Chapter 188: Taoist Radiance
Chapter 187
Although it was not to the extent of enlightenment, the gaze of the Kunlun Sect disciples looking at me became much better.
Of course, that was strictly by the standards of looking at a demonic practitioner.
To put it a bit mockingly, it was to the extent that the modifier “for a demonic practitioner” was attached.
Under the circumstances where it would not be strange for a sword fight to break out at any moment, this much was a stride in progress.
“I thought you had some extraordinary calculation when you claimed to be the Heavenly Demon, but now you look completely different. Well then, what business does the master of the Azure Bird have in Kunlun?”
“I need elixirs to help someone close to me. I heard that most of them grow on Mount Kunlun.”
“Haha! It seems to be a very close person indeed?”
“Someone for whom I would gladly stake my neck.”
“Staking your neck… I did not expect the day would come when I would hear words smelling of human scent from a demonic practitioner.”
It felt as if a layer of warmth was added to Adept Cheon-won’s gaze.
“Hmm! Mount Kunlun is a place of dense spiritual energy, so various rare flowers and exotic herbs indeed grow here. But if it is an elixir that you, who claim to be the Heavenly Demon, are searching for…”
“They are Red Spirit Grass, Ever-Brilliant Cinnabar, Non-Descending Immortal Fruit, and Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root.”
“……You did not come here with the intention of staying settled for life, did you?”
Adept Cheon-won, who had asked as if he were going to generously hand over the elixirs I wanted, glared at me with half-closed eyes.
Judging by his reaction, they seemed to be rare elixirs even on Mount Kunlun.
It was only natural that they were extraordinary things since they were elixirs to manage the medicinal power of the flat peach.
If they were easy to obtain, I would have found them long ago and fed them to Sister Seol-ah.
“If I search for a few days and find nothing, I will return. Isn’t searching for elixirs in the mountains originally ‘the will of heaven’?”
I spoke with particular emphasis on the words “will of heaven.”
[Cunning fellow.]
‘It is not a wrong statement, is it?’
I replied to Master Heavenly Demon’s words by shrugging my shoulders.
[Tsk! That fellow Sam-pung completely ruined the kid.]
At least to someone devoted to the Taoist gate, the will of heaven works particularly well.
What would happen if I, the master of the Azure Bird, were to find a rare elixir that even the Kunlun Sect Leader found difficult to think of?
‘They might think of me as something like the Queen Mother of the West’s messenger. Strictly speaking, it is not a completely incorrect statement either.’
Though Master Heavenly Demon did not seem to like it at all.
I could guess generally.
‘I resolved to move without hesitation when setting aside the name Young Heavenly Dragon and acting as the Heavenly Demon, but this is necessary, so it cannot be helped.’
Seeing Master Zhang Sanfeng or Master Bodhidharma act like medicine peddlers, the pressure on the masters in heaven regarding the Kunlun Sect seems to be great.
While it was not something fit for one carrying the name of the Heavenly Demon, considering various factors, I had no choice but to move like this until Kunlun.
***
Just as I told Adept Cheon-won, I came to stay on Mount Kunlun for a while.
For those who followed me, it meant the journey had lengthened, but no one expressed dissatisfaction about it.
‘Far from dissatisfaction, their eyes were rather burdensome.’
Although no one said it, their sparkling eyes seemed to ask, ‘What kind of miracle will you show us this time?’
Even Im A-hyeong, Jeok So-byeok, and Yeom Jin-muk, who were not even my people, showed the same appearance as the Heavenly Demon’s Personal Guards.
If I really gathered all the elixirs I mentioned in just a few days, their faith would become so deep that even the Kunlun Sect members would be left behind.
The purpose was not just the elixirs.
‘Since I came all the way here while enduring all kinds of troublesome matters, I should do everything I can before leaving.’
If I could lay the roots of goodness for the Kunlun Sect just like the Elder Divine Monk or Elder Adept Heudo, I intended to try.
This was because that would be the main factor causing the masters to receive pressure in heaven.
In other words, if I resolved this matter well, it would be of great help to the masters as well.
