Chapter 149 - The Test Continues

"Elder!"

At the sight of the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, I jumped for joy and shouted. Had I ever been so glad to see him since we first met?

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon landed and pulled out the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber, which was buried halfway in the ground.

"At your age, why are you persecuting your juniors?"

He sternly rebuked Yang Cheogi.

Instead of an answer, a Blood Calamity Finger strike came flying at him.

BOOM!

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon thrust out a palm and dispersed it. His internal energy was in no way inferior. Having trained diligently of late, his presence was sharper than ever.

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon roared.

"You ugly old bastard! Do you want to die?"

He swung the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber in a sweeping arc.

WHOOOOSH!

A gale unleashed from the saber tore through space as it surged toward Yang Cheogi.

Rather than dodge, Yang Cheogi thrust out both palms, unleashing palm force.

KABOOM!

An earsplitting explosion sent both men sliding backward. They retreated exactly the same number of steps. The Blood Heaven Saber Demon's internal power was truly profound, yielding nothing to Yang Cheogi's.

I immediately joined the fight. It would be disastrous if the Blood Heaven Saber Demon were injured fighting alone.

SHRRRING!

As I unleashed Shadowed Heaven, the seventh form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, the Black Demon Sword split into twelve sword-qi projections that hovered in the air. Though little internal energy remained, I deliberately made a show of it, creating as many projections as possible.

Seeing that I was about to join the battle too, Yang Cheogi judged the odds to be against him. He sprang away and vanished in an instant.

"Don't pursue him."

I worried that the Blood Heaven Saber Demon might give chase, but he didn't move a muscle.

"I wouldn't even if you told me to. That palm exchange just now nearly tore my arm off. He's as strong as he is ugly."

"Compared to him, you're a peerless handsome man, Elder!"

"Naturally."

"Elder!"

I ran over to throw my arms around him, but he used his footwork to evade me.

"That's revolting."

"How did you come to be here?"

"I happened to be passing by."

As if that could be true. Worried about me, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had been keeping track of my movements.

"Thank you. If not for you, we would have died here."

It wasn't mere flattery. Had he not arrived, there really was no telling how the fight would have ended.

The Wicked Laughing Demon sank to the ground. His mask was covered in blood, and his entire body was bloodied and wounded.

"Elder, please stand guard for a moment."

"Of course."

I placed a hand on the Wicked Laughing Demon's back and fed a strand of internal energy into him. Slowly tending to his meridians, I bolstered his true qi and treated his internal injuries. As my pure internal energy soothed his body, he soon opened his eyes. Fortunately, his internal injuries weren't very severe.

"Thank goodness your internal injuries aren't too serious."

The Wicked Laughing Demon looked at me. I could never forget the look in his eyes earlier, when he had sensed the end approaching—the regret that had filled them.

We forget so easily. Those intense moments that could change us and our lives. Once they pass, we fail to live as we did in those moments.

But I wouldn't. I needed nothing else in my relationship with him now. All I had to do was remember the regret of that moment when we had sensed death approaching.

What about you, Wicked Laughing Demon? Do you feel the same way I do?

He simply smiled. For the first time, he smiled with all his feelings laid bare. I smiled too.

Yes. Drink with the Drunken Demon, and laugh with the Laughing Demon. That was enough.

Next, the Wicked Laughing Demon expressed his gratitude to the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. Instead of speaking, he bowed his head slightly.

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon accepted it with a single nod.

I seized the opportunity to throw my arms around him.

"Elder! I missed you."

"I told you, that's revolting. Why are you doing this?"

Shaking off my childish embrace, he drew away as though fleeing. But how could I not know? He was truly happy that he'd saved me.

As I retrieved the ten-thousand-year cold iron dagger lying beside the Iron Chain Wielder's corpse, I spoke honestly.

"That was a pretty tough fight."

Watching me, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon said,

"Didn't I tell you? You're waking Murim up."

"Should I go somewhere and learn a lullaby?"

"Then you'd wake even those who could have stayed asleep while you were learning it."

In response to his joke, I spoke with confidence.

"Since things have come to this, tell them all to wake up. Tell them to wake up now, instead of waking late and talking in their sleep. But in return..."

I met both men's eyes before continuing.

"Please fight alongside me from now on."

After staring at me for a moment, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon abruptly turned and walked away. The Wicked Laughing Demon followed him.

"There you go again. Again!"

