Chapter 342
Chapter 342
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 342
>Chapter Title: Righteousness (4)
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“Guh... ugh....”
Whether from the humiliation of being forced to her knees, or from straining against Il-mok’s aura.
The face of Myeoljeol Divine Nun, letting out stifled groans, was flushed red as if about to burst.
“You wretch~!!”
The nuns of Emei Sect, startled by Il-mok’s presence, belatedly came to their senses and reached for their weapons.
“I warned you.”
By then, Il-mok had already turned his head to face the nuns of Emei.
“If you draw your weapons, you die.”
As if the already subdued Myeoljeol Divine Nun meant nothing to him.
It was truly a bizarre sight.
His gaze was fixed on the nuns, yet he wasn’t directing his aura at them.
Il-mok’s pressure remained solely on Myeoljeol Divine Nun, who looked ready not just to kneel but to prostrate like a worm and beg forgiveness.
Yet even without his aura upon them, the nuns couldn’t bring themselves to draw their weapons.
“A-Are you threatening our Emei Sect right now?”
All they could do was have a few of them open their mouths with empty threats.
Amid this, Il-mok turned away from the nuns—who were only invoking their sect’s name—as if they weren’t worth his time, and looked at Hwangbo Yeon instead.
“Lord Kwon, what do you make of this? Does it seem like Emei is threatening the faithful? Or like I’m threatening Emei? Do their words ring true? Or do the words of the beings here ring true?”
Countless thoughts flashed through Hwangbo Yeon’s mind in an instant, but she soon let out a deep sigh and answered.
“...No matter how I think about it, the residents’ words seem true, and that man’s words false.”
No sooner had her verdict fallen—thrust unwittingly into the role of witness and judge—than the Emei nuns cried out in haste.
“S-So you and the Hwangbo family had this all planned from the start!”
“Lord Kwon! Is this truly the will of House Hwangbo?”
“You scum! Are you borrowing House Hwangbo’s prestige to threaten us?”
They shouted fiercely, yet still, not one drew their weapons.
They merely conjured lame excuses in their minds.
Lame excuses like not acting rashly with Myeoljeol Divine Nun held hostage.
Toward the nuns, who kept their bodies still but their mouths noisy, Il-mok bellowed.
“Begone!!”
As the startled nuns fell silent at his lion’s roar, Il-mok turned to face the Qingcheng Taoists.
“What say Qingcheng?”
“......”
With Qingmu Zhenren—the sect’s representative—unable to respond either way, his face a mask of turmoil, Il-mok slowly swept his gaze over the gathered crowd and spoke.
“What was the original reason for learning martial arts in the Buddhist and Daoist sects? For the sake of sentient beings and practitioners. Was it not to protect the innocent?”
The faithful of the Maitreya Divine Cult, and the residents of Wang Chang-hyeon.
“The martial arts of Buddhism and Daoism are called life-giving arts, meant to save lives, are they not? Arts to protect the people from evildoers. Arts that subdue rather than kill the wicked.”
The nuns of Emei Sect.
“Do you truly believe this is how those who practice life-giving arts should act?”
Finally turning back to the Qingcheng Taoists, Il-mok posed the question.
“Cough.”
Suddenly, Qingmu Zhenren spat up black-tinged blood.
“Elder!”
“You bastard!!”
The Qingcheng Taoists, startled, moved to draw their weapons.
“Stand down!!”
Qingmu Zhenren, his face drained white from vomiting blood, hurriedly extended his arm to halt his disciples.
He even immediately formed a palm salute toward the Avatar of Maitreya.
“My thanks.”
As the Qingcheng disciples and everyone else present stared in confusion, unable to grasp the situation.
“Things are urgent, so tend to your internal injuries first.”
No sooner had Il-mok spoken than Qingmu Zhenren assumed the lotus position and entered qi circulation and breath adjustment.
As if this were the inner chamber of his own home, completely defenseless.
His Qingcheng disciples jumped in alarm, forming a defensive circle around him to stand guard.
They scanned all directions with tense expressions, and as Il-mok watched impassively.
Myeoljeol Divine Nun, still on her knees, launched a sudden assault, swinging her sword at Il-mok.
It had happened while Il-mok roared his lion’s roar at the Emei nuns and conversed with Qingmu Zhenren—the pressure pinning her had scattered.
Even after sensing the pressure weaken, Myeoljeol Divine Nun had waited patiently instead of acting rashly.
To repay the humiliation of being forced to kneel.
She believed this so-called Avatar wouldn’t dare harm her, even after all this.
As a senior elder of mighty Emei, it was unthinkable he would attack her.
And seizing the moment when the Avatar seemed fully off-guard, the sword she thrust in ambush sliced through the air with a chilling whoosh.
Shlick.
Myeoljeol Divine Nun didn’t miss it.
The mockery in the masked man’s eyes.
‘A trap...’
Realizing too late that something was amiss, she tried to cry out, but for some reason, her mouth wouldn’t move.
Her body and head were already separated, after all.
Thud.
As Myeoljeol Divine Nun’s head hit the ground, a chill silence descended.
But the silence was brief.
“Y-You vile monster!!”
“Kill him!!”
The Emei nuns shrieked like they were having fits.
The instant they forgot Il-mok’s warning and reached for their weapons to charge.
“Stop!!!”
Hwangbo Yeon threw herself between Il-mok and the nuns.
Right after. Hwangbo Yeon felt a chill run down her spine.
Unnoticed by her, the masked man’s swung sword had come to a halt right before her nose.
