Beastman (1)
“Hahahahaha!”
Yeom Hwa-sin’s booming laughter echoed through the air.
As Jeong-gyun fell dead, the faces of the remaining two masters hardened. They had never dreamed he could lose to Baek So-cheon. The situation had unfolded in a way utterly divorced from their plans.
Yeom Hwa-sin, perched on the carriage roof, addressed the pair.
“Who might you two be?”
The men drew their swords in unison, speaking as one.
“We’ve come to reclaim Murim from the plunderers.”
It was clear they were products of the Sa-do Seven Families. Ever since Yeom Hwa-sin’s great-grandfather had stripped them of their power, they’d had ample time to cultivate such experts in secret.
“Did those rat bastards teach you to parrot that line like puppets? All synced up, calling me a plunderer?”
“Shut your mouth!”
“You shut yours! The ones who plundered the Sa-do Murim in the first place are the very ones who raised you. Things got so bad in this demon-filled evil Murim that even the black path folk grumbled, ‘That’s too far.’ Not that you’d know anything about it.”
These men, too, had likely been raised in secrecy for years. Yeom Hwa-sin seemed to have long known the Sa-do Seven Families harbored treacherous ambitions.
With a light leap, Yeom Hwa-sin descended from the carriage.
“Come on, then!”
The two exchanged a glance and nodded before launching themselves at him simultaneously.
Like seagulls skimming the water’s surface, the masters glided in softly from left and right.
Shiiik.
Their swords flew toward Yeom Hwa-sin’s vital points.
Baek So-cheon watched intently. He wanted to see exactly how Yeom Hwa-sin would handle them.
The blades pierced Yeom Hwa-sin’s body.
We did it!
But the glee flashing across their faces was fleeting.
Yeom Hwa-sin’s form blurred.
Pop!
His afterimage vanished. Their swords sliced only empty air. The words escaped their lips in unison.
“Shift Form Change Position!”
The next instant, impact sounds erupted from behind them.
Papapapapang!
Yeom Hwa-sin had somehow circled behind them, rapidly striking their acupoints. The speed gap was utterly overwhelming.
“Ugh!”
“Kuh!”
They cried out in unison and went limp.
Yeom Hwa-sin grabbed them by the napes and hoisted them up effortlessly.
They dangled like life-sized puppets, utterly powerless. It was like a hunter lifting a slack fox—or a demon king holding a human.
Watching this, Baek So-cheon understood why he craved the next realm so fiercely. He might have lost all interest in fighting mere humans.
Yeom Hwa-sin turned to Baek So-cheon.
“Well? See enough?”
“I did.”
“What’s your take?”
“Wish you were on our side.”
“Uhahahaha!”
Yeom Hwa-sin’s laughter boomed once more.
“That’s my wish too. You’re on a whole other level from these clowns.”
Maybe he was right. It wasn’t arrogance. Without inner power, he’d already reached a stage where he could defeat transcendent peak masters.
He didn’t know exactly what realm Yeom Hwa-sin sought next. Whether it was humanity’s final pinnacle—or if more lay beyond.
Whatever it was, Yeom Hwa-sin was pushing toward one of the ultimate human limits.
His own realm was likely one or two steps below. But like Yeom Hwa-sin, he had crossed a major martial threshold.
Decades of war as the world’s strongest, grueling physical training, Ban Yun-saeng’s great law, mastery of four supreme arts, training with Cheon-geuk, the journey with Yeom Hwa-sin... all had converged to forge this achievement.
Suddenly, Yeom Hwa-sin’s words resurfaced.
Now do you see? In this Murim, there’s only you and me.
Perhaps Yeom Hwa-sin had realized first that he’d crossed that line. That must be why he’d asked for help reaching the next.
“What’ll you do with them?”
“These?”
Yeom Hwa-sin hurled them into the air.
Shwaaaaak!
He unleashed twin palms.
Boom! Boom!
Their bodies shattered into fragments, not even leaving proper corpses—a testament to his palm art’s ferocity. Then he bellowed toward the distant woods.
“Enough fooling around! Set the table and wait!”
His words were aimed at the hidden watchers who’d observed the fight.
Yeom Hwa-sin grinned at Baek So-cheon.
“Road ahead should be smoother now.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“It isn’t?”
“They won’t give up.”
“Why think that?”
Climbing into the driver’s seat, Baek So-cheon replied.
“They fear you too much. They’ll assume you’ll wipe them out. You might want to embrace them, but your vessel’s too grand for that. Negotiations need matching levels to work smoothly.”
“Rare praise from you, but I can’t be glad to hear it.”
“Why not seize this chance? Sweep away the Sa-do Seven Families with me. Let righteous and evil sects get along. Who knows—you might change your mind and become a true war god, ascending to immortality.”
Yeom Hwa-sin slammed the carriage door shut, scoffing at the absurdity, and climbed aboard.
“Driver, enough nonsense. Let’s go. Our destination’s not the heavens—it’s Gyo-ryong-mun.”
Baek So-cheon chuckled and urged the carriage forward.
Murim’s fate would shift depending on how Yeom Hwa-sin handled the Sa-do Seven Families.
What future do you envision? A hell for the strong alone? Or some utopia I can’t fathom?
Continuous reports had cast a heavy silence over Gyo-ryong-mun’s grand hall.
The seven gathered here were the lords of the Sa-do Seven Families.
Gyo-ryong-mun Lord Yo Jeol-saeng.
Pyo-hyang-mun Lord Hwa Sa-yeong.
