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Chapter 30. Nice to Meet You
The Heaven Destroyer Demon Lord, Seok Muhae, Great Leader (Great Chaeju) of the seventy-two divisions of Nokrim, used to be a pawn in the Shaolin Sect. However, his fate changed when, while cleaning an old abandoned wooden statue in a warehouse, he found the ancient martial manual known as the Dark Heaven Asura Manual.
After obtaining the Dark Heaven Asura Manual, Seok Muhae immediately left Shaolin and began to wander the world. Twenty years later, he became the Great Leader of Nokrim, taking the position by force.
As Great Leader, Seok Muhae recruited the twelve most outstanding bandits in the world as his disciples, using them as his hands and feet. These were the Twelve Demons of Nokrim, known as the messengers of death.
In the Murim, the Twelve Demons of Nokrim are treated as the Elders of the Seven Great Sects. They are all masters of the supreme technique, the Dark Heaven Asura Manual.
So far, many elders of the Seven Great Sects have suffered humiliations at the hands of the Twelve Demons of Nokrim. Even an Elder of the Qingcheng Sect lost an arm in a dispute.
Before the great meeting of Nokrim, the Heaven Destroyer Demon Lord sent the Twelve Demons of Nokrim as messengers. Naturally, they were received with the highest hospitality wherever they went.
Until Yoon Poongmyo-gun arrived at the Five Peaks Mountain camp.
These reckless pups kept telling him what not to do.
Finally, Yoon Poongmyo-gun decided to punish the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks and take the women. So, he deliberately set up a scene, and someone fell into the trap.
“What do you mean, what? Why don’t you sleep quietly if you’ve been drinking, instead of coming to bother in the middle of the night and not letting others sleep?”
Yoon Poongmyo-gun thought he had heard wrong.
He hadn’t heard such vulgar words in a long time, like "drinking" and "bother," so he couldn’t believe it.
'It can't be, right?'
Even members of the Seven Great Sects avoided the Twelve Demons of Nokrim, so how could the bandits of the Five Peaks Mountain camp dare to say such things?
Believing he had regained his sobriety, he realized that maybe he hadn't. As he aged, his recovery ability had weakened. Additionally, lately, he felt he had also lost strength in other aspects.
While he was immersed in his self-pity, the same voice was heard again.
“Hey, old man, if you have a mouth, why don’t you say something? When someone asks you, you should answer. Are you deaf? Your voice was quite loud before.”
He hadn’t heard wrong.
These words were directed at him.
Yoon Poongmyo-gun slowly turned his head toward the source of the voice.
Among the bandits, there was a young man who didn’t seem to be over twenty years old, looking at him with defiant eyes.
'Is he crazy?'
To Yoon Poongmyo-gun, it was natural to think so.
It wasn’t unusual for there to be some idiot in a bandit camp.
But shouldn’t the other bandits pull him out of there?
However, the bandits of the Five Peaks Mountain camp acted as if they had no ears, ignoring the crazy one.
In the Murim and with Nokrim’s position, it was better not to deal with a crazy person. Killing someone like that would only dirty his hands.
Yoon Poongmyo-gun turned his attention back to Pung Yeoncho. Or at least he tried to.
“What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
Kwaaaaa!
A burst of killing energy emanated from Yoon Poongmyo-gun’s body.
“Oh!”
“Ah!”
Pung Yeoncho and Tak Gomyung, who were closest, fell back.
Yoon Poongmyo-gun reached out to the crazy one.
Even if he would dirty his hands, he couldn’t let him live any longer.
With energy emanating from his five fingers, he grabbed the crazy one by the nape of his neck.
And squeezed hard.
Crack.
The sudden movement made his finger joints crack.
Normally, the crazy one should be struggling and dying.
But the crazy one, with wide-open eyes, spoke.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?”
“Miserable!”
Crack. Crack.
He squeezed several times, but the crazy one remained standing, unharmed.
He felt a powerful energy rebounding in his hand, meaning the problem wasn’t his.
Finally, Yoon Poongmyo-gun withdrew his hand.
Suddenly, he remembered the old adage of Murim: "Beware of children, women, and the elderly."
“Who are you?”
“Yeon Jeokha. And who are you?”
Despite the insolent response, Yoon Poongmyo-gun wasn’t fazed.
When he learned martial arts from the Heaven Destroyer Demon Lord, he realized that the world wasn’t an easy place. Although he was young, this boy had dismantled his energy without a trace. He must not lose his composure.
“I am Yoon Poongmyo-gun.”
“Wow! What a nice name. Perfect for someone who acts like a dog in heat. Don’t you think?”
“Are you also part of the Five Peaks Mountain camp?”
“I am one of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks, why?”
“...”
Yoon Poongmyo-gun had nothing to say.
If he had already started a fight, what did it matter if he was one of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks or not?
“It doesn’t matter.”
At the same time, Yoon Poongmyo-gun’s body disappeared like a ghost.
In an instant, he appeared in front of Yeon Jeokha.
He was so fast that it seemed he had been there from the beginning.
Swoosh.
Yoon Poongmyo-gun’s extended hand aimed at Yeon Jeokha’s chest.
It was his secret technique, the White Bone Claw.
Yoon Poongmyo-gun’s fingers, reinforced with the energy of the Dark Heaven Asura Manual, were harder and sharper than any knife.
From the beginning, Yoon Poongmyo-gun had put everything into the attack.
Yeon Jeokha had learned much from the Sage of Heaven and Earth.
However, he didn’t feel he owed him anything.
Because he had also helped the Sage of Heaven and Earth to understand the higher realm of martial arts. While the Sage of Heaven and Earth had advanced his moment of enlightenment, Yeon Jeokha had learned things he didn’t know. Without the teaching of the Sage of Heaven and Earth, he wouldn’t have learned in a hundred years.
The Sage of Heaven and Earth had taught him the fundamentals of martial arts.
He explained the importance of distance in swordsmanship, as well as the importance of always maintaining a vigilant mind and not getting distracted.
He repeatedly emphasized the attitude of not being neither insufficient nor excessive. He said: "If it’s insufficient, you’ll get hurt, and if it’s excessive, you’ll waste energy. You must develop proper vision to adapt to your opponent."
Only then did Yeon Jeokha realize how foolish he had been to face the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword of the Sage of Heaven and Earth with the deputy chief’s technique. If the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword of the Sage of Heaven and Earth had reached the level of the Link of the Three Elements, he might have lost an arm.
During the time he learned the fundamentals from the Sage of Heaven and Earth, Yeon Jeokha didn’t use his internal energy at all. He dedicated himself to understanding distance, vigilance, and developing proper vision.
As he built his foundation and increased his vision, he naturally began to understand the meaning behind each movement. The Sage of Heaven and Earth called this "opening the eye of the heart."
His understanding of the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship and the Nine Heavens Swordsmanship, which he had clumsily learned with his body, also deepened.
In the process, he discovered another unexpected application of the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship.
Unlike the Nine Heavens Swordsmanship, this didn’t only refer to sword techniques.
The Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship could also be used as nine movements to train the body. Perhaps that’s why it was called "Supreme Swordsmanship." When using a sword, it became the Nine Heavens Swordsmanship, but when using a scimitar, it became the Nine Heavens Blade Technique. That was the reason he could use the Nine Heavens Supreme Swordsmanship with his scimitar.
‘If I use palm techniques instead of a sword, will it become the Nine Heavens Palm Technique?’
For a moment, as he extended his palm, Yeon Jeokha had this thought.
Clang.
Yeon Jeokha’s palm and the White Bone Claw of the Silent Wind Sovereign collided in the middle.
Yeon Jeokha’s palm met the hand of the Silent Wind Sovereign like a spear and a shield.
