My father will never stand by if I die?
Geom Mugeuk thought of his father.
‘If I truly die, would Father start the Demonic Great War?’
Would he not sit upon the throne as usual and speak thus?
—From this day forth, the successor to our cult is Muyang.
Perhaps he would utter only this single sentence and carry on no differently than usual, while appending one more remark.
—Now the cult shall finally grow quiet.
Of course, he had also considered the possibility that their analysis might be correct.
He envisioned his father sitting alone upon the throne of Cheonma Hall, engulfed in profound sorrow. A father grieving for his child.
Perhaps on the day he designates his brother as the new successor, he might even say this to the Eight Demonic Venerables lined up before him:
—Let us go. To the Central Plains!
A fishing rod might protrude from the carriage window of his father’s war-bound carriage. Perhaps he would march to war carrying Geom Mugeuk thus.
Truly, there was no telling how his father would react.
"So this is truly the prediction of a clever man?"
To Geom Mugeuk’s question, So Jeongrak answered.
"This outcome is of your own making."
Honestly, Geom Mugeuk did not feel bad. Because it meant his father cared for him that much.
"But if a war breaks out because I die, will you remain unharmed?"
So Jeongrak smiled meaningfully.
"We are people accustomed to living differently."
It meant they would hide completely, never revealing themselves. If experts of their caliber intentionally concealed themselves, finding them amidst a war would be impossible.
"Rather, the war will bring us enormous wealth."
With the power cultivated from that wealth, they would seek to bite the throat of the wounded victor.
Geom Mugeuk openly scoffed.
"Indeed. That is your way, is it not? A life spent waiting with bated breath and a kind face for the moment to strike from behind—is that not the life you have led?"
Though those were words that could provoke fury, So Jeongrak remained composed. The thrashing of one on the brink of death was always merely laughable.
It was a situation devoid of variables. He was afflicted by poison that would cause his meridians to burst if he used internal energy, and two supreme experts stood before him besides.
So Jeongrak gazed at the two demonic elders with satisfaction.
Ma Yeomgun flickered with a bloody demonic aura. Never before had he seen anyone reveal demonic energy so red yet so vivid.
His known unique martial art was the Flame Palm.
A demonic art infused with extreme yang energy as scorching as magma; the mere image of a palm flying like a brand to embed itself in one’s chest, burning through the skin and boring into the flesh, was a terrifying technique.
Despite having reached the age of one hundred, his eyes radiated a fearsome light rivaling that of the young.
This time, he turned his gaze to Baekgol Honma.
His face and limbs were white as if dusted with powder. At a glance, he truly looked like a skeleton. Indeed, considering his age, it was about time he became white bones.
All manner of bone ornaments hung from his gaunt frame, crafted from real human bones.
His unique martial art was the Soul-Returning Ghost Spirit Art, a forbidden demonic art that manipulated the souls of the dead.
An art that stole souls, revived corpses, and sent hundreds of skeletons rising to charge—just imagining it sent chills down the spine.
The dark energy emanating from his eyes truly felt connected to the depths of hell.
‘How about it? Even someone like you—would you raise your voice before them?’
With a triumphant air, So Jeongrak looked at Geom Mugeuk.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk abruptly addressed the two demonic elders.
"Aren't you going to greet me?"
So Jeongrak thought he had misheard.
But he had not.
Geom Mugeuk said to them in a louder voice:
"I am the Acting Cult Leader. Offer your greetings first!"
Ma Yeomgun and Baekgol Honma exchanged glances. How could they have ever imagined Geom Mugeuk would act this way?
"Acting Cult Leader? Is the Cult Leader dead?"
Ma Yeomgun asked in a voice like scraping iron. He seemed to have swallowed his age with his voice; it was grating to the ears.
At that, So Jeongrak answered politely.
"The Demonic Cult Leader is currently in secluded cultivation."
Rather, Baekgol Honma, who had been listening nearby, opened his mouth wide. The inside of his mouth was clearly visible as he smiled brightly like a child, nearly toothless, with only a few teeth remaining.
"Alive, is he? Splendid. I shall tear the Demonic Cult Leader apart and kill him with my own hands."
Despite having reached the age of one hundred fifty, he spoke in a clear, high child’s voice.
As the saying goes—growing old means becoming a child again—his voice, his expression, his entire demeanor was innocent.
Yet his eyes, brimming with dark energy, contrasted so starkly with that appearance that the overall impression was utterly eerie.
The energy flickering from Ma Yeomgun’s body flared up, growing scorching hot.
"I feel the same. Today, let us tear that brat apart."
Bound by the Demon Restriction, they had longed for only this day. The years spent consumed by malice. Once their demands were met and the restriction lifted, all those years would be compensated with blood.
Geom Mugeuk scoffed. Did they wish to bluster before him? Or had they lost all sense of reality after being bound by the Demon Restriction for so long?
A righteous faction expert might utter such words. But for one who cultivated demonic arts, such words could only be empty bluster.
Because the Guhwa Demonic Art stood at the apex of all demonic arts; facing the Guhwa Demonic Art using demonic arts was many times more difficult.
