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The user of the Heavenly Dragon Emperor Sword, the Sword Emperor, is one of the Ten Great Masters of the World.
In the future, if the Heavenly Demon and the Sword Emperor fought, the Heavenly Demon would win ten times out of ten, but in a fight between me and the Little Princess, ten out of ten times I—the Sword Emperor wielding the Heavenly Dragon Emperor Sword—would win.
That's only natural. The Sword Emperor is a mid-Profound Realm master, while the Little Princess is still at the mid-Peak Realm. There is a gap she simply cannot overcome, and even with all the time in the world, she would still need a long while to catch up to the Sword Emperor's level.
One day she will catch up. After all, in my memory, the Sword Emperor had stagnated, while the Little Princess will keep growing without end.
"Little Princess. I am ready at any time."
I flared my robes and spread both arms wide. The two swords I had levitated with the Sword Control Art plunged into the ground, and I placed the twin blades, shimmering with brilliant golden light, before me.
One side a Crouching Dragon, the other a Phoenix. The Little Princess swallowed hard at the sight of the energy currents, as if they were the very symbol of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
"One day, you will become a powerhouse who surpasses even my current self. But not today."
"Th-this...!!"
"Strive harder. Dedicate yourself further. Then one day..."
I raised the two swords toward the heavens. My eyes reflected on the blades gleamed crimson, and the moment the Little Princess saw them, she lost all will to fight.
"You will be able to touch the sky."
A realm the young Heavenly Demon has yet to even glimpse. Beyond the Sword Emperor's full power, I let her steal a look at her own future.
"Heavenly Demon Dragon Emperor Sword."
Infusing the internal energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, I unleashed a slashing strike forward. The Little Princess, her fighting spirit shattered, collapsed to her knees as the strength left her legs. The slash that flew past her on both sides cleaved the hill at her back in two.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The cliff crumbled. The Bewildering Marker Nine Palaces Formation began to collapse feebly, and I withdrew my internal energy and lifted the Little Princess onto my back.
"With this, you might as well be dead, so I'll carry you to your quarters."
"......."
I held the Little Princess on my back and gripped her bottom firmly with my hands. It wasn't the wide, childbirth-ready type, but soft and pliable enough to make me constantly want to squeeze and play with it.
"Just who are you...?"
"Curious about my identity?"
I was certain. The Little Princess, who revered power above all else, would see me anew after that single strike. I instantly sensed the shift in her gaze—hostility and tension now mingled with 'curiosity' about my very existence.
"I am called the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon."
"Who doesn't know that?"
"Heh heh, but only now has it become complete."
Only after the Little Princess called my name did I truly become a Sex Demon. The title of Ma among the Ten Demons is, by tradition, personally bestowed by the Heavenly Demon, and I had finally received the epithet 'Lust Demon' from the Heavenly Demon.
When? When I first touched her butt. She called me a Lust Demon, and I became a real Sex Demon.
Not just a Sex Demon who merely lusts after women, but a man who serves the Heavenly Demon as one of the Demonic Cult's Guardian Protectors.
'And the Heavenly Demon's husband, too.'
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"This and that."
I turned my head and gazed at the future Heavenly Demon with sultry eyes. She recoiled in disgust and pulled her head back, but that was the limit of her resistance. The side effects of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art crushed her with deep exhaustion, leaving the Little Princess completely unable to move a single limb.
'To think the next Heavenly Demon would appear in such a state.'
Indeed.
Little Princess Lee Si-a.
As befitting the woman who took my virginity, she overcame all the Eldest Prince's schemes and ascended to the position of Heavenly Demon.
Although she was framed by the Eldest Prince's machinations and took the blame for all his evil deeds, becoming the leader who led the Demonic Cult in the Great Righteous-Demonic War, she endured the attacks of countless orthodox martial artists and survived to the very end, sustaining the cult.
—The defeated have no say. It was a rather enjoyable life! But... if I'm going to die drained of energy like this anyway... at least let me enjoy the end...
"Eep?!"
The Little Princess started in surprise. Because I had unconsciously brought a hand up to touch my lips, she panicked, thinking she might fall, and hugged me tightly.
