Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 354
>Chapter Title: Empress Dowager (4)
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Wi Jin-hak harbored deep grudges against the imperial family of the Han Dynasty, which currently dominated the Central Plains.
It wasn’t solely because they had driven the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to the northern frontiers.
In addition to the schemes of former Elder Council Leader Deung-bi that had nearly killed his youngest disciple Il-mok multiple times, two of his other disciples had already lost their lives.
Wi Jin-hak had only learned of this tragic truth from the Silver Shadow Pavilion Leader after ascending to the position of Cult Leader.
His master and predecessor as Heavenly Demon, Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi, had kept it hidden to avoid war.
The previous Heavenly Demon hadn’t feared war. He had simply calculated that if the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, in its resurgence phase, built its strength for just ten more years, it could conquer the Central Plains.
Succeeding Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi as Cult Leader, Wi Jin-hak had intended to honor his master’s will by suppressing his rage and accumulating power for the remaining eight years.
“Our Divine Cult wasn’t enough—they planted Deung-bi among us, and it seems he’s plotting something in the Central Plains as well.”
After reading the letter from Il-mok, Wi Jin-hak sensed it intuitively.
No matter his own will, he would inevitably become entangled with the imperial family once more.
“First, pass the contents of this letter to the Dark Shadow Pavilion Leader and my third disciple. The pursuit has been quite stalled lately, but this might open another path.”
With those words, Wi Jin-hak handed Il-mok’s letter to the Silver Shadow Pavilion Leader.
After it was revealed that Deung-bi was connected to the imperial faction, the Dark Shadow Pavilion Leader and Seo Wan-pyeong had been pursuing them with all their might.
But since they had noticed the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s pursuit, most traces had vanished, stalling the chase for a long time.
Even the biggest lead, the Silver Shadow Merchant Group, had collapsed overnight, and the Dark Shadow Pavilion suspected it was the faction’s doing.
The problem was that even assuming it was their work, no traces remained.
In the midst of this, a suspicious imperial trace had emerged from an entirely unexpected place—a chance to accelerate the pursuit.
“I shall obey.”
The Silver Shadow Pavilion Leader bowed, took the letter Wi Jin-hak handed him, and left the Cult Leader’s hall.
Left alone, Wi Jin-hak closed his eyes and sank into deep contemplation.
He recalled his master, who had imparted countless teachings to him.
Though he had never met Il-mok, images of his fellow disciples, with whom he had spent over a decade, rose in his mind. The disciples who had fallen victim to Deung-bi’s schemes.
As those images surfaced, the black flame that had been quietly burning deep in Wi Jin-hak’s inner world suddenly swelled in size.
- Burn the world.
- Return everything to nothingness, without sparing a single life.
Another self, bearing the name Heavenly Demon, tempted him.
Because it involved the enemy imperial family, the flames raged more fiercely than usual.
Gazing at the blaze for a moment, Wi Jin-hak roared harshly.
“Silence!!”
With blazing eyes, he glared at the other self beyond the flames, then lifted his head to gaze at the sky.
For a brief instant, his soul, staring at the sky within his inner world, shot upward as if being sucked in.
Flash.
Awakening from meditation, Wi Jin-hak opened his eyes, and the momentary black gleam in his pupils returned to their original color.
Having successfully subdued the inner demon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Wi Jin-hak let out a light sigh.
“Phew.”
Realizing that reminiscing about his departed fellow disciples could reignite the inner demon, he decided to shift his thoughts.
In a more positive direction.
“It seems I was right to send the youngest to the Central Plains.”
Thinking of his youngest disciple’s competence in uncovering and reporting such crucial information brought a natural smile to Wi Jin-hak’s lips.
* * *
Meanwhile, Il-mok was recounting the events in Pingryang County to the Taiji Sword Sage.
“Over a hundred vengeful spirits from Pingryang County’s commoners were absorbed into this sword. When I first saw it, it exuded such dense demonic energy that I didn’t dare touch it.”
“Why leave such a sword behind?”
“I originally planned to destroy it. I set it aside and descended the mountain, but the spirits visited me in my dreams.”
