Chapter 21 - Peak Master (4)

Cut!

Fight!

Squeezing out every bit of my willpower, I lunged at the cultivator's leg with my sword.

The cultivator, who had been relaxed until now, contorted his face in shock as my Sword Gang penetrated his defensive spells.

Then.

Shukwak! Crack! Crack!

The Sword Gang, created by draining all my internal energy, extinguished like a candle in the wind.

My energy was insufficient. Despite pouring decades worth of internal energy into it, lacking enlightenment, I couldn't maintain the Sword Gang for more than a second.

My sword barely nicked the cultivator's leg, cutting through his clothes and inflicting a minor wound past his protective spell.

Uguguguk...

As the Sword Gang extinguished, my sword could no longer penetrate his defensive spell.

Simultaneously, the backlash of using all my internal energy hit me, causing blood to spill from my mouth, draining my strength, and leaving me collapsed on the spot.

"Cough! Cough!"

Splurt!

Blood would vomit each time I cough.

It felt like my insides were being churned.

"You, you filthy mortal...!"

Enraged by my attack, the cultivator scattered talismans that transformed into red glowing daggers, stabbing my arms and legs.

"Ugh...argh!"

I endured the pain, trying to grasp my sword, but the cultivator stomped on my hand.

"You filthy, mortal scum!"

Thump! Thump! Thump!

He stomped on my hand mercilessly as if his anger would not subsite, spreading a more powerful defensive barrier around us.

"How dare you, how dare you attempt to cut me! You, of all people! I am a noble descendant of the cultivator clan, not someone lowly mortals like you can touch! How dare you, how dare you!!"

After crushing my hand for a while, he reached into his pouch and scattered another handful of talismans.

"I planned to toy with you before killing the Makli Clan's branch family but I've changed my mind. I'll tear all of you mortals to shreds like insects!"

Flames engulfed the talismans, transforming them into fireballs, and started shooting towards the guards.

"Watch carefully, insect. I shall specifically let you see all your comrades torn to death before I chew you up. You insects, no matter how much you struggle, are meaningless before cultivators!"

"Cough, cough..."

More blood gushed out of me.

My internal organs were shaken from expending all my internal energy at once, blurring my vision.

But my hearing was still clear enough to catch a few words.

Insect.

Meaningless.

'Yes, I am nothing but an insect.'

Compared to those truly talented, to the cultivators.

"I....am..."

I struggled.

"Hmm? What? You want me to save you?

But.

With my crushed hand, I grabbed the cultivator's ankle.

Perhaps sensing that I was trying to muster strength, the cultivator stomped even harder on my hand. Though my hand was already half-crushed under his merciless weight, I clenched it with even more force.

"...am."

"What are you trying to say? Just say it more clearly!"

"...am a bug!"

I gather all my strength.

There was not even a handful of energy left, a dagger was lodged in the arm, and the hands were crushed under the foot of that cultivator bastard.

But even so.

The years I had tempered myself.

That time of hardship.

It did not disappear!

Clack, clack, clack!

Strength gathered in the arm, and the cultivator's foot gradually began to rise.

'I knew it from the moment he sloppily used concealment.'

This bastard, he never tempered his body.

He never fought, measuring distance with a sword in heated exchanges.

He was simply born with exceptional talent, and by sheer luck, he learned cultivation methods.

I can lose to such a person.

I can fall to such a person.

However.

The years I lived through.

Everything we worked for—to say it was nothing but a futile struggle.

To say that no matter how hard we try, we would never reach it.

To trample our hardship…

"I may be a bug."

Crack!

'I can't accept it!'

I grab his legged with crushed hands.

"I may be an insect, but even an insect's struggle is not meaningless!!!"

"You filthy thing, let go of me!"

Fire erupted in the cultivator's hand again.

It would have incinerated me instantly, but...

'It's time.'

Hwarururu…

Psssst.

