Chapter 70
Chapter 70 .
Translator: thursdays Editor: Sasha
4 .
‘It’s cold . ’
So Baek-hyang thought in the middle of a snowy field .
Buried in white snow, the world was colorless, odorless, and silent .
The world was just a cold, blank sheet of paper .
‘It’s cold…’
Her flesh was cold . Her bones were cold . Even her blood was also cold .
So Baek-hyang thought .
‘My stomach is numb . ’
‘Mother?’
‘I think my internal organs are filled with ice . ’
‘Mother . ’
‘It’s too cold here . ’
She thought and thought . As she continued to think, her insides became increasingly frozen . Eventually, her thoughts and even her head became cold .
Cold .
Another cold world .
Her mother’s silhouette .
How much time had passed?
-……Uh-huh .
The silence broke .
-It’s weird . How strange .
The smell returned .
-It’s already been 10 days since it snowed here . The snow is at least 5 feet deep . How is it that this child is still breathing?
Finally, even the colorless landscape broke apart .
So Baek-hyang looked ahead with young, childish eyes . There was an old man standing in front of her . He had dug up the snowfield and made a noise . When he grabbed her wrist, he smelled like an old man . The eyes of the old man looking at her were black .
-You’re not an ordinary child .
That old man was an old master of magic .
-You were born of ice and snow . The coldness of the world will soon be a part of your energy . Curiouser and curiouser . A young kid spends ten days buried in a snowfield and emerges like this… It’s like something out of a book!
-…… .
-Child . What is your name?
So Baek-hyang parted her lips .
-I don’t know .
She couldn’t recall her name .
-How old are you?
-I don’t know .
-How did you end up in this snowfield?
-I don’t know .
-…… .
She couldn’t remember anything .
It was cold . Her thoughts froze, her head and ability to think froze, and all the words in her head and heart seemed to be frozen .
-Poor thing . A young one already sent to the elements…
The old master groaned .
-However, you are the perfect vessel for learning martial arts . The Master of the North Sea will take you even if he has to pay a billion gold pieces . What wonderful fate! But for what purpose? Will our school be a gift to you, or will you be a gift to our school? It’s very difficult to assess with my old eyes .
So Baek-hyang did not understand . From before, she could hardly understand what the old man was saying . The person in front of her was using words that were too difficult for her .
Brush .
The old man smoothed So Baek-hyang’s hair .
-Child . Will you follow me?
-…… .
-I will feed you and get you a place to sleep .
These words were easy to understand .
As she nodded slowly, the old man spoke again .
-You don’t smell of anything . Since you don’t have a name and don’t know your birthplace, you are probably a child born from the snow . I will give you my last name . And I will call you Baek-hyang, the scent of the white snow .
The scent of the snow .
-From now on, you are a student of the Demonic Sect, So Baek-hyang .
So Baek-hyang remained quiet for a while .
Then, she spoke .
-Where am I going?
The old master smiled .
-It is a place where children like you gather .
5 .
“—It’s impossible!” the Heavenly Demon said .
“I have never had a disciple in my life . Even though the world has become twisted, my rules remain unchanged . A disciple?! Absolute nonsense!”
The cave with the hot spring .
We had left the snowy field and were in the stronghold of the last survivors of this world . The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord said, ‘To think there were still survivors…’ They were surprised, but they gladly welcomed us as guests .
However, they only accepted us only as guests .
It seemed that the Heavenly Demon had no intention of accepting me as a disciple .
“Hey . Demon lord . Why are you being so stingy?”
From the side, the Murim Lord chewed on an energy bar .
“I’m glad that the children of the outside have survived . And not only did they survive, but they also came through rough conditions to be taught by you . That’s meritorious and quite charming . What are you still being so stiff for?”
“It’s meritorious and charming . ”
The Heavenly Demon hmmed and snorted .
“Even so, the rules for accepting a disciple are strict! At our school, we do not senselessly accept all people . Only children who have been abandoned by their parents and abandoned by the world can enter the Demonic Cult . ”
“Tsk, tsk . You always call me an outdated old fart, but you’re more discriminatory than me . ”
The Murim Lord shook his head .
