Chapter 9 : Splash
Chapter 9: Splash
He would be curious.
He would wonder exactly how much stronger Dan Woojin had become after being the first to pass through the Demonic Cave.
Human beings are animals whose thoughts don't change unless they convince themselves, no matter how much someone explains things to them.
This is the reason a single action is more intensely ingrained than a hundred words of explanation.
Until they see it with their own eyes and experience it with their bodies, people don't change easily.
In other words.
'With this opportunity, I can deal with an off-guard Dan Cheolwoo.'
In the life he had gained once more, he had to become the Young Cult Leader by any means necessary.
Before getting revenge on the Murim Alliance, Dan Woojin believed he had to possess the right to lead the Demonic Cult.
To do that, he thought he must become the Young Cult Leader so that he could inherit the position of Cult Leader later.
And the easiest way to become the Young Cult Leader was.
'Killing the other Young Cult Leader candidates.'
As Dan Woojin drew his sword, Dan Cheolwoo raised his fists.
"A test huh, sounds good. If you truly are my one and only little brother, Dan Woojin, then prove it."
He took his stance once more.
"Will you truly be alright without drawing a sword?"
Dan Cheolwoo’s specialty was the sword.
Right now, because of the Second Young Master, he chose the Fist Demon Sect instead of the Sword Demon Sect and pretended to train in the fist, but Dan Woojin, who had experienced the future, knew very well that the weapon he handled best was the sword.
"Since I have chosen the Fist Demon Sect, I intend to forge my fists from now on."
"You will regret it."
"What great spirit you have! I shall yield the first move to you. Charge at me like you did in the past!"
The past?
Did that mean the Seventh Young Master Dan Woojin and the Eldest Young Master Dan Cheolwoo got along well in the past?
This was a piece of information he did not know.
But it was an irrelevant story now.
Swoosh!
Dan Woojin instantly used his footwork and swung his sword.
The swordsmanship unleashed from Dan Woojin’s hand was the Asura Demonic Sword.
"Oho, so there was a reason you passed the Demonic Cave so quickly!"
Dan Cheolwoo let out a shout of admiration at the sight of Dan Woojin perfectly recreating the sword moves swung by the statues in the Demonic Cave.
"I wondered what you were doing while shut in your quarters, and it turns out you were only practicing the sword!"
To others, it was a reasonable conclusion.
Boom!
Clearly, the sword and the fist had collided.
'I couldn't pierce through?'
The gap in their martial arts seemed distinct.
'If it were the real Seventh Young Master... it might have been difficult.'
But it was different for Am Yeong.
'I shall unfold the Soul Killing Sword.'
The more he killed people.
The more he fed the sword blood, the stronger the Soul Killing Art became.
'By taking even Dan Cheolwoo’s blood, I will become stronger than I am now and take one step closer to being the Young Cult Leader.'
"Next is my turn!"
Whish!
A fist flew in.
It was slow.
If the trajectory of the fist was visible even to Dan Woojin’s eyes, he could tell how unrefined the mastery of the fist was.
'As expected, what suits Dan Cheolwoo is...'
It was not the fist, but the sword.
Clang!
Nevertheless, Dan Woojin could not cut through the Fist Qi surrounding the punch.
However, every time the fist and sword collided, he felt their thoughts seeping into each other.
— You are quite impressive.
— Be careful. I am no longer the youngest brother of the past.
He could not bring himself to reveal that he had become a different person, but he could communicate through his sword that he had changed.
"Now! It seems we have tested the waters enough, so why don't you show me your true skill!"
Looking at Dan Woojin’s stance, Dan Cheolwoo seemed to notice that Dan Woojin was hiding a move.
Kiiiiiing—
Strong Qi flickered from Dan Cheolwoo’s fist.
"If you don't reveal your true skill, you will be seriously injured."
Seeing Dan Cheolwoo’s eyes shining coldly, Dan Woojin realized.
If he could not block that, Dan Woojin might be the one to die first.
'The solution is...'
Sssss—
The starting posture of the sword began to change.
It was not the Asura Demonic Sword.
'The Soul Killing Sword.'
Seeing that posture, Dan Cheolwoo’s eyes flashed.
