Reincarnation of the Martial Emperor

Chapter 35: Take it all off.

The Blood Demon was out at the Phoenix Martial Emperor Pavilion.

He observed Cho Ryeo-un and Moyong Baek intently, then glanced at me.

“They are ordinary boys.”

I let out a smirk.

A guy with no talent for teaching whatsoever was daring to spout nonsense about my judgment?

Of course, I knew what he was looking at when he called them ordinary.

For a guy who had watched the prominent prodigies of the Demonic Cult, the kind of talent that would come to his mind was obvious.

“That one, in particular, is ordinary in every aspect. In fact, his bone structure can’t even be called good. Did you perhaps glimpse some outstanding insight in him?”

The Blood Demon’s gaze was on Cho Ryeo-un.

I sneered at the Blood Demon and opened my mouth.

“Martial arts is a long journey. You have to run tirelessly even when you know the achievements are unreachable. Considering those long years, bone structure or ki meridians are minor factors.”

“Foolish words. That small difference, when met with long years, turns into an irreversible gap.”

I frowned as I looked at him.

To say such obvious nonsense that even a neighborhood martial arts hall master would say with such a serious face, should I say it felt out of place?

He was the Blood Demon of the Demonic Cult, after all, wasn't he?

“You really show that you received your martial arts for free from your master. Do you even know what self-cultivation is? You have to run a thousand li, so what meaning is there in starting just two or three steps ahead?”

“……”

“Listen well, Demonic Cultist. A martial artist is one who endlessly trains. A sturdy body might make you less tired, but it doesn’t create the determination not to give up. A good head doesn’t create the will to keep running.”

The reason I held the human Black Way in the highest regard was because of the motivation firmly rooted in their hearts.

Jet-black hatred was an excellent support to endure hardship.

Human sorrow was an unparalleled nutrient for tension, and that melancholic self-loathing also became a powerful vitality of life to move forward.

I knew from experience that as long as one was not consumed by that Black Way, as long as one did not claw at oneself, there was no greater talent in the martial path.

“How in the world did you become the Blood Demon with such a dim-witted eye? Hmm. Maybe the Demonic Cult didn’t fall for no reason.”

The Blood Demon, who had been standing expressionlessly without a reply, once again walked away towards the wall.

What was this? Was he sulking again?

This Blood Demon guy had a strange habit of always looking at the wall when his feelings were hurt, just like last time.

Was it a new kind of wall-gazing training to calm the mind?

At that moment, I felt someone’s presence.

It was the youngest daughter of the Martial Marquis Line, Jaegal Yujeong.

“Why are you here?”

Jaegal Yujeong had grown up to have quite outstanding features.

The characteristically thin and long body of the Jaegal Clan was an advantage for a woman.

A slender body, a fair face, and distinct facial features.

Her eyes were particularly large, to the point that every time she looked up, I was reminded of Yeonhyang.

Of course, in my eyes, which possessed the soul of a fifty-year-old man, she still just looked like a child.

“Father sent me.”

I frowned as I looked at Jaegal Yujeong, who spoke bluntly.

A face full of an unknown defiance.

She was definitely a bright and cheerful child, but strangely, her expression had become somewhat dark overall.

Why was she looking at me with those eyes?

Shouldn’t she be happy to see her older brother after three years?

Was she going through puberty or something?

“Father sent you?”

“Yeah.”

“For what?”

Unexpected words flowed from Jaegal Yujeong’s pretty lips.

“The Shadowless Terrace. He told me to observe everything about how you train them and report back.”

“What?”

Did he think cutting out the ingrained inertia in martial arts was some kind of joke?

What’s more, all of them were first-rate masters.

It was a situation where even pouring my entire heart out for a fortnight wouldn't be enough, and he was adding an extra burden?

“Hoo…… Yujeong-ah. I’ll speak to Father separately later, so just—”

“Father already left a message, knowing you would react this way.”

“What?”

“He said the fate of the five-hundred-year-old Divine Skill Jaegal family is at stake.”

“……”

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.

