Chapter 1
Prologue
BOOM!
CRACK!
A deafening roar, like a clap of thunder, shook the massive three-story pavilion.
A crimson blood dragon and a black dragon intertwined, sweeping through the two-hundred-pyeong hall. Grand pillars shattered and walls burst open.
Dozens of men lay fallen, beaten to a pulp.
At the center of it all stood a single figure, clad in a blood-red robe.
His red hair whipped about, his robe fluttered, and his face was contorted in rage.
“How dare you…!”
As he let out a cry, he staggered.
‘Damn it! The poison they used is scattering my internal energy.’
Simultaneously, the blood dragons swirling around him grew faint, their power weakening.
“Hahaha! Just give up and go to hell!”
Among the nine people surrounding him, a man of immense stature burst into laughter and shouted.
The aura of the black dragons rising from them bared their fangs and raised their claws, as if ready to devour the blood dragons at any moment.
The man in the blood-red robe gritted his teeth.
He wanted to tear these traitors to shreds.
To think they would dare to ambush the Blood Emperor, the ruler of the demonic path, with such a despicable scheme!
And they even brought in those who were practically his sworn enemies!
But his will alone was not enough. He had to save his own life first.
His thirty-six guardians were all dead. He couldn't face them all alone.
Pride only matters when you're alive.
‘First, I have to get out of here alive. Revenge can only be sought if I survive…!’
His resolve firm, he awakened the innate true energy slumbering deep within his meridians.
Innate true energy was not to be awakened unless one's life was on the line. If no measures were taken within three days of awakening it, only death awaited.
Even if he managed to save his life, it would take ten years of effort to recover even thirty percent of his original true energy.
But he had no choice but to take this life-threatening gamble.
‘I will survive, no matter what it takes, and I will chew these traitors to pieces!’
Whoooosh.
As the aura of the blood dragons emanating from him grew stronger again, the men surrounding him were struck with astonishment.
In the moment they hesitated, the Blood Emperor kicked off the ground, shot upwards, and swung both his palms.
CRASH!
The blood dragons that shot out with his hands shattered the three-zhang-high ceiling, creating a large hole.
The Blood Emperor instantly escaped the hall through that hole.
The men who had surrounded him screamed and threw themselves in pursuit.
“Don’t let him get away! Get him!!!”
* * *
On a day thick with clouds, as dusk fell.
“Huff, huff, huff… You sons of bitches…”
A man ran swiftly through the deep mountains, breathing heavily.
A red robe, disheveled hair.
He was the Blood Emperor, the leader of the Blood Demon Heavenly Cult, who had been betrayed by the subordinates he trusted and was now on the run.
Not long ago, he was the greatest demonic master in the world, who held sway not only over the demonic path but the entire Central Plains martial world.
But now, he was nothing more than a fugitive who had run a thousand li in one night to escape an inescapable net.
“Damn them… I’ll chew their hearts… huff, huff, huff…”
Exhausted, he looked around as rain began to fall.
His pride was already wounded by turning his back and fleeing, but he couldn't let his enemies see him like a drowned rat.
Besides, his true energy was depleted, and he couldn't run any further.
Just then, he saw two massive rocks leaning against each other.
Strangely, the rocks were the color of fresh blood, and there was a fairly wide gap between them, which seemed like it could offer temporary shelter from the rain.
Without hesitation, he entered the space between the rocks.
It was wider than he thought, and he could even sit down.
He leaned his back against the rock and sat down, beginning to circulate his energy.
The rock was unusually warm. It felt as if the heat from the rock was seeping directly into his body.
A strange sensation washed over him.
It was as if he and the rock had become one!
His mind and energy stabilized, he considered this a fortunate encounter and circulated his energy with all his might.
CRASH!
The rain outside grew heavier, and now even lightning was striking.
But he focused solely on circulating his energy, absorbing the warm energy that flowed from his back.
If he was lucky, he might be able to recover some of the innate true energy he had recklessly awakened.
The energy of the rock was the energy of nature, so it wasn't an entirely futile hope.
But then!
FLASH!
His vision went white.
BOOM!
A deafening roar tore at his eardrums, and an immense amount of energy poured through his back, piercing his body.
A bolt of lightning had struck the rock directly.
Guh!
A fountain of blood spewed from his wide-open mouth.
His consciousness momentarily faded.
That wasn't all.
Rumble.
The rock supporting him shattered, and the massive red rock above crushed his body.
‘N-no…!’
He barely held onto his fading consciousness, but there was no way to escape.
The massive rock, weighing tens of thousands of catties, slid down further, covering him.
‘I can’t die here. Noooo!’
Whoosh!
The Blood Emperor used all his strength to escape from under the rock.
‘Phew, I barely got out… Huh?’
But something was strange.
His body, which should have been on the ground, was floating in the air like a cloud.
‘W-what?’
The Blood Emperor tilted his head and looked around.
His gaze fell upon the space beneath the rock and froze.
There… a man lay with his entire body, except for his head, crushed and mangled by the rock.
His face was contorted in excruciating pain and rage, and to his astonishment, it was his own.
‘N-no way?’
The Blood Emperor trembled and stepped back.
But after taking three steps back, he strangely couldn't move any further and just kept walking in place.
Feeling that something was wrong, he tried to pull his foot back with force.
It was useless.
No matter how hard he tried to get away from his own corpse, he couldn't move more than three steps away.
‘What in the hell…!’
