Chapter 125

‘…There’s no need to think of it only negatively.’

There was no point even mentioning that the Heavenly Demon’s lessons were harsh.
The physical conditioning in particular had been agonizing, but things would be different from now on.
After all, I’d spent seven years being ground under the Heavenly Demon.
There was no way he’d start by teaching me superior martial arts, so whatever he taught, there was a high chance I’d already done it before.
So I’d have to execute it perfectly from the very first day and shock him.
That way, I could skip the useless steps and get to superior martial arts faster.

“Up to now, you have trained the Five Strengths.”

The Heavenly Demon said.
The Five Strengths meant muscular strength, explosiveness, stamina, eyesight, and elasticity. They were the central pillars of the physical conditioning the Heavenly Demon emphasized.
I smiled inwardly.

‘He really isn’t honest.’

The standard the Heavenly Demon had set for teaching martial arts was attainment in the Five Strengths.
He had said that only once they reached a certain level would he teach martial arts.
A little while ago he’d said I was seriously weak and all that, but in the end, my body had crossed the threshold he’d set.
If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t be doing this even with a blade to his throat.

‘Yeah. Do you know how I’ve trained all this time?’

It had truly been a time of endurance.
That was probably why I was finally being acknowledged.
In a confident voice, I asked the Heavenly Demon,

“So what’s the first martial art I’m going to learn?”
“Footwork.”
“Ah, footwork.”

I nodded.
It was the same as in my previous life.

“Aren’t you curious why?”
“Not really. I think I know what it is. Want me to say it?”
“Go ahead.”

A faint trace of interest showed in the Heavenly Demon’s eyes.
I said proudly,

“I believe martial arts begin at the tips of the feet and are completed at the tips of the hands.”

In other words, footwork was the foundation of all martial arts.
The Heavenly Demon was silent for a moment, then spoke.

“You think exactly the same as I do. As if you went in and came back out of my head.”

A faint smile formed on my lips.
Of course he’d feel that way.
Because those were words I had heard from him in my previous life.

“But if you know that, why is your footwork in such a sorry state?”
“…What?”
“I don’t know who taught you footwork before you became my disciple. But your footwork carries the softness peculiar to the orthodox sects.”

I shut my mouth.
Because I had nothing to say in reply.
Soul-Extinguishing Flash Step definitely belonged to the demonic path, but Whirlwind Sweeping Leaf Step was something I had learned from an orthodox martial artist.
He was probably pointing that out.
But then the Heavenly Demon went on to say something that really did sound like he’d been inside my head.

“The same goes for Soul-Extinguishing Flash Step.”
“No, that one is…”
“Because it belongs to the demonic path?”
“That’s right.”
“The problem lies with you. Dodging the enemy’s attack, dodging again, then aiming for the brief opening that appears. That is the essence of your footwork.”

It wasn’t wrong.
That was exactly how I actually fought.
But I had a perfectly valid excuse for it.

“I can’t help it because I lack internal energy. If I’d fought head-on, I’d have died at least ten times already.”
“Are you going to live your entire life making excuses about lacking internal energy?”
“That’s not it, but since it came up, how about giving me just one elixir? Then I won’t make excuses about internal energy.”
“You wouldn’t make excuses about internal energy then. You’d just say your dantian is empty or that too little energy is circulating through your meridians.”

A gaze full of contempt.
…How did he know?

Still, was I wrong?
If I could have it my way, I’d like to smash straight through everything too. But what was I supposed to do about my chronic shortage of internal energy because of the Nine Heavens Demon-Reversing Art?

“So basically, I shouldn’t even dream of getting an elixir?”
“You understand well. Even without relying on external things like elixirs, you can kill enemies well enough. Even you, weak to a pitiable extent.”

I tilted my head.
I remembered the word being seriously, so when had it evolved into pitiably?
The Heavenly Demon ignored my curiosity entirely and began explaining.

“The earliest footwork was a step for survival. Seeking the most efficient way to survive, it split into countless branches. Some saw survival as avoiding the enemy’s attacks, while others, conversely, believed that only by killing the enemy swiftly could their own survival be guaranteed.”

It was a story from my memory.
There had been three footwork arts I learned from the Heavenly Demon in my previous life.
As if I already knew them all, I recited their names.

“Ghost Valley Wandering Star Step, Black Wind Shadow-Slaying Step, Blood-Sound Exorcising Step. One of those, right?”

