The Second Tomb and the Heavenly Demon's Legacy
The interior of the Second Tomb was filled with various mechanical traps and formations. However, Seong-jin and his party never had to face them.
“It’s strange... it feels like the traps aren't targeting us at all...?”
The mechanical formations installed in the tomb sensed that the rightful successor had entered and simply let the party pass through. When Danmok-cheong voiced his suspicion, Seong-jin replied nonchalantly.
“They must be broken from age.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
It wouldn't be strange for mechanisms buried underground for a long time without maintenance to break down. Of course, Seong-jin knew that the formations here weren't broken, but there was no way for Danmok-cheong to realize that fact.
With the threat gone, the party could afford to relax and admire the murals of the Second Tomb spread out before them. The murals were crumbling bit by bit as the tomb was excavated. Judging by the remaining fragments, it seemed to depict the Heavenly Demon refining the Heavenly Demon Divine Art while battling the world.
Danmok-cheong, who had been examining the murals, suddenly spoke up.
“...The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is called a ‘Divine Art’ rather than a ‘Demonic Art’ because it achieves the state of transcending demons. If so, why not release its oral formulas to the world?”
“If that were the case, it makes no sense that I’m the only one treated like a freak in my sect.”
Young-myeong felt aggrieved by Danmok-cheong’s radical question.
“If you think about it, the reason the Demonic practitioners are a problem is that they suddenly go mad and run wild, right? But if they regained their sanity through the formulas of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, wouldn't that be saving the people who would otherwise be sacrificed at their hands?”
“That won't work.”
It was a sound argument in its own way. It was just impossible to implement in that manner.
“If the formulas were released, the damage caused by the madness of Demonic Arts would indeed decrease. However, if it became known that one could regain their sanity at any time even after practicing Demonic Arts, more and more people would increase their cultivation with all sorts of horrific Demonic Arts, only trying to avoid the side effects.”
Just looking at the case of the Fire-Eye Sword Demon proves this. Would he stop butchering people just because he regained his sanity after using the slaughter to raise his cultivation realm? Rather, he would likely butcher commoners even more actively, thinking that the weakness of his martial art had disappeared.
“As the side effects vanish and Demonic Arts become easily accessible, there could actually be more victims. That is the reason why a Divine Art must strictly adhere to the precept of ‘not passing it on to the unworthy.’”
The reason the Heavenly Demon didn't try to save every demonic practitioner in the world, but instead settled on the Heavenly Mountain and selectively accepted those who came to him, must also be for that very reason. Seong-jin didn't need to ask to understand the meaning behind those actions.
“Therefore, we cannot hand over the formulas of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to the Bokma-jeon.”
Finally, they arrived at the heart of the Second Tomb chamber. There, they found a visitor.
“You’re here?”
There stood a staff glowing with a jade light, and sitting in front of it was Maegu, smiling bashfully.
“You’re faster than I thought. It would have been better if you were a little later.”
As Maegu said this, she tapped the staff with the tip of her toe, and every time it touched, the area scorched and emitted smoke.
“The Green Jade Staff! To think that a sacred relic of Shaolin was here...!”
Although a Shaolin monk hadn't officially verified it, the smoke rising every time Maegu’s toe touched it was no illusion. The Green Jade Staff contained the energy of ‘crushing evil and revealing the truth,’ making it an object a demon could not easily touch. For Maegu to take it, she would need significant preparations.
“Did you discover this place first but fail to find a way to take the Green Jade Staff?”
“Yes. I tried to make a temporary barrier to take it, but it took too long to interpret the staff’s energy.”
“It is said that the Green Jade Staff contains the energy of Bodhidharma, so a demon like you wouldn't be able to touch it easily.”
The party assumed a combat stance, but they did not strike rashly, watching the situation instead. Considering Maegu’s Unity of Body and Sword, it was nearly impossible to catch her right here.
