Chapter 45

Chapter 45.

Early dawn, in the front yard of Demon Physician Hall.

The snow that had fallen through the night lay thick, and the entire world was a biting silver-white.

CLANK—.

A heavy metallic sound broke the silence.

Uncheon picked up the black iron rings lying on the ground, the Black-Steel Cold Iron.

“Half a year ago, these were no different from instruments of punishment.”

Back when he had possessed not a single handful of Internal Energy and had to endure with pure muscular strength, even walking had been agony.

But now it was different.

CLICK.

The cold sensation wrapped around his wrists and ankles.

The weight should have been the same, yet the burden he felt was as light as a feather.

“...Light.”

When he lightly clenched and opened his fists, instead of his muscles screaming, a pleasant tautness filled them.

It was the result of his blocked major meridians being opened and his twisted qi and blood finding their proper places.

It was a bodily reconstruction close to Bone-Exchange Rebirth.

“You are leaving.”

A calm voice came from behind him.

It was Seolyeong.

Her skin was as white as a snow-covered mountain, and deep within her eyes, instead of the pallor of illness, a faint clear light lingered.

She handed him a thick book from within her robes.

[Research Record on the Union of Two Extremes]

“Because there is still Yang Qi sleeping inside your body, not yet awakened. It will surely be of help.”

“Such a precious thing... Thank you.”

When Uncheon tucked the research record into his robes, Seolyeong smiled faintly.

“I did not make it alone. It is the result of our work.”

For a moment, a warm silence flowed between the two of them.

“Ahem! Hrm!”

A loud clearing of the throat from inside Demon Physician Hall broke the stillness.

The Life-and-Death Exalted One walked out with his hands behind his back, and regret was plain around his eyes.

“Elder. I have been greatly indebted to you all this time.”

“Hmph, indebted? I merely repaid a debt. Take it.”

The Life-and-Death Exalted One brusquely tossed him a bundle.

THUMP.

A heavy weight traveled through the fingertips that caught it lightly.

“I kept it because throwing it away was troublesome. Use it or throw it away as you please.”

When Uncheon glanced inside the bundle, it was packed tightly by type with the highest-grade Golden Wound Salves, internal injury medicines, and antidotes personally made by the Life-and-Death Exalted One.

Beneath them lay a thick stack of silver banknotes.

They were far too precious for things he had supposedly kept because throwing them away was troublesome.

“...I will use them gratefully.”

“Hmph. It only sat poorly with me that I called myself your guardian yet did nothing for you.”

The Life-and-Death Exalted One stroked his beard and stared at Uncheon.

It had begun as a transaction, but the past half year had been time spent together through life and death.

A bond formed by breaking through Heavenly Punishment and pulling his granddaughter back from the threshold of death.

“Because of my family’s rules, I cannot pass down our secret teachings... but if it is my own personal martial art, that should not matter. If Yeong-ah’s procedure succeeds, I will call for you, so don’t die on the road before then.”

It was practically a declaration that he would accept him as a disciple.

Because he understood the weight of those words, Uncheon straightened his clothes and bowed deeply.

“I will not forget the grace the two of you have shown me.”

Uncheon gave a deep clasped hands greeting, then turned away without lingering attachment.

Crunch, crunch.

Leaving clear footprints on the white snowfield, Uncheon advanced toward the heart of the Demonic Cult.

***

The Demonic Martial Hall Master’s office.

When Uncheon entered, Gal Muheun set down his teacup and greeted him.

“You have come.”

Gal Muheun’s gaze swept over Uncheon.

A stable and deepened bearing.

A faint pressure, like a famous blade hidden within its scabbard.

The precarious boy from half a year ago was nowhere to be seen.

“Your presence has changed. The phrase ‘to rub one’s eyes and look at you anew’ is not even enough.”

“It is thanks to your consideration, Hall Master.”

“Thanks, you say? You seized it for yourself.”

As Gal Muheun smiled with satisfaction, a man who had been waiting at the side stepped forward.

“Warrior, it has been a long time.”

Sado Myeong.

Having survived thanks to Uncheon and made a splendid return to the Inspectorate, he showed him proper courtesy.

“I was waiting because I have something to report.”

Sado Myeong lowered his voice.

“Muk Yeonggi, who was imprisoned... killed himself.”

“...Killed himself?”

Uncheon’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

“That cannot be.”

The corner of Uncheon’s mouth rose in a cold curl.

“What was the cause of death?”

Sado Myeong lowered his voice and said.

“Officially, it was suicide... but assassination by poison is likely.”

“As expected, they cut off the tail.”

Uncheon was calm.

