Chapter 75: Demonic Sovereign
Although I felt sorry for the Qingcheng Sect people who rushed all the way to Go County, because the situation was what it was, we departed for the Tang Clan immediately without even resting.
As the gravity of the matter was great, it was even a forced march.
On top of that, because we chose the route intending to move as quickly as possible, we selected the shortest path, discarding things like convenience.
A triple hardship blended together quite beautifully.
Still, the Qingcheng Sect people followed without a word of complaint.
In the first place, the person at the front was Taoist Cheongpung, who was well-versed in the geography near Sichuan.
“That fellow is quiet. Given his original temperament, he would have expressed quite a bit of annoyance at the forced march.”
Baek Mu-ho seemed to have thought that Sagong Pae, who had a tendency to be arrogant and reckless, would be annoyed at this schedule.
“Hey, hey. When the sect elder is leading by example at the front, how could he show annoyance?”
“Is that so? Rather than that, he looks like he’s walking on eggshells for some reason.”
“Indeed.”
Hearing those words, Sagong Pae indeed had a tendency to look around his surroundings. He felt somewhat anxious.
“Since a high-ranking person of the sect is together with us, it isn’t strange to look around, but the object of that looking doesn’t seem to be that Qingcheng Sect elder over there.”
I knew what Baek Mu-ho was saying.
That his demeanor was suspicious.
It was not unreasonable. In fact, I had thought so too.
The problem was where that thought connected.
“The rumor that the unorthodox fellows heard, is that really because the apothecary opened his mouth?”
“Huh?”
“I remember clearly because it was me who opened my mouth, and I only told that apothecary that you smashed the Black and White Twin Demons in less than ten exchanges. I didn’t bring up stories about your identity or our tracks. Even if we grant that they could guess your identity since rising stars showing that much martial power at a young age are rare, grasping our destination is an impossible task.”
The fact that the unorthodox experts from outside who visited Go County knew about my tracks. Baek Mu-ho had once brought up that story, saying something was strange about that part.
At that time, the suspect Baek Mu-ho doubted was Sagong Pae.
Whether Sagong Pae, who disliked me for rising as a star of the orthodox factions, had spread rumors about my tracks to screw with me.
“In unfamiliar places, you end up observing your surroundings carefully, don’t you? Let’s just think he is guarding the surroundings since it’s an unusual, sparsely populated path.”
Even so, mentioning this in a situation where there is no evidence is bad timing. Right now is not a situation to cause trouble with the Qingcheng Sect.
For now, I dismissed Baek Mu-ho’s opinion with appropriate excuses.
Although Baek Mu-ho did not seem to be convinced immediately.
“That bird is pretty. It’s a bird I’m seeing for the first time, and its song is beautiful too.”
“……Well, I guess your words might be right.”
Since Taoist Cheongpung was leading and running, the overall speed was not easy, but seeing Lee Cheong-ryeo observing her surroundings extremely well even in the midst of that, Baek Mu-ho also decided to cover it up and move on for now.
Lee Cheong-ryeo’s words were very timely.
‘By the way, if she responded after hearing what Baek Mu-ho said, Sister Cheong-ryeo is also, contrary to expectations…’
[That’s delicious if you roast and eat it.]
“Roa…”
Excuse me, Master Zhang Sanfeng?
If you come in suddenly like that, it’s quite embarrassing?
He visited after a very long time.
To be honest, it was hard to see him lately, so I was even slightly disappointed.
My first master.
Maybe because of that, Master Zhang Sanfeng had a special feeling different from other masters.
[Looking at your expression, I know what you want to say, but I’ve also had various things going on here. Well, to put it indirectly, just know that I almost ran overtime for a thousand years while running around east and west for you.]
“Whoa.”
A thousand years. Perhaps because the unit was too large, it barely felt real.
However, when the image of the clerks who were ground away by overtime at grandfather’s office came to mind, goosebumps rose instantly.
‘Isn’t it something that would drive one crazy even if it was just a thousand days, let alone a thousand years?’
It was obvious, but the disappointment also melted away.
It seemed something big had indeed occurred in heaven without my knowledge.
‘Is it also related to Master Heavenly Demon?’
