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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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What do the people of Sacheon think about Sacheon outcasts?
Well, it would differ from person to person.
Still, the people of Sacheon generally acknowledge the abilities of Sacheon outcasts while abhorring their behavior.
Since they issue challenge letters at the drop of a hat and destroy the sects within Sacheon, they have no choice but to recognize their power.
Even if they disparage them, saying the challenge process was suspicious or that they used sorcery or cowardly means, some will become curious after constantly hearing such words.
What exactly is the sorcery that Sacheon outcasts are said to use?
‘Sacheon outcasts are immoral guys who are weak in martial arts but difficult to deal with because they use bizarre and mysterious sorcery.’
It was an evaluation of Sacheon outcasts that the people of Sacheon would have heard ad nauseam.
Those living in Sacheon would have seen outcasts displaying immoral behavior and occasionally demonstrating their martial arts.
However, regarding the [Outcasts’ Sorcery], there were only rampant rumors and nothing more.
In the first place, outcasts don’t use sorcery, so there can’t be any eyewitnesses.
Still, with the rumors being so prevalent, those curious about the outcasts’ sorcery wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to see its true nature.
Those who feared outcasts but were curious about their sorcery.
Moths blinded by curiosity literally flocked to the intersection in front of the Hwang Gold Clan.
“You bastards! What are you doing!”
“This is the front of the great Hwang Gold Clan that runs the Hwang Gold Trading Company. Everyone, disperse!”
The gatekeepers came out and foamed at the mouth, but…
“Did you rent out the street? Shut up and get lost.”
These people had gathered here, overcoming their fear out of curiosity to see the true nature of the sorcery wielded by outcasts.
But at this historical moment of witnessing the outcasts’ sorcery, what were these gatekeepers interfering?
Naturally, they couldn’t help but give them unfavorable looks.
Even if they were just people who had gathered out of boredom, attracted by the stimulating sight of an outcast doing something bizarre after simply scattering flyers, it didn’t change the fact that they had come to see something.
The disruption would be just as unwelcome.
Faced with the negative gazes of the numerous crowds, the gatekeepers couldn’t resort to using force and ran inside the Hwang Gold Clan, biting their lips.
We had to start before the gatekeepers returned after receiving instructions from the higher-ups of the Hwang Gold Clan.
Clap. Clap.
I clapped to draw people’s attention.
Actually, I wanted to write ‘Sacheon Outcast’s Magic Performance’ on the flyer, but if I carelessly used the character ‘Ma’ (魔) in Sacheon, the martial artists of the Nine Great Sects might come chasing after me with fire in their eyes, so I compromised with ‘Sorcery.’
First, let’s inject the setting.
It would be great if it ended in one go, but who knows how the Hwang Gold Clan will react?
Bu-rin is stupid, so he might do something unnecessary…
The message I must convey to the Hwang Gold Clan might get blurred if I make a strange setting.
“Kuku, I am an outcast who borrows the power of the ghost Jeon-gwi, who lives in the Saw Bone Hell (鋸骸地獄), to perform sorcery.”
The Saw Bone Hell is a hell in Buddhist cosmology where those who caused commercial problems roughly receive punishment.
I conveyed the meaning to Bu-rin that the messenger of death who would turn his life into hell had appeared, so if he didn’t want to suffer, he should surrender quickly and spit out my money.
“Realize the greatness of the power of Lord Jeon-gwi from the Saw Bone Hell, you foolish mortals!! Look!! Tremble and be amazed!!”
After assuming the pose of a victorious sun and letting out an appropriate laugh, I observed the reaction, and the crowds, slightly frightened by my acting, were stirring.
I injected the setting appropriately, so let’s provide an element of interest to dispel the fear.
These people came here with a light heart to see a spectacle, not to be cursed by the Hwang Gold Clan’s harassment or the bizarre sorcery wielded by an outcast.
If interest wanes, people will leave like the ebb tide.
“You!”
As I swung my finger, the surrounding people flinched and stepped back.
What I pointed at with my finger was a slightly frightened young child.
Having been rolling in the gutter of Sacheon for 7 years, whenever I had to deliver a challenge letter or draw people’s attention, I would buy snacks for the children and give them simple tasks.
By occasionally interacting with the kids like that, I came to have a casual acquaintance with some children.
Among them, some friends accepted personal requests like this.
In the children’s society, just being able to obtain snacks by contacting such an outcast was enough to become a heroic tale.
It was a shill I had recruited in the alley on the way here.
The compensation was agreed to be some of the taffy and glutinous rice cakes prepared as giveaways today, to be provided after the work was finished.
Judging by the fact that he had smartly brought rice balls and dumplings, it seemed he had the ambition to watch the performance while eating, and after the performance ended, he would bite into a taffy received from me, enter the back alley, show off the snacks he had received from me, brag about today’s heroic tale, and then reign as the king of the alley.
Or not.
The child seemed to have not expected to perform the task in front of hundreds of people like this, so he was stiffly frozen.
Did you think obtaining the throne of the back alley king would be that easy?
The kid must have been frightened by my appearance, which suddenly changed from my usual harmless look to that of an evil cultist, as his face had turned pale.
“Kuku, Lord Jeon-gwi likes young children. Other ghosts enjoy biting and eating children from their toes while they scream. Lord Jeon-gwi whispers to me to bestow food upon you.”
Only after receiving the taffy did he come to his senses and nod.
“Offer money to Lord Jeon-gwi!”
The child took out the coin I had given him in the alley and handed it to me.
“You, you…”
“You evil bastard! Extorting a child’s coin!”
The adults who were about to raise their voices in criticism fell silent.
Because I had rolled up my sleeves.
The crowds seemed to think that I was rolling up my sleeves to make it easier to use my hands before resorting to violence.
Of course, they misunderstood it as a threat.
That wasn’t my intention, of course.
After rolling up my sleeves and arranging them, I openly showed my hand.
I intended to tidy up the flowing sleeves and reveal my wrist.
The crowds could also suspect that I might hide it in my sleeve and pretend it’s not there. I tidied it up in advance to eliminate any room for suspicion.
“Sometimes there are foolish people who deny the power of Lord Jeon-gwi as trickery. Kuku… Look. Behold the power of Lord Jeon-gwi!”
Ah!
The coin disappeared from my hand.
People widened their eyes and pointed at my right hand.
There was an outbreak of people rubbing their eyes, doubting if they had seen wrong.
“The coin this child just gave has been offered to Lord Jeon-gwi! Oh…! I can feel Lord Jeon-gwi’s satisfaction…! Child! You are lucky today! Lord Jeon-gwi has bestowed a reward upon you!”
I slowly extended my hand so everyone could confirm nothing was in it, and then I shook my left hand.
A silver tael was grasped in my left hand, which had nothing before.
“No way!”
“Money appeared in his empty hand!”
“Sorcery, it’s sorcery!”
The scene of a coin turning into a silver tael must have stimulated their greed as the heat in the gazes of the crowds changed.
A coin turned into a silver tael?
Then, of course, their eyes would roll back.
The sleight of hand in gambling is a part of magic.
Hiding cards without anyone noticing, switching them.
Manipulating through psychology.
If you do it without the audience knowing, it’s magic; if you do it without the gambling table knowing, that’s sleight of hand.
The gambling in Murim Cheonha is different from modern gambling in one aspect.
While modern gambling is mainly focused on cards, various forms such as shell games, dice games, and dominoes exist as the mainstream in Murim Cheonha.
That means there are many possibilities for applying magic.
I, Ho Cheon-an.
The best in the world when it comes to gambling skills.
There may be those who are on par with me, but no one can surpass me.
When it comes to the techniques used in gambling, I am also the best magician in the world.
Among modern people, no one is unaware that magic is achieved through sleight of hand, visual blind spots, and psychological tricks.
But even knowing that it’s still amazing.
Magic is always excellent, no matter how many times you see it.
Even if you know it in your head, it visually appears to disappear, so how can it not be amazing?
If it’s magic that you see directly in front of your eyes, not on a screen, it’s genuinely several times more impressive.
Even modern people, flooded with numerous forms of entertainment, fully understand that magic doesn’t exist and is achieved solely through technique and psychology, and they are crazy about magic.
But what if people who have none of that knowledge and there are rampant rumors that the other party, an outcast, uses sorcery, perform such magic?
