Chapter 34
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: In Shaanxi (1)
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Perfected Man Heo Un couldn't say a word.
Even if he had ten mouths, he would have nothing to say.
Everything he had planned had failed.
And at the cost of his disciples' lives, no less.
There was nothing to be gained.
'No, perhaps I did gain one thing: I found a new dangerous individual.'
Though it hardly felt significant compared to what was lost.
“We are retreating.”
“Sect Leader. Are we really to retreat like this?”
The one who protested Perfected Man Heo Seong's words was Gok Jeon, who was facing Shin Yehyang.
“The Kongtong Sect cannot retreat like this.”
“No, we will retreat for now.”
Hearing the voice, Gok Jeon hastily turned his head.
There, a pale-faced Gok Yang was approaching, supported by a Taoist from the Kongtong Sect.
“Gok Yang!”
Gok Yang looked at Jinmyeong, who was facing Perfected Man Heo Seong.
'So they couldn't kill him in the end.'
Perfected Man Heo Un and even Gok Jeon had stepped forward.
And now, even Perfected Man Heo Seong.
He had withstood the assault of all three.
'Like the Blood-Laughing Demon, he has already surpassed the level of a rising star.'
It wasn't that simple.
Jinmyeong was a warrior on a similar level to them.
And yet, he was still so young.
Which meant he could become even stronger.
“Why do such prodigies always emerge from the Demonic Cult? And not from the Righteous Factions?”
As Gok Yang lamented, the faces of both Perfected Man Heo Seong and Perfected Man Heo Un darkened.
“Tsk.”
Jinmyeong sighed at their reaction.
'As if they'd pay any attention even if one did appear.'
No prodigies in the Righteous Alliance?
What nonsense.
'The protagonist's journey begins by knocking on the doors of the Righteous Alliance.'
Although, not yet.
There was still quite some time before the beginning of the original story.
'That damn background of his.'
The protagonist wasn't from the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families.
Nor did he have a famous master to elevate his status.
That's why, even after joining the Righteous Alliance, the protagonist started from the very bottom.
'He did get noticed for his strength, though.'
But that was it.
Befitting a protagonist, he was strong from the start and grew continuously stronger through incredible fortuitous encounters.
Despite that, the highest he could climb was to the level of a squad leader in a moderately powerful unit.
It was due to the interference from those of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families.
“Let's be honest.”
“Hmm?”
“You should be asking why such a prodigy hasn't appeared in your own sects. You'd just ignore anyone who isn't from a major sect or a prestigious family, wouldn't you?”
A blunt voice came from Jinmyeong's lips.
“What would the likes of you know?”
“Well. I probably know more than you do.”
After all, as a reader, Jinmyeong had read this entire novel.
Of course, he had learned things he couldn't have seen in the novel, but there was also much he knew only because of it.
“There's no need to listen to the words of a fiend.”
“The young lad’s goading tactics are quite effective.”
They were just words meant to agitate them.
Since Jinmyeong had made so many irritating remarks, they dismissed it as just another one.
'They'd never admit it.'
It wasn't because they were hypocrites.
Even in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, where strength was everything, status was incredibly important.
Even with his power, if Jinmyeong hadn't been a disciple of the Heavenly Demon, he wouldn't have received this much attention.
He wouldn't have even been given the chance to meet the Vice Cult Leader.
'They just unconsciously look down on them.'
At first, they think, 'There's no way someone who isn't from a prestigious family could be that great.'
Then later, they become jealous, thinking, 'Why is someone like him...'
That was the case with the protagonist of the original story.
“We'll see in time. Whether the Righteous Factions truly have no prodigies, or if you're all just blind.”
“Hmph. You run your mouth freely to the very end.”
Gok Yang glared at Jinmyeong before whirling around.
“We will retreat for today, but this is not the end.”
“It would be best for you to return to the Demonic Cult as quickly as possible.”
The Kongtong Twin Elders led the disciples of the Kongtong Sect and left immediately.
“……”
And Perfected Man Heo Seong and Perfected Man Heo Un also stared silently at Jinmyeong before beginning to retreat with the Taoists of the Kunlun Sect.
“I didn't think you would come back.”
When had he returned?
Mok Jagyeong, who had disappeared and then reappeared, spoke to Neung Byeokmun.
But instead of answering, Neung Byeokmun turned his head away.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Not at all. It was our duty.”
The warrior from the Gansu branch shook his head at Neung Byeokmun's words.
“Then I wish you luck in your endeavors.”
The warrior from the Gansu branch said this to Neung Byeokmun and the others, then led his men away.
“Why not go with them to Gansu?”
“We will not be going to Gansu.”
Mok Jagyeong asked while watching the departing warriors of the Gansu branch, but Neung Byeokmun shook his head.
“We are going directly to Shaanxi.”
Their final destination.
The Shaanxi branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Aren't we going together this time?”
Mok Jagyeong asked as Neung Byeokmun prepared to leave.
It was because Neung Byeokmun was about to leave before the others had even gathered.
“Didn't you all already choose to act separately?”
Despite being surrounded by numerous enemies, the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had split up and moved in smaller groups.
It wasn't a strategy to divert the enemy's attention.
They simply had no intention of moving together from the start.
“Isn't this because you, the Brigade Leader, moved first?”
Mok Jagyeong blamed the Leader of the Demonic Shadow Brigade.
If he had led them properly, things might not have turned out this way.
After all, the person leading this group was the Leader of the Demonic Shadow Brigade, appointed by the Heavenly Demon himself.
“Think what you will.”
“What if some people don't go to Shaanxi?”
“The destination has been relayed to everyone else.”
