CLS-Chapter 281

Chapter 281

The world seemed to be dyed in darkness.

‘This is rather peculiar?’

It wasn’t simply a matter of being strong or not. They said the martial arts of the Demonic Cult followers differed fundamentally from those of the Central Plains, and it certainly felt different from the martial arts Wei Yan-ho had encountered so far.

‘Either way, it’s no help.’

Wei Yan-ho recalled in his mind the conversation he’d had with his master about the Demonic Cult.

“The Demonic Cult?”

“Yes. The Demonic Cult.”

Baek Mu-han had asked back with a puzzled expression.

“Are you saying those bastards are still holding out in the martial world?”

“They’re not just holding out—they’re literally raising hell. About fifteen years ago, they even started a great war. If the people of the Central Plains hadn’t all joined forces to stop them, the world would have become the Demonic Cult’s domain by now.”

“Huh?”

Baek Mu-han tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand at all, then clicked his tongue.

“How weak has the martial world become that it gets invaded by the likes of them?”

“The likes of them? I heard there’s no single organization larger than the Demonic Cult.”

“What?”

Baek Mu-han’s eyes widened as if asking what on earth was going on.

“No, that’s… huh, this is really something.”

Seeing Baek Mu-han’s completely bewildered expression, Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, three hundred years have passed.”

“That’s not the kind of thing that gets resolved just because time passes.”

“Was the Demonic Cult that hopeless three hundred years ago?”

“Hmm…”

Baek Mu-han organized his thoughts.

“Of course, the martial arts of the Demonic Cult had their own potential.”

“Then they could have revived.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds. The martial arts of the Demonic Cult differ from those of the Central Plains. There are no intermediate steps.”

“…What? What do you mean by that?”

“First, the martial arts themselves are different, but those bastards are so ignorant that they don’t know how to properly break down and transmit their martial arts for future generations to learn. They just throw out some insights and figure that talented and quick-witted ones will learn on their own. It’s like saying, ‘You have to be at least that good to deserve to learn my martial arts.'”

“How manly of them.”

“Humanly speaking, it’s something worth giving a thumbs up for, but from an organizational standpoint, it’s insanity. Thanks to that, countless martial arts were lost, and most of the transmitted martial arts are shells with missing intermediate steps or key insights. For them to regain their former status, they’d need to fill in those gaps…”

Baek Mu-han shook his head.

“Even for a considerable genius, that would be impossible.”

“But if an incredible genius appeared, it might be possible.”

“No. That’s impossible.”

Baek Mu-han declared firmly.

“Because what a genius who hasn’t reached the realm of martial arts mastery can do is not filling in gaps, but creating anew. This has nothing to do with genius.”

“Why?”

When Wei Yan-ho didn’t understand, Baek Mu-han explained with an example.

“Can a young scholar create a new school of thought?”

“They could.”

“Then is it possible for a young scholar to restore ancient learning they’ve never studied?”

“…Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head. This was somewhat ambiguous.

“Restoration requires understanding of martial arts. It requires broad understanding of martial arts. To restore all those demonic arts, one would need to surpass the level of those demonic arts, but recreating martial arts that are already half-lost and obsolete by surpassing their level is impossible.”

“Then what should be done?”

“The surest method would be for someone who has reached the level of a grandmaster through other martial arts to devote themselves to the Demonic Cult and restore those martial arts…”

Baek Mu-han frowned.

“But why would anyone do such a thing for the Demonic Cult bastards? Besides, even that wouldn’t be easy. In my time, demonic arts were at a pitiful level, but actual demonic arts aren’t such weak martial arts. In terms of depth, they don’t fall behind orthodox arts. So it’s something unthinkable without considerable mastery.”

“What about you, Master?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Considerable…”

Smack!

Wei Yan-ho grabbed his head and toppled sideways.

“Ugh! I was just asking!”

“You still lack respect for me. Who am I? I am Baek Mu-han. If mere demonic arts fell into my hands, I could not only restore them but recreate them entirely.”

“If Master could do it, others probably could too.”

Thud!

Wei Yan-ho’s body slightly sank into the ground.

Wei Yan-ho, with tears streaming down, glared at Baek Mu-han with venomous eyes.

“Violence is wrong!”

“Shut up.”

Baek Mu-han, having cleanly subdued Wei Yan-ho, snorted.

“There’s no way another master of my caliber has appeared in the meantime.”

“Isn’t that being too narcissistic?”

“And there’s no way a master of my caliber would do such a thing.”

“Why not?”

“Suppose I had devoted myself to the Demonic Cult.”

“Yes.”

“Would I be crazy enough to go restore that stuff? Just teaching them a few of my sword techniques would be several times easier and more efficient.”

“Ah…”

This much Wei Yan-ho definitely understood.

Baek Mu-han had no need to restore demonic arts. His sword was superior to demonic arts, so why would he do such troublesome work? It’s not like Baek Mu-han had any connection to the Demonic Cult either.

“Then it means a master with reason to revive the Demonic Cult’s martial arts devoted themselves to the Demonic Cult.”

“That would be the case, but there’s no way such a person exists.”

“But it actually happened.”

“That’s right.”

Baek Mu-han shook his head as if he couldn’t understand at all.

“I don’t know. No matter how weak the Central Plains’ martial arts have become, there are still the monks and the Taoists, so it doesn’t seem like they’d lose to that weak Demonic Cult. If so, it means someone reorganized the Demonic Cult’s demonic arts…”

Baek Mu-han’s face hardened after thinking for a long time.

“Could it be…”

“What?”

“Such a thing couldn’t be possible…”

“Why do you keep muttering to yourself like that? You’re a ghost, so it’s not like you have dementia.”

Boom!

“Ugh.“

Wei Yan-ho, having received an intense blow he’d never experienced before, grabbed his head and rolled around on the ground.

Baek Mu-han clicked his tongue while watching Wei Yan-ho.

“You really get beaten in diverse ways. Even if it’s your nature, there probably isn’t another person who only does things that deserve beating like you.”

“What did I say that was so wrong!”

“Want to get hit more?”

“The great master wouldn’t explain to his foolish disciple, so I was frustrated.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Mu-han stroked his beard for a long time, then opened his mouth.

“There is someone who could make it possible.”

“Who?”

“They call him the Heavenly Demon.”

“The Heavenly Demon? You mean that Heavenly Demon who was supposedly the first leader of the Demonic Cult? The incarnation of Asura?”

“That’s right.”

“But that person is from a thousand years ago.”

“A thousand years? In my time, they said five hundred years—did it grow by two hundred years in the meantime?”

“Hey, does saying ‘a thousand years’ refer to precise time? It just means it was extremely long ago.”

“Right, that would be it. Among the countless martial artists in the world, there aren’t many who could reorganize the Demonic Cult’s martial arts to make them stronger than before. It would be about Dharma, Zhang Sanfeng, myself, and the Heavenly Demon.”

“But all those people are dead.”

“Right. I thought so too. But here’s the thing.”

“Yes.”

“Am I not alive like this?”

“…Master.”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Baek Mu-han with a very sad expression and said:

“Master, you passed away. You’re a ghost. You seem to be getting confused because you’re talking with me, but Master, you’ve been deceased for three hundred years. Now get your head straight…”

“That’s not what I mean, you fool!”

“What?”

Baek Mu-han clicked his tongue and said:

“Of course I’m dead. But isn’t my spirit alive like this, talking with you?”

“Yes. Well, that’s true.”

“If I can do it, they could do it too.”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes trembled slightly.

Come to think of it, that was right.

“Of course, their martial arts don’t reach mine…”

“If you say things like that outside, you’ll get beaten to death, Master. Ah… you’re already dead. Never mind, go ahead. What’s there to fear when you’re dead?”

Baek Mu-han’s fist trembled.

What on earth did this bastard eat while growing up that every word he says is sarcastic and grates on one’s nerves?

“Anyway, if someone like the Heavenly Demon had sealed his spirit somewhere and someone opened it… it’s entirely possible.”

“Ah, yes. That’s quite an interesting story. Someone who knows how to tell stories moderately could make a fortune going around inns.”

“You bastard!”

Wei Yan-ho rolled on the ground to dodge Baek Mu-han’s fist.

“This isn’t something to dismiss as just a joke.”

“I didn’t dismiss it as a joke.”

“Tsk, here you need to realize how magnificent a person this master is.”

“What? What nonsense is that?”

“Would someone like the Heavenly Demon quietly pass on his insights? If they utilized all the various demonic arts existing in the Demonic Cult, borrowing another’s body to attempt revival wouldn’t be very difficult either. Considering that using internal energy to maintain one’s spirit has limits…”

“Gasp! Don’t tell me?”

Looking at Wei Yan-ho covering his chest with both hands, Baek Mu-han let out a deep sigh.

‘Let’s just give up. Just give up.’

Whatever crisis befalls the martial world, that bastard isn’t the one who’ll solve it. Moreover, nothing much has happened for three hundred years, so surely nothing will happen now.

“Anyway, that’s my thought.”

“What’s the actual probability of it happening?”

“…About the probability of a person getting struck by lightning thirty-six times while passing by and still being fine enough to go home and eat.”

“Yes. That’s a terrifying probability.”

“It’s possible though, possible.”

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

Baek Mu-han’s eyes became slightly more serious.

“However, remember one thing.”

“What?”

“If those bastards somehow completely revived the demonic arts passed down to them, they would be truly strong.”

“…”

“I don’t respect Dharma or Zhang Sanfeng, but I cannot underestimate the Heavenly Demon alone. If I were to name the only person in the world qualified to be my opponent, I would choose the Heavenly Demon. His martial arts are that deep and domineering.”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His master was someone who would kick even the Jade Emperor if it came to arrogance. If such a person spoke like this, that Heavenly Demon fellow’s martial arts must have reached the heavens.

‘He might be a bit stronger than Master?’

If he thought he could win in a fight, he wasn’t the type to speak like that.

“Their martial arts aren’t just simply strong. The characteristic of the demonic arts created by the Heavenly Demon among other demonic arts is that they affect people’s emotions.”

“Emotions?”

“They stimulate human fears and hatred to make one lose composure. It’s hard enough to fight them normally, but if you can’t display your full abilities, it’s obvious what will happen.”

“Then what should I do?”

“You?”

“Yes. Me.”

“You are…”

Wei Yan-ho recalled the words that came to mind.

— Well, you have no guts, so just fight. That only works on human-like bastards anyway.

“…This sounds like an insult?”

A brilliant white light erupted from Wei Yan-ho’s sword.