Hummm.
Since his inner energy remained unrestrained, removing the long needle embedded in his Qi Sea acupoint was not difficult for Im Jipyeong.
Pop.
As the thin needle lodged in his dantian sprang out, he carefully stowed it in his robes.
Swish.
Unfolding his movement art, he silently ascended to the roof of a pavilion, then swiftly glided between buildings like a ghost.
Im Jipyeong possessed eyes that could pierce the darkness, as well as the ability to detect hidden mechanisms.
Before long, he arrived at a warehouse where the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest stored old furnishings. He halted and his eyes gleamed.
‘So the secret passage is here.’
After scanning the surroundings, he entered the warehouse and began thoroughly searching the interior. Spotting an old hanging scroll on one wall, he curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.
‘Quite a complex mechanism. But it cannot fool my eyes.’
Lifting the scroll revealed needle-thin holes scattered across the back.
At first glance, they appeared mere cracks in the wall, but they were in fact an intricately crafted mechanism. Gazing intently at the holes, Im Jipyeong drew a thin needle and inserted it into one of them.
Click.
This allowed him to press a tiny protruding button inside.
Next, he inserted the needle in sequence, tracing the shape of the Big Dipper.
Rumble.
A low vibration sounded from somewhere, and a small door formed in the opposite wall.
Click.
Im Jipyeong immediately slipped inside.
The interior was a long passage with not a single ray of light. Yet he moved with the leisure of one walking through his own home.
How far had he walked?
The narrow passage gradually widened until it was broad enough for five people to stand side by side.
At last, reaching the end, he saw a door fitted with a massive lock.
Click.
Picking the lock with the needle, he entered.
Beyond lay a vast space lined endlessly with small iron doors, resembling a prison. The upper part of each iron door was barred with dense grating so guards could peer inside.
‘A prison? Here?’
Im Jipyeong approached cautiously and looked through the bars.
Beyond the grating was a narrow stone chamber, stacked with objects layered one atop another. However, everything was covered with large cloths, concealing what lay beneath.
‘Hmm.’
After a brief hum of contemplation, Im Jipyeong drew the needle once more and unlocked the iron door.
Clank.
Entering with the sound, he quickly lifted one corner of the covering cloth.
“Gah!” He involuntarily cried out and staggered back.
Beneath the black cloth, piled high…
Were corpses, stacked in layers, all horribly dead.
‘Why would the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest have corpses like these…’
Moreover, every corpse had its tongue protruding and eyes bulging wide in death. The grotesqueness of the sight caused Im Jipyeong to step back without thinking.
Thud.
As he emerged from the iron door, something hard suddenly pressed against his back.
Startled, he turned his head—
Whoosh.
A massive hand, large as a pot lid, shot toward his face.
Im Jipyeong instinctively unfolded his footwork to evade, but the enormous hand pursued relentlessly and covered his face.
“Mmph.”
The hand was so huge it concealed not only his mouth but his eyes as well.
“Mmph!”
Greatly alarmed, Im Jipyeong unleashed the Shadowless Chain Kicks in rapid succession.
No matter how great the expert, receiving Shadowless Chain Kicks at such close range would force them to release their grip and retreat.
But something strange happened.
The owner of the massive hand did not dodge the chain kicks at all, gripping Im Jipyeong’s face firmly.
Thwack, thwack!
In the end, the Shadowless Chain Kicks struck the center line of the giant hand’s owner repeatedly.
“Guh!”
Yet the groan of pain came from Im Jipyeong’s mouth.
The man’s body was as hard as iron; Im Jipyeong’s toes felt as though they might shatter.
“Mmph.”
Twisting his body with all his strength, Im Jipyeong finally forced the massive fingers apart and escaped.
Before him now stood a giant over seven feet tall, with a long horse-like face and eyes rolled completely white.
Bald, with skin tinged gray, he resembled a moving corpse.
‘I’m dead.’
Im Jipyeong was certain.
If that giant properly wielded martial arts, he was as good as dead.
“Great Hero, I—”
As Im Jipyeong opened his mouth,
“You couldn’t hold back and crawled out after all.”
With a low mutter, a faint shadow slowly approached from behind the giant.
It was none other than Eom Jeok, the chief steward who had guided Im Jipyeong into the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest.
“Chief Steward.” Im Jipyeong clasped his hands with a relieved expression. “I was wandering around at night by chance and…”
“Chance, my foot.” Eom Jeok waved his hand dismissively and smiled coldly. “Here to steal something from our forest, are you?”
Then, gazing at Im Jipyeong, he spoke icily.
“Thousand-Faced Divine Thief, Yu Cheongrim.”
In that instant, Im Jipyeong—no, Yu Cheongrim—widened his eyes.
His disguise had been flawless, and he had used the real identity of a scholar from Fujian suffering from lung disease.