They all had different uses, but none of them were quite enough to be called superior arts.
The Heavenly Demon viewed footwork as the foundation of martial arts, but it seemed that in my previous life, he had judged me unqualified to learn superior footwork.

‘…I understand.’

In my previous life, all I ever thought about was escaping the Demon Cult.
I didn’t have a shred of motivation, and because of that, my progress was slow.
I must have fallen far short of the Heavenly Demon’s expectations after he took me in for my talent.
Looking back now, there was something regretful about it.
Because of that attitude, I hadn’t even inherited half of the Heavenly Demon’s insight.
Forcing away the bitter feeling, I smiled and said,

“I got it right, didn’t I? I looked into a lot of things. So, hurry up and tell me which one it is. I’ll shock you with my incredible martial talent, Master.”

The Heavenly Demon frowned ever so slightly.

“The ones you mentioned are suitable only for laying a foundation.”
“That’s what I heard.”
“No matter how weak you are, you are not at that level of rock bottom.”

I blinked.

“Master, did you just acknowledge me?”
“I did not. I merely stated a fact.”
“That is acknowledgment.”

I decided to take it however I pleased.
Grinning, I continued.

“So what are you going to teach me, someone who isn’t rock bottom?”
“…Watch.”

After shaking his head slightly, the Heavenly Demon took a step.
Kooong!
What was going on?
The ground where the Heavenly Demon’s foot landed caved in.
The earth cracked along the path he moved, and dust burst upward.
It was as if a monstrously huge lump of metal had grown feet and was stepping on the earth.

“Shattering Tremor Step.”

The Heavenly Demon murmured calmly.

“The light is crushed beneath the heavy. That is the law of the world.”

I swallowed.
I couldn’t help imagining what would happen if I collided with that weight.
In that case, my body would be torn into chunks of flesh and scattered. Bone and flesh alike would be crushed without even a shape left.

The Heavenly Demon stopped.
His posture lowered subtly.
Just as it felt as if the air had been drawn tight, his whole body compressed.
Puh-eong!
With an explosive boom, the Heavenly Demon vanished.
Before I could blink once, the Heavenly Demon appeared right in front of my nose. The wind he had created arrived later than he did and sent my hair flying.

“Lightning Flash Step.”

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes looked down at me indifferently.

“When the enemy sees you, you should already be there.”

A speed that left not even an afterimage.
I hadn’t even noticed him move, yet he was already standing before me.

The Heavenly Demon slid backward like a ghost. In an instant, more than thirty meters of distance opened up.

“I’ll release my Protective Qi. I’ll come toward you, so stab me with your blade.”
“…You want me to stab you, Master?”
“If you succeed, I’ll give you an elixir.”
“Then come on.”

I drew the cold-iron dagger.
Unlike before, the Heavenly Demon walked toward me slowly.
The moment he entered the reach of my strike, I swung without hesitation.
My target was the Heavenly Demon’s dantian.
Of course, he wasn’t going to let me stab him easily, but it was the center of his body, which made it a good place to move freely up, down, left, or right if needed.

‘What, he’s not dodging?’

The cold-iron dagger closed to right before the Heavenly Demon in an instant.
But the Heavenly Demon showed no sign of dodging at all.
No matter who he was, even the Heavenly Demon couldn’t afford to have his dantian pierced without Protective Qi, could he?

‘Ah, whatever.’

The worry lasted only a moment.
I simply drove the dagger straight in.
He must have told me to attack because he had something he was relying on.

‘Huh?’

It definitely should have reached his dantian, but it didn’t.
The Heavenly Demon slipped past the tip of my blade as if brushing against it, then stood in front of me. The tip of his index finger pressed lightly against the space between my brows.
I was dumbfounded by what I had just seen.

“Death-Line Step. Survival and death are separated by a single sheet of paper. The loser hides behind that paper, but the victor tears through it and enters.”

The Heavenly Demon moved again.
One step, two steps, three steps.
His steps flowed on without breaking. Not even the slightest bit of his breathing was disturbed.
His direction changed unpredictably, yet the end of every step was always me.
After moving around a hundred steps in an instant like that, the Heavenly Demon finally stopped.

“Gapless Step. Give the enemy no room to breathe, and press them until they fall.”

How suffocating would it be to face something like this?
In an endless offensive that never stopped no matter how much you blocked, the opponent might simply wither away from exhaustion.

The Heavenly Demon stepped back half a step.

“Attack.”
“…Is there an elixir on the line this time too?”
“Of course.”
“What about your Protective Qi?”
“I released it.”
“Be careful. My dagger has no eyes, so I might end up committing filial impiety.”
“If it’s that kind of filial impiety, I’ll gladly accept it.”

I let the Heavenly Demon’s words go in one ear and swung the cold-iron dagger.
Swoosh!
The distance between the Heavenly Demon and me was more than close enough for the cold-iron dagger to reach.
This time, I had a feeling I would succeed.
But the next instant, the Heavenly Demon’s body shot backward.
For a moment I thought he was dodging.
Pah-ang!
Just as I was about to kick off the ground to pursue him, the Heavenly Demon’s retreating body caught an elastic rebound and instead sprang forward.

‘Ghk.’

The Heavenly Demon was right in front of my nose again.
Once again, his index finger touched the space between my brows.

“Reverse Step. It is not retreat. An arrow must be drawn backward on the bowstring before it can fly forward.”

The Heavenly Demon had used elasticity in a way I couldn’t understand.
It hadn’t been retreat, but an attack.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d mindlessly chase after him and end up getting caught in return.

“These five steps each correspond to one of the Five Strengths. Shattering Tremor Step to muscular strength, Lightning Flash Step to explosiveness, Death-Line Step to eyesight, Gapless Step to stamina, and Reverse Step to elasticity.”

I couldn’t say anything at all. My gaping mouth wouldn’t close.
To think such an incredible footwork art existed.
Each of the five steps felt like a complete martial art in itself, yet at the same time they were all connected as one.
To think the Five Strengths I had trained so tediously until now had all been groundwork for this!

My heart pounded.
He was going to teach this to me?

This footwork was not something that could merely be called a superior martial art.
A divine art.
The one and only such art of its kind in all Murim, truly the pinnacle of footwork.

“What’s the name of this footwork?”
“It is the Six Extremes Demon King Step.”

The steps of a Demon King who ruled the six extremes of east, west, south, north, above, and below.

“Wow……”

Another exclamation spilled out.
Because it suited it so perfectly.
Then, suddenly, I realized something.

“There’s a sixth one too? You just showed me only five.”
“That one.”
“That one?”
“You will discover it yourself.”
“…Yes.”

Yeah, this was the Heavenly Demon.
I let out a deep sigh.
Perfect it on the first day and shock him?
What nonsense.
Just mastering what I had just seen felt like it would take years.

“But where did this martial art come from? I’ve never even heard the name before.”
“It’s only natural you haven’t heard of it. I created it.”
“……!”

The Heavenly Demon answered calmly, but I absolutely didn’t stay calm.
Goosebumps ran over my whole body.
The Heavenly Demon had created this divine art?
I knew very well that the Heavenly Demon was a once-in-an-age genius of martial arts. I also knew he had created quite a few extraordinary martial arts.
But he had even created a divine art like this?
And footwork, of all things?

‘Where in the world is the end of the Heavenly Demon?’

It had already been that way before, but now it felt overwhelming.
Because I couldn’t even begin to guess how far the high mountain called the Heavenly Demon rose.
And it was a mountain I had to climb.

‘Wait. Something’s strange.’

I asked the Heavenly Demon,

“So, you’re saying you’re going to teach me a divine art that you yourself created, Master?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”

The space between the Heavenly Demon’s brows narrowed slightly.

“Is there a problem with a master teaching his disciple?”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just that the timing is so sudden.”

It didn’t seem to be simply because of my fights with Gu Cheong-won or the Guardian Court Master.
The Heavenly Demon wouldn’t suddenly pass on a divine art over something at that level.

‘Then what is it?’

My mind spun quickly.
The Heavenly Demon had said he would turn me, who was seriously weak, into merely weak.
And in a short amount of time.

‘Short amount of time.’

That word caught in my throat like a fishbone.

‘Think, think. What month is it right now?’

Then it suddenly came to me.
That place which was filled with every kind of mechanism-array trap.
That place where more than ninety percent of those who entered came out dead.
And that place where a festival was held every year, using the blood they spilled as its drinking snack.

The No-Return Cave.

It opens next month.
And the Heavenly Demon is planning to throw me into it.
Unlike in my previous life.