Sword God Reborn

Chapter 227 : Tell me, where is it?

Standing on the training ground, Cheon Mubaeck suddenly recalled a past life.

The life when he was called the Sword Demon of Defeating Heaven.

'It was intense.'

Was there ever a life that wasn't intense?

Still, that life was particularly vivid in Cheon Mubaeck's memory.

An endless series of the most intense battles throughout all his past lives.

'It was the first time in my life I learned demonic arts.'

To learn demonic arts, one had to approach the Demonic Path. It was rare for figures of the Demonic Path to operate secretly in the martial world like now.

The Demonic Path was born and grew in the Heavenly Mountains. In the past, the road to the Heavenly Mountains was extremely perilous.

Now, with the passage of time, roads have been paved and the country's territory has expanded, so it is an area that can be reached if one just sets their mind to it, but at that time, the Central Plains was only a very small part, and the outside was a foreign land, a land of barbarians.

The Heavenly Mountains were the same.

Until he became the Sword Demon, Cheon Mubaeck had never learned demonic arts in any of his lives.

The reason why Cheon Mubaeck had no choice but to learn demonic arts was clear.

'The failure of the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art.'

It was in the early days of his countless reincarnations.

His will was not as firm as it was now, and he was impatient.

He tried to find meaning in each continuing life, and he was desperate to somehow escape the cycle of reincarnation.

'I was young. So young.'

He was not as numb to memories as he was now.

The connections he made in each life. He could not forget those memories, could not react indifferently, and always recalled them, lamenting each time and harboring heart demons.

So he tried every means to end it somehow. That was the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art. Looking back now, he had tried to research and create a peerless heart art with truly lacking skills.

The result was a failure.

If it weren't for the fortuitous event of his upper dantian being open in this life, the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art would not have been easy in the first place.

He had suffered a fatal injury by forcibly stimulating his brain to open his upper dantian.

He had fallen into qi deviation and had become close to a cripple.

Because all his dantians were destroyed and he could no longer learn martial arts.

Fortunately, perhaps thanks to the realm he had accumulated so far, he did not become a complete cripple.

He could still move his arms and legs.

He could still swing a sword.

'So I couldn't give up. I had to see it through to the end somehow.'

So he headed to the Demonic Path.

And he learned demonic arts.

And he became the Sword Demon.

Among the numerous demonic sects that were not yet unified, Cheon Mubaeck stood tall alone as the Sword Demon.

He fought endlessly.

He clashed and fought with countless masters of the Demonic Path.

Cheon Mubaeck fought with the hope that if he saw the end of the Demonic Path, he might be able to see the end of the sword, just to move forward.

That was seen differently by the demons.

The world of the strong respecting the strong.

A place where only the strong could make the weak kneel and become the most noble, that was the Demonic Path.

To them, Cheon Mubaeck's actions were the true Demonic Path.

A symbol of moving forward, fighting endlessly without stopping.

Naturally, a group of followers emerged.

The group was just like Cheon Mubaeck at that time.

They were so engrossed in the sword that it could be considered blind devotion.

They pursued only the path of moving forward even one step further.

They didn't care about the political engineering within the Demonic Path, the power dynamics, or anything else.

The demons who were disappointed by the sight of the various sects within the Demonic Path at that time, which were forming and breaking alliances to seize power, followed Cheon Mubaeck.

Only the demons who were crazy about the sword, who pursued only the sword, gathered.

Soon, a single force.

It was the birth of the Sword Sect.

'Actually, I only found out later that something like the Sword Sect had been formed.'

At that time, Cheon Mubaeck was truly indifferent to anything other than the sword. The demons who followed him were not even in his consideration.

He just fought and fought again.

He made all the leaders of the other six demonic orders kneel, and was recognized as one of the Seven Demonic Sects. And in the end, he fought the Heavenly Demon and killed him.

It was a myth in the Demonic Path.

