Chapter 137 :

Chapter 137. The Black Flame Dragon Meets the Monster of the Grand Library (1)

"Monk Ilgak, don't you feel wronged? The top-ranked position originally belonged to you, didn't it?"

Ilgak did not feel wronged.

Even if his opponent had seized the top-ranked position through underhanded schemes and then led the representative group with an arbitrary personality while pursuing only his own interests, that was merely the nature of unenlightened mortals.

A tower built by force would someday collapse, and something that went against the natural order would eventually return to what was right.

But Jin Sowoon had gone too far.

It would have been one thing if he had pursued only personal gain, but through academy events, he had tried to divide people and destroy the established order.

Ilgak had thought Jin Sowoon was merely another mortal unable to restrain his desires.

Instead, he was a madman possessed by a demon.

Ilgak knew this was not the right way to act.

But if that cunning and deceitful mortal was not stopped, even greater chaos would descend upon the secular world.

The order of the murim world would be overturned, and countless weak people would suffer as a result.

'That is why I stepped forward...'

Jin Sowoon's martial arts were as cunning and chaotic as his character.

They deceived the eyes, deceived the mind, and inflicted wounds.

Ilgak had cultivated Thousand-Jin Armor to achieve an unmoving mind and body, yet all those arduous years seemed meaningless as his skin was scraped raw and his bones felt as though they would snap.

Dangerous.

This man was far too dangerous.

There was a high possibility that he would become an internal enemy even more dangerous than the heretical factions.

That was why Ilgak had brought out the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture despite promising not to use it.

Even if he had to return to the main temple and face a wall in meditation for several years, he had to stop this mortal.

At that moment, a wicked voice pierced his ears and snapped him back to attention.

"So this is how you stab someone in the back."

Jin Sowoon muttered something Ilgak could not understand before taking his stance again.

'He intends to continue?'

The principle of the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture was sacred law.

Cleansing demons and destroying evil might be one of the foundations of the righteous path, but the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture of Shaolin was like water so pure that it regarded even that very purpose as an attachment.

Corrupt intentions and enlightenment.

Martial arts of the righteous path that pursued efficiency and direct purpose extinguished their own light before the fundamental question posed by the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture.

Papapapapapat!

That was how it should have been...

Yet Jin Sowoon's cunning martial arts, still concealing illusion and reality, refused to lose their momentum.

Boom-boom-boom! Crack! BOOM!

If these had been the martial arts of any other sect, they would have already vanished completely.

But the Taeul Sect's martial arts merely weakened slightly without disappearing.

Unlike during the first half of the spar, Ilgak now stood firmly in place while Jin Sowoon appeared somewhat exhausted.

Yet even that was astonishing to Ilgak.

'The Taeul Sect's martial arts... against the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture...'

He cast aside the uneasy thoughts rising within him.

The principle of sacred law could not be mastered without pursuing one's fundamental nature.

How could the cultivation of someone as worldly as Jin Sowoon possibly be that deep?

"With this, I shall restore order, Benefactor."

Ilgak brought his palms together and prepared the final ultimate technique of the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

At this point, it could hardly even be called a spar anymore.

Yet not one of the instructors made any attempt to stop them.

They must all have been suffering from the chaos Jin Sowoon had caused as well.

Just as Ilgak steadied his mind—

"You think I'll bow to the absurd rules you bastards created?"

"...!"

Jin Sowoon also assumed a stance Ilgak had never seen before.

He lowered into a horse stance and placed both hands beside his waist.

He looked like a child learning how to throw a straight punch for the first time.

Was he really planning to meet the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist, something that even the Taeul Sword Emperor's ultimate techniques might struggle to stop, using nothing but pure internal energy?

As expected, cunning people ultimately fell into their own schemes.

"Haaah! Amitabha!"

Bang!

The moment Ilgak brought his palms together, the air burst apart and golden radiance spread in every direction.

Then the golden energy of the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture gathered into his hands.

Pure enlightenment that discarded not only greed and desire, but even justice, hope, and every other attachment.

