Murim Login - Chapter 246

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 246
Quest
[Seongnae Daeyeon]
What more need be said?
Advance without hesitation. Become the champion of this grand gathering that all under heaven watches, leave your mark upon the Martial World, and claim your glory!
Rank
: Peak Transcendent
Restriction
: Jin Tae-kyung
Objective
: Win Seongnae Daeyeon (Incomplete)
Reward
: ???
Failure
: Fire King’s Wrath
“….”
I hesitated at the penalty for failure.
Right, I might not win Seongnae Daeyeon. And he gets angry over that?
Imagining Jeok Cheon-gang raging wildly made me feel genuinely wronged.
‘After only teaching me for a year, no less.’
Of course, my situation was an exceptionally rare case.
Yet the fact that he made a point of revealing this through the Quest window showed just how tremendous his expectations were.
“Jin Tae-kyung of the Taewon Jin Family. Where are you?”
“Ah, here.”
At the Supervisor’s call, I closed the Quest window and moved forward.
With each step, I felt the weight of countless gazes, and whispers rippled through the crowd around me.
“Jin Tae-kyung of the Taewon Jin Family, you say….”
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon?”
“Is that the young man? The one they say the Fire King took as his disciple?”
“That’s right. I’m certain of it.”
I even caught the blunt voice of someone I’d heard before in the crowd.
“Hmph. So he had something to rely on. Still, he’s nothing but a weakling with a decent appearance.”
Letting all the murmurs wash over me, I stepped forward to stand before the cliff.
The Supervisor, who had been regarding me with surprise, opened his mouth in a more respectful tone.
“A depth of three cun or more is a pass. Anything less is a failure.”
“Understood.”
Three cun meant roughly ten centimeters of depth.
An ordinary first-rate master who had diligently cultivated martial techniques could easily pass at this level.
Yet as I prepared myself, tension surged through me.
‘Tch. I can’t get a feel for this at all.’
I genuinely have no idea. Just how much force would I need to apply to leave a mark three inches deep in this cliff?
As I stood quietly studying the cliff face, I decided to use the help function.
“Excuse me, Supervisor.”
“Yes?”
“So as long as the depth reaches three inches or more, I pass, right?”
“That is correct. However, once your fist leaves the surface, that is the end of your attempt.”
“Ah, I see.”
In that case, it should be simple. I nodded and immediately pressed my fist against the cliff. Then I pushed gently.
Thump! Crack, crack, crack.
The cliff surface split as smoothly as tofu. Shattered rock fragments and earth cascaded down.
With my arm buried up to the elbow, I looked toward the Supervisor.
“I pass. Okay?”
“….”
The Supervisor’s expression was worth seeing.
His mouth hung open as his eyes darted between my face and my arm embedded in the cliff, and he spoke in a stammering voice.
“H-how did you do that?”
“I pushed.”
“But how exactly….”
“I just pushed with force.”
“….”
“Anyway, I passed, right? My fist didn’t come off and the depth is considerable.”
“W-well.”
The Supervisor’s pupils trembled.
“I-I’m not entirely sure. This has never happened before in all my years.”
“Then that’s settled. From now on, this is how it’ll be done.”
“S-So-hyup. My apologies, but could you perhaps do this a bit more… ordinarily? It’s difficult for me to make a judgment….”
“Ordinarily?”
That’s exactly why I did it this way. This old fool.
I was just considering whether to throw one more punch casually when it happened.
“Puhahahaha!”
A sudden burst of laughter made everyone, including myself, turn their heads.
Geo Han, who stood out distinctly, was watching me with a full smile of mockery on his face.
“So you’re the type who’s desperate to show off.”
I scratched my chin and replied.
“Not particularly. But why are you so desperate to pick a fight that you can’t help yourself?”
“You?”
“Yeah. You.”
Veins bulged on Geo Han’s forehead.
“I heard the Fire King’s disciple only recently came of age.”
“Twenty-two. That’s grown.”
“I’m thirty years old.”
“Thirty? That’s about the same as me. Want to be friends?”
“This green-eared brat dares to….”
Did he have some kind of formal speech fetish?
The Supervisor restrained him as he stepped forward with eyes wide open.
“Control yourself!”
“Control? To hell with that. The only person who can speak to me that way is my master.”
I folded my arms leisurely and asked.
“So, you’ve been wanting to say that all this time. Let’s hear who your master is.”
“The Sea King.”
The Sea King? Could it be…?
I let out a voice tinged with astonishment.
“Jang Bogo!”
“What nonsense! My master’s name is Fa-ryun! The Sea King Fa-ryun!”
“Ah, right. That couldn’t be it.”
Unlike me, who felt disappointed, the name that flowed from the young man’s lips carried tremendous impact.
