Chapter 48: The Shadow Over Mount Hua
Although I was intentionally keeping the door closed, I knew the essence of the Heavenly Demon Calamity-less Hand.
Mastering the basic stages was close to learning the solving process of a problem for which I already knew the answer.
It was difficult, but not impossible.
As the sense of grasping space permeated my body, I felt the trace of a foreign power that did not belong to the current world stretching far into the distance.
It felt like smelling a pungent odor.
‘So this is the divine power of the Western Metal Deity?’
The power obtained through the Golden-Haired Hou at Mount Song appeared to be a power that strengthened the foundation and root of the body.
A power close to an anomaly that prevented injury from most blows and allowed rapid recovery even if I suffered a wound deep enough to bleed.
If it was a power comparable to this great ability, I must never miss this one too.
Only.
“He went far.”
Furrowing my direction from a high vantage point, I could vaguely see where the opponent was.
The distance was already such that he looked smaller than an ant.
Seeing it now, it seemed he had planted something like kindling to start the fires beforehand and slipped away first.
Chasing him would not be easy.
If so, there was only one method left…
“The scenery is truly beautiful.”
I took a brief break for my mental health.
Because it was a truly magnificent sight to look at anyway.
It was perfect for cultivating a noble spirit, but…
[What are you doing? Run.]
“……Yes.”
Jumping off a dizzying cliff where the bottom was barely visible, I could not enjoy the surrounding scenery.
Climbing cliffs when going up, and jumping down from a place that looked like upside-down swords when going down—really.
[If you utilize what you have learned well, there will be no big problem.]
“……”
Watching the people who argued over crushing legs and ripping off arms reach an agreement, my heart swelled with pride as their disciple.
Lest they hear it as sarcasm, I could not bring myself to say it aloud.
“Here I go.”
Although it was not as steep as when climbing up, the moment I took a step toward a slope that was practically a cliff, my body plunged downward.
Descending while performing a martial art that was not yet familiar enough to be called second nature, the sensation touching my feet was definitely different.
Normally, it should have felt like sliding on a slippery ice rink, but the touch on my feet now was like sliding over muddy silt.
It meant that as long as I kept my wits about me, I would not end up slamming my head into that solid bedrock over there.
“The feeling between my legs is straaaange!!”
However, this peculiar sensation rising from between my legs shook my sanity.
What was this indescribably, uncomfortably addictive feeling?
[By the way, the fellow you are chasing now is a spy?]
“Yeees!”
In the midst of all the chaos, Master Heavenly Demon was even making me talk.
Is he messing with me?
But if I ignored him, I feared the consequences.
[Did you not feel something different?]
“It was strange! Disagreeable enough to be unpleasaaant!”
[Strange? Unpleasant?]
“Yeeees!”
[Hmph! That means… he is either not someone who practiced proper demonic arts, or he is connected to the dark methods of the heterodox path.]
“Heterodox paaaath?”
[At any rate, you stepped into the realm of the Ultimate Demonic for a brief moment. If he was someone who practiced demonic arts, it would be normal for him to feel intimidated instead. Yet you felt discomfort. Then he is not of the Demonic path. He must have a connection with the heterodox path. And the Ultimate Heterodox Path at that.]
“Oh, then what happeeeens?”
[It must be one of two things. Either he was sent by the heterodox faction rather than the Heavenly Demon Cult, or the state of the Cult is crummier than I know. Grit!]
Master Heavenly Demon spoke of two possibilities, and when he mentioned the second one, the sound of his teeth grinding was extremely brutal.
Well, I would find out once I beat him up.
Though I knew the level of a Nine Sects disciple, especially of the Mount Hua Sect, around the age when they shed the label of rising stars, I did not think I would lose. I had obtained and learned too much for that.
Rather, I had worried if Master Heavenly Demon would feel uncomfortable with me beating up a Demonic Cult spy, so this was for the best.
“Hup!”
Just as I was almost down the steep slope, I lightly bounced my body and shifted direction.
The body I threw toward the direction I had seen from above was light as a feather. Just like the name of the footwork I displayed, I shot forward and stretched out rapidly.
For some reason, the Demonic Cult spy’s movements were sluggish.
[He must be moving while suppressing his presence. Since he set the fire, smoke will rise, and he cannot run into other Mount Hua disciples returning after seeing the smoke.]
“Ah!”
The Mount Hua Sect is on fire, but the guy who was inside is going down the mountain instead of putting it out? If he ran into other Mount Hua disciples, his excuses would be poor. He would fall under suspicion immediately.
In addition, because the Mount Hua Sect disciples were currently patrolling the villages around Mount Hua in a wide formation, the probability of running into them was high. It was only natural to be cautious.
I supposed taking the abnormal path down was worth it. At any rate, the dizzying distance had definitely narrowed.
And I caught up.
Flutter!
Stopping my run and dropping down, my clothes made a loud fluttering sound.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“You are…”
The opponent trailed off, looking at me with startled eyes.
“What was your name again?”
“……Sang Woo-kyung. A disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, Sang Woo-kyung.”
At his words introducing himself as a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, the corners of my mouth curled up.
He is shameless, this fellow.
[Retard.]
[Haha! Even if his roots lie there, the place he learned from was Mount Hua.]
The masters chewed out the fellow named Sang Woo-kyung.
‘Hidden weapons.’
In the midst of the conversation, this fellow Sang Woo-kyung stealthily drew a hidden weapon into his palm from a blind spot out of my sight.
