Chapter 91: Chapter 91
An unprecedented villain, the Dark Emperor.
He had many disciples. Not to mention registered disciples who formally received names like Black Elder, Blood Immortal, and Sword Demon, if one included those who had merely received fleeting guidance, they numbered in the dozens.
The martial arts they each learned from the Dark Emperor were all different. The reason Black Elder’s junior martial brothers respected yet envied him was also because he had received the Dark Heavens Mind Art, known as the finest among the Dark Emperor’s martial arts.
The Dark Emperor was a martial artist so extraordinary that he created martial arts just for fun. For instance, the Lust Demon’s Soul Bewitching Art, who had died by Cheon Woo-jin’s hands, was a martial art that the Dark Emperor created on the spot while drinking to play a trick on a disciple who looked down on women, teaching it to a young courtesan.
The young courtesan, who did not even have a dantian, later became a rare demonic head of an era called the Lust Demon.
In that manner, the Dark Emperor created martial arts without distinction, including lightness arts, spear arts, staff arts, palm arts, fists, kicks, sabers, swords, and even formation arts.
Those diverse martial arts had one thing in common.
‘Dark Heaven Qi.’
There was only a difference in density depending on the type of martial art; every martial art harbored Dark Heaven Qi.
As it was an energy that had accompanied Cheon Woo-jin his entire life, he could not help but immediately notice the faint Dark Heaven Qi lingering across Tang Bi-cheon’s entire body.
When Cheon Woo-jin gazed at him blankly, Tang Bi-cheon twisted his lips into a smirk. He assumed the boy was terrified by the formidable momentum emanating from his entire body.
“Do you regret it?”
“…What are you blabbering about.”
Cheon Woo-jin clicked his tongue.
It was certain that Dark Heaven Qi was felt from Tang Bi-cheon. The problem was that the degree was so faint that it was confusing whether he had learned the Dark Emperor’s martial arts directly, or merely received influence from one of the Dark Emperor’s disciples.
Cheon Woo-jin glanced at the Alliance Leader on the platform. Even Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon seemed not to have sensed Tang Bi-cheon’s energy.
‘Well, I just have to check.’
As Cheon Woo-jin let his Crescent Moon Staff hang down and watched Tang Bi-cheon, the presiding martial artist approached and asked the two of them.
“Are both of you ready?”
Cheon Woo-jin and Tang Bi-cheon nodded simultaneously.
Soon, the presiding martial artist threw an explosive sphere into the sky.
Right before the high-soaring explosive sphere vibrated fiercely and burst.
Tang Bi-cheon threw a dagger toward the sky. The dagger imbued with green energy struck directly at the dead center of the explosive sphere.
Thung!
Because a rather heavy sound echoed, even those who were not martial artists could tell that the dagger had struck the explosive sphere.
At the sight of him striking a fist-sized sphere floating high in the sky, people let out ripples of exclamations.
Soon, the explosive sphere detonated. Imbued with the deep green energy Tang Bi-cheon had sent upon the dagger, flames resembling verdant vegetation spread in all directions.
Amidst the exclamations of admiration, Tang Bi-cheon wore a proud expression.
Cheon Woo-jin let out a smirk at that sight.
“It seems the Alliance Leader’s move left quite an impression.”
“Shut up and come at me. I will yield the first strike…”
Tang Bi-cheon shut his mouth. Cheon Woo-jin’s toe had twisted slightly. The moment Tang Bi-cheon brought his hand to his dagger thinking he would rush forward immediately.
Swish!
Cheon Woo-jin had already arrived before him. Greatly alarmed, Tang Bi-cheon took his hand off the dagger and crossed his arms left and right. Down upon them, the Crescent Moon Staff crashed.
Klaaaang!
An explosion of qi occurred, and a ringing resonance like the striking of a massive bell spread in all directions.
Tang Bi-cheon was pushed backward helplessly. Following the trajectory of his two feet, the floor of the sparring platform was carved out long. Only after frantically being forced back three zhang did his figure finally come to a stop.
Pure white steam rose from his crossed arms. Furthermore, the sleeves where he was struck were torn away, and red marks remained on his skin.
‘It broke?’
They had only exchanged a single move, yet his left arm was broken.
Tang Bi-cheon injected internal energy to forcibly set the bone. Because it was merely a temporary measure, if left like this, he might lose the use of his arm forever. He needed proper treatment. Even so, he could not simply declare defeat after a single move and step down from the sparring platform.
Tang Bi-cheon admitted that he had been slightly careless, while at the same time resolving to go all out from now on and end the spar quickly.
The moment he pulled out the dagger hanging from his belt like that.
‘Where did he go?’
