Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Just Smiling
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Endgame tier for sure. But if you keep using it, your fame stat skyrockets.
"Hoo."
Cheongun caught his breath and looked around.
Blood was pooling around the corpse neatly placed in the center of the floor.
Honestly, he didn't have any qualms about killing people, but seeing a body awkwardly bisected and dangling wasn't exactly pleasant.
So he roughly covered it with the scattered disciple robes strewn about the floor.
Yeah, that's better.
Now his eyes felt less strained.
No, wait.
This wasn't the important thing right now.
"…"
Cheongun glanced down at the blade.
It was just a sword.
But not just any sword—it was a living demon sword.
Was that why?
This sword absorbed other people's sword qi.
And it even converted the absorbed qi into demonic qi.
Cheongun tilted his head.
Was this function in the original game?
Honestly, even he couldn't remember clearly.
It was a sword that existed in the original, but it was just there—passed down only through word of mouth.
Even Cheongun had only wielded it once, during the Blood Cult route.
And even then, he'd used it a few times and tossed it.
The moment you gripped it, you lost control, the character went berserk, and a bunch of annoying debuffs piled on. No reason to use it.
The community treated it as a bad ending generator, so no one paid it much attention.
Whatever.
Whether it had truly changed.
Or the mod creator had tweaked the sword's settings.
No need to worry about that now.
With his trait activated, Cheongun wouldn't be devoured by mere demonic qi.
Cheongun sheathed the sword.
"……"
Then he slowly scanned the surroundings.
For some reason, the smell of blood stung his nose.
Not from the guy he just killed.
It was the blood of all the people that guy had killed before.
How many had he killed?
A ton, probably.
Human sacrifices weren't settled with one or two victims, and sourcing orphans across the Central Plains was easy for them.
Disgusting bastards.
As a fellow orphan, it soured his mood terribly.
At that moment, Jeok Hwa-ryeon entered through the blasted-open entrance.
"Sect Leader, you done?"
"Done."
"Already? Then where's Jang Mu-young... Oh, there he is."
Jeok Hwa-ryeon nodded at the pool of blood spreading under the pile of clothes on the floor.
"We're done here too."
"Good work. From your face, looks like you didn't struggle."
"Hehe, well, about that."
Jeok Hwa-ryeon immediately rattled off her accomplishments.
There had been three experts handling sword qi.
Normally, they'd have been tough opponents.
But with the Heavenly Spirit Pill Cheongun gifted her, her realm had reached peak mid-Peak!
No way three scrubs who had just entered Peak could touch her.
Thus, she had taken on all three single-handedly.
"Oh, impressive."
"Right? Pretty impressive, huh?"
Her eyes sparkled.
She was clearly fishing for praise.
Cheongun smiled brightly.
"Good job."
Though he inwardly sighed at her talent—only breaking through to mid-Peak even after the Heavenly Spirit Pill.
He didn't voice it, just sighed heavily right in front of her.
Of course, she didn't care and just grinned happily.
"Anyway, we've done everything we came for. What now?"
"What else? Erase the traces."
"Erasing traces is fine, but won't we run out of time?"
"Why would we?"
"Well, obviously."
She sighed.
"Sigh. You know this is a Vicious Demon Squad branch, right?"
"I know."
"You know they send people from HQ to each branch every Zi Hour?"
"Of course."
"What time is it now?"
"Around Hai Hour."
"Half a shichen later, people will come. How do we erase everything in that time?"
Hmm, fair point.
Time was tight.
Honestly, they didn't even need to erase traces.
Erasing them wouldn't stop the enemies from figuring out his movements eventually.
There might be survivors he missed, or some unknown watcher observing everything.
Or a passerby who saw something.
Still, the reason to erase traces was simple.
To piss them off.
To really fucking annoy them.
Without traces, they'd have to gather info from scratch.
That would cost time and money, making it a huge hassle for them.
That was it.
Then.
"Sect Leader."
"Yeah?"
"How about this?"
She held up a jar.
Inside was some murky liquid. She tilted it, pouring it from the entrance to the end of the hall like she was painting the floor.
"What's that?"
"Oil jar."
"Oil jar?"
Oil jar. A jar of oil.
The reason she suddenly poured oil on the floor was simple.
"Just burn it all down?"
Oh.
There was that method.
The Vicious Demon Squad Leader Heuk-u asked.
"Say that again."
"Th-the Holy Capital branch has been wiped out."
