The battle did not end just because the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate had fallen.
Survivors of the Black Heaven Sword Gate still remained.
But the problem was that I had expended too much energy dealing with the Sword Gate Lord. I might have enough for a few swings of my sword, but cutting down two Peak Realm martial artists would be difficult.
Whether they sensed this or not, those who had been overwhelmed by the previous battle and frozen by their lord's death raised their swords once more.
"Now, now's the chance! Avenge the Lord!"
"Don't let him catch his breath! If we die, we die together!"
"…They're asking for it."
I let out a long sigh and studied the faces of the enemies rushing toward me.
The two Peak Realm martial artists at the lead looked a bit tired, but they still had plenty of fight left in them.
If things continued as they were, a grueling brawl was sure to begin.
But since I'd already cut down the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate with my sword, there was no need to fight fair.
I drove my sword into the ground and pulled a small barrel from my robes. Then—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion. Countless Cow Hair Needles shot out, blanketing the face of the nearest Peak Realm martial artist.
The Ink Smoke Needle Barrel. It was a hidden weapon launcher that used a small amount of gunpowder—one of the defensive tools Tang Jincheon had given me before I left the Tang Clan.
"What?!"
Startled by the sudden appearance of the Tang Clan's secret art, the man hurriedly swung his sword, but… sword qi or not, how could he possibly block this many Cow Hair Needles?
In the first place, something like the Ink Smoke Needle Barrel could only be countered if you read its signs beforehand and moved out of the way, or if you could spread a sword barrier by extending your sword qi long and wide.
Unfortunately, the opponent, who had managed neither, collapsed with Cow Hair Needles embedded all over his body, coughing up blood.
"Kugh!"
His complexion turned purple in an instant. Naturally, the Cow Hair Needles themselves were weapons with almost no killing power on their own. That was why they were always coated with Extreme Poison.
Everyone present stared at the fallen man in shock. Well, he was a Peak Realm expert, so he probably wouldn't die right away. Perhaps he could even expel the poison energy if given time.
Still, it was true that he would be unable to move his body for a while and would have to focus solely on Qi Circulation Cultivation.
Even with my current condition, I could probably handle a Peak Realm martial artist one way or another. Still, if there was an easier path, shouldn't I take it?
I pulled the sword stuck in the ground with one hand and aimed it, while my other hand reached into my robes and drew out a glass bead the size of a fist.
No great throwing skill was needed. Just toss it, and the glass would shatter, releasing the poison smoke sealed inside.
Of course, the poison smoke contained within was a potent venom, and by its very nature, it didn't distinguish between friend and foe…
But thanks to Tang So-wol, I had been steadily consuming Crane Spirit Grass, building up resistance to plant-based poisons in general, so it posed no problem for me at all.
With this, even the remaining few first-rate martial artists would collapse on the spot.
In the end, the last elder of the Black Heaven Sword Gate, realizing he would have to face me alone, swelled the veins in his neck.
"Y-you coward! How can you still call yourself a martial artist and a swordsman after pulling something like this!"
"Is there some problem with a member of the Tang Clan using hidden weapons and poison?"
It wasn't quite to the level of the Hidden Weapon Art or a poison art. It was merely a technique that relied on an External Object… but regardless, wasn't it still a Tang Clan technique? And I was the Tang Clan's live-in son-in-law.
"If you don't like it, you should have prepared in advance."
"…!"
As I curled up the corners of my mouth into a smirk, the man's pupils trembled violently. But perhaps it was because he had realized there was no way he would escape alive anyway.
A resolute glint settled in the opponent's eyes.
"Fine. Then let's see if you can receive the last sword of the Black Heaven Sword Gate…"
Thwack!
Mid-sentence, the man was struck by something, rolling several paces across the floor.
His chest was caved in in the shape of a fist, so he was certainly dead on the spot.
I turned around in disbelief, and there stood Seomun Hwa-rin, her small lips pressed tightly together, still in the stance of having thrown a punch.
That blow just now must have been the fist wind she had sent out.
I tilted my head at the sight of her, her eyes somehow glistening, and asked.
"Weren't you not supposed to interfere?"
"My mind changed again in that time."
"???"
No. Sangwan Geuk was still the Lord of the Black Alliance—could he really be this fickle?
It had flowed in my favor, but this was a bit much, so I looked toward Sangwan Geuk.
He had re-shouldered his two spears and was ambling toward me with a hearty laugh.
"What this Alliance Lord promised was only to let you go quietly once you brought down the Black Heaven Sword Gate."
"Lies! You promised to stop our sect leader and Baekbal Nachal!"
The frozen first-rate martial artist of the Black Heaven Sword Gate screamed, but Sangwan Geuk merely shrugged as if it were nothing.
