Chapter 3: Great Hero

A poisonous plant with an ominous appearance grew next to the altar.

It looked almost like a woman’s hand.

I didn’t want to walk down the same path as it, but there was no other way.

It felt like someone had made a single path and was urging me to follow it without a choice.

‘This feels disgusting.’

I never found out why this thing was here, but it was a self-blood grass (自血草) cultivated by the Blood Sect.

If eaten raw, it provides a bit of internal energy, but in exchange, it causes a burning pain.

Typically, in the Blood Sect, it’s mixed well and either used as food for monsters or for torture, but there was no other way.

The hesitation lasted only a moment,and soon, I took a large bite of the plant that resembled a human hand.

The taste of blood spread across my mouth, and I could feel a rush of internal energy swirling inside me.

“Ugh…!”

Pain surged through my entire body.

Before I knew it, dawn had passed, and the sun rose beyond the mountains.

After crawling up the cliff, I shook the dust off my body.

“Ha… I finally made it. This is a victory for humans.”

My hands were still trembling as if the pain from the poison hadn’t faded.

Climbing up was naturally much harder than going down.

But there was no other choice.

Originally, the protagonist would have gone down the cliff, but I had a different plan.

I didn’t want to cripple my legs from the impact of the fall,

but most importantly, removing the false charges was the top priority.

The fool would realize this later and try to clear his name, but by then, all the people involved would already be dead.

‘That’s how it becomes a snowball effect.’

I couldn’t let that happen.

I didn’t have a sword king, so I had to get the first step right.

There was no other way to survive in this harsh martial world.

In fact, I was already feeling a bit anxious that I might be too late.

That’s why I’m rushing and making sure I gather at least the minimum internal energy before moving.

‘I can’t let things get any worse from here.’

After wandering through the forest for a while, I eventually made my way along the road to Jinwan village.

By the time the sun was high in the sky,

“Aaah!”

A high-pitched scream echoed.

I wanted to ignore it, but the woman’s cry came from the middle of the main road.

As I turned my gaze, I saw that she had just struck down a man who looked like a bandit.

“My… my little sister!”

“Calm down!”

Between the carriages, a group of three bandits and a woman were facing off with swords drawn.

The woman, wearing purple silk clothes and a spider-shaped hairpin, was holding a sword and retreating.

As I got closer, I saw corpses scattered around the area, clearly the result of a fierce battle.

The three men were fighting against the lone woman.

‘They’ve already started moving.’

The moment the woman saw me, she cried out pitifully.

“Please, please help me! Great Hero!! These vicious enemies are here!”

“What, what is this woman talking about?”

“The wicked thieves killed my family and now they’re trying to rape me!!”

“You crazy woman!”

The rough-looking bandit drew his sword and charged toward the woman.

At the moment the sharp sword strike flew toward her,

*Clang!*

“To block it…!”

I quickly drew the sword from my waist and swung it to knock the man away.

*Ugh…*

My arm cried out in pain.

My body creaked from the forced sword strike, as it was still not fully recovered.

I hadn’t released all of the shock from the impact yet.

“Thank you, Great Hero…”

“No, it’s only natural to help a woman. Are you alright?”

I flashed the kindest smile I could muster, trying to look as gentle as possible.

“Yes… all thanks to you.”

And as I expected,

The woman hurriedly moved behind me.

‘There’s only one chance.’

“What are you doing?”

The bandit shouted angrily and swung his sword around.

The other bandits behind him trembled with rage.

Just as they were about to say something,

“Filthy bastards! Great Hero, they’re terrible people! They tried to assault me… please help!”

The woman’s silk clothes were torn at the top and bottom, and she looked exhausted.

I ignored the bandits’ words and smiled at the woman.

“There’s no need to listen to the words of such scum. Don’t worry. Miss,”

“Ah… as expected, the Great Hero is a righteous man of the martial world…!”

The woman nodded her head in admiration, her hands tightly gripping together.

“I’m sorry, but would you mind handling one of them while I deal with the other two?”

“One person…? It’s difficult, but I’ll try.”

“Thank you, Miss. Just buy me some time.”

The woman looked determined and drew her sword.

“Filthy bastards! It’s time to pay for your crimes!”

“What are you going to do now? You should run while you can!”

She raised her sword and charged forward fiercely.

*Whoosh-*

No, she tried to charge forward.

Her intentions were not realized.

“How…?”

“What, what is this…!”

Both the men and the woman gasped in shock.

