novelraw Chapter 117 : Even If It's Ruin
Chapter 117 : Even If It's Ruin
"The Cold-Blooded Grim Reaper is dead, and the Deungho Mountain, where high-purity iron was buried, has fallen into the hands of the Hebei Peng Clan?"
"It hasn't completely fallen. It's just supervision..."
"You foolish brat! The Peng Clan has the most important right of first refusal, and you're saying it hasn't fallen!?"
"I'm sorry!"
"Shut up! There's no place for an incompetent brat like you in this Alliance. Get him out of my sight."
"J-Just one more chance...!"
There were no second chances for Mu Yu.
What he needed was not someone who begged for a chance, but someone who brought results.
The strategist in charge of the iron deposit site, Deungho Mountain, was dragged out of Mu Yu's office.
He would soon be killed without a sound and would be abandoned in a place no one knew.
And yet, the gaze of the man who had been a fellow strategist was calm.
"This time too, it's Jin Sohyun. Jin Sohyun in Anhui, Jin Sohyun in Guizhou, and Jin Sohyun in Hebei... will I hear this name again?"
"There is news from Gansu."
"Again? Hahahaha!"
Mu Yu laughed loudly and then asked.
"What is it this time?"
"It is said that the Baekhwa Pass, which was engaged in human trafficking in Gansu, has collapsed."
"The Baekhwa Pass... I heard it was a natural fortress that could never be conquered unless you rained down thunder cannons like a thousand flowers. Tsk! So, how was it conquered?"
"As far as we know... Jin Sohyun infiltrated it by cross-dressing."
"Cross-dressing? Cross-dressing? Hahahaha!"
Mu Yu, who had been laughing and tapping the desk in his office, stopped laughing.
His gaze sank coldly.
"Every time that brat moves, I get a dirty feeling as if the great cause of the Heretic's Path Alliance is getting farther away. Is the Nameless Pavilion still silent?"
"It is said that the Pavilion Master has moved personally."
"So that old man is finally moving himself. Has he finally realized the seriousness of the situation?"
"It seems so."
The Nameless Pavilion Master.
The only person he had failed to kill was one person.
The master of the White Moon Palace, Cheon Yushin.
In the first place, he was a person at the pinnacle of the Five Great Masters of the Central Plains.
He was a being who would not be strange to be called the number one under heaven.
But Mu Yu was more concerned about Jin Sohyun than Cheon Yushin.
‘Ma Seongun, that brat, wouldn’t be obsessed with Jin Sohyun for no reason.’
The path that Jin Sohyun had shown so far was unusual.
His growth rate and strength were abnormal.
As if the heavens were playing a prank.
"Seolpyeong."
"Yes, Grand Commander."
"Gather some useful brats."
"I understand."
"The target... is the Jin Family of Shanxi."
"Are you planning to use this to draw out Jin Sohyun?"
"Yes. The Martial Arts Alliance must also know that Jin Sohyun's potential is unusual. We have to attack his home to make him come out of the fence. And when that brat comes out of the fence..."
Mu Yu's finger scratched the table.
"The Nameless Guest will strike his neck."
***
"Oh! The one who goes against the heavens has returned!"
The followers of the Blood Demon Divine Cult prostrated themselves on the floor all at once and greeted Ma Seongun.
Even though it was a sight he had experienced several times, he couldn't get used to it.
Ma Seongun crossed the followers of the Blood Demon Divine Cult and stopped in front of a familiar man.
"As you said, I have brought the blood of the martial artists in the Blood Essence Jade."
"Excellent! With this, the first preparation is complete. Please come this way."
Following the young follower, Ma Seongun walked in front of an altar made of carved black stone.
"Please sit here."
The young follower, who had revealed his name to be Wi Jaseong, sat Ma Seongun in the middle of the altar.
Ma Seongun sat with his legs crossed as Wi Jaseong had said.
"Now, please hold the Blood Essence Jade at the height of your dantian and close your eyes."
"Can I really become stronger with this?"
"Yes. This is the first stage, the stage of opening the gate, but if the one who goes against the heavens completely accepts the Blood Essence Jade... then... no one in the world will be able to be your opponent."
