Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: The Eccentric (2)
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* * *
Beyond the borders of Shaanxi Province, the road to Mount Hua was far from boring.
Not only were there many who occasionally discussed Ouyang Jue, but it was also due to the sudden appearance of a fellow traveler.
“Are you a beggar too?”
The man didn't answer directly, merely shrugging his shoulders.
Taking this in his own way, the beggar pointed to his waist.
There were two knots tied with a tattered cloth.
It was a fairly high rank, but the man blinked as if to say, 'So what?'
“What’s that?”
“Don’t play dumb.”
The beggar grinned.
“Forget it. It's embarrassing for beggars to pull rank on each other. I am Cheon Yu-gae of the Beggars' Sect.”
Though he said that, he seemed to take considerable pride in his rank, needlessly dusting off the knots a couple of times to make them more visible.
*'This is the first time I've seen a beggar dust off his clothes.'*
Watching Cheon Yu-gae's antics, the man let out a soft chuckle.
“What’s your name?”
“Divine Demon Fist.”
At those words, Cheon Yu-gae laughed as if it were a silly joke.
*'The world's greatest eccentric, the Divine Demon Fist? Good grief, the man is over seventy. What a ridiculous impersonation.'*
Realizing the man wasn't a beggar, Cheon Yu-gae's tone softened somewhat.
“Is that your real name? Or a title?”
“Well, I use it as both my real name and my title.”
As if he had thought it was just a joke, Cheon Yu-gae's expression turned serious as he asked.
“Are you serious?”
“Why would I lie about it?”
As the man, Divine Demon Fist, replied calmly, Cheon Yu-gae patted him on the shoulder.
“It's been so long since the Divine Demon Fist died. Why of all people would you impersonate him?”
“Died?”
Divine Demon Fist tilted his head and asked back. Growing a little frustrated, Cheon Yu-gae began to speak faster.
“They say the Divine Demon Fist died long ago in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, his limbs torn apart. Are you trying to fool me?”
Cheon Yu-gae shivered slightly, as if goosebumps had broken out on his skin.
The world's greatest eccentric, the Divine Demon Fist, was one thing, but the Hundred Thousand Mountains was a bloody history that should not be mentioned in the current martial world.
Having brought up two words he wouldn't even utter subconsciously, Cheon Yu-gae shook his head vigorously from side to side.
Then, seeing the questioning look still in Divine Demon Fist's eyes, he grew angry instead.
“Are you mad?”
“No, not mad. I just didn't know.”
“That's what being mad is! Everyone else knows, but you don't!”
“Is that so?”
Even as Cheon Yu-gae genuinely began to scold him, Divine Demon Fist remained undaunted and offered a grin.
His eyes held a strange sadness.
“I've been in a secluded place for a long time, so there's much I don't know. Thanks for telling me.”
“Thanks for what? The way you're going, you're just asking to die a miserable death somewhere.”
*'But how old is he to be talking so informally?'*
Cheon Yu-gae glanced back at Divine Demon Fist.
His disheveled hair, shabby clothes, and the leather gloves with a strange pattern were quite striking.
The characteristic curiosity of a Beggars' Sect member arose.
“By secluded place... does that mean you learned martial arts somewhere?”
“Martial arts? I was tricked by some damn bastard and wasted fifteen years, and now I'm on my way back.”
“What happened?”
At that, Divine Demon Fist gritted his teeth. It was an infuriating memory even now.
“He took me away, promising me medicine that would make my body tough if I took it regularly and a martial art that would put me among the top three in the martial world, and then what does he do? He just abandons me!”
“So? So what happened?”
“What do you mean, what happened!”
Divine Demon Fist yelled.
“He left with the pathetic excuse that he had nothing more to teach me. When I tried to return, I didn't know where I was, and it was so far that it took a whole five years!”
*Is this the typical story of a snake oil salesman's disciple?*
Cheon Yu-gae looked at Divine Demon Fist with eyes full of pity.
Then he inadvertently noticed a hole in the story.
*'In the end, he never said why he calls himself the Divine Demon Fist.'*
“Anyway….”
