The resulting flash of light was dizzying. 

A spear swelled from within. 

The First Apprentice mumbled without realizing, “The Divine Dragon Flows In?”

Fwoo—

With that, the spear cut off one arm of the First Apprentice. The detached left arm of the man soared into the air. At the same time, the blood spouted out like a fountain and the First Apprentice screamed. 

“Ahhhhh!”

That was him being dragged through the fiery depths of hell, turning into a dreg of human life. Screams of unbearable pain ripped through the air!

The ‘Sword of Heaven’ Lee Gum-han shouted in surprise at the sound, still some distance away. 

“Master!”

He wielded his sword to scatter the offensive he was facing, trying to run towards the First Apprentice. However, Gwan Tae-ryang did not give him the chance to do so. 

“No way!”

Lee Gum-han lifted his sword and stopped the attack of the Lieutenant. He grit his teeth to fend off the attack and the incoming energy. The sound of metal hitting metal rang. He was clearly very strong, but his opponent was also formidable. 

In addition, the situation had changed due to an injury. 

This was a chance for Gwan Tae-ryang to seize victory! 

The Lieutenant continued to attack without missing a beat. 

‘Echoing Blades of the Lost Soul’

A startling offensive like the hands of Yama [1] aimed at the Sword of Heaven, irrational and unstoppable. Blitz after blitz fell one after another. 

Boom, boom!

“Grrrgh!”

The attack tore through his defenses. 

Lee Gum-han faltered and stepped back. 

“What the hell?!”

Lee Gum-han could only curse within his heart seeing the appearance of the Lieutenant who followed him. It was alright for his opponent to be unafraid of death, but to charge forward with minimal defense? 

Terrifying. Are all the demonic people like this?

Lee Gum-han, who had never fought with someone of the Demonic Cult, had thoughts like this. 

In reality, his thoughts were half right and half wrong. Most of the demonic people were like that. The doctrine of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, which was based on Xinjiang’s barren environment and ‘survival of the fittest’, made them so. 

Of course, not all of them were so unafraid of death. 

There were only certain people who were committed to this path. And the people of the Cave of Latent Demons were just some of them. 

To practitioners like Gwan Tae-ryang, death was familiar. The Cave of Latent Demons, after all, was a place where a thousand people went in and fewer than a hundred people walked out. 

“For the past decade I’ve learned. How to kill someone, how weak you need to be to die, and how much you have to break someone to kill them! Someone like you cannot kill me!”

The dark sword that was swung towards Gwan Tae-ryang was clearly deadly, to the extent it caused him to feel his skin prickling. 

But it was not enough to feel death. 

Hell is spread out in front of you. If you don’t go in, you’re still alive. Death was more sour than flesh falling alone in the cold — life was little more than dancing on the knife’s edge. 

Fight, kill, survive. 

There was no ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ compassionate lesson to be learned, only a harsh rule of survival. 

Only the strong survive.

The Cave of Latent Demons and the demonic practitioners it produced, including Gwan Tae-ryang, were produced from such a truth. 

My first time against the Captain was more terrifying than this!

Reminiscing of the days of life and death, Gwan Tae-ryang once again confronted Lee Gum-han. 

Boom!

While Gwan Tae-ryang was dealing with his opponent, an unknown voice continued to infiltrate the ears of Woon-seong.

Through the spear in his hand, words flowed into his head. 

“Heir of the path of the Spear Master. I shan’t ask why you are part of the Cult. However, take in what I have left behind.”

Words from the Dragon Fang Spear of the White Night came to mind in glowing letters. 

“I had also once devoted my life to the path of the Spear Master. This is my legacy to an apprentice of the future. Take the spear as a whole and stand strong on top of the world!”

Some words were added to the head of the youth. As if it was a thunderbolt, it crushed him in a moment. In the midst of the flow though, the voice was not yet finished. 

“I am the Unrecorded. This is a present from I, the forgotten, to the heir of our Sect!”

At the same time, an unfamiliar energy settled into the youth’s body. 

Weng!

Soon, Woon-seong returned to reality. 

What just happened?

After such an unfamiliar and mysterious experience, Woon-seong unknowingly covered his face with his hands. 

He groaned. 

There were still a lot of passages in his head. It was straining his consciousness to assimilate all the new knowledge. 

In addition to the unfamiliar energy, what happened just now was clearly not a dream. 

It was too vivid to be a dream, but too unreal to say it was not. 

Woon-seong was quite confused. 

“Agh!”

The First Apprentice screamed in pain, freeing the youth from the chaos. 

Woon-seong slowly raised his head. 

Oh yeah, there’s still him.

The First Apprentice had lost an arm, but he was still an enemy. 

I need to break the enemy thoroughly.

Any worries about this surreal hallucination were to be postponed. 

He grabbed his spear. 

The First Apprentice, who had just lost an arm, was no longer the opponent of the youth. He had stopped the bleeding, but it was no good. Not only had he lost a lot of blood, the balance of his body had collapsed. In such a situation, it was impossible for him to even block successfully. 

As if to prove this, the right leg of the First Apprentice was cut off less than ten seconds later. 

“Augh!”

Five seconds later, the left ankle was severed. Blood spewed out like a fountain, and the man writhed on the ground in pain. 