Tang Bi-cheon’s eyes darted rapidly left and right. He was clearly glaring straight at Cheon Woo-jin right in front of him, but when he regained his senses, the boy had vanished in an instant.
To be exact, only an afterimage wavered briefly where the fellow had stood before scattering like smoke.
Shifting Shape and Changing Position. It was a realm known as the culmination of movement arts.
Tang Bi-cheon spread his qi sense in all directions. Martial artists were not beings who viewed the world solely with their eyes. Through the supernatural ability known as qi sense, they perceived what lay in places unseen.
For a martial artist of Tang Bi-cheon’s caliber, he had room to spare even after spreading his qi sense across the entire sparring platform.
Yet, Cheon Woo-jin’s presence could not be caught anywhere.
Did that bastard really disappear in the middle of a spar? Since he was an unpredictable fellow whose actions could not be foreseen, that possibility could not be ruled out either.
It was then.
“Get a grip.”
At the voice heard from very close by, goosebumps broke out along Tang Bi-cheon’s spine. When he turned his head, Cheon Woo-jin was standing right beside him.
What was truly terrifying was that although he was seeing him with his own eyes, he still could not be detected by qi sense. In other words, that bastard could have smashed the back of his head with the iron staff.
‘Th-this cannot be.’
Tang Bi-cheon was genuinely bewildered.
He was someone who had even consumed Master Won-dang’s pill.
He thought that unless it was a martial artist around the level of the Alliance Leader, there was no way he would be so unilaterally toyed with.
In fact, he had verified the pill’s effects against all sorts of martial artists reputed to be top experts in the martial world.
Tang Bi-cheon thought that he was subconsciously tense from watching the previous spar between the Alliance Leader and Cheon Woo-jin. Although hard to accept, it was a far more realistic explanation than that young brat being stronger than the masters he had faced.
“It is Senior’s turn.”
Cheon Woo-jin said calmly.
Tang Bi-cheon’s face flushed red. Glancing around, people were murmuring. What the foolish commoners thought was beyond his care from the start. What mattered was that the Alliance members were whispering busily among themselves.
Among them were those who had promised to open a new sky together with him.
Tang Bi-cheon sharply raised his momentum.
His distinctive deep green ocular radiance gleamed fiercely. The savage poisonous qi lingering over his whole body made the surrounding air turbid.
Even so, Cheon Woo-jin merely raised his Crescent Moon Staff slightly. It was as if telling an agitated beast to hurry and pounce.
‘Fine.’
Tang Bi-cheon stamped heavily on the floor.
Along with a thud, an immense repulsive force formed beneath the soles of his feet.
Tang Bi-cheon entrusted his physical body to that force.
Catapulting forward like a shot arrow, Tang Bi-cheon brandished his sharply gleaming dagger.
Clang!
It collided head-on with the slightly shifted Crescent Moon Staff.
Tang Bi-cheon was bewildered for a moment. The Heavenly Green Dagger, a divine weapon that sliced through rock like tofu, failed to leave even a scratch on a mere iron staff.
But his bewilderment was brief. Tang Bi-cheon was also a martial artist who had experienced plenty of actual combat.
‘Let’s see if your skin is harder than rock as well.’
With a movement as natural as flowing water, he shifted the dagger’s trajectory. Glancing smoothly past the Crescent Moon Staff, the Heavenly Green Dagger darted like lightning toward Cheon Woo-jin’s throat.
It was so fast that a ray of light seemed to flash in an instant, making onlookers sweat in suspense.
However, the Heavenly Green Dagger cut nothing.
One chi.
By a margin of merely one chi, it failed to touch Cheon Woo-jin’s throat. In other words, it meant Cheon Woo-jin had accurately grasped Tang Bi-cheon’s movements and dodged just as much as necessary.
Tang Bi-cheon’s offensive did not stop.
Green rays of light flashed continuously between the two.
Mostly, as Tang Bi-cheon stepped forward waving the Heavenly Green Dagger, Cheon Woo-jin retreated, narrowly dodging or parrying.
It was truly a perilous spectacle. That was because deadly poison was contained within Tang Bi-cheon’s dagger. If it merely grazed him even slightly, the victor of the spar would be decided then and there.
Yet Cheon Woo-jin was calm as always.
Rather, as the offensive continued, the one growing impatient and agitated was Tang Bi-cheon.
He continually raised his internal energy, and raised it further. He drew not only upon the energy gained from attaining the realm of a poison man, but also the energy amplified by consuming Master Won-dang’s pill.
“Why, why does it not reach?!”
Tang Bi-cheon shouted almost hysterically. The surrounding gazes were already beyond his care. He had simply lost his mind over the current situation where it seemed about to touch, yet never touched to the very end.