Because a high-quality sword had pierced the woman’s body.

With confused eyes, the woman looked up at me.

…

“Why…?”

Without a word, I pulled out the paralytic needle lodged in my neck.

‘I never expected she would inject a paralytic needle right into the cervical vertebrae…’

I probably thought I would deal with it as well.

The woman was one of the high-ranking members of the Black Lotus (거흑련), a notorious faction.

Her martial arts were not very strong, but she had a reputation for ambushing people in the same way as just now.

I had doubts because of her attire, but it turned out as expected.

It’s better to remove poisonous herbs in advance.

Her name? No need to know anymore.

She pulled various valuables from her clothes.

‘She even brought elixirs…’

It was a red pill with horizontal markings—Zoso Dan (자소단), an elixir.

Though it was a parasol type, in a situation like this, it was useful.

If there had been more time, I might have played with the woman, but reaching the village was the priority.

The bandits, thinking they had survived, bowed their heads and offered their allegiance.

After a brief conversation, I learned that they were rookie merchants who had learned a little martial arts.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, Great Hero!”

“It’s nothing. When lives are at stake, I can’t just pass by.”

I reciprocated with the same polite gesture.

I’m still not used to this.

“You are a great blessing to the martial world!”

“Great Hero, you are the savior of our lives! But how did you know…?”

Since I couldn’t tell them I already knew their true identities, I gave a suitable answer.

“It’s nothing special. You said your family was killed, but there was only a woman’s sword covered in blood. I knew it was a lie right away.”

“Oooh…!”

They kept asking questions, intrigued by my response.

“Could it be that you’ve reached the state of Returning to True Nature (반박귀진)?”

“No. As you can see, I am just an ordinary person with no internal energy.”

There was no need to tell them the truth.

“Really?”

The merchant opened his eyes wide and his mouth fell open.

He looked like a truly vicious bandit.

“Yes. I was just lucky this time.”

“Really? I can’t sense any energy at all…”

They whispered to each other, clearly fascinated by me.

*Clunk-*

*Clunk-*

The carriage rumbled loudly.

I sat cross-legged and continued refining my energy.

I decided to accept the merchants’ kindness, who wanted to repay me, and dispel the lingering effects of the medicine in my body.

The effects of the medicine were quickly expelled, and then it was time for breath control.

My body was still in poor condition, so I couldn’t yet spread my energy through the meridians, but I had unique experience.

Still, I couldn’t understand how I, with such a weak body, had managed to become one of the top ten martial experts.

I could only think that I had a natural talent for martial arts, which the Sword King had taught me.

After lightly circulating my energy, what I needed to do next was condense the energy in my lower abdomen.

By using the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Divine Skill (일월음양신공), I was creating highly pure Sun-Moon Qi (일월기).

Internal energy was necessary, but unlike other martial arts, the purity of the energy was the most important factor.

The Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Divine Skill I had learned was a martial art that balanced and harmonized opposing energies, so the purer the energy, the more explosive the power it could generate in response to external stimuli.

‘It’s still far off.’

“We’ve arrived.”

While I was deeply immersed in my training, the merchants knocked on the door.

When I got out of the carriage, it was a quiet open area.

“Where is this? This isn’t Jinwan Village, is it?”

*Shing*

Before I knew it, the men had drawn their swords and were aiming them at me.

“Big Brother, since you helped us earlier, I won’t kill you. But hand over that sword and everything else you have.”

“You’re really lucky we’re offering this opportunity to repay your kindness.”

*Hehehe* “I can make up for some of the money I lost on the way.”

Are they playing according to their appearance?

If not, perhaps they were trusting their rationality as merchants.

They must have gotten greedy after seeing the expensive sword I had taken from the Jin family.

With confident expressions, they clearly thought I was just an ordinary person.

Until a moment ago, they were praising me as a Great Hero, but now that the title was reduced to “Big Brother,” it shows how peculiar power dynamics are.

“Big Brother, you better hand it over while I’m still being nice… I don’t want to stain my hands with the blood of my benefactor.”

“Yeah, better give everything up and get out while we’re letting you live.”

That’s right, this is the martial world.

A true traditional martial arts world.

I had forgotten about this…

The martial world is where you lose your life without even realizing it.

*Shing*

I drew my sword without a word.

I trudged into the village.

As expected for a relatively large village around here, it was a lively place.

‘Then, for now…’

I heard the familiar voice of a woman.

“Young Master Sojin? You’re alive…!”