Chapter 5: Jaseung, Opens the Metal Box

As the moonlight of dawn bid its reluctant farewell, Mook Young urgently woke Lee Jaseung.

“Leader, you need to get up immediately.”

Lee Jaseung sat up in bed with a yawn.

“What’s the matter?”

It was very rare for Mook Young to disturb his sleep. It must have been very serious news.

“The Demonic Cult has intervened.”

Lee Jaseung’s eyes sharpened for an instant.

“The Demonic Cult?”

The sect active in Jianghu at the time was the Asura Demon Sect.

The previous sect was the Heavenly Demon Sect, but they had declined greatly after their supreme martial art, Heavenly Demon Soul was lost.

To make matters worse, internal strife fractured them. During that chaos, the Grand Elder Yao Hong, known as the Soul-Chasing Asura, split off with other Elders who were loyal to him and established a new sect.

That happened forty years ago.

Since then, the Asura Demon Sect had grown rapidly, so much so that people said they had already surpassed the Heavenly Demon Sect.

One word was always associated with the Asura Demon Sect.

It was madness.

They were brutally cruel. They would kill off a person and their entire family for the smallest sins, and they pursued vengeance to the ends of the Central Plains.

The Asura Demon Sect seized power quickly by exploiting fear to its extreme.

“So the Demonic Cult is involved now?”

“It seemed like they were chasing after that woman.”

It was an obvious conclusion. There was no way a beautiful woman, assassins, and the Demonic Cult would gather in a small village at the same time for different reasons.

“What happened to her? Is she dead?”

“She was alive in the last report.”

“Where is she?”

“Near the southern area.”  

As Lee Jaseung threw on his clothes and strapped on Asura, Mook Young spoke in a careful tone.

“Forgive me, but I advise against getting involved with the Asura Demon Sect.”

Lee Jaseung stared at him with a blank expression and Mook Young tensed.

The silent stares from Lee Jaseung were more terrifying than when he shouted out in anger.

“Do you know the secret to how I got to where I am? I know when to step in and when not to. Which do you think this is right now?”

Mook Young remained silent. Of course, he believed it was right to not get involved, but Lee Jaseung wasn’t asking because he didn’t know.

Lee Jaseung continued slowly.

“We didn’t hire those assassins, so it must’ve been the Orthodox Faction. The Asura Demon Sect moves directly, they wouldn’t hire assassins.”

“Yes.”

“So both the Orthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult are after this woman. Now, I’ll ask again. Should I step in, or should I retreat?”

Without waiting for an answer, Lee Jaseung leaped out the window.

In an instant, his figure disappeared into the night sky.

* * *

“I’ve never met such a persistent bitch.”

Seven assassins surrounded and looked down on a woman. It was the same woman who had come to Lee Jaseung’s room earlier.

She was unconscious and her face was pale from internal injuries.

Around her, there were three corpses of assassins.

She had managed to kill three of the ten assassins, but that was her limit as she was outnumbered.

“Retrieve the item and dispose of her.”

“Understood.”

As one of the assassins moved to undress her outer robe,

“It’s poor manners to undress a sleeping woman.”

The assassins spun around, startled.

Their faces turned grim. For someone to get that close without any of them noticing meant that he was an exceptional martial artist.

They silently drew their weapons and spread out.

Lee Jaseung’s gaze aimed at the woman. Judging by her condition, she needed treatment immediately.

One assassin seized the chance and lunged forward with his sword.

Swish!

Lee Jaseung easily dodged the enemy’s attack and subdued the man by pressing his pressure points. Everyone became silent due to how easy it was for Lee Jaseung.

One of the assassins spoke with a cold gaze.

“Do you think taking a hostage will work?”

They believed Lee Jaseung was using their comrade as a hostage.

But that wasn’t the case.

Lee Jaseung reached into the man’s robes.

“As expected.”

He pulled out several throwing knives, the kind assassins carried for emergencies.

“I didn’t have time to grab mine as I was in a rush.”

“What are you trying to…”

Before one assassin could finish his sentence, the knives flew from Lee Jaseung’s hand.

Swish!

There was one swift sound of wind, but six lines flashed in the air. They were lines of death.

In an instant, six assassins fell with knives lodged in their hearts.

They weren’t able to react in time despite being prepared.

The remaining assassin opened his eyes widely in shock.

Using his own weapons to kill his comrades in one move was unthinkable.

That shock was the last emotion he would ever feel.

Crack.

Lee Jaseung snapped his neck, and the man collapsed.

Now alone with the assassins taken care of, Lee Jaseung approached the woman and applied pressure to stop the bleeding at her wounds.

He had survived seven years of war. He had better medical skills than most medics.

Slap, Slap.

He lightly tapped on the woman’s cheek and woke her up.

“Hey, wake up.”

Then, something fell from her clothes.

It was a small metal box.

As Lee Jaseung picked it up, it clicked open on its own.

Lee Jaseung instinctively gathered his internal Qi, but relaxed right after with a smirk.

There was a small bronze doll inside.

What kind of grown adult carries such a thing around?

Then.

Creak-

The doll turned its head toward Lee Jaseung.

It stared directly at him as if it was alive.

In that moment, something stirred in his heart. He felt a resonance from deep inside his heart.

It wasn’t curiosity or fear he felt.

Something heavy filled his chest, an emotion he found difficult to express as he has never experienced it before.

The best way he was able to describe it was ‘fate’.

He tried to close the box as the sensation felt too unfamiliar to him, but the doll suddenly started to glow and became transparent. It then revealed its internal energy channels.

