Chapter 124

I was only human, so I couldn’t help wavering when Lee Seowol presented me with three martial arts manuals two nights ago.

They were Supreme Peak martial arts, no less. Now that I had mastered the Jin Family’s Spear Technique and Jin Family’s Manoeuvre Technique, I had already been feeling the need to learn something new. Then someone dangled such a tempting offer right in front of me.

I can’t go on like this.

My fight with Pung Yang had been brutal. If not for the Unnamed Sword I’d obtained from Jopil, even two lives wouldn’t have been enough to survive.

It was time to learn more martial arts and reach a new realm.

Peak master.

The Blood Wolf Sword Technique, Blood Wolf Footwork, and Shura Annihilating Fist were all proven Peak martial arts—sturdy hammers capable of breaking through the supposedly insurmountable wall of the Peak realm. But…

If those are hammers, then this is an excavator.

I gazed proudly at the old book in my hand.

This single martial arts manual was why I could reject Lee Seowol’s proposal without much regret.

“Fl, fl, fl, fl…”

After buffering for quite some time, Jin Mukyung finally managed to spit out a single word.

“Flame Divine Palm!”

“Oh, you know it? Correct.”

Jin Mukyung even knew the ten greatest fist techniques in the world from two hundred years ago, so perhaps it was only natural that he knew about the Flame Divine Palm. This martial art was even more incredible than those.

Check item.

Ding.

System

Item Window

Flame Divine Palm

Type: Martial arts manual
Grade: Supreme Peak
Restriction: Owner of Scorching Yang Qi
Description: One of the Fire Gate Clan’s secret techniques. A martial art based on powerful fire qi.
Effect: Acquisition of Flame Divine Palm.

Jin Mukyung asked in disbelief.

“How did you get this…?”

“Some generous soul gave it to me before he left.”

“He gave it to you?”

“Yeah.”

He gave it to me and then flew away to heaven.

The Unnamed Sword, made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron capable of destroying even Body-Protecting Qi. The Blazing Flame Divine Pill, which could grant thirty years of Scorching Yang Qi.

And finally, the Flame Divine Palm, a Supreme Peak martial art.

Thinking of Jopil, who had given me so much before leaving this world, I gazed at the blue sky beyond the window.

Hope you’re doing well.

That was when Jin Mukyung abruptly cut in.

“Enough nonsense. Tell me the truth. How did a secret technique of the Fire Gate Clan end up in your hands?”

“I told you. Someone gave it to me before he left.”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something…”

Jin Mukyung continued with a serious expression.

“This isn’t a situation you can gloss over with a joke.”

“Why not?”

“Because you could be branded a thief who stole another sect’s martial art. If this goes badly, our family could face condemnation from the entire Murim.”

That was a problem I hadn’t considered.

A sect’s martial arts were its foundation and its history. The Flame Divine Palm was not only a Supreme Peak martial art but also a secret technique of the Fire Gate Clan. That went without saying.

“Ah, damn it.”

“I’ll ask you one more time. Where and how did you acquire the Flame Divine Palm manual?”

I let out a deep sigh before answering.

“From Jopil.”

“Jopil? The One Question, One Kill Jopil I know?”

“That’s right. I defeated him and took it as spoils.”

“Do you know how that bastard came to possess the Flame Divine Palm manual?”

“Not really…”

After thinking carefully, I remembered what Jopil had said at the time.

“He claimed he was the nineteenth-generation successor to the Flame Divine Palm.”

“How could someone like Jopil… Are you sure you didn’t mishear him?”

“No, I’m sure. He didn’t look like he was lying, either.”

At the time, Jopil had been drawing on his innate qi and was already dying fast. Most words spoken by someone on the brink of death were close to the truth.

Of course, I have to consider the possibility that Jopil was lying.

Jin Mukyung, who had been lost in thought, spoke with a look of bafflement.

“If he was the successor to the Flame Divine Palm, how did he lose to someone like you?”

“…”

Well, that pissed me off, but he had a point.

It was suspicious enough that Jopil had been living as a wandering martial artist despite having learned a Supreme Peak martial art.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t even use Sword Energy properly.

These days, every martial artist I met came with Sword Energy as standard and Body-Protecting Qi as an optional extra. One Question, One Kill Jopil had been among the weakest Peak masters I had fought so far.

“Is the Flame Divine Palm weaker than I thought?”

“What? The Flame Divine Palm is weak?”

Jin Mukyung looked at me as if I were the craziest person he had ever seen.

“You lunatic. You’re probably the only person under heaven who would call the Fire King’s signature martial art weak.”

“Who’s the Fire King?”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“Neither am I.”

“Stop it. It isn’t funny.”

“Okay. So who’s the Fire King?”

This silence lasted a little longer. Jin Mukyung opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish before letting out a deep sigh.

“Count your fingers and toes. How many are there altogether?”

“Twenty.”

“Right. Even if you turned the whole world upside down and shook it out, the Fire King would still rank among its twenty greatest masters.”

“…Whoa.”

“One God, Three Saints, Ten Kings. You’ve never heard of them? You seriously don’t know?”

He looked ready to twist my neck if I said I had never heard of any of them.

Faced with Jin Mukyung’s wide-eyed stare, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“I’ve heard of the Three Saints, at least…”

“That’s something.”

I meant Samsung,¹ not the Three Saints, but whatever.

That wasn’t important right now.

“Then if the Fire King finds out I have the Flame Divine Palm…”

“Something you’d rather not imagine will probably happen.”

Damn it. A Supreme Peak master ranked among the twenty greatest experts in the entire world. If the Fire King learned about this and came looking for me, the entire Jin Family of Taiyuan could attack him together and still lose.

After everything it took to get this martial art…

My gut twisted at the thought of handing it over without even learning it.

At that moment, Jin Mukyung, who had been gazing at the Flame Divine Palm manual just as regretfully as I was, added,

“If the Fire King is still alive, that is.”

“What?”

“The Fire King last appeared forty years ago.”

“Forty years ago?”

“He was already an old man when he first appeared in the Murim. If not for the Great Faction War, he might have spent his entire life as a secluded eccentric.”

Jin Mukyung continued.

“The Demonic Cult’s morale soared after it defeated the Nangong Family and occupied Anhui Province. Its members looted, murdered, and committed arson on a massive scale. Apparently, setting fire to Mount Jiuhua was what finally provoked the Fire King.”

“And then?”

“A thousand people died over four days and nights, and the old man who had been living in seclusion deep within Mount Jiuhua gained the name Fire King.”

“…A thousand people?”

“Yes. The Demonic Cult suffered such heavy losses at Mount Jiuhua that it could not hold out for long and had to withdraw from Anhui Province.”

A thousand people, huh…

After careful consideration, I spoke.

“Let’s give it back.”

I wanted to live a long life. I didn’t want an event involving some insane old man who had single-handedly killed a thousand people added to my life.

“We should leave right away. Anhui Province? Do people still say he lives there?”

“No one knows. Perhaps that still hadn’t been enough to quell the Fire King’s anger. He spent an entire year crushing every Demonic Cult member he could find before disappearing into seclusion again.”

“The Fire Gate Clan! We can find him if we go to the Fire Gate Clan.”

“The Fire Gate Clan has only one successor at a time. It’s similar to Great Hero Cheol’s situation.”

“…”

So even if I wanted to return it, there was no one to give it to.

Jopil had probably been the person closest to the Fire King, but he was already dead. I had no way to find the man.

The best-case scenario is that the Fire King is already dead…

He had already been an old man forty years ago, so it was entirely possible.

On the other hand, as a Supreme Peak master, he might have lived an extraordinarily long life.

“Hmm.”

Was this a priceless treasure or a useless burden? As I stared at the Flame Divine Palm with a conflicted expression, Jin Mukyung said,

“If the Fire King is dead… then you’re the master of the Fire Gate Clan now.”

Jin Mukyung recovered quickly. He had suffered considerable internal injuries from Pung Yang, so a full recovery would still take some time, but he had enough strength to return to the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

“We’re finally going home.”

Hyuk Mujin muttered with a deeply moved expression.

“They say leaving home means hardship. From now on, I will never, ever leave the family grounds again!”

“…Anyone listening would think you suffered the most, you punk.”

“What are you talking about? I have my own hardships, you know.”

“Try saying that to the person behind you.”

Jin Mukyung, who still hadn’t been able to remove his bandages, came flying over and smacked Hyuk Mujin on the back of the head.

Whack!

“Urk!”

“Enough nonsense. Drive the carriage.”

“There’s a coachman. Why do I have to…?”

Just as Hyuk Mujin said, we had a separate coachman—a member of the Lower District Sect whom Wolhwa had assigned to us.

Wolhwa had come out ahead of time to see us off.

“Goodbye. It’s a shame to part now that the time has come, isn’t it?”

“Then would you like to come with us now?”

I spoke jokingly to her as she winked at me. I was still wary of her, but after our journey together, we had become close enough to exchange jokes.

“Oh my, I’d love to, but… I’m planning to take this opportunity to tour all of northern Shanxi.”

Northern Shanxi, which the Mount Heng Sword Sect had kept under tight control until now, had become an open market. Naturally, Wolhwa—the Lower District Sect’s Chief Branch Leader for Shanxi Province—would be busy.

“Things must have gone well with the Mount Heng Sword Sect?”

“Secret. I may be the Chief Branch Leader, but I can’t go around telling outsiders our sect’s confidential information.”

Her words said one thing, but her bright, carefree smile was answer enough.

She was the sort of woman who could have nine tails and no one would find it strange, so she had probably obtained a more than satisfactory result.

“I suppose we’ll meet at the Jin Family of Taiyuan next time.”

“Oh, really?”

“We were allies once. Wouldn’t it be better for both of us if we continued to maintain a close relationship?”

Wolhwa smiled coyly and lifted the hem of her skirt slightly.

“Make sure you come see me again then. Well, I’ll be off.”

As soon as she climbed into the waiting carriage, the coachman cracked his whip. Two pairs of eyes gazed blankly after the carriage as it rapidly receded into the distance.

“Tsk. She could’ve stayed a little longer.”

“Hmm. Mmm…”

Hyuk Mujin was one thing, but what was Jin Mukyung’s deal?

As I watched the wistful look in his eyes, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Could that bastard possibly…?

Was he interested in Wolhwa?

Good heavens. I couldn’t believe it. The man who knew nothing but martial arts was showing an interest in a woman.

I couldn’t keep this earth-shattering news to myself. I moved close to Hyuk Mujin and whispered in a voice as small as an ant.

“Hey, Mujin.”

“Ah! You startled me. What is it?”

“Shh. Listen, but don’t be surprised. Don’t show even the slightest reaction. This is a secret we have to take to our graves.”

Hyuk Mujin answered in a stiff voice.

“Gasp. Yes. Go ahead.”

“I think that guy… is interested in Young Lady Wolhwa.”

“…”

“Don’t tell anyone. This is a secret only I know, and I’m telling you alone.”

Despite my serious whisper, Hyuk Mujin replied with a sour expression.

“Oh, yes. Thank you. I’m so grateful I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Why, this little shit…

I was wondering how to correct that rude tone when—

“Benefactor.”

I slowly turned around.

Lee Seowol stood there in a snow-white palace robe.