The Heavenly Demon Goes to See the Plum Blossoms (6)
I narrowed my eyes at the elder. “You wish to face me? A mere novice who hasn’t even reached first-class?”
“Your tongue is long. Are you afraid of losing?”
“It is good for a newcomer to overflow with spirit, but there are things in this world that cannot be solved by spirit alone.”
The elder maintained a facade of composure, yet his eyes already burned with rage. It was only natural. Accepting corrupt energy affected not only the body but the mind as well. It was no wonder people feared those who practiced demonic arts. Far too many had been devoured by the very martial arts they wielded and turned into lunatics.
Just a little more prodding and he would cross the line.
“If you are that afraid, I shall yield the first two moves.”
“Hah.”
The elder’s laughter carried clear fury. He exhaled deeply, rose from his chair, and drew the sword at his waist.
“Is it because you possess a body that does not die even when slain? You do not know how high the heavens are.”
He had grown so angry that he had forgotten the refined speech he had been using earlier. How grateful I was. Thanks to him, I could achieve my immediate goal.
Destroying this man alone would likely draw out a few more from Mount Hua, but if possible, I wanted to see the current sect leader’s face.
While pondering, a good idea came to mind. I drew the sword Geomseon had given me.
“Come.”
If my memory served me right, the former sect leader of Mount Hua had been deeply loved by the sect’s disciples. When I trampled him, the Mount Hua bastards had charged at me without regard for their lives. It was clear proof.
The ones currently holding positions in Mount Hua must be the ones I had spared back then. If I unfolded the sect leader’s sword technique, they would have no choice but to show interest, would they not?
The technique that man had used was definitely the Golden Dragon Sword.
The Golden Dragon Sword Technique was created from inspiration drawn from the golden dragon that resided at the center of the Four Divine Beasts. Based on the golden dragon that mediated so the four guardian deities would not clash and pursued the harmony of yin and yang, the Golden Dragon Sword was not an aggressive style. It focused on receiving the opponent’s attacks. Rather than crushing the enemy, it naturally led them to defeat.
Merely hearing the description made it sound like a supreme martial art, yet there was a reason people said the best defense was a good offense. In any battle, the initiative belonged to the attacker. Naturally, the one who could choose more options was also the attacker.
For defense—which had to match the opponent’s attacks—to be advantageous, one had to see one move ahead of the opponent. Was it not laughable? Martial arts were supposedly created so the weak could oppose the strong, yet this technique only displayed its true power when one was stronger than the opponent.
That was why I personally did not like defensive martial arts very much, but right now it did not seem to matter. After all, I was far ahead of a bastard who had barely crossed the wall into the Transcendence Realm by using dishonest means.
I received the fiercely swung sword with the flat of my blade and let it flow downward. The power contained in the elder’s sword was certainly formidable, but because he had pursued strength excessively, he had lost the ability to control it. Using that against him was remarkably easy.
To think the one who taught Mount Hua’s sword would be swept up by Mount Hua’s own sword and rendered helpless. Was this fellow trying to make me laugh myself to death?
The next strike. And the one after that.
When I deflected them all in the same manner, fury etched itself onto the elder’s forehead. Even if continuously falling for the same method was one thing, by now he should have noticed what sword I was using. How could someone holding the position of elder fail to sense anything strange upon seeing Mount Hua’s sword?
Setting aside the low level of the users, how had even Mount Hua’s standard fallen so low?
“Pathetic.”
The elder did not answer the words I had muttered unconsciously. He simply swung his sword.
“Do you truly not know what sword I am using right now?”
Do you think I am simply provoking you? Is that why, instead of matching the provocation, you are unleashing an even fiercer offensive? How utterly dull. If Mount Hua had not faced the crisis of destruction, this child would never have risen beyond the status of a mere disciple.
“To think you are truly an elder of Mount Hua and yet feel nothing upon seeing this sword.”
“Shut up.”
“Do you truly not recognize the Golden Dragon Sword?”
“...What? The Golden Dragon Sword Technique?”
Only after I spoke the name directly did he finally realize. His level was so low that I no longer even felt like scolding him. To hold the position of elder with such skill—were you not ashamed? If it were me, I would have bitten my tongue and died.
“How does an outsider know that sword…”
While deflecting the blade, I observed my surroundings. The users’ gazes were all locked onto me. That was only natural. The one who had always stood above them, teaching them, was now being toyed with by a single user. How could they not burn with fanaticism?
However, what I wanted to confirm was not the users. It was whether the people of Mount Hua would come or not.
Fortunately, the disciples of Mount Hua were not so indifferent as to ignore a disturbance occurring in the very center of their sect. Beyond the users, I confirmed the presence of those watching me.
Let me see. Every single one of them carried demonic energy within their bodies. At this rate, it would be safe to say that the entirety of Mount Hua had fallen into the Blood Cult’s grasp.
How could a sect that once represented the righteous path have fallen so utterly? It was so satisfying that it went beyond delight and left me only able to laugh.
This was enough. I had confirmed everything I needed to. It would be fine to end things here.
I dodged the elder’s sword that came crashing down from above and struck his crown with the pommel of my blade. His body crumpled forward. Since I had adjusted the force appropriately, he would wake up on his own in a couple of hours.
“Who are you to be using the Golden Dragon Sword Technique?”
A voice came from behind, but I was not startled. I had known this man was approaching from the start.
