novelraw Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 01 - Prologue
Kongtong Mountain, located in Gansu Province.
Befitting its moniker as ‘the foremost mountain of Taoism’, it was a sacred mountain where layers of peaks and strange cliffs formed a magnificent view.
Greenery so verdant it felt dizzying, and a soft fog that gently settled on the surroundings.
It was indeed a place worthy of being the abode of the great Taoist immortal, Radiant Star Master.
However.
Today, with the ‘entire mountain stained in a sea of blood’, the situation was different.
Pagagagak!!
“Keuk!”
With a sound that seemed to scratch the inside of my ears, a man in a white martial arts uniform was pushed back five zhang.
“Urk.”
As if he had suffered internal injuries from the recent impact, dark red blood soaked his white uniform.
“Young Master So!”
“I am fine!”
At someone’s shout, the man in the white uniform waved his arm.
Sodokseong, the First Sword of Zhongnan.
Contrary to his actions, his complexion gradually turned pale.
“You son of a bitch who deserves to be torn to shreds…!!”
With a curse unbecoming of a monk’s robes, a figure from the opposite side of Sodokseong kicked off the ground and soared into the air.
Soon, thousands of fist shadows poured down from the air.
It was the Thousand Hands Divine Palm, the lifelong ultimate technique of Great Zen Master Jeongjin of Shaolin, who was known as the Fist Peak.
“Hehe……”
Great Zen Master Jeongjin's fighting spirit was hotter than a forest fire, but the laughter that greeted him was colder than anything.
Kwang!!!!
With a shockwave that shook the very axis of the earth, Great Zen Master Jeongjin tumbled several times in mid-air.
Flying like a deflated balloon, Jeongjin soon stabilized his form like a flying squirrel and landed on the ground.
Although he didn't vomit blood like Sodokseong, Jeongjin bit his lip until it bled.
It was because after the clash just now, he had been pushed back three zhang, while his opponent was still in the same spot.
‘To think that my ultimate technique, the Thousand Hands Divine Palm, couldn't inflict any damage… It seems there will be more misfortune than fortune today.’
Fist Peak Jeongjin, the First Sword of Zhongnan Sodokseong, Mae Jirip of the Mount Hua Sect, and the Emei Sect’s female master, Master Okjin, and others.
Today, on Kongtong Mountain, all ten supreme masters of the Nine Sects One Union had gathered.
The people of the martial world called them the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu, their voices filled with admiration.
However, the situation of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu today was quite dire.
This was because even with ten of the greatest masters ‘surrounding one person’ and attacking together, the tide of the battle was only worsening.
For people of the martial world, especially the greatest masters of their sects, to attack one person was a rather shameful affair.
However, if one knew who their opponent was, no one would point fingers.
The Heavenly Demon.
The object of a name that would make martial artists jump up even in their sleep stood before them.
“……At this rate, isn't it impossible to tell who is the demon and who is the hero?”
The Heavenly Demon raised the corners of his mouth as he ‘looked around’ at the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu surrounding him.
At that clear mockery, the complexions of several individuals turned red.
“Shut that mouth right now……”
“Wait. Young Master Wi.”
Just as Wi So-woong of the Mount Heng Sect was about to charge, Mae Jirip of the Mount Hua Sect whispered lowly.
“Do not forget the essence of this fight. If we wait, an opening will surely appear. And then……”
For a fleeting moment, Mae Jirip glanced to one side.
There stood a figure, waiting to draw his sword with flames lit in his eyes.
The figure, standing askew with one knee bent, was like a tightly drawn bowstring in and of itself.
“……I understand.”
After confirming Mae Jirip's gaze, Wi So-woong ground his teeth and clenched his fist.
The strategy the alliance of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu had established to subdue him was a war of attrition.
The Heavenly Demon was a figure who had reached an unparalleled realm in not only internal energy but external arts as well.
Only by the Ten Great Masters joining forces could they find even a grain of possibility.
To inflict a blow on the Heavenly Demon’s body, which was harder than Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, they had to open a path through a relentless war of attrition.
It was correct to see the current battlefield not as ten versus one, but as nine versus one.
While nine masters exchanged blows, one swordsman had maintained an unmoving posture all along.
‘Quickly…!’