The incident where an outsider who had flowed in from the outside defeated all the masters of the Demonic Path and eventually killed the Heavenly Demon, the pinnacle of the Demonic Path.

Perhaps at that time, if Cheon Mubaeck had become the new Heavenly Demon and had led the Demonic Path towards the martial world.

The martial world might have ended long ago.

But Cheon Mubaeck did not do so.

'Because there were no more skilled fighters to fight in the Demonic Path.'

A bitter smile appeared on Cheon Mubaeck's lips.

It was an irresponsible act.

Since he had killed the Heavenly Demon, there were no more opponents to fight in the Demonic Path. So he left the Demonic Path.

But that was the problem. The Sword Sect, whose leader had disappeared, suffered a brutal retaliation.

Of course, it was not that Cheon Mubaeck had left without knowing that.

However.

'I didn't consider it my fence.'

If he had, he would have protected the sect somehow.

Cheon Mubaeck felt a considerable sense of debt to the demons of the Sword Sect.

Because they were sword demons who were surprisingly crazy about the sword, similar to Cheon Mubaeck at that time.

So Cheon Mubaeck had also left the Sword Sect alone.

However.

'If they join hands with the Blood Demon Valley, then I don't know anymore.'

He had to confirm that.

Thud.

At that moment, at the sound of footsteps, Cheon Mubaeck smiled warmly.

"You've come, Jang No?"

* * *

Jang No was startled to see Yu Seoryeong when he returned to the escort agency.

It was a child he had never seen before, but he realized it at once. No matter how well she hid it, there was no way Jang No wouldn't feel it.

The same origin, the same martial arts, even the same internal energy.

'She's one of us...!'

Yu Seoryeong also felt each other.

The sense that the demons of the Sword Sect shared.

Feeling that, Yu Seoryeong also recognized Jang No immediately.

The fact that he was the Senior Uncle she had to find.

Jang No was able to hear all the circumstances so far.

'Young Master...'

Jang No could not hide his emotions.

Jang No, who had watched Cheon Mubaeck since he was toddling on two feet, felt his shoulders weigh a thousand pounds.

'He knows everything. Everything.'

Although he had heard some meaningful words from Wudang in Hubei, Jang No was still not sure.

No matter how he thought about it, he thought there was no way his origin, which he had hidden his whole life, could have been discovered.

But thinking about it carefully, the current Cheon Mubaeck was not the Cheon Mubaeck he had watched since he was a child.

'Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero. The adversary of demons.'

The leader in the eradication of the Demonic Path, something that no sect or family had been able to achieve, who was more ahead than anyone else.

Perhaps in the current martial world, was there anyone else besides Cheon Mubaeck who was well-versed in the Demonic Path?

'Perhaps he knew all along.'

Jang No's face turned grave.

Thud, thud.

Each step towards the training ground was heavy. A thousand pounds heavy. It was difficult to take a step, as if walking through a hot fire. It was dizzying, as if walking on a blade.

'What should I do?'

He had to choose.

He had to make a decision, whatever it was.

But Jang No could not make a decision rashly. He wanted to talk to Cheon Mubaeck. Only then would he be able to make the decision for the sect that Yu Seoryeong had delivered.

'No. Perhaps it's just a deduction. If he had really realized that I was a demon of the Sword Sect, how could he have let me live?'

The training ground was dark. Not a single lantern was lit.

But Jang No witnessed a pure white smile through the darkness.

A smile that shone brilliantly in the darkness, even without particularly enhancing his vision.

The bared white teeth were cheerful, and it was the bright smile of Cheon Mubaeck, whom he had watched and cherished like his own grandson.

But the voice that flowed out between the smiles was cold.

"You've come? Jang No?"

'Ah...'

Jang No's face hardened. His mind trembled, and his heart pounded like crazy.

It was as if a rough, pressing clamor was ringing in his ears.

His whole body went numb from the coldness.

'His eyes...'

Sharp. Cold. Heartless.

At the emotion contained in the eyes that could only be described as such, Jang No's body staggered once.

