Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 91 - Goal (1)
Chapter 91 – Goal (1)
===================
Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
On the road back to the Heaven and Earth Society’s inner castle.
As he walked through the mountains and looked at the back of the old man walking ahead of him, occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong wore a conflicted expression.
That silent old man was his master and the Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, In Seo-ok.
“Haa.”
How in the world had things come to this?
That terrifying master now moved according to his command.
The reason was that he had received part of the control authority from Mok Gyeong-un.
[As promised, I’ll let you give him orders.]
That was the only price Mok Gyeong-un had actually kept.
Not one of the other conditions had been honored.
As for the secret of the Six-Person Spirit Descent Art he had proposed second, Mok Gyeong-un did not teach it, saying that even if he told him, he would never be able to do it, and as for the third, things had ended up exactly as one could now see.
-Chalang!
Through the chain of incantation words on his wrist, he had instead become a slave.
Now he had no choice but to follow that bastard regardless of his own will.
[I will remain in Corpse Blood Valley, so Master should return and become the Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion.]
‘Damn it.’
The boy had casually given him such an order.
He had indeed received control over his master In Seo-ok, who had become a living corpse demon, but he could not simply seize the position without thought.
There were procedures, and he needed some sort of suitable justification.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
Again, the biggest problem was senior brother Jo Tae-cheong.
Origin Kill Pavilion had for generations excelled in occult arts based on hand seals and corpse-spirit arts using dead bodies.
But senior brother Jo Tae-cheong, besides being skilled in hand-seal-based occult arts, was also proficient in shikigami arts, and had subdued an uncanny being of demon-beast rank, something even Master himself had never possessed.
‘……There is a reason he is called the next Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion.’
If such a senior brother were to notice that Master had become a living corpse demon, then a huge disaster would erupt.
No, his limbs might be torn apart by that demon beast in an instant.
He needed to come up with some way to naturally deceive senior brother.
‘My head aches over this. But…’
Something had felt strange for a while now.
There was something he could not remember, yet he had no idea what it was.
Could it be that Mok Gyeong-un had issued some command to him with incantation words and part of his memory had been erased?
‘This feels unpleasant.’
What in the world was it?
* * *
‘So it can be used that way as well.’
Mok Gyeong-un found the order he had given to occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong earlier to be useful, since it had worked properly.
The order Mok Gyeong-un gave had been simple.
[When you made the oath of incantation words, forget that you heard my real name. Continue to remember me as the third son of Yeon Mok Sword Manor.]
He had wondered whether such a thing would really work, but it truly had.
Because the principle was that one bound oneself by one’s own will, it was apparently possible.
He found himself wanting to obtain a few more of those chains of incantation words.
[Can more be obtained?]
[I’d like that too, but it’s difficult.]
According to occult practitioner Jo Ui-gong, the chain of incantation words was a ritual tool made by Myeong-ryul, the Great Magus of Gold Origin, one of the Gods of the Six Directions, and the one his master In Seo-ok had received as a gift at a general assembly of the Sixty-Four Pavilions of the Square and Circle was merely one of four.
Master In Seo-ok himself had researched for over ten years because he wanted to uncover its secret, but he had failed to reproduce its principle.
‘A pity.’
Still, aside from the one now placed on Jo Ui-gong, three more remained, so if an opportunity arose, Mok Gyeong-un wanted to get them.
In any case, thanks to it, he had erased from Jo Ui-gong’s memory the fact that he had spoken his true name.
That would not become a problem.
“Then shall we continue what we were talking about earlier?”
Mok Gyeong-un said to Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley.
This was Yi Ji-yeom’s office.
Having returned here directly, Mok Gyeong-un meant to wrap up what they had been discussing and ask what he had been curious about.
Just what was Blue Spirit’s secret?
At that moment, Blue Spirit’s voice rang in Mok Gyeong-un’s ear.
-Hey. Mortal.
‘Sorry, but I don’t think I can answer right now.’
Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, was sitting opposite him, so he could not reply.
Then she spoke in a serious voice.
