Chapter 128

I spent every day in a frenzy.
In the morning, I received the Heavenly Demon’s teachings at Demon Awakening Peak, and afterward, I shut myself in and devoted myself to training Death-Line Step and Lightning Step.

“Now, let’s begin.”

It was the rear garden of the Hidden Cloud Pavilion on the fourth day.
I stood facing Im Yeon, who was holding a sword.
She was hesitating over something, but I urged her on without mercy.

“What are you doing, Guard Im?”
“Ah, even so, I do not think this is proper as a guard.”
“It’s fine, so come at me.”

Im Yeon squeezed her eyes shut.
The wooden sword swung weakly toward me. It was an attack with no force in it at all.
I clicked my tongue and caught the wooden sword with my bare hand.

Death-Line Step was brushing past an enemy’s attack and burrowing into their embrace.
To engrave that sensation into my body, I needed an opponent who could attack me in a way that would be a threat.
I had asked Im Yeon because, as a Peak Realm swordsman, she seemed more than capable of filling that role. But as you can see, the training was not going smoothly.
It was because she hesitated too much to attack me.

“Guard Im, what is this?”
“I, I apologize.”
“You’re going easy because you’re afraid I’ll get hurt, aren’t you?”
“Yes…….”
“I understand how you feel, but this doesn’t help my training at all.”
“Haa. I wish to do as you ordered, but my body won’t follow. I feel far too guilty over the fact that I am attacking you, Young Lord…….”

I had no idea what to say.
I had only asked her to assist with my training, yet somehow the word guilt had come out.

“There’s no need to feel that way. I’m the one who asked you to help. Even if I fail to dodge and my skull cracks open, I won’t resent you, Guard Im, so attack me without holding back.”
“But still…….”
“No buts.”
“……Will you really be all right?”
“Of course.”
“You will not regret it?”
“I said I won’t.”
“In that case, I will do my best.”
“Good.”

Im Yeon took a deep breath, then pointed the wooden sword at me.
I nodded in satisfaction.
It seemed she was finally going to do it properly.
I clapped my hands and spoke to Im Yeon. No, I tried to speak.

“Now, then—”

Hwoooong!
Before I could even finish speaking, the wooden sword flew in.
The strong sound of wind, as if it were tearing through the air, rang in my ears.

“Huk.”

I forgot that I was supposed to move forward and dodged by a hair’s breadth.
The wooden sword brushed past the tip of my nose.
It was a relief that I could see the trajectory with Sword Eye. Otherwise, my skull really might have cracked open the moment we started.

“……Guard Im?”
“Haap!”

A sword strike rushed in again together with her shout.
Hwoong! Hwoong!
Im Yeon swung her sword as if she had met her mortal enemy.
Even if she had only just entered the Peak Realm, once she steeled herself and attacked, she was nothing short of fierce.

‘Isn’t this basically “get hit and die” level? ’

She did say she would do her best, but wasn’t this a bit excessive?
Of course, it was far better than a half-hearted attempt.
I focused and burrowed forward.

Hwiik!
I brushed past the wooden sword aiming for my shoulder and broke through.
Puk!
Failure. I felt a heavy impact in my shoulder.

“Young Lord!”
“I’m fine, so keep going.”

Her expression and voice were full of worry.
I didn’t think, ‘You’re the one who hit me that hard.’ I was the one who asked for this, after all.
No, I did think that a little.

Puk!
This time, the wooden sword slammed into my side.
A groan came out on its own.

I got hit, got hit, and got hit again.
I repeated this process dozens of times.
The Heavenly Demon had deliberately sent his killing intent in a straight line, but Im Yeon did not.
She used various attacks, changing direction midway through a swing or pressuring me with consecutive strikes.
Those variables made Death-Line Step difficult.

“Young Lord, how about stopping for today?”

Im Yeon asked as she lowered the wooden sword.
I firmly shook my head.

“No. I’m starting to get a feel for it.”
“But there are wounds on your precious body…….”
“Precious body, my foot. And this much will get better quickly if I go to Ink-Needle Hall. Now, let’s start again.”