‘The problem is how to convey this…’
The Heavenly Demon, who was well-versed in the Kunlun Sect’s martial arts, pointing out the errors and giving guidance?
It would be a relief if they did not fall into self-loathing, draw their swords, and attempt to silence me.
For now, the current plan was to find the elixirs quickly and then peddle the medicine while talking about the ‘will of heaven’…
‘But it feels like something is off.’
It is human psychology to doubt even things that happen right before one’s eyes.
It is human nature to suspect even things filled with boundless goodwill.
If it was a matter that could be solved by simply throwing martial arts at them, there would be no need to worry.
Since all I would need to do was sneak in in the dead of night, drop a secret manual, and leave.
The problem was making the Kunlun Sect gain enlightenment so that the roots of goodness would emerge.
It was impossible unless they convinced themselves and accepted it.
‘Is there a good way?’
Something felt unreasonable.
Having to worry about the method even when giving things away.
Amidst this.
“……Is that it?”
“Yes. They say that is the Heavenly Demon.”
Young voices reached my ears.
Glancing over, I saw two boys poking their heads out from behind a large tree.
They were boys presumed to be Kunlun Sect disciples.
They seemed to have come to take a look after hearing about me.
‘Kids.’
Children who could not control their curiosity and caused trouble were bound to exist everywhere.
When I pretended not to notice, they seemed to relax, and their own evaluation began.
“He looks stupid for a demon leader, though?”
“Yeah. Rather, the grandpa next to him looks more like the Heavenly Demon.”
This hurt a bit.
Because it was a point I also felt lacking in when claiming to be the Heavenly Demon.
[If you wish to assert yourself as the Heavenly Demon within the Divine Cult, you had better pay attention to that.]
‘Yes, yes~.’
[Hmph! I have clearly spoken.]
My inner thoughts must have shown on my face. Master Heavenly Demon’s reaction was sharp.
Just as Master Heavenly Demon nagged, the things I had to worry about were a mountain.
Compared to those worries, the interest of those kids was nothing.
If I left them alone, they would lose interest on their own and return.
As I was thinking that, an out-of-the-blue comment was heard.
“She… is pretty.”
One of the little brats showed interest in Yi Hwa.
“Her? She is tiny, though?”
“But she is pretty…”
“Snap out of it, dummy! That tiny thing is a witch who follows the demon!”
‘Sigh… If they are hiding, shouldn’t they talk a bit more quietly?’
Especially if they are rude words.
Perhaps because it was a mountain, their voices echoed quite loudly, yet they paid no heed at all.
And Yi Hwa really hated being treated like a child.
I inwardly checked on Yi Hwa, only to make eye contact with her in that instant.
“Shall I catch them?”
‘…Why is your voice pitched so terrifyingly?’
Sure enough, Yi Hwa had also heard. Though she tried not to show it, a vein seemed to have bulged slightly…
“I will move.”
“For you to move personally…”
“It is because a good idea came to mind.”
‘Kids are the type to talk anywhere once they have overheard something.’
I unfolded the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step.
With a single step, I bypassed the boys who were hiding and watching, taking them from behind.
“Uh, where did he go?”
“I don’t know! Suddenly he isn’t… Behind?!”
The Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step, a movement method containing the subtleties of the Vajra Immovable Body Method, held the ultimate of movement within stillness.
Having missed my movement, the boys realized it late and were startled out of their wits.
‘Who would be good?’
If I was going to do some work, a spunky-looking fellow would be better.
“Ugh!”
I grabbed the neck of the innocent-looking boy.
Applying force to my fingertips as if sweeping down, I struck five major acupoints in an instant to subdue him.
“Ho?”
The boy’s reaction was considerable.
The moment the mute acupoint in his neck was seized, he tried to defend the acupoints I was targeting.
Since he moved quite effectively, I might not have been able to subdue him at once if he had the strength to match me.
“Let him go!”
*Sring!*
The hot-tempered boy drew his sword.
*Saak!*
The sword momentum he extended, as if to cut my arm that held his companion, was quite sharp.
‘Rigid yet fast.’
Evading the continuous sword strikes, I grasped the sword technique the boy unfolded.
