Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 146

The Three Kings’ Disciple (147)

146

At first, he had just followed along.

The ashes that had been completely burned.

Having no lingering attachments to life, he accepted his masters’ proposals, yet conversely, he thought he could quit at any time.

However, after the Martial King’s teachings ended, a spark ignited within the burned ashes.

‘This is fun.’

The same feeling he had when he first became a player.

Not thinking about anything impure, simply enjoying the challenge and growth.

Although he was afraid of pain and death, he vividly recalled the feeling of seeing his own growth through pure effort.

‘I want to become stronger.’

The growth and pleasure of overcoming pain and advancing to the next level.

Rather than having a goal of what to do after becoming stronger, he was simply focused on becoming stronger.

That’s when the Sword King’s teachings began.

-Listen.

The Sword King was a man of few words.

Even though all the masters had reached their peaks and no longer needed training.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Sword King was always swinging his sword.

While learning the sword from such a master, a question suddenly arose.

It was because he was enjoying becoming stronger.

-Isn’t Ainhart the world of swords, magic, and divinity?

He asked a question he wouldn’t normally ask.

-Sword King, can you not use magic?

The magic of Ainhart is different from the magic of Gehenna.

He would later learn magic from Master Vergena, but he wondered if the Sword King also had no connection to magic.

-Is the sword the ultimate?

He wondered if the magic of Ainhart was insignificant to the Sword King, who was at the pinnacle of the world.

That was the case back then too.

Whoosh!

The master simply swung his sword.

-Look.

He showed him.

That his sword was not a simple sword.

That his sword was different from the Silver Sword.

Using bets, the Silver’s martial arts emphasized the human body. [Bets refers to a concept of internal energy or life force]

At the end of that, there was the realm of nature, where one becomes one with nature, and a higher realm beyond that.

‘It’s different.’

The thing of Ainhart was clearly different from that.

The realm of nature in martial arts is the realm where one can use endless bets by embodying and becoming one with the power of nature.

However, what he saw from the Sword King was.

‘The sun.’

It was something completely different.

Magic.

Certainly, magic seemed to have no separate meaning for him.

Because he could accomplish things similar to magic through the sword.

He would never forget the emotion he felt at that time.

And that emotion was passed down to him intact.

Although he couldn’t fully use that power now.

“This feeling is nostalgic.”

He could use the power of the second stage of the King’s Ring, the Wood King stage.

Swoosh.

Green leaves scattered inside the tavern.

Rustle.

Tree branches extended from the ground.

“My body…!”

They were binding Woo Jang-sook and all the members of the Woo Cheon-ha unit.

They might think they could easily break free from these tree branches with their strength, but in reality, no one could escape.

Woo-woong!

The sword aura, burning even more fiercely, struck the tree branches.

Clang!

However, what was heard was not the sound of wood being cut, but the sound of metal clashing against metal.

“This is absurd…!”

It was an incomprehensible event.

Even if the strength of these tree branches was as hard as steel, what was blooming on their swords was sword aura.

It should burn everything and cut everything.

‘The bets!’

When they touched the branches, their bets scattered and shattered.

“Kuh… Kuh-eung!”

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t escape the restraints.

Before they knew it, the tree branches reached Woo Jang-sook’s face.

“Ugh-eup!”

They burrowed into his mouth.

Now, the only thing that could move was his eyes.

Swish.

Woo Jang-sook’s face turned pale as he looked around through those eyes.

‘How….’

The future that would befall him.

It was there.

Thump.

The members of the Woo Cheon-ha unit were withering away, all their vitality drained.

Of course, Woo Jang-sook could tell.

‘Outside too….’

Not a single member of the unit waiting outside had entered the tavern.

They must be in the same state as them.

Now, Woo Jang-sook’s two eyes were fixed on Lee Ro-woon.

-A martial artist must know how to gauge their skills.

The master’s voice, which sounded like nagging.

Thwack!

Thorns that extended from the branches, like rose thorns, pierced Woo Jang-sook’s body.

How could this power be explained?

It was not martial arts.

Yet, it was too different from what he had experienced to call it Ainhart’s magic.

What on earth.

“Wh-what… words… Keok!”

What was it?

Divine yet sinister.

However, what Woo Jang-sook was shocked by, even forgetting the pain of the thorns piercing his body, was.

“Why….”

Why did this feel like swordsmanship?

He had reached for forbidden power to overcome the wall, and he had given everything to overcome the wall.

Sizzle.

His end was also feeling the wall.

A huge wall that could never be overcome.

Before he knew it, Woo Jang-sook’s body had dried up and turned into a mummy.

Tap.

A small spark flew.

Whoosh!

And in an instant, everything turned to ashes and disappeared.

***

“Crazy….”

Baek Cheong swallowed hard and spoke as if exhaling.

“That crazy bastard….”

It was a sight she couldn’t believe even with her own eyes.

The entire Woo Cheon-ha unit was annihilated, though they weren’t the full force of Jongnam.

There were more than ten martial artists at the Profound Realm, and the rest were at least masters of the Hwa Realm. [Profound Realm and Hwa Realm are levels of martial arts mastery]

And yet, they.

Gulp.

They all turned to ashes and disappeared without even properly swinging their swords once.

A sight she couldn’t believe even with her own eyes.

If it hadn’t been for what happened in Wudang.

“Haa….”

Even now, seeing it with her own eyes, she would have thought it was just an illusion caused by an illusion formation.

Baek Cheong pressed her trembling arm with her other arm and looked at Lee Ro-woon.

She was even more shocked because she had also felt it.

“This….”

And she asked.

“Is it swordsmanship?”

It was suitable to be called a demonic art, and it would be more believable to call it Ainhart’s magic.

However, as Baek Cheong, who had reached the pinnacle of the sword, it looked like swordsmanship to her.

“That’s right. It’s called the Wood King Deployment.”

Swordsmanship.

“……..”

As someone who pursues the sword, she became thoughtful.

However, Baek Cheong had to quickly break free from her thoughts.

“I’m glad I left it to you.”

She said, looking at Lee Ro-woon’s languid face despite having accomplished this great feat.

“You finished it in the most cruel way.”

Baek Cheong knew what kind of person Woo Jang-sook was and what he was pursuing.

That’s why she was surprised that he had betrayed Jongnam and joined hands with the Beggars’ Sect, but she also understood it in a way.

He was someone who felt a wall when looking at his master, Hyun Ri-young, the sect leader of Jongnam.

The wall that could not be overcome no matter how much he trained was something that was absolutely unbearable for a martial artist.

Because of that, he was a man always consumed by inferiority and a victim mentality.

“He abandoned everything to overcome the wall.”

With a slightly pitiful look, Baek Cheong said, looking at the burning ashes.

“In the end, he died seeing an even higher wall.”

There would be no more cruel death for a martial artist like Woo Jang-sook.

Baek Cheong looked at Lee Ro-woon again and said.

“Are you okay?”

His languid but slightly pale complexion.

It was a face that Baek Cheong was seeing for the first time.

“No.”

A short answer came.

“It seems I overdid it a bit.”

Twitch.

Lee Ro-woon’s body momentarily staggered, and his muscles were trembling.

‘The power of the Wood King.’

Because it was manipulating the power of nature, the backlash was enormous.

Unless his realm became higher, he should refrain from using the Sword King’s power.

Nevertheless, the reason Lee Ro-woon had drawn out this power was because he wanted to test the power he had regained and because there was no reason to kill Jongnam.

Also.

Rustle.

He had to show it.

He had to answer the gift they had sent.

Thud.

The sound of footsteps approaching, stepping on the ashes.

Baek Cheong and Lee Ro-woon looked at that place together.

Stop.

The owner of the footsteps stopped and looked at the ashes of Woo Jang-sook.

He also looked at the members of the Woo Cheon-ha unit scattered around.

“Amitabha….”

He closed his eyes, reciting a small Buddhist chant in a voice that could not be heard.

