Chapter 192 : Jaseung, Gathers
Chapter 192: Jaseung, Gathers
It was hard to find the right words to describe the man.
He gave off a rough and powerful impression, yet there was an inexplicable dignity about him.
It was not the kind of strength one saw in wandering swordsmen or assassins. It was not because his martial arts were strong, nor because his temperament looked fierce. It was a strength that came from dignity itself, an essential strength that existed to protect that dignity.
And the ease that such strength created.
Lee Jaseung felt something from him that he could not compare with anyone he had ever seen before.
“Who are you? You.”
Compared to the tense Lee Jaseung, the man remained calm.
“You are still young, yet your ambition is big.”
His voice flew into Lee Jaseung’s chest as if it pierced straight through. He had not used inner Qi. Lee Jaseung had no idea why the man’s voice sounded so clear to him. It was his first time experiencing anything like this.
It was not because the man had called him young.
His grip on Asura tightened on its own. He felt that if he did not fight, he might die.
It was the first time in his life he had ever felt like this.
The opponent roused every bit of fighting spirit inside him.
In the end, unable to endure it, Lee Jaseung sprang toward the man.
Swish, swish, swish, swish!
Asura tore through the air.
Asura, which had cut down countless masters of the Black Way, sliced nothing but empty air.
The way the man evaded it so lightly shocked Lee Jaseung.
The man lightly sprang back, then stretched out his arm. A saber that had been lying on the ground flew into his hand.
He swung the saber. He really swung it as casually as if he were doing morning exercise.
Flash.
Lee Jaseung failed to dodge that simple attack.
The approaching blade Qi was far too fast.
Thud.
He was hurled straight backward. A burning pain spread through his chest, and he screamed.
“Arghhhhhh!”
He smelled burning flesh. Smelling his own flesh burn was a truly disgusting experience. Fortunately, it was not a life threatening wound.
The man walked over slowly and looked down at him.
Lee Jaseung could tell that the man had been perfectly capable of killing him in a single instant, yet had chosen not to.
Now, even when he looked at the man, he felt no urge to fight. He realized that the man had deliberately provoked his fighting spirit a moment ago. That he had intentionally drawn him into a fight.
For what reason?
“That is my way of repaying you for saving those children.”
Repaying him with such a merciless attack? What kind of nonsense was that?
Humiliation boiled up, and Lee Jaseung ground his teeth and asked.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled gently and spoke.
“Even if you belong to the dark Black Way, there are basic lines a human being must keep. Do not cross that line.”
That was the last thing he heard. His vision slid shut, and he lost consciousness.
That single strike left a lightning shaped scar on his chest.
Lee Jaseung slipped out of his recollection and returned to reality.
When he looked down at the scar, that event felt as if it had happened only yesterday. The fact that he had been taken down in a single exchange without so much as landing a hand became a scar in itself.
His martial arts had grown to an incomparable level since then.
The words that the scar was a repayment for saving those two, perhaps the man had foreseen that Lee Jaseung would pour in desperate effort to wash away the shame of defeat? What would happen now if he faced that man again?
Ho Yeonshin, who had been staring intently at Lee Jaseung’s scar, smiled brightly.
“He came.”
His voice trembled with joy and emotion, overflowing with hope.
“He? Who are you talking about?”
At Lee Jaseung’s question, Ho Yeonseo, who had been listening, cried out in surprise.
“Huh? Are you saying the First Cult Leader came here?”
“If it was not him, who else could use the Nine Divine Demonic Blade Style?”
The only one who had learned the Nine Divine Demonic Blade Style was Ho Yeonshin. Ho Yeonseo had learned the Nine Divine Demonic Arts, but not the blade technique, the Nine Divine Demonic Blade Style. Based on the Nine Divine Demonic Arts, it was divided into many detailed martial arts, such as sword arts, blade arts, fist arts, spear arts, and so on.
“I still cannot believe it.”
At those words, not only Lee Jaseung but even Rain was startled.
“First Cult Leader? What are you talking about?”
The one who explained was Ho Yeonseo.
“Our sect has a legend passed down. It says the First Cult Leader who founded our sect still lives an immortal life. It is literally a legend, so no one believes it.”
“Yet your brother believed it.”
“Strictly speaking, it was our father. That is how desperate he was.”
With a serious expression, she asked.
“Was it him?”
It was she who asked instead. She wanted to know if it really had been him.
Lee Jaseung asked back.
“Are you asking me if a man from a thousand years ago, who never died, appeared and left a scar on my body?”
“Of course not.”
She let out a sigh.
“But my brother is the only one in this Jianghu who knows the Nine Divine Demonic Blade Style.”
Lee Jaseung recalled the man from that day.
