Chapter 85

Chapter 85

It was hot. A searing pain, as though his flesh were being scorched by blazing fire, consumed his body from within.

The man let out a scream filled with agony.

“Guaaaargh!”

Youngho smiled like a demon.

“I told you. Why didn’t you listen to me properly?”

Youngho lowered himself to meet the fallen man at eye level and said,

“For the record, I didn’t kill the Second Young Master. I only shattered his dantian.”

“Y-You vicious bastard!”

“What were you expecting from someone of the Unorthodox Faction?”

It was horrifying enough that the martial arts he had trained in his entire life had vanished, but Hanryeong had become a body that could no longer cultivate martial arts at all.

Though it was information coming only from Youngho’s mouth, the man’s strength had been enough to easily defeat most captains.

And yet he had been struck down without even realizing he was being attacked. No matter how much he wished to deny it, he had no choice but to believe.

“The Second Young Master you served will now have to remain imprisoned in the Underground Prison for the rest of his life. You’d do well to be grateful for Master’s merciful generosity.”

The heads of Hanryeong’s direct guard naturally lowered. Some clenched their fists tightly and bit their lips, while others ground their teeth in fury.

According to their original plan, Youngho would have been killed by Danpung, and Hanryeong’s subordinates would have erased every last trace of Youngho here.

Thinking about it made Youngho scoff involuntarily.

“You should have done a better job gathering information. Haven’t you heard the rumor that I recently subdued the Hao Sect Leader?”

At Youngho’s unbelievable statement, the man whose leg had been severed glared at him with bloodshot eyes and said,

“What are you talking about? No such information ever came in!”

“Master must have concealed it.”

Youngho looked at the man for a moment in thought.

‘Should I just kill them all?’

Most of them seemed excessively loyal to Hanryeong.

‘No. These bastards are still valuable forces of the Unorthodox Alliance. As long as they don’t try to harm me, that’s enough.’

Youngho stared at the man with an indifferent expression before speaking.

“Anyway, go back. Your master is in a state worse than death. Or you can die here instead.”

Shiver—!

His tone was far too calm. That was precisely why it was more terrifying. The aura emanating from him was so uncanny it was hard to believe the being before them was human like themselves.

Though not a trace of killing intent was contained in his words, they were chilling. Even without any visible murderous aura, it was bone-cold.

The man’s body trembled uncontrollably as goosebumps rose from the stump of his severed leg.

Youngho tossed the severed foot toward the man and said,

“I cut it cleanly. If you go to the Medical Hall right now, they might be able to reattach it.”

A strange light flickered in the man’s eyes. No matter how important his master was, his own body was just as important.

“We’re returning.”

“But…!”

“The gap in power is clear. What more can we do here? More importantly, we must learn of the Second Young Master’s condition.”

“…Understood.”

The man and his subordinates said only that before weakly exiting through the gate.

After sensing that they had moved quite a distance away, Youngho spoke.

“Alright, kids. Let’s start expanding.”

“Yes?”

At Youngho’s sudden words, everyone asked back in surprise. Youngho tilted his head.

“Have you never thought that your house is a bit small?”

The Asura Unit members murmured among themselves before Jongpal stepped forward as their representative and said,

“It is definitely small. Compared to the late Fourth Young Lady’s house, it’s as different as heaven and earth.”

“Right. And we’ve got another family member now.”

As Youngho glanced at Muyeon, the others also fixed their gazes on him.

Feeling burdened by the stares, Muyeon made an uncomfortable expression and said,

“Why are you all staring at me like that?”

“Well, your face is very beautiful.”

“What?”

At Youngho’s completely sincere remark, Muyeon looked momentarily incredulous before bursting into loud laughter.

“Hahahaha! You’re the first bastard to ever call me beautiful.”

Youngho nodded.

“That’s only natural. Your exterior’s fine, but your insides are a mess.”

“What did you just say, you bastard?”

“Am I wrong?”

“….”

Muyeon could not bring himself to refute it.

“Anyway, we’re starting the expansion work, so keep that in mind and finish your training.”

Everyone stared at Youngho with exhausted faces.

Muyeon snickered, apparently amused by the others’ expressions.

“Hey, just how harsh did you make their training? Their faces are practically rotting.”

“You’ll be joining them from now on.”

“…What?”

“See that guy over there without a sword, just weights strapped to his body?”

When Youngho pointed at Hyeon-gang, Muyeon followed his finger with his gaze.

“Stand next to him and start with physical conditioning.”

“…I’m an information agent.”

“Do information agents not get cut by blades? Do they not die?”

“Uh…?”

‘That’s not true, is it?’

“Right?”

Though he had spoken only in his mind, Youngho somehow caught on and pushed Muyeon forward by the back.

“Here, you’re training with them too. Strap one weight each to your wrists and ankles.”

“What is this?”

The moment he realized the weight was far heavier than expected, Muyeon tried to circulate his internal energy.

“Hey, this is way too heavy—!”

Youngho tapped his acupoint, sealing his internal energy, and said,

“Where do you think you’re using internal energy? This is physical training. Hurry and go stand next to Hyeon-gang and copy what he’s doing.”

“Isn’t this too heavy on a basic level?”

“You could lift that with chopsticks. Stop whining.”

Youngho pushed Muyeon’s back again.

“Work hard.”

Muyeon let out a sigh at Youngho’s firmness and took his place beside Hyeon-gang.

“So how exactly do you train your body?”

At Muyeon’s question, Hyeon-gang groaned and replied,

“Just do push-ups. That’s the most manageable.”

“You came here recently too? The others have weights attached to their swords and are swinging them.”

“I did come in relatively recently.”

Muyeon tried to raise his Internal Energy, but because of the Restriction that Youngho had placed on him, his Internal Energy would not move at all.

Left with no choice, he began doing push-ups with his Internal Energy sealed and spoke.

“I’m not even a combatant, so why do I have to do this kind of training?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I’m a Physician, and I’m doing this too.”

“What?”

“Yes?”

A subtle silence flowed between the two for a moment. Muyeon looked at Hyeon-gang with an incredulous expression.

“You were a Physician?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“If I may offer one piece of advice, you should understand that there is no such thing as common sense here.”

Having said that, Hyeon-gang pointed somewhere with his chin. Following the direction indicated, Muyeon looked ahead, and his face turned pale white.

“…That guy’s weights aren’t lighter than these, right?”

“They’re much heavier than these. Once, Young Master happened to hand me one of the weights, and I thought my arm was going to be torn off.”

“Ah….”

Muyeon looked at Youngho, who had five weights hanging from his sword as he swung it.

“…He’s insane.”

Even the Wooden Sword he was holding looked to weigh at least sixty Geun.

“All together, wouldn’t it be around four hundred Geun?”

For some reason, Muyeon felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

‘Coming here… that was the right choice, wasn’t it?’

For a brief moment, Muyeon thought that dying at the hands of the Demonic Cult might have been the better fate.

“Demon Brain.”

At the call of the Man in Black, Pungwol set aside the work he had been handling and spoke.

“What is it?”

“It seems the Right Guardian who went to find the Flame Dragon has been dealt with.”

“Is that speculation?”

“…Judging by the circumstances, yes.”

A crease formed between Pungwol’s brows. The Man in Black broke into a cold sweat as though walking on thin ice.

Goosebumps crawled up his spine, and cold sweat poured from him in proportion.

This was already the second time. The matter of the Poison Demon, and now the matter of the Flame Dragon—twice he had reported speculation rather than precise information.

No, even in the case of the Poison Demon, the Flame Dragon had been involved. The Man in Black suppressed the Killing Intent rising toward the Flame Dragon and waited for Pungwol’s next words.