“Child . That’s what she said . Why don’t you let go of this petty, Demonic Cult junk and take me as your teacher? I am Namgung Un . I am from the great Namgung clan and am the head of the Taesang family, as well as the leader of the Righteous Sect . If you become my disciple, I will treat you with great affection—”
“Why are you saying you can’t accept me as a disciple, Heavenly Demon-nim?”
I asked, ignoring the old man . The Murim Lord was a little shocked, exclaiming, ‘What! Could it be that my name isn’t well known in the outside world…?!’ It was a little pitiful, but I left it alone .
The Heavenly Demon furrowed her brows .
“Didn’t I just say it? Only children who are abandoned by the world can enter the school . ”
“The world has changed,” I replied .
“People have turned into Jiangshi because of a mysterious disease . The Murim world’s sects and families have all been destroyed . Since the world has abandoned humans, we are all abandoned by the world . Whether you like it or not . ”
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“Heavenly Demon-nim . Haven’t the conditions for admission been automatically satisfied?”
The Heavenly Demon closed her mouth .
Probably because I was right .
And more than that… I was a hunter . I was also an orphan who abandoned the world outside and committed myself to climbing the tower . It was a little embarrassing to say that I was abandoned by the world, but I could say that I had abandoned the world . The [admission conditions] that the Heavenly Demon spoke of would be more than satisfied .
“……Fine . ”
The Heavenly Demon stood up from her seat .
“If you’re confident, show me your Three Calamities Swordsmanship . ”[1]
She glanced down at me .
“I shall check with my own eyes if you are entitled to inherit the teachings of our school . It’s obvious that you’re just all talk and no skill, anyway . ”
“…… . ”
I also got up from my seat .
“Thank you for the opportunity . ”
I pulled out the Holy Sword .
Shiiing!
The sound of a sword being drawn echoed in the wide cave . People were looking in my direction . They were quietly waiting to see the kind of swordsmanship I would demonstrate .
Of course, I had no intention of showing off the Three Calamities Swordsmanship .
[Your skill is being activated . ]
Infernal Heavens Demonic Art .
After all, there was a skill that I learned for this very moment .
“…Hwooo . ”
When the skill was activated, countless movements were drawn in my head .
Weird and strange sword forms .
However, seeing the road in front of me and driving on it were completely different matters . I didn’t have a deep understanding of the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art yet . If I tried to show off the swordsmanship like this, my body would only tear like a crow-tit chasing a stork .
‘If it’ll be torn anyway . ’
Therefore, this came to mind .
‘It should be torn properly . ’
The scenes of the [traumas] that I experienced so far .
I swung my sword while painting them in my mind, one after another .
To open the path to the demonic arts .
I’d witnessed groans and screams while climbing the tower thus far . The moaning and the screaming were always raw and vivid . I remembered these sounds as if I had just heard them a moment ago . Their voices colored my heart .
「Save me . 」
「Save me, please . I’m so hungry . Please give me something to eat . 」’
The basement of the mansion .
I recalled the voices of children who were trapped and tortured .
「I want to live . 」
The children had been bound in chains . When the mansion was caught on fire and burned, the children stared at the flames in front of their eyes . Trapped in the chains, they could not escape . They had to patiently wait until they were thoroughly burned .
「I wanted to play a little longer . 」
With the children’s screams in my heart, I swung my sword .
“Ma, Madu! That swordsmanship…”
“…… . ”
Nearby, I heard the Murim Lord exclaiming in bewilderment . But I ignored it . He wasn’t what I had to focus on right now .
Slowly, not hurrying, step by step .
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I swung my sword, thinking of what I had to think .
「Burn her!」
「Burn the witch’s nest!」
I remembered the voice of a demon who tried to save the sick at the edge of a continent .
「Why?」
「You are all humans . 」
The demon had shed black tears from her eyes . The paradise she made . The small village was burning . The sight of a man burning another man was engraved in the demon’s eyes .
「You know about the beauty and tears of life, so why?! Just why?!」
「You called us monsters . That’s why you didn’t hesitate to burn us!」
「Are we not also human?!」
With the screams of the demon in my heart, I swung my sword .
“…… . ”
“…… . ”
My sword moved faster and faster . The Infernal Heavens Demonic Art that I gained from my death took shape . The trauma that had been transplanted after I died pulsed with anticipation . I felt like I would get lost in the middle of this, but then, I called forth my Aura and forced myself to continue the sword forms .