"I nearly fell!!"
"......."
Those very lips, which had still sought pleasure even at the moment of death—though much younger now—were now throwing a tantrum at my face. I stared at her for a long moment, then barely managed to turn away.
'Calm yourself. The one who makes the first move loses.'
I must make her kiss me of her own accord, make her spread her legs of her own accord, make her pounce on me of her own accord. Unless I uncover the one condition that makes the Little Princess recoil from me, I still cannot embrace her.
"...The weather is cold. Let's go back quickly. We'll wash up, and then tonight I'll go gather information."
"Information? Where...?"
"The place that supposedly got its hands on the treasure map."
Crunch, crunch.
I walked along the snowy path, spreading my Yang Energy around the Little Princess.
"The Sichuan Tang Clan."
* * *
"Damn it, you still haven't found it?"
"P-please calm yourself, Uncle. Word will come soon."
A middle-aged man with a waxed mustache was raging, venomous snakes of every color coiled around his body. The thick energy radiating from him kept even the family members from daring to approach.
"There's no way a treasure map just appeared in the family vault! And a detailed map that would let those bastards from Emei and Qingcheng find a precious sword just by looking at it!"
"Geonmyeon is assiduously searching his memory! Please, calm your anger."
"Shut up! Simply searching memories won't do—we must find out when and who placed it there!!"
At the middle-aged man's bellow, the family members all scrambled out. Only the middle-aged man and a man in grey martial robes who looked about the same age remained.
"Clan Head, what do you think?"
"I don't believe Geonmyeon is lying. But Elder Brother, we've been in and out of the secret vault since we were young, haven't we? If such an item had been there, we would have found it long ago."
"That's right. If we were going to notice, we would have noticed long ago. The problem is that there are signs the vault door was opened in a way 'only known to family members'."
The Clan Head's expression hardened. He might not have expected the older man to broach the subject, but the issue he raised was a grave matter that was fueling resentment between them in real time.
"Aside from myself, the Clan Head, and you, no one knows the safe path through the Fire Bone Mountain Rain Formation. Teaching it to Geonmyeon was my painful mistake. But who among us stepped precisely along that safe path to get in?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"...It wasn't you?"
"I couldn't get in that cleanly—not so neatly that I wouldn't leave any trace. And there's no way to evade the Double Suffering Eye Snake's gaze; doesn't that beast attack anyone who isn't a blood member of the Sichuan Tang Clan? How many people could enter the vault without waking the serpent?"
The conversation circled back to its starting point. There had been an intruder, and the treasure map was left in the vault, yet the one who had placed it there was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn it, who could it be? It's not like a ghost passed through."
"...Could it be that child—"
"Gah! Don't even mention that bastard! He is no longer a member of the Tang Clan!"
"...I apologize. When you mentioned a ghost, it simply came to mind."
The middle-aged man and the Clan Head sighed at the same time. The sigh didn't offer an answer, but letting this frustration stew was maddening.
"Has there been any other word from the Hao Sect?"
"They received high-grade information and proposed a trade for Dream Phantom Mountain."
"Cheeky bastards, daring to covet Dok-gwi's Dream Phantom Mountain?"
The moment the middle-aged man, Dok-gwi (Poison Ghost), emitted a menacing aura, every snake around him opened its mouth wide in threat. The Clan Head gulped and handed over the message that had come from the Hao Sect.
"So instead, we traded with something else. This is that high-grade information."
"Oh ho, as expected of the Clan Head. Let's see... 'A descendant of Emperor Shaolie, presumed to be the owner of the Twin Old Eagle Swords, seems to have appeared'? What nonsense is this?"
"The movements of Qingcheng and Emei are also unusual. They're secretly dispatching warriors, as though something is stirring."
"Hm... is that so? Man or woman? It's not written here."
"According to the information passed to 'that child', it says it's a man."
Dok-gwi's expression twisted viciously once more.
"Damn, if only the family had one more young woman!"
"Nothing can be done. Isn't Yejin still a green-born infant?"
"Among the collateral branch children, there's no suitable one... damn."
