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"This is a disaster."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess was deeply alarmed by the sword inside the box.
"When was this switched?"
The sword in the box had been replaced. The Reclining Dragon Sword, which should have been resting silently within, was now a standard iron sword used by Emei Sect disciples. Turning the blade this way and that, she confirmed the small inscription carved into the steel.
"......No. Impossible."
This was a disciple she had personally raised, no one else. No matter how much demonic allure the Reclining Dragon Sword possessed to beguile the human spirit, such temptation was precisely the evil that a martial artist of Emei must overcome and endure.
'Why would Jeongja?'
The sword swapped for the Reclining Dragon Sword belonged to her disciple, Abbess Jeongja. The replacement was so clumsy and brazenly obvious that the Lust-Exorcising Abbess suspected Abbess Jeongja was not the culprit.
The Reclining Dragon Sword already had a golden dragon rampant upon its hilt. Swapping it for a sword etched with the name 'Jeongja' was a trick even a child wouldn't attempt.
"Master, it's Jeongjo."
"Enter."
Abbess Jeongjo, the senior disciple, walked in from outside with heavy steps. Though reason insisted it was impossible, there was one reason the Abbess could not dismiss her suspicion.
"Where is Jeongja?"
"She hasn't been seen since last night."
Crash! The Lust-Exorcising Abbess clenched her fist and slammed the desk. Her fist left a deep dent in the wood, which was as dark and fine as ebony.
"Did she shoot up into the sky or sink into the earth! You share a room—how do you not know where she went!"
"I-I apologize. After she said she was going to relieve herself last night, she never returned. When I awoke in the morning and she still hadn't come back, I immediately informed you, Master...."
"......Namu Amitabha."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess suppressed her rising fury by chanting a sutra. She then reflected, more disillusioned by her own suspicion of her disciple than the disappearance itself, and soothed her stomach, which felt ready to turn upside down.
"...Yes, I am sorry. Jeongjo, it seems I too was beguiled by the Reclining Dragon Sword."
"Not at all, Master."
"Thank you for understanding. ...But the rest of the world will not."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess laid Jeongja's sword on the desk.
"Emei has lost the Reclining Dragon Sword. Abbess Jeongja is missing. ...No matter how one looks at it, it appears Abbess Jeongja stole the Reclining Dragon Sword and ran."
"Master, Jeongja isn't that kind of person!"
"I know. I wish to believe in Jeongja too. But will the people of the Martial World believe her? That someone swapped the sword and vanished right under the nose of the Emei Sect Leader?"
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess collapsed heavily into her chair.
"The master of the Dragon Emperor Sword will surely come to Emei soon. And they will undoubtedly trigger a Blood Calamity. A master who struck down the Qingcheng Sect Leader in a single blow is coming. In that case... even if our senior elders step forward, victory may be impossible."
How had things come to this? The Lust-Exorcising Abbess clutched her head.
"U-um, Master. That, well...."
"Do you have some idea?"
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess asked with the desperation of someone grasping at straws. Jeongjo hesitated, but finally opened her mouth under her master's earnest gaze.
"...The day Doctor Mubung visited. Did you, by any chance, briefly leave the Sect Leader's office?"
"!!! How—how do you know that?!"
"That day, the guard warrior mentioned something. When he was asked where the two of you had gone and why he was left alone, he said he'd wondered if there was any need to guard when the doctor was with the Sect Leader...."
"Th-that is not the issue! I merely received a consultation regarding my menstruation!"
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess snapped at Jeongjo, who flushed at the unexpected news of her master's health and lowered her head.
"The idea that the sword was switched while I was being examined, without my notice, is absurd! Even more so, the swap with Jeongja's sword is absolute nonsense! Think about it. For all of this to align, doesn't it mean the doctor, the guard warrior, and Jeongja must have conspired together?"
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess rejected two possibilities.
One, that Saek-bung aided in stealing the Reclining Dragon Sword. And two, even if that were the case, it was impossible to slip past her own Qi Sense and steal it.
"Did you not see it too? The moment you grasp the sword, a golden dragon rears its head. The ringing from that sword cannot be hidden."
No matter how consumed by lust she may have been, she would have certainly perceived a sword being swapped.
The Reclining Dragon Sword would have let out a resonant roar from the dragon the instant anyone seized it. Who could suppress a dragon's aura that even the Lust-Exorcising Abbess herself could not restrain?
Yes, it was impossible unless it was the one called the master of the Dragon Emperor Sword.
"Th-then what do we do?"
"...When Geomdam arrives, there is no choice but to tell the truth."
Though she wasn't sure if the other side would believe it. The Lust-Exorcising Abbess swallowed hard and lifted her head.
"If he truly is the Lecherous Villain rumored to abduct and violate women... I will deal with him personally."
"Master!"
"This matter is my responsibility. Something I must bear."
"Master...!!"
Tears streamed from Abbess Jeongjo's eyes.
Crash!
The door was flung open violently. The Lust-Exorcising Abbess jumped in shock at the woman who had come running, breathless.
"Abbess Myeolmang? What reason brings you here so suddenly...?"
