Chapter 489

Secret martial arts.

The moment I heard those words, the four syllables fucking blockhead vanished cleanly from my mind.

I blinked for a moment, then stammered,

“Secret… martial arts? You’re saying you’ll teach me your secret martial arts?”

To a martial artist, secret martial arts were as important as life itself—no, more important than life.

Even in martial arts novels, people willing to throw themselves into danger like moths to a flame just to obtain a single martial arts manual were everywhere.

And after experiencing the Murim firsthand, I’d learned that reality was no different. If anything, it was worse.

But he’s offering to teach me his secret martial arts? An incredible master like the Slaughter Saint?

Even though I’d heard it straight from him, I couldn’t believe it. More importantly, there was one enormous question hanging over the whole thing.

“Why?”

A deep furrow formed between Mungyeong’s smooth brows at my doubtful question.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why are you suddenly doing this for me?”

“I suspected as much, but it seems the Fire King, that old man, truly didn’t give you any warning.”

“Then could it be…”

“That’s right. Your guess is correct. The Fire King…”

“Am I being transferred? Have I gone from the Fire Gate Clan to the Slaughter Saint Clan or something?”

“…”

Mungyeong stared at me as though he badly wanted to kill someone, then continued with a sigh.

“The Fire King came to me personally and asked me to teach you martial arts.”

“What?”

It was a relief that this wasn’t some sect-to-sect trade, but this was just as hard to believe.

I eyed Mungyeong suspiciously.

“What is that look?”

“No matter how I think about it, this sounds like a lie.”

“A lie?”

“First, our Old Master has a foul temper and far too much pride to ask anyone for anything.”

A warm glow passed over Mungyeong’s face, which had previously been surrounded by a chilly aura.

“Hm. You’ve assessed him rather accurately. Continue.”

“Second, the person he asked is just as foul-tempered and prideful as our Old Master, so he would never willingly teach anyone his secret martial arts.”

“…”

“So, for those two reasons, I wouldn’t believe this even with a knife to my throat.”

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

Mungyeong murmured softly and fixed me with an icy stare.

“If a knife were at your throat, you would believe me. I heard you clearly.”

At that moment, something glinted at the edge of Mungyeong’s sleeve. The instant I saw the short sword slowly emerging, I quietly changed my tune.

“I completely believe you now.”

“Suddenly?”

“Actually, I’ve firmly believed you from the very beginning.”

“You fucking lunatic. Is there something wrong with your personality?”

“Gah!”

“You truly are insane beyond all reason.”

Ah, he just wants to kill me.

It was written all over his face.

Mungyeong toyed with the short sword for a moment, conflict in his eyes, then abruptly spoke.

“Come to think of it, you weren’t entirely wrong.”

“What?”

“First, as you said, the Fire King does have a foul temper and excessive pride. But matters concerning his Disciple seem to be the one exception.”

“…!”

“Of course, even after hearing that, he would stubbornly insist that you aren’t his formal Disciple. Regardless, the Fire King cares about you. Very much.”

Hmm.

I didn’t know what to say. Something tickled deep in my chest, and my throat felt tight.

It just… did.

As I kept my lips firmly sealed, Mungyeong continued in a dry voice.

“Second, I’m hardly a man of gentle temperament myself. But given sufficient reason, I would be willing to teach my secret martial arts even to a lunatic like you.”

“Even though I’m a lunatic?”

“Because that lunatic will become a major obstacle to Dark Heaven’s actions from this point forward.”

His quiet voice drifted through the night air. Mungyeong gazed at the gently flowing waters of Dongting Lake as he continued.

“I have lived as a martial artist for more than half my life. No, as an assassin. It was not a life I chose, but one imposed on me from the beginning. That is why the path I walked was a bloody road strewn with blood and corpses.”

The Slaughter Saint. A sobriquet proclaiming him the greatest assassin in history was not something he had earned overnight. He had killed, killed, and killed again until he finally reached a position that everyone had no choice but to acknowledge and fear.

But everyone had their circumstances.

And there were far more secrets in this world than I knew. Mungyeong must have lived a life steeped in them.

With emotions I couldn’t decipher mingling in his eyes, Mungyeong stared into the darkness and continued quietly.

“If passing on my martial arts to you can be of even the slightest help in the great war already at our doorstep, then it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. That is all.”

He spoke as though it were nothing, but it couldn’t have been an easy decision.

Receiving what belonged to someone else was easy. Giving away what was yours was hard.

If everyone who had fought in the Great Faction War had thought and acted as Mungyeong did now, half the martial artists in the world would have learned the martial arts of the Nine Sects and One Gang¹ by now.

Seeing him in that light made Mungyeong seem like a different person.

“Is that… what they call serving a greater cause?”

“A greater cause?”

“You made this decision for other people. Sacrificing yourself for others—isn’t that what serving a greater cause means?”

Mungyeong shook his head.

“A greater cause is not something a man like me can speak of. An assassin who once killed others to survive, talking of a greater cause? The very thought makes me cringe.”

“The Old Master once told me that the Slaughter Saint only kills people who deserve it. He said you were a fairly decent assassin.”

