The Blood Heaven Blade Demon came to find me.
He had always waited near my residence with his great saber thrust into the ground, but these days he came directly to wherever I was. If I was at home, he came to my home; if I was in my office, like today, he came to my office.
I am your elder, so you should come to me. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had never had that sort of authoritarianism in him from the start. He was the sort of man who came when he wished to come and left when he wished to leave.
“Did you hear that Seo Hwanjin’s third disciple became the disciple of the Pungcheon Cult Leader?”
“Yes, I heard.”
“That was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“Why is it that whenever something new happens, you assume I did it?”
“So, was it not?”
“It was.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon raised his voice as if to say, Of course it was.
“What on earth are you plotting with the Pungcheon Cult Leader?”
“What grand plot? I’m simply helping the man.”
“You truly mean to have the Pungcheon Cult advance into the Central Plains?”
“Is that not allowed?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked with a serious expression.
“Can you handle it?”
“If you mean the Pungcheon Cult, do I not have you, Elder? If you will not fight the Demon Venerable, then please at least deal with the Pungcheon Cult Leader.”
“He is not someone to look down on. Though he came to our cult almost as if dragged here, he is the man who leads the martial world beyond the borders. If the martial world beyond the borders goes berserk, the Central Plains will become a sea of blood.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was serious, and I took his warning sincerely.
“I will keep that in mind.”
Thinking of the Pungcheon Cult Leader as an extraordinary man naturally brought the shackled man to mind. He was the one controlling and guiding that extraordinary Pungcheon Cult Leader.
“But why Cheongseon?”
“She was easy to move.”
“Can Cheongseon become the Demon Venerable in the future?”
“As I see it, the first disciple and the third disciple are six of one and half a dozen of the other. No matter which of the two it is, it will take quite a long time for them to properly take on the form of a true Demon Venerable.”
As if he agreed with that point, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon nodded.
“So you should raise Investigator Seo well, Elder.”
“Tell him to wake from his dream.”
“I am the one dreaming. Investigator Seo does not dream such dreams.”
“Stop meddling in other people’s affairs and tend to your own.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been about to rise from his seat, looked at the supreme-grade Heavenly Silkworm Silk wrapped around my wrist and asked,
“What is that?”
“I wrapped it there for style.”
“You received it from the Pungcheon Cult Leader, didn’t you?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon immediately realized that it was no ordinary object.
“Why do you think that?”
“It is something I have never seen before, and you would not help the Pungcheon Cult Leader without compensation.”
“Wouldn’t it be too miserly to expect a reward every time I help with something?”
“So? Did you not receive one?”
“I did.”
“You miserly wretch!”
I laughed, and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon shook his head as if there was no stopping me.
“This is supreme-grade Heavenly Silkworm Silk.”
“Ah! So this is that thing.”
“As expected, you know of it.”
“This is my first time seeing it in person.”
“Shall I cut some off for you?”
I made as if to immediately unwind the supreme-grade Heavenly Silkworm Silk wrapped around my sword hilt.
“No need. It is not something that suits this old body.”
“Isn’t it precisely because your body is old that you should wrap it around yourself?”
“No need.”
He had no authoritarianism, nor any greed for possessions. At times like this, I truly thought that perhaps his enjoyment of reading poetry and paintings was his essence.
“Did you receive anything else besides this?”
“I also received the Blood God Pill.”
I was honest with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. I had been until now, and I intended to be so in the future as much as possible. Because I believed that this honesty would become the key to completely opening the door to his heart.
“The Blood God Pill?”
Perhaps because I had said it too casually, it took the Blood Heaven Blade Demon a little time to recognize what the Blood God Pill was.
His expression changed in this order. What was the Blood God Pill again? The Blood God Pill? Huh? Surely not that Blood God Pill? This is madness! The Blood God Pill?
Startled, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon sprang up from his seat.
“The greatest spirit pill beyond the borders?”
“Yes.”
“You mean the Pungcheon Cult Leader handed that over?”
He was so shocked that, for a moment, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon could not continue speaking.
