The Heavenly Demon's Copying — Chapter 250: The Covenant of the Sacred Mountain
Eternal.
Crack.
Water gushed from a bamboo waterwheel in one corner of the courtyard.
“Alright, let’s be perfectly clear about this.”
Jegal Sea rapped her knuckles on the table in front of us.
Moyong Bi and Eun Seollyeong stayed silent.
“Even during the individual face-to-face meetings, the negotiations were already concluded. Both of you agreed without objection, right?”
“I agree.”
Eun Seollyeong nodded.
“I agree.”
Moyong Bi also nodded.
Jegal Sea gave a signal.
“Then sit down. I’ll explain the current situation and what needs to be done going forward.”
Eun Seollyeong spoke calmly.
“Jegal Sea, there’s one more thing.”
“Ah, right.”
Jegal Sea looked at Moyong Bi.
“I have something important to say about you too.”
“Me?”
Jegal Sea nodded.
“Scraped.”
“Scratched.”
Moyong Bi and Eun Seollyeong pulled chairs over and sat on either side of Jegal Sea.
Their eyes met.
“…”
Eun Seollyeong’s silver eyes, like a silver tray that seemed to shine, were calm.
No anger there.
Her perfectly straight eyebrows, drawn with a single swift stroke of a brush, showed unwavering resolve.
If a fairy made of ice and cold resolve existed, this must be it.
‘No, not a fairy anymore. Just a stone statue carved from ice.’
Her face was armed with ironclad resolve, devoid of even a single private emotion.
Moyong Bi stared at her rigid posture and let out a short sigh.
‘Damn, I have no idea.’
He gave up and looked at Jegal Sea.
Jegal Sea unrolled a sheet of white paper on the table.
She placed the inkstone aside, grabbed the fluttering hem of her clothes, and rolled it up to her shoulders in one motion.
Her white arms, evoking cranes, were revealed.
She snatched up the brush.
With the momentum of a single stroke sweeping everything away, she began drawing the terrain between Gwando and Shaanxi on the map.
Moyong Bi’s mouth fell open.
“…You’re drawing the map live? Without copying, not even from memory, in one go with ink? What kind of person is this?”
Jegal Sea chided him.
“Stop obsessing over the wrong thing, Moyong Bi. First, I’ll pass on this message.”
The map was being drawn with such precision it looked like it could pierce mountains and valleys any moment, and Jegal Sea spoke.
“This information was just received. It doesn’t affect the immediate threat to us, but since you two are directly involved, I thought you should know.”
Jegal Sea said calmly.
“Yesterday, the Guardian of the Emei Sect was killed. Killed. As expected, the jade was ruthlessly extracted.”
“…”
Eun Seollyeong’s eyebrows twitched. Numerous thoughts seemed to flash across her face.
“What… did you say?”
“According to Emei witnesses, there was an earthquake accompanied by a thunderous sound that shook heaven and earth last night. They probably moved the Guardian to a remote place so the sect wouldn’t be affected.”
Moyong Bi didn’t understand Jegal Sea’s first words.
“If it’s the Emei Guardian, is it that little girl I remember?”
The only thing he could do was blink and ask that.
He recalled the tiny girl who had recently become the new Emei Guardian after surviving the desperate protection against the Demon Cult alliance and completing her awakening ritual.
Jegal Sea answered.
“Yes.”
“Who? Why?”
Jegal Sea slammed her thick brush onto the inkstone.
“Moyong Bi, there’s no point dwelling on why the jade was extracted. The Emei Sect would be furious at the target, but even they know this is something that can’t be found. And anyway, this was always going to happen.”
She held up a thin brush, less than a fingernail thick, and quickly began writing characters in an empty spot on the corner of the map.
“She’s a newly revived Guardian who has just inherited the jade. When faced with ordinary warriors, her strength is enough to shake the heavens and earth. But when two Guardians fight each other, she’s still just a child. While everyone is wide awake, they target the safest, lowest-risk locations first. From a strategic perspective, this isn’t surprising.”
“…”
Jegal Sea looked at Moyong Bi’s face and sighed.
“Moyong Bi. This isn’t the time to worry about what’s left of you. Alright. Since we’re talking, I’ll explain the current situation regarding the Guardian War. At the very least, you need to understand the full picture so you don’t act like an idiot.”
Beside the massive map of Gwando and Shaanxi, the major powers of the current jianghu were written.
“Clack.”
Jegal Sea tossed her slender brush aside and pointed to each one with her fan.
“First, about Guardians and the jades.
The Guardians are nameless and genderless except for the few who operate openly. They’re more like the ultimate weapon and strongest weapon of each sect rather than people. In other words, the odds of someone reaching their door before you die are extremely low.”
