Chapter 65: The Tomb of the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden (2)
Once the decision was made, we immediately organized the team that would head to Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden’s tomb.
“This is driving me mad. Who would’ve thought Jeok Ryeong was the traitor.”
Jang Deuk-soo, who was included in the expedition to the tomb, heaved deep sighs.
Just a few days ago, they’d drunk together. Realizing that someone he'd shared a drink with turned out to be a spy—no matter how thick-skinned he was—wasn’t something he could easily accept.
“Can’t I just sit this one out?”
“If you’re bold enough to say that to the Young Cult Leader, then by all means, I’ll take you off the list.”
“Forget it. I’d rather die fighting the enemy.”
Jang Deuk-soo scratched his messy hair and muttered.
“This is insane. My life goal was to live quietly and for a long time, and yet I’m getting dragged into something like this.”
“Yet it seems you’ve been assigned quite an important task by the Thousand-Day Pass.”
“What makes you so sure about that?”
“Well, if that weren’t the case, there’s no way you would’ve rejected an offer with triple the salary.”
“Uh…”
It wasn’t like he had outright refused, though.
Jang Deuk-soo’s eyes said as much.
But I wasn’t fooled by that look.
“The eyes of the Silver Soul Unit members we borrowed from the Pavilion Master keep drifting toward you.”
“…!”
“Isn’t that right, Captain of the Silver Soul Unit?”
If the Guardian Corps were the strongest combat unit that protected the Thousand-Day Pass, then the ones guarding its safety from the shadows were the Silver Soul Unit.
“Damn it, what the hell kind of intuition do you have?”
Jang Deuk-soo grumbled.
“If you’re some high-born young master, then just act the part—be arrogantly clueless and go around stirring up trouble.”
“Lady Sa. Instructor Jang says that’s how I should be.”
“Wait, hey! L-Lady Sa! That’s not what I meant!”
At my shameless jab, Jang Deuk-soo’s face turned ghostly pale.
Unlike me, who was only nominally part of the Thousand-Day Pass, Sa Biyeon was a person not easy to deal with—practically nobility.
“Hmm? Did you call me?”
“It’s nothing! Really!”
Sa Biyeon glanced back at him with a look that said, “What a silly person,” before walking away again.
Jang Deuk-soo ground his teeth and glared at me.
“Are you really doing this just because I said I wanted out?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Damn it, guess I’ve got no choice but to give it my all.”
“A commendable attitude.”
The reason Jang Deuk-soo had been appointed as an instructor where I was dispatched was entirely thanks to the Pavilion Master’s recommendation.
They said even if he were thrown into the heart of the Orthodox-Demonic War, he’d make it out alive.
Excluding one instructor to command the Thousand-Day Pass warriors, around thirty people were selected for the mission, including members of the Silver Soul Unit.
This group also included Bang Manhu, ten elites from the Nine Moons Blade Hall, and the guardian lion warriors who were constantly stationed near Cheon Yura.
But then, an unexpected individual stepped forward to volunteer.
“I want to come along too.”
“Lady Baek. As much as I understand, this situation isn’t the place for you…”
All threats to Baek Sang-ah had already been neutralized. There was no reason for her to step into danger like this.
Yet Baek Sang-ah remained immovable.
“Being protected to the end just isn’t my style. I’m a martial artist too. I want to see this through with my own hands.”
Suddenly, she drew one of her twin swords and channeled her energy into it.
“I’m confident… to some extent, at least.”
Flash!
Even if not completely stable, that was undeniably Qi Projection. Although the flow of energy wasn’t perfectly controlled and leaked light in all directions, it was proof that she had reached the threshold of the Master Level.
“This is insane.”
Jang Deuk-soo let out a sigh after witnessing it.
“I thought we’d never see another monster emerge from the Thousand-Day Pass after Ma Chulsoo, and yet here we are, with even scarier ones popping up one after another.”
And that level? Not even Ma Chulsoo could hold a candle to her, could he?
Jang Deuk-soo muttered the impossible, “At this rate, maybe we’ll end up taking down the Demon Dragon Hall ourselves.”
“Well, she is the granddaughter of the Murim Alliance Leader. She should be at that level.”
“Yeah, she should if she’s the—wait, what?”
His hand froze mid-motion as he rubbed his face.