No matter how much of an opening the Heavenly Demon showed, the number of people who could plunge a blade into his heart was limited.
The sword needed to deliver a precise attack in a fleeting moment.
It was none other than the Quick Sword.
‘It’s taking so damn long…!’
There was one swordsman who was fanning the flames in his chest as he watched the breathless battlefield.
He wanted to jump into the fray right now and unleash all the ultimate techniques he had learned.
But as Mae Jirip had said, he could not act rashly just because he was impatient.
It was because the blood his comrades shed in front could all be in vain.
“Aaaaargh!!”
With a piercing scream, Master Okjin of the Emei Sect tumbled to the ground.
Three horrifying cuts appeared on her once white and beautiful cheek, and soon, dark red blood trickled down from between the split skin.
Flinch.
Seeing her fall, covered in blood, the man’s body shuddered for a moment.
A flame-like divine light constantly shot out from his eyes.
The World's Fastest Sword.
The greatest swordsman of the Diancang Sect, who possessed a quick sword so outstanding that he dared to mention ‘the world’ in his title.
Yeongbi was carving the character for patience in his heart thousands of times.
‘Damn it, alliance or whatever, can’t I just break through…!!’
Break through and you win, get blocked and you lose.
Wasn't that what the sword was originally all about?
Until now, the Diancang Sect’s—no, Yeongbi’s fights had always been that way.
Yeongbi was an exceptional talent even among the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu gathered here, but at thirty, he was on the younger side.
Most of the masters, including those from the Mount Hua Sect, were in the position of elders or were seniors who were ‘at least one or two generations’ older.
-There are two things you will need. Patience, and resolve.
Before today’s decisive battle, Great Master Jeongjin of Shaolin had looked at Yeongbi and burst into a hearty laugh.
‘Resolve’ wasn't particularly necessary.
It was something that always accompanied Yeongbi whenever he wielded his sword.
The problem was patience.
Even though they were from different sects, it was incredibly difficult to watch his senior masters hovering on the line between life and death before his eyes.
Yeongbi’s disposition resembled the quick sword he wielded, so the current situation felt too harsh.
‘Damn it. I should have said I wouldn't do it back then.’
Jumping in like a moth to a flame from the very beginning to clash with that Heavenly Demon bastard was the way Yeongbi had wanted it.
And if he died?
So be it.
However, none of the senior masters had agreed to it.
‘This was because the current battle was one where the fate of the entire martial world was at stake, beyond Yeongbi’s personal desire for victory.’
There was only one person who could penetrate the Heavenly Demon’s Body Protecting Aura in a single strike, and that was Yeongbi.
Had he ever been this patient in his life?
The opportunity he thought would come at about this point had not arrived for more than four sijin.
The battle that had started before the sun was at its zenith was now facing a red sunset.
For a supreme master like Yeongbi, maintaining a posture for a long time was not a particularly difficult task.
It was just that watching people fall one by one was difficult.
‘Do I still have to wait…!!’
-Woong
Yeongbi’s sword, which he had drawn out long ago, trembled.
It was a very different form from the dazzling sword aura shining from Mae Jirip’s and Wi So-woong’s swords.
The unique martial art of the Diancang Sect that sucked in everything around it, even the air, into the sword.
The Vacuum Sword had finally unfolded in his hand.
‘Should I just stab him with it?’
Just standing there watching the Heavenly Demon’s slaughter made me wonder if this was hell itself.
However.
At last, the time of endurance was over.
After a long time that felt like an eternity, ‘that moment’ had finally arrived.
Grip
Great Zen Master Jeongjin finally wrapped his two arms firmly around one of the Heavenly Demon’s arms.
The Heavenly Demon’s other hand was about to clash with a palm strike from Son Mayok, the Chief of the Beggars' Union.
The other masters were also desperately unleashing their ultimate techniques in front of the Heavenly Demon’s path.
Front and back, left and right, and up and down.
For a moment as brief as the blink of an eye, the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu had seized control of all six inescapable directions.
“Now is the time!”
“I know!”
Before Great Zen Master Jeongjin’s shout could reach Yeongbi, his sword shot towards the Heavenly Demon’s heart.
Swish!
It was a dazzling quick sword, like a flash of light.
