Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 126 - Shadow Sect (2)
Chapter 126 – Shadow Sect (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Now this… you truly do have a gift for startling people.”
-Gooooooooo.
The energy erupting from Mok Gyeong-un.
It went beyond merely being yin and approached a vicious death aura, the kind one would expect to feel only from the dead.
‘What in the world is this?’
The Shadow Sect Master could not hide his astonishment before that chilling energy, enough to stimulate not only the five senses but even the sixth.
He too had accumulated yin energy through Ghost Yin Skill over many years, but this was incomparably colder and more sinister than that.
‘Will this be enough?’
Mok Gyeong-un thought to himself at the Shadow Sect Master’s reaction.
That was because the death aura Mok Gyeong-un was displaying now was not in its complete form, but was being controlled down to a level the living could perceive.
Complete death energy was something only the dead or strange beings could sense.
-Heh. Looks like you really did not want to be castrated.
-Well.
At Blue Spirit’s mockery, Mok Gyeong-un gave a slight shrug.
What he needed right now was the position of the Shadow Sect Master’s disciple, and furthermore that of successor.
If all he had needed was the title of subordinate under someone’s command, then rather than the Shadow Sect Master, he should have entered under an executive on the level of the Five Kings.
-Srrr.
Mok Gyeong-un concealed the energy he had revealed.
That too was harder to control than it looked.
After all, he had to reveal death aura only as a faint sensation while still at the level of peak mastery.
“Will this be sufficient?”
Mok Gyeong-un asked the Shadow Sect Master.
At that, the Shadow Sect Master, who had been astonished by Mok Gyeong-un’s death aura, opened his mouth.
“I have seen many talented martial prodigies, but someone like you is a first. An energy even more yin than the yin energy one can cultivate through Ghost Yin Skill…”
It was a rare thing.
There were not many ways for a male body to cultivate yin energy.
Most were extreme, or could be called fatal for a man’s body.
And even if one sought someone born with yin energy, it would amount to an incurable condition like the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, leaving them with an extremely short lifespan.
Perhaps because of that, the Shadow Sect Master asked, his curiosity stirred.
“How did you cultivate this energy?”
At the question, Mok Gyeong-un hesitated for a brief instant.
Then he followed Blue Spirit’s advice as it rang in his ear.
“To speak honestly, I do not know. Every time I cultivated internal power, a yin-cold energy accumulated in my body. It may be because of my constitution.”
“Your constitution?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm.”
At that, the Shadow Sect Master’s eyes narrowed.
“Would it be all right if I examined your body for a moment?”
The Shadow Sect Master wanted to inspect Mok Gyeong-un’s body just in case.
Because he had not even been castrated, it was difficult to believe so easily that a male body could possess such tremendous yin energy.
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un readily extended his hand.
The Shadow Sect Master then placed his fingers on the pulse channel at Mok Gyeong-un’s wrist.
-Slide.
Then he sent his own yin energy in.
The yin energy that entered through the Shadow Sect Master’s fingers flowed into Mok Gyeong-un’s body along the blood vessels and meridians.
‘Control… control…’
Mok Gyeong-un focused his mind and adjusted the death aura.
There was no possibility of the Shadow Sect Master reading true death energy, but he was preparing in case his internal power, with its yin nature, reacted to it.
‘Will it scatter?’
In the case of internal power with a yang nature, Mok Gyeong-un’s death aura scattered when they collided.
That was the part he was concerned about, but Mok Gyeong-un did not care much.
If necessary, he could always devise a method somehow.
-Slide.
At that moment, the Shadow Sect Master withdrew his fingers from Mok Gyeong-un’s pulse.
Then, his lips twitching, he said with a thoroughly satisfied face,
“Contrary to my concern, your vessels are sturdy and your internal organs are healthy.”
What the Shadow Sect Master had been worried about was Mok Gyeong-un’s bodily condition.
If his inner state was poor or imbalanced because of that unexpectedly great yin energy, then even if he could cultivate it, it would be meaningless.
‘To think such good fortune exists.’
Naturally, the Shadow Sect Master could not help but be excited.
Even if one performed castration at a very young age, resentment would arise, so he had thought a seventeen-year-old like Mok Gyeong-un would never accept it.
Thus he had assumed becoming a formal disciple would be impossible.
But if this was innate yin energy, then it seemed possible for him to circulate the techniques of Ghost Yin Skill, Flying Exchange Ghost Blade Method, and Ghost Shadow Claw Method.
‘And if things go well…’
If he took Mok Gyeong-un in as a disciple and examined that body, he might even be able to create a secret method for stably embodying yin energy without castration.
To have such fortune roll in at once, this truly was a joyous day.
But the Shadow Sect Master did not show it and instead said,
“How very curious. I had not expected this, but it seems you coming to me was a stroke of luck.”
“Then will you accept me as your disciple?”
“Of course, of course. In truth, even if that had not been the case, depending on the situation I might still have accepted you as a provisional disciple…”
-Bang bang.
The Shadow Sect Master’s words had not yet fully ended.
