Surviving as a Cripple in Murim – Chapter 107

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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Perhaps it was because he had stayed up late playing Go with Jegal Liang.

“Hooaam~.”

A yawn escaped his lips.

He wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep, but… he couldn’t.

He shook himself awake, walked to the Jegal family’s gate, and smiled at the unexpected, cute visitor who had come to see him so early in the morning, Nangong Xiaoshao.

“Brother Nangong, good morning!”

“Brother…”

It was a compliment to be treated as a man, since she was disguised as one, but the thought that Mancheon didn’t see her as a woman left Xiaoshao with mixed feelings. What a fickle heart.

Anyway, that wasn’t the important thing now. Hearing that Mancheon had spent the night at the Jegal family’s estate, she hurried over.

“Young Master Sima… I apologize for visiting so early. I… heard you had nowhere to stay after leaving your home…”

A mixture of affection and possessiveness flickered in Xiaoshao’s weary eyes.

“Um… if it’s alright with you, I’ll take care of you until you reconcile with your father.”

Of course, the Nangong family, a renowned martial arts family, also had a mansion near the Martial Alliance headquarters, just like the other families.

It was just that Xiaoshao hadn’t gone there because she wanted to stay at the Martial Alliance headquarters with Mancheon.

“A-and you said you wanted to learn sword techniques before, so I can teach you while we stay together.”

If she had thought about it for a moment, the usual Xiaoshao would have realized how impulsive she was being.

“Young Master Sima, you are my benefactor, who has helped me several times. Please give me a chance to help you.”

To put it more bluntly, she wasn’t in her usual self.

“I-if you refuse… I… I will be a person who doesn’t know how to repay her debts…”

Xiaoshao’s white hand, fearing rejection, carefully grabbed Mancheon’s sleeve.

The existence of Gwahae and Yeonhwa, who openly expressed their feelings for Mancheon, made her anxious and impatient.

She didn’t want to lose the man before her, didn’t want him to be taken away. She clung to him desperately.

“So… um… please come with me.”

She pleaded, unaccustomed to such behavior.

So, though Mancheon was flustered by the sudden declaration of ownership, he smiled kindly and accepted her plea.

What should he say? She was older than him, but she really stimulated his protective instincts.

“Of course, I’d be happy to. This younger brother will be in your care once again.”

He didn’t really need to stay at the Nangong family’s estate, but she was offering to repay his kindness, not a grudge. There was no reason to refuse.

He had changed classes from the Jegal family’s kept man.

From today on, he was the Nangong family’s freeloader.

And to be honest, if he stayed at the Jegal family’s estate, he would probably spend more time playing Go with Jegal Liang than playing with Gwahae or training his martial arts.

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As the saying went, strike while the iron is hot. Before learning sword techniques in earnest, he and Xiaoshao stopped by a blacksmith’s shop to find a suitable sword for him.

“I’m grateful that you’re buying me one, but is it alright for me to have a real sword already?”

“Young Master Sima has learned staff techniques.”

Xiaoshao smiled and nodded at his question.

“A staff is a weapon that can be used for striking, thrusting, and swinging, so a martial artist who is skilled with a staff is usually skilled with other weapons as well.”

That was true. If you attached a blade to a wooden stick, it became a spear, the king of all weapons.

The grip and other details were different, but the general feel was probably similar.

“Hmm~ then if I’m going to choose, I want to choose a good one.”

He just wanted a decent sword.

At his casual remark, the blacksmith seemed to have an idea.

“The best swords are the Ten Swords of Heaven, Ou Yezi’s masterpieces.”

He approached with a mixture of seriousness and jest tone.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a single one in our blacksmith’s shop.”

“The Ten Swords of Heaven…?”

He tilted his head, and the blacksmith explained, his face suddenly lit up.

“Ah~ so you don’t know about the Ten Swords of Heaven. It’s a term for the ten most outstanding swords in the world.”

He was probably either bored or just likes to explain things.

He glanced at Xiaoshao.

“Hmm…”

She seemed quite interested, so he also listened quietly to the blacksmith’s explanation.

“The Ten Swords of Heaven are not only powerful as weapons, but each sword has its own unique personality, as Ou Yezi imbued them with different philosophies, which makes them interesting to think about.”

The sword was a tool used by a monarch to offer sacrifices to heaven.

They used swords to cut the sacrifices and performed sword dances to appease the heavens.

The sword was a symbol of a king’s authority, a king’s weapon.

Then shouldn’t only those with the qualities of a king be allowed to wield the sword?

Zhanlu, the most demanding sword, which could only be drawn by one destined to be king.

But… in the end, a weapon was sharpened to cut something.

A sword was also made to cut something. It didn’t need beauty or symbolism.

Jue, the sharpest sword, made only for cutting.

Cut, thrust, harm. In the end, the reason people wielded swords was to kill something.

Yuchang, the assassination sword, made to kill someone.

However, while a sword is an excellent weapon, it is not the ultimate weapon.

It was shorter than a spear, less sturdy than a shield, and less powerful than an axe.

Is it possible to overcome the limits of a sword?

Longer than a spear, sturdier than a shield, and more powerful than an axe.

