Chapter 25: Okay, Let’s Die (1)

A spy was uncovered.

It was entirely thanks to Hong Soyeon’s efforts.

The moment his identity was exposed, the bastard tried to flee using a secret technique, but against the combined assault of Hong Soyeon, Baek Seol, and even Jeok Hwaryeon— three demons at once— he stood no chance.

As a result, he was subdued rather roughly and was now sitting tied up next to Cheongun.

Cheongun watched as Hong Soyeon returned and took her seat after subduing the spy.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

“You did well.”

“No need for praise.”

Jin Cheonwoo glanced at the bound spy and asked,

“What should we do with this bastard? Kill him?”

“Kill him? Are you seriously going to just kill everything the moment something happens? You’re a complete lunatic.”

“……”

I silently stared at the spy.

There was no doubt—this bastard was the rat my master had mentioned.

After a moment, I asked Jin Cheonwoo,

“What do spies do?”

“They steal information, don’t they?”

“Right. It’s an extreme profession where you have to be prepared to die if caught. So, who do you think his backers are?”

“The righteous faction, right?”

“What do the righteous faction value most?”

“Righteousness?”

Cheongun nodded.

Wherever there are people, there is the martial world, and those who enter the same circle are bound by duty until the end—that’s how the righteous faction operates.

But if you just kill him outright for being a spy, they’ll come roaring back under the pretense of revenge, shouting, “How dare you kill one of ours?”

“So, the most important thing when dealing with the righteous faction is justification.”

“Justification?”

“Exactly. If we kill the spy, they’ll have justification for revenge. But if we keep him alive, we gain justification to hold them accountable for all the information he’s been stealing like a rat.”

Jin Cheonwoo finally seemed to understand and nodded.

“So, he’s a prisoner now?”

“That’s exactly it.”

As soon as he said that, Cheongun abruptly stood up.

He strode over to the spy, crouched down to eye level, and after a moment—

—he tore off the cloth gagging the spy’s mouth with his right hand and asked,

“What’s your name?”

“Kill me!”

Bam!

Cheongun pressed a pressure point on the spy’s body.

The moment the meridian was sealed, the bastard let out a deflating sound and began trembling violently.

“……”

Jeok Hwaryeon unconsciously gulped.

Perhaps memories of being interrogated by Cheongun resurfaced.

As he swallowed, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

****

The name of the captured spy bastard is Im Jaecheon.

As expected, the ones who sent him to Hyeolyeon were none other than the Righteous Alliance.

Among them, he was directly dispatched by an elder of the Righteous Alliance and is said to be a martial artist affiliated with the Kunlun Sect.

He must have been well-trained, as it took over ten days for him to finally spill the information.

Compared to the Jeokhwa Unit, which broke within just a week, this bastard’s endurance— holding out for three more days— was truly remarkable.

After that, Cheongun took some time to enter seclusion.

“……”

Sitting cross-legged in the center of the floor of his private residence’s annex, he spent his time in meditation. 

The lotus position was far from an easy posture.

Also known as the full lotus, it involves crossing both legs over each other in a seated position.

The key is to have the soles of the feet facing upward.

“……”

The problem was that this posture was excruciatingly difficult.

Unless one’s body was well-trained, even sitting like this for a short while could make one feel the agony of twisted joints.

But since energy circulation required at least several hours per session, the physical exhaustion from maintaining the lotus position during each cycle was immense.

Yet, it was necessary.

Despite possessing the trait of “Demon Sect Subjugation,” the reason he entered seclusion was that his current mastery of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Chaos Qi Art was ambiguous.

What good was a hardened body and amplified internal energy if his realm was too low to utilize them properly?

But now.

Surrounded by demonic practitioners as he was—

He was certain he could advance beyond the first stage of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Chaos Qi Art, the “Heavenly Pivot”, and reach the next stage, “Primordial Chaos”.

[ 「Unique Trait: Demon Sect Subjugation!」 is active! ]

As the trait activated, Cheongun focused his mind on the pure natural energy surging toward him.

Reciting the floating incantations in the void, he sensed the flow of qi coursing through his body.

The qi, originating from the dantian below his navel, descended to the perineum at the base of the spine before rising back up along the spine.

Once it reached the crown of his head, the qi passed through the Baihui point, then descended between the eyebrows and over the philtrum before returning to the navel.

He didn’t forget to recite the incantations along the way.

At this meridian point, think like this; at that meridian point, think like that— applying each step like a formula made circulating qi through the body’s pathways not so difficult.

The nourishing qi that started from the dantian now wandered through all the meridians of the body.

His body grew hot, his blood vessels expanded, and the heated internal energy naturally melted away the fat accumulated in every corner of his veins.

Sweat poured out.

Mixed with fat, the sweat carried a rather foul stench.