After explaining how he had stayed in Pingryang County with the Beggars’ Sect members to appease those spirits, Il-mok added,
“Once Pingryang County’s commoners escaped Ho-jaep-cho’s nightmare, most of the sword’s demonic energy dissipated. As it’s originally a Blood Cult sword, a minimal amount remains, but since the spirits acknowledge me, there’s no issue handling it.”
“Immeasurable mercy. I understand you and the Maitreya Illuminated Cult’s efforts. However, it remains just as dangerous.”
At the Taiji Sword Sage’s urging to destroy the Ascension Sword immediately, the blade let out a high-pitched whine.
Il-mok patted it soothingly once and replied,
“If we destroy it simply because it’s dangerous, shouldn’t we shatter every famed divine weapon in the world? To earn the fame of a divine weapon, they’ve each slain hundreds or thousands. Moreover, this sword is extremely useful against the Blood Cult.”
“???”
Seeing the puzzled expressions on the Taiji Sword Sage and those around him, Il-mok elaborated.
“There was an incident in Nanju where the Blood Cult tried to spread a plague.”
He recounted that event, then explained the incident at Sacheon’s Secret Cave.
How he had quickly spotted the Blood Cult’s trap and helped the Flying Dragon Pavilion Leader and Choi-gae thwart their scheme.
Finally,
“Come to think of it, I haven’t told you this yet. The Blood Cult still lives. I learned that thanks to this one.”
Even the matter of saving the Jiangshi’s appearance-altering technique from the northern plains.
After hearing Il-mok’s full explanation, the Taiji Sword Sage furrowed his brow gravely.
“You’re saying we’ve all been deceived by the Blood Cult?”
“That’s right. The Beggars’ Sect and Qingcheng are now moving to track them down again. The same goes for our Maitreya Illuminated Cult.”
“…Immeasurable mercy. This is no time to idle.”
The Taiji Sword Sage addressed Yun-baek Dojang.
“This old man will return to Wudang first, so you stay here a few days before coming back.”
“Ancestor Master, I’ll go with you.”
“Don’t worry about this old man. You’ve come a long way—shouldn’t we catch up first?”
“But…”
Seeing Yun-baek Dojang’s conflicted expression, the Taiji Sword Sage softened his face and said,
“Or are you perhaps worried this senile old man might get lost on the way back to Wudang? Haha.”
“N-No, Ancestor Master. How could I dare harbor such irreverent thoughts?”
“Hahaha. Then don’t worry—just spend a few days here and return.”
Yun-baek Dojang hesitated briefly, then clasped his hands in a fist salute and replied.
“I shall, Ancestor Master.”
Watching their exchange, Hwangbo Ak interjected with a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha. Our Hwangbo Family plans to return to Shandong soon as well. We’ll escort Yun-baek Dojang to Wudang Mountain then. Taiji Sword Sage Senior, ah, I need to inform the family of the Blood Cult matter first—would it be alright if I send a few of our young ones with you?”
“Hahaha. I’m grateful for Clan Leader Hwangbo’s consideration.”
At the Taiji Sword Sage’s response, Hwangbo Ak instructed his retainers to prepare paper and brush.
Hwangbo Ak wrote a letter to his clan in his bold, expansive script befitting his personality. Then he summoned a few warriors.
“Take this letter and return to the clan first.”
As the situation seemed to settle, the Taiji Sword Sage first offered Il-mok a fist salute in greeting.
“I’m sorry to rush off like this.”
“The situation calls for it, doesn’t it? Think nothing of it.”
After a light exchange of courtesies, the Taiji Sword Sage glanced at Il-mok’s side with a concerned expression and added,
“I’ll refrain from urging you to destroy the sword since you have your reasons, but please ensure it doesn’t fall to the Blood Cult or evildoers. In the hands of the wicked, it could unleash a bloody calamity.”
“It may sound arrogant to your ears, Taiji Sword Sage Senior, but I’m not so easily overcome.”
Having observed the masked man for a few exchanges while stopping his fight with Cheok-pae-myeong and just now his spar with Clan Leader Hwangbo, the Taiji Sword Sage nodded as if convinced.
As the man said, he wasn’t one to lose his sword easily.
