Chapter 448
Chapter 448
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 448
Chapter Title: The Spy's Resolve
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*The Soul Annihilation Unit has found Yeong Mun-ho's whereabouts. And he said he is going to meet Yeong Mun-ho.*
Back when he was staying at Nangrim Mountain, where Bu Eun-seol was, on his way to meet Yeong Mun-ho.
Myo Cheon-u, who had been tracking him as well, was relaying the information he got from the Soul Annihilation Unit to the Assassin.
And soon, he received a shocking order.
*Leak Yeong Mun-ho's whereabouts to the Heavenly Sword. Make him and Bu Eun-seol fight to the death.*
The Heavenly Sword was a disciple of the Sword Master, not only incredibly skilled in martial arts but also a new-generation grandmaster possessing Innate Divine Power.
He was a master against whom Bu Eun-seol could not guarantee an easy victory at the time.
But Myo Cheon-u's concern was not just for Bu Eun-seol's safety.
*Yeong Mun-ho has lost his martial arts. You must not use him as bait.*
The Heavenly Sword was a man who vehemently hated figures of the Demonic Path, especially the Ten Demonic Champions who had killed the Master of the Great Cause.
If such a man were to find Yeong Mun-ho?
He would never let him be.
*Bait is just bait. He will not die. Because Bu Eun-seol will protect him.*
In the end, the Assassin had concluded that Bu Eun-seol and the Heavenly Sword had to fight.
Myo Cheon-u hesitated for a moment.
But in the end, he was swayed by the Assassin's persuasion.
Because until now, their words had never been wrong, and they had consistently developed Bu Eun-seol just as they had promised.
This, too, would ultimately be an opportunity for Bu Eun-seol to grow significantly.
Myo Cheon-u did not doubt it, and so he leaked the location of the Ten Demonic Champion, Yeong Mun-ho, to the Heavenly Sword.
Of course, only after confirming that Bu Eun-seol was with Yeong Mun-ho.
As long as Bu Eun-seol was there, Yeong Mun-ho would never be harmed.
But that was a grave mistake.
Something completely unexpected happened.
Bu Eun-seol had briefly gone to the village for supplies, and in that time, the Heavenly Sword had stormed in and killed Yeong Mun-ho.
*What am I to do!*
When Myo Cheon-u learned of Yeong Mun-ho's death, he protested furiously, but all he received were irresponsible answers.
*Who would have known the Heavenly Sword would attack and kill Yeong Mun-ho while he was out in the village?*
*How can you even say that!*
*In the end, didn't it turn out well?*
The Assassin replied nonchalantly.
*Just as he always has. He will become stronger through this ordeal.*
Only then did Myo Cheon-u realize he had made the wrong choice.
They were nothing but madmen.
A human being of flesh and blood, Bu Eun-seol.
They thought of him as a mere weapon or an object, giving no consideration to his condition or his feelings.
*I was wrong.*
He should never have become their spy in the first place. He should have flatly refused their orders and told Bu Eun-seol everything.
But… it was too late for all that now.
After that day.
Myo Cheon-u was paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of guilt, unable to do anything.
And several times, he tried to confess the truth to Bu Eun-seol.
But he couldn't.
What if Bu Eun-seol found out that Yeong Mun-ho had died because of him?
Bu Eun-seol would never forgive him. It was an unforgivable act to begin with.
He couldn't even bring himself to ask for forgiveness.
In the end, Myo Cheon-u had become a puppet, unable to refuse the Assassin's demands.
*I can't go on like this.*
In the end, he reported the whereabouts of Bu Eun-seol, who had gone to save his master, the Blood Vajra, and made one last demand for assurance from the Assassin.
*I'll report his whereabouts as promised, but do not put him in danger anymore. If you do, my identity will soon be exposed. This is my final warning.*
The Assassin accepted Myo Cheon-u's proposal.
But it was a promise that would not be kept.
Only then could Myo Cheon-u understand.
The Assassin was not particularly afraid of Myo Cheon-u's identity being revealed.
That even in death, they would not let him go free.
