Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The instructor lodgings of the Hidden Demon Cave, where darkness had settled.

The residence of Iron Fist Ga Cheonak was heavy and simple, much like its owner.

Rustle—.

The one who broke that silence was an uninvited guest.

“Who are you?”

A masked figure seeped out from the darkness.

“I came from the Sagal Muk Family. I heard Instructor Ga Cheonak was in charge of investigating Uncheon’s background. Hand over the records from when he entered and any weaknesses he has.”

The man skipped all unnecessary words and went straight to the point, placing a heavy pouch on the table.

Clink.

A dull metallic sound.

It was full of heavy silver coins.

“This much should not disappoint you as compensation for your trouble.”

Ga Cheonak looked down at the man with a rocklike face, his arms crossed.

It was true that he had ordered Uncheon’s background to be investigated.

The Sagal Muk Family had tried to dig into that gap and bribe Ga Cheonak.

“…….”

When Ga Cheonak remained silent, the man mistook it for approval.

He continued speaking with a vile smile.

“I hear you are rivals with Instructor Jeok Mugwang? Tsk, tsk. Instructor Jeok is truly pathetic, is he not? To be humiliated after losing to a mere brat like that.”

Ga Cheonak’s thick eyebrow twitched.

“Pathetic?”

“Is that not so? I even approached him to give him a chance for revenge against that bastard, but he got angry instead.”

The man chattered excitedly, but he did not realize that the air inside the room was growing as heavy as lead.

A moment later, Ga Cheonak opened his mouth.

“He merely got angry….”

Ga Cheonak slowly rose.

Wooooong—.

A pressure like a massive rocky mountain rising crushed the man.

“That fellow Jeok Mugwang has mellowed a great deal. It is impressive that he did not tear you apart on the spot.”

“Pardon? What do you mean by…?”

“You bastards look down not only on Instructor Jeok, but on the Hidden Demon Cave itself.”

Crunch!

Ga Cheonak’s hand shot out like lightning.

His two hands seized the pouch of money on the table along with the man’s entire head.

“U-Ugh?!”

“Uncheon, that child, is not someone snakes like you can insult by wagging your tongues. He is a ‘martial artist’ whose victory even that prideful Jeok Mugwang acknowledged.”

Crack.

Strength entered Ga Cheonak’s grip.

It was the grip strength of Iron Fist, said to crush even steel like dough.

The silver coins inside the pouch screamed as they rubbed against one another, and the man’s skull twisted, unable to withstand the pressure.

“How dare you come to me with such a filthy bribe? There is a limit to how much you can insult this instructor. Know that this money will become your fare to the afterlife.”

“S-Spare…!”

Crack—! Crack, crack!

A terrible bursting sound rang through the room.

“Grrrk…!”

Beneath Ga Cheonak’s terrifying grip, the hard skull and the coins were crushed together like dough.

The man’s head burst apart before he could even scream properly.

The blood that flowed down soaked the silver coins scattered across the table red.

Ga Cheonak indifferently shook off his blood-soaked hand and muttered coldly.

“…How insulting. To think they tried to buy me with nothing more than a pouch of money. Did I look that easy?”

A shadow appeared in his residence, where no one else had been present, and answered.

“There is no possibility of that.”

Ga Cheonak looked down at the lump of flesh sprawled on the floor and gave a cold order.

“Adjutant, send this bastard back to the Sagal Muk Family along with their filthy money. There is a message to deliver.”

***

“……Grrr!”

The Venom Fang Hall Master trembled with rage when he saw the ‘gift’ delivered before his eyes.

The trusted subordinate he had sent had returned as a lump of flesh mixed with silver coins.

Beside it lay a letter written in blood.

[I warn you. The Hidden Demon Cave is a place that nurtures the future of our cult. don’t wag your filthy tongue.]

“Grrind…!”

The armrest of the chair gripped by the Venom Fang Hall Master hissed, and black smoke rose from it.

The wood was melting under poison qi.

“How dare a mere instructor of the Hidden Demon Cave!”

The prestige of the Sagal Muk Family, one of the Twelve Guardian Families, had fallen to the ground.

Their promising talents had been defeated, an elder had been turned into a cripple, and now, even a mere instructor of the Hidden Demon Cave was insulting the family.

“You are saying both the background investigation and the recruitment failed! What disgrace is this because of a single student!”

At that moment, a shadow prostrating in the darkness hurriedly raised his head.

“Not all of it failed, Hall Master!”

“What?”

“We failed with major figures like Ga Cheonak and Jeok Mugwang, but… among the Head Instructors of the Hidden Demon Cave, we succeeded in recruiting one man without backing and with a greedy nature!”

The Venom Fang Hall Master’s eyes flashed.

