Chapter 2566 – 2566. The Ascent To Radiance

“You crazy bastard! To wear the imperial decree on your body! Are you out of your mind! Your actions are an insult to His Majesty the Emperor!”

The Martial Alliance Leader shouted as he fled.

“I’m in the middle of a duel, so I can’t hold the decree properly. That’s why I’m wearing it!”

“Why are you even taking out the decree during a duel?!”

“Shut up! The benevolent Emperor will forgive me! Of course, only me, since I’m friends with the Emperor!”

In truth, I had never met the Emperor, but even the Emperor couldn’t ignore me, Wei Yu.

I continued to chase the fleeing Martial Alliance Leader. I couldn’t recklessly use the Flying Thunder God or the Heavenly Demon’s Descent. The decree could be damaged in the process of using internal energy. The decree was equal to everyone. Even if I was the one holding it, I couldn’t damage it. So, I had to move carefully.

From the Martial Alliance Leader’s perspective, running away was the only option. He couldn’t hit me. But he couldn’t just focus on blocking my attacks either. At my level, even if he blocked, it wouldn’t really be blocking. And the decree was a concern, so he probably didn’t have the confidence to block perfectly.

Kill me and make it look like nothing happened?

Impossible. There were quite a few Martial Alliance warriors here right now. Plus, the fact that I was here had spread by word of mouth to the surrounding areas and the martial world. The situation had become too big to kill me and make it look like nothing happened. Absolutely impossible.

In the end, the Martial Alliance Leader had no choice but to run away, unable to do anything else.

This childish game of tag continued for hours.

“To be the Martial Alliance Leader and only run away… Aren’t you ashamed?”

“You’re one to talk, using the decree as a shield!”

“Come and fight. And be defeated.”

“There’s no way I’ll be defeated.”

The difference in cultivation levels was evident here. The Martial Alliance Leader was older than me, but he had a higher cultivation level. Moreover, he was a martial artist who had trained for hundreds of years. In terms of pure physical ability, the Martial Alliance Leader was higher than me. That was why I couldn’t catch him.

“…So that’s how you want to play it.”

I took out the Fiery Lotus Flying Daggers. And I approached the Martial Alliance warriors, swinging them around. The Martial Alliance warriors were horrified and retreated.

“You! Little Heavenly Demon! What are you doing?!”

The startled Martial Alliance Leader yelled.

“Since you won’t fight me, I’ll have to fight these other scrubs. If even they run away… I’ll find the city’s residents and attack them next.”

“…You’re definitely a demon’s seed. You’re utterly wicked…!”

The Martial Alliance Leader shut his mouth tightly.

If he were an ordinary expert, he would have ignored me. But he was the Martial Alliance Leader. In the end, he sighed and approached me.

“…I’ve lost. The duel is your victory. So, let’s stop now. As promised, the Martial Alliance will not harm you.”

“The duel isn’t over.”

I reversed the summoning of the Fiery Lotus Flying Daggers and approached the Martial Alliance Leader, throwing a punch.

A punch without internal energy. The Martial Alliance Leader also blocked my punch with a palm without internal energy.

No matter how many times I threw a punch, it was the same. He blocked it so easily it was almost anticlimactic.

“Your punches lack subtlety. It seems you haven’t trained your fists much?”

“Hearing you say that makes me angry for some reason.”

I used internal energy just enough so that the decree wouldn’t tear. *Crack*. Blue lightning, unmixed with demonic energy, flashed from my fist.

Since the Martial Alliance Leader didn’t seem like he was going to dodge anyway, I threw a punch with all the power I could muster.

The Martial Alliance Leader moved his palm exquisitely.

The Transformation of Strength. As a master of Tai Chi, he naturally predicted that he would deflect my attack.

I tried to use that power in reverse, but… before I knew it, my fist was caught in his palm and wouldn’t move. The power and lightning in my fist passed through his body and disappeared somewhere.

I had clearly hit someone, but it felt strangely like I had hit thin air.