***
“So there's no escape.”
Myo Cheon-u, awakened from his reverie, set down his teacup and rose from his seat.
“Everything is my fault.”
*It seems you've made up your mind.*
The voice laughed lowly, as if peering into Myo Cheon-u's innermost thoughts.
*Revealing everything isn't a bad choice. But…*
The bizarre voice that followed was laced with mischief.
*He must be floundering in a state of deep despondency… having failed to protect the master he so desperately wanted to save. He's about to receive another great shock.*
His teeth ground together.
Myo Cheon-u clenched his jaw tightly.
Bu Eun-seol might seem cold, but in reality, he is very meticulous and affectionate.
What if he finds out about the betrayal? That because of it, Yeong Mun-ho was killed by the Heavenly Sword?
His already wounded spirit might shatter beyond control.
“Yes, that's probably true.”
But Myo Cheon-u smiled as if recalling something.
Bu Eun-seol. He was a man who could overcome any trial.
It would be painful now, but he would use that pain as nourishment and stand even taller.
Myo Cheon-u nodded as if he had made his decision and spoke firmly.
“But he will definitely rise again.”
With that one remark, he opened the door without hesitation and stepped outside.
After leaving the teahouse, Myo Cheon-u immediately returned to the Demonic Hall.
And he went straight to the office where Bu Eun-seol stayed.
As always, with a cheerful demeanor. Like his good friend and subordinate.
“Busy?”
Seeing Bu Eun-seol calmly writing a letter with his head down, Myo Cheon-u felt as if tears were about to stream down his face.
But contrary to his inner feelings, he spoke with a playful expression.
“How are you feeling?”
Bu Eun-seol, his eyes fixed on the letter, replied calmly.
“Nothing much.”
“Right, that's a relief.”
Myo Cheon-u took a deep breath and placed a small envelope from his robes onto the desk.
It was a request for leave.
“I need to rest for about a month.”
Bu Eun-seol never asked for reasons for leave.
Even if he himself was too busy to rest, he always wanted his subordinates to rest as much as possible.
“It seems while I was training my palm arts, my internal energy…”
“I'll speak to Yu Un-ryong. Don't worry about it and get some rest. It's not too busy these days.”
As Myo Cheon-u had expected, his request for leave was accepted without issue.
“Stay healthy.”
Myo Cheon-u smiled as he watched Bu Eun-seol, who was engrossed in writing his letter.
“I am.”
Myo Cheon-u, engraving the usual indifferent reply and that voice deep into his heart, smiled and said.
“Alright. I'll be off, then.”
And with that, he left the office and immediately exited the Demonic Hall.
Using his lightness skill, he left the capital and headed for a cave in a remote mountain valley he had scouted long ago.
A waterfall flowed nearby, and the place was untouched by human feet, making it perfectly suited for quietly honing one's martial arts.
“This reminds me of Hell's Island.”
Myo Cheon-u's gaze clouded over as he looked at the cave.
There, he had shown exceptional talent in palm arts and made numerous comrades.
But they had betrayed him out of fear and terror. Instead, his true friends were the outstanding talents who had survived until the very end.
“Was it all meaningless?”
In truth, Myo Cheon-u had an amiable personality, allowing him to easily get along with people and form bonds.
But such actions were meaningless. To make truly good friends, one had to be just as outstanding and good a person themselves.
“Pointless sentimentality.”
He exited the cave and gazed at the distant sky.
Until now, he had broken free from the confines of the Man-Annihilating Palm Arts he had practiced, creating and mastering a new palm art on his own.
Because of this, he had left the stable bounds of the Transcendent Realm and was racing toward its edge, but he had not been able to break through the wall.
“The problem was me all along.”
If only he, the one reporting Bu Eun-seol's whereabouts, disappeared?
No problems would arise.
Now that the Soul Annihilation Unit was perfectly disrupting and protecting his trail, not even the Three Realms could find Bu Eun-seol.
Naturally, since they couldn't find him, they couldn't control him as they pleased.
