Chapter 129: The Third Task
Yi Se-ryeong spent most of her day in her ice garden, the Small Ice Garden.
Standing in the middle of a bridge sculpted with statues of a boy and a girl, she let out a deep sigh.
“Haa—.”
At her sigh, Gu Jin-gyeong came rushing over like a bolt of lightning.
“What is it, Your Excellency? Is the tea too bitter again for your taste?”
“Chief Manager.”
Yi Se-ryeong said.
“I must not be pretty enough after all, coming from an outsider like me.”
“……”
Gu Jin-gyeong was utterly bewildered.
Yi Se-ryeong possessed a beauty that could shake one's very soul. Even those with shallow cultivation would be utterly entranced just by looking at her.
“If Your Excellency is not beautiful, then who could claim beauty?”
“Then why doesn't he come?”
“Who…… ah.”
Gu Jin-gyeong realized who she meant.
“Perhaps the message didn't get through properly?”
“No, it did. I delivered it myself. I told him the skies over the Heavenly Demon Palace are open to him.”
“Then why…… hm?”
Mid-sentence, Yi Se-ryeong suddenly looked up at the sky. Gu Jin-gyeong followed her gaze, but saw nothing.
“It's his pet bird.”
Yi Se-ryeong seemed to pierce through the distant heavens.
“Oh! Could it be he's coming?”
“Who knows.”
Even as Yi Se-ryeong said this, the corners of her mouth twitched upward.
'She must really like him a lot.'
Gu Jin-gyeong watched the scene with a pleased expression.
Piiiii—
Mu Geuk Cheon Hwa's cry blanketed the sky.
“I'll take my leave. Have a pleasant time, Your Excellency.”
“No need. It won't be necessary.”
Yi Se-ryeong, still staring intently at the sky, twitched her eyebrow ever so slightly.
At that moment.
Piiiii————!
Mu Geuk Cheon Hwa, which had been gliding low, suddenly accelerated and shot up into the high sky, as if sensing a predator.
“What is it?”
“No one was riding it.”
From Gu Jin-gyeong's perspective, it was too far up to see clearly, but if Yi Se-ryeong said so, then it was so.
“……My apologies.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Chief Manager. It's just……”
Frost began to form at Yi Se-ryeong's feet.
“Just a bit more waiting. That's all.”
Gu Jin-gyeong felt pity, but pondered how to deal with Sado Hwan, who had committed blasphemy against a living god.
For ordinary blasphemy, severing the limbs' meridians and throwing him into the Punishment Cave would be fitting—but he was her destined partner, which complicated things.
“Shall I bring some tea?”
“No. Too bitter.”
“Then something sweet to lift your spirits?”
Yi Se-ryeong nodded quietly.
“Understood. I'll fetch it right—”
“Hm?”
Yi Se-ryeong suddenly turned her head in one direction.
“What is it?”
“To the Ascension Realm. Quickly.”
“As you command.”
Gu Jin-gyeong shot toward the Ascension Realm at Yi Se-ryeong's words.
“Hm!”
And there stood Sado Hwan.
Why is this old man acting like this?
I wanted to back away from Gu Jin-gyeong's sparkling eyes.
Maybe because he looked so intimidating, but with eyes gleaming like that, I couldn't help thinking he was plotting 'slice here, slash there.'
“Young Master Sado, you've arrived.”
“I pay my respects to the Judge of Life and Death.”
“Her Excellency awaits. Let's go.”
Gu Jin-gyeong spun around and vanished in a flash of movement technique.
The problem was, I couldn't use movement techniques. As I hesitated, he reappeared.
“Why aren't you coming?”
I couldn't say because I can't use movement techniques. Instead, I did what I was best at.
“The path to see Her Excellency cannot be rushed. I shall walk it step by step.”
“Hohoho.”
Gu Jin-gyeong stroked his beard and laughed. Was he debating whether to kill me, or praising me?
“Then I shan't interfere. Her Excellency is in the Small Ice Garden.”
Fortunately, it seemed the latter. Gu Jin-gyeong grinned—terrifyingly—and stepped aside, then vanished.
Having been to the Small Ice Garden once before, finding it wasn't hard.
Just nerve-wracking.
I still struggled to fully maintain myself against Yi Se-ryeong's simsang.
'You can do it, Kim Dong Yun. You can do it.'
[Even so, now you can circulate the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy through your acupoints, so it should be fine. You remember the acupoints I mentioned, right?]
I nodded.
'Of course.'
[Sending your qi along that path means you won't have to brute-force the whole energy into your head like before. You should hold out.]
Pa Cheon's words eased my mind a bit.
After a long walk, I arrived at the Small Ice Garden and saw Yi Se-ryeong.
She was drinking tea, seated on a chair made of ice she'd created. Just looking at her was like viewing a magazine photoshoot—breathtaking.
Normally, that sight alone would shake my mind, but having seen her often lately, I could endure without inner energy for now.
[She must have sensed your presence, yet she's fully focused on the tea. Clearly, Her Excellency is deeply versed in the tea ceremony as well.]