Dok-gwi clawed at his head in irritation.
"Send a communication to Seo-hui. Although she left the family and threw herself into the Hao Sect, remind her that the blood flowing in her body is that of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"Understood. But will the Hao Sect Leader keep quiet?"
"The Hao Sect Leader? That arrogant wench dared turn a child of the Sichuan Tang Clan into a seller of smiles—she ought to know her place. How impudent."
"........"
The Clan Head could say nothing. If it were revealed that a collateral-branch woman had left the Sichuan Tang Clan for the Hao Sect, it would certainly disgrace the family. Thus, the moment she departed, she was removed from the family register and her name was entered in the Courtesan Register.
"Elder Brother, that child simply pursued lust over poison."
"I know. She was a child who should never have been born into the Tang Clan in the first place. Tsk, tsk, collateral branches are always so disgraceful. That bastard too... ahem."
Dok-gwi cleared his throat and glanced at the Clan Head.
"Anyway, investigate further. If necessary, we must bring him in, even as a son-in-law taken into the family. ...That's it! Summon Geumhwa!"
"What? Elder Brother, that's...!"
"Hurry!"
Madness gleamed in Dok-gwi's eyes.
"If we complete the Poison Arts based on Emperor Shaolie's martial arts, our Sichuan Tang Clan can truly become the greatest in Sichuan—no, the greatest family in the entire Murim once more!!"
* * *
Emperor Shaolie's twin swords are seeking their master.
People began scouring the area around Chengdu with burning eyes, searching for the 'master'. The one they sought had only three distinguishing features.
"Might your family name be Yu?"
"Y-yu? Nay, it ain't."
If he carried the blood of the Han imperial line, he would certainly bear the surname Yu (劉). And so, people went looking for the many Yus in Chengdu.
Next characteristic.
"Are your earlobes long enough to reach your shoulders?"
"Nah, where would you find someone like that?"
"Well, true enough... There he is!!"
After so many years, even Emperor Shaolie's long ears would have shrunk. One by one, people whose ears looked larger than a thumbprint fell victim to questioning.
The final characteristic.
"Surely they will come to retrieve the Twin Old Eagle Swords! So we simply need to wait in front of Qingcheng and Emei Sect until someone with real presence appears!"
Based on the theory that each of the Twin Old Eagle Swords seeks its master, the master himself was expected to come for them. This behavior was distinct from surname or physical traits, but it was an action the owner would surely take.
"Good grief. Why did I have to come all the way here...?"
A middle-aged man entering the center of Chengdu fanned himself with his hand and removed his white headwrap.
"It's already chaos, utter chaos."
The man clicked his tongue at the sight of fighters from three factions roaming everywhere. The warriors of the Tang Clan, Emei, and Qingcheng were glaring at one another while busily searching for people.
In the worst case, it could erupt into a fierce battle among the three sects. The faction that must step forward at such a time is the Murim Alliance.
"I didn't become a strategist for this. Tsk."
The middle-aged man, the strategist of the Murim Alliance, sighed and walked into the city. Although he had rushed from the Murim Alliance to Sichuan in a single stride, time had already passed and the situation was rapidly worsening.
"Let's see..."
"Halt. You do not appear to be an ordinary person."
A middle-aged man in robes of mixed green and purple approached the strategist. Narrowing his eyes, he carefully studied the strategist's face, then broke into a broad grin and clasped his hands in a martial salute.
"Strategist! I don't know how long it's been since I last saw you at the Alliance!!"
"Haha, it has been half a year, Clan Head."
"Could it be that this commotion has brought you all the way here to Sichuan?"
"That's right. I had planned to send a subordinate, but the Alliance Leader personally chose me, so..."
The strategist stroked his chin beard and gave a troubled smile. The Tang Clan Head laughed heartily and pointed toward the Tang Clan estate.
"Well, naturally. Didn't Marquis Wu, the founder of the Jegal Clan, stand beside Emperor Shaolie! Hahaha!"
"......Haa."
The Murim Alliance's strategist, Jegal Gil, tucked his white feather fan into his robes under the stirring gazes from around him.