The fireball extinguished as time passed.

"…What? Why isn't it…"

Blood flowed from the cultivator's eyes, nose, and mouth.

'The poison works!'

Using Sword Gang to temporarily break through his defensive spell was, in truth, secondary.

The real thing was the deadly poison I applied to the sword.

I smirked at the bewildered cultivator, grabbed his ankle tighter, and pulled hard.

He collapsed.

"Ah, antidote..."

He reached for his pouch.

Thud!

I knocked the pouch away.

"Gurgle..."

Blood foam rose from his mouth as he tried to bring his hands together to cast some kind of spell.

'You think I'll just let you do that?'

Come taste how that insect you looked down on taste.

I squeezed out the last of my strength and climbed on top of his body.

Then, I shove my crushed hand into the mouth of the bastard trying to chant a spell.

"Kh, kuhak! Guhhk!"

The bastard can't chant a spell.

At the same time, I pressed down on the hands trying to form a seal with the weight of my body.

"Go on, try... using your spell...!"

The cultivator, unable to form a seal or recite an incantation, writhed, trying to shake me off.

However, even if all my internal energy is depleted, the body I've tempered for years did not allow his resistance.

Perhaps sensing the danger to his life, the cultivator started trying to bite down on the hand I shoved into his mouth.

When he bit down hard with desperate will, a sharp pain flared up.

But I grinned at him as I looked into his eyes.

"I already made up my mind to lose this hand. Keep going."

"Ku, kuuugh...!"

For a while, the cultivator bled from his five orifices.

And then, struggling like that, he died.

The cultivator's corpse did not look much different from the corpses of mortals he had treated like insects and killed so easily all his life.

In death, all are equal.

Pasut...

His defensive spell collapses.

The barrier the cultivator cast collapsed, and the leader and the guards who had been watching us from outside the defensive spell quickly came to me.

That is the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my room. The leader was beside me, smoking a pipe.

"Ah, you're awake."

"…Yes. But is it okay to smoke tobacco next to a patient?"

"What are you talking about? Tobacco is a healthy herb."

'What the hell is he saying."

I thought, then remembered this was a medieval-like era.

"Anyway, how's the situation with that cultivator?"

"You killed him yourself, Deputy-leader Seo Eun-hyun. He's dead. I've reported to His Majesty that you bravely sacrificed yourself to kill the cultivator, so don't worry."

"I've completed my mission today as well."

I nodded, checking my body's condition. My right hand was still numb, and there was some damage to my vital energy channels, but it was stable. The wounds from the cultivator's daggers had all healed.

"The Emperor ordered the Imperial physician to treat you. Be thankful for His Majesty's grace."

"The Imperial physician healed me cleanly. I wish I could learn his medical skills."

I admired the physician's skill and circulated my internal energy.

Lying in bed, my body felt a bit refreshed.

"About your right hand…"

The leader looked at my hand and hesitated.

Then after a while, he continued.

"It might still be usable, but not like before, is what the physician said. It's not fully healed, so don't strain it."

After all, it was the hand that the cultivator had crushed and chewed.

"It doesn't matter. To be honest, I had already braced myself for it when it was stepped on. Just being able to use it is a blessing."

"…Good. You're positive, which is great. Also, His Majesty was impressed by your bravery and decided to award you. Since a Shadow Guard can't be officially rewarded, he asked me to pass this on. I hereby present you with an award on behalf of the Emperor."

When I heard those words, I rose from my sickbed and knelt before him.

"His Majesty decrees: 'Deputy-leader Seo Eun-hyun, for bravely protecting the sacred throne, a reward shall be granted as a reminder to never forget that heavy responsibility.

I bestow upon him the Void Building Pill. crafted from the same materials of a pill the legendary cultivators take. Seo Eun-hyun, accept it with utmost gratitude."

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor, long live, long live!"

Soon after, I received a small silk case from the Captain.

