Chapter 168: Resolve

As they entered the city, a different sight came into view.

Shattered buildings and debris strewn about. Huge craters had formed here and there, as if a massive explosion had occurred.

“The expressions on people’s faces aren’t so bad.”

Fortunately, as Jin Ha-un had said, the expressions of the people walking around were not as grim as expected.

Rather than being mired in despair after war, there was a strong energy of trying to rise again.

Avoiding the busily moving people, Jang Woo-hyun and Jin Ha-un made their way deeper into the city.

After walking for a while, they spotted an inn with half of its roof blown away and headed toward it.

“Welcome!”

A man who appeared to be the innkeeper greeted the two warmly. They told him to bring out something simple to eat and took a seat.

With no other customers and a generous payment, the innkeeper quickly brought out the food.

“Innkeeper, what exactly happened here?”

At Jang Woo-hyun’s question, the innkeeper, who had been about to return to the kitchen, stopped in his tracks.

“You must be visiting after a long while.”

“I came to meet someone, but the city’s in chaos.”

“Oh dear, master. Don’t even get me started.”

Perhaps eager to speak, the innkeeper began his story as soon as he was asked.

“At first, it was just a fight between some small sects. Recently, Taegukmun’s martial artists had been absent, and during that time, some strange folks invaded.”

The innkeeper stood by the table, gesturing animatedly as he explained.

“Heukmyobang took the opportunity to attack Eunggeommun, who had taken root in the city during Taegukmun’s absence. Back then, we didn’t think it would turn into something so big.”

Initially, since it was just a conflict between two sects, not many people got involved, and both sects tried not to cause harm to ordinary civilians.

“But then, strange sects started appearing more and more.”

People they had never even heard of began causing havoc throughout the city.

And then came the turning point.

“Then those Cultivator bastards showed up and started destroying everything in sight. A lot of people died. Eunggeommun tried to fight back, but there were just too many enemies.”

“That’s right. There were so many bad guys.”

Before they knew it, a small child was standing beside the innkeeper.

The child, seemingly his son, stared blankly at Jang Woo-hyun and Jin Ha-un.

“Did they leave on their own?”

Jang Woo-hyun asked while patting the child’s head a few times.

“No. The martial artists of Eunggeommun fought to the end to protect the city, but it was tough. That’s when the Machinists appeared.”

“Machinists?”

“Yes. If you leave the city and go over that hill, you’ll find a manor. The ones who live there came and helped us.”

“A big bug came buzzing through the air!”

Excited, the child flapped his arms like wings.

“And some martial artist also stepped up to help. I didn’t see him myself, but they say it was incredible. Apparently, he singlehandedly wiped out most of the enemies.”

“My neighbor said when he swung his weapon, the sky split open!”

From the child’s description, Jang Woo-hyun inferred that the martial artist had reached the Boundless Realm.

Though the innkeeper’s tale continued, Jang Woo-hyun rose from his seat without listening further.

If the Machinists were involved, he could just go there and hear the story himself—after all, that was his original destination.

“Hyung-nim?”

Contrary to his initial plan, Jang Woo-hyun did not head straight to Cho-su’s house after leaving the inn.

With an inexplicable sense of unease, he changed direction, and Jin Ha-un, though puzzled, followed behind.

After passing through a noisy, vibrant area, they arrived at a wide clearing scarred with destruction.

Several large tents were set up, and inside them were countless spirit tablets. Even at a glance, there were likely hundreds.

Many people were gathered there.

Children who had lost their parents, parents who had lost their children. Women who had lost their husbands and men who had lost their wives. People who had lost friends, family, and lovers filled the area.

Some wept aloud, while others silently shed tears. Unlike the lively streets they had passed, this place was filled only with sorrow.

Jang Woo-hyun stood in silence, gazing at the scene. At first, he thought it was a place to mourn the dead. But from the whispers around him, he finally understood what this place truly was.

Those who had been kidnapped, or had gone missing. Or those who had been utterly destroyed by martial artists and Cultivators, leaving no trace behind.

This was a place to honor the ones whose remains were never recovered—where no graves could be made.

