Chapter 1 : Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Why do you see a person as meat?

After experiencing all sorts of dog-like things in Jianghu for about half a century, there were times when a chill ran down my spine from just a hint of it.

And I had just shivered, my whole body trembling from the chill.

“W-What!”

An old man who suddenly appeared with a faint afterimage in a corner of my quarters.

In an instant, my mind went white as I was seized by extreme tension.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

‘…What is this?’

Was I seeing things?

Even while raising my internal energy to the point of explosion, I continuously observed the situation outside.

However, I couldn't feel any disturbance among my subordinates.

In other words, no one had been able to detect this old man who had infiltrated the heart of the Great Murim Alliance.

What the hell, did he just drop from the sky or something?

“Fifth in the ranks of the Seven Revered of Jianghu, Martial Emperor Jin Gang-cheon. Is that right?”

“What?”

The old man recited my identity simply, his eyes cast down profoundly.

Something flared up in a corner of my heart at the mention of being fifth in rank, but that wasn't important right now.

There was no reaction in my senses.

Even for someone whose martial arts had reached the extreme, attaining the state of Ghost Formation of Counter-Strike, it was impossible to completely hide one’s fighting spirit and martial soul.

Not even that inhuman Heavenly Demon, nor the Sword Saint who had reached the pinnacle of the sword, could conceal their presence as perfectly as the old man before me.

It was like facing an inanimate object.

This was a disaster.

I instinctively sensed that this moment was the greatest crisis of my life.

“…Jin Gang-cheon? Who is that?”

Even as I answered, I was surprising myself.

It was the first time since I had taken the title of Martial Emperor that I had denied my own identity.

Suddenly, the old man smiled faintly.

“The blood flow near your middle dantian is rapidly increasing. To think of sacrificing your innate true qi in this situation. But stop. You already know, don't you? That it is meaningless.”

I froze on the spot.

No, this is crazy.

He could not only read an opponent's ki circulation but also see the blood flowing?

Did that mean he could see through a person's body?

How on earth was such a thing possible?

“Damn it, has my ki weakened? Seeing ghosts in broad daylight. A non-human is speaking.”

Without even introducing himself, the old man got straight to the point.

“Your destiny ends today. If you have any last words, leave them now.”

I stared at the expressionlessly standing old man with a look of disbelief.

What kind of bullshit was this all of a sudden?

Destiny has ended?

Leave last words?

Was he a Grim Reaper who wasn't human?

“So, you're saying you're going to kill me?”

“Something like that.”

I never thought I would hear such words from an unknown old man, not even from the Heavenly Demon or the Sword Saint.

Fear makes one tremble only when there's a sense of reality, but this felt like I was dreaming.

Soon, I raised the Divine Primordial Qi Technique to its peak.

Fwish.

Huh?

Not a ‘KABOOOOOM’ but a ‘fwish’?

“Human martial arts do not work on me. Don't waste your strength and prepare your last words for posterity.”

The great power of my Light-Annihilating Soul Realm, unleashed at its peak, collided with an unknown energy and vanished like melting snow.

It felt like throwing a stone into the vast ocean.

Even that fearsome Heavenly Demon couldn't block my Light-Annihilating Soul Realm in such a way.

I soon withdrew my hand and stared intently at the old man.

“Old man. Are you a god?”

This was my only interpretation of the current situation.

Despite my serious question, the old man simply remained silent and carefully took something out from his bosom.

What the old man took out was a small scroll made of woven bamboo.

Inside the scroll were fine needles, a small knife, and also countless unknown talismans.

Suddenly, the old man, holding the small knife, began to size me up from different angles.

Meeting the old man's eyes, a chill ran through my entire body.

It was definitely not the eyes of someone looking at a person, but at meat to be butchered.

“How old are you this year?”

“……Fifty-two.”

No, why was I even answering this?

“Then let's make it an acute heart attack.”

What?

This dog-like old man?

This damned old man was designing a death in front of a perfectly living person.

“No, shouldn't I at least know the damn reason? You appear out of nowhere like smoke and say you'll kill me because it's my fate to die? What kind of bastard would offer his neck to such tyranny?”

The old man, who had taken a long needle from the scroll and held it in his mouth, spat it out with a ‘ptui’.

The old man then continued to speak indifferently.

“You killed someone you should not have killed.”

“Huh……?”

They say that when a person faces a life-threatening crisis, their mind spins rapidly.

Indeed, the faces of the masters I had hunted down until now flashed through my mind like lightning.

Jade Life Seated Master, Black Demon Knight, Twilight-Ending Ghost, Life-Shedding Oblivion, Dual-Demonic Aberration, Remnant Life Saber…….

But no matter how hard I tried to recall, they were all villains who had caused bloodshed or chaos.

There was not a single person who could have had a connection with this old man who reeked of the Orthodox Faction.

Although I had unified the underworld south of the Yangtze River, I did not let my subordinates deceive the world and delude the people.

If I had, those noble Orthodox Faction bastards would have called it the Killing Murim Alliance, not the Great Murim Alliance.

“Those who died by my hand were all world-class murderers or those who tormented others. Ninety percent were ruined Demonic Cult bastards.”

“Among them was a son left in the world by the Silver Demon Sect.”

“Silver Demon Sect?”

For half a century, I had wandered through Jianghu, living and clashing with all sorts of crazy bastards, but it was a name I had never heard before.

I spoke with a voice full of doubt.

“Who is that? An alias? A faction?”

“It will be easier on your mind to go without knowing.”

“No, such bullsh—”

At that moment, my subordinates, hearing the commotion, rushed into the quarters.

U Gwang, the Maniac Lord and Gang Yu, the Phantom Blade appeared, leading the honor guard.

“My liege!”

“Stop! Everyone, halt!”

This old man, who looked like he barely had the strength to lift a spoon, had blocked my Light-Annihilating Soul Realm with just his energy.

He was a supreme master whose level was truly unfathomable.

With a single gesture from him, all my subordinates could be killed.

“Who are you, you bastard!”

The eyes of the Maniac Lord, blazing with killing intent, charged at the old man.

The old man suddenly let out a sigh.

“Today, misfortune will befall many……”

Hearing the old man's mumbling voice, I felt a strange sense of unease.

It was because the old man's pupils had become as clear as water.

The look of someone who had momentarily carved out their emotions.

From experience, those with such eyes invariably turned into world-class killing demons.

As my heart began to pound like crazy, the old man's indifferent voice grated on my ears again.

“I cannot let the humans who have laid eyes on this old one live.”

“N-No! You dog-like old man! What are you trying to do!”

In that moment.

Chwaaaaaaaaaa—

An energy of black darkness, as if flowing from the maw of the Nine Hells, spread out in all directions.

The disc of black darkness, which encroached upon the space, swallowed my subordinates whole.

Seeing my subordinates, who were instantly turned into grayish dust as soon as they touched the black energy, I finally lost it.

“You son of a bitch!”

Kwwaaaaang!

The old man stood there, blocking my Earth Dragon Divine Origin, which I had unleashed with all my might, with his fingertips.

“Cr-Crazy!”

I continued the forms with all my might.

After Earth Dragon Divine Origin came Dragon-Slaying Horn, then Moon Shooting Strike as a follow-up technique, and Boundless Heavenly Cycle as a variation.

Chwachwachwachwacha!

I relentlessly pressed from all eight directions while tenaciously aiming for his fatal pressure points.

It was a continuous barrage into which I poured my everything, to the point that my ki sea was momentarily emptied.

Kwwaaaaaaang!

When the final Dragon Fang Island struck him, the roof flew off and the entire quarters exploded outwards.

My consciousness briefly faded from the momentary exhaustion.

But having lost my subordinates before my very eyes, I could not stop.

“Stop it.”

The back of the old man's hand just brushed past my shoulder with a tap.

It was neither Golden Net Hand nor a pressure point strike, but I could no longer move.

‘What……?’

I couldn't even feel a trace of the opponent's internal energy having swept through me.

Nor was I struck by poison or hidden weapons.

I just couldn't accept this dream-like unreality I was currently facing.

How on earth could such a supreme martial artist exist?

“Ughh…… Who the hell are you?”

I couldn't feel any sensation in my dantian.

