Chapter 1803 – 1803. The Ascent Of Gwangmyeong
Having passed through Dokgo City, I returned to the Demonic Cult.
The Demonic Cult was both busy and idle due to the war with the Martial Alliance. A war, yet idle? It was an incongruous pairing of words, but it was the truth.
‘This world is so vast that just because a war breaks out doesn’t mean the enemies will come charging in the next day.’
The war between the Martial Alliance and the Demonic Cult.
Saying it like that makes it sound like a big deal, but this war is different depending on your perspective. After all, both the Demonic Cult and the Martial Alliance are within the Jin Empire. From a fantasy perspective, it was closer to a territorial war.
‘In the end, it’s a war that would end in an instant if the Emperor intervened.’
With a single word from the Emperor, both the Martial Alliance and the Demonic Cult would have no choice but to grovel.
‘Is the Emperor’s goal to reduce the power of the martial sects? If we assume the Emperor won’t intervene and this war continues as it is….’
The war wouldn’t end immediately and would continue for at least 10 years. Maybe even 200 years or more.
‘The scale of this world is too big.’
Both spatially and temporally.
Anyway, it meant that nothing was going to happen immediately. The Martial Alliance and the Demonic Cult were too far apart for an all-out war. And both sides were avoiding an all-out war. If the scale of the war became too large, the Emperor could intervene.
“You’re here.”
As I entered the room, Cheon Yu-un spoke to me in a light tone. He was the protagonist of [I Woke Up and Became the Demonic Cult Leader]. Roughly speaking, a possessed Demonic Cult Leader. As the son of the current Demonic Cult Leader, he held considerable power.
‘Well, he’s not the only one with the Demonic Cult Leader’s bloodline, but….’
He was the only direct descendant. Moreover, Cheon Yu-un was a talented individual who was showing his potential. He was seen as the closest to becoming the next Demonic Cult Leader.
I sat down in front of Cheon Yu-un. Cheon Yu-un’s hand moved, preparing tea. A deep tea fragrance spread. It was definitely an expensive tea.
‘Did he put poison in it?’
Cheon Yu-un was a sly bastard. He was the type who would use any means necessary to achieve his goals. Most web novel protagonists don’t use poison, but this guy would use it if he needed to.
Cheon Yu-un drank the tea. I also drank the tea. There was no poison. It was only natural since I was also Cheon Yu-un’s subordinate now.
“Yeom Gu-seok. You’ve gotten stronger while I haven’t seen you. I heard you turned the Dokgo Clan upside down?”
The Dokgo Clan had entered seclusion. It also meant that they would be withdrawing from this war.
“The Dokgo Clan wasn’t as powerful as I’d heard. They were nothing compared to the Five Great Righteous Clans.”
“They are lacking compared to the Five Great Clans. Still, they are the Dokgo Clan. A family that was once called the best in the world. For you to force such a family into seclusion by yourself… When did you get so strong?”
Cheon Yu-un’s gaze sharpened.
My instincts warned me. I was drinking warm tea, but the chilling sensation didn’t disappear.
‘Is he testing me? Does he suspect me? Why?’
I didn’t know. He was so skilled at hiding his true intentions that I had no idea what he suspected.
“The effects of the Great Absorption Technique were significant. I was able to grow stronger quickly by absorbing the inner energy of the Martial Alliance bastards.”
“That’s the greatest advantage of the Great Absorption Technique. But don’t forget that the Great Absorption Technique has clear limitations. The moment you misjudge those limitations even slightly, your body will explode and you’ll die.”
“I know. Because it’s not originally my inner energy. I’m working to make that inner energy my own.”
Cheon Yu-un nodded. His sharp gaze shifted from me to the teacup. He quietly took a sip of tea.
I thought about Yeom Gu-seok, the character I was currently playing. He was hot-blooded and had a quick temper. Cheon Yu-un knew that fact well.
“Why did you call me? I don’t think you called me just to chat.”
“There’s something I want you to do.”
“Something you want me to do?”
“Recently, something bothersome happened. Someone broke into my room.”
“An assassin?”
“I don’t know. What’s certain is that the traces were almost non-existent. If I hadn’t set up a certain device, I wouldn’t have even known that someone had broken in.”
The original story came to mind. Cheon Yu-un sets up devices on his room’s windows and doors. Well, it was embarrassing to call them devices. It was just enough to know if the door had been opened. Like putting dust on the window on purpose, or leaving a mark on the door frame.
“It could be a thief.”
“No, nothing was stolen. It’s highly likely that they had another purpose.”
“…And?”
“I want you to track them down and catch them.”
“That’s impossible. How am I supposed to track down a criminal who’s already disappeared?”
“There’s a clue. As I said earlier, I set up devices.”
Cheon Yu-un grinned. He got up from his seat and brought something from the corner of the room.
It was a small steel cage, about the size of a palm. Inside the steel cage was a red rat. Like a prisoner in jail, it was holding onto the bars and looking in one direction.
“A Blood Rat?”
The red monster rat that was said to eat blood was famous for many things.
“No. This is a Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Rat. It has the characteristic of following the Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Scent that it’s been imprinted with. The device left the Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Scent on the criminal’s clothes. Take this and track down the criminal.”
Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Scent. It was a scent, but it was a special scent that humans couldn’t smell. I heard that a special method was needed for humans to smell this scent.
‘I didn’t know there was such a thing as a Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Rat.’
