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Taoist Hyeonta Sa Jeong-hu once again found himself deep in troubled thought.
"First Elder, who exactly is this disciple called A-bung?"
"Is he trying to craft some kind of secret weapon... ahem, another extraordinary disciple?"
"All you young men of Wudang, put in more effort! That young Taiji Flower has taken a boy barely old enough to be her little brother as her disciple and is personally teaching him. You should be working just as hard!"
A-bung (兒鵬).
Because of that almost playful-sounding alias, no one in the Wudang Sect believed it was his real name.
"I mean, who in the world has a name like A-bung?"
"It's obviously a pseudonym. He'll definitely appear in the Nine Dragons Struggle for Supremacy later as a peak—no, a Peak Realm expert!"
Everyone simply assumed he was a prodigy concealing his real name and identity, destined to lead the Wudang Sect in the future, and their expectations only grew.
"The future of Wudang is truly bright!!"
While all the elders voiced their anticipation, only the First Elder, Sa Jeong-hu, had to choke down bitter medicine again today because of the mental strain.
"What are your thoughts on this situation, A-bung?"
"Ugh, how did it end up like this?"
The source of the problem, A-bung, grumbled in a manner completely unchildlike.
In the two weeks since returning from Mount Hua, A-bung—the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon—had shot up in height and now stood nearly eye level with Sa Jeong-hu.
"What do you expect? You pulled this stunt without any preparation, and now your karma is coming back to you."
"That's why I told you to figure it out and deal with it before I left. Is the First Elder's ability really only this much?"
Bang! Sa Jeong-hu slammed his fist on the table.
"Do you have any idea what it means that the Taiji Flower, of all people, took a blood-relative male disciple to Mount Hua? And they even shared the same room? Good heavens, unsavory rumors are spreading all across the Central Plains right now!!"
"What? That Taiji Flower Sagong Hee is actually a pervert who took a little kid as her disciple to satisfy her sexual urges?"
Crack.
His fist trembled. Taoist Hyeonta wanted to reach out and rip the young man's mouth from ear to ear, but he held back, knowing that if he even tried, his opponent would turn the tables on him.
"What? You want to hit me? Give it a shot if you think you can land one."
"Urgh...!"
It wasn't that he was holding back because he was weak.
"I'm the kind of person who only shows respect to those stronger than me."
The Sex Demon before him lived up to the name of a 'Demon,' with a trash personality, utterly lacking in manners and respect for his elders. One avoids shit not out of fear, but because it's filthy.
"...It was a struggle in many ways, but A-bung's problem has been resolved. Fortunately, A-bung's outward appearance isn't that mature, so I was able to fool the elders."
"How?"
"I turned the tables on them. I gave them a stern warning that even thinking such things is wrong, and after that, no one dared say another word."
Clap, clap! The Sex Demon clapped his hands and laughed.
"That's obvious. Who would do that kind of thing with a child who isn't even an adult? Yeah, exactly."
"Says the man who did that kind of thing with the Plum Blossom Swordwoman."
"Do you have proof?"
There was no proof, but there was conviction. Sa Jeong-hu's finger pointed at the Sex Demon.
"You are the proof."
"I'm the proof?"
"A sparrow doesn't just pass by a mill without stealing a taste. You're telling me you just had a little eye candy with a beauty like Plum Blossom Swordwoman Seon Ju-hee and then left? If you didn't touch Seon Ju-hee, I'll resign from my post as First Elder and become the head steward of your clan."
"......."
The Sex Demon answered by taking a sip of tea instead. Sa Jeong-hu smacked his forehead, realizing his own suspicions had been right on the mark.
"Good heavens. Did that child Gyeon-hui just stand by and watch? While you were trying to bed another woman?"
"Actually, the three of us did it together."
"...Setting aside the fact that you bedded the Plum Blossom Swordwoman of Mount Hua without anyone making a sound, may I say something about that child's ethical education first?"
"It'd be like preaching to a wall. Gyeon-hui will restrain herself from now on. I'll restrain myself too."
Was this what youth was? Sa Jeong-hu felt dizzy at the thought of these male-female relations, so drastically different from his own hot-blooded days.
"So, what is it you want to ask of me this time? I hid the existence of A-bung even after getting another earful from the Sect Leader."
"I have no requests. I just came to let you know I'll be going on another long trip abroad."
"A trip abroad? Not just stepping out to gather some spirit medicine, but actually going abroad? So you'll be leaving together with Gyeon-hui as A-bung, just the two of you?"
