Chapter 42

The middle-aged martial artist looked cautious at a glance.

His name was Yu Jin-san.

The Hall Master of the Blue Jade Hall and the most powerful man in Padang had appeared in person at the Red Sky Tower.

Despite Yu Jin-san’s appearance, Pyo Wol showed no particular agitation.

There were not many people who could skillfully hide the emotional turmoil revealed through their eyes. That was why Yu Jin-san always looked at a person’s eyes first.

‘Hmm!’

However, the moment he saw Pyo Wol’s eyes, he felt his own preconceptions waver.

Pyo Wol’s gaze was perfectly still.

It wasn’t a matter of revealing or hiding emotions; it was as if his emotions had been completely erased.

‘How can a person’s eyes be like that?’

Not even a beast’s gaze would be like that.

No, he had seen such a gaze from a beast just once.

‘A Great Python!’

The eyes of a giant snake he had encountered in the Wulin forest when he once went to Yunnan had been just like that.

The creature was so huge it had coiled around a large ox and suffocated it in an instant. Yu Jin-san hadn’t even dared to attack it and had fled.

Pyo Wol’s gaze was reminiscent of the Great Python.

Yu Jin-san felt a chill run down his spine.

He didn’t know what his actual skill level was, but someone with eyes like that could not be ordinary.

Only then did he understand the words of his subordinates who had fled with their tails between their legs.

—The man used some bizarre evil arts. He just waved his hand, and I couldn’t breathe.

—His gaze was truly murderous. I can’t explain it in words, but it was truly terrifying. Just meeting his eyes was enough to make you piss your pants…

For a man with such a gaze, it was understandable that his subordinates would react that way. Even he couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease looking at Pyo Wol.

But Yu Jin-san was, for all intents and purposes, the most powerful man in Padang.

He had come forward with great momentum; if he were to back down just from a look, his reputation would hit rock bottom.

Some might call it foolish, but in the Jianghu, face was more important than anything.

A man whose reputation had hit rock bottom would be ridiculed by people, making it impossible for him to recover.

Knowing the nature of the Jianghu well, Yu Jin-san had no choice but to hesitate to retreat.

He approached Pyo Wol and spoke.

“My name is Yu Jin-san. I am the Hall Master of the Blue Jade Hall, the number one martial arts academy in Padang. What is your name?”

“Pyo Wol!”

“Pyo Wol? Where are you from?”

“Why do you need to know?”

At Pyo Wol’s words, Yu Jin-san’s expression hardened.

“You’re quite curt for a young man. It seems your martial sect didn’t teach you to show respect to your elders.”

“That’s right! My martial sect never taught me any of that etiquette nonsense.”

All he had learned was how to kill his opponents efficiently. Not a single one of the instructors at the Bloody Shadows Guild had ever told him that he should treat people with courtesy.

“What is your martial sect? I must meet your master and have a word with him.”

“He’s dead.”

“What?”

“They died a long time ago. All of them.”

“What does that mean…”

At Pyo Wol’s short reply, Yu Jin-san felt at a loss for words.

“Everyone in my martial sect is dead except for me, so if you have something to say, say it to me.”

Pyo Wol approached Yu Jin-san.

In that moment, Yu Jin-san realized that Pyo Wol’s movements were different from those of ordinary people.

He was clearly walking, yet he made no sound.

It was as if a ghost was floating towards him.

Only then did Yu Jin-san realize that Pyo Wol was a greater Expert than he had thought.

‘Damn it!’

A look of dismay appeared on his face.

“How dare that bastard talk to the Hall Master like that…”

“What a disrespectful punk.”

Unlike him, his subordinates, who failed to grasp the atmosphere, burst out in anger.

The sight of Pyo Wol being so disrespectful to the Hall Master they revered like the heavens had infuriated them.

‘You bastards! That’s not it.’

Yu Jin-san screamed desperately in his mind.

He wanted to back down at this point. But if his subordinates escalated the problem like this, retreating would become impossible.

“You! Show some respect.”

“Kneel!”

Before Yu Jin-san could stop them, two disciples of the hall shot out and attacked Pyo Wol.

They were twins with identical faces and builds.

In Padang, they were famous by the alias Ilmyeon-irang, the Two Wolves with One Face.

The name referred to two wolves with the same face.

