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Thunder Demon was attending the Eldest Prince as always, confirming whether his schemes had taken root.
At least two plots were unfurling in each province, and those aimed at the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Eight Great Families in particular had already begun gnawing at their targets from within, bit by bit.
Grand Duke Ju-ji's machinations had yielded countless results.
By deliberately spreading Smallpox, he forced the Wudang Sect to seal itself for half a year. He slipped Ice Demon into the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, allowing her to infiltrate deep inside the Murim Alliance.
And Mount Hua.
Having obtained the highly classified intelligence that Plum Blossom Swordwoman Seon Ju-hee was lovesick over Taiji Flower, the Eldest Prince transmitted his orders to a traitor already planted inside the Mount Hua Sect.
Ranhwa Sword, Seol Jungmae.
He commanded Seon Ju-hee's own master to exploit her lovesickness and capture Taiji Flower.
Why would an elder of the Mount Hua Sect obey the orders of the Demonic Cult's Eldest Prince?
Broadly, there were three types.
The first: those coerced by the Eldest Prince's advance schemes.
Cases where a wife or daughter had been abducted, a family held hostage, or where they were forced with something dearer than life or honor itself.
Most acted unwillingly, so their operational effectiveness was low, but their compliance could still destroy a target mentally or socially.
Another type: those who carried out the Demonic Cult's missions without ever realizing they were being used.
The escort warriors of the escort bureaus that served as the Demonic Cult's funding lines were a prime example.
They believed the escort bureaus they worked for were ordinary trading companies or mercantile agencies. They never dreamed the money they shed blood and sweat over flowed into the Demonic Cult—and they labored day after day.
And the final type.
Those who, like Ranhwa Sword Seol Jungmae, sought to serve the Demonic Cult of their own free will.
"Many come to the Demonic Cult nursing a grudge over failing to become Sect Leader."
Thunder Demon sneered, twisting a lock of gray hair that had slipped past her shoulder.
"Most of them reached out hoping to learn its mighty power, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. What was your intention in swearing loyalty to His Highness the Eldest Prince?"
"To make His Highness... ugh...! to make him the Heavenly Demon and receive the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, arghh!!"
Crackle.
True to her epithet, Thunder Demon loosed an electric shock from her hand. As if truly struck by lightning, Ranhwa Sword could not suppress his screams against the sharp, tingling agony.
"You misspoke. You are not making the Heavenly Demon. You were to follow behind as the Eldest Prince became the Heavenly Demon. Not that you have even that qualification now."
Swish.
Thunder Demon pulled the whip clenched in her hand. The whip coiled around Ranhwa Sword's throat began to constrict tighter still.
"It seems you failed the mission His Highness gave you. Thoroughly."
"Th-that is...!"
"Planning to make excuses?"
"M-my luck was poor!"
At Ranhwa Sword's desperate cry, Thunder Demon nodded.
"Yes. Your luck was poor. You ignored my advice that Taiji Flower would come on her own if you waited patiently, went all the way to Hubei on your own whim, and your paths crossed. On top of that, while you wasted time in Hubei, Taiji Flower formed a bond with the Plum Blossom Swordwoman, and you missed her on your way back."
Thwack.
Thunder Demon's kick to his shin sent Ranhwa Sword collapsing to the ground.
Even if Thunder Demon looked girlish on the surface, she was unmistakably one of the Demonic Cult's Ten Demons. Body seared once more by the electric shock, Ranhwa Sword could scarcely control his limbs.
"Should I show you mercy? Not a chance. Why would I, when I have no reason to? The rule is to execute every demon who fails a mission."
Slap, slap.
Thunder Demon pulled the whip with both hands, grinning. As she drew on the power of lightning with a sadistic smile, Ranhwa Sword shrieked and forced himself upright.
"Arghh!!"
"Oh my, resisting at this point."
Ranhwa Sword unfurled his ultimate technique, the Seven Absolute Plum Blossom Sword, attempting to flee from Thunder Demon.
"I cannot die here...!!"
"Is that so? When faced with overwhelming power...."
But Thunder Demon simply reached out a hand toward the dazzling, brilliant flurry of sword strikes.
"They all just die."
Cracklecrackle! As if a thunderbolt hurtling from the sky were loosed from her fingers, the lightning strike that erupted from Thunder Demon's hand sent Ranhwa Sword collapsing forward, his entire body convulsing.
His nose shattered, he was captured without managing the slightest resistance. Thunder Demon sneered at him as she raised her inner energy.
"The new heaven the Eldest Prince will create has no room for the likes of you."
Cracklecrackle-pop.
Ranhwa Sword became a pile of charcoal.
But he did not die.
Thunder Demon 'fried' Ranhwa Sword just to the brink where agony would make him wish for death, yet not quite enough to kill.
"Heavenly Demon Branch Lightning Hand. You've now seen the power of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, haven't you?"
"Ugh, k-heuk...!"
"However... things could change if you put in just a little more effort."
"Wh-what effort must I make?!"
"It's simple."
Thunder Demon lifted Ranhwa Sword's chin with the tip of her foot.
