Kang Sogun

The Red Rakshasa also drew her beloved Rakshasa Sword.

The Blood Accumulating Abacus, Yeomga.

The master of the Sixth Hall of the Great Righteous Martial Hall and the greatest assassin in the martial world!

It is said that the register of the Blood Accumulating Abacus is no different from that of the King of Hell.

A being more famous as an assassin than for his position as a hall master of the Great Righteous Martial Hall.

To think that such a person was disguised as the owner of a shabby inn on the outskirts of Hefei.

Even Jo Unryong was surprised, clutched his saber, and leaned his back against the wall, wary of Yeomga.

Yeomga said, shaking his red abacus.

"I want to kill you bastards, but then I'd have to dig the frozen ground, which is a hassle. I'll forgive you specially, so pay for your food and get lost."

Although it was an extremely insulting remark, no one could object.

The moment one's name was on his register, one would become a target of the killers of the Sixth Hall of the Great Righteous Martial Hall, and that was the same as saying one's life in this world was over.

'What on earth is this situation?'

Son Jo and the others could not understand the current situation.

The Fire Dragon Saber had intervened while they were chasing Kang Sogun, and now the Sixth Hall Master of the Great Righteous Martial Hall had appeared.

Son Jo's gaze turned to Kang Sogun.

'What on earth is that bastard?'

It meant, was this a contest between the Four Great Powers of the Heavenly Martial?

"For an inn owner to issue an order to leave on a snowy night. There is no such thing as business ethics."

Son Jo said.

Although Yeomga had issued an order to leave, they could not just retreat obediently.

Although Yeomga's fame was great, they were also the Ten Guests of Heavenly Martial.

If they retreated obediently like this, they would not be able to live with their faces held high in the martial world.

But they could not start a fight here either.

Since the master of the Sixth Hall of the Great Righteous Martial Hall had appeared, it was natural that his subordinate killers were there.

A chill ran down Son Jo's spine. The inn they had entered without much thought was a dragon's den and a tiger's lair.

Meanwhile, what was happening in the restaurant did not enter Kang Sogun's eyes or ears.

He only recalled the image of Ma Unsan, who had been dying in the darkness of the Martial Tomb.

Ma Unsan, who had been smiling even as he was dying, stabbed by his own sword.

'Brother, you get out alive!'

Ma Unsan had chanted it like a Buddhist prayer even as he was vomiting blood.

When the two were alone, Ma Unsan had said he disliked the title of general and had called him brother as he pleased.

The Martial Tomb.

The sealed memory was released.

Kang Sogun could not even breathe.

He had killed countless times.

Both enemies and allies were opponents to be killed in the Martial Tomb.

Kang Sogun's body trembled. The moment his brow furrowed.

Crack!

The corner of the table that Kang Sogun's hand was gripping broke.

At the sound of the table breaking, everyone looked at Kang Sogun.

An ominous energy surrounded Kang Sogun's entire body. A bloody qi seemed to linger.

A good idea flashed through Son Jo's head.

"It's demonic qi!"

Son Jo turned the sword he had been aiming at Yeomga towards Kang Sogun.

The Giryeon Demonic Sword.

It was the nickname that the people of the martial world had given his sword.

Although he had traveled the world with that sword, it did not mean that he was a demon.

A demon was a different existence from the black and white paths, the righteous and the evil.

It was truly an evil that should not exist in the human world.

A martial artist who had gone mad after falling into qi deviation was called a demon.

A being that endlessly craved blood,

In the end, it was bound to become a public enemy of the black and white paths and die.

A red blood qi flowed from Kang Sogun's entire body.

Son Jo was inwardly overjoyed.

"A demon is a public enemy of the martial world! We must kill that person right now!"

Son Jo said to Yeomga and Jo Unryong.

Jo Unryong and Yeomga were also surprised and examined Kang Sogun's condition.

Kang Sogun's mind was full of memories of the Martial Tomb.

It was a memory he had erased himself.

Although he tried to prevent the sealed memory from being released, it came back to life more vividly.

***

He had to kill.

Those who had entered the Martial Tomb had been engulfed in demonic qi and had gone mad.

There were no enemies or allies. They had become demons craving blood and had wandered the endless maze of the Martial Tomb.

It was a living hell.

The eyes of a person who had been fine just a moment ago had turned, and he had tried to bite a person.

His subordinates who had believed in and had followed him.

He had had to watch his loyal men go mad and run wild.

So he had to kill.

"Kill me. It's better to die at your hands, brother, than to become a mad demon."

