Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Young Master of the Demonic Cult
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If they had managed to capture even one of them, they could have interrogated him and uncovered a great deal.
But now that all the spies were dead, they had to start from scratch.
"You've done well, Lady Baek."
"It's nothing..."
The Strategist offered a formal bow, and Baek Mong responded with a slight nod of her own.
Her expression had remained utterly calm from start to finish.
"It's a shame we couldn't learn more about the Demonic Cult."
True Void Immortal shared the Strategist's deep regret over the spies' deaths.
"Their condition was extremely unusual."
True Void Immortal nodded at the Strategist's words.
"You're right. It looked like they detonated all their internal energy in an instant."
"It's the Mad Demon Art."
Baek Mong, who had been listening to their conversation, cut in.
The Strategist and True Void Immortal turned to her in surprise.
"How do you know that?"
"My master told me. He said the Demonic Cult has a demonic art that causes one's internal energy to explode all at once, and it's called the Mad Demon Art."
It wasn't her master who had told her, but her father.
But neither the Strategist nor True Void Immortal had any way of knowing that.
In truth, she hadn't wanted to get involved in this incident at all.
She never would have stepped forward if those women and elders tending to chores hadn't started dying.
The Strategist and True Void Immortal's faces grew as heavy as stone.
"How did you know about it at Botagak?"
As expected, the question she had anticipated came up.
"My master said he'd encountered it once before. If these spies' martial arts had been even a bit stronger, the damage would have been far greater."
It was a truly chilling statement, one that sent shivers down the spine.
If the Demonic Cult's experts had all mastered the Mad Demon Art, how could anyone hope to stop them?
The Strategist clung to his fading senses.
"Is there a way to counter it... or any weakness?"
"From what I know, they collapse or die once their internal energy is depleted. And they're vulnerable to sound-based arts."
Baek Mong shared everything she knew.
The Murim Alliance wasn't her ally, but the Demonic Cult was a greater enemy.
The Strategist immediately grasped her meaning.
"So it's weak to formless energy projection."
Sound arts were the pinnacle of formless energy projection.
But knowing the weakness didn't provide any real solution.
'What are we supposed to do about this?'
Masters of advanced sound arts were few and far between, and dealing with the Mad Demon Art would require elite experts regardless.
"What in the world is going on here?"
The leader of the Demon Subduing Squad appeared, his face pale with shock.
Whoosh...
"There were Demonic Cult spies hiding in the Demon Subduing Squad."
True Void Immortal sighed as he answered.
"No... that can't be..."
The leader's eyes widened as he scanned the corpses strewn across the ground.
"I wish it weren't true, but it is."
True Void Immortal pitied the squad leader, whose eyes were brimming with tears.
The head of the Inspection Unit had to maintain composure at all times, but even he was human, and it weighed on the heart.
"Bury them properly. And the investigation into the Demon Subduing Squad members isn't over yet. Report anyone acting suspiciously right away."
"Understood."
The leader bowed deeply to True Void Immortal.
But as he lowered his head, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
Slash...
The moment he raised his head, a sword gleam flickered.
Bang...!
Compressed air exploded, propelling the leader away like an arrow.
At the same instant, a red line appeared across True Void Immortal's throat, thickening in a flash.
Spurt...!
Blood gushed from his neck, and his head tumbled to the ground.
"Squad Leader...!"
"Chase him...!"
The Strategist was the first to launch himself after the fleeing leader.
Thud...!
Baek Mong plucked the strings of her seven-stringed zither toward the escaping man.
Boom...!
The squad leader parried the incoming formless energy wave with his sword, using the recoil to flee even farther.
Haa...
'Even the Murim Alliance is a mess.'
Baek Mong let out a long sigh.
The siblings had been sitting cross-legged with eyes closed for over an hour already.
Sa Sa Un had passed on his profound arts to them, but after more than ten days, they still hadn't sensed a thing.
Heh heh heh...
Sa Sa Un watched them, chuckling inwardly.
'Give up, you fools. How dare you covet the world's greatest martial art?'
The hardest part of beginning martial arts training was sensing qi.
Without sensing qi, one couldn't build internal energy.
Hoo...
Yi Gu sighed and opened his eyes, while Yi Hwa did the same with a dejected look.
"Still haven't sensed the qi?"
Se Yeong asked the pair as he passed by, sighing himself.
"Yes. It seems we have no talent for martial arts."
Se Yeong smiled at Yi Hwa's utterly crestfallen words.
"It took me a whole month to sense qi, so don't give up."
'Damn it. Only a month?'
The clueless siblings weren't all that surprised, but Sa Sa Un, who had experienced it early on, nearly fell over in shock.
Sensing qi could take as little as three months for the quick learners, or over half a year for the slow ones.
There were even those who went a full year without sensing it—building internal energy was an arduous study.
Sa Sa Un himself hadn't sensed it after three months and had needed his father's help.
Se Yeong, on his way to the training grounds, suddenly turned back.
'Since I'm already helping, might as well go all out.'
The siblings were far too old to start martial arts training.
That meant they needed to form their dantians and build internal energy as quickly as possible, even a day sooner.
"Stay seated just like that."
Se Yeong sat cross-legged in front of Yi Gu.
"Sa Sa Un, you sit in front of Yi Hwa."
"Why... Hero Han?"
Sa Sa Un asked in an uneasy voice.
He knew exactly what that position meant.
"Force qi into their Sea of Qi acupoints and make them circulate it forcibly."
'Damn it all.'
Sa Sa Un squeezed his eyes shut.
His ominous hunch had come true, as always.
