Chapter 391: The Greatest Sword Under Heaven (2)
Regardless of whether the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Blood Demon Castle had interfered in my past life, that wasn’t what truly mattered.
What mattered now was that they were trying to kill me and harm the Heavenly Central Sect.
‘I’ll kill every last one of those who threaten me and my clan, no matter what!’
As I stirred up my killing intent and fell into thought, Mo Biyoung looked at me with concern for a moment.
But she didn’t say anything. She understood how I must be feeling.
Then, suddenly, I clapped my hands.
Clap!
“That’s it! That could work!”
Grinning widely, as if struck by a brilliant idea, I laughed in triumph.
Mo Biyoung looked at me with eager eyes, waiting for me to explain.
“What is it? Why are you so happy? Tell me too.”
When I conveyed it to her through telepathy, she nodded repeatedly as she listened.
“That really is a clever plan. But… will it actually work?”
“I’ll make it work. There’s a lot to prepare first.”
“I’ll help.”
From that moment, I got to work without wasting a second.
First, I wrote a message and fed it to the Azure Messenger Rat.
If the Demonic Master followed through with the strategy I sent, then the plan would already be halfway to success.
“Yeong Mae, I need to find the nearest cave around here. I’ll be back as soon as I find one. Wait for me.”
“Got it.”
Without delay, I launched myself toward the nearby mountain.
I spent about half a sijin combing the area and eventually discovered the perfect cave.
The cave twisted like a maze and grew narrower the deeper it went. It was the ideal place for the plan.
‘This place will do just fine.’
Jo Wonmuk slowly opened his eyes.
Even regaining consciousness had taken some time.
That alone told him just how potent the poison in his system was.
He had long since reached the Divine Stage, capable of executing the Sword Unification technique, and most poisons no longer worked on someone of his level.
But the poison that had afflicted him was no ordinary one.
It wasn’t that the poison had some devastating toxicity.
In fact, it was weaker than the venom of a common viper.
And yet, it had completely immobilized him.
Even Yu Maelim had found that odd.
‘He’s someone who should be well beyond the point of being affected by poison…’
While she had handled poisons from the Poison Clan before, the toxin in question was one she could easily neutralize with effort.
‘No, even if it wasn’t me—anyone even moderately versed in poison arts could treat it. It’s a type of parasitic poison made from ground-up blood leeches. So why would it…’
She simply couldn’t understand how a man like Jo Wonmuk could be incapacitated by such a poison.
Moreover, something Jo Wonmuk had said earlier made even less sense.
‘I wasn’t brought down by that parasitic poison. I was hit with a different one before that… and that’s what did this to me.’
Yet he never said a word about what that poison actually was.
He only mentioned that he’d be able to detoxify it once he met Yong Hwarin.
That had left Yu Maelim feeling somewhat hurt.
She had exhausted herself running around to save him and fighting off the warriors from the Poison Valley, and yet he hadn’t shared the full truth with her.
Still, she wasn’t naïve enough to show that on her face.
“Are you alright?”
She asked with worry, her face filled with concern. Jo Wonmuk gave a faint chuckle.
“This stubborn old life of mine won’t end that easily. Don’t worry.”
Yu Maelim looked genuinely relieved.
Watching this, the Demonic Master realized just how deeply Yu Maelim cared for Jo Wonmuk.
“I passed out after fleeing from the Poison Valley warriors at the Guan Yu Shrine. What about you?”
When she explained what had happened while he was unconscious, Jo Wonmuk looked over at the Demonic Master.
“I owe you my life, Master.”
“No need.”
Even without any detectable internal energy, Jo Wonmuk could sense the Demonic Master’s presence.
“But… are you with the Demonic Path?”
“That’s right.”
Yu Maelim quickly answered before Jo Wonmuk could react to the word demonic, worried that he might try to attack.
“He’s one of Yong Hwarin’s companions. He’ll lead us to him.”
Jo Wonmuk nodded slowly as he continued to observe the Demonic Master.
It was because he sensed a familiar energy—something akin to what he had once felt from Yong Hwarin.
That made sense. The Demonic Master had passed all of his Three Gaps-stage internal energy to Yong Hwarin, so it was inevitable that a trace of that same energy remained.
And since the energy he gave was Yama True Qi, it was only natural that Jo Wonmuk sensed a similar aura from the Demonic Master.
In the vast world of murim, where countless cultivation methods existed, unless two people belonged to the same sect or school, their energies would never align so closely.
Jo Wonmuk seemed convinced that the Demonic Master was from the same sect as Yong Hwarin.
Meanwhile, Yu Maelim began gathering the herbs she needed from the medicine room.
It was all in order to go to Yong Hwarin as soon as Jo Wonmuk recovered.
“You told me before that you’d been poisoned by something else. What was it? Tell me. Maybe I can neutralize it.”
Jo Wonmuk shook his head.
“Im-ah, this isn’t something I can speak of so lightly.”
“Is it one of the Three Absolute Poisons or something?”
Yu Maelim regarded Jo Wonmuk as dearly as her own master, one of the people she respected the most. No matter what, she wanted to cure his poison.
That’s why she pressed him like a child, almost pouting.
“It’s not the Three Absolute Poisons. It may very well be something that surpasses them.”
“What do you mean…?”
