I couldn't believe what Baek Hyang-muk had just said.
—What kind of nonsense is this?
That's exactly what I wanted to say.
Lee Jung-gyeom, a murderous maniac called Jeolshim? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I couldn't help but be shocked, no matter how hard I tried not to be.
'That can't be…'
Even before my regression, Lee Jung-gyeom had been a new hero symbolizing the orthodox sects, and though his fame now was somewhat overshadowed by mine, he was still regarded as one of the top young experts representing the Murim Alliance.
It made no sense that someone like him could be Jeolshim, the infamous butcher.
I had crossed paths with Lee Jung-gyeom numerous times by now, and yet I had never sensed anything unusual from him.
His energy was pure and righteous, his tone always lethargic and indifferent, and he always seemed bothered by everything—but he was more upright than most orthodox warriors.
To think that man was known as the worst butcher was utter nonsense.
—Well, you never know. The orthodox sects would be in an uproar if they knew you were a Blood Demon. So it's not impossible for others to hide things too.
This was something entirely different.
Granted, I had never faced Lee Jung-gyeom after reaching my current level, but during the Young Lord trial of the Pungyeong Eight Schools in Musang Fortress, I had once opened my Golden Eye while blindfolded.
Jeolshim, the Butcher, was one of the top five strongest among all superhuman beings.
I had caught a glimpse of Lee Jung-gyeom back then, and his internal energy wasn't beyond that of a top master—it was neither more nor less.
—Are you sure?
Isn't that obvious?
Of course, back then I hadn't yet surpassed my own limits, so I may not have assessed him properly. But if he truly had transcended into the realm of superhumans, he would've appeared as pure light to me.
More importantly, the timeline didn't fit.
He first appeared only about three years after the end of the Great War between the orthodox and unorthodox sects.
—Wait, that's true. Isn't he in his twenties?
I don't know his exact age.
But I do know he's in his early to mid-twenties.
Even if I generously assume he's 25, that would make him only eight years old 17 years ago.
So you're telling me a ten-year-old boy suddenly showed up in Guiju Province and slaughtered over 200 villagers, building a tower of severed heads?
Even considering all the incidents that followed, it's simply not believable.
He massacred martial artists from various sects and clans, including the Jaechang Clan.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"It is the truth."
"Truth or not, it doesn't make any sense. Jeolshim first appeared in Guiju 17 years ago, and Lee Jung-gyeom is only in his twenties."
"...That's only natural. He is the Jeolshim before that child."
"Before?"
What was that supposed to mean?
Puzzled, I watched Baek Hyang-muk sit on a large rock by the valley like it were a chair and say,
"This might be a long story."
---
At the same time.
In the Qinglong Hall of the main building.
Inside his quarters, Lee Jung-gyeom was scribbling something with a brush.
More precisely, he wasn't writing letters or painting—he was wildly scribbling something unintelligible.
What the heck is he doing? Lee Jung-gyeom furiously moved his brush until finally resting his chin on his hand, gazing at the ink-covered paper.
Strangely, viewed from above, the brush strokes looked like the preliminary traces of sword techniques.
Not just a single technique, but an entangled mess of many.
Lee Jung-gyeom grinned with satisfaction as he looked at it.
Just then, someone called him from outside.
"Master, do you have a moment?"
"Ah, yes. Coming."
He folded the paper in half, extinguished the lantern on his desk, and walked out of the quarters.
Soon after, someone carefully entered the room.
The person was masked.
The masked figure began searching the room quietly.
After some time, they sighed in frustration.
'It's not here.'
They had hoped it might be hidden in the quarters, but it seemed not.
'Guess I'll have to take him instead.'
Just as that thought passed through their mind, the masked person's eyes narrowed.
Something on the desk had been bothering them since entering the room.
They unfolded the paper that had been left there.
Their pupils trembled slightly upon seeing it.
'…Did he express that duel using ink?'
Unless their eyes were deceiving them, this was clearly a depiction of sword forms using brush strokes.
The masked figure was stunned.
'It must have been nearly invisible to the naked eye, yet he sensed the sword's essence?'
The idea that someone captured a duel between top experts with just brush and paper was shocking.
They had seen many talents, but never anyone like this.
It was as if his perception exceeded even his own limits.
'He may truly be capable of handling that.'
—Twitch!
The masked figure quickly folded the paper again.
Someone was approaching the room.
Judging by the footsteps, presence, and aura, Lee Jung-gyeom was returning.
'Perfect.'
They decided to seize him now.
They couldn't afford a commotion in the main building.
The masked figure leapt to the ceiling, hiding in the shadows and completely masking their presence.
—Step step… creak…
The door opened and Lee Jung-gyeom entered.
