Chapter 157: Master (2)

I threw my fishing rod just in case, but how many seconds had it even been when a fish bit right away?

‘No way, Master isn’t that much of a fool.’

He might speak thoughtlessly, as if he lives without a care in the world.

But at least not right now.

Right now, he was definitely feeding me information.

“You bastard…!”

I barely managed to calm down Cheon Yura, who was about to explode, and got her to sit.

“Master, no matter how indifferent you are, you couldn’t possibly be unaware of the relationship between that organization and the Cult, right?”

Master raised his drink and let out a soft chuckle.

“It would be deceit if I didn’t know that.”

“Even so, you’re revealing your identity without hesitation?”

Master emptied his cup and shrugged his shoulders.

“Because it doesn’t really matter?”

What was that supposed to mean?

Master was noticeably calmer than before.

“I’ll ask again. If I become your disciple, do I absolutely have to join that organization?”

He was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

“Now that I think about it, that’s not necessary. Didn’t I say? I’m only nominally listed.”

“You mean someone who’s only ‘nominally listed’ was the one who assassinated the Yin-Yang Fist Demon trapped in Iron Steed Prison Cave?”

…What?

I snapped my head toward Cheon Yura at her words.

She said Master assassinated the Yin-Yang Fist Demon?

“What are you talking about, Lady Cheon?”

As I furrowed my brow, Master let out another soft laugh.

“You heard that from the Cult Leader, didn’t you? My disciple’s dating someone from a dangerous bloodline, I see.”

“That’s not the issue here.”

Cheon Yura continued coldly.

“We know a monster who called himself ‘Old Han’ broke through Guardian Coprs’s defenses and assassinated the Yin-Yang Fist Demon, and even managed to escape from the Cult Leader’s hands.”

“…You know an awful lot of details.”

“……!”

Regardless of Master’s grumble, I was hit by a wave of fresh shock.

He escaped from the Cult Leader’s hands?

I didn’t show it outwardly, but I was honestly stunned.

‘Master was capable of that?’

Perhaps sensing my intense stare, Master let out a faint sigh.

“I’ll admit it, the title of Heavenly Demon lives up to the name. I had to go into long-term recovery just to get away.”

Sluurp! Clack!

“A demonic cultivator who reaches ‘Transcendence from Demon’ appears every now and then in a generation… but someone who reaches ‘Transcending Demon’, the true level of enlightenment, has only appeared four times in the thousands of years of Murim history.”

“Four?”

“Three from that family… and one from ours.”

I couldn’t help but ask a question that had been on my mind.

“Is that one person perhaps the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden?”

“Oh? As expected!”

Master brightened as if he’d known all along.

“So the one who gained the fortune of Eastern Sea Fortress was you, my disciple!”

“…I’m not your disciple yet, though.”

“With fate like this, we’re practically already Master and Disciple! Hahaha!”

“……”

Unlike Master, who was visibly delighted, my thoughts only grew more complicated.

‘As expected, he knows about Eastern Sea Fortress. Then why didn’t he go there himself?’

Of course, due to the age restriction, he wouldn’t have been able to gain the Qi of the Dragon Rider Formation, but he could’ve reclaimed the Yoo Family Martial Art he so dearly wanted.

Yet, as if he had read my thoughts, Master answered before I could ask.

“Ah, you’re wondering why I didn’t go to Eastern Sea Fortress?”

“…To be honest, yes.”

Master raised one corner of his mouth.

“There’s not much to it. I simply didn’t know.”

Didn’t know?

“That whole affair was secretly led by that little brat Third Order without telling the higher-ups. The only ones who knew were the Eight Lord who managed the array, and even that bastard didn’t share it with the other Ten Heavenly Lord—aside from the Colorful Flower Lord.”

So that’s what happened?

Now that I think about it, it did all begin when Third Order Cheong Museong dumped an enormous amount of money into Eastern Sea Fortress.

The Yin-Yang Fist Demon’s involvement, too, felt more like he got swept up in the internal purge rather than being part of a deliberate plan.

“Ah, although the Grand Heavenly Lord might’ve known… not that it would’ve changed the result much.”

“……”

Was it my imagination that Master’s smile suddenly seemed chilling?

That feeling didn’t last long.

Because at his next shout, it vanished like snowflakes in early winter.

“Anyway! The important thing is that I’ve found a disciple! One who inherited our long-lost family martial art!”

Master genuinely seemed happy about my existence.

I probably would have felt the same about this meeting—if Master had no ties to the Heaven-Defying Society.

Just then—

“Absurd. You call that a disciple?”

Cheon Yura, still with an expressionless face, glared at Master.

