Chapter 40
Episode 40
The next morning. The Dark Path Duel Banquet, which had raged for ten days and nights, finally concluded.
At the same time, a majestic voice echoed in Jaseong's ears.
〈You have fulfilled the fourth Heaven's Mandate... The restrictions of the Celestial Realm have been released by four stages.〉
The moment he heard these words, Jaseong felt an electrifying thrill run through his entire body.
It was the moment when he truly realized that he had won the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
'If you win the Dark Path Duel Banquet, you will make your name known throughout the Central Plains... That means the fourth Heaven's Mandate, "Accumulate Prestige", has been completed... So, what kind of martial art will I be taught this time...?'
His heart couldn't help but pound. Each time he learned a new martial art from the Heaven Evading Way, Jaseong had grown incomparably stronger.
But then, why was it?
Contrary to his expectations, the next chapter of the Heaven Evading Way did not open immediately.
It simply floated in the air, emitting a dazzling white light.
'Is the Heaven Evading Way going to open after the Dark Path Sealing Reward Ceremony...?'
The Dark Path Sealing Reward Ceremony was the event where prizes were awarded to the top finishers of the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
The champion received a special prize from the Evil Path Association.
'Well, it doesn't matter. I can check the new martial art of the Heaven Evading Way after receiving the Evil Path Association's reward... Still, what kind of reward will I get...?'
Jaseong moved toward the original gathering spot, inwardly filled with anticipation.
Not only a new martial art from the Heaven Evading Way but also the Evil Path Association's special reward—this was a moment of killing two birds with one stone.
At that moment, Lee Rin beside him asked,
"I wonder how many prize winners there will be besides the three of us?"
There was no sign of anyone else on the forest path. So far, only Jaseong, Lee Rin, and Gu Janghu were walking together.
"All together, we collected over sixty participant tags... It's safe to say there are barely any other prize winners, don't you think?"
"Well... It certainly seems that way."
However, when Jaseong and his group reached halfway up Iron Mountain, carrying all the participant tags they'd gathered, they found an unexpected scene awaiting them.
Murmur—murmur—
Bathed in the brilliant morning sunlight, the mountainside of Iron Mountain was filled with overwhelming energy.
It wasn't the aura of contestants who had collected ten participant tags each.
It was the energy of martial artists from various clans and sects of the Evil Path Association.
They sat in a semicircular spectator area, and in the center, the black dragon banner—the symbol of the Evil Path Association—fluttered in the breeze.
"Wow... There must be at least several hundred people. Are they going to conduct the Dark Path Sealing Reward Ceremony in front of all these people...?"
As soon as Jaseong and his group stepped onto the open ground, all eyes instantly turned to them.
The weight of countless gazes from Evil Faction martial artists pressed down on the very air itself.
However, there were also people in the crowd whom Jaseong knew well.
Pacheon Gong, the leader of Fierce Sky Faction, the members of the Hao Sect's Ansun Division, Little Devil, Silent Traveler, and even Hyang-I were all there.
Though they all wore human-skin masks, Jaseong immediately sensed their presence.
He recognized the insignia unique to the Ansun Division embroidered on their garments.
"You brat. You really pulled off something bold."
Pacheon Gong strode over to Jaseong, a hearty smile on his lips.
"One of the observers tipped me off. I heard about those stunts you pulled during the Dark Path Duel Banquet."
To Pacheon Gong's praise, Jaseong simply responded with a faint smile. Then Hyang-I walked up, marveling.
"Leader! You're truly amazing. I was so worried, but I never dreamed you'd actually win the Dark Path Duel Banquet...!"
Hyang-I, unable to hide her amazement, clasped her hands together.
Then, catching sight of Lee Rin and Gu Janghu beside Jaseong, she asked,
"Who are these people?"
"Introduce yourself. They'll be working with our Ansun Division from now on."
"Huh...?!"
Hyang-I's surprise was only natural.
