Chapter 34. The Heavenly Demon's Teaching (1)
“Has a Demon Soldier ever entered the Demon God Palace's main hall before?”
“Of course not.”
“How could a mere Demon Soldier dare?”
“But that was not the aura of a Demon Soldier.”
“His level would not be strange even for a Demon Lord.”
“And after calling that Demon Soldier inside, the Cult Leader dismissed every civil and military official.”
“What exactly is the Cult Leader thinking?”
Three officials leaving the Demon God Palace continued discussing the Cult Leader's intentions and Bi Anso's identity.
After walking for some time, they noticed someone.
Sword Demon Won Jungyeon.
Until Bi Anso appeared, the Sword Demon had been the center of everyone's attention.
“Clan Head Won!”
“Please wait!”
“Ah, Official Ju.”
The goat-bearded official called out to the Sword Demon.
The Sword Demon immediately smiled and gave him a fist-and-palm salute.
“Thank you for defending this Clan Head inside the main hall.”
“I was too distracted to properly thank you.”
“Hahahaha.”
“You are too humble.”
“Who under heaven would doubt Clan Head Won's loyalty?”
“More importantly...”
Official Ju looked around to confirm no one was listening.
Then he lowered his voice.
“According to the Left Envoy, that man Bi Anso infiltrated your clan.”
“Do you know anything about him?”
“Hmm...”
The Sword Demon thought for a moment.
When he considered it carefully, he actually knew very little about Bi Anso.
It is obvious that he is not originally from our Cult.
But he is still my benefactor.
It would be wrong to carelessly spread information about him.
“Truthfully, I do not know very much either.”
“Clan Head Won.”
“Are you hiding things even from me?”
“I am beginning to feel disappointed.”
“Hahaha.”
“Do not misunderstand.”
“However, I believe I understand why the Cult Leader allowed Bi Anso into the main hall.”
“Really?”
The Sword Demon smiled and attempted to change the subject.
He added a somewhat convincing lie.
“Bi Anso must be a talent secretly raised by the Cult Leader.”
“But the frightening part is that someone like him had been hidden as an ordinary Demon Soldier inside the Black Blood Unit.”
“Why is that frightening?”
“How can you be certain Bi Anso is the only one?”
“Ah!”
Official Ju felt as though someone had struck the back of his head.
“Hidden blades personally sharpened by the Cult Leader may be placed throughout the entire Cult.”
“There is only one reason the Cult Leader revealed Bi Anso before every civil and military official.”
“It was a warning.”
“If we behave improperly, even we may not escape death!”
“I would not go that far...”
“But I agree that the Cult Leader must be attempting to restore discipline after the rebellion.”
“I see.”
“Your explanation makes sense.”
The idea that the Cult Leader's hidden blades were secretly placed everywhere made Official Ju fall into deep thought.
The Sword Demon sighed.
At this rate, the man might actually investigate Bi Anso.
This will only create trouble for my benefactor.
I cannot allow that.
“Official Ju.”
“If you are considering investigating Bi Anso's background, give up.”
“W, what do you mean, Clan Head Won?”
“Investigating that man's background would be the same as investigating the Cult Leader himself.”
“If you poke your hand into a bush and get bitten by a poisonous snake, even I will not be able to save you.”
Official Ju's face immediately turned pale.
“I, I see.”
“Without Clan Head Won's warning, even a hundred of my old heads would not have been enough.”
“Thank you.”
“We are friends.”
“There is no need for thanks.”
“If you truly wish to repay me, spread this warning to the other officials.”
“Carelessly investigating Bi Anso may anger the Cult Leader.”
“Of course!”
“If someone recklessly investigates him and causes trouble, the consequences may spread to everyone nearby!”
Official Ju hurried toward the officials he normally associated with.
Several days later, an unwritten rule had formed among the civil and military officials of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Never investigate Bi Anso's background carelessly.
Was this really the Cult Leader's rear garden?
What was it called?
The Demon Fragrance Garden?
I would believe it if someone said this place had not been maintained for three hundred years.
And what was wrong with this pavilion?
The wood was so rotten that everything creaked.
One wrong step and the whole thing might collapse.
“Heh.”
What was wrong with this man?
He had been silent for a while, then suddenly laughed.
“The Sword Demon is helping you quite a lot.”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean?”
“You do not need to worry about the civil and military officials targeting you.”
What was this?
Did this man possess Heavenly Eyes or something?
More importantly, how did he know what I had been worried about?
Could he read minds?
“You are so easy to understand that I do not need something like mind-reading.”
“Stop wasting your thoughts.”
“...Is there anything you do not know?”
“Everything except what I can see.”
The Cult Leader used Object Manipulation through Empty Space to lift a wine bottle and pour wine into two cups.
The liquid was dark red like blood.
It did not look like ordinary alcohol.
“Drink.”
“It is not poisoned wine, right?”
“If I truly wished to kill you, would I need poison?”
“My apologies.”
“Occupational habit.”
“I know.”
I carefully took a sip.
The sweetness was rich and refined, completely different from any alcohol I had tasted before.
“Wow.”
“What kind of alcohol is this?”
“I have tasted drinks from all over the world, but never anything like it.”
“Wine made from grapes using methods from the Western Regions.”
“Grape wine?”
“The kind supposedly offered only to the Imperial Family?”
“Around ten years ago, several Westerners who knew how to produce grape wine defected here.”
“I built a winery for them.”
“If you sell this inside the Central Plains, you could make a fortune.”
“I am already training brewers and constructing facilities capable of mass production.”
I had only been joking.
He was actually doing it.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah...”
“I never expected an answer that sounded so much like a merchant from the Cult Leader.”
“The most important requirement for creating a rich nation and powerful military is financial power.”
“Everyone focuses only on raising powerful martial artists.”
“A ruler must also consider the resources required to raise those martial artists.”
He was right.
Strong finances made it much easier to cultivate excellent martial artists.
The great martial families and major sects of the Central Plains poured enormous wealth and resources into talented disciples.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which respected strength above all else, would naturally do even more.
“There are many kinds of power.”
“Would a beggar with strong martial arts truly be worthy of the position of Heavenly Demon?”
“A Heavenly Demon is someone who greedily takes everything under heaven and then perfectly controls it, turning it into his own power.”
“...”
“Martial power, the power to attract and command people, financial power that makes a wealthy nation and strong army possible, and the endurance to sometimes lower one's head and accept humiliation.”
“How can someone who lacks even one of those things dare discuss the meaning of ‘power’?”
People of the Central Plains said the Heavenly Demon was a barbarian obsessed only with survival of the strongest.
The truth was completely different.
The Heavenly Demon was someone seeking the true nature of power.
At least, the man sitting before me was.
“I will remember the Cult Leader's teaching.”
“It is unfortunate.”
“If your Master were alive, he would probably have reached a realm similar to mine by now.”
“If that bastard were still around, perhaps I would be slightly less bored.”
“Is that really true?”
“Baekro was the only man in my entire life I considered worthy of being called a true rival.”
“He was also the only one who nearly killed this Cult Leader.”
The Cult Leader used Object Manipulation through Empty Space again and poured more wine.
“You handled the Sword Demon Clan matter rather well.”
“It helped greatly in restoring discipline throughout the Cult.”
“I simply did the best I could with the situation I was given.”
“Why did you risk your life for the Sword Demon's concubine and son?”
What?
Why was he suddenly asking that?
Why had I risked my life for Hyeonri and Won Kang?
Honestly, I still did not fully understand it.
Inside that carriage falling from the cliff, why had I placed their lives ahead of my own?
I could not explain it in words.
But I still remembered the emotion I felt at that moment.
“It is difficult to answer.”
“You cannot even explain your own choices?”
“Master used to say the mouth is a tool of falsehood.”
“Whenever a person speaks, some amount of falsehood naturally becomes mixed into those words.”
“I do not want to stain the sincerity I felt in that moment with the falsehood of language.”
“What an impressive excuse.”
“If I absolutely had to give a reason, perhaps it was because I have become a father too.”
“I felt compassion for them.”
The Cult Leader stared at me for a long time without saying anything.
I could not even guess what that man was thinking.
“You underwent Body Reformation through the Spirit Returning Demon Pill.”
“Yes.”
“Then your martial arts must also change to match your changed energy.”
“Perhaps this is fortunate.”
“Baekro's martial arts had the weakness of possessing only a short history.”
“There is nothing wrong with his disciple evolving them into demonic arts.”
Martial arts were ultimately completed by time.
That was why martial artists took disciples.
Those disciples improved the martial arts of previous generations and passed them on again.
That was one reason why sects with long histories possessed such powerful martial arts.
Master had certainly been a heaven-born martial artist.
But even the Eight Thunder Arts of No Homeland, the martial arts he created, clearly suffered from having such a short history.
“I hear you are skilled with the chain-sickle.”
“Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
The Cult Leader suddenly moved one finger.
Apparently, he was using Object Manipulation through Empty Space.
Whoosh!
A chain-sickle flew from far away and landed in the Cult Leader's hand.
It was the chain-sickle I had handed over to the Heavenly Demon Army before entering the Demon God Palace.
“Take it.”
“This Cult Leader will examine your martial arts.”
“Pardon?”
“The Cult Leader will personally examine my martial arts?”
“Why?”
“Do you dislike the idea?”
“O, of course not!”
What was happening?
The Cult Leader himself was going to examine my martial arts?
The supreme expert who had become the first person since the First Heavenly Demon to fully master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?
“You helped restore discipline within this Cult.”
“Consider this your reward.”
He waved his hand as though telling me to move back.
A violent gust of wind suddenly appeared and sent my entire body flying backward.
Crazy.
One casual wave of his hand created a palm wind strong enough to throw me through the air.
So this was the Heavenly Demon.
“Remember this.”
“If you wish to gain anything from this Cult Leader, attack me with the intention of killing me.”
The Cult Leader released his aura.
Strange winds immediately began blowing in every direction.
Simply releasing his energy was disturbing the natural balance around us.
Was the thing standing before me truly human?
“Do not worry.”
A monster capable of disturbing heaven and earth merely by existing was personally offering me guidance.
Standing before something that could not be measured through human common sense, my heart filled with excitement rather than fear.
“Assassins of the Three-No Sect never learned how to show mercy with their hands.”
