Chapter 135. What on Earth Are You…

Immediately after descending from Mount Mao, Jin Cheon joined up with the waiting Wi Mu-rin, Danmok Cheong, and the Seventh Divine Demon Squad, and promptly left Jiangsu Province.

With such a bloody affair having occurred, the Righteous Heavenly Alliance would not remain idle, and it was clear that they would gather all the masters in the area to pursue them.

It was as clear as day that what is commonly called a heavenly net would be spread.

However, Jin Cheon’s party, having prepared an escape route in advance, quickly took to the waters of the Yangtze River and headed west across the Central Plains continent.

The destination was Sichuan.

It was the place where he was scheduled to meet the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief, who had promised to steal the Wind and Cloud Trigram from the Qingcheng Sect.

Aboard the boat, Jin Cheon gazed at the flowing waters of the Yangtze River, lost in thought.

‘I’m not starting to enjoy killing, am I.’

The thrilling pleasure he felt while killing the Mount Mao Sect Taoists indiscriminately was something a martial artist should be wary of.

‘I’m a swordsman, not a killer.’

Thinking so, Jin Cheon steeled his heart.

It was highly commendable, and in a way, a basic quality for a martial artist to have no hesitation in killing enemies.

However, the story changes if one feels pleasure and gets excited by the act of killing itself.

If one falls into that, they will continuously crave blood, and thereafter, they will only become a murderer who kills for pleasure.

‘I need to be more careful. I could be tainted by demonic nature and go berserk at any time.’

As someone with a Heavenly Demon’s Physique, Jin Cheon decided to be vigilant of himself.

It was true that after deciding to convert, he had pledged to become a great demonic practitioner and revive the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but he did not want to dye the world in blood for his personal pleasure…

“You don’t look well.”

Seop So-yeon approached and said.

“Is it because of what happened at the Mount Mao Sect?”

“Yes.”

Jin Cheon did not hide his inner thoughts.

“I also had a moment of realization.”

“It’s a relief you know.”

“I must not become like Dokgo Seong.”

“Yes, you mustn’t.”

Seop So-yeon nodded with a bitter expression.

“If I feel like I’m becoming like Dokgo Seong, I would rather take my own life. So don’t worry.”

“I understand.”

Seop So-yeon seemed relieved at Jin Cheon’s words.

Knowing all too well how the first Heavenly Demon, Dokgo Seong, had fallen, she was worried that Jin Cheon, who was born with the same constitution, might follow in his footsteps.

***

While heading to Sichuan, Jin Cheon showed Wi Mu-rin the things he had plundered from the Mount Mao Sect.

“……Did you steal every treasure the Mount Mao Sect had.”

Wi Mu-rin clicked his tongue upon seeing the items Jin Cheon took out from the sleeve of his Nine-headed Dragon Robe.

To think he had completely cleaned out items that, all together, would weigh at least several hundred pounds?

“This is a gift for you, Senior Brother.”

Jin Cheon handed Wi Mu-rin a truly large plantain fan, the size of a small child.

“……The Heavenly Wind Fan. This is the sacred object of the Mount Mao Sect’s sect leader.”

As expected of a sorcerer, Wi Mu-rin recognized the Heavenly Wind Fan at a glance.

“Is it alright to give me something so precious?”

“If not you, Senior Brother, who would I give it to?”

“But this is far too precious…”

“It has merely found its rightful owner.”

Jin Cheon smiled.

Since Wi Mu-rin was the only sorcerer Jin Cheon knew, there could be no more suitable person to gift the Heavenly Wind Fan to.

“Since you’re giving it, I will accept it gratefully.”

After saying so, Wi Mu-rin chanted an incantation.

Then, the large Heavenly Wind Fan shrank to the size of a needle.

Wi Mu-rin casually put the shrunken Heavenly Wind Fan into his ear.

“Why are you putting the Heavenly Wind Fan in your ear?”

“This is how this item is originally used.”

“Ah?”

“If you keep this in your ear, your hearing will develop more than anyone else’s. It’s also easy to store.”

“Haha…”

Since Jin Cheon was unfamiliar with the world of sorcery, he just laughed and thought, ‘I see.’

Now that he had given it as a gift, what did it matter how Wi Mu-rin used the Heavenly Wind Fan?

“These secret manuals are all precious as well. The secret sorcery of the Mount Mao Sect is recorded without omission.”

