Return of the Dark Moon
Chapter 26. The Eight Immortals
KUUUNG!
It was the sound of the Gyeryong collapsing onto a nearby mountainside.
The Gyeryong didn't get up.
It had entered nirvana.
There was no way Beomcheon would have been killed by the Gyeryong.
The creature simply didn't possess an attack powerful enough to kill him.
However, it would have taken Beomcheon far longer to kill the Gyeryong on his own.
In that time, the 108 Arhats could have all been killed by the grotesque monsters.
Even the 108 Arhats had their limits.
Beomcheon, slowly descending from the sky, irritably swung his sleeve.
Shaolin's Banseonsu.
The shockwave caused all the nearby grotesque monsters to explode.
Beomcheon still had plenty of strength left.
In the first place, peerless masters were beings who could dominate the world with a mere sliver of their power.
That's what made them peerless masters.
And here I was, stepping back into that world in this lowly body.
Into a Murim that had become far more dangerous and cold.
I staggered toward him as if performing the Drunken Eight Immortals Steps.
My body was once again in a dizzying state.
Star Moon True Qi, Dharmic power, demonic energy, and immortal energy.
The Ten Thousand Swords Style, which required these four types of energy, I had forcibly executed with only Star Moon Sword Aura and overwhelming Dharmic power.
The backlash placed an immense strain on all the acupoints in my body, as well as my lower and upper dantian.
The Ten Thousand Swords Style: Falling Star Sword Dance.
It was originally an art that used explosive power flowing from the palm to rain down thousands of meteors, as if controlling them with qi.
Just one is enough to make my head throb.
How many more times will I have to go through this?
I can't even kill Baek Cheon anymore…
In the end, have I too lost my destination?
I just want to wander the world and rest.
Beomcheon plunged his hand deep into the Gyeryong's belly and pulled out a round sphere.
It was the Gyeryong's inner core, glowing with a brilliant green light.
The energy it radiated was immense.
With a simple gesture, a slightly weary-looking Beomcheon sent the inner core floating over to me.
I caught the inner core, sticky with blood.
It didn't feel very pleasant.
A bit disgusting, even.
He probably didn't need it, so he was telling me to eat it.
After confirming that the grotesque monsters, trembling at Beomcheon's power, had scattered in all directions, I swallowed the inner core in one gulp and sat in the lotus position.
It was tasteless.
The Grand Pill or Wudang's Great Purity Pill were quite palatable.
Of course, I ate the Great Purity Pill when I was fully grown, so it had no effect on me.
If I had just chomped down on Seol-sam back then, he would have been absorbed without a chance to resist.
For a moment, my upper dantian felt as if it were sinking into clouds.
A sudden wave of drowsiness forced my eyes shut, accompanied by Beomcheon's amused, enigmatic words.
“Go, and return.”
I opened my eyes, feeling a piercing gaze.
Strangely, I saw the Gyeryong.
The moonlight was so bright it was chilling.
I raised a hand to block the light.
The red sleeve of my robe caught my eye.
…Arise. Is that your true form? What a ridiculous mindscape.
A consciousness echoed directly in my upper dantian.
It seemed to be the Gyeryong's voice.
I grabbed the white sword by my head and stood up. I flinched for a moment and looked at the sword; from the blade to the hilt, it was pure white.
A true white sword.
Beyond the Gyeryong, which floated in the air looking down, was a full moon and countless stars.
This was inside my mindscape.
After consuming the Gyeryong's inner core, I'd suddenly been sucked into this place.
But it wasn't that strange.
A Heart Art is, after all, a method of absorbing and circulating the energy of nature within the human body.
The only difference from simple qi circulation is that one imbues it with one's own heart.
Just like with consciousness.
So, it was no surprise that my mindscape was a night sky where the stars and moon danced.
Ilgwangchoyawol was both a sword art and a Heart Art, after all.
The hem of the red robe that fit my body perfectly fluttered with the Gyeryong's every breath.
Righteous Heaven Alliance's Mad Moon Corps Leader.
My title in a past life was the Full Moon Sword God.
Strange as it felt, that was me.
When I raised my head, I saw the Gyeryong, its vertically slit pupils glowing.
What a peculiar mindset.
What becomes of the vengeance of a man who no longer hates his enemy?
I smiled at the vitality I felt throughout my body and asked it.
“Hey, Gyeryong, you chicken-headed bastard. What is this situation? It doesn't seem like a dream. My body is in perfect condition. I mean, it's back to how it was before I regressed.”
―Hah? I was sure your Inner Demon would have vanished in this space. It seems your personality is just rotten to the core.
The Gyeryong snorted, shoving its consciousness into my upper dantian.
It was as if it were scoffing.
It acted like a person, spoke like a person.
It was so different I wondered if it was the same Gyeryong I'd seen earlier.
―It's the fault of the Peach Blossom Spring. I don't know what tricks those vermin—worse than Earth Dragons (earthworms)—used, but they put me into a deep slumber.
“That's not what I asked.”
The Gyeryong chuckled and soared high into the sky.
Its intention was clear.
Like the other grotesque monsters, it was burning with a fighting spirit.
You want my power?
Then prove yourself.
A mad torrent of fire and lightning rained down.
At the same time, the ground shook, and even the lava sleeping deep within the earth revealed itself.
This was the Gyeryong's true power.
I suddenly burst out laughing.
The thought of losing never even crossed my mind.
Thousands of meteors began to fall.
In an instant, the stars in the night sky began to shine with a mad brilliance.
Ten Thousand Swords Style: Falling Star Sword Dance.
A supreme technique that only a peerless master who has reached the state of Five Qi Converging to the Origin could use.
Sun and Moon Heavenly Art.
The last words I uttered were lost to the realm of silence in the clash between the Gyeryong and me.
I opened my eyes in the guest quarters.
As soon as I woke up, I inspected my dantian and found my internal energy had increased immensely.
My body, which had been wrecked by the fierce battle, had also been fully restored by absorbing the inner core.
Then, I suddenly slapped my own cheek again.
“Wow, shit. Have I gone crazy? Circulating my qi as soon as I wake up? This diligent person isn't me. I'm not one of those sword-wielding monkeys. No, sir...”
Just as I muttered that, a loud kiai came from outside.
“Aiyah!”
It was Hwapyeong.
What was that crazy bastard doing?
I slapped my cheek to clear my blurry vision.
It's the best way to wake up.
Opening the door and leaving the guest quarters, I saw Ilgyeokmujeok and Hwapyeong training, just like yesterday.
How long are those two going to be together?
To be honest, it wasn't a bad thing for me.
After all, she’d make Hwapyeong strong enough to take care of himself, saving me the trouble.
Ilgyeokmujeok sat perched on a rock with an indifferent expression, casually waving her hand, while Hwapyeong loudly threw punches and kicks.
They'll figure it out.
I left Hwapyeong to it and dashed off using the Ten Thousand Li Chasing Wind Steps.
The cool wind wildly tousled my dry hair.
Straight to the Main Buddha Hall.
“...Your upper dantians are spinning quite tightly, patrons. Are you perhaps worried this old monk will eat you? Ahem, you there. When did you hide that dagger? You wanna die?”
Beomcheon's old-fashioned voice rang out pleasantly.
It sounded like he was lecturing the third-rate thugs of the Unorthodox Faction who were causing all sorts of trouble.
I passed right by.
Only the middle-aged beggar from the Beggars' Sect, the Dengfeng County Branch Leader who had come to investigate the tragedy at Shaolin the previous night, waved at me and spoke.
“Hey, Hugae. You're damn fast. So, what happened last night? There was thunder and lightning from the sky... Hey! At least tell me before you go!”
I passed him by again.
I stepped on a tree.
Tapping the top of a slender branch with the Yongquan point on the sole of my foot, I sprinted onward.
The roar of a white tiger and the kiais of the 108 Arhats struck my eardrums.
“...108 Arhats. Assume the one-handed salute for the benefactor of Shaolin.”
One hundred and eight warrior monks paid their respects to me.
Shaolin was wrecked because of me, though. Anyway, these naive baldies.
Though that was what was good about them.
I gave a small nod and moved further ahead.
“The key principle of a martial art refers to its most important aspect. As you know, the key principle of the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art is 'firmness'. As for the Ten Thousand Li Chasing Wind Steps... I shall offer a prayer so that you may find the right path, patron.”
These were the words of the Mount Song guardian who had followed close behind me.
…Why did I come back here?
Because of that damn Gyeryong.
The Gyeryong I met in the mindscape yesterday.
Unlike when we fought before, it was transcendentally strong.
I barely managed to win and receive the energy of its inner core, but the chicken-head at that time seemed quite displeased.
—Take it. This energy is of no use to me now anyway. It was a short, but intense, amusement.
I intended to come and pay my respects.
I should at least bow once.
The energy seemed a bit small for a Gyeryong, but I decided to be more or less satisfied...
In the distance.
The Gyeryong's corpse came into view.
It lay there, abandoned, with the blood it had shed forming a river.
This is because the corpses of grotesque monsters return to the earth.
There was no need to dispose of the body.
They were aberrations whose entire bodies were made of the energy of nature.
I was approaching the Gyeryong's corpse when I suddenly stopped.
I had sensed someone's presence.
The moment I looked at that 'someone', my upper dantian cried out in pain.
Something trickled from my eyes.
It didn't take long to realize it was blood.
I couldn't see them clearly.
The area around it was completely blurry.
“Ah, my apologies. I didn't realize you would come here. I'll lower my state with Banbakgwijin, so stop hiding like a rat and come out.”
His deep, baritone voice was imprinted on my mind.
This was no mere peerless master.
It was correct to think of him as a being of a higher existence.
As my entire body ached as if I'd been beaten, his words continued with an old-fashioned laugh.
“There now, stop feigning and face me.”
I controlled my wildly beating heart, the movements of my middle dantian, with the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art.
Donggong is a martial art that allows one to control even the slightest, most trivial bodily reactions at will
I let out a deep sigh and stepped forward.
