Chapter 548

Heavenly Demon candidate.

In the current Holy Cult, there was a Young Cult Leader, but apparently there were separate Heavenly Demon candidates as well.

That was because there was a flaw in the Young Cult Leader’s legitimacy.

He had not learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, yet he had declared himself the Heavenly Demon’s bloodline and shown that he possessed the Heaven-Slaying Star.

On top of that, he had even brought back relics of the Heavenly Demon. In his own way, he had proven his legitimacy.

The elders and several officers who accepted that had raised him up as Young Cult Leader.

There had been no issue.

The Young Cult Leader truly did possess overwhelming talent and martial power unsuited to his age.

His Heaven-Slaying Star and the Heavenly Demon’s relics had been judged sufficient to prove his legitimacy.

The problem was that it was not perfect.

And the reason was—

Because he doesn’t have the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

The martial art said to have been used by every Heavenly Demon in history.

He did not possess the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts held by the Heavenly Demon.

As for how that could be, the reason was simple.

Because no one knows them.

The Heavenly Demon who had possessed the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts was dead.

And the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts prepared by past Heavenly Demons for their descendants had long since been destroyed in the war.

Which meant—

No matter how much legitimacy he has otherwise...

Because he lacked the most important thing, the current consensus in the Holy Cult was that he could not be called the Heavenly Demon.

And therefore—

There are many people who could rise to become the Heavenly Demon.

It also meant this was an opportunity to put forward new candidates for Heavenly Demon.

The Heaven-Slaying Star. Beyond that, overwhelming talent.

In the Holy Cult, where martial power was strength and everything else besides, the Heavenly Demon had to be an overwhelmingly powerful figure.

And considering future meetings with the orthodox faction and all other activity, the Holy Cult needed a reason to step forward.

In that regard—

The current Young Cult Leader’s position is awkward.

He did not possess complete legitimacy, so although he had been raised to the position of Young Cult Leader, the prevailing view was that he could not ascend all the way to the seat of Heavenly Demon.

Or so they say.

At least, that was what it sounded like from what Woo Young Jin had told me.

So the question is how many Heavenly Demon candidates there are right now...

He said that, once a little more time passed, a bloody storm would break out over the seat of Heavenly Demon.

They had apparently selected several geniuses who would be able to contend for that seat when the time came.

“So you’re one of them too?”

“...For now.”

Amazingly, Woo Young Jin was also a Heavenly Demon candidate. He was supposedly a genius too. So that was why the elder had been surprised when this guy looked like nothing special?

Hmm.

Compared to the Young Cult Leader, he fell far short.

“What are you looking at me like that for?”

“Nothing. I was just looking.”

“That feels unpleasant.”

“You’re imagining things. Imagining things.”

His instincts were not bad. The feeling he gave off was somewhat like Tang Cheonil. In other words, he would not be hard to handle.

Let’s set that aside for now.

As I was looking at him, Woo Young Jin asked a question of his own.

“Then I can ask now, can’t I?”

As expected.

This was why I had chosen him.

He seemed like someone who knew how to use his head.

Someone with a clear goal, and someone who would move well if I used that.

That was why I had asked him to team up, and fortunately, he seemed to have understood my intent.

“Ask. If it’s something I can answer, I’ll answer.”

“What do you orthodox bastards intend to gain by coming here?”

“...Hmm.”

“Did the orthodox faction come to the Holy Cult solely because of the Young Cult Leader?”

It was a sharp question. He wanted information shared with him. In the eyes asking that question, I could clearly feel one emotion.

Ambition.

This guy had lost to the Young Cult Leader and was not the strongest younger-generation prodigy, yet he still revealed a desire to climb higher.

It meant he was someone who had not broken even after losing to Poison Dragon.

“The meeting is the goal, but I doubt there are no other goals at all. If you say it’s because of the Young Cult Leader, that would be half-right too.”

“Meaning the other half is something else?”

“I suppose so. This isn’t something we’d move for so simply.”