Rattle. Rattle. R-r-rattle.

Broken fragments of marble on the floor trembled under the pressure.

The mere one-jang distance between Jin Sowoon and Ilgak seemed compressed and hardened, as though the space itself had been filled with something invisible.

"Demon-Subduing World!"

Ilgak's legs shot forward using the Immovable Body Technique.

In the span of a single blink, the distance vanished, and his golden-covered fist drove toward Jin Sowoon's solar plexus.

At that moment—

Jin Sowoon opened his closed eyes and thrust out his own fist to meet Ilgak's Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

The air between them was sucked inward.

At the same time, golden radiance erupted from Jin Sowoon's fist and pushed back Ilgak's Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

The air that had been drawn inward exploded back out in every direction.

As spectators turned their heads away from the storm of sand, dust, and shattered stone sweeping outward from the training ground—

a sound like the heavens collapsing thundered loudly enough to tear their eardrums apart.

—!

The spectators instinctively clamped their hands over their ears from the pain and remained hunched over for quite some time.

KABOOM!

Another explosion followed.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The once-clear training ground was once again filled with thick clouds of dust and sand.

"..."

"...!"

Everyone stared at the training ground as though they had lost their minds.

A single silhouette could be seen through the billowing dust.

As the dust slowly settled, a young man dressed entirely in black, from his hair to his martial uniform, stood firmly in place.

"Ah..."

"Wh-what in the..."

Ilgak had already lost consciousness after vomiting a large amount of blood from the tremendous impact.

The gazes of everyone watching the arena settled upon the golden energy wrapped around Jin Sowoon's fist.

"...J-Jade Purity Heavenly Star Power?"

It had already been quite some time since spring arrived, yet the air around the training ground became as cold as though frost had descended.

After the examinations ended, the atmosphere of the Martial Academy became considerably lighter.

The academy's break period would begin before long.

And it was not only the academy students who felt that way.

Unless there was special administrative work, most instructors could enjoy some rest as well.

It was also an excellent opportunity to receive hospitality from the parents of newly admitted students asking them to look after their children.

But despite the approaching break, Buk Wonpyeong's expression in the deepest part of the academy's main building was anything but relaxed.

"This is driving me insane."

Buk Wonpyeong had planned to rush straight to the Taeul Sect as soon as the break began.

Instead, because of an unexpected incident, he had been dragged all over the Martial Alliance without even being able to sleep properly.

Few would dare order around Buk Wonpyeong, whose future prospects were extremely bright.

But it was a different matter when the people doing the ordering were the very ones who could determine that promising future.

"You look rather exhausted."

Even at my attempt to comfort him, Buk Wonpyeong's eyes became fierce.

"And whose fault do you think that is?!"

He looked as though he were blaming me, so I shrugged.

"I'm merely writing you a recommendation letter. Why are you acting like that?"

"Ugh!"

Of course, it was not as though I had no idea what was happening.

Jade Purity Heavenly Star Power had directly clashed against the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture.

It was widely known that only the Three Pure Supreme Sword lineage and Wudang Sect could wield that kind of energy in the murim world.

There was no possibility that Wudang had taught anything to the Taeul Sect.

That naturally left Buk Wonpyeong as the obvious suspect.

Of course, Buk Wonpyeong had already explained that he had never taught me the energy itself.

But from their perspective, would that really be easy to believe?

These were people whose hearts practically had the words, 'Everyone except us is an idiot,' carved into them and pumping through their veins.

If they wanted to ignore the obvious facts and blame me instead, then I was the one who had every right to feel wronged.

"And when you think about it, we'll soon be eating from the same pot anyway. Wouldn't insisting that you have absolutely nothing to do with me only make people more suspicious?"

"..."

Buk Wonpyeong thought for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

"I suppose that is also true."

Seeing him nod, I inwardly cheered.

Could fate possibly have unfolded any better than this?

The power of the Three Pure stood shoulder to shoulder with Shaolin's Vajra Sacred Power and Wudang's Taiji Power.

Having the Three Pure Supreme Sword lineage become affiliated with the Taeul Sect was no different from installing a siege weapon capable of wiping out swarms of demonic practitioners in a single blow.

