Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

As the flames licked the Yin Yang Demon Lord's frozen skin, a final, hidden message slowly materialized.

Cut open my belly. Inside, I have hidden the key to destroying the Namgung Clan.

"What?" Baek Suryong quickly waved his hand, snuffing out the altar's fire, then moved closer to examine the message up close. "The key to destroying the Namgung Clan?"

A sudden realization flashed through his mind.

"Did he freeze this entire place to preserve something within his stomach?"

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The unusually cold temperature in the cavern was undeniably artificial, and the cause was most likely the Yin Yang Demon Lord, who had mastered both extreme Yang and extreme Yin martial arts.

In his final moments, he expended all of his remaining life energy to transform this place into an icy tomb, seeking to preserve the key to the Namgung Clan's destruction within his own body, while at the same time ensuring that evidence of the Blue Sky Sword King's atrocities would remain intact for future Blood Cultists to discover.

Your grudge runs deep indeed.

Ironically, the Yin Yang Demon Lord's message was not delivered to a Blood Cult descendant as he had wished. Instead, it reached him.

Fate certainly likes to work in mysterious ways.

"I may not be the one you awaited, Elder, but I'll take good care of the key you left behind."

SPLURT!

Baek Suryong wasted no time in slicing open the Yin Yang Demon Lord's abdomen. A long, wooden box, roughly the size of his palm, lay nestled within.

This must be the key.

"Swallowing something this big couldn't have been easy…" he muttered, taking out the box, lifting the lid, and peering inside.

"A… flute?"

A small ivory flute, carefully wrapped in silk, lay inside the box. It was only slightly longer than his palm, and the words "Demonic Soul Summoning Flute (魔靈召魂笛)" were engraved upon it.

"A flute that summons demonic souls… How ominous."

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Baek Suryong carefully examined the Demonic Soul Summoning Flute. Just by holding it in his hand, he could feel a sinister energy seeping into his body, proving that this was no ordinary artifact.

"This is the key to destroying the Namgung Clan?"

At least, that was what the Yin Yang Demon Lord's secret message alleged. Moreover, there was a similarly ominous statement among the words written on the floor.

Baek Suryong took another look at that part.

Hehe… But he doesn't know that I didn't just sit around doing nothing for thirty years. I don't know when it'll sprout, but we have sown the seeds of destruction in the future of the Namgung Clan…

If my guess is correct, the Demonic Soul Summoning Flute is likely connected to the 'seeds of destruction' that were sown thirty years ago. If I play it, I might get some answers, but using it recklessly might have unforeseen consequences…

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Baek Suryong slid the Demonic Soul Summoning Flute back into its box and tucked it into his shirt pocket. Since he couldn't figure out what it was for right away, he decided to examine it more thoroughly later.

He glanced back at the Yin Yang Demon Lord.

"I don't know if I'll end up using this. I have to think about it carefully."

He reignited the fire on the altar, planning to finish the funeral rites.

WHOOSH!

The flames slowly engulfed the corpse. As the body had been frozen for so long, it would take some time for it to burn completely.

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When the frost melted a little, Baek Suryong gently closed the Yin Yang Demon Lord's eyes.

"May you be reborn in a better place," he murmured.

The Yin Yang Demon Lord was one of the few Blood Cult martial artists whom Baek Suryong had respected in his previous life. Similar to the Blood Dragon Captain, he believed that the Yin Yang Demon Lord would definitely have become a chivalrous hero if he had been born in an orthodox sect.

WHOOSH!

Flames and smoke billowed, consuming the Yin Yang Demon Lord.

"I'll be on my way now."

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After paying his respects, Baek Suryong turned around. From the altar, he spotted the torn and bloody bodies of cultists scattered across the cavern. For a moment, he thought about cremating them too, but ultimately decided against it.

He had only performed the funeral rites for the Yin Yang Demon Lord due to their past connection.

Attending to the other bodies would be excessive. If someone else wants to do it, that's up to them, but…

Lost in thought, Baek Suryong absentmindedly fiddled with the wooden box in his hands as he descended the altar… when something suddenly dropped from the ceiling and lunged at him.

"KIIYAAAH!"

A bizarre, inhuman screech reverberated through the cavern, and shards of ice erupted from the floor like dust.

Fortunately, Baek Suryong had sensed the presence before it even fell and dodged it, but only now did he realize what it was.

"A Human-Faced Spider?"