"That Black Heaven Sword Gate Lord is dead, isn't he? What reason is there to hold onto a promise made with a dead man? Besides…"
The corner of his mouth curled up. It was a sneer that made no effort to hide his contempt for the weak.
"Do you truly believe that if Baekbal Nachal were watching, things would turn out any differently?"
"…"
The man kept his mouth firmly shut. He knew it. Even if he had fought me head-on, the one who would fall would not change.
The man, shoulders slumped, suddenly lifted his head. His eyes were filled with a sticky, viscous grudge.
"My older brother died at the hands of you, Baekbal Nachal."
"My brother also met his end at the hands of the Black Heaven Sword Gate."
"Even knowing it's meaningless, I have no intention of stopping."
"Do you think I am any different? The past I failed to properly finish—now, at last, I can bring it to a close."
Seomun Hwa-rin let out a scoff and planted her fist against her waist, looking ready to unleash a gale of fist wind at any moment. I staggered and stepped in front of her.
"Ah! Get out of my way! Surely you're not trying to shield those bastards!"
I shook my head at Seomun Hwa-rin, who was hopping about in a fury.
"Have you forgotten?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I said it was I who would exterminate the Black Heaven Sword Gate a second time."
"That's—"
Before Seomun Hwa-rin could fire back a retort, I snatched the large glass orb from my left hand and hurled it at her.
Crash!
Poison smoke rose with the shattering sound. Some covered their noses and mouths with their sleeves and pulled up their internal energy to resist, but no one stepped back.
The martial artists of the Black Heaven Sword Gate charged at me, blood streaming from their eyes, noses, and mouths. Most of them collapsed before they even got close, but a few managed to reach me and swung their swords.
I easily dodged and deflected their strikes, which carried neither strength nor even proper weight, and finished off those who were already on the verge of death.
The one who had been glaring at Seomun Hwa-rin with vengeance until the very end grabbed the sword piercing his own heart with his bare hands.
Blood dripped down as the blade cut into his palms. Gasping for breath, he vomited a bowlful of blood and spat out his final words of resentment.
"I curse you all."
"Fine by me."
"But I understand why you resent us… cough!"
"…What?"
I hadn't expected to hear something like that, so my shoulders flinched involuntarily.
The bastard continued, his eyes slowly closing.
"I saw your grudge. I felt a murderous intent so intense I could barely fathom it. I knew that others might harbor the same resentment toward us that we carry, but I only knew it in my head, not in my heart."
"Are you trying to apologize now, is that it?"
"Not at all. I only hope that someday, you too will be crushed beneath the weight of your own karma."
"Hah."
With that, the guy bowed his head deeply. I had wondered what he was going to say, but it turned out to be nothing much.
"I knew all along."
Before the regression. Was it likely that only one or two people regarded me as an enemy—me, who had been called the Sword Demon and had cut down every single person connected to the Black Heaven Sword Gate?
Perhaps someday, as he said, the day might come when I would be caught in the shackles of karmic debt.
But in the end, what came for me was not my own karma, but something entirely different.
The greatest monster of the past and present, one who turned the tangled karmic debts of the Central Plains martial world into stale old tales. The Heavenly Demon.
"I wonder if that day will truly come."
In the end, if I die by the Heavenly Demon's hand in this life as well, then the karmic debts I have piled up will scatter into nothing, devoid of any meaning.
If I manage to bring down the Heavenly Demon, I'll have become the greatest martial artist under heaven, so there's no way I'd fall to some half-hearted revenge.
Well, either way, my bitter entanglement with the Black Heaven Sword Gate comes to an end today.
For now, that's enough.
"Hoo…"
I turned around to finish off the one who had been hit by the Ink Smoke Needle Barrel at the start, but all that remained was a corpse with its head hanging low.
It seemed that while he was trying to expel the poison from the Cow Hair Needle, the poison energy from the Poison Smoke had piled on, and in the end, he couldn't hold out—his internal organs had melted away.
"…Is it over now?"
Seomun Hwa-rin approached me and asked in a cautious tone. I nodded toward her.
"That's how it appears for now."
"Then stay right there."
At last, the permission (?) to approach was granted, and Seomun Hwa-rin came to me, struggling to support me with her small frame.
It became a little—just a little—more comfortable to stand.
I stared at Seomun Hwa-rin with fresh eyes, but she merely sweated as she examined my body.
"Oh dear. Your external injuries are serious, but your internal injuries are no less severe. Especially your meridians—they're tattered, and your Dantian is warped. It seems recovery will take a long time…"
"Well, it's at a level I can recover from, given enough time."
"Do you have any idea that could take years?!"
"It probably won't take a few years…"
Though I had patched it up here and there, the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art was originally a martial art riddled with flaws.
Given its foundation, and since it was an art that abandoned the stability that comes from purity in favor of focusing on power, it also contained a considerable amount of the mysteries of the Bloodburst Art.