“Bu Eun-seol wouldn't have had to clash with that Assassin.”
The Assassin's purpose, on the surface, was not Bu Eun-seol's annihilation, but his development.
It was just that they would stop at nothing to achieve it, with the inherent instability that they could turn on him at any moment.
“Besides, now is not the time to confront them.”
To take a prodigy like Bu Eun-seol, a powerful figure who was the heir to the Demonic Hall…
and try to raise him under their watch?
This meant that the Assassin, or the one behind him, possessed power great enough to look down on even Bu Eun-seol's martial might and influence.
Even if a time came to clash in the future, it was definitely not now.
“Therefore… this is the best way.”
He took a deep breath and began to train.
From the basics of his internal energy to the palm art he created, and even the secret technique he carried on his person. He painstakingly honed them, again and again.
Before he knew it, some twenty days had passed.
With his scraggly beard, Myo Cheon-u looked like a hunter living in the mountains.
“This should be enough.”
He hadn't undertaken this training session to gain something new in the first place.
In fact, long ago, while training with his unit in the South Sea, he had discovered the martial legacy of a master who had once made a great name for himself.
The martial art of the Battle Emperor, one of the Eight Desolations Three Sages.
He had discovered the secret manual for the Battle Emperor's Killing Energy.
*To think the Battle Emperor's art was dormant here!*
Myo Cheon-u couldn't hide his ecstatic expression.
According to Bu Eun-seol, the martial arts of the Eight Desolations Three Sages were all on a different plane from the arts of the current martial world.
They were said to possess a mysterious power that transcended the limitations and stages of martial realms.
And now, one of those arts had fallen into his hands!
*With this, I can defeat any enemy!*
Myo Cheon-u, overjoyed, secretly collected the Battle Emperor's legacy.
And whenever he had time, he had been secretly mastering the art bit by bit.
And in this training session, he intended to properly train in that art of the Battle Emperor,
which he had never once used in a real fight.
...so that he could properly use this hidden ace at the decisive moment.
“Hoo.”
Having finished everything, Myo Cheon-u gazed at the distant sky.
“You must have thought of me as an amusing puppet.”
The Assassin who had saved him.
He was likely a figure from the Three Realms, belonging to a formidable sect.
And he must have been confident his identity would never be revealed. He had never shown any clue or weakness that might expose him.
But the Assassin had made a mistake.
*His greatest rival, the heir of the Flowering Rain Sword Sect, Wi Ji-hye-sang, will withdraw from the candidacy for the Demonic Hall's succession.*
No matter if they were from the Three Realms, no matter how great their influence and power…
they couldn't possibly force the heir of the Flowering Rain Sword Sect, arguably the number one sect of the Demonic Path, to withdraw from the Demonic Hall's candidacy.
Which meant the Assassin had to be a member of the Flowering Rain Sword Sect.
“Whatever the case, you picked the wrong person to mess with.”
He had transcended matters of life and death long ago.
He had only wanted to spend a long time with Bu Eun-seol and Yu Un-ryong… and the like-minded commanders of the Hall of Four Shadows.
And he had wanted to be a source of strength, as much as possible, for Bu Eun-seol, who was trying to walk his path while shouldering everything alone.
But now, he could no longer do so, nor did he have the right.
If so, what he had to do now was undo the knot he had tied. His life had been saved, so it was only right to return it.
And if possible, he would take them with him, so the road ahead wouldn't be lonely.
*Fwoosh.*
Myo Cheon-u unleashed his movement technique and left the deep mountain valley in an instant.
And he traveled endlessly eastward.
Finally, upon reaching the stone gate where the Jinryeong mountain range was visible, Myo Cheon-u stopped his lightness skill and began to walk slowly.
After walking for some time, a massive, fortress-like building came into view in the distance.
It was none other than the Flowering Rain Sword Sect.
“What brings you here?”
The guard of the Flowering Rain Sword Sect looked at Myo Cheon-u, with his scraggly beard and wild appearance, and wore a puzzled expression.
“Deliver this letter to your Sect Leader.”