“…The Flame Dragon certainly took second place at the Dragon–Phoenix Gathering, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Then may I assume that the champion of the Dragon–Phoenix Gathering, the Orthodox Dragon, is far stronger than the Flame Dragon?”

For a brief instant, the chilling Killing Intent that rose caused his body to stiffen, but the Man in Black immediately answered in order to prove his usefulness.

“That is not the case.”

“Is that speculation?”

“It is certain information. The Orthodox Dragon, Namgung Cheon, will soon break through the Wall of the Transcendent Peak Master.”

This time his words were filled with certainty. The Man in Black felt relieved and allowed himself to relax.

At that moment.

Saaaaa!

A sinister Killing Intent began to flow from Pungwol’s body. If one could touch the air, perhaps this was what it would feel like.

The Man in Black felt the wind pressure pouring from Pungwol’s body tightening around his throat.

Within that dreadful aura, he took no action and merely prayed that this moment would pass quickly.

“Have the Orthodox Sect and the Unorthodox Faction joined hands?”

“There are no such indications yet.”

“I see. It seems the Murim Alliance Leader made prior arrangements with the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance to demonstrate the continued strength of the Orthodox Sect. Those two have always moved together strangely well.”

Pungwol closed his eyes briefly and pondered.

‘Should I let the Jianghu know?’

It would be simple to spread a rumor that the Flame Dragon was strong enough to kill the Right Guardian of the Divine Cult.

And verifying the truth of that rumor would also be simple.

‘However, if that happens, it will tarnish the reputation of our Cult.’

People did not call a Junior Disciple who had not yet reached Coming-of-Age an Absolute Master. They merely called him a promising—or perhaps doomed—Junior Disciple.

In the end, Youngho was still nothing more than a Junior Disciple. And yet such a person had killed the Divine Cult’s Right Guardian…

If that fact were revealed, people would conclude not that Youngho’s genius shone brilliantly, but that the Divine Cult’s Right Guardian had been weaker than expected.

And even if it were revealed, what the Divine Cult would gain was nothing but the stigma that the Orthodox Sect and the Unorthodox Faction had conspired to deceive the world.

Rather, if exposing this matter resulted in the death of either the Murim Alliance Leader or the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance, then the gains and losses would balance out.

But knowing that would not happen, Pungwol clicked his tongue, unable to hide his displeasure.

‘The reputation of our Cult must not be belittled over something so trivial.’

True to his title of Demon Brain, Pungwol swiftly grasped the current situation and began considering the actions he would take next.

The Man in Black, seeing Pungwol deep in thought, opened his mouth.

“…Shall we kill him?”

Pungwol could not suppress the scoff that escaped him.

“Kill him? How? No matter that this is the Divine Cult, we cannot enter the Unorthodox Alliance’s Fortress. So how exactly do you intend to kill him?”

He was right. No matter that it was the Sun–Moon Divine Cult, invading the Unorthodox Alliance and infiltrating it were entirely different matters.

Realizing how foolish his words had been, the Man in Black slammed his head against the ground and said,

“Please execute me!”

“That’s enough. It’s not that I fail to understand your state of mind.”

Pungwol slowly blinked. It was a small habit of his that surfaced whenever he fell into deep contemplation.

“It seems this matter is not something I can handle alone.”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that…?”

“There is a monstrous bastard who reached the State of Transformation before even reaching Coming-of-Age. If I claim I can block him alone, that would not be confidence—it would be arrogance.”

Pungwol rose slowly from his seat and said,

“Prepare a meeting.”

“…!”

There had been almost no instances where the Demon Brain personally presided over a meeting. It was something that did not occur unless the matter was truly extraordinary.

‘And yet such a meeting was brought about by nothing more than a Junior Disciple who had not even reached Coming-of-Age?’

As the Man in Black hurried to move, he felt it.

A great change was approaching the world. The realm under heaven was shifting.