Inside the silk box was a small pill with a reddish hue.

"It's said to be made from the same ingredients as the pills eaten by Qi Refining Cultivators during their transition to Qi Building, just without the 'essence'. I don't understand it all, but…"

I realized what the pill was.

'Leftovers from a pill.'

Having worked at a medical center, I'd made a few elixirs myself. Typically, after alchemists finished making an elixir, they would gather the leftover residue with no remaining medicinal effect and press it into what was called a leftover pill.

Usually, it was sold as a hangover remedy or to pseudo- strongmen—those were the leftover pills.

'And the fancy way to refer to those leftover pills is to say they're made by removing the 'essence' from the original elixir. Seems he doesn't know it's just alchemist slang…'

Even if it was once an elixir that cultivators consumed, what effect could a leftover pill with all its medicinal power drained possibly have?

"It's said to extend life by about ten years when taken by mortals."

"T-Ten years?"

I was astonished.

Just leftovers could extend one's lifespan by ten years?

The shine of the pill somehow looked different now.

'That's incredible…'

I accepted the silk case and tucked it into my robes.

From the envious gleam in the leader's eyes, it seemed he coveted the pill.

But no matter how desirable the elixir, one could not do anything about a gift bestowed by the Emperor.

"I'll take it once my meridians stabilize a bit more."

Of course, I didn't plan to take it when my meridians were stable, I was going to wait until I was nearing the end of my lifespan.

That way, I could be sure the effect would be fully realized.

'There's no problem in saving it for later anyway.'

"Good. Always grateful for His Majesty's grace."

With those parting words, the leader left my room.

'The benefits of the Imperial family sure are good.'

Ten years.

A full ten years!

I had gained ten more years in my life.

I praised my decision to enter the royal service, then collapsed back onto the bed and closed my eyes.

Thinking that maybe this life would turn out just fine.

I had gained ten more years in my life.

I praised my decision to enter the imperial service, then collapsed back onto the bed and closed my eyes.

With a strange feeling in my chest—that maybe, this life would turn out just fine.

'…Damn it.'

Ten days and nights passed.

It was when my body had fully recovered, and I picked up a sword again for training.

It hurt.

The sensation in the hand gripping the sword was no longer as sharp as before, and every time I gripped it tightly, pain surged endlessly through my hand.

'Damn it, at this rate, it'll severely affect my swordsmanship…'

I gritted my teeth and swung the sword, performing the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

From the first to the twenty-fourth form, I executed the sword techniques.

Clang!

Unable to endure the pain in my hand, I dropped the sword.

'Damn it, it hurts!'

It was excruciating.

'Can I not hold a sword anymore?'

I stared at the sword that dropped in front of me.

I am a swordsman.

And that swordsman cannot hold a sword due to pain.

That means…

'Is this the end of my martial path?'

Of course, I could still fight in the future.

My vision as a peak master remained intact, my formidable internal power remained, and I had also trained stealth techniques to a high level, so I could still serve in the Shadow Guard.

But—

'I can no longer..learn the sword in this life?'

I could no longer grasp a sword.

This was the end as a swordsman.

"…No."

I reached out my hand toward the fallen sword.

"Not that."

As I gripped the sword's hilt, the excruciating pain in my hand surged once again.

It hurts.

It hurts so much.

But…

'A life without holding a sword would hurt even more.'

I will continue to train with the sword.

Because the sword is the very foundation of my martial path.

And I must, without fail—

'Advance to the next realm!'

I ignored my screaming hand and once again performed the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

From the first to the twenty-fourth form.

This time, I did not drop the sword.

"…Even when I maintained sword energy daily to become a peak master. Even when I constantly trained my ability to process information. Even when I finally entered the peak realm and became accustomed to the world of peak masters."

Pain had always been with me.

It was a life already steeped in pain.

So what if a bit more pain was added to it?

I…

"I will not give up!"

I will advance in realm no matter what!

