Red Light District's Martial God-Chapter 2

Samadhi State (三昧境).
On the day of the bloodshed when he lost his family, the state into which the boy from the Red Light District, Jaseong, fell was just like that.
Originally, he was a boy whose baihui point—said to absorb the energy of the heavens—was abnormally developed.
But in a moment of overwhelming rage that felt as though it burned his hair white, that baihui point burst! and pierced through as if it exploded.
Then, the vital energy of nature powerfully settled in that spot.
Simply put, it meant he opened his own 'upper dantian'.
What is the upper dantian, you ask?
The dantian is divided into three.
Lower dantian, middle dantian, upper dantian.
Most martial artists in Murim use the lower dantian, located below the navel—it is the vessel that holds inner energy.
By contrast, the upper dantian is located at the crown of the head and cannot be opened by just anyone.
Only those with special 'talent' can open it, and only through an open upper dantian can special psychic abilities, such as spiritual perception, be used.
Those known as so-called geniuses (天才) are precisely those whose upper dantian is developed.
Among them, the talent Jaseong awakened was so extraordinary that it could be called "the kind of genius that appears only once in a thousand years".
In a slowed flow of time, he could see the flow of all living energies and intentions in a state of selflessness: Samadhi State (三昧境).
Because he had gained the eyes that let him enter that state.
So a few days later, when Jaseong opened his eyes, both were ringed with a cold, blue, formless energy.
* * *
"Big sis! Jaseong is awake!"
The first thing he heard when he returned to consciousness was the voices of the courtesans in the Red Light District.
"Jaseong! Are you feeling better?"
A familiar courtesan, worry in her gaze, asked as she looked at Jaseong's blank expression.
"Hyang-I... what about our big brother and sister-in-law...?"
At Jaseong's question, tears welled up in the courtesan's eyes.
'... So it wasn't a dream after all.'
Soon, the courtesans explained the tragedy of that day to Jaseong in more detail.
When the Demonic Cult were pushed back by the experts of the Righteous Faction, they used the ordinary people of the Red Light District as human shields.
In that process, his sister-in-law and her unborn child died.
The actions of the Righteous Faction's experts were also atrocious.
A master from the Peng Family in Hebei brought down a pavilion in the Red Light District with incredible strength.
Dozens of civilians were crushed to death beneath it,
And, as compensation, the pavilion owner was tossed a few gold coins.
Other Righteous Faction experts unleashed overwhelming sword winds without any regard for the civilians.
Caught in that destruction, Jaseong's big brother was torn to pieces, like an insect before a giant.
'... The Murong family, the Peng Family in Hebei, Zhongnan Sect... and the Demonic Cult.'
Listening to the courtesans' accounts, Jaseong carved the names of each nemesis into his heart.
Afterwards, Jaseong trudged back to his home.
That place, too, was wrecked from the shock of the fighting four days before.
With vacant eyes, Jaseong surveyed the ruins of his home.
The blankets his sister-in-law brought when she married in.
The low table where the three sat together for meals and so forth.
But under the table, Jaseong found something unexpected.
'... Why is there a sword in our house?'
A sword (劍).
He had never seen it before.
Jaseong picked up the sword, puzzled.
Then he found a letter placed above the scabbard.
[Our young master. How is the junior guard work? Is it hard with all the escort journeys?
Whenever the young master struggled through rough work, it pained us greatly.
As your big brother and sister-in-law, we're sorry we couldn't do more for you.
Still, we saved up bit by bit for this.
You sometimes encounter mountain bandits while working as an escort warrior...
If you have this sword, we thought it might make you a little safer. Hehe.
May you achieve your dream of becoming an escort warrior, your big brother and I will be cheering for you!]
A letter written by his sister-in-law for his illiterate big brother's sake.
Only after reading it all did Jaseong realize.
This sword was the final gift his big brother and sister-in-law prepared for their only younger sibling.
A gift for his safety while escorting, earned with great difficulty in their humble circumstances.
Drip—drip
Tears fell onto the letter.
"... I'll be sure to get revenge. Whether it's the Murim Alliance or the Demonic Cult, I'll wipe them all out."
His simple goal in life, 'to live as a decent person,' was radically revised.
The Righteous Faction and the Demonic Cult.
To wipe out the false hypocrites and the truly evil, that was Jaseong's life goal now.
Of course, this would never be easy.
To get revenge on them all, he would have to become an absolute master—no, an unrivaled champion of the world.
He would need to become World's Greatest to erase these mighty enemies.
'... So from today, my goal is to be the World's Greatest.'
Clutching his big brother and sister-in-law's final gift, Jaseong muttered, eyes filled with bottomless rage.
Yet, there was a soul quietly observing him.
—... At last, a suitable one has appeared. Let's see if you can pass the trial.
* * *
"... Where would be best... Yes, that place will do."
Resolving to begin the distant journey to become the greatest, Jaseong decided he first needed to recover his big brother and sister-in-law's bodies before leaving.
Clatter—clatter—
As he loaded his big brother and sister-in-law's bodies onto a cart, a gentle drizzle fell from the gray sky.
As if the heavens were weeping in his stead.
Soon, Jaseong arrived at a secluded forest.
A forest where, as a child, he and big brother would boil frogs to eat.
There were thick wild grasses, trees, and a suitably sized cave.
"... This cave is just the same."
Setting down the cart, Jaseong gazed quietly at the cave entrance.
He recalled sheltering from the rain there with his big brother as a child.
Lost in old memories, Jaseong entered the cave.
Yet in that moment—
Flinch!
A chill suddenly wrapped around Jaseong.
'... There's something inside the cave?'
The thought flashed through his mind as an instinct.
Feeling uneasy, Jaseong stared deep into the cave.
