056
056
After the Yongbong Assembly ended.
The elders of the Wudang Sect gathered in one place and entered an urgent meeting.
"Senior Brother Hyeon-cheol, what were you thinking?"
"Quiet. Did I ever call myself Sect Leader? It was the Alliance Leader who called me Sect Leader."
All the elders assembled in the room were supporters of Taoist Hyeoncheol. Taoist Hyeoncheol had made them his allies long ago, and not a single one opposed Taoist Hyeoncheol becoming the Sect Leader.
Yet officially, the 'current' Sect Leader was Taoist Hyeongi, Man Sa-yong.
Taoist Hyeoncheol had not yet become Sect Leader, and he still possessed a tremendous weakness.
- They say Taoist Hyeoncheol colluded with a Demonic Cult agent a year ago....
- His ability is good, but that senior brother's character is a bit....
- Doesn't the Sect Leader need to be the highest in martial arts too? It seems Hyeon-ta will catch up to him before long?
Meeting the elders' gazes, Taoist Hyeoncheol's fists trembled with a sense of inferiority. Despite his achievement in successfully managing this Yongbong Assembly, his own past was a shackle.
- He already thinks he's the Sect Leader!
The biggest problem was that, somehow, he had ended up falsely posing as the Sect Leader.
He had always publicly stated he was the acting Sect Leader, but because the Alliance Leader called him the Sect Leader (acting) at the end of the Yongbong Assembly, the world had already accepted the change in Wudang as a fait accompli.
The previous Sect Leader steps down, and a new one emerges!
Of course, that was the people's expectation, and the Sect Leader was always the one acknowledged by the previous Sect Leader. Clenching his fist, Taoist Hyeoncheol waited for the figure approaching the room from a distance.
"Senior Brother."
Taoist Hyeonta opened the door and entered. The other elders greeted him with bright smiles.
"Hyeon-ta, you're here!"
"Come in, quickly."
The elders, who previously looked at Taoist Hyeonta like a loafer, flipped their attitudes like the palm of a hand. Otherwise, how could they raise their heads with any conscience as human beings?
The one they condemned as a wastrel had secretly, by some arrangement, been raising a successor to the Taiji Wisdom Sword. The master of the Taiji Wisdom Sword, whom he guided while enduring all his own disgrace, had firmly restored Wudang's pride. The challenger's elimination in the first round against a Nine Dragon contender was utterly trivial.
"Where is Lady Hee now?"
"She is organizing the hermitage. Where in Wudang did you decide for her to reside?"
"It is a separate chamber prepared for visiting elders. At her request, her household management will be entrusted to a woman named Jin Sa-wol."
"A fine choice. Whatever her past was, helping one who renews their resolve and seeks a new start is exactly the great generosity of Wudang. Indeed."
Taiji Flower, Taiji Martial Phoenix, the White Path's Number One Flower had already surpassed the senior disciple and become an existence on par with a Wudang elder. Using that influence, she decided not to assign other disciples to her chambers and hired the woman named Jin Sa-wol.
"Ahem. Even so, a woman from a pleasure house is a little...."
"Junior Sister Taoist Hyeonjil. What is the problem? Since meeting Taiji Flower, did she not sincerely and wholeheartedly care for Taiji Flower? I did not know you harbored such prejudice."
"No, that's not what I meant...."
"Then I shall relay to Taiji Flower that no one will be assigned to arrange her chambers—"
"No, no!"
Although the woman was once registered in a pleasure house, the fact that she 'took no' man for a year and loyally served by Taiji Flower's side was considered a mitigating circumstance. Some still disliked the former courtesan coming and going from the heart of the sect, but in the end, Taiji Flower was the one in charge.
"And Senior Brother Hyeon-cheol, Senior Brother Hyeongi is looking for you."
"The Sect Leader is?"
"...Go to the Secret Vault."
A flinch. Everyone was horrified. There was only one meaning to being summoned to Wudang's Secret Vault, a place only the Sect Leader could enter.
"......."
Taoist Hyeoncheol closed his eyes, head bowed for a long moment. At the very moment his long-cherished wish was fulfilled, he felt sincere gratitude to his junior brothers who had turned a blind eye despite knowing his own crooked actions.
"Everyone, follow me. Only the Sect Leader may enter the Secret Vault, but it is acceptable for the elders to observe from behind."
"Pardon? But that is against the rules—"
"The Sect Leader permitted it. Rather, bear witness—the Sect Leader's final radiance."
"......!!"
The Wudang Sect elders immediately rose from their seats and rushed toward the Secret Vault. Taoist Hyeoncheol, at the head of the elders, felt his hands and feet tremble the moment he arrived before the Secret Vault.
"I greet my martial uncles."
"Taiji Flower...!!"
A woman he had never seen before stood before the Secret Vault. But based on her overwhelming elegance and beauty, the elders immediately realized who she was.
"Your face...?"