Three months after I dealt with the cultivator.

I received word from Kim Young-hoon.

According to him, he had visited the place where the cultivator clan resided based on the information I gave him, challenged them in a martial duel, and asked questions.

But it turned out that the cultivator clan I pointed out were too low in skill and rank, and thus knew nothing about the disappearances among the lower-class citizens.

—So now, I plan to use the information I gained from the cultivators I defeated to find where higher-ranked cultivator clans live and challenge those of a higher realm. I'll contact you again later.

After burning the letter Kim Young-hoon had sent in the brazier, I thought about the realm he had reached.

'In this life, how far will Kim Young-hoon be able to rise?'

In my past lives, he managed to sever the hands of a Core Formation cultivator, and just in the life before this, he had succeeded in blasting off the arm of a Core Formation cultivator.

'In this life, could he go a bit further? Just a little higher?'

Just where do the limits of his martial talent lie?

Pondering that, I began writing a letter to Kim Young-hoon, copying down the information I had on the locations of other cultivators.

Ten years later.

Thirty years since my return.

The pain in my hand had become familiar.

My skills as a swordsman ripened into completion, and my stealth techniques had gradually taken root in my body.

And most importantly…

'I've nearly uncovered the secret that the cultivators are hiding.'

I thought as I read over the information Kim Young-hoon had sent.

'Most of the cultivator clans hide their residences and dwellings within powerful formations imbued with divine abilities. Cultivators with weak divine powers live in the mortal world by building estates, but the direct descendants and talented members of proper cultivator clans live safely within the formations of their clans.'

All the cultivators I had discovered until now were merely low-level cultivators at the first or second star of the Qi Refining stage.

'But even in the territory of cultivator clans, it's not only the cultivators who live there.'

Mortals also lived within those cultivator territories.

They were needed to attend to the cultivators or to handle miscellaneous labor.

And according to the latest information Kim Young-hoon had sent, the ones who had been sending peak masters to the Imperial family all this time were one of the cultivator clans, and they had been gathering talented mortals within their territory and cultivating them into peak masters.

'So that's why, through all these lifetimes, I'd never heard of such peak masters. All of them were martial artists raised inside cultivator clan territories.'

At last, I could make sense of what had been incomprehensible until now.

'Then, the deleted records of the missing lower-class citizens, there's a high chance they were taken into cultivator clan territories. And with a high probability…they were either trained as assassins or to live serving cultivators.'

As I came to understand the full picture of the incident, I burned the letter Kim Young-hoon had sent.

'And judging by the fact that a cultivator was sent as an assassin, it's likely that the assassinations targeting the Emperor were the result of internal strife between the cultivator clans.'

At this point, it would be better to focus on my martial arts and Kim Young-hoon's movements, rather than continue dwelling on the mysteries of cultivator clans.

Just as I thought that.

Tak!

"…!"

Someone entered through the window of my room.

"What the— Huh? Kim Hyung?"

The late-night visitor was none other than Kim Young-hoon.

"Just now, I finished reading and burning the letter you sent me last time. Thanks to learning about the cultivator clan territories…"

"Mm, that letter was from last month. I guess it arrived late because transportation in this world is slow. In any case, I found something noteworthy this past month and came to see you."

"What do you mean?"

Could it be something important enough to warrant sneaking into the palace?

Just as I wondered,

Clack.

He closed the window, then drew his blade and slashed several times into the air.

Shuk, shuk!

It looked as if he were slicing through some invisible 'something.'

"There were some suspicious-looking spells, so I cut them off for the moment. Anyway, to get to the point, there are two cultivators clans in Yanguo."

"Yes, I saw that in the letter you sent. One is the current ryal family, the Makli Clan. And the other is…"

"The former Imperial family of this nation, the Jin Clan."

Kim Young-hoon continued his explanation.

