Chapter 191 – You Scoundrels and Ruffians

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Whew…”

Ju-seong exhaled softly and ceased his movements. His fingertips trembled… that was how much stamina and mental energy he had consumed.

He’d spent at least a full day and a half absorbed in this. Now his Three Yang Fist, Flame Crow Six Stage Art, and Karmic Fire Demonic Art were all more firmly interconnected thanks to the “Flame Emperor Art” he’d discovered here, forming a new system.

“Hmm.”

He looked down at his own body.

His realm itself hadn’t risen, but the foundation for future ascent had been laid.

First, he had found the original source of Flame Crow Six Stage Art.

“As years passed, the original profundity of the Flame Emperor Art must have worn away.”

Through improvements upon improvements, the Flame Crow Six Stage Art that Ju-seong had inherited had lost its original majesty.

Of course, it was still an extremely excellent martial art, but how could one soar to higher realms if one forgot the original source?

After all, a tree with deep roots was the kind that could weather storms and grow into a towering giant.

The efficiency of Flame Crow Six Stage Art, the power of the Karmic Fire Demonic Art, and the profundity of the Flame Emperor Art.

Added to this was the Poison Accumulation Method he had obtained in Yunnan’s Five Poisons Valley.

All of these formed a system within Ju-seong’s mind, fusing and transforming into a new form.

‘I should give it a new name.’

Additionally, there had been a qualitative change in his dantian itself.

They said martial artists possessed upper, middle, and lower dantians, but the upper and middle dantians were things everyone had from birth.

After all, no one was born without a brain, and no one without a heart.

But the lower dantian was a product of inner elixir cultivation… an object inheriting the lineage of immortal arts.

That lower dantian had undergone a qualitative change, turning golden.

He couldn’t yet understand the specific meaning, but it was certainly a positive change.

Just then…

Ju-seong groaned softly, clutching his stomach.

“Ah, I’m starving.”

He rummaged through the cavern like Liu Bang raiding his sister-in-law’s kitchen.

Opening the stone cabinet on which the jewel rested, he found a small jar inside.

Ju-seong activated Heavenly Nose and sniffed as he opened the jar’s lid.

“My word… Aged Fasting Pills.”

By some absurd miracle, the Fasting Pills inside the jar were still edible despite thousands of years.

Probably due to the formation surrounding this entire space, along with the strange jewel’s influence.

Ju-seong scooped up a handful of Fasting Pills and stuffed them in his mouth.

Though a musty smell rose up due to the long passage of time, Ju-seong wasn’t in any position to be picky.

‘I must have consumed more mental and physical energy than I thought.’

Ju-seong wolfed down the Fasting Pills like a beast. Though they had turned blackish from the ages, they had a surprisingly refined fragrance.

While eating, a thought occurred to him.

Perhaps these Fasting Pills were items personally made by Flame Emperor Shennong himself.

If so, Ju-seong was being treated as a guest by the god worshipped by Central Plains people.

“Treated to food in a god’s home, by the god himself… what immortal leisure could compare?”

Ju-seong murmured with satisfaction. Of course, this was a rather embarrassing thing to say while surrounded by darkness in a cave.

After cleaning out all the Fasting Pills, Ju-seong gazed at the remaining jewel.

It seemed like no ordinary treasure, so should he take it? Just as he tentatively reached out…

-WHOOM…

A somewhat peevish vibration transmitted through his hand.

It felt as if the jewel was saying: you’ve learned the martial art and eaten all my Fasting Pills, now get lost.

Somehow, he felt a premonition that if he tried to remove this jewel, this entire space would collapse.

“Having sat here for thousands of years in a spiritually potent place, it may have developed its own spiritual consciousness.”

Hard to believe, but that was how Ju-seong felt. He decided not to disturb the spirit dwelling underground, instead being satisfied with what he had gained and taking his leave.

He drove the Crimson Iron Flying Knife into the wall and climbed the pit. One inch, then another.

Ju-seong emerged, half-exhausted, into the original cavern. Checking the Formless Gateway that Wol-hyang had entered, there was still no sign of the door opening.

He tried pressing his ear to the door to listen to what was happening inside, but likewise couldn’t hear anything… probably due to the formation’s influence.

‘Looking at things, these kinds of divine arts and formations seem to be superior when they’re ancient.’

Martial arts were easily passed down through generations since those who learned them became stronger, thereby reducing the chances of dying as unrestored orphans.