It wasn't as if I could have run away in the first place.
…He’s huge.
That was my first thought upon facing him.
A seven-foot giant.
His white Taoist robes fluttered wildly in the blowing wind.
The sight of him waving a plantain-leaf fan (a type of fan) with a single liquor bottle beside him was somehow unnerving.
“Why have you come? Is there something left to do? It seems you’ve already thoroughly devoured the inner core.”
“I came to repay a debt of gratitude.”
Using polite speech, so unlike me, I stared at his face tensely.
Ah, he wasn't handsome.
But I could feel a weightiness that one could not easily possess, and that feeling was like…
A great general?
A disposition similar to the military figures I had seen at the Imperial Palace long ago.
The sense of discipline was extremely strong.
A Taoist master… a great general?
Paying no mind to my thoughts, he began to speak in a bitter voice.
The transcendent feeling from before was long gone, but that made him even more frightening.
It meant he had completely contained his power.
“When even a scoundrel for the ages observes such etiquette, those fellows who call themselves immortals above the clouds……”
He trailed off, muttering incomprehensibly, then looked at me and chuckled.
He looked somehow dry and weary.
He stroked the Gyeryong’s rooster comb and began to speak again.
“A world where people look down on other people. The Peach Blossom Spring. The utopia for all immortals? What a joke. Ah, Invincible One. Are you watching? You must be. Even if the Lord of the Peach Blossom Spring doesn't know, your foul tastes are famous.”
The incomprehensible immortal spat out his words irritably.
He was clearly hot-tempered.
A personality that swung from joy to sorrow over every little thing, like a commoner in the marketplace.
After muttering something to himself, he suddenly asked me.
“Do you know who I am?”
I shook my head.
It would have been stranger if I did.
“I am the one who raised this Gyeryong. To be precise, I was its keeper. I taught this creature after it was dragged to the Peach Blossom Spring. Even while being beaten to a pulp by those vermin-like Taoists, this one would just snort. It foolishly pretended not to understand human speech. The dragon race is truly impossible to understand.”
The Taoist’s voice, though full of insults for the Gyeryong, sounded happy for some reason.
He seemed to be reminiscing about memories he could no longer reach
People with stories were as numerous as grains of sand.
That was the way of the martial world, of the Central Plains.
It was no different for the immortals.
“You gave the Gyeryong its last moment of joy. Only you treated the Gyeryong with human courtesy. Not the Peach Blossom Spring, not the Celestial Palace, not the Dragon Palace—only you.”
I stared at him silently for a moment.
I wasn't that good of a person.
I had only fought the Gyeryong because it was fun; my words had been spoken lightly
The big-nosed bastard took a swig of liquor and slowly shook his head
“No. The mindset of intending to show courtesy is what’s important. I hope that mindset does not break. This Taoist cannot fathom why your personality has become so gentle. But how can a person’s character reveal only a single face? Sometimes it is rough, and other times, gentle. That is our life. Those who try to deny it are the strange ones.
You must remember that heart. Do not become a monster like the Lord of the Peach Blossom Spring—,” the Taoist concluded.
The autumn wind whistled.
Whoosh.
I understood the Taoist’s words, but I was just as bewildered.
Was he not trying to kill me?나
The Taoist reached into his robes, pulled out a book, and tossed it to me.
I carefully caught the old tome.
It must have been neglected for a long time before the old man brought it, as it was covered in dust.
I wiped it with my sleeve, and four characters immediately caught my eye.
Straight, neat calligraphy.
Cheondun Geom-beop.
I suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
Because the Cheondun Geom-beop was a martial art passed down through the legends of the martial world since ancient times…
The unique martial art of the Sword Immortal, Sunyangja.
The sword art of Sunyangja, who was said to have ascended to immortality.
If this is real, then this Taoist must hold a rather high position in the Peach Blossom Spring.
That was the significance of Cheondun
It felt unreal.
To the people of the martial world, the Sword Immortal Yeo Dong-bin was just that.
To think such an absurdly fortuitous encounter could happen?
It pays to live a good life, I guess.
Soon, the immortal’s voice, tinged with laughter, brushed past my ear.
“Have I said too much? Well, even if this is something I’ve done in a drunken fit of anger, I don’t mind. That’s the kind of person I’ve always been.”
In that moment, the seven-foot immortal’s hand reached out to me.
I instinctively sensed that something mysterious and divine had entered my body.
“From now on, your body will no longer convulse even when you see higher-level beings. The idiots of the Four Sovereigns. At least, up to their level.”
Incomprehensible words.
Was he talking about the strange phenomenon my body experienced when I saw him just a moment ago
When I raised my head
“Zhongli Quan. That is this Taoist’s name. Will we be enemies the next time we meet? It seems we are now, as well. Well then, farewell. This talkative old man will be on his way.”
The leader of the Eight Immortals, a legend of Taoism.
Zhongli Quan was already gone.
As if our meeting had been nothing but a dream.
After confirming he was gone, I tilted my head.
“That crazy big-nosed bastard… He just says what he wants and leaves.”
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