Chapter 4
“Is it over with this?”
At that calm question, Oh Ji-yeon couldn’t immediately respond.
It was strange enough that Cheon Mu-jin had so naturally followed the order to establish a perimeter. But that wasn’t the real issue right now.
‘How…?’
Even she couldn’t kill a beast of this class—a Grade-Tiger magical beast—in one blow.
That was something only someone at the Grand Master level could do.
A Grand Master of the Celestial Sect would typically be at the peak of martial cultivation or higher.
Cheon Mu-jin? That strong?
Impossible.
Those who had assessed Cheon Mu-jin’s martial ability weren’t amateurs—they were top experts within the sect.
There was no way he could have hidden his level and deceived their eyes.
Then how on earth…?
Growl…
In the strange silence, the fallen beast twitched.
The others who had snapped back to their senses started to move just as—
“It’s more tenacious than I thought.”
With a slicing sound of blade through flesh, Cheon Mu-jin’s dagger pierced the beast’s neck.
No—rather than simply piercing, it cleanly slashed through and completely cut off its breath.
Squeak…
As the beast died, the small spirit fox, Cheonghwa, clinging to his neck, let out a mournful cry.
It was a cry of helplessness, of feeling useless for not being able to help. Cheon Mu-jin chuckled softly and tickled her chin.
Just not running away was more than enough. Greedy little thing.
“Confirm the beast is dead and prepare for withdrawal.”
By now, Oh Ji-yeon had regained her composure and gave orders.
There had been some chaos during the beast’s death, but that could be sorted out internally after returning. This wasn’t something to be discussed in front of outsiders.
The Taoist priests of Mount Kunlun understood the implication behind Oh Ji-yeon’s tone.
Let’s not make this any bigger. Let’s end this and part ways.
The leader of the Kunlun priests, Ho Moon, acted quickly.
“Since the beast is dead, we’ll take our leave. Thank you for your consideration.”
“If you withdraw quietly, we’ll overlook what happened.”
“Of course. We’ll be on our way now. Jinbaek! Come at once!”
Just as Ho Moon turned around, scolding harshly—
Jinbaek suddenly darted in the opposite direction.
To be precise—toward Cheon Mu-jin, who had just killed the beast.
In a flash, Jinbaek reached him and extended his right leg in a sharp kick.
A deep, aggressive step in.
It was obvious what came next.
A large, powerful strike—enough to end it in a single blow.
“How dare you!”
Oh Ji-yeon’s furious shout was followed by a razor-sharp sword energy aimed at Jinbaek.
Since Jinbaek was exuding killing intent, her reaction wasn’t late.
If he continued attacking Cheon Mu-jin, he would be cut down.
And yet—Jinbaek didn’t stop.
Rather, he had no reason to.
At some point, Ho Moon had stepped in to block Oh Ji-yeon’s attack.
All that remained was for Jinbaek’s punch to land on Cheon Mu-jin.
Jinbaek, a fighter teetering on the edge of First-Class and the peak of cultivation, versus Cheon Mu-jin, just barely in the Second-Class range.
There was no way Cheon Mu-jin could stop that.
Especially when it was a sneak attack.
It wasn’t even certain if Cheon Mu-jin fully understood he was under attack.
He had assumed the Kunlun Taoists, unlike evil sects, would at least follow basic decency—an assumption that made him careless.
Just as Oh Ji-yeon blamed herself for this—
“You’re the same as ever. Or maybe even worse.”
Just a half-step.
With the tiniest shift of his foot and a light twist of his torso, Cheon Mu-jin deflected Jinbaek’s attack flawlessly.
And since Jinbaek had launched a large, overcommitted strike meant to end it in one blow, he was vulnerable to a counterattack.
Smack!
A strike slammed into Jinbaek’s jaw.
Flinch.
Someone twitched, as if the sight was all too familiar.
“The word ‘reverence’ (敬) in ‘respect’ implies disciplining a person with the whip (攵) to bow their head (茍).”
Before his words were even finished, Cheon Mu-jin’s elbow smashed into Jinbaek’s ribs.
With a chilling sound of bones misaligning.
“You clearly need to be taught the basics of respect between people.”
The storm began.
Cheon Mu-jin’s foot moved.
He lightly kicked aside Jinbaek’s stepping leg.
With his balance disrupted, Cheon Mu-jin’s punch gently shoved Jinbaek’s shoulder.
His entire body’s balance shattered, and Jinbaek’s eyes widened in shock.
This was just like…
‘The spar I once had with Master Jong-in…!’
The overwhelming difference in class that made him feel as though his limbs were tied.
This can’t be happening.
The aura from Cheon Mu-jin only felt Second-Class at best—how?
Before Jinbaek could process anything, Cheon Mu-jin’s fist gained power.
Now that his balance was completely broken—
CRACK!!
He had to take advantage of it.
Cheon Mu-jin’s fist smashed into Jinbaek’s face.
He hadn’t intended to break any bones.
Just—
“Take this as a lesson.”
He hoped the fool, who gave up on becoming a dragon to chase vengeance, could come to his senses.
Not yet, but in a few years, the entire martial world would come to know him:
Kunlun’s new dragon.
The strongest Cloud Dragon in history.
The most bizarre of dragons.
Jinbaek, the Strange Dragon in the Clouds.
Cheon Mu-jin laughed as he pummeled that monster.
Well—
“Just remember—it’s nothing personal.”
* *
(Flashback)
“Damn demonic bastard. Tough as hell.”
“Ha, well, I’m not just any demonic bastard. Isn’t it obvious?”
It was during a time when Cheon Mu-jin hadn’t yet become the Heavenly Demon.
