Chapter 93: The Benefactor's Request

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While Mun Bin wore an absent, dazed expression as if he’d lost his mind, Seop Pyo asked with a meaningful gaze.

“Sect Master Cheol, what about Energy Circulation for Healing Injury…?”

“Already done.”

“Ah, then did you also perform Circulating energy and regulating breathing?”

“Yeah.”

The moment Cheol Ryu-heun slightly moved his head in a nod, Seop Pyo finally revealed the curiosity unique to a martial artist that he had been suppressing.

“If it’s alright, could you perhaps show me the Evil Emperor’s sword form here for a moment? The truth is, I’m also quite curious…”

However, Cheol Ryu-heun.

“I don’t want to.”

Refused like a blade in one stroke.

Following up, he said.

“Why would I?”

It’s bothersome, troublesome, annoying.

That was the tone.

Seop Pyo, feeling indignant at the insincere attitude, shouted internally.

‘Urk! Th-that…! No, if someone makes a request, at least pretend to think about it for a moment before answering!’

Though it was an attitude he’d already experienced many times so nothing was new, he couldn’t help that his temper flared up.

Meanwhile, Mun Bin appeared seized by vertigo once again.

Energy Circulation for Healing Injury? Circulating energy and regulating breathing?

No, what did he do!

He’d been busy fighting until his head nearly burst all this time!

This was like listening to a conversation from another world that he absolutely couldn’t understand.

Well, anyone else would have had the same reaction.

It didn’t make sense.

Cheol Ryu-heun hadn’t sat cross-legged even once.

But what on earth was this talk about Energy Circulation for Healing Injury and Circulating energy and regulating breathing… For Mun Bin, who was completely oblivious to the truth, it was simply dumbfounding.

Who could have predicted?

That Cheol Ryu-heun could freely perform all acts accompanying internal energy techniques without any restriction, whether running, walking, or eating.

An unprecedented mysterious body that had transformed from head to toe into one large dantian.

If Mun Bin were to realize that tremendous truth, he would feel as though all the martial knowledge he had known until now was being thoroughly ignored.

Just then, Yeop Hwon, observing the atmosphere, brought out his voice.

“Sect Master, is that a study we can also attain in the future?”

The new key phrases Cheol Ryu-heun had recently created based on a booklet that First Sect Master White Peak Sword Ancestor Do Dae-dam had buried was said to be a study that he and the other executives would be required to learn in the future.

If so, was the question whether the sword art essence of Evil Emperor Yul Cheon shown today would also be added to that.

Cheol Ryu-heun’s words were brief.

“It’s impossible.”

“Pardon? Ah, that means…”

“There’s no way at all to attain it. For you all.”

That meant learning itself was impossible, so don’t have useless expectations.

It was natural.

Because the unique martial art that Yul Cheon had created in the past – namely, Reverse Heaven Sword Forms – was a transcendent art that couldn’t be mastered even by a genius rare in the world.

The reason was extremely simple.

Physical conditions.

In other words, only a martial artist with a body exactly the same as Yul Cheon in his lifetime could do it.

Why?

Because Yul Cheon’s body was born with a disability that could be called hopeless for growing as a martial artist.

Reverse Heaven Sword Forms was a rare transcendent art born precisely matched to such a body’s characteristics.

Hence, learning was impossible for others.

In truth, the disability that Yul Cheon bore was a secret known only to himself in his lifetime and Cheol Ryu-heun, who was the Divine Martial Sword at that time.

It was not something that could be identified with the naked eye.

The exterior had no problems.

The disability existed inside the body.

The twisting of energy meridians and pressure points – that was the issue.

Yul Cheon was congenitally born with the energy paths of the pressure points comprising both arms twisted in a spiral shape, unlike ordinary people.

So in his childhood, he had to struggle persistently just to build the basics of internal energy techniques.

In ordinary cases, what could be achieved in a day of study took him no less than ten days, two weeks.

Whatever he learned, he couldn’t obtain it without suffering several times more than others.

After painstakingly accumulating internal cultivation, the energy paths of pressure points twisted in spirals became an even greater challenge.

