Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 276 – Blood Saint (3)

Before long, Mok Gyeong-un and Dam Baek-ha, known as the Blood Saint of the Nine Blood Cult, were walking side by side through the cave passage.

The agitated appearance from earlier had disappeared, and Dam Baek-ha, having regained her composure, spoke to Mok Gyeong-un.

“You said you only need to abduct one person, right?”

“Yes.”

“Make sure to keep your promise.”

“Of course. If I only abduct that person, I will arrange for you to meet the master who taught me the lightness skill.”

“Hmph.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Dam Baek-ha snorted as if she didn’t trust him, folding her arms.

That was understandable because although she had shown a vulnerable side earlier when her emotions were highly agitated, she still couldn’t fully trust this guy.

For some reason, none of his words felt sincere.

She couldn’t even tell if his smile was genuine or not.

Despite having lived for a long time, this was the first time she encountered someone like him.

As they walked through the passage, Dam Baek-ha frowned and said,

“You…… the skin around your chin is…?”

It looked densely crowded.

Mok Gyeong-un touched that area and let out a soft sigh.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of the fight or if he ran out of the medicine he was carrying, but the human skin around his chin was peeling.

With this, Mok Gyeong-un,

-Stretch!

He pulled his skin to show her.

Ordinary skin would have elasticity, but the way it stretched was different.

Seeing this, Dam Baek-ha spoke with narrowed eyes,

“Human skin mask?”

“Yes. It was the most straightforward way to sneak in here.”

“So it’s not your real face.”

“Yes.”

At this, Dam Baek-ha clicked her tongue, thinking that made sense.

No wonder his martial arts were too outstanding, and his mental strength was exceptionally remarkable for someone who wasn’t even in his prime.

Perhaps a face of an older age was hidden underneath.

As they continued, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“May I ask you something as well?”

“What is it?”

“I heard that if you’re from the Blood Cult, you’re from the Old Martial Arts World. How many years have you been imprisoned?”

“Old Martial Arts World?”

Dam Baek-ha slightly tilted her head.

It was an expression she was hearing for the first time.

So she asked,

“What do you mean by the Old Martial Arts World?”

“It’s literal. Should I say the martial arts world of the past? I heard that the level of the martial arts world in the past was much higher than it is now.”

“The past? Ah…….”

At these words, Dam Baek-ha’s eyes became strangely bitter.

Did she recall some unpleasant memories from the past?

While he was inwardly puzzled, she said,

“I have been imprisoned here for so long that I have lost all sense of time. I don’t even know if it has been decades or centuries. However, if what you refer to as the Old Martial Arts World is the golden age of martial arts, then that would be correct. But everything changed after ‘that person’ ascended and several generations passed.”

“Ascended?”

“……. You don’t know the term ‘ascension through enlightenment’?”

“Ascension through enlightenment?”

Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

Ascension through enlightenment.

Literally translated, it means a person attains the Dao, becomes an immortal, and ascends to the heavens.

This could be interpreted in various ways.

It is said that an outstanding Taoist ascends when they pass away, or it refers to truly attaining the Dao and entering the realm of immortals.

The ascension that Cheong-ryeong taught Mok Gyeong-un also meant martial artists gaining enlightenment through martial arts and entering the immortal realm.

‘Ascension…..’

There was someone who had spoken about a deeper principle regarding ascension.

To be precise, it was a being called Sam-an, who was more of a strange entity than a human.

Suddenly, the words he had said before his annihilation came to mind.

[Divine beasts? In the first place, they cannot exist in the mortal world. When demonic energy reaches that level, it transcends the natural order.]

[Natural order?]

[You don’t know what the natural order is?]

[What is it?]

[The natural order is what sustains this world. It’s difficult for humans to understand.]

[You’re being ambiguous.]

[The natural order is the natural order. If you transcend that realm, you have no choice but to cross the boundary to the other side due to the natural order.]

[The other side of the boundary?]

[Yes. The same principle applies to ascension. Humans believed that through repeated enlightenment and detachment, they crossed the boundary due to the natural order, and that was considered ascension.]

Recalling this, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes gleamed with interest.

‘Actually ascended?’

Both this person and Cheong-ryeong had spoken of it as if it were almost legendary.

As if it was difficult to actually achieve.

But how outstanding must ‘that person’ mentioned by Dam Baek-ha have been to cross over to the other side of the boundary due to the natural order?

What was certain was that for the strange entities like the Demon Kings, it was said that one had to reach the level of a divine beast to cross over to the other side of the boundary. This meant that ‘that person’ surpassed even the spiritual beasts called the Six Demons, who were infinitely close to divine beasts.

With curiosity piqued, Mok Gyeong-un asked,

“Who exactly is that person you mentioned who ascended?”

“That person?”

At this question, she looked at Mok Gyeong-un with a strange gaze.

Then, she firmly said,

“I don’t think you’re ready to hear about that yet.”

“Pardon?”

“I haven’t met your master yet. You know what that means, right?”

“Ah.”

It meant she didn’t trust him.

Although he wasn’t usually interested in anything other than revenge, he was inwardly curious about who that person was, so it was quite disappointing.

Then, she said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“If your master truly knows about the true lineage as you said, you will surely find out in due time, so there’s no need to be impatient.”

“……. I see. Then, may I ask one more thing?”

“One more thing?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I’ll answer?”

“Well, that’s up to you. Actually, I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

“Just curious?”

“Yes. Earlier, you mentioned that they made you starve for decades to make you talk. Is that true?”

The woman Mok Gyeong-un had encountered didn’t seem like someone who would lie.

Such a person said she had endured for decades without eating anything, but her physical condition was not like that at all.

Moreover, she even had the face of someone in her twenties just by appearance.

Furthermore, if he combined what she had mentioned in between, it seemed as if she was not an ordinary person but a being close to immortality.

At this, she looked at Mok Gyeong-un with disapproval and opened her mouth.

“Why? Are you also interested in longevity or immortality?”

To this question, Mok Gyeong-un answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Not really.”

“What?”

“Is there any great benefit in being interested in such things?”

“Benefit? Isn’t being able to continue life eternally a benefit?”

“Is that really a benefit?”

“……..”

“If it’s a life that continues endlessly and eternally, wouldn’t it be closer to a curse?”

‘!!!!!’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Dam Baek-ha’s eyes trembled.

Along with it, a very distant memory from the past flashed through her mind.

A city in Liadong Province, reduced to ruins with countless corpses.

Dam Baek-ha, covered in blood, couldn’t hide her shock as she saw her severed arm regenerate.

[What…… what is this?]

She had thought that once her arm was cut off, it would never recover again.

No, in the first place, it was impossible for an arm to regrow.

As she was marveling at this, an old man with a scholar-like appearance and a face so pale it was almost white approached her, clicking his tongue.

[You drank that, didn’t you?]

[Elder?…… If you’re talking about that, then what is it?]

[It’s the blood of a spirit creature.]

[Blood….. Are you referring to the blood of that monster?]

[That’s right.]

[Ah!]

At those words, her eyes trembled.

Come to think of it, when she cut off one of the heads of that monster spewing lightning, she seemed to have unintentionally swallowed the blood that spurted out.

After that, she had lost consciousness due to the burning pain throughout her entire body.

So she said,

[…… I think that’s what happened. Is that why my arm healed?]

[It seems so.]

[Then, for the other injured people as well……]

[Don’t do that.]

[Wh-why? If they drink the blood of that monster, their bodies……]

[Nine out of ten, no, ninety-nine out of a hundred won’t be able to endure it and will die.]

[What? Die, what do you mean by that?]

[Apart from you, most of those who drank the blood of the spirit creature, whether by mistake or coincidence, couldn’t endure it and died.]

With those words, the old man pointed to the people who had died, charred black around the spirit creature.

They all had a form of death where their blood vessels had exploded.

‘!?’

[It seems that the blood of a spirit creature is not something ordinary humans can endure.]

[Then…… why am I?]

[It appears that you have been blessed with heavenly luck.]

[Heavenly luck…….]

Was she really lucky?

To the dazed Dam Baek-ha, the old man patted her shoulder and said,

[Whether this will truly become heavenly luck or poison is unknown, but if this is also your fate, then accept it.]

[What do you mean by it becoming poison?]

At her question, the old man stroked his beard and spoke as if he felt sorry.

[In the ancient secret book of the lost Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is said that those who consume the blood or essence of a spirit creature possessing the spiritual power of the Five Elements will achieve immortality.]

[Immortality?]

[That’s right. You also have a very high probability of becoming immortal.]

[But why do you say it’s poison? Isn’t it a blessing instead?]

[A blessing? Hohoho.]

At these words, the old man let out a chuckle with an incomprehensible expression.

As she was puzzled, the old man stopped laughing and said,

[Living a long life is not a blessing. It’s closer to a curse.]

[A curse?]

[Yes, it’s a curse. Why do you think that guy, who was no different from an immortal being, left you and the bloodline descendants behind and ascended?]

[……. Why?]

[Because he couldn’t endure it every time his loved ones left his side one by one.]

[……..]

[In a way, his choice might have been wise.]

At that time, she somewhat understood the old man’s words, but they didn’t really resonate with her.

It was because she only considered immortality as a blessing.

However, as she lived through a long time, she now fully realized the meaning of those words the old man had said to her.

‘……. This guy.’

Dam Baek-ha, looking at Mok Gyeong-un, inwardly clicked her tongue.

He had never experienced longevity and the things that happen because of it, yet he was saying the exact same words that the old senior had said to her.

If it weren’t for her given mission, she might have also ended this wretched life in some way.

So she said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“You……. Do you know what you’re talking about?”

“Who knows? It just doesn’t seem nice to live long while everyone around you dies.”

“………”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s answer, she let out a sigh of admiration.

She felt truly foolish.

Seeing him take it for granted without even experiencing it.

Sighing deeply, she then said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“You are truly wise. You are right. This is not a blessing but literally a curse. If I hadn’t become immortal, I wouldn’t have had to suffer like this……”

-Flinch!

At that moment, Dam Baek-ha stopped speaking and looked somewhere.

It was the right side of the forked path in the cave.

Coincidentally, Mok Gyeong-un was already looking there even before she did.

‘This is?’

-Roar!

From the darkness, an immense murderous intent and a deep, evil energy were emanating.

Along with it, someone was approaching them.

-Thud, thud!

At the sound of footsteps, Dam Baek-ha said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“……. It’s not an ordinary person. Can you feel it?”

“Yes, I can.”

As they looked there with eyes filled with vigilance, the figure finally showed itself within the range illuminated by the torch.

It was none other than,

“Joo Woonhyang?”

Trainee Joo Woonhyang.

However, Joo Woonhyang’s condition was not normal.

Not only were his eyes emitting a strange light, but the evil energy emanating from his entire body had completely erased his originally pure and righteous innate true energy.

Wondering what had happened, Dam Baek-ha couldn’t hide her astonishment when she saw the peculiar-shaped sword in Joo Woonhyang’s hand.

“How did that sword…?”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un’s gaze also turned there.

Although obscured by the evil energy, a tremendous demonic nature could be felt from the sword.

“Do you know about that?”

To the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un, she spoke in a lowered tone as if warning him.

“It’s the demonic sword Plundering-killing Sword made by Ou Yezi.”

‘!!!!!!’