"H-How can I lay hands on a lady's body so casually?"
He tried to resist to the end.
The Sea of Qi acupoint was located in the lower abdomen, making for a very plausible excuse.
Se Yeong shot him a glance laced with killing intent.
"U-Understood."
Sa Sa Un flinched and hurriedly sat cross-legged before Yi Hwa.
"Focus. Mess it up, and they might spit blood and collapse. Sa Sa Un, you do it right too."
Se Yeong warned the siblings and Sa Sa Un sternly.
The siblings tensed up, and Sa Sa Un gripped his chest in no small anxiety.
"But don't tense up too much."
Se Yeong placed his hand on Yi Gu's Sea of Qi acupoint, and Sa Sa Un did the same to Yi Hwa's.
Yi Hwa's face flushed red in an instant.
"Not focusing?"
Her complexion returned to normal at Sa Sa Un's cold voice.
But in truth, he was even more tense than she was.
'Up close, she's actually quite pretty.'
Yi Hwa's beauty had always been exceptional.
But Sa Sa Un had viewed her so lowly before that her looks hadn't registered.
"May I come in?"
Se Yeong, about to retire for the night, sat up and slipped on his clothes.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Instructor Kang entered.
"Why haven't you gone to bed yet?"
"I couldn't sleep tonight, so I thought I'd drop by."
Instructor Kang wasn't the type to visit late at night claiming insomnia.
He must have something important to discuss.
"Have a seat."
Se Yeong offered him a seat and sat across from him.
Instructor Kang sat but hesitated to speak.
"What is it you want to talk about?"
Se Yeong opened the conversation first.
Instructor Kang met his gaze squarely.
"Where did you learn the Demonic Cult Leader's martial arts?"
As expected, that was the reason for his visit.
Se Yeong had hoped Instructor Kang wouldn't notice, but it seemed his greed had been misplaced.
"My great-granduncle was the Leader of the Demonic Cult."
Se Yeong confided in Instructor Kang something he hadn't told anyone else.
"So it is true. Young Hero Han is the Young Lord's grandson."
Instructor Kang, having already suspected as much, showed no surprise.
He rose from his seat, bowed deeply, knelt on the floor, and touched his forehead to the ground.
"Kang Seok Hyeon pays his respects to the Young Lord."
Tears streamed from Instructor Kang's eyes.
After his lord was betrayed and killed, he had surrendered to the Murim Alliance and lived a worthless life.
Too weak for revenge, it had been a distant dream.
Now, meeting his lord's bloodline, how could he not be moved?
Se Yeong knelt in turn and bowed his head.
"I'm not the Young Lord. Please dispense with the formalities."
Instructor Kang's voice went beyond stubbornness to desperation.
"No. If the Young Lord rejects this old man, I'll go outside right now and end it all."
With him going this far, Se Yeong had no choice but to yield.
"Then treat me as usual in front of the squad members."
"As you wish, Young Lord."
Se Yeong rose first and returned to his seat, and Instructor Kang followed suit.
"Strike the Demonic Cult and become the new master. No—first, take down the Alliance Leader and claim the Heavenly Demon Ancestor's sword."
Se Yeong retrieved the sword he kept by his bedside.
"This is also a Heavenly Demon sword. My grandmother brought it when she married—it was given to her by my great-granduncle. It's called Shi Wol."
"May this humble servant... take a look?"
"Go ahead."
Instructor Kang drew the sword with trembling hands.
Shing...
A clear ring accompanied the reveal of the pitch-black blade.
He examined it closely with eyes filled with emotion.
This was undoubtedly the Heavenly Demon Ancestor's sword.
"With this sword... we don't need the Alliance Leader's. The Demonic Cult's experts will recognize you as their master just from this."
Se Yeong shook his head.
"I have no intention of doing that, Instructor."
"Why... refuse the Leader's throne? If you appear with this sword, many Demonic Cult experts will side with you."
Instructor Kang gazed at Se Yeong with pleading eyes.
"It's not a lack of ambition—it's a lack of means. Grandfather slaughtered many Demonic Cult experts during the Great War against them. Even if I showed up with this sword, few would join my side."
He wasn't without desire; he simply had no path.
Declaring himself One Hidden's grandson would make them try to kill him on sight, not rally to him.
"Slaughter them all then. Gather the loyal retainers and become the new master of the Demonic Cult."
Instructor Kang showed no sign of backing down.
"I'll... think about it slowly."
When Se Yeong didn't agree, he finally relented.
"Forgive me, Young Lord. This old man was too stubborn."
"No need. Go rest now."
"Yes. Sleep well, Young Lord."
Instructor Kang backed out of the room.
Seeing him like that, Se Yeong sighed.
Wasn't that the bearing of a vassal before his lord?
Haa...
At last, the roof repairs were followed by the wall repairs coming to an end.
Se Yeong gave each of the workers an extra silver tael for their hard labor on the final day.
"Thank you, Young Master. Call us again if you have more work."
The workers bowed deeply, noses nearly touching the ground, in gratitude.
"Keep everything you've seen and heard here a secret."
Though their identities were hidden, these perceptive folk must have gleaned quite a bit.
"Of course, Young Master. None of us who worked together would breathe a word carelessly."
It was a secret that would leak eventually.
No, they might already suspect.
Still, Se Yeong hoped word of their presence spread as late as possible.
"If any strange rumors circulate in the village, we'll come running to tell you right away, Young Master."
"Much obliged."
One way or another, they were now part of the estate's people.
They surely knew Se Yeong held their lives in his hands.