Ch. 29 Murim Psychopath Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Rising Star

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Rising Star.

A term that literally referred to a newly risen star.

People commonly used it to describe “an outstanding young talent who had suddenly appeared.” In that sense, there was no one more fitting than Do Heo-ok.

He had truly appeared in the martial world out of nowhere.

Naturally, his first steps amounted to no more than a gentle breeze.

His name first became known to the people of the jianghu when he single-handedly wiped out an obscure bandit gang in Liaoning Province. Even then, not many people paid attention to him.

Then,

The Eight Freaks of Hebei.

The Mabung Gang of Shanxi.

Ha Rang, the Flying Heavenly Chef of Shaanxi.

Cheon Dae-gang of the Thunder Sun Manor in Sichuan….

As Do Heo-ok advanced westward and continued defeating those who walked the path of the evil heretical factions, people gradually began to look at him differently.

Even so, their assessment of him remained harsh. Gossipmongers dismissed those he had defeated as merely second-rate fighters, insisting that once he encountered a true master of the demonic path or the unorthodox factions, his unstoppable advance would come to an end.

And then….

At last, that day came.

When Do Heo-ok arrived in Hubei, the Yin-Yang Twin Demons blocked his path.

Although the Yin-Yang Twin Demons were not among the Two Gods, Three Monsters, Five High Masters, and Ten Greats, they were veteran giants whose abilities fell little short of them. They were opponents no novice who had only recently entered the jianghu could possibly face.

Yet Do Heo-ok shattered that fixed notion in a single stroke.

Though he had not won, he had endured one thousand exchanges against the Yin-Yang Twin Demons all by himself. In the end, neither side determined a victor, and both withdrew.

The result sent enormous shockwaves through the jianghu.

A young wandering swordsman with no sect behind him had fought two great villains who had terrorized the jianghu for decades to a standstill?

It was an earth-shattering event that was difficult to believe.

However, the mystery was soon resolved when the origins of Do Heo-ok's martial arts became known.

Do Heo-ok wielded an overwhelmingly domineering saber art. Every swing of his saber unleashed thunderous peals that echoed across heaven and earth as though the skies themselves were collapsing. There were many martial arts in the jianghu accompanied by thunderous sounds, but there were very few thunder sabers capable of producing such overwhelming force.

The Thunderbolt Saber Art.

It was the exclusive martial art of the Thunderbolt Saber Emperor, the greatest martial artist under heaven from three hundred years ago. That was precisely the saber art Do Heo-ok had been using.

No one knew where he had obtained the secret manual, but by wielding that saber art, he announced to the world that he was the Thunderbolt Saber Emperor's successor.

His righteous conduct, the Thunderbolt Saber Art, and strength worthy of it.

The exquisite harmony of those three elements caused his fame to spread across the world at incredible speed.

Many great martial sects eagerly tried to recruit the promising young rising star into their ranks.

If they could bring such an exceptional talent under their own banner, they would not only gain a remarkable disciple but might also obtain the potential greatest saber art under heaven.

Naturally, the competition became even fiercer than the perilous sea of blades and forest of swords.

Yet, as though mocking the struggles of the great martial sects, Do Heo-ok devoted himself solely to exterminating villains who walked the path of the evil heretical factions.

The Nine Sects and One Gang, and the Five Great Families of the Central Plains had no choice but to continue watching him closely, while the battle to claim the rising star continued unabated.

Then.

The fierce underground competition among the great martial sects came to an unexpectedly anticlimactic end after he arrived in Hefei, Anhui Province.

Do Heo-ok had fallen in love at first sight with Namgung Hye, the second daughter of the Namgung Family.

In the end, the Namgung Family emerged victorious, while the other great sects could only smack their lips in disappointment and reluctantly give up on him.

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These days, the Namgung Family was so busy with the wedding between Do Heo-ok and Namgung Hye, the fruit of that fierce battle over the rising star that they scarcely had a moment to breathe.

Naturally, Do Heo-ok himself was extremely busy.

He personally stood at the temporary reception pavilion erected near the gates of the Namgung Family, greeting each guest as they arrived to offer their congratulations.

With his tall stature and handsome, approachable face, Do Heo-ok exuded the bearing of a true hero through appearance alone. Even after greeting him and heading toward the Guest Hall, the visitors never stopped praising him.

Ordinarily, there was no need for the groom himself to receive guests.

Even so, Do Heo-ok had voluntarily taken on the troublesome duty of greeting them, leaving the visitors even more impressed by his humility.

But,

His true objective was not receiving guests.

Although he welcomed everyone with a hearty smile, in reality his sharp eyes carefully examined each visitor.

Who had arrived.

Which sect they truly belonged to.

How strong they were.

He sorted and categorized everything meticulously in his mind.

Above all else, what mattered most to him was confirming whether the people who absolutely had to come had actually arrived.

A theatrical performance required many actors.

Do Heo-ok was the leading actor, surrounded by countless extras and a handful of indispensable supporting players.

Even among the supporting cast, however, there was an unmistakable difference in importance.

Every day, Do Heo-ok waited here for the single most important supporting actor.

As long as that person arrived, he could do without hundreds of useless extras.

And the moment that person finally showed himself at the Namgung Family would mark the completion of every preparation for the beginning of the "Great Plan."