“To make a single sword, you must hammer it hundreds of times and put it through the tempering process. I was no different. Before I became the Slaughter Saint, there was a time when I was called the Killing Ghost. That is why I cannot discuss a great cause.”

“In that case…”

I looked Mungyeong straight in the eye.

“What about the greater cause you serve as the Divine Physician, rather than the Slaughter Saint?”

“…!”

His slender body suddenly went rigid.

The waters of Dongting Lake remained utterly still, but ripples stirred in Mungyeong’s eyes.

A moment later, his low, somber voice broke the brief silence.

“The Divine Physician… I never liked that sobriquet.”

“Why not?”

“Being called the Divine Physician does not erase my past. I know that if the truth came to light, those people would curse and fear me.”

“But you saved them. More people than anyone could count. They won’t forget what you did for them.”

A long time passed without an answer.

Mungyeong remained lost in thought, silently watching the water. Then he suddenly whipped his head around to face me.

“Gasp! You scared me. What’s wrong?”

“I was considering what to do with you for daring to speak so presumptuously to me.”

“…Wouldn’t most people call that comforting someone?”

“Comforting me? You?”

His icy gaze was refreshing enough to cool my internal organs.

Yeah, fuck. Blazing Flame Divine Dragon or whatever—to the Slaughter Saint, I’m still just some nobody.

Rather than talk back and get hit by the backlash, changing the subject was probably the secret to a long life.

“Wow, the moon is bright tonight.”

Mungyeong’s eyebrow twitched as I immediately pretended nothing had happened.

“I don’t know how the conversation wandered this far. Refrain from such pointless words and actions in the future.”

“The breeze is nice and cool, too.”

“Want me to cool off everything above your shoulders too?”

“…I’ll take what you just said to heart.”

Shhk.

The half-drawn short sword slid back into his sleeve.

As though nothing had happened, Mungyeong returned to his usual dry, rigid expression.

“So I’ll ask you. What do you intend to do?”

“About what?”

“I can’t tell whether you’re stupid or hard of hearing. I’m talking about learning martial arts from me.”

“…I’m not stupid. I just didn’t expect you to give me a choice.”

“Why would I force someone who doesn’t wish to learn to stay and teach him?”

He had a point, but hearing such a perfectly normal statement from such an abnormal person felt incredibly strange.

Of course, I didn’t say that aloud.

If I did, Mungyeong would personally drag my soul out of my body.

“So? What is your answer?”

At Mungyeong’s urging, I scratched the back of my head.

The Slaughter Saint’s secret martial arts…

Of course I wanted to learn them.

Everyone had martial arts that suited them, and an ill-suited martial art could do more harm than good. But these were the secret martial arts of the Slaughter Saint, a Supreme Peak master counted among the greatest in the world.

If I could understand even half—no, even a quarter—of the insights contained in his martial arts and make them my own, my realm might advance another step.

There was only one thing bothering me.

“It seems the Fire King is weighing on your mind.”

“…Have you learned mind-reading or something?”

“What need is there for mind-reading? Every thought in your head shows plainly on your face.”

Mungyeong looked at me as though I were hopeless and continued.

“A proper martial artist must know how to conceal his thoughts. The Fire King is unbelievable. To think he failed to teach you even something so basic.”

“Take that back.”

At my frown, Mungyeong’s gaze grew heavy.

“Was I wrong?”

“Yes. Even if your mouth is crooked, you should still speak straight.”

“You dare…”

“He didn’t fail to teach me. He couldn’t. The Old Master is even worse at hiding his expressions than I am, so how could he teach me something he doesn’t know?”

“…You exceed even my wildest expectations.”

Mungyeong sighed and shook his head.

“In any case, don’t concern yourself too much with the Fire King. He personally asked this of me, and I have no intention whatsoever of entering into a Master-Disciple relationship with someone like you.”

“Ah. Right.”

Come on. Even so, someone like you?

It stung a little, but Mungyeong’s firm declaration still put me much more at ease.

Then why do I feel like I’m betraying the Old Master?

Jeok Cheongang himself had asked Mungyeong to do this, and considering the brutal battles ahead, the training would only help me.

There was nothing wrong with it when I considered the circumstances, so why did it still leave such a bad taste in my mouth?

Thinking of Jeok Cheongang, who had disappeared without a word, I smacked my lips and finally nodded.

“All right.”

“Think carefully before you answer. Starting is your choice. Stopping will not be.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“From that point on, you will move solely according to my judgment. But if you complete this training, you will emerge a different martial artist than you were before.”

What was this?

I’d expected something along those lines, considering who I would be learning from, but a chill still crept down my spine.

I swallowed dryly. Then, alongside Mungyeong’s rigid voice, a familiar chime rang in my ears.

“You may have reached a considerable realm as a martial artist, but being a martial artist and being a martial artist of the Murim are not the same. You’re still only half-formed. I will make you a true Murim martial artist.”

Ding.

System

• Sudden Quest, Fake Murim Martial Artist, has been generated!

Will you accept Fake Murim Martial Artist?

Agh / N

“…”

Why was there an Agh instead of a Y among the choices?

I stared incredulously at the Quest window, then muttered before I could stop myself.

“Agh?”

Ding.

System

• Quest accepted. Agh!

“…Ah.”

This was driving me crazy.