It felt as if he was being mocked. Going beyond the permissible range of energy, he was even squeezing out his true qi.
Even so, the outcome was the same.
While his attacks grew progressively faster and more ferocious, the distance from Cheon Woo-jin did not change in the slightest.
Merely one chi.
It neither widened nor narrowed from that distance.
Suddenly, Cheon Woo-jin’s steps came to an abrupt halt. Before anyone realized, he had retreated all the way to the edge of the sparring platform.
Gazing upon that sight with bloodshot eyes, Tang Bi-cheon smiled for a moment. Thinking of it as his final move, he poured every bit of strength within his capacity into the dagger.
He did not make the mistake of thrusting forward immediately while intoxicated by the situation. He first dispersed poison mist to the left and right, cutting off the retreat path.
Checking the poison mist, Cheon Woo-jin frowned slightly.
At that sight, Tang Bi-cheon finally thrust the dagger. Even in an agitated state, his shrewdness as a martial artist remained.
Tang Bi-cheon opened the fingers holding the dagger. Then, the Heavenly Green Dagger leaving his hand tore through the air and surged forward. An instantaneous explosion of energy at his fingertips added speed upon speed.
Because he had truly poured out all his energy, his vision momentarily blurred into pure white, and dizziness came over him.
Even so, Tang Bi-cheon was certain.
‘It worked.’
At this distance, with this kind of speed, even the Alliance Leader could not dodge it.
Swoosh!
The Heavenly Green Dagger flew while letting out a truly piercing screech.
Following that, the sound of that fellow’s flesh being pierced had to ring out.
But the sound Tang Bi-cheon anticipated did not occur. There was only silence.
Soon, Tang Bi-cheon’s blurred vision recovered.
Cheon Woo-jin’s cold face came into view. The Heavenly Green Dagger held in that fellow’s hand was visible as well.
“He caught that?”
Tang Bi-cheon’s face was saying just that.
‘Are you really human?’
Along with such disbelief, jubilation welled up at the same time. The poisonous qi harbored by the Heavenly Green Dagger could never be endured by an ordinary person who was not a poison man. Even if they were an expert who had reached the Realm Beyond the Heavens.
First, the hand holding the Heavenly Green Dagger would rot away. That decay would spread across his whole body, and suddenly he would bleed profusely from his seven orifices, writhing in agony.
Of course, Tang Bi-cheon could procure the antidote. It was the Tang Clan’s poison, after all. But he intended to provide it late on purpose. Only after that arrogant face melted hideously would he bestow it as if doing a great favor.
He would have to live his entire life hiding from the eyes of others. If this bastard showed up in a village, parents would hide their children inside their homes, and naturally he could never meet a woman.
If he sought out a brothel because his body felt lonely, courtesans would spit in his face, crying out what kind of monster had arrived.
‘With that great martial prowess of yours, would you be able to endure such contempt?’
Tang Bi-cheon knew. Among those called demonic heads, there were very many who became that way due to tragic circumstances.
With any luck, this bastard Cheon Woo-jin would become like that as well.
Around the time Tang Bi-cheon finished a round of pleasant delusions.
“Shall we continue?”
Cheon Woo-jin asked calmly. In response to that question, the presiding martial artist signaled that the spar was not yet over.
Nodding his head, Cheon Woo-jin tossed the Heavenly Green Dagger onto the floor with a clatter.
Clatter!
Tang Bi-cheon stared at the Heavenly Green Dagger with a stunned expression for a moment. Why was the Tang Clan’s dagger, which should have been slowly melting that fellow’s hand, lying limply on the floor?
Did the poisonous qi not take effect?
For an instant such a question arose, but he realized that was not the case. It was because the Heavenly Green Dagger was slowly melting the floor of the sparring platform.
Around the time Tang Bi-cheon was staring at the Heavenly Green Dagger with trembling eyes.
A dark iron staff flashed across his field of vision.
Crack!
The Crescent Moon Staff slammed hard against the side of Tang Bi-cheon’s knee. With his leg broken, Tang Bi-cheon’s figure tilted over just like that.
Incapacitated.
It was the victory condition of the spar.
Having already verified everything he needed to check from Tang Bi-cheon, Cheon Woo-jin felt no need to continue the spar.
As the offensive continued, the Dark Heaven Qi gradually disappeared, and starting from the final move, it dispersed completely.
In other words, it meant he had ingested something like an elixir rather than it being his original energy.
Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze turned below the sparring platform. He tried to search for the suspicious man who had been with Tang Bi-cheon, but he was already gone.
‘An elixir imbued with Dark Heaven Qi.’
With high probability, the fellow who crafted that elixir was likely a disciple of the Dark Emperor. Since the Dark Emperor had created such a wide variety of martial arts, it would not be strange even if he had devised and passed down alchemy.