Moreover, what if their skills are the best in the world?
How amazed would the crowds in this Central Plains martial world be?
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Who is doing this bizarre act?
That was Yeo Il-ye’s impression after receiving the bizarre flyer with sentences stuck in her mind for some reason.
When she went out the main gate, people were gathered like clouds.
“I’ve never seen such sorcery in the world!”
“They said outcasts use sorcery, and it was true!”
Seeing the crowds chattering with faces full of excitement and anticipation despite uttering the ill-omened word ‘sorcery,’ Yeo Il-ye frowned.
Sorcery?
Since the word ‘sorcery’ was mentioned, Yeo Il-ye, who belonged to the Taoist sect of Jeomchang, couldn’t overlook it.
Those who use sorcery.
Outcasts?
What mischief are the outcasts up to again?
A familiar figure was seen through the gaps between people when she drew up her internal energy and enhanced her vision.
“…Benefactor?”
“Kuku, everyone, look. What is this domino tile I’m holding?”
“Tung-so!”
People shouted from all directions.
Yeo Il-ye frowned upon seeing the domino tile with two large red dots drawn.
What’s with the domino tile that all these people are watching now?
And what is the benefactor doing in this situation?
The female outcast behind threw taffy at those who had shown enthusiastic reactions earlier.
Yeo Il-ye finally understood why they were showing such fervent reactions and were present here.
‘Is it because they’re getting snacks?’
Isn’t the atmosphere too heated for that?
Yeo Il-ye was worried about the safety of Ho Cheon-an, the benefactor.
Why was he doing this in front of the Hwang Gold Clan, of all places?
‘Although the benefactor’s power won’t allow him to suffer humiliation… Wasn’t he hiding his identity?’
In Yeo Il-ye’s mind, the unnamed benefactor Ho Cheon-an was a supreme master concealing his power.
A martial artist of an unfathomable realm who could open the door to the transcendent realm and multiply internal energy several times with a single word.
The image of Ho Cheon-an being defeated by the martial artists of the Hwang Gold Clan did not form in Yeo Il-ye’s mind, but still, bad things could happen while hiding one’s realm.
Yeo Il-ye decided to check what Ho Cheon-an was doing and intervene if an incident occurred, depending on the situation.
Ta-tak.
Yeo Il-ye lightly unleashed her lightness skill and stood on the roof of the closest house directly in front of Ho Cheon-an.
The figures of Ho Cheon-an and the tiles, obscured by the bodies and heads of the crowds, came into view at a glance.
It was quite a distance, but for the vision of a supreme master, it was no different from being right in front of her.
“I will clearly put this Tung-so in the middle of this domino tile stack.”
After showing the crowds the Tung-so half-inserted into the thick stack, Ho Cheon-an fully pushed the tile into the stack and placed the tiles on the table without doing anything else.
“Now, if the Tung-so comes to the top like this, even you ignorant people will have no choice but to acknowledge the bizarre power of Lord Jeon-gwi.”
“That’s impossible! How can a tile mixed in the middle come to the top when you didn’t do anything!”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
“Hahaha! That’s the reaction! Lord Jeon-gwi is angry at your foolishness!”
Is this a farce?
That’s what Yeo Il-ye thought.
Yeo Il-ye, who had frequented Sacheon to capture outcasts whenever she had the chance, had often seen people like troupes and shell game scammers.
At first, it was terrific, but when Yeo Il-ye, a supreme master, enhanced her vision, all their tricks were revealed in broad daylight.
In that sense, Yeo Il-ye, who had been staring intently at Ho Cheon-an, didn’t even see any signs of him using sleight of hand.
So, she had no choice but to regard it as a laughable farce.
Because there was no way the tiles could be switched without doing anything when they were flipped over like that.
Ho Cheon-an flipped over the topmost domino tile.
Yeo Il-ye doubted her own eyes.
“Tung-so! It’s Tung-so!”
“How can this be!”
The domino tile with two red dots drawn on it had risen to the top.
Ho Cheon-an flipped over the rest of the domino tiles one by one and laid them out. The remaining thirty-one tiles were neatly arranged.
People who had thought there might be multiple Tung-so tiles jumped forward to check.
