Kwaang!

Before Cheon Mubaeck could even prepare to greet her, a figure fell from the sky.

“Damn it…”

In an instant, Neung-heo was overwhelmed. The scene where the ground was overturned by the intense impact of the landing was truly astonishing.

He instinctively flinched at the intense gaze that was revealed through the hazy dust.

Although she was an old nun with a bald head wearing ordinary monk’s robes, Neung-heo was literally overwhelmed by the heaviness that was transmitted throughout his body.

‘One of the Ten Great Masters of the world…’

The top among the Ten Great Masters of the world.

A moniker that only a female hero who had achieved the highest realm with the sword in an era could obtain.

‘The Sword Empress…!’

She had a small physique. A delicate and small physique that seemed as if it would fly away if the wind blew. She was so short that she would probably only come up to Cheon Mubaeck’s chest.

But at the burning gaze through the dust, Neung-heo understood at once why she was considered one of the top among the Ten Great Masters of the world.

“Who are you!”

A sharp and heavy roar.

Even without speaking directly, he could grasp the whole situation just from the tone.

The Sword Empress’s voice was filled with a terrible vigilance.

Well, she had no choice.

Hadn’t masters disguised as doctors kidnapped the child, the king of the river pirates and the leader of the Black Assembly, and even the demons of the Blood Demon Valley, including the Poison Demon, gathered and made a mess?

‘If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to grasp the situation, so I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone.’

A hostility was even mixed in with the terrible vigilance.

Neung-heo quietly glanced at Cheon Mubaeck.

‘Wow. He’s calm even in this situation?’

Admiration suddenly arose. The martial artists of the Zhejiang martial world, led by the Sword Empress, were gathering one after another with a sinister look.

And yet, Cheon Mubaeck was calm. Neung-heo clicked his tongue.

“Who are you? Why on earth have you come to this Zhejiang martial world? Have you also come for the child?”

A low voice.

A low and soft voice, as if a grandmother were scolding a child.

But since it was filled with an enormous amount of internal energy, Neung-heo had to quickly circulate his internal energy to protect his dantian.

‘She’s crazy, she’s crazy. Do you have to be at this level to be one of the Ten Great Masters of the world?’

Although the great Dokgo Pae was also one of the Ten Great Masters of the world, her weight was so different that it made even him seem colorless.

“Where is the child! What is your relationship with the Poison Demon? What is your relationship with those damn demons!”

It was a momentum that would cut his neck if he did not give a proper excuse.

He swallowed hard, and cold sweat soaked his back.

‘A slip of the tongue here would mean death.’

Neung-heo looked at Cheon Mubaeck with a desperate gaze.

With a desperate gaze that asked him to solve this pressure.

Fortunately, did he realize Neung-heo’s wish? Cheon Mubaeck took a step forward.

“…!”

Woong!

In an instant, the Sword Empress’s expression changed slightly.

‘He scattered the energy?’

When a person is cornered, they tend to tell the truth.

The Sword Empress had intentionally been pressuring the opponent by releasing all her momentum since she had arrived.

But Cheon Mubaeck had walked out with a calm face and had scattered that momentum in one go.

With just one step.

A strange light appeared in the Sword Empress’s pupils.

‘He’s no ordinary guy. Looking at the corpses nearby, he doesn’t seem to be a subordinate of the demons…’

At some point, Cheon Mubaeck had continued to walk and had stood in front of the Sword Empress.

A faint smile spread on Cheon Mubaeck’s lips.

“It’s different from what I’ve heard. I heard that the Sword Empress is a person who swings her sword first and cuts off limbs before asking questions if things go wrong…”

“…Huh?”

Neung-heo’s face, who had been relieved since Cheon Mubaeck had stepped up, turned black.

Hey… why are you provoking her?

“What, what did you say?”

“That she’s not just outspoken for a disciple of Buddhism, but a great heroine of the world. That she once punched the face of a man who was hitting on her…”

A crack appeared on the Sword Empress’s face, and a blue light burned like fire.

“What are you talking about!”

Her beautiful face, which at a glance had a luster like a Buddha statue, was greatly contorted. But Neung-heo suddenly felt a sense of bewilderment mixed in with the contortion.

‘Bewilderment?’

He felt bewilderment, rather than anger?

Wasn’t it a reaction as if a mixture of shame and bewilderment when one’s hidden shame was revealed?

“Are you making fun of me now?”

The drawn sword shook as if it would strike his neck at any moment.