Even if they weren't in the middle of a battle with the Heavenly Demon, no one could see Yeongbi’s movements clearly.
A sword that was said to be impossible to avoid once drawn.
The greatest secret technique of the Diancang Sect, where one didn't even realize they were dead when the sword was drawn.
The technique of Soul-Stealing without Awareness advanced with a destructive force along with the Vacuum Sword.
‘Kwadeudeuk!’
“………………!!”
The Heavenly Demon’s body, which had been firmer than Mount Tai, shuddered once.
Yeongbi’s sword had passed through the Heavenly Demon’s chest and pierced through his back.
He had finally broken through the Heavenly Demon’s Body Protecting Aura, which was considered impregnable.
Soul-Stealing without Awareness, based on the Vacuum Sword, was a world-destroying ultimate technique, more destructive than any attack from the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu.
There was a good reason why the other Ten Great Masters had volunteered to be decoys for a war of attrition.
‘I succeeded…!!!’
A joy greater than when he had cleared the Du and Ren meridians surged through Yeongbi’s entire body.
After a tedious battle that had lasted for half a day, he had finally succeeded.
Even if it were the Heavenly Demon’s grandfather, not the Heavenly Demon himself, he couldn't survive with his heart pierced.
At least, that was what Yeongbi knew from common sense.
“Keuk……”
The Heavenly Demon was clearly injured.
However.
He didn't fall.
Far from falling, he viciously snatched Yeongbi’s wrist that held the sword.
“!”
It was an unbelievable sight.
No matter how much the Heavenly Demon had reached a state beyond demonic, he shouldn't be able to stay alive if his heart wasn't functioning.
Before Yeongbi, who couldn't understand the situation, could make another move, the Heavenly Demon’s ‘other’ hand pierced through his lower abdomen.
Thwack!
‘In that moment.’
Yeongbi’s dantian, which he had polished his entire life, was completely shattered.
“Keok……!!”
Yeongbi’s body, with his abdomen pierced, hung limp like a scarecrow in the rain.
The sunset had not yet faded, but Yeongbi’s vision grew darker, like a night with a waning moon.
In his fading consciousness, he heard the faint shout of Great Zen Master Jeongjin.
Was he calling for the mortally wounded Yeongbi?
‘No.’
Strangely, it wasn't a mournful cry calling for Yeongbi.
He once again shouted the same words towards someone else.
“Now is the time!!”
Stab!
A warm sensation that started from the back of his neck continued to the front of his throat.
Someone’s swordsmanship had pierced through Yeongbi’s neck.
“Why me…?”
Yeongbi was soon able to find the reason.
Since Yeongbi and the Heavenly Demon were face to face, a blind spot had naturally formed ‘behind Yeongbi’s body’.
The sword that pierced through Yeongbi’s neck continued towards the Heavenly Demon in its original direction.
‘From neck to neck.’
Though it was a fleeting moment, to Yeongbi who was facing death, the entire scene played out in slow motion.
Slice!
A sound similar to the one that had ‘cut his own neck’ was heard from the front.
However, Yeongbi could not witness the end of this bloody battle.
Yeongbi’s life, which had been flickering like a candle in the wind, was finally extinguished.
‘…….’
What in the world happened?
Did we get him?
Yeongbi’s consciousness fell into the pitch-black darkness.
***
It was a strange feeling that couldn't be described in words.
My body felt heavy like waterlogged cotton, then it felt as light as a feather floating in the sky.
And then, I started to feel a hot energy in my lower abdomen.
Is it because my dantian was shattered by that Heavenly Demon bastard?
To think he could inflict pain even after death.
He really is a terrifying son of a bitch……….
Chwaaak!
Ah, that's cold!!!
What is this now?
A cold energy suddenly washed over my entire body.
It seems that even in the afterlife, the senses are quite clear.
The cold was so chilling that my lips trembled on their own.
And then, my head started to feel dizzy.
It felt as if someone was shaking my body roughly.
“Biyoung-ah!!! Biyoung-ah!!!!!!!!”
Ah, seriously.
Can't you be gentle?
I'm a person who just died.
And my name is Yeongbi, not Biyoung!
If you understand, then now…Something…feels a bit strange?