Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Five years had passed since Yul Hwi arrived at the Mt. Yeo safe house.

Apart from descending to the markets of nearby Seoan once a month for grain, he had maintained a grueling regimen of pouring a full ten of every twelve double-hours in a day into training.

Fortunately, that toil had not been in vain — for on this very day, the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art's achievement had at last reached the long-awaited seventh stage.

Precisely five years to the day, on the cusp of spring in his twentieth year, when warm air was beginning to stir even in the depths of the mountains.

"Hah!"

Immediately after completing the major heavenly circuit following the minor one —

A faint, awkward smile — wholly unlike his usual self — settled upon the red lips that had just expelled a short, sharp exhale.

"Made it by the skin of my teeth."

The seventh stage of the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art.

This was a milestone of immense significance to Yul Hwi in many respects.

It was the starting point for properly executing the core killing arts of the Phantom Slaughter Sect — one of the Seven Houses of the Demonic Path, known as the pillars of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

And for that reason, it was the stage one had to reach before being granted the rank of elite assassin.

In his previous life, the point at which the former Sect Master had bestowed the name Annihilation upon him in place of the number Ten had been when he reached the eighth stage.

Considering that the former Sect Master — the strongest fighter within the Phantom Slaughter Sect at the time — had been at the ninth stage, not even Grand Mastery, and that the remaining elite assassins had all been stuck at the seventh —

"......If I can just keep a firm grip on this lifeline, there's no talent in the world to match this body."

The innate quality of this body, which had reached the seventh stage of the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art at the mere age of twenty, was undeniably extraordinary — worthy of being counted among the finest in all the land.

Of course, in his previous life he had also reached the same level at a similar age.

"No — it's different. Markedly different from back then."

Yul Hwi's eyes had sunk into a profound depth as he quietly clenched and unclenched his fists, studying each hand in turn.

The reason for the difference was clear.

Even though he had ascended to the same seventh stage, there was an overwhelming gap in the depth of attainment and the density of his internal power.

"In my previous life, I had only thirty years' worth of cultivation, and the density wasn't anywhere near this tight."

And what of now?

In exchange for toppling four of the ice walls — nearly half of those that had been plugging up every corner of his body — he had gained a staggering ninety years' worth of cultivation.

And its fineness and density were beyond any comparison to the internal power he had possessed before.

Was that all?

"I never expected the very nature of my martial arts would change."

Whirrrrr.

Prompted by a shift in his conscious flow, a fist-sized vortex suddenly bloomed in the center of his palm.

The elemental nature it harbored was absolutely not something one could dismiss as mere yin-cold qi.

If he had to give it a name, it would be far more fitting to call it extreme yin qi.

Extreme yin qi?!

Across the entire present age, this was an energy that should only exist in a handful of individuals belonging to the Moon Vein — led by the Moon Master, the supreme leader of the Sun and Moon Gate.

Or perhaps in the long-vanished North Sea Ice Palace.

And yet that rare and formidable elemental nature had now taken root within him.

Within Annihilation, the Soul-Severing Wanderer — the man of whom it was said there was no one under heaven he could not kill.

On top of that —

"The demonic qi has completely vanished."

Given that the art was unmistakably a branch of demonic cultivation, the demonic qi unique to the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art — steeped in killing intent and lodged deep at the root, lurking even through concealment — had disappeared without a trace.

This meant that even if he continued carrying out killings from here on, anyone examining the corpse left behind would find it difficult to suspect the Phantom Slaughter Sect.

To begin with, organizations that made a trade of killing numbered fewer than ten across the Orthodox, Unorthodox, Demonic, and even foreign factions combined. Normally, as had always been the case, the residual demonic qi lingering on the corpse would have been used to identify the culprit.

But now, no matter where he killed or whom, the odds of Cheonsan's Phantom Slaughter Sect falling under suspicion had become vanishingly slim.

"That's an unexpected variable."

Of course, for the current Yul Hwi — who wanted nothing of the sort — this was a decidedly unwelcome change.

"Not that it matters much."

After all, even during his days as Annihilation, had he not stubbornly left the Phantom Slaughter Sect's mark near every target without fail?

That had been the long-standing method by which the Phantom Slaughter Sect, as proxy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, sowed fear across the Central Plains.

So he need only continue leaving that mark in the future.

The confusion that would arise from the sudden appearance of extreme yin qi coupled with the mark of the Phantom Slaughter Sect was not the concern of the one carrying out the kills.

What remained, then, was to begin earnestly sowing chaos, fear, and hostility across the martial world — driving it to stand against the Divine Cult.

This would have to be carried out through a series of meticulously executed killing missions, which meant it was now time to designate his first target and begin preliminary reconnaissance.

Originally, the backbone of his plan had been to assassinate the heads of the major satellite sects affiliated with Mount Hua and Jongnam in the Seomso capital of Seoan.

"But I hear the war between the Sun and Moon Gate and the Martial Alliance has entered a lull of late."

Unless he blew hard on the dying embers, the fire would soon gutter out entirely.

During the five years since he had left Taewon —

The bloodshed born from the clash between the Jinju Eon Family's Black Net Unit and a portion of the Sun and Moon Gate had swiftly escalated beyond a war between just the Eon Family and the Gate, swelling into a full-blown conflict between the Orthodox Martial Alliance and the Sun and Moon Gate.

The assorted grim battles that had reportedly broken out sporadically across Sanseo, northern Hanam, and even Gangso — all gleaned through hearsay on his monthly grain runs to Seoan.

