Chapter 571: Side Story 71

Chapter side_71

Yuk Cheol-wan had something he had dreamed of for a long time.

To become a being that surpassed humans.

For that purpose, he gathered young children to build a small force, and by raising Geum Jiran to the position of Divine Maiden, he created an unreachable wall between themselves and the believers.

Afterward, they grew into a force capable of stirring up the Murim Alliance and the Cheondo Society, but that alone was far from enough.

If possible, taking the inner core of the spiritual beast, the White Tiger, would also be good.

Because if he obtained the power of a spiritual beast, he would surely be one step closer to becoming a transcendent being who surpassed humans.

But there was one thing more important than that.

In this Central Plains Murim, legendary figures appeared in abundance. They were all transcendent beings who surpassed humans; if one were to speak of the present, were they those who stood in a position higher than the vanished Five Emperors?

Among them, the Three Heavens.

Even though they had now died and disappeared, they were still talked about by people. Were they not the ones of whom it was said that they shed their physical shells upon death and became immortals?

But there was someone even greater than them.

When talking about legends, it made no sense to leave him out.

An existence who was always the strongest and whom many pointed their thumbs up at.

The Martial God.

Was he not indeed a true transcendent?

Yuk Cheol-wan wanted to become like him.

No, he would.

Therefore, had he not made all these preparations?

“The Great Dharma King’s scriptures…”

The more he thought about it, the more laughter naturally flowed out.

Because heaven willed it, in his childhood he had coincidentally discovered a cave where the Great Dharma King had stayed, and there, though it was not perfect, he had been able to obtain and learn the secret manual he had created.

Now, all that remained was to obtain the scriptures that the Great Dharma King was said to have written while following the Martial God during his lifetime, and thoroughly dissect his martial arts.

The birth of a new Martial God!

Because heaven desired it, had he not discovered that cave in his childhood, mastered the martial arts newly created by the Great Dharma King there, and risen to this very position?

Moreover, following his guidance, he had even obtained the scriptures in the Potala Palace.

All of this was heaven guiding him.

The preparation was long, and everything was perfect.

Even the disappearance of the Five Emperors allowed him to carry out the work much more easily. He had brainwashed Gu Jagok, who was feeling skeptical of the Demonic Cult shaken by Sa Do-hak’s absence, and finally obtained what he wanted.

Now, Gu Jagok only needed to bring the scriptures.

It was the Great Dharma King’s scriptures, of all things.

There was no doubt that it contained content so vast that it was beyond imagination.

He would be able to swallow the Orthodox Murim, no, the entire Central Plains in a single blow.

Wasn’t it thrilling just to think about it?

If so many martial artists that it was impossible to count them knelt and bowed before him, what other pleasure could compare to that?

“But… he is late…”

Yet, Yuk Cheol-wan could not shake off a sense of foreboding.

It was impossible for the strong brainwashing he had placed to break. However, there was still no contact from Gu Jagok, who had obtained the scriptures.

Even though it was clearly time for him to have left the Demonic Cult and arrived in Qinghai long ago, no news had come, causing a needless anxiety to arise.

Even without this, Chu Jak-han had been captured, and Jin Tae-gong had disappeared with the Divine Maiden.

Losing two of the Four Heavenly Kings was enough to make him feel foreboding, but as unwanted things kept happening, it was inevitable that the foreboding turned into anxiety.

‘What on earth is it…’

Something was not going as planned.

Yuk Cheol-wan could not understand the reason at all.

* * *

“Hahaha! There seems to be no end to running here no matter how far we go.”

Dan So-mi, who had been riding the White Tiger for a long time, was smiling broadly, not even knowing how far they had come.

Since she had heard they would leave Mount Tian soon, she wanted to see as many places as possible and keep them in her memories. Thus, she had come out since morning to look around here and there, and she didn’t seem to realize at all that they had come much farther than she had expected.

After running like that for a long time, the White Tiger stopped at some point.

Only then did the surrounding scenery come into view more clearly.

“It’s a wonderful place! Well done!”

Grrr!

Perhaps pleased with Dan So-mi’s praise, the White Tiger growled and leaned its body against Dan So-mi’s feet. That behavior, which looked just like what cats do, made one doubt who would call this the spiritual beast White Tiger.

The White Tiger itself, however, did not seem to think so.

Lying face down in front of Dan So-mi’s feet, the White Tiger rolled over on its back and tried to grab Dan So-mi with its front paws.

To anyone, it looked like it was acting cute.

“You’re still a baby, really.”

At that sight, Dan So-mi let out a small sigh and reached out. When she massaged it mercilessly from its neck to its belly, the White Tiger squirmed and rolled back over.

Apparently, it did not like having its belly touched.

“Huh?”

And at that moment, something strange caught her eye.

At a glance, it was a bamboo slip that looked old and a book, and the bamboo slips were not just one, but looked to be at least dozens.

They were full of writing, but because they were somewhat old, she could not check exactly what was written on them.

Slowly picking up the bamboo slips, Dan So-mi narrowed her eyes and stared at them.

She felt she might be able to read it a little if she looked closely.

“You there, do not move!”

At that moment, a loud voice rang in her ears.

“Eh?” Dan So-mi turned her head, her eyes widening. She saw at least ten people approaching at a terrifying speed.

