The Gansu Branch (2)
I let out a long breath.
The pavilion that once belonged to the branch leader of the Gansu branch was similar in layout to Falling Moon Manor back in Chang'an, yet far more lavish. Na-rin stood inside it and exhaled deeply.
Her expression was one of quiet satisfaction, the kind that came from finishing a major task. A mixture of accomplishment and relief lingered on her face.
"Is it really okay to look that proud over something this small?"
When I appeared and spoke, Na-rin flinched in surprise before quickly masking it with a composed tone.
"Is it proper for a man to enter a woman's quarters so casually, Great Hero?"
"Aigoo. My mistake. I should have cleared my throat outside before coming in."
At my reply, Na-rin let out a small snort of laughter. I smiled lightly in return and pulled out a chair at the table before sitting down.
"You fought well."
"It's all thanks to you, Great Hero. If I had never met you, something like this would have been unimaginable."
"That's true, so I won't bother with false modesty. Ah, don't just stand there. Sit down."
"Oh? I thought I was the owner of this place now?"
"Who said otherwise? A guest can still invite the host to sit."
Na-rin pulled out a chair and sat as well, immediately continuing the conversation.
"So now we just need to take over all the nearby branches whose main forces have been pulled away, right?"
"That would be the natural course. But there's no need to seize them by force. At this point, there aren't many left in the branches who pose a real threat to you or hold any strong hostility."
"You took care of them beforehand, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I only dealt with seven people. There's no way there were only seven who had reached the Peak Demon realm."
"Ah, that? Yeah, I handled them. Twelve in total."
"Then nineteen… That adds up. At this rate, it seems like every Peak Demon in the Central Plains must have come here. Maybe one or two are still left behind."
"But out of all those people, why wasn't there a single one friendly toward you? Did the main headquarters deliberately arrange it that way?"
"That's correct. How could they send someone they weren't sure about out into the open? They had to keep them at the main base under surveillance."
"Makes sense. Then the real problem starts now. Even if we swallow up every branch that has advanced into the Central Plains, the main headquarters' elite forces will eventually sweep everything away. By the way, are there any others in the main base as strong as the Tyrant King? Among those who can actually come out, I mean."
"Not as strong as the Tyrant King, but there are about three or four."
"Obviously you can't beat them yet."
"Not… at the moment."
"Are they in the Demon Transcendence realm?"
"No. How could Demon Transcendence be that common?"
She had a point. No matter how easy it was for Demonic Arts to push someone to the Peak Demon realm, reaching Demon Transcendence was an entirely different story.
Most people went mad trying to break through from Peak Demon.
That was probably why the Tyrant King had marched into Chang'an with such confidence.
"So if they come one at a time, you should be able to handle a few of them. Ah, what about the Secret Pavilion Master and the Elder Council Master? Are they in Demon Transcendence?"
"That's what I suspect."
"Makes sense. They were the ones aiming for the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord's position, so they must have reached that level. Then what about the previous generation's great demons or any reclusive ones? Did they all perish during the Righteous-Demonic Great War?"
"As far as I know, there are only those two in the Demon Transcendence realm within the current sect."
The depth was thinner than I expected. The aftermath of the Righteous-Demonic Great War really had been devastating.
At this rate, I could probably go alone and clean everything up in one sweep.
But I couldn't do that. This was something Na-rin had to accomplish herself.
A Heavenly Demon handed to her on a silver platter would be meaningless. Besides, it would look far better if she reached Demon Transcendence and claimed the position on her own merit.
"Four months."
"Pardon? Ah, you mean the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Yes. The Mid-Autumn Festival. That's when they're supposed to select the new Heavenly Demon, right?"
"Yes."
"If you haven't reached Demon Transcendence by then, we might have to postpone the whole event. Not that it couldn't be held without you."
"Please don't worry about that. Even if I weren't there and someone else became the Heavenly Demon, they wouldn't receive the sect's true recognition."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Are you aware of the artifacts that symbolize the Heavenly Demon?"
"Well, there must be some. What are they?"
"The Heavenly Demon Tablet and the Heavenly Demon Scripture. I hid the two sacred items that my father possessed."
"What? You don't get recognized as the Heavenly Demon without them? That can't be right."
"Those items are traditionally passed down through proper succession. Without them, the inheritance isn't considered official."
"Of course legitimacy matters, but that alone wouldn't be enough. Unless those objects literally glow and everyone can clearly see they're the real thing. What if they just make fakes?"
"Wouldn't that cause an even bigger problem once the truth came out later?"
"You're too naive. They could just insist on their version no matter what. Besides, the fact that you hid them also means this isn't exactly a normal succession either."
"But…"
"It's fine. Yeah. In the end, your world runs on strength. There's no need to risk everything on a four-month deadline. Even if they pick a new Heavenly Demon, you can just go over and put a hole in his chest. Problem solved."
"You're right. That would probably be easier for everyone to understand."
"Anyway… Ah. Someone's coming. One of the women who was with you."
The presence soon reached the door outside, and a voice followed immediately.
"My Lord. It's Hyang-rim."
"Come in."
The woman who entered looked to be the oldest among the eight, roughly in her early thirties.
She was slightly startled to see me sitting there but quickly composed herself and reported to Na-rin.