"No. This time, I'm planning to go out as the Sex Demon."
Sa Jeong-hu suddenly missed seeing Taoist Hyeongi.
So, after being tied down at Cheon Family Estate for a while, an unstable peace seemed to settle over the Central Plains Murim, but the Sex Demon was now raring to go, his loins stiffened to find a new woman.
"So, just a Sex Demon act in name only? Like what you did with the Plum Blossom Swordwoman?"
"No, I'm going to seduce and bed them. If you hear sounds of a star mark being carved somewhere in the Central Plains, just know it was me."
There was a difference between consensual sex and rape. Sa Jeong-hu clutched his head with his hands.
"You've sat still for over four and a half months, and now you're going to commit Sex Demon acts? I've said it many times—"
"There will be absolutely no harm to Wudang. I will not violate innocent women. I will not use the martial arts of the Wudang Sect. Even if I fall into danger, I will never flee to Wudang and ask them to hide me. I haven't forgotten our promise."
"...That is truly very considerate of you."
The reason Sa Jeong-hu turned a blind eye to the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon's activities was because he did absolutely no damage to the Wudang Sect.
In the process, there were times Sa Jeong-hu himself suffered, but even so, the hardship led to rewards for the sect, so he could bear the pain willingly.
"So, where are you planning to go?"
"Shandong. It's not that far."
"...Jegal? Isn't that a branch family there?"
"No. The Hwangbo Clan."
The Sky-Soaring Lust Demon emptied his teacup and rose to his feet.
"I happen to be damn good at ruining weddings, you see."
Sa Jeong-hu shivered as he watched his silhouette vanish like the wind.
"...'Again'?"
* * *
If the Paeng Clan is in Hebei, then the Hwangbo Clan is in Shandong!
The temperaments of these two clans were remarkably similar.
Magnanimous and daring!
The saying about settling matters swiftly and boldly must have been coined for these two clans.
If the two clans had existed in the same region, they would have fought and fought again until they destroyed each other to become the hegemon of that area.
Whenever anyone debated which clan in the Central Plains Murim was the most magnanimous and daring, either clan would have crushed the competition through sheer force so that their name was always the first to be mentioned.
- The Overbearing Way is ours!!
However, the two clans acknowledged each other and decided to work together as members of the Eight Great Families to forge peace in the White Path Murim. Strictly speaking, their temperaments were just similar; their mainstream martial arts were completely different.
- The blade is supreme!
- No, the fist is supreme!
The Paeng Clan excelled in blade arts, and the Hwangbo Clan excelled in fist arts.
And about thirty years ago, the two clans nearly went to war on a massive scale. A dispute between the heirs of the clans almost escalated into a full-scale clan war, but the confrontation between the two clans ended in an anticlimactic, almost trivial manner.
- Still, how can a man with a blade and a man with fists truly fight a life-or-death duel?
- Hebei is our territory!
- Shandong is our territory!
- Fine, then you be the best there!
- Good!
The fact that the all-out war ended both boldly and deflatingly was only possible due to the active mediation not only of the Murim Alliance but also the government.
- So, what should we do?
- We gathered because it was supposed to be a fight.
The Hebei Paeng Clan had gathered countless blade users, and the Hwangbo Clan had gathered countless fist masters. The martial artists who had gathered to settle which was stronger, the blade or the fist, suddenly found themselves with nowhere to go.
The two clans, who had intended a full-scale battle, could only chuckle awkwardly and talk of disbanding, but with thousands gathered, they couldn't easily bring themselves to do so.
At this point, the Murim Alliance came up with a scheme.
- Let's open a martial arts tournament!
The blade users gathered around the Hebei Paeng Clan to compete for the title of Best Blade Under Heaven, and the fist masters gathered in Jinan, Shandong, where the Hwangbo Clan resided, to compete for the title of Best Fist Under Heaven.
- Challengers are always welcome!
Both the Hebei Paeng Clan and the Hwangbo Clan greatly welcomed challengers. A martial arts tournament was perfect for burning off the immediate, directionless fighting spirit, and martial artists who lived on pride alone wished to show off their skills against the Hebei Paeng Clan and the Hwangbo Clan without holding back.
While the sword was the mainstream weapon of the Central Plains Murim, the relatively non-mainstream users of the blade and fist gathered to show off their skills and hone their techniques.
