Chapter 196
“Just in case... shall I administer a strong anesthetic poison beforehand, so you won't feel any pain?”
Her tone was like one offering the barest mercy to someone heading to their death.
Jang Inam’s level was just at the beginning of the Peak Stage. Considering he had reached that stage at roughly thirty and had started learning martial arts seriously only later, it was objectively impressive.
However,
“It’ll be fine. Though Lady Heo’s Heaven-Slaughter Star has awakened, she hasn’t completely lost her reason yet.”
Even at this moment, Heo Soye was crouched down, struggling to suppress the uncontrollable killing intent.
Seo Mun-Hwarin was watching over her carefully. So that if necessary, she could swiftly take her life.
“I can’t speak for later, but for now, she won’t lash out with her sword... The issue is whether Brother Jang can pierce through that killing aura.”
“Hm.”
Jang Inam looked toward Heo Soye, letting out a hum. For now, I was holding back the overwhelming killing intent, so he was okay, but just a moment ago, he had collapsed to the floor, barely able to breathe. For someone like that to approach Heo Soye relying solely on his own strength... it could result in severe internal injury, or perhaps even deviation.
If unlucky, it might even lead to death.
Jang Inam surely knew that too.
“As I said before, this isn’t a guaranteed method. It’s merely a conjecture based on my senses and what I’ve heard from Elder Gakjeong. I might be wrong. It might require more than just contact. Either way, it could be a pointless risk.”
After a long silence, Jang Inam finally opened his mouth.
“That doesn’t matter.”
His expression firm, as if he had made a decision. It was the same look I remembered seeing in my childhood—when he taught me not all martial artists were cruel.
“Cheon Hwi. Do you know what kind of instruction I asked from Lord Seo Mun?”
“I recall it was about enduring killing intent.”
“That’s right. Soye asked that if things went wrong, I should be the one to end her life. So I sought guidance, and Lord Seo Mun willingly helped me. Most likely, the reason she’s holding on now is because she wants to meet death at my hands, not anyone else’s.”
What is the heart of someone who lives like a condemned soul, choosing to die by their beloved’s hand rather than kill them?
What does someone feel, when they train for the sole purpose of fulfilling such a plea?
I cannot comprehend it. Perhaps no one could unless they were the person themselves.
But there is one thing I can say for certain.
“This was something I had to do anyway. I just lacked the strength and could only sit there... You’ve given me another chance. Thank you.”
There was no trace of hesitation in Jang Inam’s humble smile.
He started toward Heo Soye but paused briefly to bow deeply toward Heo Yunsang.
“Thank you for everything. For accepting me into the Jeomchang Sect, for allowing my marriage to Soye... for all of it.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve burdened you with something heavy.”
“It’s a burden I must bear. Please don’t take it to heart, Sect Leader—no, Father-in-law.”
Then Jang Inam stood. He hesitated for a moment, then unfastened the sword at his waist and set it down on the floor.
“Brother Jang... are you sure about this?”
“Wasn’t it you, Cheon Hwi, who said I should face Soye with no hostility or intent to kill?”
“That is true, but...”
“More than anything, Soye asked me to kill her, but to be honest, I don’t want to do that. Isn’t that only natural?
Who would want to kill the one they love with their own hands?”
“Then...?”
“If I fail, then it can’t be helped. I won’t hold any resentment. So don’t worry about me—just do what’s needed for Soye’s sake.”
“Understood.”
I nodded, then sent a silent message to Seo Mun-Hwarin.
Let’s give them a moment alone. If things go wrong, she, Master Jeong Hyeon, and I would step in.
Seo Mun-Hwarin seemed unsure at first, tilting her head. But upon sensing the atmosphere and seeing the resolute Jang Inam, she began walking toward us, still on alert for Heo Soye.
Jang Inam, on the other hand, stepped away from the others’ protection and faced Heo Soye’s killing aura directly.
Just one step—and his whole body flinched. Yet he did not fall. Instead, blood trickled from his clenched lips as he took one painful step after another.
Had he injured himself just by forcing his body forward? At some point, black blood—not just from his lips, but gushing from his throat—soaked the front of his robe.
Killing intent is the most basic application of willpower combined with internal energy. Thus, enduring it requires either immense internal power or refined will.
Jang Inam’s internal strength isn’t impressive. What moves him now is a honed, razor-sharp will. And the will he displayed now clearly exceeded his limits.
He carried no sword. His arms were far from whole. But he did not stop. Like an arrow fired with all his being, he didn’t falter or retreat. He looked forward and marched on—
Toward Heo Soye, who stood at the center of a killing aura as scorching as the sun.
