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chapter 23
Hyun Jin-myung narrowed his eyes.
It wasn’t just that a secret that shouldn’t be revealed might be discovered—he also disliked the Sword Spirit’s condescending tone.
“If only you had pretended not to know… if only you had told the others!”
Hyun Jin-myung intended to kill the Sword Spirit to silence him.
“So, Cheonmyeong Mountain Villa is a group of demons disguised as righteous sects?”
“No.”
Hyun Jin-myung strongly denied it.
“It has nothing to do with this manor.”
“Then? How did you learn demonic martial arts?”
“I got it from an old bookstore.”
Hearing that he had obtained it from a bookstore, the Sword Spirit narrowed his eyes. He didn’t seem to be lying.
“They say practicing demonic martial arts changes one’s character…”
Hyun Jin-myung answered truthfully to the Sword Spirit’s question. After all, he intended to let the person who would soon die by his hands understand everything.
“I suppose it’s time you die.”
As Hyun Jin-myung circulated his inner energy, a darker and more ominous aura gathered around him.
The Sword Spirit recalled what Jeok Hwamyung had told him about demonic martial arts earlier that day.
“In this state, I could last at least fifty seconds against Jeok Hwamyung.”
Although Jeok Hwamyung wasn’t one of the top hundred martial artists, he was a fairly renowned master. To be able to last fifty seconds against him meant Hyun Jin-myung had grown significantly strong through demonic martial arts.
In other words, among the late-stage fighters of Danggeum, there were few who could contend with Hyun Jin-myung’s mastery of demonic arts.
Hyun Jin-myung made a move toward the Sword Spirit.
The Sword Spirit dodged his strikes, observing his martial skills while simultaneously searching for his pressure points.
“So, demonic martial arts have consumed the martial skills,” he thought, examining Hyun Jin-myung’s condition.
Though he didn’t know Cheonmyeong Mountain Villa’s martial arts well, it seemed that Hyun Jin-myung had infused his learned skills with demonic energy.
“You dodge like a rat,” Hyun Jin-myung muttered. He had expected to easily handle the Sword Spirit, but as the fight dragged on longer than anticipated, he grew anxious.
If he had known it would take this long to subdue the Sword Spirit, he would have fought outside. The longer the fight went on in their current location, the more disadvantageous it became.
“You bastard!”
As he continued swinging at empty air, Hyun Jin-myung shouted in anger. Unlike the hurried Hyun Jin-myung, the Sword Spirit remained leisurely.
“Die!”
Though it was a dark night, one could clearly see Hyun Jin-myung’s hands turning red.
Whoooosh!
A gust of force emanated from Hyun Jin-myung’s hands, pushing the Sword Spirit away.
Fwoosh!
Hyun Jin-myung quickly closed the distance to attack again, but it was in vain.
By Hyun Jin-myung’s calculation, when the Sword Spirit lost his balance due to the gust, he would strike and end his life instantly—but the Sword Spirit was a far stronger master than he anticipated.
Frustrated, Hyun Jin-myung flailed both hands wildly. Though it seemed random, the movements were imbued with the might of Surapok Cheongong, and even a brush from it could kill an ordinary person.
“I see.”
At the Sword Spirit’s remark, Hyun Jin-myung paused mid-attack.
“What do you mean?”
“I think I understand the demonic martial arts you’ve learned… and the pressure points too! What your ancestors said was right.”
Hyun Jin-myung narrowed his eyes.
“So, it’s an incomplete martial art after all.”
“Pressure points in Surapok Cheongong?”
Hyun Jin-myung looked shocked when the Sword Spirit mentioned pressure points he himself did not know.
“You didn’t know?”
Hyun Jin-myung remained silent.
“It’ll be easier to deal with those who’ve learned demonic martial arts.”
As soon as the Sword Spirit finished speaking, he moved.
He moved so fast that when Hyun Jin-myung thought he had reacted, the Sword Spirit had already brushed past him.
Screeech!
“How…?”
Hyun Jin-myung could not believe it. He felt the energy he had gathered in his dantian shatter.
The broken energy went berserk inside his body.
“Arrrgh!”
The pain was indescribable.
His eyes rolled back; the black pupils disappeared, leaving only the whites. He collapsed to the floor, trembling as if having a seizure, then went completely limp.
The Sword Spirit had located Hyun Jin-myung’s pressure points. Once they were attacked, the demonic energy within shattered, consuming his body from within.
“An incomplete martial art, indeed.”
The Sword Spirit looked down at the limp Hyun Jin-myung and carried him.
“Where was this guy resting?”
Thinking there was no need to cause a commotion, the Sword Spirit went to Hyun Jin-myung’s room.
Whirrr!
The wind swept across the place where they had fought.
In his hands was a martial arts book he had retrieved from Hyun Jin-myung: Surapok Cheongong.
The Sword Spirit glanced through the book and smiled faintly.
“What’s the point of becoming stronger by shortening your lifespan? People are foolish. Like Ghost Grandmaster said, humans should live thin and long.”
Ghost Majestic Koo Young-cheol had always said:
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“People should live thin and long, not short and intense.”