It was a monstrous gray spider nearly the size of a cow, with a head that bore a disturbing resemblance to a grotesquely disfigured human face.

"Come to think of it, I once heard that the Yin Yang Demon Lord kept a Human-Faced Spider as a pet, but wasn't it was only the size of a puppy? It sure grew a lot these past five decades…"

"KIIYAAAH!"

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The spider screeched again and rushed at Baek Suryong. It must have been hiding in here all the time and snapped when it saw its dead master's body being cremated.

Damn, most people would be terrified just by the sight of a cow-sized spider scuttling toward them with the speed of a peak-level master…but it's no threat to me!

SWISH!

Baek Suryong easily dodged the spider's attack and studied it with detached curiosity. All spiritual beasts were unique, but this one emitted an unexpected type of energy for its species.

"Is it normal for a Human-Faced Spider to possess cold energy?"

Like the spiritual beasts from the North Sea that had cores of ice, this Human-Faced Spider released freezing energy into the air. Every time its sharp legs touched the ground, the area instantly froze.

This creature was probably the reason why the cavern remained freezing cold decades after its master's death.

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Baek Suryong thought up an intriguing hypothesis.

"You couldn't possibly have learned ice arts from the Yin Yang Demon Lord… so is there something hidden in your stomach as well?"

"KIIYAAAH!"

The Human-Faced Spider made no reply, only another bizarre screech as it dove at Baek Suryong again, venom dripping from its gaping maw.

This time, Baek Suryong stood his ground. If the spider was hiding something inside its stomach, he would confirm it directly.

SWOOSH!

With lightning speed, he drew his sword and decapitated the Human-Faced Spider in one clean swing. Even a decades-old spiritual beast was nothing before a transcendent master.

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Approaching the fallen creature, he cut open its belly without hesitation. As he expected, there was an item filled with cold energy inside.

"A bracelet?"

The bracelet was delicate, appearing to be carved from clear crystal and radiating a cold, icy aura.

"Could this be…?" Baek Suryong paused for a while to process the shock. "…A White Ice Bangle!"

The White Ice Bangles was the sacred artifact of the Ice Moon Goddess Eun Yerin, one of his four masters in his previous life. Once a treasure of the North Sea Ice Palace, it was a priceless artifact for practitioners of ice arts.

"Haha, to think Master Eun's White Ice Bangle was here all along…"

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A broad smile spread across Baek Suryong's face. He vividly remembered a conversation he had with the Ice Moon Goddess in his previous life about the White Ice Bangles.

"If you wear the White Ice Bangles while practicing ice arts, you will master them at twice the normal speed. This alone makes them an invaluable treasure, but their true worth is revealed in combat."

The Ice Moon Goddess spread her shackled hands before him as a demonstration.

"Imagine I am wearing a White Ice Bangle on my left hand, but not on my right."

CRACK! CRACK CRACK…

Instantly, her left hand became encased in white frost, while her right hand took significantly longer to freeze.

The Blood Cult had initially prevented the four imprisoned masters from using their inner arts, but Baek Suryong had requested a partial lifting of the seal to better steal their martial arts.

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"This roughly illustrates the difference between wearing and not wearing the White Ice Bangles. The less proficient you are in ice arts, the more significant the disparity. If a second-rate martial artist wears them, they can unleash cold energy almost as quickly as a first-rate martial artist."

"That's amazing! If I were to compare it to swordsmanship, wouldn't it be similar to releasing sword qi much faster than others?"

"Yes, but at my level, it makes little difference whether I wear them or not."

"That's because you're too strong, Master Eun. For normal ice practitioners, the White Ice Bangles would be more valuable than any divine weapon. Anyway, where are they now?"

"I don't know. They were taken from me when I was captured."

"Fuck…"

Until the day they attempted to escape the Blood Cult, the whereabouts of the White Ice Bangles remained a mystery. Now, it was finally revealed that the Yin Yang Demon Lord, the elder who had mastered extreme Yin martial arts, had taken them.

"Who could have imagined that they would be in a place like this?" Baek Suryong laughed, gazing fondly at the White Ice Bangle.

His joy stemmed not from its power, but from the memories it evoked of his master.

The White Ice Bangles were originally a pair. One had remained with the Ice Moon Goddess until it was confiscated by the Blood Cult, and when Baek Suryong inquired about the other, he received a very surprising answer.