The moment Dan Cheolwoo swung his fist!
Dan Woojin used his footwork with all his might.
Am Yeong’s footwork, the Steps of the Killing Soul.
Then.
Sssss—
Dan Woojin, who had disappeared in an instant, rose up from behind Dan Cheolwoo.
He had taken the rear.
The moment Dan Cheolwoo’s eyes were dyed with flustered confusion.
"It would have been different if you had drawn a sword."
Stab—
Soul Killing Red Snake.
A red snake began to burn away Dan Cheolwoo’s soul.
"Keugh—"
The moment he looked into the eyes of Dan Cheolwoo, who wore an expression of disbelief.
Flash!
* * *
Ting—
"O-Oh, you are here?"
The emotion felt as soon as the sound of the door opening was heard was fear.
'This is...'
The memory of the Seventh Young Master?
Just what had he gone through for such a repulsive thought to occur simply because a door opened?
"Little brother, did you practice again?"
"I-I am sorry."
In the dark night, the man who revealed himself was a youthful-looking Dan Cheolwoo.
Dan Cheolwoo held a wooden sword in his hand.
"I am certain this big brother told you not to practice the sword."
"I-I am sorry. I was so bored in the room that I just..."
"I am certain I told you to read books or write if you were bored!"
Thwack!
"Ugh! B-Big brother, p-please spare me."
"Big brother? Who are you calling a big brother?"
Smack! Thud! Thud!!
It was painful.
His whole body trembled crazily.
To the point where his body naturally cringed at the sight of his eldest brother, Dan Cheolwoo.
Dan Cheolwoo hated Dan Woojin practicing the sword.
The reason?
'Talent.'
— Brother! The Asura Demonic Sword you taught me, is this the right way to perform it?
In his childhood, Dan Cheolwoo, who had tried teaching the youngest the sword to brag about his own achievements, had found out.
He found out that the youngest was a monster who performed in a single hour a sword move that had taken him over a month to master.
If this talent for the sword were to be known to the Cult Leader, no matter how much he was the Eldest Young Master.
He realized he would be pushed out of the position of Young Cult Leader.
Afterward, Dan Cheolwoo continuously monitored and tormented Dan Woojin.
Because he thought that if the youngest entered the Demonic Cave without being able to even hold a sword, he would die on his own without Dan Cheolwoo having to dirty his hands.
* * *
Trickle.
Blood flowed down from the corner of the Eldest Young Master Dan Cheolwoo’s mouth.
Because his heart had been pierced in one go, the blood seemed to flow backward.
"Y-Youngest. You bastard, finally..."
After catching a glimpse of the Seventh Young Master’s memory, Dan Woojin learned the truth.
"It was you huh."
The reason the Seventh Young Master met his death in the previous life.
"Watch from the underworld. Watch as I become the Young Cult Leader in your place."
Tstststs—
Dan Cheolwoo’s Dantian glowed red.
As the Soul Killing Art moved, Dan Cheolwoo’s soul began to settle into Dan Woojin’s Dantian.
Thump, thump—
He felt the rise in his internal power and could realize that he had become one level stronger.
The moment a sense of fulfillment filled his entire body.
"Tsk."
He had done it.
As soon as the competition for the Young Cult Leader position began, he ended up killing the Eldest Young Master.
'Even the Second Young Master did not reveal until the very, very end that he killed the other candidates.'
It was probably out of the consciousness of the Cult Leader.
The Cult Leader wanted his children to have a fair competition and he did not want them to kill one another like this.
In other words, if it were discovered that Dan Woojin killed Dan Cheolwoo now.
'That would be troublesome.'
Then there was only one way.
"I have no choice but to frame someone else."
Tststs—
Dan Woojin’s eyes began to be dyed with an orange light.
It was one of the Ten Eye Arts, the Illusory Eye.
Dan Woojin’s face, skin, and bone structure began to change.
As the Bone Shrinking Art, which was close to an illusion, unfolded.
A man with the exact same face as the fallen Dan Cheolwoo appeared.
"Hmm, ahh yes— this should be perfect."
His voice also became the same as Dan Cheolwoo’s.
Just how many years had he spent as a spy.