“It will be a great help to our cult.”

“You don’t say.”

Wi Mu-rin nodded as if it were obvious.

“In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that most of our cult’s secret sorcery has been lost.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s because most of the sorcerers followed the Heavenly Demon Ancestor and defected from our cult.”

“Ah.”

“Still, since we’ve obtained the sorcery manuals of the Mount Mao Sect, we can take this opportunity to advance our cult’s sorcery by another level.”

“That’s a relief.”

Jin Cheon smiled, feeling that plundering the Supreme Clarity Treasury was worthwhile.

He had cleaned it out just in case, and now that he could supplement the sorcery of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, it couldn’t be better.

“You’ve accomplished something very great.”

“You praise me too much.”

“Too much praise? It’s not as if single-handedly wiping out the Mount Mao Sect and plundering the Supreme Clarity Treasury is nothing.”

“Haha…”

“Excessive modesty is a form of rudeness.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Anyway, it’s going to get noisy for a while.”

Wi Mu-rin squeezed his eyes shut as if the mere thought was tiring.

“Are you worried about the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s counterattack?”

“There’s no way they’ll stay still. Even if it’s not an all-out war, it’s clear that the pressure from various forces against our cult will intensify.”

As Wi Mu-rin said, there was no way the Righteous Heavenly Alliance would remain idle.

The prisoner exchange incident, the Prince of Ningjing incident, the Yama Fortress incident, the Shijiazhuang Family incident, and now the Mount Mao Sect incident.

In the short period of less than a year, the Righteous Heavenly Alliance had only been on the receiving end, unable to even mount a proper counterattack.

Moreover, the Mount Mao Sect incident was something that would surely drag the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s reputation through the mud, so it was clear they would not let it slide.

Of course, a large-scale all-out war wouldn’t happen unless the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult invaded the Central Plains, but it went without saying that some form of retaliatory attack would come.

“I will stop them.”

Jin Cheon said firmly.

“Whatever the Righteous Heavenly Alliance bastards do, I will crush it all.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“No.”

Jin Cheon shook his head.

“It will be easier than you think.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I plan to split the Righteous Heavenly Alliance soon.”

“Split the Righteous Heavenly Alliance?”

“I can’t tell you right now. I plan to proceed with it step by step after returning to the cult.”

“What on earth are you…”

Wi Mu-rin wore an expression of utter disbelief and incomprehension.

By what means could he split the Righteous Heavenly Alliance?

This was something no one in history had ever accomplished.

Hadn’t even the fearsome first Heavenly Demon ultimately failed to achieve the Demonic Dao’s Rule Over the World in the face of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s solid unity?

“You will find out soon enough.”

Jin Cheon gave a meaningful smile.

‘After obtaining the Earthly Center Trigram, I must return to the cult and prepare to attack the Demonic Prison.’

The Demonic Prison was the biggest weakness the Righteous Heavenly Alliance had.

If the prisoners trapped in the Demonic Prison were released, the Righteous Heavenly Alliance would surely split.

Of course, attacking the Demonic Prison would be no easy task, but Jin Cheon thought that now was the time to push things forward.

‘This period when the Righteous Heavenly Alliance is planning a counterattack would be a suitable time to attack the Demonic Prison. If an internal split occurs, they won’t even dare to think of attacking our cult. In the meantime, I will find and eliminate Dokgo Seong’s soul.’

Since Jin Cheon had already established plans for his future actions, he was not particularly afraid of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s counterattack.

Of course, he had to be careful, but in the grand scheme of things, the first Heavenly Demon who was holding his breath was a much greater threat than the Righteous Heavenly Alliance.

‘I wonder what happened to the Wind and Cloud Trigram. I hope he succeeded.’

Jin Cheon gazed far to the west, praying that the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief had safely stolen the Wind and Cloud Trigram.

Though, since the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief hadn’t sent a warning note, he had likely succeeded.

***

The news that Jin Cheon had attacked the Mount Mao Sect, killed its sect leader, Perfected Person Suyang, and massacred countless disciples spread throughout the Central Plains in the blink of an eye.

The public called this incident the Mount Mao Bloodshed and feared Jin Cheon, the Unrivaled New Demon, even more.

No one had expected that the Unrivaled New Demon, the Seventh Young Master of the Demonic Cult, after proving his martial might by splitting Peng King Jin-in in two, would go on to devastate the Mount Mao Sect, a member of the Nine Sects One Gang.

