"...."
Jin Mudo said nothing, his brow furrowed.
Something that should never have been possible had happened, no matter how he thought about it.
'Can this make any sense?'
Over the nearly one hundred seventy years he had lived, he had experienced countless events and seen innumerable people.
Among them were geniuses among geniuses, beings who would have become the greatest of all time had Jin Mudo not existed.
The former Sword Emperor had been one, and so had the Blade Emperor.
They possessed talents so astounding they made one shudder and lacked nothing needed to command the world.
Yet even they had not given Jin Mudo such a shock.
'Damn it!'
No matter how he thought about it, this made no sense.
The reality that this boy, who knew not a trace of martial arts, had calmly escaped the Still Blade Law Realm Formation and now sat right before him.
"What are you doing, old man?"
As if that were not enough, the brat was calmly looking at Jin Mudo and asking him.
It was an ease unfitting for someone who had only just escaped the immense pressure of the Still Blade Law Realm Formation.
"Ahem, what do you mean?"
Not wanting his inner surprise to show, Jin Mudo answered with a dry cough.
"No, you have been muttering to yourself since earlier. Say it so I can understand."
It seemed Jin Mudo had been unconsciously chewing over the words in his heart aloud.
He coughed once more and opened his mouth.
"So, how was the Still Blade Law Realm Formation? Then again, it was an extremely basic formation tailored precisely to your level, so it could not have made much of an impression."
He was subtly testing Murin.
Murin looked at Jin Mudo for a moment, then answered.
"I almost died!"
Jin Mudo's brow immediately creased at the entirely unexpected answer.
Could those words come from the mouth of someone who had almost died?
"Who knew you had such a vicious temperament, old man! I learned it painfully this time! I nearly failed to escape and stopped breathing inside there!"
Jin Mudo was dumbfounded as he watched the boy say such things without the slightest agitation.
'Is it all right to speak about something like that as though it happened to someone else?'
But on the other hand, he had confirmed that Murin had suffered terribly in the Still Blade Law Realm Formation, so he did not feel entirely displeased.
Just as he intended, the boy seemed to have suffered quite a bit.
Pretending not to know, Jin Mudo spoke again.
"So, how was it?"
Murin answered at once.
"I thought you had truly awful taste, old man, but now I see it was quite a well-designed training method. The situations where my life was on the line were rather thrilling too! I might have been disappointed if it had been easy."
Jin Mudo frowned. It was truly absurd.
'What a properly mad bastard! How can he say something like that after going through the Still Blade Law Realm Formation?'
The two continued their conversation as though nothing were wrong, but the Still Blade Law Realm Formation was in truth an extremely frightening formation.
As Murin had experienced firsthand, if one failed to meet the conditions Jin Mudo had arranged, one's strength would be drained away inside it until one eventually lost one's life.
In other words, one's life truly had to be on the line even in reality.
Yet this mad bastard was saying that he liked the extreme situation instead!
'Is it really right to let a fellow like this loose on the world?'
Even Jin Mudo thought that for a moment.
"So, how was it with your life hanging by a thread? Breaking the formation could not have been particularly difficult, though."
Jin Mudo tried to make it sound as though the Still Blade Law Realm Formation were nothing much.
But Murin thought about something for a moment, then replied.
"I thought your arrangements were truly vicious and ingenious, old man! Had I not known the hidden principle within the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method, I would probably have died inside there. Is that not so?"
Of course, the Still Blade Law Realm Formation had been created to make him cultivate the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method.
Demonic arts progressed very quickly, but that did not mean just anyone could cultivate them.
In particular, someone who would inherit the Mad Heaven Demonic Art created by Jin Mudo, the greatest of all time, had to prove for himself that he possessed the proper qualifications.
That was why the Still Blade Law Realm Formation had been created here in the Heavenly Prison.
'He found the hidden principle?'
But this boy was saying something strange. It was true that the formation had been designed to guide him into cultivating the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method.
Yet at his mention of the hidden principle within it, Jin Mudo felt a chill run down his spine.
"That is true. Then did you comprehend the principle?"
It could not be.
Even as he asked, Jin Mudo thought it was impossible.
The hidden principle within the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method was something even his first disciple, called a genius among geniuses, had realized only after several months.
And that did not mean he had fully understood the principle. It had taken him several months merely to realize that such a principle existed.
Yet this brat was claiming to have understood it in less than an hour.
'Boastful nonsense! He is probably only saying it.'
Of course, Jin Mudo did not believe Murin. His first disciple, Hwa Gwangcheon, had been selected after the greatest martial talents of the day had been sifted again and again.
Even Jin Mudo had never before seen a martial talent as gifted as Hwa Gwangcheon. He was a prodigy bestowed by heaven.
'And this is what that boy only dimly realized after several months? Hmph, this brat's bluster reaches the sky!'
Jin Mudo completely dismissed Murin's words.
But the words Murin said next sent goosebumps racing across his whole body.
"The analogy of the chicken butcher was very interesting! The wind blows, rain falls, insects crawl, and water flows, yet not a single one of these has my will behind it. Is that not the secret essence spoken of by the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method?"
"...What!"
Jin Mudo was truly astonished.
That was precisely the hidden principle of the peerless demonic art, the Mad Heaven Demonic Art.
