Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

"Hey, wake up."

Baek Suryong slapped the unconscious Blue Sky Sword King awake and examined his wounds. His body was covered in countless cuts and stab wounds, as if he'd fought a savage beast, and his martial arts uniform was so drenched in blood that its original color was indiscernible.

It's a wonder he's still alive.

The fatal blow was a sword wound that pierced his abdomen and destroyed his qi center, the life force of a martial artist. An ordinary person would have already succumbed to such an injury, but the tenacious vitality of a supreme master allowed the Blue Sky Sword King to barely cling to life.

As he drifted back to his senses, the Blue Sky Sword King reached out to Baek Suryong, seemingly mistaking him for the Night Emperor. "P-Please…" he begged.

"Stop that. You disgust me," Baek Suryong snapped, clicking his tongue in disdain.

Naturally, he didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for the hypocrite, but he needed the man to live a few minutes longer. Grabbing the Blue Sky Sword King's wrist roughly, he forcibly channeled some qi into him.

As the warm qi flowed into his body, the Blue Sky Sword King's eyes slowly regained focus.

"By the time I arrived, you were already alone and in this state. I don't know where the Night Emperor went."

"…What about the man with red hair and eyes?"

The Blue Sky Sword King recalled the masked man who had ambushed the Night Emperor. The image of his red hair fluttering in the wind and the eyes that burned like hellfire was unforgettable.

The Blood Demon!

Memories of the absolute master who had once ruled the Blood Cult flashed through his mind.

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Huh? Wait… why did the Blood Demon attack the Night Emperor? Aren't they on the same side?

Baek Suryong shrugged. "What on earth are you talking about? I never saw anyone like that." he retorted curtly.

Hmm? The Blue Sky Sword King blinked in confusion. Isn't there something strange about his attitude?

"…Why are you being so rude to me?" he demanded. He knew that he was beyond saving, but Baek Suryong hadn't even tried to save him or reduce his pain. Instead, the young instructor was looking at him with contempt.

Baek Suryong snorted disdainfully. "Because you don't deserve my respect."

"Are you looking down on me because I'm dying? I didn't think you were such a lowly coward, but it seems I was wrong."

Laughing hollowly, the Blue Sky Sword King straightened his back and glared fiercely at Baek Suryong, though it wasn't easy with his sword still embedded in his abdomen. He could feel his life slipping away faster due to the exertion, but as the former patriarch of the Namgung Clan, he was determined to preserve his dignity until the very end.

"Even though I've lost all my martial arts and am dying, I am the Former Patriarch of the Namgung Clan and your senior in the murim. As a junior, you should show me the proper respect."

Baek Suryong burst out laughing, "How absurd. Do you think I'm being rude to you because you're dying?"

"If not, then why…?"

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"I saw everything. All the disgusting things you did."

"…What are you talking about?"

The Blue Sky Sword King's expression hardened for a moment, and Baek Suryong didn't miss it.

"I'm talking about the skeletons buried in the secret cave connected to the Namgung Clan Ancestral Shrine. That was your doing, wasn't it?"

Stunned speechless, the Blue Sky Sword King stared at Baek Suryong with vacant eyes.

"There were traces of a Blood Cult branch there… and a dying message left by the dead."

Baek Suryong revealed everything he had seen in the secret cavern, though of course, he omitted his connection to the Blood Cult. Instead, he emphasized the horrific massacre that the Blue Sky Sword King had committed.

"Are you still going to deny it, Namgung Jaehak?"

The Blue Sky Sword King Namgung Jaehak remained silent for a long time, before finally opening his mouth.

"…At first, I thought you were a spy for the Blood Cult."

"What? Me, a Blood Cult spy? What the hell made you think that?" Baek Suryong exclaimed. Deep down, he was shaken, but he used his vehement objection to hide his distress.

How did he recognize my connection to the Blood Cult? What gave me away?

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As far as he knew, he had never revealed any trace of being associated with the Blood Cult, and he always made sure to be extra cautious in front of supreme masters like Namgung Jaehak.

Namgung Jaehak stared at him with hazy eyes. "When I first saw you, I had the same feeling that I did during the war with the Blood Cult. A very dangerous and ominous feeling."

"You thought I was a spy just because of a gut feeling?"

"Are you dismissing the intuition of a supreme master like me?"

