Chapter 374. Hey, Sword Demon.

I spent most of my time splitting firewood with an axe. Sogunpyeong and Nam Garak had heard the news and come by as well, but I merely drank with them and sent them back. Instead, I also conveyed to the two of them that I wanted them to gather banners by any means they could.

In any case, unless they were martial artists of the same caliber as the Four Great Villains, there was no need for them to stay here.

That was the restriction I had set.

Because the enemy was a force even the Four Great Villains would find difficult to handle.

The banner and financial support from the Unhyang Sect did arrive, but there was still no word from the Ghost Demon himself. I thought it might be for the best. Strangely enough, part of me hoped the Ghost Demon would not come.

While splitting firewood, I mostly pondered the Golden Turtle Carefree Art.

Construction on the Zaha Inn was underway with hired laborers, but I did not interfere. I was no expert in construction. Instead, if I prepared firewood, there would be plenty of uses for it one way or another, so I focused on that simple task.

Eldest Brother was usually immersed in meditation or focused on training.

After making the acquaintances who visited me leave, I focused day after day solely on chopping firewood. I mainly combined the internal energy of the Wooden Rooster with external arts to split the logs cleanly. In other words, I was using the internal and external arts I had learned at the Steel Manor for nothing more than chopping firewood.

I had not yet become the greatest master under heaven.

But judging by the quality of the firewood, I seemed to have become at least the greatest woodcutter under heaven.

When the firewood began splitting too evenly and cleanly, the laborers would sometimes gather during their breaks to watch me.

“……”

As for me, I was so focused on chopping firewood that I had no time to chat with the laborers.

When I got hungry, I ate with the laborers, sharpened the axe blade, rested briefly, then went back to chopping wood.

The reason I worked like this was because I knew the Zaha Inn would collapse. The laborers did not know that. They were all participating in the construction for quite generous wages, and I could not tell them that it might all come crashing down before long.

So I chose to work alongside the laborers.

Among the laborers, I even gained a new nickname……

The most representative one was Axe Sect Master.

Perhaps because I was young, many did not know exactly who I was. Sometimes, the more affable laborers called me Third. It seemed that while everyone feared Eldest Brother, I felt to them like a third younger brother.

Surprisingly, the Lust Demon returned with the Murim Alliance’s banner, then left again, saying he would train his lightness skill. I did not ask, but it felt as though he intended to visit other orthodox forces.

Had some change of heart occurred?

Eldest Brother and I did not bother asking. In truth, we were independent men, not people who gave and received orders from one another.

As I used the power of the Wooden Rooster and mulled over Giseongja’s words every day……

I once again realized anew the difference between other martial arts and the Golden Turtle Carefree Art. Most martial arts usually lecture on the basics during the entry stage and explain more difficult matters as one’s realm deepens……

But what the Golden Turtle Carefree Art emphasized in the Wooden Rooster was mainly one’s state of mind.

In other words, Wooden Rooster did not simply refer to a wooden chicken. It referred to a state in which the fierce mentality of a fighting rooster had become as calm as a rooster made of wood. That is to say, in order to fight well, maintaining composure in one’s heart came first and foremost. Then was my current state of mind, as I waited for the Demon Cult’s forces, truly the Wooden Rooster?

Of course not.

I was a fighting rooster.

So I continued splitting firewood while striving to maintain my composure. I cultivated myself, quite literally, to become a wooden rooster.

At this point, I knew the Cult Leader was stronger than I was. That was a source of unease, and it tormented my heart. But in order to fight, I had to either ignore it or accept it.

If an all-out war broke out, many people would inevitably die. But that, too, was the fate of martial artists, so I accepted it.

The Golden Turtle Carefree Art was peculiar in that……

It placed the greatest emphasis on what sort of mindset the one learning the martial art should possess. Questions of skill, or of high-level techniques, came afterward.

In other words, the Flame Rooster, Fighting Rooster, and Grass Rooster were technical domains.

As I split firewood over and over, I began to think that perhaps the core of the Golden Turtle Carefree Art was actually the Wooden Rooster. After all, in my previous life, I had trained while frequently suffering from heart demons, and at each stage of the Flame Rooster, Fighting Rooster, and Grass Rooster, I experienced qi deviation.

Was it because I had trained without even knowing the essence of the martial art I was learning?

Even though Giseongja had already given me the answer, I began to wonder whether I had ignored that answer and fallen onto the wrong path.

As I split firewood, I trained in and cultivated the Wooden Rooster.

Perhaps because I was lost in thought, Eldest Brother did not speak to me except when we ate. However, one day, while I was chopping wood immersed in the Wooden Rooster, the laborers came to me from time to time and chattered about various things.

