Chapter 308
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 308
Chapter Title: Righteous Energy...
Hyun-gil's face was filled with embarrassment.
He had no choice.
Wasn't this outsider declaring his intent to enter the Scripture Pavilion?
He had to stop him.
But the problem was that he couldn't stop this particular person.
"The Scripture Pavilion is one of Shaolin's most restricted areas. It's not a place just anyone can enter. Especially not an outsider."
Even so, Hyun-gil said what needed to be said.
Ha Mu-baek asked,
"Then how must I proceed if I wish to enter?"
"You would need the permission of the sect leader... that is, the abbot."
"The abbot... Hm. Hyeon-gwang? His condition isn't fit for that right now, is it?"
Just as Ha Mu-baek said.
Hyeon-gwang's current state was far from ideal.
His dantian was cracked and fractured all over.
No matter how much he circulated his qi, the wounds wouldn't close.
The time he could afford to stop circulating was barely one-quarter of an hour.
Any longer, and the dantian would suffer irreparable damage, shattering completely.
Hyeon-gwang was currently pouring all his effort into circulating his qi.
He was in no position to permit entry into the Scripture Pavilion.
"What exactly did you do to the abbot, senior brother?"
The words "dirty trick" rose to his throat but didn't come out.
He had witnessed the entire scene himself.
He knew no such thing had happened.
"It was the guy's own doing."
Ha Mu-baek said it like it was no big deal.
"His own doing...?"
Hyun-gil tilted his head in confusion.
"The energy that damaged Hyeon-gwang's dantian mimicked the nature of the qi you possess."
Hyun-gil jumped in surprise.
Was such a thing even possible?
Wasn't the nature of one's qi a unique trait of the individual and their cultivation method?
For this man to speak so casually about something that defied all common sense.
Was this why he was a monster?
"It's originally the nature of your qi, so you should know it best, right?"
At Ha Mu-baek's question, Hyun-gil fell deep into thought.
It was the qi he had cultivated through the Reverse Muscle Rejuvenation Scripture.
From within it, one fragment of the primordial shards had suddenly emerged.
'The abyss is the righteous energy that illuminates the world as part of the light.'
That was the will of the abyss transmitted to Hyun-gil upon their first encounter.
"Righteous energy..."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled once more.
"They called it 'brilliant light,' you monks."
He was referring to the time Hyun-gil first unleashed his qi against Hyeon-hwang.
"No matter how much he circulates with inner strength harboring a heart demon of vengeance against the unorthodox sects deep in his heart, do you think he can expel the energy I left cracking his dantian? Blocking it from worsening is probably the best he can do."
Unlike his usual self, Ha Mu-baek straightforwardly explained the reason.
Now that he knew the cause, the solution was clear.
Eliminate the heart demon.
Not just claim to have removed it to deceive Archimandrite Gwanghae.
He had to truly cast aside the heart demon and delusions with a mind as clear as a mirror.
If he failed...
His dantian would shatter.
The time he could stop circulating was a mere quarter-hour.
Enough for eating and relieving himself, perhaps.
But as a human, he needed at least two hours of sleep a day.
Though fatigue eased during circulation, allowing minimal sleep, that wouldn't last.
One or two days, maybe.
Eventually, sleep was unavoidable.
Not a few months, but after a year, he'd hit his limit.
Then Hyeon-gwang's dantian would inevitably shatter.
But if he overcame the heart demon?
He wouldn't view the unorthodox with such twisted disdain anymore.
Subdue the demon within.
Eliminate evil decisively.
Reveal truth by shattering falsehoods.
Following Shaolin's path steadfastly, without selfish desires.
Success meant rebirth as a true abbot fitting Shaolin.
Failure meant losing his dantian and becoming an ordinary man.
Either way, Hyeon-gwang would at least survive.
Hyun-gil infusing his qi could make blocking the cracks a bit easier for him.
Now that he understood why Hyun-gil's qi worked, after hearing Ha Mu-baek.
But considering what Hyeon-gwang had done, it was absurdly lenient.
Hyeon-gwang had released Hyeon-hwang.
To capture one person.
That person being the daughter of Ha Mu-baek's benefactor.