“What is the other half?”

“Oh, come on. Why are you doing this?”

I smiled as I spoke.

“Asking that far is against the rules. I didn’t ask you either.”

“...”

I had not asked anything important. That was what I had done. If the other side had something it was deliberately trying to hide, I had not dug it up.

This was an unspoken trade.

“Tsk.”

He smacked his lips as if disappointed.

“Do you have any information to give?”

“What do you want? If you ask, I can give it.”

I spoke bluntly. It meant we would exchange information with each other. However, we were still enemies, so we had to decide the level of what we gave.

Woo Young Jin and I both had to decide that, and from my side, I had already gotten quite a lot.

Woo Young Jin knew that as well, so he seemed ready to speak.

“Then I’ll ask one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you intend to become Alliance Leader?”

“...Hm?”

Alliance Leader?

That was a rather out-of-nowhere question. Why bring up the Alliance Leader here?

“Do you mean the Murim Alliance Leader?”

“Yes. Do you intend to become Alliance Leader?”

“That’s a bit unexpected. Why are you curious about that?”

“I need to know so I can prepare.”

“For what?”

“If you become Alliance Leader, things will probably get troublesome. For the Holy Cult or whatever else.”

“Ha.”

I laughed when I heard that.

Troublesome, huh? Then—

“What are you going to do if I say I plan to become Alliance Leader?”

“Who knows.”

An ambiguous answer. What, if I said yes, was he going to try killing me?

“Hmm...”

Alliance Leader.

I had never really thought about it.

“At least not right now.”

“Is that so? Good.”

I had no idea what was good about it, but I answered anyway.

This time, it was my turn to ask, so I was about to speak.

Then I stopped.

“What is it?”

When I suddenly halted in place, Woo Young Jin asked in puzzlement.

“We have guests.”

“Guests...? What are you—”

Woo Young Jin stopped mid-sentence.

He seemed to have finally sensed it too. He turned around.

At a glance, there was nothing but a rocky mountain, though sparse thickets did exist here and there.

To the eyes, nothing could be seen at first.

But my energy sense and Moon Eye were definitely catching presences.

I did not place my hand on my sword. I considered what to do for a few seconds.

“...”

Woo Young Jin let out a sigh.

“Those idiots... They must have clearly seen who it was.”

His mutter was quiet, but it was at a level any martial artist could hear.

Perhaps that was the trigger.

CRRRRASH—!!!

Something suddenly flew toward us. When I glanced over, it was an iron chain. A chain tipped with a sharp spike came flying at me.

KWAGAGANG—!!!

Perhaps because inner qi was gathered in it, its destructive power was strong. It thrashed violently, as though it would shatter the whole rocky slope.

I moved one step.

Crunch.

Then I stamped down on the chain embedded in the ground.

“...!”

The chain snapped taut. Its owner must have been flustered when it would not return. Even that lasted only an instant.

FWOOOSH—!!

Another presence dug in toward me. A scythe? It was a martial artist holding scythes in both hands.

He lunged in sharply and attacked.

I stared straight at him.

Right before the scythe was about to cut through my neck—

THUD—!!!

“Guh!”

Woo Young Jin stepped in. He unleashed fist aura and knocked the enemy away. The man flew a good distance and rolled across the ground.

“You could have stepped in a little faster. I almost got hurt.”

When I spoke as if reproaching him, Woo Young Jin looked at me in disbelief.

“You deliberately didn’t dodge, and you’re saying that?”

“I was trying to check whether he was your ally.”

“Unbelievable.”

As I watched Woo Young Jin click his tongue, I felt it.

There’s no strength at my foot.

The power in the chain I had been holding down had gone slack. I turned my gaze. The person who had used the chain seemed to have abandoned the weapon and disappeared.

They had fled.

“They ran. What do you intend to—”

Before Woo Young Jin finished speaking, I moved. My field of view shifted. In an instant, I appeared in front of the enemy.

“Urk!?”