The guard frowned at Myo Cheon-u's arrogant expression.
Some beggar-like man trying to deliver a letter to the leader of the hallowed number one demonic sect, the Flowering Rain Sword Sect, without even giving his name?
“State your name and affiliation.”
“Tell them it's the spy ordered by the Flowering Rain Sword Sect to monitor the Lord of the Martial Soul. They'll know.”
“W-what did you just say?”
As the guard's eyes widened, Myo Cheon-u scoffed.
“A mere guard has no need to interfere. Just deliver the letter to your Sect Leader immediately. Unless you want to hear rumors about how the Flowering Rain Sword Sect's honor has been smeared with shit.”
Even to the guard, Myo Cheon-u possessed an uncommon aura and appearance.
He certainly didn't look like a madman or someone who would spout nonsense.
“Wait a moment.”
Realizing that something serious was happening, the guard entered with a grave expression.
He immediately went inside and reported to his superior.
The Guard Captain's eyes widened as he opened the envelope and examined the letter.
Inside, along with the letter, was a token symbolizing a second-rank commander of the Demonic Hall.
“It seems this is a matter that must be reported.”
“Are you heading to the Sword Demon Pavilion?”
“No, I'll handle it myself.”
The Guard Captain turned and headed immediately for the Secluded Demon Pavilion, the building where Wi Ji-hye-sang resided.
A warrior guarding the Secluded Demon Pavilion saw the Guard Captain and asked.
“What is it?”
“There is a man who claims to be a spy ordered to monitor the heir of the Demonic Hall, telling us to deliver this letter.”
“What?”
The guard protecting the Secluded Demon Pavilion took the letter, read it, then shook his head.
“Is he a madman? Just chase him off.”
“But this token was inside.”
When the Guard Captain showed him the Demonic Hall's token, the warrior's eyebrows twitched.
“You mean he's from the Demonic Hall?”
“Yes. According to my subordinate, his aura is far from ordinary. It doesn't seem like he's a madman.”
*Creeak.*
Just then, the door to the Secluded Demon Pavilion opened, and a willowy shadow emerged.
It was the next leader of the Flowering Rain Sword Sect, Wi Ji-hye-sang.
“Let me see.”
He approached calmly and held out his hand, as if he had heard everything from inside the pavilion.
“Aha.”
After reading the letter, Wi Ji-hye-sang gave a strange smile and nodded.
“Tell him to wait at the pavilion near Cloud Dream Lake, in front of the sect's main gate.”
Cloud Dream Lake was a small lake about twenty li away from the Flowering Rain Sword Sect.
“Politely. Be careful not to show any disrespect.”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
A pleasant breeze was blowing across Cloud Dream Lake, a small lake a short distance from the Flowering Rain Sword Sect.
And by the lakeside stood a small pavilion, built for resting while enjoying the surrounding scenery.
Myo Cheon-u, having heard the message from the guard, turned and made his way to the lakeside, a short distance from the Flowering Rain Sword Sect.
When he finally arrived, a handsome young man with a slender, almost feminine build was standing tall before the pavilion, facing the wind.
It was Wi Ji-hye-sang.
Amazingly, despite having relayed the message to Myo Cheon-u from within the Flowering Rain Sword Sect, he had arrived here first.
“Oh my.”
Wi Ji-hye-sang turned as Myo Cheon-u arrived. Then, with a look of great surprise, his mouth fell open.
“What is this state you're in, Commander Myo? You look like a mountain beast that's come down looking for food.”
He continued to joke with a smile.
“Surely you didn't come looking for me because you ran out of things to eat, did you?”
Myo Cheon-u stood tall without a word.
Seeing Myo Cheon-u's grim and solemn expression, Wi Ji-hye-sang sighed.
“What on earth are you thinking? You're not a three-year-old child, and you're a commander of the Demonic Hall who has seen his fair share of battle. Why are you doing something so absurd?”
The letter Myo Cheon-u had presented.
It was none other than a letter of challenge, declaring his intent to fight the Dark Demon, Wi Ji-mu-a.