“Jin Yeomyung acquired a martial art passed down from ancient generations at Eastern Sea Fortress. As such, there can be no proper Master-Disciple relationship between you, his descendant. Unless, of course, you’re the one learning martial arts from him.”

“Hmm?”

“Hmmm?”

To be fair, according to conventional martial tradition, Cheon Yura’s words were completely correct.

Right now, I was the one who had inherited the Yoo Family Martial Art from the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden.

By that logic, Master should be the one calling me teacher.

‘That… might not be so bad?’

For a brief moment, I fantasized about Master respectfully calling me “teacher”…

‘No, that’s a bit much.’

I shook my head with a bitter laugh.

My grudge from a past life, when he constantly messed up my robes, had temporarily clouded my judgment.

But really, neither of us were the type to obsess over seniority like those from the Orthodox Faction.

More importantly—

“Ah, doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

“The martial art I use now is a self-created style that makes it hard to even find the original Yuga form.”

Master grinned widely.

“Even if I were to learn the main branch’s martial art now, I wouldn’t get significantly stronger. What matters is that our family’s long-cherished original form has resurfaced in the world.”

Exactly.

Even now, Master possessed enough power to escape from the Heavenly Demon’s grasp.

No matter how incomplete a martial art may be, he must’ve refined it with his own insight and completed it in his own style.

“On the other hand, I can be a huge help to my disciple.”

“What kind of help are you talking about?”

Master poked my forehead with his finger.

And then, without any warning, he suddenly leaned in.

“You, my disciple, have enough insight but haven’t reached Extreme Demon, have you?”

Twitch!

For a moment, I almost failed to maintain my expression.

“To surpass the wall that defines the standard of absolute masters—Extreme Demon and the Realm of Harmony—you need two methods: sudden enlightenment and gradual cultivation.”

“I know that.”

Sudden enlightenment refers to a profound realization that allows one to overcome a wall in an instant.

Gradual cultivation is the step-by-step accumulation of understanding, slowly advancing one’s stage.

“It’s one of the distinctions between the orthodox and the demonic paths. Generally, demonic cultivators achieve Extreme Demon through a massive moment of sudden enlightenment, and then reinforce their skills with gradual cultivation.”

Master’s piercing gaze swept across my face.

“But oddly, even though you have enough realization, you’ve been unable to achieve sudden enlightenment and thus haven’t broken through the wall.”

“Oh? Is that true?”

Cheon Yura showed clear interest at that statement.

I couldn’t say anything.

Master’s words ruthlessly struck the unguarded weakness within me.

“If I had to point to a reason… there’s a good chance that before you learned the Heavenly Deer Sword, you had already mastered something from a ‘different system’ at a high level. Whether it’s an orthodox martial art… or even a spell technique.”

“……!”

“That past experience is now getting in the way of your enlightenment. At least, that’s how it looks to me.”

Incredible.

Truly astonishing.

Even though we hadn’t crossed swords, Master saw right through the problem I carried.

If I could apply the insight I’d gained in my first life directly, I would have long surpassed Extreme Demon and reached Transcending Demon.

But in my past life, the main system I mastered was entirely focused on manipulating and drawing out the power of artifacts and divine relics.

It was fundamentally different from martial arts.

“But I can resolve that contradiction for you.”

“How do you intend to fix it?”

Cheon Yura, who at first had been full of resentment toward Master, was now listening attentively, eyes gleaming.

“Even if you’ve completed your own style, the root of your and my martial arts is the same. That, we can’t deny.”

“True.”

“In that case, I just have to polish my own experience of reaching Extreme Demon and apply it directly to him.”

“How do you plan to apply it?”

“Unlimited closed-door sparring.”

Chill!

He said sparring, but wasn’t that basically saying he’d beat me half to death until I broke through the wall?

Yet Cheon Yura nodded in agreement as if it made sense.

“Indeed, because the two of you come from the same lineage, you can use the ‘understand first, awaken later’ method?”

“Hehe, you know your stuff, young lady.”

“But that alone won’t be enough. The problem he’s carrying can’t be resolved with just that.”

I turned to her slightly, surprised.

She knows about my problem?

That meant she wasn’t just insightful—it was proof she’d been watching me closely with genuine concern.

“That, I know as well. If we leave the internal injury in his Middle Dantian untreated, it will severely hinder his growth as a martial artist.”

“……”

The internal injury in the Middle Dantian.

By harnessing vitality, I’d managed to control a foreign-type qi and reached a peak level above Absolute Master.

But as a price, my Middle Dantian had been damaged.

It was actually a pretty serious issue, though I’d been lucky in some ways.

