Murim Login - Chapter 364

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

Chapter 364
I had dreamed a very long dream. A dream of walking through a hundred years of time.
A vagrant who wandered the Continent begging for scraps met a master, learned martial arts and made his name known throughout the realm, and one day saw his past self in a dirt-smeared beggar child shoving dumplings into his mouth.
‘What is your name?’
‘…I do not know.’
‘Jang Cheon. From this moment forward, your name is Jang Cheon.’
Dark and cold memories. On the day torrential rain poured down, the disciple who was like blood kin departed, and the master remained behind.
It was only after a very long time had passed that he emerged into the world again.
And….
‘An amusing fellow. Who are you and from where?’
‘Jin Tae-kyung. I am Jin Tae-kyung of the Taewon Jin Family.’
I met one person.
A young boy whose crooked speech and rebellious gaze could not be hidden, and whom I did not favor at first.
Yet why was it? Every time I looked around, that wretch was always at my side, constantly catching my eye.
Perhaps it began then. The moment my heart began to stir.
‘Old Master is already afflicted with age. Can one truly learn martial arts from someone like me?’
‘Yes.’
‘I say this once more….’
‘I believe in Old Master Noya. That is enough.’
Light and warmth seeped into the dark and cold memories.
I never regretted that decision for even a moment. Not even in that instant when I unleashed the Fire God Ghost Dance, what would be the last of my life.
‘How is it? The Fire God Ghost Dance. Magnificent, is it not?’
‘Yes. It was magnificent.’
Those words were enough. I desired nothing more. For I had avenged my friend’s enemy and could save my one and only disciple.
Yet unbelievably, the enemy rose again, and the memory ended there.
In the darkness where everything vanished, I thought. Am I dead? Where is this place where neither Yama nor the spirits of the dead appear?
‘Could it be that I wander the Nine Heavens?’
The question soon faded. From some point onward, I forgot the passage of time. I even forgot who I was and how I had lived.
No, it was just as I was beginning to forget.
‘Old Master Noya. Do you know this?’
Someone’s voice echoed distantly. A voice I had heard before from somewhere. Yet the words of someone I had never heard before.
‘I always wanted to call you Master.’
I understood. At the same time, I remembered one person I had briefly forgotten. The solid dam of memory crumbled and swallowed me whole.
‘I felt the same way.’
Flames bloomed.
Two hands engulfed in fierce fire tore through the void. The darkness that surrounded all directions shattered, and light seeped in.
As if to signal that I was not yet ready to awaken, the passage was narrow. Yet without hesitation, I stepped toward the light.
‘That boy is calling me.’
Whoooosh!
Aaahhh!
With brilliant white light flooding his vision, Fire King Red Sky River opened his eyes.
* * *
“Do not lay a finger on him.”
His voice was hoarse from prolonged silence. Yet the Western Heavenly Demon Lord who turned to face him could sense it clearly.
The scorching heat emanating from that diminutive elder’s frame. Eyes blazing with fury.
“Remove your hands from my disciple.”
“Fire King…!”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord exhaled sharply. Of all times, the ancient demon of Jiuhua Mountain had to awaken now.
Under normal circumstances it would be manageable, but he had already shattered one ankle and expended considerable strength.
His opponent, by contrast, was the supreme master among the Ten Kings.
‘This is not favorable. Not favorable at all.’
At this rate, he might have to accept mutual destruction.
Dying here with the Heavenly Master’s command unfulfilled was not something the Western Heavenly Demon Lord desired.
‘There is no choice.’
Though it wounded his pride as a warrior, he needed to resolve this through the simplest means available.
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord bit his lip and extended his hand. Jin Tae-kyung’s limp form, barely clinging to consciousness, was drawn into his grasp like iron to a magnet.
He seized Jin Tae-kyung by the throat and shook him deliberately before Red Sky River.
“You would do well to stop there. Unless you wish your sole disciple to live.”