Heuk-u was already furious to the top of his head from the disappearance of the Soul Devouring Demon Lord, to whom he'd entrusted the Soul Devouring Great Law.
On top of that, the demon sword was lost.
Decades of scheming had collapsed miserably.
And now this?
Some lunatic had raided the Vicious Demon Squad's Holy Capital branch?
It was obviously the same guy's doing.
Heuk-u's eyes gleamed ferociously.
"Which bastard?"
"W-we don't have solid evidence yet."
"Did you send people to the Holy Capital branch?"
"Y-yes. But the fire was so intense from the arson that no traces remain."
Bam—!
Unable to contain his rage, Heuk-u slammed his pot-lid-sized fist on the desk. The iron desk cracked and dented deeply with a crunch.
The reporting elder cautiously asked the heaving Heuk-u.
"Shall we commission the Secret Meeting for info?"
"Commission them immediately. Double the reward if needed. Activate every contact and find that bastard's identity no matter what."
"Yes. What will you do, Leader?"
Heuk-u stood.
"This seat will go to the main cult."
"The main cult?"
The Soul Devouring Demon Lord was missing.
Missing? At this point, he was surely dead.
Whatever his personality, he was a talent of the cult.
The main cult couldn't ignore a demon lord's death.
Heuk-u's eyes emitted a bluish ghostly energy.
"I must pay respects to the Vice Leader directly."
An elder with an immortal-like aura walked with hands behind his back.
His name was Jin Mu-seong.
Cheongun's master, the Crimson Night Sword Sovereign.
The Darkwood Sect sign gleamed in the sunlight.
This was less a manor and more a palace.
They had plenty of money; quite a few martial artists, all shirtless in the training grounds, sitting cross-legged and circulating qi.
The atmosphere was orderly, not like some trash unorthodox sect.
My disciple, you've succeeded.
A pleased smile crept up, thinking he'd raised one good disciple in his old age.
Then.
Jin Cheon-u, guarding the entrance, startled upon seeing Jin Mu-seong.
"Here for the Sect Leader?"
"Ho. You know this old man?"
"Of course. You're the Sect Leader's master."
Jin Mu-seong smiled warmly at Jin Cheon-u's politeness.
"A man who knows manners. What's your name?"
"Jin Cheon-u."
Only then did Jin Mu-seong nod.
"I recall Un-i mentioning you. Black Man Sword, right?"
"……"
Disciple or master, fuck.
They all loved fucking with other people's nicknames.
"Guide me to Un-i."
"……Yes."
Jin Cheon-u led him, lips pursed.
Passing the audience hall and document vault, crossing the inner courtyard, they entered the main hall with its grand veranda.
Walking the red-pillared corridor, Cheongun finally appeared.
"Master?"
"Haha, sit. Have you been well?"
"Yes. Doing great."
"I heard. You're the winner of this year's Tangga Assembly."
Jin Mu-seong was in high spirits.
His sole disciple had won the Tangga Assembly outright and become head of a proper sect. How proud.
Somehow, Cheongun's aura had deepened greatly.
His martial realm had clearly advanced another step.
Pride shone undisguised in Jin Mu-seong's gaze at Cheongun.
A smile spread under his refined goatee.
"Impressive. When we first met, you were raw jade; now you're properly polished."
"Haha, right?"
"One thing to ask. I heard you got a nickname, though details are vague."
Twitch.
Cheongun subtly averted his eyes.
"Mad Heaven Swordless."
What a bizarre nickname.
Mad with its ominous character? And Swordless after? Meaningful.
Swordless for a Sword Sovereign's disciple?
Unacceptable.
"That's the nickname, huh."
"Didn't know?"
"First time hearing it. Whoever it is, ridiculous. But so what? Nicknames change; that's the way of the jianghu."
True.
But Jin Mu-seong's gaze drifted somewhere.
To the sheath at Cheongun's waist.
No Crimson Night Sword, which he'd given with great resolve. Instead, a black sheath hung there.
Black lacquer with red blood script, faint black ghostly energy flickering around it.
Obviously a sinister artifact.
"What's that sword?"
"Uh, well."
"The one from your master?"
"See, what happened was…"
"Sold it?"
"No. It's in the corner over…"
Jin Mu-seong smiled at Cheongun.
Precisely, half-smiled.
Eyes smiling, mouth stern.
"Hahahaha."
Jin Mu-seong just smiled.
Or he might've smashed his disciple's head otherwise.