‘...A moment later, and Emei would’ve been massacred.’
Fresh from crossing the threshold of death herself, she swallowed dryly without thinking and spoke.
“This incident is clearly Myeoljeol Divine Nun’s fault. How could a senior of a righteous sect stoop to such a卑鄙 ambush? So, Emei, forget this matter and please leave.”
With those words, Hwangbo Yeon sent a transmission to the nuns.
- Even if you all rush him together, it’ll end in slaughter. Return to your sect and repent your wrongs.
But her sincerity didn’t get through.
“Lord Kwon!! Will you side with them to the end?!”
“Emei will never let this go!!”
At their enraged cries, Hwangbo Yeon swallowed a sigh inwardly and replied.
“Shouldn’t you at least retrieve Myeoljeol Divine Nun’s body first?”
At the mention of retrieving the corpse, the Emei nuns ground their teeth and sheathed their weapons.
They carefully gathered Myeoljeol Divine Nun’s severed head and body, then left Wang Chang-hyeon, glaring murderously at Il-mok and his group.
Hwangbo Yeon watched them go for a moment, then turned back once they were out of sight.
“Avatar, are you all right?”
“Check your wounds first.”
The women always at the Avatar of Maitreya’s side had approached him and begun speaking.
As they said, the Avatar’s side was stained red. A wound from Myeoljeol Divine Nun’s ambush.
But it wasn’t deep.
“No need for worry. I’ve already stopped the bleeding.”
Stopped the bleeding, he said, though in truth it was just a shallow scrape.
Hwangbo Yeon suddenly felt a suspicion arise.
That the Avatar of Maitreya had taken the wound on purpose. To justify attacking Emei.
‘Tch. Pointless thought. In the end, it’s still Myeoljeol Divine Nun’s fault for the ambush.’
As Hwangbo Yeon shook off the stray notion, Qingmu Zhenren rose from his qi circulation.
“I’m fine, no need to worry.”
Smiling gently at his disciples, he stepped forward to approach Il-mok.
“My thanks for the lesson.”
Bowing again with a palm salute, as Il-mok returned the gesture.
“I merely rebuked you. If you drew a lesson from rebuke, is that not because Qingmu Zhenren’s vessel is so vast?”
“Hahaha. A vast vessel, you say. I hope it’s so. My narrow vessel has been gripped by fear all this time.”
Exchanging glances briefly after Qingmu Zhenren’s cryptic words, Il-mok asked.
“What will you do now?”
“Return to Qingcheng. And correct what’s gone wrong, of course?”
He planned to rebuke his disciples and restrain the sect leaders and elders of his generation.
Even if it split Qingcheng into factions, so be it.
Qingcheng’s sword was a life-giving sword; he could subdue and spare his disciples and juniors.
If he failed and died, that too would be heaven’s will.
It grieved him only that the Qingcheng he’d devoted his life to had grown so dark.
Il-mok asked again, seeing the clear light in Qingmu Zhenren’s eyes.
“It might sour things with Emei?”
“I can only hope Emei repents its wrongs. Amitabha.”
“Hmm. And if they don’t repent? If it comes to war with us?”
“...I cannot yet say I’d ally with the Maitreya Divine Cult against them. But if your mercy endures as it is now, Qingcheng’s sword will never point at you.”
Answering thus, Qingmu gazed steadily at Il-mok, as if expecting a certain reply.
Meeting his gaze, Il-mok smiled faintly and responded.
“The Maitreya Divine Cult, too, will have no cause to draw swords on Qingcheng if its will aligns with Qingmu Zhenren’s.”
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Qingmu smiled softly and offered a palm salute.
“Amitabha. Take care.”
Bidding Il-mok farewell, Qingmu turned and approached his disciples.
“Let us return.”
The Qingcheng disciples followed, wearing varied expressions.
Watching the departing Qingcheng Taoists, Hwangbo Yeon cautiously approached Il-mok and spoke.
“Such magnanimity. Not just toward me, outside your sect, but even giving lessons to Qingmu Zhenren.”
At her words, spoken with genuine admiration, Il-mok swallowed a wry smile inwardly.
“Mere coincidence.”
Half truth, half lie.
While observing today’s events, Il-mok had noticed something crucial.
He hadn’t missed how Qingmu Zhenren’s expression darkened the more outrageously Myeoljeol Divine Nun behaved.
‘Inner demon.’
He’d realized the turbid energy lurking in Qingmu Zhenren’s eyes.
Having seen countless mad bastards in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult suffer side effects and inner demons until falling into demonic deviation and rampaging, Il-mok was an expert on severe inner demons.
The problem was.
‘...I meant to make him rampage, not enlighten him.’
His rebuke had been intended, like with Myeoljeol Divine Nun, to provoke an ambush.
A chance to pull House Hwangbo into alliance, while also striking two of the Nine Great Righteous Sects that might interfere later.
But bizarrely, Qingmu Zhenren—plagued by his inner demon—had gained enlightenment instead of rampaging.
From their brief exchange, Il-mok gauged he was on the verge of the profound realm.
Even a minor enlightenment would birth the Four Provinces’ Greatest Sword.
‘Not sure if this is good or bad... No telling.’
Such a master viewing him as a benefactor was fortune, but if the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s identity came out, it might turn to calamity.
‘If your mercy endures as it is... Even if the truth of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is revealed, I hope that promise holds.’
Recalling Qingmu Zhenren’s pledge, Il-mok gave a dry chuckle.