Someone was urgently knocking on the door to the indoor training room.
At that, the Shadow Sect Master walked over to the iron door of the training room and knocked in return, producing a similar thudding sound.
The difference was that he knocked only once.
-Bang.
Then,
-Creeeeak.
The iron door of the training room opened, and a middle-aged man with a mustache entered.
“Sect Master.”
“Chief Steward Yeon. What is it?”
At the question, the middle-aged man called Chief Steward Yeon seemed conscious of Mok Gyeong-un and tried to report by speaking into the Shadow Sect Master’s ear.
At that, the Shadow Sect Master shook his head and said,
“You do not need to be overly conscious of him. As of this hour, that child has become my disciple.”
“A disciple?”
At that, Chief Steward Yeon’s eyes widened.
“Then by that, do you mean not a provisional disciple, but…”
“Yes. A formal disciple.”
“Ahhh.”
At once, the Chief Steward dropped to one knee and, bringing both hands together, called out to the Shadow Sect Master,
“Sect Master, congratulations on taking a disciple!”
“Ohohoho.”
The Shadow Sect Master waved his hand, showing his delight.
Watching them, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head slightly.
He found it hard to understand what exactly a provisional disciple was and what exactly a formal disciple meant.
Judging by the fact that even the warriors guarding the door to the indoor practice room were murmuring among themselves, it seemed to be something worth talking about.
At that moment, Chief Steward Yeon also greeted Mok Gyeong-un with both hands joined.
“I, Chief Steward Yeon Baek, pay my respects to the Sect Master’s formal disciple.”
“I am Mok Gyeong-un.”
Caught off guard, Mok Gyeong-un also bowed his head and returned the greeting with both hands together.
It felt rather overblown. Was it really that significant?
As he was thinking that, Chief Steward Yeon said, unable to hide his excitement,
“I truly admire your resolve, Young Master. I fully understand the difficult decision you made as a man.”
‘Hm?’
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un frowned.
What was he talking about?
Did he think Mok Gyeong-un had become a disciple because he had agreed to be castrated?
-Kakakakaka.
Blue Spirit laughed like a madwoman, as though clutching her stomach.
Even Mok Gyeong-un, who ordinarily felt nothing from such matters, was so dumbfounded that a small laugh nearly escaped him.
However, there was no need for Mok Gyeong-un to explain it.
“Ohoho. It seems I caused a misunderstanding. This child will not be undergoing castration.”
“Pardon?”
At those words, Chief Steward Yeon wore an expression of complete incomprehension.
Because he had served the Shadow Sect Master for so long, he knew better than anyone that learning the Sect Master’s personal martial art required castration.
But if there would be no castration, then why was he being called a formal disciple?
Seeing his puzzlement, the Shadow Sect Master laughed and said,
“Shall I say he was born with yin energy?”
“Yin energy?”
At the Shadow Sect Master’s words, Chief Steward Yeon looked at Mok Gyeong-un without realizing it.
Then, as though noticing something, he cried out in surprise,
“Sect Master, that sword, could it be?”
The reason he was startled was the Evil-Answering Sword hanging at Mok Gyeong-un’s waist.
As one who assisted the Shadow Sect Master, he naturally knew that sword on sight.
“Ahh. I gave the sword to this child.”
“The sword?”
“Yes.”
“But that sword…”
Chief Steward Yeon could not continue and swallowed the rest of his words.
That sword had been judged too dangerous and impossible to control, so it had been entrusted to an occult practitioner they were acquainted with in order to seal its demonic aura.
[As it happens, I had business going to Corpse Blood Valley for the observation anyway, so this works well.]
That occult practitioner had been Yun Hae-pyeong, the third disciple of In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, which oversaw Corpse Blood Valley.
‘I do not know whether this will be all right.’
Chief Steward Yeon looked at the Evil-Answering Sword with worried eyes.
That sword was a demon sword.
Neither the Shadow Sect Master himself nor his subordinates, not even those who had inherited his martial arts, had been able to control it.
Yet was it really all right to give that to a disciple he had only just accepted?
To the worried Chief Steward Yeon, the Shadow Sect Master spoke as if he understood.
“You need not worry. The sword chose this child as its master.”
“Pardon? Is that truly so?”
“Would I ever lie to my Chief Steward? Ohohoho.”
“Heo.”
At those words, Chief Steward Yeon looked back and forth between Mok Gyeong-un and the Evil-Answering Sword in astonishment.
There was no way the Shadow Sect Master would lie about something like this.
If this was really true, then it could not help but be a remarkably curious matter.
It had been no more than six days since the Evil-Answering Sword had come into the Shadow Sect Master’s hands.
And now that sword was going into the hands of the disciple he had obtained on his very first visit to the final ceremony of Corpse Blood Valley…
‘Is it fate?’
There was no other way to see it.
Or perhaps one should say that this young brother had been followed by heavenly luck.
If it could not be controlled, it might be called a demon sword, but if it had been chosen by the sword intent, then it could be called one of the finest famed swords forged by the great master craftsman Ou Yezi.
