༺ Second Chapter – The Seductress and the World Beyond (7) ༻
On the top floor of the Jade Flower Pavilion following Mok Riwon’s departure.
Hwa-seo was still dazedly looking out the window.
The view was of the largest main road in Suyang County, and at the end was the courtyard house of the Sun Society.
–I’ll be back.
There was the voice that still lingered in her ears, and the face pretending to be cool and smiled.
Clench–
Hwa-seok absentmindedly rolled her fists into a ball as she remembered that moment.
“Fool…”
There couldn’t be a more foolish person in the world.
As expected, he wouldn’t live long.
She tried to think about something other than him, but it was impossible.
After all, his words were right.
–A good person does not kneel. It’s the opposite. It’s the villain who must kneel and beg for their life.
His words made the one listening want to lean on him, to be supported by him.
–A hero does not lose to a villain. That’s a line from the first chapter of Tales of the Martial Heroes, spoken by a heroic swordsman.
That innocent, virtuous heart that did not doubt for even a moment was so pure and lovely that Hwa-seok’s face could not help but darken in all sorts of manners.
“…Hyang.”
“Yes.”
“What was Pyosan’s realm?”
“When we fled, he was a middle-stage peak realm.”
“Five years have passed, what do you think he is at now?”
“…Pyosan was especially cherished by the clan head. It took him three years to reach the peak realm at the age of twenty-seven, so in the worst case, he might be at the pinnacle of the peak realm by now.”
Sohyang’s head lowered even further.
Hwa-seo exhaled and muttered to herself.
“…There is no chance he will win.”
She said that, thinking of Mok Riwon.
Hwa-seo knew.
He definitely had the talent.
She did not know who had taught him, but he must have received all kinds of spiritual medicines and great techniques from a renowned martial artist of the previous generation, undergoing training that others could not even imagine.
That was why he had such martial prowess at that age.
‘However…’
That was precisely precisely the problem.
He was too young.
It was admirable to have reached the peak-stage of the First Rate Realm, but in the vast world of martial arts, more than one or two people had attained that same realm.
The very person he intended to face was a martial artist who had reached the end of the peak realm.
“…So foolish.”
He was utterly foolish.
Both the man, who had plunged into a dangerous path chasing after romance, and her subordinates who were still trying to stay by her side.
And herself as well.
Hwa-seo stood up from her seat.
“My Lady…?”
“Let’s go. That’s right, didn’t that foolish man make at least one correct statement?”
Sohyang raised her head to look at Hwa-seo.
Over her face, as she looked out the window in the direction of the Sun Society’s buildings, was–
“We, who have never committed any sins from the very beginning, have no reason to run away.”
–a refreshing smile.
Hwa-seo’s gaze turned towards Sohyang and her other subordinates.
“If our lives are going to shit anyways, let’s try and fight back at least once in the end.”
She reached out her hand.
Sohyang, smiling, took that hand.
Pyosan observed Mok Riwon.
‘Sword Qi.’
The man exuding the dark sword qi and glaring at him could become the new star of the esteemed Orthodox Faction.
No, since he was able to unleash sword qi at such a young age, he would surely become so.
‘How regrettable.’
If he hadn’t met him, that would have been his future.
Clink–
Pyosan took out the daggers strapped to his waist.
There were six in total, three between the fingers of each hand.
“Please do not bear a grudge.”
The young man’s words were indeed true.
What he was doing was an act that tainted the name of the Orthodox Faction that his seniors had held in high esteem.
However, it was an act that had to be done.
For he was a man who prioritized loyalty over the greater good.
“I shall remember you.”
Pyosan’s arms blurred.
The daggers scattered like a mirage, all simultaneously at Mok Riwon.
Clang–!
As Mok Riwon swung his sword to deflect them, he prepared to rush at Pyosan.
At that moment.
Hiss–
He felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Killing intent!’