"It was a Human Skin Mask. I was told that making my face too ugly would only draw suspicion, and now that I am the White Path's Number One Flower, I can confidently reveal my face."
"H-huh...."
The elders sighed as Taiji Flower put the Human Skin Mask back on.
"Martial Uncle Hyeongi is waiting inside."
"......."
Step, step.
Taoist Hyeoncheol bowed deeply to the white-haired old man sitting in Full Lotus Position inside the Secret Vault.
"Sect Leader, Hyeon-cheol has come."
"......This place is where Wudang's history sleeps. Yet not all history exists within."
Clang! The Jabo Sword, the symbol of the Wudang Sect Leader, began to rise high into the air. Taiji Flower was not using it—then who was? The answer was blindingly obvious.
"Senior Brother...!"
"The predecessor hoped that no martial art's lineage would ever be severed. So I have been here, transcribing the martial art manuals anew, just as you thought. Half a year. It proved longer than I thought...."
The Secret Vault was piled high with newly organized books. And before Taoist Hyeoncheol lay a sword manual written with four characters.
"Taiji Wisdom Sword!"
"If a martial art is to be lost as a single-line succession, then it is the will of the inheritor that it be left as a manual so that whoever can learn it shall learn it. Give thanks to Taiji Flower."
"Hrk...!!"
How could the one who restored a lost legendary martial art not be considered a member of Wudang? Taoist Hyeoncheol struck his head on the ground and cried out.
"I will cherish and protect her as if she were my own daughter, my own disciple!"
"...Good. The predecessor was also greatly worried before she departed."
Taoist Hyeongi slowly raised his body. The yin and yang energy flowing into the Jabo Sword began to crack its purple shell.
"!!"
There was a sword within the sword. The ink-black blade drawn upward from the void was sharper and more beautiful than even the Jabo Sword.
"From now on, the symbol of the Sect Leader is not some Jabo Sword, nor is it martial robes. One who seeks to become Sect Leader...."
Clang! The ink-black sword began to unfold Taiji. The Sect Leader, standing still, swung the sword through his will alone, and tears streamed down Taoist Hyeoncheol's face at the path of the blade flowing gracefully through the air as if painting with a brush.
Taiji.
The Taiji Taoist Hyeongi created by burning his final flame was more perfect than any Taiji Taoist Hyeoncheol had ever seen in his life. Taoist Hyeongi slowly approached Taoist Hyeoncheol, knelt on one knee, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I entrust Wudang's future to you, Sect Leader."
"Senior Brother!!"
Wooosh.
Something like smoke slipped away from Taoist Hyeongi's body. The hand placed on his shoulder felt both unbearably light and unbearably heavy, and Taoist Hyeoncheol gave himself over to weeping.
Hyeongi (玄記), Man Sa-yong.
Ascension.
* * *
"The Wudang Sect Leader has ascended."
At the news brought by the Bandit Demon, the other two demonic practitioners flinched.
"The Sect Leader? Not that damned Lust Demon bastard?"
"It is definitely the Sect Leader. Hyeongi Man Sa-yong, the one with ties of gratitude and enmity to the Sword Demon. He has ascended, and Taoist Hyeoncheol, Jung-geom has assumed the position of Sect Leader."
"Soon, a grand funeral will be held across all of Hubei Province."
It was a good death, if anything. He had burned the last of his will to live until the Yongbong Assembly ended and then let go of the thread of life he had been clinging to once the Assembly drew to a close.
"Tsk, if only that Lust Demon Taoist bastard had ascended instead."
"How could one so dominated by the Five Desires and Seven Emotions of the mundane world ever achieve ascension?"
The Gwi-cheon Three Demons cursed the Lust Demon who had stolen their names and packed their belongings. They had held a small hope that with the sudden appearance of demonic practitioners, the Heavenly Demon might save them, but following the Lust Demon's words, the Heavenly Demon ordered them to obey the Lust Demon's commands.
"Damn it, let's go find it already! That Balrocho or whatever it is!"
"Heavenly Horse's Tear. Does it mean the tears of a horse that flies through the sky...?"
"Heh heh, we are all in the same boat, aren't we?"
Having inherited the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, they worried about the future that would inevitably crash upon them one day. After finishing their preparations, the three demons exchanged a formal bow with clasped hands.
"Let's go."
"Of course. This mission has a deadline anyway, doesn't it? Even if we fail, we can return without any burden. Besides, from the start, the Heavenly Demon did not exactly seem to expect our success."
"If we fail, she will likely hold the Lust Demon responsible and interrogate him under that pretext. She'll use it as an excuse to fight him properly once. ...Heh heh heh, we can only hope he gets crushed."
The three demons turned to leave. Oddly, the eyes of the women gathered at the inn seemed to keep following them, and the three felt oddly pleased.
"Ahem, I suppose we've been polished up quite nicely, haven't we?"
"Old man, don't get your hopes up. They've all fallen for this face of mine."
"What nonsense! It is this body's alluring beard that they cannot take their eyes off of."