-I am sincerely asking. Do not ask right now.
‘………’
Why?
Had she not become a resentful spirit for the sake of revenge and then even accepted him as a disciple despite disliking him?
Then why did she not want him to hear this?
As he stood there puzzled, Blue Spirit said,
-Even if not now, you will end up learning it when the time comes. Instead, if you do as I say, I will teach you one form of the Eight Forms of Mind-Breaking.
At those words from her, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.
Whatever else, Blue Spirit was someone who always said the Eight Forms of Mind-Breaking had to be realized on one’s own and never gave even the slightest clue about any of the forms.
Yet now she was saying she would teach him one of the forms she herself had realized.
That was a rather enticing offer.
-If you agree to what I say, make a circle with your thumb and forefinger.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un moved the fingers that had been resting on his thigh.
Then,
-………
Blue Spirit snorted as if dumbfounded.
That was because Mok Gyeong-un had not made a circle with thumb and forefinger, but had held up two fingers.
It meant he wanted to be taught not one form, but two.
‘…….You truly do refuse to come out at a loss.’
Even learning just one form of the Eight Forms of Mind-Breaking had immeasurable utility and value.
Still, she had not taught him the forms she had realized because she believed that, at his present state, learning them would do him more harm than good.
So she had been planning to teach him only one of the safer forms,
-Fine, you sly bastard.
and in the end she agreed to teach him that much.
Whether he would be able to embody what she had realized was another matter, but for the moment, she simply did not want Mok Gyeong-un to learn about this.
No, she herself did not want to hear how it had become known.
After all, she already had a guess.
‘When I am ready…’
Even if he heard it then, it would not be too late.
Once this agreement between them was complete, Mok Gyeong-un spoke to Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, who was about to begin talking.
“That day…”
“Could you stop for a moment?”
“Pardon?”
“Would it be all right if I heard that story later?”
“Later… you mean you would hear it later? But unless you know how the Society understands it, then what really happened at the Great Battle of Hoeryeong…”
“Let’s have this conversation after things are a little more settled.”
“After things are more settled means?”
To the puzzled Yi Ji-yeom, Mok Gyeong-un pointed to himself and said,
“How strong do I seem to the Society Leader’s subordinate here?”
“Strong in what sense?”
“My martial level.”
“Martial level. Hmm.”
At those words, Yi Ji-yeom furrowed his brow slightly, then looked Mok Gyeong-un up and down.
Then, in a voice that sounded uncertain, he said,
“Would it be all right if I speak honestly?”
“Yes.”
“Judging only by qi sense, you feel like around first-rate level.”
‘First-rate?’
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head slightly.
It would not have been wrong to say that he still had almost no true realization of the qi that corresponded to the realm of peak mastery.
Yet the quantity of death aura he possessed had reached the utmost edge of the peak realm.
Moreover, the opened middle dantian also held compressed energy that had reached the extreme of peak mastery, so one could say he possessed more than twice the energy of an expert on the same level.
‘So he can’t feel the energy?’
As he wondered, Blue Spirit’s voice came to him.
-That might well be the case.
‘Hm?’
-From the beginning, death aura is not something humans can accumulate in the body or feel. At most, they would only feel that something is chilling or cold.
‘………’
-So then, even more so, if such death aura is gathered in the dantian, it would be strange if ordinary people could feel it accurately.
‘Is that so?’
Was it really because death aura was entirely different from ordinary energy that even someone as formidable as Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, found it difficult to discern?
No, now that he thought of it, this might actually be a good thing.
‘If the other side doesn’t know what level I am, then I can deceive them.’
That alone had considerable use.
Carelessness, after all, was useful for creating openings in an opponent.
Then Yi Ji-yeom cautiously asked,
“Could it be that my lord is intentionally concealing his energy?”
According to what Yi Ji-yeom had heard from his grandfather, the strength of that person ranked among the top three of all the strongest figures in the history of the Heaven and Earth Society.
So he had believed this could not possibly be all.
However,
“No. What you see is what there is.”
