Chapter 029. Half-Demon (5)
“……There is nothing I can say.”
Namgung Mu-ryong laughed bitterly and received Namgung Yeon's words.
“Namgung's sword is noble alone under the blue sky, so its spirit will surely shake the Azure Sky and resonate.”
Namgung Yeon recited the first verse of the Azure Sky Sword Technique, a sword technique close to the basics of the Namgung Clan.
Since it is a phrase engraved on the main gate of the clan, it is a sentence all swordsmen of the Namgung Clan would know.
However, that was the beginning and end of all supreme techniques that make up Namgung. In other words, it was the mental image that forms the foundation of the Namgung Clan.
“Sword Dragon…… Young Master Dam's sword is certainly different from the main house's sword.”
“…….”
“But clearly his sword, no, only his sword crossed the Azure Sky in this battlefield.”
Namgung Yeon muttered bitterly.
There is no way Dam Jeok-san learned the Namgung Clan's sword technique.
It cannot be expressed with the phrase 'all streams flow into the sea' either. Because Dam Jeok-san has not reached the ultimate of the sword.
That was merely a glimpse of genius…….
Namgung Yeon judged so.
Because the subtlety of the Azure Sky was mixed into the sword technique Dam Jeok-san created with his own hands. By chance.
How far can he climb?
Eight Sovereigns of Murim? Or Number One Under Heaven?
He has surpassed the level she dares to judge.
Namgung Yeon thought she might be witnessing the beginning of a new history.
“We can't just lag behind because we can't catch up, since we are Namgung.”
Namgung Yeon said, looking at Namgung Mu-ryong.
“……You are correct.”
The gray-haired middle-aged man nodded slowly.
The move Dam Jeok-san unfolded was at a level that even Namgung Mu-ryong found astonishing.
It is fortunate that the Young Family Head acknowledged him yet did not lose heart. Because one can move forward as long as one does not break.
Apart from that, even to him who had been in the Murim Jianghu for a long time, that person's talent was at a level outside the norm.
‘……Even though I met a few of the Eight Sovereigns of Murim in my youth.’
Dam Jeok-san's brilliance was at a level incomparable even to them.
Moreover, it is even more surprising considering he once lost his dantian.
Whether he knows the astonishment of the Namgung Clan swordsmen or not.
Dam Jeok-san was shedding streams of light from his eyes and pressing the Butcher like a storm.
* * *
“His breath is as tough as a bug's.”
Dam Jeok-san said, looking at the Butcher.
Even in a state where his body was half-cut after being hit by the Monkey-Destroying One Flash, he was still breathing.
Truly astonishing vitality.
“Grrrk…….”
The Butcher looks up at Dam Jeok-san with eyes filled only with malice.
He wanted to say something, but he couldn't make a voice because his throat was full of blood phlegm.
But even if he had made a voice, nothing would have changed.
The Butcher would have only been able to spit out screams mixed with malice and despair at best.
“I do not understand your despair.”
Dam Jeok-san said, thrusting his sword into the Butcher's body.
“I don't intend to make an effort to do so, either.”
Crunch.
As Dam Jeok-san twisted the sword, blood gushed out from the Butcher's body.
The bastard writhed in pain.
Dam Jeok-san looked down at that appearance with indifferent eyes.
An era of chaos where monsters run rampant, and even in the midst of that, humans kill humans.
Pain and loss are scattered everywhere in the world to the point of being kicked by feet.
Someone dies shuddering, crushed by malice.
And someone becomes a monster by repaying malice with malice.
Dam Jeok-san…… no, even if it were not Dam Jeok-san but the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle, he cannot take care of everyone.
He just does what he can where his hands reach.
His sword cut the neck of a certain Half-Demon who treated the world with thorough malice.
Slash―
The moment his breath was cut off―
Immense demonic energy bound by the Butcher's will lost its owner and scattered.
And Dam Jeok-san began to ‘predate’ it at a speed imprinted on his instinct.
Demonic energy gets sucked in.
In that thick demonic energy, one person's unhappy life was contained.
He ruminated on the Butcher's life with an emotionless face.
He decided not to understand or sympathize. Nevertheless, he felt bitter.
Because if he hadn't lost his family, things like slaughtering people while soaked in demonic energy wouldn't have happened.
He silently watched the memories left by the Butcher's thoughts.
It was the moment when the Butcher, who completely accepted the power of a monster, met a certain strange person that astonishment began to spread on Dam Jeok-san's face.
―You will be the beginning of the chaos that will cover the Central Plains. First, kill the Young Family Head of the Namgung Clan…….
