Chapter 49: Purple Sunset Divine Art
‘I can tell that some new power has emerged, but…’
It is small.
Just like the energy of the earth, this power of the Western Metal Deity also had a presence distinct from ordinary internal energy. Therefore, it was revealed even more clearly.
“Can I even use it once?”
Since what transmitted the earth’s power was the legacy left by a colossal being on the verge of ascension to immortality, comparing them in itself might be unreasonable. I understand. I understand, but…
[It seems the contained power is indeed insufficient.]
[It is fine. The important part is that you have accepted the essence of that power. As for the lacking parts, you can just grow them. Since you happen to have the power of the earth, there will be no problem.]
It seemed Master Heavenly Demon and Master Bodhidharma had guessed it would turn out roughly like this.
Looking at the conversation between the two of them, I even wondered if I should be glad to have retrieved at least this much.
“What are you babbling about?”
Grit!
I only checked the energy I obtained and evaluated it, but perhaps feeling ignored, that fellow Sang Woo-kyung ground his teeth.
It seemed I had unintentionally ended up provoking him again.
‘Isn’t he a bit too timid for a spy who infiltrated the Mount Hua Sect?’
I did not particularly want to hear about his circumstances, but he seemed to lack the qualities of a spy.
“It is good for me that he gets shaken on his own, though.”
Grit!
Did he hear it this time?
Sang Woo-kyung, having no intention of hiding his skills any longer, infused energy into the entire sword.
The layered force materialized.
Sword Qi.
Once he started using his power in earnest, it was bound to be noticeable even from afar.
“So you have no retreat?”
“Yes. At least I will kill you before I go.”
“Haha!”
If he was pouring everything in with a resolution to die, I could not look down on him either.
“If it were yesterday, it might have been a bit dangerous.”
Not now.
The capability combining Master Zhang Sanfeng’s Listening Jin and Master Heavenly Demon’s synesthesia was tremendous.
Seeing, feeling, reading, and detecting.
Grasping everything about the opponent in detail.
“The instances of getting scolded by Master Zhang Sanfeng will decrease a lot.”
Meaning my Wudang Fist had become a bit, or rather, far more perfect.
The Wudang Fist’s Supreme Ultimate Line, which deflected the opponent’s attacks, grew stronger the more clearly the opponent’s movements were grasped.
Simply put, the power of my Wudang Fist had risen astronomically.
Under such circumstances, I had even obtained a new power.
[In the Five Elements, metal. The energy of metal is special.]
[Earth, fire, water, and wood exist naturally. However, metal can only take shape when refined by human hands.]
[It can truly be called a power born of human artifice.]
Master Heavenly Demon’s words followed one after another.
He egged me on, as if urging me to use that power quickly.
Master Bodhidharma also added his words.
[Each of the five energies of the Five Elements has its own symbolic meaning.]
[Wood symbolizes stretching and growing upward strongly, while earth symbolizes containing all things to converge and radiate. Fire symbolizes spreading to the surroundings, and water symbolizes gathering to condense and bind.]
[Lastly, metal symbolizes transformation. It can be said to be an energy made and refined by human hands.]
[The power of the Western Metal Deity. The White Emperor’s true force is the power to turn what you imagine into reality.]
They were words that made me understand what was meant by the energy of metal, which grew lively like a fish in water the moment it entered me and met the power of the earth,
The power to shape what is imagined.
At this rate, the scope was too broad, making it rather difficult to grasp how to utilize it.
However, there was something I clearly desired right now.
‘What I desire is…’
“I will tear you into a thousand pieces.”
The storm of the encroaching sword.
It was like watching petals of a blooming plum blossom falling rapidly in a strong wind.
In that flow of plum blossoms filling my vision,
‘The robustness that overcomes the sharpness of the sword blade.’
I reached in without fear.
Clang!
A momentary sharp pain was felt in my hand.
‘I am fine, though?’
Materialized sword Qi possessed a sharpness capable of slicing through metal like clay. Even if I read the sword path with the Supreme Ultimate Line and struck it obliquely from the side rather than head-on, surviving the sharp edge of the sword Qi with bare hands was amazing.
“Sword Qi?!”