Those who believed their own blade or fist was the best were as numerous as bamboo shoots after rain, and many gathered to proudly become the Best Blade Under Heaven or the Best Fist Under Heaven.
Even if it was the two clans who ultimately won those tournaments for thirty consecutive years.
The supreme blade under heaven, Hebei Paeng Clan.
The supreme fist under heaven, Hwangbo Clan.
Many sought out these clans to prove their skills. And among those who visited, some wished to become members of the Eight Great Families of the Central Plains Murim.
- Hebei Paeng Clan, open your gates! The Blade King Jang Mi has arrived!
- Whahaha! You, you're pretty good with a blade! Would you like to meet my daughter for a moment?!
- I've come to challenge the Hwangbo Clan! Face my Invincible Iron Fist!
- Hoh, a fellow who knows how to use his fists? Exchange a few punches with my daughter!
The two clans accepted strong challengers as their sons-in-law.
- Gang Ha! Will you marry my daughter?!
- Thank you, Father-in-law!!
Of course, the position of heir or clan head was always held by the pure bloodline of each clan, but the men who entered as matrilocal sons-in-law never completely gave up the possibility of becoming clan head themselves.
If, oddly, the direct male line dried up in their generation.
Or if they won a fair duel against the young clan head using the clan's martial arts.
Or even if they themselves couldn't, they might place a child born through their wife as a candidate for successor.
- Whether it's a branch or direct line, if you marry a daughter of the Eight Great Families and just get one training hall, isn't that a successful life!
Simply becoming a member of one of the eight clans that ruled the Central Plains Murim was enough qualification to walk with one's chest puffed out and nose in the air.
Even for those brought in as matrilocal sons-in-law, the clans would teach them the clan's secret martial arts as members of the clan, or set them up with a clan training hall in a county within the territory.
If you caught the eye of a clan head and succeeded in marriage, your life was set.
That said, were the daughters of these two clans lacking in beauty? Not at all.
- A true hero wins the beauty!
Even just the two women in the main house of the Hebei Paeng Clan were outstandingly beautiful and exceptional. Although one was a married woman with a child and the other was a 3 out of 5, just five years ago, they were the top two women in Hebei receiving marriage proposals.
Now they were hidden away tightly due to the existence of the Sex Demon, but the women of the Eight Great Families had never hidden their outstanding beauty before.
Their faces were already well-known through events like the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
So, most people knew well the beauty of the women of these two clans. And when considering the beauty, marital status, and eligibility of all women in the Central Plains, the more famous a woman was, the better a target she made for a Sex Demon!
- Even the Murim Alliance Leader's daughter was kidnapped in Henan. What makes the women of our clan any different?!
In this paradoxical situation where the more famously beautiful a woman was, the more tightly she had to hide within her clan, the people of the Eight Great Families came up with a brilliant countermeasure.
Marriage.
- If they're violated by a Sex Demon, their marriage prospects are ruined!
Firstly, the most dangerous Sex Demon in Murim, the Ice-Colored Demon, only targets young virgins.
And most Sex Demons target women weaker than themselves, or women who are not yet married.
Occasionally, there were cases of targeting married women who had already wed and had children, but apart from the Ice-Colored Demon's attack on the Matriarch of the Eul Family, most Sex Demons were easily struck down by the hands of husbands guarding their wives.
Of course, the damage suffered from a Sex Demon doesn't disappear.
But the marriage alliances prized most highly by the Eight Great Families aren't blocked.
One: A woman violated by a Sex Demon before marriage.
Two: A woman violated by a Sex Demon after marriage.
- Honestly, who would marry the former?
- The guy who can't protect his wife is the one who looks like a fool.
- Whoa... So if I can protect a woman from a Sex Demon, I can marry a daughter of the Hwangbo Clan, is that it?
The plan was to marry off the unmarried women quickly before a Sex Demon could violate them.
Taking the incident of the Hebei Paeng Clan—who had already been struck by a Sex Demon—as a cautionary lesson, the Hwangbo Clan gathered people with a sense of urgency that felt almost desperate.
- We will accept those who protect our clan's women as our sons-in-law!
Currently, the Hwangbo Clan was holding a martial arts tournament, having gathered hundreds of fist masters to protect their clan's women from the Sex Demon.
Its name: the World's Best Son-in-law Selection.
However.
This time, it wasn't a tournament to select just one person.
Seven.
The Hwangbo Clan had seven unmarried maidens.