He closed the door and walked toward the center of the room.
In that instant, the masked figure descended like a flash of lightning and struck his vital point.
—Tap tap tap!
Caught off guard, Lee Jung-gyeom collapsed unconscious.
'Without that, he's still just a rookie.'
The masked figure slung him over their shoulder and quietly exited the room.
---
"When the Great War between the orthodox and unorthodox sects ended and peace returned to the martial world, the incident in Guiju occurred."
That was when Jeolshim the Butcher first appeared.
He arrived in a village northwest of Guiju and slaughtered all the civilians, stacking their severed heads into a tower.
From then on, unspeakable atrocities were committed across regions like Shaanxi.
"As the incidents grew more serious, the Alliance, at the government's request, joined in to suppress the situation."
I already knew that.
The government and the Murim Alliance searched for Jeolshim's trail for five years.
But I remembered they found nothing in the end.
"They didn't catch him, right?"
Baek Hyang-muk shook his head.
Did that mean they had found him?
"In the third year of the investigation, one sweltering summer day, the Alliance finally found a trace of him. Considering the danger, I personally took command."
The number of victims had reached into the thousands.
Many masters were killed, and Jeolshim even earned a new title among the Four Great Villains.
He was the one who turned the original Three Great Villains into Four.
"The fiend who had never stayed long or left traces remained over two weeks in one village. I led thirty elite warriors in a surprise attack."
Apparently, there was no need to worry about civilian casualties.
Everyone in that village had already been killed by Jeolshim.
And so began the battle to capture the worst butcher in Murim history.
"The fight lasted nearly half a day."
Though Baek Hyang-muk tried to end it quickly, it wasn't easy.
That was due to Jeolshim's demonic sword: Fear-Kill Sword (Geopsalgeom).
The blade was rumored to prevent wounds from clotting—any cut meant certain death.
"He wielded a near-perfect sword style, unmatched among unorthodox sects since the Blood Demon. What made him harder to fight was another ability of the Fear-Kill Sword."
"Another ability?"
"Yes. The sword could scatter and neutralize energies like Jingi."
Ah!
Now I remembered what Baek Hye-hyang had said after clashing with him:
[His insane swordsmanship was one thing, but he deflected every attack like he was redirecting energy with ihwajeopmok. Even when his feet weren't touching the ground.]
Master Iljon also said the same.
Back then, I thought it was just his incredible swordsmanship—but it was the sword's power?
If true, that made the Fear-Kill Sword a formidable weapon.
"In the end, everyone but myself was defeated. But the longer the battle dragged on, the more his condition worsened, and I was able to subdue him."
"…Ah."
So the truth wasn't so different from the rumors.
Jeolshim the Butcher was ultimately brought down by Baek Hyang-muk.
He sighed deeply and confessed.
"…I should've destroyed the sword or handed it over to the authorities, but I failed. It's a regret I carry to this day."
"You mean…"
"Fighting him awakened greed in me. That someone with lesser internal power than I could overwhelm me for so long with just skill and that sword…"
Anyone would have been tempted.
At first, he intended to hand over Jeolshim and the sword, but his desire grew.
He convinced himself it was safer to keep the sword away from the authorities and killed Jeolshim on the spot.
"I then concealed everything from both the Alliance and the government. I thought there would be no issue, since I'd killed a notorious killer, and I justified my greed."
"…I see."
That much, I could understand.
Even I wouldn't have given up such a magnificent sword.
Wouldn't all swordsmen feel the same way?
"After desperately disposing of that man's corpse, I was about to leave when I suddenly remembered something he said before he died."
"Something he said?"
It was just before Baek Hyang-muk killed him.
["Think of it all as the karma from your heinous deeds."]
When he tried to cut his neck with the sword after those words, the man reportedly said this:
["It doesn't matter. I've found the greatest body that will never appear again."]
Troubled by those words, Baek Hyang-muk looked around the village of the dead.
And, surprisingly, he discovered a boy in an abandoned house not far away.
"With my senses, it wasn't hard to detect a ten-year-old boy who hadn't even learned martial arts from that distance. But it happened by chance as I was wandering around."
The boy was hiding from Baek Hyang-muk, concealing his presence completely.
He was even suppressing the minimum energy that ordinary people naturally have.
At first, Baek Hyang-muk wondered if he had already learned martial arts.
"But that wasn't it. The child was born in that village and had never learned any martial arts."
"And yet he fooled you?"
"I couldn't understand it at first either. But after observing the child, I realized something."
"Realized what?"
"That there are beings born into this world for the sake of martial arts."
"For the sake of martial arts?"
Baek Hyang-muk spoke with a trembling voice.
