That was all for today. I probably won’t be able to post tomorrow, so I’m planning to upload tomorrow’s installment together with this one.
Enjoy the reading.
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The Shaolin Temple identified Dokgo Seong as the culprit behind the assassination of the Shaolin Holy Monk.
This was because he had disappeared without a trace immediately after the incident, and information had come to light that the weapon used in the crime belonged to him. Furthermore, traces of Qi-Dispersing Poison had been found on the Shaolin Holy Monk’s corpse, while the wounds showed no trace whatsoever of internal energy. There could be no doubt that the culprit possessed no internal energy and was someone who had earned the Shaolin Holy Monk’s deep trust.
Of course, all these conditions fit Dokgo Seong perfectly. Moreover, when the Dharma Protector Monks who had been keeping watch over Dokgo Seong were also found dead, their heads severed from their bodies, the investigation was terminated without being pursued any further.
The Shaolin Temple declared with certainty that Dokgo Seong was the culprit and issued an open manhunt order for him.
They also began spreading the news throughout every faction of the martial world.
“Dokgo Seong, the Young Cult Master of the Heretical Cult who was under the protection of the Shaolin Temple, assassinated the Shaolin Holy Monk. In his vile manner, he used Qi-Dispersing Poison to incapacitate the Shaolin Holy Monk and the Dharma Protector Monks before brutally murdering them. The scene was so horrific that it could scarcely be viewed with open eyes. Accordingly, the Shaolin Temple hereby declares an open manhunt for the culprit, Dokgo Seong. This manhunt order shall remain in effect until his dying breath.”
By that time, Dokgo Seong had already entered deep into the main headquarters of the Heretical Cult. He was fast asleep after having his acupuncture points sealed.
Once they had reached a safe place, Do Wicheong unsealed Dokgo Seong’s pressure points. The first thing Dokgo Seong saw when he regained consciousness was a middle-aged man wearing a scholar’s robe, whose appearance was infinitely refined and pure.
That man was none other than Sa Junhwan, the Heretical Cult’s Chief Strategist.
“Keugh.”
Dokgo Seong’s small body was hurled mercilessly against the wall. Spitting a fountain of blood, he struggled with all his might to rise.
He managed to get himself up somehow, but his limp left arm refused to obey him at all. It seemed that the bone in his arm had been thoroughly broken.
With his back pressed tightly against the wall, Dokgo Seong stared blankly at the approaching green silhouette.
Thud. Thud.
What was approaching him at great speed was a gigantic green monster. The monster was covered in green fur in various places, with enormous blood-red eyes and fangs protruding from the corners of its mouth that made a particularly striking impression.
Roughly ten cheok tall—about three meters—it had a physique resembling that of a human, but possessed truly tremendous strength. It was also wielding, with complete freedom in both hands, an axe longer than Dokgo Seong was tall.
Yet what troubled Dokgo Seong more than anything was the monster’s skin. For the past hour or so, he had fought a bloody battle with the monster and inflicted countless wounds upon it.
But those wounds had vanished without a trace. The monster’s regenerative ability was simply that extraordinary. Even the wound on its lower abdomen, inflicted immediately before Dokgo Seong had been thrown against the wall, was already in the process of healing.
Dokgo Seong felt as though he was going insane as he watched the wound regenerate beneath a coating of something resembling boiling foam.
“Damn it. If only I had my internal energy.”
Staring at the monster, Dokgo Seong lowered his head and looked at the weapon strapped to his right hand: a dark, iron gauntlet made of jointed steel.
In this place, the weapon was called a spike gauntlet. Four long blades rose from the knuckle area, but most of them had been horribly blunted at the tips.
Only one blade remained intact. The rest had all broken off during his exchanges with the monster.
It was a weapon issued to him just before he entered this place. Although it had been made to resemble the Tiger Claw he had used in the Central Plains, it was still equally unfamiliar to Dokgo Seong.
Unlike this weapon, the blades of a Tiger Claw were attached to the fingers. Naturally, using a Tiger Claw required profound internal energy. Because its length was considerably shorter, one had to infuse it with internal energy to make effective attacks and defenses.
As the monster approached within arm’s reach, Dokgo Seong suddenly threw himself aside.
Kwa-boom!
A gigantic axe smashed into the spot where he had been. Judging from the deep hollow it had carved into the wall, there was no doubt that if it had struck him head-on, not even his bones would have remained intact.
Until now, Dokgo Seong had not even dared to block the monster’s attacks. If he tried to stop them with the gauntlet he was wearing, his hand would certainly be smashed to pieces on the spot…
Even so, one fortunate fact was that the monster’s movements were relatively slow. That was why Dokgo Seong had managed to endure for nearly an hour.
A spark of fighting spirit rose in Dokgo Seong’s eyes.
“You bastard. Do you think I’ll just let you have your way with me?”
When he had killed the orc, Dokgo Seong had nearly abandoned all desire to live. But as he recalled what had happened in the Central Plains—particularly his meeting with Sa Junhwan—an impulse for revenge surged up within him. He could not simply die in vain like this.
Dokgo Seong finally resolved to survive.
To do so, he first had to pass the trials imposed by the people of Truevenia. After receiving treatment for several days, Dokgo Seong’s wounds healed completely, and he was sent into another trial.
This time, the opponent facing him was a monster known in this place as a troll.
Trolls were counted, along with ogres, among Truevenia’s representative mid-sized monsters because of their bodies and strength, both vastly greater than those of humans, as well as their terrifying regenerative abilities. Of course, a skilled knight could fight and defeat a troll one-on-one. But to ordinary soldiers and mercenaries, trolls remained utterly fearsome creatures.
And Dokgo Seong had been locked in a bloody battle with precisely such a troll for a full hour.
“Even if you appear strong, as long as you’re alive, you must have a weakness. You’re no exception.”
The weakness Dokgo Seong had concluded the troll possessed was its head. No matter how powerful a monster’s regeneration might be, it could not survive if its head was crushed.
But attacking its head was by no means easy.
For one thing, since the troll stood nearly three meters tall, reaching its head was the greatest obstacle Dokgo Seong faced at present. If he had possessed martial arts, it would not have mattered, of course. But now that he had lost his internal energy, leaping toward the head of a living, smoothly moving monster seemed impossible at a glance.
Nevertheless, Dokgo Seong did not grow impatient. He doggedly waited for an opportunity.
What he had failed to anticipate was that the troll was more cunning than he had expected…
Unable to catch Dokgo Seong easily, the troll bent at the waist and swung its axe as though enraged. Its head was now positioned within reach of someone leaping upward.
Dokgo Seong, who had been waiting for precisely such an opportunity, had no intention of letting it pass. He threw himself aside to evade the axe, then leaped without hesitation, intending to drive the gauntlet into the troll’s head.
But that was exactly where Dokgo Seong made his mistake…
Something flew toward his body suspended in midair.
It was the troll’s left arm, which it had concealed behind itself. With nowhere to evade in the air, Dokgo Seong was horrified and had no choice but to raise his arm to block.
Crack.
His arm bone broke uselessly, and Dokgo Seong was violently hurled against the wall. He had now been forced into a situation where he could face the monster with only one hand.
Boom!
Barely avoiding being split by the axe, Dokgo Seong hurried around behind the troll. He was panting so hard that his breath seemed to catch in his throat, and the pain radiating from his left arm made his head swim, but he gathered himself with every ounce of strength he possessed.
When its prey slipped behind it, the troll let out a shriek and tried to turn around.
At that moment, Dokgo Seong caught sight of the monster’s heel.
A good idea came to him. He charged without hesitation and swung the spike gauntlet mounted on his hand.
In humans, it was the Achilles tendon—the muscle most important for taking steps. His aim was to sever it and slow the troll’s movements.
The blades attached to the gauntlet plunged accurately into the troll’s heel.
Splatter!
Green blood sprayed thickly over Dokgo Seong’s entire body. But he paid it no heed and viciously twisted the spike gauntlet embedded in the heel.
With a ghastly sound, the muscle was severed completely. As the troll tried to turn, its body staggered because the muscle had been cut.
As though furious, the troll kicked backward with its remaining good leg. The thick limb, more like a pillar than a leg, came crashing toward him with a terrifying whoosh.
Realizing that he could not evade it, Dokgo Seong spread his good arm and wrapped it around the leg. It was the most suitable response, born of his long experience in real combat.
Boom!
With a heavy impact, Dokgo Seong spat out another mouthful of blood. But he managed to seize the leg he had been aiming for.
When its prey clung to its leg, the troll kicked violently in an attempt to shake him off. But Dokgo Seong clung to it for dear life and did not fall easily.
“Damn it!”
Hanging from the leg, Dokgo Seong waited for an opening and thrust the gauntlet out with all his strength. His target was the muscle in the leg once again. Since the monster possessed such powerful regenerative abilities, there was no time for hesitation.
Amid a spray of green blood, the second Achilles tendon was severed without fail. At the same time, Dokgo Seong’s small body was kicked away by the troll and sent tumbling into the distance.
“Kirrrrr.”
Seeing its prey thrown away, the troll tried to charge after him without delay. The mind of the troll, which had been starving for a long time, held only one thought: crush its prey with its axe, then chew and swallow it whole.
But the troll failed to consider that the muscles in both its legs had been severed.
The troll’s legs tangled as it tried to charge forward with all its momentum. Unable to support itself any longer, with its muscles cut, the three-meter-tall troll lost its balance and began to topple sideways.
By sheer coincidence, it was falling in the direction where Dokgo Seong lay.
As the enormous bulk began to fall toward him, Dokgo Seong rolled his body with all his might.
A fragment of a blade that had fallen from the gauntlet pierced into his back, but he did not even feel the pain. He simply hurled his body away on instinct.
A moment later, a thick cloud of dust completely covered him.
Thud.
Dokgo Seong narrowly avoided being crushed and hurriedly rose to his feet. No sensation came from his broken left arm, and the blood loss made his consciousness grow faint. Judging from the heat soaking his back, the wound there seemed quite deep.
But Dokgo Seong paid it no heed and charged at the troll, which was struggling to rise.
The troll’s head alone was enormous. Dokgo Seong drove the gauntlet into its skull with all his strength.
Clang!
The one remaining blade broke off helplessly. The troll’s skull was far harder than he had expected.
“Damn it.”
Since it had been the only weapon remaining on the gauntlet, Dokgo Seong reached out to catch the blade fragment as it ricocheted away. But the fragment slipped beyond his grasp and flew far away, as if mocking him.
Feeling pain in its head, the troll let out a shriek. Then it extended its hand and seized Dokgo Seong’s body tightly.
It was a moment of absolute crisis.
Yet Dokgo Seong did not panic in the slightest. He reached his good right arm behind his back and gripped the fragment of the gauntlet’s blade that was embedded there.
Shrrk!
With a gruesome sound of flesh being torn, a fairly long fragment of the blade came free, trailing flesh with it.
The troll’s hand was already gripping Dokgo Seong firmly around the waist. Holding the blade fragment in a reverse grip, Dokgo Seong drove it viciously toward the troll’s eye.
No matter how hard a skull might be, the area containing the eyeball was naturally hollow.
The troll’s bloodshot pupil was pierced without resistance, and the blade fragment plunged deep into its brain.
The troll’s body trembled as though struck by lightning. The shock caused its grip to tighten involuntarily.
Dokgo Seong felt as though his waist were suddenly being crushed. The troll’s hand had already locked firmly around it. The pain was unbearable, and Dokgo Seong let out a desperate scream.
“Gyaaaah!”
Fortunately, the pain did not last long. With its brain destroyed, the troll soon lost all strength in its limbs, and Dokgo Seong was barely able to free himself from its grasp.
Thud.
Lying sprawled on the floor, Dogoseong panted raggedly. He no longer had the strength to move even a finger. Raising his blurred gaze, he examined the condition of the opponent he had been fighting.
The troll was now collapsed on the ground, its body twitching intermittently. But even that soon ceased, and the troll’s massive body went completely limp.
In their second confrontation, he had defeated even a troll. A dry voice escaped through his bloodied lips.
“It was tough.”
Perhaps he had exhausted every last ounce of strength in his body, for fatigue surged over him like a flood. Dogoseong fell facedown and promptly passed out. A short while later, the prison door opened, and a group of soldiers rushed inside. They gathered up Dogoseong’s body and began carrying him somewhere.
“What was the result?”
“Amazingly, it ended in victory for the outsider. The troll we sent in died completely, its brain pierced through.”
“Really?”
Sergey wore an expression of great interest. A troll was a medium-sized monster that even ordinary soldiers were reluctant to face. And this man had fought and defeated one in single combat… using a short weapon like a spiked gauntlet, no less.
“So, how did the fight proceed? Did he fight well once you gave him the spiked gauntlets?”
At Sergey’s question, Benitez, who had been giving the report, hesitated slightly.
“Well, that is…”
“Is there some problem?”
In the end, Benitez briefly explained how the battle had unfolded, as though he had no choice.
“To be honest, he is barely clinging to life at the moment. His left ribs and arm bones are completely fractured, and his other bruises are beyond description. Judging by that, it seems a troll is the limit of what he can handle.”
“Really?”
Sergey wore an expression of great interest.
“How would you like to dispose of him?”
“Hmm? What should we do? What do you think?”
Benitez hesitated for a moment before finally revealing his true feelings. In any case, Dogoseong was someone he had risked his life to bring here by crossing dimensions. Thus, he hardly welcomed the thought of simply killing him.
“As Your Grace knows, we are currently suffering from a severe shortage of troops. Every young man capable of fighting is being recruited and sent to the front. With the number of casualties so high, even reinforcing our forces has already reached its limit. Therefore, I believe it would be best to treat him and put him to work, or at least make use of him as a guard on the city walls. If neither of those is suitable, we could send him to the battlefield. I believe he would be capable of performing the duties of an ordinary soldier.”
Sergey merely nodded, a smile on his face. A little while later, an order was issued.
“Treat him first.”
“What? You mean you accept my proposal?”
But Sergey shook his head as though that was not what he meant. The smile on his face was gradually deepening.
“I intend to conduct one more test. This time, against an ogre. So you are to heal him with every means at your disposal.”
Benitez was startled.
“An ogre? That is absurd. An ogre is a monster so powerful that a troll cannot even be compared to it. There is an eighty-to-ninety percent chance he will not survive this test.”
“That would be his fate, would it not? In any event, if he completes this test safely, I will let him live. That is, assuming he manages to kill the ogre.”
Smiling faintly, Sergey rose to his feet. His words had been so unexpected that Benitez could only stand there blankly.
“There is only one way to remove the restriction placed upon Young Master.”
“There is a way to remove the restriction?”
At the unexpected good news, Dogoseong’s mouth fell open. There was a way to break the horrendous restriction technique imposed by the Shaolin Saint Monk…? This was news that could only be called a blessing. A flame of hope slowly rose in Dogoseong’s eyes.
It had already been a month since Dogoseong had entered the Demonic Cult. During that time, the Demonic Cult’s Chief Strategist, Sajunhwan, had treated Dogoseong with the utmost devotion—almost as if the late Cult Master Dogoseong had returned to life. Because of this, Dogoseong had come to trust Sajunhwan from the depths of his heart. And it was only natural. Until then, he had suffered endless contempt and persecution at Shaolin Temple. With no one treating him warmly, he had been able to move to the Demonic Cult, and the month he spent there was nothing short of paradise to him.
For one thing, everyone he encountered showed him the utmost respect and loyalty. From the servants and ordinary martial artists to even the high-ranking hall masters, everyone unfailingly demonstrated their allegiance by prostrating themselves whenever they saw him. No one dared treat him carelessly. To Dogoseong, it was truly like a dream.
Dogoseong had always tended to place his trust in anyone who treated him even a little kindly, believing in them to the depths of his heart. The fact that he had refused to harm the Shaolin Saint Monk even when standing at the threshold of life and death was proof enough of that.
Because of this temperament, Dogoseong had already become deeply enamored with Sajunhwan.
And then another incident occurred that made it impossible for him not to trust Sajunhwan…
On the tenth day after Dogoseong arrived at the Demonic Cult, an envoy bearing an official document from the Martial Alliance arrived. Of course, the document formally demanded that Dogoseong, who had assassinated the Shaolin Saint Monk, be handed over. But Sajunhwan refused without a second thought.