On the other hand, formations and divine arts were learned by those who had negligible fighting power yet dangerously had one foot in jianghu.

Naturally, there must have been no small difficulty in their transmission.

Ju-seong looked around the space that bore the handiwork of ancient people, then examined the entrance to the Formless Gateway.

Faintly visible were characters carved in intaglio in oracle bone script. Due to the ravages of time, they had almost disappeared… to an unknowing person, they would look like mere cracks in the stone.

“Rong (戎)…?”

It was hardly legible, just this one character.

Ju-seong tilted his head, then took a step back and said.

“As we agreed, I emerged first, so I’ll be going now. May you also find martial fortune within, Lady.”

Ju-seong had a long way to go. And Wol-hyang also had her own tasks to complete.

Even if he waited until she came out, they would have to part ways anyway.

He wanted to check on her well-being, but Ju-seong decided to trust her. She was a wise and clever woman.

He slipped out through the fissure in the earth. Moss grew around the crack like green lips.

Ju-seong raised the Flame Crow Six Stage Art, wrapping his hand in flames, and pressed his seal onto the soft moss.

A yellowish-brown handprint was left behind.

“With this, the Lady will know I’ve already left.”

Ju-seong nodded, then turned his back without lingering.

‘Jiangnan…’

He was heading to Jiangnan. To that harsh, murderous land where he was born and spent his boyhood.

* * *

At first, Ju-seong had planned to ride the Yangtze River swiftly downstream and head straight to the Jiangnan front.

But along the way, his mind changed.

‘The White Lotus Cult’s movements are definitely suspicious.’

As Ju-seong saw it, there was a high possibility the White Lotus Cult was also a minion of the Cradle of the Demonic Path. If so, their movements were rather suspicious.

Gansu, which bordered Xinjiang, was already in chaos due to demonic people.

But to advance further east, one would encounter Shaanxi Province. In Shaanxi were Zhongnan and Mount Hua.

‘Mount Hua, counted as jianghu’s premier sword school, and Zhongnan, called the impregnable sword masters.’

Even if the White Lotus Cult remnants had unexpectedly great power, there would inevitably be a burden.

Perhaps because of this, they were using bandits to work their way into Qinghai Province.

He’d heard the Kunlun Sect was a strong sect but had few members.

In other words, an elite-focused sect. A place wrapped in mystique as well.

Whether the Kunlun Mountain said to be the dwelling of the Queen Mother of the West was actually that same Kunlun Mountain was unknown, but in any case, there was a locational uniqueness in that it sat where the Western Regions met the Central Plains.

However, with few members, they couldn’t possibly control the entire vast Qinghai Province without possessing clairvoyance.

Thus the White Lotus Cult seemed to be trying to use Qinghai as a bridgehead for something.

‘From Qinghai… not Sichuan.’

In Sichuan there existed the Qingcheng Sect and Emei Sect. If the Cradle of the Demonic Path’ plans had fully succeeded and they had fought bloody battles with each other, the White Lotus Cult would certainly have struck Sichuan.

‘But I defended Sichuan.’

As a proud Sichuan native, Ju-seong had defeated the wicked forces that had been lurking in Sichuan.

Then they would bypass Sichuan and…

‘Yunnan.’

Ju-seong’s mind worked rapidly.

They might be plotting a march route through Qinghai, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi.

“I hate to say it, but Yunnan has almost nothing but riffraff.”

There was the Five Poisons Valley, but with his now-broadened perspective, Ju-seong knew they weren’t such a tremendous sect when measured against all of jianghu.

‘After Yunnan comes Guizhou.’

The Crimson Spider Sect Master of Guizhou was certainly a powerful figure, but frankly speaking, she was an old woman on death’s door. The succession issue wasn’t settled either.

‘After Guizhou comes Guangxi.’

The Green Forest bandits of Guangxi Province were cooperating with the Martial Alliance to form a dual front in Jiangnan.

Which meant western Guangxi was empty.

Most Green Forest bandits had been deployed eastward toward Guangdong Province.

If the White Lotus Cult passed through Yunnan and Guizhou and struck the Green Forest’s rear, that would be a catastrophe.

It would mean everything south of the Yangtze would fall wholesale into the hands of the evil and demonic path.

‘So I should go to Yunnan.’

Ju-seong didn’t even glance at his beloved Sichuan, instead heading straight south toward Yunnan.