Jang Woo-hyun had fought countless people and taken countless lives.

Because of that, he was prepared to bear the resentment and vengeance of the families and acquaintances of those he had killed. He believed it was only right.

But this kind of scene was difficult to witness. Most of the people here weren’t martial artists—they were ordinary citizens.

The victims had died simply because they were caught in the crossfire of martial artists’ battles.

“Ha-un.”

“Yes.”

Jin Ha-un responded cautiously to the subdued voice.

“Could something I’ve done have led to a situation like this?”

In the Central Plains, he had destroyed many sects, big and small. Perhaps somewhere, in places he couldn’t see, incidents like this had happened because of him.

“Your battles weren’t like this, Hyung-nim. You extinguished the flames before they could turn into wildfire.”

Jang Woo-hyun always crushed his enemies before a real fight could begin. Before battles escalated into war. Before innocent people suffered.

“Hyung-nim.”

Jin Ha-un was worried about his sworn brother.

Though rare, there were those who, after witnessing such tragedies, broke their swords and chose seclusion.

But fortunately, Jang Woo-hyun had something else in mind.

—In this Murim thrown into chaos, there must be many who suffer. If you see someone in need, please help them.

When he heard Cheon Heo-jin’s words, Jang Woo-hyun honestly hadn’t paid much attention. Had he not seen such a sight himself, he probably wouldn’t have thought of it again.

But now, his thinking had changed.

The suffering of ordinary and innocent people had to be minimized. They were not martial artists.

‘Let me do what I can.’

After witnessing the countless deaths of unrelated individuals, Jang Woo-hyun resolved to lend his strength to quell this chaos and war.

The two offered a brief moment of silence toward the distant spirit tablets, then turned back on their path toward Cho-su’s home.

Since it was already his third visit, Jang Woo-hyun arrived quickly at Cho-su’s house.

“Looks like this place was attacked too.”

At first glance, Cho-su’s house seemed intact, but that was not the case. Having stayed there before, Jang Woo-hyun could tell that several parts of the house had changed.

“Cho-su-nim! Cho-yul-nim! It’s me, Woo-hyun.”

Growing anxious, Jang Woo-hyun kicked the front door open and entered.

They were not ones to die easily, and he had heard they had driven off enemies targeting the city, but he couldn’t help but worry.

Creak.

The moment he stepped inside without permission, the flying insect puppets inside turned their heads toward Jang Woo-hyun in unison.

Perhaps recognizing him as an intruder, the puppets’ previously blue eyes turned red.

“You bastards, get back to work. Don’t come at me unless you want to end up as scrap metal.”

At the familiar voice, the puppets turned their heads again and resumed buzzing about.

An old man walked through the swarm of puppets.

A familiar face—one Jang Woo-hyun trusted as the only reliable Cultivator.

“It’s been a while.”

“Senior Pung!”

The kindly faced old man was none other than Pung So-bong, the one who had first accompanied Jang Woo-hyun when he arrived in the Central Heavens Realm.

“It’s good to see you again.”

Smiles appeared on both of their faces.

“I’ve heard of your exploits even from afar. Have you been well?”

“Well, more or less. And you, Senior Pung? If you’re here, then Senior Gwak must be here too.”

“Why ask something so obvious?”

Pung So-bong laughed heartily at Jang Woo-hyun’s question.

After laughing for a while, he mentioned something casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“But that Gwak fellow’s not doing so well.”

“Sorry?”

“Don’t worry, he won’t die.”

Though he said it lightly, a shadow passed over Pung So-bong’s face.

“Don’t worry about the father and son from Nation of Mechanical Marvels—they’re preoccupied at the moment.”

Cho-su and Cho-yul were busy making something, so Pung So-bong had greeted Jang Woo-hyun instead.

“Are they doing alright?”

“They’re fine. I’m fine too. It’s that Gwak fellow who’s the problem.”

“What happened to Senior Gwak?”

“Did you take a look around the area on your way here?”

“Yes. I stopped by the city, and there were signs of battles everywhere. I also heard a bit about what happened.”

Pung So-bong nodded and began explaining the events.

