The place where Geom Mugeuk and Seo Daeryong stood side by side was the roof of a building from which Bongsan Sword Sect could be seen in the distance.
Bongsan Sword Sect was not situated in some remote place, but built where many people came and went.
Looking down from above, its scale was considerable, and the fact that such a large compound stood adjacent to the marketplace alone was enough to show how great Bongsan Sword Sect’s influence was.
The sects attending the meeting were arriving at Bongsan Sword Sect one by one. There was still time before the appointed hour, but some had come early.
Seo Daeryong was flipping through the documents. The materials he was looking at now were information on Bongsan Sword Sect and on the sects invited today. Of course, they were materials sent by Tongcheongak.
“Bang Cheongmun (房淸紋), the sect leader of Bongsan Sword Sect, is someone who hates our cult very much. The purpose of today’s meeting is to unite against our cult as well. Ah, look over there.”
A sect had just arrived.
“The sect that just arrived is Namjung Sect (南中門). The expected number of attendees was twelve… yes, that’s right. Twelve. The sect leader, Won Hong (元泓), is favorably disposed toward our cult. He serves as a bridge between our cult and Chongqing’s orthodox murim, and he was invited to today’s meeting.”
“Outwardly, the banner they’re raising is unity against our cult, but in the end, it’s a political gathering.”
Nodding, Seo Daeryong continued speaking.
“Since their purpose in wiping out a sect is to enrage the orthodox factions, that Namjung Sect leader is the furthest thing from their target.”
Then Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“If it were me, I would have targeted Namjung Sect.”
“What? Why?”
Seo Daeryong asked with a startled expression.
“If they strike Bongsan Sword Sect, which is usually hostile toward us, the orthodox factions will be furious, but they’ll also think it was an inevitable result. This place openly opposes us even in ordinary times.”
“I suppose so.”
“But what if they struck Namjung Sect? Would they really be pleased that a place friendly toward us had been annihilated?”
“They’re still part of the same orthodox faction, so they wouldn’t be pleased.”
What Geom Mugeuk was speaking of was the nature of anger.
“Exactly. Then what would their perception of us be? We annihilate a place that was friendly toward us? Wouldn’t they think we were truly insane? How would they feel looking at us committing such irrational and barbaric acts? I don’t think their hatred toward us would be any less. If anything, it would be greater.”
It was something Seo Daeryong had never considered at all. Hearing it, he realized the repercussions would be far greater if Namjung Sect were attacked.
“And you still say I’m smarter than you, Young Cult Master?”
Seo Daeryong was certain. If Geom Mugeuk became an enemy, he would be a hundred times—no, a thousand times—harder to deal with than he was now.
“You are smarter than me. You memorized all those materials, didn’t you?”
“I did memorize them.”
This time, Geom Mugeuk flinched in surprise.
“You memorized them? Really? I asked as a joke.”
“……”
“You’re joking too, right? You are, aren’t you?”
“…I’m joking.”
“Don’t say you’re joking with such confident eyes!”
There was definitely a sense of composure in Seo Daeryong that only someone who had memorized everything could show.
But that couldn’t be. There was no way he could have memorized all of this in such a short time.
Ah, come to think of it, when we first met, Seo Daeryong had come after memorizing all the personal information on the Demon Lords. Surely not? No, it couldn’t be.
“Let’s go.”
Before setting off, Geom Mugeuk burned all the documents he had read in his palm with Scorching Yang energy. The papers all turned to ash and scattered away.
Whoosh.
“When will I be able to do that?”
That was what Seo Daeryong envied most. Later, when he became able to do it, he would definitely try it in front of his subordinates. After reading a confidential document, he would burn it in his palm as if it were nothing. Casually, whoosh. Just thinking about it was cool.
Then Geom Mugeuk said something he had not expected.
“You have enough internal energy now too.”
“Really?”
“It won’t be long.”
At those heart-pounding words, Seo Daeryong realized anew just how great the fortuitous encounter he had obtained this time truly was.
“Now, let’s go!”
Geom Mugeuk launched himself lightly with qinggong, and Seo Daeryong followed after him.
With internal energy overflowing in his dantian, Seo Daeryong felt confidence in every movement he made.
Sects participating in the meeting were arriving one after another at Bongsan Sword Sect’s main gate.
As expected, the heads of each sect had brought subordinates with them—at least a dozen, and at most several dozen. Given the situation, they were taking every precaution for safety.
Since they could not enter through the main gate, Geom Mugeuk and Seo Daeryong climbed over the wall. Security was tight, but not to the point that the two of them could not infiltrate.
“Is it all right for us to walk around like this?”
After climbing over the wall, Geom Mugeuk openly revealed himself and walked.