If the Sagal Muk Family had left Muk Yeonggi alive, that would have been more surprising.

“The fact that he was silenced in prison is an act that mocks the Inspectorate’s security. The Inspectorate Chief has no intention of overlooking the Sagal Muk Family’s atrocities.”

“Hooh....”

“In connection with that matter... the Deputy Chief has sent you a message, Warrior. He says he will arrange a formal meeting soon, and that he wishes to see you once.”

Seeing that Sado Myeong spoke without reserve even before Gal Muheun, the Demonic Martial Hall Master, it seemed this had been coordinated in advance.

“Understood... however.”

Uncheon nodded, yet did not hastily give a definite answer.

The ones who were in need were on that side, so there was no reason to hurry.

“I have a task assigned to me in the Inner Archive as a member of the Demonic Martial Hall, so send word there.”

Uncheon still had something he needed to confirm.

Because he had focused on treatment, he had not yet confirmed whether the ‘martial arts of Gonryun’ seized and brought into the Inner Archive were actually there.

“Understood. Then, next time....”

After hearing Uncheon’s answer, Sado Myeong withdrew, and Gal Muheun spoke.

“The Inspectorate came asking to borrow a knife.”

“You mean they asked to borrow me?”

“Yes. Last time, did you not strike down Venom Fang Hall with your scheme? Since they owe a debt, this time they are asking me to lend them a blade in return.”

Uncheon’s eyes narrowed.

Borrowing a Knife to Kill.

Since he had borrowed another’s blade to strike an enemy, it meant that now it was his turn to become the “blade to be lent.”

“Those Inspectorate bastards never give anything for free. You bought time by using the Inner Archive task as an excuse, but someday, you will have to lend them a hand once.”

“...Understood.”

“For the time being, stay in the Inner Archive. You have only just begun to properly cultivate Internal Energy, so you will need time to explore martial arts suited to you.”

It was a proposal Uncheon, who had come to handle Yin-Cold Qi through the Limitless Iceheart Formula, needed.

He had already needed time to reorganize his existing martial arts according to his Internal Energy, whose nature had changed.

“I will do so.”

“And... since you may grow bored alone, I will attach a companion to you.”

An interested smile hung at Gal Muheun’s lips.

“While you were recuperating, another interesting fellow came in.”

“Who is it?”

“It should be a familiar face.”

CREAK.

At Gal Muheun’s gesture, the door inside the office opened.

A figure walked out from the darkness.

A woman wearing black light martial attire comfortable for movement, instead of a splendid silk martial arts uniform.

At her waist hung a rough and sharp saber with not a single decoration.

“It’s been a while, Uncheon.”

The daughter of the Mad Wind Yayul Family, Yayul Hui.

But she was not the same person Uncheon had known before.

“Her atmosphere... has changed.”

She seemed to have grown taller than back then, and above all, the momentum emanating from her entire body was far from ordinary.

“It isn’t only her appearance... her atmosphere has changed.”

The young lady who had once strutted about on the halo of her family was nowhere to be seen.

A gaze calmly settled low.

Within it, a starving wolf crouched.

“Her eyes have improved.”

Uncheon smiled back at her.

“You have changed a great deal.”

“I got rolled around half to death by Instructor Jeok Mugwang.”

Yayul Hui’s gaze swept over Uncheon’s entire body.

The pallor of illness had vanished, and she could feel a firm, ripened bearing.

“You, on the other hand... you’ve become a completely different person. Before, you looked like a twig that would snap if someone flicked it.”

SLIDE.

Her hand slowly moved toward her saber hilt.

“What’s there to say? It’ll be faster for both of us to test it with our bodies.”

Gal Muheun did not stop them, and instead crossed his arms.

He wore the expression of someone who had found something worth watching.

“That Jeok Mugwang has forged her into something impressive. However, this place is unsuitable, so share the joy of your reunion outside.”

The Demonic Martial Hall training ground.

Uncheon and Yayul Hui stood facing each other.

A taut tension drifted through the training ground.

“Don’t hold back. I’m going all out too.”

Together with Yayul Hui’s declaration.

FLASH—!

Her form vanished in an instant.

A surprise attack, charging straight in.

The empty flashiness that had once been merely showy had vanished, leaving only a clean swift saber.

SWISH!

A sharp saber strike flew in, aiming for his neck.

To Uncheon’s eyes, that movement was clearly visible.

His senses, made even keener by the Heaven-Resisting Secret Art, read the trajectory.

SLIDE.

Yayul Hui’s eyes widened.

Because the moment she was certain she had cut him, Uncheon’s form scattered like a mirage.

“Shadowless Step? But it’s different from before!”