Tai’e, the ultimate sword, a failure and a success at the same time.

No matter how outstanding a sword was, if it couldn’t be wielded by a person, it was nothing more than an ornament.

The reason people wielded weapons was to win. If it couldn’t defeat the opponent before them, it was useless.

Shengxie, the most convenient and cowardly sword, which brought victory to its master.

Even if you made an outstanding weapon, if the user was trash, they wouldn’t be able to draw out the sword’s full power and would die.

Could you make a sword that could unleash its full power even if the user’s skill was lacking?

Longyuan, the freest sword, which roamed the heavens and the seas of its own will.

Could you ever subdue an enemy without even swinging a sword?

Gongbu, the loudest sword, which intimidated and subdued opponents.

“There are various swords like this. It’s the dream of every swordsman to obtain one of the Ten Swords of Heaven.”

As the blacksmith’s explanation was coming to an end, it wasn’t particularly important, but since he had listened this far, he asked a question that had been on his mind.

“You said there were ten swords, but you’re missing three.”

That’s right, the swords the blacksmith had mentioned were Zhanlu, Jue, Yuchang, Tai’e, Shengxie, Longyuan, and Gongbu.

A total of seven. Three were missing.

“Ah, that’s because the twin swords Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were made by Ou Yezi’s disciple and daughter. And Chunjun is Ou Yezi’s final masterpiece… so we don’t know what thoughts he had when he made it.”

“Final? You mean he died?”

The blacksmith nodded with a grim expression.

“Yes, the process of making Chunjun was so difficult. Ou Yezi coughed up blood as he swung his hammer, and when Chunjun was completed, he was completely exhausted and died on the spot.”

A strange silence filled the blacksmith’s shop.

A man who had spent his entire life making swords had died because of a sword he had made.

Was Ou Yezi happy with his life? Or was he feeling regretful? It was a story with no answer.

Anyway, he broke the silence and said what he’d been thinking since he first heard about the Ten Swords of Heaven.

“Hey~ mister, then I’d rather have… a zeroth sword that’s the prototype of everything, or a hidden eleventh sword. Are there any of those?”

Apparently not. The blacksmith fell silent.

He and Xiaoshao chose a decent sword, strapped it to their waists, and left.

He was the one who had started the lore game… He was a mean old man for not playing along.

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One of the four great demonic sects that threatened the peace of the martial world.

The main palace of the Blood Sect, and the Asura Palace, where the Blood Demon resided.

In a dark, open space decorated with black rocks, where only a few candles flickered, the afterimage of the Blood Demon, who was sitting on a throne behind a dark curtain that hid his identity, trembled with surprise as he listened to his subordinate’s report.

“You’re saying you found a Gandharva!?”

“Yes, some of the lower-ranking cultists had attacked the Sima Family before, and they said they definitely smelled the blood of a Gandharva then.”

“Those despicable followers of Sakra!!”

The Blood Demon’s voice, filled with so much inner energy that the stones in the room shook, echoed.

“Bring them here at once! We will offer their blood as a sacrifice! We will summon Sakra!!”

And a little further away, a beautiful, black-haired woman in a red dress, who was completely out of place, was sitting at a table decorated with a Western-style tea party set.

“Hmm~ I don’t understand why you hate that being, Sakra, so much.”

She sipped her tea elegantly and tilted her head cutely, shown a look of pure curiosity on her dignified face.

“Your older sister married Sakra, so isn’t he your brother-in-law?”

“Hmm…?!”

The Blood Sect members’ faces turned pale at the forbidden words.

But fortunately, the Blood Demon did not go berserk.

“Erzsebet, you are an outstanding subordinate and my friend, so I will forgive you for that remark.”

Because he was an outstanding warriors and lenient towards his friends.

“But it would be best if you never utter such nonsense in front of me again. I have never once thought of that… thing… as my brother-in-law.”

The Blood Demon’s arm emerged from behind the curtain and pushed it aside, revealing his body, adorned with gold ornaments, his sharp teeth, and two horns on his forehead.

He had red skin, eyes that glowed in the dark, and six arms.

He revealed his Asura form, which was both terrifying and beautiful, and alluring to behold.

“He took my sister Sachi’s purity before they were even married! He insulted my sister’s honor and our family!!”

“Weren’t they already promised to each other? You’re making such a fuss over a little premarital sex. You’re like a virgin.”

But Erzsebet’s attitude made the Blood Demon’s face go even more red, he looked embarrassed, and his brow furrowed.

“Ha! Premarital purity is just common sense! This is why you lewd lower-world creatures…!!”

‘Honestly…’

After grumbling for a while, the Blood Demon gave an order to the cultists who were prostrating themselves before him.

“I will use a high-ranking member for this mission. Summon Longti Shexin.”

“Ugh…!!”

A high-ranking member of the Blood Sect, Longti Shexin. The one with a dragon’s body and a snake’s heart.

When he was a commoner, he had killed a man for a trivial reason, and even though he wasn’t a martial artist, he had cut down a dozen soldiers who were chasing him and joined the Blood Sect.

He was a monster who had quickly risen to the rank of a high-ranking member, and most importantly, he was the master of the life-draining demonic sword, Chunjun.

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Interesting!