How had Eom Jeok seen through his true identity so quickly?
“There must be some mistake. I—”
“I’d like to let you live, but it seems I cannot.” Cutting him off, Eom Jeok smacked his lips and shook his head. “You have seen what you should not have.”
“I saw nothing, Chief Steward.”
Realizing there was no escape, Yu Cheongrim clasped his hands.
“Please spare my life. I came with no ill intent.”
“Why are you here, then?”
“I merely heard rumors that the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest had acquired a large quantity of Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp inner cores…”
“I see.” Eom Jeok clicked his tongue and shook his head. “We handled it so secretly, yet thieves like you always sniff it out and come crawling without fail.”
“Please spare me. I only wished to cure my aged mother’s illness with those cores.”
“What aged mother does an orphan like you have?”
“I recently found the mother who abandoned me long ago. But she suffers from an incurable disease…”
Watching Yu Cheongrim’s glib tongue, Eom Jeok snorted.
“You mad bastard. No more talk—I’ll just kill you and turn you into fertilizer.”
“Ch-Chief Steward.”
“After observing you these past days, I figured out you don’t even have the Golden Spirit Flower Constitution.” Eom Jeok said coldly. “You must have realized our forest seeks exceptional bodies among those under adulthood.”
‘He truly intends to kill me.’
Yu Cheongrim took a deep breath.
Originally, he had infiltrated to steal the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp inner cores from the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest.
But the place was unexpectedly heavily guarded, with formidable experts residing as guests.
Changing his approach, Yu Cheongrim learned they treated youths under adulthood, found a suitable person of that age, bought his identity for a month with a fortune, and entered disguised as him.
―Act as though you possess a special constitution.
Perhaps because he had paid fifty thousand nyang for the information, the informant added one more remark.
―It is widely known in our circles that the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest seeks those with special physiques.
Hearing that, Yu Cheongrim had taken ten Heavenly Sun Divine Pills—pills of extreme yang nature—to appear as though he had the Golden Spirit Flower Constitution before entering.
Yet Eom Jeok had known his true identity from the start.
‘There is no way out.’
The piled corpses alone proved the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest was a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den he should never have touched.
Even if Eom Jeok let him go, he would not leave alive.
‘All or nothing.’
Yu Cheongrim slipped his hand into his robes.
‘If I use the Heavenly Collapse Explosion Pellet…’
There were many patients here, including notables and leaders from all walks.
If he detonated even one pellet capable of shattering an iron house, chaos would erupt instantly.
He might seize a thread-thin chance to escape.
“Please spare me.”
Kneeling abruptly and bowing as if in supplication, Yu Cheongrim prepared to hurl the Heavenly Collapse Explosion Pellet hidden in his sleeve—
Thwack!
Suddenly, a breaking wind sounded from behind, and his entire body went numb.
Eom Jeok had circled behind and sealed his vital points.
‘Impossible.’
Though Yu Cheongrim had not mastered exceptional martial arts, his agility and alertness were unrivaled in the martial world.
He had even mastered the Great Shifting Extreme Flash, one of the supreme light-body arts—yet he had not sensed a thing before his points were sealed?
Was the chief steward of a medical forest this profoundly skilled?
What in the world was the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest?
‘I walked into hell of my own accord.’
Overwhelmed by terror, Yu Cheongrim cried desperately.
“Sp-spare me! Please sp—”
Thud.
As his mute point was sealed too, Yu Cheongrim could only move his mouth soundlessly.
“Dispose of him at once.”
Drag.
Yu Cheongrim was seized by the hair and dragged across the floor by the giant.
The destination was the stone chamber with the strongest stench of rotting corpses.
Inside, the floor was pierced by a pit filled with piled bodies. The corpses below had no intact limbs—all arms and legs gruesomely torn.
The giant likely ripped people apart alive and discarded them here.
Whoosh.
The hulking man gripped Yu Cheongrim’s paralyzed arms as though lifting a toy.
Crack.
Bones and muscles began stretching.
With monstrous strength, he intended to tear Yu Cheongrim’s arms off.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
With his mute point sealed, Yu Cheongrim could only bulge his eyes and scream silently.
He, famed as one of the Four Great Divine Thieves of the martial world, ending his life with limbs torn like paper?
Thud.
Yet just as his arms seemed about to rip, they suddenly went slack.
At the same moment, focus vanished from the giant’s eyes.
Upon closer look, he had lost consciousness.
“Mmph?”
Sensing something odd and blinking, Yu Cheongrim saw—
Swish.
A hunched old man emerge from behind the giant.
Thwack.
The moment their eyes met, Yu Cheongrim’s sealed vital and mute points unlocked instantly.
‘An extraordinary master.’
Eom Jeok’s martial arts were considerable, and his point-sealing technique vicious.
Yet this man undid firmly sealed points with mere eye contact?