That was what Hyun-gil had heard in his private meeting with Hyeon-gwang.
So Hyeon-hwang's death was understandable.
The Ha Mu-baek described by senior brother Hyeon-gwang was a monster utterly devoted to favors and grudges.
Yet he showed such leniency to senior brother Hyeon-gwang.
It was incomprehensible.
Perhaps sensing that gaze, Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"I owe him a debt. To that monk Hyeon-gwang."
Such a thing had happened?
"During the last Martial World Conference, a few of my subordinates received help. They owe him their lives."
His subordinates had received life-saving grace from senior brother Hyeon-gwang.
Had Hyeon-gwang intended that?
Or was it just rampaging against Blood Cult and Demonic Cult fiends?
Whatever the intent, the result was the same.
"I spared Hyeon-gwang and even told him how to recover. Plus, I dealt with that public enemy of the martial world he couldn't kill and only sealed. In return, adding it to my subordinates' life debts, my entry into the Scripture Pavilion settles the score."
Hyeon-gwang's heart demon toward the unorthodox had brought disaster.
But it also paved a straighter path for Shaolin.
The ways of the world were truly unknowable.
"Amitabha. Noble Buddha..."
Hyun-gil could only chant in response to Ha Mu-baek's proposal.
"This is not for me to decide alone. We must discuss it, so please wait a moment."
With that, Hyun-gil leaped into the air and descended toward Shaolin Temple on the mid-slope of Soseol Peak.
"..."
Lips pressed tight.
Hyeon-gwang focused on circulating his qi.
His dantian, riddled with cracking fissures, a complete mess.
Left as is, it seemed ready to shatter at any moment.
He poured all his power into repairing the cracks with inner qi.
Fortunately,
The cracks were salvageable.
Any deeper, and even a divine immortal couldn't heal it.
'Master...'
Amid concentrating on his dantian, other thoughts intruded on Hyeon-gwang.
Resentment toward his master.
The inner method he cultivated.
Prajna Great Ability Method.
One of the top-tier arts among the seventy-two ultimate skills.
He had been able to learn it because he was Hyeon-gwang.
But now, that didn't matter.
Only Hyun-gil's Reverse Muscle Rejuvenation Scripture came to mind.
The qi Hyun-gil infused had temporarily sealed some cracks.
They reopened as soon as his qi depleted.
So resentment toward his master was inevitable.
If only he'd learned the Reverse Muscle Rejuvenation Scripture instead of Prajna Great Ability, these cracks would be nothing.
Yet Hyeon-gwang diligently operated the Prajna Great Ability now.
He had no choice; otherwise, the cracks would spread.
In one corner of the abbot's quarters, Hyeon-gwang chewed the rice cakes his disciples brought, devoting himself solely to circulation.
His situation felt utterly wretched.
"It's Hyun-gil. I'm coming in, Abbot senior brother."
That day.
The day Hyeon-hwang died.
His true face exposed before the likes of Vajra Arhat and Shaolin's eminent disciples.
Yet the disciples still treated Hyeon-gwang as Shaolin's sect leader, the abbot.
Even Hyun-gil, who had looked at him with cold eyes that day.
"What is it?"
Hyeon-gwang's eyes held a subtle expectation as he asked.
Hoping for another infusion of qi.
He knew it was temporary.
But even that moment brought relief.
"Benefactor Ha has come to visit."
Contrary to his expectation, Hyeon-gwang frowned at the reply.
"Then that vibration just now..."
Hyeon-gwang in the abbot's quarters had also felt the tremor on Soseol Peak.
"It was calling for me."
"I have no time."
Hyeon-gwang said curtly.
Indeed.
A mere quarter-hour.
Hyun-gil swiftly relayed what Ha Mu-baek had told him, in brief.
Hearing it all, Hyeon-gwang trembled with rage.
What insolent meddling was this?
Overcome the heart demon to recover the dantian?
"If I just learned the Reverse Muscle Rejuvenation Scripture..."
Hyeon-gwang said, but Hyun-gil shook his head.
"It won't work with the heart demon lingering, senior brother. Whether Reverse Muscle Rejuvenation or Prajna Great Ability."