This was the emergence of the most impactful demonic practitioner since the Iron-Blooded Demonic God, who had executed the previous Heavenly Demon thirty years ago and newly ascended to the throne of the Heavenly Demon. As a result, Jin Cheon’s infamy grew day by day.

Meanwhile, the Righteous Heavenly Alliance lost face once again due to the Mount Mao Bloodshed.

As if being repeatedly humiliated by the Unrivaled New Demon wasn’t enough, now that the Mount Mao Sect, a member of the Nine Sects One Gang, was also devastated, it was only natural for their face and prestige to be dragged through the mud.

In response, the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s leader, the Sword Saint, urgently convened the sect leaders of each sect to devise countermeasures.

The Mount Mao Bloodshed had brought them to a point where they could no longer afford not to respond in earnest, so they had to retaliate against the Demonic Cult in some way.

“I believe you all know why I have urgently gathered the sect leaders without me having to say it.”

The Sword Saint opened his mouth, looking around at the sect leaders of the Nine Sects One Gang, excluding the Mount Mao Sect, and the clan heads of the Five Great Families.

In response, the sect leaders and clan heads of each sect who attended the meeting began to vent their anger as if they had been waiting.

“We must punish the Demonic Cult immediately!”

“We can’t just stand by any longer! It’s time to teach those wicked demons a lesson!”

“What is this humiliation because of that one damned disciple of the Azure Heaven Divine Warrior! We must retaliate immediately! Immediately!”

The anger of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s leadership was truly immense.

Except for one person.

“Amitabha, Amitabha.”

Only the Shaolin Abbot, Great Monk Musang, kept his eyes closed and quietly chanted a Buddhist prayer.

“Since the will of the various sect leaders is so, we shall soon begin a large-scale retaliation against the Demonic Cult.”

“……”

As soon as the Sword Saint’s words fell, silence descended upon the hall.

‘Damned bastards.’

The Sword Saint inwardly suppressed his anger as he looked at the sect leaders and clan heads who had been so furious but now had their mouths tightly shut.

This was the long-standing chronic disease of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance.

As a coalition of ten sects and five families, whenever something happened that required them to join forces, they would only watch each other’s faces.

In the past, when the Kunlun Sect, Mount Hua Sect, and the Namgung Family, who would risk their lives for chivalry, were still strong, it was less severe, but not anymore.

And with good reason; what had happened to the three sects that took the lead during the past Righteous-Demonic War?

The Kunlun Sect was annihilated while waiting for the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s support, the Namgung Family also lost ninety percent of the family’s strength and fell after being thrown as bait, and the Mount Hua Sect was completely destroyed as its home, Mount Hua, was used as a battlefield.

Since that had happened just thirty years ago, who would be crazy enough to step forward willingly?

So, everyone just rolled their eyes, waiting for someone else to step up first, unable to bring themselves to say they would dispatch their disciples.

‘There’s no other way.’

Thinking so, the Sword Saint turned to his right.

There, he looked at the Shaolin Abbot, Great Monk Musang, and the Emei Sect’s Abbess, Hyeonchok Satae.

Since the Righteous Heavenly Alliance was currently led by Taoist sects, he intended to request the Buddhist sects, Shaolin and Emei, to dispatch their disciples first.

“Abbot, how many disciples can you send?”

“Amitabha.”

The Shaolin Abbot, Great Monk Musang, joined his palms and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

“I apologize, but it seems Shaolin will not be able to send any disciples.”

“……!”

The Sword Saint frowned.

Not only had Shaolin, which had obediently followed the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s intentions so far, never expressed such an open refusal, but he had also never expected them to.

“No, Abbot, how can you say you cannot send disciples when the safety of the world is at stake?”

“This humble monk also wishes to dispatch disciples, but there are unavoidable circumstances, so I hope the Alliance Leader will be generous and understand.”

“What on earth are these unavoidable circumstances? Are they more important than subjugating the Demonic Cult?”

The Sword Saint asked Great Monk Musang in a challenging tone, as if to say, ‘Let’s hear it.’

“Amitabha.”

Great Monk Musang replied, chanting a Buddhist prayer.

“Shaolin has decided to close its gates for the time being.”

“……!”

The Sword Saint was quite surprised when an unexpected answer came from Great Monk Musang’s mouth.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep