Chapter 1 – Woon Seong

His legs trembled.

Woon Seong’s entire body was shaking roughly from overexertion of his internal qi and apparent injuries.

The barren dirt on the ground stung as it stuck to the bloody wounds on his body and his head was ringing with a massive headache.

All of this was nothing compared to what Woon Seong truly cared about. His teacher and master died. The man who took care of him and raised him like a child was murdered and dead laying in front of him. What was even more aggravating was the scene in front of him however..….

‘The one who taught me the essence of martial arts and becoming a man. Is this how you go?’

Woon Seong’s anger was directed at the people in front of him who murdered his teacher and were responsible for his current state. It was a group of people who were once respected as his teacher’s peers and their disciples.

The fact they had turned on the Spearmaster, his teacher, and his sect was a sad sight to see.

“Hahaha…”

Woon Seong laughed like a madman.

“Hahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

As he slowly turned my head, He could see the body of his deceased teacher who had fallen first.

His Master, the current master of the Spearmaster sect in the Orthodox society of Murim, who was betrayed by those who falsely accused him and schemed against him, claiming he had been learning in secret the demonic path, killed him in cold blood.

When Woon Seong turned my gaze again, all he saw was the bastards who were responsible for everything.

The Sage of Bright Rock, from Mount Hua Sect.

The Three Swords of Qingcheng, and the First Apprentice.

The Legendary Mountain Cleaver and the Peng Clan.

In addition to these people, were the 5 generations hailing from their respective factions that held together the Orthodox Alliance within all of Murim.

But lastly… was that bastard.

The Lord of the Martial Alliance, Jwa Do-Gyeul.

He was a fool and a bastard man who had always felt inferior to Woon Seong’s master, who also was the person who most openly accused his master as “The vilest practitioner and master in all of Murim”. It was likely he was the one behind all of this Woon Seong thought.

Woon Seong looked at Do-Gyeul’s hypocritical facial expression and gritted his teeth.

Then he slowly opened his mouth, erasing his wrathful countenance as if it was a lie.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Tell me.”

The person who answered was the Sage of Bright Rock, hailing from the Mount Hua Sect.

He was the only one who could not erase his expression of unease and guilt, even when he killed his teacher.

However, in Woon Seong’s eyes, he looked the same as any of the other hypocrites gathered here.

Although the Sage may feel guilty or remorseful about his actions, he did absolutely nothing to save his Master’s life.

Looking back at the group before him, Woon Seong slowly opened his dry, chapped lips to speak.

“I know that some of the people here are not fools. You know better than anyone that my Master nor I, practiced any demonic art.”

“…….”

At the words of Woon Seong, the people around him closed their mouths and remained speechless like puppets.

The only remaining shred of sanity within Woon Seong snapped at this disgusting sight before him.

He laughed inwardly to himself, and Woon Seong continued to talk.

“Then let’s talk candidly. Why did you do this? My Master was virtuous and honest as any man to ever walk the path of Martial Arts. And yet.. You openly frame him and conspire to taint his image and then trample our sect?! WHY?!!”

The cry from Woon Seong was filled with both desperation and sadness, as if he were a wounded beast crying out in anger at his attacker before it’s last moments.

Those who stood before him and saw this were taken aback by the ferocious display of spirit and power in front of them.

One of the corners of Woon Seong’s mouth curled up as he saw them cower and step back.

‘Yeah, Of course none of you have any idea who did this to us. It’s because all of you fuckers are responsible for this!’

In fact, Woon Seong knew their personalities and tendencies

Why they would do this, and what false merit it would bring to their own image.

The Spearmaster Sect was the smallest sect in number, as it was a one master and one disciple type of sect. It was obvious what would happen if several other Orthodox sects attacked them.

But his Master was already something else compared to these so-called masters before him.

His Master’s ascension in his martial path and cultivation had long reached above and beyond his peer’s levels. 

Even the Lord of the entire Martial Alliance was compared to evenly matched to his master..

Despite all the false glory they would attain from purging an evil villain in name who was as strong as his master, there was definitely something else hidden in this accusation!

However, nobody defended them whatso-ever when the accusations surfaced.

It started half a year ago. A strange rumor had started to spread all over the country that an ancient demonic text that was unparalleled in power was revived and found.

All those who learned this art, were different from normal Unorthodox practitioners as they were purely demonic. Demonic Arts were powerful indeed, but their power depended on the amount of bloodshed of others, hence why those who learned it turned into disastrous murderers within all of Murim and were put down as soon as they came to power.

As soon as one learnt it, they would also lose all remaining sanity and completely turn into a different person.

But… the rumors turned towards his Master for some reason and he was accused of holding onto the book.

The Spearmaster sect had one of the largest libraries in all of Murim despite being the smallest when it came to texts and cultivation methods. But the rumors went as far to accuse his master that he had already started practicing the demonic arts!

Nobody listened to the cries of Woon Seong and his master, as two people cannot stand up to the entire world or Murim.

After a while, an investigative group was sent from the Alliance to check if the rumors were true or not.

Both Woon Seong and his master were certain the rumors were complete falsehoods. But… something changed.

‘I should’ve realized it sooner.’, he thought.

For some reason during the rigorous investigation, the text of the demonic art was found in the investigator's hands.

In no other place than the Spearmaster Sect’s library!

The appearance of the demonic text, when first pulled out of the shelf, embarrassed even his Master since Woon Seong knew that neither his Master had any inclination to study or even look for that blasphemous text. Naturally, anxiety and worry appeared on both his master and his own face.

At that point Woon Seong realized.

It was a scheme to frame them. For some reason, somebody in Murim conspired against their sect and his Master.

And it just so happens that those bastards who framed him, were standing right in front of the bloodied and fierce-eyed Woon Seong at this very moment.

“If you have a mouth, TELL ME!”, Woon Seong roared pointing his spear at the two-faced martial artists.

When the people of the group before him did not answer, Woon Seong shouted even louder.

It was then that the Lord of the Martial Alliance, Jwa Do-Gyeul emerged from the group and responded.

“How long are we going to let that demonic child spout his dirty lies?!”

As Jwa Do-Geul stepped forwards, Woon Seong grasped the blood-stained spear of his deceased teacher tightly in his grasp.

Woon Seong glared intensely at Jwa Do-Gyeul. If looks could kill, Woon Seong would have slaughtered the entirety of Murim with just that gaze alone. 

“Of course, you always hated my Master. Not only were his merits higher than yours, but his skill was also leagues above yours!”, Woon Seong shouted in contempt.

The Do-Gyeul’s eyebrows wriggled and contorted in anger at the words spoken.

“I guess your teacher didn’t teach you any manners with that spiteful tongue of yours. Heh, I will purge all the laymen who practiced the devil’s art starting with your master and you!”

“Bullshit!”

Woon Seong shot forwards with vigor, as his spear wound itself tightly in qi and moved with him towards his target.

It was a strike with such ferocity and stability that it was nearly impossible to imagine that Woon Seong had only been practicing for a short ten years.

And in fact, his skills were the most highly rated amongst the younger generation as well!

The smooth and refined movement of his spear proved it beyond a doubt.

As he moved towards the group, Woon Seong’s movement resembled a thunderbolt.

Originally, it was Woon Seong’s intention to catch Jwa Do-Gyeul and kill him right then and there.

But, he wasn’t the Lord of the Martial Alliance for no reason!

‘I need to, if anybody is to die here. It must be that man!’

Woon Seong though moving incredibly fast-paced, almost like a mirage to the untrained eye, slowly glanced over at his Master’s face who lied there on the ground to the left of him in sorrow and anger.

Woon Seong was bitter about it to the very end, since it wasn’t like his master couldn’t defend himself from all these masters. He was visibly poisoned, and Woon Seong had noticed the physical symptoms long ago.

In addition to poisoning and framing his master for practicing Demonic Arts, Woon Seong absolutely would not let Jwa Do-Gyeul live for what he had done!

“I’ll kill him.. for as long as my body still breathes life, I will definitely kill him.’

It was a gathering of the most powerful masters within the entire Orthodox Alliance that were in front of him, Woon Seong knew there was no way he could escape them and that he would surely die here.

Since that was the case, he had to at least avenge his master in some way.

As soon as Woon Seong shifted his gaze back towards his target, his eyes shone brilliantly with determination, the spear in his hand flashed with a bright orange aura and set fire.

“Y-You!”, Jwa Do-Gyeul shouted in surprise and a little bit of fear.

Even a cornered rat would bite a cat.

Jwa Do-Gyeul brought his sword in hand in front of him quickly and was forced to parry the fierce strike he tried to redirect as much as the pressure and force behind the spear, away from him.

Bang!

Zing-singgg-zingggg

A flurry of strikes unfolded at an unseeable pace before the group as the spear and sword clashed.

It wasn’t a completely futile effort either.

Two fingers!

Woon Seong could see that Jwa Do-gyeul’s middle and ring finger of his left hand were cut off by the speartip and flew in the air.

“How dare you!”

Jwa Do-Gyeul clenched his teeth and shouted with pain and anger evident in his voice.

He wouldn’t just let some fool’s disciple from the lower generation get away from him after humiliating him this far.

Woon Seong didn’t back down either in spirit as he bared his teeth and vented his anger.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Woon Seong was angry beyond words that he was not able to pierce Jwa Do-Gyeul’s heart at the very last moment, he couldn’t and wouldn’t be satisfied with just two fingers.

But as cruel as reality was, that was all he could do with his skill as a younger generation disciple facing a master.

“Lord!”

