Chapter 88: The Second Exchange Ceremony (1)
The Great Elder spoke.
“As a follower of the Heavenly Demon Cult, I cannot deny the Cult Leader’s decisions.”
I silently listened to her words.
“But as that child’s grandaunt, it’s true that I can’t just sit back and watch.”
It was a somewhat irresponsible statement, implying she would only step in to a certain extent.
But to me, even that was more than enough for now.
“Thank you for your help. That alone is more than satisfactory for the time being.”
“For the time being, huh. I am a little worried about what kind of troublemaker you might become later on.”
Chuckling, the Great Elder began to leave the Heavenly Demon Pavilion but suddenly stopped and turned back toward me as if she’d remembered something.
“Oh, that reminds me.”
“Yes?”
“You caused quite a stir in Qinghai Province, didn’t you?”
“Excuse me? What incident are you referring to?”
I panicked for a moment, wondering if I had missed something.
“What do you mean, what? I heard you turned the granddaughter of the Murim Alliance Leader into a demonic cultivator.”
“No, I didn’t do that! She acted on her own…!”
“Even so, you still bear some responsibility. Who would hold Yura accountable? The child of the family is Yura’s subordinate, so she can’t be blamed either, can she?”
I stood there, jaw agape in disbelief.
Out of all the false accusations I’d faced in this life and the ones before, this was by far the most absurd.
“The reason the Cult Leader didn’t bring it up must be because Yura defended you to some degree. But eventually, it’s a matter that will need to be resolved one way or another. What I’m saying is, when that time comes, you won’t be able to dodge the consequences.”
“T-That’s…!”
“Of course, since the girl’s existence is classified, you’ll have some time. Still, it’d be best to start looking for a solution as soon as possible.”
“……”
“A reversal of internal energy, huh? It’s really strange how such a thing is possible. There are still too many secrets in the world I don’t understand, tsk tsk!”
Watching the Great Elder wander off as if the whole thing had nothing to do with her, the gratitude I’d felt earlier vanished completely, and anger surged in its place.
Damn it all!
***
“Nice to meet you. I’m San Dojeon. I’ll be serving Young Master Jin from now on, so I hope we get along.”
San Dojeon bowed his head in greeting in front of the Three Attendant and me.
In the end, before returning to the main cult, San Dojeon decided to follow me and pledged his loyalty.
In truth, even from a practical standpoint, pledging loyalty to me was his only path to survival.
Had he gone back to the main cult without resolving the matter, he would’ve immediately been branded a traitor and lost his head.
It had been a bit tricky persuading the Guardian Court, but under my strong protection, San Dojeon was cleared of suspicion and allowed to resume his life as a cultist at the Thousand-Day Pass.
And after that.
Not long after the extermination of Jan Hyeol, the Yin-Yang Fist Demon, and his faction, I began searching for the San Clan with the full information network of my main family, practically turning the Ten Thousand Mountains upside down.
After some time passed, we finally found traces of the San Clan.
But what greeted us at the end… was not the living.
–Br…Brothers! Kugh! Kuhuhuk!
They were already long dead, reduced to little more than white bones, identifiable only by the keepsakes they had carried.
It was undeniable proof of just how cruelly San Dojeon had been toyed with.
–Revenge! I want revenge! On those bastards who ruined my life like this!
Only much later did I finally tell the true San Dojeon all about the Heaven-Defying Society.
–I’ll make sure to skin those bastards alive and offer their hides at my brothers’ graves!
Until then, San Dojeon had turned his eyes away from the truth and followed them out of stubbornness.
But with this incident, it seemed he had found a new purpose to live.
Thus, San Dojeon joined as my subordinate—but for some reason, the Three Attendant didn’t seem too happy about it.
“Hmph, senior disciple of the Thousand-Day Pass, huh.”
“He might be senior there, but here, we’re the seniors.”
“Of course! No doubt about it!”
“…What the hell are you guys doing?”