Remarkably, the Sun and Moon Gate had maintained a dead-even stalemate against the combined forces of the Jinju Eon Family and Shaolin, who had spearheaded the Alliance's effort.

Yul Hwi had been watching their movements closely and had already woven their existence deeply into his future plans.

And now, just when he had no intention of letting them off the hook, the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art had reached the seventh stage on this very day — and the demonic qi within his body had undergone a complete elemental transformation into extreme yin qi.

"I should try properly entwining the Divine Cult — no, the Demonic Cult — with the Sun and Moon Gate."

Yul Hwi's blue eyes grew ever more darkly inscrutable as he plotted his scheme.

***

There was no need to beat the grass and startle the snake by stirring up trouble across multiple regions.

Having departed the Mt. Yeo safe house, Yul Hwi did not spare so much as a glance at the satellite sects of Mount Hua and Jongnam, and instead set his course directly for Taewon — the homeland of this body.

If one were to name the place where the fiercest fighting had raged and the most lives had been lost over the past five years, Taewon — the origin of all the strife — would be the undisputed first choice.

On top of that, he had heard that negotiations for a mutual ceasefire between the Martial Alliance and the Sun and Moon Gate were being held there.

For someone who had no desire to see the conflict end, what reason could there possibly be not to go?

'Though I do need some rehearsal beforehand.'

Having gained the seventh-stage achievement of the now-strengthened Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art along with the formidable elemental nature of extreme yin qi —

There was no way he could simply rely on old experience and memory and plunge headlong into the real operation.

Moreover, his basic skeletal frame had grown beyond all expectation, meaning he also had to acclimate to the changed reach of his limbs and stride.

No matter how tirelessly he had trained alone in the mountains and conceived various scenarios through mental simulation —

Nothing could fully substitute for the differences that only real, physical experience could reveal.

'I suppose I should count it fortunate that I haven't grown any taller.'

At six and a half cheok — a hundred and ninety-five centimeters — already, what if he grew even taller from here?

At that point, he would have to consider himself categorically disqualified as an assassin.

Naturally, the many killing arts he had spent a lifetime honing through blood and sweat would also lose most of their effectiveness.

'That's already the situation I'm in, in a way.'

In truth, even now there were considerable difficulties when it came to covert killing missions.

So much so that doubts and misgivings arose unbidden about whether he could truly kill the genuine masters listed on the Martial World Registry.

Having gained the miracle of turning the Nine Yin Severed Meridians' curse into a blessing on the foundation of his fully mastered Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art, he had also incurred a corresponding cost — that was the fairest assessment.

Even so, Yul Hwi's cold rationality placed a higher value on the positive side.

Whereas the Soul-Severing Wanderer Annihilation's actual martial level in direct combat — setting aside one-sided assassinations — had hovered around the hundredth rank on the Martial World Registry at best,

Now, even without insisting on assassination, he had gained the possibility of targeting individuals ranked far higher than that.

'Not bad at all. Though the rehearsal is still absolutely necessary.'

As he drifted along in thought, leaving Seoan behind and heading northeast toward Sanseo —

Squarely planted along his route was one of the Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains: the Western Peak, Mount Hua.

That was the very practice ground Yul Hwi had chosen.

***

The plan was simple.

Hwaeumhyeon — a county-level settlement established in the vicinity of Mount Hua.

All he had to do was assassinate a single supreme master whose name appeared in the lower ranks of the Martial World Registry, from among the Mount Hua disciples who bustled back and forth through the area with great frequency.

Of course, achieving this objective required meticulous, step-by-step execution of numerous preparatory tasks — starting with luring a master of that caliber outside Mount Hua's walls.

A figure ranked in the lower reaches of the Martial World Registry — even at the lowest tier of around one hundred and ninetieth — would be a personage equivalent to the elder rank of any given sect.

In his days as Annihilation he had killed some fifty or sixty masters who were listed on the Registry, but that was all a bygone tale by now.

For the sake of the grand vengeance he had yet to pursue, he needed a more reliable benchmark for self-assessment.

And for that, an appropriate lure to draw the benchmark target out was essential.

As if on cue, the bait he had been quietly keeping in mind was approaching from the other end of the street.

"Hahahaha! You're truly amazing, Senior Brother!"

"I'll say! He's still only a third-generation disciple, yet people are already talking about a Plum Blossom Swordsman seat for him......!"

"As expected of our Senior Brother! Among the Nine Dragons and Seven Phoenixes — no, among all the next-generation rising stars in the world — the greatest is surely none other than you!"

"Haha! Enough, enough. Someone might hear, and I can feel my face burning already."

Hahahahaha!

Hahahaha!

Young Daoist swordsmen, streaming down the main road in a noisy cluster.

From his position leaning against the mouth of a tucked-away alley, Yul Hwi's blue eyes covertly tracked their retreating figures as they passed by amid boisterous laughter.

'I'll start with that one.'

Today marked his fifth day since arriving in Hwaeumhyeon.

Over that time, Yul Hwi had memorized — without a single omission — the faces and details of every Mount Hua disciple who frequented the Mount Hua-run inns and taverns, as well as those who were practically stationed in Hwaeumhyeon on a permanent basis.

The first target he had selected as bait to draw out a Martial World Registry figure was none other than —

'Blossom Sword Dragon, Myeong-u.'

The pinnacle among the next-generation rising stars hailed as the future of the Orthodox martial world.

One of the Nine Dragons and Seven Phoenixes.