Murim Troubleshooter Dan Mujin

Chapter 67: Polishing Through Trials

Heaven-Slaying Star grew strongest when he fought with his life on the line.

Naturally so—his fate was to become a public enemy of the Murim the moment he appeared, destined to clash with all manner of opponents.

But among them, there existed a fateful entity that inexplicably elevated Heaven-Slaying Star’s accomplishments.

That was none other than a fellow Evil Star and nemesis—Purple Star, like myself.

“…You’re telling me to exchange blows with Jo Harang?”

As I watched the letters being scribbled on the ground, I recalled the storm-like flurry of Jo Harang’s greatsword strikes.

What Evil Star suggested was that ‘Purple (紫)’ and ‘Kill (殺)’ should cross blades—in other words, a sparring match as intense as real combat.

Though I was greatly displeased with the idea of receiving Purple Star’s help, the more my martial arts advanced, the higher Heaven-Slaying Star’s survival rate became, so he seemed willing to endure it for now.

‘Knife Hidden in Laughter (笑中刀)’

Wait, is he really enduring it?

Even if he offers help, Heaven-Slaying Star always tells me to keep a blade ready in my coat and strike the moment an opportunity arises.

The more I looked at him, the more he seemed like a psycho. Even to his allies, he showed no mercy.

I scrubbed out the letters he wrote with the tip of my foot. That made Evil Star protest violently, his energy flaring bright red.

‘Kill (殺)!’

“I said I’m not doing it, and even if I did, I’d get wrecked, you lunatic.”

This guy really likes playing both sides.

The opponent was a Peak Master Level martial artist—a talented Murim warrior who had received an abundance of martial aptitude from Purple Star.

Still, I decided to partially accept the suggestion to receive Purple Star’s help.

When I went to the vacant lot near the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament lodgings, I found Jo Harang, as always, sweating through her training under the starlight.

Her body flowed as smoothly as water along with the movement of her massive sword, as if she and the blade were one.

Even so, the blade scattered tyrannical sword qi, violently tearing the night air.

Whoosh!

She was merely performing techniques, yet the force imbued in her sword made the scene look nothing short of violent.

If someone stood in front of that greatsword without preparation, they’d be sliced up before they could even recover their bones.

“Hmm? Mujin, what brings you here this late at night?”

There wasn’t even a night guard posted. As I silently watched her swordplay, she turned wide-eyed and asked what was going on.

I told her everything—about the wall I hit during my solo training and how stuck I currently felt.

No matter how I thought about it, mindlessly practicing forms into the air didn’t seem to suit Heaven-Slaying Star.

“You want me to help you train? As your sparring partner?”

The martial arts tournament would be held over two weeks. During that time, I wanted to find a way to unravel the thread leading to my peak.

“Yeah, think it’s possible?”

“Of course! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”

Jo Harang nodded eagerly, as if this moment was exactly what she’d been hoping for.

She slung her greatsword over her shoulder, thumped her chest, and told me I could trust her to accompany me all day long.

There wasn’t even a hint of malice or calculation in her gesture—just pure goodwill.

Unlike that bright-red lunatic who told me to strike the moment I saw a killing chance even while helping me, she was a radiant woman like the morning sun.

“But you suddenly seem so fired up. Before, it felt like you were just here to collect the bounty and join for appearances.”

That was true. Back then, it was just a matter of collecting a reward while maybe gaining a bit of fame.

But now, her attitude had completely changed.

“There’s someone I want to beat down.”

Two people had taken turns over two days to provoke me.

Even if I didn’t care about anyone else, I couldn’t stand the thought of those bastards who tried to cook (烹) me walking away with the victory.

So I would scatter ash over the smooth path of those smug bastards. That was the reason behind my current mode—serious and wholehearted.

My goal was simply to see the horribly twisted faces of Murong Hui and Murong Cheon.

“Ah, you mean that jerk from before? You planning to go head-to-head?”

That jerk from before—an accurate way to describe Murong Hui.

“But he’s a Peak Master Level and a tournament favorite. Do you think it’s possible?”

“That’s why I need your help.”

“Hmm, fair enough.”

We had already helped each other rise in level once before. No reason we couldn’t do it again.

Thud.

She slammed her greatsword into the ground, stopping her training to make time for me.

“So, how do you want to do this? Just so you know, I can’t pull off any flashy swordplay like Sword Flash of Heaven and Earth (建坤破閃劍).”