Woon-seong walked slowly towards the man. The First Apprentice tried to stop the youth, but could only swing the sword with his left arm. The moment it collided with Woon-seong’s spear, it was over. 

Crack!

Half of the sword was shattered into pieces, the other half was sent flying into the air. 

A late pain came from the limb that was cut off, causing the First Apprentice to moan. “Ugh.”

“Master!” Lee Gum-han shouted for his master once more. 

But if things could be changed only by moaning and shouting, the past Woon-seong and Master Nok Yu would not have died. 

So Woon-seong approached the one-armed man, aiming the spear at his neck. With it hovering under his chin, the First Apprentice could only tremble. 

The youth glanced backwards. Gwan Tae-ryang looked like he was going insane against the Sword of Heaven. 

They won’t be able to hear us. Woon-seong confirmed this and wet his lips. 

“Now tell me. Why was your disciple wandering around with the bandits in Xinjiang?”

The First Apprentice responded with a growl, “Do you really think I would tell you?”

‘I will not talk even if all my limbs have been cut’. 

Woon-seong laughed at that resolution. “Let’s see how long you last.”

In Woon-seong’s eyes, the First Apprentice was a dragon without its limbs — in other words, a worm.

“What?”

Woon-seong used his fingers to tap on some acupuncture points, causing extreme pain to flood the First Apprentice’s body. His bones twisted, muscles shredded, and fire ants seemed to gnaw at his blood vessels. 

The man rolled on the floor, screaming. 

“Arrrgh!”

But the pain only got worse.

The Sword of Heaven once again screamed for his master, but he could do nothing.

After some time, Woon-seong tapped some more acupuncture points and the pain disappeared. 

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Nevertheless, the First Apprentice’s breathing was rough and painful. 

Looking down at him coldly, Woon-seong opened his mouth.

“Tell me now. What was your disciple doing there?”

“….”

Woon-seong shook his head once when he was met with silence. He moved his hand and harshly slapped the First Apprentice. “Let me change my question.” 

He lowered his head and whispered something into the other’s ear.

The First Apprentice’s eyes bulged in shock, “How do you know that?!”

At this exclamation, the eyes of the youth deepened by themselves. If looks could kill, the First Apprentice would have died on the spot.

“So it was a false accusation. Why did you falsely accuse the Spear Master Sect of Learning Demonic Arts?”

I knew Master wasn’t learning some forbidden demonic art.

Obviously, Woon-seong had asked about the fall of the Spear Master Sect and the First Apprentice’s lack of composure was a dead giveaway. 

“How did you…No, how are you related to the Spear Master Sect?”

“…”

“Could you be a disciple of the sect? No way. Obviously he died that day…”

Woon-seong did not answer the question. There was no need or reason to explain his rebirth by fate to a dead man. In addition, his appearance was very different now compared to what it used to be. The soul was the same but the body was different.

Woon-seong wasn’t about to tell the First Apprentice something so useless — the man obviously wasn’t going to find out by himself either.

During the silence, the First Apprentice blabbered like a lunatic as he flailed about with his sword. “Why? Who are you? What happened…”

Looking at him, Woon-seong could see that the end was not far. Blood flowed from the broken limbs and was driving the other to his death. He was losing time and he needed answers. 

“Who was it? Who framed the two people of the Spear Master Sect?”

At this question, the First Apprentice laughed instead of answering. Feeling uncomfortable, Woon-seong made a scratch on the other’s cheek.

“If you do not speak, I will kill you horribly. Giving you all the pain possible before your death!”

Woon-seong did not say that he would spare the other; the First Apprentice had to die today. 

Normally, unwillingness to die gruesomely would be enough to for a person to admit all of their sins. 

However, the First Apprentice’s response was unexpected.

“No matter what you ask, there’s nothing you can find out from me.” As Woon-seong’s expression twitched, the man continued with an increasingly faint voice, “Whatever happens here, the fact that I will die does not change.”

At that, Woon-seong felt cold sweat dripping down his neck. He had understood the implication of those words. “If you don’t tell me here, would you die painfully?”

“…” 

I’m here trying to intimidate you with a painful death, but you refuse to open your mouth! That only meant one thing: death today was better than staying alive to die later.

He’d rather die by my hands than be killed by his supposed allies… For him to be so afraid…Who the hell is behind this? 

Woon-seong stared at the crumpled form of the man, but the First Apprentice refused to speak. 

Master, what on earth did you do for you to be framed by these people?

Woon-seong had seen the First Apprentice several times and understood how the man worked. If he was behind this scheme, he would have opened his mouth.

But right now, the man was silent. 

Is it the Imperial Palace?

Woon-seong did not even want to think of that.

Then, he asked one final question, almost as a plea, “I’ll ask for the last time. Answer at least one of the questions I have asked!”

The only response to this was more silence — the First Apprentice even closed his eyes. 

It was a clear statement: I will not answer whatever you have asked.

In aggravation, Woon-seong swung his spear. 

Fwoo—

Blood sprayed from the man’s neck like a fountain.

Without a sound, the First Apprentice had died.

“Master!” The Sword of Heaven cried out in anguish. 

Everything was getting more complicated, problems were multiplying. 

But one of the enemies Woon-seong needed to kill was dead. 

Good, that was another one down. 

[1] Yama is the Buddhist deity of death and the Underworld. It is said that once you have received an invitation from Yama, you are destined to die within ten breaths of time.