When he opened his eyes after the chant that seemed like a eulogy, ended.

“The power you possess….”

He asked, facing Lee Ro-woon.

“Is it truly human?”

The sect leader of Jongnam, Hyun Ri-young, was there.

* * *

The sect leader of Jongnam, Hyun Ri-young.

He was here.

Among the disciples of Jongnam who had not even left behind corpses.

Now, his eyes were those of a martial artist.

“What is it you want to ask?”

Lee Ro-woon answered him.

“……..”

Hyun Ri-young was silent for a long time.

He looked very precarious now.

He looked as if he was regretting his own choices and thoughts, and agonizing.

It was Baek Cheong who moved at that time.

Swish.

She moved and stood in front of Lee Ro-woon, not next to Hyun Ri-young.

“…….”

Hyun Ri-young’s eyes wavered at that.

“What did you see in Wudang?”

Hyun Ri-young asked Baek Cheong.

After hesitating for a moment, Baek Cheong finally opened her mouth.

“I also do not know what the sect leader wishes to ask.”

“…….”

“Didn’t you see it?”

Lee Ro-woon and Baek Cheong both knew.

That Hyun Ri-young had been watching all the events that had unfolded in the tavern.

“Judgment and choice are always the sect leader’s responsibility. However….”

Baek Cheong said in a bitter voice.

“I will not regret my choice.”

Lee Ro-woon had used power close to his limit.

Baek Cheong was trying to protect him.

If Hyun Ri-young were to target Lee Ro-woon.

“Is that truly the place where you should stand?”

Baek Cheong would draw her sword towards the sect leader without hesitation.

Baek Cheong, who considered Jongnam the best and her home.

It was the first time she had stood in a different place.

“This is it. The place where I should stand.”

A reply without a moment’s hesitation.

“……I see, so that’s how it is.”

Hyun Ri-young’s eyes closed.

“Finally, the priestess of Jongnam has fulfilled her role as a priestess.”

With a voice muttering to himself, he opened his eyes again.

His eyes, revealed through his white hair, looked at Lee Ro-woon.

“Now, Jongnam has cut out the demon.”

Now, his tone was different from before.

“Keep this in mind.”

He said, approaching.

“Jongnam is neither anti-demon.”

Those who oppose demons.

“Nor is it subservient to demons.”

Nor is it subservient to demons.

“As you wish.”

It meant that he would pursue the Dao. [Dao refers to the path or way, often used in a philosophical or spiritual context]

It meant that if Lee Ro-woon was in that Dao, he would be with him at any time.

Hyun Ri-young passed by.

Somehow, his back looked lonely.

Even though he knew it was inevitable.

“Woo Jang-sook… was like a son to the sect leader.”

There were also unavoidable emotions.

* * *

Hyun Ri-young led the martial force and eliminated all the martial artists of Jongnam who had moved with Woo Jang-sook.

Some escaped alive, but they would be expelled from Jongnam and would either wander for the rest of their lives or be captured and killed.

At the same time, Hyun Ri-young led them and Baek Cheong to Wudang.

-It is a pleasure to meet you.

-It is a pleasure to meet you as well.

The first meeting between the sect leaders of Wudang and Jongnam.

And regardless of that.

“I greet the Blood Demon!”

Lee Ro-woon had returned to Korea.

While Jongnam was cleaning up, Lee Ro-woon had finished his work, so he returned to Wudang and came to the Blood King Castle through the gate.

“…….”

Lee Ro-woon slightly curled up the corners of his mouth at the strange sensation he felt while receiving the greetings.

“Blood Demon.”

At that time, Kang Eun-ha, who had greeted him happily, spoke in a slightly dark voice.

“A problem has occurred.”

“A problem?”

Most problems could now be handled by Kang Eun-ha alone.

For Kang Eun-ha to mention a problem meant that it was a definite problem.

“That is….”

The smile that had risen on Lee Ro-woon’s lips.

“Dank has appeared.”

Quickly disappeared.