Chapter 325
Chapter 325
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 325
>Chapter Title: Podalrab Palace (5)
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Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang's sudden question only deepened Il-mok's suspicions.
‘…Do I really need to scout out a position in Ma-a Ryeong?’
It felt eerily similar to the old men who had been in that place, now turned into Peach Blossom Ridge.
But he couldn't say that outright.
“…Depending on how you interpret it, it could sound quite irreverent, Lord Hyeok-ryeon.”
“Hmm. I commend your caution, but that's needless worry. Didn't I clearly say ‘next generation’?”
“With Master still among us, isn't discussing the next generation in itself irreverent?”
“Do you truly believe that? It seems you don't know your master, the Supreme One, as well as you think. The Heavenly Demon looks at the meaning behind words, not the words themselves. And more than anyone, he worries about the Divine Cult's future.”
If he said no here, the Heavenly Demon would come off as petty and unconcerned with the future.
“You're right that we should think about the future, but with Master still in his prime, this doesn't seem like the time to discuss it.”
Il-mok tried to dodge the conversation again, but Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang simply stared at him steadily.
Showing no intention of letting it slide.
Il-mok met that gaze for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.
“Haa. If it's about the next Cult Leader, doesn't Eldest Senior Brother fit the bill?”
“Hmm. In this lord's view, your vessel seems larger than the eldest young master's.”
It was a blatantly direct statement.
“I appreciate the high regard, but isn't it the Divine Cult's law that the strongest becomes Cult Leader? I'm still no match for Eldest Senior Brother.”
“Who knows what a few years might bring? In my eyes, you seem more than capable in just a few years.”
Il-mok couldn't fathom it. Why this senile old man kept pushing him toward the Cult Leader position.
And contrary to Il-mok's thoughts, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang wasn't senile at all.
This journey had simply confirmed it. Among the experts in the Divine Cult who might aim for the Cult Leader seat, the youngest young master possessed the greatest vessel.
Faced with the old man's persistence, Il-mok half-opened up honestly.
“I'm not the vessel to lead as Cult Leader, nor do I have any desire to become one. Helping from behind Eldest Senior Brother like now is more than enough for me.”
He had no taste for the position of heading a group and bearing responsibility for everyone.
Unless it was a leader's spot where he could lounging around doing nothing.
That was the exact position Il-mok wanted.
The Divine Cult's second-in-command. A place where he could casually offer Eldest Senior Brother a word of advice here and there, then hole up somewhere in the main headquarters and leisurely waste away his days.
At Il-mok's polite refusal, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang furrowed his brow.
“Do you know what this is? For the most outstanding person not to become leader—that too is negligence and a sin.”
“…What standard defines ‘most outstanding’? In my view, Eldest Senior Brother has more than enough talent to lead. He's also the type to gladly accept my advice, so him as Cult Leader with me as his advisor would be ideal.”
“True. As you say, the eldest young master has changed from the past. He knows how to heed his subordinates' advice and has grown a bit more composed. For now, at least.”
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang emphasized ‘for now’ particularly, then pointed with his finger.
Toward the corpses of the Left and Right Great Virtues, still uncleaned.
“Didn't you explain it yourself? Why they remained as Left and Right Great Virtues despite coveting the Dalai Lama position. Human greed is a fearsome thing. Even after the eldest young master becomes Cult Leader, can you be so sure he'll always gladly accept your harsh words?”
To Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang's question, Il-mok replied without the slightest hesitation.
“I'm certain.”
And with that, Il-mok clearly expressed he wanted no more discussion on the topic.
“The cleanup is urgent, so I'll take my leave.”
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang watched Il-mok's retreating back, not even waiting for a reply, and murmured softly to himself.
“…Deep bonds between senior and junior brothers, is it.”
* * *
Emerging from his exchange with Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, Il-mok shook his head to clear the growing dizziness.
‘Damn old coot. Spouting useless nonsense.’
His body was already in poor shape, and now his mind was a mess from the headache-inducing talk. His mood soured completely.
The faint metallic scent of blood wafting from all directions only added to the nausea churning in his gut.
Perhaps noticing Il-mok's grim expression, the women in the midst of gathering the bodies approached him.
“Young Master, are you alright?”
“Brother, we'll handle the aftermath, so please go inside and rest.”
“P-Please leave it to us.”
Il-mok gave a light smile at their words and replied.
“It's nothing serious, so no need to worry. First, tell me what needs doing. Leave gathering and burning the bodies to the Hyeok-ryeon family's warriors. You all search Podalrab Palace for clothes to change into.”
Their clothes—and Il-mok's—were soaked in bloodstains.
But hygiene wasn't the reason for needing fresh clothes.
“And find the women locked up throughout Podalrab Palace and help them out.”
Showing up covered in blood might scare them.
At Il-mok's orders, the women scattered to search Podalrab Palace, while Il-mok sat cross-legged again for a brief rest.
Jin Ha-yeon, who found clothes first, brought them over. Il-mok went to an empty spot, washed off the blood with a spell, and changed.
Afterward, the first place Il-mok headed was the hall where the Left and Right Great Virtues had resided.
“Eek…”
As Il-mok entered, the two young girls still there froze in terror.
Seeing their pitiful state, Il-mok soothed them before forcing a harmless smile.
“No need to worry. We've chased out all the bad monks who tormented you.”
* * *
While Il-mok comforted the two girls, the maidservants changed clothes and began rescuing the women locked throughout Podalrab Palace.
