Episode 2

How much time had passed? He had been hearing the mumbling of old people for some time.

It was peculiar. It seemed as though the Grim Reaper had departed…

Struggling, he opened his eyes. Immediately, he saw people in irritating outfits surrounding him.

“Oh! He’s waking up.”

“…”

He continued to blink, and as his vision gradually cleared,

“Have you regained your senses?”

He saw a clear Taeguk (Yin-Yang) pattern. It was a pattern he had seen frequently.

‘The people who wear coffin hats with that ridiculous symbol… must be from Wudang.’

Wait, Wudang?!

“Hehe, you are a fortunate one, aren’t you!”

“The heavens are smiling upon you.”

The elderly Taoists, exhaling stale breath, grinned.

He was still confused about what was happening.

He had merely dodged the Grim Reaper’s tricks momentarily…

‘Could it be… that he failed to take me because I ate the Herb of Immortality and was thus forced to reincarnate?’

‘That’s absurd. There’s no way that could happen. But… I can’t move! No, why does my body ache so much?!’

Every joint and muscle in his body felt shattered and torn.

“It’s okay. Take it easy.”

‘Don’t tell me to take it easy, fool! It feels like all my joints are broken, and all my muscles have been torn apart!’

“What an extraordinary and admirable young man you are.”

“You fell off a cliff while searching for medicinal herbs for your mentor…”

Huh? When? Who did what to whom?

The surrounding shamans muttered words he couldn’t understand.

At that moment, unfamiliar memories began to flood his mind, like images.

‘What is this…’

He was a child abandoned by his parents until he met a kind and warm Ascetic when his life was at its lowest point.

Warm…

‘No, now’s not the time to feel this!’

A Taoist who had lost all his skills because a cursed Evil Sect Heavenly Leader had gravely injured him.

The boy was seventeen.

While picking wild herbs to try and save his mentor, he fell off a cliff.

‘Wait… Hold on. Whose memories are these?’

His head throbbed painfully as a massive amount of memories forcibly crammed into his brain.

“Damn it!”

Seeing his suffering, the elderly Taoist priests quickly surrounded him.

“His vital energy is unstable.”

One Taoist who checked his pulse urgently spoke, and another responded.

“Quick, everyone, act swiftly!”

As if prearranged, the elderly Taoist priests each raised their hands to different acupoints.

What are they doing now…

Suddenly, brilliant and multicolored Holy Qi emanated from the priests, filling the room before following their hands and entering his body.

Whoooom!

The powerful energy coursed through his dantians and all eight pulse points.

Ugh…

The refreshing Holy Qi painfully tore through him.

‘You madmen, what are you doing?!’

Injecting Holy Qi into the body of a supreme master of the dark realm?!

‘You’re trying to kill me!’

‘You’re finishing the grim reaper’s work for him!’

His agony lasted for over two hours.

As the room’s Holy Qi dissipated, the Taoists’ faces broke into relieved smiles.

“It’s done. He’s stabilized!”

“Thank goodness. Now that his dantians are properly aligned, only his bones need to mend.”

An older Taoist spoke, and a slightly younger one nodded in agreement.

“The Holy Qi of the six cosmic forces has stabilized in his dantian.”

In my dantian? Cosmic what?

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for your benevolence, Sect Master and my fellow brothers.”

‘Thank you? For what? Do you wicked Taoist priests not think of the pain caused by your damn Holy Qi?’

But as his body refused to move, resistance was futile.

“Myeongjin, how could we neglect the life of the boy who sacrificed himself to save you? Everything happens for a reason.”

The sect master named Myeonghyeon dismissively waved his hand.

“Master, we have already imparted our sect’s ultimate skill to this boy. Why not make him Myeongjin’s disciple?”

“Myeongjin’s disciple?”

“Yes. We’ve been considering it for some time, haven’t we?”

“Hmm. That’s true, but wouldn’t it be unprecedented? A disciple of Myeongjin would surely be first-class, not second-class…”

“But isn’t this also his destiny and our connection with him? Even if Myeongjin has lost his martial abilities, he should still have a disciple.”

After some thought, Myeonghyeon turned to Myeongjin.

“What do you think?”

“I’ve been contemplating this for a long time but didn’t bring it up due to my condition. If you give your consent, I promise to teach him with all my might.”

“Hmm…”

Myeonghyeon looked at Myeongjin and the other elders, then nodded.

“Good. It’s a bit sudden, but if we all agree, I permit him to become Myeongjin’s disciple.”

“Thank you for your great kindness, master.”

With a grateful expression, Myeongjin bowed deeply to Myeonghyeon.

“Hehe, well then, have you thought of a new name for him?”

At Myeonghyeon’s question, Myeongjin thought for a moment before answering with a bright face.

“The common syllable for the first generation is ‘Jin,’ so… I will choose ‘mu.’”

“Jinmu, that’s a good name.”

Myeonghyeon nodded in approval, and the elders responded with bright smiles.

Jinmu(진무 | 眞武).

‘What a ridiculous Taoist name. It gives me chills just hearing it.’

‘I don’t understand why these Taoists make things so complicated and use similar first syllables. Damn you people and your lack of creativity.’

“Now, let’s gather for the swift recovery of ‘Jinmu’…”

At Myeonghyeon’s words, the Taoists joined hands as if performing a collective ritual.

‘What are these guys up to now?’

The holy qi within him caused the drained young man, now known as Jinmu, to display intense unease in his blurry eyes.

“Free this body from the evil within. Let it be righteous.”

“Quickly follow my command.”

‘Stop it! Stop it! You guys! Taoist masters! Please!’

“Godspeed recovery, quickly follow my command.”

“Quickly follow my command.”

Upon hearing Myeonghyeon’s chant, Myeongjin and the elders solemnly began to recite their spell.

They sought to expel the minor demons and evil spirits attached to the body.

They hoped for the wounded body to recover quickly…

‘Stop it. I said stop it, you jerks!’

Instead of using acupuncture and medical treatments when someone was hurt, what was with these spells? Just how far were they planning to deceive me?!

Unable to voice his frustration, and feeling a sense of emptiness, Jinmu rolled his eyes back and fainted.

“……”

A month had passed since then.

A noticeably weakened Jinmu blankly stared into space with his dull eyes.

After sweeping through the Central Plains with overwhelming force, the mighty leader, Hyeok Ryeon Mugang, who ruled over the cult leader of the Eclipse Demonic Cult, together with the Orthodox Murim Alliance Leader, was now just a… trash-ass bullshit.

He had become Jinmu, the first disciple of the dying Taoist.

‘Cursed Grim Reaper!’

He had closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in the body of a dying kid. He even had the kid’s memories.

He tried everything he knew to escape.

In a desperate attempt to escape from this hellish place during the month he lay ill, he learned his renowned Mookryonghonwongong (墨龍混元功).

However, the secret arts of the Wudang sect that had been forced into his dantian were dissipating all other forms of energy, so he couldn’t even use his old martial arts that he was so proud of, which was the Dragon Core energy.

He let out an involuntary sigh.

He couldn’t come up with any solutions.

How was he to proceed?

How could he possibly have escaped from this wretched place?

On top of that…

“Jinmu.”

“Yes! Master!”

He had this unconditional reflex ever since.

Without thinking, he instinctively responded politely to Myeongjin’s call.

Damn these useless Taoist kid’s memories.

Just like the Monkey King’s golden headband, the memories forced him to act like this.

Myeongjin. He remembered him like it was just yesterday.

The time when he turned the Pond of Peace upside down, burned three out of the eight temples, and cleared out the Taoists.

Jinmu, or rather, Hyeok Ryeon Mugang, met with resistance from a Taoist who protected his temple till the very end.

It was a grave mistake not to take the life of Myeongjin, who was the top disciple at that time. His strong spirit was admirable.

He should have just killed him.

He should have razed all the Taoist temples of Wudang.

But now…

“Let’s have lunch.”

“Yes. I will prepare it promptly, Master.”

Darn it, he responded politely again, even with a smile on his face, despite not wanting to.

Hyeok Ryeon Mugang, one of the absolute rulers of the martial world at that time, was now cutting vegetables, tasting the skillfully made soup…

“Ah, this is good.”

…and doing his best to prepare lunch for his master.

‘This damn…’

If only he could have run away. In fact, he had tried escaping several times after he recovered from his illness.

But those damn memories!

Before he could even leave Wudang, they drew him back. Worried about leaving his master sick in bed!

He wanted to deny it, he wanted to just kill him…

But he couldn’t act on it.

Every time he saw his master, he felt warmth, concern, and an overwhelming sense of duty to ensure his master had three meals a day.

“Ah, the soup tastes great!”

“Thank you, Master.”

This was driving him mad.

When his master expressed pleasure, he felt immensely pleased and even started to consider what to prepare for dinner. It was absolutely ridiculous.

Damn that Grim Reaper bastard.

Why?! Of all the things he could have become, why a Taoist with unnecessary compassion?!

“Jinmu.”

“Yes, Master.”

After they finished their meal and cleaned up, Jinmu and Myeongjin sat facing each other.

“Your body has recovered quite a bit now. From today on, I plan to teach you martial arts.”

Jinmu’s eyebrows twitched.

Martial arts? Of Wudang? Had this guy gone mad? To expect someone like me, one of the absolute figures in the current martial world, to learn some measly Wudang martial arts?

I was the supreme of the Evil Faction, Hyeok Ryeon Mugang!

However, against his will…

“Yes, Master.”

His body responded politely, bowing in deep gratitude to his master’s generosity.

“Hehe, young one. However, given my condition, I can only verbally pass on the knowledge, which is regrettable.”

Seeing a trace of regret on Myeongjin’s face, Jinmu felt an unexpected pang of sadness.

‘Stop it, heart. Please.’

“It’s alright, Master.”

Jinmu replied politely.

“Then, starting today, I will impart to you the ‘energy’ that resides in your dantian.”

‘Just the energy?’

He didn’t want to hear about it, but his ears perked up involuntarily, taking in every word his master said.

“The essence of a Taoist begins with Taeguk. Taeguk represents Yin and Yang, and among them, Yukyang originates from Yin, drawing out the utmost Yang energy…”

“…”

Damn, just listening activated the energy in his dantian implanted by the elders and monks to save Jinmu. It began to move along his blood vessels.

He really didn’t want to internalize it, this Yukyangsingong…

But against his will, that damn memory instinctively dominated, making it impossible to defy Master Myeongjin’s words.

At Chongheoam, located at the foot of the Orobong, farthest from the Taoist’s eight archeries.

Apart from the rude top disciple who occasionally brought food, no one visited there.

His hellish Wudang martial arts training began almost forcibly, and day by day, Jinmu’s internal energy built up.