Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm

After joining with Jin So-cheong, we immediately used the teleportation array to head underground to the Shadowless Sect.

This place was close to our base, and it had the best-equipped torture facilities.

Suddenly transported to a sunless place, Namgung Hwan, whose acupoints had been sealed, seemed quite surprised.

"Here..."

The Shadowless Sect's torture chamber had only a single flickering candle, creating a rather eerie atmosphere.

Ignoring Namgung Hwan, I spoke to Mang Ryang.

"What should we do now?"

Mang Ryang glanced at Moyong Yeon and said,

"What do you mean?"

"No need to play innocent. We want to hear Namgung Hwan's true intentions, and then we'll decide your fate."

"......"

As Moyong Yeon hesitated, Mang Ryang gave me a look.

I stepped forward and pressed my finger to Namgung Hwan's philtrum.

Then, following Qian, I positioned Dui, fully subjecting his body to the influence of the Eight Trigrams Seal.

Pajjik!

"Kyaaaak!!"

Namgung Hwan flopped about like a fish struck by lightning, utterly shocked.

To the startled Namgung Hwan, I said,

"The Eight Trigrams Seal works like this. I've already sealed Qian and Dui. As Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun follow in sequence, each of the eight parts will be restricted one by one. Your pain sensitivity will grow ever sharper, and your sense of time will continually slow."

As I spoke, I lightly flicked his forehead.

Namgung Hwan broke out in beads of sweat all over his body and let out a scream.

"Kyaaaaak!!"

"What's wrong? It's just a flick. Someone might think I was torturing you."

As I muttered,

Namgung Hwan cried out in terror.

"Sp... spare me! I'll tell you whatever you want!!"

"That's not it. You need to speak the truth."

As I formed my fingers again into a flicking position, tears streamed from the corners of Namgung Hwan's eyes.

"I understand! I'll speak the truth! Please..."

"......"

"What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything."

I glanced at Jin So-cheong.

He had acquired the most concrete information here about Namgung Hwan's "secret."

Catching on, Jin So-cheong took a step forward and asked,

"Baek Sang Sect, Jin Yang Sect, So Geom Sect. Even by my knowledge, these three sects were exterminated at your command—is that true?"

"I know nothing about it!"

Namgung Hwan pleaded.

"It truly never happened! How could I, heir to the Namgung Family, commit such acts? Jin So-cheong, please save me..."

"You don't grasp the situation, do you."

Jin So-cheong spoke coldly and raised a finger to place it above his heart.

Only then did Namgung Hwan seem to realize how idiotic his words had been, his eyes bulging wide—but it was too late.

Jin So-cheong had mercilessly activated the Li Trigram of the Eight Trigrams Seal.

Pajjik

"......!!"

"Let's try another flick."

Jin So-cheong flicked the forehead of Namgung Hwan, now hypersensitive from three trigrams.

It was nothing more than that, but in that instant, Namgung Hwan's expression filled with utter despair, as if he had forgotten every moment of happiness in his life.

And he screamed.

"Kyaaaaaaak...!! Aaak!!"

A acrid stench rose from his lower body.

The shock had been so intense that he had lost control of his bladder.

His eyes rolled back in agony, as if seized by malaria—it was no small thing.

Moyong Yeon stared at the scene, her face drained of color, and grabbed Jin So-cheong's sleeve.

"Isn't that too much?"

"Step aside, young lady."

"But..."

"Don't you realize he's already crossed the line?"

Jin So-cheong replied impassively.

Namgung Hwan had fainted from the overwhelming shock, but Jin So-cheong grasped his pulse and infused internal energy, bringing him back to consciousness.

Drool spilling from his mouth, Namgung Hwan spoke in a broken, subdued voice.

"Yes... yes. Those three sects... I exterminated them... I mobilized the Namgung Family's full forces to wipe them out..."

"......!!"

The faces of everyone gathered there darkened.

No matter that it was under torture, Namgung Hwan had affirmed the worst scandal—one that could negate his entire reputation.

Jin So-cheong pressed on.

"Why did you exterminate them?"

"Wi... will you spare me if I talk...?"

"Of course we'll spare you. All we want is the truth."

"Ugh..."

Namgung Hwan chewed his lip and continued.

"The women were pretty."

"What?"

"The sect leaders of Baek Sang Sect and Jin Yang Sect were beauties, and the wife of the So Geom Sect leader was pretty too—I had my eye on her."

"What did you say..."

For a moment, Jin So-cheong was so baffled he couldn't continue.

The same went for me, Mang Ryang—even Moyong Yeon, who had been listening.

It was so outrageous that Mang Ryang stepped forward and said to Namgung Hwan,

"So you're saying, Namgung Hwan, that you exterminated those martial sects just to take their women?"