Ma Seongun brought the Blood Essence Jade to his dantian as Wi Jaseong had said.
Then, a curiosity suddenly arose.
"How did you create the Blood Essence Jade?"
"The Blood Essence Jade was not created, but it existed."
"It existed?"
"Yes. We also do not know who created the Blood Essence Jade or how it was created. All we know is the use of the Blood Essence Jade."
Wi Jaseong knelt in front of Ma Seongun and smiled with an expressionless face.
"The Blood Essence Jade did not find us, but it came to us. And at that moment, we were entrusted with a noble mission."
Now Wi Jaseong's gaze became hazy as if he were dreaming.
"The followers of the Blood Demon Divine Cult sometimes have dreams. Some dream of the past, some of the present, and some of the future."
"Then do you also dream?"
"Yes. Gloriously, I dream a different dream from the other followers."
"What dream is it?"
"It is... the dream of another world."
"Another world..."
"Every night when I dream, I see the past, present, and future of the Central Plains. But there was one strange thing."
Wi Jaseong extended both hands to the sky.
"There are infinitely many paths from the past to the future. But the branches of the past that stretched infinitely towards the future... eventually end in one future."
Ma Seongun's and Wi Jaseong's eyes met.
"There is a man. He freely handles ten swords even though he does not have ten hands, has fast feet that nothing can reach, and has a vessel like the great sea... that can hold any kind of energy."
At Wi Jaseong's explanation, Ma Seongun's face hardened.
It was because he seemed to know who he was talking about.
"Aren't you afraid? That the present, which has infinite possibilities, eventually ends in one future?"
Wi Jaseong raised his head.
"I am afraid. That the infinite possibilities that are spread out endlessly are eventually left with only one future by one man... I am afraid of the present that rushes to the same conclusion every night."
"So you brought me from the future to the past?"
"Yes. There is no way to defeat that man in the past or the present. So I brought a being from the future who knows all the futures to the past... to hold the infinite possibilities in his hands and to kill the man who wants to exist alone. I brought you."
"Did you know I would come?"
"I do not know. The one who brought you here is the me of another world."
"The you of another world?"
"Yes. As you know, I realized that another me had succeeded in bringing a being from the future to the past through the Blood Essence Jade that had lost its light. And I gave the Bloodstone Bright Sword to the Heretic's Path Alliance Master instead of the Blood Essence Jade, and through that, the one who goes against the heavens came to me."
Come to think of it, that was right.
In this world, Wi Jaseong had given the Bloodstone Bright Sword to Zhu Tian instead of the Blood Essence Jade.
That meant that in this world, the Blood Essence Jade had never been delivered to Ma Seongun.
In other words, the past that Ma Seongun had returned to was not the past of the world he had existed in, but the past of another world.
"My role is now only one."
"Is it to help me use the Blood Essence Jade to kill that man?"
Wi Jaseong looked at Ma Seongun again with an ecstatic face.
"Yes. Through that, the world will regain its infinite possibilities."
"Your words are still full of things I can't understand. But it doesn't matter. If I can become stronger, I will do anything."
"I will help you. The Blood Demon Divine Cult will make you a true number one of all time, with no one to oppose you. Now, please close your eyes."
At Wi Jaseong's guidance, Ma Seongun closed his eyes.
The followers of the Blood Demon Divine Cult, who had been waiting, walked over and began to chant a spell.
With their spell as a start, the Blood Essence Jade began to emit light.
"It is the beginning of the gate-opening ceremony."
Ma Seongun's abdomen opened, and the Blood Essence Jade dug into it.
A pain as if his whole body had been thrown into boiling oil assailed him, but Ma Seongun gritted his teeth and endured it.
Soon, the Blood Essence Jade entered his body.
At the same time, the memories of dozens of people swirled in Ma Seongun's head.
‘This is!’
Those were the memories of the people Ma Seongun had killed with the Bloodstone Bright Sword.
Ma Seongun accepted their martial arts with his whole body through the memories.
And the internal energy of them that the Blood Essence Jade had held began to be absorbed into his dantian.
‘Kkeueueueuk!!’
He felt a pain as if his head would break, and it seemed as if dozens of thunder cannons were exploding in his dantian.
And yet, Ma Seongun endured and persevered.
After a time that felt like an eternity had passed.
Ma Seongun opened his closed eyes.
A red blood light was overflowing from his pupils.
"Congratulations on becoming a Blood Demon."
"Blood Demon..."
Ma Seongun, who had accepted the Blood Essence Jade through the gate-opening ceremony, felt strange.
As if.
"I feel like I've been born anew."
"You have been born anew. You have shed the lowly human body and have been reborn as a Blood Demon."
Ma Seongun recalled the martial arts of the various masters that were clearly engraved in his head.
Just by recalling them in his head, his hands and feet moved on their own.
"Amazing. It's as if I've become them."
"That is the true power of the Blood Essence Jade. The power to take their martial arts and strength through their blood. The power of the Blood Demon."
Ma Seongun clenched his fist.
He felt a powerful force in his grasp, as if he could blow away even Mount Tai with one handful.
Wi Jaseong, who was watching Ma Seongun getting drunk on the power of the Blood Demon, felt ecstatic this time too.
"Finally..."
It was the moment his long-cherished wish was fulfilled.
The infinite possibilities that had ended in one conclusion could now be freed.
Even if it was the ruin of the world.
***
The day at the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple always flowed similarly.
What had changed was the mindset of the officials who had returned after finishing their first real mission.
The officials, who had realized the ruthlessness of the world and their own weakness and had returned to the Daoist temple, were putting more effort into their training than usual.
Of course, only one person.
"Haaam—!"
Jin Sohyun was an exception.
Jin Sohyun, who had successfully completed his missions in Hebei and Gansu, was lazing around as always.
Although there were still many who looked at Jin Sohyun, who was being lazy as always, with displeasure, the attitude of some had changed considerably.
"Brother! Here's some water."
"Yes. Thank you."
Peng Ogyeong was following Jin Sohyun more than his own family member, Peng Xiaofeng.
"Heok! Heok! Like... like this?"
"Yes! The foundation of all martial arts is the lower body. You have to have a sturdy lower body that can support your body for your sword to have power."
"Yes!"
Un Bang was diligently taking care of Yu Oseon, who had been in the same group.
Although Yu Oseon was not a disciple of the same Kongtong Sect, he taught him as if he were his junior.
Sangsuk was also with him, and the three of them were hovering around Jin Sohyun as if nothing had happened.
"The transition from the third form to the fourth form is not smooth. I think there's a problem with your breathing."
"Is that so... thank you, Young Lady Cheon!"
"Please look at me this time!"
Moyong Susu was receiving teachings from Cheon Yerang, and Oh Seolhwa was also with her.
Hwang Seohyang and Ju Somi were also beside them, but they seemed awkward, as if they were not yet close enough to ask Cheon Yerang for a favor.
But they too were hovering around Jin Sohyun.
"Why are those people not leaving Jin's side?"
"Who knows..."
"Young Lady Cheon is also there."
"Ugh! Why is Young Lady Cheon with such a lazy bum?"
The officials, who did not know the situation, glared at Jin Sohyun with eyes mixed with envy and jealousy.
Jin Sohyun, the person in question, was very dissatisfied with this situation.
‘Why is everyone gathered around me?’
To rest comfortably, the surrounding environment was also important.
To close his eyes and get a proper good night's sleep, the surroundings had to be quiet and secluded.
But now, the female martial artists, consisting of Cheon Yerang, Moyong Susu, Oh Seolhwa, Hwang Seohyang, and Ju Somi, occupied his left side.
And the male group, including Peng Xiaofeng, Peng Ogyeong, Un Bang, Sangsuk, Yu Oseon, and Zhuge Ming, who had been chattering since a while ago.
The male group occupied Jin Sohyun's right side.
Jin Sohyun, who had become the center of a group in a daze, was just sighing with a dead face.
"Please... everyone, go away."
Of course, no one heard Jin Sohyun's empty cry.
(End of Chapter)