I followed them out.

* * *

Sima Myeong entered Heavenly Demon Hall carrying an urgent dispatch. His quicker-than-usual pace made clear the importance of its contents.

Despite that urgency, the Heavenly Demon, Geom Ujin, remained as composed as ever.

Reaching the end of the red carpet, Sima Myeong swiftly delivered the news.

"During his mission, the Second Young Master clashed with villains from Villains' Valley."

"Villains' Valley?"

"The Seductress of Supreme Bliss, the Three Warriors of the Bloody Path, the Divine Lord of Yama, and the Blood Wolf Saber."

"Some fairly capable people came out."

"Not just them. The Grotesque Demon and the Iron Chain Wielder appeared as well."

Geom Ujin gave a slight start at those two names. The first four were no pushovers, but the two mentioned afterward were opponents who absolutely could not be taken lightly.

"They clashed with the Second Young Master and the Wicked Laughing Demon."

"The Wicked Laughing Demon was there too?"

"Yes. He appears to be involved in this affair as well."

"And?"

After a brief pause, Sima Myeong reported,

"The Second Young Master and the Wicked Laughing Demon killed them all."

"The first four are one thing, but the last two couldn't have been easy."

"The Wicked Laughing Demon reportedly suffered internal injuries in the process. Fortunately, they are said to be minor."

"And Mugeuk?"

"He's fine."

"The two of them killed the Grotesque Demon and the Iron Chain Wielder?"

Unlike the composed Geom Ujin, Grand Strategist Sima Myeong was slightly flushed with excitement.

"To be honest, the dispatch surprised me greatly. The Second Young Master and the Wicked Laughing Demon did join forces to kill the Sword Emperor previously, but they faced only one opponent then. This time, there were so many enemies that it cannot possibly have been easy."

Had Geom Ujin not sparred with Geom Mugeuk at the Merry Life Tavern, he would have been equally surprised. He had already had his surprise that day.

"Who was behind this?"

"The true mastermind is the leader of the Heavenly Mandate Society. Yang Cheogi and the master of Villains' Valley took the lead in carrying it out."

"Yang Cheogi? The Yang Cheogi of the White Mask Sect?"

Geom Ujin knew of him.

"Yes. He seems to have done this because of his grudge against the Wicked Laughing Demon."

"He mobilized some rather formidable people for that."

"According to the Second Young Master's report, the Heavenly Mandate Society's leader recruited both the master of Villains' Valley and Yang Cheogi. However, when recruiting Yang Cheogi, he apparently offered him the position of valley master in secret."

"Why would he do that? From the Society leader's perspective, the master of Villains' Valley would be more useful than Yang Cheogi in many respects."

"I believe he must have an ulterior motive."

"Look into it."

"Yes! The Heavenly Mandate Society has proved more troublesome than we thought."

Until now, they had considered the Heavenly Mandate Society little more than a group impersonating the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon to seek illicit gains. But it was now clear that the organization was far larger and stronger than that.

"What will you do? This may be too much for the Second Young Master to handle. Shall we recall him now?"

But Geom Ujin shook his head.

"Didn't he choose that mission himself? Then he must accept the risks. However, overlook the Demon Supremes' intervention this time. And increase his allowance of support from the Cult from once to three times."

"Understood."

The mission was originally meant to be undertaken alone, so the Demon Supremes should not have intervened like this.

But exceptional circumstances beyond the scope of the test had arisen, and its difficulty was being adjusted accordingly.

"I will focus the Pavilion's intelligence network on monitoring the Heavenly Mandate Society."

Geom Ujin nodded and said,

"Tell my second son that the test continues."

* * *

We stayed at a Cult safe house not far from the Yellow River Inn where we had fought.

For several days, we rested, restored our internal energy, and treated our wounds. Eating proper meals and circulating our qi in meditation, we gave ourselves plenty of rest.

Then today, a dispatch arrived from Heavenly Demon Hall instructing me to continue the mission.

Just like Father, I thought. Even if I sent him a dispatch saying I was going to battle the Orthodox Martial Alliance, he would reply telling me to fight well.

That night, as I strolled through the safe house's garden enjoying the solitary moonlight, I found the Blood Heaven Saber Demon training in a courtyard off to one side.

"You're training even here?"

"Do you think training is a game? Why should the place matter?"

"Seeing you lately makes me realize that becoming a Demon Supreme is no joke."