This kind of basic disguise was nothing to Am Yeong.
"I should disguise myself like this for the time being."
A truly fortunate point was the fact that Dan Cheolwoo devoted himself only to training during this period.
After returning to Dan Cheolwoo’s residence with Dan Cheolwoo’s face, Dan Woojin used the Steps of the Killing Soul to secretly escape the quarters and hide Dan Cheolwoo’s body.
* * *
The bodies that had to be dealt with increased to two.
'I need Bone Melting Powder.'
The only place he could obtain Bone Melting Powder was the Poison Demon Sect.
After hiding the bodies of Jang Cheol and Dan Cheolwoo, Dan Woojin headed straight for the Poison Demon Sect.
The reason the Poison Demon Sect was weaker than the other Seven Great Demon Sects was the fact that they practiced poison arts.
'In terms of killing people, killing with poison is easier and leaves no trace compared to slicing with a sword.'
Am Yeong, who specialized in assassination, tended to favor poison very much.
But Dan Woojin was different.
There was no way Dan Woojin, who had been stuck in a corner of his room every day, would have practiced poison arts.
'While I am at it grabbing the Bone Melting Powder, I should learn poison arts too.'
There would be more than enough occasions to use poison in the future.
The trial given by the Cult Leader was actually a problem that could be solved quickly if poison was used.
Furthermore.
No matter what poison it was, Dan Woojin was confident in learning it well.
"Who are you?"
As he arrived at the Poison Demon Sect,
A man in black, whose entire body was wrapped in black clothes, approached while dripping green liquid from his body.
A terrible scent of poison was transmitted through the tip of his nose.
Dan Woojin, who quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, furrowed his brow.
"You are..."
"Is this your first time seeing a Poison Human?"
At the words of the man in black, presumed to be from the Poison Demon Sect, Dan Woojin bit his lip and removed his sleeve.
At that action, the eyes of the man in black sparkled.
"Ho, you will be poisoned if you do that."
Even so, he had to remove it.
If he wanted to learn poison arts from the man in black before his eyes that is.
Dan Woojin knew who the man in black was.
"The Seventh Young Master Dan Woojin greets the senior of the Poison Demon Sect."
"Senior? Do you know me?"
"Could there be anyone who does not know you, senior? Are you not the Hall Master of the Poison Hall, the Senior Sa Iljeong, known as the All-Encompassing Poison Hand?"
At Dan Woojin’s words, the All-Encompassing Poison Hand Sa Iljeong was seen wearing an expression that said, 'Look at this guy?'
"So you removed your sleeve even while knowing about me."
With those words, the man in black revealed his face that had been wrapped in black clothes.
The face of the man in black, which was wrapped in bandages, was revealed.
A monstrous face that was festered and scarred was revealed.
"...You are not surprised I see."
To be surprised by just this much, there were too many serious things among the events Am Yeong had experienced in his past life.
"I tend not to be easily surprised."
"Heh, you are quite something. But what brings the Seventh Young Master, who should be undergoing the trial given by the Cult Leader, to the Poison Demon Sect?"
"I want to learn poison arts."
"Poison arts, you say?"
"Yes."
Smirk.
Sa Iljeong’s face contorted.
It was a clear mockery.
"Do poison arts look easy to you?"
"Absolutely not."
"Is that so? Anyone can speak easily. If the Seventh Young Master truly wishes to learn poison arts, I suggest you try jumping into that puddle."
Bubble, bubble.
Looking at the place Sa Iljeong pointed to, a bizarre puddle where numerous poisons were mixed came into view.
"It is a poison bath. To learn poison arts, you should be prepared for your face to melt away like mine. Well? Do you still wish to learn?"
Step, step.
As soon as Sa Iljeong’s story ended, Dan Woojin moved his steps.
Dan Woojin approached the puddle without a moment of hesitation.
"If I jump in, you will teach me, okay?"
Until now, there had never been anyone who entered the poison bath on their own feet after hearing Sa Iljeong’s words.
Sa Iljeong, who thought he was bluffing,
"Th-That crazy bastard!"
Splash!
He let out a scream of shock at Dan Woojin’s action of jumping into the puddle in one go.