Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

The instant he sensed a cold blade drawing near his body, Namgung Su instinctively twisted to the side and swung his sword. His slash, however, struck nothing but empty air as the Erudite Sage let go of the dagger and sprang backward.

Smirking, the Erudite Sage stared at the dagger half buried in Namgung Su's flank. "Oho? I aimed for your heart, but you managed to dodge a fatal blow at such a short distance. The rumors that you're the weakest of the Namgung Patriarch's three sons seem to be false."

"…Were you an enemy spy all along?" Namgung Su asked, his expression calm despite the situation. Stopping the bleeding by sealing his own acupoints, he pulled out the dagger. Fortunately, the wound wasn't as deep as he initially feared, but a problem remained.

The dagger's coated with a deadly poison…

Namgung Su's lips turned blue, cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and his limbs trembled uncontrollably, but still, he refused to show weakness. Summoning lightning qi, he suppressed the poison and cauterized the wound.

The Erudite Sage watched with genuine admiration. "What incredible willpower you have! Most martial artists would be brought to their knees after being subjected to such a potent poison."

"Mr. Namgung Su!"

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Is this… also part of the training…?"

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"Are you stupid? He's obviously working with the bad guys!"

The Vermillion Phoenix and White Tiger instructors cried out in shock, while the Azure Dragon instructors drew their weapons and aimed them at the Erudite Sage.

Eyeing the bewildered instructors, the Erudite Sage chuckled, "As you can see, I'm allied with those who attacked the Namgung Clan. Would you like to know more? I'm also an elder of the Blood Cult."

""The Blood Cult!""

The mere mention of the Blood Cult terrified the instructors. Had these once-forgotten specters truly returned? Were they really the ones who burned the Namgung Clan's halls, turned screams into music, and stacked corpses into hills?

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"Kukuku…" the Erudite Sage cackled. The moment the Blood Cult had attacked the Namgung Clan, the mental restriction he had placed on his own memories for the sake of infiltration was released.

"Now that you know my true identity, there is no way I can let you live, is there?" he laughed, taking out a shaman's ritual bell and ringing it.

DING! DING! DING!

As the eerie sound rang out, a crimson tattoo emerged on his face and spread like a spiderweb over his entire body.

"Kihihihi…" the Erudite Sage giggled, his sclerae now completely black as he gazed vacantly at the instructors.

Shivers ran down their spines from his demonic appearance, but that wasn't the end.

GROWL…

Ten figures stepped out of the darkness, drawn by the sound of the bell. At first glance, they appeared to be human, though they were anything but. Their eyes were bloodshot, saliva dripped from their mouths, their clothes were soaked in blood, and the growls they made were more bestial than human.

Strangely enough, the instructors felt a strange familiarity about these creatures.

"T-The Azure Sky Sword Brigade!"

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"…What?"

"That uniform! It's the Azure Sky Sword Brigade's uniform!"

"Yes, but…"

Most of these monsters were severely injured, with missing limbs and open wounds, but nevertheless, each and every one of them radiated terrifying demonic qi. Could they still be considered warriors of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade, the pride of the Namgung Clan?

DING! DING! DING!

"I needed some guinea pigs to test these children on, and you lot look just right," the Erudite Sage chuckled, ringing the bell again.

"ROOOOAR!" Now transformed into mindless ghouls driven by demonic qi, the former Azure Sky Sword Brigade warriors pounced on the instructors like wild animals. Despite being deranged and wounded, they retained their martial skills and could still channel sword qi into their blades.

"Close ranks and form a defensive formation!" Namgung Su instructed, gritting his teeth and resisting the poison with all his might.

The new instructors moved quickly, pressing their backs together to form a circular defensive formation. Their eyes burned with fierce resolve as they gritted their teeth, summoning their inner qi and preparing to fight to the end.

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"They're coming!" Tang Baekho shouted.

Beside him, Sama Yeong ignited her flames.

Both sides clashed fiercely clashed fiercely in the darkness of the forest.

DING! DING! DING!

If there was one small mercy, it was that the Erudite Sage was in no hurry to kill the new instructors. Instead, he gave the bell a short ring, then a longer one, adjusting the ghouls' behavior as if he were simply testing out his new toys.

"GRAAAWR!"

"SCREEEEEE!"

The Erudite Sage felt a rush of exhilaration. The Azure Sky Sword Brigade, once the pride of the Namgung Clan, had now been reduced to his puppets.

"Kihihihi! Good, good. Although their movements are still clumsy, they seem to be improving with time. This is exactly what I would expect from the Soul Alteration method created by the Demonic Strategist."

