The next morning–
Seol-Hwi was meditating in the woods under the mountain at the usual place.
I have surely climbed to Peak Demon.
Even so he couldn’t feel any special changes in the martial arts he used. Perhaps as Ma Taryong said, maybe it was because he didn’t move to Peak Demon as a demonic attribute user.
It wasn’t the path he expected, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t grow in terms of power either.
Unified Elimination Demonic Martial Arts.
With that he acquired a strange ability to see through the swordsmanship of Ma Taryong.
Even my body feels different from before.
Overall, his physical abilities have improved and the level of flexibility and firmness in his muscles have changed. In addition to that, his field of vision had a marked difference along with a noticeably dramatic improvement in his reflexes.
It literally went one step further.
I need to find a way…
And now it felt like a pity that he couldn’t summon the AI for combat methods.
What Seol-Hwi needed now was information.
He desperately needed to find someone who could tell him what will happen in the future and what can be done.
“I greet the captain.”
“Hm.”
As he was thinking that, a familiar voice came.
“It’s been a while, Songhwa.”
Seol-Hwi turned to greet and the kid looked a bit flustered.
“Have you been well?”
During his training period he had completely forgotten about this kid.
As he felt too engrossed in leveling up, he didn’t pay attention to how Songhwa was training or if he had trouble adjusting.
“Yes, I have been well. So you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Then why does your face look like that?” Songhwa smiled and shook his head.
“Come on sit. Let’s talk.”
Seol-Hwi guided him to the rock by his side, and Songhwa sat there with a smile on his face.
And before he could ask, Songhwa spoke.
“I am currently learning a new technique. I am learning about the main points in the body, of which there are two. One is the common type of spells we use while the other is the study of dealing with the harmony between the land, the heavens, and the humans.”
“Oh? That sounds very interesting.”
A form of divination or a technique which is performed under the disguise of a random spell to know the future, but has a higher rate of success.
It was said to be a step over fortune telling.
“The harmony between the heavens, the earth, and man…”
In the terms of martial arts, one side is for the martial arts and the other side is about internal energy.
Like fundamentals when it comes to learning anything.
Seol-Hwi didn’t know exactly what it was, but he nodded. Because he was just proud of the child for finding his own way.
“But, Captain, I heard that you almost ran into trouble last night.”
“Uh? Ah, yes.”
Seol-Hwi was a little shocked at how he came to know it.
“I am no martial artist so it is hard to come to a conclusion on anything, but… perhaps it is because there is no harmony between your energy.”
“Harmony between my energy? What do you mean by that?”
“Be it a warrior or a Fanghsi like us, it is the qi of nature which we deal with. Among them, the warriors usually call it borrowing. It is the method of taking away the energy in nature and accumulating it within the body and pushing it out when needed.”
Songhwa seemed to know it pretty well, and he spoke with a serious face which didn’t suit a child his age.
“Demonic arts are the gathering of the strongest and most ferocious energy from the heavens and the land. On the other hand, the righteous energy is of a pure and clean form. But since our captain here is dealing with different kinds of energies together, it is natural that there are differences.”
“Huh.”
Seol-Hwi was shocked at how accurately the kid knew of his situation.
He wondered if all the Fanghsi had this skill to reason this wonderfully.
“Then how is it dealt with?”
“You need to line up the energy.”
“Line up the energy?”
Songhwa got up from his seat and looked up.
“When the energies are polar opposites, they begin to divide themselves, and what I mean is that flame qi and ice qi which lead this diversion, and it is to merge them into a single one. In theory it is said that this happens when one practices the dantian building for a thousand recreations of the world.”
“Thousand…”
“Yes. Like to perform it with the infinite amount of qi in the world. To do that, we have to first make it possible for the body to naturally accept the qi of the heavens and the land.”
“Hmm.”
Accepting the energy.
Basically this is cultivation. And consistency is the solution to the problem.
“Thanks. It was a big help.”