Ung-pa-mun Lord Cheol-han.
So-geom-bang Lord Baek Hwa-jeong.
Cheon-dog-bang Lord Gu Yang-dog.
Hwan-yeong-bang Lord Cheon Se-gi.
Cheon-sa-hoi Lord Do Jeong-gil.
For three generations, they had endured humiliation, eyes fixed solely on vengeance. They’d feigned submission to the Black Heaven Alliance while honing their blades in secret.
Over long years, they’d quietly amassed power. The injustice of losing their authority to scum like Baek-jeong had forged their unbreakable bond.
But Gyo-ryong-mun’s secret training ground had been exposed, pushing them to this precipice.
It was a hasty decision, but they believed the moment had come. They were certain they could eliminate Yeom Hwa-sin.
Yet the dual trap of Heavenly Thunder Jade Shattering Bombs and blood poison had failed. Jeong-gyun and the other two transcendent peak masters were dead. Even the thousand warriors deployed to drain his inner power had been eradicated.
Their core strength remained intact, of course. The forces sent against Yeom Hwa-sin were separately cultivated, not from their main families.
The problem? Even their own clans’ elites weren’t markedly superior to those lost. For instance, the gathered leaders here were on par with Jeong-gyun.
“Yeom Hwa-sin will arrive here in four days,” said Gyo-ryong-mun Lord Yo Jeol-saeng.
Ung-pa-mun Lord Cheol-han bellowed.
“Let’s end it here!”
Some nodded; others shook their heads.
Among the dissenters, the ever-cautious Pyo-hyang-mun Lord Hwa Sa-yeong voiced her opposition.
“We underestimated Yeom Hwa-sin. He shrugged off the Heavenly Thunder Jade Shattering Bombs, endured the blood poison, and dispatched Jeong-gyun and the Twin Ghosts with ease.”
The two transcendent peak masters slain helplessly by Yeom Hwa-sin were the Twin Ghosts.
“Who here is confident they could neutralize the Twin Ghosts’ joint assault so effortlessly?”
Cheol-han growled hoarsely.
“Does that mean we surrender to him? After trying to assassinate him, you think he’ll spare us?”
“I’m not saying surrender. I mean find a way to resolve this without fighting. All-out war can be our last resort.”
So-geom-bang Lord Baek Hwa-jeong, aligned with her, chimed in.
“She’s right. And Baek So-cheon traveling with him seems no pushover either. The rumor he lost his inner power might be false too.”
Yo Jeol-saeng took up the thread.
“I can’t fathom why Baek So-cheon’s with Yeom Hwa-sin.”
“Who knows? But if Baek So-cheon’s recovered his inner power and they’re allies, we’re in dire straits. Facing the world’s two strongest at once.”
Her words darkened their expressions.
Until now silent, Cheon-sa-hoi Lord Do Jeong-gil finally spoke.
“Yeom Hwa-sin has no intent to destroy us.”
All eyes turned to him, his tone brimming with certainty.
“How can you be so sure?”
To Yo Jeol-saeng’s question, Do Jeong-gil replied.
“He’s moving alone—that’s proof. If he meant to exterminate us, he’d have unleashed the Black Heaven Alliance. Removing thorns like us would make him undisputed lord of the evil sects. Yet he’s keeping this quiet, so he must have other plans.”
“The war.”
“Exactly. He plans to ignite war with the righteous sects soon. That’s why he can’t eliminate us now.”
Some nodded.
“Humiliating as it is, if we bow our heads, he won’t kill us. He might after the war ends—but who knows when that’ll be? We buy time and find a way to survive.”
Do Jeong-gil had the clearest read on the board.
Cheol-han still seemed uneasy.
“But what if he has other intentions? What if he’s luring us into false hope before massacring us?”
Ifs piled upon ifs led only to lost paths.
And if the outcome was annihilation, no probability was too low to ignore.
Silence crushed them anew.
Hwan-yeong-bang Lord Cheon Se-gi proposed something then.
“If he truly means to embrace us, as you say, one more attack changes nothing, right?”
“How? Poisons failed, toxins failed, soul subjugation failed. Masters failed. It’s like eggs against a boulder.”
To Do Jeong-gil’s despairing retort, Cheon Se-gi revealed his deeply hidden, perilous scheme.
“Let’s release that.”
“That?”
“That.”
His dark gaze and low tone evoked a name imprisoned deep underground.
“You mean the Beastman?”
The word stunned them all.
“Yes.”
Their most special egg. It might crack the boulder. But a fatal flaw loomed.
“The Beastman can’t be controlled.”
“That’s why we send it. If we can’t control it, neither can he.”
“What if Yeom Hwa-sin doesn’t kill the Beastman?”
“Murim becomes chaos. Many die. But better than our current mess.”
Heavy silence flowed.
They knew better than anyone how dangerous the Beastman was. Every effort to weaponize it had failed. An uncontrollable absolute weapon.
“Let’s go with majority. Who’s in favor?”
Proposer Cheon Se-gi raised his hand. Yo Jeol-saeng, who’d sparked this mess, followed. Hot-blooded Cheol-han joined. One more for majority.
Cheon-dog-bang Lord Gu Yang-dog raised his. He’d brewed the blood poison; with Yeom Hwa-sin’s men poisoned, he felt targeted too. He needed Yeom Hwa-sin dead by any means.
Four hands—over half.
Yo Jeol-saeng addressed them all.
“We release the Beastman. May heaven aid us.”