Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 67

The Three Kings’ Disciple (68)

067

Baek Cheong.

A martial artist of Jongnam, and the Jongnam Shaman.

And the image she presented was not a bad one to Lee Ro-woon.

There was only one assessment of her.

‘A crazy bitch.’

That she was a madwoman possessed by madness.

But if one more thing were to be added.

‘A beautifully crazy bitch.’

That her madness wasn’t directed in such a bad way.

The actions she showed while facing Choi Yu-ran.

It wasn’t an act of ignoring players because she was a martial artist.

‘She judges humans as humans.’

Judging whether they were valuable humans to her or not.

She was pleased with the image Choi Yu-ran showed, judged her as a human, and in fact, she didn’t just rely on Baran in the attack.

But what she liked most was something else.

‘A bug.’

Her attitude towards Yoon Tae-sun.

And the look in Yoon Tae-sun’s eyes behind the mask for a moment.

Those eyes, full of fear, horror, despair, and lament, were the same as his own, rotting in the corpse disposal site.

Unlike Kim Shin-hong of Hwasan, who rose to the position of raid leader and lived in luxury, Yoon Tae-sun was suffering the same fate as him.

The one who inflicted that pain.

“I liked what you did.”

That was why Baek Cheong wasn’t so unlikeable.

When Lee Ro-woon finished speaking.

Swish!

A powerful energy that flew in instantly grazed Lee Ro-woon’s neck.

“……!”

Lee Ro-woon couldn’t have missed the tremor in Baek Cheong’s eyes.

Within striking distance.

She had extended a sword, not a hand, yet she was surprised that it had only grazed Lee Ro-woon’s neck.

“It’s useless.”

Lee Ro-woon spoke again, but the flow of air changed once more.

Soon, Baek Cheong’s blue blade was deeply embedded in Lee Ro-woon’s chest.

But soon, Lee Ro-woon’s figure distorted.

“This is my space.”

A voice was heard from behind Baek Cheong.

Clang!

With a burst of flames, the sword blade and hand blade collided.

“So this is the Thirty-Six Swords of the World.”

Lee Ro-woon was receiving Baek Cheong’s sword with his hand blade.

The Thirty-Six Swords of the World.

The world is divided into thirty-six directions, and it is said that if one can occupy all those spaces, they are invincible.

That was why she was able to attack Lee Ro-woon, who was standing behind her, in an instant.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Her attack was not over.

Sword strikes poured out at an invisible speed.

The trajectories and directions were all different.

Thud!

Lee Ro-woon, who had stepped back, stomped his foot, causing the ground to rise up and block Baek Cheong and Lee Ro-woon.

Crash!

The wall exploded.

Baek Cheong’s blue sword energy, piercing through it, and her equally blue eyes were approaching Lee Ro-woon.

Swoosh.

In the time of super speed, where everything was accelerating.

Lee Ro-woon lightly extended his fist, which he had clenched.

Baek Cheong’s eyes shook again.

But in the time of super speed, there was nowhere for her to escape.

She hurriedly retrieved her sword to block it.

Boom!

With a huge explosion, she was sent flying far away.

Baek Cheong, who had regained her posture by stepping on the air.

“Are you going to do more?”

Lee Ro-woon was standing in front of her.

Swoosh.

Only then did Baek Cheong lower her sword and stand straight.

“What… are you?”

Her voice was a little frightened.

***

‘Opening the Heavenly Demon Tomb.’

The great disaster that occurred with those words.

The man whose presence even she couldn’t sense.

And.

“…….”

The man who overwhelmed her.

She was born in Jongnam, and grew up as a genius who was second to none in Jongnam.

But the man in front of her could be described in one word.

‘Incomprehensible.’

An incomprehensible being.

“What the hell is your identity!”

Baek Cheong growled again and clenched her sword.

Although her momentum had waned, she was the Jongnam Shaman.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The waves of energy spreading around her.

That was the true nature of the Thirty-Six Swords of the World.

‘If I use the Heavenly Treasure Orb….’

I can use nearly three times the inner energy.

Also, if I use the special abilities of the orb at the same time, I might be able to defeat this man.

Baek Cheong measured Lee Ro-woon from within the sword barrier like a wounded beast.

Conversely, Lee Ro-woon was just staring at Baek Cheong with languid eyes.

“…….”

In the strange confrontation, it was Baek Cheong who moved first.

Swoosh.

She lowered her sword again.

“…….”

Her face was so distorted that it was beyond words.

She thought about the power of the Heavenly Treasure Orb, and considered all the possibilities.

Even so.

‘I can’t win.’

She realized that she couldn’t defeat this man.

She didn’t know why.

Just as he said.

‘This space is mine.’

It felt like no matter what she did in this space, she wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

“You give up quickly. I thought you’d try to fight more. Do you have a good sense?”

“What are you….”

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, Baek Cheong glared at him.

“Even though it’s huge, weren’t you someone who valued the raid members?”

Lee Ro-woon was right.

To Baek Cheong, the raid members were not in a relationship of employer and employee like the players.

They were disciples who were born and raised together in Jongnam and trained in martial arts.

Her own juniors, and those she had to protect.

“At this rate, they’ll all die soon.”

“You said it’s your space….”

“I can’t control everything.”

Baek Cheong bit her lip.

In the end, there was only one thing she could do, and had to do.

“Help me.”

At those words, this time Lee Ro-woon’s eyes twitched slightly.

“Unexpected.”

He knew that Baek Cheong thought of the Cheoncheonha raid members in her own way.

But he didn’t expect that in this situation, she would put them in this situation and ask for help from him, who seemed to be an enemy.

“You said you wouldn’t kill me? Then it doesn’t mean we’re necessarily enemies, right?”