It was a gaze he had never seen before. No, to be precise, it was the first time Cheon Mubaeck had looked at him with such a gaze.

'An enemy...'

Countless battles that crossed life and death.

The fearsome and cold enemies he had faced at each crisis had such eyes.

Jang No's face became grave.

Receiving such a gaze from Cheon Mubaeck, whom he had considered his grandson, Jang No felt as if the sky was falling.

"Did you enjoy your reunion with your niece?"

"...Young Master."

Jang No squeezed his eyes shut.

He knew that Yu Seoryeong was his niece. But did he know everything?

The demonic arts of the Sword Sect were peculiar, and unlike other sects, they were not revealed on the outside. No matter how great the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero was, could he know the origin of himself and Yu Seoryeong, who belonged to a single sect, the Sword Sect, and were perhaps orthodox demons?

"Strictly speaking, since I also received teachings from Jang No, Jang No is no different from my master. Perhaps we are even in a master-disciple relationship."

Although it was a light joke, Jang No remained silent.

A master, what nonsense.

Although he had been in charge of Cheon Mubaeck's training at first, he had not properly acted as a master.

He had grown up on his own.

'I didn't do anything. He became a martial artist on his own.'

It was a strange thing.

Would the number one prodigy in the world be like that?

He had worked hard and grown on his own to become an outstanding martial artist.

So, to call himself his master was just a play on words.

Jang No focused his mind to grasp Cheon Mubaeck's intention.

Cheon Mubaeck clicked his tongue.

"What's wrong, Jang No."

"...Young Master. Is there something you wish to say?"

"Something I wish to say. Jang No has protected our escort agency until now."

"......!"

"You have protected my father, my sister, and the escort agency. Even when the escort agency was in difficulty, you stood firm and endured all the storms."

Cheon Mubaeck stared at Jang No clearly.

Jang No could not relax his tension. Although the meaning in the words was warm, the voice was surprisingly cold.

Above all, the gaze that seemed to see right through him was uncomfortable even for the experienced Jang No.

Cheon Mubaeck smiled and said.

"So I must ask. Since you are strictly my first master who taught me martial arts, it doesn't make sense that I don't know the origin of my master. From which sect did you learn your martial arts?"

Jang No maintained as calm an expression as possible.

In the martial world, there is a saying to be careful of the old and the young.

At least Jang No, who was in the category of the old, was an experienced old martial artist who had accumulated intense experience.

He did not show his emotions on his face.

However, since cold sweat was flowing down his face, Jang No was inwardly grateful that this deep darkness was covering it.

Jang No bowed his head and said.

"My master did not wish to reveal his sect. I am sorry that I cannot tell you."

Cheon Mubaean stared at Jang No clearly. Even in the darkness, the glittering light in his eyes reached the back of Jang No's bowed head. After staring for a long time, Cheon Mubaeck asked again.

"Where did you learn your martial arts?"

At the same question, Jang No's head slowly came up.

Cheon Mubaeck asked again.

"Where?"

Jang No's face was still calm.

"Young Master, since you have also set out into the martial world, you will know. That there are sometimes people who do not mention their sect."

Cheon Mubaeck nodded his head.

"That's right. There are martial artists who find it difficult to reveal their sect. It's a natural thing. The martial world is a place where countless gratitudes and grudges are intertwined. If I reveal my sect, I don't know what kind of grudge I don't know of might be aiming for my neck."

A faint crack appeared on Jang No's calm face for a moment.

The corner of Cheon Mubaeck's mouth went up slightly.

"What kind of grudge does the sect have that it cannot be revealed? Is it because if it were to be known, everyone in the world would rush to kill them? I will ask one last time."

At that moment, Jang No clearly saw the light in his eyes burning blue in the darkness.

As the gaze, which was like that of a beast, reached him, his body hardened.

"Tell me. Where is it?"

Jang No's complexion changed completely.

(End of Chapter)