Chapter 60

Five years ago, Ok-hyeon Jin-in, who could not bear to watch the actions of seven punks called the Seven Heroes of Hasak who were persecuting a passing merchant, had gotten involved in that incident.

At that time, Ok-hyeon Jin-in was on his way to the Emei Sect for some business, but he had gotten involved in someone else's dispute. For him, who was extremely gentle, it was an encounter with an unpleasant incident that he had not intended. In any case, the fault lay with the Seven Heroes of Hasak, so Ok-hyeon Jin-in, as a famous person of the Murim, could not just pass by. If he hadn't known, he wouldn't have known, but since such a thing had happened right in front of his eyes, he couldn't just let it go. Pretending not to see a person being persecuted was against the righteousness of the Jianghu and the teachings of his sect, so he had no choice but to draw his sword against the trivial Seven Heroes of Hasak. He wanted to end it with words if possible, but since the other party had no intention of listening, he had no choice. The peaceful negotiation through the channel of dialogue had broken down, and Ok-hyeon Jin-in had decided to open a new channel by swinging his reluctant sword.

The match was decided in a single sword strike. There was no need for a second sword for those trash-like punks. It was a match that was decided from the start.

A bundle of blue sword ki emanating from his Songmun Ancient Sword shattered the seven swords in an instant, and the Seven Heroes of Hasak, who had lost their weapons, threw away their pride, which had turned to dust along with their weapons, like a worn-out shoe, and prostrated themselves, begging for forgiveness. It was easy to imagine how great their fear was, as they had not even been able to flinch and had all their means of livelihood turned into scrap metal with a single sword strike.

Ok-hyeon Jin-in, who was famous for being a good person, gave them a light lecture and let them go with a simple warning. After that, there was no story of them causing trouble anywhere. Whenever they thought of doing something bad, the bundle of blue sword ki that flickered before their eyes would have made them not even dare to. So, according to the rumors, they decided to change their profession.

He was a peak master who had both skill and character, and was a great martial artist who was respected by the Murim not only for his swordsmanship but also for his character. From here and there behind him, the sound of people whispering about Ok-hyeon Jin-in's skill and status was caught by Bi Ryu-yeon's ears.

"The reason you have all entered this Cheonmu Academy is, first, to personally reach a new realm of martial arts, second, to cultivate the power to stand against the core hostile forces of the detestable Black Path Unorthodox Faction, the Demonic Heaven Pavilion and the Black Heaven Alliance, from the standpoint of a righteous path person, and ultimately, to become a shield to protect the righteous path from the powerful forces of blood and slaughter that may come in the future. From now on, this Cheonmu Academy, including myself, will not spare any full support and enormous effort to create the optimal environment for you to understand your martial arts and devote yourselves to training."

If the righteous path had the Righteous Heaven Alliance and the Cheonmu Academy, the Black Path had the Black Heaven Alliance and the Demonic Heaven Pavilion, the godfather of the Black Path Unorthodox Faction's talent training and nurturing center, which was the same as the righteous path's Cheonmu Academy. The Demonic Heaven Pavilion is the largest and best educational institution of the Black Path for raising and nurturing the elite martial artists of the Black Path. It is right to see it as the biggest competitor of the Cheonmu Academy. In terms of pride and honor, they are rivals who can never lose to each other. Perhaps that's why their relationship was extremely bad, and they had spent the last hundred years slandering and cursing each other whenever they were bored.

"As you all know, today's class is, in the sense of gathering our minds once again, to briefly mention how the dark history and official history of the Murim over the past hundred years have caused the current subtle state of tension."

Today's class was on the premise that everyone would know the history of the last hundred years as common sense, and on the other hand, it was for the disciples who, although it was a miraculous thing, might not know. And today, Ok-hyeon Jin-in had experienced that miracle. How could he have ever dreamed that there would be a being named Bi Ryu-yeon who did not know the content of today's class, which even a three-year-old child would know if they were a martial artist?

"You have all probably heard the name 'Heavenly Calamity Spirit'."

Ok-hyeon Jin-in spat out the cursed name as if he were vomiting a foreign substance stuck in his throat.

"Heavenly Calamity Spirit!"

When the name Heavenly Calamity Spirit came out, all the students in the classroom were startled and fell down. The entire classroom seemed to be frozen in astonishment at the surprise of the students, except for Bi Ryu-yeon. The reaction to hearing that name would be the same anywhere in the Jianghu. It would be the same not only for the righteous path but also for the Black Path. That's how much that name was a cursed name that everyone, regardless of black or white, was most reluctant and avoided. The reaction was exactly as Ok-hyeon Jin-in had expected.

"And there is probably no one who does not know the Heavenly Calamity Blood God."

"..."

This time, the place sank rapidly into the deep sea of silence. All sound was swallowed by the abyss of nothingness, and it was to the point where one could even have the illusion that the air itself was freezing and sinking.

What name was it this time, that even the sound of breathing died down? Bi Ryu-yeon could not understand the reason why the atmosphere was getting so cold with just one name, but he kept his lips firmly shut.

"Old Master, what is the reason for you to speak of such a terrible name?"

A disciple with a hardened face stood up abruptly and protested. Everyone else also had an expression as if they had a jinx that they would be cursed or suffer something terrifying just by hearing that name. Compared to the fear of that name, the fear of the Heavenly Calamity Spirit was just a shadow. The fear of the Heavenly Calamity Spirit was realized because of his existence. He was a collection of blood, slaughter, and fear.