She hadn't expected Jaseong to return with new comrades from the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
She'd surely faint if she realized that one of those comrades was the young lady of the North Sea Ice Palace whom she herself had mentioned.
At that moment—
Step, step—
A woman draped in black clothes approached Jaseong. He felt instinctively that she was an expert.
Her presence was far from ordinary, and, on top of that, Pacheon Gong's eyes suddenly brimmed with wariness.
"Greetings, Jaseong, leader of the Hao Sect's Ansun Division."
"... Who are you?"
"I am the guardian general of the Hao Sect, Gal Seo-ryeong."
"......!"
Jaseong's eyes trembled. Until now, the highest expert of the Hao Sect he had met was Lord of Black Blood Hall, Do Unjang.
But now, someone even higher than the Lord of Black Blood Hall—none other than the right hand of the Sect Leader—had appeared.
He was truly stunned.
"Ansun Leader. I've heard about you often from the Lord of Black Blood Hall. Yet, to win the Dark Path Duel Banquet on your first appearance... Truly impressive."
"......"
"Thanks to your talents, our Hao Sect's prestige has risen even higher. It's an achievement perfectly suited to our Hao Sect's new policy of stepping from the shadows into the light."
"......"
"We'll see each other again soon. I'll bring a gift worthy of you."
... A gift worthy of me? Jaseong wore a puzzled expression.
Still, whatever it was, it could only be a good thing. Any reward from the Hao Sect was bound to be on par with that from the Evil Path Association.
However, after Gal Seo-ryeong left, Pacheon Gong quietly spoke to Jaseong.
"Be careful, brat."
"Yes?"
"That woman is dangerous."
"Dangerous? Did something happen between you two?"
"No, nothing happened. She wasn't in the Hao Sect when I was there. She joined later and rose through the ranks faster than anyone. Either way, she and I have never exchanged words."
"Then why do you say she's dangerous?"
"She's a woman who uses any means necessary for her goals. If you get caught up with her, it'll be like being bitten by a poisonous snake."
Coming from a former Lord of the Venomous Blood Hall and Jaseong's own mentor, Jaseong nodded silently.
At that moment—
* * *
"We will now commence the Dark Path Sealing Reward Ceremony. Those who have collected ten other participant tags and possess their own tag, please step forward."
The Chief Supervisor, Wolryong, wearing an eyepatch over one eye, shouted the command.
At that, Jaseong ended his conversation with Pacheon Gong and stepped forward with Lee Rin and Gu Janghu, each carrying the tags they'd collected.
As expected, there were almost no other prize winners who had collected ten or more participant tags.
Jaseong's group had monopolized almost sixty tags. But then—
"Why is that guy here...?"
Lee Rin's eyes narrowed as she asked. Gu Janghu wore a similar expression.
A hulking figure completely wrapped in bandages.
Number One, Kang Ryong, whom Jaseong had subdued, was standing before Chief Supervisor Wolryong.
He was holding ten other participant tags and his own.
"How does Kang Ryong have any tags left...? We definitely took all the tags from his pouch...!"
Jaseong, always quick on the uptake, immediately guessed what had happened.
"... He must have set aside some extra tags in case something went wrong."
Just as Jaseong suspected, Kang Ryong had secretly kept aside ten tags from the dozens he'd collected, as a form of insurance.
'So that's why Number One was missing from Kang Ryong's tag pouch. Well, I more or less figured...'
For someone with such a massive build and hot-headed disposition, he was surprisingly meticulous.
'In any case, he must be desperate to kill me. I stole first place from him.'
While looking at Kang Ryong, tightly wrapped in bandages, Jaseong muttered to himself.
But when Kang Ryong and Jaseong's eyes met—
Grin—
Kang Ryong suddenly smiled strangely. What he did next was even more bewildering. He walked up to Jaseong and suddenly said,
"Unlike the bug-like wannabes, you actually sent shivers down my spine."
"?"
"So, I like you."
"????"
"If we ever meet again, we should team up."