He murmured while gazing eastward.

“Master, I’ll come to attend to you later.”

He had to move quickly. Tidying up the courtyard house and retrieving his master’s remains would have to wait.

“If only you’d get angry enough to haunt me as a ghost…”

Ju-seong muttered such impious words before sighing. His master wasn’t the type to care about his own corpse.

Nor was he the type to cling pathetically to this world with unfinished business.

His soul had surely flown far, far away.

To a place so distant that a living person’s short arms couldn’t even brush his sleeve.

* * *

“Mm, Diancang Mountain.”

Ju-seong walked the snowy path with both hands clasped behind his head. Just like that time when he first met Red Beggar.

Desperately fleeing from Red Beggar who wanted to embrace him through the night, they had run into bandits.

After beating them up, he had cut a gold ingot to give them…

In any case, it was a nostalgic memory.

“Come to think of it, I wonder if those fellows are doing well.”

Since Yunnan had been his first venture into jianghu, the sentiments were special. What had become of the bandits who had set up their stronghold on Diancang Mountain back then?

Now that Yunnan’s situation had improved, and given Ju-seong’s instructions, hadn’t they given up banditry and scattered to live their own lives?

Just then…

“Hm? Was there a Taoist temple over there?”

Ju-seong tilted his head. Though sloppily built, it was definitely a Taoist temple. Moreover, its scale was considerable… dozens of halls stood, enough to house several dozen people.

It was built straddling a ridge, and though the construction was lacking, sitting solitary in the midst of snowy mountains, it had a certain charm.

“Smoke’s rising from cooking. People must be there.”

Ju-seong headed toward the temple, intending to beg some scorched rice water and spend the night.

Ju-seong peeked over the temple’s low wall and immediately hardened his expression.

“That bastard…?”

A face Ju-seong couldn’t forget. One of the Diancang Mountain bandits he’d met on his first venture into jianghu. He remembered the sleazy-looking face.

Wasn’t the fellow strutting around wearing a Taoist’s long robe?

And the other fellows too.

‘Come to think of it, those faces look familiar too…’

He couldn’t remember every face of the bandits he’d met back then, but each one looked familiar.

Ju-seong nearly felt his head explode with rage for an instant, but he calmed his heart and used Heavenly Nose.

“…There’s almost no smell of blood.”

Apart from animal blood, there was almost none. But the fact that fellows dressed as Taoists were killing animals wasn’t something to look favorably upon either.

‘Looking at it, they must have intimidated the original Taoists who lived here into leaving, then took over the place themselves. They didn’t kill anyone, but it’s still nasty behavior.’

Ju-seong felt regret about his own actions after a long while.

They were former military who had fought for the country, and their character hadn’t seemed bad, so he had even shared gold with them.

‘You’ve betrayed my trust.’

Ju-seong ground his teeth, then leaped over the wall as if flying.

“Wha… ?!”

The first bandit to spot him let out a bewildered exclamation.

Ju-seong slapped the fellow’s cheek hard, sending him flying, and roared.

“You scoundrels and ruffians… !”

The sound of thrashing echoed through the quiet snowy mountains.

Since they didn’t seem to be completely rotten fellows, he moderated his strength, but it was still an assault by a master who had reached super-peak level.

Ju-seong rampaged like a tiger that had leaped among a flock of goats.

“Aigo, my lord! For what reason do you persecute us!”

The pleading only stoked Ju-seong’s anger further.

“This shameless bastard! Not only did you steal the Taoist masters’ dwelling, but you’ve dressed up in their clothes, taken over the temple, set up spirit tablets, burned incense, and even the scriptures…”

Ju-seong was spouting rebukes like rapid fire when he suddenly paused.

“…are reading them?”

Would fellows who had stolen a Taoist dwelling bother setting up spirit tablets and burning incense? That might be a scheme to pose as Taoists while robbing gullible visitors.

But wasn’t each fellow he’d beaten carrying a copy of the scriptures?

Ju-seong snatched one and opened it… it was written in a clumsy, messy hand that had clearly been painstakingly copied.

Ju-seong asked the bandit with swollen eyes.

“…Did you write this yourself?”

“Aigo, why are you doing this to us!”

Ju-seong scratched his head vigorously. What in the world was going on?

Just then…

“…Lord Ju-seong?”

A bewildered voice struck the back of Ju-seong’s head.