-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: How to Make Humans and Jiangshi Good (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A jolt.
An ominous sensation instantly coursed down Seo Do-hee's spine.
Though it emanated from quite a distance, a powerful surge of qi, easily on par with or even surpassing her own, swept through the vast expanse.
It was far too immense to be Sa Do-kyung's.
Had he reached the Hwakyung realm in that time?
No, that couldn't be. Not that narrow-minded man.
…There was a possibility, though.
The energy subtly felt within the qi wave was unmistakably Demonic Qi.
What if he hadn't walked the righteous path of martial arts, but instead chosen the quick route of demonic cultivation, *Ipma*?
Seo Do-hee looked around at the people waiting.
Most didn't seem to have noticed, but…
"Instructor Mo Yong, did you feel that?"
Mo Yong-seol nodded, her face slightly pale.
Still, a Grandmaster is a Grandmaster.
If so, the intent of this qi wave was clear.
To draw her in.
Would bringing others help?
No, they'd only get in the way.
"Instructor Mo Yong. You'll lead from here. …It seems I need to go that way."
"But, Instructor Seo… Will you be alright?"
Mo Yong-seol wore a worried expression, but Seo Do-hee smiled gently, reassuring her distant junior.
"I've never lost a fight where my life was on the line. Well, I suppose most martial artists are like that."
Suddenly, Seo Do-hee looked at her foolish disciple.
Unlike his proper and polite older sister, Mo Yong-taek, the clueless younger brother, was playfully poking someone's side.
It made her think, 'That bastard would survive no matter where he's thrown.'
Still, just in case.
:: Don't even think about messing around with a bow. If it's not an absolute last resort, only fight with your sword. ::
There's a saying in Jianghu that one should hide at least thirty percent of their strength.
Especially with external forces like the Changcheon Alliance eyeing them, revealing one's full hand already would be foolish.
With a serious expression, Geum Si-hyun nodded slightly.
He wasn't a fool, after all.
A moment later.
'Oh, shit.'
Seo Do-hee's face crumpled terribly as she recognized the man who had summoned her, swallowing a curse.
It wasn't Sa Do-kyung.
Why was someone like *this* here?
How could a Hwakyung-level master, clearly a demonic cultivator, be lurking in a place like this?
"Hoo-hoo. So it wasn't the Colossal Twin Blades after all. His daughter, then? There's a curious resemblance."
Seo Do-hee's mind raced.
And then, a title suddenly came to mind.
"Are you, by any chance, Senior Sword Demon?"
A peculiar light gleamed in the Sword Demon Wi Ji-ryang's eyes.
"Am I truly that famous? To be recognized so instantly."
Seo Do-hee sighed inwardly.
She had just thrown out a name that came up in a previous conversation with her disciple, never expecting it to be real.
Still, it was a relief, in a way.
"This junior, Seo, offers her greetings to Senior. My father bore the title 'Colossal Twin Blades,' and I have succeeded him as the Chief of the Green Forest."
"Indeed. You have good manners."
The Sword Demon wore a satisfied expression.
Confirming that the Sword Demon was willing to converse, Seo Do-hee calmly tried to explain the situation.
"There's been an internal conflict within the Green Forest—"
"Then let's have a go."
"—?"
"Why bother speaking with your mouth so cumbersome? When you have good weapons."
Seo Do-hee superhumanly managed to suppress the words, 'This crazy old bastard,' from escaping her lips.
Her current relationship with the Murim Alliance.
The Demonic Cult's relationship with the Murim Alliance.
Even the fact that the Young Cult Master was among the people she was leading.
"Senior, uh…"
There was so much to explain, but…
"Though your appearance is young, do you lack the spirit to face this old man, you old hag? What a shameful thing."
"You bastard, come at me."
Seo Do-hee's guts and axe blade weren't so rusted that she would avoid a crazy bastard who had come to openly provoke her.
Of course, being thoroughly provoked by the term "old hag" played a large part.
"Heh heh. That's more like it."
Along with the Sword Demon's laughter.
KWOOOOONG—!
With a deafening roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth, the first clash occurred.
***
Immediately after something incredibly eerie, a sensation similar to the killing intent he'd felt before, brushed past him.
Instructor Chicken called Sister Seol aside, whispered something, and then quickly darted away.
Soon after, a temporary team was formed under Sister Seol's direction.
The inn standby and reinforcement team consisted of a few individuals, including Tang Chun-shik, whose stamina hadn't fully recovered.
The nine guardsmen in good condition were split into three, forming a total of four teams, with the plan to spread out and charge while maintaining a distance that allowed for mutual support within half a *gak*.
[MurimTalk: Group Chat 'Murim Exam Midterm' (27 participants)]
[Mo Yong-seol: In case of anomaly, team leader is to send a signal with an emoji first, then report the circumstances when time allows.]