The real shock came after. The doll started to move on its own!

Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank.

The movements weren’t ordinary. They were martial forms. Lee Jaseung’s eyes gleamed in interest.

He felt it the moment he saw it, the doll’s martial art wasn’t ordinary. He had never seen such movements before.

Lee Jaseung put all his focus in order to memorize each movement. The doll’s movement seemed fluid just like a human’s movements.

Red light flowed through the doll’s Qi channel as it moved. The doll was shockingly showing how its inner Qi moved inside while showing its martial art.

The doll was showing a body-based martial art, using its fists, elbows, feet, and its whole body.

It seemed simple, but Lee Jaseung was able to tell that it wasn’t at all.

The martial art was made of ten forms. Lee Jaseung memorized them perfectly.

That wasn’t the only shocking part.

Clack.

The doll sat cross-legged and began its Internal Qi Cultivation Technique.

Lee Jaseung was shocked. He did not expect a doll to know such a thing.

Red light flowed through its Qi channel. Thanks to that, Lee Jaseung was able to see its method.

It was complex and dangerous for anyone but skilled martial artists.

But Lee Jaseung was beyond mastery. He was able to understand it instantly just by watching.

After the doll circulated its energy,

Clack.

The doll’s stomach opened, revealing a small pill.

Lee Jaseung didn’t hesitate.

He had never seen or heard of a doll with such a martial art. It was more extraordinary than his own.

Surely this pill was special as it came out from this doll.

Lee Jaseung swallowed it without hesitation.

The pill melted instantly as it entered his body.

A particular scent of pill spread throughout his body. It felt warm like the breeze of spring. The energy from the pill moved around as if it was exploring his body.

Then, it suddenly started to move fast through his Qi channels.

Lee Jaseung was startled. He never experienced energy moving on its own will without him being able to control it.

It became hotter as it moved faster.

Lee Jaseung tried to calm the energy down, but it only moved faster and became hotter.

“Ugh!”

He let out a short groan. It felt like his body was burning alive.

It was as if lava was traveling through his Qi channels. It really felt like his body was going to melt down.

Of course, he felt great pain in the process.

Lee Jaseung was used to pain, but he wasn’t able to endure this one. This was over his limit.

He summoned all his inner Qi and protected his Qi channels.

It was around 120 years’ worth. Only after using all of this Qi, he was able to barely prevent his body from melting.

However, his Qi was rapidly depleting.

The heat continued to grow inside, getting hotter as time passed by. At this rate, his organs were going to burn up and he’d die.

Suddenly, something flashed inside Lee Jaseung’s mind. The doll’s Internal Qi Cultivation Method.

Then, the heat started to gather into his Dantian. Of course, all of the heat gathering into one place made it more painful.

This pain was more than a human could endure. However, Lee Jaseung didn’t stop. He knew that he would die if he stopped here.

“Ugh!”

Lee Jaseung gritted his teeth and focused harder. Even his mind felt like it was going to burn away.

All of his life, he had worked so hard to go beyond his limits. Endurance was a big part of why he became so successful.

He used his trained endurance and focused even harder.

“Aghhhh!”

As Lee Jaseung screamed out,

Boom!

An explosion occurred inside his Dantian.

Even then, Lee Jaseung continued circulating his energy.

Finally, the pain subsided and Lee Jaseung was able to let out a sigh.

-Are you alright?

He heard Mook Young’s urgent voice transmission. He knew that something happened to Lee Jaseung’s body, but he didn’t dare intervene.

He made the right choice. If he tried to help Lee Jaseung by sharing his Qi, it would’ve killed them both.

-I’m fine.

Lee Jaseung checked his body right after responding. The heat that burned his body disappeared completely. ‘

He also felt great energy from his Dantian. His inner Qi had increased not by a little bit, but double.

Lee Jaseung shed blood and sweat to build up to this amount, but it doubled in an instant.

It wasn’t easy to increase one’s inner Qi with the use of medicine. As one’s inner Qi increased, it became harder to use medicine to increase it further.

Because of that, it required an unbelievable amount to double one’s energy like Lee Jaseung.

Moreover, gaining such Qi with medicine was impure compared to getting them naturally through training.

But this was as pure as his own, or even more refined.

There was another thing.

The nature of his Qi changed into Extreme Yang. Perhaps it was for a new martial art.

It made him wonder how this was going to affect the martial art he had already built up to this point.

He was certain about one thing though. If it wasn’t a skilled martial artist like him, their Qi channels would’ve burned completely and it would’ve killed them.

It required at least a hundred years’ worth of inner Qi for one to endure this medicine, and also learning the doll’s Inner Qi Cultivation Method on the first try.

If one didn’t have the ability to do all of these things, they would die after consuming the pill.

It had an unimaginably high threshold. How many people were there in Jianghu who could possibly withstand and accept such power? Lee Jaseung had encountered an extraordinary stroke of fate.

He observed the box again. After closing and opening it again, the doll began to move.

However, this time, it didn’t reveal how to circulate its energy. It merely repeated the same movements as before.

It also did not sit cross-legged like last time.

Lee Jaseung closed it and opened it once again, but it showed the same result.

He was able to realize that it was now nothing more than an empty shell.

For some reason, he felt a bit guilty toward the woman.

He didn’t intend this to happen. He simply picked up something that fell from her clothes, but it acted on its own.

He placed the metal box back in the woman’s arms and stood up.

Whirrr!

Then, a slender old man descended before them with strange footwork.

Emitting chilling Demonic Qi, the old man asked.

“Where is the item?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep