Chapter 20: Bloodline (3)
by fnovelpia
Jin Cheonwoo… No, everyone present stood still, their mouths agape at the sudden turn of events.
They thought to themselves:
What the hell is this crazy bastard up to?
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the severed head of Hakju rolling on the ground.
The cut was so clean— it was undoubtedly made by sword energy.
In the blink of an eye, Hakju had been killed.
In that brief moment, Cheongun had activated a divine technique, infused his sword with energy, and cleanly beheaded him.
Yet, no one present had even perceived the sequence of events.
No wonder they were frozen in shock.
They must have been thinking, What the hell just happened?
“From now on, I am the Bloodline Hakju.”
“……”
As soon as Cheongun finished speaking, a chilling silence fell over the room.
This guy’s insane—completely, utterly insane.
But Cheongun’s expression, actions, and tone all carried such an overwhelming sense of dissonance that no one dared to move.
That said, it wasn’t as if everyone was cowering in fear.
The presumed executives exchanged glances, and soon, they began to fan out, encircling Cheongun in a wide formation.
Seeing their leaders take action, the others followed suit, cautiously joining the encirclement.
The executive at the forefront spoke up.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”
“Of course I do.”
“Are you confident?”
“Confident in what?”
“Confident that you’ll walk out of here in one piece.”
“That’s not something I should be worried about—it’s you weaklings who should be concerned—”
Before he could even finish—
Schwing—!
Something heavy tore through the air.
In that instant, an axe came flying toward Cheongun’s forehead at terrifying speed.
Thunk!
The blade struck Cheongun’s forehead dead center.
But his forehead remained completely unharmed.
Instead, the axe blade crumpled from the impact and—
Crreeak!
The edges of the blade bent outward, splitting apart like a cracked eggshell.
Fragments of shattered metal scattered in all directions, and the mangled remains of the axe handle clattered to the floor.
Cheongun smirked at the sight.
“See that? That’s the Indestructible Diamond Body.”
“……”
The more demonic energy one possessed, the stronger their traits became.
At this point, Cheongun’s body was tough enough to deflect even sword energy with his bare skin.
So he asked confidently:
“Anyone else wanna try?”
At those words, some of the men hesitated and began backing away.
First, this guy barges in and beheads Hakju like it’s nothing, and now an axe shatters just from hitting his forehead?!
What kind of low-tier martial artist would dare challenge him?
But there were also those whose fighting spirit only grew stronger.
Namely, the demonic practitioners who had mastered dark arts.
About thirty of them roared and charged at Cheongun.
Their weapons were varied—
Twin swords, nine-section whip, halberd, iron mace, willow-leaf saber, wolf-fang club…
Wow, how many types is that?
Cheongun marveled as he swung his sword.
He could have easily tanked the hits with his bare body, but he didn’t want his clothes torn, so he deflected the incoming weapons as they came.
A powdery substance suddenly flew toward his face, followed by the glint of hidden weapons flashing through the air.
Blades came whistling from all directions, accompanied by sporadic sword energies and shockwaves.
But Cheongun felt no tension.
Facing dozens of these lowlifes was far easier than dealing with a single damn master.
He didn’t even need to use footwork.
He simply stood still, deflecting what needed to be deflected, dodging what needed to be dodged, and occasionally—when he saw an opening—stabbing the particularly annoying ones in the shoulder with his sword.
Thud!
“Gaaah!”
Hah, that felt good!
But there was no time to savor it.
Given the sheer numbers, taking out just a few fighters didn’t significantly weaken their assault.
However, the fact that they hadn’t landed a single solid hit seemed to unsettle them, their eyes flickering with frustration.
Above all, something was strange.
The Blood-Edge Sword Saint had severed heads from bodies in a single stroke, yet despite having multiple opportunities, Cheongun had only incapacitated them at best.
Watching this, Jin Cheonwoo thought to himself:
‘Is he… showing them mercy?’
Not all demonic practitioners were the same.
Some had no choice but to learn demonic arts due to unavoidable circumstances, and others even regretted mastering them.
The reason demonic arts were so powerful was that they literally planted “demonic influence” (ma) into a person.
At lower levels, this wasn’t an issue, but as one’s skill and inner energy grew, so did the magnitude of the demonic influence they had to control.
The stronger the desire to grow, the more the demonic influence consumed them, until eventually, they were swallowed whole by it.
They would crave blood.
Or lust.
Their martial arts would fall by the wayside, replaced by primal desires, making further progress impossible.
Thus, while demonic arts granted rapid power, they inevitably led to a dead end.
This was also why the orthodox sects vastly outnumbered the demonic sects when it came to supreme masters.
Fear of this fate led many to deliberately halt their training.
Among demonic practitioners, such individuals were said to have “not crossed the line.”
As long as they hadn’t crossed that line, there was still a chance—someday—to break free from the demonic shackles and return to the righteous path.
‘I thought he was just a madman.’
Jin Cheonwoo inwardly marveled.
Based on his usual behavior, he seemed like a lunatic even other demonic practitioners would balk at, but at least in this moment, he appeared different.
Meanwhile, Cheongun’s mind was a mess.
He was fighting back, but he was holding back to avoid killing as much as possible.
These were demonic practitioners.
To Cheongun, nothing was more precious than a demonic practitioner—more valuable than even rare elixirs.
He couldn’t just recklessly slaughter such treasures.
But then—
“Die, bastard!”
A blade came down toward his shoulder from behind.
Cheongun casually planted both hands on the ground and leaned forward, flipping into a handstand.
Then, channeling energy into his palms, he pushed off the ground as if springing upward.
At the same time, his legs shot up like lightning, aiming straight for the descending sword.
“!!!”
Crack!
The moment his heel made contact, the blade snapped in half.
The momentum carried his foot straight through the broken sword and— smack!— right into the man’s face.
Splat!
A satisfying burst of blood from the nose.
Suspended midair, Cheongun swiftly righted himself and regained balance.
Then, in one fluid motion, he plucked a handful of his own hair and flicked his wrist, scattering the strands into the air.
Each individual strand carried sword energy.
‘Hair-Sword Technique!’
Pah- pah- pah- pak!
With a series of sharp sounds, the hairs precisely struck the enemies’ shoulders, ankles, wrists, thighs— every vital point.
The precision was flawless, targeting only the acupuncture points.
“Gyaaaaah!”
“Ugh, so noisy.”
Cheongun landed and immediately scanned his surroundings to assess the situation.
Fifteen guys were rolling on the ground, nine had lost their will to fight and were hesitantly backing away, and roughly six were still puffing themselves up, radiating hostility.
“You still wanna go?”
“Shut your damn mouth, you bastard!”
“Tch, annoying. Just because you’re a demonic practitioner, you think you’re something? Fine, you are. I’ll respect that.”
Grumbling, Cheongun drew up his sword energy.
Originally, he had planned to subdue them all and use them as he pleased, but these guys were really starting to piss him off.
Whoosh!
Cheongun vanished.
The next moment,
He appeared behind one of them and slashed diagonally from shoulder to hip.
Squelch!
Flesh split apart like tofu, and crimson blood gushed out like a fountain.
Mechanically, Cheongun flickered in and out with his footwork, disappearing and reappearing in rapid succession.
Every time he vanished and reappeared, a horrifying scream echoed through the air.
One by one, he severed the arms of the remaining six, until finally, he sheathed his sword with a cold click.
“I’m the Blood Lotus Pillar.”
“……”
“Anyone have a problem with that?”
“……”
This time, not a single soul dared to challenge him.
****
The situation was resolved more quickly than expected.
Blood Blade Sect was undeniably a faction of the Demon Sect.
True to the culture of the Black Path, where strength was everything, no one dared to oppose Cheongun’s unconventional declaration of becoming the sect leader.
In fact, many rushed to pledge their loyalty to him.
“From now on, my word is law.”
“……”
“Clean up the corpses and the mess yourselves. Those who are lying there are all Demon Sect members, so lock them up in the underground prison. Ah! And those who think their rank is somewhat high, come forward.”
In his words, a few individuals cautiously approached Cheongun.
“You have a vault, right?”
“Huh?”
“A slush fund, or money stashed away like trash— there must be a place where you keep that kind of stuff.”
“Ah! Yes, we do.”
“Good, lead me there immediately.”
Cheongun headed straight to raid the vault.
Since he had taken the keyring from the corpse of the Blood Blade Sword Sovereign, security wasn’t an issue.
A short while later, upon entering the vault, Cheongun couldn’t help but be stunned.
As expected of a Black Path organization and a branch of the Demon Sect, the amount of money hoarded here was absurdly large.
Cheongun barely managed to calm his pounding heart.
Then, he questioned the men he had brought along.
“Who here is in charge of the money? Raise your hand!”
The “Money Master”—literally, the person in charge of managing the sect’s finances.
An old man cautiously raised his hand.
“You’re the Money Master?”
“Y-Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Bring me the ledger.”
The origins of the hoarded money were varied—
Murder, kidnapping, robbery, fraud, extortion, counterfeiting…
The common denominator was that all of it was dirty money.
“Hmm, this is troublesome.”
No matter how obsessed I am with money, I’m not bold enough to use this filthy, rotten cash for personal gain.
Taking over the Blood Blade Sect was good, but to avoid unnecessary conflict with the orthodox factions later, I’d need to launder this money properly before repurposing it.
Well, I’ll think about that later.
“Black Blade Sword.”
“It’s Black Killing Sword.”
“Did you lock up the Demon Sect members properly?”
“Yes. Shall I guide you?”
Look at this guy, his tone has become so polite.
As Cheongun nodded, Jin Cheonwoo promptly led him to the underground prison.
“Who are the other prisoners here?”
“They’re captives.”
“Captives?”
“Yes, most of them are ordinary civilians taken from nearby villages.”
“So they were unjustly imprisoned?”
“That’s correct.”
Cheongun clicked his tongue.
Blood Blade Sword Sovereign or whatever, why did he leave behind so much trash?
“Release all of them.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah. Give them generous compensation, and tell them the Blood Blade Sword Sovereign or whatever is dead, so they can rest easy.”
“Understood.”
Cheongun finished his instructions and strode forward.
Descending the damp stone stairs, a vast prison enclosed by iron bars came into view.
Inside, the captured Demon Sect members were bound in a row.
Cheongun asked Jin Cheonwoo:
“Who’s the biggest trash among them?”
The biggest trash—
Who among them had committed the most evil deeds?
Understanding Cheongun’s meaning, Jin Cheonwoo secretly pointed at one of them.
“That guy.”
Cheongun’s gaze shifted sharply.
The indicated man, though gagged and unable to speak, still glared fiercely, struggling violently against his bonds.
“His name?”
“Sama Heuk. His alias is ‘Flower Slaughter Demon.’”
A familiar name.
Though the details were hazy, Cheongun remembered him as a notorious scumbag in the original story.
“He has the highest bounty in the area.”
“What did he do?”
“He’s killed hundreds. Not just that— he abducted young girls, raped them in front of their husbands, committed arson, and pillaging was just the basics…”
“Is that so?”
Wow, an NTR enthusiast?
And an arsonist?
That’s more than enough.
“Hmm.”
Cheongun pondered.
Unique Trait: Demon Sect Subjugation.
A cheat-like ability that made his martial arts skyrocket when facing Demon Sect members, but he still needed more information about how it worked.
What Cheongun was most curious about was the criteria for being classified as a “Demon Sect member.”
Was it using demonic arts?
Being affiliated with the Demon Sect?
Once a Demon Sect member, always a Demon Sect member?
He needed clarity on the criteria.
Cheongun finally raised his hand.
Then, he pressed his palm against the bound man’s Qihai acupoint.
Why was it that whenever a master beat up a weaker opponent, they’d say something like, “I’ll spare your life, but I’ll take away your martial arts,” yet never actually destroy the dantian?
The Qihai acupoint was a classic target in such cases.
Located just above the dantian, destroying it would shatter the dantian itself.
Destroy the dantian, lose internal energy.
Lose internal energy, lose the ability to use demonic arts.
Would the system still classify this guy as a Demon Sect member?
“Mmgh! Mmmph! Grrgh!”
The experimental subject seemed to realize what was about to happen, his eyes welling with tears as he writhed.
“A little sting, okay?”
“Mmghh!!”
“Sting.”
“Ghh!! Uuugh!! Grrgh!!”
Cheongun channeled his energy and lightly tore apart the man’s Qihai acupoint.
Instantly, the man convulsed in agony before foaming at the mouth and passing out.
And then—
[「Unique Trait: Demon Sect Subjugation!」is active!]
The man was still a Demon Sect member.
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