There Is An Order For Things. (1)

“Why have you been going around challenging warriors until now?”

It was the first question.

The strange monk, leaning back, closed his eyes and slowly spoke.

“To gauge the level here. To know how much force would be needed to conquer it.”

Yu Jinsan hoped it was wishful thinking, but his expectations were not wrong.

If their plan became reality, it would be more than a serious problem.

There were many things he wanted to ask, but only two questions remained.

He had to get as much information as possible without wasting opportunities.

“Ambitious, aren’t you. This place is not one that would fall to the likes of you.”

The strange monk shut his mouth tightly, as if he would only answer questions.

But it wasn’t that they gained nothing.

Yu Jinsan saw the corner of his mouth twitch. It was surely a sneer.

It also meant he considered this place easy prey.

The situation was worse than he had thought.

“Second question. What is your rank in Soraeum Temple?”

The strange monk before him was a tremendous warrior, famed as the Blood Death Guest.

From his position, they could estimate some of Tianzhu’s strength.

“I am one of the eight guardians. Above me is the Four Heavenly Kings of Blood Thunder, and above him…”

The strange monk hesitated before answering.

He looked somewhat afraid.

Yu Jinsan quickly urged him before he changed his mind.

“And above him?”

“At the very top… there is the Arahant.”

The one called the Arahant seemed to be the top figure in Tianzhu’s murim world.

In any case, if the strange monk spoke truly, the number of absolute warriors was enormous.

Even if the other seven guardians descended together it would be hard to handle them; how strong, then, would the Four Heavenly Kings of Blood Thunder be? And on top of that, the one called the Arahant.

Yu Jinsan sighed as his mind grew clouded.

Then he took out the last question he had prepared.

“Third question. When will you invade?”

“I do not know. Only the Arahant decides that.”

It didn’t seem like a lie.

Unfortunate, but he had to change the question.

“Since you won’t answer that, I’ll ask something else. How strong is the one called the Arahant?”

“They are not someone you can dare estimate. They have transcended human limits.”

For the monk standing before him—so strong—to say that much was alarming.

Yu Jinsan couldn’t shake his unease. He might have to fight someday, so he needed clarity.

The questions were done, but he decided to probe a little more.

“Still, how strong could he be? We have the Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique, after all.”

The strange monk gave no reaction.

He seemed lost in thought for a moment.

Yu Jinsan calmly waited until he spoke.

How much time passed? At one point he broke the silence and murmured softly.

“I understand the Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique contains a secret to reach the Tathāgata Form.”

“And?”

“If that’s true… and if that secret can be unlocked, there might be some chance.”

The strange monk judged that even Yu Seol would have difficulty overwhelming him.

Just how powerful were the beings in Tianzhu?

But it wasn’t completely hopeless.

“Tathāgata Form…”

Yu Seol had reached the eighth form of the Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique, the Ālaya-vijñāna.

It was a stage where one could use the power of the subconscious hidden deep within.

And Sama Hyun, the sage from Sichuan who deciphered the martial arts manual, said that with a very small probability one could reach the ninth form, the Tathāgata Form.

But that stage existed only as conjecture and theory.

‘It won’t be easy, but it’s a path Seol must reach someday.’

He didn’t know when the invasion would start, but until then he would do everything to prevent his granddaughter from meeting the Arahant.

“Can you let me rest now?”

The strange monk, his body slumped, looked extremely tired.

It was likely the aftermath of his fight with the granddaughter.

Yu Jinsan had no desire to further torment him; there was nothing more to gain.

He was about to turn and leave.

A familiar voice came from the corridor.

“Grandpa, I brought soup.”

Yu Seol shuffled up, clutching the old cooking pot with both hands.

From her expression, she was holding back a smile.

“Good job. Come, give it here.”

“Okay. It cooked up nicely.”

Yu Jinsan took the pot and slowly set it down in front of the strange monk.

“This soup was made personally by this old man using Spiritual Pill. It should help recovery, so eat if you’re hungry.”

The strange monk’s eyes, which had been almost closed, slowly opened.

He was understandably puzzled at such generosity shown to someone who was essentially an enemy.

“Why are you showing me such kindness?”

“Those who keep their promises deserve respect. Once your wounds heal, I’ll release you—remember that.”

That was Yu Jinsan’s principle.

So far, even Blue Dragon Troops members who kept their promises were not killed.

Moreover, the man before him was not an ancestral enemy of the family.

Once his wounds healed, he planned to seal his dantian and release him.

“…Understood.”

For a moment a faint smile touched his lips, then it vanished.

“I thought you were emotionless, but you even know how to smile.”

Yu Jinsan snorted softly and turned away with his granddaughter.

The next morning, Yu Jinsan was deep in qi cultivation practice from early on.

A faint glow shimmered around him as he sat cross-legged.

Whenever possible he had to raise the stage of his Muscle Changing Technique, so it would be usable in real combat.

After training like that for some time.

“Grandpa, what are you doing?”

His granddaughter came close and blinked her big eyes.

She seemed bored.

Yu Jinsan paused his qi cultivation and asked.

“I was training. Why?”

“That dark man—do you think he ate that yesterday?”

She was talking about the soup they gave the strange monk.

“Why do you ask? Whether he ate it or not, what’s it to you?”

“I’m so curious. He didn’t eat it, right?”

Without hesitation, Yu Jinsan nodded immediately.

“Of course not. I only gave it just in case.”

“I’ll go check. I need to bring the bowl back anyway.”

“Do as you wish. Grandpa must train, so don’t disturb me.”

The road ahead was long.

He had recently felt much stronger, but the world was vast and the powerful were many.

Yu Jinsan closed his eyes again and immersed himself in Muscle Changing Technique training.

His current stage was forty percent—only at the fourth stage. And the future would be more difficult.

Martial attainment progresses quickly at first but becomes harder as the stages rise; in return, the power increases accordingly.

‘From tomorrow I’ll have Seol help me.’

With his granddaughter’s help, training would speed up dozens of times.

But whether she’d willingly help was doubtful; assisting another’s training is mentally taxing and tedious.

Moreover, recently she’d grown quite assertive and wouldn’t yield like before.

‘Hmm… I’ll have to cajole her somehow.’

He was anxious—there were many skills to master, and when his Muscle Changing Technique advanced, he needed to see if he could control the power sealed in his left hand.

It was a rare time filled with worries.

Not only in martial arts but in his future plans, choices had to be made.

The situation was growing increasingly complex.

They had a temporary truce with the Blue Dragon Troops, but the grudge with the Murim Alliance had become hopelessly entangled.

And the fearsome Tianzhu was also eyeing this place for the right moment.

“If only I could unite the martial world before they cross over.”

Currently the murim world was split between the Justice Faction and the Evil factions. By power, the Justice Faction overwhelmingly held more than seventy percent.

In such circumstances, for the Evil factions to unify the murim world was nearly impossible.

But he hated the idea of yielding to the Justice Faction that had made his family like that more than death.

“Ugh!”

Qi cultivation training requires intense concentration.

But with a million thoughts crowding his mind, he couldn’t continue.

Yu Jinsan shook off his seat and stood up.

His granddaughter, who had gone downstairs, came back up shortly after.

She had a somewhat flushed expression, as if something had happened.

“Why? What’s the matter?”

Yu Seol answered clearly with a serious face.

“Grandpa. That man died after eating the soup.”

How could someone who looked fine suddenly be dead?

Although the man had been wounded by the granddaughter, it wasn’t to the point of death.

Could it be from eating the Jinsan Ginseng? He himself had eaten a root, so that seemed unlikely.

“It’s true. It wasn’t me.”

“Alright. Grandpa will go down and check.”

Yu Jinsan strode down toward the chamber of atonement.

Even though he’d been there many times, he still wasn’t used to it.

He passed through a chilling corridor and saw the strange monk at his destination.

He was slumped against the broken statue, the same as when he had last seen him.

In front of him sat only the empty old pot—surprisingly and completely empty.

‘He actually managed to eat it all…’

Yu Jinsan examined him closely.

He had reached the realm of immunity to all poisons, so it couldn’t be poisoning. Yet there were no wounds on his body.

He couldn’t find a clear cause of death.

“Did he die because of the soup Grandpa made?”

Turning around, he saw Yu Seol craning her neck like a crane.

When had she followed him without a sound?

“He ate a nutritious meal and then died? I don’t know the method, but it looks like suicide.”

“He killed himself? Why?”

“I don’t know that either. We’ll have to bury him on the mountain—go grab a shovel from the storeroom.”

The grandfather and granddaughter buried the strange monk in a nearby hill.

While out, they took a walk and did some shopping at the market.

“What do you want for dinner, Seol?”

It had been a rare outing together, and the granddaughter was in high spirits.

Her face couldn’t stop smiling.

“Hmm~ Grandpa, do you know how to make Dongpo pork?”

“Of course! That’s my specialty.”

Yu Seol grinned and linked her arm through her grandfather’s.

Their home came into view in the distance.

As the mood warmed, Yu Jinsan cleared his throat and spoke cautiously.

“Child. Grandpa has a favor to ask.”

The favor was simple: to help him with training for a while.

Hadn’t he been catering to his granddaughter all day for this moment?

He couldn’t help but be nervous.

“Starting tomorrow, train with Grandpa…”

As he continued, Yu Jinsan opened his eyes wide.

There was a group lingering in front of their house.

They were by no means welcome guests.

“Did Grandpa invite them?”

“As if I would. Who do they think this place is?”

They wore dazzling golden armor—astonishingly, they were the big names leading the Golden Army.

To be exact, it was the Blue Dragon Troop Lord and his five closest aides.

They noticed his presence and slowly approached in his direction.

“Do not misunderstand. We did not come to fight.”

It was a small voice, but clear even from a distance.

It was a technique that required immense inner power.

“How did you know where my home is?”

Yu Jinsan wore an irritated expression.

Though there was a temporary truce, these were people he would one day have to teach a lesson.

There was no reason to be pleased.

“Do not underestimate the Blue Dragon Troops’ intelligence network. We’ve known for some time.”

“Did the Murim Alliance also know of our whereabouts?”

“That I do not know. Recently we’ve been acting independently.”

It seemed they were keeping their promise to stay out of Murim Alliance’s affairs.

In any event, if the Blue Dragon Troops knew this location, it was likely the Murim Alliance did too.

Thinking of the tiresome events to come gave him a headache.

“So the Blue Dragon Troops are no longer under the Murim Alliance leader’s control?”

Hwang So-cheon nodded once.

“It has come to that, but I cannot tell you the details.”

It seemed some internal incident had occurred.

There was no way to know for now.

“Anyway. What’s this about? Officials who should be guarding the country seem awfully idle.”

Despite Yu Jinsan’s provocation, Hwang So-cheon remained composed as a rock.

He silently continued with what he had to say.

“Our Blue Dragon Troops have been tracking the Blood Death Guest.”