"Don't lie. You look down on us."

"You've misunderstood!"

To be honest, when I first resolved to bring the Demon Supremes under my sway, I had underestimated them. But as I grew closer to them, I abandoned that notion long ago. These people were anything but easy to deal with.

That was probably why Yang Cheogi had never become a Demon Supreme.

Regardless of his martial prowess, he lacked some essential quality needed to become one. Should I call it a lack of charisma? Of presence? Of stature? Something was missing in him.

"I suppose seeing nothing but the Drunken Demon drinking every day lately made me forget how fearsome a Demon Supreme can be."

"You mustn't underestimate that drunkard either."

"Why have you been worrying about me so much lately?"

"How could I not? You fall into danger at every opportunity. At this rate, I'll have to dip into my savings to buy you another protective garment. Oh, what about the Rapid Recovery Pill?"

"It was taken."

I didn't say that I'd given it to the Wicked Laughing Demon. If I did, my old man might spend the whole night fuming, unable to sleep.

Just then,

"I was the one who took it."

I turned to see the Wicked Laughing Demon walking into the garden.

"It saved my life."

He bowed his head slightly. At that courteous gesture, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon merely shot me a look, without making any needless remark to rile him.

"As long as you're safe."

How desperate must the battle have been for us to fight even after using up that pill? How could the Blood Heaven Saber Demon fail to understand? Though he constantly called the Wicked Laughing Demon a devious bastard behind his back, he acknowledged his skill.

"I'll repay the favor next time."

"Before that, you should wipe the blood off your mask."

"I intend to wear it as it is until this affair is over."

I sensed that the Wicked Laughing Demon was slightly stirred up. It wasn't merely anger. It was closer to the excitement of having survived a life-or-death battle for the first time in a long while.

I felt the same. In that last fight, I had experienced an increase in the speed of my sword swings. It had arisen from my desperation to save the Wicked Laughing Demon, but regardless, I had exceeded my own limit. That was what mattered: I had broken through a limit. Since I had already achieved twelfth-level complete mastery of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, this improvement likely concerned my overall martial attainment.

"I felt myself on the brink several times, but honestly, it felt incredible."

Behind his mask, the Wicked Laughing Demon's eyes showed his agreement.

Even the Blood Heaven Saber Demon nodded.

"That thrill is what drives everyone mad."

It seemed that exchanging a palm strike with Yang Cheogi had set his blood boiling too.

"First, we need to catch Yang Cheogi."

Yang Cheogi had not only tried to kill us, but also attempted to send the disciples of the White Mask Sect—the Wicked Laughing Demon's own sect—to their deaths. He would continue targeting the Wicked Laughing Demon or me, so dealing with him was our highest priority.

"Besides, he must have met the Heavenly Mandate Society's leader in person, so he'll help us find him too."

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon asked,

"Do you know where this Yang Cheogi is?"

"He'll be hiding in Villains' Valley. The men he brought from there are dead, so he'll have to report that, and it's also the safest place for him. Besides, he's after the position of valley master, so he must have returned there."

"I'll help you."

When the Blood Heaven Saber Demon offered his help, the Wicked Laughing Demon said something unexpected.

"I know Villains' Valley well."

After a brief pause, he added,

"I once lived there myself."

Startled, I asked,

"When?"

"When I was young. My master put me there, telling me to nurture wickedness in my heart. He came to fetch me three years later."

"What if you'd died there?"

"Then he would have found another disciple."

"You survived Villains' Valley at such a young age, Laughing Demon?"

He nodded.

"Villains' Valley is ultimately a place where people live. There are experts like the Grotesque Demon, but there are also people who know no martial arts at all. There are even outsiders who buy goods wholesale and sell them there, because the profits are high. That doesn't mean you can let your guard down. If you enter without any information, few places are as terrifying as Villains' Valley."

I told both men the contents of the dispatch from the Cult.

"The Cult contacted me today. My mission to eliminate the Heavenly Mandate Society's leader still stands, but they've increased my support allowance to three requests for help. I'm thinking of using one now. The three of us could handle this ourselves, but the master of Villains' Valley might intervene. There's no reason to take unnecessary risks. It will only use up one request anyway."

I spoke vigorously, ready to wipe out Villains' Valley entirely if need be.

"Let's call in the Single Flower Sword Supreme and the Great Drunken Demon too, and go catch Yang Cheogi."