Chapter 137: The Eve (5)

The atmosphere in the room turned cold.

Of course, it was not as if there was no proof that the Heavenly Demon had died.

The Heavenly Demon’s severed head, which the Sword Sovereign had brought back.

And the Demonic Cult, which had truly fallen apart afterward...

And yet, something about it felt unpleasant.

Demonic Energy warped the essence of living things.

With that power, the Demonic Cult had produced Demonic Beasts, and the Young Cult Leader had gained immortality.

Then, would the Heavenly Demon truly not have done the same?

Of course, every martial art had its own strengths and weaknesses, and it was difficult to learn several opposing arts at once.

Above all, did the Heavenly Demon not possess the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?

If that “immortality” was also a function gained through training in some Demonic Art, then there was nothing strange about it.

“...I do not think discussing that point right now will bring us any practical benefit.”

Cheonjeong, having finished organizing his thoughts, quietly cut off the question.

They could neither infer nor conclude what had happened between the Sword Sovereign and the Heavenly Demon right now.

Even if they discussed it again at this point, without clear evidence, they would only become public enemies of the Martial Alliance.

What they had to be certain of now was one thing.

How they would capture this Young Cult Leader who had escaped, along with his host.

“So how are we going to find that host?”

Cheonju put his finger on the heart of the situation.

The problem was...

They still had no answer to that.

Soyak answered with a troubled expression.

“...We have not yet found a way to confirm that.”

“That is...”

“We will have to check every person who comes into sight. Is that not so, Cheonju?”

“Would that not take far too much time and effort?”

Cheonjeong shook his head.

Then he looked around at everyone and spoke.

“We have no other method, do we? For now, as Soyak said, if an arm was cut off and attached, there should be a mark. It is the left arm, so all of you roll up your left sleeves.”

Everyone rolled up their left sleeves, but there were no marks.

All the more so for any mark showing an arm had been cut off and reattached.

“From what I confirmed, the severed arm belonged to an adult man. And I remember it being rather thick.”

“Then we can watch only well-built adult men.”

Cheonjeong quietly nodded.

But that did not mean the search range had especially narrowed.

Most of Mount Hua was male.

And most of those men were well built.

Even so, excluding children and old men would remove roughly thirty percent.

If someone had attached a strange arm, then confirming it would be a bit faster, but...

The host was probably not chosen in such a foolish way.

“It will be difficult to distinguish by appearance.”

“What about distinguishing him by Demonic Energy?”

“If that were possible, he would have been discovered long ago. Neither I nor Master has noticed him so far. It would be right to assume he can hide his Demonic Energy as well.”

“Hmm...”

Cheonjeong furrowed his brow.

At this point, with their own abilities, it was practically the same as being unable to do anything until something happened.

It was not a pleasant feeling.

No matter that their opponent was the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader.

“Then what do you think we should do?”

“For now...”

Soyak cast her gaze far into the distance.

In the direction Eunsong had gone to meet Eun Jeong.

“...We have no choice but to wait and hope Master finds a clear answer, do we?”

*****

Mount Hua’s southern peak was the tallest, and no one built residences there.

The northern peak, however, was different.

It was not the tallest, but it was the most rugged.

That was why many closed-door training caves were there.

Countless caves had been carved out by the ancestors of old.

Even now, no one knew exactly how many training caves existed on the northern peak.

Every few years, someone would discover a cave no one had found until then.

The place where Eun Jeong had secluded himself was the same.

Originally, there had been a closed-door training cave assigned to him.

Elder Jeonggang had specially given him the one he himself had used.

Once someone became an elder, they were each granted a training cave to avoid anyone’s interference.

But Eun Jeong had discovered a new training cave no one had ever found below a split cliff nearby.

A narrow, slender entrance hidden by the shadow of a sheer precipice.

Everyone who had passed that place until then had simply thought it was a natural crack.

Eun Jeong had stepped into that place purely out of curiosity.

And inside, he had seen a luminous pearl embedded there, along with a letter for a junior disciple.

From that day on, that training cave had belonged to Eun Jeong.

“...This brings back memories.”

At most, it had only been a few years ago.

But back then, he too had been young and immature.

How envious he had been of such a junior disciple.

Now he knew that none of it mattered.

Eunsong slowly stepped down onto the rocky protrusions of the cliff and the tips of the shrubs that had grown there.