“Oh, is that so?”

“He was a newly appointed Head Instructor with a narrow foothold, and he held a grudge after being humiliated by Uncheon.”

The shadow continued his report with a sardonic smile.

“According to the information, Uncheon regularly travels between the Inner Archive and the Demon Physician Hall. If we use the recruited Head Instructor as bait and strike when he lowers his guard, we have a chance of success.”

Only then did a cruel smile appear on the Venom Fang Hall Master’s lips.

The root of all this was just one person.

There would be no opportunity unless it was now, while the Life-and-Death Exalted One was in closed-door cultivation.

“Good. Deploy the elites of the Venom Fang Hall. Since we have even obtained an inside helper, failure will not be tolerated.”

The Venom Fang Hall Master stretched out his hand as if seizing the air.

“Bring that bastard before my eyes while the Life-and-Death Exalted One is in closed-door cultivation! I will make him open his mouth myself!”

“As you command…!”

***

“Huu… Huuk….”

Inside the Inner Archive, in a training stone chamber located in a secluded corner among the scent of ink emitted by thousands of ancient books.

Rough breathing rang out at regular intervals.

The Book Ghost Baek Rihyeon watched the scene and clicked his tongue in disbelief.

‘…Madman. Is that even human training?’

At the end of his gaze was Uncheon.

Uncheon had removed his upper garment and was doing push-ups.

Not ordinary push-ups, but while standing on his hands.

He was supporting the weight of his whole body with only his two hands, no, along with the weight of the pitch-black Black-Steel Cold Iron attached to his limbs.

‘It would not be easy even barehanded… and he is adding that much weight…?’

As soon as Uncheon returned to the Inner Archive, Baek Rihyeon had been able to feel that he had changed.

The cold and chilly presence emanating from his body was clearly the trace of inner arts.

However, from Uncheon’s movements right now, Baek Rihyeon felt only the heat of a body screaming in pain.

‘He does not even seem to be using inner arts….’

Baek Rihyeon’s eye was accurate.

Right now, Uncheon was deliberately restricting his inner arts.

He was enduring that absurd weight solely with pure muscle, bone, and patience.

Creak.

Uncheon’s back muscles twisted like ropes and screamed.

The sweat pouring from his entire body soaked the floor so heavily it was almost forming a puddle of rainwater.

‘Extreme physical pain….’

However, Uncheon’s expression did not look pained.

Rather, it was calm.

It was because he was unfolding the forms of the Heaven-and-Earth Dynamic Art while regulating his rough breathing with the Life-Prolonging Breathing Method.

‘He excludes inner arts and tempers his bones and flesh to the limit by bolstering the vitality of his body.’

It was a desperate struggle to endure the Heaven-Resisting Secret Art, and at the same time, it was the path of the martial artist that Uncheon himself had chosen.

‘I will create a steel-like vessel capable of withstanding the Yin-Cold Qi and yang-heat qi coiled inside my body… and the Yin-Yang Great Spirit Severed Meridian Affliction.’

His arms, which had been training for a long time since dawn, trembled, and his blood vessels swelled as if they were about to burst.

The sweat flowing from his entire body soaked the floor.

It was the limit.

“Hup!”

For the last time, Uncheon pushed off the floor and sprang upright.

THUD—!

The stone chamber trembled under Uncheon’s weight, now added to the weight of the Black-Steel Cold Iron.

“Huu…….”

Hot steam poured from Uncheon’s mouth.

The muscles throughout his entire body were screaming, but he felt refreshed.

It was thanks to the fact that after the rotating qi center formed, the recovery speed of his body had increased by leaps and bounds.

It was an intensity that would have made him lie sick in bed for days in the past, but now, after briefly catching his breath, he was perfectly fine.

‘…Training finally feels worthwhile.’

Just as he wiped away his sweat and calmed his breathing.

“Why not do that in moderation? Have you not learned inner arts now? How long do you intend to keep training external arts?”

From behind a bookshelf, Baek Rihyeon walked out with a deliberately dissatisfied expression.

Uncheon gave a faint laugh and wiped his sweat-covered body.

“You were watching?”

“I did not watch because I wanted to. It is because your ridiculous shouts disturb the silence of the library.”

Baek Rihyeon grumbled, but he kept glancing at Uncheon’s hardened body.

It was hard to believe this was the body of a Severed Meridian Affliction patient he had seen when Uncheon first came to the Inner Archive half a year ago.

“More importantly, is today not that day?”

“…That day?”

“Tsk, as expected. Did the blood rush to your head so much that you forgot your schedule too?”

Baek Rihyeon crossed his arms and jerked his chin toward the outside.

