“Master. I missed you!”
Dawn that night—
After receiving a message from Songhwa, he encountered Imugi, who came as well.
However, as soon as he saw him hugging him and crying, Seol-Hwi responded by gently tripping him.
Thud!
And the sound of Imugi getting up as soon as he fell down was scarier.
“Oho. Your martial arts…?”
Seol-Hwi was surprised at his movements. He felt a bit bad that his balance was lost and he fell down, but he managed to get up right away.
His movements were light, and the light in the eyes, shone several times darker than before.
“Quite a great achievement.”
“Yes… well, when Master was away, I practiced it quite a bit.”
“Hidden Truth Corps’ exclusive martial arts?”
“In addition to that, I practiced the martial arts which Master taught me before, and even the martial arts of the former master, Elder Baekhon. As I was doing it, there was something like a connecting feel.”
“Ha…”
Seol-Hwi was surprised.
It was hard to believe that he had achieved all this on his own, without guidance in just one year.
He knew that Imugi was a genius, but now that he saw this, it looked like he rose up to the Peak Demon level. Otherwise, he would not have been able to display such perfect martial arts.
“But… where are we going?”
Seeing how Songhwa was packing his things, Imugi asked.
“It seems like I need to go a little farther.”
“Farther where?”
“A place with less people or even somewhere with no one around.”
“…?”
He let out a voice which did not understand what this meant.
Seol-Hwi patted him on the shoulder and gestured.
“Now, pack your things too.”
“Me too?”
“Then, did you want to stay here alone?”
“…!”
At the words of Seol-Hwi Imugi looked shocked.
“I will clean the place right away! Just give me a moment.”
“You! Till the very end…”
“Then you want me to just leave? The place I am in right now has gold and gold all around!”
“I guess so…”
Seol-Hwi had no choice but to acknowledge it. During the one year he did train a lot.
“I am going to tidy up the place. And the slips will be exchanged for gold.”
“R-right…”
His disciples learned how to make money in this world.
With a splash—
The ships with people and goods were rushing into the harbor.
It was a small port in Haenam. This place which used to be so simple and quiet was now crowded.
It was a place where fishing boats and trading boats leading to the mainland usually came and went.
Whisper
The place was overflowing with people
“Recently, there have been bad rumors going around… seems like the Demonic Sect moved into the central plains. W’ere now seeing the refugees coming in.”
Cheong-un, who was in charge of handling the port, clicked his tongue.
“I don’t think there was anything wrong with central plains though.”
Cheong-pyo who was beside him shrugged.
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t this blowing up because the people of the Demonic Sect couldn’t be handled? This is rather interesting, thinking this place is safe because it is a remote village… only at times like these do people seek refuge here.”
Haenam—
Like its name said, Haenam is a land covered with bodies of water on three sides. A place which is united, the Haenam Sect had its own unique sword technique which reflected the roughness of the sea.
The leader of this place was Mok Yang-chun, who is a Super Master warrior and is in one of the top ten.
One of the Top Ten Great Warriors.
If a fight broke out in any situation, then they were the ones who would come out on top.
Since their sect leader was listed as one of them, the disciples of Haenam Sect were confident.
“Sahyung… that there… the boat from Yangtze.”
Ding! Ding!
A large ship came to dock with a bell. It was a merchant ship loaded with people, and it quickly docked and began to send out people and goods.
“Let’s go.”
Step. Step.
At Cheong-un’s gesture, more than a dozen members of the sect came ahead. They blocked the path of those who were coming down.
“Huh… everyone stand in order. By order of the sect leader of Haenam Sect, I will investigate whether there are any evil people so please cooperate.”
Clack
The warriors spoke very politely but they touched their sheaths at the same time, so people lined up, unable to make a fuss, and moved in a line.
“Where are you from? How many in total?”
“How long are you planning to stay?”
What the Haenam disciples were concerned about was the influx of people. In other words, beggars.
Unlike the other sects in the land, the Haenam sect was in a position to take charge of the public order in the government departments. Because of this, the refugees who followed in without a cent on them were wary.
“You have no money to spare? What were you thinking coming here?!”
“Do you think that Haenam is some sort of help center!”
The Haenam sect did not discriminate against the poor. The displaced people without a basic life turned into petty thieves or beggars. If the situation was too bad, the guy will turn to a robber for not being able to find food for 15 days.
“You don’t have work? Then accommodation fee? You people!”
“Send them to the labor camp! You people will be fishing on the boat for another 15 days now. what? Didn’t learn? Did you learn to walk the moment you came out!”
The disciples of Haenam were used to seeing that warm nature brings evil outcomes. So when the victims came up, they tried to stop such things from happening.
Shouting loudly, they were filtering out those who can stay for a month and those who cannot. Even this was a lacking plan when things were drawn out for a long time, yet Haenam was being cautious of it.
They are just stepping out of convenience for closeby people and they were part of the Murim sects, not officials.
“Write your name on the list. What is your name?”
“Goo. Jun. Myung.”
“Um?”
While they were checking the ground, they looked at a party which looked awkward.
Cheong-pyo looked at the young man holding the brush and frowned.
Calluses on the hand—
“Y-you learned martial arts?”
It was the hand of a warrior.
“Yes.”
The one who had been asked was Imugi.
“What work do you have in Haenam? Do you know what it means to be an outsider and come here in suspicious times?”
Cheong-pyo suddenly looked at the guy with wide eyes.
“What purpose, what is…”
Imugi frowned at the words.
“Elder. He is my escort.”
Then, Songhwa, who was next to him, approached and answered.
“…Who are you? Escort warriors?”
“I used to make a mountain as a fortune teller in Hangzhou. I moved to avoid those demons, but the times are dangerous so I hired someone with excellent martial arts.”
In response to this, Cheong-pyo nodded at the sight of the kid.
One child and one long fragile looking one. It would have been natural to hire a warrior to protect himself.
“Hmm, a fortune teller? Anyone know this kid?”
When asked, the hands rose from all over. Contrary to his thoughts, the kid seemed kind of famous.
“You have money to live for a month?”
“Might be lacking…”
Shh
Songhwa showed the pouch with 30 gold coins to the person.
Cheong-pyo thought that with this much money, he could set up a land site.
“It’s okay, go. And don’t show the pouch around to others. Do you want to die?”
“Ah… yes, thank you.”
Songhwa was flustered but smiled. The hasty nature was truly on edge, but the content was what he was concerned about.
Let Songhwa, who was loaded, offer money.
“That, if it is lacking, then alcohol…”
“No use, next.”
The disciple of Haenam pushed him away.
“To verify the character with money? It is a very empty place.”
After staying in Haenam for a while, Seol-Hwi and the party went up to the mountains. They decided to find a place far from people.
“Exactly… similar right? A place where loyalty is checked with skills over money.”
“…True.”
After wandering around for half a day, they decided to make a place for their home. They waited for night to come and made a simple camp.
Seol-Hwi disappeared somewhere for training and Imugi with Songhwa gathered wood to make a bonfire.
“Still, Haenam seems like a decent place to live in. Without money, we will be shown a job too.”
“Instead of just doing it, they get a name for doing it. This is what the people of Forces of Justice do.”
When Imugi snorted, Songhwa smiled.
“Would we go to a place which wasn’t part of the Forces of Justice?”
“…That.”
As Songhwa indirectly spoke of the Demonic Sect, Imugi sighed. He saw countless refugees on their way here. Most of them had never seen Demonic Sect people in person and were afraid for their lives.
But among those, there were those who saw the crazy demons going insane, so they could vouch for what they saw.
Despite being few in number, the words were shocking.
“The demon who loses the mind and eats the faces of people… what martial arts should one learn for this?”
Imugi, whose basic martial arts were demonic arts, took this seriously. Usually, there are just cases where such things happened right within the sect, the members going insane with their blood flow increasing.
But when you see it happen all around everyday… it could be seen that this was an attack.
Thanks to that, there was an atmosphere in the middle court where they were afraid of the Demonic Sect.
“Only those Mount Hua people must be excited. I heard that many are joining Mount Hua.”
“Like Master said. Thanks to that, we are seeing people curse Wudang and Shaolin too.”
It was not that there was no activity in the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. They, too, were keeping eyes on the borders.
However, even so, there were cases where demons were appearing on the streets or near private houses, causing commotion, and each time it happened Mount Hua appeared and destroyed them.
Thanks to this, they thought Mount Hua was the strongest and that they were the young people who would work hard in Mount Hua.
“But… it is strange.”
“What is?”
“Wasn’t there a check during the lunch? The disciples of Haenam are quite talented… how can they catch hyung alone?”
Songhwa was curious about it.
The disciples of Haenam, who were questioning them, questioned Imugi alone, even though both Imugi and Seol-Hwi were together.
He did not pay attention to Seol-Hwi at all despite Seol-Hwi being stronger.
“What is strange about it? Quite simple.”
Imugi said in a tone like it was no big deal.
“Because Master has gone beyond the level of it, most warriors cannot recognize him. Being able to see your opponent is a skill.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It is like the guy acknowledged me for my achievements as soon as he saw me… I think Master just crossed over the big wall.”
“Big wall… ?”
Songhwa blurted the words, looking at him who did not finish his sentence, and Imugi grinned.
“Right, he touched Supreme Demon.”
Supreme Demon—
He was talking about the level.
Wheik!
A distant cry could be heard through the night. Seol-Hwi sat cross legged on the hillside, and he could see where the birds were.
My senses have become a lot more focused.
He felt it up until this point, the way he was sensing energy was different from before.
Not just the movements of animals, but that of insects too.
Why were his senses this sensitive?
He thought that at night what he was feeling should fade, but it came closer to the point where he was feeling it more. And there was another question.
What is Supreme Demon and not Super Master?
Seol-Hwi kept thinking.
Even if he reached the Supreme Demon level, the power itself was to be closer to the side of justice and not demons.
In addition, since the two energies were united into Taiji, would it not be natural to move to the righteous side?
Maybe not. Maybe it is because the energy has been in my body longer, and the operation of my abilities are closer to demonic arts…
His White Light Body Demonic Martial Arts, the Aggregating Demonic Martial Arts, and the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts.
All of it is borrowing the essence of Taiji, but they were mainly demonic arts.
But well, after reaching this level, such a distinction is meaningless.
Supreme Demon—
Going over Peak Demon—
Beyond just having demonic energy, the pure energy was on rise. So he does not have to worry about the demonic energy raging within.
“Right. So let’s try it…”
Seol-Hwi got up from his seated position.
The description of the special skills that automatically appear when you level up, he had to see why the messages were not coming.
Ching
Seol-Hwi pulled the sword from his sheath—
While thinking of White Light Body Demonic Martial Arts.