He swallowed.
Jegal Sea brought her fingers together to form a circle and said.
“Eleven jades are said to have been inherited from the War God. Whoever gathers six first becomes the ruler of the Cycle Realm and the number one under heaven. That’s the gist.”
“There’s also the story that the War God grants a single wish.”
Eun Seollyeong spoke.
“…Yeah. That’s true. You still haven’t changed, have you.”
“…”
Eun Seollyeong stayed silent.
Staring at Eun Seollyeong with a complicated expression, Jegal Sea continued.
“Of the eleven jades, the Demon Cult one is lost forever. Because of the characteristics of jades that can’t be revived as long as their original exists, the lineage is cut off. As a result, there are effectively only ten jades left. And currently, these three sects and the Sichuan Tang Clan have all lost their jades.”
Jegal Sea pointed to Zongnan, Jingchuan, Emei, and Sichuan Tang.
“Moyong Bi, about three months before you entered Cheonsubaekryeonsa, the Zongnan Sect Guardian was assassinated. I don’t know by whom, but that sect probably has their jade. Did you hear about this?”
“I heard rumors.”
It seemed he had overheard something about Pahwanggun and the surrounding disciples.
“Next is Jingchuan Sect. It’s a famous tale that the Jingchuan Sect Guardian fell to personal revenge and the desire for immortality and went rogue. You two probably already met her.”
Eun Seollyeong’s pupils trembled slightly.
She recalled the memories of fighting desperately in the Abyss of Renewal.
It wasn’t the person covered in maggots dragging a giant rusty hammer, but a demon.
“The only saving grace is that the Guardian was banished and her jade broken in half during the escape, so the Jingchuan Sect Guardian’s jade is unlikely to be roaming the jianghu again. That’s the view of the orthodox factions, of course.”
Jegal Sea looked at Moyong Bi.
“Truth be told, when I was seriously injured, I used the Jingchuan Sect jade as a medium and successfully recovered. I was able to completely restore the half-broken Jingchuan jade, which was already almost unusable, by absorbing it.”
My body’s metamorphosis, which had been slow, accelerated rapidly afterward, and my ability to copy martial arts, which had been so imperfect, developed exponentially.
Jegal Sea ended by pointing at Emei.
“I’ll skip Emei and Sichuan Tang since you probably know already. In summary, the jades currently roaming the jianghu without owners are Zongnan, Emei, and half of Sichuan Tang—two and a half. This is the situation the high-ranking members of the Demonic and Orthodox Sects and Blood Cult know. And in this situation, you appeared.”
Jegal Sea pointed at Moyong Bi.
“Somehow, even compared to the Emei Guardian, you seem like a tasty meal. You even have at least one full jade and half a jade. If they noticed your existence, how tempting it would look?”
“…Then what about the Eight Demon Dragons? What kind of monster is the one approaching me right now?”
Eun Seollyeong folded her arms and spoke calmly.
“The Eight Demon Dragons were Guardians in the past, but they followed their own path of pursuing strength after the Demon Cult’s teachings and the worship of the Strongest, reaching forbidden sorcery and becoming outlaws. They’re also called the Five Demons of the Martial World. There are five in total. Because they’ve been corrupted by the Demon Cult and are only chasing the jades without any themselves, all Guardians avoid fighting them.”
“And that’s exactly why I came to find you two.”
Jegal Sea suddenly slammed the table.
“No one, including the Guardians and the Nine Sects One Gang, is interested in the current situation or wants details. Why? Because even if the facts are true, there’s no benefit. No, rather, if Shaanxi, which is Jegal Sea’s domain, is wiped out and our family’s power weakens, it might even please those who covet our territory.”
Moyong Bi understood what she meant.
If the outlaws following the Eight Demon Dragons were that strong, the Guardians would have to risk their lives. And with no jades of their own, there was no need for them to risk their lives chasing those ghosts.
It was obvious that the leaders of each sect would think even more plainly about this in their personal interests.
Jegal Sea paused to catch her breath and pointed at the map.
“With information obtained through the Hao Sect, the monster is heading straight toward Shaanxi. It’s about a month until it reaches Shaanxi. We’ll split into two groups and head there during that time.”
Jegal Sea placed two pieces of paper crane and two black go pieces on the map and divided the map into two groups.
“I don’t think exposing the jade holders’ movement toward Shaanxi is necessary to create unpredictable variables. So you two will go around the outer edge to Shaanxi.”
“Why aren’t you coming with us?”
Eun Seollyeong asked, looking at the map.
Jegal Sea said.
“I have two reasons to visit the Murim League Shaanxi Branch again.”
“Two reasons?”
Jegal Sea nodded.
