Chapter 84
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Blood Hand Demonic Lord (4)
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People began to flock to Fujian.
A considerable number of secret manuals had appeared in Fujian Province.
Had they been third-rate martial arts, no one would have bothered.
But these were secret manuals of demonic arts leaked from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, so of course, people couldn't help but swarm in.
There were side effects to learning demonic arts. Everyone knew this.
Yet, they moved to Fujian to obtain these demonic arts.
Such were the martial artists—men willing to learn even demonic arts if it meant becoming stronger.
“I just don't get it. Why would anyone want to learn something knowing it has side effects?”
“Hahaha.”
At Jinmyeong's words, Yang Jeon could only laugh awkwardly.
It couldn't be helped.
Weren't most of the people here practitioners of demonic arts?
“…You don't seriously think the demonic arts circulating out there are the same as the ones these people have learned, do you?”
“Pardon?”
“You seem to be acting cautiously because they've learned demonic arts.”
“Well, it's only natural, isn't it?”
“Surely you don't believe the demonic arts practiced by the Cult Leader, Vice Cult Leader, or the Elders have the same side effects as those low-grade ones, do you?”
Startled by Jinmyeong's question, Yang Jeon frantically shook his head.
“Of course not! I'm just saying we should be careful.”
The demonic arts practiced by the Cult Leader, Vice Cult Leader, and Elders were the highest-tier arts within the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon.
They were techniques refined over long years, with most of their side effects eliminated.
“The only remaining side effect is probably just a belligerent personality.”
The side effects of demonic arts were varied, but they often included a high risk of falling into qi deviation or losing one's sanity.
Or they were techniques that couldn't be advanced without resorting to unspeakable methods.
‘Thank goodness the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame isn't like that.’
The Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame felt closer to a righteous art than a demonic one.
Though, even to practitioners of righteous arts, it was a rather bizarre technique.
In any case, Jinmyeong was grateful he didn't have to practice his martial arts by bathing in a tub filled with human blood.
“So, the Righteous Alliance guys are collecting most of them?”
“Yes.”
Jinmyeong had called them low-grade demonic arts, but they weren't truly low-grade.
While not on par with the secret techniques of the Nine Sects One Gang, most were at least mid-tier. Some were even stronger.
There was a reason people were flocking to Fujian. That was why the Righteous Alliance had no choice but to step in and collect the manuals.
“It would've been interesting if they hadn't collected them.”
“I imagine so.”
Martial artists would have killed each other over the secret manuals.
In fact, a considerable number of them had already done so.
“More importantly, I hear you got beaten soundly, Young Master?”
“…”
“You seemed so strong, but I guess even you are no match for the truly powerful.”
“…Do you know you've said that more than ten times already?”
“Ah, have I? My memory must be failing me, so I keep asking.”
Yang Jeon grinned, deliberately getting on Jinmyeong's nerves.
It seemed he wasn't going to miss this opportunity, as Jinmyeong had never been so thoroughly defeated before.
“You seemed quite cautious at first.”
“Well, it's because you aren't moping about your loss, Young Master.”
If Jinmyeong had truly been dejected by his defeat, Yang Jeon wouldn't have dared to run his mouth like this.
On the contrary, Jinmyeong was furious about what the Blood Hand Demonic Lord had done to him, which was why Yang Jeon kept bringing it up.
He wanted to make Jinmyeong even more furious so he would dedicate himself to his training.
“Isn't it because you've been slacking off too much lately? You don't seem to be training as diligently as you used to.”
“Should I give you a proper demonstration?”
“…My apologies. I seem to have gotten a little carried away.”
As Jinmyeong's voice grew cold, Yang Jeon hastily backed away.
“It's true, though. I have been neglecting my training lately.”
Jinmyeong, who had been practicing martial arts for less than two years, had fought on nearly equal footing with the Purple Haze Sword, a man said to be close to the level of the Ten Kings.
He knew of his own talent and was learning martial arts that could maximize it.
Moreover, even the protagonist of the original story was no match for him.
Drunk on his own talent, Jinmyeong had grown complacent and neglected his training.
“But wasn't he said to be as strong as the Vice Cult Leader? Just surviving against someone like that is a remarkable feat.”
Seeing Jinmyeong become downcast, Yang Jeon hurriedly tried to console him.
“Don't offer such half-hearted, insincere comfort.”
“Yes.”
At Jinmyeong's words, Yang Jeon quickly nodded and shut his mouth.
“More importantly, we should get going. Isn't it time to see the Vice Cult Leader?”
Jinmyeong nodded and headed for the guest room where the Mad Demon was staying.
The Mad Demon was staying on the fifth floor, where the renowned courtesan Yuran resided.
There, the Mad Demon was drinking while listening to a performance by Yuran and the Four Gracious Plants—Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo—who had taught her.
“Leave us.”
Seeing Jinmyeong arrive, the Mad Demon spoke, and the women quickly finished their performance and left.
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
At the Mad Demon's command, Jinmyeong sat down opposite him.
“Who are they?”
“…Are you referring to the Heaven-Shattering Society?”
“I don't know their exact name. But from that man's reaction, it seems you know who they are.”
Jinmyeong nodded at the Mad Demon's words.
He had anticipated this situation and prepared several excuses.
Therefore, Jinmyeong hoped the Mad Demon would ask a question he could answer with one of his prepared responses.
“I'll ask again from the beginning. Who are they?”
“I don't know for certain either.”
“You're making me repeat myself. If I have to ask one more time, I'll make sure you can no longer speak.”