In their previous encounter, Maegu had shown the divine skill of turning herself into sea foam to escape by using Unity of Body and Sword. If they approached clumsily, she would flee again. She was a cunning fox who would be hard to catch unless a trap was prepared with certainty.
“Even though Zhuge Hyeok and the Murim Alliance warriors are surrounding the outside?”
“Dealing with demonic arts is different from dealing with martial arts. If you clash without information about your opponent, it is a certain defeat.”
When Danmok-cheong, who had no experience fighting demons, asked, Young-myeong answered instead.
“So, a battle against a demon should be considered similar to facing a Peak-level master.”
The Unity of Body and Sword of a Peak-level master was truly absolute, possessing the power to render almost all means of lower realms useless. In the Jianghu, it is generally believed that to face a Peak-level master, one needs another Peak-level master who can also use Unity of Body and Sword. Realistically, since there is no force that can handle the exchange ratio when there is no Peak-level master, a direct match is the only solution.
However, sending an ally’s Peak-level master against the enemy’s Peak-level master was not everything.
“They say the most important thing in a fight between Peak-level masters is the compatibility of their Unity of Body and Sword. It’s the same for demons.”
A fight between Peak-level masters is often evaluated as having the outcome decided before the fight even begins. If you don't know the opponent’s Unity of Body and Sword, you have no choice but to be unilaterally struck, and even if you know it, if it’s a type of Unity of Body and Sword that cannot be countered due to compatibility, you have to be unilaterally struck again. How much more so for Maegu, who is both a Peak-level master and a demon?
“Therefore, unless the absolute master, the Lady of the Green Wall, was guarding our backs, it is hard to easily trust Zhuge Hyeok, who is merely a Peak-level master.”
“That’s a harsh assessment.”
“He wouldn't have left us to enter first because he lacked reflexes.”
Zhuge Hyeok had tried to use them as bait. Of course, it was Seong-jin who had shown the impulsive behavior first, but the fact that he didn't stop them meant he at least intended to reap the benefits of the situation.
‘Those who have forgotten the teachings of the Sage and are buried in an order like that of beasts.’
The strong become the masters. At first glance, it seems that even if one is a child of a concubine, they can achieve much through acquired effort regardless of their origin, but in reality, it is not such a wonderful thing.
“You look like you’re about to start a sword fight right now. But I have no intention of fighting? Besides, there’s no way to carry that out while there’s interference.”
The energy contained in the Green Jade Staff was pushing away Maegu’s demonic energy, so no matter how strong she was, combat was impossible while holding it.
“Should I believe the words of a demon?”
“I am being sincere.”
Even if her demonic energy fades, Maegu still has the power built up through martial arts. If Maegu had been a common demon, she would have returned to being an ordinary demon the moment she touched that staff. It was a pity, but it wasn't all bad. She could check that fact while she was at it.
“If you truly can’t believe me, consider it a dowry, so you take it, Darling!”
Saying that, Maegu grabbed the Green Jade Staff with a hand covered in Gong-gi (fist energy) and threw it toward Seong-jin. The Gong-gi made of demonic energy collapsed the moment it touched the Green Jade Staff, but Maegu was able to throw it before her hand burned.
A surprise throw by a master who had reached the Peak realm. Considering that it was the Green Jade Staff, one of the treasures of Shaolin and, by extension, the entire Murim, it was impossible to avoid. Seong-jin unfolded his Geumna-su (Golden Capture Hand) to receive the Green Jade Staff, and Maegu heightened her vision to the limit.
Her pupils split vertically, turning into the eyes of a beast like a fox. It was a powerful internal energy operation strong enough to partially break even her transformation technique. As a result, Maegu could see Seong-jin receiving the Green Jade Staff. Even though demonic energy was contained in his middle dantian, he was receiving the energy of ‘crushing evil and revealing the truth’ without any damage by using a mysterious oral formula.
“Ahahahaha! Yes! That was it after all!”