Since her style was heavy and tyrannical, Jo Harang warned me that she wouldn’t be helpful in that particular area.

“Oh, that’s fine.”

That swordplay—I knew it best. I’d seen it often, and had even been stabbed by it a few times while on the run.

“You’ve learned how to imbue killing intent into your blade now, haven’t you?”

Thanks to my advice, she had accepted the evil thoughts and killing intent within herself as a part of her being.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then from now on, think of me as someone you have to kill, and swing your sword at me with killing intent.”

A lethal technique imbued with killing intent that flew at me, making my hair stand on end. It triggered an instinctive response in Heaven-Slaying Star.

Falling into a trance and engaging in a mindless brawl like that had always been the most effective training method for me.

“Eek, what kind of insane training method is that?”

“Surprisingly, it works.”

Even in this distant Shanxi, I couldn’t shake off the memory of a certain eccentric old man.

I quickly shook my head, trying to erase that wrinkled face from my mind.

“Anyway, just come at me like you’re trying to kill me. That’s what works best for me.”

Though Jo Harang made a face that said, ‘Is this really okay?’ she still pointed her giant sword in my direction, having accepted my request.

I readied my staff and assumed my stance, fully aware of the heavy, storm-like blows that were about to rain down on me.

But time passed, and even after taking a starting stance, she didn’t advance.

“What are you doing? Not coming in?”

Sword qi radiated in brilliant waves, and I expected a flood of tyrannical killing intent to follow. But her sword tip didn’t budge.

The crimson arcs of Heaven-Slaying Eyes also remained still, and Evil Star, who had earlier flared with killing intent, was calming down again.

“I tried to fill myself with killing intent, but… hmm, it’s not working.”

“Didn’t you overcome that when you awakened to Peak Level last time?”

“Yeah, I did. But now that I’m facing you, I don’t know why it’s not working.”

She needed the mindset to cut down the opponent before her, but that intent just wouldn’t form, and she looked troubled.

“That’s odd. What’s the difference?”

“Hmm, maybe… because I have feelings for you?”

Jo Harang casually muttered as she scratched her cheek.

“……”

‘……’

In contrast, both I and Evil Star froze on the spot at the impact of that impossible-to-ignore statement.

“Oh, I don’t mean it that way. You’re someone I look up to—as a kind of role model, you know?”

She explained that she saw Purple Star as something like a role model.

‘…That scared the crap out of me, this woman.’

She really knew how to make someone misunderstand. Just casually tossing my heart around.

Even Evil Star, seemingly equally horrified, fiercely scribbled ‘Not Allowed (不可)!’ on the ground, saying this was an impossible combination.

Sometimes I wondered if this woman was even more unpredictable than me.

“Try thinking of me as your mortal enemy.”

“But… you’re not someone like that, are you?”

She said she couldn’t easily do that when she could see the accumulated Virtuous Energy with her own eyes.

“…Then just imagine the person you hate the most.”

If that didn’t work, this training was doomed. So I gave her that advice while leaking just a bit of Killing Intent that a First Rate Martial Artist might possess.

“The person I hate the most… Heaven-Slaying Star!”

Looks like that worked. Her violet eyes flared open, and she exhaled an icy Killing Intent.

As someone hiding my identity as Heaven-Slaying Star, it was a slightly complicated moment for me.

“Thanks to that, I’ve got the feeling now…! You’re a great person, but just for today, I’ll treat you like the horrific Heaven-Slaying Star!”

Her greatsword, brimming with Killing Intent and sword qi, loomed in front of me.

Its storm-like momentum and sheer size were intimidating just to behold.

“Harang, remember the promise we made last time?”

“Which one?”

“That even if I later appeared as a villain, you’d turn a blind eye at least once.”

“Of course. I always keep my promises!”

Jo Harang proudly declared herself a trustworthy Grade-B Wanderer.

“Good, make sure you keep that promise later…”

Better safe than sorry. I surged with pure Internal Energy throughout my body.

Once I reconfirmed my spiritual safety belt, I began exchanging techniques with her killing intent-infused greatsword.

Tatadak-!

Evil Star’s advice to spar with Purple Star hadn’t been a waste.

Over the course of several days—short if you looked at it one way—I had frantically engaged Jo Harang’s killing intent and sword qi.

In doing so, I reached a minor realization.

To be precise, it felt like I had tugged further at a thread I’d already touched.

“Even at the end, despite clashing with her sword qi, the Dog-Beating Staff held up, right?”