I stared at the Three Attendant in disbelief as they randomly started asserting their seniority.
Sure, they tended to be overly attached to the title of “first subordinates,” but this was still a bit much, wasn’t it?
Well, San Dojeon was surprisingly humble for his size, so I figured he’d handle it fine…
“The Lord told me he had already chosen me as his subordinate before he even took you three in.”
Huh?
Mr. San Dojeon?
“Of course, I should be the Lord’s left hand and considered the senior, no?”
“What?”
“What did you just say?!”
The Three Attendant immediately exploded in rage, charging toward him as if ready to grab him by the collar.
But the size difference was so absurd that no matter how you looked at it, the three little ones charging at the grown man just looked like kids throwing a tantrum.
‘What the hell is this nonsense from San Dojeon too?’
I looked at the bunch arguing over such a pointless matter with a sigh.
Later on, though, I found out this was actually a pretty sensitive issue within the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Since the cult was a hierarchical society where the strong reigned supreme, how and when you came to serve a certain master determined your future influence and authority.
And once a hierarchy was established, it was almost impossible to overturn, even by force.
No matter how much might mattered, there were still things force alone couldn’t change in an organization.
Because my own status was so high, I had been oblivious to issues like this—but for them, it was quite serious.
Then, after listening to the Three Attendant's complaints, San Dojeon responded with a scoff, as if amused.
“You’re right. What’s the point of arguing about who’s senior with words? This is the Heavenly Demon Cult, where the strong rule, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“So what?”
Facing the glaring Red and Black, San Dojeon wiggled his fingers.
“Obviously, it should be settled by strength.”
Wiggle, wiggle!
“All three of you come at me at once. If you manage to take me down, I’ll gladly acknowledge you as my seniors.”
“You think we can’t?!”
Furious, the Three Attendant charged at San Dojeon—but not recklessly.
‘Oh?’
Of course, they couldn’t use real swords in this setting, so they rushed him barehanded.
They immediately formed the Three Talents Formation and prepared a starter stance of the Tyrant Art.
‘Not bad?’
Having passed on the Tyrant Art to them, fed them elixirs, and even performed something similar to a bloodline exchange ritual, the Three Attendant’s strength was now on another level.
I thought they’d lose their cool and charge in recklessly, but surprisingly, they stayed composed and faced San Dojeon with strategy!
Baeksa, the most observant among them, was analyzing San Dojeon’s condition…
“Don’t let your guard down just because he used to be a team leader. The opponent seems to be seriously injured. There’s still a real chance!”
“I know, hyungnim!”
San Dojeon had not yet recovered from the blow he had taken from the Colorful Flower Lord.
Even though I had provided as much treatment as possible afterward, I hadn’t heard that he was fully healed.
Tsssss—
A dark aura began to form slowly on the fists of the Three Attendant.
“Oh, even Qi Binding?!”
If infusing energy into the sword to increase its power was called Charging the Sword, then forming a visible aura in the shape of a sword was called Sword Qi.
Qi Binding was the intermediate stage between Charging the Sword and Sword Qi—where one could materialize qi to some extent, but it hadn’t yet taken a defined form.
‘If they’ve reached Qi Binding, then Sword Qi is just a matter of time!’
In other words, the Three Attendant had now reached the threshold between Second-rate and First-rate Martial Artist!
‘At this rate, they’d hold their own even if I threw them into the Demon Dragon Hall.’
Among the new trainees in the Demon Dragon Hall, there were plenty who couldn’t even manage Charging the Sword, let alone Sword Qi.
At their current level, the Three Attendant could easily rank among the top tier within the Demon Dragon Hall.
‘Hehehe, totally worth the investment.’
That said, it hadn’t been long since they’d learned the Tyrant Art, so their movements still had a few rough edges.
San Dojeon immediately saw through that and assumed a stance to face them.
“This might hurt a little.”
Ignoring him, Baeksa shouted.
“Attack!”
“Kuaaahhh!”
The Three Attendant let out a valiant cry and charged at San Dojeon.
