Chapter 5
‘A secret regression technique you just happened to come across?’
— I was originally planning to use it myself. But then I met you… and figured you were better suited. So I used the Blood Demon Wheel Stone embedded in my heart.
The Demonic King had undergone brutal survival training from childhood to youth, all orchestrated under someone’s orders in predetermined locations. Hundreds of children were thrown into a bloodbath where only one would survive.
It was, in the truest sense, breeding for a Demonic King.
The lone survivor, Cheon-gyeong, rose to the level of Ten Stars in the Demonic King’s Art and eventually became the cult leader who launched an invasion of the Central Plains.
Mujin had never imagined the Demonic King had been a product of such rearing, and he found himself a little taken aback.
‘You were raised like livestock? You never seemed like someone who’d bow to anyone.’
— I had no intention of bowing either. But I couldn’t escape the geumje* they placed on me. Truth be told, even without those bindings, I’m not sure I could’ve won.
The Demonic King, a man who single-handedly devastated the top martial masters of the Central Plains, had been no more than a puppet controlled through a geumje, a restrictive curse. The idea that such a terrifying existence had been merely someone’s pawn made the martial world feel even more pathetic. And even without that curse, he still would’ve been a formidable opponent.
‘Do you even know who they were?’
— My memories from that time are blurry. Probably erased by them. Once a geumje takes hold, your consciousness sinks beneath the surface.
‘If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had a way out either.’
Even in the middle of such a serious topic, Mujin didn’t hesitate to brag.
And frankly, he wasn’t wrong.
It simply meant the martial world had been that weak. The so-called prestigious sects and famously acclaimed martial artists were nothing worth seeing. Even in utter ruin, they clung to cliques and hierarchies instead of strength.
It was entirely thanks to Mujin that the Demonic Cult was defeated. No room for debate.
— You’re not wrong.
’Not just ‘not wrong’... It’s a fact. Let’s be honest, who else besides me could’ve gone up against the Central Plains? No wonder you all saw me as a thorn in your side.’
— You haven’t changed. Still the same entertaining bastard, then and now.
‘Then why did you let me live?’
A nonchalant question tossed out casually, but it struck directly at the core. In terms of martial strength at the time, Mujin was at least half a tier above the Demonic King. Anyone capable of placing a geumje on him should’ve had no trouble killing Mujin too. That’s why it didn’t make sense.
— I don’t know, aside from the sense that the time wasn’t right.
‘Maybe it was a timing issue… or the location. Or maybe another geumje was in play.’
— Didn’t expect much from you, but that was sharp.
‘You think I became the War King through sheer luck? Either way, I’m glad those bastards didn’t get their way.’
The last thing he wanted was to see those conniving rats, who had hoped for mutual destruction in his battle with the Demonic King, strut around like kings. Better to let the world fall to the likes of a Demon Emperor or Demonic God.
‘Wait a minute—why the hell are you speaking informally to me? I’m older than you.’
— Didn’t think you’d be the type to fuss over age.
’Respect your elders, kid. From now on, call me ‘Hung-nim’ and show some proper manners.’
— No thanks.
‘Hey now, I’m stronger than you.’
— Yet we both died.
Juvenile banter, to be sure.
People shouldn’t be judged by age or martial strength, but hey, Mujin was just playing around. After all, no one had ever made the Demonic King call them hyung-nim before. It’s not like he was a Demonic God either.
— Things have been pretty entertaining since coming back.
‘…What?’
— It hasn’t been bad.
‘…You can see her?’
— I can hear too.
‘You bastard! That’s a violation of privacy!’
At the revelation that his wife’s private moments had been exposed, Mujin flushed with embarrassment. No matter how close they were, there were things meant to be seen, and things that definitely weren’t.
Even with all the love in the world, it was downright humiliating. A man had to protect the sanctity of his woman’s intimacy.
Wait a minute…
Something felt off to Mujin.
Up to now, they hadn’t been able to talk like this.
Communication had only been possible when Mujin opened a path through direct introspection…
“You… you didn’t.”
— You fell for it.
‘You little punk! How dare you mess with the War King!’
— And you messed with the Demonic King!
Still young, but sly like a true Demonic King.
Even his tongue was sharp.
Was he always this articulate?
A doubt crept in. For someone raised like livestock, his pride was surprisingly strong. So, naturally, he would’ve prepared to strike from behind.
The Demonic King felt something strange.