“For some reason, the martial artists of Taegukmun began to disappear more often. And then, the small sects that had been lying low started making moves. At first, they were so weak that we didn’t pay them any mind. But then more and more strange ones began to appear.”

Unknown sects began attacking towns and villages, and eventually even Cultivators got involved.

Nearby sects fought desperately, but they couldn’t withstand the Cultivators.

“Fortunately, that Gwak fellow and I were staying at this house.”

In the end, Gwak Yu-chan, Pung So-bong, and the father-son duo from Nation of Mechanical Marvels took action.

Thanks to their efforts—especially with Gwak Yu-chan being a martial artist of the Boundless Realm—they managed to repel the enemies.

“The real problem was the Cultivators. You’ve heard of Geomcheonju’s death, right? After the guardian of Murim died, more started crossing the boundaries. And when Taegukmun vanished too, they got even bolder. Those bastards kidnapped people in the city or stole their life force. Some of them targeted only Beastkin.”

“Beastkin, you say…”

“Exactly what Bi Ik-ryeon’s bunch used to do. Come to think of it, didn’t you move with the Beast King Sect? Do you know anything about this?”

Jang Woo-hyun shared his experiences with Bi Ik-ryeon and Ascension Cult, and what those groups had done.

“To think something like that was possible…”

Upon hearing how they used the power of Martial Gods to raise their cultivation, Pung So-bong was left dumbfounded, chuckling awkwardly in disbelief.

And then Jang Woo-hyun realized he had forgotten something important amidst all the chaos since his return to the Central Heavens Realm.

‘Those bastards…’

Ascension Cult and Bi Ik-ryeon.

Enemies that had to be eliminated.

They had already clashed with True Immortals, so Ascension Cult would surely come looking for Jang Woo-hyun.

‘I’m not planning to wait around.’

Since he was now back in the Central Heavens Realm, he would hunt them down himself—and destroy them completely.

“Did you take down all the attackers?”

“We captured most of them, but a few escaped. We had some issues on our side too.”

Pung So-bong’s expression darkened again.

“That Gwak fellow got injured, and it’s not an easy wound to heal.”

The three arrived in front of a building. As they opened the door, the scent of medicinal herbs and decoctions filled the air.

Inside, Gwak Yu-chan lay on a bed.

His upper body was wrapped in bandages, with purplish and black smoke wafting from his body, and black ichor oozing out. Around his head, vague and indistinct shapes appeared and vanished.

“He fought at the very front, and ended up afflicted by the Cultivators’ Cursed Arts and Ghost Arts. There’s no easy cure, so I called Son I-rang.”

Jang Woo-hyun had met Son I-rang before—a healer connected to Pung So-bong who once helped him erase the brand of the Wind-Passing Great Sage.

The fact that someone like her needed to come spoke volumes. Even without knowing much about curses, Jang Woo-hyun could tell how grave Gwak Yu-chan’s condition was.

‘He must’ve fought at the front.’

Or perhaps he got injured while saving someone.

‘That’s just the kind of person he is.’

When Jang Woo-hyun had first arrived in the Central Heavens, Gwak Yu-chan had helped him without asking for anything in return. Even their first meeting had been while helping Beastkin together.

‘He really should take better care of himself.’

Gwak Yu-chan was breathing so faintly it was hard to notice unless one focused. At a glance, he almost looked like a corpse.

“There’s no way to help him?”

“Not for me. Cho-yul and Cho-su are making something for him right now. They called it something like a Sacred Radiance… it’s a device that uses light to dispel the curses and ghost arts.”

Cursed Arts were techniques used by Cultivators involving curses, and Ghost Arts involved manipulating spirits.

As a result of defeating such a Cultivator, Gwak Yu-chan was now carrying all manner of curses and malicious spirits.

“We need to find a way to purify the curse.”

After gazing silently at Gwak Yu-chan for a while, Jang Woo-hyun recalled a particular item.

He immediately took out a red orb from his Inner Robe.

“Will this help?”

“That is…”

“I received this Dragon Blood Pill from an acquaintance of the Divine Dragon Family.”

He had heard it was especially effective against curses and poisons.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep