Chapter 110. Ice Arts Are Nothing.

In any case, I slept well.

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“What are you looking at so intently?”

In my left hand, I held the Moon Shadow Heartless Art, and in my right, a pair of chopsticks.

I answered Cha Seongtae’s question.

“What?”

“I asked what you were looking at so intently. I can’t tell whether the rice is going into your mouth or your nostrils.”

I replied briefly to Cha Seongtae.

“It’s nothing.”

“Why are you staring so hard at something that’s nothing……”

I set the book down and focused on eating.

“Let’s eat.”

Most of my subordinates had left to deal with the aftermath of the Paegeom Society. At the Black Rabbit Gang, there were only some low-ranking martial artists, Cha Seongtae, Hoyeoncheong, and Chief Steward Byeok.

Cha Seongtae asked.

“May I take a look at that?”

“No.”

Was there some demonic nature lodged in the book?

After committing its contents to memory, I planned to burn it. Since even Moyong Baek had suffered because of it, there was clearly a great deal wrong with this book.

But I was a man with plenty wrong with me from the beginning, so I was not the sort to be shaken by the diary of some lovelorn woman.

There are many such people on the demonic path to begin with. Even the Cult Leader I intend to kill is a scumbag no different from the Great Grandmaster of the Demonic Path, Wi Ryeongha.

Wi Ryeongha, the master of the White Moon Palace said to have existed in the Kunlun Mountains, was a real person.

As I said before, hers was a force destroyed by the Kunlun Sect, and afterward, the Kunlun Sect declared the White Moon Palace to be a demon cult.

To kill them all off and then say, “They were a demon cult,” is honestly disgusting. The orthodox path sometimes does disgusting things, and that way of making the defeated into trash after victory is one of them.

In any case, it happened in the west of Qinghai, far from the Central Plains, so those in the Central Plains likely had no way to determine the truth. They had already been exterminated, so how could anyone argue right and wrong?

If there had been a survivor who carried all that injustice……

Such a person would be walking the path of the demonic from birth.

Therefore, in my view, the more the orthodox path walks the road of hypocrites, the more it will ultimately suffer the consequences itself.

The founding patriarch of Kunlun was once a master who contended for the title of Number One Under Heaven, and after crossing into the Central Plains, he even sat in the seat of the Martial Alliance Leader.

From the moment he stepped down as Martial Alliance Leader and returned to Kunlun,

the title of the foremost sword sect in Qinghai belonged to the Kunlun Sect.

Qinghai is an extremely vast jianghu where countless forces of the orthodox path, demonic path, and black path are tangled together in chaos, yet the strongest power remains that Kunlun Sect.

Even if all the other forces formed a grand alliance, defeating the Kunlun Sect would be difficult.

Even the Great Grandmaster of the Demonic Path, who mastered this Moon Shadow Heartless Art to great completion, could not surpass Kunlun, so the might of the Kunlun Sect is enough to make even me displeased.

Later, when I vie for supremacy with the masters under heaven,

the Kunlun Sect will appear in some fashion. Those bastards’ goal, too, is always to become Number One Under Heaven.

Especially in this era, when both the individual and collective titles of Number One Under Heaven have been taken from them.

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While eating, I read the Moon Shadow Heartless Art through once, then read it closely once more beneath the plum tree. After a short while, I sank into thought, read it closely a third time, and then burned the book without regret using the Flame Realm.

With this, the Moon Shadow Heartless Art vanished.

If Wi Ryeongha were alive, and the families of her victims still suffered,

I would someday have sought Wi Ryeongha out and killed her, but in any case, Wi Ryeongha was already dead.

I did not know what sort of fate this was, but I ended up learning the Moon Shadow Heartless Art.

Thinking of Wi Ryeongha’s spirit, I offered a calm greeting.

‘Though this martial art was made for revenge, I will repay you for allowing me to learn it by beating down hypocrites from now on. Senior Wi Ryeongha, Great Grandmaster of the Demonic Path, who was probably beautiful…… are you listening?’

Since I had no talent for communicating with ghosts, I immediately dispelled that ridiculous thought.

In any case, after making the Moon Shadow Heartless Art mine, I intended to kill demon heads and hypocrites to honor the souls of the dead.

For a moment, I watched the scattering plum blossoms.

This was an important moment, the point at which I would enter the Moon Shadow Heartless Art.

If, by some chance, the One-Reed River-Crosser attacked by surprise, things would become troublesome, so I had no choice but to get up and enter the main hall.

“Chief Cha.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Follow me.”

“Yes.”

I sat cross-legged in the center of the largest room and spoke to Cha Seongtae.

“I’m about to enter a new martial art, and I don’t know how much time will pass. This is an important moment.”

Cha Seongtae looked at me with a serious expression.

“Mm.”

“Stand guard.”

“Shall I stand outside?”

“No. Here. If anything happens, handle it at your discretion.”

“Understood.”

I closed my eyes and began the circulation and breathing to enter the Moon Shadow Heartless Art. The entry process could be short, or it could become long. Of course, qi deviation could also occur midway.

If the Moon Shadow Heartless Art caused qi deviation, I would abandon this martial art without lingering attachment, then run to White Eagle Pond and beat the Left Envoy of Light until he died.

The entry process was simple.

The Moon Shadow Heartless Art draws out power through a different route than the Golden Turtle Roaming Art.

This was not something I had decided, but the route set by the one who created the Moon Shadow Heartless Art. First, I explored the route with the true qi of the Golden Turtle Roaming Art, then established branch stations at key points so it could travel quickly back and forth under any circumstances.

The branch stations were a kind of relay post.

The true qi entering and leaving them was the courier.

I quickly finished the preliminary work of setting up the relay posts. What came next was similar to piercing a hole through the ridge of a rice paddy.

This part was somewhat difficult.

I had to strike the Heavenly Prison with the energy of extreme yang and pierce a hole through it. Then, if I drew the energy of extreme yin into the branch stations I had established in advance and circulated it, one full heavenly circuit would be complete. Only by connecting this process smoothly would the energy of extreme yin accumulate in my dantian, allowing me to imbue palm force or finger techniques with frigid power whenever I wished.

Originally, it was an extremely difficult process, but since it was a variation of a process I had already suffered through in my past life, I carried out the exploration, establishment, opening of the channel, rehearsal, and full heavenly circuit one after another without much difficulty.

As soon as I finished the full heavenly circuit, I set aside my greed and opened my eyes.

Cha Seongtae looked at me with startled eyes.

“You’re already finished?”

I nodded.

“Yeah.”

“You learned the new martial art?”

“Probably.”

“Show me.”

“Shall I?”

I took the Flash Dagger from my breast.

The Moon Shadow Merciless Art is broadly divided into three stages.

Waning Moon (殘月), Crescent Moon (弦月), and Full Moon (滿月).

These terms distinguish the degree of frigid energy and cold qi.

Naturally, having just completed the introductory stage, I was at the level of Waning Moon. With no idea what would happen, I infused the Flash Dagger with Waning Moon Cold Qi (殘月冷氣).

A faint chill wrapped around the blade, and pale frost settled on its tip.

Cha Seongtae asked with startled eyes.

“Is that an ice art?”

“Yeah.”

“Where’s the book from earlier?”

“I burned it.”

“Sect Leader, won’t you teach me?”

“Seongtae.”

“Yes.”

“This is a martial art from an exceedingly difficult realm.”

“No, you said you closed your eyes, then opened them, and had learned it.”

I replied with a solemn expression.

“I’m not lying. The instant I had my eyes closed felt like eternity.”

Cha Seongtae, sensing the bullshit to come, quickly gave up.

“I won’t learn it. Understood.”

“If we’re talking style, swordsmen are the finest in the jianghu. Train your swordsmanship harshly. Don’t let your eyes wander elsewhere. If you dabble in sword arts, then dabble in ice arts, and can’t do a single thing properly, where do you think that’ll get you?”

“Wow……”

“What?”

“I stood guard with the most sincere mindset in the world, and you suddenly start grilling me like this?”

“Seongtae. This is an ice art I obtained by braving the terror of qi deviation, for the sake of protecting the Hao Sect, for the working people, for the peace and safety of the jianghu, for our Ilyang County, through day-and-night research with Master Murong Bai of the Murong Medical Clan. Do you think I learned this martial art for personal gain, personal desire, or personal vanity?”

Cha Seongtae nodded.

“Yes.”

A sigh escaped me on its own.

“Let’s not talk. You hopeless bastard.”

“I’m joking. In any case, I’m envious, and congratulations. How much stronger have you become?”

“This is only the beginning.”

It was exactly as I said.

I had never used ice arts before. Just how was I supposed to make use of this? The number of possible combinations was so endless it was almost troubling. For now, I also needed to continue repeating full circulations and raise my Waning Moon realm to Crescent Moon.

Only when I balanced it with the Golden Turtle Carefree Art to some extent would it shine in actual combat.

In any case, I had become capable of using flames in one hand and cold qi in the other.

I sent Cha Seongtae outside for a while, then sank into thought alone.

‘What if……’

I became able to use the Golden Turtle Carefree Art and the Moon Shadow Merciless Art in harmony.

If I could unfold them as though they had been a single martial art from the very beginning.

What kind of martial art would that be?

The reason I had such an absurd thought was simple. The Heavenly Jade itself had originally been a single entity in which yin and yang existed in harmony.

If the Golden Turtle Carefree Art, which handled extreme yang energy, was defined as Sun (日),

and the Moon Shadow Merciless Art, which handled extreme yin energy, was defined as Moon (月),

then unfolding the two separately in both hands could be called the Sun-Moon Art (日月功). Therefore, what I needed to train was to raise the realm of the Moon Shadow Merciless Art and try using the Sun-Moon Art in actual combat.

Once I completed it, only then would it be fitting to give it the new name Sun-Moon Divine Art (日月神功).

However…….

What if I did not use the two powers separately?

What if I used them simultaneously, like the moment when sun and moon cross?

Imagination was free, so I freely recalled the sunset I had watched from Jaha Inn.

That brief time when the sun sank and the moon rose, exchanging places…….

When the purple hue created by the coexistence of yang and yin covered all under heaven.

A martial art that reached a realm different even from the Sun-Moon Divine Art.

Naturally, it would be called the Jaha Divine Art (紫霞神功).

That was why what I had told Murong Bai was not a lie.

Ice arts are nothing.

Compared to the Jaha Divine Art…….

I went outside, sat cross-legged atop the highest roof in the Black Cat Gang, and watched all under heaven as its colors changed from moment to moment.

Though I may have a poor personality,

suffer from madness,

and be a man whose heart changes dozens of times a day, swaying this way and that, most matters in the world are, in the end, decided by one’s own martial strength.

No matter how large I grow the Hao Sect…….

If one day I die at the hands of an expert stronger than me, the Hao Sect is finished as well.

It will become a sect left with nothing but lives from the very bottom.

But if my own martial might grows strong enough to cover all under heaven, influence will arise naturally.

If I survive for a long time…….

Raise a disciple into a chivalrous hero.

Spread the Hao Sect.

And if that disciple, in turn, creates a sect that raises more chivalrous heroes.

Then my influence will not easily disappear from the jianghu.

If I sweep up evildoers from the very bottom of the jianghu and lead them into the fire,

and my disciple rises to the most radiant position in the jianghu, making many people yearn to become chivalrous heroes…….

Then the things I do, too, will interlock harmoniously like light and darkness.

Since heaven has given me another chance to live,

I must harbor great ambitions.

Because the ambition I harbor is truly so vast…….

It will become a story as utterly preposterous as an inn waiter becoming the greatest under heaven.

As I looked up at the sky, immersed in all manner of thoughts…….

All under heaven, dyed in the purple sunset, was slowly coming out to greet me.

With the Jaha Divine Art held in my heart, I welcomed all under heaven as it approached.

Today is the day I acknowledge the madness dwelling within me for what it is.

The insane deed I harbor cannot be done while sane.

Even so, today, my heart was truly at peace.

My name is Jaha (紫霞).

Where light and darkness coexist…….

My very existence is all under heaven (天下).