In an instant, startled without realizing it, she dropped what she was holding. She took two or three steps back and stepped on the book that was scattered on the ground, losing her balance and falling on her buttocks.

With a rip, the book tore.

“Ugh?!”

Arriving just then, Gu Jagok let out a sigh of relief.

He saw that the number of bamboo slips had not changed. However, the torn book scattered on the ground did not look like it could be easily restored no matter how he looked at it.

“Damn it…! This damn bitch!”

Enraged to the limit, Gu Jagok frowned fiercely. The book would never have torn if she hadn’t touched it. Because of this girl’s actions, one of the things Yuk Cheol-wan had desired so much was about to be lost.

“Ah… I’m sorry. Was it yours, mister?”

“…”

Without a word, Gu Jagok gathered the bamboo slips and put them in his chest pocket, then frowned as he held the torn book in his hand. Letting out a sigh, he suddenly drew his sword and swung it toward Dan So-mi’s head.

“Eek?!”

Thud!

In that instant, Gu Jagok, who had swung his sword, could not hide his surprise.

He had clearly swung his sword toward the girl’s head, but a sudden gust of wind blew dust into his eyes. Thanks to that, the sword absurdly struck the ground.

“Phew… that scared me. Mister, you shouldn’t swing something like that around recklessly.”

Soon, Dan So-mi muttered with a surprised expression. At first, she thought he was aiming at her, but seeing the sword strike the ground, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Apparently, he was taking out his anger on the ground because she had torn an important object.

“You calm down too, White Tiger. He’s not a bad person.”

Soon, Dan So-mi calmed the White Tiger, which was letting out a low growl. It was because of the anxiety that it might charge at any moment when she looked at its extremely fierce eyes.

She had seen the White Tiger hunting wild beasts before, and she feared that such a gruesome scene might happen again.

“Oh, and I’m sorry for tearing the book. It wasn’t intentional.”

“It wasn’t… intentional…?”

“Yes, because I didn’t know there was a book there.”

Dan So-mi bowed her head slightly and apologized.

The person who dropped the book in the middle of the road was also at fault, but it was true that it had torn because of her anyway.

Thus, she apologized for that part.

But Gu Jagok did not accept it easily.

He twitched his lips and frowned.

“Then… apologize with your life.”

“Yes?”

Gu Jagok, uttering a cliché phrase that might come from somewhere, raised his sword again. This time, as if he intended to pierce her accurately, his eyes glared at the crown of Dan So-mi’s head.

But his body would not move.

Clearly, his mind was telling him to strike down with his arm, but strangely, his body did not obey. It was as if he were frozen like a stone statue.

“Stop there. If you kill that girl, you won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

At the sound that soon heard, he slowly turned his gaze.

Standing there blankly were dozens of Lama monks, who knew how long they had been there. Though they were all bowing their heads while reciting Buddhist chants, their expressions looked no different from demons.

“The… Potala Palace… how!”

“They should be at war with the Demonic Cult…!”

“Le-Leader! Is this… not something unexpected?!”

“Moreover, that is… the… Golden Heaven Water King?!”

Gu Jagok ground his teeth hard.

Why were those who should be waging war with the Demonic Cult here? Was it an illusion that they even seemed to have been targeting the Mahyeong Squad from the very beginning?

Something was going strangely with the situation.

At that moment, the Golden Heaven Water King stepped forward and spoke.

“Child. It would be best for you to leave now.”

“Eh? Me? I’m not a child, though.”

“Hahaha.”

Dan So-mi tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

However, she noticed that the atmosphere was unusual. Judging by the expressions of the Lama monks and the men beside her, it seemed that she wouldn’t see anything good if she got involved.

Soon, the moment she lightly climbed onto the White Tiger.

Thud!

Suddenly, her body went limp.

“…”

“…!?”

Watching that scene, everyone swallowed their dry saliva. The moment Dan So-mi’s body completely collapsed onto the back of the White Tiger, a fierce energy was felt as if it had been waiting.

The air vibrated.

It was as if a slowly rising black aura was consuming the entire surroundings.

Not to mention Gu Jagok, but even the Golden Heaven Water King.

Their mouths went dry, and cold sweat poured down.

“I am sure I told you to leave these bastards to me?”

Soon, the voice that heard was low and resonated.

However, there was no one who could not hear it.

As he revealed himself, capturing everyone’s attention, there was no one who could not read even the slight movement of his lips.

“C-Cult Leader?!”

“How…!”

The members of the Mahyeong Squad could not collect their senses.

Why was Sa Do-hak, who had handed over the position of Cult Leader to Gam Chun and disappeared more than ten years ago, here of all places?

His face, which had not changed compared to the past, and the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art that completely overwhelmed everyone, thoroughly shattered the thought that he might be a fake with a similar face.

“You rotten bastard…”

Soon, Sa Do-hak turned his gaze to look at Gu Jagok.

His gaze was so sharp that it felt as if one’s entire body would be torn to pieces the moment they met his eyes.

However.

“I am sorry, Cult Leader Sa… but this is the business of the Potala Palace. We will not tolerate interference.”

“What?”

At the Golden Heaven Water King’s words that followed, Sa Do-hak whipped his head around and glared at him.

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