With his lightness arts raised to their utmost, even those were enough to support his body.

In that way, he reached the thin crack.

Thin crack was only a flattering term.

It had looked that way from far above, beneath the bridge, but up close there was a fissure wide enough for one person to enter with ease.

Eunsong waited quietly there.

Today was the day the closed-door training ended.

Unless Eun Jeong had foolishly carved the date wrong on the wall, he would emerge after sunset.

Usually, one ended closed-door training and came out only after even the evening glow had completely faded.

How long had he waited like that?

A rustling sound began to come from inside.

And then...

Eun Jeong, his hair grown down to his waist, emerged from within in a rather haggard state.

“...Eldest Brother?”

Still, it seemed he had trimmed his beard to some extent.

Though it was not neatly groomed, so it stuck out here and there.

“Well now. You have become a complete wreck.”

“What a joke.”

When Eunsong smiled faintly and teased him, Eun Jeong shrugged.

Then he looked out at the darkened world for a moment... and gestured for Eunsong to come inside.

“Come in first, Eldest Brother. Seeing as you were waiting only for me to come out, it seems something rather urgent has happened.”

“That is one way to put it... As always, I need you.”

“Oh dear. Then I have one piece of disappointing news to tell you.”

Eun Jeong smacked his lips.

Eunsong already knew what he was about to say.

“If it is that you did not reach the Transformation Realm, do not worry. Well, it would be a lie to say I had no expectations at all.”

“To be honest, even I did not have much expectation when I entered the training cave. In any case, unfortunately, that did not happen. It seems I am still lacking in depth.”

“But you must have reached the very edge of Transcendent Apex.”

“Something like that. I reached somewhere near it.”

That was enough.

He would probably reach the Transformation Realm before he turned forty.

The open eye for talent that Eunsong and Jeonggang shared told him so.

This closed-door training had originally been meant to hasten his arrival at the Transformation Realm, which he would normally reach only in his mid-to-late forties.

Others who could not see through a person’s potential may have had expectations.

But Eunsong and Jeonggang had already predicted what achievement Eun Jeong would have made by the time he emerged.

Assuming, of course, that there was no special rare opportunity in that cave.

And unfortunately, the only things inside were two or three usable spirit medicines.

At the level of Transcendent Apex or higher, all two or three spirit medicines could do was add roughly ten years’ worth of internal energy at best.

“Then that is enough. You will be more than helpful.”

“...Eldest Brother, why do you speak as though something has happened to Mount Hua?”

“Because it seems something has.”

Eun Jeong, who had been listening, narrowed his eyes.

Then he brought over a battered kettle and two teacups from the corner and poured tea he had boiled in advance.

“Tell me.”

“Do you know that the remains of the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader, who was killed during the old War of the Righteous and Demonic, were sealed beneath the slope of Mount Hua’s South Peak?”

“...There is no way I would know something like that.”

“And of course, there is no way you would know that they are not dead, but alive.”

Eun Jeong’s narrowed eyes widened round again.

“You mean they were sealed alive, not dead? A corpse?”

“To be precise, part of a corpse. The left arm is with the Mount Hua Sect.”

“...He still did not die after being torn to pieces?”

Eun Jeong let out a low groan.

It was a horrifying outcome that defied common sense.

Like Soyak, he too had instantly thought of how many people must have been sacrificed to achieve immortality. ℴ

“That is truly dreadful. What in the world did they do...?”

“I do not know what they did, but I found that I did not particularly want to know. The worst-case scenario right now is that the left leg, which was lost at the time, may have been attached as well.”

“...Does the Sect Leader know?”

“That is the problem.”

From there, it became a long, arduous story stretching from three years ago, when Eun Jeong had entered closed-door training, all the way to the present.

With patience and persistence, Eunsong began explaining everything in full detail.

Realizing the story was growing longer than he had expected, Eun Jeong refilled the tea several times.

A long while passed that way.

“...Remarkable, Eldest Brother. So you truly brought in a sword that will cut down the Sword Sovereign?”

“Yes. Though she is young, and must still be raised further.”

“To think there is a child in this world with such talent. I will help you, so that is enough of the story.”

Eun Jeong brushed himself off and rose.

Eunsong inferred why he was suddenly trying to leave, and the instant he reached the answer, he was shocked.

“Eun Jeong, wait a moment...”

“Before I take part in that child’s karmic burden, I should see the child’s skill.”