Chapter 360: Upheaval (3)
"This isn't a bad result, all things considered."
The new Leader of the Evil Refining Sect let out a satisfied smile after the successful negotiations with the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, urging his horse forward.
Although the Yuan Dynasty had fallen, the bloodline of the imperial family still continued on.
"A hundred thousand. That should be more than enough to drench the northern Central Plains in blood."
The hidden strength of the Yuan remnants was formidable in its own right.
Even though over a hundred years had passed since their fall, they still possessed the capacity to strike into the Central Plains in one swift move.
"Will you be alright, Sect Leader?"
One of the Leader’s trusted aides asked, clearly worried.
"That so-called ‘Sir’ fellow seems rather suspicious. Instead of assisting your leadership and moving things forward, he keeps digging around in strange places…"
"Silence."
Thud!
With a single blow from the Evil Refining Sect Leader, the aide was thrown back.
"Have you already forgotten that it was thanks to that man’s help we were able to absorb a portion of the energy stored in the sacred relic?"
"I-I apologize…"
The aide bowed his head to the Sect Leader's violent outburst.
"Heh, heh heh… If I can fully absorb the aura of the Great Evil Spirit… then ruling the western Central Plains will be nothing. I’ll become peerless under heaven."
The Evil Refining Sect Leader grinned dreamily, lost in his ambitions.
The Holy Grail of the Evil Refining Sect—accumulated for over a thousand years.
Of course, past Sect Leaders had attempted to draw upon its power as well.
But every single one of them met a terrible end.
"I don't care what that man is scheming here. As long as he helps me absorb the energy of the sacred relic properly…"
He spoke as if offering the entire Evil Refining Sect would not be too much.
"……"
But no one dared oppose the current Sect Leader.
Because the monsters that ‘Sir’ had brought along were guarding him without a single gap.
Weren’t the former Sect Leader and his faction also utterly destroyed by those very monsters?
"From the start, that ‘Sir’ fellow is someone who can’t be killed. He’s a monster who gave up his own self and fragmented his consciousness…"
"What do you mean by fragmented his consciousness?"
The sudden question made the Evil Refining Sect Leader answer absentmindedly.
"That is, through some technique, he split his own mind… Who’s there?"
The Sect Leader and all his subordinates turned their gazes in unison.
There stood a young man clad in black robes, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Interesting. So the one I killed wasn’t a child of his, but a fragment?"
"You… Who are you?"
The Sect Leader subtly pulled back on the reins, stepping back slowly.
I let out a quiet chuckle and stared at the wary Sect Leader.
"Quick on the uptake. Still got a bit of that Sect Leader sharpness in you, I see."
The Sect Leader squinted after scanning my appearance.
"Don’t tell me… You’re from the Demonic Cult?"
"The… Demonic Cult!"
The word "Demonic Cult" caused the dozens of Evil Refining Sect members nearby to immediately enter combat stance.
"Incredible. How did the Demonic Cult make it this far?"
"With this, of course."
I showed him the small, jet-black sparrow perched quietly on my finger.
The Sect Leader, and the entire Evil Refining Sect, gasped the moment they laid eyes on the bird.
"T-The Evil Soul Sparrow! How did you—?!"
The Evil Soul Sparrow was a kind of spiritual beast the Evil Refining Sect raised for sending messages.
However, despite its small appearance, it was still a spiritual beast.
Unless one had deeply mastered the sect’s unique internal arts, it was impossible to withstand the sparrow’s toxic aura.
"Incredible. How is the Evil Soul Sparrow following you, when you’re not even one of our cultists?"
Controlling an Evil Soul Sparrow required at least the rank of a Party Leader.
Even falcons soaring through the sky would be ripped apart with ease by that spiritual beast—and yet here it was, docile like a shy bride on her wedding night!
"It followed me just fine without a word. Ah, maybe… this is the reason."
I held out a clean, purified cup to the Evil Refining Sect Leader.
Though it no longer held its usual black hue and was now clean and transparent…
There was no way the Sect Leader wouldn’t recognize a cup engraved with oracle bone script.
"T-The Holy Grail!"
The Sect Leader’s voice quivered.
"T-Those energies inside… What happened to them?!"
Despite his power being at least peak master level, he continued to stammer.
"I devoured it clean. My stomach's been feeling a bit bloated ever since."
"You bastard…! I’ll rip you to pieces!"
His eyes bulged with rage, to the point where the blood vessels in his eyes looked ready to burst.
"I—I worked so hard to attain that energy!"
"Ah, your struggles aren’t really my concern…"
I turned my body and kicked off the ground.
"Shall we change locations?"
"Get him!"
With the Evil Refining Sect Leader’s enraged scream, the sect’s elite rushed at me all at once.
The Evil Refining Sect Leader chased me like a man possessed, as if he were ready to burn everything down.
Well, his life’s ambition had just crumbled—his fury wasn’t exactly surprising.
"You! Stop right there!"
The Sect Leader abandoned his horse and took to the skies using some flight technique, pursuing me.
‘He’s stronger than expected. His martial level is nearly that of the Extreme Demon Realm, isn’t it?’
He seemed only to be in his fifties, yet clearly a martial arts genius.
Of course, with that level of power, it made sense that he had plotted against the previous Sect Leader.
Then, the Evil Refining Sect Leader gave a command to his escorts flying with him.
"Stop protecting me—kill him!"
‘Huh?’
Was it necessary to explicitly tell his guards to stop guarding him?
The moment he said that, the four guards that had been protecting him suddenly accelerated!
‘……!’
I instantly noticed that their legs had transformed—not human, but bestial.
‘Partial transformation—just like Myeong-oh!’
Exactly.
Those guards weren’t from the Evil Refining Sect. They were Awakened Bodies of the Heaven-Defying Society!
"Just as I thought. No need to let any of you live."
If these monsters could transform even in broad daylight, then I had to eliminate them on sight.
And just then—
The moment I resolved to kill them—
Flinch!
As soon as they saw my face, they began to back away from me.
"...What the?"
I stopped running and looked at the ones who had retreated a distance.
One of them suddenly spoke my name.
"Demonic Faction Lord Jin Yeomyung."
"……!"
No way—did they recognize me just from my face?
Even in this era, no matter how accurate a wanted sketch might be, it shouldn’t be that easy to identify someone on sight.
"The one who killed Evil Tiger. Highest priority target to avoid combat with."
"Currently beyond our capacity to confront."
"Cease protection of the Evil Refining Sect Leader. Retreat according to protocol."
The four guards exchanged glances—then suddenly scattered in different directions!
"Y-You bastards! Where do you think you're going?!"
Even I found it absurd, watching them flee without so much as an exchange of blows. The Evil Refining Sect Leader stared at them with stunned eyes as well.
"I can’t just let them get away."
Originally, I was going to stab them in the back as they ran.
But it didn’t seem like a bad idea to test out the new power I’d obtained.
"Yorang."
–You're always so bothersome...
A little wolf pup yawned and popped out from within my robe.
–The only reason this noble one is cooperating with you is because I believe you're the only one who can stop the revival of Heavenly Evil. This wasn’t meant for you to exploit me like this...
"I get it, I get it—just catch those guys, or we’ll lose them."
–Tch!
Clicking her tongue, Yorang unleashed a command forward with her spiritual voice.
–Stop.
Vwoooong!
No matter how fast they were, they couldn't be faster than the speed of sound.
Especially since this wasn’t just a regular sound—it was a word imbued with spiritual power, a Command of Words.
As Yorang's command spread out in all directions, the four fleeing guards froze in place as if their legs had turned to stone.
Creak! Crack!
They mustered all their willpower to resist Yorang's spiritual command, but all it did was twist their leg muscles—the command’s dominance could not be broken.