“Where is it?”
“In my stomach.”
“Good heavens! Your internal energy must now have surpassed mine.”
I only smiled. In truth, even before taking the Blood God Pill, with the Demon Essence Pill and the Heavenly Beyond Divine Pill, my internal energy had been enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Demon Venerables. Now that I had taken the Blood God Pill as well, in terms of internal energy, I would overwhelm them.
“Do not worry. Even so, you are still my left wing, Elder.”
“Hmph! You received a spirit pill more effective than the Heavenly Beyond Divine Pill and even supreme-grade Heavenly Silkworm Silk, so I suppose you will tear off something like the left wing.”
“My left wing is one with my body, so it cannot be replaced. If it is torn off, I die.”
“As I said before, if the body dies, the wing will fly off to find a new body.”
“I shall pray it meets a better body.”
The words passed between us like jokes, but before I knew it, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s expression had softened.
“You were not perhaps jealous just now, were you?”
“Jealous? As if! It was a warning. I must do this much to make it clear that you cannot covet my position just because someone gave you a sacred treasure.”
“Confirmed.”
“I am truly leaving. Tend to your work.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon rose from his seat. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly said,
“I… would not mind even if it were a dragonfly’s wing.”
Meaning that it would be fine even if I attached several wings.
Those words made emotion well up in my chest. With such tolerance, how could I ever treat the Blood Heaven Blade Demon lightly?
It was just as he was about to leave. A subordinate entered and announced another visitor.
“The One Blossom Sword Venerable has come.”
At the news that the Sword Venerable had arrived, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was startled.
“Did you call her here to make her meet me?”
“How can you say that, when you yourself came here all of a sudden?”
Flustered, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon opened the window. I stopped him from trying to leave through it.
“That is far too undignified.”
“She will dislike seeing me.”
He was still awkward and uncomfortable when it came to his relationship with the One Blossom Sword Venerable.
“What does that matter? Since when did you care so much about others?”
After standing by the window and agonizing for a moment, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon returned to his seat.
In the meantime, the One Blossom Sword Venerable came inside.
Seeing the Blood Heaven Blade Demon in the office, this time she was the one who was startled.
“You? You did not deliberately arrange this meeting, did you?”
I smiled and said to her,
“How are the two of you so alike? How would I know when the two of you would come and arrange such a meeting? Both of you came without even sending word. If you must complain, complain to the one up there.”
As I said that, I looked at the sky beyond the window.
Even without my having to say, Is this not all fate? the two of them understood what I meant.
They were two people I wished to bring together even by force, and seeing them meet so naturally like this made me think that perhaps the heavens truly were arranging their reconciliation.
“Now, please sit.”
The One Blossom Sword Venerable sat facing the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“What brings you here, Senior?”
“I came because there is something I must tell you.”
At that, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon rose from his seat.
“Speak with him. I shall be going.”
“It is something you may hear as well.”
She would surely be uncomfortable being with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, and yet she stopped him. That meant it concerned all of us and was important enough for that. Indeed, what she revealed was exactly that.
“The Demon Buddha came to see me and asked me for a favor.”
“What favor?”
“He asked me to support Yang Do, the first disciple among the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable’s two disciples.”
The selection of a new Demon Venerable was entirely under the authority of the Eight Demon Venerables. If a Demon Venerable died without naming a successor, the remaining Demon Venerables would make recommendations and choose the next Demon Venerable. In the end, it meant one could only ascend to the seat of Demon Venerable by receiving the support of more than half of the Demon Venerables.
“You said this before, did you not? That as your sparring friend, it would be good if I supported someone on our side.”
“You remembered.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, on the other hand, looked curious as to what that meant.
“Sparring friend? What does that mean?”
“Such a thing happened.”
“You are conspiring with everyone except me, it seems.”
“How could that be? You are my first wing, Elder.”
This time, the One Blossom Sword Venerable asked,
“Wing?”
“Elder is my left wing. And I am currently searching earnestly for my right wing.”
I deliberately stared straight at the One Blossom Sword Venerable. Reading my wish for her to become my right wing, the One Blossom Sword Venerable quickly changed the subject.