Divine Demon Fist let out a deep sigh.
“Top three in the martial world, my foot. I lost to some scrawny guy who was just passing by.”
“Do you remember who you lost to?”
“Damn it. Why ask that? Sizing up your opponent before a fight is something a woman would do.”
At those words, Cheon Yu-gae tilted his head again.
What Divine Demon Fist said made sense in many ways, yet it was also wrong.
This was because there were few places like the martial world where information was crucial and one needed to be quick-witted.
After all, wasn't this a place where a passing skinny person could turn out to be a master?
Amazed by Divine Demon Fist's absurdity, Cheon Yu-gae asked.
“So, where is this self-proclaimed Divine Demon Fist headed?”
“Mount Hua.”
“Mount Hua... you mean the Mount Hua Sect? We of the Beggars' Sect are on pretty good terms with them.”
“Thanks, but I don't need any more help.”
As his words grew increasingly curt, Cheon Yu-gae frowned.
He seemed to know nothing about the martial world, and it was time to correct his attitude a little.
“Hey! Do you think Mount Hua is some back-alley general store? You can't just show up unannounced without any business!”
“So what, should I crawl there?”
“You really!”
Unable to stand Divine Demon Fist's sarcasm any longer, Cheon Yu-gae scowled.
“Even if you're new to the martial world, aren't you a little too ignorant? Wander around like that, and you'll end up dead at the hands of some unorthodox warrior!”
“Dead? Me?”
As if he'd never considered the possibility, Divine Demon Fist grinned.
For those words meant there were many other strong fighters besides the first scrawny one he'd encountered.
However, Cheon Yu-gae understood it differently.
He took it as the bravado of an ignorant man.
“Look, you might have been considered a strong man where you lived, but this is the martial world. You never know when some eccentric master might pop out.”
Despite Cheon Yu-gae's attempts to gently admonish him, Divine Demon Fist didn't shed his spirited demeanor.
No, in fact, the hint of a smile on his face deepened.
The thrill and pleasure of potentially meeting even more powerful opponents coursed through his entire body.
Divine Demon Fist asked Cheon Yu-gae.
“Do I look weak to you?”
“...What?”
“Do I look weak enough to die a miserable death in the martial world, is what I'm asking.”
Wondering if it was time to stop, Cheon Yu-gae looked at Divine Demon Fist with disdain.
“Good grief.”
Cheon Yu-gae's gaze fell on Divine Demon Fist's temples.
They weren't just flat; they seemed sunken.
To Cheon Yu-gae, he looked like someone with delicate hands who had never practiced martial arts.
Did such a man look strong?
“I'm just a beggar, so I'll only laugh at you like this, but if you act this way at the main gate of Mount Hua, you won't escape a beating. So stop with the bravado.”
“Bravado. You're saying if I act up, I'll die.”
Slap. Cheon Yu-gae slapped his knee.
“Yes! That's it! There was a simpler way to explain it!”
At that, Divine Demon Fist stared intently at Cheon Yu-gae's actions.
Then, he suddenly let out a chuckle.
To think he had inherited the name Divine Demon Fist from his damn master, only to be treated like this, was quite amusing.
But the fun ended there.
“In that case, since you told me, a weakling, not to act up, you must be prepared to die at my hands, right?”
“If you keep this up, I'll get serious….”
*Grip.*
Just then, Divine Demon Fist lightly clenched his right hand. The wind blowing along the road momentarily reversed its course.
*'What. What is this!'*
Cheon Yu-gae's face changed completely. This was not the kind of aura an ignorant strongman from some village could emit.
A sharper, more sinister energy.
It pierced his skin more intensely than when he had witnessed the martial arts of the Diancang Sect, which specialized in swift swordsmanship.
“Wait, you. Your martial arts….”
“When learning martial arts, remain silent. When displaying strength, do not add superfluous words.”
Divine Demon Fist muttered words his master often said.
Now, he was beginning to understand.
Strength wasn't shown with one's mouth, but with a simple fist.
What a waste of time.
“Hoo.”
Divine Demon Fist took a deep breath. His lungs, filled with hot air, trembled.