The members of the Demonic Shadow Brigade who were here just a moment ago were gone.
They must have moved out to tell the others to come to Shaanxi.
“The decision is yours. You just have to take responsibility for it.”
Neung Byeokmun did not force them.
His attitude was one of indifference, whether they went to Shaanxi or returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
'Was he always like that? I don't think so.'
Jinmyeong stared silently at the back of the Leader of the Demonic Shadow Brigade.
They had to complete the Heavenly Demon's mission, yet he acted as if he didn't need any of them.
'It's frustrating not knowing anything.'
Since this mission was never mentioned in the novel, it felt incredibly frustrating.
“Are you not going?”
As Jinmyeong was thinking about the mission, Shin Yehyang's voice reached his ears.
Her voice brought him back to his senses, and when he looked around, he saw that only the two of them were left.
'When did that guy leave?'
Mok Jagyeong was also gone.
It seemed he had left to take his subordinates to Shaanxi.
“Let's go. We don't really have a choice.”
Jinmyeong and Shin Yehyang started moving in the direction Neung Byeokmun had disappeared.
A few days later, Jinmyeong and Shin Yehyang arrived safely at the Flowing Cloud Escort Agency in Xi'an, Shaanxi.
“Welcome. I am Go Taemun, the head of the Flowing Cloud Escort Agency.”
The friendly-looking agency head greeted them—or more precisely, Shin Yehyang, the daughter of the Vice Cult Leader—with great respect.
This escort agency was one of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's branches in Shaanxi, and it was also the place where the cult's lost treasure had been discovered.
“At a glance, it looks like an ordinary escort agency.”
“That's because it is an ordinary escort agency.”
Shin Yehyang nodded as she looked around the agency.
“It's easier to think of it as a place where warriors from our cult come to run an escort business.”
They run the agency, earn money, and send it to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Of course, keeping an eye on the situation in the Central Plains is also a very important task.
“But is it doing well? I'd think it would be hard to get requests, being part of the Demonic Cult.”
“That's why we take on many requests from commoners or the government. To them, the Righteous, Heretical, and Demonic are all just a bunch of ruffians.”
It seemed the Demonic Cult's reputation wasn't as bad as Jinmyeong had thought.
Though, of course, the Kunlun and Kongtong Sects saw them as mortal enemies.
“It is an honor to meet you. Rumors of the Young Master have reached even here.”
“Rumors about me?”
Jinmyeong looked at the agency head with a puzzled expression.
“I heard that you defeated the Kongtong Twin Elders, the greatest masters of the Kongtong Sect.”
It seemed news of what happened in Gansu had already reached them.
“Now that you've even defeated the Cloud Dragon Sword of Kunlun, the Young Master's fame will surely spread throughout the Central Plains.”
“That doesn't sound good.”
Jinmyeong didn't think being in the spotlight was a good thing.
The more famous he became, the more people would grow jealous of him.
'That means I'll have more enemies.'
And the Righteous Alliance might also start thinking of him as a priority target for elimination.
Indeed, hadn't Gok Yang thought that Jinmyeong should be eliminated even before Mok Jagyeong?
“It just goes to show what a remarkable warrior the Young Master is.”
A genius who could perform Sword Control with five swords before even coming of age.
“I hear you've even been given the moniker, the New Demonic Sword Controller.”
“I'd rather have the title of Incompetent Young Master.”
The title he was given when he couldn't practice martial arts.
Jinmyeong found the title 'New Demonic Sword Controller' to be truly childish.
“I look forward to working with you. Now, let me show you to your quarters.”
The agency head pretended not to hear Jinmyeong and continued speaking.
He then immediately began to guide Jinmyeong and Shin Yehyang to the place where they would be resting.
'This is nicer than I expected.'
The separate annex the agency head had prepared for their lodging wasn't extravagant, but it was very clean, which he liked.
“You're here.”
Mok Jagyeong, who had arrived at the annex first, smiled and waved at Jinmyeong and Shin Yehyang.
“Looks like you're the only one here, Eldest Senior Brother.”
“Haha. Why the sudden formality? You were picking fights with me just a while ago.”
“Did I do that?”
Despite Jinmyeong playing dumb, the smile didn't leave Mok Jagyeong's lips.
“It seems our Youngest Junior Brother has a poor memory. Is that why you couldn't learn martial arts properly?”
“But I'm learning them properly again now.”
“Though your physical skills are still nothing special.”
Jinmyeong's Sword Control and Finger Arts were certainly outstanding, but his physical swordsmanship didn't feel all that impressive.
“Well then, I'd like to rest now.”
“Go ahead.”
No longer wishing to talk with Mok Jagyeong, Jinmyeong ended the conversation and headed for his room.
“This way, please.”
Guided by a maidservant, Jinmyeong entered his room.
“We have prepared water for you, so you may wash up.”
At the maidservant's words, Jinmyeong looked at the wooden tub and the water it contained.
'I guess you could call this a bathtub.'
As soon as the maidservant left, Jinmyeong stripped off his clothes without even unpacking.
Then, he stepped into the steaming tub.
“Mmm.”
As he soaked in the perfectly hot water, he felt the tension drain from his entire body.
'So this is what it feels like to finally rest.'
Perhaps it was the thought of finally being able to rest properly that made all the strength leave his body.
Even after the Kongtong and Kunlun Sects had retreated, Jinmyeong hadn't been able to rest properly, having rushed straight here.
'Was that my first real battle?'
Only after the tension eased did he realize that he had safely concluded his first real fight.
Sinking deeper into the tub, Jinmyeong began to review the events he had experienced.