Baek Cheong said.

“Help me. Jongnam always repays favors.”

“Crazy bitch.”

“What?”

“You’re beautifully crazy, though.”

Just as Baek Cheong was about to shout angrily.

“I’ll help you.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s following words, Baek Cheong’s eyes widened.

She was the same.

She didn’t expect Lee Ro-woon to say he would help.

It was just a story she had tried because she knew he was an opponent she could never win against, and that he had a little bit of goodwill towards her.

“You said you’d repay favors?”

“O-Of course.”

To accept so readily.

Before she knew it, Baek Cheong had been drawn into Lee Ro-woon’s pace.

* * *

‘The Heavenly Demon Tomb.’

That was the true form of this Heavenly Demon Cave, and the identity of the secret area that had plunged him into the abyss.

The Heavenly Demon Tomb, which had revealed its true form by recognizing him as its master.

‘It’s incomplete.’

But this place could be said to be an incomplete space.

A space that had been torn apart for some reason.

Moreover, Lee Ro-woon could clearly see the problem coming from the Heavenly Demon Tomb.

‘Someone has been replaced.’

Because of the torn and incomplete space, the Heavenly Demon Tomb recognized someone else as the master of the Heavenly Demon Tomb, not himself.

As a result, Lee Ro-woon was unable to completely control the space.

He could easily neutralize Baek Cheong because he could perfectly control a certain space around him, but he couldn’t control the entire space.

However, there was no possibility that the Heavenly Demon Tomb would be taken away by someone else.

‘It’s a pity.’

That someone whom the Heavenly Demon Tomb recognized as its master.

That person would become an existence that was neither dead nor alive, unable to overcome the enormous power of the Heavenly Demon Tomb.

“Are you a martial artist of Eunha?”

Baek Cheong’s voice was heard.

From time to time, Baek Cheong was asking random questions.

“Unexpected.”

“Again… what is?”

“Are you scared?”

When Lee Ro-woon chuckled and spoke, Baek Cheong’s face turned bright red.

“W-What are you talking about!”

But Lee Ro-woon’s senses could not be deceived.

Her fingers were trembling slightly.

“Is a martial artist of your level afraid of the dark?”

Baek Cheong was afraid of the darkness that had fallen all around.

“It’s like a training hall.”

“Training hall?”

Lee Ro-woon showed interest in Eun’s story.

“In Jongnam, before becoming a formal disciple, you have to spend about ten years in the training hall.”

A deep emotion was revealed in Baek Cheong’s voice.

“You train in the dark without eating or sleeping properly.”

“Why?”

“That’s how you can become stronger. Was it not like that in Eunha?”

A bitterness was felt in Baek Cheong’s voice.

“Jongnam has been isolated for nearly a thousand years. During that time, everything was lacking.”

She continued to speak as if trying to push away her fear of the dark.

“We had to pick out those who were worthy of survival. Those who could survive to the end and pass on the name and martial arts of Jongnam to future generations.”

Having to weed out the strong.

And in the world of martial artists, the strong are.

‘Martial arts.’

He could imagine what the scene would have been like.

‘It must have been hell.’

Lack of food and resources.

To survive, they select those who will survive.

If someone dies in the process, that’s a good thing.

Because in the end, another person will be able to survive thanks to that.

‘The Tao [the Way].’

Jongnam, which was created by Taoists who pursued the Tao.

But it wouldn’t have taken long for their Tao to disappear.

It’s not just Jongnam.

Most of the other worlds of Eun lost themselves like that.

They had only one thing left.

‘The desire to survive.’

That was it.

“The raid members are also my disciples. Those who went through that training hall together. So they have to live.”

The cause of the madness that martial artists possess.

The value of humans.

“That’s good.”

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, Baek Cheong looked puzzled, but soon showed a welcoming expression.

Belatedly, she also sensed the presence.

Tap tap tap tap!

Presences moving quickly.

Those presences had already surrounded Lee Ro-woon and Baek Cheong.

Swoosh.

The sword energy imbued in the blue blade.

The Cheoncheonha raid members were glaring at Lee Ro-woon with blood-stained appearances.

Their faces were full of anger, as if they had gone through several battles.

“You’re all alive?”

But at the following voice, the poison that had settled on their faces was somewhat relieved.

It seemed that just as these people were precious to Baek Cheong, they also valued Baek Cheong.

“Some are missing.”

“We were separated.”

“All of them?”

At Baek Cheong’s question, their faces darkened again.

“We were attacked….”

“Attacked?”

The Cheoncheonha raid member carefully nodded his head.

“Jiangshi [Chinese hopping vampires]… no.”

The front of his clothes was torn open with long fingernail marks.

“They’re the undead.”

A martial artist of the Hwagyung realm [a high level of martial arts cultivation].

An enemy that even they, who were real and not fake, had to die and get hurt by.

“Ugh.”

Also, looking at the state of the Cheoncheonha raid members, he could tell.

That they had to run away without being able to save their comrades.

That there was an enemy that they, who cherished their comrades, had to abandon.

“Tell me.”

Baek Cheong said to Lee Ro-woon.

“If we do as you say, is there a way for Jongnam to survive?”

It was unconventional.

In the end, she thought that all of this was because of Lee Ro-woon, but she only reached out to such Lee Ro-woon.

So that even those who survived could live more.

“Looking at the situation, it seems different from what you wanted, but even if we return alive, there will be no blame on Eunha. I, the Jongnam Shaman, will guarantee it.”

Her voice was subdued.

“Also, we will not forget the favor.”

The desire to save them.

Her voice, which clearly conveyed that, was heard.

“A way to survive….”

Lee Ro-woon said.

“Shall I tell you?”