It was a woman. She had a slightly sharp-eyed impression and looked at me in shock. It seemed she was the one who had thrown the chain.

I looked at her and held out my hand.

“Can you hand it over quietly?”

“...Why... why do you think I have the bead?”

“If that guy had the bead, he wouldn’t have charged in. I thought maybe the person holding it had attacked from a distance. Looks like you really do have it?”

“Kh...!”

As if she had no intention of handing it over quietly, the woman drew a dagger.

She really only drew it.

Smack—!

“Ah!”

The woman screamed as I struck her wrist, and while watching that, I drove my fist into her abdomen.

Thump—!

“Kuhuk!”

Thud.

After one hit, she dropped to her knees.

Rattle, rattle.

A bead rolled out from inside her clothes. I caught it with the tip of my foot.

“That’s one bead gained.”

“...You’re fast.”

Woo Young Jin had only just arrived. His eyes widened when he saw me obtain the bead.

“So we’ve passed the training for now?”

“That’s true. Are you going to stop here?”

Woo Young Jin asked.

I stared at him after hearing that.

“This training isn’t just about getting one bead, is it?”

“...”

At my words, Woo Young Jin smiled faintly.

“You catch on quickly.”

“It’s not really catching on. It just seemed like that would be the case.”

Tap.

I tossed the bead to Woo Young Jin.

He caught it.

After confirming that, I moved elsewhere. This training did not seem to be as simple as getting one bead and ending it.

“The more you get, the better.”

Obtain beads, and obtain more.

A way to show one’s talent.

That was how it looked to me.

Then I wonder what the others are doing.

Especially that person called Heavenly Sword.

I suddenly grew curious, remembering that he was supposedly a genius.

I wondered if he was truly comparable to the Young Cult Leader.

That was all I wanted to know.

*****

While the training continued in full swing...

“Kuhuk.”

Someone dropped to his knees and coughed up blood. Since all the martial artists were moving, such injuries were only natural, but—

“...Damn it.”

The person bleeding was not simply a Holy Cult member, but Cloud Dragon.

He was Wudang’s absolute prodigy, one of its geniuses.

Cloud Dragon, the one said to one day illuminate Wudang, was on his knees, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

“You’re worse than I expected.”

Standing before him was the person who had made him this way. He was a young man with pale skin and attractive long hair.

The armband he wore bore the mark of number two.

The young man tilted his head and said,

“They said you were a prodigy of the orthodox faction. Were Gyo Yeon and Woo Young Jin bigger idiots than I thought? I didn’t expect you to be at this level.”

“...”

Cloud Dragon’s face twisted as if his pride had been wounded. Beside him, the person he had paired with had already lost consciousness and lay sprawled on the ground.

The bead had long since been taken and pushed into the young man’s clothes.

“What a disappointment. Bang Seongyeon, was it? Is he the only decent one? If this is the average of the orthodox faction, you’re utterly pathetic.”

“...What do you know!”

Crack—!

“Guh!”

Cloud Dragon was struck in the face and staggered.

“Do not raise your voice. It doesn’t suit your station.”

“Kuhuk!”

That single blow shook his entire mind. As Cloud Dragon wavered and tried to fix his stance, the young man—

Heavenly Sword smiled.

“I suppose I should go face him myself. I need to see just how arrogant he is.”

Saying that, Heavenly Sword turned around.

He would go meet Bang Seongyeon at once. The man who had taken number one. He needed to read him a little.

Just as the Holy Cult’s renowned genius said that and began moving—

KUUUUUUUNG—!!!!

“Hm?”

Something fell from the sky.

“Found you.”

Beneath the billowing dust from the cratered ground, a massive figure’s eyes gleamed.

“Strong one. You’re strong, aren’t you?”

“What are you?”

As the dust settled, a terrifying bulk appeared.

Number 187.

“You fight me now.”

Peng Dojun, the Heavenly Martial Body, who had been charging all over the place on his own.

He had found Heavenly Sword.