And then—
Swoosh—
Suddenly the crown of his head grew hot, and the usual strange phenomenon occurred.
Everything in the world began to slow down again.
'This is...?'
Jaseong's special talent, his Samadhi Eyes (三昧眼), awakened by opening his upper dantian.
It was not simply a matter of slowing time.
His vision was filled with many colors, and he saw threads of many different energies.
They were the intentions of the world.
But at the time, Jaseong didn't know that.
His eyes focused solely on the dark energy flowing from the depths of the cave.
'What in the world is in there...?'
With a strange hunch, Jaseong drew his sword.
Then, after making a torch with flint, he entered deeper into the cave.
Shortly after, he arrived at the end of the cave.
"?!"
Jaseong's eyes widened.
Inside, a man robed in black sat cross-legged.
Inscribed on his clothes was the character for 'demon' (魔).
At that instant, Jaseong recalled snippets of conversation among Murim Alliance experts.
'Did you find the item?'
'We searched everywhere, but couldn't find it. And... we lost one straggler of the Demonic Cult.'
'... The alliance leader will be furious.'
'I'm sorry. That elder was quite a formidable master... and he escaped using the civilians of the Red Light District as shields....'
Given this, it seemed that the escaped survivor from the Demonic Cult was the man before him.
Huff—huff—
Judging by his rough breathing, the man in black was cultivating his internal energy while suffering from severe injuries.
Black blood was smeared thickly at his lips,
And both his arms were entirely gone.
Glower!
At that moment, the man in black, who had been cultivating, opened his eyes wide, sensing Jaseong's presence.
Of course, Jaseong flinched.
But the man in black could not move.
If he broke his cultivation at this moment, he could succumb to ki deviation and die.
Moreover, he was on the verge of death from his wounds.
All he could do was barely move his lips and try to persuade Jaseong.
"... Boy. Why are you holding that sword?"
"......."
"Come with me. If you come with me, you may become my disciple and live a life of luxury in our cult..."
A life of luxury and ease (好衣好食).
It was a life Jaseong had always dreamed of.
He had clawed through the bottom rungs of the Red Light District all his life just to have good food and warmth.
However...
'My goal in life has changed.'
Eyes cold with murderous intent, Jaseong raised his sword.
"... Boy. Do you think you could possibly harm me...?"
"......."
"Even in this state, I still have enough strength to twist off your neck... Abandon your foolish plan and listen to me...."
"......."
"But if you truly wish to plunge your blade into me... The instant you do, I'll pull you in and cut your carotid...!"
The man in black warned.
It was no bluff.
Even on the brink of death, his opponent was a peak master of the Demonic Cult.
Who knew what hidden techniques he still possessed.
For an ordinary person with not even a dantian, it would be impossible to win.
But in the next instant—
"?!"
The man in black's eyes suddenly widened.
Swoooosh—
A blue, chilling energy swirled in Jaseong's pupils.
Like starlight gathered from the sky.
At the same time, the air around them fluttered and everything slowed once more.
In Samadhi State, Jaseong's eyes saw every thread of energy emanating from the man in black's body.
Red energy, yellow energy, black energy, and more.
Jaseong's focus instinctively zoned in on the thickest black energy.
He realized intuitively that this was the death point of the dying man in black.
Stab!!
In a sudden motion, Jaseong thrust his sword with both hands, piercing one of the death points at the man's ribcage.
"Gaaagh!! Guhhh!! Kugh! Guaaaah!!"
Stabbed, the man in black spat mouthfuls of dark blood, thrashing like a fish out of water.
He had sworn, "The instant the blade strikes, I'll pull your arm in and cut your artery!" but could not do it.
It was because Jaseong had stabbed precisely into the yin linking vessel (陰維脈), the channel where the man had gathered the last bits of his inner energy.
'How did a kid with no dantian at all stab directly into the yin vessel...?!'
Jaseong's assault did not end there.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
He kept thrusting again at every death point where black energy surged.
As he did, he spoke coldly.
"... I heard from the courtesans. You Demonic Cult bastards used my sister-in-law as a shield."
"Kugh! Guhaagh!!"
"There was an unborn child in her belly, yet... you people did that."
"Guah! W-wait...! Wait...!"
"The pain my sister-in-law and unborn nephew suffered—I'll repay it now. You'll feel it all, dozens of times over!!"
Pouring all his rage into both hands, Jaseong swung the sword madly.
He stabbed the man in black's dantian a dozen times,
Slashed through every vital point again and again.
Until the man's body was left in tatters.
"Argh! Gah! Gaaaah! St—stop! Gaaaah!"
Screams of agony poured from the man's lips.
Already, his energy was so twisted his nerves were hypersensitive.
He was pushed into utterly unbearable pain.
"Ugh...!"
With a last strangled cry, the body finally stopped convulsing.
He was dead.
Seeing that, Jaseong felt a cloudburst of catharsis inside.
"Heh, heh, heh...."
It was so funny.
A master from the Demonic Cult who had mercilessly cut down the people of the Red Light District,
An evil man who treated others' lives as being worth less than flies,
Begging for his life before a boy far younger, and then dying.
It was so funny, and so satisfying.
'... Big brother, I've paid some back. The enemy of sister-in-law and nephew... with the sword you and she gave me.'
And then—
—Indeed, I was right about you.
A deep chime rang in Jaseong's ears.
Startled, Jaseong spun around.
"......!"
He had no idea when the man approached, but behind him stood a middle-aged man with a long beard.
No, to be exact, the man was floating in mid-air.
Standing atop a sword, suspended above the ground.
The aura in his eyes was incomparably greater than that of the Demonic Cult master Jaseong just killed.
Most striking of all, a mysterious mist surrounded him—one that even Jaseong's Samadhi Eyes could not see through.