Just as Seong-jin, who harbored demonic energy, could sense Maegu’s demonic energy, Maegu, who harbored demonic energy, could also feel the demonic energy located in Seong-jin’s middle dantian. If he were a demonic practitioner who had learned Demonic Arts, he should have been damaged by the energy of the Green Jade Staff, but Seong-jin was not. Since there is only one Demonic Art in the world that is not affected by ‘crushing evil and revealing the truth,’
“The Demonic Art that achieves transcendence is only one throughout the ages! You are the Heavenly Demon’s...!”
“You talk too much.”
Seong-jin did not wait for Maegu to finish speaking and swung the Green Jade Staff to attack her. The Green Jade Staff was definitely a dangerous sacred relic even for Maegu, but it was meaningless if it didn't hit. Maegu turned into sea foam and fled, saying,
“Before the wedding, meeting Father and asking for his greetings should come first. Father won't object either, so be prepared.”
Indeed. Because the dead cannot express their opposition.
Maegu added the word ‘Darling’ with just her lips without making a sound, then turned into foam and disappeared.
“That was dangerous.”
Once Maegu’s energy had completely vanished, Young-myeong honestly evaluated the current situation. “If that demon had used the function of Unity of Body and Sword and intended to kill us, there would have been no way to stop her. Even if she didn't attack us directly, if she had collapsed the stone chamber, we would have been buried alive in the debris.”
It was true. If Maegu had intended to dig a trap, it would have been difficult for them to survive. Seong-jin also realized that it was already too late the moment he encountered Maegu here, which is why he thought of fighting; otherwise, he would have thought of leaving the tomb chamber first. Honestly speaking, Maegu was a genuine powerhouse incomparable to the likes of a scholar.
“Looking at the situation, we might meet again in the next tomb, so it would be better to be prepared.”
“I agree.”
Anyway, Seong-jin, having recovered the Green Jade Staff, turned his eyes to the mural left in the tomb chamber. Perhaps because the Second Tomb was made by causing a landslide to bury the entrance, the mural was drawn inside the tomb chamber, not in the hallway.
“This mural is...”
“It seems to be a mural containing the contents of fighting the Imperial Army following the masters of the Jianghu, doesn't it?”
When the two paid attention to the contents of the mural, Seong-jin was experiencing the contents of the mural.
* * *
It was the Green Jade Staff, no less. It was a sacred relic of Shaolin, which is like the Tai-shan and Northern Dipper of Murim, and an object of Bodhidharma, who created the first internal energy cultivation method and transformed the Jianghu into what it is today. It meant that the Green Jade Staff was a treasure that Shaolin would try to retrieve even if it meant giving up its precepts, and a treasure that everyone would covet even if they weren't from Shaolin.
However, to Seong-jin, the treasures left in the tomb meant nothing.
‘The next content of the mural.’
To others, it was just a common decoration. But to Seong-jin, it had a different meaning. If Seong-jin’s father was truly the Heavenly Demon, the mural left in the tomb was no different from his father’s last will and testament to him. To a son who couldn't even properly attend his deathbed, it was something he could never give up.
Seong-jin examined the mural with the intention of engraving everything into his mind. All the contents accumulated in his mental image and completed the oral formula of the Demonic Art located in his middle dantian. The forms of martial arts are completed when the flow of energy and the movement of the body are in harmony. And since the flow of energy follows a person’s intention, the power changes depending on the mindset with which one performs the martial art.
Seong-jin had created the first oral formula, but he could not learn it due to the Nine-Yin Severed Pulse. This meant he also did not know the result when this oral formula was perfected. The tomb’s mural depicted the entire process of the Heavenly Demon learning and developing it, so Seong-jin could skip all the trial and error through the mural and acquire the completed martial art. In this process, Seong-jin’s upper dantian, which had accepted the mental image of an absolute master, was stimulated and began to glow white.
‘Where is this...’
Facing an army of ten thousand, Seong-jin realized that he was wearing someone else’s appearance.
‘Is it reproducing a memory?’
The moment he grasped the situation, countless arrows filling the sky began to pour down toward him.