Chapter 3. Ten Thousand Evil Alliance
— — —
“Rise! Assemble at the pond!”
The training that followed was far more agonizing.
“Damn it, I’ll never get used to this.”
It was no wonder Ma Cheon-bo was making such a miserable face. Because this training was—
“Tie rocks to your waists and ankles.”
“Yes!”
“First group, enter the water. Execute!”
“Execute!”
Splashes erupted all over the wide pond. The alliance members, having dived in without hesitation, showed no signs of resurfacing.
“Today is half a *gak*. If you cannot endure for half a *gak*, you might as well pass out in there.”
*Bubble, bubble, bubble—!*
Air bubbles rose to the surface from every direction.
‘Those fools are done for.’
If they lost their breath this early, they would never be able to hold out for half a *gak*.
“First group, all members have fainted!”
“Pull them up!”
The unconscious members floated to the surface. The instructors who had been submerged had cut the ropes tied to their ankles and waists.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Blegh!”
“Compress their chests! Make them spit out the water!”
The retrieved members vomited water like sea cucumbers.
“Ugh.”
“I, I want to run away.”
The members waiting for their turn shuddered at the sight.
“This is insane. Why on earth are they making us do this?”
Ma Cheon-bo muttered quietly.
“It must be a conditioning method to help us properly master the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You can see it for yourself.”
The members who had finished vomiting water crawled into a corner in a state of exhaustion and sat in a lotus position. Only after reaching that state could they begin to circulate their energy through the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art. To explain the reason would be too profound, so—
“If you increase your lung capacity like that, you can perform breathing techniques much faster.”
I simply gave a reasonable answer suited to Ma Cheon-bo’s level.
“They put people through this just for that?”
Of course not.
‘Overcoming the fear of drowning and repeatedly enduring the agony of suffocation. That is the very aptitude required to properly master the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art.’
It could be said that the essence of the martial arts pursued by the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance was truly melted into that process.
“Third group, enter the water!”
“Yes!”
I, standing at the front, dove into the pond without hesitation.
*Splash!*
The pond’s massive maw swallowed me whole. I closed my eyes as I sank into the dark water.
‘There are two ways to endure for half a *gak*. Use the Great Art of Turtle Breathing, or if you lack that talent, you must endure it with sheer willpower.’
If one has the talent, it is only right to use it. But to me, that was merely a shortcut that turned a blind eye to the martial arts of the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance.
‘My body is still weak and pathetic.’
That was why I needed to acclimate my body to fear and pain. The Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art is a study that requires one to overcome the dangers of internal conflict and *qi* deviation.
*Bubble, bubble, bubble—!*
……However, it seemed my body could not yet handle my willpower. I fainted right there and lost consciousness.
— — —
* * *
— — —
The Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art.
It is the skeleton and the fundamental martial art that forms the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance. Its core is—
“A miscellaneous and disjointed martial art. It is an admission that such a thing is the very identity of the Evil Path.”
“Alliance Leader, what do you mean by that?”
“Think about it. If the Evil Path were to pursue depth like the Righteous Sects, could they ever catch up to the centuries of study those sects have accumulated?”
“It would be impossible.”
“A single genius might become the greatest under heaven. But even such a Grandmaster could not create a martial art that surpasses them using their own methods.”
“Because it would merely be following the path someone else has already trodden.”
“Even if we pursue the path of defying heaven like the Demonic Cult, the conclusion is the same. It is absurd to surpass those who have pursued their own martial arts for hundreds of years under the law of the strong devouring the weak. It would be faster to simply join a branch of the Demonic Cult and accept their martial arts.”
Therefore, the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art starts with the assumption that the practitioner has already learned miscellaneous internal energy techniques and martial arts. Instead, it focuses on overcoming the conflicts between those martial arts and, in fact, utilizing them.
‘Avoid the sensitive paths and circulate the internal energy along the sturdy meridians.’
In that process, the meridians themselves are adapted to the resulting collisions and distortions. The reason for making us accustomed to pain and fear through the previous two training sessions was precisely to help us overcome the instinctive fear of *qi* deviation at this stage.
‘Once the practitioner finds the courage, the instructors help guide them to the right path.’
……I could feel an instructor’s palm pressed against my back. Enduring the pain that felt like needles flowing through my entire meridian system, I followed the instructor’s guidance to widen the channels of the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art.
“……Mok Ju-gyeol is unusually……”
“To have this much venomous energy……”
The voices of the instructors and members tickled my ears from afar. I kept my consciousness locked within and focused solely on circulating the faint internal energy of the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art. Then, I felt the internal energy I had accumulated during my days as a wanderer yield its momentum and submit. The hierarchy between the internal energies began to settle.
……I was a man who had already seen the ultimate peak of the Ten Thousand Calamities Ghost-Extinguishing Art. I lacked neither fear nor the necessary tricks. Forgetting even the passage of time, I completed the Great Heavenly Circulation in a state of complete selflessness.
“Mok Ju-gyeol, impressive.”
It was enough for the instructor who had helped me with my energy circulation to say as much.
“Thank you, Instructor.”
I rose to my feet, receiving a strange look. Vitality returned to my severely overworked body.
“Is that your limit already? You pathetic fools!”
“Rise!”
“Ma Cheon-bo. Did you fail to even memorize the formula?”
“Th-that is not it. Blegh!”
Vomit was scattered everywhere, and members with limp limbs were crawling on the floor. The instructors kicked the buttocks of those who had collapsed with sharp, piercing glares.
‘It’s going to be a problem if they can’t even overcome this much.’
When physical strength and spirit are broken by a harsh environment, the true qualities of a strong martial artist are revealed. Even when I served as the Chief Instructor, that philosophy never changed.
“Morning training is over. After lunch, gather again in the afternoon.”
Only then did the members stagger to their feet. It goes without saying, but no matter how great a master one is, one must eat.
“Tsk.”
The instructors clicked their tongues, as if the sight was not to their satisfaction.
‘They look pathetic to me as well, seniors.’
How could they be more annoyed than I, who went from being the Chief Instructor to a recruit overnight? I headed to the cafeteria, blending into the herd of monkeys.
……Though I couldn’t help my legs trembling, no matter how much I willed them not to.
— — —
* * *
— — —
“Did you really eat something wrong today?”
“I heard you were in a lotus position even while you were being pulled up after fainting?”
“The instructors were clicking their tongues, saying you’re a tough one.”
I let my peers’ words flow in one ear and out the other, focusing on my meal.
“If you have the strength to talk, chew one more time.”
“Ugh.”
Ma Cheon-bo hunched his shoulders. The training that would continue in the afternoon was not going to be easy either.
‘Continuous sparring between alliance members.’
But looking at the details, it was by no means simple training.
.
.
.
“Draw your swords.”
Ma Cheon-bo and I, both holding wooden training swords, faced each other.
“Mok Ju-gyeol will use the Eighteen Ghost-Extinguishing Swords, and Ma Cheon-bo will use his own martial arts.”
“Understood.”
Ma Cheon-bo, having taken his stance, lowered his body and glared at me.
*Whoosh!*
The sword, tracing a low trajectory, shifted its path to aim for my glabella.
*Clack!*
I parried it, having accurately tracked the sword path with my eyes. My innate physical ability was superior to my internal energy. After all, Ma Cheon-bo was a martial artist who possessed enough talent to be admitted into the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance. His sword strikes were never light.
‘Anomalous trajectories, bold killing blows, and footwork and movement techniques that defy common sense to dazzle the eyes.’
It was a typical Evil Path martial art. I didn’t know what martial arts Ma Cheon-bo had learned. But his movements were well within the realm of what I could anticipate.
*Clack!*
I broke his sword path with the third form of the Eighteen Ghost-Extinguishing Swords and used the footwork of the Stone-Shattering Fist to stomp on Ma Cheon-bo’s foot.
“……!”
With a fluid, water-like movement, I delivered a palm strike to his chest.
*Ugh!*
Ma Cheon-bo, who had been sent flying, blinked his eyes. Since there was no internal energy infused in the strike, it didn’t seem to cause any pain.
“What just happened to me?”
“……Huh.”
The instructors supervising the sparring and the members watching were all wearing dumbfounded expressions.
“Next. Mok Ju-gyeol, use your own martial arts, and Ma Cheon-bo, use the Eighteen Ghost-Extinguishing Swords.”
“Understood.”
Perhaps frustrated by his hollow defeat, Ma Cheon-bo performed a flashy sword dance, as if he intended to unleash the forms of the Eighteen Ghost-Extinguishing Swords from the first to the eighteenth.
‘Clumsy.’
His movements suggested he believed he could win simply by unleashing powerful sword forms without understanding the principles of the forms or considering their connections. If one does not properly correct such things, one can never become a first-rate master.
*Clack! Clack-clack!*
Before joining the alliance, I had learned miscellaneous sword techniques under a certain wanderer. While they might appear to be third-rate martial arts to the eyes of the *jianghu*, those techniques, honed through life-and-death real-world combat, contained seeds of logic that even I, in my current state, could nod at.
‘Defense should be concise; you must deflect the opponent’s force.’
I focused on defense without wasting energy, aiming for the openings that were inevitably exposed. With just that simple tactic, it was not difficult to defeat Ma Cheon-bo.
*Ugh!*
Ma Cheon-bo, struck on the wrist, dropped his wooden sword.
“……What is this? We were tied last time, weren’t we?”
“Was we?”
It was forty years ago, so I didn’t remember. To think I had been on par with a Ma Cheon-bo like this—my own level back then was clear.
“Overwhelming, Mok Ju-gyeol.”
“Thank you.”
The instructor, who had been looking at me with a strange gaze, signaled.
“Last one. Spar using each other’s martial arts. Do not take it lightly just because the outcome has been decided.”
“Yes.”
Ma Cheon-bo took a shaky defensive stance.
‘This fool, he didn’t properly understand my movements.’
Lowering one’s stance does not equate to defense. Such a method is actually—
“Ugh!”
It is not easy to respond to anomalous attacks that combine movements and footwork in a chaotic manner, like the sword style Ma Cheon-bo was unleashing.
“Damn it, what is this!”
Ma Cheon-bo’s hands and feet became tangled in a mess, and it soon devolved into a brawl like that of street thugs.
“Stop!”
The instructor, unable to watch any longer, halted the sparring.
"Ma Cheon-bo, did Mok Ju-gyeol really unleash a technique like that?"
"I, I am sorry."
"A crushing defeat. Go to the loser's bracket and wait."
"Yes."
"Next, step forward to the instructor."
After being soundly scolded and stepping back, Ma Cheon-bo muttered in a daze.
"It feels like I was possessed by a ghost. What was that? No, I don't even know why we have to undergo this kind of training in the first place."
Ma Cheon-bo turned to me with a snap.
"Ju-gyeol, you realized something, didn't you? Tell me too! Please!"
"Tell you what, exactly?"
"Don't play hard to get! Just think of it as me owing you a favor. Yeah?"
"Don't forget those words."
A single piece of proper advice given at a time like this can change a martial artist's future. I am weak against a man who craves learning.
"Think about it. Didn't you just apply three different martial arts in that fight alone? The technique you were familiar with, the one you just learned, and the one someone else used."
"What meaning does that have?"
"Today, you were tangled up and suffered a miserable defeat. If you feel bitter about it, go back, review the fight, and agonize over the proper response. If you do that, will the you of tomorrow, or the day after, be any different from today?"
"……I suppose I'll realize something."
"Repeat that process. Imagine freely, from different perspectives. Perhaps this training is meant to make you realize that kind of freedom."
"……!"
To accept the limitations of the Evil Path—that it is messy and lacks order—as the very essence of the Evil Path itself. Instead, pursue a simple yet robust direction that can weave any martial art into one.
Ultimately, this is the core of the martial arts pursued by the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance.
"Where did you hear such things?"
"From Instructor Seok."
Ma Cheon-bo shrank back.
'Instructor Seok?'
He was in my memory. A man who had held his position as a senior instructor even when I was promoted to a hall master.
"What are you referring to?"
"The purpose of the training."
His surprise was evident. It was only natural; if a mere recruit understood the purpose of the training so accurately, he would be shocked.
"I thought about it on my own. I apologize for cluttering your ears with my shallow insight."
"……Is that so?"
A spark of interest flickered in Instructor Seok's eyes.
.
.
.
The long sparring session finally came to an end. The members were divided into exactly two groups.
"Loser's bracket, step forward."
The order was handed down to the dejected loser's bracket.
"You are camping today. Collect your dried meat and prepare for bivouac."
"Yes!"
"Winner's bracket, you get a special meal. Return to your quarters and take time for personal maintenance."
"Woooooah!"
The members of the winner's bracket shouted in unison.
It was simple, yet perfect motivation. Poisonous intent flashed in the eyes of the losers, while the will to never fall again burned in the eyes of the winners.
'I miss this atmosphere.'
Forty years ago, I lived each day faithfully, moving between the winner's and loser's brackets among them.
'But I can no longer return to that innocence of youth.'
I did not have the luxury of wasting a long time on this training.
I had to raise my cultivation level within a month and prepare to take my next step.
"Dismissed."
"Thank you!"
On the way back to my quarters, I took in the scenery of the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance.
The orderly aura of the members, the pavilions rising high into the sky. The energy of masters I wouldn't have dared to even look at now.
'It is magnificent yet sharp, and the unique spirit of the Evil Path practitioners who have braved the rough, dusty world can be felt everywhere.'
This was the majesty of the Ten Thousand Evil Alliance I remembered, created by the reign of the giant known as Jong Yu-gang.
'……But I must go to Yeongneung.'
To the very place of exile where Jong Wi-cheon tried to cast me out.
'The bloodbath that will swallow Yeongneung has not yet occurred.'
If so, that place would become a stage where I could fully unfold my will, unconstrained by the internal politics of the Alliance.
'In my current state, it is difficult to avoid the fate of an ant struggling among giants.'
I need time. To quietly build my strength and gain fame.
'The problem is, under what pretext should I go to Yeongneung?'
Several methods were taking shape in my mind, but each one required some time.
'Frustrating.'
However.
The opportunity to accelerate time arrived in an unexpected way.
— — —
* * *
— — —
In my ears, as I slept like the dead, a voice kept ringing.
-……Wake up. Can you hear me? Hey, Mok Ju-gyeol!
It was an unfamiliar voice I had never heard before that woke me.
"Who are you?"
-You finally understand me!
The voice came from an unexpected place.
-You frustrating fool. You ended up in this state after all. Didn't I tell you so many times to defect, that you'd only end up a cripple if you kept your loyalty?
"……?"
-Well, I suppose if you had, you wouldn't have had your ears opened like this. I thought I was going to die of frustration.
Deep in the early morning, with moonlight seeping through the cracks in the window.
Something perched on my chest was chattering noisily through telepathy.
'Is this an illusion?'
Looking closely at the dim shape, it was a small doll made of shabby rags.
But with its round, blunt body and long ears, it looked just like…….
"A rabbit?"
A shabby rabbit doll was standing on two legs, looking down at me.
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