Sensing the anomaly, Mok Riwon twisted his body to look behind. Six daggers were bending through the air, imbued with a dark blue qi.
Stab–
The daggers had pierced his body.
Silence descended.
Mok Riwon suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the daggers in his body, then, clenching his teeth, he grabbed them with his hand.
“Keugh–!”
With a shout, he pulled out the six daggers embedded in his body.
He scowled deeply as he glared at Pyosan.
Pyosan let out a sigh of admiration at his spirit.
“You are truly the image of a hero!”
Even against an unbeatable foe, the sight of him rising up again, his body covered in wounds, was undoubtedly what a hero should be like.
That was why Pyosan felt bitter from this encounter.
‘If it weren’t for this situation, I could have taught him a thing or two.’
A cruel twist of fate.
It was truly unfortunate that they had met in a moment where he could not be righteous, and when he had to wipe all traces that he had been here.
But still, that did not mean he could let him live.
‘Today’s events must be known by no one.’
Everyone, except for Hwa-seo, whom he would serve once more, would be silenced through death.
Pyosan flicked his fingers, releasing his qi. The daggers that had scattered on the ground, floated into the air and quickly returned to his hands.
Hiss–
A dark blue qi wave rose around Pyosan’s body.
“I’ll go again.”
With those words, Mok Riwon exhaled and gripped his sword again.
His expression was viciously contorted, and his movements were erratic with rough breaths.
Pyosan knew the common problem that young experts like him had.
‘A lack of experience.’
Mighty martial arts, outstanding inner cultivation, and the guidance of the greatest masters.
For nine out of ten disciples from prestigious orthodox sects raised in such environments, that was the problem they had.
Flowers that bloomed luxuriously in a greenhouse did not know the hardships of life.
Pyosan threw his daggers again, leaping high to distance himself from Mok Riwon, who was running towards him.
Pierce–!
This time, three of them had pierced Mok Riwon’s right shoulder, forearm, and left thigh.
But that was not the end of it.
The assassination arts that Pyosan used reached their true potential upon reaching the Peak Realm, capable of infusing qi.
Flying Shadow Dagger.
A dagger technique in which a thrown dagger that misses in midair is infused with qi and launches toward the opponent like a shadow.
The errant daggers about to fall to the ground now carried a dark blue qi and shot at Mok Riwon once again.
Pierce–!
It was one-sided.
This time, three daggers had properly lodged into his back.
Mok Riwon pulled them out again, and Pyosan, dodging Mok Riwon as he charged at him like a wild horse, grabbed the daggers.
The fight was likely to end in the next move or the one after that.
With that thought, Pyosan steadied his breath and threw the daggers again.
And then.
Clanggg–!
His prediction had been laughably wrong.
At the age of fifteen, Mok Riwon had a question.
“Master, when will I learn how to apply what I’ve been taught?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t I have to? All the swordsmen in Tales of the Martial Heroes use their martial arts to their fullest, but I have only learned basic forms and physical training methods from you, Master.”
He was immediately concerned that his training was progressing too slowly. Or rather, that his master was teaching him too little.
At that time, Mok Riwon was eagerly thirsting for knowledge. It was also a time when he was beginning to feel irritated by constantly repeating what he had already learned.
Why was he still only being taught the basics?
Mok Seon-oh’s response to the fifteen-year-old Mok Riwon was a gentle smile.
“It is because you do not need to learn it.”
“What?”
That day, Mok Seon-oh placed his hand on Mok Riwon’s head, gently stroking it, and simply added.
“You will come to know it without having to be taught. You need not worry at all.”
He couldn’t understand, which only added to his frustrations, and even now, at eighteen, he still had that question.
It was at this very moment that Mok Riwon came to realize the meaning of those words.
Mok Riwon deflected the six daggers with three strokes of his sword.
As he did so, he expanded his qi detection.
‘They’re coming back.’
He felt it.
The flow of qi becoming bizarrely twisted and the killing intent aimed at him was intensifying.