Namgung Hwan hesitated, unwilling to affirm it, but as Jin So-cheong prepared another flick, he cried out in panic.

"Y-yes! That was the reason."

"And what did you do with the women you had your eye on?"

"I secretly spirited them away and locked them in my family's basement."

"Locked them up?"

"I visited whenever I desired."

"......"

It was clear what he did on those visits, even without asking.

Moyong Yeon's face turned ashen.

Unconsciously, she cried out,

"You filth! How could a scion of the Five Great Families stoop to such depravity..."

Moyong Yeon's hand summoned the Moyong Family ultimate technique, Heavenly Gang Hand, which gleamed with azure light.

She looked ready to cleave Namgung Hwan's life away with it right then, but I seized her wrist.

"Wait. We have to hear it all first."

"It's mortifying that I nearly married such a pervert."

"So I said wait."

While I calmed Moyong Yeon,

Jin So-cheong continued the interrogation with cold precision.

"Just to be sure, I'll ask again. Everything you've said is the truth?"

"Yes..."

"Were you involved in the extermination of the other minor and medium sects as well?"

Jin So-cheong recited the list of eight sects he had obtained from the Divine Maiden Sect, and Namgung Hwan nodded.

"Yes."

"The remaining sects—you exterminated them for their pretty women too?"

"...Yes."

Jin So-cheong paused in thought, then said,

"The Namgung Family is a righteous faction, one of the Five Great Families. What justification did you have to strike down those minor sects?"

Namgung Hwan answered hesitantly.

"It's simple. Apply pressure to cut off their funding sources, then spread rumors across the martial world that they were tentacles of the White Lotus Cult. Once the heads of the Five Great Families heard the rumors, I quietly negotiated with them to handle the dirty work on our behalf."

"...So the leadership tolerated it?"

"Yes..."

"And those exterminated weren't actually White Lotus Cult subordinates, yet they fell anyway?"

"...Yes."

At that point, Mang Ryang, who had been listening, asked,

"The righteous faction isn't just the Five Great Families. There are the Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Schools—how were you able to act so freely?"

"The entity most closely attuned to the Families' movements is the Five Great Families themselves. The Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Schools pay little attention unless it's within their own territories..."

"Fist closest to the body, eh. Indeed, most of the exterminated sects were near Anhui Province."

Mang Ryang's words pieced the situation together.

In short, Namgung Hwan had exterminated innocent minor sects to sate his lust, imprisoning their women in a basement!

In the process, the Five Great Families had stayed silent, deceived by false information, while the Nine Great Sects and Eight Great Schools ignored it as outside their sphere of influence.

What was chilling was that no one had suspected this until torturing Namgung Hwan himself.

It was something only inferred after Jin So-cheong secretly obtained underworld intelligence through the Divine Maiden Sect.

Jin So-cheong stared at Namgung Hwan with emotionless eyes and said,

"The women you collected—are they still in the basement?"

"Yes."

"Are they unharmed?"

"......"

Namgung Hwan averted his gaze from Jin So-cheong's eyes.

Jin So-cheong ground his teeth.

"You beast."

"Ji-Ji-Jin So-cheong. Why are you doing this?"

Namgung Hwan began pleading with Jin So-cheong.

"Your master, Triple Excellence Lee Gwang, and my father are the closest of friends! You and I have built camaraderie over the past few years—why suddenly this... Release me at once."

Jin So-cheong fell silent, then said,

"I'll ask again. Are they unharmed?"

"Th-they... they were so noisy, I had no choice. But there are still some alive who..."

Kwa-jik

"Kyaaaaaaak!!"

Jin So-cheong seized one of Namgung Hwan's fingertips and crushed it.

The nail and joint segment burst into pulp.

Even normally, it would be pain enough to cause fainting, but with the Eight Trigrams Seal activated, it was surely like stabbing hundreds of razor blades into his entire body.

As Namgung Hwan drooled, soiling himself with feces and urine while trembling violently,

I said in surprise to Jin So-cheong,

"Oh no! We can't let him die..."

"Don't worry. He won't die from this."

Jin So-cheong struck a palm to Namgung Hwan's heart, forcibly restoring his consciousness with a jolt.

Namgung Hwan, plunged into extreme shock and terror, trembled at the mouth and babbled nonsense.

"Hiik... spare... me... ugh..."

"He won't die, but he might go mad."

As I looked on worriedly, Jin So-cheong smiled gently.

"That's precisely why the Eight Trigrams Seal is such an excellent torture method. By sealing the body's various parts with the trigrams, you can forcibly awaken the mind with each release. That's the principle—it's not easy to drive someone mad with ordinary mental fortitude."

"I see."

"I'll do my utmost to find out."