Soul Alteration was one of the most heinous evil arts created by the Blood Cult to conquer the murim. This technique involved carving open the skulls of young children and forcibly implanting demonic arts into their brains.

These children would grow up with absolutely no memory of the procedure, only to later awaken as ghouls when certain conditions were met. This made them ideal for infiltrating the orthodox sects.

"Well, to be precise, these children have not undergone the complete Soul Alteration procedure…"

The Erudite Sage recalled the disciples of the Yin Yang Demon Lord who had come to him twenty years ago.

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"Our Cult's followers remain imprisoned by the Namgung Clan. Please avenge them."

"The Namgung Clan, is it? Tell me more."

At that time, the Blood Cult was in disarray. The elders and patriarchs of the eight great clans had led their followers into hiding across the murim, desperate to evade capture by the Murim Alliance.

During this turbulent era, the Erudite Sage served under the Eighth Elder. It was then that a group of children approached him, claiming to be students of the Fifth Elder, the Yin Yang Demon Lord.

Among those children was the boy who would one day become the Night Emperor.

"…And so, the Yin Yang Demon Lord… In the end, only we managed to escape."

The Eighth Elder and the Erudite Sage were shocked to hear their story, but they soon began to formulate a cunning plan.

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"The Yin Yang Demon Lord wouldn't have just stood by and done nothing. Did he leave any message?"

"Yes. He said he planted a seed that would one day bring about the Namgung Clan's downfall."

"A seed?"

As he was dying of wounds sustained while escaping from the Namgung Clan, the Fifth Elder's most senior apprentice had presented he and the Eighth Elder with a fruit-shaped shaman's bell that had several bells attached to a single handle.

"When our Cult's instructors passed on their teaching methods to the Namgung Clan, they mixed in fragments of the Soul Alteration's sorcerous incantations."

"They passed on their teaching methods…? Why would they do such a thing?"

"The Blue Sky Sword King demanded our Cult's methods for martial arts instruction in exchange for our safety. Some of our techniques were renamed and incorporated into the Namgung Clan's methods, while others were used to refine their existing techniques. Knowing this, the Fifth Elder decided to take advantage of the Blue Sky Sword King's greed by setting a trap in the information we provided them."

The Eighth Elder and the Erudite Sage were baffled by the Yin Yang Demon Lord's covert and meticulous scheme, which required patient execution over at least ten years to ensure that the Namgung Clan masters would not discover it.

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"And how do we trigger the trap?"

"The Fifth Elder said that when that seed of destruction grows and the fruit ripens, we will be able to transform the Namgung Clan's youths into mindless ghouls."

"…I see. Still, it won't be possible for us to exact revenge right away…"

Two decades ago, the Namgung Clan had already established itself as the most powerful martial family in the world. As the scattered and weakened remnants of the Blood Cult, they lacked the power to avenge their fallen allies through sheer force.

"That's fine with us. The Fifth Elder said that as long as the Namgung Clan meets its end, it doesn't matter if it takes ten years or a hundred."

Grinning, the Yin Yang Demon Lord's apprentice then breathed his last, leaving those words as his last will and testament.

The Eighth Elder took in the other children who had escaped with him, and just like that, more than twenty years flew by. During that time, the Eighth Elder died of old age, and the Erudite Sage succeeded him as the new Eighth Elder of the Blood Cult.

DING! DING! DING!

"Finally, it is time to harvest the fruit!" the Erudite Sage announced.

"GRRAAAAARGH!" The ghouls roared even louder. Blood oozed from their eyes and noses as they pushed beyond their limits, drawing on more demonic qi than their bodies could endure and offering up their very life force in the process.

"Namgung Clan! You have basked in glory forged from our Cult's blood. Now you will pay the price!"

Looking out at the distant, burning Namgung Estate, the Erudite sage laughed hysterically. The seed that the Yin Yang Demon Lord planted so long ago had finally sprouted, and today was the grand day to reap the fruit.

He turned toward the new instructors, who were struggling against the ghouls. "Well, count yourselves unlucky for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fufufu!"

Under the relentless ghoul assaults, the new instructors fell one after another. Still, a few stood firm even amid this crisis: Ak Yeonho of the Azure Dragon Academy, Sama Yeong of the Vermilion Phoenix Academy, and Tang Baekho of the White Tiger Academy.

These three peak-level martial artists demonstrated remarkable prowess and were crucial in preventing the defensive formation from collapsing.

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WHOOSH!

Flames erupted from Sama Yeong's folding fan and spread through the forest, setting everything it touched ablaze.

The Erudite Sage watched in awe. "I've heard that the Fire King's flame art is the most extraordinary even among the extreme yang martial arts. Now that I see it, it's truly impressive."

SWISH! THOCK! THOCK! THOCK!

Tang Baekho, known for fists and feet rather than poison or hidden weapons, kicked scattered stones and flung them like daggers. Thanks to his timely interventions, he saved more than a few instructors from peril.

"Oh? This Tang Clan kid is quite something too. I thought he couldn't use hidden weapons, but it seems he just chooses not to. Blood doesn't lie, huh?"

Ak Yeonho, wielding his spear like a windmill and repelling the ghouls, had a ferocity reminiscent of a one-man army.

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The Erudite Sage let out a relaxed laugh, "Ak Yeonho of the Shandong Ak Clan, is it? It's strange that his name is completely unknown in the murim. It's been a long time since I've seen such an entertaining spectacle!"

Despite the best efforts of the three peak masters, the new instructors were beginning to be backed into a corner. Not only did the ghouls controlled by the shaman's bell feel no pain, but as the Erudite Sage became more adept with the bell, their movements became more fluid.

DING! DING! DING!

"Namgung Su, Sama Yeong, Tang Baekho, Ak Yeonho. Capture those four alive and kill the others," the Erudite Sage commanded, ringing the bell.

"GROAAAAWR!"

Unleashing even more demonic qi, the ghouls prepared to charge.

"STOOOOOP!" Namgung Su roared.

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He had retreated from the front lines because of the poison, but instead of resting, he focused intently on the Erudite Sage's bell, analyzing each note. Then, once he discerned a faint pattern, he timed his Dragon Roar to the bell's chime with the aim of disrupting the sound waves.

"RAWR?" Their commands scrambled, the ghouls paused, confused.

CRACKLE…

It was only a fleeting moment, but that brief pause became the cornerstone of Namgung Su's counterattack. Plunging his sword into the ground, he unleashed the Heavenly Lightning Sword Technique with all his might.

Blood gushed from his wound and the suppressed poison spread through his bloodstream, but he didn't care.

BZZZZZZZZT!!!

Blinding lightning qi erupted from his body and surged in all directions, shocking and stunning the ghouls.

SWISH! SWOOSH!

The instant the ghouls froze in place, completely paralyzed, the instructors sprang to their feet and lunged at them. With swift, decisive strikes, they severed the ghouls' heads from their bodies, reducing their numbers in mere moments.

"W-What…?" Baffled, the Erudite Sage's eyes widened, and he staggered back.

Ak Yeonho, Sama Yeong, and Tang Baekho moved in perfect sync, rushing at the Erudite Sage as swiftly as wind. Unleashing their most powerful attacks, they shredded his body to pieces.

"It's over!" Ak Yeonho shouted, certain that their enemy was dead.

At that same moment, Namgung Su fell to one knee, relieved.

"W-We won!"

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"We defeated the Blood Cult…!"

FWOOSH…

However, just as everyone was started to erupt in shouts of victory, the Erudite Sage's body, impaled on Ak Yeonho's spear, dissolved like a mirage and reappeared some distance away.

"Kufufufu… Did you really believe that I, a Blood Cult Elder, would fall so easily? Hmph, although watching you struggle was amusing, I'm grow weary of this."

DING! DING! DING!

The Erudite Sage rattled the shaman's bell once more, causing new ghouls to emerge from the darkness, their numbers now doubled.

"Fuck…"

"This is truly the end…"

Namgung Su, the strongest among them, was down, and all the other instructors were exhausted or injured. Seeing no hope, they started sinking into despair.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a chill swept through the area and snuffed out the spreading flames. The ghouls, poised to leap, paused and looked around as though searching for something.

"…What are you doing? Move! Move!"

DING! DING! DING!

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Confused, the Erudite Sage rang the bell desperately, but it was useless.

The reason soon revealed itself.

TRULULULU!

The sound of a flute resounded in the distance, drawing the ghouls' attention with its faint melody. Moreover, the music was steadily increasing in volume, indicating that the musician was approaching with astonishing speed.

Mere seconds later, the flute player arrived. It was Baek Suryong.

Throwing a quick glance at the fallen Namgung Su, Baek Suryong commanded the ghouls, "Capture the bastard with the bell!"

The Erudite Sage blinked in disbelief. "W-What?!"

Without hesitation, the ghouls lunged at the Erudite Sage.

Translator's Note: Suryong to the rescue!

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