When I turned around, a face from my memories appeared. He had held the position of third elder when I destroyed Mount Hua. I could not recall his name, but I clearly remembered how he had struggled desperately to stop me until the very last moment.
He had no talent, but he possessed unyielding will. Even as his comrades fell one by one, he had denounced me, insulted my parents, and cursed the Ice Palace that had helped me. As if daring me to kill him if I could.
So I had spared him. Because I was certain that with his lack of talent, rebuilding Mount Hua would be impossible. Because I knew that with his strong will, he would not give up, would struggle desperately, and would witness Mount Hua’s collapse.
Facing those cloudy eyes glaring at me, holding back my laughter became difficult.
You have fallen. How did it come to this?
At first, he must have sworn revenge against me. He must have vowed to make me regret sparing him. But without talent, he would have soon hit a wall. He would have despaired. He would have cursed himself. He would have denounced me for reducing him to this state. He would have resented the world.
It was then that the Blood Cult must have extended their offer. I did not know the exact words, but it would have gone something like this: Cooperate with the Blood Cult and we will help you take revenge on the Heavenly Demon. We will grant you power.
Normally he would not have listened at all, but having become a wreck, his ears would have grown thin. And so he accepted the Blood Cult’s temptation. He would have absorbed others’ lifeforce to obtain inner energy. With that, he crossed the wall and burned with the will to avenge himself on me.
If my current guess was correct, I could declare that his revenge had already failed. Even if he had obtained power surpassing me through unorthodox methods, I would simply look at him and burst into laughter.
To think that in order to avenge Mount Hua, he would lead Mount Hua to ruin with his own hands. You truly are a magnificent clown.
“Are you curious?”
“Yes.”
“Then find out for yourself.”
If you still call yourself a martial artist, should you not discover it with your own hands?
It was not the man before me who reacted to my provocation, but those lined up behind him.
“Insolent! How dare you speak to the sect leader like that!”
Huh. So this man had become the sect leader? Among those who had survived back then, he had been one of the better ones, but I had not thought him worthy of becoming sect leader.
“Second Elder. Enough.”
“But Sect Leader!”
“Before I am the leader of a sect, I am a martial artist. A challenge must be accepted.”
The man drew his sword and scanned me with sharp eyes.
“Are you not coming?”
“You should come. Is it not you who harbors curiosity?”
“That is true.”
When he took a single step, the distance between us closed in an instant. It was closer than the proper distance a sword should maintain, but this man could not have made such a mistake out of ignorance of sword range. Therefore, it must have been intentional.
The moment he swung his sword, I wrapped my blade with inner energy. What he used was the Mad Wind Swift Sword. A sword technique that, like a raging typhoon, pressed and shattered the opponent with speed and power.
The man moved his sword as if to crush me with the overwhelming inner energy he had gained through blood offerings. He was executing an extremely orthodox Mad Wind Swift Sword. Well, there was no reason to introduce variables. With this level of overwhelming power, the orthodox method alone would suffice to destroy the opponent.
I now understood why he had closed the distance. When both sides used the same weapon, a shorter range was more advantageous to the one applying pressure. Not bad. Quite decent.
But that was all. A decent level. Perhaps because I had faced Geomseon not long ago, this was not enough to satisfy me.
As I received the sword and considered launching a counterattack, the man suddenly stopped his blade.
“What are you doing?”
This was a spar with real swords. Stopping one’s blade mid-exchange was no different from insulting oneself.
“I stopped because I figured it out myself.”
“Figured what out?”
“The sword you are using belongs to Geumryong Tae Hang-un.”
Was the former sect leader of Mount Hua named Tae Hang-un? I was not sure. But since he stated it so confidently, it must be correct.
“I do not know how you learned that sword, but I no longer wish to face someone carrying the remnants of the old Mount Hua.”
“Hoh?”
“Begone.”
With those words, the man turned his back. Not only I, but the other users who had been watching and even Mount Hua’s elders all displayed bewilderment. Yet the man paid them no mind. He simply walked toward one of the few intact buildings left in the Mount Hua Sect.
“What a strange fellow,” Baru said as she approached me at some point.
“Indeed. He is strange.”
It was not that I failed to understand why he had acted that way. He probably did not want someone who appeared to carry on the will of the former sect leader to set foot in the current Mount Hua. He must have hoped that person would walk the righteous path without falling into corruption like them.
He was likely equating me with the former sect leader of Mount Hua. What a laughable story. In truth, the one who had killed the sect leader was now wielding his sword.
My interest had cooled. Very well. I would leave as you wish. After all, my original purpose had been to strike at the Blood Cult.
“What will you do now?” Baru asked as I sheathed my sword.
“For now, we must leave this place.”
It did not seem the Blood Cult had made their nest here, so I would need to find wherever they had gathered within Mount Hua.
“Haa. Things have gotten complicated.”
“Yes. Thoroughly twisted.”
I had received a quest to save Mount Hua from the Blood Cult’s conspiracy, yet it turned out Mount Hua itself had joined hands with them. No matter what choice I made now, would it not lead to Mount Hua’s destruction?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a window appeared before me.
The quest The Fall of Mount Hua has been updated.
The truth you have uncovered is far crueler than you imagined.
Mount Hua has already chosen the path of corruption.
Will you still extend your hand to save them?
Or will you become the blade that cuts down the rotten mountain once more?