Furthermore, his father was currently challenging a new realm beyond Ten Star Great Perfection.
When Geom Mugeuk laughed, Baekgol Honma laughed broadly as well.
Geom Mugeuk looked into his mouth and said,
"You haven't any teeth. Do you still manage to eat?"
After staring at Geom Mugeuk, Baekgol Honma turned to Ma Yeomgun.
"What has become of our cult in my absence?"
"I have heard that the youth of today have lost their manners."
"We were the same in our day, yet nothing has changed."
And so the child’s voice and the scraping-iron voice went back and forth.
Despite hearing their exchange, Geom Mugeuk addressed them even more sternly.
"Greetings first! You will observe propriety yourselves before demanding it of others!"
Ma Yeomgun and Baekgol Honma looked at Geom Mugeuk. At first, they had regarded him with irritation, thinking, what kind of brash, shameless wretch is this?
But the gaze with which Geom Mugeuk looked at them was clear and profound.
He did not burn alongside their heat.
Nor did he sink into their profound darkness.
In those eyes, there was none of the reckless impetuosity or frivolity of a successor unable to distinguish heaven from earth.
Geom Mugeuk was truly chastising them.
Without a trace of fear, he berated them with dignity and authority.
Moreover, Geom Mugeuk was not exerting any internal energy whatsoever. Truly, he overwhelmed them with nothing but the raw presence of a human being.
"Remarkable."
Ma Yeomgun clapped. It was sincere applause. Never before had he been so overwhelmed by one so young that he felt admiration.
Baekgol Honma likewise revealed his honest feelings.
"Killing him would be a waste, a true waste."
He could now understand where the analysis came from—that the Demonic Cult Leader would start the Demonic Great War. How could one endure losing such a son?
Geom Mugeuk continued to chastise them calmly.
"Age is devoured with the mouth. Know when to speak and when to hold your tongue. Know when to curse and when to offer greetings. Prove with those very mouths that you have not lived your long years in vain."
A brief silence fell.
And then something astonishing happened. Ma Yeomgun, who had been quietly staring at Geom Mugeuk, truly offered a greeting.
"This Ma Yeomgun pays respects to the Acting Cult Leader."
It was a scraping-iron voice, yet a greeting with its own courtesy. Of course, this greeting did not mean they would not kill him. It was admiration for this remarkable bearing. With such momentum at so young an age, a greeting was only fitting.
Baekgol Honma, however, did not comply so readily.
"I have indeed lived my years in vain. All because of your damned Cult Leader's decree."
Even so, no easy reaction would come from Geom Mugeuk.
"It is because of the sins you committed. Greet me!"
Fwoosh!
In an instant, dark energy erupted from Baekgol Honma's eyes.
"Let us see if you possess the qualifications to receive my greeting."
The Dark Heart Eye, which peers into the souls of men, was unleashed. Through this demonic art, he could discern what manner of person his opponent was.
Before the Dark Heart Eye, no bluff and no pretense could avail. For it laid bare one's true form. He would see a fox in a tiger's hide, a coward clad in armor.
The moment he peered into Geom Mugeuk's heart—
Baekgol Honma flinched in surprise.
A moment later, the dark energy vanished from his eyes.
His gaze, having peered into the heart of the one called Geom Mugeuk, had changed.
He took a step back in their contest of spirits, quietly gazing at Geom Mugeuk.
"This Baekgol Honma pays respects to the Acting Cult Leader."
Only then did Geom Mugeuk accept their greetings.
"I am Acting Cult Leader Geom Mugeuk."
In that moment, they felt as though they stood within Cheonma Hall. It felt as though Geom Mugeuk sat upon the throne, while the two looked up at him from below.
As if he had never wielded any authority at all, Geom Mugeuk smiled broadly and greeted them anew. He was as friendly as if they beheld a completely different person.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my seniors. Even if you mean to kill me, there's no harm in a greeting, is there?"
So Jeongrak, watching this, felt that changing the target to Geom Mugeuk had truly been a wise decision.
Receiving a greeting from those two in this situation? Who in the martial world could possibly accomplish such a thing?
He became convinced that once this Young Cult Lord grew further, no one would be able to stand in his way.
So Jeongrak sought to suppress Geom Mugeuk's momentum. He belittled it as if it were nothing, precisely because he felt its weight.
"Meeting you two while unable to use my internal energy, I was utterly terrified. He probably has no idea what he's even saying right now."
At the mention that he could not use internal energy, Ma Yeomgun voiced his displeasure in an even more grating voice.
"Why has his internal energy been suppressed? We said we would kill him ourselves!"
A greeting was merely a greeting; their desire to tear Geom Mugeuk apart remained undiminished.
So Jeongrak explained regarding Geom Mugeuk. These ones had spent decades bound by the Demon Restriction; they would be unaware of the recent state of the martial world.
"That Young Cult Lord possesses truly unparalleled martial prowess."
Those who had already died by his hand had proven as much.
"Even with his internal energy suppressed, he is absolutely not one to be taken lightly."
"Even so, we cannot kill one who cannot use internal energy. Release him."
