Chapter 15 : Invisible Dagger

Chapter 15: Invisible Dagger

After Sewoon returned to the clan with the warm sunlight.

The Tang Clan was once again thrown into chaos.

Even though members of the Dark Flower Unit had formed a perimeter in front of the room as gate guards, the Young Lord had left without anyone knowing.

“Young Lord, what is this?”

“This is the corpse of the assassin who ambushed me last night.”

“……What?”

Because he had confidently dragged the corpse of the assassin, tightly bound with black thread, through the main gate and returned home.

The crime of defying the solemn order of the Clan Head and going outside quickly faded into the background.

The revelation that the assassin who attacked the successor was the Rear Dragon Guard Leader of the Murim Alliance completely overshadowed the issue of the Young Lord’s unauthorized departure.

An unprecedented event had occurred where a Captain-level figure of the Murim Alliance attempted to assassinate a future successor of a member faction.

“The Rear Dragon Guard Leader attempted an assassination? That’s absurd!”

“I heard that when Lee Hoseong caused that incident, the Sword Rakshasa who took bribes tried to kill Tang Sewoon?”

“That’s right! When the Alliance Leader found out and punished him by sending him to a remote region, he bore a grudge and attacked the Tang Clan’s successor.”

“Ha! How could someone who’s part of the orthodox factions commit such a shameless act!”

In fact, even during the height of the Lee Hoseong incident, only a handful of people were aware of the Rear Dragon Guard’s involvement, and the full truth was never made public.

Unlike the Lee Hoseong incident, which ended as a matter internal to the Qingcheng Sect since he wasn’t an official disciple of the Alliance Leader, Sun Ugon and the Rear Dragon Guard were elite members at the core of the Alliance.

The Elder faction within the Alliance, fearing a severe blow to the Alliance’s reputation if the Rear Dragon Guard’s disgrace became public, exerted power to suppress the scandal.

Of course, the Alliance Leader’s faction argued that all matters should be handled transparently, but since the Sword Emperor, who belonged to the Elder faction, warned Qingcheng not to touch the Tang Clan, it led to a political compromise.

However, with news of this recent assassination spreading like wildfire across the martial world, the past incident involving the Rear Dragon Guard resurfaced again.

And when a silenced event was reexamined, the resulting backlash was bound to be even more intense.

“If we had punished the Rear Dragon Guard Leader and his unit according to the Alliance Leader’s original intent, such an embarrassing incident wouldn’t have happened!”

“Honestly, I can’t even hold my head up anymore!”

“Why are the Elders saying nothing!”

“Well, we didn’t expect something like this would happen……”

“How do you plan to clean up this mess?”

“Ahem. Now, now, everyone calm down……”

“The Elders will be solely responsible for apologizing to the Sichuan Tang Clan and proposing additional compensation!”

“W-wait! I have nothing to do with this!”

Not only the martial artists of the world but even ordinary civilians hurled harsh criticism at the Murim Alliance, and voices of dissent even erupted from within the Alliance.

For the Elder faction, it was a major embarrassment.

Originally, even though Lee Hoseong had made serious mistakes, the Elder faction was slowly gaining influence due to opposition against the Alliance Leader siding with the Tang Clan over Qingcheng, a core force of the Alliance.

But with this incident, the balance of power shifted completely in favor of the Alliance Leader’s faction.

In particular, since Sun Ugon came from the Hainan Sect, which was part of the Elder faction, they were even more speechless.

—“Such an absurd incident occurred because the discipline within the Alliance had hit rock bottom, so from this day forward, I will use the full authority of the Alliance Leader to restore order.”

Seizing on the weakened voice of the Elder faction, Yoo Jinhak ended his seclusion and began stepping forward once again.

A new wind was clearly blowing in the previously calm orthodox martial world.

And.

The gossipers of the martial world were shouting the name of Tang Sewoon, who had sparked this change, until their mouths went dry.