Red Sky River’s advancing footsteps halted abruptly. He stared at the Western Heavenly Demon Lord in silence before slowly parting his lips.
“What shameless, parentless dog of a bastard stands before me….”
“…!”
“Did you stuff my words into your ass? I was clear. Do not lay a finger on him.”
The crude curse momentarily stunned him, but a sneer quickly played across the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s lips.
“Ah, is that so?”
Simultaneously, a suppressed groan escaped between Jin Tae-kyung’s lips. The Western Heavenly Demon Lord had tightened his grip.
A dull crack.
The faint sound of bones dislocating echoed through the air. Red Sky River’s eyes darkened profoundly.
“You dare….”
“I have many eyes and ears. They all speak with one voice—that the great Fire King cherishes his disciple as flesh and blood.”
“…What do you want.”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord answered without hesitation.
“If you wish your disciple to live, take your own life.”
“Take my own life.”
Red Sky River let out a hollow laugh and spoke.
“Your barking is quite impressive. Did you learn it from a stray dog on Market Street?”
“Master and disciple grow alike, they say. Yet your disciple speaks the very same words.”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord clicked his tongue softly and tightened his grip further.
A sharp crack.
With a more distinct and louder sound of fracture, Jin Tae-kyung’s limp feet thrashed through empty air. At the sight, deep furrows carved themselves into Red Sky River’s brow.
“You wretch!”
“This is my final offer. If you accept my proposal, you can save your disciple and preserve your sect’s legacy. However, if you refuse….”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord continued in a desolate voice.
“I will snap this wretch’s neck on the spot and engage you in a life-or-death battle. And you will likely be the first to fall.”
This was no mere bluff. The Western Heavenly Demon Lord knew that Red Sky River was far from whole.
After spending over a month teetering on death’s door while confronting the Blood Lord, he had only just awakened.
“What will you do?”
Red Sky River’s eyelids trembled. The aged master, gazing at his disciple trapped in the enemy’s grasp with an indescribable light in his eyes, opened his mouth.
“Keep your promise…without fail.”
“Of course.”
Of course it was a lie. The Western Heavenly Demon Lord had no intention of letting a single soul live.
Not the Sichuan Tang Sect, not Fire King Red Sky River, and not the Divine Physician who lay unconscious behind them from the aftermath of battle. And….
‘Shanxi Sleeping Dragon Jin Tae-kyung. This one especially must not be allowed to live.’
The Sword Saint’s successor was one thing, but Jin Tae-kyung was a particularly dangerous existence.
Had they fought even half an hour longer—no, even a quarter hour—he might have achieved enlightenment and broken through the wall of the supreme realm. It was heaven’s blessing that Jin Tae-kyung had been defeated before that enlightenment could take hold.
‘The Heavenly Master watches over me.’
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord barely suppressed the corners of his mouth from rising. Red Sky River, who had been staring at him intently, suddenly spoke.
“Is that all?”
At the sudden words, the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s brow furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“You treacherous wretch. You’ve become even more of a monster in my absence.”
“What nonsense are you even….”
But the Western Heavenly Demon Lord could not continue. Rather, he could not.
Crack! Crunch, crunch, crunch!
A burning pain erupted from his wrist.
In the next instant, reflected in the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s wide eyes was a wrist twisted as if being wrung by a giant, and a young man who had hooked it like a claw.
“Jin Tae-kyuuuung-!”
How was this possible!
Noh Ho-sung’s cry, laden with agony, confusion, and shock, resonated through the Underground Prison.
But Jin Tae-kyung did not hear, could not hear. With eyes hazy as if intoxicated, he moved only by instinct.
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
An irresistible force tore the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s wrist away like a weed.
A geyser of blood and searing agony.
Before the Western Heavenly Demon Lord, whose vision had turned white with pain, a single flame ignited.
“I told you.”
The aged master, wreathed in crimson hellfire that blazed across his entire body, spoke as if spitting out the words.
“Not a single hair on my disciple’s head.”