“It was nothing. Then I will…”
After saying that, Songhwa slowly left the area, his face was red as if he was a bit embarrassed at the new experience of teaching something to others.
“I did a good job in bringing him.”
Thanks to this, Seol-Hwi felt relieved.
If he kept working on this, the dantian and the meridians in his body, one day he might be able to do it. And he was happy that he at least had something to work on.
“Thousand recreations… then a thousand times?”
But–
He still didn’t understand the technical things Songhwa spoke of.
“This is the order of the Earth Demon.”
That evening, the mission came.
The hours to get the plan finalized was from 5 to 7pm. It was an order to be executed not around midnight which was the optimal time for a surprise attack but in the evening when people walk around.
Because this was to show off.
Seol-Hwi understood the intention behind this.
Even if this wouldn’t shock people, it was to let them know that they could win. And when he came out of his room, the others were waiting.
“Weapons?”
“All taken care of.”
“The other things?”
“All done.”
After simply checking the usual procedure, Seol-Hwi looked at Ma Taryong and said,
“We don’t have to move together.”
“Right, then.”
Ma Taryong gave a short nod and set off. He was already given a separate order to deal with another pavilion.
Seol-Hwi slowly glanced at his team and said,
“The Supreme Pavilion is not far from here, we still need to move quickly so we don’t fall behind the time limit.”
The subordinates placed their hands on their left chest and bowed. They were all tense due to the mission starting.
The boundaries of the Wu-Tian Pavilion weren’t strict.
That would be the case, in a way, it was a place that was no different from another prominent place in the sect. It was because this is the place the warriors who enter the sect need to first pass through.
It was a place which many people moved in and out of, a place everyone looked at.
And there was a boundary for it, but it wasn’t the kind to defend against the raids of enemies.
To defend against warriors would put greater meaning behind the pavilion.
Like Seol-Hwi in the past, warriors without official groups belonged to the Supreme Pavilion.
The people in this pavilion too will be of that kind, ones who are constantly in the fear of titled groups and men yelling or bullying them.
It wasn’t difficult to infiltrate the Supreme Pavilion as Seol-Hwi too had been through it before.
“Move lightly.”
He told his men when entering the pavilion.
There was no need to go in constantly spilling blood since the level of the guards wasn’t great.
Shhh!
Jeok Song, Yong Jin, and Seo Ryeong moved.
The warriors around were already off guard because of Imugi.
Tak
After waiting by properly hiding, Seol-Hwi headed to the office of the lord.
“Uh, captain? Aren’t we supposed to head to the other side?”
Yorim asked.
Until now, the invasion operation was supposed to happen at the residence of Seol-Hwi. But when they moved, Seol-Hwi headed for the office and not the place they planned for the fight to take place.
“We aren’t good enough to subdue them with a surprise attack. So…”
Seol-Hwi looked at him calmly and said,
“There is something I need to witness for myself.”
“I understand.”
Yorim nodded his head.
It was not the first time that Seol-Hwi moved against the plan, and looking back, every time Seol-Hwi did that, it was the right decision.
So they chose to believe in it again this time.
“I will use the acceleration method.”
Songhwa, who was also with them, said that and immediately unleashed the spell, making everyone’s bodies feel lighter.
“Hmm…”
Sama Gwi, the Supreme Pavilion Lord, was looking at the documents in his office.
Most of them were related to the small and medium groups–in which the troops recruited from his pavilion went around committing arson.
And the number of victims suppressed was written in detail.
“The damage… is quite high.”
“Yes. I guess there is a lot of anger with us touching a few well known sects this time,”
One of his escorts bowed and said.
“Still, this is not it. Is this not different from what was promised! Killing 50 of our men!”
Sama Gwi was annoyed.
Swords don’t have eyes, and a fight could always be different from expected. But still, the victims seemed too numerous this time.
“Didn’t Mount Hua also take a direct hit this time? We think they overdid it.”
He released his men into the central plains for Mount Hua to take the lead. Not only did they kill people on the street, but they also raided the small to medium sects.