When he was doing outside missions just to survive.
He had a brutal encounter with Kunlun’s strange dragon by chance.
To be exact—Jinbaek’s martial arts were brutal.
Though Kunlun’s techniques, among Daoist sects, were known for their killing intent…
“You’re the first guy I’ve failed to beat to death, demon.”
“You crazy bastard. Do you even know who I am?”
“What’s it matter? You’re oozing demonic energy and wandering alone.”
“You’re insane…”
Picking a fight with a guy wandering around in demonic sect territory?
No wonder he’d earned the nickname ‘strange dragon.’
Beaten black and blue all over, Cheon Mu-jin still smiled coldly, sword in hand.
“Come, you madman. I’ll at least cut off one of your arms.”
* *
Baek-woo clenched his fists unconsciously from the chill.
He could see it with his own eyes.
It wasn’t absurdly fast.
And yet—
Why?
‘How is that even possible?’
A punch to the jaw broke the opponent’s balance, followed by an elbow to the ribs.
Then the violence repeated with minimal movement.
Leg, shoulder, face, chest, shoulder, arm, thigh, abdomen, then again—chest, shoulder…
How does it not stop?
No overwhelming power that crushed bones in one go.
No speed beyond visual tracking.
No feints to trick the opponent’s gaze.
Nothing.
He simply hit. And hit.
How does this simple repetition work so well?
But before the thought fully settled—
“Maybe that’s enough…”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
As Ho Moon tried to step in seeing that Cheon Mu-jin’s beating wasn’t stopping, Oh Ji-yeon blocked him.
The roles were now reversed.
It wasn’t a good situation.
“We’ll admit our wrongdoing. You may lodge a formal complaint. But for now—”
“No. I won’t. This ends here. This encounter, this matter, ends now. No aftermath, no whispers, nothing.”
“…Are you saying you’ll kill us all to silence us?”
“What a violent imagination for a Taoist.”
Kill everyone? Don’t say such dangerous things.
“No one died here. Nothing happened. This was always going to go the way it did.”
“But you expect us to let this go when our disciple is being beaten to death?”
“He won’t die. You know that too, don’t you?”
“That…”
Ho Moon fell silent at Oh Ji-yeon’s remark.
He knew.
There was no killing intent in Cheon Mu-jin’s assault.
Truly, like a master disciplining a disciple—calm, without the slightest malice.
“This won’t last much longer. Just take that unconscious brat and leave. Then nothing happened, and there will be no consequences. So—”
A chilling smile spread on Oh Ji-yeon’s lips.
“Shut up and wait quietly.”
“…If it looks like his life is in danger, I’ll intervene immediately.”
“Be my guest.”
Their gazes locked midair.
Their followers mirrored them—glaring, tense, ready to clash.
Just then—
“Stop! Hey, with all these beasts around, what are we doing fighting each other?”
A strangely cheerful voice shattered the tension.
With that completely laid-back tone—
Cheon Mu-jin’s fists stopped.
‘Took him long enough. Got beat like a dog till Yu got here.’
He had barely held out, nearly beaten to death.
Still—
“Well, this seems like a good place to stop.”
“That’s enough.”
Guhak…
Half-conscious, Jinbaek staggered and coughed up blood.
He wasn’t severely injured.
Thanks to the careful punches to his face, he only bled inside his mouth.
“It seems he holds a grudge against demon sects. You should teach him restraint—and how to tell people apart.”
Tossing Jinbaek at Ho Moon’s feet, Cheon Mu-jin stretched and smiled.
“The Celestial Demon Sect is also made up of people. There are villains, yes—but also good men. Someone wronged him, sure—but that doesn’t mean everyone deserves his anger.”
All of it—karma of Magong.
“…I understand. I’ll be sure to pass your lesson on to him.”
“You’re more reasonable than I thought, Taoist. Good. Then, as our vice-leader said—please take your leave.”
Polite—but drawing a clear line.
That someone who only felt Second-Class could do this was unbelievable.
That’s why—
‘…Could he be hiding his cultivation level?’
Could that be?
He looked no older than fifteen—similar to Jinbaek.
To deceive someone like him, one would have to be at least a seasoned peak-level expert.
Impossible.
Then—
‘…A special demonic art.’
Finding the most rational explanation within, Ho Moon discarded all other doubts.
If it were a special demonic technique, then even his concerns were pointless.
“We’ll withdraw.”
“Yes, sir.”
While Ho Moon briefly hesitated, his senior carried Jinbaek like a sack.
“We’ll be off, then.”
“Take care. I hope we can meet again with smiles next time.”
“…I’ll hope for that too.”
A farewell like “next time” was something never said on the battlefield.
Startled, Ho Moon nodded a little late and left.
“Good work.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s a lot I want you to explain…”
After checking that Cheon Mu-jin was unharmed, Oh Ji-yeon clapped her hands.
“For now, let’s clean up and go back. I’ll stand guard. Daewoon, teach them how to butcher it. Just take the arms and magic stone.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Oh Ji-yeon gave the training task to Daewoon and began scanning the area cautiously.
‘…Heavenly Demon’s bloodline. I’d heard of it, but it’s laughable.’
Even the so-called “worst failure,” the third son, was this strong.
Then what about his younger brother, who was said to be among the top five prodigies of their bloodline?
“He’s Second-Class, yes. Just… alarmingly precise with his body.”
It didn’t make sense—a Second-Class fighter moving that cleanly?
After a moment, Oh Ji-yeon shrugged it off.
“Once you’re done, we’ll finish the patrol!”
No use worrying about pointless things—focus on what needs to be done now.