It was a property of one primordial fragment, a piece of the light.
"Ha Mu-baek..."
Grinding.
Hyeon-gwang gnashed his teeth.
"Benefactor Ha says he owes you a debt, so he'll end it here. Senior brother, perhaps use this chance to break free from the heart demon..."
Hyeon-gwang chewed his lips.
"A debt? Him?"
"A life debt from his subordinates."
"Ah..."
Something came to mind.
During the last Martial World Conference.
He had rescued the Hocheon Corps in peril, alongside the Vajra Arhats.
In smashing the enemies, he'd found them there.
They said they'd fallen into a trap.
Ha Mu-baek wasn't there.
He was attacking elsewhere.
Had Ha Mu-baek been present, they wouldn't have been in danger.
"Wait a moment."
Hyeon-gwang resumed circulation.
The quarter-hour was nearly up.
Hyeon-gwang's mind was a whirlwind during circulation.
A way to survive had appeared.
Losing his dantian and becoming mortal? Unimaginable for Hyeon-gwang.
He was a warrior and a denizen of the jianghu before being a monk.
Roughly half a double-hour.
That much circulation sealed the urgent cracks again.
Hyeon-gwang opened his eyes.
"And he wants to enter the Scripture Pavilion. To search for traces of demonic arts. That'll settle the debt."
"Insolent..."
Hyeon-gwang disliked Ha Mu-baek's attitude.
But there was no choice.
That man would force his way in.
No one in Shaolin could stop him.
Was there anyone in the world?
He'd thought Hyeon-hwang, who stole a scripture from the pavilion and cultivated something from it, might match him.
It was Hyeon-hwang's delusion, his own delusion.
Then,
Settling it as payment for revealing his recovery method, as Ha Mu-baek proposed, seemed proper.
Though Ha Mu-baek had damaged the dantian.
'Giving the disease and the cure...'
He hated it.
But no alternative.
"Understood. Consult with Hyeon-chuk. Tell him I've permitted it."
With that, Hyeon-gwang closed his eyes.
"May you break free from the heart demon and achieve great success. Amitabha."
Hyun-gil pressed his palms together toward his senior brother and left the abbot's quarters for the Scripture Pavilion.
After that, things proceeded smoothly.
They had already witnessed Ha Mu-baek's divine might.
If they fought to the death,
If all of Shaolin rose up,
They might block him.
But was it worth it?
He wasn't after the pavilion's manuals, just checking for demonic traces?
And the abbot had already permitted it?
Thus, Hyeon-chuk allowed Ha Mu-baek's entry with a few conditions.
The other eminents didn't strongly object either.
Hyun-gil climbed Soseol Peak again with the news.
"You're too late."
A curt remark.
"One double-hour in the Scripture Pavilion. Exactly one double-hour, Benefactor Ha."
Hyun-gil's words upon arrival.
"That's plenty."
"And you must not peruse any martial arts manuals."
"No interest."
"And just in case, Pavilion Lord Hyeon-chuk will accompany you."
"As long as he doesn't get in the way."
The conditions were settled quickly.
"Then when will you enter the Scripture Pavilion?"
"Now."
Ha Mu-baek answered as if it were obvious.
The two headed to Shaolin Temple together.
"The intruder who entered the Scripture Pavilion. That bastard Hyeon-hwang, right?"
"Yes."
He had already suspected and confirmed it then.
"What did that bastard take from the Scripture Pavilion?"
"A Buddhist scripture called the Thousand-Handed Sarira Prajna Sutra."
"Not a manual?"
"A scripture."
Ha Mu-baek's expression shifted subtly.
"Hyeon-hwang vanished with it, then popped up over there."
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Jungeuk Peak.
"Damn. Too distracted, I forgot the more important spot."
Indeed.
The hidden cave where Hyeon-hwang lurked.
He hid with the Thousand-Handed Sarira Prajna Sutra and emerged stronger from there.
Then something stronger than the Scripture Pavilion's lingering scent might remain.
Even the sutra's manual.
"I need to check there first. Wait at Shaolin Temple."
"Understood. Amitabha."
Ha Mu-baek leaped into the air and vanished toward Jungeuk Peak.