Murmurs arose among the applicants in the same group, the Supervisor, and even those conducting examinations from dozens of seats away.
“The, the Sea King Fa-ryun!”
“That Fa-ryun who is the leader of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance and one of the Ten Kings?”
“Then that young man must be Chul Soo Shin-ryong. No wonder he dared to provoke the Fire King’s disciple without fear.”
“How did this happen? Two disciples of the Ten Kings….”
At such reactions, the young man—no, Chul Soo Shin-ryong—let out a scoff.
There was pride in having such a distinguished master, but confidence in his own abilities seeped through his every action.
‘Well, he’s certainly strong enough at that level.’
Perhaps it was natural for a disciple of one of the Ten Kings?
Unlike me, he seemed to have received guidance from the Sea King Fa-ryun since childhood.
I didn’t know how great the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance was, but it was certain he had received generous support in martial arts and elixirs.
As I watched with folded arms and interest, Chul Soo Shin-ryong chuckled.
“You said you’re the Fire King’s disciple? A frontier martial family upstart who’s only received a year of instruction shouldn’t act so presumptuous.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. Shanxi Province was a frontier far from the Central Plains, and the Taewon Jin Family was indeed a frontier martial family.
That said….
“You’re a pirate though. Your master is a pirate captain.”
“Pirate?! Are you now insulting the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance?! We are heroes who traverse rivers and seas!”
“Right. But if you shorten that to two characters, isn’t it just pirate?”
“You fool! What nonsense! The heroes of our alliance are worlds apart from such rabble!”
“Worlds apart? Then maybe you all eat those strangely-shaped fruits too? The ones that make you unable to swim?”
“You bastard—!”
“So you ate the Bastard Fruit.”
Crackle, crackle, crackle.
A sinister sound emanated from Chul Soo Shin-ryong’s massive fist.
When the young man with murderous eyes glaring at me took a step forward, the Supervisor rushed out and blocked the space between us.
“Wait! If you fight here, you’ll be disqualified…!”
“Move.”
“Gasp!”
Given the massive scale of the competition, the supervisors controlling the examination were all highly skilled masters. At minimum, top-tier to peak-level experts.
The supervisor overseeing my group was at the top-tier level, but when Chul Soo Shin-ryong’s hand gripped his shoulder, his face drained of all color.
“W-what is this?”
“No need to interfere. I’ve also received strict orders from my master to win at Seongnae Daeyeon.”
“Then….”
“We won’t fight. I’m just going to show this young pup a thing or two.”
Chul Soo Shin-ryong released the supervisor and strode toward the cliff. Without hesitation, he drove his fist directly into the cliff face.
Crack, crack, crack!
Having embedded his forearm deep into the stone by shattering the solid bedrock, he clicked his tongue while looking at me.
“This is all you managed. Pathetic.”
I’d known from the first time I saw him that Chul Soo Shin-ryong was a master who had cultivated an exceptionally high level of external martial arts.
That degree of build and muscle strength couldn’t be explained by natural talent alone.
Martial arts. It was clearly refined through extreme-level external power cultivation techniques.
Ohhh…!”
“Truly Chul Soo Shin-ryong!”
Exclamations poured out at a strength that could only be called divine power.
Something even ordinary peak-level masters couldn’t accomplish without using their internal energy. Yet Chul Soo Shin-ryong did it as easily as breathing.
And he did it deliberately, creating a hole far deeper than mine.
“The Fire King’s disciple is impressive, but it seems he’s still outmatched?”
“That’s possible. He’s quite young, and the Fire King has only taken him as a disciple for about a year.”
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon was also aiming for victory…but it looks difficult this time.”
Regardless of what the people around us whispered, he was undoubtedly impressive.
At this level, regardless of who his master is, there’s no question he’s a master who could boast loudly anywhere in the Martial World.
Clap, clap, clap.
“Strength truly is king. Congratulations on passing.”
“How pathetic. No need to pretend to be composed.”
“I’m serious.”
Chul Soo Shin-ryong, who had scoffed at my applause, turned his head toward the supervisor.
Faced with the successive unexpected developments, the supervisor stood dumbfounded.
“Do I pass?”
“Ah. W-well….”
“Doesn’t matter. I had no intention of stopping here anyway.”
Thud, thud, thud.
Chul Soo Shin-ryong withdrew his forearm with absurd ease and looked around.
Reading envy, jealousy, and despair in the gazes of those watching him, he bared his teeth at me.
“Young pup, consider it an honor to witness the Breaking Ship Fist.”
“Wave Shattering Fist?”
There was no answer. Instead, an aura as vast as the ocean itself surged from Chul Soo Shin-ryong’s entire body like rolling waves.
A waist thicker than a bear’s and arms like pillars were drawn back to their fullest extent. His fists already rippled with azure energy as turbulent as a river current.
