I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 24
Chapter 24
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Episode 24
“Di… Did Master really not mention that the Demonic Cult would show up…?”
“No. If he had known, he would have stayed by your side from the start.”
Danhwi tilted his head repeatedly, muttering that Master wasn’t the type to make such a mistake.
“Hmph…”
Standing before him, I sniffled and fell into thought. Right. It wasn’t a mistake…
If that was the case, only one possibility came to mind.
‘The thing you’re worried about won’t happen.’
No matter how much I chewed on those words, it felt like Master knew that the ‘thing I was worried about’ was meeting the protagonist.
Yet, I had encountered the protagonist. I didn’t die, but still!
So, what if my meeting with Ryang was…
Part of Master’s plan all along?
If so, it sends shivers down my spine because it fits the title I gave him—the ‘Murim’s Hidden Mastermind’—perfectly.
But why?
Master himself was the one who said it wouldn’t be good if anyone discovered the inner energy I possessed.
Then wouldn’t it be dangerous for me to be exposed to outside forces for any reason?
Even if Ryang is currently nothing more than a slave of the Demonic Cult.
I didn’t even consider the possibility that Master didn’t know the Demonic Cult would appear while chasing the imposters.
Judging by how he subtly passed information and elixirs to the Zhuge Clan, he was already orchestrating the Orthodox-Demonic Great War before it even began.
Therefore, it’s certain. Master knows the entire story of this ‘game’ and everything that will happen in the future.
That made me even more curious. Why did he make me meet the Demonic Cult—no, why did he make me meet ‘Ryang’…?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Danhwi suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“You.”
“Ah!”
Danhwi was staring intently at my hand.
“Danhwi Sahyeong? What’s wrong?”
“…….”
When I looked up at him, he released my wrist more gently than he had grabbed it and asked.
“Soso, what did you touch?”
Why is he acting like this?
“Nothing in particular… Oh!”
My eyes widened in surprise as I looked at my hand again.
“This is…”
My short fingertips were stained dark. It looked as if demonic qi had seeped into them.
Only then did a memory flash through my mind. It was when I had forced Ryang’s clothes open and discovered the traces of the dark arts.
I definitely touched it then.
‘But it was fine back then…’
“It would have been fine at first.”
“Gasp.”
How did he know?
As my eyes went round, Danhwi let out a dismissive snort as if I were being ridiculous. He reached into his robes, pulled out a small pouch, and spoke.
“Your inner energy is abnormally vast, so you wouldn’t normally be tainted by demonic qi… but since you haven’t mastered your cultivation heart art yet, it starts seeping in over time. Even so, it looks like you touched something exceptionally foul.”
“…Umm.”
Was Ryang enduring such severe dark arts?
Then again, for such a kind boy to snap and unify the world as the Heavenly Demon, I suppose the demonic qi would have to be exceptionally potent.
“Soso, say ‘ah’.”
In the meantime, Danhwi held a small pill he’d taken from the pouch to my lips.
“Aah.”
It’s not like Danhwi would give me anything bad, right?
Without questioning him, I opened my mouth, and Danhwi popped the elixir inside.
As soon as the elixir entered my mouth, a refreshing sensation spread from my mouth to my throat, then through my nose and down to my stomach, like I’d eaten potent mint.
After confirming that my Adam’s apple had moved as I swallowed, Danhwi spoke.
“From now on, sit cross-legged and circulate the heart art you’ve been practicing. Do it with the feeling of driving out the turbid qi that seeped into your fingertips.”
“Yes, sir.”
Danhwi will stand guard for me.
Fortunately, there was a flat rock nearby suitable for cultivation meditation.
I was clumsily settling into a cross-legged position when I stopped to ask Danhwi.
“But can I really drive out demonic qi just by doing that?”
I’d forgotten because he said it so naturally, but normally, it should be difficult to expel demonic qi through simple meditation.
However, Danhwi nodded calmly.
“Yes. Because the pill you just ate is a Blue Elixir (靑丹), crafted by Master using only the purest essence of Cheongsanbong.”
“Wow.”
As expected of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind. I nodded, sat cross-legged, and took my stance.
…….
I recited the mnemonics of the heart art that had now become familiar.
The manual Gwang-eum gave me was a budget version within the game, but it was the perfect fit for my current physical condition.
The Harmony Heart Art (調和心訣).
In the library, there were certainly ‘cheat-like’ manual heart arts that claimed one could clear the Ren and Du meridians in a single session of meditation.
But I chose to build up step-by-step rather than becoming strong quickly.
I didn’t want to recklessly tamper with the terrifying amount of inner energy dormant in my body.
One wrong move and I’d suffer Qi Deviation.
Carefully, I had spent several weeks gradually widening my meridians. I captured the inner energy mixed with the essence circulating through my body and stored it in my dantian.
Thanks to that, I could now consciously manipulate my inner energy!
The essence contained within the Blue Elixir was as pure as the energy drifting through my body. I carefully guided that essence to my fingertips.
‘…Whoa. This is a bit gross.’
The black energy was struggling at the tips of my fingers as if defending a fortress.
‘But I’m stronger!’
A wave of inner energy, several times the size of the black energy, swept through the meridian.
Faced with the opposing force, the demonic qi let out a horrific shriek and shriveled up.
Of course, the sound only echoed inside my body.
After repeating that circulation about three times, I felt the wicked dregs of the demonic qi flow out through my skin.
“……Phew.”
I slowly opened my eyes and checked my hand.
It had returned to its usual fair color. It worked!
Danhwi, who was sitting across from me, whispered quietly.
“…That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“It’s nothing.”
He shrugged lightly as if he hadn’t said a word.
What was that? I narrowed my eyes to look at him, then shook my head.
“By the way, where are we?”
I wondered if we were on the path to Cheongsanbong, but all I could see was a range of rocky mountains I hadn’t seen on the way to Hwangun County.
I have no idea where we are.
“You’re asking that now?”
Danhwi stood up, dusting off his robes, and gave a refreshing smile.
“I’m going to abandon you here.”
“……Whaaat?!”
When my face crumbled in shock, Danhwi doubled over with laughter.
“It’s a joke, a joke.”
“Hmph…”
Thinking about it, there’s no way it could be true…
Why do I always fall for Danhwi’s pranks?
As I glared at him with resentful eyes, Danhwi grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, hoisted me up, and laughed.
“Don’t you want to see Master’s friend?”
“Huh? Master has a friend?”
It was enough to make me completely forget the discomfort of being held by the neck.
Master has a friend?
He whispered in a suggestive voice.
“Yeah. I went to find you because that person said they wanted to see you.”
“Me, me?”
“Yeah. But when you weren’t at the inn, imagine how surprised I was.”
“I’m sorry…”
So he wasn’t going to get alcohol. No wonder I couldn’t find him no matter how hard I looked!
As I looked at him with a slight pout, Danhwi chuckled and ruffled my hair vigorously.
“Anyway. Since we’re already here, if you want to greet Master’s friend, I’ll take you. If not, whatever.”
Wow. I was just starting to have questions for Master anyway.
The more sources of information, the better. I quickly raised my hand high.
“I’ll go! I definitely want to see them!”
“Great. Then this way.”
“Yes!”
Excited, I followed closely behind Danhwi.
“Who were you with?”
“I do not know well. They seemed like commoners.”
“A commoner followed your lightfoot technique all the way here?”
“…….”
Ryang remained silent, offering no answer.
The man standing before him, the Left Envoy of Light (光明屮史) of the Heavenly Demon Cult, let out a hum instead of pressing further.
“Hmm.”
“…….”
“Fine, whatever. You must have at least learned a name? What was it?”
“…….”
“I am not trying to harm the child.”
As Ryang continued to keep his mouth shut, the Envoy whispered as if to persuade him.
Ryang believed the man’s words.
There was a reason why he, a mere slave of the Demonic Cult, could dare to defy a Centurion and step forward to save a girl.
It was because he had a benefactor who would ensure he wasn’t punished even if he committed such an act.
That benefactor was this man. The Left Envoy of Light, who it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the second-in-command of the Demonic Cult.
For reasons unknown, he had kept a close eye on Ryang—who had been kidnapped into the cult as a child—and looked after him ever since.
“Will you truly not speak?”
“…I am sorry.”
But Ryang did not open his mouth.