The more rescues they made, the grimmer the maidservants' faces grew.
Not only were there over a hundred women in Podalrab Palace, but most were young.
The oldest among them was merely twenty-two.
After gathering the women, Il-mok stepped forward.
“We've driven out all the wicked monks who tormented you. Nothing like before will happen again. It's late now, so everyone should eat. Do you know where they might store food here?”
At Il-mok's question, the twenty-two-year-old, the oldest, stepped forward.
“I-I know.”
She volunteered just in case. These people might turn out savage in a different way from Podalrab Palace's monks.
To protect the young girls, she wanted their attention on her first.
Already treated as the women's leader, she led the younger ones in preparing the meal.
Watching for a moment, Jin Ha-yeon cautiously approached Il-mok.
“Young Master, while searching for the women, we found Podalrab Palace's library. What should we do?”
“Hmm. Let's take a look first.”
As Il-mok responded, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, who had been quietly observing from behind, spoke up.
“The doctrines and martial arts of those who committed such atrocities will be there. Burning them all seems best.”
Il-mok paused briefly, recalling their conversation from an hour ago. But since it was unrelated, he gathered his thoughts and replied.
“Is a sword wicked just because a murderer wielded it? A sword is just a sword.”
Il-mok thought: Tools are just tools.
Bombs made for miners get used in war, and horrific wartime human experiments advance medicine.
An item made with good intent becomes dangerous with evil will, and one made with evil intent can serve good purposes. That's the world's strange logic.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's doctrines were no different.
“If we burn the library for that reason, shouldn't we burn all our Divine Cult's demonic arts too?”
They were a mad group practicing mind-breaking martial arts under the noble intent of punishing evildoers.
“Besides, their doctrines are needed to expand the Divine Cult's influence in the West.”
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang understood the prior point but not the influence part.
“What do you mean?”
“The sentient beings living in this western region have been steeped in Podalrab Palace's doctrines for decades, even centuries. Rather than forcing our Divine Cult's doctrines on them, it's best to take theirs, tweak them to fit ours, and spread them gradually. In fact, that's how Maitreya Bright Cult spread in the Central Plains.”
Only then grasping Il-mok's intent, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang nodded in understanding.
‘As expected, no matter how I think about it, the youngest young master's vessel is larger. Tsk.’
Swallowing his regret inwardly.
Unaware of Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang's thoughts and uninterested in further talk, Il-mok turned crisply and headed to the library.
Podalrab Palace boasted a long history, so the library was vast, filled with countless books.
Il-mok skimmed past various Buddhist scriptures before reaching the martial arts manuals.
“Hmm.”
He casually pulled out a book that caught his eye.
Jin Ha-yeon, who had guided him, picked one from a few steps away and began reading.
By chance or fate, the book Il-mok randomly selected was on Podalrab Palace's bedroom arts.
Il-mok sped through it, flipping pages rapidly, then let out a hollow laugh.
‘Unbelievable.’
Podalrab Palace's bedroom arts matched what the Heavenly Demon had described. In terms of absorbing women's creative power—sexual energy—through union.
But one crucial explanation was missing.
The part about never ejaculating yang energy to prevent it from turning into nothingness.
‘In modern times, it might've been hailed as a premature ejaculation cure.’
Thinking that as he flipped quickly, Il-mok's expression hardened at the final page.
It held the most vital warning about this bedroom art.
- Should you unite multiple times with one woman, she risks becoming a stone woman. Never unite multiple times with the same woman.
“These crazy bastards.”
Podalrab Palace's esoteric monks had ignored the clear warning left by their predecessors and committed their evils—fully aware of this horrific side effect.
Staring at the dreadful manual, Il-mok suddenly recalled the time before departing for the West.
He had lamented why he, of all people, was dragged not to Podalrab Palace but the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult among cults.
Because their bedroom arts seemed at least better than demonic arts.
But not anymore.
It had been seven or eight years since he was dragged to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. If it had been the same time to Podalrab Palace, what then?
Around his second or third year, the Dalai Lama would die, and the Left and Right Great Virtues seize power.
Il-mok would face a choice: commit the same atrocities as those mad monks or defy the Left and Right Great Virtues and die heroically.
Realizing that far, Il-mok grasped a crucial fact.
‘Ah… Maybe it was fortunate it was the Divine Cult.’
The biggest difference between the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and Podalrab Palace was the leader.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult overflowed with madmen thanks to demonic arts.
But with the Heavenly Demon keeping those lunatics in check, it progressed toward its original purpose.
If the Heavenly Demon were like the Left and Right Great Virtues, something more horrific than this western incident might have engulfed the Divine River and Central Plains.
Hundreds of unbound demons running amok.
Shaking his head at the nightmarish vision, Il-mok noticed something odd.
Jin Ha-yeon swiftly scanning books and gathering them one by one.
“Miss Jin, why are you collecting those books?”
“For potential future use. Thought I'd research them.”
“Hmm? Are Podalrab Palace's martial arts in those books that impressive?”
Even as he asked, he couldn't shake the doubt.
It felt too cursory for judging martial arts quality.
At Il-mok's question, Jin Ha-yeon replied with her usual impassive expression.
“They are martial arts manuals, but not particularly for combat.”
“Then what kind are they?”
“Books on bedroom arts.”
“…….”
At her characteristically detached answer, Il-mok stared back and forth between Jin Ha-yeon and the books in her hands, dumbfounded.