After greeting guests while concealing his true face for about three days, the very person he had been waiting for, the most important supporting actor in this "First Scheme" finally arrived at the Namgung Family.

'He's here.'

Dozens of people entered the large, open-sided temporary reception pavilion.

There were considerably more people than Do Heo-ok had originally expected, but that hardly mattered.

The only one who mattered was the middle-aged man in brown robes with the cold expression walking at the very front.

Just as expected.

The moment the middle-aged man appeared, the martial artists who had arrived earlier and were writing their names in the congratulatory register immediately recognized him and began murmuring among themselves.

It had been a long time since he had shown himself publicly, but his mere appearance was enough to stir the crowd. He was one of the martial world's most influential experts.

“Hmph!”

The middle-aged man shot a sharp rebuke toward those whispering about him.

The murmuring martial artists instantly fell silent.

The man coldly sweeping his gaze over everyone was famous not only as a master but also as an eccentric.

People openly said that if he had been just a little stronger and a little more bizarre, there would have been Four Monsters instead of the Three Monsters of the martial world.

No one present wished to get on his bad side.

“How noisy. Are you saying I've come somewhere I'm not welcome?”

His cold eyes and characteristically stiff tone chilled everyone to the bone.

Recalling his nickname, they all hurriedly avoided his gaze.

Even if they died, they had no desire to be hunted even after becoming wandering souls.

'As expected of Soul-Chasing Poison Hand.'

The middle-aged man was none other than Tang Wu.

After staying up all night performing the Open Crown Grand Technique, he had walked for an entire day before reaching the Namgung Family estate beside Lake Chaohu in Hefei.

The people accompanying him were naturally Dong Bong-su, Tang Hwa, and the members of the Danri Family.

While everyone else was flustered, Do Heo-ok smiled inwardly at Tang Wu's appearance.

How could he not?

He had spent such a long time moving through the shadows for the sake of this very matter.

Once this was over, he would finally become a proper shadow beneath the light rather than one hidden in the darkness.

“If you've got something to say, stop whispering in the corner. Come stand in front of me and say it to my face.”

“……”

Naturally, no one stepped forward.

No,

One person did.

The only person who had maintained his relaxed, welcoming smile from the moment Tang Wu appeared until now.

“Greetings, Great Hero Tang.”

It was Do Heo-ok.

Only then did Tang Wu shift his gaze away from the crowd and toward him.

“And who might you be?”

“This is our first meeting. My name is Do Heo-ok.”

A faint look of interest appeared on Tang Wu's face as he looked at Do Heo-ok's cupped-fist salute.

Perhaps he had long been curious about the famous rising star of the jianghu, because Tang Wu's eyes swiftly swept over Do Heo-ok from head to toe.

Do Heo-ok did not care in the slightest.

After all, simply looking at him would never reveal his true identity.

He was confident.

His transformation technique was the most perfect in the jianghu.

Even ‘that person’ could never match him in this regard.

Do Heo-ok's disguise was not some ordinary face-changing technique.

It was a transformation art based on the Art of a Thousand Transformations, completely reconstructing the bones and muscles to alter one's appearance.

“Oh-ho. So you're the young man called the Saber Star who went to all the trouble of dragging me here.”

“Yes, Great Hero.”

Do Heo-ok lightly bowed his head.

Tang Wu's eyes sharpened once more.

The look, however, did not last long.

“Excellent. Truly excellent. But that's all. If I'd met you yesterday, you'd have been the best. Seeing you today, though… what a pity.”

What did he mean?

Leaving behind words that Do Heo-ok could not understand at all, Tang Wu walked past him toward the rear of the temporary reception pavilion, where the inner residence of the Namgung Family lay.

“That old Wall fellow is inside, isn't he?”

“Yes. He's inside.”

As expected of the martial world's famous eccentric.

Who else would so casually refer to the Namgung Family Head that way?

But Do Heo-ok was no ordinary man either, calmly accepting Tang Wu's words without showing the slightest embarrassment.

“Then I'll be going in.”

“Yes, Great Hero. The Family Head has been waiting for you these past few days.”

If Tang Wu was an eccentric with a straightforward personality, then Do Heo-ok was like a waterfall.

He possessed water's gentleness, yet also great strength and boldness.

Of course, that was merely the shell he presented to the world, not his true self.

Throughout it all, Do Heo-ok handled Tang Wu's potentially rude behavior with unwavering composure.

Seeing that, everyone present admired him once again.

There were only two exceptions.

Tang Wu and Dong Bong-su.

Tang Wu had already admired the greatest talent, Dong Bong-su, enough that nothing else could impress him further.

Dong Bong-su, however, had an entirely different reason.

By nature, Dong Bong-su did not admire people.

He merely observed them.

He observed them, then categorized them as prey, enemies, or natural objects like grass and trees.

If someone was exceptional, then to him they were simply exceptional prey or an exceptional enemy.

If they were prey, there was nothing to consider.

He either hunted them or left them alone.

If they were an enemy, however, the situation was entirely different.

In that case, Dong Bong-su usually chose one of three options.

Eliminate them before they became an obstacle to the hunt.

Avoid them.

Or deceive them.

From the moment he entered the temporary reception pavilion following Tang Wu, he had kept his eyes fixed on Do Heo-ok.

It was because of his Spirit Eyes.

His Spirit Eyes had informed him of the appearance of a new high-level enemy.

[20…… 10…….]