"The Makli Clan and the Jin Clan have been waging a hidden struggle for centuries in the shadows, trying to take the rule of this country. And about a century ago, the Makli Clan officially seized control of the nation by ousting the Jin Clan, who had ruled Yanguo for a long time.

After taking over Yanguo, the Makli Clan significantly weakened the power of the Jin Clan. And as of late, the Jin Clan has been taking in mortals and raising them into peak masters, aiming to assassinate the emperor."

"Yes, I understand up to that point from the letter you sent."

"Right. What's important comes next. What do you think is the reason that allowed the Jin Clan to raise mortals into peak masters? How could they mass-produce peak masters like that?"

"Hmm...maybe they trained them by pushing their bodies to the limit in a way that depleted their vitality?"

All the assassins I had seen so far looked fine on the surface, but when I examined their bodies after killing them, I always found they had burned through vast amounts of innate true energy.

In short, the cultivators clan that was sending assassins was using a forbidden method that forcibly activated innate true energy, shortening their lifespan while forcibly blooming their talents as assassins to the peak.

"Yes, that's part of it. However, the Jin Clan infused the bodies of those assassins with the vengeful spirits of their families, drawing out all of their vitality and willpower to forcibly awaken their talents to the peak."

"Their family's vengeful spirits? Are you saying they killed the assassins' families and then infused those spirits into their bodies?"

I frowned.

But Kim Young-hoon shook his head.

"No, that's not it. The Jin Clan didn't kill the assassins' families. The ones who killed them…were the current Imperial family. The cultivator clan behind the throne—the Makli Clan."

"... What?"

He continued his explanation.

"For the past 20 to 30 years, the Makli Clan has been capturing orphans, beggars, and the poor. In some cases, they were brought to cultivator territories for forced labor. But more than ninety percent of them were used for something else."

"Something...else?"

Kim Young-hoon's expression darkened.

After hesitating for a moment, he bit his lip and spoke.

"Pills."

A terrible fury filled his eyes.

"The Makli Clan has been gathering the true blood and innate true energy of mortals to create a forbidden elixir that extends the lifespans of cultivators! And to procure the ingredients for that elixir, they have been capturing members of the lower class—people whose disappearance wouldn't raise suspicion or disrupt society—and grinding them into pills!"

"...!"

I froze on the spot in shock.

"W-What…?"

Making pills from the blood and life force of mortals?

"That's...that's cannibalism, isn't it?"

"That's right. They are eating people!"

I let out a hollow, absurd laugh.

Considering the medieval level of this civilization, there were sometimes eccentric sects or cults who made and ate raw salted human flesh.

Of course, such monstrous individuals were quickly hunted down, and regardless of whether they belonged to orthodox or unorthodox sects, they were treated as beasts.

But what about cultivators?

'Aren't they the ones who claim to ascend to the heavens and grasp the Dao?'

They weren't heretical cults, and yet these cultivators were doing such repulsive things?

I couldn't suppress the sudden wave of nausea and rushed to the chamber pot in the room, vomiting violently.

"While I was digging into the Makli Clan, cultivators from the Jin Clan approached me. They said they'd give me an opportunity, and asked if I'd join them in taking down the Makli Clan."

He spoke through clenched teeth.

"I agreed to their offer. Filthy bastards who devour human flesh, such things must not be allowed to live!! Beings like that have no right to rule this country!

I've visited martial sects, told the truth to a few I trust, and gathered peak masters who share my goal.

Eun-hyun, join us. If the Jin Clan rises again as the rulers of Yanguo, they will surely be better than these dirty Makli bastards!"

I stared at him blankly for a moment.

Kim Young-hoon's eyes blazed with a fierce light unlike anything I had ever seen.

I had never seen him this enraged before.

"…All right. I'll join you."

I gathered the important belongings from my room.

Now that I knew the truth, I couldn't find even 1 percent of loyalty left for this wretched Imperial family

And so, that night, I left the palace with Kim Young-hoon.