The parts of his body targeted by that killing intent were starting to throb painfully.
‘Three behind. One behind each knee and one at the back of my neck.’
Each targeted his heart, lungs, stomach, joints, and spine.
They were lethal strikes that could lead to instant death or a fatal injury.
Mok Riwon steadied his breath and moved his body.
Clanggg–!
He deflected them once again.
‘This is the end.’
Judging from the two previous experiences, the movement of the daggers could only be altered once.
Of course, that wasn’t a surprise.
Daggers that could freely roam through the air was a Sword Control Technique that could only be used by those who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
The opponent was certainly at the Peak Realm, and the principle behind this martial arts technique was to shoot daggers again to a calculated position using the qi stored within them.
Mok Riwon’s eyes shined chillingly.
‘Now!’
He spread the qi released from his dantian throughout his entire body.
The power of the Star God Technique, which had reached the third star, was deeply darkening his sword qi.
Mok Riwon’s inner qi, which had always been known to be bloodthirsty, finally found a place to unleash itself after a long time and let out a joyful scream.
Boom!
The mere act of stepping on the ground caused a roar.
Pyosan gasped at the sight of Mok Riwon charging forward with unprecedented speed.
At this moment, for the first time, he drew the kodachi that was tied to his waist.
Clanggg–!
Sword met sword, and qi clashed against qi.
As the dark blue and black qi waves tried to devour each other, Pyosan was panicking.
‘How?’
How did he predict the trajectory of the Flying Shadow Dagger?
How did he identify the weakness of the Flying Shadow Dagger in only two moves?
The essence of the Flying Shadow Dagger lay in stealth. It was not a simple technique where one could fully know where the dagger was aiming based on simple qi waves.
Squeak–!
Sparkles flew as their swords clashed against each other.
Pyosan gritted his teeth, glaring at Mok RIwon.
There was something he did not know.
“Do not resist!”
He did not know what star this young martial arts master spouting self-righteous words was born under.
Clang–!
The Heaven-Slaying Star.
A star of slaughter bestowed by the heavens.
A star that specialized in the act of killing merely by existing.
However, there was a characteristic that Mok Seon-oh and Ma Il-seok were aware of, but Pyosan was not.
Mok Riwon could read killing intent.
Killing intent could be discerned by the direction, aim, concentration of malice, and even the emotions harbored.
Those born for slaughter could sense the evil aimed at them in every living and breathing moment.
But was that all?
Was that all it took for the ‘Star of Slaughter’ to instill fear upon this land?
It was not.
Clang–!
Clanggg–!
Their swords clashed and separated, skimmed past one another, trying to overpower the other, and then repeated.
There was one ridiculous fact Pyosan noticed in their fight.
‘He’s growing…!’
The opponent he was currently crossing swords with was becoming stronger with every exchange, or, more like, adapting to his swordplay.
Pyosan could not understand why, but that was only natural.
Clanggg–!
Mok Riwon’s training up to this point had only encompassed basic forms and physical conditioning, which had been meticulously orchestrated by Mok Seon-oh and Ma Il-seok. But, upon releasing him into the martial world, his two masters had only one worry.
–Suppress the desire to kill.
To control his desire to kill, the mania that made him go berserk at the sight of blood.
The reason was simple.
No matter how sugarcoated the words were, the essence of martial arts lied in harming the opponent.
In other words, killing people.
And the Heaven-Slaying Star was made for just that.
Like the Third Heavenly Demon, Lee Mubaek; the Sword Fiend, Seo Woojin; and the Demonic Sword, Oh Chun.
Mok Riwon was no different.
As long as martial arts were techniques for killing, he was an unparalleled genius in this world.
As long as martial arts were techniques for killing, his instincts alone could carry him all the way.
From the very beginning, learning the basics of martial arts had never been an obstacle for him.
Slice–
Pyosan’s right wrist was cut off.
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