“So it was true that the Alliance Leader gave the sword meant for the greatest young prodigy to him!”

“Man, forget Lee Hoseong — I can’t believe he took down a Peak Master Level like Sun Ugon!”

“Exactly. Reaching that peak at such a young age!”

“At this point, shouldn’t the title of ‘Sword Dragon’ be transferred to someone else?”

“Hmm, but I heard from the sword examiner that the wounds on the corpse weren’t sword wounds?”

“Huh? Now that you mention it, no one’s seen the Young Lord of the Tang Clan carrying a sword.”

“Geez, are you all that dense? A martial artist always hides their ultimate trump card — don’t you know that by now?”

“Well, that’s true. No matter how hard up the Tang Clan is, they wouldn’t melt down a sacred artifact to sell it.”

“Haha, that’s a good one. Who in their right mind would melt down a gift from the Alliance Leader?”

“Exactly, hahaha.”

Inside the room, a stillness completely opposite to the commotion outside had settled in.

However, the atmosphere was far from peaceful.

There was a tense unease in the room, as if it were the eye of a storm.

At that moment, Sewoon, who had been practicing the Golden Bridle Movement Technique, completed his training.

The mysterious glow that had lingered in Sewoon’s eyes vanished as if it were a lie.

Only then did his activated Upper Dantian close.

“……At this point, it seems I’ve mostly recovered.”

Sewoon murmured quietly after finishing his internal inspection.

Several days had passed since his battle with Sun Ugon.

During that time, Sewoon had done nothing but sleep and train using the Golden Bridle Movement Technique to focus on recovering his Innate True Qi.

The backlash from using his Innate True Qi to the limit had come belatedly — and violently.

A terrible pain that made daily life impossible continued without end.

The pain that started from his malformed dantian spread throughout his entire body.

It felt like being tortured by hundreds of blades.

Even though he could recover his energy through the Golden Bridle Movement Technique, he had to exercise utmost caution when using the Innate True Qi.

‘The backlash from leaving just ten percent of my Innate True Qi is this bad. If a series of battles is expected, I’ll need to leave at least twenty percent in reserve.’

If he were to use up all his Innate True Qi and enter a state of emptiness even briefly, recovery would become impossible.

No — it would be more accurate to say there would be no need to recover.

‘Because I’d drop dead on the spot.’

The price of using a forbidden power came with equally horrific danger.

Still, this had been a special situation.

There had been a reason why he was forced to overuse his Innate True Qi.

First, there was the matter of the ‘Divine Weapon Creation’ that occurred before the battle.

The weapon currently in his hand, transformed into a simple glove — the Heavenly Net — was completed through Divine Weapon Creation by imbuing the materials with the blacksmith’s ‘Will.’

However, the process of infusing that Will had consumed an overwhelming amount of Innate True Qi, like pouring water into a bottomless jar.

‘Normally, I would’ve needed three days of rest.’

But even though he knew Sun Ugon was planning to assassinate him, he had pushed ahead.

He could no longer delay the creation of his main weapon.

‘I have to grow stronger — even one day sooner.’

There was no time to idle.

Even at this very moment, the Blood Cult was likely moving in secret.

“Whew.”

Sewoon let out a sigh filled with various emotions and wiped his face with dry hands.

At that moment, his gaze fell on the item that, along with Divine Weapon Creation, had consumed a great deal of Innate True Qi.

‘I must not use the spell engraved into this Heavenly Net unless it’s truly necessary — at least until my level rises further.’

The Heavenly Net, which had disguised itself as an ordinary glove, trembled slightly.

A considerable amount of Innate True Qi had also been consumed from using the secret technique hidden in the Heavenly Net to track the fleeing Sun Ugon.

Originally, Mount Mo Sect and the Shrine Maiden Sect were said to be unmatched in the Central Plains when it came to all manner of sorcery and mystical techniques.