Master Zhang Sanfeng’s Listening Jin felt like reading the waves of objects when they moved. The expression “sensing” would fit.
On the other hand, Master Heavenly Demon’s sense felt like swallowing the entire space and cramming it into my head without going through the eyes. Since it was a sense that grasped the entire space, should it be called synesthesia?
Combining the two, it felt as though I had eyes in every direction.
‘Good.’
I could see everything. When I need quick cash, if I go to a gambling house and bust a shell game, I probably will not starve.
“The Mount Hua Sect is on fire, aren’t you going to put it out?”
“I thought there should be someone to inform the people outside.”
“Just looking at the rising smoke, they would come on their own…”
Swoosh!
The moment I continued speaking as if I noticed nothing, the hidden weapon flew in with a sharp sound.
It was a dagger about the size of a finger.
The dagger aimed at the space between my eyebrows was fast.
But since I knew of its presence beforehand, I could avoid it with minimal movement by tilting my head slightly to the side.
The real deal was next.
Slash!
A sword strike aimed at my Adam’s apple shot out sharply along with the drawing of the sword.
“Whew!”
Although the tip of the sword did not touch, my skin felt hot.
If I had not known of the hidden weapon beforehand, I would have avoided the first attack with clumsy movements and had my throat slit by the subsequent strike.
It was a fine attack blending surprise and speed.
“It is not the way of the Orthodox faction, is it?”
“Hmph!”
The eyes of Sang Woo-kyung, who was claiming to be a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect until a moment ago, sank. No righteous light could be seen in his gaze laden with killing intent.
He had bared his teeth completely.
‘Shall I scratch him a bit more?’
“You must have expected me to die from that strike just now. Disappointing, isn’t it?”
“Your mouth is loose.”
Swoosh!
A sword as fast as the one that had aimed at my throat just now targeted my heart.
It was fast enough that an ordinary person would have died without even knowing why they died.
‘This is impressive.’
But it does not work.
The combination of Master Zhang Sanfeng’s Listening Jin and Master Heavenly Demon’s synesthesia was beyond imagination.
‘I can see it all.’
It is visible.
It is felt and read.
It is detected.
I could tell exactly where and how the sword would fly. If my body could move, I felt like I could avoid it even if it were swung right before my nose.
As proof, the moment I avoided the thrusting sword, I did not lose track of the sword movement drawing a horizontal change until the end.
Naturally, I avoided it easily.
The character for “river” was carved between Sang Woo-kyung’s eyebrows.
“So frivolous.”
“And you lack staying power.”
“……”
“Besides, your swordsmanship is simple and lacks variations, which is unlike the Mount Hua Sect’s sword techniques.”
“What do you… know!”
“The fact that your sword strikes do not connect means you lack the strength to sustain the sword momentum, which is because you expend your power explosively when swinging the sword. You want to finish it as quickly as possible? But if you display too conspicuously flashy swordsmanship, it would be easily seen from afar, wouldn’t it?”
“……”
“I know it pretty well, don’t I?”
I had unintentionally ended up mocking him.
Was it a mockery?
What was clear was that Sang Woo-kyung’s mouth closed tight.
“You seem to be in a hurry. Calm down. What is the good of getting excited?”
“……Shut up.”
The character for “river” caught between Sang Woo-kyung’s eyebrows grew deeper.
With his mask stripped off, Sang Woo-kyung’s face distorted like a demon.
[You have quite a knack for getting under people’s skin.]
Master Heavenly Demon was amused.
On the other hand, Master Bodhidharma simply watched me run my mouth before speaking.
[Are you provoking him?]
“Call it psychological warfare.”
I muttered quietly enough that Sang Woo-kyung could not hear.
“Impudent!”
However, seeing me mutter to my master, Sang Woo-kyung took even that as a provocation and charged at me in a huff.
A purple energy rose like a haze from Sang Woo-kyung’s sword.
The layered and accumulated force was revealed externally, flashing.
An energy capable of easily tearing a human apart shot out, drawing dozens of variations.
“……What?!”
But my body was in a place Sang Woo-kyung could not have imagined.
I had already dug into Sang Woo-kyung’s domain.
The Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step completely erased the gap.
Moreover.
‘He is excited.’
The movements of an excited martial artist become larger than usual.
Sang Woo-kyung did not know how fast I could be in an instant, and I dug into that gap perfectly.
The fist I thrust ruthlessly with momentum struck Sang Woo-kyung’s chest.
Boom!
“Urgh!”
Sang Woo-kyung, who was knocked down in a single blow, barely stood up after rolling on the ground a couple of times.
It was a response possible because he had momentarily raised his internal energy greatly to protect his body.
He has at least the experience of eating Mount Hua’s food for twenty years.
“Even so, it will not change anything. Do you see this?”
“You!”
Sang Woo-kyung’s eyes flew wide.
To be precise, it was not at me, but at what was in my hand.
It was the object Sang Woo-kyung had kept in his pocket until a moment ago.
It was an iron plaque made of metal, with the character for “demonic” engraved on it.
Crumble!
But suddenly, the iron plaque held in my hand turned to dust and scattered.
“Huh?!”
Sang Woo-kyung cried out in surprise, but this time I was surprised too.
An iron plaque turning to dust and scattering as if it had fulfilled its role.
“Huh?”
Unlike Sang Woo-kyung who was merely surprised, I could directly feel that change. A certain power flowing through the blood vessels of the hand that held the iron plaque entered vigorously and felt mixed and harmonized within.
Earth generates metal.
The earth gives birth to metal.
“Look at this?”
A new power squirmed within me.