be enough?'
But if even the martial arts of Langya Pavilion could not kill that man...
Crunch.
Bu Eun-seol clenched his teeth.
To make such calculations—wasn't that the same as having already failed in his revenge?
"I will become one of the Ten Demonic Heirs."
"To learn all the martial arts of the Demonic Path Ten Gates?"
Sa-u gave a snort of derision.
"Let me be honest with you. Even if you were a Peerless Grandmaster like the Heavenly Demon Emperor, you could not master all the martial arts of the Demonic Path Ten Gates."
Gazing intently into Bu Eun-seol's eyes, which had now regained their focus, he continued.
"For example, to learn the White Horse Whip Art of White Horse Temple, you must first learn the Demon Steel Finger Force, which hardens the metacarpal joints and proximal finger joints until they are like steel. But if you do that, your hands become unsuitable for executing sword techniques or saber techniques."
Realizing that there was not the slightest wavering in Bu Eun-seol's gaze, Sa-u spoke again.
"No matter how heaven-blessed a martial prodigy you are, mastering two or three arts of the Demonic Path Ten Gates is the limit. Rather, devoting yourself wholeheartedly to a single martial art and achieving Great Completion in it would be the shortcut to becoming the foremost master of the Demonic Path."
It was not wrong.
One does not become stronger simply by learning many martial arts, and if one learns too great a variety of ultimate techniques, one's mental power only becomes scattered.
"I apologize."
Having bowed his head deeply, Bu Eun-seol looked Sa-u squarely in the eye.
"I wish to challenge the other martial arts of the Demonic Path Ten Gates as well."
His gaze was as hard and unyielding as steel refined hundreds of times.
"...It can't be helped."
At Bu Eun-seol's resolute expression, Sa-u clicked his tongue.
One could beg and plead to forcibly take on a master, but one cannot forcibly take on a disciple.
"Very well. Then from now on, you shall learn other martial arts."
As Sa-u turned his body, Bu Eun-seol wore a puzzled expression.
"I have only learned the foundational martial art, have I not? The martial arts of Langya Pavilion are still..."
"The martial arts of the Main Pavilion are not passed down through ancient maxims or doctrinal texts. Had some other master come instead of me, they would have transmitted the Way of the Beast in a similar yet slightly different manner."
Sa-u spoke with a serious expression.
"And you have already learned this old man's martial arts, have you not?"
"What do you mean..."
Instead of answering, Sa-u drew the sword at his waist and thrust it at Bu Eun-seol's throat.
Chang!
Bu Eun-seol, who had already foreseen the pouring sword strokes, likewise blocked Sa-u's sword with his iron sword.
"You are in a state of having learned the Main Pavilion's Way of the Beast. There is no way you could fail to remember the sword strokes this old man poured out over the past fifteen days."
Only then did Bu Eun-seol's eyes widen.
The attacks Sa-u had unleashed up until now—they were no different from a master of Practical Combat Martial Arts personally demonstrating each martial form as instruction.
"Langya Pavilion has not only this old man but numerous adepts of Practical Combat Martial Arts. If you enter the Main Pavilion, you can learn Practical Combat Martial Arts by directly crossing hands with those masters."
Sa-u, smiling calmly, said,
"Since you did not suffer a fatal wound from the martial forms this old man poured out while you were blind... at the very least, you will never die from being struck by a weapon."
"Thank you, Elder."
"I told you there is no need for thanks. I merely taught you under the orders of the Demon Hall."
"But did you not deplete the elixirs in your possession?"
Bu Eun-seol knew.
He knew that what Sa-u had given him up until now were precious elixirs whose value could not be converted into money.
Every time he drank the liquid contained in the leather pouch, his terrible wounds recovered in an instant, and his senses grew even sharper.
"I will never forget the kindness you have shown me, Elder, for the rest of my life."
As Bu Eun-seol bowed his head in a gesture of respect, Sa-u wore a bitter smile.
"Forget it."
"Pardon?"
"The murim is that kind of place. Whether it is kindness or grudge... if it is possible to forget, that is best."
Sa-u's words seemed to carry some deep, hidden circumstances.
Bu Eun-seol ruminated over his words, then bowed his head once more.
"Then, I shall take my leave."
And without any lingering attachment, he turned and walked away.
Trudge, trudge.
Unlike when he had first come to the Thatched Cottage, Bu Eun-seol's gait was now remarkably stable, and the bearing of a master could be glimpsed in him.
The gaunt child seen fifteen days ago had vanished without a trace.
"Where did such a monster come from..."
Watching Bu Eun-seol walk away with the sunset at his back, Sa-u let out a hollow laugh.
"I thought he was a lesser dragon, but he was a hidden dragon."
Recalling the memory of observing the children disembarking onto Hell Island, Sa-u's eyes flashed sharply.
There, there had been prodigies of peerless martial arts whose bone and muscle structure surpassed Bu Eun-seol's by dozens of times.
"A bloody wind will blow across Hell Island."