[Mo Yong-taek: (Saluting emoji)]
[Mo Yong-seol: If there is no anomaly, do not speak.]
He decided not to worry about the quirkiness of using MurimTalk for mission orders anymore.
…Honestly, he was curious why MurimTalk worked but phone calls didn't, but he'd have to ask his eldest brother later.
Anyway.
In a way, it seemed a bit ill-prepared, but…
One Grandmaster.
A staggering thirteen Peak Masters.
The rest were also composed of First-Rate martial artists, forming a formidable armed group.
With a slight exaggeration, this was enough power to contend with the entire expert force of a minor sect just below the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
Of course, as Instructor Chicken had complained earlier, the guards were friends the Academy Headmaster had forcibly assigned.
It was excessively overkill for merely fighting local bandits.
Of course, such a thing wouldn't happen in a country where connections reigned supreme.
It could also be said that if the Baekhwa Academy stepped forward, it could easily wipe out one of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
Realizing anew how bizarrely asymmetrical their power was, he heard the *tap-tap-tap* of their footsteps.
They advanced towards Mount Taebaek, a name that felt strangely familiar.
Their team was Team 1.
The leader was Mo Yong-seol.
The members were him, Chun Ru-ri, and Mo Yong-taek.
Yong-taek's face was utterly grim, but he suspected it was a considerate choice, perhaps to ensure his younger brother wouldn't be in danger.
Aside from the completely useless Yong-taek, both of them were Peak Masters, and the only Grandmaster was also part of this group.
Not long after.
"Bandits spotted ahead! Prepare for combat!"
Sister Seol drew her twin swords and shouted boisterously.
The bandits, carrying torches, rushed forward in a group, then fell into a panic when they saw them.
"What the hell?! They're righteous sect bastards!"
"That stupid boss. Said they'd be passed out at the inn!"
Hmm.
Indeed, a bandit's mind is best understood by one who used to be a bandit.
He inwardly gave a massive thumbs-up to his master's foresight.
"Surrender, and your lives will be spared!"
Sister Seol shouted mercifully, but…
"There are only four of them! Attack!"
Unfortunately, the bandits, trusting their numerical superiority, began to charge straight ahead.
It seemed Sister Seol alone could handle them all, but this was a subjugation mission, not a midterm exam, after all.
"..."
Seeing Ru-ri launch forward with a bored expression, he followed behind her.
"Hey, you go too!"
"Ugh, fine, I'm going!"
Though they were about to face real combat.
Listening to the siblings squabbling, a smile inexplicably bloomed on his face, and he felt his tension ease.
"What, just a kid! Die!"
Perhaps seeing him as an easy target, a bandit wielding a dull *pakdo* charged towards his head.
The way light shimmered faintly around his weapon suggested he was on the cusp of Second-Rate, perhaps glimpsing First-Rate, but…
He casually swung his sword forward, splitting the bandit and his blade in half.
Hot liquid splattered onto his clothes.
It was his first kill, but…
He felt no particular emotion.
He had been living in this primitive, ancient, uncivilized Central Plains for quite a while to maintain the soft sensibilities of a modern person.
As for treating those who had only lived by preying on others' lives and possessions as humans, well…
He probably would have been indifferent even without the Mirror-like Mind trait.
After briefly watching Ru-ri sweep through the other bandits cleanly with her "Heavenly Demon Death Beam," shaking her cute little butt…
He did what he had to do.
Clean-up.
"Argh!"
"Guh—"
"Damn it, they're masters!"
The number of what appeared to be their vanguard alone was almost thirty.
It seemed far more bandits were stirring than his master's prediction of less than a hundred.
That could happen.
He didn't know about Chinese people, but those thugs were closer to naturally occurring viruses, so they might have self-replicated.
Just accurately pinpointing their hidden location in an era without satellites or intelligence networks was something to be highly praised.
"Bastard, snap out of it."
After magnificently slicing one in half, he forcefully kicked Yong-taek's butt, who had briefly zoned out.
He then resumed the selection process, leaving only the "good" ones (in a physical sense).
When about half of them had "goodness (physical)" injected into them…
"H-H-Help… S-Surrender!"
"Spare us!"
"P-Please, we just did what the boss told us to…"
Realizing their reality, the repentant ones began to drop their weapons and kneel, one by one.
There was no need to take the lives of those who had lost the will to fight.
*Thump, thud!*
He pressed the surrendered bandits' pressure points, performing a human-to-log transmutation.
"If you've lived even a little bit 'good' until now, then stay quietly on the ground. You'll be escorted and punished later."
Oh, wow.
Even he thought it was cool.
…Suddenly, he turned his head and saw.
Sister Seol was staring at him with an unreadable expression.
He should probably seal away his coolness a bit.
Otherwise, he had a hunch that cosmic-level over-the-topness might emerge later and overwhelm the gallery.
Instead.
"Stop, don't waste too much energy."
He grabbed Ru-ri by the scruff of her neck, who had been slicing up bandits regardless of whether they surrendered or not.
"...Why?"
Ru-ri looked back at him with a questioning expression.
Well.
Because killing surrendered people wasn't morally right?
Because unnecessary killing could lead to bad karma?
Let's stop with those righteous sect-like explanations.
"Save your inner energy. This isn't the end."
As a result of his rational persuasion, even after Ru-ri's feet touched the ground, holes stopped appearing in the bandits' foreheads.
She wasn't some Frieza or something.
Watching her slice them up with mere finger wiggles, without even drawing her sword, made him a little envious.
Why wasn't the Heavenly Demon Divine Art in the Heavenly Martial Arts Library?
He should at least learn the Finger Flicking Divine Art later and then casually wipe his mouth, pretending he didn't. If he claimed it was just an "Invincible BB Gun Art" he'd roughly imitated, even those bald-headed bastards wouldn't bother picking a fight.
"Good work, everyone."
The reason the bandits chose to surrender instead of fighting to the death.
Sister Seol approached lightly and helped him with his "log-making" operation.
Even he would have surrendered if he saw the power of her Ice Arts, which, with just a single sword swing, not only cleanly evaporated the flames from the haphazardly thrown torches but even froze them.
Ice Arts were tempting too, he thought.
Mo Yong-taek's face had lost some color, but…
He still seemed to have adapted somewhat to the scent of blood, not looking too bad.
He'd totally tease him later.
"Seeing that the enemy's numbers are greater than expected, it seems we need to break through as much as possible to draw their attention. Let's move out again."
Following General Seol's orders, they silently began climbing the mountain once more, under the cover of night.
Had they been running for about a *gak*?
"Kieeeek!"
"Ugh, damn it, you startled me."
He instantly sliced through a grotesque form that suddenly charged with a monstrous shriek.
Simultaneously, his companions, who were also attacked, fought back, but…
"Urgh!"
"…!"
"This is… a Blood Jiangshi?!"
What the heck was a Blood Jiangshi now?
It didn't even have a talisman on its forehead?
Perhaps they had been off guard.
The other three couldn't easily shake off the surprise attackers and began to engage in combat.
There was no need to stand by and watch.
He immediately split in half the creature attacking Mo Yong-taek.
"What, how did you…?"
"Are you really that useless? You should have trained harder normally."
He roasted Yong-taek once more.
Next, he looked at Ru-ri, whose cheeks were puffed out because her Heavenly Demon Death Beam lacked penetration power.
Only then did he start to feel a sense of incongruity.
Yong-taek was utterly useless, so that was understandable, but…
Not only Ru-ri but even Sister Seol was having trouble dealing with them.
KAAANG—!
The Blood Jiangshi's hand and Sister Seol's sword clashed, emitting a metallic screech.
No matter that it was a Jiangshi, why did a human hand make that sound?
He briefly gazed at the Jiangshi's corpse, from which not a single drop of blood emerged.
He threw himself forward and performed a deadly vertical slash on the Jiangshi that had been squabbling with Ru-ri.
The Jiangshi split in half as softly as tofu.
"What…?"
Ru-ri's eyes widened, seemingly impressed by his awesome deadly vertical slash.
"Sister Seol, switch!"
One more time.
Shouting to draw the attention of the remaining Blood Jiangshi, he clashed his sword with the Jiangshi's fist.
From its fist to its forearm, it was cleanly sliced through without any resistance, and then he shifted his stance and *slice*, through its neck as well.
"To instantly dispel the malevolent qi of a Blood Jiangshi, and a Heavenly Spirit Jiangshi at that… Geum Guardsman, have you also mastered Taoist martial arts?"
He wondered if she hadn't won her Grandmaster status through gambling.
Sister Seol, who had surprisingly accurately seen through his martial arts, wore a half-flustered, half-admiring expression.
He was a little puzzled himself, but…
Sister Seol's reaction actually helped him grasp it.
The foundation of the Northern Dark Divine Art was harmony.
It was about fusing what he possessed into one, laying a foundation, resonating with the energy of nature, and transforming himself into a single ocean.
The Blood Jiangshi was probably created through vile and wicked methods, so he must have instantly purified its disharmonious nature.
Just as he pondered how to explain this.
*Bzzzt—*
*Bzzzt—*
All four smartphones simultaneously began to vibrate.
Mo Yong-seol, her expression hardening, typed a situation report into the chatroom at light speed and spoke at the same time.
"...Let's talk later. The presence of a near top-grade Heavenly Spirit Jiangshi means there's a Blood Cult Jiangshi master nearby. Let's hurry to our target, Taebaek Fortress, as fast as possible. Before any more damage occurs."