episode_0026

Martial arts have their own realms.

They are standards for measuring strength, so they can be likened to levels in a game.

Yang Hogeol referred to himself as a master.

In fact, it wasn’t a false claim.

Because in Jianghu, one is called a master the moment they can wield sword qi.

As such, a Peak Master has nothing to fear.

This is because, having overcome the first major obstacle a martial artist faces, their self-confidence overflows.

This is often referred to as the ‘Peak of Ignorance’.

It is a period when everything in the world appears most beautiful; that is the realm of the early Peak stage.

Perhaps that was why.

Yang Hogeol found it amusing when the man before him drew his sword.

Daring to draw a sword before a Peak Master?

It wasn’t surprising.

Encountering ignorant fools who, seeing his bandit-like appearance, mistook his level to also be that of a mere bandit.

On the contrary, his heart pounded with excitement at the thought of properly educating a greenhorn who didn’t know the vastness of the world.

But wait?

His opponent was also a Peak Master.

But that was fine.

Because he too could wield sword qi.

The problem, however, began after that.

!!!

Sword qi extended in strands, forming a swordsman, and then, from the empty air, sharp electric currents crackled and flashed.

One only perceives what one understands.

As a master worthy of the name, Yang Hogeol instantly recognized the phenomenon before him as the energy of lightning (雷).

‘What did I just witness?’

Imbuing qi (氣) with an element is a technique that only those who have reached the pinnacle of enlightenment among late-stage Peak Masters can display.

One must comprehend the profound principles of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, which are the natural laws governing the universe, discerning the generation and subjugation, essence and foundation of qi.

How incredibly difficult it was to master that!

Moreover, even mastering a single element is difficult, and the lightning (雷) element is a destructive (破邪) element born from Yang and corresponding to Yin.

What is lightning?

It is confined by metal (金), extends roots (木) from the sky towards the earth (地), is born from water (水) due to its characteristic of striking during rain, and fire (火) appears where lightning strikes.

Water (水), Wood (木), Fire (火), Earth (土), Metal (金)

Because one must master all five elements, the profound mystery of lightning is considered the most formidable.

Yang Hogeol’s mind raced furiously.

He wielded sword qi and the sword freely, and from it, he continuously drew forth streaks of lightning.

Then, what was that guy’s true identity?

Answer. A goddamn master.

“Come on, let’s die.”

“……”

Yang Hogeol’s face turned ghastly pale.

Damn it, he’d overstepped his bounds and was about to become a human roast.

“Wait! Great Hero! Let’s talk!”

“Talk? What’s there to talk about? You drank my precious liquor, so I’ll collect its price with your life.”

“Pl-please, just spare my life!”

“Why would I? If I were weaker than you lot, would you really have spared me? You would have brutally humiliated me, then mercilessly killed me once you lost interest. Do you know that? The stench of blood permeates your bodies.”

“N-no, that’s not it! I’ll do anything you ask… *Ugh!*”

Something whizzed past before he could finish speaking.

Crack! A streak of lightning sliced through the air, grazing the tip of Yang Hogeol’s ear.

It had only grazed him, yet his skin tingled and burned as if scorched.

Yang Hogeol let out an involuntary, hollow laugh at the absurd destructive power.

“Don’t laugh. You’ll grow attached.”

Yang Hogeol gulped.

The fear of an absolute master, freely wielding lightning, striding towards him made his legs feel like jelly.

“G-Great Hero!”

“Don’t speak to me. I’m currently deep in thought.”

Thought?

What kind of thought?

“I’m contemplating whether to kill you, or just half-kill you.”

Oh, damn it.

Yang Hogeol sweated profusely.

“I-is there perhaps no option to just let us go?”

At those words, Cheongun’s eyes flashed.

At the same time, Cheongun slapped Yang Hogeol across the cheek.

“Then who told you to live by preying on others like a damn parasite?”

Slap!

“Oh, you’re still wearing your protective artifact?”

Whack!

“This is for my precious liquor!”

Slap! Slap!

“This is for the countless dead you bastards have killed!”

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

Crisp striking sounds echoed.

A palm imbued with internal energy relentlessly beat Yang Hogeol’s cheeks.

His lips split, his nose bled, and his face swelled grotesquely, making his already unsightly face even worse.

His eardrums must have burst too, as his ears felt deafened and he heard ringing.

The sounds were so ‘crisp’ that onlookers had gathered without realizing it.

After striking him for a long time, Cheongun eventually called over a tavern boy.

“Give me a bottle of precious liquor.”

“Yes, yes!”

The tavern boy quickly ran off and swiftly handed Cheongun a gourd flask containing the precious liquor.

Yang Hogeol whimpered and mumbled.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Cheongun guzzled the precious liquor and then spoke.

“Get lost.”

“Th-thank you!”

With those words, Yang Hogeol stumbled, pushing through the crowd and disappearing from the throng.

****

Yang Hogeol.

He was the Fortress Master-nim of the Iron Gate Fortress and a Green Forest Bandit.