Ma Unsan had said with his red, burning eyes.

Just before losing his reason, Ma Unsan had pulled Kang Sogun's sword and had stabbed his own heart.

Then he had turned and had run.

He had thrown himself towards the group that was writhing in a frenzy, engulfed in demonic qi, and had opened a path for Kang Sogun.

"Hahaha. I am Ma Unsan! Come at me, all of you! Brother! Live for my share too!"

***

Live for my share too!

The moment Ma Unsan's last words came to mind, he came to his senses as if he had been doused with cold water.

To live for his share.

How?

As soon as Kang Sogun came to his senses, he felt a burning energy in his dantian.

'Blood Dragon Qi'

It was the name of the demonic qi he had obtained in the Martial Tomb.

He had had to learn the Blood Dragon Qi to get out of the huge tomb, the Martial Tomb.

No one would have believed it if they had heard.

To have internal energy and to throw it away and to build a new internal energy was a crazy thing to do.

No, it was not possible in the first place.

Because the two energies would clash, making it difficult to cultivate properly, and one could easily fall into qi deviation and become a cripple.

Kang Sogun operated the Golden Elixir True Art and suppressed the energy of the Blood Dragon.

The energy of the Blood Dragon, which had been about to awaken from sleep, flowed back into the blood vessels of his entire body.

Then the blood qi that had been lingering on Kang Sogun's entire body disappeared.

Only then did the people in front of him enter Kang Sogun's eyes.

Everyone was watching him.

'That was dangerous.'

Kang Sogun was inwardly relieved.

If the Blood Dragon Qi had fully awakened, the inn would probably have become a sea of blood.

The Golden Elixir True Art that Kang Sogun had learned was what the previous master of Wudang, Hyeonchija, had passed down to the imperial family.

Hyeonchija had devised the Golden Elixir True Art based on the principles of the Two Principles Heart Art, considering that the emperors had no time to cultivate their internal energy because they were busy with state affairs.

The Two Principles Heart Art of Wudang was closer to a cultivation heart art than an internal energy.

What had changed this into an internal energy heart art was the Golden Elixir True Art, and it would have been impossible if it had not been for Hyeonchija, who was called the prodigy of Wudang.

Hyeonchija had not even revealed the fact of the Golden Elixir True Art to his own sect.

But the essence of the Golden Elixir True Art was so abstruse that the emperor at that time had not tried to learn it, and in the end, it had been locked away in the imperial library.

The reason Kang Sogun had found it in the imperial library and had become engrossed in the Golden Elixir True Art was purely because of his stubbornness to win in a duel with Jang Seonbaek.

After learning the Golden Elixir True Art, he could circulate his qi while walking or even riding a horse.

The reason Kang Sogun's recovery was strangely fast was also thanks to the Golden Elixir True Art.

Above all, the reason he had been able to obtain the Blood Dragon Qi and to get out of the Martial Tomb was also thanks to this characteristic of the Golden Elixir True Art.

If it had been another person, the Blood Dragon Qi would have clashed with the existing internal energy, and he would have immediately fallen into qi deviation and would have become a demon.

Kang Sogun had been able to control the Blood Dragon Qi with the Golden Elixir True Art and not to lose his reason, and he had been able to come out of the Martial Tomb alive.

However, the Blood Dragon Qi had become another problem. The Blood Dragon Qi was very violent, and the more he used it, the more it tried to encroach on his reason.

That was why he had sealed it with the Golden Elixir True Art, but as he had been agitated by the memory of the Martial Tomb, it had naturally been released.

Even though Kang Sogun's blood qi had disappeared, Son Jo did not sheathe his sword.

Jo Unryong was also wary of Kang Sogun.

A person who had fallen into demonic arts would kill without distinguishing between friend and foe.

Kang Sogun's martial power, which was strangely strong, was enough to suspect that it was a demonic art.

Kang Sogun slowly stood up from his seat.

As the Blood Dragon Qi awakened and then scattered into the blood vessels of his entire body, he felt a vitality in his five viscera and six bowels, which had been hardening due to his internal injuries.

That was an effect that even Kang Sogun had not expected.

'Could I treat my internal injuries with the Blood Dragon Qi?'

Although such a thought flashed through Kang Sogun's mind, for now, he had to face the enemies in front of him.

"Who are you?"

Kang Sogun asked Son Jo.

"He is the Giryeon Demonic Sword, Son Jo. He is ranked sixth among the Ten Guests of Heavenly Martial."

Jo Unryong answered instead.