However,
‘I do not know whether this will be all right.’
There was someone who had personally retrieved that sword on the Shadow Sect Master’s orders, and who wanted it more than anyone else.
Chief Steward Yeon was worried that it might lead to trouble.
Moreover, now that this young master had become a formal disciple, he might regard it as a rolling stone dislodging one already embedded and show fierce resentment.
‘I hope nothing happens.’
He was worried, but for the moment there was no way to know what lay ahead.
More importantly, there was something more urgent now.
“Ah, Sect Master, more importantly, I think you need to go to the main hall at once.”
“What is it?”
“An urgent report has come from Second Cry Team Nineteen.”
At those words from Chief Steward Yeon, the Shadow Sect Master, who had been smiling, furrowed his brow.
‘Second Cry Team Nineteen? The imperial palace?’
The foundation of intelligence work was code words.
All transmissions were conveyed through code phrases, but the Shadow Sect Master had them all memorized, so upon hearing only the words linked with the heavenly stems, he could tell the location exactly.
Chief Steward Yeon glanced once at Mok Gyeong-un, then spoke in a small voice.
“It seems they have found it. In the underground forbidden prison, fire worship…”
“Shh!”
In an instant, the Shadow Sect Master cut off his report.
He had judged that, since Mok Gyeong-un had become his formal disciple, he ought to learn the affairs of the Shadow Sect and thus could hear this much, but this was an exception.
“Let us speak of that once we reach the main hall.”
“Ah… understood.”
When the Chief Steward answered, the Shadow Sect Master turned his head and asked Mok Gyeong-un’s understanding.
“Could you wait here? I will go and return quickly. Ah. It would be good if you memorized this beforehand.”
The Shadow Sect Master took something from within his robes and handed it over.
It was a rolled-up scroll, and written on the outside were the words:
[Ghost Shadow Claw Method]
It was the secret manual for Ghost Shadow Claw Method, one of the Shadow Sect Master’s personal martial arts.
Receiving it, Mok Gyeong-un bowed his head and answered,
“Understood.”
“Then I will be back shortly.”
With those words, the Shadow Sect Master left the indoor training room together with the Chief Steward.
After they went out and the iron door closed, Mok Gyeong-un recalled the report Chief Steward Yeon had made earlier.
‘Fire worship?’
What was that?
What had they found?
If it was called fire worship, did that mean worshiping fire?
Since the report had been cut off midway, it did not seem to be all there was to it, but what sort of matter was it that they maintained such tight secrecy even from someone who had just become a formal disciple?
Still, he thought there was no need to be impatient. He would likely learn soon enough.
-Fwoosh.
Mok Gyeong-un unrolled the scroll the Shadow Sect Master had given him.
Since the man had said he would return quickly, it seemed best to pass the time by looking over the manual for Ghost Shadow Claw Method.
But it did not take long.
Running his eyes through it from top to bottom in one go, Mok Gyeong-un nodded.
“It is quite an interesting claw method.”
Because the circulation method was included and the postures were drawn in detail as well, he grasped it at once.
At that, Blue Spirit clicked her tongue.
-I do not know about other things, but I really envy that extraordinary head of yours.
“Is that so?”
Since he had always been like this from childhood, Mok Gyeong-un did not consider it particularly special.
Rather than that, if this really was the original, he thought he might as well enter the mental landscape once and see how exactly the technique was performed.
The Shadow Sect Master had said merely to memorize it, but it should not matter if he learned it first.
So Mok Gyeong-un read the manual and entered the mental landscape.
It had not even been half a quarter of an hour.
-Bang!
At that moment, the iron door of the indoor training room flew open with a harsh roar.
‘Hm?’
Mok Gyeong-un, who had just about finished within the mental landscape, opened his eyes.
When he turned his head toward the iron entrance, he saw two boys who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, along with a young man who looked to be around his mid-twenties.
The sharp-looking young man had his face flushed red, as though he were furiously enraged about something.
The young man who had entered swept Mok Gyeong-un up and down with his eyes, then discovered the Evil-Answering Sword at his waist and ground his teeth.
-Grind.
At him, one of the boys, whose chin was especially prominent, said in a tone of utter disbelief,
“How can this be? Was it not Senior Brother who risked his life to retrieve the Evil-Answering Sword?”
“What Junior Brother says is correct. That sword should have gone to Senior Brother. How can it be given to nothing more than an orthodox-path hostage?”
“I cannot endure this. Senior Brothers, I will snatch it back at once!”
With those words, the boy with the prominent chin kicked off the ground and shot toward Mok Gyeong-un.
-Pat.
Watching the boy attack him so suddenly, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head, and then,
-Papak.
“Huh?”
He lightly blocked the trajectory of the boy’s claw technique with one hand and, with a hand movement as swift as lightning, seized him by the throat.
-Grip.
“Keh!”
The boy, subdued in an instant without being able to execute even a single technique properly, could not hide his bewilderment.
Staring at him, Mok Gyeong-un said in a flat voice,
“You are risking your life on a first meeting.”