"Kill the Sect Leader. Repeat the history of fifteen years ago. Do you understand?"
"Th-that is...!"
"You must take revenge. The current Sect Leader is weaker than you, isn't she? Yet simply because she had a bit more virtue than others, because she upheld principles and rules, she became the Sect Leader. Isn't that right?"
At Thunder Demon's words, Ranhwa Sword clawed the dirt with his hands.
"Who should become Sect Leader?"
"The... strongest martial artist in the sect!"
"That's right. So do you understand what you have to do now?"
Thunder Demon's eyes glinted crimson as she grinned.
"Kill the Mount Hua Sect Leader. Then you simply enter the Demonic Cult. Easy, isn't it?"
* * *
At that same hour, within the Emei Sect branch of the Murim Alliance in Xuchang, Henan Province.
"......."
Ice Demon, Yoo Seol-ra, was refining her qi inside a Bewildering Marker Nine Palace Array set up in one corner of her room, operating the Ice White Divine Art.
To hide her identity in the very heart of the Murim Alliance, right where the Alliance Leader resided, she could not use the Ice White Divine Art openly. No matter how well she feigned having been struck by it, she was still a warrior of the Emei Sect.
But befitting a woman the Eldest Prince had tasked with infiltrating the Alliance, and befitting one of the Ten Demons, she had yet to be detected as the Ice Demon.
She concealed her identity so thoroughly that she circulated qi through the Ice White Divine Art in a cramped storehouse barely big enough to lie down in, leaving no one any room to suspect she was the Ice Demon.
"...When will he come?"
Yoo Seol-ra crouched in the corner, leaning her back against the wall and sighing.
"When will he grow strong enough?"
She had not forgotten the promise. He had violated her, and he had sworn to kill the calamity of the North Sea Ice Palace—the White-Banded Light Moth.
A person who could slay the White-Banded Light Moth was someone the Ice Palace Mistress had to win over, even if it meant offering her body. Otherwise, the entire Ice Palace would collapse.
Before being Ice Demon, as the master of the Ice Palace, she had accepted being ravished by the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon in order to save the North Sea Ice Palace. Had he not spoken of the White-Banded Light Moth, she would have frozen all of Xuchang solid, mission and the Young Heavenly Demon be damned.
So, entrusting everything to Sky-Soaring Lust Demon—betraying the Eldest Prince to wait for him—it had already been four months and a good while longer.
But far from actively operating as a Sex Demon, Sky-Soaring Lust Demon's activities were markedly quiet.
His inner energy grew by the day, but it was still not enough to contend with the White-Banded Light Moth. Each time she reflected on this, Yoo Seol-ra felt worry, and in the same breath, anxiety made it almost impossible to sit still.
Had he not come by briefly, roughly once every ten days for about a single watch, she would likely have gone mad.
"Hm, hm-hm."
Using the Ice White Divine Art, Yoo Seol-ra infused internal qi into her fingernails and lightly scratched the wall. The tally marks—the character for 'correct' (正)—had already passed eight, and as she added another stroke to a new one, she smiled brightly.
"If I sleep ten nights, he'll come... hmm."
Yoo Seol-ra drew her knees up and buried her face. Was it the influence of learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, or a sense of duty as the North Sea Ice Palace Mistress?
"This time... will he have grown strong enough to kill the White-Banded Light Moth?"
Yoo Seol-ra partly rose, filled with anticipation. Thanks to the Bewildering Marker Nine Palace Array, the black-clad cultists did not realize Yoo Seol-ra was present in the room as they inspected what they thought was an unoccupied space and began speaking to one another.
"...Where did she go?"
"Shh. Quiet. She hasn't left the room. She's definitely somewhere in here."
The black-clad cultists tried to hide their identities with their clothes, but they could not hide their voices. The moment Yoo Seol-ra recognized that her visitors were women, she stepped straight out of the Bewildering Marker Nine Palace Array and extended her palms toward the pair.
Crack!
Ice White Divine Palm.
Struck by the palm art that froze its targets, the two black-clad cultists slowly stiffened without even a chance to scream. Yoo Seol-ra radiated a faint chill as she leaned her body outside the array, then pulled the two black-clad cultists inside its perimeter.
"So you were sent by the Eldest Prince. He sent you because he was curious whether I'm Sky-Soaring or Earth Qilin, isn't that right?"
"!!"
The black-clad cultists tried to deny it, but Yoo Seol-ra placed her hands on their chests and grinned.
"Right on the mark. Honestly, the Eldest Prince just can't trust people. His title is 'Eldest Prince,' but inside he's pettier than a miser."
"You... traitor...! Ice Demon, you wench, how dare you!"
"Where does a mere underling get off speaking recklessly to one of the Ten Demons?"
Flash! Ice Demon's eyes shone crimson as she shoved the two against the wall. Then she slid her hands inside their black robes.
"Hee-yik?!"
"You, you crazy!!"
As Ice Demon's hands touched their lower bellies, the two black-clad cultists' faces flushed bright red and they screamed.