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“Why?”
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“Because the future is uncertain. It could be a better world than now.”
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“True, but it could also be a worse world?”
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“That’s true, but the future always progresses toward a better world. So, Sword Spirit, when you go out into the martial world, don’t seek a short and intense life—live thin and long. Understand?”
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“Yes! I’ll live thin and long out there.”
Thinking of the brief conversation with the Ghost Majestic, the Sword Spirit smiled and looked at the Surapok Cheongong book in his hands again.
By mastering it, one could become strong, but it had limits.
“Still… interesting.”
Having already surpassed human limits, the Sword Spirit was unaffected by demonic martial arts. He had no desire to learn them either. Even if other demonic arts appeared, he was confident he could defeat anyone.
“Even if mastered, the pressure points don’t disappear. That’s the biggest flaw of demonic martial arts.”
No matter the training, the pressure points remained untouched.
Flare!
Surapok Cheongong turned to ashes in the Sword Spirit’s hands.
People in the Sinchang household were bustling from early morning.
“Waaah!”
The eastern annex of the Sinchang household was filled with sorrowful cries. The reason: Hyun Jin-myung had been found dead.
His younger sister, Hyun Sumi, who had come to the Sinchang household to play, was weeping uncontrollably at her brother’s sudden death.
He had been perfectly fine the previous evening, and now lay dead on his bed without any external injuries.
“Brother…”
Hyun Jin-myung’s friend, Uido, the third child of the Sinchang family, comforted Sumi, but his words only made her cry harder.
The elders and those who effectively ran the Sinchang household gathered in the main hall.
“Exactly… what happened?”
Uije-min, the head of the Sinchang family, and his family members looked bewildered upon hearing the cause of death.
At the end of the hall stood a man in charge of medicine for the household: Go Chang. He had checked Hyun Jin-myung’s condition and was reporting to Uije-min.
“Is it true?”
“Yes, Master! His dantian is shattered, and all his internal organs have completely melted.”
Shattered dantian, melted organs!
“Did he fall into fire-harming madness while practicing martial arts?”
Falling into fire-harming madness often results in this. But the problem was Hyun Jin-myung’s state. Normally, blood would flow from the five poles as energy reversed and expelled outward—but Hyun Jin-myung’s body was unnaturally clean.
“What do you think?”
Uije-min asked Uije-ung, an elder and his younger brother.
“Falling into fire-harming madness implies some form of enlightenment, doesn’t it?”
It doesn’t occur without a cause. Whether correct or misguided, some trigger is necessary.
“That’s true.”
“But seeing Hyun Jin-myung dead, it’s too peaceful. As if he was attacked in his sleep rather than enlightened.”
Indeed, no one had yet heard of martial arts learned purely in dreams.
“So, are you suggesting someone killed him?”
“I’d hate to think so, but given the circumstances, anyone would suspect it, brother.”
Others nodded.
“Hmm…”
Uije-min thought the same but did not want to believe it. If a fiend had crossed his walls and brutally killed Hyun Jin-myung while he slept in the annex, it would be a laughingstock.
“We will discuss this issue at Cheonmyeong Mountain Villa.”
It was a truly troublesome matter.
“Clearly, someone is trying to drive a wedge between Sinchang and Cheonmyeong Mountain Villa.”
Uije-seong, the youngest of Uije-min’s brothers, said.
“Perhaps the Myeongsa faction or a hidden mastermind orchestrated this. They’ve always coveted Gwangju, and often opposed us in Guangdong—they likely carried out this scheme.”
It wasn’t entirely baseless, but they couldn’t blindly accuse anyone.
At that moment, a voice called from outside.
“Master! Yu Dong of Gaebang’s Chwigeom has arrived.”
Uije-min narrowed his eyes at the word Gaebang.
“Chwigeom Yu Dong?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring him in.”
Soon, a man entered: Yu Dong, head of Gaebang’s Guangdong branch. He bowed first and then faced Uije-min.
“I’ve heard bad news.”
“It’s sudden, so we are a bit unsettled ourselves.”
Since Gaebang already knew, there was no reason to hide it.
“May I examine Hyun Jin-myung’s body?”
“There’s no harm. We’ve preserved it until Cheonmyeong Villa people arrive. You may check it.”
“Thank you.”
Gaebang handled vast amounts of information, so Yu Dong wished to ascertain the cause of death.
Hyun Jin-myung’s body was preserved in the annex.
Yu Dong carefully examined it, checking eyes, mouth, and even clothes for signs of injury.
“Hmm…”
He then took something from his pouch and applied it evenly to Hyun Jin-myung’s chest.
“What is that?”
Uije-min asked.
“It’s medicinal oil.”
Yu Dong applied it, observing the effects.
“Ah!”
A change occurred in Hyun Jin-myung’s chest.
“What is happening?”
The changes spread from his chest to his dantian, forming red lines across his body.
There was only one explanation.
“I’ve determined the cause of death.”
“You determined the cause? What was it?”
Everyone present watched Yu Dong with curious expressions.
“Demonic martial arts.”