Faced with the Mad Demon's murderous aura, Jinmyeong had no choice but to hastily circulate the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame.
Feeling somewhat relieved thanks to the Divine Arts, Jinmyeong let out a small breath.
“It's true that I don't know the exact details. I only know their name and their objective.”
“What is their objective?”
“To dominate the martial world.”
“…Something that neither the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Righteous Alliance, nor the Heretical Alliance has managed to do. Not even the Emperor.”
No one had ever managed to dominate the martial world.
It was just that difficult a task.
“That's because they failed by trying to dominate it under normal circumstances.”
He wasn't sure about the Emperor, but the other factions tried to rule over all under heaven without weakening the martial world's power.
They did wage war, but they tried to minimize the damage as much as possible.
After all, if their strength was depleted upon dominating the martial world, they would need to fend off invasions from outside forces or the Imperial Palace.
“But they don't care about such things.”
They didn't care if the martial world was ruined.
No, it seemed they rather wanted it to be ruined.
‘Thinking about it that way, it doesn't seem like they're trying to dominate the martial world after all.’
It felt more like they were trying to destroy it than dominate it.
“Why have you fallen silent?”
“My apologies. In any case, they will try to make two of the three factions—the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Righteous Alliance, and the Heretical Alliance—fight each other.”
“That won't be easy. The Three Revered Ones are not fools.”
The Heavenly Demon, the Leader of the Righteous Alliance, and the Leader of the Heretical Alliance.
The heads of the three factions ruling the martial world were no fools.
They would not start a war that would shatter the balance.
“Yes, that's true. But there are no absolutes in this world.”
He couldn't very well say that Mok Jagyeong became the Cult Leader because the Heavenly Demon and the Mad Demon died or went missing.
“…Is that so.”
“They could kill the Heretical Alliance Leader's grandson and blame it on the Righteous Alliance or the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
“Hmm. Would the Heretical Alliance Leader even care about that?”
The Heretical Alliance Leader the Mad Demon knew would probably curse his grandson as a fool for getting assassinated.
“It was just an example. Killing Lady Shin…”
Jinmyeong was about to use Shin Yehyang as an example but shut his mouth at the Mad Demon's sharp gaze.
‘He himself would have started a war if Lady Shin were murdered.’
But instead of saying that, Jinmyeong decided to use a different example.
“Couldn't they kill the Heretical Alliance Leader or the Righteous Alliance Leader and blame it on another faction?”
“Hmm. Are you saying they have the skill to kill the Three Revered Ones?”
“…I don't know.”
When Gang Muhwi killed the leader of the Heaven-Shattering Society, the Righteous Alliance Leader and the Heretical Alliance Leader were not in their right minds, and the Heavenly Demon was absent.
So he couldn't be certain that the leader of the Heaven-Shattering Society was truly stronger than the Three Revered Ones.
“But the Blood Hand Demonic Lord is not the leader of that organization.”
“I know.”
The Blood Hand Demonic Lord had retreated on someone's orders.
Although he clearly disliked it, he retreated in the end.
The Blood Hand Demonic Lord, who wouldn't even follow the former Cult Leader's orders if he didn't like them back when he was the Vice Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, had obeyed without a word of complaint.
“There must be someone stronger than the Blood Hand Demonic Lord.”
“…”
Someone stronger than the Blood Hand Demonic Lord meant someone stronger than the Mad Demon.
The Mad Demon and the Blood Hand Demonic Lord were evenly matched. Neither had used their full power, but the outcome would have been the same even if they had.
“Do you know anything else?”
“No.”
“Their base of operations, who their leader is, things like that?”
“Yes. I don't know.”
Jinmyeong did not avoid the Mad Demon's steady gaze.
“How did you find out about them?”
“…It was in the place where I learned my martial arts.”
“Am I supposed to believe that?”
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with another excuse.
“Yes. There was information about their existence.”
“That's ridiculous.”
It was possible that such records existed where Jinmyeong learned his martial arts.
But how could he have known that the Blood Hand Demonic Lord belonged to the Heaven-Shattering Society just from those records?
“But I'll let it slide this time.”
He didn't fully understand, but the Mad Demon didn't ask any more questions.
He knew Jinmyeong wouldn't answer anyway.
“But if I find out you're even slightly involved with them…”
He would get the information out of Jinmyeong one way or another.
“Understood.”
“You may leave.”
The Mad Demon watched Jinmyeong's back as he paid his respects and left, then turned back to his drink.
‘Phew. I managed to get through that somehow.’
It was a ridiculous excuse, but it seemed the Mad Demon had no intention of prying further.
And a few days later, the Mad Demon returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to report on the Heaven-Shattering Society.
His job was not to retrieve the demonic art manuals but to kill the Blood Hand Demonic Lord, and he had failed.
Since the Blood Hand Demonic Lord had gone into hiding, his work was done even without finishing the job.
‘Now I can finally go to the Green Forest Mountain.’
He had been practicing the Sword-Flight Technique in his spare time.
It wasn't perfect yet, but with a little more practice, he should be able to fly around the cliffs of the Green Forest Mountain.
And so, filled with anticipation, Jinmyeong began to train in the Sword-Flight Technique.
“Oho. This is quite good.”
But even after mastering the Sword-Flight Technique, Jinmyeong was ultimately unable to leave the Myeonghwa Pavilion.
It was because of a middle-aged man in flamboyant clothes who had suddenly appeared at the pavilion, looking around with an amused expression.