The great power of the Divine Primordial Qi Technique, which I had trained for a lifetime, had vanished as if washed away.

“Humans always repeat the same mistakes, even when they know the consequences.”

The old man carefully folded the scroll and put it back in his bosom.

“It would have been enough to quietly end your life with an acute heart attack. But as you can see, now everyone has seen me.”

Subordinates were rushing from all over the Great Murim Alliance.

Trembling with a terrible premonition, I shouted frantically at the old man.

“D-Don't! You damn dog-like old… no, please don't! I'll die! I'll offer my neck peacefully!”

Swaaaaaaaa—

That same disc of death spread out in all directions.

The martial artists of the Great Murim Alliance, who were running towards me with pale faces, were again disappearing, leaving only grayish smoke.

The dark energy, which swallowed hundreds in an instant, pierced through all the pavilions and obstacles in a straight line and spread throughout the entire Great Murim Alliance.

I could no longer feel any sign of human presence.

“……”

I couldn't say a word.

It was hard to believe that such an unrealistic disaster could be brought about by the ability of just one person.

Who on earth could stop such a tremendous being?

“Do you really have no last words to leave to the world?”

I glared at the old man as if to kill him.

With all my subordinates dead, what last words was he talking about?

Was this damn old man mocking me right now?

As if he had read my thoughts, the old man opened his mouth again.

“If you have a family, I shall deliver the message.”

My answer was not last words, but a question.

“Your name or alias.”

After a moment of silence, the old man opened his mouth impassively.

“I am Amryeong-jonja, who faithfully serves the Silver Demon Sect.”

“Amryeong-jonja (Venerable Dark Spirit)……?”

It was the first time I had heard it.

More shocking than anything was that this old man, who even the Heavenly Demon or the Sword Saint could not face, was serving someone.

There were more of these disastrous monsters in this Jianghu?

Was Jianghu really going crazy?

Tsssssssssss-

The black energy extending from the old man, no, Amryeong-jonja, slowly approached.

In that moment, a thought that it was all futile made me let out a hollow laugh.

I had never, not even once, imagined that my end would be like this.

“Damn it! I am a martial artist! Instead of some sorcery whose identity I don't even know, cut my breath with your own hands!”

The dark energy that had been creeping towards me vanished as if washed away.

The old man asked back with an expressionless face.

“You want to die by a blade like a martial artist?”

“Yes! Just strike my neck!”

Amryeong-jonja once again carefully took out the bamboo scroll from his bosom.

“But I only have this small blade.”

“Yes! Just stab my neck with that! Cut my breath with your own hands!”

Amryeeong-jonja, who had been standing with an emotionless gaze for a while, silently approached and aimed the small knife at my neck.

“Then, farewell.”

Stab.

Feeling the sensation of the cold blade digging into my flesh, I trembled faintly.

Even so, I tenaciously swallowed the rising bloody phlegm and glared at him.

Son of a bitch.

There was a reason I had deliberately let him come close.

That bamboo scroll, the only thing he handled with care when he was otherwise so reckless.

That scroll, densely inscribed with red characters of unknown meaning, was clearly no ordinary object.

The moment my breath was cut.

I released my lifelong martial soul without holding back.

I had detonated all the latent power in my body, all my innate true qi, at once.

As expected, for a fleeting moment, I was able to control my body.

Crack!

As I grabbed the bamboo scroll, which was halfway out from Amryeong-jonja's chest, with all my might, it broke into pieces.

Countless small needles and knives were embedded in my palm, but I didn't care and scattered a sneer towards him.

The process of grabbing and crushing the scroll was truly instantaneous.

“Y-You bastard! My Yin Spirit Bamboo Staff!”

Amryeong-jonja, abandoning the act of slitting my throat, was in a state of panic as he examined the broken scroll.

He cherished it so much.

So it was a treasure he cared for as if it were a sacred ancestral tablet?

But then.

Sssssssssss—

A black energy poured out from the broken bamboo slips and suddenly started flowing into my body.

“Ugh, Yin Soul! Where are you going! He is an ordinary human! No——!”

The sight of the screaming Amryeong-jonja was captured in my fading vision.

Although I met a futile death at his hands.

Fortunately, it seemed I had managed to screw him over royally.

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