“Elder!”
The moment I saw the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, I leapt for joy and shouted. Had I ever been so glad to see him since the day we met?
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon descended to the ground and pulled out the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber, which had been half-buried in the floor.
“A man old enough to know better—why are you bullying your juniors?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon sternly rebuked him.
In reply, a Hyeorang Finger shot toward him.
Boom!
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon thrust out a palm and dispersed the Hyeorang Finger. In terms of inner force, he was not pushed back in the slightest. In particular, the aura of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been training diligently in martial arts of late, was sharper than ever.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon roared.
“You ugly old bastard! Do you want to die?”
The Heaven-Destroying Great Saber swung in a wide arc.
Fwoooooosh!
The saber wind unleashed from the blade tore through space as it swept forward.
Yang Cheogi did not dodge. He thrust out both palms and released his palm force.
Kwaaaaang!
With an explosion that seemed to split the ears, both men were pushed sliding backward. The number of steps they retreated was exactly the same. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s cultivation was truly profound; he was not inferior to Yang Cheogi at all.
I immediately joined the fight as well. If the Blood Heaven Blade Demon fought alone and happened to get hurt, that would be disastrous.
Chwararararak.
When I unleashed the Seventh Form of the Flying Heaven Sword Art, the Flowing Heaven Form, the Black Demon Sword split apart and rose into the air as twelve strands of sword qi. Though I had little inner force left, I deliberately flaunted what I had and divided it as much as possible.
Seeing that even I was about to join the battle, Yang Cheogi judged the situation unfavorable, kicked off the ground in an instant, and vanished from the place.
“Please don’t chase him.”
I worried that the Blood Heaven Blade Demon might pursue him, but he did not move an inch.
“I wouldn’t go even if you told me to. When we exchanged that palm just now, I thought my arm was going to fall off. He’s as strong as he is ugly.”
“Compared to that bastard, Elder, you’re a peerless beauty!”
“Of course.”
“Elder!”
I ran over to throw my arms around him, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon used his footwork and dodged.
“Disgusting.”
“How did you come here?”
“I happened to be passing by.”
As if that could be true. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had been worried about me and had been keeping an eye on my movements.
“Thank you. If not for you, Elder, we would have died here.”
It was not mere empty courtesy. If he had not come, there was truly no telling how the fight would have ended.
The Extreme Evil Young Demon collapsed heavily to the ground. His mask was covered in blood, and his entire body was wounded and drenched in it.
“Elder, please stand guard for a moment.”
“Very well.”
I placed my hand on the Extreme Evil Young Demon’s back and injected a stream of inner force. Slowly, I tended to his meridians, bolstered his true qi, and treated his internal injuries. As the pure inner force soothed his body, the Extreme Evil Young Demon soon opened his eyes. Fortunately, his internal injuries were not very deep.
“What a relief. Your internal injuries aren’t that severe.”
The Extreme Evil Young Demon looked at me. I could not forget it—the look in his eyes earlier when he had sensed the end, the regret that had filled them.
We forget so easily. We forget those intense moments that could change me and my life. Once that moment passes, we fail to live as we did in that instant.
But I would not do that. Now, nothing else was needed in my relationship with him. As long as I did not forget the regret of that moment when we had sensed death, that would be enough.
Extreme Evil Young Demon, what about you? Do you feel the same as I do?
The Extreme Evil Young Demon simply smiled. For the first time, he smiled with all of his emotions laid bare. I smiled too.
That’s right. Drink with the Drunken Demon, laugh with the Young Demon. That was enough.
Next, the Extreme Evil Young Demon expressed his gratitude to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. Not with words, but with a slight bow of his head.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon likewise accepted the greeting with nothing more than a single nod.
Seizing the chance, I threw my arms around the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Elder! I missed you.”
“I told you it’s disgusting. Why are you doing this?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon shook me off as I acted like a child and fled backward. But how could I not know? He was truly happy that he had saved me.
I retrieved the ten-thousand-year cold iron dagger that had fallen beside Iron Chain Master’s corpse and spoke honestly.
“This fight was quite hard.”
Watching me, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said,
“Didn’t I tell you? You’re waking up the murim.”
“Should I go somewhere and learn a lullaby?”
“Then in the process of learning it, you’d wake up even those who didn’t need to.”
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s joke, I spoke with confidence.
“Since it’s come to this anyway, tell them all to wake up. Tell them not to wake up late later and talk in their sleep—tell them all to wake up. Instead…”
After meeting both their eyes, I said,
“From now on, please fight alongside me.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon stared at me for a moment, then abruptly turned and walked away. The Extreme Evil Young Demon followed behind him.
“There you go again. There you go again.”