“……Third Sect Master, there are people building tents a little ways away.”

It seemed Axe Sect Master and Third had merged, and I was now Third Sect Master.

I looked at the laborer.

“Tents?”

“Yes. They aren’t very far. There was even a banner beside them. What did it say again?”

Everyone tilted their heads.

“It said some merchant guild or other.”

I slung the axe over my shoulder, left the construction area, and looked around. Just as the laborers had said, I could see construction underway on tents at a place a little distance away.

‘How absurd.’

When I approached with the axe in hand, there was indeed a banner fluttering, just as the laborers had said.

“Jungcheon Merchant Guild……”

It was a merchant guild I had never heard of. That meant it was not a nearby force. Even though I came close and watched, no one was particularly wary of me. They all looked like craftsmen no different from the laborers working at the Zaha Inn. However, the shape of the tents somehow resembled field tents used on a battlefield.

As I stood there watching with the axe slung over my shoulder……

Only then did one laborer give me a nod and say,

“Sect Master, how do you do?”

I accepted the greeting, then answered.

“Where did you come from?”

“We are workers hired by the Jungcheon Merchant Guild.”

“Why do you recognize me?”

“They said the location where they wanted the tents built was around here, and we heard that the Hao Sect Master was building an inn nearby. They told us to build it at a point where it could face that place. And it won’t just be us—soon, many other workers will come in large numbers and build several tents here.”

“You mean they’re building several tents?”

“Yes. I understand that several merchant guilds have hired workers.”

“Do you know who commissioned the merchant guilds?”

The laborer looked at me.

“That, we don’t really know either. The higher-ups would know.”

I looked over the tents and walked a circuit around the area. If there had been any martial artists among the laborers, I would have noticed immediately, but they all seemed to be ordinary people.

A sigh escaped me on its own.

“What an impressive strategy. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Sect Master.”

As I returned to the Zaha Inn, my eyes met Eldest Brother’s, who was standing at the entrance to the site.

Eldest Brother asked me,

“What did they say?”

“Looks like they’re putting up barracks.”

“Barracks? Who is?”

“The Demon Cult……”

“What?”

My eldest brother watched the people building the barracks. I shook my head.

“There aren’t any jianghu people. Looks like they were only given orders. In other words, they’re all just laborers. I think they’re planning to build several barracks and face off against the Jaha Inn.”

“What could their intention be?”

I looked at the flag that read Jungcheon Merchant Guild.

“Wouldn’t they plant the flags of merchant guilds or non-martial organizations that belong to the cult?”

“It looks more like a military camp than barracks.”

“You’re right. It must be a military camp.”

I sat with my eldest brother on a nearby wooden platform and watched the military camp being built. Thinking about it, I realized that the only men who could immediately see through the intent behind that nonsense were probably Im Sobaek or the White-Clad Scholar.

“Eldest Brother, I don’t know whether the Cult Leader ordered it or some other bastard did, but it seems they were instructed to make a chessboard.”

“Hmm.”

“If merchants are mixed in and they put up merchant guild flags like that, it becomes difficult for me to charge in and slaughter them all.”

Only then did my eldest brother seem to understand their intent, and he nodded.

“Then do they have no intention of destroying the Jaha Inn either?”

“Probably. Did I show off too much? It means there’s someone who’s figured out all my intentions. Looks like they saw our flag and guessed what I was thinking.”

To be honest, it felt like I’d taken a hit, but perhaps because I was training in Mokgye, my mind was calmer than usual.

While I was chatting with my eldest brother, a newly appeared procession of wagons and carts moved along in a line like a swarm of ants, stopped around the military camp, and once again laborers and materials poured out. Perhaps because they were building a military camp, the speed looked remarkably fast.

I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Hmm.”

Just as the Demon Cult had done around the Cheolli Inn before, they moved while holding a single line, tracing out a very large boundary as if dividing the area. A short while later, the Jaha Inn and the military camp had ended up trapped inside a rectangular section. It truly looked as though they were making a chessboard.

Since I couldn’t kill laborers hired by the Demon Cult, I simply left them be.

Then what, exactly, was the distinction between the orthodox path, the unorthodox path, and the demonic path?

Those who worked beneath them to earn money surely wouldn’t care about such distinctions.

I brought over a few long pieces of firewood and carved wooden swords with the Flash Dagger. Then my eldest brother held out his hand to me.

“Give it here.”

My eldest brother showed me, with his own hands, the process of making a wooden sword using the Mukga Dagger. I watched and copied him. As we made the wooden swords, we exchanged the occasional words.

“……I didn’t expect the Demon Cult to come out like that.”

The Sword Demon said while looking at the military camp.