The strange person emitting much thicker demonic energy than the Butcher muttered so.
And from his hand, dark and wicked energy, as if condensing the darkness of the world, shimmered, and soon settled into the Butcher's body.
That is the essence of demonic energy that only a high-ranking monster would possess.
The main culprit that enabled the Butcher to kill the Severing Shadow Saber and unilaterally push back the Namgung Clan swordsmen.
Dam Jeok-san felt intense pain as if his head would explode for an instant.
The Butcher is an opponent already subdued, but the owner of that demonic energy is not.
Tremendous demonic energy and corresponding pressure pour down with the momentum to crush his mind.
However, Dam Jeok-san rather smiled feeling that pressure.
Clearly, the owner of that demonic energy must be a formidable strongman. An absolute existence who might defeat the current Dam Jeok-san in a single move.
However, Dam Jeok-san had risen to the pinnacle of the human species, even if only in his previous life.
Seo Woo-joo's solid mental strength helps him.
The sensation of his ego blurring struck him, but he didn't mind at all and pressed down the demonic energy with powerful mental strength.
When the tedious contest of strength finally ended.
Dam Jeok-san could achieve victory without difficulty. Because as the demonic energy separated from its owner, it had already lost most of its strong will.
If he had faced the main body, even Dam Jeok-san would not have been safe.
Because ‘he’, and ‘they’, were such existences.
Dam Jeok-san could now clearly notice what was behind the Butcher.
Yin God Cult.
A group of monster worshippers that began to emerge after monsters appeared in the land of the Central Plains.
Their influence worshipping monsters in the Demonic Realm and various places throughout the Central Plains was not at a level that could be underestimated.
Even the Martial Sovereign Castle, which looks down on the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, could not take the Yin God Cult lightly.
Because if the power they have built over the past hundreds of years and the existence of supernatural beings lurking in the Demonic Realm combine, the survival of the Central Plains will arrive as a realistic problem.
‘This is troublesome.’
Dam Jeok-san clicked his tongue while looking at the memories in the Butcher's thoughts.
Some time later.
Finally, the predation ended.
The achievement of the ability did not progress.
But the genuine qi accumulated in his body was more than what Dam Jeok-san expected.
‘With this much, it seems I recovered about half of what I had before losing my dantian.’
That is to say, only in terms of the amount of accumulated qi.
Perhaps recovering the remaining half will be a much more arduous task than before.
Because Dam Jeok-san's enlightenment has already become completely different from before losing his dantian.
He must rebuild his martial arts through new enlightenment.
This wasn't just a frustrating story. No, rather, it was a positive signal.
Because he found a way to exert stronger power even at the same stage.
Before the eyes of Dam Jeok-san who was satisfied like that.
Slowly, a star cluster rose.
Although faint and blurred, it was clearly a map engraved with Fighting Paths close to the ultimate that his previous self had pioneered.
Was it because he drew Seo Woo-joo's mental strength to crush the demonic energy just before?
Or was it because the achievement of martial learning advanced?
Dam Jeok-san could see the Fighting Paths engraved in that star cluster a little more clearly.
And he realized.
‘It is not something I can covet yet.’
At least reach the Entering Transformation Realm, or if that is difficult, reach the peak realm to make the Fighting Paths engraved there into proper martial art moves.
But just because they can't be made into moves doesn't mean they are useless.
The sword path of the Monkey-Destroying One Flash was also further refined than before after looking up at that starlight.
He heard in passing that the Namgung Young Family Head said it resembled their sword…….
It must be a reaction that came out because she caught the Fighting Path hovering in that star cluster.
While thinking such thoughts, Dam Jeok-san ravenously explored the principles of countless martial arts engraved in the star cluster.
Soon, all the martial arts he possessed were maturing further.
From the Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique, which can be called a supreme technique, to the Prajna Heart Technique, and even the Three Talents Sword Technique he learned before entering the Martial Sovereign Castle.
Increase in overall capability.
It was a precious fortuitous encounter that could not be expressed simply by things like qi accumulation or enlightenment.
However, the time of miracle allowed to Dam Jeok-san was shorter than thought.
‘Even this is something to be grateful for.’
If the Butcher didn't have the essence of demonic energy in his body, it would have really passed like a breeze.
Because what Dam Jeok-san faced now was that great.
‘The reason why I was given a lot of time to look at the star cluster sufficiently last time must be because it was the moment the ability grew.’