They usually thought of Yu Jin-san as the heavens. The thought that their master was being insulted by some unknown brat made their anger boil over.

“Ah, don’t—”

Yu Jin-san belatedly tried to stop them, but their attack was already about to hit Pyo Wol.

At that moment, Pyo Wol raised his right hand.

“Gack!”

“Keuhak!”

Suddenly, the Ilmyeon-irang brothers screamed and stopped moving.

As if they had turned to stone, they couldn’t move a muscle, their bodies trembling violently.

The veins all over the Ilmyeon-irang brothers’ bodies bulged as they suffered extreme agony.

A pain as if thousands, tens of thousands of ants were crawling through their blood vessels and biting them drove them mad.

“S-stop…”

“Save…”

The Ilmyeon-irang brothers begged, foaming at the mouth. But there was no change in Pyo Wol’s expression as he looked at them.

He was thinking about something else.

‘As expected, it works well.’

The Ilmyeon-irang brothers couldn’t see it, but threads of qi flowing from Pyo Wol’s fingers were now connected to their bodies.

Soul Restraining Thread.

The thread that reaps souls.

Although it was only for a short time, the most impressive weapon Pyo Wol had used since coming out into the world was the Cheonjamsa.

The applications of the Cheonjamsa were endless.

Depending on how it was used, it could be an excellent killing tool, and it also enabled feats impossible with one’s own strength alone. But in the face of Mujeong Jin-in’s powerful strike, the Cheonjamsa had evaporated completely.

After his body had recovered to some extent, he wanted to use the Cheonjamsa, but he couldn’t obtain it in the underground cavern.

It was from then on.

That Pyo Wol began to research the Soul Restraining Thread.

His goal was to release the qi from his body and give it form, just like the Cheonjamsa.

At first, he naturally failed.

Materializing qi was a realm reached only by the top Experts in the Jianghu. But even they needed a large medium like Sword Gang or Blade Aura.

At most, Hand Energy, using the hand as a medium, was all they could manage.

No one had ever thought of making qi as thin as a thread, nor had they dared to even try.

To draw out the qi from one’s body and form it into a thread required a high level of concentration, extremely delicate control of internal energy, and a vast amount of internal energy to match.

Pyo Wol, unaware of this fact, strove to create the thread of qi.

The qi would sometimes flow backward, causing him severe internal injuries. But Pyo Wol did not give up.

There wasn’t much to do in the underground cavern anyway.

He immersed himself in creating the thread of qi as if he had found an amusing game.

He found a clue after observing the movements of snakes.

Applying the way snakes slithered on the ground to his qi made it much easier to control.

What helped with that was the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method.

The Heart Speed of the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method supported Pyo Wol’s limitless imagination.

He performed the entire process of thinking quickly, correcting, trying again, and refining at a speed that ordinary people could not even dare to imagine.

A single day for Pyo Wol was equivalent to several days for an ordinary person.

The result of that was the Soul Restraining Thread.

It had not yet taken shape like Sword Gang or Blade Aura, but its substance definitely existed.

Only Pyo Wol could feel its substance and use it.

Pyo Wol used the Soul Restraining Thread to infiltrate the blood meridians of the Ilmyeon-irang brothers. His training was still weak, so he could only use three or four at most.

He could only use one freely. In the future, as his realm deepened, he would be able to use all ten fingers.

“E-evil arts…”

Yu Jin-san shouted in surprise.

The martial art that Pyo Wol had created with his heart and soul appeared as evil arts in his eyes. It was the same for the other martial artists.

As the saying goes, you see as much as you know; at their level, they could die and be reborn and still not understand the true nature of the Soul Restraining Thread that Pyo Wol was unleashing.

“Guuuh!”

“Keoheuk!”

The Ilmyeon-irang brothers were now on the verge of death.

Yet, neither Yu Jin-san nor anyone from the Blue Jade Hall dared to think of stopping Pyo Wol.

They were overwhelmed by the being that was Pyo Wol.

He hadn’t displayed any conspicuous martial arts, nor had he used overwhelming violence; all he did was unleash a bizarre technique. But they felt it instinctively.

That the man before them was something different.

The fact that there was something primal about him that made people afraid.

‘I’ll be devoured.’

Yu Jin-san once again recalled the Great Python he had seen in Yunnan.

Though he was the number one martial artist in Padang, he was, after all, just a regional ruler on the outskirts of Sichuan Province. The prominent sects of Sichuan Province didn’t even consider the Blue Jade Hall a proper sect.

Forgetting his pride, he knelt.

“Sir! Please spare them. They were blind and acted rudely, not recognizing a great person. Please forgive them. I beg you like this.”

Yu Jin-san was a man who had lived by his pride.

He valued his face more than his life, but not now.

He felt a fear so profound that he didn’t even dare to challenge Pyo Wol. It was the first time he had ever felt such an emotion.

Just looking at Pyo Wol made his knees weak and cold sweat run down his back.

It wouldn’t matter if it was just him, but one wrong move could lead to the annihilation of all the martial artists of the Blue Jade Hall.

Pyo Wol stared blankly at Yu Jin-san.

Yu Jin-san slammed his head on the floor, begging.

Just then, a middle-aged woman approached Pyo Wol’s side.

It was Geum Si-yeon, the owner of the Red Sky Tower.

When Pyo Wol looked at her, Geum Si-yeon bowed her head and handed him something.

“I’ve packed some food for you to have on your way. It should help with your hunger when you feel peckish.”

What she offered was a small bundle containing food.

Pyo Wol realized that Geum Si-yeon was quite wise.

She didn’t ask Pyo Wol for forgiveness or beg him to just leave.

She simply showed the greatest consideration she could, and that alone significantly eased the tense atmosphere.

With her long experience working in the nightlife world, she had acted as a buffer between Pyo Wol and Yu Jin-san.

‘Impressive!’

Changing the mood in an instant like this was by no means an easy feat. It was an act that someone like Pyo Wol, who lacked interpersonal skills, could never imitate.

Pyo Wol smiled slightly and withdrew the Soul Restraining Thread. The Ilmyeon-irang brothers then collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Their faces were filled with terror.

They couldn’t bring themselves to look at Pyo Wol and kept their eyes closed.

Now that he had confirmed the power of the Soul Restraining Thread, he had no more business with them.

Pyo Wol silently took the bundle from Geum Si-yeon.

It felt heavy, as if it contained more than just food. Still, Pyo Wol didn’t say a single word of thanks.

Pyo Wol glanced at Yu Jin-san before turning to leave.

Even then, Yu Jin-san could only tremble, not even thinking of stopping Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol passed through the crowd and left the Red Sky Tower.

As his figure disappeared, Yu Jin-san and the martial artists of the Blue Jade Hall let out sighs of relief.

“Phew!”

“Haa!”

In that short moment, they had experienced hell.

It was the first time they realized that a person could be this terrifying.

Geum Si-yeon approached Yu Jin-san’s side.

“Are you alright, Hall Master?”

“Who in the world is that man?”

“He is just a guest who appeared out of the blue.”

“Without knowing his identity?”

At Yu Jin-san’s question, Geum Si-yeon looked at Seol-hyang.

Among those present, Seol-hyang had spent the most time with Pyo Wol. She looked at her, wondering if she might know. However, Seol-hyang shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know either.

“Haa! It’s like a storm has passed. I’m a complete wreck.”

Yu Jin-san shook his head.

In that short time, his face seemed to have aged considerably.

Geum Si-yeon understood Yu Jin-san.

She too had been on edge while Pyo Wol stayed at the Red Sky Tower. Even now, her mind and body were a mess.

It was fortunate that things were resolved well; otherwise, a bloodbath would have ensued.

She comforted Yu Jin-san.

“You did well. Your great judgment has saved the Blue Jade Hall.”

“I think it’s time for me to retire. To think I couldn’t even recognize a Reaper right in front of me.”

“You are still hale and hearty.”

“Enough with the comfort. Where do you think his next destination is?”

“How would I know that? But there is one thing I think I know.”

“What is that?”

“That a fearsome Killing Star has appeared in the Jianghu.”

“Hoo! I agree. I don’t know where a man like that came from. The Jianghu is going to be turned upside down soon.”

“Shouldn’t we let people know?”

“Who would we tell?”

“The sects of Sichuan Province, of course…”

“Would they listen to me? They’d probably just laugh it off as the ramblings of a backwater martial artist. Enough! One humiliation is enough.”

Yu Jin-san shook his head and looked in the direction where Pyo Wol had disappeared.

“One must experience things firsthand to learn a lesson.”