“So? Whom do you support?”
“Cheongseon.”
“I had a feeling that would be the case. I thought your will would differ from the Demon Buddha’s. Very well, I too will support Cheongseon.”
Even setting aside her relationship with the Demon Buddha, going against another Demon Venerable’s request would be quite burdensome. And yet she was readily willing to support me.
She was also showing consideration for me. I could tell just from the fact that she had asked the Blood Heaven Blade Demon to listen with us. This matter required both of their help.
“Thank you.”
I was sincerely grateful to her. The same was true of the help she had given me last time regarding Sa Ujong.
Very well, Senior. Let us be sparring friends for life.
She did not even ask why it had to be Cheongseon. That meant she trusted me that much.
At that moment, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked me,
“But even so, that is only two votes from us, is it not? Have you secured the votes of the other Demon Venerables?”
To place Cheongseon in the seat of Demon Venerable, we needed four votes among the seven Demon Venerables.
“Not yet.”
“What do you plan to do?”
I spoke politely to the two of them.
“Please each persuade just one person. I ask this of you.”
“If Cheongseon becomes the Demon Venerable, what benefit is there for us?”
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s question, I answered shamelessly,
“Rather than the two of you, it would benefit me.”
“It should benefit me!”
“What benefits me is the same as benefiting you, Elder.”
Of course, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was only blustering for no reason, though he intended to grant my request.
On the other hand, the One Blossom Sword Venerable readily accepted my request.
“I will try to persuade the other Demon Venerables for your sake. If it goes well, at least one person will cast a vote for Cheongseon.”
Suddenly, I thought that perhaps this favor of hers was not simply because of our sparring. It was too great a favor for that.
Looking at her, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said with a sulky face,
“If you act like that, it makes me look like I have nothing.”
He had thrown the words out in his own way to ease the awkward atmosphere between them, but the One Blossom Sword Venerable answered him with a stern face.
“Were you not a person who had nothing to begin with?”
In an instant, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s expression hardened. The pleasant atmosphere cooled in the blink of an eye.
Their gazes collided in midair. They fought with their eyes and did not yield an inch.
I did not stop them and gave them enough time to expend their emotions. This process had to be repeated again and again. After all, they would not kill each other.
The first to turn his head away was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. The One Blossom Sword Venerable, the victor of the staring contest, snorted. Fortunately, the time it took for their conflict to dissolve was growing shorter and shorter.
I smiled at the One Blossom Sword Venerable and expressed my gratitude.
“Thank you for informing me about the Demon Buddha’s matter. I am even more grateful that you are willing to persuade the Demon Venerables. I will never forget this favor, Senior.”
“What favor? I will see you next time.”
The One Blossom Sword Venerable answered with a smile and left the office first.
After she left, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon also soon rose from his seat.
“I shall go as well.”
There was the matter of my receiving a sacred treasure from the Pungcheon Cult Leader, and also the matter of being sparring friends with the One Blossom Sword Venerable. It would have been natural for such things to bother him, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon did not show it at all.
“You are always my first priority, Elder.”
“Your words alone are smooth.”
When I gave an awkward smile, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon also chuckled.
“Even if the Sword Venerable left so confidently, persuading another Demon Venerable will not be easy. The Demon Buddha’s side will also be moving diligently.”
“Please help me too, Elder.”
“Will it work when I am being ostracized among the Demon Venerables?”
Though he said that, his back looked more dependable than anyone’s.
If the two of them each persuaded one person, our side could make four votes. As for how things would turn out, even I found it difficult to predict.
I decided simply to trust the two of them. Both the Blade Demon and the Sword Venerable had lived for decades as Demon Venerables. I would trust the lives they had lived.
In any case, the two of them were doing something difficult for my sake, so I could not simply hand the fruits of it over to the Pungcheon Cult Leader for nothing.
I headed to the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s quarters. However, this time, my goal was not a sacred treasure. I intended to lay the first stone in order to obtain something even more precious than a sacred treasure.