The Bandit Demon and the Illusion Demon bickered with each other as they scanned the surroundings. The women's startled gazes were directed not at the Bandit Demon or the Illusion Demon, but at the Blade Demon, who had just taken off his bamboo hat and was fanning himself with his hand.
"Whew, it's hot. Let's buy a fan on the way there."
"......."
"......."
The sunlight glinting off the Blade Demon's head pointed eastward.
* * *
"......."
The Little Princess gazed at the sun rising in the east, enjoying the morning sunlight. As the warm rays filled her whole body with vitality, she finished grooming herself and completed her preparations to depart—work she had begun at dawn.
Heukdo Je-il-hwa. The Number One Flower of the Black Path.
Although she had not been seated among the Six Phoenixes, she had obtained a title far more valuable. If Ma-hwa (Devil Flower), who secretly obsesses over titles, found out, she would surely gnash her teeth and tremble with rage.
"Hmph."
Now what should she do? The Little Princess's mind suddenly went blank, consumed with thought.
Her own supporters, the Flying Heaven Three Demons, had left by the Heavenly Demon's command to search for Balrocho. She was worried about pointlessly losing three of her own people, but Balrocho was a spirit medicine she could not give up on—a shared concern of all who trained in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
"What should I do now...?"
The distance between Xinjiang, where the Demonic Cult was, and Hubei Province was incredibly far. Even though the Cult received an invitation and ran at a full pace, they had arrived only a day before the document deadline, meaning if one traveled leisurely, it was a distance that would take at least over a month.
'Will the Eldest Son stay still?'
Absolutely not.
The Eldest Son would be lurking outside Hubei Province, eyeing every opportunity to strike. He would bring even the Earth Qilin Three Demons to try and assassinate her, yet staying inside Hubei Province also posed many problems of its own.
'When will he come?'
There was only one person who could break through this situation. Unless she had a new guardian to replace the three demons and protect her, another existence was needed to fill their vacancy.
"Oh dear. I didn't expect you would already be ready to leave."
"......!! You!"
The Little Princess recoiled in surprise at the sight of the young man stepping precisely along the safe path of the Bewitching Escape Nine Palace Formation. The young man playfully tossed and caught a single medicinal pill in his hand as he stood before the Little Princess.
"This is somewhat awkward. The Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill that the Little Princess herself bought with her body has become useless, after all."
"......Because we fought to a draw, that is not the case."
"Hmph. But did the Little Princess not buy this Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill? It has become useless to Taiji Flower, so the only way to settle the payment is for me to follow you."
The Little Princess looked the young man up and down, her mind swirling with thought for a long moment. Dressed in white martial robes, he was filled with a strange aura, almost like that of an Immortal.
"I knew there was something about you. You never once called the Divine Doctor your master. I had a feeling you knew the Demonic Cult's internal situation strangely well. Are you the one who caused the Flying Heaven Three Demons to leave?"
"That is correct. Now, I am Bi-cheon (飛天)."
"...It's a pleasure to meet you. However, the fact that you are an existence of the Demonic Cult—"
"Will this suffice?"
Flash! A crimson glare blazed to life in the eyes of the young man who called himself Bi-cheon. The Little Princess bit her lip at the pure, surging Demonic Energy emanating from him.
He was an existence possessing martial power on par with the Heavenly Demon—no, perhaps even surpassing it. Who in the world was this man?
"...Allow me to formally introduce myself again. I am the Little Princess of the Demonic Cult, and my name is—"
"Lee Si-a (李施娥). How could I possibly not know your name?"
"......How do you know a name that is unknown to all but the Ten Demons?"
Faced with the Little Princess Lee Si-a's pointed question, the young man smiled brightly and raised his hand.
"The position called No Demon (無魔) is the demon that does not exist. The fact that there is no position also means that anyone can occupy it. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am the one who will protect you: the Lust Demon (色魔)."
"...I knew there was a reason you coveted women's bodies so much. Weren't you also hiding a woman under the desk that day?"
"Heh heh, you noticed? Yes. Every single flower of the White Path was beautiful. So now I intend to pluck the Number One Flower of the Black Path...."
"If you were to violate me by force right now, I would be utterly helpless and forced to yield."
Lee Si-a sighed and lifted her head. Red light flickered through the strands of her disheveled hair.
"Try it, as much as you like. You may have my body, but you can never have my heart."
"You gravely misunderstand. How could I trample upon you when I have received such favor from you?"
The young man walked up before Lee Si-a and knelt on one knee. Then, taking her left hand, he pressed his lips to her ring finger.
"If I win your heart, your body will naturally follow. Look forward to it. In this lifetime, I will work for you. I will push you up to the seat of supremacy you so desire."
"...Just who in the world are you?"
"Me? Well, if I must put it into words...."
The young man rose to his feet, facing Lee Si-a with a radiant smile.
"Sky-Soaring Lust Demon (飛天色魔). I am the one who will send you soaring into that sky."