If I failed, as the clan head, he would have to devise the next move.

If the demonic arts of the Shadowless Terrace were exposed, the Jaegal Clan would be finished that day.

After being lost in thought for a while, I eventually let out a sigh.

“Hoo, then be quiet. Do not ask or interfere carelessly. Literally, just observe.”

“Don’t worry.”

As time passed and the Hour of the Dog arrived, the members of the Shadowless Terrace, having finished their daily tasks, began to arrive one by one.

At that moment, a scene caught my eye.

The members of the Shadowless Terrace, upon spotting the Blood Demon, all showed agitation on their faces, their ki scattering.

The martial artists, trained through long practice, had recalled a forgotten fear as soon as they saw the Blood Demon.

“Sigh, you ignorant Demonic Cult bastard. Just what and how did you teach them that martial artists with that level of ki tremble at the sight of you?”

The Blood Demon averted his gaze again.

Feeling utterly annoyed, I shouted at the Blood Demon again.

“Won’t you talk? What martial arts did you teach those men!”

One who teaches martial arts must never become fear itself.

The reason I executed Yeomjong, whom I had cherished during my Great Murim Alliance days, was because he had carelessly beaten and killed his subordinates during training.

‘…….’

It seemed the Blood Demon had no intention of speaking in the end.

Having no other choice, I walked straight towards the members of the Shadowless Terrace.

Shadowless.

As I looked at them, a laugh escaped me.

It was absurd that those who were shadows were wearing flashy white martial arts uniforms, but the look in their eyes as they looked at me was even more laughable.

Thick suspicion.

Well, these guys must have heard about my boast of draining the crimson water in a fortnight, and naturally, those words would sound ridiculous to them.

But during my days as an instructor for the Great Murim Alliance.

It was I who had taken the bastards from the Hegemon King's Gate, who had learned a unique iron chain art, and transformed them into Diamond Arhats in a fortnight to infiltrate Shaolin.

I looked quietly at the member of the Shadowless Terrace standing at the front and opened my mouth.

“Are you the leader of the Shadowless Terrace?”

“That is correct.”

Perhaps he had learned well how to conceal his sharp qi, as the leader of the Shadowless Terrace stood with a fairly solid presence.

“Then shall we begin?”

“What……?”

I curled the corner of my lips into a smirk towards the Shadowless Terrace leader, who had his eyes full of questions.

“I have to know what’s inside first, don’t I?”

Shushuk!

Thwack!

The Shadowless Terrace leader, who barely blocked my Dark Form Fist, slid back.

A look of surprise was on his face.

‘Hmm?’

I was the same.

He took a direct hit from my Dark Form Fist and was still standing stiffly?

Moreover, the Shadowless Terrace leader had not even revealed all of his skills.

“Wow, what a treat. A proper opponent, huh?”

Crack, crack.

I first loosened my stiff body.

It was perfect, as I didn’t have a suitable sparring partner other than the Blood Demon.

This was enough to be worth revealing my skills.

As I opened up more than half of the One Ki Divine Origin Art, a warm energy poured into my Governor and Conception vessels at once.

Shiiik!

I slid in, closing the distance in an instant.

Then, I curved into the Fierce Dragon Hand.

Chasing the retreating opponent, I immediately followed with the Strange Lotus Strike.

Lightly mixing in variations, I went all the way to the Six Gazes Shatter.

Chwachwachwachwacha!

Kkaang!

The Shadowless Terrace leader stared at his own sword with eyes of disbelief.

He had realized it.

That the energy that had harmonized with his sword, albeit for a fleeting moment, was enhanced qi.

He immediately tended to his torn palm and then emitted a dense aura.

‘Hmm?’

A sinister energy began to ripple densely.

Between the sword raised towards his brow, his two eyes revealed a deep, inky light.

I was suspicious.

It looked like the Demon Soul Kill that Demonic Cult members commonly learn, but something was definitely different.

It was more intense, more unsettling.

And that demonic qi felt as if it were cutting into my flesh.

Wait a minute?