“...Ah.”
Only then did I realize.
A life devoted entirely to reaching a single goal—throwing oneself into it with no reservations.
That’s the true essence of the Jeomchang Sect.
The Sword of Four Deaths is merely a branch supporting that way of life.
If I were to create a martial way of my own, it must embody that same essence—my every realization, my entire life.
Covered in blood, Jang Inam extended his only remaining arm.
And when his fingertips, like the tip of an arrow, touched Heo Soye’s face—
Wooong—
A strange vibration rippled outward from Heo Soye, then contracted.
The intense killing aura, once palpable even from afar, condensed into a single point.
With all that killing intent reclaimed within her, Heo Soye lost consciousness and collapsed.
Moments later, Jang Inam, who had overexerted himself to embrace her, also collapsed.
Master Gakjeong, who had been staring in a daze, rushed over and checked their pulses.
“Phew...”
He let out a deep sigh of relief, like someone who had been holding their breath.
“They’re both safe! They’re halfway to the other side, so we need a physician right away, but still!”
It was the moment the awakening of Heaven-Slaughter Star had come to a close.
***
In the days that followed, we remained at the Jeomchang Sect to monitor their recovery.
Jang Inam’s internal injuries were severe, but thanks to timely treatment, they didn’t escalate.
In fact, perhaps the enlightenment he experienced wasn’t just mine—his cultivation rose significantly.
After full recovery, he might become an even greater martial artist than before.
Heo Yunsang, grateful for saving his daughter and believing Jang Inam to be the sect’s future, spared no support.
Next was the most important—Heo Soye.
“Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin. How was she today?”
“No issues again today. No—she seems much better than before.”
The three of us, including Master Jeong Hyeon, took turns watching over her.
Surprisingly, she was stable. Her face, once blank from constantly suppressing her urges, now gradually showed expressions again.
She even said it felt like she had returned to her childhood, with no impulses erupting at all.
“I never imagined it would go this well. She kept her talent and lost the killing aura? I thought at least one would have to be sacrificed...To be honest, I feared both she and Brother Jang might die that day.”
“Still, we can’t be too sure. Don’t relax just yet.”
“Those staying longer will handle that.”
If Heo Soye’s Heaven-Slaughter Star truly settled, it was thanks to the technique Master Gakjeong found buried in old tomes.
Thus, he would remain for a few months longer to observe her. Later, Shaolin would conduct regular checkups as well.
“By the way... tantric Buddhism, was it?”
A sect of Buddhism that emphasizes chants and rituals.
Unfamiliar in the Central Plains, but common at Potala Palace.
Though often shunned for its side effects, it holds unique properties that ordinary martial arts can’t replicate.
I don’t plan on learning tantric arts now, but it’s worth researching further.
Potala Palace lies beyond Xinjiang, in the region of Tibet...
And near it lies the Demonic Cult.
Perhaps the Heavenly Demon’s power, which current martial arts can’t explain, originates from something else entirely.
If so, such knowledge might become vital when facing the Heavenly Demon someday.
“Still, now that this is resolved... what do you plan to do about Lihyang?”
“Yeah... that’s the problem.”
Seol Lihyang had been training alone in another courtyard.
She felt the wave of killing aura and tried to rush toward the source, but the thick aura froze her body the closer she got.
By the time she arrived, everything was already over.
Apparently, she was shocked to learn that Jang Inam—whom she thought, and likely was, weaker than herself—managed to break through the killing aura and reach Heo Soye.
Ever since, she’s been overexerting herself and pestering me to release killing aura at her.
“I think I get what she’s thinking.”
“Kuheum. Lihyang tends to worry too much about being a burden.”
“She’s actually improved a lot since that fight with the Bloodflame Fist Demon.”
Seol Lihyang is prideful.
More precisely, she grew up in a harsh environment where pride was all she had.
Now, someone her age but far ahead in martial level—me—is beside her.
She still feels a slight debt toward me.
“We’ll talk on the road to the Murim Alliance. I’m sure she’s aware of her own tendencies. She’ll be fine soon.”
“Then that’s good.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin nodded, and we began quietly packing our things.
We planned to leave the Jeomchang Sect tomorrow and head to the Murim Alliance,
With a letter from Shaolin’s Abbot Jeong Hyeon, reporting the incident.
***
“We found the Young Palace Lord...!”
"Huh."
We never expected to meet people from the Northern Sea Ice Palace at the Murim Alliance.