He really was a man who was hard to describe with words. He did not know how difficult the Nine Divine Demonic Blade Style was, but as it was the Demonic Cult Leader’s exclusive martial arts technique, it would not be ordinary. Yet the man had used it with absurd ease.
He looked at Ho Yeonshin and asked.
“I will ask again. What do I have to do to meet him?”
“He is a great Demon God. He is not someone you can meet just because you say you want to.”
Through the scar on Lee Jaseung’s chest, Ho Yeonshin was sure that the legend was real.
One corner of Lee Jaseung’s mouth curled upward.
“Then it is simple. If I wipe out every last successor of the Heavenly Demon Sect, he will show up.”
He drew Asura.
Ho Yeonseo and Rain had their inner Qi sealed. The only one who could fight right now was a single person, Ho Yeonshin.
“You are a madman.”
Ho Yeonshin drew the saber at his waist.
“We are grateful that you saved us that day, but making light of our sect is something I can never forgive.”
A taut tension surged between the two.
Ho Yeonseo quickly stepped between them and spoke to Lee Jaseung.
“This fight is pointless. No, it is actually a fight that harms you.”
She had to stop them from fighting no matter what.
She sensed how important her role was. If a fight broke out due to one wrong move, not only her brother but everyone would be in danger.
‘My brother might lose.’
She had seen Lee Jaseung fight with her own eyes, yet he was still her brother who had learned the Nine Divine Demonic Arts. She had never thought her brother would lose. In her judgment, it was a razor thin match that could go either way.
“Why?”
“They say the enemy of my enemy is my ally. At least for now, we are allies to each other, right?”
In truth, Lee Jaseung had no intention of fighting him.
He only wanted to know whether they were telling the truth.
To be honest, he still clung to the past that had gone by. Every time he saw the scar on his chest, he dreamed of revenge.
He would definitely take revenge for that day. However, he would not let his hatred blind him and ruin everything.
“The you I know is really smart. So put the dagger away.”
Acting as if he reluctantly yielded, Lee Jaseung withdrew Asura and asked Ho Yeonshin.
“Do you have liquor?”
Ho Yeonseo gave her brother a look, urging him to put his saber away.
Ho Yeonshin sheathed his saber. He was not a foolish man either.
“Come inside.”
He stepped into the tent first.
Lee Jaseung and the other two followed him inside.
Once four people sat down, the tent felt packed. The place was as simple as a monk’s room.
Lee Jaseung could feel it. Ho Yeonshin was meditating here, trying to grasp the profound essence of the Nine Divine Demonic Arts.
Yet he knew instinctively.
This method was completely wrong.
She thought the two would be evenly matched if they fought, but Lee Jaseung was confident he could beat him.
If he had to fight relying only on Unorthodox Arts, it might have been a tough battle. Demonic arts were relatively strong against Unorthodox Arts. If people of equal skill clashed, the one who had mastered demonic arts held an overwhelming advantage.
But the close combat technique that Lee Jaseung had learned at the end was not Unorthodox Arts.
On top of that, he had climbed to the second sublevel of the Transcendent Peak Realm. Ho Yeonshin, who had not grasped the true essence of the Nine Divine Demonic Arts, was no match for him.
Ho Yeonshin tried to break through his blocked martial arts by seeking the solution inside his martial arts.
But that was exactly what he should not do. The more it was like that, the more he should have set aside the greed to grasp the essence and focused on another kind of life. Then, by chance, he might have realized the profound truth.
In the endless repetition of training. Or while cutting down an enemy. Or in the middle of a casual conversation with someone.
Lee Jaseung did not tell him of that insight. He was an enemy. Right now he might be an enemy one step removed, but once he became a true enemy, he would be the hardest one to face.
Ho Yeonshin looked at Ho Yeonseo.
“Are you all right?”
His voice was gentle.
“Yes, I am fine.”
She felt sorry toward her brother. She had come to ask for help and ended up dragging an enemy named Lee Jaseung behind her. She felt she had no face to see her brother.
“Your inner Qi is sealed. I will release it.”
“You might not want to do that.”
At Lee Jaseung’s warning, Ho Yeonshin snorted and sent inner Qi into her wrist.
He had thought he could undo the seal easily, but it did not come undone.
Ho Yeonshin channeled his inner Qi again, stronger this time.
In the next moment, Ho Yeonseo screamed in pain.
“Agh!”
Startled, Ho Yeonshin hurriedly withdrew his inner Qi.
His expression hardened when his method did not work. His wounded pride was written clearly across his face.
“If I do not undo it myself, she can never recover her inner Qi.”
“You better release it while I am still asking nicely.”
“Your sister dealt us heavy damage. I cannot simply undo it without compensation.”
“What do you want?”
“Help me with my work for the next year.”
