Chapter 602
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 602
Chapter Title: You Can't Let the Kids Go Hungry
Ha Mu-baek showed a slightly surprised expression.
He had only heard that it had been quite a struggle, not that its power was on par with a transcendent master who had reached the Flower Realm.
Those had been truly brutal times.
Analyzing what was already over was Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong's job, while Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong and the Hocheon Corps fought new battles on fresh fronts.
Ha Mu-baek himself had been drenched in the blood of the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult across ever-shifting battlefields.
"We still haven't figured out the cause or principle behind that rampage. It's still a complete mystery."
The Heavenly Eye Pavilion agent's explanation continued.
"From analyzing Vice Corps Leader Dam's report, there was a moment you could call a rampage... or an awakening. That's how he escaped. If it happens repeatedly... That's why the Pavilion Lord sent a letter to Corps Leader Ha."
The agent's gaze lingered on the sealed letter in Ha Mu-baek's hand.
Ha Mu-baek tore open the seal and scanned the contents.
It detailed a bit more what he'd just heard.
And at the end:
'Please lend us your strength.'
It was a plea.
He must have been in a rush to phrase it that way, but what if Ha Mu-baek refused?
Orders would come down from the Fierce Dragon Corps.
Of course, he could refuse, but they knew he wouldn't.
After all, Ha Mu-baek needed the Righteous Heaven Alliance's power right now too.
He'd borrowed their authority just recently with the Huashan Sect incident.
And the letter wasn't all.
Tucked between the lines in code were instructions.
'Damn Soul-Devouring Great Law.'
It was a request to help check if the Soul-Devouring Great Law or the Eternal Captive Ghost Forest Demonic Array had been unleashed on any other sects.
After investing in disciples, now he had to wander the world.
He couldn't refuse this order either.
No, he had no intention of refusing.
Ha Mu-baek organized his thoughts and looked back at Cheol Dam-gae.
'We have used the Beggar's Sect quite a bit...'
Whenever he needed information, he'd naturally head to a branch and demand it outright.
The Beggar's Sect had helped him greatly all this time.
That was undeniable.
So now it was his turn to help them.
However.
His gaze lingered on his disciples sleeping in the cart.
This might be why he'd never taken disciples until now.
Having weaknesses in his movements.
Calling disciples he had to protect and care for "weaknesses" was absurd.
But taking them did restrict his freedom.
Just like now.
That's why Ha Mu-baek had gone without disciples so far.
He had to smash the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
Was it because he'd completely destroyed the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest and eradicated the Blood Cult's lair?
Or had he gained some other realization?
Whatever the case, Ha Mu-baek had ultimately accepted the two fated children as disciples.
And now the moment of choice that came with it was upon him.
Ha Mu-baek looked at Cheol Dam-gae again.
"Take care of those two kids. Make no mistake—they're my disciples."
Cheol Dam-gae's face lit up at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"Of course! I'll stake my life to ensure nothing happens to them."
Ha Mu-baek stared steadily at Cheol Dam-gae as he said it.
He scanned the man's insides thoroughly with the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye.
'Still nothing.'
What Ha Mu-baek worried about was the Demonic Cult's Soul-Devouring Great Law.
After the Huashan Sect incident, he'd clearly realized it.
The Nine Great Sects, Eight Great Clans, New Eight Schools.
Demonic Cult seeds could have infiltrated anywhere via the Soul-Devouring Great Law.
Even Huashan Sect's sect leader hadn't escaped it.
The problem was there was no way to distinguish them.
Soul-Devouring.
As it literally devoured the soul, internal energy showed no changes.
Not even the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye could detect it.
Only when the devoured soul shattered did demonic energy leak out.
'I need a way.'
There were ways, but they were too cumbersome.
That's why he was thinking of something like the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye. Not right now, though.
'In the end, I need to evolve the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye further.'
Ha Mu-baek stopped his thoughts and looked at Cheol Dam-gae.
"Old man. You hear about Huashan?"
"Huashan?"
Ha Mu-baek suddenly asking about Huashan.
Of course, Cheol Dam-gae knew.
Not the exact details, but he knew Sect Leader No Hu-myeong had passed.
It was truly regrettable.
A great star of the martial world had fallen.
And that it was the Demonic Cult's scheme made it all the more lamentable.
As that thought crossed his mind.
"Is it because of the Demonic Cult?"
Cheol Dam-gae asked Ha Mu-baek, who nodded in response.
"That's why I need to check something with you."
The Beggar's Sect knew everything under heaven.
Even their vice branch leader hadn't fully grasped the Soul-Devouring Great Law yet.
"What is it?"
Cheol Dam-gae asked, ready for anything.
"Give me your pulse."
Ha Mu-baek said calmly, but Cheol Dam-gae's eyebrow twitched.
Offering his pulse meant entrusting his life to Ha Mu-baek.
Cheol Dam-gae's twitching eyebrow soon stilled as he extended his right wrist.
The hesitation lasted only as long as that twitch.
He offered it immediately, as if no thought was needed.
Just startled by the unexpected condition.
"If it's you, then."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled at the added words.
Then he gripped the wrist and pushed in his internal energy.
"Don't be too shocked."
A short warning.
Then Ha Mu-baek's internal energy surged like a flood through Cheol Dam-gae's meridians.
Cheol Dam-gae offered no resistance.
He just let it flow as it would.
Ha Mu-baek's energy racing through the meridians headed for Cheol Dam-gae's head—the upper dantian.
The vessel of the soul, the upper dantian.