'I should try convincing him to establish his sect right beside the Taeul Sect.'

Whether he could establish a proper sect before the Demonic Cult rose to power was another matter.

But remembering the divine might with which he had single-handedly swept away armies of jiangshi during the Righteous-Demonic War in my previous life, even a little assistance from him during a crisis would completely ease my worries about the Taeul Sect.

'The master-disciple hierarchy might become a bit complicated... but he's the Three Pure Supreme Sword. Surely they won't refuse.'

He was not even trying to learn the Taeul Sect's core martial arts.

He only wanted access to the Taeul Heart Method, which our sect leader had openly taught to villagers for the sake of their health.

As long as everyone overcame the initial awkwardness, there should not be any major problems.

"I've already sent a letter ahead, so you can take this with you personally."

When I handed him the recommendation letter, Buk Wonpyeong hesitated before speaking.

"Aren't you coming with me? It's customary for most students to return to their sects during the first break and hold a banquet."

"I still have a lot to do here."

"Are you already preparing the next event?"

"I was just about to ask you about that. What did the Hengshan Sect say?"

Through Maeng Juwon, I had heard the insane idea that the Elder Hall wanted to dispatch academy students to Sichuan.

So I had moved forward the Hengshan Sect event that I had originally pushed to the very end of the schedule.

This time, I had also removed the attendance limit.

It would provide at least a minimum means of preserving their lives when they later encountered the Corpse-Mountain Blood Cult in Sichuan.

With that, I had fulfilled my responsibility.

If they refused to attend and died anyway, even the King of Hell would click his tongue at their shamelessness before throwing them straight into a sulfur pit.

"They initially refused, but once they heard your name, they agreed."

"That's good."

"...?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Aren't you pleased? It means your status has risen that much."

Then again, the murim world was filled with people who valued their names more than grains of sand on a beach.

"Moreover, after what happened this time, people's perception of you within the academy has completely changed. No one treats you the way they used to anymore. Why don't you relax a little and enjoy the present?"

But I had already seen far too many people die horrific deaths because of their names and reputations.

The moment someone decided honor mattered more than life, they died miserably.

I could not afford to rest even for a moment.

"I can enjoy myself once everything is over."

"You're saying it still isn't over?"

"It hasn't even begun yet."

The Grand Library.

It had originally been named because it supposedly contained ten thousand books, making it the Martial Academy's one and only great repository.

But despite its name, countless books had been added over the long years, until the title had long since lost any literal meaning.

Even the people responsible for managing the library no longer knew how many books it contained.

'Exactly thirty-six thousand seven hundred twenty-two.'

Even now, remembering how I learned that number made me angry.

After forcing me to memorize every report in the Intelligence Department, the Martial Alliance had next ordered me to memorize every single book in this Grand Library.

Apparently something like ninety percent of what made them who they were had come from the Grand Library.

And yet once the Righteous-Demonic War actually began, they never once asked me to reproduce the contents of those books.

It was an impossible job to begin with, and even they had apparently decided it was not particularly useful.

In other words, they had put me through pointless busywork.

"I can't believe I'm voluntarily coming back here. I really must be insane."

If any of the books I had seen in the Grand Library during my previous life had contained a secret manual or hidden martial arts scripture, perhaps my steps would not have felt this heavy.

But most of the books in the Grand Library were merely useless collections of martial arts theories.

Before graduating, Martial Academy students had to write a thesis based on their personal enlightenment and submit it to the Grand Library.

But because people with mediocre ability wrote and submitted those theses, piles upon piles of worthless material accumulated and buried even the truly important information.

So I had gone through all that damned misery memorizing material that was not even useful as kindling.

"Haah... But I can't remain stuck in the same place forever."

Ever since fighting the shadow warrior from the Alliance Leader's Hall, I had continuously felt as though I had run into a wall.

Buk Wonpyeong was currently teaching me how to use Jade Purity Heavenly Star Power, but the nature of the power I used differed from his, making the lessons difficult.