So Jeongrak said with a composed expression.
"I cannot do that."
Though the two demonic elders were fearsome, So Jeongrak did not fear them. Those who wielded poison feared no one. The only one he acknowledged was the Poison King.
Baekgol Honma stepped forward, breaking the taut tension between them. Rather than asking to release Geom Mugeuk's internal energy, he asked something else.
"Are you fully prepared to release the restriction?"
"If you kill those two as promised, I will immediately perform the great technique."
Startled by those words, Geom Mugeuk asked,
"You said the target changed to me? Then why are there two?"
Then a name that should never have been spoken emerged.
"We will kill you, and Jinha-gun as well. If one side loses a son, the other must lose a grandson for the sake of fairness, must they not?"
So Jeongrak spoke to the two demonic elders.
"Now, please finish him."
Baekgol Honma looked at Ma Yeomgun. At the glance suggesting they act together, Ma Yeomgun nodded. He could sense that Baekgol Honma, having peered into Geom Mugeuk's heart earlier, had grown more cautious. This was unlike him. What in the world had he seen?
Just as the two were about to step forward toward Geom Mugeuk,
"But have you two met the person who will release the restriction?"
At Geom Mugeuk's question, Ma Yeomgun and Baekgol Honma stopped.
Their gazes turned toward So Jeongrak.
"Is he not right there?"
Geom Mugeuk shook his head at Ma Yeomgun's question.
"That is not something he can accomplish alone."
Ma Yeomgun's expression hardened slightly.
"It is not?"
"How could he undo the Demon Restriction's seal alone? If it could be undone so easily, would the Demon Restriction have lasted all these years?"
Ma Yeomgun asked So Jeongrak.
"Is this true?"
So Jeongrak did not answer.
"That is a matter we will handle on our own."
So Jeongrak realized. Geom Mugeuk was trying to drag out yet another of his backers. Truly, this bastard... was insane!
Immediately, the expressions of Ma Yeomgun and Baekgol Honma hardened. Of their auras, one grew hotter, and the other, colder.
So Jeongrak was at a loss. He should not have taken it easy; he should have simply killed him from the start.
Every time Geom Mugeuk opened his mouth, an unexpected situation unfolded.
That mouth opened again.
“I don’t know for certain, but that Great Art must cost an enormous amount of money, too. Probably so much that the sum alone would make one consider other thoughts.”
How could the two old demons not know what those “other thoughts” were? It meant that killing them would be cheaper than performing the Great Art.
Demon Flame Lord flatly denied it.
“That cannot be.”
White Bone Soul Demon also nodded. At the very least, he seemed to trust the one who had made this promise.
“I don’t know who promised you, but that man there is the one who handles the practical work. Isn’t the heart of the person putting a blade to your bodies what matters?”
At that, So Jeongrak spoke with composure.
“It seems you’re trying to sow discord with petty words, but it won’t work.”
Then Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“From now on, I’ll show you why that man cannot be trusted.”
No sooner had he finished speaking.
Shiiik.
Geom Mugeuk’s sword was drawn.
Chwaaaak.
“Ugh!”
The one who let out the short scream was So Jeongrak. The sword energy that flew from Geom Mugeuk’s blade split in all directions, severing the vine-like strands that had connected So Jeongrak to the sleeping patients.
It looked like a light, simple move, but it contained martial learning of the very highest level. That was precisely why it looked so easy and simple.
“Didn’t he lie just now and say I couldn’t use my inner force?”
Before So Jeongrak could make an excuse, Geom Mugeuk swiftly added,
“His intention was for you two seniors to charge at me while off guard and fall into danger.”
In that instant, Demon Flame Lord and White Bone Soul Demon’s expressions hardened. They had clearly heard him say that Geom Mugeuk could not use inner force.
“Wasn’t he planning to have us injure each other, then use poison at the end to kill us all?”
So Jeongrak merely listened to Geom Mugeuk in a daze. More than being misunderstood right now, he was shocked by the fact that the poison he had administered earlier had not worked.
‘Why hasn’t his bloodline burst and killed him?’
But to the two old demons, his appearance seemed like an admission of Geom Mugeuk’s words.
So Jeongrak asked Geom Mugeuk,
“What is going on?”
It was a question asking why he had not been poisoned.
“What else? Your plan to use me to make us injure each other failed.”
Geom Mugeuk began to win over the two old demons.
“As the saying goes, the arm bends inward. Let us join forces—my life will be saved, and your restrictions will be lifted. What do you say?”
So Jeongrak was flustered. He had never imagined Geom Mugeuk would try to side with the two demons.
‘What on earth is his intention?’
But in this urgent, rapidly shifting situation, he could not grasp Geom Mugeuk’s true intent.
“Do not fall for his wicked schemes.”
As he said that, So Jeongrak secretly poisoned Geom Mugeuk again.
White Snake Powder.
It was a poison that blinded its victim and made them unable to speak. First, he had to shut that hateful mouth.
But Geom Mugeuk opened his eyes even wider and raised his voice.
“Esteemed seniors, are you going to trust that liar and entrust your lives to him?”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 646