In the end, the four guards, having abandoned their escape, tried to take their own lives by detonating their own heads—
–I forbid your deaths.
Yorang anticipated even that and rendered them completely powerless.
–The job’s done. Don’t bother me for a while now.
With another yawn, Yorang burrowed back into my robe.
‘As I thought… it worked.’
Yorang held a portion of Heavenly Evil’s power.
And beings like those Awakened Bodies, created using Heavenly Evil’s power, could never escape Yorang’s control.
Of course, if it were someone on the level of the Ten Heavenly Lords, the story would be different…
Thud!
At that moment, the Evil Refining Sect Leader dropped to his knees, voicing his despair.
"H-How... How could the Great Evil Spirit…!"
Ah.
Come to think of it, this guy was the vessel of the Great Evil Spirit, wasn’t he?
"I had planned to lure you all the way to where the Underworld King Unit was hiding, but things turned out better than expected."
I grabbed his hair as he knelt there, lifeless, and smiled.
"We have a lot to talk about, don’t we? Especially regarding that so-called ‘Sir’ of yours."
Even I didn’t expect a spellcaster at nearly Extreme Demon Realm level to lose his will this easily.
‘Then again, maybe it’s because he’s a spellcaster?’
The presence of Yorang must have shocked him deeply, because he surrendered immediately and started answering my questions obediently.
"The Khan of the grasslands promised his army. If the Empire falls into chaos, he said they would also raise a force of a hundred thousand."
A hundred thousand.
"I don’t get it."
Of course, a force of a hundred thousand from the grasslands wouldn’t be as disciplined as the armies of the Yuan Dynasty.
The nomadic tribes driven north had long been scattered and surviving on their own.
Frankly, the tribes settled near Liaodong to the east posed a greater threat.
"Even with a hundred thousand, the imperial forces defending the entire northern front number over five hundred thousand, don’t they? How could they break through that line?"
Then, the Evil Refining Sect Leader dropped a bombshell.
"If the Royal Palace guarding Hebei were to rebel, it would be entirely possible."
"……!"
"If the Royal Palace rebels and surrounds Beijing, the Empire would fall into a pit of chaos. If that gap is exploited well… it could succeed."
I fell silent.
If Beijing were surrounded, forces from across the Empire would be pulled in to suppress the rebellion.
Naturally, this would open gaps in the northern defenses.
"This could end up bringing back the era of the Five Barbarian Tribes."
With the martial world already thrown into disarray, the fall of the Empire would be a fatal blow.
The Evil Refining Sect Leader murmured softly.
"If that happens, this sect will be able to rule the western Central Plains…"
Well, if things truly played out that way, even that ridiculous dream might start to feel realistic.
‘A rebellion by the Royal Palace, huh. That must be one of the contingencies prepared by the Heaven-Defying Society. This is getting messy.’
The only silver lining was that if I could prevent the Royal Palace’s rebellion, I could also stop the Yuan remnants’ movements.
"Alright, that takes care of the political situation. Now we need a deeper talk about that ‘Sir’ of yours."
"You said that ‘Sir’ was someone who couldn’t be killed."
I showed him the box containing the head of that very ‘Sir.’
"Then what’s this head?"
He stared at the head for a while, then let out a quiet sigh.
"That ‘Sir’... is someone who abandoned being human."
"……."
"I don’t mean the ones dispatched as my guards. Rather, he abandoned his flesh and evolved into something higher."
"Something higher?"
The Evil Refining Sect Leader paused to choose his words.
"Hmm… how should I put it? Simply put, he’s a single consciousness that can control dozens, even hundreds of bodies. One of those bodies is the ‘Sir’ you killed."
"...No way."
At that moment, I felt like I understood what the Evil Refining Sect Leader was trying to say.
I’d faced a similar type of enemy in a past life.
‘Collective Consciousness.’