Because the release of vital energy through both arms was unstable.

Due to that, the path and direction of energy released while swinging a sword was inconsistent and couldn’t serve its purpose.

Unless the twisted energy meridians and pressure points were remodeled, both sword wind and sword energy were meaningless.

Still, without giving up and continuing training, he fortunately obtained a heaven-sent encounter and achieved no less than three instances of Bone Replacement and Marrow Cleansing.

However, the result of that body remodeling was completely different from expectations.

The level of internal energy techniques rose explosively, but the disability showed no change whatsoever.

The weakness, which was like a calamity for a swordsman, became more prominent as time passed, and the infamy that he was merely a martial artist strong only in cultivation always followed like a dark shadow.

However.

Wasn’t there a saying that sincerity moves heaven?

Through bone-grinding effort, Yul Cheon succeeded in sublimating the weakness that had tormented his life as a martial artist into his own unique strength.

It was an achievement like a heaven-sent encounter.

What was created then was none other than Reverse Heaven Sword Forms.

An essence that sublimated the basic slashes of the sword path to the realm of extreme supreme skill.

The wondrous sword attacks that completely ignored the motions accompanying release… Before them, countless masters knelt and bowed their heads, tasting defeat.

The name Reverse Heaven Sword Forms meant a sword of essence that seemed to defy the absolute laws set by heaven.

Thus, Yul Cheon’s martial fame soared steeply not knowing how high the sky was, and eventually, he rose to be counted among the top ten powerhouses of the entire martial world.

After that, a historic confrontation came to pass.

Blood Net Divine Lord Beom Geuk-jin, who had been famous as the unorthodox faction’s strongest, and Yul Cheon, who was aiming for that position, had confronted each other in some kind of dispute and engaged in a one-on-one real sword duel.

It was fierce.

The two fought for two full days.

At that time, Blood Net Divine Lord Beom Geuk-jin possessed the Divine Martial Sword and was even at a level of having awakened and used some of its divine power, so his martial prowess was truly terrifying.

However, Yul Cheon’s cultivation, which had continued to develop after achieving Bone Replacement and Marrow Cleansing three times, was no less than that.

It was truly a battle of evenly matched opponents.

The final victor was Yul Cheon, who had led with Reverse Heaven Sword Forms.

Blood Net Divine Lord Beom Geuk-jin had held on and on as equals, but his body was ruthlessly severed by the opponent’s final ultimate technique, and he departed this world.

That day, Yul Cheon, along with the glory of victory, became the new owner of the Divine Martial Sword, and before long, he also obtained the alias of Evil Emperor.

It was the turning point in a journey that would be recorded as a great legend in martial world history.

Yul Cheon with the Divine Martial Sword, starting from realization about divine power and even achieving spiritual communication, came to occupy the position of supreme overlord in name and reality.

Like a tiger with wings, he was active in all directions without restraint, subduing even the great forces of the frontier martial world one by one, and toward the end of his life, he set foot in an unrivaled realm that no one else could covet.

Yul Cheon closed his eyes precisely at one hundred years old.

It was a peaceful conclusion to a life where he had lived as much as he should and enjoyed as much as he should.

At that time, the direct disciple inherited the Divine Martial Sword.

However, he couldn’t inherit Reverse Heaven Sword Forms, his master Yul Cheon’s unique martial art and peerless transcendent art.

Because it was a unique and singular sword technique created to overcome the twisting of energy meridians and pressure points, making it impossible for a martial artist with an intact body to learn.

Yul Cheon, who had kept his innate disability as a secret known only to himself, passed away without leaving the core key phrases in the world for that reason.

That was why the legacy of Reverse Heaven Sword Forms, still spoken of even after so much time had passed, had come to a futile end.

Yet.

Cheol Ryu-heun was a different case.

Because with the energy paths of his pressure points completely erased, he received no hindrance in operating the essence of Reverse Heaven Sword Forms.

Of course, if he hadn’t possessed the unprecedented mysterious body, he too would have been unable to recreate it.

That was why he had stated definitively that there was no way at all to attain it when Yeop Hwon had asked just now.