“Straighten your shoulders. Act like invited guests.”
“Won’t my saber stand out?”
“It will only stand out the moment you worry about it.”
Indeed, the Bongsan Sword Sect martial artists they met while walking merely bowed their heads lightly in greeting and did not ask their identities. No one would imagine that the culprits would be walking around in broad daylight carrying a great saber.
“Look carefully. The scouts may already have come in.”
“Will a large number of them launch a surprise attack like when they attacked the Chongqing branch?”
“Who knows. It could be one person, or it could be a hundred. But one thing is certain: they’ll try to kill the leaders in the Myeolcheon Demon Saber style.”
When Seo Daeryong imagined someone killing people in the Myeolcheon Demon Saber style, his heart pounded as if it would burst. One thing was certain.
‘If we can’t stop them, countless people will die here today.’
If they told the people here that, no one would believe them.
With so many experts gathered here, who would dare come to kill them? And in broad daylight, no less. On top of that, Bongsan Sword Sect was not in some secluded place, so such an ambush would be even harder to imagine.
But they would come.
Just as they had come for him in the Thunder Prison.
“What do we do now?”
Geom Mugeuk had already thought of how to respond on the way here.
“We need to meet the leader of Bongsan Sword Sect.”
Since it was an unexpected method, Seo Daeryong was startled. He had thought they would hide somewhere, then appear and stop them when the enemies showed up.
“If we simply try to respond without knowing how they will attack, the damage could be great. I don’t know about anyone else, but we need to speak with the Bongsan sect leader beforehand.”
“Will he really believe us if we say we’re here to help?”
He probably would not even believe that he was the Young Cult Master to begin with.
“We have to make him believe.”
Seo Daeryong thought that this plan was only possible because it was Geom Mugeuk. He had faith that, if it were him, he could somehow persuade the leader of Bongsan Sword Sect.
“Let’s go. The sect leader’s hall is over there.”
“I’m going to meet the sect leader alone.”
Geom Mugeuk pointed at Seo Daeryong’s great saber.
“If you’re there, wearing that great saber, when I reveal that I’m a demonic practitioner, the sect leader will suspect that the culprits are playing some trick.”
“That makes sense. Then where should I be in the meantime?”
“Find out whether there are any suspicious people.”
“By myself?”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and said,
“Isn’t finding enemies in a dangerous place cooler than burning paper in your palm?”
Leaving Seo Daeryong behind, Geom Mugeuk headed toward the sect leader’s hall.
He judged that things were still safe for now. The enemies would move once the meeting began in earnest.
* * *
Bang Cheongmun, the leader of Bongsan Sword Sect, was in the sect leader’s hall.
He stood by the window, looking at the martial artists of each sect arriving at the sect.
A subordinate came to report to him.
“The invited sects are arriving one after another.”
“Has anyone informed us they will not attend?”
“Not a single one.”
“Go and thoroughly inspect the preparations for the meeting.”
“Yes!”
After sending his subordinate away, Bang Cheongmun wore a satisfied expression.
This meeting was an opportunity to leap forward.
One should not use another’s tragedy as an opportunity, but the destruction of Daejeong Sect was clearly an opportunity for Bongsan Sword Sect. They had competed with them, clashing over every little matter. They had naturally begun absorbing the various interests Daejeong Sect had held.
Today’s meeting had the purpose of demonstrating Bongsan Sword Sect’s power while uniting the sects close to him.
‘With this chance, we’ll rise to become the number one sect in Chongqing.’
That was his goal.
At that moment, someone opened the door and entered.
If it had been a subordinate, he would have announced himself before coming in.
When he turned around, the person who had entered was a young man he had never seen before.
Bang Cheongmun secretly drew up his inner force and asked calmly,
“Who are you?”
This was a place his subordinates were guarding like an iron wall. Moreover, even the guards who were supposed to reveal themselves in emergencies had sent no word. It meant they had all already been subdued.
“An uninvited guest, but likely the guest you need most today.”
Of course, the young man was Geom Mugeuk.
“What happened to my subordinates?”
“I merely sealed their acupoints, so don’t worry.”
Fortunately, there was no scent of blood anywhere.
“Who are you?”
Geom Mugeuk did not hide his identity.
“I am Geom Mugeuk, Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
Bang Cheongmun’s eyes widened.
If not for the bloodshed that had recently occurred in Chongqing, if the public purpose of today’s meeting had not been to join forces against the Demon Cult, he would never have believed such an absurd statement.
“That is difficult to believe.”