In the end, Yu Maelim sighed, seeing that Jo Wonmuk still wouldn’t explain.
Smiling, Jo Wonmuk looked at her and said,
“Anyone else would’ve died long ago, but I’ve got a sturdy constitution. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Oh my… you’re angry, aren’t you, Im-ah?”
The Demonic Master chuckled to himself as he watched Yu Maelim pout and sulk.
Even in his past life, the Demonic Master had never seen the Three Swords Beyond the Heavens.
Their movements were shrouded in mystery, and they had never once crossed paths.
All he’d heard were rumors that they lived in seclusion deep in some remote mountains.
So seeing a master of that caliber completely flustered by a young girl was rather amusing.
At that moment, Jo Wonmuk’s eyes gleamed.
“We have guests. They’re carrying killing intent!”
At his words, the Demonic Master extended his qi sense—he caught the presence of several figures.
‘The Great Young Master, First Elder Han Domeong, and even the Twelve Masters of the Absolute Peak Swords.’
The Demonic Master rose to his feet.
“I’ll step outside for a moment.”
At that, Jo Wonmuk spoke to Yu Maelim.
“Im-ah, bring me my sword.”
Without a word, Yu Maelim fetched Jo Wonmuk’s sword.
The Demonic Master spoke to him.
“Please wait a moment. There will be no need to fight.”
“Is that so?”
Jo Wonmuk looked at him with questioning eyes but didn’t press him further.
The Demonic Master was quietly impressed at how Jo Wonmuk showed no signs of fear despite the circumstances.
‘Not even slightly daunted. He must have absolute confidence in defeating anyone who comes his way.’
Although they stood on different sides, the Demonic Master offered Jo Wonmuk a respectful clasped-hands greeting and stepped outside.
Watching him go, Yu Maelim spoke.
“Master, wouldn’t it be better if we left this place?”
“Wouldn’t make much difference. If they’re the ones chasing us, they’ll track us no matter where we go. It’s better to fight them here. I’ve recovered enough strength, so don’t worry. A hundred of their kind wouldn’t be enough to match me.”
Yu Maelim felt reassured hearing that.
The Demonic Master stepped outside and welcomed the approaching Great Young Master near the medicine room.
“You’ve arrived.”
“Did you know that the one Elder Dong carried back is the Greatest Sword Under Heaven?”
The Demonic Master replied nonchalantly.
“How could I have known? Even Elder Dong didn’t realize it—how would I?”
“But you were with Yu Maelim, so it’s possible you might have known.”
“As you can see, they were wary of outsiders and didn’t say much. All they mentioned was that they were acquainted through their sect. I only learned the full story here.”
Ok Girin pressed on.
“Then why didn’t you assassinate him? You were close enough—could’ve killed him easily.”
The Demonic Master smiled faintly.
“I did consider it at first, while overhearing their conversation. But then I thought—why not aim for two birds with one stone? So I decided to wait and observe.”
“Two birds with one stone? What do you mean?”
The Demonic Master inwardly smirked, realizing Ok Girin had taken the bait.
“They’re currently searching for Yong Hwarin. And they know where he is.”
“Really? Yong Hwarin is nearby?”
“Not just nearby. He’s staying in Yeo-nam.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Tch! To think our enemy was right in front of us, and we didn’t even notice!”
As the situation grew more complex, Yang Gwak glanced over at Eum Sajeok.
The Demonic Master noticed the look and subtly signaled that all was fine.
Yang Gwak, interpreting the signal as a sign that Eum Sajeok had a plan, remained silent.
“Capturing the Greatest Sword Under Heaven now would be as easy as flipping a hand. But the real issue is Yong Hwarin. Capturing him will require more preparation.”
Ok Girin nodded in agreement.
“He’s one we must be careful with.”
“That’s why I’ve been pretending to be part of Yong Hwarin’s group. Once they go to meet him, I’ll ambush them. That’s the most effective plan.”
Convincing Ok Girin like this was the best plan the Demonic Master had for now.
Otherwise, Ok Girin might launch an immediate attack on the Greatest Sword Under Heaven and Yu Maelim. So he had to invoke Yong Hwarin’s name to stall.
Ok Girin, thinking it over, began to agree that Eum Sajeok’s logic was sound.
Killing the two now wouldn’t be hard. But if they could capture Yong Hwarin as well, it would be even better.
He didn’t want to let go of this opportunity.
“Now that I think about it, you’re right.”
In truth, the First Elder Han Domeong, who had been silently listening nearby, had sent him a telepathic suggestion that swayed him.
In the past, the top enemy of the Heavenly Demon Cult had been the Greatest Sword Under Heaven—but now, Yong Hwarin was their greatest concern.
‘If I capture Yong Hwarin, just like the First Elder said, there’ll be no obstacle to me becoming the heir. Besides, the successors of the Three Demonic Heavens were all defeated by that bastard, damaging the prestige of the Demonic Path. If I restore our honor, the position of heir is as good as mine.’
Even before leaving, his father had told him: achieve just one solid merit, and he would be declared the next heir.
As long as he captured Yong Hwarin, his father would undoubtedly name him the successor to the Heavenly Demon Cult.
After all, he would have accomplished something no one in the Demonic Path had.
That was why he decided to follow Eum Sajeok’s plan.