I walked after them and left the place.
* * *
Sima Myeong entered the Heavenly Demon Hall with an urgent message in hand. The fact that his steps were quicker than usual told of the importance of the contents he had brought.
Even seeing that urgency, the Heavenly Demon, Geom Ujin, remained as calm as ever.
When Sima Myeong reached the end of the red carpet, he swiftly delivered the news.
“This time, during the mission, the Second Young Master came into conflict with the villains of Evil Valley.”
“Evil Valley?”
“The Ecstasy Enchantress, the Three Lords of the Blood Road, the Yama Divine Lord, and the Blood Wolf Saber.”
“Some fairly capable ones came out, then.”
“They were not the only ones. The Monster Demon and Iron Chain Master appeared as well.”
At the mention of those two names, Geom Ujin flinched in surprise. The first four were not easy opponents either, but the two mentioned afterward were certainly not people to be taken lightly.
“They clashed with the Second Young Master and the Extreme Evil Young Demon.”
“The Extreme Evil Young Demon was there as well?”
“Yes. It seems the Extreme Evil Young Demon is also involved in this matter.”
“And?”
After a brief pause, Sima Myeong reported,
“The Second Young Master and the Extreme Evil Young Demon killed them all.”
“The first four, perhaps, but the latter two could not have been easy.”
“They say the Extreme Evil Young Demon sustained internal injuries in the process. Fortunately, they are not deep.”
“And Mugeuk?”
“He is unharmed.”
“The two of them killed the Monster Demon and Iron Chain Master?”
Unlike the composed Geom Ujin, the Grand Strategist Sima Myeong was slightly flushed.
“To be honest, I was greatly surprised when I saw the message. Previously, the Second Young Master and the Extreme Evil Young Demon did join forces to kill the Sword Emperor, but at that time their opponent was only one man. This time, however, the number of enemies was great, so it could not have been easy.”
If he had not sparred with Geom Mugeuk at the Pungryu Tavern before, Geom Ujin would have been just as surprised. Geom Ujin had already been surprised in advance that day.
“Who is behind this matter?”
“The true mastermind is the leader of the Cheonmyeong Society, and those who took the lead in carrying it out were Yang Cheogi and the Master of Evil Valley.”
“Yang Cheogi? That Yang Cheogi of the White Mask Sect?”
Geom Ujin knew of him.
“Yes. It appears he did this because of his grudge with the Extreme Evil Young Demon.”
“That seems far too grand a lineup to mobilize for such a reason.”
“According to the Second Young Master’s report, the leader of the Cheonmyeong Society won over the Master of Evil Valley and Yang Cheogi. However, while recruiting Yang Cheogi, it seems he secretly offered him the position of Master of Evil Valley.”
“Why would he do that? From the perspective of the Cheonmyeong Society’s leader, the Master of Evil Valley would be more useful than Yang Cheogi in many ways.”
“There must be some hidden intention.”
“Look into it.”
“Yes! The Cheonmyeong Society is more troublesome than we had thought.”
Until now, they had regarded the Cheonmyeong Society as little more than a group that impersonated the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to seek illicit profit. But now that they saw more clearly, it was an organization far larger and stronger than that.
“What will you do? It may be too much for the Second Young Master to handle. Shall we call him back now?”
But Geom Ujin shook his head.
“That mission is one the child chose himself, is it not? Then he must bear it. Instead, overlook the Demon Venerables’ involvement this time. And increase the cult’s support from one instance to three.”
“Understood.”
Originally, it was a mission he was supposed to carry out alone, so it should not have been permissible for the Demon Venerables to intervene like this.
But since a special situation beyond the scope of the trial had unfolded, they would adjust the difficulty accordingly.
“I will focus our pavilion’s information network on monitoring the Cheonmyeong Society.”
Geom Ujin nodded and said,
“Tell my second son that the trial continues.”
* * *
We stayed at one of the cult’s safe houses not far from the Yellow River Inn, where the fight had taken place.
For several days, we rested, recovered our inner force, and treated our wounds. We ate proper meals, circulated our qi, regulated our breathing, and rested fully.
And today, a message arrived from the Heavenly Demon Hall telling me to continue the mission.
As expected of Father, I thought. Even if I sent a message saying I was about to wage a battle against the Murim Alliance, he would be the kind of man to reply, “Fight well.”
That night, as I strolled through the garden of the safe house, enjoying the lonely moonlight, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was training in martial arts in the yard off to one side.
“You train even here?”
“Do you think training is a game? Why would I care about the place?”
“These days, whenever I see you, Elder, I find myself thinking that becoming a Demon Venerable is no joke.”
“Don’t lie. You look down on us.”
“That’s a misunderstanding!”