Naturally, each of the nine blood marks carved by the Blood-Altering Demon Fox, Seo Surin, had terrifying spells engraved on them.

Likewise, each thread on Sewoon’s Heavenly Net contained a different high-grade spell tied to each of his five fingers.

Among them, the currently activated thread on his ring finger held the mystic technique of—

‘The Pursuit Thread, which never loses a marked prey.’

When the Pursuit Thread was activated, the black thread connected to the target became ‘invisible’ and simultaneously rendered the opponent ‘qi-less,’ making them unable to sense any energy.

The Pursuit Thread that marked its prey could observe all of the target’s movements within a radius of one li (0.4 km).

This was the reason Sewoon had been able to accurately locate and track Sun Ugon even after he used the Return Pearl.

Then Sewoon began objectively assessing his own level based on the previous battle.

“Hm, Sun Ugon was even worse than an average member of the Blood Cult’s combat unit.”

Sewoon’s words were nearly unbelievable.

To dismiss a Peak Master Level expert as mere fodder?

But tragically, it was a fact.

“Evenly matched with a newly initiated Vice Captain of the Supreme Peak level. Against a Captain with full mastery at the Supreme Peak level… I could maybe hold out for fifty techniques……”

A hint of regret colored his voice at the end.

However, anyone who might have heard him would have let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

Even among the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes — known as the most exceptional young successors across the Central Plains — only the ‘Sword Dragon’ was said to have reached the peak of the Peak Master Level.

Moreover, even the Sword Dragon wouldn’t be able to last five techniques, let alone fifty, against someone at the Supreme Peak level.

The wall between Peak and Supreme Peak was far thicker and higher than that between First Rate and Peak Master Level.

There were plenty of famous masters in the martial world who never crossed that wall despite a lifetime of training.

Even reaching the threshold of the Supreme Peak was on par with the youngest Elders of the Nine Great Sects or the Hall Leaders of the Seven Great Clans.

Yet Sewoon was confidently claiming that he was already at that level.

However, even this assumption only applied under the condition of a fair and proper fight.

‘Now then……’

Sewoon lightly reached out toward empty space.

It seemed like he was caressing the air, where there was clearly nothing.

Tap.

A droplet of blood fell to the floor from the tip of Sewoon’s finger, which had been cut by something sharp.

In truth, if he so wished, Sewoon could not only kill someone at the Supreme Peak level — he could certainly kill a Transformation Realm expert as well.

Because he possessed this weapon.

“Invisible Dagger.”

A divine killing weapon.

Ssshhh!

In that instant, Sewoon summoned the Reverse Heaven Qi and infused his Innate True Qi into the Invisible Dagger.

‘Tch!’

Vmmmmm!

A tremor vibrated through the air as the Invisible Dagger reacted.

With Sewoon’s current mastery of Reverse Heaven Qi and the amount of Innate True Qi he could channel, the total time he could control the Invisible Dagger amounted to barely a quarter of a quarter-hour — around three minutes.

But.

As long as the environment and conditions were right.

Slice!

Suddenly, a leaf from a flower placed beside Sewoon was cut in half and fell to the floor.

‘Even a Transformation Realm master in the Divine Ascension Realm could be killed.’

Without making the slightest sound, the Invisible Dagger delivered death to a life.

Ssshhh.

Then it returned to Sewoon’s Upper Dantian.

Just like the first time he saw the Invisible Dagger after returning to the past.

A deep question flickered in Sewoon’s eyes as he sensed the entire process.

‘……How did it follow me?’

But Sewoon’s question vanished into the void.

Truth be told, from the moment he had returned, Sewoon had already guessed the reason.

Why the Invisible Dagger was in his possession.

Why he had returned to the past.

Sewoon muttered the name of the one being he believed held the answer.

“Blood Demon.”

Yes. In the end, to solve this riddle, I’ll have to meet you again.

Murderous intent boiled fiercely in Sewoon’s eyes.