“Will you continue?”

“…That’s enough. Let’s stop here. I won the duel, so keep your promise.”

I turned around. I carefully organized the decree I had been wearing and put it in my inventory. The Fiery Dragon Sect had fallen, so I headed to the brothel.

• • •

The Martial Alliance Leader, Gong Baek-Soong, stood with his hands behind his back, watching the departing back of the Little Heavenly Demon, Seong Yu-Jin. There were Martial Alliance warriors around, but none of them dared to attack him. They also roughly knew how the situation was unfolding.

“Alliance Leader…!”

The Plum Blossom Faction Elder, Mae Hwa-Pa-Rang, approached him with a face full of humiliation.

“Are you going to let the Little Heavenly Demon go like this? Tae-Heo Jin-In died at his hands.”

“I am saddened by the death of Tae-Heo Jin-In. But I have to think about the Martial Alliance, the Eight Great Sects. I cannot sacrifice the Martial Alliance just to kill one Little Heavenly Demon.”

“Is it because of the Emperor’s decree?”

“I believe you know the fear of the Emperor without me having to say it. By the way, for Tae-Heo Jin-In to summon me with sorcery. How did that happen? Tell me the details.”

Mae Hwa-Pa-Rang told him what had happened. The Martial Alliance Leader sighed quietly.

“…I don’t know what Tae-Heo Jin-In saw in the Little Heavenly Demon… but he is indeed a dangerous person.”

“Then we should kill him even more, shouldn’t we? For the sake of the future. We cannot let Tae-Heo Jin-In’s sacrifice be in vain.”

“Did you not see the decree? Looking at the contents of the decree, he was invited to the banquet commemorating the thousandth anniversary of the Empire’s founding. That means he is the Emperor’s guest. If we kill him, the Emperor will destroy the Martial Alliance, the Eight Great Sects.”

“……”

“The current world belongs to the Emperor. The Martial Alliance, the Demonic Cult, the Four Kings Alliance, the Black Dragon Castle and the Blood Fiend Castle, and even the forces outside the world, including the Northern Sea Ice Palace. They are all watching the Emperor’s every move. We do not have the power to oppose the Emperor.”

“…But if we let this go, will the other elders and warriors of the Martial Alliance understand? Especially since we are currently at war with the Demonic Cult.”

“The war is currently in a lull.”

“What?”

“A command was issued by the Emperor a while ago. To stop the war with the Demonic Cult. It seems a command was also issued to the Demonic Cult, as they have not attacked us. That was also why I didn’t kill the Little Heavenly Demon. If it weren’t for that, I would have killed him the moment I saw him.”

Mae Hwa-Pa-Rang’s face contorted.

“What does the Emperor think of the martial world… In the days before the Emperor, it was said that the government and martial world were not to interfere with each other.”

“Don’t say such things. Hasn’t humanity developed because of the Emperor? Hasn’t humanity prospered and the monsters declined because of the Emperor?”

“……That is true.”

The reason why the current era was relatively peaceful was because of the Emperor. In the days before the Emperor, the righteous and evil factions fought at every opportunity, and monsters were rampant, devouring humans indiscriminately. But when the Emperor established the Empire and set the world right, the monsters declined and humans prospered.

“We need to know the Emperor’s intentions.”

“Do you mean you will meet the Emperor? But…”

Even the Martial Alliance Leader could not meet the Emperor as he wished. Even if he requested an audience, it would take at least five years. The formal procedure would take too long.

“Isn’t there a banquet hosted by the Emperor himself in two years?”

“Have you received an invitation?”

“Haha. The Emperor hasn’t said anything.”

“Then how… Don’t tell me you’re thinking of using the Little Heavenly Demon?”

“That’s right. Since he has an invitation directly from the Emperor, if we move together, we might be able to meet the Emperor and have a private audience. Also, I will personally monitor the Little Heavenly Demon to make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish.”

“That won’t do. Who will handle the Martial Alliance’s affairs?”