Every fine hair on his body tingled. His muscles creaked as they prepared for battle.
“Shaking Heaven.”
He placed his fist by his side as if ready to strike at any moment, and extended his other hand forward.
It was a typical, unremarkable straight-punch stance.
If that were all, Cheon Yu-gae would not have frozen.
Divine Demon Fist parted his lips slightly. What followed was a lightning energy that seemed capable of instantly turning ten men to ash.
“One Lightning Strike.”
*CRACK! KRA-KA-KOOM!*
An intense lightning energy erupted from his fist. Because of it, a part of Divine Demon Fist's clothing was burnt black.
Unlike the one Ouyang Jue had once used against the Black Dragon Gang's Shadow Assassins, the Shaking Heaven, One Lightning Strike unleashed by Divine Demon Fist contained a considerably more mature level of lightning energy.
The materialized lightning energy possessed enough killing power to take a life.
Its speed was also incomparable to any fire or water energy.
It was so fast that it seemed to reach its target the moment it was unleashed.
*Grit—*
Watching it, Cheon Yu-gae clenched his teeth hard. Seeing it? No, it was a sense faster than sight.
Danger.
The instincts he had honed since joining the Beggars' Sect were screaming at him to roll away, anywhere.
“Damn it!”
*'I picked a fight with the wrong person!'*
Cheon Yu-gae wondered how he should beg for Divine Demon Fist to spare him.
Indeed, in the society of beggars, there was a saying: if you have no discernment, you die. It meant you had to be smart to survive.
But this was just too much.
“You son of a bitch! I give you a little advice, and you try to burn me to death?”
“…”
There was no answer.
Only the sound of a fist cutting through the air.
A flicker, followed by a flash of light.
*KABOOM, CRASH!*
The fist art Divine Demon Fist unleashed was more sublime and overwhelming than any martial art Cheon Yu-gae had ever seen.
Not even the first disciple of the Huangbo Clan was at this level.
Cheon Yu-gae hurriedly searched for an excuse.
“If you do this in front of Mount Hua, all the Daoists from the Mount Hua Sect will come out to deal with you! Don't you know the Martial Alliance is also trying to get on Mount Hua's good side these days?”
“I don't.”
“Right, so… Huh?”
*CRACK, BOOM!*
With the next strike, the knots tied at his waist were scorched black.
*Whoosh.*
A wind from the west carried away the ashen knots.
Cheon Yu-gae's expression turned momentarily blank, then filled with fierce anger.
“This crazy, bastard…! Are you saying you're not afraid of the Martial Alliance, the Daoist sects of Shaanxi, or the government officials?”
“Well. My master used to say this.”
Divine Demon Fist's body seemed to stretch out, and in an instant, he pummeled Cheon Yu-gae's entire upper body.
“Gah!”
Cheon Yu-gae doubled over, vomiting what was inside him. Bright red blood trickled out.
His internal organs were surely damaged.
Cheon Yu-gae's eyes grew cloudy.
“Do not fear what you have not seen. First, confront it, see its true nature, and prepare. Authority is merely a way to rule the foolish.”
“………?!”
At those words, a startled Cheon Yu-gae asked.
“Don't tell me, your master is….”
“Just as you said, it seems in the martial world, you have to beat some sense into people before they come to their senses.”
Divine Demon Fist said nonchalantly.
“Divine Demon Fist. Whether it's me or that old man, this name is enough.”
“Good heavens…!”
“But if you're thinking of blabbing about this elsewhere, you'd better not. I've got a rough idea of what kind of storm this name will stir up, thanks to your reaction.”
Divine Demon Fist's gaze turned remarkably sharp.
Unlike his reckless behavior until now, his eyes were as cunning and sly as a fox's.
* * *
“It's a bit noisy down the mountain.”
At Liu Zhangming's words, Ouyang Jue rose from his seat and grabbed Severing Manifestation. He straightened his Daoist robes and didn't forget to fasten his belt.
*Click.*
As Severing Manifestation seemed to be securely fastened, Ouyang Jue smiled leisurely.
“I'll go see for myself.”
As if he already knew who was there.