Chapter 50
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Great Elder Sword Demon (3)
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* * *
“Y-Young Master!”
And when he arrived at his residence, Yang Jeon, who had been pacing anxiously in front of the gate, spotted him with a look of joy.
“What is it this time?”
“This is no time to be so relaxed! Do you have any idea who's here?”
“Why? Did the Great Elder's grandson come?”
“Gasp!”
Startled by Jinmyeong's question, Yang Jeon nodded frantically.
“How did you know?”
“Because I asked for it.”
“Ah. So you were the one who made the request. Why would you ask for something so absurd?”
Yang Jeon hurried over and shot back.
“Things had just started to calm down now that you've come to your senses. What am I supposed to do if you suddenly bring another troublemaker here?”
The foul personality of Gu Jahong, the Sword Demon's grandson, was already infamous within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It had been overshadowed thanks to Jinmyeong, who had an equally foul personality with no skills to back it up, but not anymore.
Now that Jinmyeong had come to his senses, Gu Jahong was bound to be constantly compared to him.
“This is our first time meeting, isn't it?”
The heirs of the other Elders had all gone to the Central Plains with Jinmyeong, but Gu Jahong had not.
The Great Elder had asked the Heavenly Demon to exclude him, saying he would be of no help at all.
“What in the world did you do?”
Gu Jahong asked bluntly the moment he saw Jinmyeong.
“I'm asking what you did to make my grandfather send me here.”
“We just exchanged a few words.”
Listening to Gu Jahong's irritated tone, Jinmyeong frowned.
“Now I finally understand why everyone frowned whenever I spoke informally to them.”
Jinmyeong could now sympathize with those he had faced in the Central Plains.
“You must have heard the gist of it from the Great Elder, right?”
“Heard what?”
“The reason you're here.”
“Unfortunately, not at all. Anyway, I've seen your face, so I can leave now, right?”
He had come here only because he couldn't stand the Sword Demon's nagging, but he had no intention of staying.
“I'll just tell my grandfather that you gave up.”
Even the Sword Demon had given up.
Gu Jahong was confident that Jinmyeong wouldn't be able to change him.
“Where do you think you're going?”
As Gu Jahong turned his back on Jinmyeong and started to walk away, he saw Jinmyeong suddenly appear before him, his eyes wide with surprise.
‘When did he move?’
He hadn't even seen Jinmyeong move.
But he calmed his startled heart and put on a composed expression.
“I'm going home, so don't stop me.”
Gu Jahong moved to walk past Jinmyeong.
*Slap!*
But he couldn't take more than a few steps before he was sent stumbling backward.
A stinging pain flared on his cheek, and he looked up with a dazed expression.
“I'm going to stop you. Leave if you can.”
“How dare you! A bastard like you!”
Having never been hit even by the Sword Demon, Gu Jahong's anger flared at the fact that he had been struck.
“Get out of my way!”
He shot up from the ground and drew his sword.
“Your hand is shaking. How much do you have to drink for that to happen?”
Even though Gu Jahong hadn't been drinking, the hand holding the sword was trembling.
“Shut up!”
Gu Jahong swung his sword at Jinmyeong.
“Well, well.”
Was it because he had just been facing the Sword Demon?
Jinmyeong found Gu Jahong's swordsmanship to be incredibly clumsy.
*Slap!*
Easily dodging Gu Jahong's sluggish attack, Jinmyeong slapped his cheek again.
“Keuk!”
Gu Jahong bit his lip hard and tried to swing his sword again, but this time, pain flared on his other cheek.
*Slap! Slap! Slap!*
Jinmyeong slapped Gu Jahong's cheeks relentlessly.
“Huuuhhh...”
After a few hits, Gu Jahong's cheeks were swollen, and any will to swing his sword had vanished.
His eyes glazed over, he could only hope that Jinmyeong would let him go.
“You've never been hit by the Great Elder, so it must feel unfair, right?”
“...”
As if the question had snapped him out of it, Gu Jahong's glazed eyes sharpened, and he glared at Jinmyeong.
“My grandfather won't stand for...”
Gu Jahong's shout was cut off by another one of Jinmyeong's slaps.
He thought bringing up the Sword Demon would make Jinmyeong stop, but Jinmyeong struck his cheek hard, as if he didn't care at all.
“The Great Elder gave me permission.”
“What? That's impossible.”
“So you'd better listen well.”
Gu Jahong's body trembled.
He wondered if he had finally been abandoned by the Sword Demon.