“The elders are not meant to just sit around and do nothing.”

The Martial Alliance Leader’s eyes were firm. Mae Hwa-Pa-Rang shut his mouth. He had been with the current Alliance Leader for decades. When the Alliance Leader had that look in his eyes, no one could stop him.

• • •

“I want to join you.”

The Martial Alliance Leader, the Supreme Heavenly Lord, Gong Baek-Soong, came to visit in the middle of the day and spouted nonsense.

I seriously considered taking out the Gay Slayer. The reason I didn’t was because the Martial Alliance Leader explained the whole situation.

“So, you want to join the banquet as part of my group and meet the Emperor?”

“That’s right. And I also have the purpose of monitoring you to make sure you don’t do anything strange in the Martial Alliance’s territory.”

“No. Putting aside the fact that you’ll be monitoring me, there’s no reason for me to move with the Martial Alliance Leader.”

“Do you know about the Tai Chi Mixed Pill? The Wudang Sect creates three Tai Chi Divine Pills every ten years. The method is so mysterious that it’s like shedding three layers of skin and refining only the pure essence that remains to create the Tai Chi Divine Pill. The Tai Chi Mixed Pill is a pill made by collecting the remaining skins.”

The Martial Alliance Leader took out a small box in one hand and opened it. It was a spirit pill with black and white colors mixed in places. It had a unique fragrant smell of spiritual energy.

“The Demonic Cult has something called the Tai Chi Demonic Pill. It’s said to be a spirit pill that imitates the Tai Chi Divine Pill… but it hasn’t even managed to imitate half of the Tai Chi Mixed Pill, let alone the Tai Chi Divine Pill.”

“The Tai Chi Divine Pill and the Tai Chi Mixed Pill are made with the Wudang Sect’s Sect Leader directly participating in the pill refinement. This is because the power of Tai Chi is needed in the manufacturing process. How about it? Will you accept me as part of your group?”

Honestly, it was a bit tempting.

The Tai Chi Mixed Pill. If I took that now, I could raise my cultivation level by one stage. I could feel it.

But the fact that I had to act with this old man was annoying.

‘Even if it’s hard to find a spirit pill of the Tai Chi Mixed Pill’s level… it’s not like I can’t find one at all.’

“I refuse. Do you think I’d be tempted by a mere pill like that? I am the Little Heavenly Demon, Seong Yu-Jin, of the Demonic Cult. I can get spirit pills of this level anytime.”

“Hmm. You haven’t only mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, have you? In my opinion, it seems you’ve also mastered martial arts of the righteous faction. It’s not impossible to master both righteous and demonic arts. It’s just difficult to achieve great success in both at the same time. The Tai Chi Mixed Pill will be of great help in balancing your martial arts.”

“I’ll take care of the balance myself.”

“…The banquet is about two years away. I will teach you how to use your fists.”

I looked at him with surprised eyes.

The Supreme Heavenly Lord, Gong Baek-Soong. He was one of the top fist masters in the world. There was a Fist King in the Four Kings Alliance, but he was a lower level compared to the Supreme Heavenly Lord.

“You’re going to be my teacher?”

“I have no intention of being your teacher. I’m just saying we should train together.”

“Fine. I accept. Give me the Tai Chi Mixed Pill first.”

He handed me the Tai Chi Mixed Pill.

“You’re straightforward. But aren’t you worried? I think the Heavenly Demon will be quite furious if he finds out about this.”

“Ah. The current Heavenly Demon? He’s just an old man who’s suffering from a qi deviation. He’ll die soon and pass the Heavenly Demon position to me.”

“What, the Heavenly Demon is suffering from a qi deviation?!”

Come to think of it, this was a secret that only a very small number of people in the Demonic Cult knew. I rolled my eyes for a moment and said.

“……If you give me one more Tai Chi Mixed Pill as information value, would that be okay?”

“Heh, haha…”

The Martial Alliance Leader only laughed and didn’t pay the information value.