This Dog-Beating Staff was a gift from someone who acknowledged me as his successor, so I’d been extremely cautious not to get it lopped off during our exchanges.

But while desperately trying to block her final blow that had aimed for my gut, I had unknowingly managed to parry the attack of a Peak Master Level opponent head-on.

As if I had been possessed.

“…How did I even do that?”

There was a peculiar sensation lingering at my fingertips. More than just circulating the body’s qi as a weapon, it felt like I’d reached further into something.

Jo Harang, watching my reaction, offered a few guesses.

‘Isn’t it a lack of realization?’

‘Realization?’

She said I was learning too fast.

She pointed out the ridiculously short duration of my training, saying that though I had plenty of Internal Energy, my body and mind couldn’t keep up, causing a mismatch.

Come to think of it, wasn’t I just two years into my martial arts journey? Even newborns in this world take fifteen months just to start walking.

Yet I had crammed and fast-tracked martial arts that were far more complex and profound.

‘Mujin, what does martial arts mean to you?’

‘Beating people up.’

‘Sigh, no wonder you hit a wall. How did your master teach you?’

‘By beating me up.’

‘……’

That was the unvarnished truth. Unlike orthodox sects that gently guided and nurtured their disciples, I never had that.

If I failed to grasp something, the norm was to get beaten with that very technique until I did.

‘Sorry, but… was that really a master…?’

‘My point exactly.’

That’s why I refused to acknowledge that old man as a proper master.

It’s not like I ever got treated like a disciple.

Anyway, with only an incomplete realization in hand, I climbed the stage of the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.

“Waaaah!”

The roaring cheers pierced even into the waiting room.

Outside, the crowd was enraptured by the dazzling martial arts and duels unfolding among the Murim martial artists.

But what filled my mind now was a lingering frustration.

“Sss, I feel like just one real battle would make everything click.”

Heaven-Slaying Star was a being who thrived on blood and Killing Intent. The final missing piece wasn’t a sparring session laced with Lethal Techniques—but real combat, where lives were truly on the line.

That would bring the clarity I needed.

But this was the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament. It wasn’t real combat, but a martial arts duel. If someone wielded Lethal Techniques with intent to kill, they’d be disqualified. So it was unlikely.

And to make things worse—

The opponent I’d been matched with in the Round of 16, after clearing the preliminaries, was of all people—a monk from Shaolin Temple with a completely shaven head.

“Hoho, Namu Amita Bul.”

Inside the vice-captain’s office of the Demon-Slaying Unit.

Murong Cheonghye was too busy handling the mountain of paperwork that the captain hadn’t dealt with before leaving to even take a peek at the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.

It was exactly this reason she had rejected the captain’s post and insisted on remaining vice-captain, but Captain Jeok Unyeop had shoved the entire stack of documents onto her before leaving.

“Haa, I wanted to watch the stage of that spirited young man.”

He was probably doing this to pressure her into just taking the captain role.

Perhaps he felt burdened by his background and martial arts.

“Not a chance.”

But she had no intention of giving up her current freedom of movement and influence.

After losing someone precious, wealth, fame, and power meant nothing to Murong Cheonghye.

That was why she was locked in a strange power struggle with the captain inside the Demon-Slaying Unit.

“Vice-Captain!”

Just then, an examiner from the Murim Alliance, who oversaw the corpses of wanted criminals, came rushing into her office.

Murong Cheonghye leaned back in her chair and looked at him quizzically.

“What is it, Examiner?”

“There’s something strange about the corpse of the Blood-Sucking Fiend.”

“What about it? Even if it’s just a salted head…”

“We dissected the head and found traces of Blood Arts from that ‘group’!”

The Blood-Sucking Fiend had long been suspected of being linked to a certain sect with a bloody history.

He said he had driven a specially crafted long needle deep into the head and confirmed it upon pulling it out, his expression serious.

“Wait, if it’s the Blood-Sucking Fiend, then the ones who brought that corpse were definitely…”

That wanderer named Jo Harang and the youth named Dan Mujin, who had handed over the dagger.

“We need to go and ask them in detail what happened. And as you know, those people absolutely hate leaving any trail…”

“They might try to silence them.”

“Yes, exactly.”

The martial arts tournament, under the guise of an accident, was the perfect stage for murder.

Murong Cheonghye furrowed her brows and anxiously looked toward the direction of a certain youth currently in the Round of 16.

“No way…”