The Mountain Cleaver and First Apprentice of the Sword Sect shouted out and approached Jwa Do-Gyeul.

Of course it was them. The two that hung around most with Jwa Do-Gyeul and were basically his loyal dogs.

They were the epitome of hypocrisy.

“You’re too young to even try and escape from us you little bastard!”

“His skills are as good as they say! Be careful!”

Pheng-teng-teng-

The cold, bloodied spear and the sword of the First Apprentice collided, causing a series of dangerous exchanges to be heard throughout the field.

Behind the First Apprentice who kept Woon Seong occupied, was the Mountain Cleaver gathering up his internal energy for a huge over-handed strike.

And as if that was not enough, even Jwa Do-Gyeul, which had stopped the bleeding from his wounded fingers, rushed toward the Woon Seong in anger with his sword.

The remaining members of the group, including the Sage of Bright Rock, the renowned scholar of the Mount Hua Sect, just watched the fight in front of their eyes with bitter expressions.

The fierce battle continued for more than a few minutes.

And at the end of the battle, the sword of Jwa Do-Gyeul pierced the heart of the brutally beaten and wounded Woon Seong. 

“Oh, my God! Is he still alive after even that?!”

Woon Seong staggered, gripping the hole in the left side of his chest. A chunk of blackened blood and unrecognizable organ tissue sputtered out from Woon Seong’s mouth.

It was the result of several inflicted strikes that harmed him internally in a cruel manner… This tortuous method of death was due to Jwa Do-Gyeul alone. 

Even from an outsider’s perspective, it was impossible for Woon Seong to survive here. Even if he was left alone here, he would bleed out in a sad state since he wouldn’t be able to move a limb in his body.

However, the Orthodox martial artists that attacked Woon Seong had different ideas.

‘This guy.. He’s a monster. He is still standing still, even after this much of a beating!’, was the common thought between the assailants.

Woon Seong was outstanding as a martial artist to them, though they were even more frightened and wary at the fact a mere apprentice held out this long against 3 masters and was even able to injure one of them.

The next attack was one of zero practicality, and had more of a disgusting and vengeful feel to it, completely contradictory to any Orthodox belief or moral practice. It wasn’t even a stance or move from any specific practice. Jwa Do-Gyeul grinned with a disgusting smile at the limp and completely broken Woon Seong who was supporting his weight against his tattered spear.

He leapt up in the air and came down with his weight and holding his sword in a executioner type of manner.

Boom!

It was impossible for an already near-death practitioner to avoid such an obvious attack.

blaat-

Blood spattered like paint being thrown on a canvas as Woon Seong’s body was struck once more directly to the ground by Jwa Do-Gyeu and his sword that penetrated through Woon Seong’s flesh.

Gasp!

Woon Seong couldn’t even make out any sounds from the pain he was going through. He just gasped desperately for air as his lungs had been pierced in that final blow.

‘I wanted to at least take one down with me…’

He truly wanted to kill at least one of the hypocritical bastards that caused this terrible event.

‘Master, I’m sorry.’

In the midst of Woon Seong’s collapsing consciousness, his gaze landed on his teacher’s resting face.

‘I told you it was Jwa Do-Gyeul. I told you not to be too nice to him.’

Woon Seong felt bitter as he cursed the man Jwa Do-Gyeul even in his last moments, while looking with endearment towards his master.

If he and his master were to die like this here, there would be no one to recover their bodies.

No, even if they did, will these blasted and corrupt liars allow a tombstone to be built?

It was likely their bodies would be thrown into the woods and eaten by the wild animals residing there.

‘Master… if I can live another life, I will avenge you. I swear to you and myself that I will kill at least that man if I had the chance.’

There was no such thing called living a second life, or re-incarnation. It was simply a fact accepted by every sane man and woman in the world.

Woon Seong’s sight blurred as he sorrowfully wept for his caring Master.

His five senses were slowly getting more and more dulled, but to Woon Seong it seemed as if he could see his Master’s very soul departing in front of him.

‘So don’t be too much of a pushover in the afterlife. Take care of your own interests, okay?’

Woon Seong felt his life slowly coming to an end.

In the meantime, he could vaguely hear Jwa Do-Gyeul shouting something,

“I’ve knocked down these evil bastards HAHAH!”

Woon Seong gathered all his strength to spit out the last curse while his consciousness was blurring.

“You fucking dog.”

The last word of a warrior and martial artist devoted to the spear that couldn’t defend his master due to his lack of strength.

But even as he said this, Woon Seong couldn’t hear anything or see anything else. He had lost consciousness.

But… no one knew nor did they notice it.

On the neck of the deceased Woon Seong, hidden beneath his robes.

There was an emerald green necklace with a crystal embedded in the center of it, shining ever so faintly.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Il-Hwang, 일황]

[Translator – betterdays]

[Proofreader – Mayank]