This wasn’t just a personal matter it was about the fate of the Central Plains. No, perhaps the very destiny of the martial world hung in the balance.
— You’re really unfazed? Even knowing there are bastards who raised the Demonic King like cattle? This isn’t the time to be laughing and joking.
‘Should I go hit them right now?’
— Then you’d either be caught and raised like me, or just plain killed.
‘Fair. But do you even know where they are?’
— Not really. Back then, once my Demonic King Art was complete, I was obsessed with invading the Central Plains.
‘Some cult leader you are, seriously.’
Mujin had to accept that the Demonic King was merely a tool in the hands of his breeders. He wasn’t the type to lie. More importantly, even if this was before the Demonic Cult became active, just as the Demonic King had said, there was no clear solution. If he made a move before regaining his martial strength, he’d likely be killed off quietly, without anyone even noticing.
— The real movement starts ten years from now. Even I can’t grasp what’s happening in the current timeline.
‘Figures.’
It was around ten years later that the martial world began to fall apart.
Suddenly, he remembered.
Around that same time, the Songho Sect had been annihilated. What a coincidence. When he returned home after mastering the War King’s Art, the shock had been so great that he hadn’t bothered to dig into the details. Everyone was already dead, and it felt meaningless to investigate further.
He’d simply chosen the Demonic Cult as his target for revenge.
‘I don’t want to go back out there.’
— Still, isn’t it good?
‘What is?’
— Because now you can protect them.
‘Sharp little bastard.’
Mujin, as the War King, had faced the Demonic Cult alone and driven them to defeat, or at least a surface-level victory. His accomplishments had shaken the continent’s history.
Though celebrated as a hero of war, Mujin always felt a hole in his heart. Victory meant nothing. Glory, even less. He’d realized far too late the value of someone to share it with.
— You just have to get stronger.
‘Pretty wise words coming from the Demonic King.’
— It’s Jang Cheon-gyeong.
‘Right, Cheon-gyeong, my dear junior brother.’
— Don’t push it.
Mujin could feel the sincerity behind Cheon-gyeong’s unwillingness to be the Demonic King. The resonance in his voice made it clear, there were no lies.
The fact that he’d prepared a way to escape even under a geumje proved his will was extraordinary. He must’ve played the role of a servant convincingly to fool the eyes watching him.
Mujin began calculating.
His current self.
His mastery of the Evolution Technique was at Three Stars, equivalent to ten years of internal cultivation. Compared to his past as a Top-Tier Master, it was a mere drop in the bucket. And the difference wasn’t just in quantity but in quality as well.
‘Still, cultivation isn’t everything.’
Back then, the Demonic King’s internal power was nearly a thousand years’ worth. In terms of pure inner force, even legendary figures like Bodhidharma or Heavenly Demon would’ve had to yield. That immense power also carried with it an overwhelming demonic energy that chilled the soul. And unlike other inner forces, demonic energy possessed destructive potential.
Yet Mujin had made the Demonic King kneel.
The martial art based on the War King’s Art was called Armed Combat, a battlefield martial art that grew stronger the more you fought. It was a style refined through actual combat, constantly evolving and adapting to form a martial path all his own.
The foundation of Armed Combat was simple. Through countless battles and hardships, he stripped away the unnecessary, leaving behind only the most optimal paths.
He built upon the fundamentals—Strike, Break, Empty—and fought, retreated, flowed, feinted, and pressed forward.
To some, it might’ve seemed cowardly.
He’d lie down, roll, throw dirt, even flee if necessary. But the battlefield wasn’t a sparring ring. One mistake meant death. The War King’s martial art was centered on survival. To live to the end, to keep fighting, and to keep winning, that was its essence.
The superiority of techniques meant little.
No one divided moves into “high” or “low” tiers in a real battle. Sometimes he’d use advanced techniques, other times combine them with simpler ones into chain attacks. Depending on the opponent, the strength of each move could change.
That’s why fighting a third-rate warrior versus a top-tier master looked entirely different. He might seem hopelessly outmatched, and yet every time, Mujin came out on top.
This martial art was forged through dead ends.
Fists, palms, fingers, feet, soles, toes, knees, elbows, even his head, every part of the body was a weapon. And depending on how they were used, their lethality changed.
He didn’t limit himself to just his body.
He used whatever weapons he could grab.
Though he wasn’t formally trained in all Eighteen Weapon Forms, when he did use them, he came close to perfection. Years of brutal combat had optimized his body automatically. He figured out what it took to kill his enemies, through the act of fighting itself.
‘If I just keep at it, I’ll get there.’
In the War King’s vocabulary, there was no such thing as “impossible.”
Still, some things were worth reviewing. Even if internal power wasn’t everything, the basics still mattered.
‘First, I’ll start by channeling my cultivation into the War King’s Art.’
Well… maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.
If his Evolution Technique had reached a higher level, it would’ve been far more difficult to learn the War King’s Art. But since his level had fallen short, it actually made him the perfect candidate. Better to have something incomplete than to start from nothing.
‘Experience is especially important.’
That was one of the more demanding aspects of the War King’s Art. Without accumulated battlefield experience, it was difficult to progress to the next stage. One had to master an instinctual domain of combat.
Mujin had a name for it, he called it the Zone of First Response.
The War King’s Art didn’t require seated meditation or formal poses.
It was designed to be cultivated in any position.
That might sound impressive, but it was only natural. It was created for battle, after all. When would someone in the thick of war ever get the luxury of sitting cross-legged in peace? No matter the time or place, it focused on channeling energy to restore strength.
Huh?
He hadn’t even been cultivating for long…
And yet, he had reached Level 2 of the War King Art.
That meant he’d just gained twenty years’ worth of inner power. In one moment, his cultivation jumped by ten years. While the War King’s Art was superior to most clan-core techniques, this speed was… unreal.
“Was that you?”
— Might’ve been.
It seemed the Demonic King Technique was having an effect. Demonic techniques were known for their rapid progress, and perhaps that trait had merged with the War King’s Art to create this result.
But if the War King Art became corrupted into a demonic technique, that would be a serious problem. Mujin quickly checked to see whether demonic energy had accumulated in his body. He trusted in the strength of the War King Technique, but he couldn’t forget that the Demonic King’s Technique was also a peerless force.
Phew—
No trace of demonic energy. Only pure internal strength had grown. Of course, it wouldn’t remain this fast forever, since it was recycling what he already had.
‘This… might actually be pretty good.’
— If it’s not bad, I’ll keep helping.
‘Try anything funny and I’ll end you.’
— Even when I help, you bark at me.
‘Who knows? You could just be buttering me up to take over my body.’
— If that were the case, I would’ve come alone.
‘Nonsense. You couldn’t back then, and you know it.’
— So you did know.
Mujin had returned to the past thanks to Cheon-gyeong, but that didn’t mean he trusted him fully. If he couldn’t even trust a human, why would he trust a demon? He would give it time, watch carefully, but if Cheon-gyeong made a single wrong move, he’d scour the entire continent to find a way to obliterate his soul.
At least, for now, Cheon-gyeong seemed content not to act on his own. That was something to be thankful for.
‘I can now operate both the War King Art and the Demonic King Art simultaneously.’
It felt similar to when the Wudang Sect’s legendary spiritual discipline, Dual Spirit Meditation, was activated. The idea of splitting one’s consciousness into separate streams defied logic. Practitioners sometimes suffered mental collapse and never returned to themselves.
‘Weren’t all the lunatics in Wudang said to have lost their minds training in Dual Spirit Meditation?’
Even within the Wudang Sect, people were advised against learning it. Unless one possessed a rare physical constitution like the Tai Chi Body*, it was notoriously difficult to master.
Of course, there were a few rare geniuses who managed to overcome its hardships. True legends of their era, grandmasters without equal.
‘Huh. My recovery speed’s increased too.’
— Bow before me.
‘Shut up.’
— This is my divine power, mortal.
‘I said shut it.’
— Tch. So rude.
‘Who said you could come in anyway?’
He really was a talkative bastard. Like someone who hadn’t spoken to a soul in decades and suddenly rediscovered conversation. That’s the vibe he gave off.
Still, it added momentum to the recovery of his War King’s Art cultivation. Mujin was satisfied with the unexpectedly rapid progress. At this rate, he’d soon reclaim the strength of his former self, and possibly even surpass it.
[TL: Geumje (금제): It’s means restriction or ban, and in the wuxia context, it’s a curse that suppresses one’s martial abilities or consciousness to control powerful beings.
Tai Chi Body (태극지체)- It’s a rare, naturally gifted physique considered ideal for mastering the most advanced Wudang internal techniques. ]
---The End Of The Chapter---
Join Patreon to support the translation and to read 5 chapters ahead of the release.
Comments