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"…I gave one to my beloved as a token of my feelings."

The three men imprisoned with the Ice Moon Goddess exchanged startled glances.

"You had a lover? You?" the Crazy Demon gasped.

"Someone could handle your fiery temper?" the Bandit King exclaimed in disbelief.

"Did you have a wedding ceremony?" the Sword Saint asked eagerly.

Flustered by the sudden attention, Eun Yerin fell silent.

Sensing an opportunity, the Bandit King teased, "For a man to win the heart of our Ice-Hearted Goddess, he must be quite the master. Is he someone we know? Even if I've beaten him before, I'll pretend I don't remember."

The Ice-Hearted Goddess—or rather, the Ice Moon Goddess—fixed the Bandit King with a withering glare. "Shut up. My beloved is not an uncivilized barbarian like you. He doesn't even know martial arts."

"Huh? He's not a martial artist? Truly?"

"Goddess, this is the biggest surprise you have ever given us."

"So, did you have a wedding ceremony?"

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Baek Suryong chuckled to himself. His three male masters were both astonished and thrilled to learn of the Ice Moon Goddess' lover. During their imprisonment, with little to occupy them except martial arts, gossip became their only source of entertainment.

He recounted how his three masters had relentlessly questioned the Ice Moon Goddess until she finally relented and told them about her lover.

"He was an ordinary person…no, he was quite frail for a man. He spent his days reading books…because that's just who he was."

Once she had begun speaking, her words flowed like a broken dam, and they had all listened to the Ice Moon Goddess's tale with warmth in their hearts.

"We met at the bookstore where he worked. I was wearing a veil and a black hat to avoid drawing attention to myself, when a delicate-looking man approached me and handed me a lantern. He told me that reading in the dark could harm my eyes, just as it had harmed his."

The Ice Moon Goddess typically wore an icy expression, but whenever she spoke of her lover, her face softened.

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"Before I realized it, I had fallen in love with him. His slender arms without any muscle, his awkward and humble speech, his inability to recognize my face from a distance greater than three sheets of paper without his glasses, the way he bravely defended me from ruffians despite being so weak… I loved everything about him."

"To think our Ice-Hearted Goddess was capable of romance. Your Big Brother is proud!" the Bandit King roared.

"Shut up. Who do you think you're calling your little sister?"

"We've been together for over ten years, so that basically makes us siblings. Isn't that right, little brother Crazy Demon?"

"You're crazy."

"You're the officially recognized crazy person of the jianghu, not me."

Back then, the five of them had spent countless days together in the underground prison, forging deep bonds.

"So, did you have a wedding ceremony?" the Sword Saint pressed.

"…Just how many times are you going to ask me about that?"

Finally, the Ice Moon Goddess confessed that she had not yet held a wedding ceremony.

The Sword Saint smiled warmly. "When we escape this place, the first thing you must do is hold your wedding. I will attend it with my son."

"This Big Brother won't miss it either!" the Bandit King added.

"I will attend as well," the Crazy Demon chimed in.

The three men continued to tease the Ice Moon Goddess, asking how many children she would have, whether the frail scholar could fulfill his husbandly duties, and offering advice on medicines for virility.

For a brief time, they seemed to forget their harsh reality as they envisioned a future beyond the Blood Cult's grasp.

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"…Yeah, that's how it was," Baek Suryong murmured, pulling himself out of those bittersweet memories.

He stared at the White Ice Bangle resting in his palm.

"Master Eun, I've found one of your bangles. If I get the chance, I will look for the other."

Making a silent vow to the Ice Moon Goddess, Baek Suryong fastened the White Ice Bangle to his left wrist. Since he wielded his sword with his right hand, he planned to channel the ice arts with his left.

SNAP!

The moment he placed the White Ice Bangle on his wrist, it adjusted itself to fit him perfectly.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, the Ice Essence he'd received from the Nine Yin Witch flared up, resonating powerfully with the White Ice Bangle.

CRACK CRACK CRACK…!

White frost spread across Baek Suryong's skin, the ground froze at his feet, and chills ran through his entire body.

"Ugh!"

He immediately sat down in a meditative posture, instinctively understanding that if he didn't calm this raging Ice Essence, he risked becoming an ice statue, but if he managed to rein it in, he could raise his ice arts, which he had neglected until now, to new heights.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Baek Suryong closed his eyes and focused on his breathing and qi circulation.