“……..Is that truly so?”
“Yes.”
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Yi Ji-yeom let out a small groan tinged with disappointment.
And no wonder, because Yi Ji-yeom believed that the reason that person had returned as a resentful spirit and possessed this boy’s body was to take revenge and regain old glory and honor.
Naturally, he had thought there would be preparation.
But if that was not the case, then what in the world did he intend to do in the present situation?
“You look rather disappointed.”
“That is…”
He could not bring himself to continue.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,
“I understand why you’d think that. But it’s only been half a month since I possessed this body, and when I did, this body wasn’t even third-rate.”
‘!?’
At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, a strange light appeared in Yi Ji-yeom’s eyes.
And no wonder, because that meant he had reached first-rate level in only half a month.
If that was true, then it was an astonishing rate of growth.
“Is that… truly true?”
“Yes. Can’t you believe it?”
“No, how could I possibly disbelieve it? I am simply astonished…”
No matter how great one’s natural martial talent, this speed lay beyond common sense.
Yi Ji-yeom’s reaction was only natural.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“I know there are things you expect, but no matter how different I may be from the self of the past that you knew, I too am in the position of having to start again from the beginning.”
“Ah…”
At those words, Yi Ji-yeom nodded as if he understood.
Then he cautiously asked,
“……..Then after roughly how long would my lord be able to recover your original realm?”
That was the key point.
Yi Ji-yeom had been in a highly elevated state after making his vow of loyalty.
His state of mind was such that he wanted to leave Corpse Blood Valley at once and help his lord regain honor as his right arm.
At that question, Mok Gyeong-un thought for a brief instant.
‘My original realm?’
Now that he thought about it, Mok Gyeong-un had never heard how high a level of martial power she had possessed when alive.
She always spoke as though she herself was powerful, but the standard for that had remained vague.
Still, seeing that even Yi Ji-yeom, who was himself so strong, felt reverence, she was certainly stronger than Mok Gyeong-un had first assumed.
‘Then…’
It did seem best to set some sort of target time.
It was said that a gentleman’s revenge is not too late even after ten years.
That meant enduring patiently, building one’s strength, and waiting for the right moment.
Of course, patience in revenge was natural, but ten years was far too long.
So the period Mok Gyeong-un had in mind was
-Sseuk!
‘!?’
Yi Ji-yeom’s expression froze when he saw the fingers Mok Gyeong-un had raised.
-You… are you insane?
Blue Spirit’s voice sounded by Mok Gyeong-un’s ear.
Why were both of them reacting like this?
As he wondered, Mok Gyeong-un was holding up only two fingers.
-Ha!
Blue Spirit clicked her tongue as if in disbelief.
Just then, Yi Ji-yeom, the Valley Master of Corpse Blood Valley, spoke in a somewhat trembling voice.
“Could it be… twenty years…”
“No. That’s far too long.”
At those words, Yi Ji-yeom swallowed dryly and continued, as if he could not believe it.
“Can that really… be possible?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
The answer came with not the slightest hesitation.
At that,
“Ha…”
Yi Ji-yeom let out an exclamation, his eyes filled with genuine reverence.
He was only setting the target period as short as possible so that he could work toward it, so was this truly something that merited such a reaction?
As he thought that, Blue Spirit clicked her tongue and said,
-You haven’t even properly attained realization of the peak realm, yet you are boldly declaring that in two years you will cross the wall and reach the realm of transformation.
The realm of transformation.
That was the supreme martial realm one could reach only after crossing the wall and attaining the states of Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown and Five Qi Returning to the Origin.
It was said that in the current murim, only the Six Heavens and Eight Stars, who were called the greatest masters, had reached that realm.
Yet Mok Gyeong-un had just declared that in two years he would reach the same level as them.
‘Is it difficult?’
As if she had read Mok Gyeong-un’s thoughts, Blue Spirit said,
-Try dying and waking up a hundred times. See if that becomes possible. No, if you can truly do it, then I will call you Master for the rest of my life and attend to you myself.