Chapter 192: Preparation for Battle
Chapter 191
One gains by emptying.
It was a phrase used in many fields.
It was especially frequently used in Taoism.
In any case, the highest value of the Taoist sect was non-action and nature, and becoming closer to nature meant distancing oneself from artificiality.
‘Though looking at the way things go in the heavens, it all seems like nonsense…’
The cheers of Adept Tai-yi still seemed to linger in his ears.
It was said that an Adept was a person who had reached the Tao itself, so everything they did was in touch with the ultimate, so there might be a profound depth that he, whose enlightenment was still shallow, did not know.
‘…As a disciple of the Taoist sect, I want to believe so for now.’
In any case, the Kunlun Sect now had owners of immortal roots, which held the potential to ascend to the realm of immortals in the future.
And two of them, at that.
“I did not know that obsession was the problem.”
“It is indeed not a path that ordinary martial artists would think of.”
“Hahaha! That is true!”
The path of a martial artist began with accumulating and ended with accumulating.
Such was martial arts, and such was internal energy.
To think that one could show achievement by letting go.
It was certainly different from the common path pursued in the secular world.
Of course, it did not mean letting go of everything.
However, if it was unnecessary for advancing to a higher realm, there was a need to let it go.
This applied to him as well.
“Even if one stacks stones, the stacked stones are ultimately just stones after all…”
Adept Cheon-won’s muttering reminded him of the conversation he had shared with Senior Jang Mun-gyeong.
No matter how high a mountain range was, no matter how wide the sea was, no matter how great and grand a thing one achieved, it was merely something that existed in reality.
In order to reach the realm of the immortals, it was impossible to do so merely by stacking high.
If one wished to climb to the end of the sky and transcend all things, it was necessary to reach a realm that did not exist in this world.
“It is a mantra that will be necessary for you someday, so contemplate it slowly.”
In the warm smile of Adept Cheon-won, the shadowy air and the blade-like sharpness that had been visible when they first met had largely vanished.
The same was true for Adept Cheon-gyeong.
“I have owed you a great debt. Not only did I commit a discourtesy, but I have even become indebted to you…”
Before everyone’s eyes, Adept Cheon-gyeong showed respect to him.
Those who knew Adept Cheon-gyeong’s temperament had looks of great surprise.
Because even if he had gained enlightenment thanks to him, it was a matter of bowing his head to the Heavenly Demon.
But as he saw it, it was not something to be so surprised about.
Gaining an immortal root meant that one had completely planted what they had gained in their own mind.
Since they had discarded their self-attachment, there was no way their previous violent temperament would remain.
“…If a time comes when you need strength someday, I shall help you at least once.”
“Junior Brother?”
“No, what on earth…”
At Adept Cheon-gyeong’s words, the disciples of the Kunlun Sect widened their eyes in surprise.
‘Wow, even I’m a bit surprised by this.’
Helping the Heavenly Demon, the arch-nemesis of the Orthodox faction, was something that could get one buried in the Orthodox society at any moment.
It was not a declaration that could be made just because one’s mind had changed a little.
“Ahem! It is only the story when you do not change. Come to think of it, you reached out and helped us from the very beginning.”
Adept Cheon-gyeong cleared his throat and added a superfluous remark.
“…If you truly ascend to the throne of the Heavenly Demon, the era of those children might be peaceful. If conflicts decrease, the path to attaining the Tao will become that much closer.”
Adept Cheon-gyeong murmured softly, looking back at the young disciples of Kunlun.
“It might be so.”
What had eaten away at the Kunlun Sect was an obsession stemming from a sense of crisis that they were lonely and confronting a formidable opponent called the Demonic Cult on their own.
‘It seems there are no spies of the Crane in Kunlun, right?’
Even in the Nine Great Sects such as the Wudang Sect and the Zhongnan Sect, there had existed those who were secretly under the influence of the Crane.
However, no such signs were felt in Kunlun.
‘Since it is difficult to directly corrupt Kunlun, did they use the Demonic Cult? No, is this thinking too far ahead?’
The Demonic Cult was a massive power that the Orthodox Martial World was always wary of.
To move such a Demonic Cult to plot nothing more than the corruption of Kunlun.
The gain was too small compared to the effort put in.
Unless it was because they could not get close to Kunlun, it was not easily comprehensible.
Furthermore, there was no major contradiction in their actions themselves.
‘Kunlun is the front line against the Demonic Cult. From the Demonic Cult’s perspective, they are a target that must be torn down at all costs.’
In any case, it was beneficial to him that Kunlun returned to normal.
With this, all goals in Kunlun had been achieved.
“Sigh…”
He felt the relief of concluding one matter, but it was only for a moment.
Reminded that the next thing waiting for him was the Demonic Cult, he felt bleak.
Although there were many things that could be utilized, even a hundred plans were bound to be easily distorted in front of reality.
‘How can I easily plunder the Demonic Cult?’
Although he would have to modify his schemes according to the situation as he experienced the Demonic Cult firsthand, the strategy that would serve as the basic framework must be solidly constructed.
For now, he would have to ponder in various ways until they arrived at the Demonic Cult.
***
“I wonder what he is thinking.”
Jeok So-byeok murmured, scanning Yeon Cheong-un’s complexion, which seemed full of thoughts.
“…Thinking? You are speaking a bit politely, aren’t you?”
It was Jeok So-byeok who would put Yeon Cheong-un down at every opportunity, saying he could not accept him as the Heavenly Demon.
Jeok So-byeok waved his hand as if flustered.
“Huh? Uh… No, I mean, why is he thinking so openly? Making the people around him worry for nothing.”
Even if he changed his way of speaking now, there was no natural feeling to be found.
Im A-hyeong chuckled.
“What is it? Why are you laughing?”
“Am I not even allowed to laugh?”
“It is because you are laughing in an unpleasant way.”
Jeok So-byeok grumbled, but whatever he said, it lacked persuasion.
“…Tch!”
In the end, he clicked his tongue and turned his back.
Watching Jeok So-byeok’s behavior, Im A-hyeong smiled silently.
Although she did not know it herself, Im A-hyeong’s expression also somehow came to resemble Jeok So-byeok’s.
With a face that looked as if she were dreaming of something, Im A-hyeong unconsciously murmured the words that were kept in her mind.
“That person always surpasses himself, and always surprises us…”
Im A-hyeong repeated those words, which had been branded in her like a hot iron, that she had heard from the Heavenly Demon’s Personal Guards.
Only Yeom Jin-muk silently watched the reactions of his companions.
***
They stayed in Kunlun for a few more days as scheduled.
‘I must definitely milk them for all they’re worth while I can.’
Kunlun was a treasure trove of spiritual medicine.
Perhaps because of the double celebration, the generosity of the heavens had also grown, allowing him to obtain various items.
However, a corner of his mind was still uneasy.
‘It’s still bothering me… Those Crane bastards…’
On the side of the Imperial Palace and on the side of the Green Forest, those bastards were behind it.
Furthermore, the way they secretly operated in various fields made them feel like those who were preparing while waiting for their time.
In that sense, the relationship with the Kunlun Sect was a great windfall.
Two immortal roots had emerged.
Moreover, before descending the mountain, he had left behind the true understanding of the Great Void Tao Power Sword Art containing the mnemonic handed down from heaven.
Since they had left it in the place where they stayed, the Kunlun Sect would be fully occupied with examining the secret manual by now.
“The problem is me, though…”
Atop the running horse, he looked down at his hand gripping the reins.
He clenched his fist tightly, but felt only an unprecedented emptiness.
This was because the flow had become incomplete again as the Water Divine Power borrowed from the Azure Bird was completely exhausted.
‘Five Elements Divine Power… I thought it would be amazing, but to think it was to that extent…’
Merely completing the Five Elements Divine Power, even if temporarily, was enough to overwhelm Adept Cheon-gyeong, an expert of the Kunlun Sect.
He had surpassed an expert who had reached the state of obtaining an immortal root with just a small enlightenment.
“I wonder if something good will fall from somewhere…”
Like Water Divine Power, or Water Divine Power, or if not that, Water Divine Power.
Only Water Divine Power filled his head.
Suddenly, the fellow flying beside him caught his eye.
“Come to think of it, you’re a spiritual beast, aren’t you?”
Ppi-eek!
The Azure Bird cried out as if boasting.
A high and clear cry rang out.
“…Do you by any chance have something like a core?”
Ppyak?
The Azure Bird tilted its head.
It was as if it were saying, ‘I didn’t hear you correctly?’
With that, it stealthily scanned his expression and suddenly flew high into the sky as if fleeing.
“…It’s a joke.”
The Azure Bird seemed to be overreacting to the ‘half’ joke.
[Sigh… Suddenly, the words that fellow Sanfeng said in the past come to mind.]
Master Heavenly Demon spoke something out of the blue with a deep sigh.
Since the location was what it was, it seemed Master Heavenly Demon was watching.
“…Yes?”
[Tch!]
The sound of clicking his tongue pierced his lungs particularly sharply.
***
Only when the sun was setting did he and his companions stop their journey and prepare to camp.
“I could do it, though…”
While the Heavenly Demon’s Personal Guards lit the fire and prepared the camp, Yi Hwa became sullen when he prepared his own sleeping place.
She seemed completely uncomfortable with him doing the trivial chores himself.
“If you don’t prepare your sleeping place quickly, I will do it for you?”
“…!”
At the ‘half’ joke, Yi Hwa’s face turned pale, and she hurriedly began preparing her own sleeping place.
“…My joking skills must have degraded quite a bit.”
He should seal away jokes for the time being.
Having finished preparing the sleeping place, he raised his head and saw the edge of the grassland where a faint horizon was visible in the darkness.
The night of the wide-open grassland exuded a different atmosphere from when the sun had been high in the sky.
A tickling feeling in the stomach?
A strange inspiration arose that could not be felt in ordinary life.
‘I wonder why adults drink alcohol…’
He was not particularly fond of alcohol, but looking at the crackling campfire and the night landscape of the grassland that seemed like a piece cut out of imagination, he strangely thought of a drink.
Unlike usual, as he stood gazing quietly into the far distance, he felt as if something was calling to him from beyond.
‘Shall I take a walk for a bit?’
He had only thought of it, but his toes were already heading toward the edge of the grassland.
It was then.
Ppi-ee-eek!
Along with the Azure Bird’s cry, something dropped with a thud in front of him.
Thud!
The gift (?) that fell with a loud noise smelled of blood.
“Groan…”
It was a person. A person letting out a faint groan was squirming with holes in his limbs.
“It’s probably not hunted for me to roast and eat…”
Ppyak?
It was doing it again.
The fellow, who seemed to say ‘Are you crazy, human?’ with its eyes, was scanning his reaction while sizing up an angle to slip away again.
‘Tch! I said that because I heard that sometimes cats bring mice or birds to present as gifts to their owners…’
It seemed this did not apply to this fellow.
Anyway, there must be a reason why this fellow dragged a living person in front of him.
Sure enough, the man the Azure Bird had caught was no ordinary person.
A martial artist, and not just any martial artist.
“A demonic practitioner…”
It was someone who practiced demonic arts.
It was unlikely that the Azure Bird had gone far to catch a demonic practitioner.
If so, it meant this person had been not far from here.
There was a demonic practitioner nearby.
By chance, in the path we are taking?
“Look at this?”