Another record contained details about a joint project with Ye Wonje.

Cooperative Project with Ye Wonje

-Heavenly Alliance jurisdiction: fifteen villages (all completed)

-Ye Wonje jurisdiction: twenty-two villages (in progress, then abruptly halted)

-Total output: one hundred forty-seven bloodstones

-Commoners sacrificed during the experiments: approximately five hundred

-Work fully halted due to Ye Wonje’s sudden death; all evidence successfully concealed

Unhwi opened the last record.

Record of Effects and Side Effects After Bloodstone Ingestion

-Internal energy enhancement effect: weak, because as commoners it was not easy to extract the innate true energy inherent to humans

-Side effects confirmed to date: blood vessel sclerosis; contamination of energy due to demonic energy (confirmed that even natural energy and Heaven-Earth spirit energy become contaminated)

-Further experiment plan: suspended (excessive risk)

-Storage of remaining bloodstones: stored in this hiding place

Only effect: if the bloodstone is ingested and refined within the body, it is possible to obtain purified Demonic Miasma close to innate energy

After reading all the records, Unhwi quietly organized them again. His expression was still calm, but the cold light in his eyes alone revealed what lay within.

“Young Master…”

Chief Seong called out in a trembling voice.

“Th-These… did things like this really happen?”

“It seems so.”

Unhwi’s answer was even.

And because of these materials, what had been uncertain became certain.

First, just as he had expected from the beginning, it truly had been the Heavenly Daoist who killed Ye Wonje.

He still did not know why he had killed him. But seeing this, it became clear.

It was nothing new for the Heavenly Daoist to draw a strict line between martial artists and commoners.

Unhwi, too, had been greatly influenced by him, so if nothing else, that was something they shared deeply.

It was certain.

All of these experiments Unhwi was looking at now were not done on martial artists, but on commoners.

And not only had Mae Wuidong done it alone—he had done it together with Ye Wonje.

For the Thunderclap Demon Cult, a branch of the Original Blood Cult, making bloodstones was nothing unusual. But they had done it strictly on martial artists—so why had Mae Wuidong targeted commoners?

There was an utterly clear answer.

In the process of learning martial arts, a martial artist’s innate true energy is altered in one way or another.

Sword energy, saber energy, fist energy.

And later, even natural energy and Heaven-Earth spirit energy.

None of it remains what it was at birth. It changes to match the identity of the martial artist. That is why it is “alteration.”

But ordinary commoners were different.

Because they had learned nothing, pure innate true energy was preserved.

There had been many lies in what Mae Wuidong said, but there were also a few truths.

Especially the path he pursued as a martial artist.

He had wanted to create an origin that merged all energies into one.

The orthodox path and the unorthodox path, the tyrant path, the demon path.

A man like that also used Demonic Miasma, and Unhwi had judged that Demonic Miasma to be “excessively pure.”

This was why.

Bloodstones made by grinding commoners down, again and again.

If you refined them and extracted pure Demonic Miasma, then injected it into the flesh and tempered it within, in theory you could produce something like Mae Wuidong.

As a “demon person” seeking to rebuild the Millennium Demon Cult, he was lacking nothing.

His values were so clear-cut that it was almost refreshing, after so long.

Unhwi turned his head to look at Chief Seong.

Chief Seong wore a deeply shocked expression, and Unhwi could understand that too.

“…A demon person.”

“A demon person.”

“Was the dead Ye Wonje that kind of man too?”

“He was that kind of man.”

“…Young Master.”

Chief Seong’s expression turned serious.

“…Do we really have to rebuild it? That Millennium Demon Cult.”

It was a question that struck straight at the core.

But as Unhwi had said repeatedly, he did not particularly care whether the Millennium Demon Cult was rebuilt or not.

Looked at another way, he had no intention of stopping it, and if someone asked him to help, he might even help.

He had maintained that stance all along, and it did not change even now.

“Among my people, there are those who want it.”

“…”

“The road a martial artist walks is excessively diverse. If cases like this, belonging to only a part, are distorted into representing the whole, would that not be hypocrisy itself?”

“…It’s difficult.”

“Chief Seong.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“In the martial world there is chivalry, and there is martial might. Everything is relative. Not everyone who belonged to the Millennium Demon Cult was a demon person, and acts like these are not something only demon people commit—there are also those on the orthodox side who wear a mask and ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) do such things.”

“…”

“What we must do is simply walk.”

“By ‘walk’ you mean…”

“It means there must be no hesitation in doing what needs to be done.”

“…”

“If something is wrong, correct it. And if there is someone who has committed crimes, purge them and tear out the roots.”

More than anything—

“It might even prevent this sort of thing if we bind the demon people into one and manage them.”

“…”

“In a world where the strong survive, leading order means exactly that. Who you will pen inside a fence, and how you will manage them.”

Unhwi looked around the room.

“The same applies here. Chief Seong, do you think only Ye Wonje and Mae Wuidong did all of this?”

“…No. For something on this scale, there must be helpers. It’s well known that Ye Wonje was wiped out together with the Sixth Elders… so all of them must be involved.”

“You have to think the other way.”

“Pardon?”

“Ye Wonje certainly died along with his people. But Mae Wuidong survived. It’s clear the Heavenly Daoist killed Ye Wonje, but why didn’t he kill Mae Wuidong?”

“…Didn’t he leave him to you?”

“You’ve gotten quite sharp.”

“…”

“Then think the next step through as well.”

Chief Seong scratched his head.