A murderous momentum became tangible and seemed to choke his neck. Just by looking at it, his mouth went dry and his body became stiff.

Cheon Mubaeck was still calm.

As if he were not worried at all. Rather, a calm smile was even on his lips, as if he were amused.

“I am just saying what I have heard.”

At that time, the Sword Empress’s gaze turned downwards.

The broken sword at his waist.

The moment she realized what it was, the Sword Empress’s pupils widened as if they would tear.

That was right.

Cheon Mubaeck had only said ‘as I have heard’ continuously.

The people of his young days had long since passed away.

And there was only one person who knew so much in detail.

The Sword Empress’s face contorted strangely as she looked back and forth between the broken sword and Cheon Mubaeck’s face.

“That person…”

The sword that that person had used.

A famous sword of the world, a sword that cried every time it was swung and demons died.

“The Iron God Ancient Sword!”

Although it was broken in half and was miserable, it was clear.

It was the sword of that person whom she had always admired, revered, and been jealous of.

The Sword Empress’s pupils, which were looking straight at Cheon Mubaeck, trembled.

“Azure Sky… Sword God?”

“I am Cheon Mubaeck, who has inherited the true transmission of the Sword God.”

Cheon Mubaeck politely took a fist and palm salute.

* * *

“It’s a surprising story. Then, Young Master, have you been continuously tracking the Poison Demon?”

“Yes. I had previously confirmed the connection between the Great Dragon Gang and the Blood Demon Valley in Chongqing, and had infiltrated the Black Assembly this time. As a result, I obtained the information that the Poison Demon was aiming for Soyong in Zhejiang Province.”

“Why did the Poison Demon aim for this child? The Poison Demon is sinister and meticulous. He is a person like a demon.”

“It’s because of the Bidara.”

Cheon Mubaeck briefly summarized the facts in response to the Sword Empress’s question.

If one added one part of a lie to nine parts of the truth, it would become a complete truth.

“Ummm…”

The Sword Empress let out a groan. A yellow light spread gently beyond the Sword Empress’s face.

It was a fact he had learned after observing people several times.

‘Green is comfort, red is urgency and impatience… And yellow is a question.’

He had not thought that he would be able to see the emotions of a person of the Sword Empress’s level.

‘She’s more amazing than I thought?’

Cheon Mubaeck clicked his tongue inwardly.

Regardless of the opponent’s internal energy level, the immortal eye saw through a person’s emotions without fail.

Cheon Mubaeck was able to discover a few rules with his high concentration and outstanding observation skills.

Generally, three colors were clear.

Green, yellow, and red.

Of course, it was impossible to express all emotions with just three colors.

‘It’s the saturation.’

The darker it was, the more clearly the psychology was seen.

‘If I study it a little more deeply, I’ll be able to organize it completely.’

It was not urgent, so he could record and organize it whenever he had time.

Cheon Mubaeck was satisfied.

To be able to grasp the Sword Empress’s psychology while sitting here like this.

The light that was revealed beyond her face changed as time passed.

It gradually became lighter, and then it became closer to a green light.

‘She’s dismissed the question.’

It was indeed accurate.

The Sword Empress nodded her head slightly.

“The Poison Demon has been proficient in not only medicine but also ancient sorcery and the evil arts of the Western Regions since long ago. If it’s that person, he would have done something that went against the heavenly principles, like the Bidara. And to think that he tried to use Soyong…”

“Perhaps the Sword Empress has also noticed. That the child is not suffering from an illness, but was born with something special.”

The Sword Empress nodded her head heavily.

“Yes. I felt it when the Yugeom Emperor, Jeon Gong, had asked for help before. Although it is not the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, she was born with something similar to it.”

“That’s right. It seems that that special trait was thought to be helpful in improving the Bidara for the Poison Demon.”

“So that’s what happened…”

Only then did the Sword Empress understand the whole situation.

“Then the great elder of Jongnam did not kidnap her on purpose?”

Cheon Mubaeck nodded his head heavily.

“The great elder has been cooperating in tracking the Blood Demon Valley ever since I formed a connection with him in Shaanxi Province. It is the same for obtaining the information on the Poison Demon.”

“Then are you saying that the Cloud Sword Army tried to save Soyong from the Poison Demon’s evil hands while you were chasing the Poison Demon?”

“Yes. The original purpose was really to treat the child. In the first place, what the Poison Demon was after was because of her unique innate illness. But knowing that the Poison Demon had mobilized the Unorthodox Alliance members, the great elder had no choice but to move for the child’s safety first.”