“We cannot hand over the Young Master of our Cult. Even if the price is war.”
The envoy from the Martial Alliance ultimately had no choice but to return dejectedly. He had been unable to bend Sajunhwan’s resolve to go so far as to wage war.
At the time, Dogoseong had hidden behind a curtain and watched the entire scene. He was deeply moved by Sajunhwan’s determination to protect him, no matter what happened. But as for the Shaolin Saint Monk’s death, even Dogoseong could not help being horrified.
“The Saint Monk is dead? How did that happen?”
As soon as the Martial Alliance’s envoy departed, Dogoseong came running out in a panic. Sajunhwan put on a somber expression.
“It seems to have been the work of those men. The pill I gave to Doweicheong for the Shaolin Saint Monk to take was unquestionably a sleeping draught. Since Young Master tasted it yourself, you must have guessed what it was.”
“That is true, but…”
“The orthodox sects are vile and cunning people who delight in underhanded methods. They must have staged this incident to find an excuse to fight our Cult. The Saint Monk was a venerable master whom even I held in the highest regard. It is highly likely that he was harmed by the people of the orthodox sects.”
“Th-then the Saint Monk was killed by the orthodox sects…”
“That is what I suspect. The people of the Martial Alliance are more than capable of such a thing.”
At last, furious light blazed in Dogoseong’s eyes. His anger was directed at the orthodox martial artists who had supposedly assassinated the Shaolin Saint Monk. Though the Saint Monk had placed a restriction upon him, he was the only person who had treated Dogoseong like a human being. Dogoseong could not simply stand by and ignore his death.
But Dogoseong, who possessed no martial arts, had no way to avenge him. In the end, he begged Sajunhwan to teach him martial arts.
“I want to become strong. Please pass on an unparalleled martial art to me.”
Naturally, Sajunhwan could only express his reluctance.
“Hah! Learning martial arts… Under the current circumstances, that will be no easy matter.”
The greatest obstacle to Dogoseong learning martial arts was the restriction imposed upon him.
The Sevenfold Severing Restriction Technique. As long as this restriction existed, learning martial arts would be nothing more than a futile endeavor. Even if he learned the most powerful martial art, what use would it be if he could not kill his opponent…?
Sajunhwan had already completed a secret investigation and was well aware of Dogoseong’s condition. Even so, he deliberately left Dogoseong with a lingering hope.
“Do not worry too much. I will certainly think of a way.”
Dogoseong withdrew, half believing and half doubting him. Two days later, Sajunhwan came to Dogoseong himself bearing this good news.
“Have you ever heard of the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art?”
“The Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art?”
Of course, Dogoseong, who knew nothing about the martial world, had no way of knowing this martial art. In a solemn tone, Sajunhwan began explaining the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art to him.
“The Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art. This martial art was created two hundred years ago by Dongfang Lian, the Thousand-Hand Blood Demon. He was originally the fourteenth Cult Master of the Demonic Cult, but was later deposed. This was the martial art he created himself. To be honest, it can be considered the most powerful martial art in the seven-hundred-year history of the Demonic Cult.”
Since that part greatly appealed to him, Dogoseong listened without even pausing to breathe. Sajunhwan was revealing the secrets of the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art with relatively little concealment.
“At the time, Dongfang Lian perfected the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art by absorbing the vital essence of a thousand virgin boys and girls every day. Naturally, he kept this secret from the Cult members. The method of cultivation was so horrendous that even within the Demonic Cult, its practice has been prohibited to this day. But its power cannot be underestimated. Dongfang Lian was regarded as the greatest master in the martial world of his time solely because of this one martial art. But there is no such thing as a secret that remains hidden forever. By a chance occurrence, Dongfang Lian’s secret was completely exposed, and he was eventually deposed. Hounded relentlessly, he was finally killed by countless martial arts masters. That is the background of the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art.”
“A thousand virgin boys and girls?”
Dogoseong was aghast as he listened. A thousand children had to be sacrificed for the sake of a single martial art…
“You want me to learn such a cursed demonic art? I refuse. Even if it makes me stronger, I refuse.”