That appearance of his entire pupils being dyed black, could it be?

“Dark Soul Demonic Ki……?”

This was not the martial art of a common Demonic Cultist.

It was the Dark Soul Demonic Ki, known as one of the Ten Demonic Skills, in other words, a top-tier Demonic Cult ultimate art.

An supreme demonic art that could only be bestowed upon those who had reached at least the level of a great bishop within the Demonic Cult.

No, was that crazy Blood Demon bastard?

“Wait! Hey Blood Demon, are you insane?”

A string of curses immediately flowed out.

Excluding the Heavenly Demon's True Body Martial Arts, the ten most powerful martial arts that a Demonic Cult member could dream of were the Ten Demonic Skills.

In particular, the Dark Soul Demonic Ki was a demonic art known as the exclusive martial art of the notoriously cruel True Demon Brigade Leader, Hyukryeon Gwang.

Even I had only heard of it through words, and this was my first time actually experiencing it.

“Are you even human? No matter how ruined the cult is, to impart this terrifying demonic art to an orthodox faction member?”

“It was Jaegal who wanted power.”

“Still, this bastard?”

“What? Bastard?”

“Yes, you bastard! Have you ever seen a demonic practitioner who learned the Dark Soul Demonic Ki and lived past forty? Try and name one with that open mouth of yours!”

The Dark Soul Demonic Ki was a demonic art that ate away at the soul.

It also had the characteristic of squeezing a person’s ki to its limits, so after a certain period, the body could no longer endure.

In the end, one would become a wreck with both body and mind broken.

The achievement would be faster than any divine art, but it was a demonic art in the truest sense of the word, one that would surely lead to death.

That was why even high-ranking demonic practitioners, though they knew its power well, would not choose the Dark Soul Demonic Ki unless they had to.

And yet.

Even though I had told them all these facts, there was no particular reaction from the members of the Shadowless Terrace.

“Don’t tell me you all already knew?”

The leader of the Shadowless Terrace sheathed his sword and spoke calmly.

“We knew.”

Another member of the Shadowless Terrace who had been standing behind him stepped forward.

“Third Young Master, this is something we have all prepared ourselves for.”

I was dumbfounded.

Men from the Jaegal Clan, a family that pursued rationality more than any other, had made the most irrational choice.

Of course, everyone dreams of different values, but was it truly right to put those young lives on the scales of that value?

Moreover, since they had learned a demonic art, they had given up their lives.

They could not rashly reveal their martial might, nor could they proudly present themselves.

They would at most be mobilized for secret operations.

No, but the Jaegal Clan was one of the Five Great Clans, so what was lacking in their lives? Dıscover more novels at novel✦fire.net

Grief over their lack of martial power?

Was that really a motivation worth risking one’s life for?

To half-shave away one’s own life for the honor of the family was something I could not understand at all.

From my perspective, there were far more dirty and sorrowful things in this Jianghu.

“Well, it’s your choice, so I’ll respect it. But we always have to live in reality. The Namgung bastards want to use you as a sacrifice, so what can we do?”

Those who had cut off their lives.

I felt like I now understood a little of the meaning of the Shadowless Terrace they had put forth.

To live as a true shadow.

That was a really difficult thing to do.

“If you truly know a way to erase the traces of this Dark Soul Demonic Ki, even for a moment…… we will follow.”

I spoke firmly to the leader of the Shadowless Terrace.

“In any way?”

“Yes.”

I scanned the other members with my eyes.

“It’s the same for all of you, right?”

“We will follow!”

“I will follow as well!”

“The honor of Divine Skill Jaegal is more important than my life!”

Hmm, this was certainly no ordinary resolve.

If so, shall we slowly begin?

“Everyone, take off your clothes.”

“Yes? What does that……?”

The bewildered leader of the Shadowless Terrace.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said take off all your clothes.”

“……Everything?”

Leaving behind Jaegal Yujeong, whose mouth was agape in shock, I let out a sly smile.

“Yes, naked. I want you all to be naked in front of me.”