Black Dragon Society (2)
Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero Ha Seung-hun.
He was the hero who had rendered distinguished service in thwarting the schemes of the Demonic Cult during the final war in Beijing, as well as a rising star who had ascended to the Transcendent Realm at the tender age of his early-to-mid twenties.
Those who knew him were unanimous to the point of saying that the next Grandmaster Under Heaven was as good as decided.
As such, once all the wars had ended, the forces clamoring to recruit him were far from few.
He was merely staying at the Jegal House due to a slight connection, and since he was not officially affiliated with them, it was an exceedingly natural reaction.
For if they could draw him in, both martial might and renown would fall into their hands at once.
“Although it is said that I thwarted the Demonic Cult’s schemes and brought them down, that does not mean everything has ended. The remnants of the survivors are still throwing the world into chaos, and those who cannot overcome this turmoil and continue to groan in pain overflow in number. I wish to be of help, however small, to such people.”
Under such circumstances, he declared his intention to leave on a chivalrous journey and wander the continent.
From the perspective of the Jegal House, which had been pouring all its efforts into rebuilding the clan, it was hardly strange that they felt a sense of crisis—a treasure all but in their hands might be snatched away by others.
“I wish to join in that meaningful endeavor too! It is as good as saying I survived thanks to everyone’s help. I want to repay my debt to the world like this, even if only a little. Ah! Th-that is, of course, the debt I owe Young Master Ha, I shall repay that separately, personally….”
That the stubborn insistence of Jegal Hyemi—the apple of the clan’s eye—was reluctantly approved was also due in large part to this reason.
At least while she remained by his side, the chance of him suddenly becoming a live-in son-in-law to another force would not arise.
Perhaps he might even be completely roped in and return to the clan earlier than expected.
Of course, her ability to properly wield Daoist arts as a child of the dragon had also contributed greatly to that decision.
Had she not been evaluated as exceptionally outstanding even within the Jegal House—teeming with geniuses—particularly in theoretical aspects?
But with all the constraints that had bound her gone, leaving only her merits, her talent began to bloom to the point of looking down upon most spellcasters.
“Huh, to think she has already mastered our Jegal House’s Absolute Formation…!”
“Heavens! The Dragon’s Daoist arts! Ha, just once! Please show us one more time!”
“If only we could incorporate that into our clan’s sorcery….”
Some elders who highly praised her ability argued that she must be thoroughly protected within the clan for her safety, but the clan head and the retired clan head, who held final authority, supported her wishes and permitted her to venture out into the world.
“However, there are a few conditions. First….”
Of course, in the process, there were restrictions such as several of the clan’s experts accompanying her as guards, or requiring her to inform them of her destination in advance through communication sorcery, but in truth, that much was not a very difficult condition.
‘It is not a bad thing for me, either. Jegal Hyemi’s abilities will indeed be of help on a martial world journey. Besides, simply observing the Daoist arts she has improved from the side is helpful.’
Her secret guards were also specialists in covert operations, so they were not much of a hindrance.
Since the world was still full of dangers, it was not a bad thing to have that much insurance for her safety either.
However, if there was one thing he had not expected—
“Phew~ To think we can wash with warm water even in a place like this. Daoist arts truly seem amazing! I wish I could learn them too.”
“Hmm, the reason I can use these Daoist arts is all thanks to innate factors….”
“Aww—of course I’m joking, Sister! Even if you taught me, I couldn’t stand something so headache-inducing. I’ll just stick tightly to my capable sister! Hee-hee!”
While heading toward the Mosan Sect in Jiangsu Province, which they had set as their first destination.
They had stopped by the Namgung House of Anhui Province, located midway, to pay their respects, and had somehow ended up accompanied by Namgung Soran as well.
So great was her affinity that she and Jegal Hyemi had become sworn sisters the instant they met, and afterward, with the support of the Sword Saint—the great elder of the Namgung House—she naturally joined the party.
Ha Seung-hun could not bring himself to refuse the request of someone who had also been his comrade-in-arms in the final war, and had no choice but to accept her joining them.
‘Hmm… well, I suppose it does not matter. It is the same whether there is one or two.’
Rather, with descendants of renowned houses accompanying him, his own influence would only grow, so it was not a bad turn of events.
Should a moment come when the help of a great house was needed, it would be easier to borrow their strength.
And so began the martial world journey of the three, along with several secret guards dispatched by the two houses.
Not much time had passed since the battle with the Demonic Cult ended, yet as they crossed the continent, they experienced many incidents and were able to resolve them.
They eradicated bandits who were still actively plying their trade, of course, as well as punished ruffians who continued to commit outrages without realizing the world had changed, remnants of the Demonic Cult who rampaged wildly with no one to restrain them, and corrupt officials steeped in depravity who exploited the people.
It would be remiss not to mention the small kindnesses as well, such as opening new water channels for villages whose wells had run dry or hunting dangerous beasts, but their main goal was, first and last, dealing with impure elements who continued to incite chaos in the world.
“Ohh! Thank you very much, Great Heroes!”
“S-spare us! We will live honestly from now on!”
“Oh my~! Our Malsook, now you can finally close your eyes in peace…!”
It was only natural that in the process, they experienced a variety of battles alongside their soaring fame.
They had even purged an expert of the Transcendent Realm on one occasion, so the intensity of their journey was beyond words.
And Ha Seung-hun, the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero.
At some point, he could not help but realize one fact.
‘…Why? Why am I no longer growing?’
That his growth had stagnated.
Since he was steadily taking the 『Elixir of Growth』, the proficiency of his skills continued to rise, but the wall of transcendence still showed no sign of appearing.
He needed to at least see it before he could figure out how to overcome it….
‘It is not that my martial power is lacking. At my current level, I could be said to rank among the top even within the Transcendent Realm. Then why on earth?’
The 「Void Spirit Body」 he possessed was a legendary physique that allowed him to utilize the energy of the natural world at will, making not only his internal energy but even the limits of his physical body disappear.
Furthermore, the 「Heavenly Dragon Divine Art」 obtained through the Dragon God’s blessing was a supreme, peerless martial art that was not inferior to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and could even be considered superior.
Moreover, 「Myriad Rivers Return to the Origin」, 「Jack of All Trades」, and 「Imitation」 were all skills that could be called the absolute best auxiliary abilities for learning martial arts!
‘Ah, I see.’
But having already raised several avatars to the domain of transcendence, it did not take him long to realize the cause.
Transcendence through the mystery of martial arts… reaching the Profound Realm was impossible with the methods he had used until now.
‘…Come to think of it, my avatars breaking through the wall was far from being achieved by their own power alone.’
Hans had completed the ‘Heart of the Undying King’ and naturally ascended to the position of the third Undying King, succeeding the previous generation.
The Undying King was the very symbol of the world’s destruction, who had previously dyed half the continent in death.
Simply inheriting the power and karma of such a being was enough to satisfy the conditions for transcendence.
The same went for Heinz II, who had inherited the root of a race called vampires, and Hella, who completely devoured the karma of the Demon King when the position happened to be vacant.
Under normal circumstances, an unqualified transmigration should have caused his mind to collapse, but the fraudulent skill called 「Avatar」—and abilities linked to it such as 「Mind Hub」 and 「Soul Firewall」—had made the impossible possible.
‘Heinrich and Harris, who crossed the wall with the help of the Lord God and the World Tree, had fewer side effects at least.’
But the fact that this too was thanks to external assistance did not change.
Even then, it would have been utterly impossible without the special conditions of a priest who received power through faith, and a High Elf, the chief priest of the World Tree.
‘Come to think of it, was Harley the only one who ascended to the realm of transcendence by his own strength?’
Though whether forcing his way past the wall by devouring and plundering the potential of other living beings and forcibly digesting it should count as his own strength was questionable.
In any case, Harley’s case of surpassing his limits through physical characteristics alone could only be seen as a special case.
‘But this time is different. To ascend to the Profound Realm, without such flukes, one must purely temper the Martial Way through martial arts and gain enlightenment.’
He let out a light sigh.
Among those who had currently ascended to the Profound Realm, there was not a single one who had never been called a genius.
Even Cheonma, who had grown rapidly with various corrections as an Awakened One, was born with a special talent called the 「Heavenly Slaughter Star」.
His unique skill, the 「Heavenly Slaughter Star」, was merely his innate talent converted into a skill with various supernatural effects added; most likely, even if he had not awakened, he would have become a renowned martial artist on Earth.
Of course, the chances were much higher that he would have operated as a psychopathic serial killer and been caught and killed by an Awakened One.
‘Enlightenment. I need enlightenment. Not martial principles learned through artificially injected secrets and knowledge, but something containing my own complete philosophy and ideology….’
Was it something like the destiny of a martial artist who had learned the martial arts?
Due to Hugo’s mature and magnanimous disposition, he always wore a broad-minded smile outwardly, but as time passed, he could feel an inner thirst for power growing within him.
‘Is this how martial artists fall into demonic arts? …No, demonic arts only allow for rapid achievement at lower realms. For me now, it would rather become poison.’
In the midst of this,
the clue called the ‘Black Dragon Society’ discovered on Earth was enough to become a ray of light for him, who had been stagnating.
Chinese soil, which had an unusually high number of returnees from the martial world.
Among them, the oldest and most secretive collective of martial arts practitioners, carefully filtered and chosen.
The expectation of a ‘something’ that these people, who inevitably faced the limits of growth within the environment called Earth, had discovered after systemizing secret principles derived from countless dimensions made his heart race.
“Young Master?”
“Brother?”
At that moment,
he snapped his head up at the voices of the two beside him.
The two who had been continuing the journey with him were looking at him with strange expressions.
“Did you call us? Is something the matter?”
“No, it is… well….”
“It is not that something happened, but your expression, Brother….”
“Expression?”
He tilted his head, touching his own face.
His fingertips felt only the muscles bearing the same calm smile as always.
But having roughly guessed the situation, he continued nonchalantly.
“Ah! I was lost in thought for a moment when a good idea suddenly came to mind. It seems a smile came out without me realizing.”
As if that answer were correct, the two readily nodded.
Well, if he were suddenly giggling to himself in this situation, they could not help but think it strange.
“Then it seems everything is taken care of, so let us slowly move out.”
“Yes. By the way, we have finally arrived in the Mosan Sect’s territory. If we had not taken detours along the way, we would have arrived much earlier.”
“It could not be helped, Sister. It is not like we could sit still after obtaining information on the Demonic Cult remnants’ stronghold.”
Behind the trio, who gradually moved away while conversing, gazes filled with terror gathered.
But that too was only for a moment.
Figures in shabby attire cautiously pushed their way into the manor interior from which the three had emerged.
A plaque shattered on the floor, buildings completely collapsed, and countless martial artists whose dantians had been destroyed, crippled and writhing on the ground.
They were the worst criminals of the criminal underworld who had once ruled this vicinity with blood and fear.
“Ugh… save… save me….”
“Scram! How dare you cripples… kuk!”
And of course.
The fate of those who had sown grudges was not a pleasant one.
For a while, screams and the stench of blood flowed out from within the ruined manor.
Just as all the other places before it had been.
***
Heinz II had gone to great lengths to make certain he captured the Black Dragon Lord.
Not only had he interrogated Black Shadow and analyzed the information, he had also secretly installed alarm barriers and Blood Gates (血門) throughout the headquarters and every nearby safe house.
So that no matter when or where the man appeared, he could descend on him at once.
“This, I did not expect…”
As such, he could not help but feel somewhat sour about the current situation.
He stared blankly at the old man striding boldly through the front gate of the headquarters, as if ignoring all the countermeasures he had prepared.
An old man whose appearance matched exactly what he had already seen through various means, clad in the black wushu uniform one would picture at the mention of a Chinese martial artist.
He was the leader of the Black Dragon Society—commonly known as the Black Dragon Lord.
“It seems I’ve kept you waiting. I did hurry here in my own way, but as I am in a position where I must move in hiding, it could not be helped. I hope you will understand my slight tardiness with a generous heart.”
Though he must have already grasped full well how the situation was unfolding, there was not the slightest trace of tension in his attitude.
As if he had already given up on everything and accepted it.
‘Or perhaps he’s certain I won’t harm him.’
Heinz narrowed his eyes and examined him carefully.
As he had heard, the man was a master who had reached the Profound Realm, the domain of transcendence.
And even among them, he was of a level that belonged to the upper ranks.
“…Indeed, just as I heard.”
“Oh? Might I ask what sort of things you heard?”
At that low murmur of admiration, the Black Dragon Lord replied with a sly air.
Heinz, unconcerned by his attitude, continued speaking.
“They say you’re a transcendent born on Earth.”
“Oh-ho!”
The sole transcendent born on Earth, that barren land of mystery.
Of course, that did not mean he had reached that realm one hundred percent purely on Earth.
He was a returnee from the murim world who had come back in the early days of the Great Cataclysm, and when he returned, his realm had been at the very edge of the Transformation Realm.
But he had not given up there, continuing to make repeated attempts to overcome the wall… and, as if to prove a point, he had succeeded in that impossible challenge.
‘They say he sacrificed his lifespan and youth as the price.’
That could not be helped.
No matter how much aid he had received from elixirs, reaching transcendence required an absolutely staggering amount of energy.
On this Earth, where qi did not exist, it was not particularly strange that he had consumed his innate qi—something virtually no different from life force—in place of internal energy.
“Well, if you know that much, I suppose it’s safe to say you already know most of what matters.”
Even though his opponent already knew such important information about him, he did not seem to consider it a big deal.
Rather, he merely looked at Heinz with a broad grin, as if he found something amusing.
“This is something I’ve never told anyone… Well, I suppose it would be all right to reveal it to you.”
“Mm?”
“Hohoho, you’ll be truly shocked. It’s top secret!”
Then, going one step further, he opened his mouth first.
With a strangely excited air, like a child sharing a secret.
“The former East Asia branch head of the Buncheon Society.”
At those words, Heinz’s body flinched.
The Black Dragon Lord looked at him with a smile in his eyes and continued.
“I am the predecessor of the Lawgiver—the Heaven-Defier.”