Chapter 37
“It ended more easily than I thought.”
“…I’m not sure you can call that easy.”
On their way back to the Kunlun camp.
Having only retrieved the head of the leader, Cheon Mujin’s group trudged along with weary bodies.
After the initial ambush, their rest was only half a si-jin (roughly an hour).
Just as they caught their breath and the cramps in their limbs began to subside, Cheon Mujin got up without hesitation and charged toward the group of beasts.
The three who barely managed to follow him witnessed a one-sided massacre.
Could a first-rate martial artist even do something like this?
Well… he did kill a dragon-class beast, so maybe he’s on par with someone in the Hua realm.
All sorts of thoughts muddled their minds, but in the end, the result was this:
Cheon Mujin had annihilated the monster horde, and they had survived.
Though they were thoroughly exhausted.
“This way.”
When they arrived at the Kunlun camp, Jin Baek—with a stiff expression—greeted and led them.
“What do you think? Neat, right?”
“You came straight here without resting?”
“Come on, was there any need to rest? It was just a few monsters.”
Sitting across from Jongin, Cheon Mujin placed the head of the monster leader on the ground.
At the same time, he grinned as he snatched the dragon-class beast’s core that Jongin had flicked toward him.
“Returning it already?”
“It was collateral to prove your ability. I’ve no reason to keep it now. Come with me.”
“Oh, still as straightforward as ever.”
Cheon Mujin rose and followed Jongin.
They arrived at a tent located in a remote corner of the camp.
As the atmosphere turned heavy, Cheon Mujin chuckled as he stepped inside.
“Is he even waking up?”
“He opens his eyes once every two or three days.”
“And his mind?”
“He seems to have reason, but his mental state is extremely unstable.”
“This guy should live his whole life grateful that he’s a Kunlun disciple.”
Approaching Jin Ho—who was tied down and lying flat—Cheon Mujin smirked.
“There’s no control at all. What the hell did they implant in him?”
The miasma seeping out of him was beyond strange.
Any regular martial artist would die after being exposed to that much demonic energy.
That’s because their internal energy would clash with the miasma inside their body.
And yet, this Taoist named Jin Ho wasn’t just alive—he still had a faint trace of internal energy.
“…When I checked him before, I felt something solid around his chest.”
“And now?”
“I checked yesterday. It’s gone.”
“That’s not good.”
If it melted away, things would get complicated.
Clicking his tongue, Cheon Mujin moved closer to Jin Ho.
Just as he expected.
There was another factor behind Jin Ho’s especially abnormal condition.
If Jin Baek’s words were true, then someone must’ve implanted a special object inside Jin Ho.
If they could extract it, the case would be solved in many ways. But if it had already melted and vanished…
Then they might have to choose the option of killing him.
Cheon Mujin placed his hand on Jin Ho’s chest, closed his eyes, and moved his demonic energy.
Not only did he control what was coming from his own body, but he also tried to bring all of the miasma within Jin Ho under his command.
Tried, that is.
‘Hmph.’
It wouldn’t obey.
The power to control demonic energy—granted by the Demon King’s authority—was absolute.
Naturally so, since it had emerged after he claimed an entire world.
Yet, here it didn’t work.
“Interesting.”
Something external had interfered.
Only two kinds of things could do that.
And one of them had definitely tampered with this Taoist.
“Elder.”
“What is it?”
“Can I completely wipe out this guy’s internal energy?”
“…And will he survive?”
“Yes. He’ll live. But his dantian will take significant damage, and I can’t guarantee he’ll regain his martial arts.”
At Cheon Mujin’s words, Jongin closed his eyes.
Jin Ho had already lost one arm. Without martial arts, his life would be hell.
Still—
“Please do it. Just save his life.”
At Jongin’s answer, Cheon Mujin looked toward Jin Baek.
The man looked like he wanted to say something but swallowed it back. Seeing that, Cheon Mujin grinned.
Maybe this life wouldn’t be spent raising a monstrous dragon—but a lucky one instead.
“It won’t take long, so just watch from there.”
Placing his hand on Jin Ho’s chest, Cheon Mujin unleashed his miasma.
Not just his own—it was miasma that had devoured and absorbed over a hundred monsters.
Jin Baek, startled, immediately raised his internal energy to shield his body, while Jongin stared at Cheon Mujin with wide eyes.
That power far exceeded his expected realm and was backed by an almost monstrous willpower.
Where in the world had such absurd miasma come from?
As Jongin stood frozen in shock—
Cheon Mujin used the miasma dominating the space to forcefully gather the dispersed miasma within Jin Ho’s body into a single location.
And during that process, he noticed something strange: all of it was unnaturally converging in one area.
He didn’t resist the flow. Instead, he focused his power there.
Then—
With a light movement, Cheon Mujin’s fingertip sliced open Jin Ho’s clavicle area.
A bit of blood trickled out, and something hard fell from the wound.
Catching it quickly, Cheon Mujin twisted his lips into a smirk.
“Oh, it looks pretty ordinary.”
It resembled a rough jade trinket with a few characters engraved on it.
“Alright. Got what I came for.”
After checking Jin Ho’s condition and confirming he was breathing steadily, Cheon Mujin stood up.
“He’s alive, so the deal’s cleanly done.”
“Clean? What do you—”
“Come on, let’s not nitpick between friends.”
Waving with a smile, Cheon Mujin led his men outside.
“We’re all busy people! Let’s eat together next time! We’ll be off now!”
Jongin couldn’t stop Cheon Mujin as he disappeared with a wave.
How could he?
‘…We only received.’
