Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Bloodline Pavilion (3)
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Jin Cheon-u... no, everyone present just stood there dumbfounded, mouths agape at the sudden turn of events.
They all thought the same thing.
What the hell is this crazy bastard?
Everyone stared at the Pavilion Lord's severed head rolling on the floor.
The cut was so clean it was obviously made with sword qi at minimum.
They'd just blinked, and the Pavilion Lord was dead.
In that tiny gap, he'd unleashed a movement technique, wrapped his sword in qi, and precisely sliced through the neck.
Yet no one there had even perceived the sequence.
So they could only stand there stunned.
They must have been wondering what the hell was going on.
"From now on, I'm the Pavilion Lord of Bloodline Pavilion."
"……"
A chilling silence descended the moment Cheongun finished speaking.
This guy was insane—completely deranged.
But his expression, his movements, his tone—every bit of it radiated an overwhelming sense of dissonance that kept everyone from acting rashly.
Not that everyone was cowed.
A few who seemed to be executives exchanged glances before spreading out to surround Cheongun in a loose encirclement.
As the executives took the lead, the rest followed suit, forming a ring around him.
The executive at the forefront spoke up.
"Do you even realize what you've just done?"
"Of course I do."
"You confident?"
"Confident about what?"
"About walking out of here in one piece."
"That's what you weaklings should be worried about..."
The words hadn't even finished leaving his mouth.
Whoooosh—!
Something heavy cleaved through the air.
In that instant, an axe shot toward Cheongun's forehead from somewhere at tremendous speed.
Crunch!
The axe blade embedded itself right in Cheongun's forehead.
But his forehead was unscathed.
Instead, the blade crumpled from the impact...
Crack!
The tip warped to both sides and snap—spread open.
Steel shards flew everywhere, and the mangled axe handle clattered to the floor.
Seeing this, Cheongun smirked mockingly.
"See that? That's Diamond Indestructible for you."
"……"
The more demonic practitioners there were, the stronger his traits became.
Right now, Cheongun could deflect even decent sword qi with his bare body.
So he asked confidently.
"Anyone else wanna try?"
A few backed away hesitantly at his words.
Not only had this guy charged in and lopped off the Pavilion Lord's head out of nowhere—which was shocking enough—but the axe had crumpled on impact with his forehead!
What lowlife nobody had the guts to step up?
But some burned with even greater fighting spirit.
The demonic practitioners who cultivated demonic arts, to be precise.
About thirty of them roared and charged at Cheongun.
Their weapons were all kinds.
Twin short swords, segmented blades, crescent halberds, iron maces, flexible swords, wolf-fang clubs...
Whoa, how many is that?
Cheongun swung his sword in admiration.
He could take them barehanded without issue, but he didn't want his clothes shredded, so he casually deflected the incoming weapons.
Suddenly, a smoke bomb burst in front of him, and darts glittered from beyond it.
Blades of all sorts whistled through the air from blind spots, interspersed with sword qi and palm winds.
But Cheongun felt no tension.
Facing dozens of these scrubs was far easier than dealing with that damn master of his.
He didn't even need footwork.
He just stood there, parrying what he needed to, dodging what he didn't, and occasionally stabbing the shoulders of any particularly ugly bastards who left openings with his sword tip.
Puke!
"Gahhh!"
Nice feel!
But he had no time to savor it.
The sheer numbers meant knocking out a few didn't slow their assault much.
Still, anxiety flickered in their eyes—they hadn't landed a single solid hit.
Meanwhile, Cheongun's mind was elsewhere.
He was holding back to avoid killing them outright while fending them off.
These were demonic practitioners.
To Cheongun, they were more precious than spirit pills.
He couldn't just slaughter such valuable assets.
But.
"Die!"
A blade came down toward his shoulder from behind.
Cheongun casually planted both hands on the ground and tilted forward into a handstand.
He then channeled qi into his hands and launched his body upward.
His feet shot up like lightning, straight toward the falling sword.
"!!!"
Snap!
The blade shattered the moment his heel connected.
Momentum carried the heel through, smashing right into the guy's face with a crack!
Splat! Fresh blood from the nose.
Cheongun flipped neatly upright in midair, balancing perfectly.
He then plucked a handful of his own hair, flicked his wrist, and shot it out.
'Hair Sword Art!'
Papapapak!
With crisp sounds, the qi-infused strands pierced precisely into shoulders, ankles, wrists, thighs, and more.
Pinpoint accuracy at acupoints only.
"Gaaaaah!"
Man, shut up.
After landing, Cheongun scanned the surroundings to assess the situation.
Fifteen rolling on the ground, nine hesitating and backing off, and about six still snarling with murderous intent.
"Still wanna go?"
"You bastard! Shut your trap!"
"Hah, annoying. Think you're hot shit just 'cause you're demonic practitioners? Fine, I'll show some respect."
Grumbling, Cheongun gathered his sword qi.
He'd planned to subdue them all and put them to work, but these guys were starting to piss him off.
Flash!
Cheongun vanished.
He reappeared behind one and cleaved from shoulder to hip.
