Chapter 120

Qingcheng, a name given because the sight of its peaks, soaring as if to pierce the sky, resembled a blue fortress wall.

Mount Qingcheng always stood in its place, unchanging. Gazing upon the vast, green mountain, one felt as if the troubles of the mind were naturally washed away.

“Hoo! I feel a little better now.”

The man looking down at Mount Qingcheng from a high peak was a Taoist priest, now in his late thirties.

His Taoist name was Cheonggyeong.

He was a first-generation disciple of the Qingcheng Sect.

Since the Blood Mist of last year, the Qingcheng Sect had forbidden all visits from outsiders. The official reason was that the damage was so great they had no capacity to receive visitors while dealing with their internal affairs.

That was also true. But the bigger reason was the extreme sense of shame the Qingcheng Sect disciples were experiencing.

The fact that Mujeong Jin-in, the Qingcheng Sect’s greatest expert and Second Elder, had practiced a demonic art made it impossible for the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect to hold their heads high.

For those who had lived with the pride of being disciples of the prestigious Qingcheng Sect, with its hundreds of years of history, the fact that Mujeong Jin-in had practiced a demonic art was too great a shock.

The lofty pride they had held until now was utterly shattered.

A mixture of shame and indignation left a deep wound in the hearts of the Qingcheng Sect disciples.

Because of this, the Sect Master, Muryeong Jin-in, had no choice but to close the gates of the Qingcheng Sect.

Last winter, the elders of the Qingcheng Sect did everything in their power to heal the emotional wounds of their disciples.

They held interviews with everyone from the first-generation disciples to the third-generation disciples and the Do-dong, and they came up with personalized countermeasures for each individual. Furthermore, Goyeop Jin-in, the Qingcheng Sect’s supreme expert who had been in seclusion, came forward to teach the disciples.

As a result, the emotional wounds of the Qingcheng Sect disciples had healed to some extent.

Although the mountain gates were closed, strictly forbidding outsiders from entering, the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were free to come and go.

The Qingcheng Sect disciples traveled to every corner of Mount Qingcheng, taking in the hidden scenery. In the process, some disciples actually saw their achievements rise, and others gained unexpected enlightenment.

Thus, misfortune turned into a blessing.

Sect Master Muryeong Jin-in planned to reopen the Qingcheng Sect’s gates within a few years. And he intended to restore the prestige of the Qingcheng Sect, which had fallen to the ground because of Mujeong Jin-in.

Cheonggyeong was one of the martial artists whose martial arts had rapidly improved under the teachings of Muryeong Jin-in and Goyeop Jin-in.

He had recently gained a small enlightenment and was able to begin his initiation into the Azure Cloud Nine Forms, which he could not perform before. However, Cheonggyeong was not at all happy about his progress in martial arts.

He had respected Mujeong Jin-in more than anyone else. That was why he still could not understand Mujeong Jin-in’s actions.

Why he had fallen into demonic arts.

“Were the martial arts of the Qingcheng Sect not enough?”

Cheonggyeong wondered what had corrupted Mujeong Jin-in so. Cheonggyeong considered even such thoughts to be an inner demon, but the question did not easily disappear.

Whenever his mind was this troubled, he would come to this place alone.

It was one of the hidden scenic spots of Mount Qingcheng, and since no one else came here, he could be alone with his thoughts.

Cheonggyeong stared blankly at the hidden scenery of Mount Qingcheng for a long time. Then, his mind found some measure of stability.

It was then.

Ssk!

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him.

“Who is it?”

Cheonggyeong naturally assumed a disciple of the Qingcheng Sect was approaching and asked in a gentle voice. But there was no answer.

Only then did Cheonggyeong sense the strange atmosphere.

“Why don’t you answer… Keuk!”

At that moment, a black hand covered Cheonggyeong’s face.

Cheonggyeong was subdued in an instant, unable to even let out a scream. The moment the hand covered his face, his entire body was paralyzed, and he could not move.

Cheonggyeong fell backward like a rotten old tree.

‘Keuk!’

He tried to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth.

At that moment, a black figure suddenly appeared.