Words that would be quite disappointing for the listener to hear.

However, Yeop Hwon’s face showed no such expression at all.

Rather, he nodded with an expression of full understanding.

‘Right, if the Sect Master says so, then that’s how it is.’

This time, Hyeop Mu-geuk quietly posed a question.

“But the Ghost Shadow Sword Technique forms…? Earlier, you didn’t even have time to read the contents, did you?”

“That’s because I know the ancient martial art that is its origin.”

“Oh… ah… I-I see.”

Asking or not, it must be another all-purpose cave encounter.

What a place that truly has nothing it lacks.

Cheol Ryu-heun soon shifted his gaze in one direction and casually tossed out an indifferent voice.

“You.”

The person indicated along with his gaze was none other than Mun Bin, who was continuously wearing a dazed expression.

“Y-yes… yes?”

Mun Bin, having snapped to his senses, stammered his reply.

“It’s only proper that if there’s something given, there’s something received.”

“Oops… I was briefly in a daze and my words of gratitude came too late. I owe my life to Sect Master Cheol today. I will repay this grace somehow.”

Having said that, Mun Bin opened his mouth again with a slightly dark expression.

“As you probably saw earlier, the decisive reason my relationship with my mas… no, with him soured was…”

“I heard. He said he killed your family. Don’t explain while getting lost in emotions.”

“…”

Before the attitude suggesting he found it annoying to hear other people’s stories, Mun Bin seemed flustered and closed his mouth.

Cheol Ryu-heun paid no heed and only said what he wanted.

“Don’t ask about things you’re curious about regarding me either.”

“Ah… yes…”

“Let me summarize simply. Dark Hall – can you take control of it going forward?”

The meaning was whether he could assume the new Hall Master position in place of Netherworld Sword Fork Jeo Gyeom.

Mun Bin thought about something briefly, then answered calmly.

“Hmm… Some will resist a little, but since most of the leadership follows me, there shouldn’t be a big problem. For that, I’ll need to wrap today’s events in a suitable falsehood.”

“Well, that’s for you to handle. If you want to raise your reputation, you can make it so that you killed him because he went crazy and ran rampant. I don’t care.”

“…!”

At the unexpected proposal, Mun Bin’s eyes shook sharply.

Make it so that I killed him?

No, did that mean he had no interest in raising his own reputation?

Honestly, if today’s incident became widely known, his personal prestige along with the name value of his sect, White Peak Sword Sect, would soar high…?

Cheol Ryu-heun merely spoke expressionlessly regardless.

“Anyway, once you’re done with internal discipline, to repay the favor, try to recruit an information gathering organization from the unorthodox side.”

“Pardon? An information gathering organization… There are a few organizations that come to mind immediately, but…”

“Don’t mention our sect; do it as if Dark Hall needs it. We’ll discuss the rest of the details at that time.”

“Yes, understood. But Sect Master Cheol, is that all… you’re asking of me?”

Wasn’t it too cheap a request compared to owing his life?

“There’s one more thing.”

“Yes! Just say the word.”

“Those things.”

Where Cheol Ryu-heun indicated with a chin gesture, the Thousand Snake Gang group connected to Divine Wind by rope could be seen.

“Government officials will come here later. Hand them all over then.”

“The government…! No, you mean they know about this matter too?”

“Yeah, I arranged it.”

“…!”

“The government will handle the cleanup, so just cooperate well.”

Mun Bin once again wore a speechless face.

It was truly surprising.

Just what kind of ability had he exercised to even move government personnel according to his will…?

At Cheol Ryu-heun’s whistle, Divine Wind dragged the bound Thousand Snake Gang thugs over and approached.

But the action that followed surprised Mun Bin again.

Because Cheol Ryu-heun took out several ginseng roots from the pouch hanging on the saddle and gave them to Divine Wind.

CRUNCH-CRUNCH-CRUNCH.

My, to use that precious ginseng as horse feed…?

He’s gobbling it up quite well.

Hm?

Wh-what!

What, suddenly… What horse spews white currents?

Crazy.

Not normal.

Neither the horse, nor the person.