Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Chapter 34. Saber of Butchery (1)

“Old Master, can’t you yield just one move?”

“There’s no such thing. Have you ever seen a dead man rise from his grave?”

“Aish! That’s it, that’s it. For an old man who’s lived as long as you have, that murderous temper of yours hasn't rusted a bit! That's enough! Let’s stop here and have a drink.”

The Evil Faction Alliance Lord, Hyuk Gun-ak, roughly swept the Go board aside with one hand. Old Master Go, sitting opposite him, didn't even blink an eye.

Lee Byeok watched in silence.

The emergency meeting regarding Lee Byeok, the Seven Poisons Sect, and the Black Strength Sect had effectively ended with the appearance of the Evil Faction Alliance Lord, and the members of the Rogues’ Guild had all returned to their quarters.

The next morning, following Old Master Go’s instruction to follow him, Lee Byeok left the quarters.

The place he arrived at was a small vegetable garden.

A small space cleverly hidden between the main buildings of the Evil Faction Alliance. On one side, a cozy thatched cottage and a pavilion could be seen.

The Evil Faction Alliance Lord was there.

For the residence of the alliance’s master, it was overly shabby, but it didn't seem to be a problem for him.

Soon, the Evil Faction Alliance Lord and Old Master Go played Go under the pavilion, exchanging trivial stories.

Lee Byeok sat to one side, quietly keeping a low profile. He didn't even know why he had been summoned here.

Just then, a figure entered the pavilion.

He was a martial artist with an extraordinary presence, but in his hands was not a weapon but a dinner table.

Swish, as the Evil Faction Alliance Lord gestured, the martial artist placed the table in the center of the pavilion and then, whoosh, disappeared from the spot without a sound.

The Evil Faction Alliance Lord pulled the dinner table closer. Pour, filling a cup with liquor, he casually spoke.

“Boy, what is your name?”

Lee Byeok was startled back to his senses.

“Right, do you drink?”

“I have not learned to.”

“I see. For that madman’s disciple, you are quite a promising fellow. Then come and eat. I called you because I wanted to have a meal with you.”

Lee Byeok bowed his head and approached the table. The side dishes were modest. Not much different from what he used to eat at the Falling Sword Sect.

“I apologize for the humble fare. These days, if I eat something too greasy, my stomach feels quite unsettled.”

Lee Byeok picked up his spoon and chopsticks.

As he ate, he glanced at the Evil Faction Alliance Lord’s side profile. There was a question he wanted to ask.

A single possibility that had been circling in his head… was now close to a certainty.

Just then, the Evil Faction Alliance Lord, who had downed a cup of liquor, spoke first as if he had read Lee Byeok’s mind.

“So, is my son doing well?”

“Why? Don’t tell me that fellow didn’t talk about me? If so, it seems he still doesn’t want to see this father’s face.”

The Evil Faction Alliance Lord and the head of the Paewang Family.

The supreme leader of the Evil Faction and one of the ten giants who reigned at the pinnacle of the current Murim.

Iron Tower Overlord, Hyuk Gun-ak.

His appearance… was a spitting image of Hyuk Dae-woong, the second disciple of the Falling Sword Sect and his own martial brother.

No, in fact, it would be the other way around.

Finally, the possibility became a reality. So Lee Byeok didn't know what attitude he should take.

The fact that he was Hyuk Dae-woong’s father held a greater meaning for Lee Byeok than the fact that he was the Evil Faction Alliance Lord.

“Senior Brother… is doing well.”

Lee Byeok contemplated.

But there was nothing else he could say. Hyuk Dae-woong was doing perfectly well as a disciple of the Falling Sword Sect.

“Heo, Senior Brother.”

Hyuk Gun-ak let out a faint sigh.

“For the past three years, I had hoped for my son’s return, but seeing as your master sent you, perhaps that day will never come.”

It seemed there were things that even one of the Ten Great Masters of the World couldn't control. Pour, Hyuk Gun-ak filled his cup again.

“But it might be for the better for that child. Yes, martial brothers, you say. It doesn't sound too bad to hear.”

Hehe, Hyuk Gun-ak let out a laugh.

Spoons and chopsticks moved in silence, and the liquor cup was filled and emptied repeatedly.

And as the meal was finishing, Hyuk Gun-ak spoke again.

“Boy, you have fallen into an inner demon. You are aware of this, aren't you?”

Lee Byeok’s expression hardened.

He had more than a hunch.

He recalled the events of the previous evening. Lee Byeok and Eon Mi-hee were attacked by the disciples of the Seven Poisons Sect and the Black Strength Sect, and Lee Byeok had brought them to the brink of death.

However, the problem was that he had lost control of himself.

If Eon Mi-hee hadn't stopped him at the last moment, Lee Byeok would have cut them down.

He had been swayed by his killing intent once again.

“Well, there’s no need to worry too much. An inner demon and enlightenment are ultimately like two sides of the same coin. It is because your heart is deep that you fall into a quagmire.”

A hand was placed on Lee Byeok’s shoulder.

“Above all, it seems unlikely that you, who have achieved that madman’s martial art, would fail to overcome a mere inner demon.”

It was a rather gentle voice for an absolute ruler who had reigned over the Evil Faction Murim with a single spear.

“But… you might face some frustration in using your sword right away. Yes, boy. What are you thinking of doing from now on?”

It was a question Lee Byeok had been trying to ignore, but could no longer postpone.

He wanted to return to the Falling Sword Sect.

The entire journey was just an errand for Lee Jincheon; it held no further meaning for Lee Byeok.

Even if he searched the entire world, the only place Lee Byeok belonged to, the only place he could return to, was the Falling Sword Sect in Flower Pavilion Village.

‘Right now… I cannot return.’

Such a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

And Lee Byeok was surprised at himself for having such a thought. But the reason was quite obvious.

He must not return there with a bloodstain on his heart. An uncontrolled sword is a threat in itself.

He had cut down a person and gained a killing intent.

But it was like a bloodstain on clothes, seeming to spread wider the more he tried to wipe it away. This update ıs available on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

He didn't want to admit it… but at least until he gained complete control over his killing intent, he could not return.

But if that was the case.

Where should he go and what should he do?

Where could he go to find the answer?

At that moment, Lee Byeok felt his heart become empty. In the middle of the vast ocean that was the Murim, his signpost had suddenly disappeared.

“Hehe, think about it slowly.”

Hyuk Gun-ak did not press for an answer.

Whoosh, he threw the empty liquor bottle outside, and immediately the same martial artist from before appeared with a new bottle.

The sun rose to its zenith.

And began to tilt again.

—Martial brothers are brothers with the ‘sa’ character.

Suddenly, Lee Byeok saw the image of Hyuk Dae-woong in the side profile of Hyuk Gun-ak, who was drinking with Old Master Go.

—Youngest, what was the rush?

Suddenly, Lee Jincheon came to mind.

In the past, Lee Jincheon had entrusted Lee Byeok with the Guardian Squad's token and sword, saying that if he went to the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, he would know what to do.

And after meeting the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion’s owner, Ji Soyak, Lee Byeok escorted her all the way here to the Evil Faction Alliance.

Arriving here at the Evil Faction Alliance was just part of the process, and the ‘errand’ might not be over yet.

Hyuk Gun-ak said he had waited for his son to come.

But his martial brother was not yet ready to come out into the Murim, and so Lee Byeok had taken on that role.

From the beginning, there was a task here that one of the three had to undertake. If that was Lee Jincheon’s will.

“Alliance Lord, I would like to ask one thing.”

Hyuk Gun-ak wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“If… instead of me, it was my Senior Brother who was in this position, what did you intend to entrust to him?”

Just as he felt a sense of belonging to the Falling Sword Sect, Hyuk Dae-woong also belonged there. He had already become an indispensable person to the Falling Sword Sect and Flower Pavilion Village.

Much more so than himself.

Therefore, if someone had to leave the Falling Sword Sect for a while, it was reasonable for it to be him.

“Entrust what? If that child had come here on his own two feet, his own will would have already been set. What meaning would there be in giving him a task?”

“This senile father would have just watched. What that child would become in this Murim, and what he would seek to achieve.”

Hehe, Hyuk Gun-ak, flushed with liquor, let out a hearty laugh.

“But well, if he wanted, I could throw in some old-fashioned advice. Isn’t that what ordinary fathers do?”

Lee Byeok’s sword danced.

The Azure River Sword Style, and then the Azure River Flowing Leaf Sword Style flowed out in succession. But when Lee Byeok recalled his killing intent, the sword path invariably began to waver.

He was used to hitting a wall.

The path of the sword he had walked so far was ultimately just a series of overcoming one wall to meet the next.

There was no choice but to endure.

He had always done so. However.

Lee Byeok’s sword stopped moving.

In front of the wall blocking his progress, Lee Byeok, for the first time, tried something other than enduring.

He took a detour around it.

The next moment, Lee Byeok extended his right foot. Simultaneously, the sword, imbued with killing intent, tore through the air like a thunderbolt.

It was neither the Azure River Sword Style nor the Azure River Flowing Leaf Sword Style.

First Technique, Chaos.

Second Technique, Slaughter.

Third Technique, Sever.

Fourth Technique, Crush.

And finally, crush it.

Lee Byeok’s sword, having mercilessly butchered imaginary enemies, was withdrawn again. The crushed grass scattered like rain.

Twitch, Lee Byeok’s arm convulsed.

The inner energy of the Azure River Flowing Leaf Art, guided by the power of Innate, and the techniques of the Saber of Butchery did not harmonize with each other.

The inner energy of the Daoist lineage and the sword path of the Evil Faction were not just incompatible, but almost polar opposites.

Naturally, the power of the swordsmanship was halved, and he couldn't properly draw out the unique power of the techniques.

The Saber of Butchery, created for killing, was the most suitable martial art for controlling killing intent.

Hyuk Gun-ak had spoken of the ‘inner demon’.

And from what Lee Byeok himself thought, it was manifesting through two phenomena.

First, the sword and killing intent were not in harmony, and second, the killing intent made him lose control of his mind.

Control of the sword and control of the mind.

The two problems were different but also intertwined as one.

Perhaps the path to a solution would not be so different either.

Regarding this, Hyuk Gun-ak had given the following advice.

“You may not be able to find a complete answer to your inner demon right away, but there is a temporary measure to avoid being swayed by it.”

“…What method is that?”

“It is to build a wall in your mind and body.”

Hyuk Gun-ak pointed to Old Master Go.

“That old man intended to teach you a sword technique, didn’t he? Gently extract that from him and seal your killing intent within it.”

“It is to firmly divide and distinguish in your mind between a sword for killing and one that is not.”

Saber of Butchery. A martial art of slaughter.

Its techniques were already embedded in Lee Byeok’s mind. They wouldn't disappear even if he tried to forget.

Lee Byeok once again asked Old Master Go for his teachings.

He didn't particularly perform the rites of a master and disciple, nor did Old Master Go want such a thing.

Old Master Go taught Lee Byeok the Saber of Butchery.

And taking it a step further, he even taught him the mnemonic of the Red Faction Heart Art, the internal energy method that paired with the Saber of Butchery.

Of course, Lee Byeok, who had lost his Qi Center, and even if he hadn't, had already learned the Azure River Flowing Leaf Art, couldn't learn that heart art.

However, even if he couldn't learn it, he could understand its principles.

For a deeper understanding of the Saber of Butchery, Lee Byeok accepted the mnemonic of the Red Faction Heart Art.

Lee Byeok delved into it desperately.

Talent and will met and blossomed.

Hyuk Gun-ak offered his own vegetable garden so that Lee Byeok could swing his sword to his heart's content.

On it, Lee Byeok forgot to eat or sleep and swung his sword all day long.

And like a dry cloth soaking up water, Lee Byeok engraved the principles of the Saber of Butchery into his body.

In just half a day, the four techniques had taken on their basic forms. Since it was a martial art for killing in the first place, it didn't waver even when imbued with killing intent.

Furthermore, as the killing intent of the Saber of Butchery deepened, the unnaturalness that had crept into the Azure River Sword Style, contrary to it, gradually subsided.

As Hyuk Gun-ak had said, the killing sword and the non-killing sword were firmly separated in his mind, forming a standoff.

It felt like dividing himself into two people according to their purpose.

Lee Byeok felt a sense of accomplishment.

It was a feeling Lee Byeok had tasted for the first time in a long while, having been stagnant in his sword realm since leaving the Falling Sword Sect. And then.

It was after half a day of training in the Saber of Butchery that the power of Innate began to show an unexpected reaction.