I wanted to see the rest of that entertaining duel—
“What are you doing?”
—but I had no choice but to turn my head at the curt voice from beside me.
The source of my recent headaches was standing there.
“Ah, you’re here, Lady.”
“Hmph, doesn’t seem like I’m very welcome, though?”
“Of course not, how could that be?”
I greeted her with the most insincere smile I could muster.
Baek Sang-ah walked up to me and sat down so close she was practically attached to my side.
“L-Lady?”
“What? It’s not a big deal, right?”
Her next words left me speechless.
“Thanks to you, I got demoted a rank. So this much should be fine, don’t you think?”
“…Ahem!”
It was true. Baek Sang-ah had been demoted a rank and was now in the same rank as me.
In truth, this was the Pavilion Master’s way of ensuring she could stay close to me and recover her stability—but from her perspective, it was no different from having her military service extended by three months.
Given that, the fact she hadn’t tried to kill me was proof enough of how exceptional her character was.
“Would’ve been nice to close the gap between us a bit more while that girl’s not around…”
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Nothing at aaall.”
Baek Sang-ah shook her head with a serene, world-weary expression.
During the Qinghai Province mission, she had experienced a collapse like the sky falling on her.
Naturally, it would take time for her to mentally recover from that.
As she watched San Dojeon and the Three Attendant bickering, she began to speak.
“I wanted to be known throughout the Murim as the Sword Empress.”
I quietly listened to her.
“I was often praised for my talent. Even my grandfather said I had enough ability to succeed the Sword of Namcheon.”
She had every right to both say and hear such things.
Her talent was the real deal.
“But… because I couldn’t suppress my pride for just a moment, things ended up like this.”
Baek Sang-ah sighed, scratching her head roughly.
“Lady, that’s…”
“It’s my fault.”
Whip!
She suddenly turned toward me and glared.
“I heard there are rumors about whether you’re to blame or not.”
“If I had been more firm in stopping you…”
“Even then, I wouldn’t have come down from that altar. I didn’t want to lose to those two.”
Her will was resolute.
“I’ll stop regretting now. So please stop showing me that guilty face every time you look at me.”
“……”
She was strong.
And steadfast.
I hadn’t felt shame in a long time, but I did now. Even if she briefly grumbled, she never actually blamed me.
Nor did she direct any resentment toward Cheon Yura or Sa Biyeon.
Given how tangled things had gotten, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had let slip even a single word of blame—but she hadn’t.
“What’s done is done. Now I have to find a way to fix it.”
“Do you have one?”
The moment I asked, I immediately felt another wave of shame.
Realistically, what solution could she have? If anything, I should be the one searching for one.
She didn’t seem to notice my shame, and instead looked straight ahead, lips slightly pursed.
“If there were a way to reverse my internal energy, that would be ideal. But if that’s impossible, I’ll have to compromise with reality.”
“What kind of compromise?”
“The simplest method would be to completely abolish my internal energy and start from scratch. Though in that case, my dream of becoming a Sword Empress would be over.”
There were limits to how much internal energy could be supplemented through elixirs.
In fact, to fully absorb the qi from an elixir, one needed a minimal foundation of internal energy cultivated purely through internal cultivation methods.
Without that, the qi from the elixir wouldn’t merge with the internal energy technique and could instead destroy the body.
“At least ten years. I’d have to focus solely on rebuilding my internal energy during that time.”
And that was assuming she had access to top-tier elixirs like Great Return Pills.
Once her internal energy was abolished, her physical state would fall below that of a regular person.
Just recovering her condition would take several years.
Naturally, swordsmanship or any other martial arts training would be completely out of the question.
Most of all, there was no guarantee the new internal energy would be purer than before.
She was already nearing twenty, after all.
“That’s… difficult.”
I had to fight to keep from sighing aloud.
“Well, if that doesn’t work, I’ll have to resort to another method.”
“What kind of method?”
“Accepting the current situation.”