If anything, it felt amazing that the Sword Demon had put up with him for so long.
“So I'm going to fix your attitude and make you the next Great Elder.”
“Hmph. As if someone like you could do it.”
Gu Jahong, who had been scoffing at those words, hastily covered his face with both hands when Jinmyeong slowly raised a hand.
“And don't speak informally.”
“Why should I listen to you?”
Gu Jahong spat out defiantly and quickly backed away.
“You're the Great Elder's grandson, aren't you ashamed? Drinking every single day.”
“I don't want to hear that from you.”
Hadn't Jinmyeong been the same?
He'd heard that Jinmyeong had changed after suddenly disappearing for a year and then reappearing.
“I haven't had some incredible fortuitous encounter like you.”
“Do you really need a fortuitous encounter?”
Jinmyeong didn't understand.
Gu Jahong was born with every fortuitous encounter one could ask for.
The martial arts of the Sword Demon, one of the strongest figures in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, could not possibly be weak.
“Besides, the Great Elder must have provided you with every elixir imaginable.”
“Mmm.”
Gu Jahong had certainly consumed more elixirs than Jinmyeong.
If Jinmyeong had been born in Gu Jahong's body, he wouldn't have even bothered searching for fortuitous encounters.
“Unlike some people, you weren't born with a cursed body. You're just whining.”
“Whining!”
Gu Jahong bristled at Jinmyeong's words.
He was furious that his struggles were being dismissed as mere whining.
“You seem to be struggling, contrary to your usual confidence.”
But their conversation was cut short by a voice that suddenly rang out.
“What brings you here?”
“My father told me to come here as well.”
Jinmyeong shook his head as he watched the woman, Shin Yehyang, approach them.
“It seems I'll be staying here for a while, too.”
“Who in the world...”
Jinmyeong couldn't finish his sentence.
After all, the one who made this decision was none other than the Vice Cult Leader, the Mad Demon, who could be called his guardian.
“Huu. I understand.”
In the end, Jinmyeong sighed and had no choice but to welcome Shin Yehyang into his estate.
* * *
“Keuk!”
Gu Jahong let out a pained groan as he moved his sword.
‘The Flash Sword is a swift sword art, so why do I have to move the sword like this?’
On Jinmyeong's orders, Gu Jahong was thrusting his sword with incredibly slow movements.
He couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to perform the swift sword art until he had perfected the precise movements.
*Clang! Clang!*
But Gu Jahong couldn't voice his complaints.
It was because of the duel unfolding before his eyes between Jinmyeong and Shin Yehyang.
‘This is absurd.’
When the petite Shin Yehyang swung her massive saber, even Gu Jahong, who was just watching, flinched.
It was astonishing enough that she could wield such a giant saber so lightly, but the sound of it cutting through the air with each swing was chilling.
One swing of the saber cut the wind; another created a massive gale.
Just watching from a distance was enough to make his body sway.
‘And yet he's taking it all head-on.’
What was truly astonishing was Jinmyeong, standing calmly within that storm.
He was just standing still with his arms crossed.
And yet, his swords were flying on their own, fighting Shin Yehyang.
‘So that's his martial art.’
Five controlled swords.
He had never seen or even heard of such a martial art.
Seeing it in person, he could only think it was marvelous.
“Shall we stop here?”
Shin Yehyang, who had been continuously facing Jinmyeong's swords, lowered her saber.
Jinmyeong also stopped the swords attacking Shin Yehyang and recalled them all.
“If we go on, it might get serious.”
After Shin Yehyang came to the estate, she and Jinmyeong sparred every day.
But whenever the sparring started to heat up, Shin Yehyang would stop it like this.
“It's a bit disappointing, but it can't be helped.”
From Jinmyeong's perspective, it was good to stop before they both got carried away, but he couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of incompletion.
“By the way, that was the Taiji Sword this time, wasn't it?”
“Yes.”
“Didn't you also use the Violet Mist Sword Arts and the Boundless Azure Sky Sword Arts?”
Even Shin Yehyang couldn't help but be amazed by Jinmyeong's ability to perform various sword arts with his Sword Control.
“Is that possible just by reading the manuals?”
“Probably.”
“Young Master Jin is certainly...”
She could see why the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader coveted Jinmyeong.
Who would believe that he could use Sword Control to perform martial arts that he only knew in theory and couldn't execute with his own body?
“It doesn't have its full power, though.”
Each martial art requires its own corresponding internal energy.
Since he hadn't mastered Mount Hua's Violet Mist Divine Arts, the Violet Mist Sword Arts couldn't display their true power.
“I'm not so sure.”
Shin Yehyang hadn't felt that at all while facing his swords.
If anything, the Sword Control might have felt even stronger, as it surpassed the power a human could generate.
“And because of the White Flame, it feels like a completely different martial art.”
He was clearly performing the Taiji Sword, a gentle sword art, but the swords themselves were blazing fiercely, making it feel like a martial art she had never seen before.
“Young Master!”
As the two were talking, Yang Jeon hurried over.
“What is it?”
He never brought good news when he came running like this, so Jinmyeong assumed something had happened.
“The, the Cult Leader is summoning you.”
“...”
His immediate thought was, ‘Again?’
But since he was the one who wanted to catch the Cult Leader's eye, he couldn't complain.
“What is it this time?”
“How would I know? Do you think they'd tell me the reason when summoning you to the Cult Leader's Hall?”
“...”
He had a point, so there was nothing to say.
“Miss Shin. I'll leave him to you, then.”
“Yes.”
At Jinmyeong's words, Shin Yehyang gave a short reply and approached Gu Jahong.
“Eh?”
“Pick up your sword. I need to see how much you've improved.”
“Huh?”
Gu Jahong looked flustered at suddenly becoming Shin Yehyang's target.
But Shin Yehyang paid no mind to his confusion and swung her saber.
“Aaaaargh!”
The massive gale originating from Shin Yehyang's saber engulfed Gu Jahong.
Jinmyeong paid no mind to Gu Jahong's scream for a moment and left the estate, heading for the Heavenly Demon's castle.
“You may enter.”
When he went straight to the Cult Leader's Hall, the guard at the door opened it for him.
“It seems everyone is here.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke the moment he saw Jinmyeong, without even waiting for a greeting.
Apparently, Jinmyeong was the last to arrive.
‘Only the Heavenly Demon's disciples are gathered.’
There were no Elders, nor was the Vice Cult Leader present.
Only the Heavenly Demon and his disciples were here.
“The reason I've summoned you all is to give you a mission.”
At the Heavenly Demon's words, the disciples all fell silent and looked at him.
“From now on, the competition for the position of Young Cult Leader will officially begin.”
“...”
He had expected it to start someday, but this felt sooner than anticipated.
“It's simple. From this moment on, I will entrust each of you with one of our business operations in the Central Plains.”
The people were speechless at the sudden assignment.
They had expected to be told to start a war immediately.
“Telling you to fight right away is simple. But that's no fun.”
The Heavenly Demon grinned playfully.
“Go out to the Central Plains and build your power.”
“What is the time limit?”
“Hmm. I'm still thinking about it.”
In the end, nothing was decided.
It was simply an order to go to the Central Plains and build power for the Heavenly Demon's amusement.
‘It can't be just that. Is he trying to test our management skills?’
Even for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, strength isn't everything when it comes to leading a massive organization.
Jinmyeong believed the Heavenly Demon was sending his disciples to the various branches in the Central Plains to test that ability.
‘If I prove my competence here, I might be able to win over the Elders supporting the other disciples.’
The Heavenly Demon would probably begin immediately after this mission was over.
A war, under the name of the Young Cult Leader competition.
“Do we have to go alone?”
“Don't take too many. Just a reasonable number.”
After answering, the Heavenly Demon waved his hand dismissively.
“Departure is in ten days, and your assigned locations will be chosen at random. You are all dismissed.”
At the Heavenly Demon's dismissal, the disciples had no choice but to leave the Cult Leader's Hall, still looking dazed.
Clearly, they too hadn't fully grasped the situation.
‘As expected of that man...’
Even in this situation, Mok Jagyeong still wore a relaxed smile.
He didn't know if Mok Jagyeong had already anticipated this, but for some reason, that composure bothered him.
‘Anyway, I should get ready to leave.’
Deciding there was no need to talk with Mok Jagyeong right now, Jinmyeong hurried back to his estate.
* * *
“We're preparing to leave. You too, of course.”
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“A message will come from the Cult Leader's Hall in a few days. You'll understand then, so just start packing for now.”
Jinmyeong chuckled at Yang Jeon's pout and headed to his bedroom to prepare for his departure.
‘This is good. I'll be able to move more freely this time.’
He planned to go find the fortuitous encounter he deemed essential.
Was it the thought of retrieving that fortuitous encounter?
Jinmyeong forgot it was even a mission and began to prepare for his departure, humming a tune.