They had blocked the monster horde and even healed Jin Ho.
And the only thing Cheon Mujin took was a clue—an item that might lead to the force that had attacked Kunlun.
It did seem like he had a grudge against them too, but still, it didn’t balance out the price of his disciples’ lives.
“For now, make sure no one approaches Mupungdae’s territory.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was a shame, but all he could do now was preserve peace for as long as possible.
‘Next time we meet, even a feast of rare delicacies won’t be enough.’
* * *
“What do you think this is?”
“This? Hmm. Who knows.”
Mupungdae’s camp.
Two days after returning from Kunlun.
After a day of rest, Squad 13 gathered at the training ground again, this time pondering over the rough jade object.
Yoo Hyunhwa tilted her head, poking the jade with a finger. She frowned.
“It feels… unpleasant.”
“Oh? Really?”
At her response, Cheon Mujin chuckled with interest.
“What about you, Do-sunbae?”
“Hmm, to me, it just looks like a talisman holding some dark arts.”
“Baekwoo, you?”
“Just looking at it makes me feel gross.”
“Is that so?”
Hearing all three different answers, Cheon Mujin smiled and took the jade into his hand.
“In terms of sensitivity to miasma, it’s Baekwoo, then Hyunhwa, then Do-sunbae.”
“Sensitivity?”
“What do you mean?”
“This thing is made by blending miasma with another type of energy. Since miasma is inherently murky, it’s hard to sense unless you’re sensitive.”
“I see.”
Instead of feeling uneasy, Do Woojin looked curiously at the jade.
“So what kind of energy is mixed in?”
“That’s something we’ll have to investigate. It’ll take time. They blended it well.”
Well, he could probably figure it out quickly if he tried.
But that wasn’t the important part.
“I’ll leave it here. When you have time, train by trying to sense what energy is mixed in. It’ll help you improve your sensitivity to miasma.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Great. Let’s begin training.”
Standing with a smile, Cheon Mujin warmed up but paused for a moment.
“Starting today, how about I don’t use one hand?”
“Huh?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Yoo Hyunhwa looked stunned. Baekwoo groaned in frustration.
And—
‘We’re screwed.’
Do Woojin, having observed Cheon Mujin long enough to know he never joked, turned pale.
If Cheon Mujin was sealing one hand, that meant…
‘Just how much stronger did he get?’
Suppressing the cold sweat running down his back, Do Woojin drew his sword.
Just how strong had Cheon Mujin become?
“We’ll find out when we get hit.”
Yeah, they’d find out.
Damn it.
* * *
“What kind of training are they even doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“In just half a year, Squad 13 is beating down other squads.”
Half a year had passed since the Great Migration.
During the migration, Mupungdae had earned favors by helping other forces and had since enjoyed an almost utopian peace.
No conflicts with other powers, and only a few weak monsters had shown up.
Cheon Mujin did occasionally leave camp, saying he had to hunt monsters—but that’s beside the point.
“All three are now first-rate martial artists. It’s honestly puzzling. Now we’ve got people lining up, asking to join your squad.”
“Really? It wasn’t anything special, though.”
“That’s easy for you to say. Even putting Baekwoo aside, the growth of Do Woojin and Yoo Hyunhwa is remarkable.”
Everyone in Mupungdae knew Baekwoo was a prodigy.
But what shocked them was the growth of Hyunhwa and Woojin.
Hyunhwa was just seen as someone with decent spear skills, and Woojin was thought of as a clever kid who knew how to survive.
To outsiders, their development was baffling.
“Seriously, people have no eye for talent. Talent comes in many forms. I’ll explain later—it’s a long story. Anyway, how did that thing go?”
“If you mean what you asked me to look into—I found it.”
“Oh? How far?”
“It’s quite a distance. But the problem isn’t the distance—it’s the location.”
“It’s in the perfect spot, isn’t it? Just overlapping the territories of Kunlun, Podalap Palace, and other armed factions. Right?”
“Exactly.”
At Cheon Mujin’s response, the head of Mupungdae grimly pulled a report from his robe.
“We couldn’t investigate thoroughly, but the monsters wandering nearby are highly suspicious.”
“Looks like they’re using monsters as guards.”
“You say that so confidently—did you already know?”
“I had a hunch from the strange behavior of the dragon-class beast we faced earlier.”
“If someone is manipulating monsters and interfering with this demonic realm, then this is something the headquarters should handle.”
“True. Which is why we’ll be handling it ourselves.”
At Cheon Mujin’s words, the Mupungdae leader gave a hollow laugh.
“Trying to turn this into a personal achievement?”
“When an opportunity comes, you have to take it.”
Twisting a grin, Cheon Mujin rotated the jade in his hand.
“I’ll be taking all of Mupungdae’s forces.”
“All of them? Then who will guard the camp—?”
Just as he raised the obvious concern, the leader remembered something and fell silent.
Cheon Mujin grinned at the man’s reaction.
“Is there a need to guard it?”
“…No, I suppose not. Kunlun’s practically in a peace treaty with us, and the other forces owe us favors—no reason for them to touch us.”
“Podalap Palace is busy handling the aftermath of the Great Migration on their own. And they’re far away anyway.”
In short, there were no external forces likely to touch Mupungdae right now.
All of Cheon Mujin’s actions—from promising the Heavenly Demon an achievement to disband the unit, to this very moment—had led to this point.
“…How long have you been planning this?”
“I didn’t plan. Just went with the flow. Got lucky, that’s all.”
Rising from his seat, Cheon Mujin tucked the jade into his robe.
“Alright, get ready. It’s time for our final mission—so we can all go home.”