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
A colossal pillar of flame erupted skyward.
* * *
Everything was hazy. As if sleep would claim me at any moment. Or as if I had just awakened from slumber. All of it felt blurred and distant.
‘It must be a dream.’
That’s right. This is definitely a dream. Me being alive when I should have died long ago. Jeok Cheon-gang waking up when he still needed days before he could awaken.
But….
‘Is this a dream too?’
Ding.
–
[Jeok Cheon-gang]
You have awakened from this long slumber!
– You have successfully completed all related Quests, and your noble dedication and sacrifice shall be rewarded!
– Level Up!
– Level Up!
– Level Up!
–
[Vitality]
,
[Strength]
,
[Agility]
,
[Internal Energy]
have been restored!
– Three level-ups have partially healed your physical injuries!
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The cheerful chime echoed like a resonance. Simultaneously, a warm, sun-like energy spread throughout my entire body.
Broken bones knitted together, flesh sealed shut. Damaged and torn organs and meridians began finding their way back to their proper places.
Slowly. Yet steadily.
A jolt.
My feet found only empty air. I was already being held by the throat by the Western Heavenly Demon Lord.
My eardrums should have healed by now, yet the conversation between the two of them sounded distant and muffled.
‘What is this feeling?’
A low, strange hum that defied description circled through my mind.
And in the next moment, Jeok Cheon-gang’s voice pierced clearly into my ears.
“How much longer do you intend to stay like that?”
I’m not sure myself, Old Master Noya. I just… I can’t seem to put any strength into my body. I don’t even know if this is a dream or reality.
I wanted to answer the familiar face before me, but my voice wouldn’t come out.
Suddenly, the hand pressing down on my throat felt suffocating.
‘Then… I should break free.’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my hand had already moved.
My hand shot out with a speed I myself barely registered, seizing the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s wrist.
Crunch, crunch—solid bone joints shattered, and a scream tore free.
I did not hesitate. I twisted and tore it free. A burst of blood erupted with a wet sound. Before a single droplet could fall to the ground, a streak of flame cut across the void.
“It has been a while. You thundering fool.”
Laughter tinged the voice as it stretched long.
From the palm of Red Sky River’s hand that brushed past me, crimson flames flickered.
The Flame Divine Palm, reaching its zenith, struck the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s chest as he writhed in agony.
Kwaaaaaaa!
A massive pillar of fire erupted, scorching the ceiling. It was a dark-hued sword aura that extinguished the flames that seemed destined to burn eternally.
Shiiiiick!
“Die!”
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s entire body was engulfed in black clouds.
Blood-soaked lips and burst capillaries—his eyes stained crimson.
Though he resembled a madman, the power contained in his blade seemed capable of splitting the heavens themselves.
Fuuuuuung!
Darkness erupted from the sword’s body, cleaving through the pillar of fire as it shot forth.
“Ugh.”
A small groan escaped between Red Sky River’s lips as he tried to draw upon his reserves. I could feel the qi coiled within his still-recovering body trembling.
I watched all of it with vacant eyes. Through the hazy vision, the encroaching darkness and Red Sky River’s wavering form.
And in the next moment.
“Ah.”
A single exclamation escaped my lips.
I was here, and yet I was not. I could feel and see everything. All things surrounding me became vivid and crystalline.
‘So that was it. That is what it was.’
A dazzling flash of light pierced through my entire being from crown to sole.
Everything that had blocked my path until now shattered and crumbled. The world that had appeared hazy as if drunk. The muddled mind within my skull cleared like a summer sky.
At the end of it all, there was a light called enlightenment.
Ding.
– Congratulations. You have finally transcended the wall and stepped into a great realm!
–
[Absolute Peak]
You have reached this realm!
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Hearing the bell chime louder and clearer than ever before, I took a step.
Space was erased and the natural qi contained within it surged violently. From the spear blade of White Flame drawn through Void Seizure, a fire dragon roared.
Kwauuuuu!

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