Sang Woo-kyung was demonstrating proof of that.
Sang Woo-kyung’s eyes were as wide as they could possibly be.
And in the center of those dilated pupils, on the retina reflecting the scene like a mirror, my movement of deflecting the sword and narrowing the distance was cast.
He tried to recover the sword and swing it again somehow, but he was late.
‘Too late. I threw off his timing when I deflected it obliquely.’
If a sword collided head-on, one could retrieve it faster by utilizing the repulsive force instead.
However, deflecting it obliquely created waste in the movement path, requiring extra force to pull back the extending power.
Meaning the opening increased.
Since I had even played a trick on top of that, the opening grew even larger.
‘His recovery motion is at least two beats slower.’
The blow I landed when retrieving the token that contained the Western Metal Deity’s divine power. Perhaps because its aftermath remained, it felt like he could not use his power smoothly.
He cannot properly retrieve a sword strike he extended as an attack?
Then he has to get beaten up.
Thwack!
“Urgh!”
The cleanly landed fist struck his face, making a solid sound.
Sang Woo-kyung’s body spun twice in place before hitting the ground.
Perhaps his consciousness had flown away too, as the fallen Sang Woo-kyung trembled intermittently and could not raise his body.
“Just to be sure, should I subdue him?”
I thought it was perfect timing.
“Please teach me how to seal acupoints.”
Lectures are indeed best combined with practice.
[Shall I teach you a gentle one? Or a rather extreme one?]
“……There are types of that too?”
[They are the same in that they seal a specific acupoint according to the purpose, but the methods are different. It is like a code. The more complex a code is, the harder it is to crack.]
‘And it would also be hard to learn and use, right?’
What kind of world beyond heaven are you trying to show me again?
I want to avoid learning to fly before I can walk now.
“Then I request the gentle one, please.”
[If that is the case, it is better to learn mine.]
As I decided on the direction, Master Bodhidharma stepped forward. Perhaps because he backed off surprisingly easily, no more words were heard from Master Heavenly Demon.
[Sealing acupoints is blocking the flow of Qi. In that way…]
Since I already possessed knowledge about acupoints, understanding the sealing method Master Bodhidharma taught was not very difficult.
Of course, understanding it and actually executing it were different stories.
“Let’s see…”
He said that if I intended to seal his movements, I should subdue the numbing acupoints. As my fingertips pressed the point where the shoulder and arm bones met according to the master’s teaching, a small energy slipped into Sang Woo-kyung’s body.
Snap!
“Oh.”
Sang Woo-kyung’s body, which had been trembling intermittently, stiffened as if it had become a block of wood.
It appeared the sealing was done properly.
Gurgle!
“……Huh?”
But why is this fellow suddenly spitting blood?
[Why is he doing that?]
“If you ask me that, how should I answer?”
I was equally bewildered.
Did I learn it wrong and use a lethal method instead of a subduing one?
Thinking I should manage it first, I massaged here and there on his body, but a strange change naturally made me furrow my brows.
“Huh?”
The unpleasant feeling is disappearing.
I wondered if it was because his thread of life was cut, but soon realized it was not that.
“Gurgle…”
From the nose and mouth of Sang Woo-kyung, who was constantly vomiting boiling blood, white mucus-like stuff poured out persistently. Something that should be inside the head was coming out of the nose and mouth.
Although it was a horrific sight, I could not take my eyes off it. Because among that terrible blood clot and brain fluid, there was something that should not exist in a human.
[It is Gu poison. It must be the source of the discomfort you felt. It seems it was set to activate when subdued in an Orthodox way.]
Master Heavenly Demon spoke to me in a calm voice.
[The state of the Cult’s affairs is truly something.]
This is certainly heterodox.
[Relying on such things is why they grow so weak. Tsk!]
Master Heavenly Demon did not hide his displeasure.
I did not feel very good watching it either.
It seemed like a sight perfect for someone to misunderstand if they saw it.
A Mount Hua Sect disciple pouring out brain fluid from his mouth and nose, and me who fought him.
If someone were to see this?
“That child… is it your doing?”
“Ack?!”
Surprised by the voice heard in an instant, I spun around in startle.