This meant they weren’t mere uneducated petty thieves, but rather self-proclaimed members of the unorthodox factions.

Act on behalf of Heaven, dispense justice.

Aid the poor, save the Nine Provinces.

It means acting on behalf of Heaven to dispense justice and saving the world by aiding the poor. In short, it meant extorting wealth from the rich and redistributing it among the poor.

This was the ideal upheld by the Green Forest bandits, their grand justification and logic for claiming they were not mere thieves, but righteous outlaws.

Naturally, such nonsense was unparalleled.

No matter how nicely they packaged it, a bandit was still a bandit.

Ultimately, they were nothing more than criminal bastards who extorted money from innocent citizens, calling it ‘tolls’, to sustain their livelihoods.

The Iron Gate Fortress was a prime example of this.

These scoundrels extorted wealth from everyone they saw, not just the rich, to fill their own pockets.

It would have been fortunate if they only extorted wealth, but these villains would mercilessly torture and murder if anything displeased them in the slightest.

“Gasp, gasp…!”

Yang Hogeol hurriedly left the city.

He had intended to wander around as usual, extort some money, and relieve some stress, but he had unfortunately run into a truly deranged maniac and was beaten like a dog on a hot summer day [a proverb for being severely beaten], barely managing to escape.

However.

“Damn it…!”

He had clearly been told to get lost, and he had gotten lost.

But for some reason, that ghost-like monster was still trailing them from afar.

Yang Hogeol shivered.

If he hadn’t known the guy was following them, perhaps it would have been fine, but with him so openly tracking them, it felt unsettling and horrifying, like a ghost was clinging to their backs.

“Brother-nim, that bastard is still following us?”

“I know.”

“Now that I think about it, he only told us to get lost, he didn’t say he would spare our lives.”

At those words, the bandits nodded.

It was highly unlikely that the man was headed in the same direction as them.

Therefore, the only plausible explanation was that he was indeed tracking them.

As night fell, darkness enveloped them.

Yang Hogeol sat down in a suitable spot and built a campfire.

Perhaps because their sleep was disturbed by Cheongun’s relentless pursuit, people one by one gathered around the campfire.

“Do you see him over there?”

Yang Hogeol pointed in one direction.

Far away. Their eyes met with Cheongun’s, which were staring only at them from within the darkness.

Yang Hogeol and the bandits sweated profusely.

Yang Hogeol, trembling, voiced his thoughts.

“We need a plan.”

“A plan, you say?”

“Yes, you saw that guy, didn’t you? He’s not just ordinarily crazy. We can’t shake him off. It’s impossible to escape a master who can continuously draw lightning from his sword with mere footwork.”

“Then what should we do, Brother-nim?”

Yang Hogeol looked around at his subordinates with troubled eyes.

“Either lead him to a completely different place. Or take him back to the fortress, surrender everything, and beg for our lives.”

“What do you think, Brother-nim?”

“If we lead him to a different place, he’ll most likely catch on halfway. Then the location of our fortress won’t be exposed, but we’ll surely die at his hands.”

At those words, the bandits gulped.

No matter what they chose, there was no good answer.

So, if they had to choose, it was right to somehow ambush him here.

The only problem was that he was too strong, even for strong.

Even if they all rushed him, it would just be a mass slaughter.

They needed some kind of clever trick.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Hogeol asked his subordinates.

“That guy, he seemed to be from an orthodox sect, didn’t he?”

At those words, the bandits nodded.

Although his behavior was that of the black path, the profound energy felt from the internal cultivation he had mastered was clearly genuine Daoist qi-gong.

Just then, one man tentatively offered an idea.

“Then what about taking a hostage?”

A hostage.

It meant seizing a few innocent citizens and threatening, “If you don’t get lost right now, we’ll kill these people!”

“Do you all agree?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Let’s do that then. From today, it would be best to take turns standing guard. Just in case he attempts a sudden attack.”

“Then, as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, we’ll head to a nearby village to…”

At that moment, the bandit suddenly stopped speaking.

“Th-the Fortress Master-nim.”

“What?”

“Th-that guy from earlier, I mean.”

The bandit gulped.

And stretched out his finger, pointing into the distance.

In the deep darkness that had settled among the trees, there was nothing.

“Wasn’t he clearly watching us from there?”

At those words, Yang Hogeol and the other bandits quickly turned their heads.

Cheongun was nowhere to be seen.

“……”

A chilling silence filled the air.

It was creepy when he was there, but his sudden absence made them feel unnecessarily anxious and uneasy, a terror beyond anything they had felt before.

Gulp.

In the silence, where even the chirping of crickets had ceased, only their ragged breaths echoed loudly.

Just then.

—Rustle!

Whoosh!

Everyone’s heads simultaneously shot upwards.

From the darkness, a pair of piercing blue eyes glinted.

Their eyes met with Cheongun, who was hanging upside down from a tree.

“Come on, let’s die.”

“……”