It was a martial art in my memory.
“Is it the Great Purity Sword?”
“Yes!”
“It should be a martial art you can only learn after completing the Lesser Purity Sword, so you are quite decent?”
“Eek!”
Whether my evaluation of ‘decent’ sounded like mockery to him, the boy’s eyes turned fierce.
Around the tip of the sword, a sight of surrounding objects shaking like a haze rising over a fire was visible.
He was infusing energy into the sword.
It was no ordinary talent.
“If I shove the sword into your heart, even a demon bastard will die!”
Gnashing his teeth, he dashed forward once more.
However, this time, there was a point clearly different from a moment ago.
‘Footwork?’
His steps were different.
Just with that, the variations contained in the sword grew abundant.
“Kunlun’s Great Purity Sword…”
In fact, I had seen the Lesser Purity Sword and Great Purity Sword a few times.
It was bound to be so, because if a place claimed to be a prestigious sect of the Taoist gate, its own unique Great Purity Sword Art and Lesser Purity Sword Art would exist.
Actually, the Wudang Sect also had the Great Purity Sword and Lesser Purity Sword.
Just as the energy emitted when a practitioner of a sect pursuing the Tao reached a high realm was called Great Purity Astral Qi, perhaps because the highest deities of Taoism were the Three Pure Ones, the word Purity held a unique significance in the Taoist gate.
The Great Purity Sword and Lesser Purity Sword also shared that context.
The origin, the place that opened its beginning, was none other than the Kunlun Sect.
The original successor revealed the original’s unique spicy flavor.
‘But it is narrow…’
A child is a mirror of an adult.
From the sword the boy unfolded, I could grasp the problem with the Kunlun Sect’s martial arts.
“Let’s see.”
I drew the sword that was at the waist of the subdued boy.
Since I left the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword at home when I decided to move as the Heavenly Demon, if I needed a sword, I had no choice but to borrow one.
‘Upon deciding on the journey to Kunlun, quite a few martial arts and instructions to be passed to the Kunlun Sect have come down from the heavens.’
*Chang! Chaeng!*
The light exchange emitted a clear sound.
The boy gasped at the sword path unfolded from my hand.
“The Great Purity Sword?”
“Was it similar?”
“Not at all! It is completely different!”
The Great Purity Sword is not a martial art that clings to artifice.
It is an honest sword that reveals its essence like clear, transparent water.
The depth of the practitioner wielding the sword merely makes that clear and bright sword path as heavy and strong as Mount Tai.
Just like my sword that deflected the boy’s sword.
*Chaeng!*
“The killing intent in your sword is thick. You don’t need to swing it like that, though?”
“It’s only natural if you want to cut people down!”
“If you obsess over cutting, you will fail to cut instead.”
The killing intent in the sword was thick.
It was only natural, but a sword containing killing intent is not clear.
Since it was a sword method of swinging a sharp weapon, containing sword principles that harm people was unavoidable, but if its direction completely contained only killing intent, it was bound to become a problem.
The Kunlun Sect felt excessively biased toward practical combat.
It was to the extent that the bias could be felt even in the sword of the young pillar who could be called the future of the sect.
‘If I am to correct it, I must start touching from here.’
“I thought Kunlun was the root of the Taoist gate, but looking at it now, it is a den of murderous fiends. To think the sword you swing is only a killing sword. Wielding it like this, are you not just a murderous fiend who only thinks of killing people?”
Was it a shock to be lectured by the Heavenly Demon whom he had called a demon?
I saw the boy’s eyes widen round in an instant.
“Let sentiments follow clarity, and let the Tao follow heaven.”
The teachings of the Kunlun Sect’s martial arts descended from heaven.
I unfolded that teaching to the young pillar of Kunlun.
Along with that, I drew a flow that quieted the sword strike stretching out to fiercely target my arm and neck.
*Chaeng! Kaang!!*
“If you extend the sword path like this, even if subduing the enemy is delayed, you can execute it after protecting yourself.”
The tip of my sword, which had deflected the boy’s sword obliquely, touched the neck of the boy who was frozen in surprise.