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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Cyno
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Most people, when delving into the history of war, tend to identify with the victors.
Great and glorious triumphs.
Victories filled with tragic beauty—fought without fear of death, ultimately seized.
Victories declared with flair, blades stained with the blood of the defeated.
Who wouldn’t yearn for such things?
But where there are victors, there must also be the defeated.
In this brutal and cruel world, the powerless weak are dragged into slaughterhouses they never wished to enter.
Even if they win the war, nothing remains for them. If they lose, they become prisoners of war—stripped of even their dignity as humans, reduced to slaves of the victorious nation.
That is the true face of war—its duality.
The long and grueling Righteous-Blood War, with its victors (the righteous factions) and its losers (the Blood Cult).
The righteous factions, intoxicated by their victory, reveled in wealth and pleasure, basking in glory.
But the remnants of the defeated Blood Cult?
They were raised as nothing more than living shields, subordinates, or livestock—less than human.
Of course, we must remember this was only some of them.
And yet…
The one who instigated the war, who turned the Blood Cult’s cruelty and savagery toward the Central Plains—
The one who bore the title Blood Demon, who drove her followers to their deaths for her own ambitions and plunged the world into chaos—
Now resides in the basement of a certain martial family, stripped of her limbs, barely alive.
A towering, colossal wall.
Namgung Bin was being crushed beneath it.
A sea of blood cascaded down from the top of the wall, drenching him.
Yet Namgung Bin gritted his teeth and endured. It was unpleasant, but by now, the sensation was familiar.
The feeling of circulating Blood Qi.
It meant he was on the right path.
‘Tonight… I will break through this wall.’
Namgung Bin breathed slowly, circulating his inner energy.
Huff… Huff…
The raging, wild Blood Qi—resembling a pack of feral dogs—surged violently through his meridians.
But the moment it clashed with the wall pressing down on him—
‘Tch…! Still not easy…!’
As if it had never been ferocious at all, the Blood Qi quickly subsided, fading into stillness.
Like ocean waves calmed by a gentle breeze, his energy merely lapped weakly against the wall.
Namgung Bin knew full well that even if centuries passed, he would never break through like this.
But knowing didn’t mean he could do anything about it. The barrier of mastery wasn’t something one could overcome just by willing it. If it were, half the martial world would already be supreme experts.
“The Age of Blood comes. The impure world shall be purified.”
Just then, the Blood Demon’s voice pierced his consciousness.
“The Blood Cult’s era will arrive, and this corrupted world shall be cleansed.”
“……”
“Like it or not, you are a child of our faith. You should at least learn our doctrine.”
“……”
“Seek enlightenment in the scriptures. How can one who seeks to master the Blood Arts ignore the Age of Blood?”
“……!”
As if her words were a catalyst, a massive crack split the unyielding wall.
Crack—!
Enlightenment?
No, it wasn’t that.
The Blood Demon’s verbal command, once uttered when she had reached the pinnacle of the Heavenly Blood Divine Art, had opened a path for the Blood Qi within Namgung Bin’s body.
Rumble—!
The wall crumbled helplessly.
Namgung Bin let out a satisfied exhale.
“Ha…!”
“You’ve broken through.”
“…The world looks different now.”
“It’s too early to be impressed by just this.”
“Everything moves slowly. I can even feel the tremors in the air. Is this the world you’ve been living in?”
“No. The world I lived in was two dimensions above yours.”
“Hah… So this… is the Seven Stars of the Heavenly Blood Divine Art…”
Namgung Bin slowly unfolded his legs.
A considerable amount of inner energy seeped from his body—hiss, hiss—filling the basement with the scent of blood.
“You’re quite remarkable yourself. Like brother, like disciple, they say.”
“What do you mean?”
“You reached the Seven Stars in just four years of practicing the Blood Arts. Not quite my level, but… undeniably a talent that could shake the world.”
“……”
“But why waste such talent all this time? As a direct descendant of the Namgung Family, if you’d just mastered the Imperial Sword Style, you’d already be playing around with the Twelve Noble Ones by now.”
With a slightly aggrieved tone, Namgung Bin replied listlessly.
“What’s the point of learning a martial art that yields no results…?”
“Hmm? What was that just now?”
“Nothing. Let’s just reattach your right ear.”
Namgung Bin picked up the tattered remnant of an ear lying on the nearby table.
Then, he pressed it against the back of his right temple.
“Good. Now hold it still.”
“Will this really work?”
“Don’t underestimate the regenerative power of the Seven Stars Blood Arts. Do you think lightly of an ability that can reattach even fully healed wounds?”
Trusting her assurance, Namgung Bin did as instructed.
Before long, his earlobe and temple fused back together as if they had never been separated.
Squirm, squirm—
Gingerly, he touched his now fully restored ear—smooth, without a single scar.
“Be grateful to the one who tore your ear off. If they had been serious, your right ear would’ve been lost forever—just like your left.”
At her pointed remark, Namgung Bin recalled Sword Venerable.
The man who had mercilessly ripped his ear off over nothing more than wounded pride.
He wasn’t sure whether to be angry or take comfort in the Blood Demon’s words—that the man hadn’t been serious.
“Just what kind of realm is the Transcendent Realm? To make reattachment impossible…”
“A realm only a select few under heaven can reach. There’s a reason the supreme masters of the Transcendent Realm are called the Five Greats of the World.”
“You weren’t counted among them.”
“Because I was a step above them.”
“……”
Suddenly, Namgung Bin remembered something he had forgotten.
This seemingly frivolous, boastful woman before him—
Was, in truth, one of the few Transcendent Realm masters in martial history.
“Well… in the end, you were still soundly defeated by the Sword Saint.”
“……”
“That man was truly remarkable. Even when my underlings unanimously called him a traitor, I didn’t believe it. Who would’ve thought such a man existed among the weaklings of the Central Plains?”
“I’m surprised you acknowledge him.”
Namgung Bin’s voice carried a hint of curiosity.
The Blood Demon let out a dry laugh.
“What do you take me for? I’m no petty villain who can’t recognize obvious strength.”
Pressing further, Namgung Bin asked:
“Obvious strength? Weren’t you and him evenly matched?”
“Evenly matched? Wouldn’t calling us that be an insult to him?”
“What do you mean? You fought him in a life-and-death battle for seven days and nights without rest.”
“It’s true we fought for seven days and nights without stopping. But calling it a ‘life-and-death battle’? I can’t agree with that.”
Snorting, the Blood Demon spat out her words.
“We only crossed swords briefly at the start—two moves, at most. After that? I was just dragged around and beaten like a dog. The rumors must’ve gotten twisted since it happened deep in the forest.”
When Namgung Bin pressed further in disbelief—
“……? That can’t be. Cheol-bin clearly said he killed you after seven days.”
The Blood Demon scoffed, as if annoyed by his continued denial.
“Nonsense! My sword shattered the moment we clashed. By the second move, my blood meridians were suppressed. After that, I was beaten senseless for seven days straight.”
“That makes no sense. Why would Cheol-bin do that?”
“Why ask me? Ah, now that I think about it, he did say something back then—grabbing my hair with his left hand, silhouetted against the crescent moon, those gleaming blue eyes of his—”
Clearing her throat, she mimicked Namgung Cheol-bin’s voice:
“‘You really are the best warm-up partner.’”
“Warm-up…?”
“At the time, I was furious. But looking back, he wasn’t wrong. I was beaten black and blue—literally—until I shit blood. After seven days, he finally cut my throat. With that Azure Light Treasure Sword hanging over there.”
She jerked her chin toward the basement wall.
Following her gaze, Namgung Bin’s eyes landed on a single sword.
A weapon once beloved by Namgung Cheol-bin, a divine artifact that had forged countless legends alongside him.
The Azure Light Treasure Sword—also known as the Xuanyuan Sword, said to have been wielded by the legendary Yellow Emperor—was now listed among the Seven Great Swords of the Martial World.
Though currently abandoned by its master, left to rot in the Namgung Family’s basement.
The Blood Demon pointed at it.
“Why don’t you use that thing? If I had such a treasure, I’d have grabbed it even if it cost me an arm.”
“It’s not that I won’t—I can’t. Its loyalty to its master is so absolute that any unauthorized hand that touches it will be severed without mercy.”
“First I’ve heard of that.”
“Everyone who’s held that sword besides Cheol-bin has died. It still reflects its master’s whereabouts. If you unsheathed it now, the blade would show Namgung Cheol-bin’s current location. But no one can draw it anymore.”
“Hmm……”
The Blood Demon glanced around.
Bookshelves, documents, various weapons, and strange, unidentifiable tools.
Limbless and deprived of her energy—little more than half a corpse—she couldn’t even touch them. No matter how much she stared, her curiosity only grew.
“To leave such treasures behind and never return… That Sword Saint really is an eccentric.”
“Says you.”
“I just spotted his journal between those shelves. Aren’t you curious? I can’t read it myself—no fingers.”
“Are you asking me to read it to you?”
“Yes. Entertain this bored old monster a little.”
“No. There’s nothing special written there, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“Bastard.”
The Blood Demon spat out a curse, but Namgung Bin paid no mind.
Annoyed, she frowned and asked:
“What exactly is your goal? You’re rampaging like you don’t care if you die. What are you after?”
“I don’t care about death. And why do you keep bringing that up? What does knowing my goal do for you?”