Seeing that he had no appearances lately as much as Master Zhang Sanfeng, it seemed like there might be something. I didn’t know if he was doing well.
[Still, I was continuously watching you.]
Come to think of it, I did hear that such a thing existed in the conversation between Master Bodhidharma and Teacher Hua Tuo.
[Well done. If you succeed, quite a bit of karma will accumulate from this work.]
‘Karma?’
Come to think of it, they said this thing called karma is quite important in heaven, right?
In fact, I heard that for me, an existence on earth, to utilize heaven’s operational functions, I must pay the corresponding karma.
Heaven’s power was truly a cheat-like means close to foul play depending on how it was utilized.
For example, death.
As long as one is human, one cannot help but die, and since the dead return to the underworld, I can find out any information on earth, its origin and secrets, through the underworld.
If only there was enough karma.
‘I haven’t paid attention to it for a while, but I should look into this side too.’
Deep down, I also wondered if there was a way to squeeze some out of Master Heavenly Demon, who was said to be earning karma by selling his disciple’s private life.
Because if I could find out undisclosed stories through the underworld, grasping the whole story would be a step easier.
Of course, if I approached clumsily, I might get ripped off in reverse.
What should I do?
It was when I was harboring such trivial thoughts.
[By the way, I heard that the internal conflict among the Demonic Cult fellows has deepened quite a bit, and it must be true. Seeing that there are guys targeting you even though such things occurred on this side.]
‘Excuse me?’
Master Zhang Sanfeng’s words that suddenly came in were enough to surprise me.
We are still in unorthodox territory, so why is the story of the Demonic Cult coming out of nowhere?
‘Wait, not the unorthodox, but the Demonic Cult?’
[Sharpen your senses a bit more. Do not scan the world by looking, but read the world by feeling. Heavenly Demon’s martial art has indeed not been fully mastered by your body yet. If it had, you couldn’t possibly not know.]
It seemed there was more shown in the Meridian Mirror than thought. And it felt like it wasn’t particularly shared with my vision.
More than that, if it was as Master Zhang Sanfeng said.
‘There are demons of the Demonic Cult nearby.’
“Be careful.”
No sooner had I realized that fact than the warning of Taoist Cheongpung, who was running at the very front, resounded.
A rough voice tinged with deep fighting spirit announced the urgency of the situation.
Taoist Cheongpung leaped up and drew his sword.
Drawing his sword as he leaped as lightly as a feather.
Although it was a swift sword without even the sound of swinging, the trace of the place where that sword swept through was by no means light.
Chwaaaak!
Temporarily, the vision before my eyes cleared up widely.
Whether trees or boulders, the back space of the trajectory where the sword passed was sliced neatly.
Everything was cut away even to distances where the sword could not reach.
‘Sword Qi.’
As much as his swordplay, the energy extended from the tip of his sword was also silently sharp.
Martial power proving he was an elder of the Qingcheng Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects.
Blood spurted like a fountain between the traces of the single sword-strike extended by Taoist Cheongpung.
They were the traces of the ambushed ones whose waists were cut in two.
“Is it a surprise attack, unbefitting the orthodox?”
At the loud voice echoing with mountain echoes, the companions frowned and shook their heads. In Sagong Pae’s case, he even blocked his ears as if in pain.
‘It is nothing special, though?’
To me, it was merely an annoying loud voice.
Although it seemed a lot of internal strength was loaded in the voice, I was strangely unaffected.
“Those who were merely ambushing have a lot to say.”
Taoist Cheongpung, who drew his sword, seemed to have completely changed his personality in an instant. He was as sharply edged as the sword he held.
“Show yourselves.”
Taoist Cheongpung swung his sword.
Clang!
Although he was slicing empty air, a loud tearing sound was made, unlike when he cut the boulders and trees just now.
He must have cut down someone’s internal power that was fully filling the surroundings. The power of the noisy sound weakened. The companions also looked much more comfortable, showing no more signs of suffering.
“Indeed, quite impressive.”
In the midst of that, the owner of the grand internal power revealed himself.
His age appearing from the outside was a young man in his prime. No matter how generously estimated, he looked around thirty.
For someone stepping forward confidently, he did not look like a martial artist comparable to Taoist Cheongpung.
If looking only at the appearance.
“Do you recognize me, I wonder?”
However, the opponent who stepped forward confidently was looking down on Taoist Cheongpung instead.
It was the attitude of one equipped with power unrelated to appearance.
“You, by any chance… Hah…”
“The memory of the old one is quite something. So you do remember?”
The strange thing instead was Taoist Cheongpung’s reaction.
Taoist Cheongpung was also reacting in acknowledgement of the opponent’s attitude.
“It has been decades. How can you be exactly the same after that long time?”
“A foolish question. To ask such a question no matter how great the shock is. Since you recognized me, you must know well who I am?”
“……Devouring Demonic Monarch (Tamsik Magun).”
Demonic Monarch.
Although I did not know what kind of person he was or what martial arts he practiced, I clearly recognized at least the two characters attached behind his alias.
Monarch. King. Emperor.
Extremely rare titles granted to those standing at the peak of Martial World.
It meant the person before my eyes right now was one of those standing at the peak of the Demonic Cult.
“Just how many people have you devoured with the Great Absorption Method?”
“I ate a lot. I digested a lot. However, Devouring Demonic Monarch, that thing in front of my name was exactly the same as before. If I devour you and your children here, trigger a great war between orthodox and unorthodox, and burn down Sichuan, would it be a bit different, I wonder.”
It seemed he was resentful of being treated merely as one of the Demonic Monarchs for a long time. When he grabbed the tree next to him, it was crushed in an instant.
The strange thing was the state of the broken wood pieces that fell.
The tree that had been a living tree until just now became a dried-up dead tree when falling to the ground.
That fellow’s hand devours things beyond people.
“The ultimate stage of the Great Absorption Method…”
Taoist Cheongpung’s voice, recognizing that realm, was heavy. As for me behind him, his face was not visible, but I could feel it was definitely hardened like a rock.
I was surely not the only one who realized that.
“Elder…”
“All of you, leave this place. He is an opponent with low chances of winning anyway. He is not someone I can fight while worrying about you too.”
Did he think we wouldn’t listen if he simply told us to run away?
Strong resolve overflowed from Taoist Cheongpung’s voice.
A solemn energy flowed out from Taoist Cheongpung’s body.
Crack!
He merely raised his energy, yet the trees and pebbles nearby broke.
It proved that although the chances of winning were small, they were not entirely non-existent.
“Hurry!”
Taoist Cheongpung, who yelled, became a single sword and rushed toward the Devouring Demonic Monarch, who was letting out an unlucky laugh.
However, even in such a situation, the Devouring Demonic Monarch had composure.
“Would I have come alone? If there is anyone who returns alive from here, it is us who would be in trouble.”
No sooner had the Devouring Demonic Monarch’s words fallen than the energies appearing in the surroundings swarmed toward this side.
‘This is bad…’
If our feet were bound, Taoist Cheongpung, who was disadvantaged anyway, would find it even harder to exhibit his proper skills.
The problem was that the guys narrowing the distance toward us were also no joke.
It was a repetition of a vicious cycle.
I wondered if I should just unfold the Heavenly Demon Kalpaless Hand and smash them, no matter what back-talk came out.
Yet, if I unfolded a demonic art and someone recognized it, I would be buried in orthodox society.
It was truly a dilemma.
[Beat up that fellow called the Devouring Demonic King first.]
‘Excuse me?’
In the midst of that, the master’s instruction was even more absurd.
What did he expect me to do against an opponent whom even Taoist Cheongpung, a Nine Great Sects elder-class expert, had thin chances of winning against?
[That fellow is an absolute mismatch against you. It’s not just a mismatch, but a level of extreme counter. From your perspective, devouring that fellow would be easier than dealing with the guys swarming around you.]
‘……Excuse me?’
I couldn’t grasp what he meant. That I could easily devour an opponent whom even Taoist Cheongpung feared.
[They cannot defeat you with the Great Absorption Method. Even if his master came instead of that fellow, they wouldn’t stand a chance against you with the Great Absorption Method.]