Retracing the disciples of the Dark Emperor he had heard about from Black Elder, Cheon Woo-jin recalled those who might be proficient in alchemy or medicine.
It was then.
The fallen Tang Bi-cheon spoke.
“I lost.”
Cheon Woo-jin looked down at him with his characteristic calm gaze.
Tang Bi-cheon felt humiliated by that gaze, but smiled instead.
“Naturally, in a spar between Righteous Path martial artists, it is principle to reveal one’s sect or master, but I failed to do so. As a senior, it is a shameful matter.”
Tang Bi-cheon limped as he stood up.
Then he cupped his fist toward Cheon Woo-jin.
“I am Tang Bi-cheon, the eldest son of the Sichuan Tang Clan. May I know your sect?”
Cheon Woo-jin looked blankly at Tang Bi-cheon.
Tang Bi-cheon’s current actions differed from the promise.
Well, since I also chose the Alliance Leader instead of Tang Bi-cheon, I have nothing to say.
Thinking so, Cheon Woo-jin nodded his head.
Everyone seemed curious about Cheon Woo-jin’s master or sect.
Only the Alliance Leader, the Chief Strategist, Song Yi-yeon, and Zhuge Rin wore expressions as if their insides were burning up.
At that moment, a voice brushed past Cheon Woo-jin’s mind.
– Ignore him and come down. If you reveal with your own mouth that you are Black Elder’s disciple, matters that are difficult to handle will unfold.
It was Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon’s sound transmission.
However, Cheon Woo-jin did not step down from the sparring platform.
He looked at Tang Bi-cheon as if he were pathetic, then spoke.
“I have no sect. I merely learned martial arts privately from my master.”
“I see. If someone could raise a martial artist as outstanding as you, they must certainly be a remarkable personage. At this point, revealing your master to add a shred of honor to their prestigious name is a disciple’s duty!”
Tang Bi-cheon shouted, imbuing what little internal energy he had into his voice. He was speaking to Cheon Woo-jin with his eyes.
‘If you do not reveal it yourself, I will announce to the world with my own mouth that your master is Black Elder!’
Cheon Woo-jin calmly nodded his head.
Soon, he cupped his fist in return and spoke.
“White Flower Sword Immortal.”
“…What?”
“He is my master.”
A moment of silence.
Soon, martial artists throughout the venue sprang up from their seats.
The commoners looked upon that sight with puzzled eyes.
Without a word, the martial artists who had stood up began cupping their fists toward Cheon Woo-jin one by one.
Meanwhile, someone shouted in a loud voice.
“Chu Pung-gae, Seven-Knot Disciple of the Beggars’ Sect. To meet the disciple of Venerable White Flower Sword Immortal is truly an honor! Hahahaha!”
“White Sword Hall Master Danwoo Myeong, expressing gratitude on behalf of the Alliance that the disciple of the Foremost Chivalrous Hero has visited the Martial Alliance.”
Starting with Disciplinary Hall Master Chu Pung-gae and White Sword Hall Master, said to be the supreme master among the hall masters, all kinds of martial artists revealed their sects or masters and cupped their fists repeatedly.
There were hall master and division head figures, bent-backed old men, representatives attending on behalf of the Five Great Clans or the Nine Great Sects and One Clan, bright rising stars, and even young Alliance members yearning to be chivalrous heroes.
The commoners, mesmerized by a sight they had never witnessed in their lives, could only burst into continuous exclamations of admiration.
White Flower Sword Immortal. Such was the weight that name carried in the Righteous Path martial world. Among those cupping their fists, there was even a considerable number of martial artists from the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.
It was because the very first president who gathered chivalrous heroes across the land to organize the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering was none other than White Flower Sword Immortal.
At that sight, Tang Bi-cheon could not contain his bewilderment. How could that bastard utter such a shameless lie? Heaven knew, earth knew, and I knew that he was Black Elder’s disciple!
“No! This bastard’s master is not White Flower Sword Immortal, but…!”
It was the moment Tang Bi-cheon was about to refute.
“Enough.”
A single voice clamped his mouth shut. The weight carried in that voice was so immense that Tang Bi-cheon even had the illusion that his entire body was being crushed.
Soon, everyone looked at one person.
Receiving their gazes, Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon stepped to the front of the platform and spoke as if declaring to all.
“I shall notarize that Alliance Member Cheon Woo-jin is the disciple of Senior White Flower Sword Immortal. The lad is someone with whom I have had a relationship since long before he entered the Martial Alliance. Though, I did not expect him to reveal it in a place like this.”
Tang Bi-cheon’s mouth fell wide open.