"……" Baek Suryong sighed inwardly. It wasn't hard to guess what Namgung Jaehak had sensed. He had probably unconsciously leaked some of the Heaven Defying Divine Art's overwhelming aura while fighting Gongson Su's assassins.

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On top of that, Namgung Jaehak had researched demonic arts and even practiced them himself, which made him even more sensitive to the Heaven Defying Divine Art than the usual orthodox master.

At least it was just a suspicion, not confirmation, he thought with some relief.

"…But for once, it seems that I was wrong," Namgung Jaehak continued, his voice growing increasingly hoarse. "If you were a spy for the Blood Cult, you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me. You would have killed me right away. Haha."

Baek Suryong narrowed his eyes. "There were innocent children among the people you killed," he said coldly.

"Yes, there were. I killed them all to erase the evidence," Namgung Jaehak admitted candidly.

People facing death tended to be more honest than ever, especially if those listening to their last words already knew some of their secrets. Add the fact that they were in a quiet forest, and even secrets kept for a lifetime were bound to be disclosed.

"But you know… What did I do that was so wrong?"

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"…What?"

"They were all people who were going to die anyway, so shouldn't they be thankful that I gave them another thirty years to live? Besides, I only demanded the demonic arts, wealth, and teaching methods of the Blood Cult in return for their lives. Considering their circumstances, wasn't it a good deal? …Even so, they kept demanding unreasonable things. Freedom? What a joke. Those ungrateful wretches didn't know their place or the kindness they had received. They deserved to die."

A faint bloodlust flashed in Namgung Jaehak's eyes, and a twisted grin played on his lips. Now that he was no longer protected by his powerful martial arts, the side effects of the demonic arts he had learned were starting to take hold of him.

Baek Suryong's eye twitched in disgust and disbelief. Look at this? Is the hypocrite of the orthodox sects rationalizing his actions? There's no guilt in his eyes at all.

"If you're so righteous, why didn't you reveal the truth to the world?" he asked sarcastically.

"Fufufu… This and that are not the same." Namgung Jaehak let out another hollow laugh.

Blood gushed out as his movements agitated his sword wound, but he didn't care. He was going to die soon anyway. Before he breathed his last, he wanted someone to know how he felt, what he thought.

"I don't regret what I did that day, and if went back in time, I would do it again. Everything was worth it, because I, the Blue Sky Sword King Namgung Jaehak, transformed the Namgung Clan into the world's strongest martial family!"

He's boasting of his achievements even as he coughing up blood. Is this his last-ditch effort to justify his crimes? Seriously? Feeling repulsed, Baek Suryong whispered, "If you don't tell them, then I will. I'll expose everything I've seen and heard here."

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"Puhahaha!" Namgung Jaehak laughed, then regarded Baek Suryong with pity. "Foolish child. Who in the world would believe you?"

"……"

"Do you have any evidence? Do you? No, you don't, because I've already disposed of everything. As for the skeletons you saw in the cavern? They've already rotted away. What kind of evidence is a pile of unidentifiable bones buried beneath an ancestral shrine?"

Baek Suryong gazed at the Namgung Jaehak in silence. Just now, he had deliberately neglected to mention that the corpses were frozen, preserving the scene exactly as it was on the day of the massacre.

However, Namgung Jaehak took his silence as an admission that he had nothing.

"You want to expose me? Go ahead and try. I am the Blue Sky Sword King, a revered member of the Ten Supremes, the man who made the Namgung Clan the world's strongest clan, and the greatest patriarch in the history of the Namgung Clan. I have been subjected to countless false accusations throughout my life. Even if you spread rumors, it will just be one more line added to the list of baseless slander against me. It won't tarnish my reputation."

A brief flush of color returned to Namgung Jaehak's face. This was a phenomenon known as terminal lucidity, a temporary return of vitality right before death.

"I lived protecting the Namgung Clan, and I will die protecting it. Even now, haven't I successfully defended my family from the Blood Cult's vicious attack? Could there be a more glorious end to my life than this? Haha… Hahahaha!"

Relieved of a huge burden that he had bottled up inside him forever, Namgung Jaehak roared with laughter, then closed his eyes with a smile on his lips.

He could feel that the flame of his life was fading away. It was time to rest in peace…

Baek Suryong sneered, "Are you going to rest in peace now? You look like you're about to ascend to heaven."

"No matter what you say, you cannot shake my unwavering heart."

"Really?" Baek Suryong smirked. Until now, Namgung Jaehak had been the one doing all the talking, but finally, it was time for his revenge. "As you said, there's no evidence of your evil deeds, but… there is a reliable witness who heard your confession."

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"Don't try to sway me with such nonsense…"

"You can come out now." Baek Suryong glanced toward the bushes nearby.

Namgung Jaehak's closing eyes shot open. Had someone overheard their conversation? Having lost his inner arts and with his senses dulled, he hadn't noticed anyone listening in on them.

Staring at the rustling bushes, Namgung Jaehak desperately prayed, Please, please let it be someone unrelated to the Namgung Clan…

A man emerged from the darkness.

Namgung Jaehak's face fell. This was the last person wanted to see right now.

With a pale expression, the current Namgung Patriarch, the Ironblood Swordsman Namgung Cheon, greeted, "…Father."

Panicking, Namgung Jaehak hurriedly began to spout excuses, "Cheon, it's a misunderstanding. This isn't what it seems. Y-You heard me wrong. This, this…"

"I heard everything very clearly," Namgung Cheon whispered. "…And so did they."

From behind the Namgung Patriarch, Namgung Su, the Namgung Clan warriors, and the new instructors from the three academies appeared one by one, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

"Former Patriarch…"

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"W-Why…?"

"Did all this really happen because of you, Former Patriarch?"

"N-No, no, that's not it!" Desperate, Namgung Jaehak pointed at Baek Suryong. "It was him! He brainwashed me with evil arts! I-I've lost my martial arts, so I couldn't resist. Son, please believe me…"

"Enough, Father," Namgung Cheon said firmly, gently supporting his father.

Namgung Jaehak was still dying, but his face was anything but peaceful. He was anxious, restless, and trembling with fear. Additionally, he had aged considerably in the last few minutes and now looked his real age.

Namgung Cheon reassured his father calmly, "As you said, I will consider the possibility that you were brainwashed by evil arts…"

"Y-Yes, that's right. It was him. Baek Suryong. We have to kill him…"

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"…So I will investigate this matter thoroughly."

"W-What?"

Namgung Cheon said grimly, "We will inspect the well in the Namgung Clan Ancestral Shrine, and also examine exactly how and why so many of our family members ended up learning demonic arts."

"C-Cheon…"

"If it's true that someone used evil arts on you, Father, then I swear on the name of the Namgung Clan that I will find that person and kill them."

Namgung Jaehak's face turned as white as a sheet. This wasn't the answer he wanted. He especially didn't want to hear what his son was going to say next.

"On the other hand, if everything that came out of your mouth is true…"

"C-Cheon…" Namgung Jaehak pleaded desperately. He knew that look on his son's face. It was the look he made when he was about to be so stubborn that no one, not even his own father, could change his mind.

The one-eyed Namgung Patriarch declared solemnly, "If it's true, then there will be no place for you in the Namgung Clan Ancestral Shrine."

"You! How could you do this to me…?!" Namgung Jaehak coughed up blood and started convulsing, again worsening the sword wound in his abdomen.

Namgung Cheon held his father down to prevent him from killing himself. "Calm down, Father."

"I gave my whole life for the Namgung Clan! Every moment of it! I made us the world's strongest martial family! This can't be happening! You can't do this to me!"

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The blood drained from Namgung Jaehak's face. With this, he had lost everything. Only the most miserable death in the world awaited him.

Namgung Cheon looked at his father, who was scratching at him in delirium. Although he had said that he would investigate thoroughly, he already knew that his father's confession was genuine.

However, that was exactly why he couldn't comfort him with lies. In his father's last moments, he had to tell him the cruel truth.

"No, Father. It's over. After today, the Namgung Clan will no longer be the world's strongest clan."

"I… am… ugh…!"

Namgung Jaehak's body convulsed violently, and then stopped moving. Until the moment he drew his last breath, his eyes remained wide open in horror.

Namgung Cheon gently reached out and closed his father's eyes.

At the same time, Baek Suryong silently paid his last respects to the Yin Yang Demon Lord.

Fifth Elder, I pray that you can finally rest in peace now.

Translator's Note: Love it or hate it, the new manhwa artstyle is out!