Kang Ryong, who had ruthlessly robbed other contestants of their tags and beaten them black and blue, was now flashing a look of admiration(?), bewildering Jaseong all the more, especially considering he'd lost the championship to him in the end.
Wolryong spoke again.
"I will now announce the prize winners of the Dark Path Duel Banquet. There are four in total: Number One, Kang Ryong, third son of the Twin Dragon Clan; Number Two, Lee Rin, young lady of North Sea Ice Palace; Number Three, assassin Gu Janghu; and... Number Eighty-Eight, Ansun, branch leader of the Hao Sect."
With Wolryong's announcement, much of the Evil Faction crowd wore faces of disbelief.
'... Eighty-eight? That's almost the last number. How did someone like that win a prize at the Dark Path Duel Banquet?'
'And from the Hao Sect, no less... How lucky did he have to be...'
"The number of participant tags collected by each winner is as follows: Kang Ryong, third son of the Twin Dragon Clan, ten; Gu Janghu, assassin, eleven; Lee Rin, young lady of North Sea Ice Palace, twelve; and Ansun, leader of the Hao Sect... forty-nine."
"What...?"
"Forty-nine?!"
With Wolryong's words, shouts of shock erupted everywhere in the stands.
The boy who had received the last number because he had the weakest internal power among all contestants—this boy from the Hao Sect had overwhelmingly taken first place. Everyone stared in disbelief.
"Now, I will present a special reward from the Dark Path Duel Banquet to the winner who collected the most tags."
"......!"
"Number Eighty-Eight. Step forward."
This was the moment Jaseong had long awaited. For this moment, he had swallowed blood and swung his sword.
'... What will the special reward from the Dark Path Duel Banquet be? I hope it's an elixir, if possible...'
As Jaseong wondered, standing before Wolryong, Wolryong produced a small box made of fragrant wood.
"Open it."
Jaseong lifted the lid of the box. The next instant, his eyes grew round in astonishment.
Inside the box was a uniquely shaped ginseng resembling a little child.
"This is called Humanoid Ginseng."
"......!"
"It is a ginseng that greatly boosts internal energy. It's rather renowned, even among the many elixirs held by the Dark Path Duel Banquet."
At Wolryong's words, not just Jaseong but everyone around widened their eyes.
The Humanoid Ginseng, which resembled a human, grew in harsh environments where ordinary plants could not survive. It was a rare and difficult-to-find elixir.
"Now, consume the Humanoid Ginseng."
"... Right now?"
"Yes. Eat it here. If you were to take it out of here, I cannot guarantee there wouldn't be a massacre. We will keep guard."
Jaseong nodded silently, sat down cross-legged, and slowly chewed and swallowed the Humanoid Ginseng, root and all.
While it traveled down his throat, Jaseong didn't feel any particular change or energy. But then, suddenly—
'···It's hot!'
He felt a burning yang energy rise from his lower abdomen.
All the veins in his body bulged up beneath his skin—thud! thud!—and sweat poured from his body.
'Let's circulate energy with the Heaven Evading Breathing Technique.'
Jaseong activated the Heaven Evading Breathing Technique. The rampaging, scorching energy moved like a thoroughly disciplined steed.
On top of that, Jaseong also activated the Samadhi Eyes.
As time seemed to slow, he could control the energy of the Humanoid Ginseng coursing through his energy channels even more precisely.
Through this meticulous control, he smashed through the Ren and Du meridians—kwabang! kwabang! Then, at a certain moment—
Fwoosh!!
He heard a popping sound at the crown of his head.
The tenuous membrane blocking the passage between the Ren and Du meridians—known as the Gate of Life and Death—had burst open.
Shhh!
With the Gate of Life and Death opened, circulating his energy became even faster and smoother.
The energy from the Humanoid Ginseng was deposited into his dantian, bit by bit.
It mingled with the true ki of the sword immortal in Jaseong's dantian, exploding into even greater, more magnificent power...
After who knows how long, when Jaseong finally opened his eyes—
Gooo—
He was radiating a fierce and powerful energy like never before.