There stood Taoist Master Zi-he, his face deeply contorted.
***
Taoist Master Zi-he was a more reasonable person than I had worried.
“Since there are proofs… I have no choice but to believe.”
Of course, Taoist Master Zi-he did not believe my claim that Sang Woo-kyung was a Demonic Cult spy right away.
However, while examining Sang Woo-kyung’s corpse, evidence supporting my words came up.
“To think he stole the Purple Sunset Divine Art…”
A secret manual that Sang Woo-kyung could never possess had come out of his pocket.
Furthermore, the traces of Gu poison vomited by Sang Woo-kyung also proved that this killing was not my intention.
“It is an embarrassing matter.”
Taoist Master Zi-he, who had looked perfect like a hero in a story, let out a sigh with a hollow expression.
Then, clutching the secret manual of the Purple Sunset Divine Art in his hand, he spoke carefully.
“I am sorry, but could you keep the events that occurred here a secret? I ask because if it is known externally, it seems it would bring harm to the Mount Hua Sect.”
One could say he was worthy of being an elder of the Mount Hua Sect. He was worried that the Mount Hua Sect would be hurt in the eyes of public reputation.
“Ah, yes. If it is that.”
“Thank you.”
He even bowed his head to express his gratitude at my compliant response.
Then he gathered the corpse of Sang Woo-kyung, who was no longer breathing.
“The demonic crowd has crossed the line.”
Deep anger was contained in Taoist Master Zi-he’s voice.
I felt the battle intent in that angry voice, vowing to return this debt someday without fail.
Perhaps a war that would blow away the peace so far would break out soon.
If so, this person would surely be at the forefront of the Mount Hua Sect.
Recalling those thoughts, I clicked my tongue on one hand while looking at the dead body of Sang Woo-kyung.
‘That side was truly out of luck.’
The direction Taoist Master Zi-he had approached from was the direction Sang Woo-kyung had tried to flee. Even without my intervention, it probably would have been impossible for him to escape Mount Hua.
One could say it was a fitting end for a traitor.
‘Is this also causality?’
It felt like watching the solving process of a course whose beginning and end were decided from the start.
‘Well, it is no longer my business anyway.’
A guest has a guest’s place. Crossing that line is not polite.
The Mount Hua Sect caught their internal spy. Considering the way Sang Woo-kyung set fire to the Mount Hua Sect and stole the Purple Sunset Divine Art, the culprit behind all the recent incidents and accidents around the Mount Hua Sect was also judged to be his doing.
I obtained all the things I needed to get at Mount Hua.
I did what I had to do and achieved what I had to achieve.
‘But… why do I feel so uneasy?’
Despite that, I got the feeling that I was missing something.
As if the clean-up was not finished neatly.
Looking at the lifeless body of Sang Woo-kyung on the shoulder of Taoist Master Zi-he walking ahead, I furrowed my brow slightly at the groundless premonition.
***
Watching the appearance of Yeon Cheong-un who was furrowing his brows as if something was bothering him, the Heavenly Demon rose from his seat.
“Since I think I have seen all there is to see, I shall head off now.”
“……Whenever you made that kind of expression, trouble always broke out, you know.”
Watching the Heavenly Demon flash a strange smile, Bodhidharma threw in a word.
“Since I know what my disciple lacks, I shall search for a way to fill it in my own way.”
“That is not a proper answer.”
“Hahaha!”
The Heavenly Demon laughed off Bodhidharma’s worry.
Commuting to Hell, the Heavenly Demon muttered quietly.
“I certainly intended to tell you.”
In Hell, the Heavenly Demon trampled the bandits who had attacked Hwaseong Village and sought information from them.
Among the information they vomited, there was noteworthy content.
[According to the information spat out by the guy I beat up in Hell…]
“Thank you. You do not have to say it.”
“Didn’t you say there is also the issue of causality? The moment you speak of it, it feels like I would have to pay a price, and listening to it now would just be like mending the barn after losing the cow.”
Although his face was hidden by a mask, the soul of the shaman, who penetrated the essence, recognized it.
“It was you who said you would not listen, my disciple.”
The one who made the proposal to the bandits was definitely “old,” an “ancient one.”