“The sun is already at its peak. Today is the day you have joint research with Lady Seol at the Demon Physician Hall, is it not?”

“Ah… has it already become that time?”

Since he had been training in a state of selflessness, he had forgotten the time.

When Uncheon hurriedly began putting on his clothes, Baek Rihyeon cleared his throat and slipped in a few words.

“Ahem. And… today, I will go with you.”

“You? I thought the necessary medical books had already been roughly organized in the Inner Archive.”

When Uncheon asked back in puzzlement, Baek Rihyeon’s face turned red.

“T-That is, I think Lady Seolyeong may have missed a medical book.”

His inner thoughts were obvious to anyone.

Baek Rihyeon had been strangely interested in Seolyeong.

After hearing that she had improved thanks to Uncheon, he must have inwardly wanted to see her appearance for himself.

Uncheon did not bother digging into that, and only gave a faint smile.

Although personal feelings had been added, Baek Rihyeon was still a physician, so he would help the research rather than hinder it.

“Well… do that, then. Lady Seolyeong will be glad to see you as well.”

“Ahem, ahem. I am merely going to provide support as the person in charge of the medical book section! don’t misunderstand!”

He kept clearing his throat and tried to hide his feelings, but he seemed pleased that permission had been readily granted.

Baek Rihyeon put on airs, but his steps were much faster and lighter than usual.

Above all, his mouth was stretched to his ears.

The two left the Inner Archive and headed toward the Demon Physician Hall.

Baek Rihyeon, who was walking ahead, suddenly slowed his steps.

“Hmm…? This is the path we always take… but the area around the Inner Archive feels a little strange today.”

Uncheon did not answer right away.

Instead, he brushed the Black-Steel Cold Iron wrapped around his wrist once.

“I thought it was about time they came.”

“……!”

It had been four months since the Life-and-Death Exalted One entered closed-door cultivation.

As the joint research with Seolyeong accumulated, the route between the Inner Archive and the Demon Physician Hall had also become fixed.

If someone meant to target him, now was the most appropriate time.

However, he still could not be certain whether the one who had taken the bait was truly the Sagal Muk Family, or merely the dogs under them.

“However, I need to see how many came. And who moved directly.”

Baek Rihyeon’s face hardened.

“What… surely not?!”

“If something happens, stay half a step behind me to my left and don’t move away.”

It was not a joke.

Baek Rihyeon swallowed dryly.

Uncheon’s voice was excessively calm.

That calmness was even colder.

The moment the two entered the forest path.

Phish—!

A short, thin sound of cutting air tore through the darkness.

Uncheon’s eyes flashed.

Grab.

He roughly pulled Baek Rihyeon by the collar.

“Kugh!”

Half a beat later, a pitch-black needle brushed past the spot where Baek Rihyeon’s neck had been and stabbed into a tree trunk.

Hisssss—!

In an instant, the tree bark melted black.

Baek Rihyeon’s face turned pale blue.

“A-A poisoned needle…!”

Before the shock could fade, the silence of the forest broke, and killing intent poured out.

Shu, shu, shuk—!

Black shadows sprang out from every direction in the forest.

Although it was the middle of the day, they had hidden their bodies with night-black assassin garb and masks.

They spread into a semicircle, cut off the retreat path, and completed an encirclement in an instant while maintaining set intervals.

A formation without even an inch of disorder.

At a glance, they were trained assassins.

“Kekeke… We have been waiting, brat.”

From among the shadows, the one who appeared to be the leader revealed himself.

His voice was low, as if pressed down, but he could not hide the excitement within it.

“The Life-and-Death Exalted One is in closed-door cultivation, and Gal Muheun is stuck in his office. Who will save you this time?”

Uncheon slowly placed his hand on his Saber Case.

“There is no time to wait for someone else.”

He stepped half a pace back toward Baek Rihyeon and added in a low voice,

“Do not panic. The more you do, the more they will stab you first.”

Baek Rihyeon looked offended, but he could not refute him.

‘…Damn it. It is frustrating, but he is right.’

If not for Uncheon, his life would have been cut short by the poisoned needle that had suddenly flown at him.

“It does not matter if you kill the one with him.”

The leader smiled cruelly.

“Strike him! Capture him alive, but if he resists, you may cut off his limbs!”

The moment the order fell, the attackers rushed toward Uncheon.

At that sight, Baek Rihyeon shouted in panic.

“U-Uncheon! We have to run!”

But Uncheon did not run.

“No. There is nothing more foolish than showing your back to assassins.”

Creak.

Instead, he lightly rotated his wrist, which bore the Black-Steel Cold Iron, and stepped toward the approaching shadows.

Uncheon’s eyes settled coldly.

“Stay close behind me. There are more of them than I expected.”