“They’re in the Mukse Society. The ones who helped with this.”

Unhwi shook his head.

“That question is wrong.”

“…Then… could Hwa Munyeom be involved in this?”

That was the right question.

Unhwi let out a small laugh and leaned his back against the wall.

“Go and call Hwa Munyeom.”

“…Only Hwa Munyeom?”

“It would be good to call Joo Che as well, but we need to be sure. If possible, just Hwa Munyeom.”

“…If he’s connected to this…”

“Then we would have to recommend someone else as Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance.”

Chief Seong nodded as he scratched his head, then moved to leave the archive. But he stopped at the doorway.

“Young Master, but… are you really all right?”

“What do you mean?”

“This feels even more vile than the experiments at Viper Valley. No matter that you’re a reincarnated man, this is…”

“I haven’t experienced such things many times either, but there are many filthy things happening in the world that we do not know. But if you become angry and swept up by emotions every time, you can’t make a cold judgment.”

“…”

“What matters now is what we can do. Isn’t that so?”

“Young Master is right.”

As expected, Unhwi was different.

That coldness that did not waver even in a situation like this.

It really was something worthy of respect.

“Go quickly.”

After Chief Seong left, Unhwi looked around inside the Heavenly Archives alone.

Up to now, those who wanted the Millennium Demon Cult rebuilt could be divided into exactly two types.

One type was those who, wanting to become the main axis, indulged in greed.

That was the type of person Mae Wuidong was—those who touched the forbidden domain to obtain greater power.

Making bloodstones from commoners, extracting pure innate true energy from those bloodstones, then refining pure Demonic Miasma from that?

That was not something anyone could think of, and not something anyone could attempt.

How Mae Wuidong knew the method of producing bloodstones could be inferred from what had happened.

Yucheong of the Original Blood Cult had many people.

And since Jeong Do-cheon of the Thunderclap Demon Cult was likely one of his people, he must have received it from him.

That was the first type, and the second type was people like Seo Hyo.

Those who did not touch the forbidden domain, but searched for what they could do on their own and worked at it.

Now he had to confirm it.

Whether Hwa Munyeom was the first type, or the second.

If he was the first type, Unhwi would have to redefine their relationship.

Unhwi quietly waited for Hwa Munyeom.

***

It was not long before the door opened and Hwa Munyeom entered.

Perhaps because it was odd he had been called alone, he asked.

“Is there something you want to discuss separately?”

“Look at this.”

Unhwi reopened the hidden space and showed him the bloodstones and records inside.

Hwa Munyeom’s eyes widened.

It was surprising enough that there was such a space in the Heavenly Archives, but what mattered was the contents.

A glass bottle filled with red bead-like things.

Even at a glance, they were anything but ordinary.

“This is… what?”

“Bloodstone.”

Unhwi answered calmly.

“It’s made by condensing a person’s blood and energy. It’s the same as what the Thunderclap Demon Cult, a branch of the Original Blood Cult, has been making for hundreds of years.”

“…Thunderclap Demon Cult…? Original Blood Cult?”

Hwa Munyeom tilted his head and picked up a bloodstone to inspect it closely. Even with his discernment, it was immediately obvious this was no ordinary item.

“…This… Don’t tell me the Master made it.”

“Who else would make something like this within the Heavenly Alliance’s territory if not him?”

As he said that, Unhwi handed him one of the records. Hwa Munyeom received it and began reading.

Up to the first few lines, his face had been expressionless, but it gradually began to harden.

“Near Ansimgun… Bongsan Village…”

Hwa Munyeom’s voice dropped.

“This…?”

“Keep reading.”

As he read the second record, Hwa Munyeom’s hand began to tremble faintly.

“For three days… continuously… while maintaining consciousness…”

Hwa Munyeom could not continue. The more he read, the more his face twisted.

“This… a crime that enrages heaven and man… my god. Ye Wonje…? That bastard did this with Mae Wuidong…”

Trailing off, Hwa Munyeom hurled the record to the floor.

“Those insane bastards!”

It was the first time Unhwi had seen Hwa Munyeom react so violently, but Unhwi was unexpectedly calm.

He simply watched Hwa Munyeom in silence. To Unhwi’s eyes, Hwa Munyeom’s attitude did not look false. It looked sincere.

Kwaang—!

Hwa Munyeom punched the wall. Stone dust rained down.

“…So this was what lay behind the Mukse Society.”

“To be precise, what lay behind Mae Wuidong.”

“…”

“I’m confident in my heart, but I’ll ask one thing directly.”

“…Ask.”

“Are you involved in this?”

Hwa Munyeom’s brow knotted sharply. If Unhwi’s body had not been in that state, he would have grabbed him by the collar like before.

“…Right now, I am very angry.”

“It looks that way.”

“In a situation where I’m seized by fundamental doubt about whether the Millennium Demon Cult is this sort of thing or not, that question of yours is only making me more displeased.”

Hwa Munyeom stepped forward.

“I’ll tell you clearly. I did not know about this. Foolishly, even while holding the title of Vice Lord, I couldn’t even catch a whiff of it—that is what I’m saying.”

“…”

“I don’t know what answer you’re convinced of, but even if I want the Millennium Demon Cult rebuilt, that does not mean I want to walk the road of a demon person.”

After thinking for a moment, Unhwi slowly nodded.

“I understand. I did think you wouldn’t be involved in this, Senior Hwa.”

“…”

“I’m only saying this… just in case… cough.”

Unhwi coughed up a little blood, took a short, steadying breath, and continued.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep