The next day, Cheol Moo-rin began organizing his house in earnest.

First, he thoroughly swept and cleaned every corner. Since the house wasn’t old, it gleamed after the thorough cleaning. Though people might assume someone like Moo-rin only knew how to fight and disliked organization, he actually enjoyed cleaning and tidying. During his time at the Iron Blood Alliance, the servants had handled all the cleaning, so he never needed to do it himself.

After cleaning the house, Moo-rin went back to the village. He borrowed a cart from Song Yang and purchased various items from the furniture shop, blacksmith, and general store that Song Yang had recommended.

He bought several pieces of furniture necessary for daily life. In particular, he purchased the highest quality bed available. Having spent his life roaming mountains, rivers, and battlefields, he could count on one hand the times he’d had a comfortable place to sleep. Now he wanted at least his bed to be comfortable.

After filling the empty interior to some extent, he began the main construction project. He dug out a small secret chamber beneath the backyard – a space about two pyeong in size. Creating the entrance in a way that wouldn’t be noticeable took more time than digging out the actual space. Thanks to his efforts, the entrance was completely undetectable from the outside. Only a master well-versed in mechanical traps would be able to find it. Moo-rin’s extensive combat experience had given him deep expertise in mechanical devices.

He could have created even more dangerous mechanisms – for instance, traps that would shoot dozens of steel needles from all directions if someone tried to force the door open. But Moo-rin didn’t do that. Requesting such things from the blacksmith would have drawn immediate attention. He created the secret space using only basic materials commonly traded among ordinary people.

There were two reasons for making the secret chamber. One was to prepare for possible pursuit by the Black Night Faction. And there was another important reason.

For that purpose, Moo-rin carried his luggage down into the underground chamber. When he touched the entrance mechanism, the door closed smoothly with a soft sound.

Moo-rin smiled with satisfaction. This was excellent. Now he was completely isolated from the outside world.

Only then did he unpack his belongings.

The first things he took out were a sword and a saber. These were the two blades that had been displayed on the weapon stand in the Black Night’s secret palace.

When escaping from the dungeon, Moo-rin had hidden the sword and saber crossed behind his back. Since he was disguised as someone twice the size of a normal adult, it had been entirely possible.

Moo-rin drew the sword first.

Shing!

As he drew it, a chilling energy dominated the space. Just looking at it made one’s heart race and breath catch – it emanated such a terrifying sword energy.

This was no ordinary sword. It was the Absolute Demon Sword, known to make even ordinary masters commit suicide by cutting their own throats when drawn, unable to withstand its demonic nature!

This was the Asura Heaven-Destruction Sword[1].

It was one of the Ten Great Demonic Weapons of the martial world[2].

This was what had been stored in the Black Night Faction’s secret palace.

When he channeled his inner energy, the sword let out a terrifying howl.

The sword’s cry was completely different from ordinary swords.

Kihihihihing!

It was a ghost’s wail that sent chills down the spine of anyone who heard it.

When Moo-rin thrust the sword forward, it sank into the wall. It went in as smoothly as if cutting through tofu. Even without channeling inner energy, it possessed enough sharpness to slice through ordinary iron swords like paper.

Moo-rin pulled the sword back out of the wall. Strangely, not a speck of dirt clung to the withdrawn blade.

He looked at his reflection in the sword blade. His expression remained calm, completely unaffected by the sword’s influence.

After sheathing the Asura Heaven-Destruction Sword, Moo-rin next drew the great saber. Though not particularly long, its blade was twice the width of an ordinary saber.

This saber too was no ordinary weapon.

It was the Absolute Divine Saber that had eliminated thousands of evil men – the Evil-Vanquishing Divine Saber[3].

While the Asura Heaven-Destruction Sword was a demonic sword, the Evil-Vanquishing Divine Saber was a righteous blade included among the Ten Great Divine Weapons of the martial world[4]. Its sharpness was in no way inferior to the Asura Heaven-Destruction Sword.

“I thought this had disappeared from the martial world.”

Finding the Evil-Vanquishing Divine Saber in the Black Night’s secret palace was truly unexpected. That was why he had taken it despite the risk of discovery.

These two blades were worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Of course, they were weapons that couldn’t be bought even with that amount of money.

Naturally, Moo-rin couldn’t use or sell the weapons. By now, the Black Night Faction must be frantically searching for him. The only clues to finding him were these stolen items.

But they would never find him. He had no intention of ever using or selling these. Yet there was a reason he had risked taking the sword and saber.

He planned to melt them down to create a new weapon.

The first of two reasons why Moo-rin chose Hangzhou as his destination was because the only craftsman who could melt these down and forge them into a new weapon lived here.

The second reason related to the saying “to hide a tree, hide it in a forest.” No place in the Central Plains had more people coming and going than Hangzhou. While the abundance of martial artists made one conspicuous, conversely, if one hid properly, they could never be found. This was Hangzhou, where people didn’t even know who lived next door.

Setting aside the sword and saber, Moo-rin next took out a pair of gloves.

They were transparent gloves that clung tightly to his hands when worn. One couldn’t tell whether he was wearing them or not.

These were the most renowned Ghost Tiger Gloves[5]. They were fighting gloves that wouldn’t be cut by sword energy while amplifying the power of punches. The best feature was that one couldn’t tell whether they were being worn or not.

“Since my body isn’t in good condition, should I keep wearing them?”

Next, he took out the Dragon’s Scale Treasure Robe[6]. It was a protective garment that couldn’t be cut by sword energy, but its thickness made it obvious when worn, which was its drawback.

Additionally, there were six top-grade Poison-Avoiding Pearls[7], three each of Cold-Avoiding Pearls[8] and Heat-Avoiding Pearls[9], twelve high-quality Night Luminous Pearls[10], and three pouches containing one hundred gold pieces each. All of these items together were worth an astronomical sum.

There were also three martial arts manuals thought to have been lost:

Soaring Dragon Spear Arts[11]. Fierce Tiger Fourteen Fists[12]. Pear Blossom Sword Arts[13].

All three were powerful martial arts that had been ranked among the Ten Great Martial Arts of the martial world[14] during their respective eras.

Of course, they were weaker compared to the martial arts Moo-rin had already mastered. The Pear Blossom Sword Arts, in particular, was created for women.

After placing the martial arts manuals beside the other treasures, Moo-rin finally took out a large box. This was his true reason for entering the Black Night’s secret palace. The items he had taken out earlier were bonuses obtained while acquiring this.

Just as he was about to open the box, Moo-rin suddenly clutched his chest.

“Ungh!”

As his blood vessels constricted, a sudden pain surged through him. The Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy was acting up again. The pain was much more intense than usual.

Moo-rin quickly sat cross-legged and began operating his cultivation arts.

After circulating his true energy through the four limbs and hundred vessels with utmost focus, his body finally stabilized.

With a pale expression, Moo-rin placed his hand below his left ribs. The Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy was pulsing as if about to burst at any moment. He could feel the end approaching.

Moo-rin opened the box. Inside was another box wrapped in cloth, and inside that was yet another box.

When he opened the final box, a fragrant medicinal aroma wafted out. It was truly a heavenly fragrance that seemed capable of naturally healing internal injuries just by smelling it.

Inside were thirty-three roots of Ten Thousand Year Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng[15] – possessing efficacy incomparable to thousand-year black ginseng or thousand-year snow ginseng.

It was a truly enormous amount. Its value was beyond calculation.

From now, Moo-rin planned to consume all thirty-three roots of Ten Thousand Year Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng at once.

Even he didn’t know what the result would be. He might die from the surging inner energy, or as So Ui-seon had said, it might eliminate the Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy.

Whether he lived or died was in heaven’s hands. Even if he survived, he had no intention of returning to the Iron Blood Alliance. He would think about what came next after surviving. Taking a deep breath, Moo-rin slowly reached out his hand.

He first put one root in his mouth and chewed. Being such a potent medicinal ingredient, it melted away after just a few chews.

Moo-rin continued eating the Ten Thousand Year Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng. Two, three, he ate without stopping. Thus he consumed all thirty-three roots.

He thought that since the creation of the martial world, no one had ever consumed so many spirit medicines at once. The amount would certainly kill an ordinary person, unable to withstand its medicinal effects.

Feeling heat rising throughout his body, Moo-rin sat cross-legged and began operating the unique cultivation arts Nine Sword Cultivation Arts[16].

Swish swish swish!

As his true energy began circulating, heat started emanating from his entire body. He had already undergone the Bone Marrow Cleansing as a child and had opened his Conception and Governing Vessels[17].

Tremendous inner energy began flowing through his Eight Extraordinary Vessels[18].

Incredible heat rose from his danjeon and spread throughout his body.

What started as a slow flow gradually increased in speed. Wind and rain stormed, and gusts howled. The inner energy rushed through Moo-rin’s body like the flooding Yellow River.

It was inner energy far exceeding what Moo-rin could contain. All the blood vessels in his body dangerously swelled as if about to burst.

Struggling not to lose consciousness, Moo-rin tried to focus all that energy on the Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy. His goal wasn’t to accumulate energy but to eliminate the Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy.

Swoooosh!

In the process, indescribable extreme pain surged through him.

It felt like a giant monster was thrashing his body against the ground and walls. He alternated between soaring and falling. His only thought was that he must not lose consciousness.

Moo-rin gritted his teeth and endured.

Crack. Crackkkk.

Blood vessels tore and his entire body felt like it was being shattered.

“Argggggh!”

A scream burst from Moo-rin’s mouth. The pain had exceeded the human threshold for endurance. He rolled around on the floor.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Bones broke and skin tore. Blood soaked his clothes crimson. His head felt like it was about to explode. It was as if someone was repeatedly striking his crown with a hammer.

Crack. Crackle.

It felt like an invisible being was twisting and stretching his body, taking it apart and putting it back together, reconstructing it anew.

And when the pain reached its peak.

Bang! Boooom!

As he felt his danjeon and crown simultaneously explode, Moo-rin’s body slowly went limp.

Even in that moment of sinking into the distant abyss, his body continued changing.

Crack, crack, crackle.

☆ ☆ ☆

Moo-rin opened his eyes three days later.

The first things he felt upon regaining consciousness were extreme hunger and a foul odor.

He slowly raised his body. Filthy things were strewn all around. His skin had shed multiple times. A terrible stench emanated from the blood-caked remnants.

Moo-rin was half-naked, and his blood-stained clothes were in tatters. Here and there, traces of hardened waste that had flowed from his body remained. The stench was so bad that even someone with a strong stomach couldn’t bear it for a moment.

Yet in contrast, his body felt so light it seemed it might float away.

When he unconsciously looked down at his body, Moo-rin was shocked. He had expected his body to be in worse condition, but surprisingly it was clean.

Moreover, the sword scar on his forearm had disappeared. Startled, Moo-rin checked his opposite shoulder. The scar there was also gone. The wound on his stomach, the scar on his thigh – all his scars had vanished.

Moo-rin hurriedly left the secret chamber. He returned to his room naked. Standing before a large mirror, he was shocked.

“What is this?”

He could say with certainty that he had never been this surprised in his life.

The person in the mirror was clearly himself. But he was different from before. His skin, which had been darkened from constant fighting, had become fair and smooth. He looked like a young master raised preciously in a noble family.

That wasn’t all. The dozens of scars that had covered his body had all disappeared without a trace.

And most critically!

“I’ve become younger?”

He had definitely become younger. When he swept back his disheveled hair, a youth in his teens stood in the mirror.