I held back a sigh that was about to escape my lips. It was extremely annoying, but since Cheon Yu-un had called me separately to order me directly, I couldn’t refuse.
“Do I really have to do it? It’s not like there aren’t people who specialize in tracking.”
“Given the current situation, I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
You do it. I had no choice but to nod at the resolute look in his eyes.
“They wouldn’t be inside the Demonic Cult, right?”
“If they were, they would have been caught already. You’ll see where the Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Rat is heading, but it’s heading west.”
I looked at the Ten Thousand Mile Tracking Rat trapped in the cage. The small red rat was only looking in one direction. That must be the west.
“Is there anything special in the west?”
“Nothing comes to mind.”
Cheon Yu-un put down his teacup. The bottom of the teacup was visible.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
I wasn’t so clueless that I couldn’t understand the dismissal. I got up from my seat and walked out of the building.
The gray sky was unusually dry. The wind that blew was as cold as a knife.
“Winter is coming.”
I deliberately muttered, trying to look like I knew what I was talking about. I had already achieved immunity to heat and cold, so it didn’t matter if it was winter or summer.
‘The biggest obstacle to me becoming the Demonic Cult Leader is Cheon Yu-un. I have to kill him to become the Demonic Cult Leader.’
It wasn’t like I would immediately become the Demonic Cult Leader if Cheon Yu-un died, but I would have a chance if Cheon Yu-un was gone.
‘It would be better if I could use him until the end… but it feels like he suspects me.’
I couldn’t think of a way right now. I trudged towards my lodgings.
• • •
『Attendance Event! Rewards are given for each week of attendance! Currently, 7 days of attendance have been completed.』
『You have achieved one week of attendance. Rewards will be given randomly.』
『Soul Cleansing Water is given.』
『Soul Cleansing Water
This is water with a part of a soul residing in it. It clears the mind.』
As soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, I received a spiritual medicine from the Cheon Gang Seong System.
It was the attendance reward I received every week.
‘The one I got recently came out again.’
Soul Cleansing Water was a decent spiritual medicine. If you drank it, your inner energy would increase slightly, and it would purify some of the evil energy. It was especially effective for those who had learned demonic or evil arts.
I gathered the Soul Cleansing Water. I was currently abstaining from spiritual medicines. It was because the effects of taking spiritual medicines were not very good.
‘Mediocre spiritual medicines are not very helpful.’
I got out of bed, changed my clothes, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Since coming to this world, I had been doing Qi circulation every morning.
‘There’s nothing to do.’
There was nothing to do in the morning without a woman. And after doing Qi circulation, my body felt refreshed. There was no particular training effect.
I was currently at the 10th level of Aura. To move on to the next level, the Three Essences, I needed something special. Enlightenment was secondary. In this Xianxia world, what was important was energy and power.
After finishing my Qi circulation, I left my room and moved to my personal training room.
‘The original Yeom Gu-seok was hot-blooded but diligently trained. He was the type who believed that diligent training would become his own strength.’
To play Yeom Gu-seok, I had to follow his actions. Otherwise, Cheon Yu-un would suspect me.
Ghost Cutting Sword Technique, Reverse Ghost Chase.
I raised the sword from below and slashed upwards. Along with the sound of tearing through the air, the wind blew, tickling my hair.
“Hmm?”
Something was missing. It was definitely not like this when I trained yesterday. I performed Reverse Ghost Chase again.
‘Something is tickling me. It feels like I’m about to sneeze but can’t.’
Demonic energy was leaking out. It wasn’t the Demonic Heavenly Art. But perhaps because it was influenced by the Demonic Heavenly Art, the demonic energy was thick.
I swung the sword. The deficiency was not filled.
‘Should I use the time of a genius? …No. Let’s just try it once this time.’
I swung the sword. I didn’t keep swinging it in the same way. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to find what was missing.
After swinging the sword for over two hours, there was a change.
Crack.
Lightning energy arose. It happened naturally, without me intending it. The lightning energy mixed with the demonic energy. The color of the lightning, which was a bright blue, darkened. At the same time, it became heavier. This lightning continued to descend.
“Interesting.”
Even though I didn’t intend it, demonic energy and lightning energy mixed. I didn’t know if it was good or bad. What was certain was that I had gained a new technique.
‘I’m starting to run out of energy, so should I finish up?’
Crackling.
A dark blue lightning flowed along the blade. I held the sword hilt in reverse. The tip of the sword was facing the ground.
‘Thousand-Pound Hammer’
I focused my energy on the center of gravity, increasing my body weight in an instant. I transferred all that weight to the sword in my hand and knelt down.
The blade pierced deep into the hard ground.
Crackling!
The dark blue lightning moved into the ground. I got up from my seat and pulled the sword out of the ground. The dark blue lightning was still lingering on the ground and moving. If you looked closely, the soil was cracking every time the dark blue lightning moved.
‘It doesn’t spread out, but gnaws away… It’s like it’s corroding.’
I pondered as I looked at this. This new lightning needed a name.
‘It was born from mixing with demonic energy, so Demonic Lightning? No. It doesn’t sound good. It’s like poison, so Poison Lightning? That’s even worse.’
After pondering, I came to a conclusion.
‘Evil Lightning. I learned it while training the Evil Ghost Sword Technique, and it looks evil, so it’s Evil Lightning.’
A new lightning technique was born. I had a good feeling about this morning.