The Silent Wind Sovereign poured the last drop of his energy from the Dark Heaven Asura Manual into his palm.
Even though his hand burned, he didn’t doubt his victory.
Since he had learned the Dark Heaven Asura Manual, he had never lost.
Normally, at this point, the next step was obvious.
He would push the opponent to the end, grabbing their arm or head, and finish.
But something unexpected happened.
‘Damn it!’
The burning in his hand worsened.
As the Silent Wind Sovereign thought something was wrong, something very strange happened.
Two fingers pierced the back of his right hand.
“Ah!”
With a desperate scream, the Silent Wind Sovereign withdrew his fingers. If he didn’t, the fingers would keep advancing and tear his palm.
Then, right in front of his eyes, Yeon Jeokha’s palm began to open and close repeatedly.
What kind of technique was that?
The Silent Wind Sovereign felt chills in his arm.
With the White Bone Claw shattered, he had no defense.
As despair took over his face, Yeon Jeokha spoke.
"Hello, I’m Yeon Jeokha. Nice to meet you. Hehe."
With his fingers moving rhythmically, Yeon Jeokha’s voice resonated.
‘Damn it!’
The mouth of the Silent Wind Sovereign opened wide.
Was this madman greeting with his fingers in the middle of a life-and-death battle?
Was he the only one who saw this as a life-and-death fight?
Losing all will to fight, the Silent Wind Sovereign spoke.
"I, I am the Silent Wind Sovereign. Let’s stop."
Suddenly, Yeon Jeokha’s palm withdrew.
The Silent Wind Sovereign covered the hole in his palm with his left hand and watched Yeon Jeokha cautiously.
"Old man, when your hand approached, I felt a chill on my face. How did you do that?"
‘Damn...!’
The Silent Wind Sovereign gritted his teeth inside.
Had he made a hole in someone’s palm and now smiled innocently?
His master, the Heaven Destroyer Demon Lord, used to be like that. Although he pushed them to the death, he then joked as if nothing had happened.
Every time, the Twelve Demons of Nokrim responded with laughter.
Just like now.
"Hehe, that’s thanks to my technique called the White Bone Claw. That’s where the name Silent Wind comes from."
The Silent Wind Sovereign’s voice sounded pure, with no trace of malice. It was the simple laughter he used to make after receiving a beating from his master, resurrecting after ten years.
"Ah, so Silent Wind doesn’t mean a dog in heat. My mistake."
"Not at all. In this case, Silent Wind refers to the cold energy of the universe..."
"Enough. You said you were leaving, why did you come back to the camp? Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth."
"Well, uh, I thought I hadn’t properly greeted the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks. In this world, courtesy is important."
"Then greet and leave quickly. I want to sleep."
Urged by Yeon Jeokha, the Silent Wind Sovereign hesitated.
In the Murim, there was a hierarchy. His position was much higher than that of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks, how could he greet first? This was different from losing a fight.
"Ah! You’re really bothering. Should I bury you here?"
The Silent Wind Sovereign trembled.
Yeon Jeokha’s words made him abandon his last piece of pride.
"Ha ha! I’m leaving. Brothers of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks, I’m leaving. See you in Mansapyeong."
With his spirit broken, the Silent Wind Sovereign greeted the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks, calling them brothers. Thanks to Yeon Jeokha, the status of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks increased.
Pung Yeoncho, Tak Gomyung, and the other nine Heroes of the Five Peaks bowed humbly.
Yeon Jeokha, standing, waved his hand disdainfully, like a dagger in the Silent Wind Sovereign’s eyes.
With an awkward smile and waving his wounded hand, the Silent Wind Sovereign left.
To think a monster like that was hidden among the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks...
Thinking about the Nokrim meeting in Mansapyeong with that guy attending already burdened him.
‘The Great Leader will know how to handle this.’
The Silent Wind Sovereign slipped out of the camp with his secret fast movement technique.