“W-who are you?”
As Yu Cheongrim spoke respectfully, the old man shook his head.
“You have guts. Do you even know where this is?”
Gazing at Yu Cheongrim with a hoarse voice, the old man spoke lowly.
“I have prepared one corpse in your place. Leave the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest by this path at once. Any delay, and I cannot guarantee your life.”
“Th-thank you.”
Terrified, Yu Cheongrim tried to flee outward.
Halt.
But he suddenly stopped and looked at the deeply wrinkled face of the old man.
Though aged like ancient wood, the eyes felt somehow familiar.
After tilting his head for a long while, Yu Cheongrim whispered with a delighted expression.
“Great Master Seol? Is it not Great Master Seol?”
The old man frowned.
“Great Master Seol, you say.”
“It is I, Yu Cheongrim. The one who, with Heroine So, captured the Black-and-White Witches.”
The hunched old man—no, Bu Eunseol disguised as an old man who had infiltrated the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest—was startled.
‘How did he see through my disguise?’
As Bu Eunseol’s gaze changed, Yu Cheongrim shrugged and said,
“Hahaha. So it is you.”
“How did you recognize my disguise?” Bu Eunseol asked with utmost seriousness.
If someone like Yu Cheongrim could see through it…
Other experts might recognize him as well.
“Great Master Seol. Who am I? The Thousand-Faced Divine Thief.” Yu Cheongrim shrugged again. “I disguised myself so often from childhood that I nearly forgot my own face, let alone others’.”
Drawing closer, he whispered lowly to Bu Eunseol.
“That is why, from a young age, I mastered distinguishing people by their eyes.”
Yu Cheongrim, the unrivaled master of disguise in the martial world.
From childhood, he had trained to identify people not by face, but by eyes and gaze.
Moreover, to capture the fearsome Black-and-White Witches, he had worked alongside Bu Eunseol disguised as the mercenary Seolso.
And spent many days and nights with So Okrim.
Those experiences were an unending chain of hardships he could never forget.
Thus, Yu Cheongrim remembered Bu Eunseol’s and So Okrim’s eyes clearly enough to recognize them with a mere glance.
“Distinguishing people by their eyes…”
Another might not believe it, but Bu Eunseol could.
He himself possessed the ability to identify people by body shape and muscle structure.
“But what brings Great Master Seol here?” Yu Cheongrim whispered with a broad grin. “Surely you are not also after the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp inner cores?”
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol sighed.
Yu Cheongrim had infiltrated to steal those cores, unaware this was the headquarters of the Infinite Realm—the most terrifying of the Three Realms.
“There are no Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp inner cores here. Leave at once.”
“Come now, Great Master Seol.” Yu Cheongrim laughed cheekily. “Why would a medical forest have such mechanisms and station experts? There must be tremendous treasure—that is it, is it not?”
Indeed, divine thieves thought differently.
He had nearly crossed into the afterlife, yet the moment treasure was mentioned, he was already drooling again.
“If I had known the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest was such a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den, I would have prepared in advance. It seems I was swindled by that informant. In hindsight, surviving alone is fortunate enough…”
Listening to Yu Cheongrim’s endless chatter, Bu Eunseol fell into brief contemplation.
To thoroughly investigate the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest, he had swapped places with a deaf old worker and infiltrated, but the internal mechanisms were more complex than expected, surveillance tight, and he still had not located the Heavenly Deity, nor determined the size of the forces here or the number of secret facilities.
Moreover, with so many patients, he could not act rashly.
Yet Yu Cheongrim, using only disguise and a borrowed identity, had infiltrated the Heavenly Blessing Medicine Forest and reached in one go the secret facility Bu Eunseol had found only after ten days of wandering.
‘A divine thief is truly a divine thief.’
Bu Eunseol gazed at Yu Cheongrim with fervent eyes.
‘With him, I can perfectly execute what I have planned so far.’
“In any case, thanks to Great Master Seol, I owe you my life. I will not forget this debt.”
Finishing his torrent of words, Yu Cheongrim clasped his hands.
“Then, take care, Great Master Seol.”
As he turned to leave—
Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol grasped Yu Cheongrim’s shoulder.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol wore a gentle smile.
In that instant, Yu Cheongrim felt an ominous premonition.
He knew someone who had smiled similarly in the past.
She was a woman nearly seven feet tall.
With terrifying martial arts capable of reducing a person to pulp in one blow.
Fists before words, expressing thoughts through fists.
When opinions differed… she used fists as persuasion.
A thoroughly violent and destructive person who solved everything with fists.
“Brother Yu.”
“W-why?”
As Yu Cheongrim backed away, Bu Eunseol reached out with the kindest expression.
Firmly grasping his shoulder, he spoke in the friendliest, gentlest voice.
“Let us do a little job together.”
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