"None of the martial prodigies or so-called geniuses I've seen, nor those with outstanding physiques, could compare to that child."
How extraordinary must he be for Baek Hyang-muk to be this excited just recalling it?
"That child was born with an innate sensitivity to qi."
Baek Hyang-muk said he let his inner energy flow through the boy's pulse to examine him.
But the qi that entered the boy's body slipped out of his control.
And then, as if it had always belonged to the boy, it was emitted from his body, shocking Baek Hyang-muk.
'…That's impossible.'
Even I couldn't hide my surprise.
Is it even possible for someone who hasn't learned internal arts to control another's qi?
It was only after breaking through a wall that I could barely control my own energy.
If so, this was an unprecedented talent.
"I didn't hesitate. I decided to take the child in."
I frowned at his words and asked,
"Don't tell me that child is Lee Jeong-gyeom?"
"...That's right."
At Baek Hyang-muk's response, I fell silent.
The child he took in on the day he killed Salhyeong Jeolsim turned out to be Lee Jeong-gyeom.
"Originally, he was the third son of a dead farmer and was called Ah-sam, but I took him in and gave him a new name."
Lee Jeong-gyeom (李正謙).
Apparently, there was a plum tree at the house where he was born.
So, he was given the surname 'Lee' (meaning plum tree), and the name Jeong-gyeom (meaning upright and humble) in hopes that his remarkable martial talent would be guided by righteousness and humility.
"After taking the boy in, I reported that Jeolsim had escaped and then headed to the Taoist gate."
That was to obtain a talisman.
"Because of the sword?"
"Yes. The sword spirit of the Fearsome Kill Sword was powerful, but the demonic energy was even more overwhelming."
Having once sealed the Blood Demon Sword after the righteous-evil war, Baek Hyang-muk believed he needed a Taoist talisman to suppress the demonic energy.
And because it was a sword he obtained without informing the Murim Alliance, he feared that if the demonic energy spread and bewitched people, it would become a big problem.
"...But then trouble started."
The Taoist who tried to affix the talisman was bewitched by the sword spirit of the Fearsome Kill Sword.
And that was the beginning of the problem.
The bewitched Taoist passed the sword to none other than Lee Jeong-gyeom.
"Hah!"
Even without seeing it, I could guess what happened next.
"Enchanted by the sword spirit, Jeong-gyeom slaughtered the Taoists he saw. Fortunately, I found out quickly and took the sword from him. But still…"
That was when Baek Hyang-muk realized how grave the situation was.
Even though Lee Jeong-gyeom hadn't learned martial arts, being possessed by the sword spirit made him as strong as a high-level master.
"I felt a fear I had never known before."
Possessed by the sword spirit, Lee Jeong-gyeom began to speak as if he were Salhyeong Jeolsim himself.
He even performed the same sword techniques that Jeolsim had once shown.
Thankfully, his body couldn't keep up and his internal energy was lacking, so he was subdued quickly.
"I thought it was over. But it was only the beginning."
Lee Jeong-gyeom's sensitivity was unlike anyone else's, and he couldn't easily escape the sword spirit's influence.
As if he had two personalities within him, he changed dozens of times a day.
Lee Jeong-gyeom himself remembered nothing after returning to normal, but every time he changed, he sought the sword again.
After days of agonizing, Baek Hyang-muk made a decision.
"I decided to give up the sword."
He became convinced that the being known as Salhyeong Jeolsim originated from the sword spirit of the Fearsome Kill Sword.
So, Baek Hyang-muk hid the sword where no one could ever reach it.
"Didn't you think to destroy it?"
"I tried to have it melted in a forge, but it didn't melt. It wouldn't even break."
So, he sealed it inside a metal box covered in talismans and hid it deep in the wilderness where even martial masters would find it hard to reach.
Then he headed to none other than the Wudang sect.
"Wudang is known for mysterious martial arts. I remembered one called Yangui Divine Art, which is said to allow control of the mind and splitting it in two."
"Splitting the mind?"
Such a bizarre technique actually existed.
The world of martial arts is truly vast.
"I believed the Taoist master Jongseon, who had mastered that art, could drive out the sword spirit and restore Jeong-gyeom. So I entrusted the boy to him."
Ah…
So that's why Lee Jeong-gyeom became a joint disciple.
I had thought it was to create a new hero for the orthodox sects, but there was this reason behind it.
"My plan was to retrieve the child once he overcame the sword spirit. But it proved too difficult."
Although he absorbed other martial arts with terrifying speed, he never mastered the Yangui Divine Art.
Because of this, Jeong-gyeom had to periodically return to Wudang to receive direct infusions of qi from Jongseon.