If devoured by soul-eating, there'd surely be something off there.
However, being the upper dantian, even Ha Mu-baek couldn't access it without probing the pulse or Mingmen acupoint.
Ha Mu-baek's energy arrived at Cheol Dam-gae's upper dantian.
Suddenly, its nature shifted dramatically.
Cheol Dam-gae was startled.
No, he nearly jolted up.
But recalling Ha Mu-baek's casual warning before the energy entered, he forcibly held back.
'Don't be shocked? By this?'
Cheol Dam-gae's shock had a simple reason.
Ha Mu-baek's energy had taken on a new quality.
Demonic energy.
To be precise, Ha Mu-baek had unleashed void energy, but Cheol Dam-gae perceived it as demonic qi.
If the man before him weren't Ha Mu-baek, he would have leaped up and unleashed a palm strike.
He knew how much Ha Mu-baek hated the Demonic Cult and Blood Cult, and recalled his prior heads-up, so he endured.
Ha Mu-baek's energy circled the upper dantian area for a time.
Then he nodded and released the hand.
"What the hell was that?"
Cheol Dam-gae had to ask.
Ha Mu-baek had pushed energy into his meridians, and it had turned to demonic qi.
"Well, you draw in the world's energies and turn them to internal energy. No law says it can't become any worldly energy."
Ha Mu-baek grinned.
He kept smiling at Cheol Dam-gae's baffled look.
No reaction despite infusing void energy near the upper dantian.
If soul-devoured by the Soul-Devouring Great Law, the deep demonic qi there should have reacted.
"Then I'll trust you with them, old man. The kids are asleep, so let's head out tomorrow morning after I explain."
Cheol Dam-gae nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
The Heavenly Eye Pavilion agent sighed in relief.
Were tensions finally easing?
Grrrrowl.
Growl.
The same sound rumbled from Cheol Dam-gae and the agent's stomachs simultaneously.
Ha Mu-baek stared at them wordlessly.
"Uh, got anything to eat?"
Ha Mu-baek silently pulled ingredients from a box under the cart and whipped up simple porridge for them.
"You can't let the kids go hungry."
Cheol Dam-gae nodded vigorously at Ha Mu-baek's words as he devoured the porridge.
"Don't worry. Even if I starve, I'll make sure the kids eat properly."
He looked up and declared resolutely.
Thus, their belated dinner ended, and night deepened further.
The bonfire had gone out.
In the settled silence, broken only by insects, everyone lay down to sleep.
Even without the fire, Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun felt warmth and slumbered deeply.
Thanks to Ha Mu-baek's energy enveloping the siblings.
[Ten Thousand Demons Soul-Devouring Incarnation Divine Law.]
Cheol Dam-gae flinched at Ha Mu-baek's sudden telepathic message.
He'd been pondering the demonic qi Ha Mu-baek had emitted.
Even so, Ha Mu-baek emitting demonic qi?
He couldn't fathom why, and it gave him a headache.
With urgency and hunger gone, all his nerves focused there.
Sensing that, Ha Mu-baek sent the transmission.
[Wait in Luoyang. Go to the Righteous Heaven Alliance's Heavenly Eye Pavilion and secretly relay what I told you to Gong Son. He'll explain roughly. Trust only the Alliance Leader and Gong Son. No one else. The Demonic Cult bastards are up to nasty tricks.]
[What the hell does that mean?]
Cheol Dam-gae asked back in shock.
He could guess why Ha Mu-baek transmitted now.
Because of the Heavenly Eye Pavilion agent's ears.
Sending it this way meant the agent was trusted by Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong, yet Ha Mu-baek still cautioned.
[Ask Gong Son alone, via transmission.]
With that admonition, Ha Mu-baek said no more.
'Damn...'
Cheol Dam-gae's mind grew complicated.
'What storms are brewing in the martial world?'
First Heavenly Demon Church, now Demonic Cult.
Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
Stubbornly lurking in the shadows.
Dragging the martial world into chaos.
Cheol Dam-gae couldn't sleep a wink.
Morning broke.
Ha Mu-baek gave his disciples a brief explanation, instructed them to follow Cheol Dam-gae, then kicked off into lightness skill.
Shuuuuwuuung.
The siblings gaped at their master's back vanishing in an instant.
It was incomparably faster than their journey so far.
To the point where even a dot was no longer visible.
Only now did they realize the trip had been paced entirely for them.
"Alright, time for us to go too. Our goal is Luoyang for now. We'll stay there until your master returns."
Cheol Dam-gae said, gripping the reins.
He now wore clean black martial robes.
At dawn, about an hour after falling asleep.
Ha Mu-baek woke him and sent him to a mountain waterfall.
Since he'd be with the disciples, no more beggar rags.
The black robes were spares Ha Mu-baek carried.
Bought along with the cart.
As Beggar's Sect vice branch leader, beggar and symbol of the sect, he couldn't shed his rags lightly.
But given the situation.
Cheol Dam-gae shed the rags and washed off decades of grime.
Not just once, either.
Ha Mu-baek sent him back twice, saying the smell lingered.
When he asked why go this far, the answer left Cheol Dam-gae speechless.
"The sleeping kids grimaced when you appeared. A bit stronger stink and they'd have woken."
Precisely, Ha Mu-baek had sealed their acupoints just a tad later.
He knew points to numb taste and smell.
Subtly flicking hidden energy to seal them.
Cheol Dam-gae and the agent, mid-conversation, hadn't noticed the stealthy move at all.
Worthy of Ha Mu-baek indeed.