Im Yeon reluctantly raised the wooden sword again.
Then she rushed in, scattering killing intent as if I were the Murim Alliance Leader.

‘……You don’t have to go this far.’

Still, thanks to Im Yeon’s cooperation, the sensation grew clearer and clearer.
Only after being beaten several more times was I able to narrowly let a sword strike flow past and burrow into Im Yeon’s embrace.

Pat.
My fist stopped in front of Im Yeon’s solar plexus.
Im Yeon’s eyes went wide as she breathed roughly and asked.

“What was that footwork technique just now……?”
“It’s what I’m training these days. Amazing, right?”
“Yes! I was truly surprised. I thought my sword had clearly reached you, but before I knew it, you were right in front of me, Young Lord!”

I smiled in satisfaction.
This was Death-Line Step.

“Guard Im, rest a bit now.”
“Are you not resting, Young Lord?”
“I can’t rest.”

Im Yeon looked worried.

“Are you not pushing yourself too hard?”
“Right now is when I have to push myself.”

I stood straight and recalled the Heavenly Demon’s teaching from this morning.

-You must increase the amount of time you can maintain a state of accumulated force.

Accumulated force.
Gathering power.
It had the same meaning as what I had called compression.

-What you did was nothing more than gather power all day and release it once. Could you use it like that in real combat?

Of course I couldn’t.
First of all, if I contracted my muscles, I wouldn’t even be able to move normally.

-You must finish the process of reaching accumulated force in an instant. Once that becomes possible, I will teach you the next stage of Lightning Step.
-Good. I’ll make you run out of things to teach in no time.

‘From contraction to accumulated force.’

I focused my intent on the muscles throughout my body.
I tightened them taut, tightened them further, and compressed them deeply inward.

Paang!
My body shot forward with an explosive sound, but I immediately lost my balance and rolled across the ground.
I knew what I had to do in my head, but it was not easy.
I stood up and tried again, and again.

“…….”

Im Yeon glanced back.
She didn’t say anything, but since she kept hearing the sound of me falling, she seemed worried.
I paid it no mind and took my stance again.

Paang, kwadang!
I fell again.
But I improved little by little.
By sunset, I was finally able to take the first step without falling.

‘Whoo. Let’s stop here.’

I lay down on the ground.
The sky spun round and round.

Like this, one day, while I was immersed in training.
A sudden rumor struck the Demon Cult.

-The Seventh Young Lord, Baek Su-gyeong, is challenging the No-Return Cave!

Whenever people gathered, they brought up this topic.

“It seems the Seventh Young Lord wishes to prove himself once more.”
“Indeed. There is no other explanation. Is this not a move to fully enter the succession competition?”

They speculated about the reason I was challenging the No-Return Cave.

“Will he really succeed?”
“Of course. Do you know what kind of person the Seventh Young Lord is?”
“I do not think so. Are there not extremely few martial artists who have succeeded at all?”
“True, it will not be easy even for the Seventh Young Lord. But could luck not be on his side?”
“Luck?”
“Do you not know that there are those who came out alive even without succeeding?”
“That is the first I have heard of it.”
“Heoheo, my goodness. What that means is—”

Or they predicted whether I would succeed.
I frowned as I listened to these stories reaching my ears.
It was not because of the content, but because the intention of the person who had spread the rumor was unclear.

There were not many people who knew that I was entering the No-Return Cave.
First was the Heavenly Demon. But there was no way the Heavenly Demon would spread a rumor like this.
Next were Im Yeon and the guards. They were not people who would leak information.
And lastly.

‘Ju Ok-hwa.’

During the process of receiving treatment every day, she had subtly probed me before.
She said that judging by the places I was injured, it seemed my training process had changed, and asked whether I was learning footwork.
Then she suddenly pressed in with, ‘Are you perhaps going into the No-Return Cave?’ I had brushed it off by asking what she was talking about, but it seemed that hadn’t worked.
As expected, she was not an easy woman.

After the sun had completely set, I visited Ink-Needle Hall.
It was to receive treatment and ask about the rumor at the same time.

“Oh my, Seventh Young Lord. You’re a mess again today?”

Ju Ok-hwa greeted me with a bright smile.
Seeing that she was already holding acupuncture tools in her hand, it seemed she had been waiting for me to come.
I skipped the greeting and spoke bluntly.

“There’s a rumor about me going around these days.”
“A rumor? What kind of rumor?”

Ju Ok-hwa opened her eyes wide and pretended not to know.

“You haven’t heard it? It’s been quite noisy.”
“No, not at all.”
“Even though you were the one who spread it?”
“Hohoho, you noticed?”

Ju Ok-hwa gave a seductive smile.

“I won’t accept thanks.”
“I had no intention of giving any. Why did you do it?”
“For you, Seventh Young Lord, of course. Surely you don’t think I did it for my own good?”
“How is this for me?”
“The more attention there is, the greater the impact will be when you succeed.”
“You do know what kind of place the No-Return Cave is, right?”
“I do. What’s the problem? It’s not as if you will fail, Seventh Young Lord.”

Seeing Ju Ok-hwa answer so shamelessly, an incredulous laugh came out of me.
She was right, though.
I would not fail.
If I succeeded splendidly after drawing this much attention, my reputation would rise even further.
But I could not just let this situation pass.
Ju Ok-hwa’s help was absolutely necessary, but she had to move only within the range I wanted.
Otherwise, there was no telling what variables might arise.

“Next time, consult me in advance. If we want to maintain a relationship with ‘trust,’ you can’t act however you like.”
“I figured I would get scolded anyway. All right, I will keep that in mind. Still, I am working so hard for you in both material and spiritual ways, Seventh Young Lord, so after you succeed later, you must not forget me, all right?”

Ju Ok-hwa still thought I was aiming for the successor’s seat.
She sometimes mentioned the Heavenly Demon’s Path, and this was in the same context.

“Could I forget even if I wanted to? It’s not like you would ever let me forget, Hall Master.”
“That answer is seven out of ten. If you had said, ‘How could I ever forget you, Hall Master? You are someone who lives in my heart!’ it would have been eight points, and nine points would be—”
“When are you going to treat me?”
“So impatient.”
“Agh.”

Ju Ok-hwa stabbed the black needle in deeply.

“I will begin treatment, Seventh Young Lord.”

……What did she mean, begin, when she had already started?

‘About a month, huh.’

The start of the period when the No-Return Cave would open.
Before that day came, I had to raise Death-Line Step and Lightning Step to the third stage.
If I did, the No-Return Cave would become not a dangerous place, but a land of opportunity where I could obtain several treasures.

“Treatment is done. Come again tomorrow. It’s fun stabbing the needle in deeply.”
“……I’ll be going.”

Leaving behind Ju Ok-hwa, who waved brightly, I returned to Hidden Cloud Pavilion.
Since I had spent an exhausting day, my head was filled only with thoughts of sleeping deeply.
However, I was not allowed such sweet sleep.
Because just as I lay down on the bed, someone appeared by kicking open the main gate of the Hidden Cloud Pavilion.

‘What kind of bastard comes at this hour?’

I frowned, and then I heard a voice I had been hearing often lately.

“Sajae! Sajaaae!”

It was Yuk Ja-heung.
What the hell?
I roughly grabbed some clothes and went out the room.
While the escort warriors blocked Yuk Ja-heung, Im Yeon was coming toward me.

“Ah, Young Lord. The Sixth Young Lord has come to visit.”
“Why?”
“I am not sure. He only keeps repeating that you must take responsibility…….”

Take responsibility? For what?
I tilted my head and approached Yuk Ja-heung.
The moment he spotted me, he hurriedly ran over.

“Hey! Take responsibility!”
“What are you babbling about all of a sudden?”
“I’m ruined because of you!!”
“Ruined how?”
“I heard you’re entering the No-Return Cave!”
“Yeah. What about it?”

Yuk Ja-heung shouted as if he felt wronged.

“Because of you, now I have to go in too!”

……What is this supposed to mean now?