'……'
I stayed silent, not wanting to shatter Pa Cheon's illusion.
In Murim Returner, Yi Se-ryeong loved sweets and never touched bitter things like tea.
“I pay my respects to Her Excellency.”
“Ah, you've come. I was so immersed in the tea that I missed you right in front of me.”
As if Yi Se-ryeong would.
She'd come without prior notice, and considering Gu Jin-gyeong had been waiting at the Ascension Realm, her perception transcended imagination.
“So, what brings you to me?”
Yi Se-ryeong met my eyes as she spoke. The moment her silver pupils peered into me—
[Mind! Keep your wits about you, you demon!]
At Pa Cheon's shout, I hastily gathered my scattering senses.
Just eye contact, and it was this intense.
“The reason I came to see Your Excellency is to request a task.”
“A task?”
“Yes. Grant me permission to venture into the jianghu.”
At my words, Yi Se-ryeong's right eyebrow arched slightly.
For a cult member to enter the jianghu was no small matter.
For the same reason cult members cherished their home so dearly.
The reason was simple.
The world outside was dangerous.
The moment they stepped into the jianghu, cult members became targets of everyone in the world.
Solely for being cult members.
“You'll need a valid reason.”
“A fake successor to the Medicine Immortal has appeared.”
“I've already ordered the cult's branches to handle that.”
“That's not enough.”
“Not enough?”
Yi Se-ryeong lightly questioned, but I felt the air grow heavy.
Not anger, not released aura.
Just a flicker of discomfort.
And the world trembled at it.
If a Super Peak master imprinted their will on the world, Yi Se-ryeong—
'This world is watching her mood.'
A suffocating pressure choked me.
To steady myself, I drew up the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's inner energy. Circulating it along the acupoints Pa Cheon taught me, the crushing pressure vanished like mist.
'……Damn, it works well.'
But at that moment.
“Hmm—?”
Yi Se-ryeong leaned toward me. Her long silver hair cascaded like a waterfall.
“You smell nice. Very…… sweet.”
Too well, in fact.
Yi Se-ryeong had sensed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy. Of course, she had no idea it was that—but—
'Too much attention is the last thing I need.'
Just the right amount. That's ideal.
Song Yang Geon had challenged me, but no one was openly trying to kill me directly, thanks to the Heavenly Demon.
No one would dare kill her fiancé candidate, except in the form of 'challenges.'
Even Chu Tae Su schemed indirectly rather than directly, for that reason.
“So, what is that reason?”
Fortunately, Yi Se-ryeong hadn't forgotten the main point. I half-worried she'd snap and lock me up.
“To lessen the shedding of cult members' blood.”
“To lessen the shedding of cult members' blood.”
“Investigations show the fake Medicine Immortal successor is allied with the Tang Clan's eldest young master, Dang Si Yul.”
“I know.”
“Do you also know that Dang Si Yul experiments with deadly poisons on cult members?”
Kuwoong—
I definitely heard a sound.
Something enormous I couldn't perceive began filling the space behind Yi Se-ryeong.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Outwardly, Dang Si Yul seemed mild for a Tang Clan member.
But in truth, he was a psychopath experimenting deadly poisons on people.
I'd told Dang Si Hyeok about spirit beast locations to strengthen him precisely because Dang Si Yul was that dangerous.
'At this point, he can resist Dang Si Yul, so he must have obtained the spirit beast I mentioned.'
From first-rate to at least Peak, enough to compete in the young clan lord contest.
“If Dang Si Yul seizes control of the Tang Clan, I can't even imagine how many more cult members will suffer.”
“You.”
The Heavenly Demon, Yi Se-ryeong, looked at me impassively.
“Why do you care so much for the cult?”
Conversing with Yi Se-ryeong was tricky; even breathing seemed to score points, making answers hard to choose.
“Because it's home.”
“Home……”
A standard answer any cult member could give, yet she lingered on it, so I must have scored again.
This is bad.
Before her thoughts deepened, I quickly added,
“The team will be me, Black Shadow Corps' disguised Sa Wol, leader Tak Horak, Demon Palace's Song Yang Geon, and Dok Ma.”
“You seem to treasure that Sa Wol girl.”
“She's the subordinate I trust most.”
“Subordinate. I see.”
Yi Se-ryeong pondered briefly, then spoke.
“Very well. For your third task, I appoint you, Sado Hwan, as the person responsible for the fake Medicine Immortal successor incident. Venture into the jianghu, investigate the successor, and execute the innocent-harming Dang Si Yul.”
“I accept your command.”
The jianghu trip was set.
With spies in the cult, we didn't announce it openly. Officially, I was in secluded training to consolidate my enlightenment.
Next, I visited Dok Ma, naturally.
“Hahaha, thank you! Young Master Sado! Truly grateful! Finally, I can get some fresh air.”
Dok Ma had promised to 'make it worth my while' if I took him along.
But now he clammed up, as if he'd forgotten. Regretting it, no doubt.
“Before that.”
I told Dok Ma,
“We still need to settle our accounts, right?”
I'll show him what happens when you try to freeload off a possessor.
Pretending to Be the Heavenly Demon