Without realizing it, Dogoseong waved his hands and backed away. Sajunhwan offered a faint smile, as though trying to reassure him.
“But you have nothing to worry about. The instructors of our Cult have already developed another method of cultivation that can replace the virgin boys and girls.”
“A replacement method?”
“That is right. It involves using animals. If you kill a thousand lambs in place of the virgin boys and girls and absorb their vital essence each day, you can cultivate a martial art whose power, while inferior to the original Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art, is not significantly weaker. Moreover, if Young Master learns this art, you will be able to overcome the Sevenfold Severing Restriction Technique imposed upon you.”
“Hmm.”
Dogoseong fell into thought for a moment. Absorbing the vital essence of sheep instead of a thousand virgin boys and girls… That was something he was willing to endure, as long as it made him stronger.
“I will also bury the secret forever. I give you my word that, no matter what happens this time, it will never be exposed.”
With Sajunhwan going so far, Dogoseong had no reason to hesitate any longer. He readily agreed to learn the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art.
“Very well. I will give it a try.”
“An excellent decision.”
A smile slowly spread across Sajunhwan’s lips. It was the satisfied smile of a man watching everything proceed according to his wishes.
In truth, there was one thing he had not told Dogoseong.
The Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art. Because of its exceptionally cruel method of cultivation, it could turn a person into a peerless master within a short time—but it also carried serious side effects. Its demonic nature would seep into the marrow, transforming the practitioner into a bloodthirsty demon.
It was a cursed demonic art that would turn its practitioner into a Blood Fiend, a person who felt no guilt whatsoever even when killing others, and who, as more time passed, lost all humanity and became capable of nothing but slaughter. This was the martial art Sajunhwan was recommending to Dogoseong.
In truth, Dogoseong could be said to be far too old to begin learning martial arts. Even if he trained diligently from this moment onward, becoming a Transcendent master would be utterly impossible.
Throughout the long history of the martial world, countless methods had been used to train disciples of the various sects, and as a result, three or four orthodox methods had eventually been established. Ordinarily, in order to produce a master of the highest level, the martial sects would perform the Meridian-Reforming Technique on a child from infancy.
In extreme cases, there were even children who underwent the treatment while still in their mothers’ wombs. Once their sinews and bones had been strengthened in this manner, they would unfailingly begin learning the art of circulating their qi as soon as they were old enough to understand what was said to them. Though the details differed from sect to sect, the process itself was largely the same.
What determined the children’s futures in that process was the Second Meridian-Revision Technique. In other words, elders of sects possessing profound internal energy would inject their power into the children’s acupoints and forcibly open the pathways through which internal energy flowed. This was done to ensure that the flow of internal energy remained smooth.
However, carrying out this second Meridian-Revision Technique was by no means easy. First, the practitioner performing it had to be a master of considerable ability, and a substantial amount of internal energy was also lost during the process.
For that reason, each sect applied this method only to its direct disciples—in other words, the handful of prodigies who would lead the sect in the future. From that point onward, a difference in the children’s martial potential began to emerge depending on whether or not they had undergone the Meridian-Revision Technique. Those who received the treatment would grow into pillars of their sects, achieving heights no one else could match, while those who did not would merely mature into ordinary warriors of the sect.
Considering all these circumstances, it could be said that it was virtually impossible for Dokgo Seong to become a Peak-Realm master. He had spent the most important years of his childhood for learning martial arts confined within Shaolin Temple, and thus could be called almost completely ignorant in the matter of internal energy. That may have been why he was able to remain unharmed even after consuming the Seven-Step Intestine-Severing Powder taken by the Shaolin Sage Monk. The Seven-Step Intestine-Severing Powder was a deadly poison to martial artists who possessed internal energy, but to ordinary people, it was instead a restorative medicine.
In a sense, if he wished to learn powerful martial arts, he had no alternative but the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art. Moreover, the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art, which allowed demonic nature to penetrate all the way into one’s marrow and turn one into a bloodthirsty demon, could sufficiently overcome the Shaolin Sage Monk’s restriction.
Whatever Sa Junhwan’s intentions may have been, Dokgo Seong resolved to learn the Son of Heaven Blood Demon Art.
Completely unaware that Sa Junhwan had deceived him perfectly.