“Lady Baek. One wrong move here and all our efforts so far could go to waste. You still intend to come?”
Baek Sang-ah answered with a solemn expression.
“I’m a martial artist too. Even if I die, I won’t hold a grudge. That’s the resolve I’ve made.”
She then unsheathed her right sword and held it out to me.
“I’ll entrust this to you, Master Jin.”
Jade Green Heavenly Net Divine Sword. A sacred treasure of the Murim Alliance Leader.
Baek Sang-ah surely understood how complicated things could become if a weapon like that ended up in the hands of someone from the Demonic Cult like me.
And yet, she entrusted me with it in order to follow through with her conviction.
Seeing how serious she was, I let out a sigh and accepted.
“Hoo… Very well. Then please use my sword instead.”
I took the Jade Green Heavenly Net Divine Sword from her and handed her my own.
Twin sword techniques required thinner, more flexible blades than standard ones.
Fortunately, my sword wasn’t particularly thick or long, so it might even be easier to wield than the Jade Green Heavenly Net Divine Sword.
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to live up to your expectations.”
Baek Sang-ah said that while sneaking a glance at Cheon Yura.
From her gaze, I could clearly sense an unhidden competitive spirit.
And with that, Baek Sang-ah became the final member of our team.
“Hey, wait a minute. Jin Yeomyung, you bastard! What did you just say?!”
Still refusing to accept reality, Jang Deuk-soo was practically screaming, ready to grab me by the collar.
***
“There… there was a massive gate like this?!”
A structure as bizarre as if it had been carved from a massive stone—something far from natural.
It might have seemed somewhat reasonable if it were located deep in a mountain range, but this place was in the middle of Eastern Sea Fortress, a huge city.
Bang Manhu wiped his sweat as he muttered in awe.
“A formation that uses natural terrain directly… This is a full-scale illusion formation cast by a Grandmaster-level sorcerer.”
“It’s that high-level?”
Grandmaster-level?
Bang Manhu, perhaps a bit too excited, gestured at the gate with spittle flying.
“This isn’t just some simple illusion formation. The level of interference it has on physical phenomena, mixing reality and illusion—this is impossible unless it reaches that level!”
At the very least, I now understood one thing: someone of absurd power had been involved here.
Sa Biyeon looked around and spoke.
“There are a lot of corpses nearby.”
“Those must be the ones who were wiped out by the Evil Overlords of Heaven.”
Every single corpse had the character ‘Underworld’ carved on their backs.
They seemed to belong to the same faction as the four assassins who attacked Baek Sang-ah back in Teahouse.
“Underworld King’s Unit…”
“Hm? Gu Chil, what did you say?”
At some point, Gu Chil was silently inspecting the slain with a bitter expression.
“Myeong-oh once said that if she ever formed a unit, she wanted to name it the ‘Underworld King’s Unit’.”
I let out a faint chuckle.
“That's a pretty grand name.”
“Yes, she got teased a lot by those around her because of it. But I guess, in a way, her wish was fulfilled.”
Even if it ended in such a meaningless annihilation.
Gu Chil barely held back his words.
At that moment, the Silver Soul Unit members who had been patrolling nearby approached.
“There’s no one else in the vicinity. It seems they’ve all entered the ruins.”
“…I see.”
I took a quiet breath and gathered the group.
“Our objective is to eliminate the traitors who’ve sown disorder in our cult and their suspected backer, the Yin-Yang Fist Demon, Janhyeol. Though the elites of the Evil Overlords of Heaven have already gone inside, we still don’t know what the situation within is.”
No matter how powerful Yin-Yang Fist Demon was, he couldn’t possibly take on the elite of the Evil Overlords of Heaven alone.
“What matters most now is the level of the demonic practitioners who accompanied the Yin-Yang Fist Demon.”
Nod, nod.
According to the reports, there were about ten demonic practitioners who entered the ruins with him. Including them, there were now about thirty people inside.
“If even one of them is a Supreme Master Level expert, the Evil Overlords of Heaven could be in serious trouble.”
On an open battlefield, it might not matter much. But in a ruin like this, full of unpredictable variables, the strength of a few transcendent individuals could be magnified exponentially.
“Our strategy is simple. We get through the traps faster than the others and reach Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden’s tomb, which should be located deep inside the ruins.”
