Murim Login - Chapter 314

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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 314
I gazed silently at the scene unfolding before me.
A spacious chamber reduced to rubble. Amid scattered debris, two young men faced each other—no, three figures if you counted the middle-aged man whose face had turned ashen.
‘What kind of picture is this?’
The answer came quickly.
What kind of picture? The same one I’d witnessed countless times before.
A quarrel with Si-bi. At this point, it seemed like an essential virtue among Murim cultivators. Having grasped the general situation, I muttered under my breath.
“You’ve really laid out quite the feast.”
Baek Moo-sung, who had quietly lowered his sword, offered an awkward smile.
“You’ve arrived.”
“You told me to come, so I came. Now I want to leave.”
“It’s been a long time. But where are the others…?”
His eyes swept past my back. He clearly wasn’t looking for Gung Ki-bang or Hyuk Moo-jin, but rather searching for his troublesome private teacher.
But Chung Poong and the Bermuda Triangle had vanished without a trace.
‘I thought they’d follow quietly.’
I just hoped they wouldn’t cause any trouble.
I rubbed my brow and answered. The Bermuda Trio was secondary—the immediate problem lay right before me.
“Is that the issue right now? Is causing incidents a specialty of the Huashan Sect?”
“Well, there was a minor problem, you see…”
“You don’t need to explain. Anyone can see what happened.”
I examined the young man facing off against Baek Moo-sung, clicking my tongue inwardly.
Sharp eyes, a protruding jaw. All the rising talents I’d met in this region so far had been handsome—creating a sense of relative deprivation. This one, being rather ugly, actually felt endearing.
“Hello.”
You can’t spit at a smiling face.
The fellow responded to my friendly greeting.
“Get lost. This is no place for a vagrant like you.”
I turned to Baek Moo-sung and asked.
“So-hyup, who the hell is this bastard?”
“Hyuk So-pyung, the Zhongnan Dragon.”
“This one’s a dragon too? How many damn dragons are there?”
“He’s known throughout the martial world as the Zhongnan Sect’s finest talent and one of the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes.”
“Looks like an earthworm to me.”
An ugly face with an ugly personality—doubly infuriating.
At my muttering, Hyuk So-pyung’s eyebrows shot upward.
“I’ve never seen such a dog-like bastard…”
“Better than being worse than a dog. And think carefully before swinging that blade. This is the greatest crisis of your life.”
Hyuk So-pyung’s hand trembled. The blade that had been moving toward me ever so slightly was quietly lowered as he studied me intently from head to toe with sharp eyes.
“You’re no ordinary fellow.”
“Right. I’m quite extraordinary.”
“I thought you were just a leather merchant… but then again, Huashan’s disciples wouldn’t associate with someone like that.”
“Unlike someone like you, Baek So-hyup will spar with anyone. And look at these magnificent muscles. Do you think skin-selling could produce muscles like these?”
It was true that my appearance was shabby at the moment.
I had driven straight for over seven weeks without stopping at a single inn, so my hair was slick with grease and my once-clean martial robes had long since become caked with dust.
And as a final touch, there was the A-frame carrier piled high with leather hides. Hidden inside was Jeok Cheon-gang, whose frame was quite small.
‘My appearance is one thing, but the smell is getting a bit ripe.’
It was definitely time for a wash.
Hyuk So-pyung glared at me as I brought my nose to my martial robes and sniffed.
“Stop fooling around and reveal your sect and name.”
“Ugh, it’s always sect this, sect that. Aren’t you tired of it?”
“I’ll guarantee you one thing. If you’re not from the Nine Major Sects and One Alliance or the Five Great Families, you won’t walk out of here in one piece.”
“Really?”
I deliberately made my body tremble.
“What do I do? My sect is neither the Nine Major Sects and One Alliance nor the Five Great Families. Can’t you just let me walk out?”
“You should have watched your tongue. Remember that your meager three-inch tongue has brought crisis upon you and your sect.”
“My sect is in a bit of a crisis right now anyway. There are only two of us in the sect, including me.”
“Two?”
“Yeah, me and my master. That’s it.”
Hyuk So-pyung, with a sneer playing at the corners of his mouth, turned his head toward Baek Moo-sung.
“To think we’re dealing with scraps from some third-rate sect. You must have time to spare. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time training in martial arts?”
“Well. I think there’s quite a bit of misunderstanding in what you just said.”
Baek Moo-sung continued with a benevolent smile.
“First, So-hyup’s sect is not third-rate, and he is not scraps either. Second, you are one step below me. That has been true from the day we first met until now.”
“What did you just say?”
“I said you’re one step below me. Seeing you cause a drunken disturbance, I believe it will remain so in the future.”
His mouth smiled, but his eyes did not.
There was something else in Baek Moo-sung’s gaze, something unrelated to martial prowess.
A person’s inherent presence, or perhaps dignity. It seemed that was also why Hyuk So-pyung ground his teeth but dared not retort.
‘And people of that sort always try to settle things with their bodies once their words fail them.’
Just like now.
The moment the blade in his grip began to tremble, I suddenly opened my mouth.
“I think I mentioned it before. Think carefully before you swing that sword.”
Whoosh.
Hyuk So-pyung’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he turned his gaze toward me.
“You….”
“I’m not one to nitpick about things since I believe in universal equality, but be grateful you’re a disciple of the Zhongnan Sect. If you weren’t, you’d already be carried out of here.”
Dark Heaven, that ominous cloud, was gathering in the distance.
In this time when even the entire Murim united would be insufficient to oppose it, creating conflict with the Zhongnan Sect seemed entirely wrong to me.
‘Though it does seem a bit late for that.’
I already had a bitter history with the Zhongnan Sect.
With the Zhongnan Three Hands and the Angry Sword Immortal.
‘A year ago, the Angry Sword Immortal thoroughly drove him out.’
The Angry Sword Immortal wasn’t some nameless foot soldier rolling about in the streets—he was the senior martial brother of Feng Yun Sword Lord, the sect leader and elder of Zhongnan Sect, so the aftermath had been quite significant, or so I’d heard.
According to what I learned later, the Angry Sword Immortal had entered closed cultivation for some reason, and the Zhongnan Three Hands had received a slap from the sect leader.
‘This much is already a fine enmity. There’s no need to escalate further.’
The stench of oil that Red Sky River had poured over Zhongnan Sect hadn’t even dissipated yet. I had no desire to set that oil ablaze.
Especially not in this moment, while Red Sky River remained unconscious.
“So sheathe your sword quietly and be on your way. Understood?”
Good, well done. This is how one matures.
I wanted to praise myself for such composed judgment. But Hyuk So-pyung, the Zhongnan First Dragon, thought differently.
His eyes flashed brilliantly as he ground his teeth.
“Let’s see if your skill matches that mouth of yours.”
Shing!
The blade in Hyuk So-pyung’s hand tore through the air at dazzling speed.
Simultaneously, a net of sword energy descended upon me—the very same martial technique that had unfolded from the hands of Song Il, the Angry Sword Immortal, a year ago.
‘The Thirty-Six Heavenly Swords.’
The signature absolute technique of Zhongnan Sect.
According to Red Sky River, if one reached the pinnacle of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Swords, a single stroke could fill the heavens and earth in all directions with sword energy.
But…
“You don’t know what this is?”
Whoooosh!
Flame Fire Path—the secret divine technique of Yeolhwa Sect, passed down for centuries, transformed into a single streak of flame.
It tore through the net of sword energy and reached its target without obstruction. I gazed into Hyuk So-pyung’s wide-open eyes and whispered.
“You and I operate on different levels.”
“…!”
Shing, snap!
I seized Hyuk So-pyung’s wrist as he desperately tried to shift his blade. The sound of flesh searing under the extreme yang energy radiating from my hand echoed out.
“Aaaagh!”
A single scream.
The blade slipped from Hyuk So-pyung’s grasp and clattered to the ground with a metallic ring. And before that, my palm had already connected with his cheek.
Crack!
Once more.
Crack!
And again.
Crack!
Without even a moment to resist, Hyuk So-pyung’s body staggered after receiving three slaps.
Even without channeling my inner power, my physical abilities had long transcended human limits. His eyes were already glazed over, his spirit knocked clean out of him.
“What did you say earlier? That you wanted to see if my skill matched my mouth?”
“Huh… huh…”
“Listen here. If you’re from Zhongnan Sect, then I’m a body cultivator. From now on, check where you’re lying before you stretch your legs. Got it?”
Thud thud.
I tapped Hyuk So-pyung’s cheek to bring him back to his senses, and only then did his eyes regain focus.
“H-how did you deflect the Heaven’s Thirty-Six Swords of the Seven Stars so easily…?”
“You’ve only mastered up to the Seven Stars? No wonder it felt so sloppy. At least master up to the Nine Stars before you challenge me again. Though I’ve already experienced it before, so the result will be the same.”
“Y-you’ve actually experienced the Heaven’s Thirty-Six Swords of the Nine Stars?”
“I have. I even dodged it.”
“That’s absurd! There aren’t even five people in the Main Sect who’ve mastered up to the Nine Stars!”
“I’m one of those five. I heard I’m among the top three masters in Zhongnan.”
I chuckled and continued speaking.
“The Angry Sword Immortal, Song Il. I wonder how he’s doing these days. When he was humiliated and driven out last year, he didn’t look particularly well.”
That answer was sufficient.
A direct disciple of Zhongnan Sect, the very pinnacle of their lineage—and one called the greatest talent of Zhongnan. If outsiders knew of this rumor, there was no way insiders wouldn’t.
Hyuk So-pyung’s body trembled as his bloodshot eyes widened.
“Then surely… you’re not…?”
“About that master you mentioned earlier—it’s all true. Not the Nine Major Sects and One Alliance, but calling it a sect when there are only two of us—my master and I—is a stretch. I don’t know what kind of sect rules those are, but they’re annoyingly strict with this single-successor, non-transmission principle.”
“Y-Yeolhwa Sect…!”
“A sect! Two people!”
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon—you’re Jin Tae-kyung!”
“Jin Tae-kyung! That’s right!”
I shouted while gripping his collar tightly, and Hyuk So-pyung’s face drained of all color.
Watching such an expression, I smirked and brushed off the collar I’d been holding.
“You know my master’s temperament, don’t you? Let’s end this without any hard feelings between us. How about we just let this matter be forgotten forever?”
“…”
“That’s strange. You’re not answering. Maybe you’ll hear me after ten slaps across the face.”
Whoosh.
As I raised my palm slightly, Hyuk So-pyung flinched reflexively and clenched his teeth.
“I… understand.”
“Hm? What was that? I can barely hear you with that pathetic voice of someone who’s only mastered the Seven Stars of the Heaven’s Thirty-Six Swords.”
“…I said I understand.”
“Good. Then be careful on your way out. Don’t go far.”
Crack.
The sound of bones grinding came from Hyuk So-pyung’s fist as he clenched it with all his might.
It was just as he glared at me, Baek Moo-sung, and the middle-aged martial artist whose name I didn’t know, then took a large step toward the exit of the separate annex.
“I’m reminded of a certain boy I met at the Huashan Comprehensive Conference ten years ago.”
“…!”
“Go well, So-pyung.”
Baek Moo-sung’s calm voice came unexpectedly. Hyuk So-pyung, who had momentarily stopped, then slipped out of the separate annex.
The fading sound of Hyuk So-pyung’s footsteps, and simultaneously, the cautious approach of another person’s steps.
“Come out.”
At my words, someone gasped sharply.
Soon, Chung Poong emerged with his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel’s.
The fellow who had been swallowing his food and watching my expression carefully bowed his head toward Baek Moo-sung.
“I’m really sorry about last time. Master Baek….”
Suddenly, a memory flashed through my mind—a year ago, when Chung Poong was being escorted to the Huashan Sect, he had beaten down Baek Moo-sung and the Plum Blossom Three Absolutes before escaping.
‘A meeting between perpetrator and victim.’
That bastard was undoubtedly guilty.

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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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