A deep, resonant hum.
The air around us trembled, and in the next instant—
BOOM!
Wave Shattering Fist.
A single technique capable of splitting a merchant vessel exploded against the cliff face.
A deafening roar accompanied a violent gust of wind. People shielded their faces with both arms against the cascading dust and stone fragments, groaning in distress.
“Gasp!”
“Ugh!”
Amid the chaos,
I stood motionless, witnessing every detail of the spectacle.
That’s why, moments later, when the dust settled and gasps of astonishment erupted, I could fully comprehend them.
‘Good heavens…’
A cliff face spanning roughly a hundred paces in both width and height.
In this natural monument that had stood for countless ages, there now gaped an enormous cavity that hadn’t existed moments before.
No—it would be more accurate to call it a small cavern.
Its width and height each measured roughly ten paces, and its depth extended some five paces inward.
“This… this cannot be.”
“So this is the Sea King’s secret martial technique…!”
An undisguised tremor rippled through the assembled crowd.
Everyone present was someone who revered martial prowess above all else and yearned to become stronger than anyone under heaven.
Their gazes fixed upon the warrior who had demonstrated a technique beyond their wildest aspirations, eyes brimming with reverence.
“Huff. Huff.”
His broad back heaved, rippling muscles straining against his skin.
After steadying his breathing for a moment, Chul Soo Shin-ryong turned with a composed expression. Between his thick lips came a single, brief utterance.
“The result?”
The Supervisor, finally regaining his senses, barely managed to find his voice.
“Passed. You have passed.”
“I see.”
Chul Soo Shin-ryong’s lips curled upward as he swept his gaze across the assembly.
His eyes, still burning with intensity, came to rest on my face.
“Did you see it?”
I nodded slightly.
“What did you think?”
“Impressive.”
“And?”
“Congratulations on passing.”
“Is that all?”
“So what, then? Should I pat your backside for you?”
Grind, grind.
Watching Chul Soo Shin-ryong gnash his teeth, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
He should have been satisfied with a compliment. What more does he want from me here?
‘What a brat.’
Being a pirate, he’s as simple-minded as they come. It’s the same way he’s been pouring everything into the preliminaries until he’s gasping for breath.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and spoke to the Supervisor.
“Let’s move on quickly, shall we? We’ve already wasted quite a bit of time.”
“Ah, understood. Then next….”
It was just as I turned to leave at the Supervisor’s call.
“Looking at you, I can tell the level of the Yeolhwa Sect well enough.”
“What?”
My body stopped without thinking. Chul Soo Shin-ryong continued with a voice dripping with mockery.
“One man defeats none, none defeat one. Fine words, but in the end, you’re just a cowardly dog running away with its tail between its legs from me, aren’t you?”
“That’s your opinion.”
“Is it only mine?”
“What?”
I suddenly looked around.
Countless gazes surrounding Chul Soo Shin-ryong and me.
I could read the emotions in their eyes.
‘Disappointment. Contempt.’
Beep beep.
– People whisper at the sight of your fearful appearance!
–
[Yeolhwa Sect]
People doubt its reputation.
–
[Red Sky River]
People doubt its reputation.
– Fame has decreased by 18!
– Fame has decreased by 20!
– Fame has….
System notifications pierced my ears.
In that moment, I awoke as if from a long slumber.
‘I see.’
I had forgotten for a moment. Or rather, I knew but hadn’t truly grasped its meaning.
Seongnae Daeyeon, this grand and magnificent stage where martial artists from across the realm had gathered, had finally begun.
‘This is the Central Plains. This is the realm.’
A world proven only by strength. Winners and losers. A realm divided into two kinds of people. That is the Martial World.
“Haa.”
I let out a sigh so heavy it seemed the earth itself might collapse, and Chul Soo Shin-ryong smirked at the sight.
“Now you’re finally feeling like you can give it a try, hmm?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Thanks. My mind’s completely clear now.”
“I heard you handle the spear quite well. I’ll specially permit you to—”
“Wave-Breaking Fist, right?”
“Huh?”
“That technique can split a boat, but a cliff? That’s beyond its reach.”
Whoosh.
A single step. I closed the distance of five zhang in an instant. By the time my feet touched the ground again after that brief flight, I had already passed Chul Soo Shin-ryong.
A startled cry erupted from behind me, arriving too late.
“You—!”
Instead of answering, I gazed up at the cliff face looming before me.
The Fire Dragon that had slumbered in my dantian awakened, spreading through every meridian of my body. Hundreds of vital channels blazed with scorching heat.
“Jin Tae-kyung!”
“You bastard. Consider yourself honored to witness the Flame Annihilation Divine Fist.”
Azure flames consumed my vision entirely.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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