"Of course, you would not want that name to be mentioned directly. Because that name has been a tacitly forbidden name that has existed in the Murim for over a hundred years. But the reason I have mentioned that name directly to you here today is to make you devote yourselves to martial arts with a new mindset. And that is also the educational policy of our Cheonmu Academy. As always, we at the Cheonmu Academy tell this story to the freshmen first. We are bringing out in front of you that deep and dark mass of despair and fear that you want to turn away from, that you don't want to recall, that you might want to hide forever. But don't turn away from it. You are the proud students of the Cheonmu Academy, and furthermore, you are the talents who will become the light of the Murim in the future."

Murmurs were heard from here and there in the classroom. It could be felt with the skin that everyone was agitated.

"Now the time has come for you to face the reality before your eyes. You must look straight at the source of the anxiety and fear that has been buried in the Jianghu Murim for a hundred years. The shadow of darkness that has always existed in the damp and shady places of the Murim, it is the mission given to you who have entered the Cheonmu Academy to cultivate the power to stand against it."

A sense of solemnity was even tinged in Ok-hyeon Jin-in's voice. At Ok-hyeon Jin-in's calm and powerful passionate speech, the students were clearly tense. The sound of swallowing dry saliva heard from here and there was adding to the tension in the classroom.

'If you keep crying, the Heavenly Calamity Spirit will come and get you.'

It was a phrase that any child of a Jianghu martial artist would have heard frequently in their childhood. There was a story that seemed like a lie, that this one phrase, which martial artist parents used as a last resort to soothe a crying child, miraculously made the crying stop. There is even statistical data that has compiled the success rate through a public opinion poll. In particular, it was a direct hit for children who could understand words a little.

A hundred years ago, after that day, martial artists had lived with the fear of the Heavenly Calamity Spirit engraved on their bodies from childhood, from these words of their parents. Fear was as contagious as the Black Death. Besides, since it had no form, it was sometimes embellished and dramatized, and was inflated to the point where it became a completely unknown creature in the end. In the case of the Heavenly Calamity Spirit, even though it was a hundred years ago, there were numerous legends as well as surviving witnesses—then how old were they?—so the fear was transmitted even more vividly.

Thus, the Heavenly Calamity Spirit became the most terrible and frightening taboo, and there was also a tendency to be reluctant to even recall its name. Bringing up the story of the Heavenly Calamity Spirit and the Blood God at a drinking party, a feast, or a gathering was considered the most senseless and rude thing to do.

If one were to curse an opponent using the name of the Heavenly Calamity Blood God, it would be seen as the two deciding to fight to the death that day. That day, one of them would have their name removed from the list of residents of this world, or sometimes, both would have their names recorded in the list of the underworld together. That's how much it was the most vicious and frightening curse that one would not use even on a sworn enemy.

From a long time ago, whose origin is unknown, the orthodox faction and the unorthodox faction have repeated their animosity, accompanied by blood. Blood begets blood, and revenge begets revenge, and as a price for that production, countless human lives were offered on the altar of heaven. When the blood flowing from the victims offered on the altar formed a sea of blood, everyone in the Murim wished for one thing. They wanted an absolute being to suddenly appear, break the endlessly continuing chain of chaos, and unite the Jianghu, which was writhing in chaos and pain.

The absolute being of Murim unification!

Of course, that absolute being had to come from their own camp. Therefore, although they wanted the same thing, their purposes were different, so the fight showed no signs of ending.

And in the Jianghu, which was repeating this endless war of nerves and power struggle, unable to gauge the direction of the match, one martial artist appeared. He was, in a word, an absolute being. He rose to the position of an absolute being with only his own military power, and looked down on the Jianghu arrogantly, and in turn, subjugated each sect under his feet.

At first, everyone—especially the Black Path side—was enthusiastic, thinking that 'he' was the one and only person since the creation of the world who would end the dispute of the righteous and unorthodox Murim and unite the Murim. They had believed that they could finally press down the nose of the unsightly righteous path Murim and stand in a superior position. But it did not take long for that thought to be revealed as a huge delusion. And it was also revealed how complacently they had thought of him. The price was tragic.

He, who was known to be from the Black Path—there was no evidence anywhere—gathered his followers with the strong leadership and military power bestowed upon him by heaven, and in an instant, drove the Murim into a whirlpool of blood. He, whose origin had not even been properly revealed until then, drove the Murim, which had been weakened by repeated animosity and fighting, into fear in an instant, and the Jianghu Murim, which had almost exhausted its accumulated power due to the continued war of attrition, had no choice but to suffer a painful humiliation under his sword.

The unorthodox faction was no exception. That was the fatal miscalculation of the Black Path side. He did not have even a tiny bit of petty mercy to look kindly on the unorthodox faction just because he was from the unorthodox faction. The groups of both the righteous and the unorthodox, which were split into two and always repeated their animosity and slander against each other, were all just troublesome and annoying stumbling blocks that stood in his way. He inflicted a merciless punishment on the obstacles that blocked his path, and the Murim was once again washed with blood.

That person's name was the incarnation of blood that threatened the heavens, the Heavenly Calamity Blood God, Wi Cheon-mu.