Crack! Flesh parted like tofu, blood spraying in a fountain.
Cheongun mechanically flickered in and out with footwork.
Each appearance brought a scream of agony.
Once he'd severed all six remaining arms, Cheongun sheathed his sword again.
"I'm the Pavilion Lord of Bloodline Pavilion."
"......"
"Any complaints?"
"......"
……This time, no one stepped up.
The situation wrapped up faster than expected.
Bloodline Pavilion was a proper unorthodox faction.
True to the black path's might-makes-right culture, no one raised a fuss at Cheongun's absurd claim to leadership.
Some even eagerly pledged loyalty to latch onto him.
"From now on, my word is law."
"……"
"Clean up the corpses and the floor yourselves. Lock all those downed guys in the secure cells—they're demonic practitioners. Oh, and anyone who thinks their rank is worth something, come here."
A few approached cautiously at his words.
"You got a vault, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Secret stashes, slush funds, dirty money hidden away somewhere."
"Ah! Yes, we do."
"Good. Take me there."
Cheongun headed straight for the vault.
He'd gotten a bunch of keys from the Bloodline Sword Sovereign's corpse, so security wasn't an issue.
Moments later, inside the vault, Cheongun could barely contain his shock.
Was it because this was a Demonic Cult branch under a black path group?
The hoarded cash was insane—insanely so.
Cheongun steadied his pounding heart.
Then he asked the guys he'd brought along.
"Which of you is the Treasurer? Hand up!"
Treasurer—the one in charge of managing the faction's funds.
An old man tentatively raised his hand.
"You the Treasurer?"
"Yes, sir. Pavilion Lord."
"Bring the ledgers."
The sources of the slush funds were varied.
Murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, blackmail, forgery...
The common thread? All filthy money gathered like trash.
"Tch, tricky."
No matter how money-hungry I was, I wasn't bold enough to pocket cash this rotten.
Taking over Bloodline Pavilion was great, but to avoid pointless beef with the orthodox sects going forward, this money needed laundering and recycling properly.
Whatever, later problem.
"Black Fiend Sword."
"It's Black Fiend Sword."
"The demonic practitioners secured properly?"
"Yes. Shall I show you?"
Look at him, all polite now.
Cheongun nodded, and Jin Cheon-u led him to the underground secure cells.
"Who are the other guys locked up here?"
"Prisoners."
"Prisoners?"
"Yes, mostly ordinary villagers dragged in from towns."
"So innocents, huh?"
"Pretty much."
Cheongun clicked his tongue.
Bloodline Sword Sovereign or whatever—this guy left a mountain of shit behind.
"Release them all."
"All of them?"
"Yeah. Give 'em decent compensation, tell 'em the Pavilion Lord's head got chopped off so they can relax."
"Understood."
Cheongun finished his instructions and strode off.
Down the dank stone stairs, a vast secure cell barred with iron bars came into view.
Inside, the captured demonic practitioners sat bound in a row.
Cheongun asked Jin Cheon-u.
"Who's the biggest piece of trash among them?"
Biggest piece of trash.
Who'd racked up the most evil deeds here.
Understanding, Jin Cheon-u subtly pointed to one.
"That guy's the one."
Cheongun's gaze whipped over.
The pointed man, muted by a sealed Mute Acupoint, thrashed wildly despite being fully bound, eyes bulging in rage.
"Name?"
"Sama Heuk. Nickname: Cadaver-Slaying Fiend."
I remembered him.
Not the details, but he'd made a name as a scumbag in the original story.
"He's got the highest bounty in the area."
"What'd he do?"
"He's killed hundreds alone. And that's not all—kidnaps little girls her age and rapes them, picks married women and defiles them in front of their husbands, pillaging and arson as basics..."
"I see."
Damn, NTR fan? And a pyromaniac to boot?
This would do.
"Hmm."
Cheongun pondered.
His unique trait: Overthrow Demonic Cult!
A cheat ability that skyrocketed his martial arts around demonic practitioners, but he needed more intel on how it worked.
Top question: What counted as a demonic practitioner?
Anyone who could use demonic arts?
Anyone affiliated with the Demonic Cult?
Once a demonic practitioner, always one?
He needed certainty on the criteria.
Finally, Cheongun raised his hand.
And pressed his palm to the bound man's Sea of Qi Acupoint.
You know how masters sometimes beat down a scrub and say, "I'll spare your life, but I must take your martial arts," then trash the dantian?
The go-to spot was always the Sea of Qi Acupoint.
Right above the dantian—smash it, and the dantian shatters.
Shatter the dantian, lose inner power.
Lose inner power, can't use demonic arts.
Would the system still count him as a demonic practitioner?
"Mmph! Mmph! Gmph!"
The lab rat seemed to catch on, eyes tearing up as he writhed.
"Gonna sting a bit?"
"Gmmph!!"
"Sting."
"Mmph!! Mmgh!! Gmph!!"
Cheongun poured qi in and lightly tore the man's Sea of Qi Acupoint.
The man convulsed in agony before foaming at the mouth and passing out.
And then.
The guy was still a demonic practitioner.