An evasion so natural that it seemed as if he had never been there in the first place.

Uncheon’s footwork, carrying Internal Energy, was on another level.

“He’s fast...! But!”

Yayul Hui gritted her teeth and twisted her saber momentum.

Chain Saber strikes poured out as she kicked off empty air and spun.

Avoiding the blades raining down from all directions, Uncheon dug in.

CLANG—!

“Ugh?!”

Yayul Hui staggered from the shock that felt as though her wrist had been severed.

At some point, a saber was in Uncheon’s hand.

“...He learned saber art in the meantime too?”

Without giving her time to be shocked, Uncheon’s counterattack began.

Against her, who had trained in saber arts all her life, he was not pushed back in weapon arts at all.

“As expected, this guy is... a monster...!”

On the other hand, Uncheon was also inwardly admiring her.

Yayul Hui, having broken out of her family’s frame, had grown far more quickly than he had expected.

“If she is at this level... she can do her part in the Inner Archive as well.”

Uncheon decided it was time to bring the spar to a close.

WOOOONG—.

The Limitless Iceheart Formula began to revolve in his qi center.

A cool chill wrapped around Uncheon.

“This energy is... Internal Energy?!”

Yayul Hui’s pupils shook.

She felt a heavy, cold energy from Uncheon, who was supposed to have no Internal Energy.

BOOM—!

Yayul Hui’s saber was knocked away, and her body was pushed backward.

But far from feeling frustrated, her eyes sparkled as she charged again.

“He’s recovered!”

Yayul Hui no longer held back her strength, and poured out everything she had to her heart’s content.

Against the saber strikes sweeping in like a mad wind, Uncheon also scattered saber strikes one after another.

CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG-CLANG—!

Sparks flew, and the sound of metal reverberated. After dozens of exchanges, blind spots began to appear in Yayul Hui’s saber art.

“Her footwork is still lacking.”

A fatal weakness. The absence of the Mad Wind Yayul Family’s secret art, Wind Soul Step.

Despite her outstanding talent, her achievement had stopped there.

“Tsk... to waste talent of this level merely because she is a woman.”

Uncheon pressed Yayul Hui and dug into her openings.

While the mad wind began to die down, Uncheon’s saber showed no sign of tiring.

In the end, feeling the cold blade touch the tip of her throat, Yayul Hui dropped her saber.

“I lost....”

Only then did Uncheon take a step back and sheathe his saber.

“I trained half to death for half a year, but the gap got even wider... You really are a monster.”

“I’m surprised too. It seems Instructor Jeok Mugwang taught you properly.”

“Still... I won’t just keep watching your back anymore. I’ve earned the right to stand beside you now, haven’t I?”

“You already have more than enough right.”

When Uncheon held out his hand, the exhausted Yayul Hui took it and stood.

“Hmph... just watch. I’ll catch up in no time.”

At that moment, Gal Muheun, who had been watching the two of them from afar, smiled and turned away.

“Yayul Hui... that child is not ordinary either. I can see why Jeok Mugwang would take a liking to her.”

With that level of ability, she would be able to grow further in the Inner Archive.

“Senior Cheon Gyeon should be satisfied with those two as well.”

***

Deep within the Inner Archive, the Martial Arts Section.

A library where the Secret Manuals the Demonic Cult had plundered from all over the Central Plains lay dormant.

The smell of old paper and ink, as well as an indescribable pressure, filled the air.

“So this is the Martial Arts Section. It’s less well-managed than I expected...”

Yayul Hui wrinkled her nose and brushed away the dust.

From the darkness atop the bookshelves, a pair of gleaming eyes looked down at her.

“Hooh....”

Above a beam where darkness lay thick, an old man hung upside down like a bat.

With disheveled white hair and only his hollow eyes shining, he had a grotesque appearance.

The watcher of the Inner Archive, Cheon Gyeon.

“That brat... has he acquired Internal Energy in the meantime?”

Cheon Gyeon’s eyes swept over Uncheon.

“But... his bearing is peculiar.”

He did not feel the demonic qi or madness characteristic of the Demonic Cult.

Instead, there was a cool and clear Yin-Cold Qi.

“Hah... It does not seem like the Internal Energy of those Orthodox Faction bastards either... so what is this strange feeling?”

His curiosity stirred, Cheon Gyeon fell soundlessly behind Uncheon.

SLIDE.

In that instant, Uncheon and Yayul Hui both grabbed their saber hilts and turned.

“Hooh, both of you reacted? Not bad.”

The momentum of the old man walking out of the darkness covered the two of them.

“Let us see your skills.”

The test of Cheon Gyeon, the eccentric of the Inner Archive, was beginning.