If left untreated, it would cause great difficulty in my future path as a martial artist.

But for committing such a ‘foul’ and getting away with just an internal injury, that was already a blessing.

Master nodded as if he understood all of it.

“This has to be treated the hard way. Since the Middle Dantian is linked with innate vital energy, it can’t be healed with medicine. We’ll have to restore it through direct physical reinforcement.”

“Oh? You’re planning to go that far?”

“Of course! I’d do that much for my disciple!”

As Master made his bold declaration, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

Knowing Master the way I did, I was certain those words were sincere.

However—

“Master, I sincerely appreciate your offer, but let me make one thing very clear.”

“What is it?”

“I have no intention of joining the Heaven-Defying Society, nor do I ever plan to work with them.”

Credit is credit, personal matters are personal.

Even if he’s my Master, I’ve already made up my mind.

“We and they are mortal enemies. One day, I will—”

“Ah, doesn’t matter.”

Just as I was about to make a solemn vow, Master cut me off, repeating the same thing he’d said earlier.

“If it gets in the way of training you, I’ll just quit the Society myself.”

“……”

I blinked and asked again.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course!”

Master… was welcoming me far more earnestly than I’d expected.

***

After that, Master and I talked for a long time.

He seemed ready to stake everything on taking me in as his disciple, but after thinking it over, he retracted his resignation comment, saying the taboo currently made it impossible.

…Well, putting aside his somewhat unmanly flip-flop,

I couldn’t accept his offer immediately either, not while we were still technically enemies.

Not to mention, Cheon Yura was watching from the side.

In the end, our meeting ended vaguely with a promise to meet again.

“Today was truly enjoyable, my disciple.”

“Stop calling me that already.”

“Hehehe, remember what I said. I’ll come visit again soon.”

With that, Master’s form vanished.

And just like that, my first encounter with Master in this life came to an end.

Unexpectedly, Master refused my offer to keep drinking freely and left—though, of course, he did finish all twenty-four bottles he ordered at first.

At some point, I started to feel uneasy about how quiet Cheon Yura had become.

“Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?”

We were walking through the quiet streets past midnight.

“I mean, letting that Old Han go just like that.”

“Well…”

Cheon Yura trailed off with a strangely vague tone.

“If we had fought, we might’ve had a chance. That’s what the Cult Leader said, and I agree. That man’s injuries seemed quite serious.”

That was true.

Even for someone like Master, escaping unscathed from the Cult Leader’s hands would’ve been nearly impossible.

“Then why didn’t you act?”

If she had judged there was a chance of victory, then knowing Cheon Yura’s personality, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to go all in, life or death.

Cheon Yura looked straight into my eyes.

And said this.

“Because it didn’t seem like you wanted him to be attacked.”

“…!”

“I don’t know why, but at some point, I started to feel something… like longing in the way you looked at him.”

I thought I had managed my expression well enough, but maybe I’d been sloppy. Or maybe she had been unusually sharp.

Perhaps both. But today, I’d had my true feelings seen through a few too many times, and it was a little unsettling.

“Be careful, Jin Yeomyung.”

Cheon Yura spoke in a tone that made it sound like a passing remark.

“If what he said was true, your life really might be in danger.”

I fully recognized the seriousness in her words too.

“You mean those so-called True Bloods…”

Cheon Yura nodded.

“Right. Your actions are now essentially exposed to them. Even if each of them may be weaker than you…”

“Because they live in the shadows, if I let my guard down, they could take me down in an instant.”

True Bloods.

From what I heard from the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, the organization known as the Heaven-Defying Society was divided broadly into two castes: *Purebloods* and *Mixed-bloods*.

But even within those, there were further, more complex subdivisions.

Among the Purebloods, there were two ranks: Holy Bloods and True Bloods. The Mixed-bloods had five even more detailed hierarchical levels.

‘The Holy Bloods are none other than the Ten Heavenly Lords at the top of the Heaven-Defying Society. The True Bloods… are probably their successors, the candidates for the next Ten Heavenly Lords…’

Representatives of this class would include people like Han Mubaek, Han Muyeon, and Cheong Museong—those known as Orders.

“They say those True Bloods have started acting up more aggressively lately.”

Cheon Yura, uncharacteristically, revealed a hint of regret.

“When that time comes, I may not be able to help you.”

I quietly nodded.

“I understand.”

There would be events soon that would keep her from moving freely.

“The summoning of the Seven Elders Council. It’s not far off now.”

“That’s right.”

The Chilro Council—an internal high council of the Cheon Clan, summoned through Ilro’s request.

“Soon, the day will come when I must face Cheon Yujeong in a real duel.”

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