“Because I’m curious. Just learning the Blood Arts alone would get you branded a public enemy if discovered. Yet you’ve committed countless atrocities that must never see the light. Why?”
“How do you know about those when you’ve been stuck in here?”
“The world is in the palm of my hand. Did you think I couldn’t see that much? You really take me for some muscle-headed fool.”
“Yet you still fell for a petty man’s schemes.”
“That’s what’s puzzling. Why would a man who worked so hard to save the world suddenly ruin the Sword Saint after the war? What could he possibly want?”
Under her relentless questioning, Namgung Bin shook his head and changed the subject.
“Let’s drop that. It’s not important…”
“Sounds like there’s something more important you’re hiding.”
“……Let me ask you something else. Do you know about the ‘Caves’? The Blood Cult’s corpse puppets hiding across the Central Plains?”
To him, the Blood Demon was nothing more than a tool to be used—not someone deserving respect.
“Caves? Corpse puppets?”
“Yes. I heard rumors about them recently.”
Namgung Bin recalled the day the Sword Venerable, Blade Venerable, and Water Venerable had sought him out.
Nearly a year had passed since then, yet the mystery remained unsolved.
“How strong are these corpse puppets supposed to be?”
“They say it takes one of the Twelve Noble Ones just to handle three of them.”
“I think I know what they are.”
“You have an idea?”
“Of course. Who do you take me for?”
Fortunately, the Blood Demon seemed to know something. Perhaps the mystery would finally unravel.
But…
“Then tell me.”
“For free?”
“……”
“State your goal first. Let’s trade information.”
The Blood Demon was no pushover.
“Sigh… Fine. But don’t go back on your word.”
Revealing it wouldn’t cause any particular harm, so Namgung Bin reluctantly spoke.
His words were deliberately vague.
“The Heavenly Mechanism—that thing called ‘Heaven.’”
He pointed at the stone-blocked sky above.
“My only goal is to give that damn thing a taste of its own medicine.”
“What? Are you mocking me? Speak plainly.”
“I really can’t say more. Now it’s your turn. You promised.”
“Tch. Mysticism should have its limits. Such an attitude is unbecoming.”
Clicking her tongue, the Blood Demon reluctantly divulged her side of the bargain.
“The Vice-Leader must have escaped.”
“Vice-Leader?”
“Those corpse puppets are undoubtedly his work. If they can restrain a peak master, their ingredients must be at least first-class experts. And the puppets themselves must be extraordinary. No one but the Vice-Leader could wield such necromancy.”
“Hmm… Such a being didn’t exist before… So this cycle isn’t the 99th…?”
“What did you just say?”
“Never mind. Tell me more.”
Perhaps irritated by Namgung Bin’s dismissive attitude, the Blood Demon retorted sharply.
“What more is there to say? I’ve been stripped of my position for years. What else do you expect?”
“You acted like you knew everything a moment ago.”
“Hmph. I have no generosity for those who withhold their own secrets.”
“……Fine.”
As Namgung Bin turned to leave, the Blood Demon couldn’t help but panic.
Thud, thud—
“Y-You brat! Are you really leaving? You won’t elaborate on your goal? You’d abandon information on the Vice-Leader and the corpse puppets?”
“No, I’ll be back soon. Behave until then.”
“You disrespectful little—!”
Though her furious curses echoed clearly behind him, Namgung Bin paid no heed.
He had reattached his ear, advanced his Blood Arts, and obtained invaluable information about the Vice-Leader. It was more than he had hoped for.
For now, there was no reason to stay.
No reason to engage in meaningless conversation with the Blood Demon.
Instead—
‘Namgung Cheol-bin…’
It would be far more useful to ponder the Sword Saint’s words the Blood Demon had recounted.
‘Just… which cycle is this?’
It was a night of many thoughts.
“Huh? It’s already over?”
In a campsite, the Poison Flower Dang So-baek’s muttered words dissolved into the night air.
She was on her way to the Valley of No Heaven.
“There’s still so much left in the Heavenly Records. The Sword Saint already defeated the Blood Demon?”
Her mouth hung open in disbelief.
Her eyes were fixed on the unread latter half of the Heavenly Records—its thickness considerable.
“Given the context, I figured he’d win around now… But why so soon? What fills the rest? Should I keep reading?”
Baffled, she flipped through the pages to quell her confusion.
Page after page, her expression gradually morphed into horror.
“……How is this possible?”
After about half an hour of frantic reading, Dang So-baek’s gaze froze.
Or rather, it had to freeze.
The words floating in the night sky—decipherable only by her—were so absurd that even her vast intellect couldn’t comprehend them.
“‘Thank you… for reading my humble writing… See you next time…?’ What the hell is this…?”
Like Namgung Bin, Dang So-baek was in for a night of deep contemplation.
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