I realized anew that Jin So-cheong was a warrior of the Thunder God Style.

His torture skills were probably superior to mine.

From the way he spoke, it seemed he had plenty of prior experience before Namgung Hwan.

The interrogation of Namgung Hwan concluded about half a shichen later.

His pathetic state—screaming madly before soiling himself and passing out—was wretched to behold.

Gazing at him impassively, Mang Ryang said to Moyong Yeon,

"Moyong Yeon. Now you know the truth about Namgung Hwan and the Namgung Family. What do you intend to do?"

"......"

After hesitating, Moyong Yeon answered,

"We of the Moyong Family will devote all our power to exposing the Namgung Family's scandals and burying them. To do that, we must absolutely rescue those women imprisoned in the basement."

"That makes sense. We'll handle that task as well. However, we'd like some compensation for our efforts."

"You want money? We have plenty..."

"No, that's not it."

Waving his hand dismissively, Mang Ryang chuckled.

"We'll have many occasions ahead where we need the Moyong Family's cooperation—so lend us your aid then."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand once we head to the surface together."

We exited the underground torture chamber.

A Shadowless Sect expert guarding the chamber greeted us.

"Protector. Did everything go well?"

He was someone I knew by face.

While transmitting insights to the Sword Demon at the Shadowless Sect, my status had been that of a Protector—naturally, near the top of the sect's hierarchy.

He likely knew we were interrogating someone even now, but upon confirming my face, he had kept silent.

"Yes. He's soiled himself with feces and urine, so please clean it up a bit."

He snickered.

"Looks like the Protector's skilled at this sort of thing too. Care to learn my interrogation techniques next time?"

"If the opportunity arises..."

After a cursory reply, we went outside and met the Sword Demon.

The Sword Demon was surprised to see us appear suddenly with not only Jin So-cheong but even Moyong Yeon, but he seemed to understand after hearing the full story.

When we relayed the information obtained from torturing Namgung Hwan, he stroked his chin beard.

"Hmm. I thought it was just idle rumor, but it was true after all?"

"You knew of it too, Sect Leader?"

"Impossible not to, with the whispers circulating in the black path sects. But I dismissed it as rumor and stayed out of it."

Muttering to himself, the Sword Demon looked at Moyong Yeon and said,

"Moyong Yeon, young lady. It seems the main sect and the Moyong Family will have many chances to join forces ahead."

"Y-yes..."

"You must be mentally exhausted from today's ordeals. Rest in your quarters."

Moyong Yeon wore a somewhat frightened expression, her demeanor passive.

Small wonder—she had suddenly come face-to-face with the Sword Demon, supreme lord even among the Shadowless Sect, foremost of the demonic paths.

It was a place where even the Moyong Family head would shrink back.

After sending Moyong Yeon to her quarters, the Sword Demon said to Jin So-cheong,

"Welcome."

"You didn't seem thrilled about my joining."

"My apologies. But my thoughts remain unchanged."

Jin So-cheong nodded as the Sword Demon spoke flatly.

"Of course. In the martial world, one's worth must be proven personally."

"Indeed. I look forward to it."

Once their greetings concluded, I brought up the practical matter.

"Then we need to rescue the women locked in the Namgung Family basement—how should we go about it?"

"The best course would be to annihilate the Namgung Family, but their backing is a problem."

"Backing?"

The Sword Demon sighed and said,

"Normally, we would ally with the Moyong Family to topple the Five Great Families and establish a new order in this region. We have both the cause and the power for it. But one piece of information you uncovered during your reincarnation prevents that."

"......?"

Perplexed, I turned as Mang Ryang explained,

"The one backing the Five Great Families is none other than Han Baekryeong, practitioner of the Incarnation Style. It's no exaggeration to call the Five Great Families his subordinates."

"Ah...!!"

Only then did it click for me.

Come to think of it, Han Baekryeong had been propping up the Five Great Families using the immense wealth of the Han Family!

With even the Peak Expert and one of the world's top five physicians, the Medicine King, serving as his personal doctor, the Five Great Families were indeed close to being Mang Ryang's Incarnation Style underlings.

Touching the Five Great Families would bring the Incarnation Style down on us.

That was truly daunting.

The Incarnation Style's power rivaled the Wind God Style, and above all, the existence of Han Baekryeong the guardian beast was beyond bearing.

I might be able to face them if I released Makya, but that wasn't something I could do right now.

Mang Ryang chuckled.

"Rather, this works in our favor."

"You have a plan?"

"Naturally."

As he unfurled the Five Fire Seven Stars Metals Threads, Mang Ryang said,

"Baek Woong was bound for the White Lotus Cult anyway to uncover the secrets of the Heavenly Spirit Pill. Let's use this incident to approach the Incarnation Style."

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