The Master of the Sun and Moon
"I shall take you as my disciple. If you have the heart to serve me as your master, perform the Gubaejilye (Nine Bows Ceremony) before me."
The Gubaejilye was no simple gesture. It meant that the Sun and Moon Heavenly Venerable had chosen me as his true successor to inherit his personal martial arts. Whatever his reasoning, he had declared that he would take me—not the original protagonist, Jin Sechan—as his disciple.
As soon as his words faded, I performed the nine bows before him. What was a little bowing? I could even do a Grand Bow if it meant getting ahead. 'This is my chance! A chance to crush those parentless bastards of the Blood Sect...!'
The Sun and Moon Heavenly Venerable watched me in silence before nodding. "Gihu, from this moment on, you are my one and only disciple. However, the time allotted to this old man is not long; my body will soon fade away. But before that happens, I will pass on everything I know to you. The martial art you shall learn is my unique technique, the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art. You appear to be a swordsman, but if you wish, I shall also teach you my fist techniques and secret movement arts. However, you must promise me that once you have mastered the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art, you will take a disciple of your own and pass everything on. Do you understand?"
I was startled to hear the name of his unique martial art. 'Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art? Does he mean the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Demonic Art? The Heavenly Venerable isn't a member of the Righteous Faction, but I didn't think he was a master of the Evil or Demonic paths either.'
He had been a neutral force with no specific affiliation. In the novel, the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Demonic Art was said to be the technique of the worst lecher in Murim history, a skill that only existed as lore. Given the similarity in names, there had to be a connection. Could it be the same lecherous art he used? Even so, I might never get another chance to learn from a master of such undeniable skill.
Even if I had lived for mere amusement until recently, now that things had come to this, it was time to make a decision. I knew the locations where masters like Ak Geo, the Blood Immortal, or the previous generation's Blade King and Sword King were hiding, but there was no guarantee they would accept me as a disciple. There were three great wars to come, and countless masters of the Righteous, Evil, and Demonic factions would appear as I traveled the world. Threats were everywhere. Hadn't the destruction of the Sa-geom Sect already taught me that? What I needed now was power.
There was no room for hesitation, and I didn't hesitate. 'If things go wrong, they go wrong. Why worry?' One thing was certain: I was after the power he possessed, so in the end, I had no other choice. I hadn't even hesitated from the start.
"I understand, Master."
It didn't matter if the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art was a demonic technique. It was the only way to wake Sohye, anyway.
Once we had successfully formed our master-disciple bond, my master, looking satisfied, began to speak. "The Soul-Sealing Bead is a treasure of an ancient evil cult, a wicked artifact used to extract and utilize a person's soul. The body left behind after the soul is removed is either turned into a Jiangshi or used for soul-snatching. To restore someone who has been soul-sealed, you first need peerless medicinal herbs like the Udumbara Flower or the Nine-Leaf Divine Grass."
My mind went blank at his words. They had tried to turn me into a Jiangshi? Why? What were they planning to do with my body...? And aside from the terrifying power of the Soul-Sealing Bead, where on earth was I supposed to find herbs I had never even heard of? These treasures and herbs, which hadn't even appeared in the novel, only left me feeling bewildered.
'But there is one who would know. The Medicine King, Xue Wu.'
He was a man so elusive that I would have to wander the world just to find him. "I don't even know where the Nine-Leaf Divine Grass is, but the location of the Udumbara Flower is certain."
My face lit up at his words, and I asked back. It would be easy if he knew.
"Where exactly is it?"
"The headquarters of the Demonic Cult."
Hearing that, I realized things were about to get difficult. 'Damn it, I'm going to the Demonic Cult, something that wasn't even in my fate. Wouldn't it be faster to just go look for the Medicine King?'
I gathered the bodies of the brutally murdered sect members and my father to build a communal grave. I took a few useful items from their belongings. 'Please, rest in peace.'
"Clclcl... Are you finished?"
I nodded silently and carried Sohye on my back. "Once you reach the 5th stage of the Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art, you will be able to protect yourself in any situation, and if you master it, you will be able to take sufficient revenge on those bastards."
I looked at the ruined sect and the grave I had made one last time, steeling my heart. Now, there was only one more thing to confirm.
"Now, follow this old man."
"Master, I have one thing to say."
"And what is that?"
"The members of the Sa-geom Sect and my father were killed by those damn bastards, but the woman named Dang Hyewon and my mother might still be alive. If we could just stay in this vicinity for about a week..."
As soon as I said that, my master raised his hand to stop me. When I looked at him with a startled expression, he said, "Do not worry about them. I felt them safely break through the encirclement and head south along that mountain path, so rest easy."
The south? Wasn't that the direction of the Hebei branch of the Murim Alliance? They must have escaped safely and headed to find Brother Jeri. It wasn't that far from here, so they would arrive safely.
I felt my heart calm at my master's words. "Is that true, Master?"
"Clcl... You trust my words, yet you ask again? Your mother didn't escape alone; she escaped with a woman at the Peak Stage and several sect members, so do not worry."
A woman at the Peak Stage—it definitely sounded like Dang Hyewon. Feeling a weight lifted from my heart, I nodded and looked at my master with clear eyes.
"Now, rest easy and follow me."
I followed my master, crossing mountains and rivers. We raced through valleys, mountains, wilderness, and swamps, and finally arrived at a place where a dizzyingly high cliff rose up. As soon as I saw this cliff up close, I knew this was our destination.
"Clcl... To be this slow, what use are you? You must also receive training in movement arts."
At my master's nagging, I looked at the cliff before me. It was so high that I couldn't even estimate its height with the naked eye, and its top was hidden by clouds. 'I have to climb this...? I'm dead.'
I endured with sheer grit and barely managed to follow the Sun and Moon Heavenly Venerable up the cliff. On top, there was a large rock, and as I approached, countless characters that looked like the Eight Trigrams began to float on its surface. The Heavenly Venerable simply stomped his foot once. Then, surprisingly, a gap formed between the rocks, revealing stairs leading down somewhere.
I was inwardly shocked as I looked at my master. Things like this didn't even appear in novels very often... 'It must be a very special formation or mechanical trap.'
The Sun and Moon Heavenly Venerable stepped inside without hesitation and vanished into the rock. "Come in."
Inside the rock was a massive cavern. Night-luminescent pearls were placed at regular intervals, providing enough light to see the entire cavern clearly. There were several caves in the large cavern, which at a glance seemed to be a bathroom, a washroom, a food storage room, and a sleeping room. The most eye-catching place was a cave blocked by a woman. She was a young woman in black light armor with a body that was perfect for seducing men.
...No! It wasn't black light armor. She was wearing a full-body fishnet suit woven tightly together!! She had a beautiful appearance, but half of her face was covered with silk. However, what caught my eye wasn't her appearance, but the iron chains restraining her hands and feet.
'What kind of play is that...' I'll have to try that with Sohye later.
Aside from that, there were strangely shaped objects placed around, and when I looked closely at the cavern walls, various patterns were engraved on them. While I was looking around the cavern, the Sun and Moon Heavenly Venerable appeared from somewhere carrying a coffin and a gourd.
"This coffin is made of Yanghon Wood, one of the divine woods. Before the soul and body are completely separated, hurry and lay her here."
I nodded and placed Sohye into the coffin. Meanwhile, my master poured the ominous energy of a purple jade into the gourd. The gourd thrashed for a while before finally going still. Soon, the coffin began to emit a mysterious energy, and the lid closed on its own. My master brought a string with strange patterns and tied it around the coffin once.
"With this, the crisis is over. You won't have to worry for the next year."
"Thank you, Master. ...By the way, may I ask about that person?"
Filled with curiosity, I pointed at the fishnet-clad woman in chains. Honestly, I even wondered if she might be my master's mistress.
"That woman is..."
Is she the previous generation's Heavenly Demon...?