Several years passed like this, and eventually, the sword spirit no longer surfaced.
The violent, murderous personality stopped appearing.
"But after those years passed, I heard something disturbing."
"...Jeolsim had returned."
"Yes."
There had been a time when Jeolsim disappeared for about four years.
From what Baek Hyang-muk was saying, the timelines roughly overlapped.
He let out a long sigh.
"Just in case, I went to the hiding place of the Fearsome Kill Sword, and found it was gone."
I asked,
"Did Jeong-gyeom know where it was?"
"Would I tell a child possessed by the sword where it was? At that time, Jeong-gyeom was undergoing secluded training in the Dark Cloud Cave at Wudang."
Dark Cloud Cave was a pitch-black cave with no light at all.
Wudang's advanced students would spend 108 days there taking spiritual pills and training in complete darkness.
"…So someone else must have found the sword."
"Just as you guessed."
Realizing the situation was serious, Baek Hyang-muk used the Murim Alliance's full force and traps like the Heaven Net to catch the new Jeolsim, but failed repeatedly.
The enemy seemed to know their every move.
"I became anxious."
"That Jeolsim might show up in front of me?"
"...Exactly."
I scoffed and said,
"Is that why you learned Blood Heaven Grand Internal Art?"
I had been meaning to ask that.
At my words, Baek Hyang-muk replied, almost ashamed.
"...That was my only option. No matter how I thought about it, the only way to resist the sword that scatters qi was the Blood Heaven Grand Internal Art, which concentrates qi into the blade."
"Hah!"
Now I understood why Baek Hyang-muk learned that dangerous art.
He needed his sword to withstand the power of Blood Heaven, since he couldn't wield a demonic sword as a righteous sect leader.
Hmm... but Baek Hye-hyang said she deflected most of the attacks.
If Baek Hyang-muk's strategy had worked, the blood-infused sword should've been effective. But something about that still bothers me.
At that moment, Baek Hyang-muk bit his lip and said,
"But all the risk I took learning Blood Heaven Grand Internal Art has become meaningless."
"What do you mean?"
"I only learned the truth after he died."
'Ah!'
I immediately understood what he meant.
It was the death of the great swordmaster Jongseon from Wudang.
When I first heard that Jeong-gyeom was Salhyeong Jeolsim, that was my biggest question.
Why had Jeolsim targeted Jongseon even before my regression and again afterward?
—Could it be?
Yes.
He waited for the opportunity to kill Jongseon, the one suppressing his alternate personality using Yangui Divine Art.
Until then, even Baek Hyang-muk hadn't realized that personality was still alive.
But with Jongseon's death, he became certain.
The one who took the sword was none other than Lee Jeong-gyeom.
Drip. Drip.
Baek Hyang-muk clenched his fists so tightly that blood dripped as he continued.
"The possessed personality still lives, biding its time and regaining its strength."
Truly terrifying.
He called it a sword spirit, but it was more like a lingering grudge—an evil spirit.
That spirit had remained hidden, patiently waiting for its chance. Frightening.
I said to Baek Hyang-muk,
"Then isn't Jeong-gyeom in extreme danger now?"
With Jongseon dead, no one remains to suppress that evil spirit.
The possessed personality might soon take control.
Baek Hyang-muk replied bitterly,
"That's why I made a deal with them."
"What kind of deal?"
"Just as I noticed, it seems they also found the boy. They asked me—'Do you know your disciple is Salhyeong Jeolsim?'"
If it was revealed that the worst butcher in history was Lee Jeong-gyeom, the fallout would be massive.
Especially since he was the joint disciple of Baek Hyang-muk and Jongseon, symbols of the righteous path.
"They offered me a deal. If I handed over the sword, they would eliminate the possessed personality."
'No way…'
That reminded me of the Demonic Illusion Poison.
Could they be planning to control Jeong-gyeom with it?
If he's still possessed even without the sword, that might be the only way.
But Baek Hyang-muk didn't say it aloud and continued.
"But the deal fell through."
"You could've still gone through with it."
"As the descendant of the Sword Immortal said, I couldn't bring greater calamity to the martial world just to protect our honor."
So, in the end, he chose justice.
It seems he wrestled with right and wrong many times.
Baek Hyang-muk, in a weary voice, said to me,
"...Now the only option is to kill the boy. Though it's a sin I brought upon myself, I can't bear to kill my disciple with my own hands."
He had already made up his mind.
Though he didn't say it directly, it was a request for me to kill his disciple.
He believed I was the only one who could handle that personality if it emerged again.
I stared at him and then smirked as I said,
"If I can save Lee Jeong-gyeom from the sword spirit, what will you give me in return?"
'!?'