“Why did you really do it? It could not have been just for food.”
After the storm had passed, Jin Mudo asked with genuine curiosity written across his face.
For all his skill at concealing his thoughts, Murin’s behavior today had gone far beyond anything he could have imagined.
“Good food is nice, isn’t it? I used to help Chef Yeon make all sorts of things, so I know my way around a kitchen.”
Jin Mudo scowled.
“You wretch! Do you expect me to believe that was why you provoked them when it could have brought disaster down on you today? Tell me the real reason!”
Murin looked at him and snickered.
“I need to know, don’t I?”
Jin Mudo tilted his head.
What did he need to know?
“I know nothing about this Heavenly Prison of the Martial Alliance. I don’t know its layout, who I’ll encounter once I leave, or what obstacles await me.”
“That is true. Then, could it be?!”
Jin Mudo nodded along, then looked faintly startled.
“You accounted for that as well?”
“The number of stairs, the guards’ movements…… And most importantly, I wanted to experience the sort of people I’ll have to face once I get out. I know your martial arts are extraordinary, but knowing the level of our enemies is important too.”
“Good heavens…….”
Jin Mudo clicked his tongue inwardly. This bastard had already finished his calculations before he ever provoked Peng Jowi.
He had quickly identified the most manageable and hot-tempered of the young talents who had come here, then immediately set about provoking him.
‘Just how far ahead did he calculate?’
In truth, Murin’s actions had also been extremely dangerous.
What if he fought a martial duel against Peng Jowi and lost?
They had already gone so far as to agree on a Life-or-Death Duel.
If that happened, the best outcome would leave him crippled. At worst, he could die on the spot.
‘This lunatic……! What could he possibly be counting on in such a situation?!’
Peng Jowi might be called the fool of the Hebei Peng Clan, but he was still a member of one of the Five Great Clans that commanded all under heaven.
The martial arts he had learned could not possibly be weak…….
“Are you afraid? Afraid you won’t be able to overcome the martial arts that bastard learned?”
Murin’s dry voice shattered Jin Mudo’s train of thought.
“What?”
Those words struck directly at Jin Mudo’s pride.
His cheeks twitched.
“Do you think I cannot overcome the martial arts of the Peng Clan? Heh heh heh…….”
He laughed under his breath at the words that had trampled his pride.
Murin was treating him as the lowliest pawn imaginable.
“Back when the Second-Generation Blade Sovereign was still playing with wooden sticks, I had already brought all under heaven to heel. As for the First-Generation Blade Sovereign, I had already slain him with my own two hands. And you ask whether I fear the Peng Clan?”
The Hebei Peng Clan’s blade arts certainly lived up to their reputation.
The problem was that their opponent was Jin Mudo—the strongest man in history and the Greatest Martial Artist of All Ages.
Moreover, while imprisoned here, Jin Mudo had met countless great masters and eccentrics and perfectly absorbed their legacies.
“Heh heh. Fifteen days will be more than enough for a whelp like that.”
There was nothing Jin Mudo did not know about the Peng Clan’s blade arts.
He had already grasped Peng Jowi’s level of martial prowess to some extent as well.
“Then why did you say one month? If you’re that confident, you should’ve told them we’d settle it in fifteen days.”
“Tsk. Do you think Peng Jowi is your only enemy? Once you defeat him, do you imagine only one or two people will come after you to capture the Heavenly Kill Star?”
Murin closed his mouth.
Then again, he was the one who had provoked them by invoking the Heavenly Kill Star.
Naturally, he had already considered the storm that would follow.
But there had been no other way to set his plan in motion.
‘I’m getting out of here as soon as possible.’
He had to absorb everything Jin Mudo possessed and escape this place.
Even now, a scorching fire blazed in his chest so fiercely that he could barely sleep.
The Paired-Fish Pouch that Yong Gang had clutched tightly even as he died.
The handful of silver pieces that seemed to have fallen from inside it.
Yong Gang had probably placed them there in the hope that Murin would use them to build a decent life for himself.
‘I’ll never forgive them!’
In that instant, chilling killing intent erupted from his entire body.
“Stop. Your level of martial arts reveals itself even through your killing intent.”
Jin Mudo quietly admonished him.
“You have already learned the Mad Heaven Demonic Art Breathing Method and formed internal force. There is no reason to display your level needlessly.”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“The first fifteen days are for Peng Jowi. As for the next fifteen…….”
Murin looked at him and waited for the rest.
“If my prediction is correct, several more martial duels will take place after a month. They will call it the Evil-Repelling Grand Tournament and put you on a stage.”
Jin Mudo spoke gravely.
“When that happens, renowned young talents will try to cross blades with you. Defeating the Heavenly Kill Star will bring glory to their clans, and it will be essential for their personal advancement as well. Therefore, you must begin learning how to defeat them now.”
Murin nodded.
Jin Mudo was no ordinary man either.
In a short span of time, he had seen through everything and laid a flawless plan.
“Very well.”
“Only martial arts learned under extreme conditions can unleash tremendous power as Life-and-Death Arts. Prepare yourself.”
“As much as it takes.”
Murin smiled faintly.
He had already chosen to walk the path through the Asura Realm.
What was there to fear? What hardship could possibly matter?
“And it was his left hand. I don’t know if that’ll help.”
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
Jin Mudo looked puzzled when Murin abruptly mentioned the left hand.
“That fellow Peng Jowi. He’s left-handed.”
“That cannot be. His blade must have been hanging at the left side of his waist.”
Murin shook his head.
“No. He used his left hand whenever he pointed at me, touched his nose, or fixed his hair.”
“What……?”
Jin Mudo’s brow furrowed sharply once more.
He was not surprised by the fact that Peng Jowi was left-handed.
‘He discerned that in such a short time? What kind of bastard is he?!’
Heavenly Prison lay so deep underground that only a few torches could have illuminated it.
Yet in that brief moment, this cunning bastard seemed to have finished analyzing Peng Jowi.
“So he is left-handed, yet instead of learning a Left-Handed Blade Art, he learned a Right-Handed Blade Art in accordance with his clan’s tradition. The Blade Emperor…… That stubborn old man’s clan would do such a thing, I suppose.”
In martial arts, the Martial Verses often differed depending on whether one primarily used the right hand or the left.
That was only natural.
The acupoints employed were different, as was the method of circulating internal force.
And a clan of the Hebei Peng Clan’s stature took wielding and swinging the blade with the right hand as one of its defining traditions. They must have forced Peng Jowi into that mold.
‘This is good news!’
Jin Mudo nodded inwardly, then spoke.
“Good. Was there anything else?”
Though blind, Jin Mudo had reached a realm where his Qi Sense allowed him to perceive countless things.
Even so, it could not compare to seeing something directly.
Perhaps it would have been different if the Martial Power he had gained through the Mad Heaven Demonic Art remained intact, but naturally, he was far inferior to what he had once been.
“Come to think of it, there was something unusual about the way he walked.”
“His gait was unusual?”
“Mm. It felt as though he pressed the ground half an inch deeper than anyone else. If a colossal mountain could walk, I imagine it would feel like that.”
Jin Mudo smiled.
“It seems you witnessed the Primordial Unity Steps! The Hebei Peng Clan wields heavy blades, so the strength of the lower body supporting them is crucial. If he can perform the Primordial Unity Steps to that degree, the boy must have endured quite a bit of hardship.”
“Does that make him difficult to defeat?”
“What nonsense! There are many ways to shatter heaviness, so do not worry. More important is the speed of your progress in martial arts.”
“I’ll have to leave this place and venture into the martial world one day, so I’ll do my utmost.”
“Good. Then let us resume your training.”
Jin Mudo selected a suitable formation.
The sheer extent of Sa Giljin’s ability was evident from the fact that the formations he had inscribed still operated flawlessly long after his death.
Of course, Jin Mudo had supplemented and modified them to some extent afterward, but that had only been possible because their foundations were so solid.
“Go, then, and return.”
The formation he was about to deploy was a powerful and destructive one that pushed a person to his absolute limit.
The Deep Sea Chain Formation.
This trial consisted of a battle within the ferocious current known as Raging Tide.
The moment Murin was trapped inside, he would be forced to battle enemies surging toward him without end amid the violent current.
“Hooo…….”
Murin sat cross-legged and sank his consciousness into the abyss. Watching him, Jin Mudo activated the Deep Sea Chain Formation―Raging Tide.
‘You must endure! That place is hell!’
If Murin returned safely, an even greater reward would await him.
As he had said, Jin Mudo had been imprisoned in Heavenly Prison for a hundred years and had met countless extraordinary masters and eccentrics.
Their final moments could not possibly have been futile.
Heavenly Prison.
The masters of the Martial Alliance probably had no idea what secrets lay hidden here.
A cold smile spread through the dense darkness.
***
“GASP!”
Before long, Murin opened his eyes, his body trembling violently like aspen leaves.
He gasped for air as though mad, then began retching painfully.
He looked like someone who had fallen into the deep sea and barely escaped alive.
“HUFF, HUFF!”
It was brutal.
This formation had been so brutal that he did not even want to think about it.
Before entering, he had thought he could endure it. He had been gravely mistaken.
“How was it?”
Murin panted for a while, then finally raised his head to look at Jin Mudo.
“If you want to kill me, why don’t you just put a blade to my throat and slit it?”
“Heh, it seems you received a proper taste! The Deep Sea Chain Formation is a place worse than hell!”
“Did you throw me into such a place just so you could boast about it?”
“You wretch, seeing you still talk back at every turn, it seems you gained something after all!”
The exhausted Murin put several Fasting Pills into his mouth and chewed, then snickered.
“I find myself thinking my days as an inn attendant were truly happy.”
“Is that so?”
“Great power comes with great trials…… But what can I do? I’ve already become a Vengeful Ghost who needs that power.”
“You are a dangerous bastard!”
“Then how could a ghost fear making its home in Hell? Send me back in.”
Jin Mudo stared at him in silence, then nodded.
“It is your choice, and therefore your responsibility.”
“My body’s only just warmed up. Send me before it cools.”
Without a word, Jin Mudo activated the formation.
It must have been unimaginably painful and grueling, yet this bastard only threw himself at it with even greater tenacity.
‘What a remarkable bastard! How could I possibly not covet a talent like this?!’
As Murin closed his eyes and sank inward once more, Jin Mudo felt his breathing descend into endless depths and muttered to himself.
A truly remarkable bastard had come here.