Kang Sogun glanced at Son Jo, the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth, and the Red Rakshasa, and then asked Son Jo again.

"Are you going to use your hands here?"

A calm voice.

Son Jo had a bad feeling.

It sounded like a voice that craved blood.

In fact, even though Kang Sogun had suppressed and had turned back the Blood Dragon Qi, he was feeling an impulse to kill.

Son Jo suppressed the anxiety that was rising inwardly and bluffed.

"Have you learned a demonic art?"

Kang Sogun did not answer.

Just thinking about the Blood Dragon Qi seemed to make his blood vessels hot.

Jo Unryong intervened.

"Hehe. Are you framing him as a demon because you don't think you can face him? As expected, you are despicable."

"Didn't you see it too? The red blood qi was clearly a demonic art."

"Hmph! Then is my Fire Dragon Saber Art also a demonic art?"

Although Jo Unryong had never met a person who had learned a demonic art, he could not think that Kang Sogun, whom he had seen while traveling together until now, was a demon.

"Stop talking nonsense and all of you, get lost."

As Son Jo was about to rebut again, Yeomga intervened.

He had issued an order to leave to everyone once again.

Kang Sogun turned his gaze to Yeomga.

He was strangely entangled with the Great Righteous Martial Hall often. Thinking of No Ichil, he did not want to get into a dispute with Yeomga.

"Alright. I will leave right away."

Yeomga gestured with his chin, looking at Son Jo and his group.

"Take those stragglers with you too."

Kang Sogun looked at Son Jo and his group and then shook his head.

"They are not my companions. They will not listen to my words."

"They are your enemies, so if you go, they will go. If they don't go, you can just send them to the other world."

Yeomga looked at Son Jo and his group with contemptuous eyes.

Yeomga did not have Son Jo and his group in his sight.

Although Son Jo and the others felt insulted, they did not bother to talk back.

They were people who were weak in front of the strong and strong in front of the weak.

'Just you wait. You will regret it.'

Although Son Jo was grinding his teeth inwardly, he did not show it on the outside.

Rather, he cupped his fists towards Yeomga.

"It was an honor to meet the Sixth Hall Master of the Great Righteous Martial Hall, whose fame is so great. It seems it is not fated today, so I will retreat for now."

As Son Jo moved first, the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth and the Red Rakshasa followed.

Just then, Kang Sogun's cold voice was heard.

"Leave an arm each."

The complexions of Son Jo and the others changed completely.

"What?"

Kang Sogun approached Son Jo.

Jo Unryong could not understand Kang Sogun.

To ask a martial artist to give up an arm was the same as saying to take his life.

If the news that a person like the Giryeon Demonic Sword had become disabled spread, those who held a grudge would flock.

In the end, it was the same as saying to fight to the death.

"Hahaha. How truly arrogant!"

Son Jo laughed loudly and then glared at Kang Sogun with a cold gaze.

"You want to have a life-or-death battle when I am willing to retreat obediently?"

Son Jo looked at Yeomga and said.

"You must have seen it clearly. That person provoked first."

It meant for Yeomga not to intervene.

"I don't care who kills whom. But go out and fight."

Yeomga answered indifferently.

Son Jo's gaze turned to Jo Unryong.

As Jo Unryong was about to step up, Kang Sogun raised his hand and stopped him. And then he took the lead and went out of the inn.

The blood that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King had shed was already covered by the snow and was not visible.

Although the snow had stopped, the wind blew more fiercely.

Son Jo, the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth, and the Red Rakshasa stood in a three-pronged formation and glared at Kang Sogun.

Although no one said a word, they knew that they had to attack together and also had to use all their strength.

The Red Rakshasa looked at the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth and gestured with her eyes.

It meant to attract his attention.

Although the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth was reluctant, he attacked first.

-Swish!

Although it was a snowy field, an outstanding lightness skill was unfolded with almost no footprints, and the sword split into dozens of strands and cut through the snowstorm.

In an instant, Son Jo's sword came in from the opposite side of the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth.

The red jade dagger was in Kang Sogun's hand in an instant.

Jo Unryong, who had come out to watch, frowned.

The dagger was a weapon that was lacking to face three of the Ten Guests of Heavenly Martial, including the Giryeon Demonic Sword.

-Clang!

Nevertheless, Kang Sogun deflected both the swords of the Jade-Faced Handsome Youth and the Giryeon Demonic Sword.

In an instant, the Red Rakshasa's hand spread out.

A red powder flowed from her hand.

Jo Unryong narrowed his brow.

"Poison powder?"

(End of Chapter)