“If they even build a great general’s tent, the Cult Leader himself might appear.”

It was so absurd that a laugh slipped out.

“Why are you laughing?”

“If the laborers are mixed in like that, even I can’t use the Sun Moon Light Heaven.”

My eldest brother looked at me.

“Third Brother.”

“Yeah?”

“The Sun Moon Light Heaven is nothing.”

I burst into laughter for the first time in a while. It didn’t seem like my eldest brother had some sort of plan when he said it. It was simply the Sword Demon’s joke, I suppose.

I looked at the military camp and said,

“Was the Cult Leader originally that smart?”

“If the Cult Leader had been stupid, he would have died during the struggle for succession long ago. If he had been a softhearted man, he would have died before the struggle for succession even began. And before that, if he had already been a stupid man, he would never have been appointed as one of the heirs, a Grand Duke. He had many brothers, but not all of them were called Grand Dukes.”

“Is that so? How bitter.”

“What is?”

“Doesn’t it mean he ultimately began his life in the jianghu by killing his own brothers? Or perhaps he began it while being threatened by them. I have no blood brothers, but I don’t think I could ever have finished off my own brother with my own hands. I’d rather leave the jianghu altogether.”

“It likely wouldn’t have been easy to leave the jianghu in one piece.”

“I suppose not. Since it’s the Demon Cult.”

We soon finished the wooden swords and looked at each other. My eldest brother took my wooden sword, refined it once more, then handed it back.

Without another word, we went out to the empty lot.

My eldest brother stopped first, and I moved a little farther before turning around. Each of us held the wooden sword we had just made in our right hand.

Before my eldest brother could open his mouth, I attacked with words first.

“Hey, Sword Demon.”

My eldest brother nodded.

“Hao Sect Master.”

I glared at my eldest brother and said,

“Wouldn’t I have the advantage if we use wooden swords?”

The Sword Demon shook his head.

“Your strengths were originally your varied martial arts, your adaptability, and your movement arts. If you fight only with the sword, you’re at a disadvantage.”

I touched my nose and replied,

“How arrogant. Ever since I appeared in the jianghu, I’ve never once been defeated.”

The Sword Demon replied,

“You were lucky.”

“Luck is also skill. Has the former Left Envoy experienced defeat?”

“Several times.”

“You survived well enough, didn’t you?”

The Sword Demon smiled.

“It means I’ve never been defeated in a battle where my life was on the line.”

“Good. So we are both undefeated swordsmen. You have the qualifications to face me.”

Since my opponent was older, I first paid my respects with my wooden sword lowered. The Sword Demon merely nodded lightly. He looked as though he intended to yield the first move. I had thought that one day I would have to cross swords with him, and that day was today. Of course, it wouldn’t be just once.

I deliberately closed the distance slowly, then thrust out my wooden sword. As my wooden sword shot out in a straight line and lost its direction with a thud, the Sword Demon’s wooden sword came in toward my neck. In that instant, I pushed off the ground and recovered my deflected sword. Then the Sword Demon unfolded the Dugu Heavy Sword and charged at me.

The only way to let that momentum flow past was the Dark Fragrance Step. After widening the distance in an instant, I responded to the Sword Demon’s wooden sword as it followed in pursuit with a technique combining external arts and Mokgye.

The two wooden swords collided with a sharp crack.

Since we were each infusing them with internal energy, they did not break at once, but because the side whose sword broke first would have a high chance of losing, there were many things to consider. I watched the Sword Demon’s expression, reacted to his footwork first, knocked away his sword, and prepared to counterattack. The sword arts I had learned until now were in a state where none of them worked at all. Perhaps the Sword Demon was also gauging my internal energy while gradually increasing the force he infused into his wooden sword, because his sword grew heavier and heavier.

At one moment, when our wooden swords collided before my eyes as though crossing……

Just as he had at Oksu Mountain Villa, the Sword Demon thrust out his left palm. I met the Sword Demon’s palm force with only the internal energy of Mokgye.

Thud!

Perhaps the Sword Demon had put deeper internal energy into it, because the impact transmitted through my hand forced me back three or four steps……

The Sword Demon also withdrew his sword for a moment.

“……Are you all right? You restrained your palm force too much.”

I was pushed back and looked at the Sword Demon. Before I knew it, the Sword Demon was looking at me with Eldest Brother’s expression. I asked Eldest Brother.

“Should I raise my palm force even higher?”

Eldest Brother nodded.

“Do it.”

I nodded as well, then provoked the Sword Demon again.

“Come at me.”

The Sword Demon let out a derisive laugh and charged at me again. Even before Eldest Brother’s wooden sword arrived, my hair was whipped about by the force of the Sword Demon’s charge.