“Hah…”

A yellow light spread on the Sword Empress’s face again. This time, the color was more intense, and even a red light was mixed in.

‘The doubt is deep. And there’s also hostility.’

It was something that could not be helped. Because it was true that he had kidnapped the child and had run away.

But Cheon Mubaeck was not shaken.

The strange energy that had been flowing from him at some point, along with the unique energy of the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art that was emitted from his upper dantian, and the immortal energy that lingered on it, made the Sword Empress’s face, who was cultivating Buddhism, become comfortable.

At that, the yellow light that had become dark gradually became lighter.

Of course, it did not disappear completely.

“Of course, since the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero says so…”

Although all her doubts had not been resolved, if it was as Cheon Mubaeck had said, the chaotic situation was roughly sorted out.

And above all, the Sword Empress had no choice but to believe Cheon Mubaeck.

‘The descendant of that man.’

He was a descendant of the Azure Sky Sword God.

The Sword Empress, without realizing it, smiled.

“That person also fought with demons his whole life, and his descendants have also inherited his will.”

A warm gaze landed on Cheon Mubaeck.

But Cheon Mubaeck could not just accept those words as they were.

‘Descendants?’

It was plural, not singular.

“The Sword Saint, that child also visited the Zhoushan Archipelago a while ago.”

“…!”

“He told me that the Poison Demon’s tracks were heading this way from the Southern Barbarians, and then he went to the North Sea.”

At the unexpected whereabouts of the Sword Saint, Cheon Mubaeck’s eyes widened.

“A while ago, you say?”

“It seems to have been about three years.”

If it was three years, it roughly coincided with the time when the Blood Demon Valley had stolen the Buddhist scriptures of Shaolin and had released the Bidara into the world.

It seemed certain that the Poison Demon had played a pivotal role in the creation of the Bidara.

‘That’s a relief. For the time being, those guys won’t be able to use the Bidara properly.’

Because the central figure, the Poison Demon, was dead. But what was imprinted in Cheon Mubaeck’s mind more than that was the Sword Saint’s whereabouts.

‘Is he tracking the demons one by one in the outer world?’

The North Sea… It was a truly far place, and a place he could not go to now.

But he was not worried at all.

Cheon Mubaeck was a person who was better at self-objectification than anyone else.

He had taken three of the Five Sacred Objects, and had also obtained the revolutionary power of the immortal eye.

Not only that. He had reached an unprecedented realm where he could use both the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art and the ice arts at the same time by utilizing all three dantians.

He had regained his past enlightenment, and had put the mystery of the sword he had learned into the Heaven-Concealing Sword Art.

So Cheon Mubaeck had cut down the Poison Demon.

‘I’m getting stronger faster than in my previous life, and I’m heading down a new path.’

To the extent that Cheon Mubaeck, who was so critical of himself that he was ruthless, would think so, Cheon Mubaeck was strong now.

The fact that he had cut down the Poison Demon was proof of that.

But even for such a Cheon Mubaeck…

‘If it’s the child I know, well. He might have reached the realm of my previous life.’

Because he had that much talent, and that much skill.

So he was not worried. Rather, at the thought that his disciple was on his side with the same intention and was beating up the demons, he felt a strong sense of reassurance.

Was it because of that? Cheon Mubaeck smiled.

The Sword Empress, who saw that smile, also smiled.

“But the Iron God Ancient Sword is with you, Young Master.”

“Ah… unfortunately, its condition is not good.”

Cheon Mubaeck looked at the Iron God Ancient Sword with a bitter face.

The splendidly decorated sword that Cheon Yuhwa had given him had unfortunately broken while blocking the Poison Demon’s attack.

Now, at his waist, there was only the broken Iron God Ancient Sword.

“Even so, it was the Sword God’s beloved sword. Wouldn’t there be a sufficient reason why the Sword God passed it on to you, and not to the Sword Saint, that child?”

Somehow, the flow was strange. Cheon Mubaeck, at the slightly faint red light that appeared beyond the Sword Empress’s benevolent face, let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.

‘That’s right. She’s gotten a little gentler with age, but…’

In her prime, rather than the Sword Empress…

‘The demons had called her a crazy Guanyin Bodhisattva.’

The Sword Empress’s eyes shone.

“Young Master, how about we cross swords as martial artists?”

Cheon Mubaeck grinned.

“This junior requests your guidance.”

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep