Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Tell the Cult Leader I'm Sorry
Gwangmyeong Jwasa said with a sour expression,
"Originally, we only called it a Sacred object, but how did you know the name Celestial Jade?"
"Did you think I was just running away for three days and nights? I ate, took a dump, wrote a poem, tortured your underlings, went boating, and had a very fulfilling time."
Gwangmyeong Jwasa glared at the underlings waiting behind him and said,
"You can't even withstand that little bit of torture?"
"Your underlings should know what this is too. They didn't know exactly. I should know what this is before I die."
Gwangmyeong Jwasa replied in a low voice,
"...Gwangma, that is a special Elixir made only for the Cult Leader to take. If anyone else takes it, their limbs will melt, so don't even dream about it. It was hard to make, so we have to recover it."
"Don't lie with that gaping mouth of yours. Do I look like the innocent Namgung Family's Young Lady to you? Do I look like the Baekri Family's Woman who only cares about men's faces? You pervert."
"I'm telling you the truth, but you don't believe me. It's called a Sacred object because the Cult Leader will take it. Please believe me."
"That's strange. If this is an Elixir, shouldn't the old Cult Leader take it before going into secluded training?"
"There are circumstances in everything. There is a certain order to the Cult Leader's Martial arts training."
"How was it made? It doesn't seem like a naturally occurring Elixir, but one made with Demonic Art."
"Will you give it to me if I tell you?"
Instead of answering, I examined Gwangmyeong Jwasa's eyes.
"No."
Knowing the evil deeds the Demonic Sect had committed, I could roughly guess how this was made.
Moreover, the color of the Celestial Jade was constantly changing. It looked like the extreme Yang energy and extreme Yin energy were mixed inside, and the color kept changing depending on the surrounding temperature and sunlight.
To put it simply, it was like the Taiji symbol.
In the Demonic Sect's terms, it was Reverse Taiji.
Since the Elixir contained Taiji, it meant it was no ordinary Elixir.
I thought that if this fell into the Cult Leader's hands, it wouldn't be strange if the Murim was destroyed.
'Damn it... the Murim Alliance should really give me a chivalry award. Bastards.'
I revealed what I had predicted.
"Ah, I understand. I must be a genius. Let me guess. The reason you attacked sects and frequently engaged in local wars with organizations like the Murim Alliance is because of this. I don't know the method, but you extracted the essence of living martial artists and put it into this. It wasn't easy for you to make this either. You had to extract the extreme Yang and extreme Yin energy evenly to make it."
While speaking, I realized the Cult Leader's intention.
"The effect will be better if the person who takes it has a Yin-Yang Constitution, or if the state of their dantian is balanced with extreme Yang and extreme Yin Inner energy. Ah, so that's why you went into secluded training? Is there anything wrong with what I said? Or was the old Cult Leader going to use it for a Great Art to change his body?"
The Elixir would be more effective in a new body.
Gwangmyeong Jwasa smiled as he listened to my story.
"I thought this bastard was just a stupid madman."
"You're welcome."
"Think as you please. Even if you know the truth, it won't be more precious than your life."
"That's true."
"You're not a Yin-Yang Constitution, so hand it over."
"If the Cult Leader takes this, there will be no rivals in the world. He's already strong enough to be displeasing, how much stronger is he trying to become? I can't give it to you. That is the path of a chivalrous person I am walking alone."
I said it to be funny, but Jwasa didn't laugh at all.
"......"
This is why the Demonic Sect and I don't get along.
Gwangmyeong Jwasa kept glaring at me.
He seemed really scared that I would fall off the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff if we fought.
Actually, I was also annoyed at the thought of falling off the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff.
What kind of idiot would like cliffs? Unless there's a lucky encounter waiting at the bottom.
Then, the right thing to do in this situation was to take the action that would piss off Gwangmyeong Jwasa the most.
Since I was already seriously injured, I swallowed the Celestial Jade without much hesitation.
As the Celestial Jade went down my esophagus with a gulp, Jwasa's face turned pale.
I savored the taste of the Celestial Jade and said,
"Unexpectedly sweet. It tastes like soft peach, and the aftertaste is very refreshing. Did you mix peaches in it to make it easier for the old Cult Leader to eat? Hahahaha."
Not only Gwangmyeong Jwasa, but also his underlings' eyes widened. To put it a little exaggeratedly, they all looked like they were about to faint. Gwangmyeong Jwasa pointed at me and stuttered slightly.
"You ate that?"
I became slightly serious.
"It's an Elixir, you crazy bastard. Elixirs are good for the body. I hope the old Cult Leader's wrath falls upon you. Don't worry. The underlings will report exactly what they saw. Or you can beat all the guys here to death with your own hands."
Jwasa stamped his feet and screamed.
"You crazy bastard! That!"
I deliberately spoke like an idiot.
"Should I have not eaten it and yielded it to the Cult Leader? But it's already disappeared into my stomach. Burp..."
As the Celestial Jade went into my stomach, I felt a little strange. It was also strange that it actually tasted like a big peach, which wasn't a joke.
But my body condition also became strange.
I frowned and touched my dantian.
Instantly, I felt like my dantian was being forcibly divided into two.
The faces of the Demonic Sect members were turning pale.
I was having a bizarre experience of being forcibly set to half Yang and the other half Yin. But it wasn't a very painful process, so I thought the Sacred object was indeed a Sacred object.
Gwangmyeong Jwasa gritted his teeth and said,
"Kill him! No. Capture him. Grind him alive and give him to the Cult Leader."
"Understood!"
I held out my hand and frowned as if I was about to say something.
"Wait a minute! Stop saying 'Understood.' I have something to say. My stomach is really upset. Wait. I think I have to throw this up again."
I looked at Jwasa with the most serious expression in the world.
Jwasa raised his hand and put his underlings on standby at the mention of being able to throw it up.
"Standby!"
Jwasa held his breath.
I continued with a serious expression.
"The dantian..."
"What's wrong with the dantian?"
"It's hot and then cold, going back and forth, so it looks like I'm going to have diarrhea urgently. This Elixir doesn't suit my constitution."
As farts actually burst out like thunder, the Demonic Sect guys also frowned or covered their noses.
"......"
Gwangmyeong Jwasa also covered his nose with his hand and said,
"Throw it up quickly."
I also covered my nose with one hand and said,
"Don't be impatient like a child. And I didn't say I would throw it up with my mouth. I'm going to defecate for a while... You guys go down the mountain first. I'm a man who knows etiquette, so I can't show you how I shit."
"What?"
As I watched Jwasa's face also turn pale, I said in a calm tone,
"Tell the Cult Leader I'm sorry. Come here later and look at my shit. There will be an answer in that shit that can become a Demon God. Ah, a Demonic Sect Cult Leader of all time will be born who ascends to the top of the world with shit. Finally, the man named Gwangma came to shit the best shit of all time. It's legendary."
Gwangmyeong Jwasa, who had been seriously listening to my words alone, finally lost his reason and unleashed his palm strike towards me.
'No way!'
I had no choice but to counter Gwangmyeong Jwasa's palm strike with the palm strike of the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill.
A giant palm-shaped energy collided in the air.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
Gwangmyeong Jwasa was pushed back at a tremendous speed, and I was also pushed back three or four steps into the vast sky of the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff.
At that moment, I realized for the first time that Gwangmyeong Jwasa had mastered an extremely cold Martial arts.
'This bastard, he mastered Ice Skill.'
Jwasa was pushed back a little further, but my pride was also greatly hurt. It must have been because my injuries were deep.
I was really embarrassed because falling off the cliff wasn't in the plan.
Things in the world don't always go according to plan like this.
As I looked at the Demonic Sect getting further and further away while falling like this, I suddenly burst out laughing.
"Woohahahaha."
My laughter collided with the cliffs of the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff, and before I knew it, it echoed loudly enough to fill the sky and the earth.
Did the peach-flavored Celestial Jade make my laughter louder?
By the way, the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff was really deep.
I laughed loudly for a long time, but I was still falling.
* * *
My two legs were fine, and the strange energy of the Celestial Jade was wriggling in my dantian, so I had quite a bit of strength left despite being exhausted.
Anyway, this wasn't something I had planned either.
Just before hitting the ground, I offset the falling force with the Whirlwind Smile technique, rotated my body about three and a half times, and lightly landed on the ground with both feet.
An almost perfect landing.
"Hehehehe."
Suddenly, when I looked up at the sky, not only Gwangmyeong Jwasa but also the lowly low-ranking cultists who would surely die if they fell were jumping towards the bottom of the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff, that is, towards me without hesitation.
Although they were enemies, the sight of them jumping in a group at one command was so admirable that I couldn't help but applaud.
"Wow... crazy bastards."
The Demonic Sect was indeed the Demonic Sect. They were guys who would live and die at one command. That's why the Murim Alliance couldn't strike the Demonic Sect's headquarters.
"But half of them will die with full-body fractures."
In fact, screams filled the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff. There were also many who died instantly by hitting cliffs or protruding rocks.
As I watched those who were dying in vain, I once again understood Jwasa's words that no one in the Murim didn't fear the Cult Leader.
The Demonic Sect was truly a terrifying organization.
Of course, their official name is the Heavenly Demon Divine Church.
At this time, the Demonic Sect members who had been filling the sky suddenly disappeared without a trace, and even the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff and the blue sky instantly turned white.
"Hmm?"
Unbelievable.
Everything visible to the eye was dyed pure white.
In that place, a man who was emitting a brilliant light due to the strange backlight and whose face was not clearly visible was floating alone in the air and looking down at me.
Wow, I never thought I would be so surprised.
What is that guy?
In an instant, I intuitively knew that my life and death depended on that man's hands.
* * *
Surprisingly, I couldn't even hear the sound of the wind anymore.
In the silence as if the world had stopped for a moment, the unidentified man was slowly falling to the ground.
Damn it, what kind of Martial arts is that?
It's just amazing that there's a man who can fall from that high place with his hands behind his back.
When I quickly looked around, the bottom of the Ten Thousand Feet Cliff had turned pure white.
Then, the man who was showing an overwhelming presence came closer with his hands behind his back and said to me.
"To eat something containing souls so easily. You're a crazy guy."
I shuddered the moment I heard the other person's voice. It was a strange voice that seemed to be detached from worldly affairs and mixed with the confidence, courage, and dignity unique to martial artists.
This man was on a different level.
I asked.
"It's true that I'm crazy, but who are you?"
Only then could I see the unidentified man in detail.
His clothes were the same as those of a Murim person like me, but they were clothes that were long out of fashion. I felt an atmosphere like an absolute master who had jumped out of an old painting.
Even the best masters of the time that I had seen had an overwhelming presence that made it difficult to maintain their sanity in front of this man.
I knew quite a lot of information about the strong people of the Murim, but the man was really a mystery in himself. No man came to mind at all.
I blurted out my inner thoughts.
"You're really an amazing man."
I can say with certainty that I have never given such praise to anyone. Martial arts aside, it was really amazing that there was a man I didn't know in the Murim.
The man replied with an indifferent expression.
"I'm a bit great. You're holding up well in front of me too. You're brave. By the way, why did you swallow the Celestial Jade? There are countless souls of masters trapped in that Celestial Jade. They are in a state of not being able to return to the afterlife. Do you understand up to this point?"
"Do you think I'm a fool?"
The man touched his chin for a moment, pondered, and then continued.
"Now, the souls of those who couldn't return to the afterlife are going to stick to your soul."
"Hmm?"
"If you sleep, the souls will wake you up, if you eat, they will share the energy contained in the food, and the souls will stick to the people you touch. Inner energy will also go berserk to the point where you can't handle it."
In the meantime, I only picked out the good things to hear.
'Oh, I like the Inner energy.'
The man's words continued.
"You are now a living Celestial Jade, and at the same time, you have become a half-ghost. There is no possibility of living normally anymore."
"I've never lived normally in the first place."
"It looks like it. You've experienced Juhwa-ibma several times."
"How did you know that?"
"Look in the mirror when you have time. See if your eyes are normal... Juhwa-ibma is also accompanied by mental illness."
"Hmm, what would have happened if the Cult Leader had eaten this Celestial Jade instead of me? I didn't eat this because I wanted to eat it, but my priority was to prevent the Cult Leader from eating it."
The man smiled.
"You ate it with your own good intentions?"
"That's right."
It's true. For some reason, this man seemed to have the ability to see through lies. That's why he would know that my words weren't lies.
The man sighed and continued.
"That's true. The Celestial Jade is an object that goes against the natural order. If the Cult Leader had taken this, I would have annihilated the Cult Leader and then personally received the punishment for interfering in the human world. But things in the world don't go as expected."
Things in the world are so scary.
Even this great man didn't expect this to happen.
The man's words continued.
"Even so, those souls must return to the afterlife. That's the only way to judge the faults of their previous lives and divide them into the world after death. There are many people who lived quite good lives trapped inside, so it must be done."
"What should I do? It sounds like you're telling me, who's still alive, to die quickly. I can't do that. Take me to the Cult Leader instead. I think I can close my eyes in peace if I die together with that old bastard. After killing the Cult Leader, I will voluntarily commit suicide."
The man chuckled and replied.
"Don't try to be clever."
"Did you see through me? You're quick-witted."
"By the way, do you hate the Cult Leader that much?"
"What's the point of saying it?"
"Why?"
"Why? The Cult Leader doesn't see people as people. My lifelong wish was to beat the Cult Leader to death. If the Cult Leader asked me why, I was only going to say one thing."
I raised one finger.
But the man seemed to already know the answer I was going to say.
The man replied to my words.
"He doesn't see people as people?"
I nodded while looking into the man's eyes.
"That's exactly it. And that was the whole reason I was trying to kill the Cult Leader."
The man crossed his arms and smiled faintly.
"Good reason."
"Good reason?"
I stared at the man. Strangely enough, I could communicate with him quite well. I didn't believe it right away, but I thought this man was probably a being close to God.
The man unfolded his arms, sighed as if he had given up on something, pointed at me with his finger, and said this.
"Lee Jaha..."
My eyes widened.
'He even knows my name?'
The man's words continued.
"This is the last lifeline. Don't ever swallow the Celestial Jade again. After this, I'm also being punished, so I won't be able to help you. No matter what the outcome, I will treat you with good intentions. This will be the best choice and the best gift I can give you. I bless you."
The man stretched out one hand towards me.
Even in the meantime, I wondered if I was going to die from the man's energy.
In the circumstances, it wouldn't be.
Then, while I was wondering what the hell this was all about, the moment I was enveloped in the light that came out of the man's hand, my five senses disappeared in an instant.
'Huh?'
It seems like my consciousness is about to be cut off.
.
.
.
Am I dead?
It felt like my whole body was being shattered, but there was no pain.
Just before my consciousness was cut off, my soul whispered.I don't want to die yet.
Oh, for crying out loud...
I haven't even been with a beautiful woman once...
Damn it...!