"We have finished organizing the surrendered forces. And… the preparations are complete."
"Understood. Then… proceed."
"Yes, My Lord."
The woman bowed respectfully and left the room again.
Preparations complete? What preparations? Why was the subject missing?
But from Na-rin's reaction, I could already tell.
She looked faintly embarrassed, trying hard not to show it.
So I smiled brightly and teased her lightly.
"Preparations? What kind of preparations could they be?"
"Th-that's none of your concern! You don't need to know about it, Great Hero!"
"Hmm. Earlier I noticed those women were capturing the decent-looking and fairly accomplished men instead of killing them. They even made them swallow some kind of powder."
Na-rin subtly turned her gaze away.
This girl really didn't suit the Demonic Cult at all.
When people thought of women from the Demonic Cult, they usually imagined them as lewd and unrestrained.
So why was she completely lacking in that department?
"Yoyo Absorption Demonic Art… Decent-looking men. Ah, I think I know what it is, but I'm not entirely sure. Hmm. What could it be?"
"Are you teasing me right now!?"
"What are you talking about? I'm genuinely asking because I don't know. So will you tell me?"
"You don't need to know!"
Why did I find a woman who got this embarrassed so appealing?
Maybe I was a gap moe enthusiast. The type who enjoyed seeing someone usually stoic or haughty become incredibly shy in specific situations?
Now that I thought about it, that seemed to fit. So-hye was like that, and so was Na-rin.
Come to think of it, Seolha and Yeon-ha had been that way at first too.
Of course, I also loved Seolha's current blind devotion and Yeon-ha's slightly bolder personality now.
"You never learned the Yoyo Absorption Demonic Art?"
"Wh-why would I ever learn such a demonic art?! I am from the Divine Cult's noble lineage!"
"But it would let you gain inner energy quickly. Don't you have to learn anything that makes you stronger?"
"Th-that's not allowed. I can't do that."
"Why can't you?"
Na-rin's face had already turned bright red, and she couldn't even answer my question.
Good grief. I had no idea how a girl like this had survived in such a harsh environment as the Demonic Cult.
Well, being the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Lord probably helped. Daughters from high-status families were usually very strict about such matters.
"Did you know? You don't actually need to engage in sexual intercourse to steal someone's inner energy."
As I spoke, I placed a single finger on the back of Na-rin's hand.
"Hng!?"
Then, through that point of contact, I gently drew out a small amount of her inner energy.
"H-how?! Did you… did you just take my inner energy, Great Hero?!"
"Absorption Demonic Art. Or the Great Absorption Technique. It sounds impressive, but it's not that difficult. Once you understand the principle, anyone can do it without much trouble."
Of course, teaching someone that principle was insanely difficult.
Moreover, with arts like the Absorption Demonic Art or the Great Absorption Technique, the real challenge was properly assimilating the stolen energy into your own.
Since I knew how to absorb a hundred percent of it, I could give elixirs or even Wuji energy to others. But that wasn't an easy task for most people.
"So you're saying I can take someone else's inner energy without having to do… that kind of thing?"
"Of course."
She looked momentarily tempted, but Na-rin eventually shook her head with a firm expression.
"Even so, I don't want to increase my inner energy that way. They say the Yoyo Absorption Demonic Art makes it easy to gain energy up to a certain point, but after that it becomes extremely difficult."
"That's obvious. The greater the difference in inner energy between you and your opponent, the stronger the effect. But there's quite a gap between you and me, isn't there? So it probably wouldn't be that hard."
She hesitated again. But once more, she shook her head.
"No matter what you say, I'm not interested in that sort of method."
"Really? Then how about this?"
I placed my finger on her again, but this time I pushed my own inner energy into her.
Na-rin's eyes widened in shock.
"How can it feel this refreshing…"
"See? Injecting true energy into someone else's body isn't difficult. The problem is that it usually causes a clash. That's why letting someone else put energy into your body is quite dangerous. If the person sending the energy harbors even the slightest ill intent, the recipient could suffer fatal internal injuries. You know that much, right?"
"Y-yes…?"
"But as you know, I'm very familiar with refining and sorting my own inner energy. That's why I can send you completely harmless and pure energy like this. I'll send you some more. Would you like to try mixing it with your own inner energy?"
I sent another stream of energy into her.
It was energy I had in excess anyway. A few minutes of breathing would replenish it completely.
But to Na-rin, it was no small amount.
She immediately focused, accepting the energy I sent and guiding it toward her dantian.
"How is it?"
"It's amazing! Truly!"
Watching her pure admiration, I stood up and moved behind the seated Na-rin.
She gave me a slightly puzzled look, clearly conscious of my presence behind her. I placed both hands on her shoulders.
"G-Great Hero?"
"Feel it. This time it'll be a little different."
With that, I began channeling true energy into her.
Na-rin's body trembled. Yet she couldn't turn her head or speak.
Of course she couldn't. Having someone else's true energy enter your body and then moving recklessly was extremely dangerous.
So Na-rin kept her eyes tightly shut and focused on guiding the energy I sent into her dantian.
But… her whole body was probably tingling. Because I was deliberately letting the energy flow in a particular way.
Could this be called high-class teasing?
Now that I thought about it, this was pretty perverted. Even I had to admit it.