On top of that, my thirst for sword aura had only grown stronger.

There was no avoiding a visit here.

"Besides, no one should know about him yet."

I raised my head and saw the signboard reading Grand Library.

With the break approaching, there were fewer students than usual using the library, making it feel quiet.

The attendants were also reorganizing the Grand Library in preparation for the break.

After briefly looking around the place that had been like a nightmare in my previous life, I began searching for him.

"He should stand out immediately."

Sure enough, after moving between the shelves for only a short while, I quickly spotted him.

"Hey, hunchback! Put these away."

"Ah! Y-yes."

Rough hair.

A worn martial uniform.

A fearless, imposing attitude that made it seem as though there was nothing in the world he feared.

And an enormous physique that immediately drew the eye.

The man handed several books to an elderly hunchback.

The hunchback repeatedly bowed his head before gathering them and carrying them away.

'So he was here.'

The hunchback tried to carry all the books the man had taken out at once, only to stumble and fall.

"I-I'm sorry. I'll clean them up immediately."

"How troublesome."

The man casually swept one hand through the air.

The books the hunchback had been picking up instantly slid far away across the floor.

The hunchback hurriedly chased after them.

"Just as expected, his personality is terrible."

The man frowned at my words.

"Were you talking to me?"

"No. Just talking to myself. Don't worry about it."

The man looked me up and down for a moment before continuing.

"Now that I look at you, you're the academy representative."

"And you're So Cheonsu of the Cheongang Sect."

"You know me?"

"It would be more accurate to say I know the Cheongang Sect."

Among righteous sects, the Cheongang Sect was unusually obsessed with domineering martial arts.

Their obsession was so extreme that unless a disciple learned to manifest aura after entering the sect, they were not even acknowledged as a true warrior.

'The minimum requirement for leaving the sect was being able to use aura, wasn't it?'

Their martial arts were equally bizarre.

Aura normally could not be manifested until someone had reached at least the edge of the peak realm.

Yet the Cheongang Sect could manifest it as soon as their disciples reached the upper edge of first-rate level.

Of course, that aura could hardly be considered normal.

And because they could emit aura so much earlier than others their age, disciples of the Cheongang Sect tended to be unbearably arrogant.

"Do you need something from me?"

"I didn't before, but now I do."

"Heh. I'm curious. What is it?"

So Cheonsu smiled as hand aura formed around his palm.

Just as expected from the Cheongang Sect's chief disciple, he was immature enough to show it off without hesitation.

'Then again, until people know what it really is, that aura alone would make most of them weak in the knees.'

I slowly approached him.

"I didn't come here to fight you."

"Then?"

"I came to help you."

With those words, I used the White Peak Hand to suppress the hand surrounded by his aura and immediately struck his paralysis point and sleep point.

"Y-you... cowardly..."

"Calling it cowardly is a bit much. I'm trying to help you."

"And focusing on aura is fine, but don't neglect your other martial arts. Isn't that precisely the Cheongang Sect's weakness, losing to such basic methods?"

I did my best to give him sincere advice, but So Cheonsu's body had already gone rigid as he sank into sleep.

"Tsk. Already asleep?"

I looked around to make sure no one was nearby.

"Using a trick like this against kids... you really are every bit the heretical practitioner."

I activated the Azure Dragon Ring and extracted the heretical energy embedded inside So Cheonsu's body.

If it had remained there, So Cheonsu would have eventually suffered an unexplained illness while his mental strength gradually deteriorated.

The strike had been so subtle and instantaneous that even So Cheonsu himself had failed to notice it.

Looking at that single technique, I became certain that I needed to receive teachings from that man.

His realm was impressive enough, but more importantly, he had reached the pinnacle using martial arts of his own creation that were simple yet profound.

If it was him, perhaps he knew how to use sword aura with martial arts that originally contained no sword aura at all.

"But how am I supposed to convince him?"

He was a man who had once stood at the absolute summit of the dark-faction martial world.

For reasons I did not know, he was currently hiding inside the Grand Library.

And considering how notorious he was for his violent temperament, I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to persuade him.