Naturally, all of these improvements were tested on my own body, no one else's. And naturally, even if I didn't want to, I learned the tricks to avoid fatal injuries and to recover quickly.
I couldn't say anything about my external wounds, but my internal injuries would be manageable in three months at most.
I was troubled by Seomun Hwa-rin's appearance—beyond making a fuss, her eyes were welling up with tears.
Just then, Sangwan Geuk, who had been watching my final battle with satisfaction, pulled a small pouch from his bosom and tossed it to me.
"Take it."
"This is…?"
A pouch filled with small pills. As I loosened the knot, a sharp, medicinal scent wafted out.
"It's a healing medicine for internal injuries used by the Black Alliance. It has almost no effect on boosting internal energy, but it's excellent for recovery. Geum Don-ui made it, so you can trust it."
"Geum Don-ui!"
Seomun Hwa-rin's eyes went wide. Well, of course. Geum Don-ui was famous, after all.
A physician who always wore a dazzling golden robe, concealing his protruding belly. One of the martial world's eccentrics, who would treat anyone regardless of their background as long as they paid enough.
He demanded a hefty fee and refused to treat patients without money, which earned him no shortage of criticism… but his skill was beyond dispute. Still.
"…Thank you, but why exactly are you giving this to me?"
"You're not going to verify that it's actually Geum Don-ui's medicine?"
"They say even a dog from a village school can recite poetry after three years. I've lived in the Tang Clan for three years, so I can at least tell medicine from poison."
"Oh."
In truth, he had seen Sangwan Geuk frequently buying medicine from Geum Don-ui before his regression, and knew that he would sprinkle it on people he favored to win their goodwill, so he didn't suspect anything.
Even if it were truly a deception meant to poison him, there was a bit of optimism that the top-grade Blood Poison Wine he'd received from the Tang Clan would see him through somehow.
As he stared straight into Sangwan Geuk's eyes with his battered, exhausted body, a hint of favor—and a deep, sticky greed—began to settle in the man's gaze.
"This is the real deal, isn't it. What did you say your name was? Cheon… Cheon-ho?"
"It's Cheon Hwi."
"Right, Cheon Hwi. Take this as well."
Sangwan Geuk handed over a lavish token—black-lacquered ivory inlaid with gold leaf, pulled from his bosom.
On it, as if to show off, the words "Lord of the Black Alliance" were inscribed in red.
"…"
Wait, here of all places?
He'd known Sangwan Geuk was a man hungry for talent, but he never expected him to hand the Alliance Leader's Token to someone who clearly belonged to the Orthodox Sects.
"I don't know if you're aware, but that's the Alliance Leader's Token. Show it at the Black Alliance's main headquarters and they'll receive you as a honored guest. Come whenever you wish. Just know you won't be able to go back."
"Pardon?"
"Just once. If you visit the Black Alliance with that token, I'll grant you anything within my power as Alliance Lord. But from that day on, you'll belong to the Black Alliance and become my subordinate."
It was a rather unconventional offer. But perhaps that was exactly why Seomun Hwa-rin disliked it all the more.
"Tsk! Throw it away right now! I'll grant you anything within my power as well, so throw that token away this instant! Do it now!"
Seomun Hwa-rin tapped my wrist as if I'd dropped a piece of candy on the ground. But as someone who knew just how great a favor this was, I couldn't refuse it outright.
Having no use for it would be ideal, but who knows how things might turn out? There's no harm in preparing for the worst.
I dodged Seomun Hwa-rin's hand, tucked the Alliance Leader's Token into my chest, and gave a fist-and-palm salute.
"I'm grateful for the favor—both the token and this Yosangyak. Though I can't guarantee I'll be able to repay that favor."
"Heh heh. That's enough for now. From the looks of it, I'll be seeing a lot of you in the future."
Sangwan Geuk turned around and began walking back the way he had come.
"I have other gifts as well… but let's save those for later enjoyment. For now, let's savor the victory of the present."
Having said his piece, Sangwan Geuk departed without looking back.
Seomun Hwa-rin stared blankly at his retreating figure, then put on a deliberately angry expression before continuing in a voice that soon softened.
"…I have much to say about you accepting that token without listening to my words, but let's put that aside for now. We should find a place to rest and recover your body."
"Why don't we just find an inn and wait? The Murim Alliance will come looking for us on their own. We can receive the rest of the treatment from them."
With half of Seomun Hwa-rin's weight leaning on him, Cheon Hwi was about to head toward the nearest village when something suddenly came to mind.
He stopped in his tracks.
"Why do you stop?"
"Even so, we should take what we came for."
A pitch-black sword lay rolling on the ground. Despite the violent clash, its blade remained flawless and smooth.
"Solid black iron, is it?"
One may hate the man, but the object bears no sin.