Once there, we kill whoever comes in—no matter who it is.
At that moment, Cheon Yura raised her hand.
“Jin Yeomyung.”
“Yes, Lady Cheon.”
“What you said is certainly ideal, but… is it really possible?”
I smiled and said,
“Please believe in me. I’ll make it happen.”
“…Alright. I’ll believe in you.”
As Cheon Yura responded, others blinked in confusion and looked at the two of us.
It was baffling—how one could confidently say such baseless words, and how another could so readily believe them.
“Alright, let’s get going.”
It was time to catch a big one.
***
The Seventh Elder of the Heavenly Demon Cult, sixteenth in the overall hierarchy, Yin-Yang Fist Demon Janhyeol was a renowned elder even within the Central Plains.
Externally, he had built a reputation by eliminating enemies of the cult, and internally, he had worked as the vanguard expanding the influence of the Heaven-Defying Society within the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Because of his skill and accomplishments, he had been recognized with the high title of Seventh Elder—the highest position among those not from the Six Great Demonic Clans—and ranked eighth among the Ten Heavenly Lord of the Heaven-Defying Society.
In short, he was one of the absolute core assets of the Heaven-Defying Society.
And that very Yin-Yang Fist Demon now felt a looming sense of crisis, as if his position might be shaken.
“You’ve made a grievous mistake.”
“I apologize, Eighth Lord.”
“I shouldn’t have come here.”
Yin-Yang Fist Demon glared at Han Muyeon, who was kneeling before him, with murderous intent.
“You let those greedy idiots from the Cheon Clan rush me here, and now you’ve messed up everything?”
Han Muyeon couldn’t answer a single word.
Looking at him with clear disappointment, the Yin-Yang Fist Demon turned his gaze to Cheong Museong.
“Third Order.”
“Yes, Eighth Lord.”
“When this is over, prepare to transfer your allegiance to the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
“Ah!”
Cheong Museong’s voice lit up.
“From now on, your name will be ‘Han Museong’.”
Cheong Museong—no, now Han Museong, having taken on the Han surname—bowed deeply before the Yin-Yang Fist Demon.
“I will devote myself wholly to the cause of the Society.”
“Your discovery of Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden’s tomb is a great accomplishment.”
There were several reasons the Yin-Yang Fist Demon had come all the way to Qinghai in person.
And the greatest among them was—
“Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden was a traitor to the Society. She abandoned the Great Commander of her time and defected to the Second Heavenly Demon—a high treason beyond forgiveness.”
Though it was an event from hundreds of years ago, the blow it dealt to the Heaven-Defying Society had been devastating.
“The treasures she took when she escaped must be returned to the Society. Most importantly, the ‘key’ to open the gate of Heaven of the Holy Spirit must be retrieved.”
At that moment, a casual voice spoke from beside him.
“Well, that’s only natural. But… is this force really enough?”
The one who raised this objection was a rather young man compared to the Yin-Yang Fist Demon.
“…Ten Lord.”
The man referred to as Ten Lord flicked his fan and smiled slyly.
“Hehehe. You do know that inside these ruins, the bastards from Evil Overlords of Heaven are swarming in, right? The Evil Overlords of Heaven Lord may not be here, but his top disciple, Geum Jeoksan, isn’t someone to be underestimated. Can we really pull this off with just this strength?”
“That’s exactly why I brought you.”
The Yin-Yang Fist Demon scowled.
“With your Blood-Draining Ghost Qi Technique, you can ‘awaken’ without strain.”
“Hm. That’s true.”
“How long will you keep living as a public enemy of the Murim? I heard you almost had a serious run-in with the Tang Clan not long ago.”
“That’s right. Tsk, I could’ve had that Poison Phoenix woman if things had gone better.”
“If this goes well, I’ll secure you a spot in the cult. Join us.”
“Now that is a tempting offer.”
The Ten Lord smiled with satisfaction as he waved his fan.
“Certainly, only the Demonic Cult has the power to contain someone like this Playboy Noble.”
“You mean the Colorful Flower Lord.”
Ten Lord, Playboy Noble.
His other alias was the Colorful Flower Lord.
One of the Ten Most Wanted in Murim. The greatest lustful demon in the world. And in terms of public reputation, he was said to surpass even the other Ten Heavenly Lord of the Heaven-Defying Society.