And Mount Hua will chase them away and kill them. The Demonic Sect instills fear and Mount Hua gets fame in return.
It was a relationship of secret mutual benefit.
“Damn it. If it wasn’t for the Fourth Disciple…”
The Supreme Pavilion Lord thought.
It was a relationship where they took care of each other through fighting. And he knew that there would be many who the sect wouldn’t even know were missing.
But the damage was a lot more than expected.
“When will the troops be selected?”
“That… there is no specific number.”
“Why?”
“Because the general troops aren’t active…”
“Ha.”
The Supreme Pavilion Lord frowned.
This had reduced the number of troops overall, so it was natural that the main sect had to reduce the number further.
But somehow this was delayed.
Perhaps, because of the strife in the sect, the checks between the disciples had increased.
“Nothing can be done. The number of people sent to Kangho this time should be 30. And we have no more members to spare.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Sama Gwi concluded the checks and wanted them to leave.
“But, Lord, do you remember what was said by the First Disciple?”
“The Earth Demon might use his cards so he told us to be careful?”
“Yes.”
At that, he smiled.
“There is nothing to worry about. A coward who until now endured only pain despite having the most heavenly body attempts to intimidate us? I can assure everyone that none of his minions can touch me.”
“Then I am glad.”
The man bowed his head and walked out.
Tuk.
As soon as the door closed, Sama Gwi was looking at the papers again. And he clicked his tongue at the current situation.
“With this, will we be able to hold hands and continue…? I don’t know.”
The Mount Hua Sect and the First Disciple have been in a mutually beneficial relationship.
But that was a secret. It was always something which happened under the shadows.
This time the Fourth Disciple brought it all to light.
It was spoken in public.
Even if the First Disciple does have power, doing this after being publicly called out would be too much.
With rumors constantly spreading around now, this would only create backlash if anything close to what was accused was discovered.
“My head hurts. We should have taken a separate deal with Mount Hua…”
And Mount Hua is quite indignant. They had an unexpected attitude now that three of their elders got killed.
It was the Fourth Disciple’s men who had killed them, but for Mount Hua, they claimed it was people under the First Disciple.
And about 20% of their forces took damage and were now close to abandoning their branch.
Mount Hua demanded money from them, and this made the situation more complicated.
“Uh?”
Rubbing his tired eyes he felt lost, but he then turned to the door when he felt the presence of someone as they came in.
“You are still eating well, I see.”
“…!”
The Supreme Pavilion Lord doubted his eyes.
He had blinked several times to confirm he was seeing the right person.
“Why? Am I somewhere I should not be?”
“…”
This one. That ignorant one.
It was only now that he realized who this person was, it was Seol-Hwi.
“Hahaha.”
And he laughed.
Why the hell did he come here?
“To see all sorts of things as time passes. I have been looking for you all this time, and you hid so well that I couldn’t find you, but now you come here?”
“Did you think I didn’t know that?”
Seol-Hwi looked around.
“There was something I wanted to say. Why the Four Gentleman?”
“…?”
“You know that painting which shows the true spirit of chivalry? Can I ask why such dirty fucking trash like you has it?”
“…”
The lord didn’t answer as he just looked at Seol-Hwi.
“Don’t you know it is polite to answer when someone asks a question?”
Kuak
A short chuckle–
The kind when people usually turn angry at the absurd situation.
The man who leaned back leisurely said,
“Do not kill.”
Sh!
The words he was afraid of fell.
His escort, Heuk Bi aimed for Seol-Hwi like a shadow.
Chang!
“…!”
But that was all.
Seol-Hwi very cleanly cut the sword of hers who aimed at him from above.
And–
Bang!
One kick at her and she was thrown out the door.
She broke past the wall and fell to the ground groaning in pain.
“I will ask again.”
Seol-Hwi continued with an expressionless face.
“Why are you holding on to that? You, the Supreme Pavilion Lord, with fucking trash over your head.”
“…”
And this time, the Supreme Pavilion Lord’s face turned red.