No will, yet will; no killing intent, yet slaughter—the realm of impermanence.
And what created it was the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method!
'Impossible! He understood that?'
Regardless of Jin Mudo's expression, Murin continued speaking.
And Jin Mudo felt the most intense shock of his entire life sweep over him.
'M-Madness!'
Murin's words, spoken without any awareness of what he had accomplished, were overwhelmingly violent.
"But why is my lower abdomen so hot? It feels like there is a hard bead...."
Murin continued speaking, but Jin Mudo's mind had gone completely white.
A bead.
'He formed the Mad Jade? Not only did he gain enlightenment, he formed the Mad Jade as well?'
He could not believe it.
The Mad Jade was the true qi that could be called the core of the Mad Heaven Demonic Art.
Yet forming the Mad Jade was far more difficult than one might think. Even his disciples had only barely succeeded after expending tremendous effort and time.
'Impossible!'
Jin Mudo unconsciously swallowed dryly.
The fact that he had formed the Mad Jade might not itself seem like much.
But its meaning was immense.
It meant that the Mad Heaven Demonic Art had at last properly begun.
Of course, one could cultivate the Mad Heaven Demonic Art without the Mad Jade.
But the difference between one who had obtained the Mad Jade and one who had not was greater than the difference between heaven and earth.
"Listen, if someone speaks to you, could you answer?"
Then Murin's voice reached him, and Jin Mudo suddenly came back to his senses.
"W-What did you say?"
"I asked what this hot thing is. Is it all right for something like this to form?"
Jin Mudo let out a hollow laugh.
'Mad bastard!'
He was asking so innocently without knowing what he had just done?
If he knew even a little about martial arts, he would have known that the thing coiled firmly in his qi center was an enormous fortuitous encounter!
'Enlightenment and martial power came to him at the same time, yet he is that calm? Keh heh heh heh!'
It was so absurd that hollow laughter kept spilling from him.
"Tell me, what does that energy feel like? Describe it precisely."
But Jin Mudo asked cautiously.
He had to confirm whether what Murin felt was simply ordinary true qi created through the breathing method or the genuine Mad Jade.
"Hm, my qi center is extremely hot, as though it is burning! And it feels as though a very hard bead is gathering its strength and settling into place."
Jin Mudo asked in an even more secretive tone. It meant that he, too, was concentrating fully on Murin's words.
"Does the bead feel only hot? Do you sense nothing else?"
"Something else...."
Murin lightly furrowed his brow as he tried to feel the bead's sensation.
Before long, he nodded and said, "It feels like a mad thing trying to run wild. It is quiet now, but when the time comes...."
Jin Mudo murmured without realizing it.
"Like a venomous snake stalking its prey?"
Murin nodded vigorously at Jin Mudo's words.
"That is right! How did you know? That is exactly it!"
Trickle.
A drop of sweat ran down Jin Mudo's cheek.
'It is the Mad Jade!'
There was no longer any need to see more. This was a characteristic unique to the Mad Jade.
Why else would it have been named the Mad Jade, using the character for madness?
It was savage and fierce beyond control, yet possessed power above all else.
That was why it was called the Mad Jade.
If one obtained it, one had laid the true foundation of the Mad Heaven Demonic Art, and that further meant one had mastered a martial art capable of conquering the world....
It was power as hard to obtain as it was difficult to control.
"All right. From now on, do as I tell you. But if it tries to run wild on its own, you must stop immediately."
"Tell me."
Murin's expression was as calm as ever, but Jin Mudo's was not.
Obtaining the Mad Jade did not mean everything was finished.
That mad bead could grant tremendous power enough to shatter the heavens, or rip its bearer to pieces badly enough to turn him into a cripple.
It was power that was that difficult to control, but success in controlling it meant gaining absolute power!
"Slowly roll it where it is. But you must never try to move it anywhere else."
"Roll it slowly where it is...."
"You should be able to do it by concentrating with your will. Keep your breathing exactly as it is in the Mad Heaven Demonic Art's breathing method."
Murin slowly closed his eyes.
In truth, he did not know how someone who knew nothing about martial arts could move the hot energy coiled firmly in his qi center by will alone.
Jin Mudo's words could have sounded like utter nonsense, but Murin focused his entire mind on turning the energy as Jin Mudo instructed.
Gulp—
Watching him, Jin Mudo swallowed dryly.
'Will he...?'
Even if one encountered a fortuitous opportunity among fortuitous opportunities and formed the Mad Jade, controlling it was another matter entirely.
Whether the Mad Heaven Demonic Art would attain great mastery or not depended on how one controlled the Mad Jade.
Hummmm—
Hot steam poured from Murin's entire body as time passed.
Then, after quite a while, Murin tilted his head.
"This...."
Jin Mudo focused on his lips.
Why was the boy frowning like that? Had something gone wrong?
"Is it all right that I could only roll it around once?"
"...!"
Jin Mudo was thunderstruck.
In this moment, he could not say a word.
'Only... once? Keh heh heh heh!'
He laughed as though he had lost his mind.
'He truly is insane! Keh heh heh heh heh!'
Moving it only a hair's breadth was astounding, yet this boy asked whether it was all right after rolling it around once.
How could he not laugh?
Jin Mudo had to struggle madly to hold back the laughter bursting from him.