It was nothing short of a revolutionary weight-loss method.

Cheongun gulped down the water he had prepared and returned to his energy circulation.

At some point, I even forgot the passage of time.

I could only vaguely guess by watching the moon wax and wane outside the window.

Before I knew it, dawn would break, the morning sun would rise over the opposite horizon, and then it would set again.

Clang— 

A clear, sword-like resonance struck my ears like an auditory hallucination.

I had entered a state of Muah Jigyeong—a trance of selflessness.

All afflictions vanished.

Even as the sun rose and set countless times, Cheongun’s Muah Jigyeong remained unbroken.

Innumerable secret techniques were imprinted, one by one, onto my body and mind, and I repeated the microcosmic orbit within the realm of Cheongi (Heavenly Energy) countless times.

And so, time flowed on.

By the time murmurs began circulating among my subordinates—”Hey, do you think he might be dead?”—

“……”

Finally, Cheongun had perfectly mastered the second stage of the Cheonji Honwon Ilgi Gong— the realm of Honwon (Primordial Chaos).

If the first stage, Cheongi, was about enhancing internal energy and smoothly absorbing the natural energies of the world,

then the realm of Honwon was precisely what its name implied— a state where the very distinctions of energy ceased to exist.

“When Yin reaches its extreme, Yang is born; when Yang reaches its extreme, Yin arises.”

“The energies of heaven and earth know only circulation—nothing remains fixed.”

“All things arise from the One, and to the One they shall return—such is the principle.”

The boundaries between Yin and Yang dissolved. 

The distinctions between internal energy and the natural energies of the world disappeared.

Yin and Yang merged into Honwon, and the energies of heaven and earth transformed—

until, at last, they exploded into light.

“Huu…”

With each breath, internal energy circulated. 

A deep blue energy surged through my entire body. 

As it resonated with the natural energies, the subtle principle of thunder began to unfold.

Crackle—!

With a single breath, a sharp current of electricity flashed through the empty air.

Seeing this, Cheongun grinned.

“Second Awakening— success.”

****

Cheongun emerged from seclusion after nearly two months of isolation.

As soon as his seclusion ended, Cheongun focused solely on eating as if determined to make up for lost time.

Whatever he ate turned not into fat but into muscle, and his once-lean frame now unmistakably bore the physique of a martial artist, well-defined and robust.

However, there was one problem.

“Who’s the cook?”

At Cheongun’s question, Jin Cheonwoo hesitantly raised his hand.

“That would be me.”

“You’re the cook? Where’s the original cook?”

“Huh? Didn’t you, Lord Hakju, cut off one of his arms and lock him up in Geumok?”

Ah.

That bastard had been the cook.

“Do you know why I called you here?”

“Why?”

“The food tastes terrible. Terribly so.”

Damn, just eat what you’re given.

Jin Cheonwoo grumbled inwardly.

Of course, he didn’t say it out loud, but Cheongun, sensing something amiss, smacked Jin Cheonwoo’s head.

Whack!

“Ow! Damn it!”

Only then did Cheongun seem satisfied as he lifted his head.

He glanced around the room and spoke.

“Raise your hand if you’re confident in your cooking.”

“……”

Hmm.

No one, huh?

Cheongun clicked his tongue and left the hall.

“Lord Hakju, where are you going?”

“To find a cook.”

With that, Cheongun headed into the city.

For the time being, he planned to wander around taverns and inns, searching for the best eateries in the capital to recruit a skilled cook.

As he sat down somewhere, chugging wall liquor from a gourd, something unexpected happened.

A man who looked like a mountain bandit leader sat down beside him and, in one swift motion, snatched Cheongun’s gourd, pouring the remaining liquor into his own mouth.

“Hey, country bumpkin.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. You know what? Every time you walk, the clinking of silver coins in your pocket is damn loud.”

“So?”

At that, the man smirked.

He snapped his fingers, and a dozen similarly rough-looking men swarmed around Cheongun.

The man bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.

“You get it, right? Hand it over.”

Cheongun was dumbfounded.

So much so that he couldn’t stop laughing— it was utterly absurd and ridiculous.

As Cheongun laughed like a madman, the surrounding men began to chuckle along nervously.

Shing! 

Cheongun drew his sword.

Seeing this, the men also drew their swords in defiance.

Cheongun wrapped his blade in a sword aura.

In response, the men did the same, as if to show off.

Cheongun’s sword gleaned sharply, and strands of sword aura stretched out like threads.

That’s when the men began to panic.

Wait, Sword Threads?

We can’t do that.

And then—

“!!!”

Crackle—!

The sword threads compressed to their limit, and blue lightning streaked out vertically in sharp lines.

Finally, Cheongun murmured softly.

“Alright, let’s die.”

“……”