“First, to confirm the support again. I don’t expect much from that. That’s secondary. The other is because of you, Moyong Bi.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. More precisely, because of the jade you possess and the internal cultivation method you’ve mastered, Patcheonhyeolmumugeukgong.”
Jegal Sea’s words were unexpected.
Jegal Sea asked Moyong Bi to explain the martial arts he was learning to help with the current situation.
She listened indifferently to everything else, but showed great interest in the internal cultivation method, Patcheonhyeolmumugeukgong, which he learned from Asura.
The fact that it could be practiced without special posture and that he was using it to accumulate faint demonic qi even in this place with little demonic qi seemed to spark some hypothesis in her.
Jegal Sea said.
“From what I know, the Great Library there has various demonic martial arts manuals plundered from the Demon Cult during the War of the Orthodox and Demonic. To confirm whether the characteristics I thought of can apply and whether they can be used in this operation, I need to check the Great Library at the Murim League Shaanxi Branch.”
“Why go that far to confirm?”
Jegal Sea stood up, picked up her teacup, and walked around while speaking.
“If the application of the internal cultivation method you mastered is realistically possible, as inferred from the classics I read, it might become a groundbreaking solution for this incident where no one dies and the Eight Demon Dragons are stopped.”
Moyong Bi opened his mouth.
“If it’s about my internal cultivation method, wouldn’t it be better for me to go check it myself?”
“No.”
Jegal Sea shook her head.
“Reading the book corresponding to the arrogance seal quickly to find matching texts would take over a year. I can do it in a day. It’s convenient and avoids duplication to find it quickly alone and deliver it to you. And most importantly, you can’t just wander around the Murim League or other branches.”
“…”
Nothing to say.
Jegal Sea looked at Moyong Bi.
“Then the last one. About you. Are you ready to listen?”
Even as he felt uneasy about the response, Moyong Bi nodded faintly.
“Moyong Bi, I acknowledge that you’re strong. But in the current situation, even if you die before killing one of the Eight Demon Dragons, you could carelessly get involved in the Guardian War and die, making Shaanxi’s situation extremely difficult. For that reason, I made a request to a reliable Guardian.”
“…A request?”
Jegal Sea turned to Eun Seollyeong.
“Regarding the consent I suggested earlier, it hasn’t changed?”
“Yes.”
Eun Seollyeong cut in.
“If it’s to prevent the massacre in Shaanxi. In addition, I have no objections to preventing another Guardian from reaching the Cycle Realm a step ahead.”
“Alright. Then let’s start.”
Eun Seollyeong undid the front of her clothes.
“Swish.”
Between the slightly parted clothes, her snow-white collarbone and long neck were visible.
A shoulder peeked out along with the silver hair that had fallen from between her displaced robes.
She blinked.
Twice.
Three times—.
“What are you doing right now—!!!!”
“Here you are.”
The item Eun Seollyeong took out from her bosom was a silver necklace shaped like the one hanging from her ear.
The end of the silver necklace was sharp.
She took off the necklace and pressed the tip against the tip of her finger.
“Pfft!”
Red blood flowed out, one drop after another falling onto the necklace.
She extended her white finger, with a stream of blood flowing, along with the necklace toward Moyong Bi.
Watching the entire process, Jegal Sea said solemnly.
“Among the five great families of the jianghu, the eldest daughter of the Jegal Clan, Jegal Sea, will officially notarize the covenant as the witness.”
“Wait a second. Jegal Sea. Eun Seollyeong. What are you doing right now?”
Jegal Sea said.
“Eun Seollyeong and I have already discussed it. Starting from the direction to Shaanxi, from now on Eun Seollyeong will be responsible for your safety and protection. And I thought that wasn’t enough.”
I thought something strange was happening in the conversation.
“You dying in vain right now can’t guarantee that the Eight Demon Dragons will be stopped for sure. That’s why even if it means she risks her life to protect you.”
Jegal Sea caught her breath.
“In that process, I recommended concluding the ‘Covenant of the Sacred Mountain,’ the covenant with the strongest binding power in the jianghu, and she agreed. That’s all.”
“…What are we swearing? My life? A binding? Suddenly what kind of…?”
I said in a dumbfounded voice.
“…So what is this right now?”
Eun Seollyeong looked at Moyong Bi with her faint silver light shining in her eyes.
Jegal Sea said.
“It’s simple. She and I will make the Covenant of the Sacred Mountain.”
“…What?”
A huge bell rang in my head.
Eun Seollyeong spoke in her calm voice.
“As the Guardian of the Hwasan Sect, I, Eun Seollyeong, formally request the ‘Covenant of the Sacred Mountain’ from you, Moyong Bi.”