-Look at this kid…?
Bae Hu-ryeong said that the demonic arts were nails that scratched the world .
However, as I practiced the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art, my mind changed a little .
Perhaps it is more of a scream than a nail .
-Wow .
The path of my sword continued and continued, then finally became a sword dance .
-Now I see that if you were born in the Murim world, you’d have entered the Demonic Cult .
In the end, my sword dance was not beautiful . It was immature . It was clumsy . There was no scent of flowers, only the smell of fire . If swordsmanship had a face, my sword was the face of a person with a burn scar .
It was only a scream .
No matter how admirable yin and yang were, the world born from them was only full of grief .
No matter how clever the script of the Three Character Classics was, it could not overcome a single scream of a lowly human .
The sword containing the grief of the world was sharper than the sword of yin and yang .
A sword that wielded a single scream was stronger than a sword that moved according to a wise saying .
The deeper the grief, the coarser the scream, the stronger the sword .
That was why we were strong .
Survival of the fittest .
That was the doctrine of the Demonic Sect .
「Speak . 」
「War has forgotten chivalry, and chivalry has forgotten war . Say it . 」
「If you say this, I will kill you as you want . 」
The Heavenly Demon was the epitome of this doctrine .
The highest sky .
The Heavenly Demon knew of all the screams of her sect members and knew how to release them all with a sword . The sword form that the Heavenly Demon used must be a scream that faced the world, move by move .
It was proof that somewhere in this world, there were those who had screamed and yelled in agony .
「The whole world has become empty . 」
「Decades spent in vain, completely futile . 」
She was that sort of sky .
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Even the Heavenly Demon screamed in the final moment .
「Ahaha . Ha, hahaha!」
She laughed madly .
「Ahahahaha! Ha, ahahaha…」
With that laughter in my heart, I swung my sword .
“Stop . ”
I swung my sword .
“Stop it . ”
I swung my sword .
“Did I not tell you to stop?!”
Suddenly, my sword stopped .
I didn’t stop because I wanted to stop . There was a cane . The Heavenly Demon lifted a wooden stick and stopped my blade . Her dark inner energy echoed on the cane .
“You…” the Heavenly Demon muttered in a low voice .
“Where did you learn the skills of our school?”
Her eyes were pitch black .
“You can’t fool my eyes! No matter how messed up and inexperienced your forms are, what you’ve done right now was definitely the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art . In this world, only the members of the Demonic Sect can learn this skill, but I, the head of the cult, have never seen your face . ”
“Speak . From where did you steal it?!”
I realized then that I was more tired than I thought . I had run out of breath . My whole body was wet with sweat . The Holy Sword in my right hand felt as heavy as a rock .
I looked around . The Murim Lord was, of course, but even the other people in the party were watching me with bated breath . From the open ceiling of the cave, the starlight of the night sky was pouring down . Maybe more time had passed than I thought .
“I…”
I forced my mouth to open .
“Am I worthy enough?”
“…… . ”
“Do I have the qualifications to be Heavenly Demon-nim’s disciple?”
The Heavenly Demon was silent .
After being silent for a while, the woman turned her back . She walked to the dark side of the cave . Her back was refusing everyone, so nobody could chase after her .
If I had a little more energy, I might have followed her…
“D, Death King-nim?”
Slump .
My knees collapsed .
“Death King-nim! Are you okay, Death King-nim?!”
Everything was hazy . I thought it must be because I consumed too much Aura at once, and my head blanked . I would probably pass out and stay like this overnight .
I tried to smile at the Alchemist to reassure her, but even that was difficult . The scene in front of my eyes was already dark .
-Tsk, tsk .
Just before I fainted . I heard Bae Hu-ryeong’s voice .
-You pushed yourself to the verge of death by using martial arts above your level . Little crow-tit . That’s why people keep saying you have to build up from the basics .
Bae Hu-ryeong sighed .
-Well, anyway…
Then .
-It wasn’t too bad, crow-tit . You’re an admirable bastard .
I lost consciousness .
[1] Three Calamities Swordsmanship – A cliché name in martial arts novels for the most basic skills in swordsmanship, which are typically cutting vertically, cutting horizontally, and stabbing .
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