Just looking at the fact that the dantian, which was damaged beyond repair, was restored immediately shows,
When the ability of Predation grows, unreasonably huge rewards are often given.
―With great power comes great responsibility. Always be wary of the weight of the supreme techniques held in your hands.
Dam Jeok-san suddenly recalled the words he heard right after becoming the disciple of the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
Even the Extreme Heaven Strange Sovereign Technique and the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style are like that.
The ability of Predation is a powerful and dangerous ability, even more so than the martial arts the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle has inherited generation after generation.
That much heavier and graver responsibility will follow…….
Dam Jeok-san was not afraid.
Anyway, there are only two paths he can choose.
Die, or become the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
And he had absolutely no intention of choosing the former.
Dam Jeok-san organized his rising thoughts and turned around.
The Butcher's corpse, twisted like a mummy beyond being dry, scatters in the wind.
The Namgung Clan swordsmen, who recovered their complexion a little with the help of Gyeong-won and Black Panther Spear, came into his view.
There was one familiar face.
Young Family Head Namgung Yeon.
A woman with whom his relationship cannot be said to be the worst, but also difficult to call a good connection.
Since Dam Jeok-san gave her a humiliating defeat in a place where the rising stars of the Central Plains gathered.
But not a single bit of displeasure toward him was visible on Namgung Yeon's face.
It's not just because Dam Jeok-san saved her life today.
Namgung Yeon was originally such a person.
One who might feel resentment at defeat, but does not curse the one who defeated her.
With her
“The promise to show the sword of Namgung…….”
Dam Jeok-san opened his mouth, walking briskly toward Namgung Yeon.
There were quite a few things to say with her.
Because he has to settle this incident and prepare for the stirrings of the Yin God Cult behind it.
But what Dam Jeok-san brought up first was something far removed from complex interests.
“You kept it well. It was quite cool.”
At that one word, Namgung Yeon's eyes began to tremble slightly.
* * *
‘My sword, was cool?’
Namgung Yeon briefly asked herself, is that man mocking me right now?
But there was absolutely no reason for Dam Jeok-san to do that.
“Are those words sincere?”
Namgung Yeon asked with eyes still uncontrollably trembling.
She thought Dam Jeok-san would not acknowledge her.
She thought he would be disappointed by the fact that she made no progress and despise the fact that she made indecisive judgments after becoming the successor of Namgung.
But she felt no such sign in Dam Jeok-san's eyes looking at her.
“It is sincere. Well, even if it's cool, not as much as me.”
Dam Jeok-san said with a crooked smile.
“…….”
Namgung Yeon looked at him as if at a loss for words at that playful answer.
As he roughly swept back his blood-soaked hair, Dam Jeok-san's sharp features, as if carved with a knife, were revealed.
Flinch.
Namgung Yeon, facing Dam Jeok-san's face straight on, instinctively trembled.
Because the spar from before where he almost beat her up came to mind.
But she slowly controlled the trembling and looked at Dam Jeok-san.
It is a temperament different from when they sparred.
If at that time he was an inorganic human who thoroughly evaluated everything as if measuring with a ruler.
Now he looked like an active volcano-like human who would do anything his heart commanded.
But what Dam Jeok-san ultimately pursues is no different from then.
Monster Extermination.
Erasing the traces of monsters ravaging this land and protecting the world.
Namgung Yeon realized instinctively.
That she would never be able to catch up with Dam Jeok-san in her lifetime. At best, she would chase after his tail. But that doesn't become a reason to stop. Rather, she must chase even more desperately. To bridge that gap even a little.
That was the duty and right imposed on her, the successor of Namgung, and at the same time, the competitive spirit as a martial artist.
As Namgung Yeon was renewing her resolve.
Dam Jeok-san approached her without hesitation.
“Listen well.”
He spoke to Namgung Yeon as if whispering.
Before they knew it, a faint qi curtain was drawn around the two.
‘Since the Yin God Cult is involved, I can't trust the Namgung Clan swordsmen either.’
Dam Jeok-san's two aides are people personally examined by the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord.
So the probability of them being connected to the Yin God Cult was extremely low.
But the Azure Palace Sword Squad members are different. Even if they were born and raised in the Namgung Clan, he couldn't completely withdraw suspicion.
Because the Yin God Cult was a group capable of planting spies even in the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families.
“The fact that there is a mastermind lurking behind the Butcher is something you, Young Family Head, would have expected too.”
Namgung Yeon nodded slowly at those words.
“…….”
“……!”
At Dam Jeok-san's continuing words, deep astonishment appeared on Namgung Yeon's face.