“No way! There weren’t multiple Tung-so tiles mixed in!”
‘Was I deceived?’
Or did he really use some mysterious technique?
Yeo Il-ye was curious.
It seemed like sleight of hand, but…?
Why can’t I catch it?
Is it because it’s a genuine divine technique?
Was he actually an immortal, not a martial arts master?
Yeo Il-ye’s evaluation of Ho Cheon-an in her mind jumped up again.
Yeo Il-ye focused, pouring internal energy into her eyes to the limit.
No matter how good the technique, with the vision of a supreme master that could capture even dust particles in the air, shouldn’t it be considered sorcery if she couldn’t feel any signs now?
“The principles of the universe do not apply to these domino tiles that have already been imbued with the power of Lord Jeon-gwi! Hahaha!”
Ho Cheon-an laughed and gathered the domino tiles again, placing the Tung-so tile on top.
Then he flipped it over once to show the Tung-so and placed the flipped Tung-so on the bottom.
And when he flipped over the second domino tile,
“No!”
“How can the Tung-so appear again!”
It was too early to be surprised.
Even when the second domino tile was placed on the bottom and the third domino tile was flipped over, the Tung-so appeared.
Even when the fourth and fifth domino tiles were placed on the bottom, the Tung-so appeared.
When thirty-one domino tiles were placed on the table, and the last tile remained in Ho Cheon-an’s hand, the surroundings had already become as quiet as a dead mouse.
“Hahaha!”
The last tile was also Tung-so.
“How can this be!”
“How can the Tung-so keep moving!”
“Hahaha! Didn’t I tell you! The power of Lord Jeon-gwi denies the principles of the universe!”
Ho Cheon-an gathered the domino tiles again and continuously flipped over the frontmost tile.
Without mixing anything, the tiles were simply flipped over, but the pattern of the tiles kept changing.
“Huaaah!!”
“Almighty Celestial Venerable!”
Even Yeo Il-ye was confused.
It seemed like sleight of hand, but…?
Why couldn’t she catch it?
The movement of his hands was fast for an ordinary person.
Still, to the eyes of a transcendent master, it was as slow as a turtle crawling.
Once one reaches the transcendent realm, one can enhance one’s mental power and extend one’s mental timeline.
Although actual time doesn’t slow down, based on vision that far surpasses that of ordinary people, Yeo Il-ye invested all of her extended timeline to observe Ho Cheon-an’s hands, but she couldn’t grasp his technique.
‘As expected, the benefactor is someone whose depth cannot be fathomed by a mere mortal like me, possessing divine skills!’
The theory of Ho Cheon-an being an immortal was discarded in Yeo Il-ye’s mind.
Still, the raised evaluation showed no signs of coming down.
Only after seeing two of Ho Cheon-an’s sorcery techniques did Yeo Il-ye understand why people were so excited.
A bizarre technique, no, sorcery that couldn’t be seen even with the vision of a transcendent master was unfolding before their eyes, so how could they not be excited and applaud?
Yeo Il-ye also wanted to continue watching Ho Cheon-an’s performance, but now was the time to move.
Because the movements of masters were being detected inside the Hwang Gold Clan.
‘It would be better for me to intervene and smoothly resolve it.’
If he directly clashed with the masters of the Hwang Gold Clan, the matter would escalate.
Although Yeo Il-ye didn’t know what intention the benefactor had in stirring up this incident, judging from the surrounding reactions, he had already achieved sufficient results.
It would be the path to help the benefactor to have him wrap things up at this point.
“[That Sacheon outcast is committing acts that confuse people!]”
If Sound Transmission was a technique that replicated sound waves using internal energy, then the Six Harmonies Divine Voice was a technique that created sound and voice solely with the resonance of internal energy.
A Six Harmonies Divine Voice was heard before the Hwang Gold Clan.
It was Yeo Il-ye’s warning to the masters of the Hwang Gold Clan.
“[To dare reveal yourself in front of me, Yeo Il-ye, the Crimson Bamboo Hero, do you have two lives to spare?]”
It meant that Yeo Il-ye, one of the Ten Prodigies, would handle this situation, so don’t interfere.
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Waiting for the payoff