Three hundred years later.
◈ ◈ ◈
The Cheonhyang Academy in the ancient capital of Kaifeng was renowned enough to be ranked among the top ten academies in the world.
But recently, it had gained another source of pride.
The Cheonhyang Academy had two geniuses, the likes of which might appear only once in decades, or even a century.
The two geniuses, who were the same age, took the provincial and capital examinations held every three years when they turned nineteen.
Both of them passed.
Lee Cheongun took first place, the Haewon, and Hyeokryeon Hui took second.
Lee Cheongun even took first place, the Hoewon, in the metropolitan examination held in the imperial capital.
The Cheonhyang Academy waited for the palace examination in a state of excitement.
If a top scorer emerged even in the palace examination, it would be a truly great cause for celebration.
A person who passed all four stages of the examinations without failing once was called a Samwon Jinshi.
Among these Samwon Jinshi, a person who consecutively achieved first place was called a Yeonjung Samwon. The last Yeonjung Samwon had appeared a hundred years ago, and no one had achieved it since.
Therefore, if Lee Cheongun took first place in this palace examination, he would become a Samwon Jinshi who achieved Yeonjung Samwon for the first time in a hundred years.
But people were swept up in the atmosphere and only cheered, failing to see the tragedy that was budding in the shadow of that glory.
* * *
In a dark corner behind the Cheonhyang Academy.
Two young men, who looked to be barely twenty, dressed as scholars, were glaring at each other.
“Cheongun, yield this palace examination to me.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Are you really not going to yield?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
The two young men did not back down an inch.
The young man with a firmly set mouth and straight eyes that showed his stubbornness was Lee Cheongun.
The young man with a strong, angular face and slightly upturned eyes that gave off a venomous feel was Hyeokryeon Hui.
Both were handsome enough to make young maidens blush.
“You stubborn beggar… While I’m asking nicely, make an excuse that you’re sick and don’t take the exam. Or you might get beaten to death.”
“If you want to beat me… study harder and beat me with your skills.”
“You bastard…!”
Hyeokryeon Hui suddenly swung his fist and struck Lee Cheongun in the chest.
Thud!
Lee Cheongun, struck in the chest, his face contorted, crumpled forward.
Hyeokryeon Hui quickly extended his foot to prevent Lee Cheongun’s face from hitting the ground as he fell.
But a moment later, he kicked Cheongun’s side. The tip of his foot struck between the ribs.
The fallen Cheongun rolled over a couple of times.
Cheongun was in so much pain that he could barely breathe, but he didn't let out a groan. From past experience, groaning would only fuel Hyeokryeon Hui’s desire for violence.
Hyeokryeon Hui bent down towards Cheongun, brought his face close, and said in a suggestive tone.
“Cheongun, we’re friends, aren’t we? A friend is asking you to yield just this once. Is that such an unreasonable request?”
Cheongun painfully lifted his head and looked at Hyeokryeon Hui.
Friend?
That’s right. The two were friends.
That’s what everyone had said all this time.
He himself had thought so until three years ago.
Because his late father and Hyeokryeon Hui’s father were friends, he tried to get along with him even more like a friend.
But three years ago, after they were assigned individual masters, Hyeokryeon Hui’s attitude towards him changed.
Hyeokryeon Hui had wanted to become a disciple of Master Myocheong, Wi Jincheon. But Master Myocheong had taken him as his disciple.
After that, Hyeokryeon Hui often got angry and bullied him.
He was a penniless orphan, while Hyeokryeon Hui was the heir to the Hyeokryeon family, a powerful patron of the academy and a prominent figure in Kaifeng.
If he fought back, he might be kicked out of the Cheonhyang Academy. It might also bring trouble to his master, who was like a benefactor to him.
So, when he was hit, he took it.
Even when his food was tampered with, he endured it.
Once, he had even chewed on a rotten fish head mixed in his food. He pretended not to know, even though he knew Hyeokryeon Hui had put it there.
It was easier to just endure it.
Even if his body was in pain, he could still learn from his master.
It had already been three years like this.
He was now used to being beaten.
“Why aren’t you answering? You beggar with no mother or father!”
Hyeokryeon Hui growled and extended his foot again.
Thwack! Thud!
Cheongun curled up his body, trying to minimize the impact as much as possible.
His endurance was not simply due to his stubbornness.
When he was young, his father had died after encountering bandits on his way to take the palace examination. His mother had passed away the following year, suffering from illness, to join his father.
After his parents passed away, all that was left was the family name that no one recognized and his own body. If his master hadn't taken him in at the right time, he would have starved to death on the streets.
‘You have a lot, but I have nothing. To me, this palace examination is my first and last chance. I must become the top scorer to become a Yeonjung Samwon. I can never yield!’
As Cheongun kept his mouth shut and endured, a venomous glint flickered in Hyeokryeon Hui’s eyes.
“Son of a bitch… you snake-like bastard… an orphan with no mother or father, and so stubborn…”
More and more force was put into his swinging hands and feet.
Thud! Thwack! Thump!
Cheongun gritted his teeth and endured the pain.
It was a more severe beating than ever before. Fortunately, Hyeokryeon Hui did not infuse his hands and feet with internal energy, so his bones were not broken, but it was so painful that it felt like all the flesh on his body was being torn apart.
He might have really been beaten to death if he hadn't heard someone's voice.
“Who’s there? Who dares to fight behind the academy?”