“What on earth happened?”

Even his voice had changed. If Moo-rin had lacked martial world knowledge, he would have thought he was dreaming.

But Moo-rin understood exactly what had happened. Even without the shed skin strewn across the secret chamber floor.

“Complete metamorphosis!”

And another miracle it had produced:

“Returning to youth!”

From a body in its thirties, he had regained the vibrant youth of his teens.

His master had always told him: he was born with natural talent and intuition for martial arts, and his body was perfect for learning them. So never become arrogant and continue striving forward.

This perfect body, combined with the supreme Nine Sword Cultivation Arts, extreme mental fortitude gained through countless real battles, and thirty-three roots of Ten Thousand Year Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng had created this miraculous occurrence.

Moo-rin circulated his inner energy.

Woong.

He felt tremendous energy in his danjeon. The amount of inner energy was incomparable to before. It was difficult to measure the quantity. Originally, he had possessed about one gapja worth of inner energy.

The perceivable energy continued growing.

Two gapja, three gapja, four gapja, five gapja…

The estimated amount of energy kept increasing. Moo-rin’s eyes widened.

Six gapja, seven gapja, eight gapja… nine gapja!

Amazingly, his inner energy was nine gapja[19]. His danjeon was filled with energy equivalent to five hundred and forty years of cultivation. Since it was Innate Inner Energy[20], he could quickly recover through breathing exercises even after using it.

And another shocking fact!

The Blood Demon’s Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy hadn’t disappeared.

In the light, he could see a faint tattoo with a spiral pattern had appeared above his left heart.

The Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy had encased his heart like iron armor. It seemed his heart would be protected by the Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy even if stabbed by a sword. Its nature had completely changed from when it had previously wandered through his blood vessels.

“What exactly happened?”

Moo-rin couldn’t understand. In any case, what had previously threatened to burst with frequent attacks now showed no signs of acting up, as if it had never happened. Though the Blood Heavenly Big Dipper Energy remained, his internal injury had been completely cured.

Moo-rin removed the Ghost Tiger Gloves. His smooth hands spoke: Such things are no longer needed. Your body has become perfect as it is. Rather, the gloves would only hide your strength.

He had become so strong that he needed to wear the gloves to make himself weaker.

Through the complete metamorphosis, his bones and skin had become incomparably stronger than before, and his body had been optimized for learning and demonstrating martial arts.

Even before the complete metamorphosis, Moo-rin had been able to kill the Blood Demon, the greatest master outside the orthodox sects. It wasn’t some martial arts novice who had undergone the transformation, but the world’s greatest master.

Therefore, Moo-rin could now truly be called the undisputed greatest master in the world. And one with a teenager’s vigorous body at that.

Moo-rin could only laugh hollowly.

If this was heaven’s arrangement, he thought its true intentions were truly unfathomable.

“Well, since things have turned out this way!”

A certain exhilaration slowly spread across Moo-rin’s face. Not just because he had become stronger.

Until now, his life had been far too intense.

Fighting and more fighting. Killing and being killed.

He had crossed oceans of blood solely for the Iron Blood Alliance.

That was fine. He was born a martial artist after all. He didn’t regret living as one. He had enjoyed learning martial arts and winning fights against others. He liked becoming stronger and liked being strong.

But even good things get old after a while – he’d gone too long without any leisure in life.

None of his former acquaintances would recognize him now. Even Baek Moo-gyeol would merely think he looked similar without recognizing him. Now he had the chance to shed everything and live freely.

Moo-rin laughed heartily.

“Hahaha. Now let’s live a new life!”

He walked to the window. The once unfamiliar scenery now seemed to be celebrating his new life, lifting his spirits.

Looking up at the sky, Moo-rin called out loudly:

“I have one request! From now on – women! Power! Schemes! Keep them all away from me! Absolutely!”

A whistling bird flew past with a long cry, and beyond it stretched an impossibly bright blue sky.