He could tell it was human, but it was so completely black that even its facial features were not clear.

The black figure was Heuk Am.

Heuk Am crouched down by Cheonggyeong’s head and watched him for a long time.

Cheonggyeong glared at Heuk Am with wide-open eyes.

‘How dare you do this in the front yard of the Qingcheng Sect. Reveal your identity. You bastard!’

Cheonggyeong’s gaze carried the voice in his heart as he stared at Heuk Am. But Heuk Am showed no emotion even as he met Cheonggyeong’s glare.

Instead, he stared intently at Cheonggyeong, as if observing him.

There was no white to be seen in Heuk Am’s eyes. As he stared endlessly into those completely black eyes, a sudden rage surged within him.

Heuk Am’s eyes had brought a memory buried deep in Cheonggyeong’s heart back to the surface.

Heuk Am’s figure disappeared, and in his place, he saw the martial artist he had once idolized.

The martial artist he had respected more than anyone, the one he had wanted to be just like.

It was Mujeong Jin-in.

‘Why did you do it? Why did you practice a demonic art?’

But despite his cry, Mujeong Jin-in only stared back coldly, offering no answer.

‘You made the Qingcheng Sect like this. You made the honor of the Qingcheng Sect fall to the ground. How will you take responsibility for this? Answer me.’

‘You are not worthy of hearing my answer.’

For the first time, Mujeong Jin-in answered. His reply only enraged Cheonggyeong further.

‘This is all your responsibility. Take responsibility for dragging Qingcheng into the abyss.’

Cheonggyeong had a fit.

He screamed his throat raw, glaring at Mujeong Jin-in as if to devour him. But in reality, he did not move a muscle.

Everything was happening in his mindscape.

In reality, the one before his eyes was not Mujeong Jin-in, but Heuk Am.

His gaze had the power to seize one’s soul and make them fall into a confused dream.

It was not a post-heaven skill, but an innate Soul-Seizing Eye.

The Blood Buddha, having recognized Heuk Am’s talent early on, brought him to the Small Thunder Sound Temple and taught him.

At first, the Blood Buddha taught him, but later, his talent was so unrivaled that he mastered it on his own and opened up a new realm.

Until now, there had been no one who was not subdued by his Soul-Seizing Eye. No matter how powerful a person’s martial arts were, as long as he could subdue them first, the Soul-Seizing Eye worked with a hundred percent probability.

The only problem was that it took a long time and effort. If he could subdue an opponent just by making momentary eye contact, he would have already risen to the position of the number one expert in Jianghu. But he was not disappointed.

Heuk Am researched in various ways to compensate for the shortcomings of the Soul-Seizing Eye and showed excellent results.

He took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve.

When he opened the porcelain bottle, a tiny insect, barely distinguishable to the naked eye, crawled out.

Heuk Am brought the insect to Cheonggyeong’s nose. The insect then infiltrated Cheonggyeong’s nose on its own.

A moment later, Cheonggyeong’s body trembled.

Cheonggyeong’s eyes were still dazed.

In his illusion, he was confronting Mujeong Jin-in.

It was something possible only in the world of the mindscape, not reality.

Heuk Am patted Cheonggyeong’s cheek a few times and then stood up.

Before coming to Mount Qingcheng, he had been worried about how to infiltrate the Qingcheng Sect without a trace. But his worries were for naught, as the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were freely roaming all over Mount Qingcheng.

Prey was scattered everywhere.

He had to finish his work quickly before they returned to the Qingcheng Sect.

‘It’s going to be quite a show.’

Heuk Am smiled.

It was barely more than a slight twitch of his lips, but for him, it was the first time he had shown emotion in a very long time.

Heuk Am disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

A short while after he left, Cheonggyeong woke from his confused dream.

He came to his senses, but his eyes were still dazed. It was a long time before focus returned to his eyes.

“Why am I lying down?”

Cheonggyeong wore a bewildered expression.

He was sure he had been admiring the hidden scenery of Mount Qingcheng, but suddenly finding himself lying on the bare ground was baffling.

He couldn’t remember anything about what had happened to him.

He was sure something had happened, but it wasn’t clear.

“Hoo! It seems a great inner demon has taken root in me. If I don’t want to end up like Senior Martial Uncle Mujeong, I should return to the sect and read the Tao Te Ching.”

Cheonggyeong shook his head and got up.

He staggered back to the Qingcheng Sect.

All over Mount Qingcheng, people like Cheonggyeong were appearing one after another.

＊＊＊

Chwareureuk!

Pyo Wol spread a large sheet of paper on the table.

The paper that covered the entire table was a single map.

It was the map of Sichuan Province that Go Chonggwan had brought.

It was not something commonly available on the market. It was a map that Go Chonggwan had obtained with great difficulty, on which the terrain of Sichuan Province and the locations of the sects were exquisitely recorded.

Pyo Wol stared at the map for a long time.

He was trying to cram the entire topography of Sichuan Province into his head.

It was an impossible task for an ordinary person. It was a difficult task for Pyo Wol as well. Nevertheless, the reason he attempted it was due to Pyo Wol’s obsession with survival.

The obsession formed in his childhood had not disappeared even after he grew older, and it showed symptoms close to paranoia.

Even though he had created several fake identities, Pyo Wol was not at ease. He knew that such fake identities would be exposed in no time if an expert decided to dig into them.

He knew that there were very few experts who had reached that level, but still, Pyo Wol did not let his guard down.

Pyo Wol displayed formidable concentration.

His eyes turned red, and his head began to ache, but he did not stop looking at the map.

It was almost half a day later that Pyo Wol took his eyes off the map.

In half a day, Pyo Wol had perfectly memorized the map.

In his head were the terrain of Sichuan Province, the locations of important sects, and the positions of land and water routes.

Once he had memorized it, he would never forget it.

Pyo Wol rolled up the map, tossed it carelessly to one side of the room, and went outside.

Pyo Wol frowned.

The pouring sunlight was too intense.

He was used to the sun now, and his eyes no longer hurt even if he stayed outside for a long time, but Pyo Wol was still more comfortable at night than during the day.

Just then, he saw Go Chonggwan running over in a hurry.

Pyo Wol instinctively knew that something had happened.

“What is it?”

Instead of answering, Go Chonggwan handed Pyo Wol a prepared letter.

As it was a familiar occurrence, Pyo Wol read the letter without being flustered.

“The Thunder Clan has made a move?”

Go Chonggwan nodded as if to confirm.

According to the letter, while Pyo Wol was reading the map, the disciples of the Thunder Clan had all begun to move at once.

The number of Thunder Clan disciples moving at once was a whopping two hundred. It was a number that could by no means be considered small.

The problem was that the Thunder Clan was not the only one on the move.

“Suspicious movements have also been detected at the High Sky Martial Hall?”

The fact that such sects moved all at once could not be taken lightly.

“The reason for their movement? The connection?”

Go Chonggwan shook his head.

He hadn’t figured that much out yet.

Pyo Wol crumpled the letter.

The three sects moving at the same time could just be a coincidence.

It could be that coincidences just overlapped and overlapped again, causing them to move at the same time. But Pyo Wol knew very well that the probability of such a coincidence occurring was extremely low.

At least in the Jianghu, such an event was close to impossible.

‘There must be something that made these three sects move at the same time.’

Since he hadn’t moved and investigated himself, there was a limit to what Pyo Wol could find out.

‘Could it be related to the Golden Sky Society entering Chengdu?’

Pyo Wol thought not.

The Golden Sky Society Leader, Jin Geum-woo, was looking for him.

Nowhere in their movements was there any point of contact with the three sects. In the end, the Golden Sky Society entering Chengdu and the movements of the three sects were just a coincidence. That’s what made it even more puzzling.

The fact that such things happened at the same time.

If it were a move targeting him, he would have responded much more proactively. But since it wasn’t a direct threat to him, it was ambiguous to make a move.

“Have men follow them and find out their final destination.”

Go Chonggwan nodded as if he understood and ran off somewhere.

Even after he disappeared, Pyo Wol did not move.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling.

Whenever he had this feeling, a major incident would always occur.

A sticky wind that made one feel unpleasant was blowing.