Bang Cheongmun drew his sword. It was a sword he would have had to draw anyway. If he was the Young Cult Master of the Demon Cult, he could not have come with good intentions, so he had to draw it; if he was not the Young Cult Master, then all the more reason. He was a dangerous man impersonating the Demon Cult’s Young Cult Master.
Geom Mugeuk had no intention of persuading him through conversation. He knew well that words would not solve this.
Swoosh.
Geom Mugeuk charged toward Bang Cheongmun in an instant.
In the flash of a moment, Bang Cheongmun thrust his sword at Geom Mugeuk, who had closed in right before his nose.
But the tip of the sword he had thrust already met empty air.
Slide.
The Black Demon Sword was aimed at his neck from behind.
Though he was the leader of a large sect like Bongsan Sword Sect, he could not block Geom Mugeuk’s Myeongwang Step.
“I did not come to kill you.”
“Then why did you sneak in? Why are you pointing a sword at me?”
“I could hardly enter through the main gate of a place holding a meeting to stand against our cult, could I? The reason I pointed a sword at you was to confirm my identity.”
Geom Mugeuk withdrew his sword.
At that moment, Bang Cheongmun turned like a thunderbolt and swung his sword.
Shwing!
But the space behind him was empty once again.
Slide.
Once more, a sword was aimed at his neck from behind.
“I can understand twice, but there will be no third time. I have no intention of dealing with someone that foolish.”
When Bang Cheongmun nodded, Geom Mugeuk withdrew his sword.
Bang Cheongmun no longer had any intention of attacking. Even if the first time could be dismissed as having been caught off guard by a preemptive strike, the second had clearly been a surprise attack he launched first. And he had confirmed the overwhelming difference in their abilities.
“If I had come to kill you, you would already be dead, and I would now be writing words on that wall with your blood.”
Listening to Geom Mugeuk, Bang Cheongmun turned around.
“Someone who intends to do exactly that will come today.”
“!”
Bang Cheongmun’s heart sank. Geom Mugeuk’s clear, deep eyes were not the eyes of someone lying.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know either. There are people trying to drive a wedge between us and the orthodox faction to start a war.”
Bang Cheongmun still wore an expression of disbelief.
“A wedge? I heard that the martial art used to kill the Daejeong Sect leader was the Demon Venerable’s martial art.”
The Murim Alliance would not have deliberately spread such rumors, so this rumor too must have been spread by them. Even if not, it was a rumor that could not help but spread.
“That is why I came personally today. To uncover what happened.”
Bang Cheongmun still did not cast aside his suspicion, but he seemed more relaxed than at first. Among martial artists, showing one’s skill once produced results faster than a hundred words.
“Honestly, I find it hard to believe. That the Young Cult Master of the Demon Cult would be moving around alone like this.”
“I understand.”
Geom Mugeuk looked out the window and said,
“Many more incomprehensible things will happen today.”
His gaze, which had been directed outside, returned to Bang Cheongmun.
“If you cannot trust me, then trust this sword that spared you twice. It is a sword that will spare you a third time as well.”
Bang Cheongmun had a definite premonition that the other man truly was the Young Cult Master.
To subdue him in a single move at such a young age?
Unless he was the Demon Cult’s Young Cult Master, it would be impossible.
Whether everything he said was true or not was still unknown, but first, he had to ask.
“What do you want?”
* * *
Seo Daeryong was roaming here and there, observing people.
‘Confidently.’
When he walked with his shoulders spread wide, no one suspected him.
He was going around, watching to see if there was anyone suspicious, when—
“An unfamiliar face.”
The white-haired martial artist with twin swords at his waist asked him, likely because the great saber on Seo Daeryong’s back stood out. Among those gathered, many carried sabers, but among them, Seo Daeryong was the only one carrying such a large great saber.
Just as even the gazes of the people nearby focused on him.
“I’m hurt, Martial Artist Yang. We met back then, and I even greeted you. You said we should have a drink sometime.”
“Ah, did I? My apologies. As I grow older, I keep forgetting things.”
When Seo Daeryong recognized him, the man called Martial Artist Yang no longer questioned him.
Seo Daeryong knew this old martial artist’s personal details. Fortunately, there was only one white-haired martial artist who used twin swords.
He had truly memorized all the distinctive traits of the people in the documents.
Just as Seo Daeryong felt relieved inwardly, someone spoke to him from behind.
“You use a great saber too, I see.”
When Seo Daeryong turned around, a young man was standing there.
He was a tall, handsome martial artist, and on his back he carried a saber as large as Seo Daeryong’s own.
‘Who was there among the young martial artists who used a great saber like that?’
There was no need to try to recall who it was. There had been no such person in the materials.
The man began walking toward Seo Daeryong with a pleasant smile.
Absolute Regression Chapter 509