"We found Jeongja's location, Sect Leader!!"
"What!"
"Notices have been posted all over Chengdu!"
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess unfolded the notice Abbess Myeolmang brought. Reading it with trembling eyes, she slumped back dejectedly.
"Just when...?"
- If you want Jeongja, come to the altar!
The author of the message, scrawled in flamboyant handwriting, was Geomdam.
* * *
Qingcheng, and Emei.
Disciples from two sects had been abducted. Geomdam, the culprit who kidnapped Abbess Jeongja, did not hide his involvement, and the Emei Sect admitted that the Reclining Dragon Sword had vanished along with her.
Disciples from two sects of the Nine Sects and One Gang had been kidnapped.
Moreover, one of the Eight Great Families had been attacked as well.
Could the laws of the martial world hold if they remained still? No.
"From this moment, I declare Geomdam, master of the Dragon Emperor Sword, a Sichuan Public Enemy."
Murim Alliance, Sichuan Branch.
"Meddling with the Twin Old Eagle Swords was a mistake, but Geomdam's methods in trying to retrieve them were clearly excessive."
Having gathered representatives of each sect in Chengdu, Jegal Gil surveyed their faces.
"Ahem, if he's part of the Unorthodox Faction, it can't be helped."
"Let's make him a public enemy, but refrain from killing. That is, if he hasn't committed a capital offense."
Sichuan Tang Clan. They mobilized dozens of Poison Arts experts, including the Clan Head, Crow Chaos Finger Disease Dang O-dok.
Though a reluctance to pursue Geomdam, now branded a Sichuan Public Enemy, to the death was palpable, the presence of the rarely-seen Dok-gwi Dang Sa-rim showed the Tang Clan was bringing terrifying force to bear.
"The Emei Sect cannot forgive him."
The Lust-Exorcising Abbess was seething, making no effort to hide her fury, a match for her epithet. Beside her stood women with deeply lined faces—the elders of Emei Sect had also stepped forward.
"When a disciple of Emei has been kidnapped, we cannot simply sit in a back room chanting sutras."
"Strategist, give the word whenever you're ready. The Jade Maiden Sword will take Geomdam's head."
The elders' morale was grim and fierce over the abduction of a sect disciple.
"We feel the same."
The Vice Sect Leader of Qingcheng, Byeok Jin-ja, rose and offered a martial salute.
"Qingcheng will designate Geomdam as the sect's greatest foe. Should he be executed, it is only right that our Qingcheng perform the deed."
Qingcheng and Geomdam had already crossed a river of no return. Qingcheng's will to subjugate Geomdam was so strong that all Twelve Elders besides the Sect Leader had come.
"...Good. If we combine our strength, we can defeat even Geomdam."
"But Strategist, isn't it a little... insufficient?"
At Dok-gwi's words, the assembly flared up but could not refute him.
"Even that bastard Byeok Bak-ja lost in a single exchange. Ashamed as I am to say it, I too was defeated by him. Worse, inside the Fire Bone Mountain Rain Formation."
"Th-that's...!!"
The two strongest martial artists actively serving in Sichuan had each been beaten once. But Jegal Gil covered his lower face with his fan and smiled.
"Heh, knowing this, I brought someone with me."
"Excuse me, heroes of the martial world."
At the stately voice, the martial artists sprang to their feet. They had heard he was present, but never predicted the man would stand before them here.
"Geomdam is one who brazenly beguiles the people with the golden dragon, the revered symbol of that personage. Therefore... the Imperial Guard is also viewing this matter with gravity."
"It can't be!!"
"Though my power is meager, I, the Divine Spear, shall render my assistance."
A moment later.
The Geomdam Subjugation Force, numbering over a hundred strong and teeming with experts ranging from first-rate martial artists to one counted among the Ten Great Masters of the World, streamed out of Chengdu's north gate.
* * *
The altar where the Twin Old Eagle Swords were embedded.
After placing the two rusted iron swords on the altar, aided by the surge of energy that someone had unleashed, we laid the Emei woman we had brought from Mount Emei neatly upon the stone.
"Ugh, exhausting. My jaw aches from someone squeezing it with her thighs like she wanted to kill my face."
"Isn't it because you sucked with your tongue as if you'd die if you didn't drink?"
"And yet you enjoyed it the most."
"True. Ask me again next time, Bi-cheon. I am always ready."
Lee Si-a smiled brightly at me, lifting the hem of her robe left and right. Thanks to my diligent efforts while burying my face between her thighs back at the lodge, her undergarments were still damp.
"Keep provoking me like that and I might truly pounce."
"Oh my, you're so confident? Are you sure I've already given you my heart? You said you wouldn't take my body before winning my heart, after all."
"It's obvious. No woman in this world takes me inside and doesn't fall for me."
"How truly arrogant."
Lee Si-a rebuked me, but didn't deny it. After straightening her robe, she approached the Emei woman, Abbess Jeongja, lying on the altar.
"Even if we've put up notices, do you think the Emei Sect will figure it out?"
"They will. Even if they don't deduce it, they'll have no choice but to come here in the end."
We had abducted one female disciple each from Qingcheng and Emei and fled to the altar. Public perception of Geomdam was plummeting, but one of them didn't even exist, and I hadn't kidnapped the other to kill her.
"This place will become a battlefield soon. Emei Sect, unable to handle me alone, will seek aid, and the Murim Alliance's strategist will form a tripartite alliance against Geomdam. I'll face them all at once."
Qingcheng, Emei, and the Tang Clan. If other minor sects join them, the force will be staggering. Practically the entire White Path of Sichuan will gather to plot against Geomdam.
"I will meet them outside the cave. Then all you have to do is lie here and wait. Someone will certainly come to verify these swords."
"And you're certain it's the Flame Demon?"
"Of course. Officially, there are only three people who know 'two' ways to reach the altar. The young master of the Tang Clan who found the treasure map, the Azure Heaven New Dragon who took the Phoenix Chick Sword, and Abbess Jeongja who took the Reclining Dragon Sword. I will block those three from entering from above."
Just as I stood in the center of the Fire Bone Mountain Rain Formation and blocked the path to the Secret Vault, I would fight off any beings who tried to move against me, no matter who.
I will let no one pass through the 'Main Gate'.
"Of course, unofficially, there's someone who knows the location. The one who placed the treasure map there to begin with—Bandit Demon."
"But he is not in Sichuan now. He departed for the East."
"That's right. Bandit Demon would never tell anyone about such a thing, so we can naturally rule him out."
Lee Si-a and I exchanged nods, facing each other.
"Someone who knows about the treasure map, which no one else should."
"Someone who knows this and can manipulate the situation from behind."
"Someone who will come to retrieve the Twin Old Eagle Swords, exploiting the chaos."
"......Someone who uses an 'exit' that no one would know unless they'd passed through it personally to enter the altar."
Screeeech.
"Flame Demon."
We each seized a rusted iron sword and precisely thrust them into the grooves carved at 'Ee' and 'Reung'. Simultaneously, a 'click' echoed from the wall opposite our altar.
"So while Geomdam blocks the entrance, there's someone who uses an exit they could only know by entering directly?"
"Ten out of ten, it's the Flame Demon."
While I would fight one-against-many on the surface, in the underground altar, the Little Princess would defeat the Flame Demon in a one-on-one duel.
"Little Princess. Do you know the saying, 'be prepared and you shall have no regrets'?"
"Of course."
We need to increase our Inner Energy before the fight. As luck would have it, a vessel filled with intact inner energy—a spirit medicine, more or less—lies before us.
"......."
If this were Sagong Hee, she would have been jealous of Abbess Jeongja for receiving my Absorption of Yin to Nourish Yang, or she'd have begged me to ravish her instead.
What about Lee Si-a, then?
"Well then...."
"Pfft."
As I hinted toward the altar, Lee Si-a smirked at me and tore Abbess Jeongja's clothes open with her hands.
"Huh."
Then, gripping the undergarments with both hands, she ripped them off and seized Abbess Jeongja's legs, spreading them apart.
"Sex Demon, this is an order. Absorb this woman's yin energy to nourish your yang without delay. Then, convert it into Yang Energy and transfer it to me."
"...Hoooh."
Mounting Abbess Jeongja, who was unconscious under the Soul-Hooking Technique, Lee Si-a crouched over her like a cat.
I never expected this development. It was an utterly unimaginable act.
"I will have a front-row seat to watch you plunder Inner Energy for my sake. Heh heh."
"You're telling me you'll watch, right before your eyes, while I do it with another woman?"
"Heh, heheh."
Propping her chin on her interlocked fingers resting on Abbess Jeongja's lower abdomen, Lee Si-a pointed her extended index finger down at Abbess Jeongja's petals.
"Doing it with another woman is permissible, but pledging loyalty to another—that I will not forgive. Plow her. And transfer this woman's Inner Energy to me."
At the Heavenly Demon's command to ravish flower petals never once touched by a man, my lower body grew painfully stiff.
"...Heh heh, you really are a peculiar person."
"Oh my. Is it because it's me that you allow this? Ah...."
Lee Si-a licked up the clear, viscous fluid beading at the tip of my phallus.
"This is mine."
"......."
A translucent thread stretched between her red lips and the glans. I grabbed Abbess Jeongja's thighs and set my stance atop the altar.
Squelch.
"Ah, right. Since her mind is suppressed by the Soul-Hooking Technique now, you don't have to do it secretly like you did during the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, you know?"
"...You knew?"
"Oh dear."
Lee Si-a wrapped her hand around my shaft. Oddly, her lips were smiling, but her eyes weren't.
"I just tossed that out there and it hit the mark. You Sex Demon. From now on, since I'll be assisting you with this free-riding arrangement, shouldn't you be giving me my cut?"
"......Looks like I'm in for a tightly leashed life."
"Heh heh. Because you are my Sex Demon, after all."
With half of my length driven inside Abbess Jeongja, I enjoyed Lee Si-a's Heavenly Demon Manual Stimulation Technique on the other half.