Chapter 3
Pyo Inhaeng believed it was important to live quietly and steadily, even if he wasn’t recognized by others, and he had always walked on eggshells, being cautious at every moment.
But he had lost subordinates who were like family while serving Gwei.
So he had resolved to be even more careful from now on, but something happened that morning.
He had made up his mind never to step forward again and had already refused the task, yet Seo Mugyeom volunteered for it.
When he heard that story from the Tenth Division leader, he had been utterly dumbfounded.
“There’s such a spirited low-ranking martial artist in the Tenth Division? And he even took on the duty of escorting Elder Gwei?”
Wondering what that meant, Pyo Inhaeng immediately questioned him.
With wide eyes, he pressed fiercely as if ready to fight, causing the Eighth Division leader to get flustered and explain the situation.
He said that he had hesitated to take a low-ranking martial artist from another division on such a dangerous mission, but after hearing that the others who had gone had died, he permitted it.
He seemed puzzled that Pyo Inhaeng didn't know about it.
Pyo Inhaeng wanted to charge at the Eighth Division leader right then but had no choice but to hold back and return.
Then he scolded Seo Mugyeom and stopped him from going on the mission.
He thought he wouldn't need many words to stop Seo Mugyeom.
He couldn’t imagine that Seo Mugyeom would disobey him.
But Seo Mugyeom stood his ground firmly against Pyo Inhaeng.
It was something the usual Seo Mugyeom would never have dared to do.
Pyo Inhaeng thought he must have misheard and that, since Seo Mugyeom had been deeply shocked, he needed to be patient.
Still, he couldn't let Seo Mugyeom join the Eighth Division’s mission.
If it were just a slightly difficult task, he might have let him go, but this mission was extremely dangerous.
He couldn’t bear to see a subordinate, who had barely returned alive, go help on someone else's mission and end up dead.
So Pyo Inhaeng mustered what little patience he had and tried to coax Seo Mugyeom.
But Seo Mugyeom didn’t seem to listen at all, and eventually, Pyo Inhaeng had to play his trump card.
He told him to fight the leader of the Tenth Division and that if he lost, he couldn't go.
Pyo Inhaeng never expected the duel to actually happen.
He thought Seo Mugyeom would get scared and back off when he said that.
But now, this ridiculous situation had unfolded.
There was no miracle of Seo Mugyeom winning.
But to say he lost was also unclear.
The duel wasn’t over yet, and in fact, his opponent was the one being pushed back.
Anyone could see the opponent was stronger, but Seo Mugyeom didn’t back down despite being beaten nearly to death.
The opponent, having once survived a deadly mission, hesitated, not wanting to be the one who killed his junior.
Then he seemed to give up the duel, thinking there was no other choice, even without the Tenth Division leader’s permission.
Only then did the people watching the duel in silence finally let out a sigh of relief.
They went over to Seo Mugyeom and clicked their tongues as they checked his injuries.
Pyo Inhaeng had nothing to say.
He hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.
With eyes full of rage, he glared at Seo Mugyeom and shouted.
“Follow me inside!”
Knowing how furious he was, Ho Jo-yeong patted Seo Mugyeom’s shoulder.
“Just say it was your fault no matter what. You're acting really strange right now.”
But Seo Mugyeom couldn’t bring himself to say that.
A moment later, the two of them faced each other in Pyo Inhaeng’s office.
Pyo Inhaeng glared at Seo Mugyeom as if his insides were boiling.
“Are you out of your mind? Are you desperate to die?”
“No, sir.”
“Then why are you doing this? Why did you volunteer for the Eighth Division’s mission when it has nothing to do with the Tenth Division?”
Seo Mugyeom lowered his head deeply.
He knew that many of the Eighth Division’s martial artists would die on this mission.
So he hoped that by fighting hard alongside them and narrowly surviving, he might catch Gwei’s attention.
But if he said that, Pyo Inhaeng would just think he was crazy.
“I’m sorry.”
It was clear he had something to say, but he just kept repeating apologies, which only made Pyo Inhaeng angrier.
Still, he couldn’t ignore the wounds of his own subordinate.
Pyo Inhaeng scooped up a generous amount of golden wound medicine and applied it roughly to the injuries.
Seo Mugyeom flinched from the pain.
Pyo Inhaeng sneered.
“And you flinch from this kind of pain? Yet you act like you’re ready to go on the Eighth Division’s mission? Fine, go and suffer terribly. That might knock some sense into you.”
He was ready to clean up the aftermath if Seo Mugyeom changed his mind even now.
But it seemed Seo Mugyeom had no intention of doing so.
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Seo Mugyeom looked surprised at Pyo Inhaeng’s words.
“No, Division Leader. It’s just… I want to forget.”
He blurted it out, thinking it was better to say something like that.
Pyo Inhaeng’s expression softened.