"Not one word that person said was wrong. The Eldest Prince surrounds himself with nothing but women, he said. Blame yourselves for being women, and for being the Eldest Prince's subordinates."
Whoooo.
A chill began to pour from Ice Demon's hands. At the sensation of their inner energy draining away through the Ice Demon's hands upon their dantians, the two black-clad cultists felt their hair stand on end.
"Th-this, could it be...?!"
"The Absorption Technique?!"
"Something similar. When you apply the Ice White Divine Art and the Energy Absorption Technique properly... like this."
Crack, crackle.
The yin energy drawn from their dantians coalesced into jewel-like crystals. Ice Demon smiled and placed them on her own abdomen, absorbing them with her inner energy.
"...I can make their yin energy my own."
Having robbed the women of their yin energy, Ice Demon winked. Like a spider sealing prey, she formed cocoons of ice and confined the pair within the Bewildering Marker Nine Palace Array.
"Endure for two days. When that person arrives, he'll pluck you once and then toss you naked somewhere. Though... if he doesn't come, I'll do it myself."
Crack, crackle.
"So tell me. Who was it that let you in all the way here?"
Ice Demon hardened the chill energy she had condensed, picking up two softened Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rods and smiling brightly.
"No answer? What do you think will happen if I prod you with these, then erase all traces of the Ice White Divine Palm and dump you naked somewhere? It won't look like I did it... it'll look as if you were violated by the Sex Demon, won't it?"
"......!!"
Ice Demon tapped the two women's cheeks with the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Rods.
"So answer obediently. Who in the Alliance let you in all the way here? If you don't answer, your inner energy becomes ice crystals...."
Slip, slip.
Ice Demon took out a brush and left writing on the woman's belly.
"And you'll become a 1-point woman."
1/5.
Ice Demon absorbed the yin energy from their dantians until they opened their mouths.
* * *
In Xiangyang, Hubei Province, the middle-aged man Chae Sam, who ran an inn near the port, set down bowls of noodles and casually spoke up.
"They say the Sex Demon is running rampant everywhere these days."
"Heuh, is that so?"
The young man who looked like a wandering hero furrowed his brow.
"I had heard Hubei was safe."
"With the Sex Demon running wild all the way from Yunnan to Liaodong, where exactly would be safe? Only, the reason I bring this up is...."
Chae Sam pointed at the 'black-haired' girl seated across from the young man.
"I trust you understand without me saying more."
"Isn't this meddling that gravely offends a guest?"
"I can't help but meddle, because folks like you who try to follow the Han River downstream by boat have been meeting trouble with the water bandits."
"...Hoh."
The young man rested his chin in his hand, his expression quite intrigued.
"You're saying one wrong step, the wrong boat, and you could end up a corpse?"
"Ending up a corpse would be a mercy."
"Then it's fine. We are the River."
The black-haired girl smiled brightly, radiating confidence.
"When Gaga and I are together, we can defeat any Sex Demon who comes."
"Heuh, 'Gaga,' you say. I seem to have made a great blunder."
"It's all right. You were just concerned."
The woman reached into her bosom and rummaged around, pulling out something. It was a rough map stretching from Hubei toward Shandong.
"If you go down just a little ways along the Han River, you reach the Yangtze, right? The Yangtze Waterway Twelve Stockades are spread all over, so I've heard we need to be wary of water bandits as well as the Sex Demon."
"Surprisingly, Lady Knight, you seem well-acquainted with the martial world's affairs?"
"Fufu, you have to know all this to make yourself a great asset in the future."
"You'll have to travel quite a distance to reach Shandong."
"...Hm?"
Chae Sam tilted his head.
"Wouldn't cutting across Henan be better? You could travel more comfortably that way. There's the Murim Alliance too."
"......."
"......."
The pair fell silent. Just as Chae Sam sensed something odd in the profound quiet and was about to press further, he found himself entranced by the woman's bashful smile.
"Gaga and I... wanted to take a long boat trip together."
"Don't worry about the Sex Demon. Both I and Yeoni are masters beyond first-rate. And since we're out on a boat trip anyway...."
The young man smiled, stroking the woman's hair.
"Yeoni said she wanted to see the sea. So we're thinking of going all the way to the eastern edge."
"...Your devotion to your wife is truly profound."
I had times like that too. Chae Sam smiled bitterly and added an extra dumpling to their table.
Clink, clink.
The two finished their meal very quietly, then rose cleanly from their seats. Apart from traveling during these troubled times, their courtesy was impeccably spare.
"May your journey be safe and joyful. I hope we meet again."
"Fufu, I'll remember the name of this place. When we come next time, there'll be four of us."
"......Four?"
"Fufufu."
The woman called 'Yeon' only laughed, taking the young man's hand and departing. Chae Sam gaped at the payment left in his hand.
"Already thinking of having two children...."
May harmony fill your household until black hair turns white. Chae Sam waved at the backs of the pair heading toward the port.
"A truly wonderful time of life."
"You idiot! Quickly, clear the customers' dishes!"
"...Fine, you damnable wife."
Chae Sam wiped his tears as he cleared the empty bowls. Sweat trickled unbidden from his eyes.