Ho Yeonshin flinched. He had never imagined that Lee Jaseung would demand that.
“Did you think I would accept such a demand?”
“You will accept it.”
“What? You have me completely wrong! I will never…”
In the next moment.
“Ughh.”
Ho Yeonseo spat blood and collapsed forward.
Startled, Ho Yeonshin grabbed her in his arms.
“Yeonseo!”
Her face was deathly pale.
“What did you do?”
“You are the one who did something.”
“What?”
“Because you poked at the seal clumsily trying to undo it a moment ago, a problem arose inside her body.”
Ho Yeonshin quickly grabbed her arm. He started to send inner Qi again, then stopped. He feared he might worsen her condition.
“Haah, haah.”
Her breathing turned rough in an instant.
Glaring with force in his eyes, Ho Yeonshin spoke.
“Do you want to die?”
Lee Jaseung calmly replied.
“Do you want to kill your sister?”
The match had already tilted in his favor.
Everyone else was dead, and only his younger sister remained. Ho Yeonshin could not let her die because of his own mistake.
Whoosh.
Ho Yeonshin suddenly thrust out his hand to grab Lee Jaseung’s throat. He intended to subdue him and save his sister.
But Lee Jaseung grabbed his arm first. Their fingers interlocked, and they pushed inner Qi through their palms.
Vmmmmm.
In an instant, a clash of inner Qi erupted.
Yet there was no one in this Jianghu who could defeat Lee Jaseung in a contest of inner Qi.
He was relaxed, while Ho Yeonshin’s heart grew heavier and heavier. Even after pushing his inner Qi to the limit, Lee Jaseung’s expression did not change in the slightest.
If time dragged on like this, Ho Yeonseo would surely die.
Normally, if he could not save his sister, he would rather die with her than ever submit to an enemy. He was a successor of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
But because his opponent was Lee Jaseung, he considered stepping back a little. He thought that if Lee Jaseung had not saved him in the past, he would not even be alive now.
On top of that, there was another reason. As long as the First Cult Leader still lived, there was hope that they might summon the Heavenly Demon Soul again. He could not let it end like this.
“Only one year.”
“All right.”
Lee Jaseung deliberately set a period of one year. He also chose the phrase help with my work instead of become my subordinate.
He already sensed that the man’s pride was extremely strong.
Become my subordinate, and help me with my work for one year.
The content was the same in the end, but to the one who heard it, the difference was huge. It was a small detail, yet it was exactly this kind of thing that showed Lee Jaseung’s skill at handling people.
They withdrew their hands at the same time.
Ho Yeonshin spoke urgently.
“Hurry and save Yeonseo.”
“Before that…”
Lee Jaseung took out a black pill from his robes.
“Have her take this. I will give you the antidote once a month. If she fails to take the antidote, I guarantee the pain will be so terrible that she will choose to end her own life.”
Ho Yeonshin’s face twisted.
“You bastard!”
In contrast, Lee Jaseung stayed calm.
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
Ho Yeonshin hesitated, but he could not waste any more time. He had already made his decision, so he gave her the pill.
“I warn you in advance, you better not try to neutralize it carelessly.”
Lee Jaseung sent inner Qi into her wrist.
Her face, which had turned so red she seemed about to stop breathing at any moment, became peaceful as if it had all been a lie.
Rain glared at him angrily.
“You are taking a frail woman as hostage…”
Thud!
Without mercy, Lee Jaseung punched Rain in the face. Rain crashed into the side.
“The word frail woman should never come out of your mouth.”
Rain was the one who had given the order to kill women and children. Even though Rain glared at him with eyes full of rage, Lee Jaseung’s reaction stayed cold as ice.
This time Water, whose body finally felt comfortable again, stepped forward.
“I am disappointed. You hit someone whose inner Qi is sealed.”
Lee Jaseung replied coolly.
“If he had inner Qi, he would be dead.”
He took out two more pills.
“You two will take these as well.”
Ho Yeonshin shouted.
“Not my sister!”
“She will.”
Lee Jaseung added coldly.
“These two already lost the right to be treated with respect after all.”
Before anyone could stop her, Water gulped down the pill.
She stared at him with eyes filled with malice.
“You better be ready for what comes later.”
Looking at her, Lee Jaseung spoke in a cold voice.
“Instead of later, you should worry about yourself right now.”
The words somehow hurt, and she bit down hard on her lips.
Rain took the pill silently. The two siblings had taken it, so there was no way he could refuse. Nor could he.
Once both of them had taken the pills, Lee Jaseung released the seal on their inner Qi.
When he had chased after her, he had never imagined things would turn out like this. In an unpredictable life, the success or failure of everything depended on how wisely one judged each moment.
He looked at the three of them and spoke.
“Listen carefully. We have a lot to do from now on.”