* * *
The Maitreya Illuminated Cult’s scriptures hall bustled with constant visitors, so Il-mok had given over an entire brothel under the cult to the guests.
In what was originally a VIP room of that brothel, Hwangbo Ak was conversing with his two daughters.
“Father, do you truly mean it—see that man as Se-hee’s match?”
At Hwangbo Yeon’s incredulous question, Hwangbo Ak burst into laughter.
“To a certain extent, yes.”
“To a certain extent? How far does your sincerity go?”
“There was also the intent to test him.”
At Hwangbo Ak’s answer, for some reason, Hwangbo Yeon recalled what Hwangbo Se-hee had said.
“…You tested if he was the type to fall easily for a woman’s beauty?”
“Hahaha. Exactly.”
It wasn’t something her daughter would think, but the phrase “like mother, like daughter” inexplicably came to Hwangbo Yeon’s mind.
“And if he had accepted the proposal, what would you have done?”
It was a question probing whether he truly intended to marry off his cherished Se-hee.
“Hmm. In preparing the wedding, we could gauge if he’s truly worthy, no? And if there’s no issue, it wouldn’t be bad. We’d gain Gansu without spilling a drop of blood.”
“…Even if allied through marriage, he doesn’t seem the type to blindly follow your orders, Father.”
“Hahaha. Even so, between son-in-law and father-in-law, there are proprieties—would he defy me so easily?”
Unlike his bearish demeanor, Hwangbo Ak had his calculations.
“But that man didn’t seem inclined to marry Se-hee from the start. So this hypothetical is rather meaningless.”
Hwangbo Ak muttered with genuine regret.
This contrasted with how dearly he had cherished Hwangbo Se-hee in the past, leaving Hwangbo Yeon unable to hide her puzzlement.
‘Does he truly like that man so much?’
Hwangbo Yeon had proposed the alliance deeming the incarnation of Maitreya trustworthy, but her father had met the man for the first time today, making it different.
It was a minor misunderstanding.
Hwangbo Ak wasn’t simply viewing the incarnation of Maitreya as a potential son-in-law for his youngest daughter.
The emergence of the Blood Cult and Maitreya Illuminated Cult. The Orthodox Alliance Leader’s sudden shifts.
The balance of the martial world, stable for decades, was shaking violently.
Even the Ami Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, had been forced to seal its gates after falling to the Maitreya Illuminated Cult.
As a leader of his faction, Hwangbo Ak instinctively knew.
A fierce storm was brewing in the vast lake of the martial world, stagnant for so long. The recent war with the Blood Cult seemed mere child’s play compared to the massive tempest ahead.
In such perilous times, reliable and strong allies were essential.
In Hwangbo Ak’s view, the rising new holy faction, the Maitreya Illuminated Cult, was precisely that reliable and strong ally.
He wanted to bind it irremovably through marriage with his cherished youngest daughter.
In fact, when he had demanded a spar like a petulant child, a bit of this inner motive was mixed in.
He wanted to gauge the true prowess of the one called Maitreya’s incarnation.
‘Heh heh heh. I even hoped to unmask him while at it—such a pity.’
Hwangbo Ak wanted to confirm the identity of that mysterious master himself.
Frankly, he trusted everything else, but one thing alone.
‘No way he’s thirty-nine. Not just the realm, but his practical experience seemed vast.’
He simply couldn’t believe the man’s age.
‘Perhaps he merely looks young from shedding his mortal shell. In truth, he might be my age.’
Hwangbo Ak couldn’t even imagine that Il-mok was just one year younger than his youngest daughter, Hwangbo Se-hee.
* * *
Meanwhile.
While Clan Leader Hwangbo conversed with his daughters, Il-mok was also speaking with the maidservants.
“Do you truly trust them, Young Master?”
At Jin Ha-yeon’s question, Il-mok shook his head and replied.
“In my heart, I hope the alliance holds to the end, but I know the chances are slim.”
It could hold as the Maitreya Illuminated Cult, but once revealed as the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, problems were inevitable.
“Then, what are your plans moving forward?”
Jin Ha-yeon was asking to align with Il-mok’s intentions, and he answered with a cold expression.