He must have thought Seo Mugyeom was acting this way because he couldn’t forget his fallen comrades.
“Stay at the rear and hide if it gets even a little dangerous. If the mission fails without you, it’ll fail even with you.”
“Yes, Division Leader.”
When Seo Mugyeom smiled, Pyo Inhaeng glared at him.
“Don’t smile, you brat! If this wasn’t such a special case, no chance. Your skull would’ve already been shattered by my fist. You went to the Eighth Division leader on your own and asked to join their mission?”
“Our division didn’t have any missions…”
“Shut your mouth, you brat!”
“Yes, Division Leader. I’m sorry.”
Seo Mugyeom bowed his head, knowing he had acted selfishly.
That only made Pyo Inhaeng think even more.
How distressed must this young man be after witnessing his comrades die?
As Seo Mugyeom left Pyo Inhaeng’s office, he raised his arm.
If his opponent in the duel hadn’t gone easy on him, he might have been seriously injured.
‘Huh…?’
Seo Mugyeom looked at his arm, thinking it would take at least ten days to heal.
But the wound, which had been bleeding and had torn flesh, was already almost healed.
‘Was the Division Leader’s medicine that precious? He didn’t even hesitate to use something so rare on me.’
Seo Mugyeom sighed quietly, unable to hide his guilt.
In his previous life, he hadn’t had the chance to know his Division Leader well.
He had just done what he was told, and even that, not very well.
The Division Leader hadn’t expected anything from him, and he hadn’t expected anything in return.
But this time, things had to be different.
If not, when the Divine Martial Sect was destroyed, he too would die, and so would his fellow members.
Seo Mugyeom stopped as he was heading toward his comrades and turned toward the training grounds.
He recalled what the Jakyunggak Master had said—that the blue stones laid out in the training ground of the Tenth Division rarely broke, unlike those in other divisions, which had to be replaced several times a year.
He also remembered the remark that it would’ve been annoying if the useless Tenth Division broke even the training stones, but at least they were considerate enough not to.
Seo Mugyeom reflected on how the Tenth Division was evaluated and treated within the Divine Martial Sect.
‘Even if I become the Blood Demon, if people don’t change on their own, nothing will really change…’
The first person that came to mind was Ho Jo-yeong.
He was a good man, but didn’t he end up dying on a mission later?
Becoming the Blood Demon wouldn’t stop everything.
‘I should tell him before we leave on the mission with the Eighth Division.’
If he gave a warning, it might help him avoid death at least once.
At the training grounds, Seo Mugyeom resumed the training he had done all his life.
They weren’t impressive forms, but he had practiced them diligently even before joining the Guardian Ten Division.
But suddenly, Seo Mugyeom froze in place.
‘What is this…?’
In the Divine Martial Sect, low-ranking martial artists in the Guardian Ten Division were taught various martial arts.
They weren’t considered high-level techniques.
Only after becoming part of the leadership—Vice Division Leader or Division Leader—could one learn more advanced martial arts.
Seo Mugyeom only knew this in theory and had never been able to practice them himself.
Yet suddenly, a form from a martial art he had never learned nor tried before popped into his head.
He wasn’t sure if “popped into his head” was the right way to describe it, but that’s what it felt like.
Seo Mugyeom slowly moved his sword, wondering why such techniques were coming to him.
Although he lacked enough internal strength to fully power the technique, the complete form was clearly unfolding.
Startled, Seo Mugyeom stopped.
He had never learned that sword form.
He had heard countless stories about miraculous encounters, but never one where someone could suddenly perform an unknown martial art overnight.
‘Is this also connected to my return?’
That was his first thought, but no matter how much he tried to believe it, he couldn’t understand.
Even in his past life, he had never learned that sword form.
Confused, Seo Mugyeom returned to his quarters.
On the way, he tried to recall what had happened but couldn’t find any clue.
There was no way he could know that Gwei had not only fed him an elixir while he lay unconscious but had also implanted martial arts into him.
From that point on, Seo Mugyeom was so focused on the sword form appearing in his mind that he completely forgot what he had meant to tell Ho Jo-yeong.
The form was burned into his mind as if someone had forcibly engraved it there.
And in fact, that was exactly what Gwei had done.
All the other martial artists in the Tenth Division were out on their respective tasks, so only Seo Mugyeom remained in the room.
If he hadn’t volunteered for the Eighth Division’s mission, he could have spent more time recovering.
Seo Mugyeom practiced the form in the air, as if recalling someone else’s memory.
It wasn’t proper training, so it wouldn’t be usable in real combat yet, but there was no doubt it was far more advanced than anything he had previously learned.
‘I’ll practice more when I have time later.’
Since his body wasn’t fully recovered yet and he needed to accompany the Eighth Division’s mission, Seo Mugyeom decided to rest early.
He had no idea that his remaining wounds were healing rapidly as he lay down.