To be honest, when I first resolved to win over the Demon Venerables, I had looked down on them. But as I grew closer to them, I had long since abandoned that thought. These people were absolutely not simple.
That was probably why Yang Cheogi had failed to become a Demon Venerable.
Separate from his martial skill, he lacked something decisive that would allow him to become a Demon Venerable. Should I say he had no charm? No presence? That he was not of that caliber? There was something missing in him.
“I suppose because I’ve only been seeing the Drunken Demon drinking every day, I’d forgotten how frightening Demon Venerables are.”
“You mustn’t look down on that drunkard either.”
“Why have you been worrying about me so much lately?”
“Do you look like someone I shouldn’t worry about? Every chance you get, you fall into danger like this. At this rate, I’ll have to empty my pocket money and buy you another protective robe. By the way, what about the Sokgong Pill?”
“I took it.”
I did not say that I had fed it to the Extreme Evil Young Demon. If I did, our old man might fume all night and be unable to sleep.
That was when it happened.
“I was the one who took it.”
I turned and saw the Extreme Evil Young Demon walking out into the garden.
“Thanks to it, I survived.”
Then he bowed his head lightly. At that respectful attitude, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon merely shot me a look and did not say anything to needles the Extreme Evil Young Demon for no reason.
“As long as you’re safe, that’s enough.”
How desperate must the situation have been for him to swallow that and keep fighting? How could the Blood Heaven Blade Demon not understand? Behind his back, he cursed the Extreme Evil Young Demon as a sinister bastard all the time, but he still acknowledged his skill.
“I’ll repay this debt next time.”
“Before that, you should wipe the blood off that mask.”
“I intend to wear it as is until this matter is over.”
I sensed that the Extreme Evil Young Demon was slightly excited. It was not merely anger. It was closer to the exhilaration one felt after surviving a life-and-death battle for the first time in a long while.
I felt the same. In the final fight, I had experienced my sword moving faster than before. It had come from my desperation to save the Extreme Evil Young Demon, but in any case, I had surpassed the limit I could reach. That was what mattered. The fact that I had broken through a limit. Since the Flying Heaven Sword Art had already reached the great completion of the twelfth star, this improvement must be related to the overall realm of my martial learning.
“I brushed against death more than once, but honestly, it felt incredible.”
At my words, the eyes behind the Extreme Evil Young Demon’s mask showed agreement.
Even the Blood Heaven Blade Demon nodded.
“It’s that taste that drives everyone mad.”
It seemed the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s blood had also begun to boil when he exchanged that palm strike with Yang Cheogi.
“First, we have to catch Yang Cheogi.”
Yang Cheogi had not only tried to kill us; he had also attempted to drive the disciples of the White Mask Sect, the Extreme Evil Young Demon’s own sect, to their deaths. Since he would continue targeting the Extreme Evil Young Demon and me in the future, he had to be dealt with first.
“Moreover, he must have met the leader of the Cheonmyeong Society in person, so he will also be useful in finding him.”
At that, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked,
“Do you know where that Yang Cheogi fellow is?”
“He’ll be hiding in Evil Valley. The people he brought out from there are dead, so he’ll have to report it, and it’s also the safest place for him. Besides, Yang Cheogi is aiming for the position of Master of Evil Valley, so he must have returned there.”
“I’ll help you.”
When the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said he would help, the Extreme Evil Young Demon unexpectedly spoke up.
“I know Evil Valley well.”
After a brief pause, he added,
“I was there once.”
I was startled and asked,
“When were you there?”
“When I was young. My master sent me there, saying I should cultivate a wicked heart. He came to retrieve me three years later.”
“What if you had died there?”
“Then he would have found another disciple.”
“You survived in Evil Valley at such a young age?”
The Extreme Evil Young Demon nodded.
“Evil Valley is ultimately a place where people live. If there are experts like the Monster Demon, there are also people who know no martial arts at all. There are even people who are not from Evil Valley but bring goods in bulk and do business there, because the profit margin is high. Still, you must not let your guard down. If you enter without any information, there is no place as terrifying as Evil Valley.”
I relayed to the two of them the contents of the message that had come from the cult.
“The cult contacted me today. The mission to eliminate the leader of the Cheonmyeong Society remains in effect, and instead, support has been strengthened so that I may receive aid from the cult three times. I think we should use one of those chances now. The three of us could handle it, but in the process, the Master of Evil Valley may step forward. There is no need to take unnecessary risks. In any case, it only means using one opportunity.”
With the spirit of wiping out Evil Valley entirely if need be, I spoke powerfully.
“Let’s call the One Flower Sword Venerable and the Great Drunken Demon too, and go catch Yang Cheogi.”