Chapter 585

After I finished speaking °• N ?? v ?? l i g h t •° with Baek Sora, Head of the Office of Justice, I returned to my residence.

The next thing I did was sort through everything.

I needed to take stock of the many things that had happened in Xinjiang.

I had already been doing that, but after meeting Baek Sora, it was time to go over it once more.

“There is not exactly that much to sort through.”

That was the truth. As far as sorting things out went...

“Sky-Crushing Palace wants the Dancer and the Divine Tree.”

To achieve that, they had infiltrated as far as a county town in Xinjiang and made preparations—

“But they have kept a far looser watch over the place than I expected.”

From what I had seen, they had been running an inn and pretending to live normal lives. They had kept that up longer than I had expected.

But considering there had been nothing of note inside...

“It was practically abandoned, wasn’t it?”

Other than their leader, the Sky-Crushing Palace martial artists inside were not especially strong, and they had not seemed to be carrying out any particular task either.

Were they gathering their strength?

I was not even sure that description fit.

No matter how I looked at it, it did not seem as though they were amassing forces.

They had simply been left there.

“...They do want the Divine Tree and the Dancer, right?”

That was what they had said, but their movements were too weak for it to feel convincing.

That might be their purpose, but the process of moving toward it was too unclear. Which made me wonder whether that purpose was even correct.

“Whatever the case, one thing is certain: Sky-Crushing Palace can infiltrate Xinjiang, and they have opened a route to do it.”

That also told me there was a traitor inside the Demonic Cult.

As far as I can see, only one person carries Sky-Crushing Palace energy.

That younger-generation prodigy who seemed to possess some spiritual energy.

Other than him, there was no one.

Then was it him?

No.

His position was far too low for him to have made this possible.

For something like this to be possible...

It would take at least one of the Eight Demons.

More likely, someone on the elder council.

Gye Mun, the First Elder, is excluded.

He was an exception.

If he had been a man of Sky-Crushing Palace—

The Demonic Cult would have been in ruins long ago.

He was one of the Demonic Cult’s current absolute masters. If he had betrayed it, the Cult should have collapsed ages ago.

Yet the Demonic Cult remained intact.

Instead, the Young Cult Leader had appeared and was stirring things up everywhere.

The Young Cult Leader has ties to Sky-Crushing Palace. I cannot call him a complete traitor, but...

He was excluded too.

He had not even secured a proper hold over power yet. He could not have done this alone.

“No matter how I look at it, then...”

My fingers tapped softly against the paper.

The names I had organized were written there. I had been sorting through everything I knew about the elder council.

“The elders.”

One of the elders, excluding Gye Mun, had betrayed them.

But no such energy was visible.

Which meant...

“Someone who has not received energy from Sky-Crushing Palace.”

There was a traitor cooperating with Sky-Crushing Palace despite possessing only demonic qi.

“Who could it be...?”

That was something I would need to investigate.

And the fact that they still cannot touch the Dancer and the Divine Tree in this situation...

Gye Mun was probably the reason.

With him still standing and the Young Cult Leader unable to seize complete control of the Demonic Cult, there had to be a reason they could not make a move.

“Hmmm.”

Then why did Sky-Crushing Palace want the Divine Tree and the Dancer?

I need to remind myself that this is not merely Sky-Crushing Palace. It is the Heretic Cult.

They had to be planning something else.

And if that bastard’s ideology had not changed...

He is going to use a god to accomplish something.

This world had gods that were far more active than in my past life.

Because of what martial artists were, it was easier for them to accumulate karma than in other worlds. And as that karma accumulated, it was bound to affect the gods as well.

And a world like this was exactly the kind of place the Heretic Cult Leader I knew would drool over.

“Then the most likely possibility is that he plans to use the Divine Tree and the Dancer to find a way to make contact with a god.”

To make contact with a god.

And the god that meant was...

An evil god.

Evil gods that likely existed in the Central Plains as well.

They are the only lunatics who would join hands with humans.

That did not mean the other gods were benevolent.

Most gods saw humans as lower life-forms. To them, that was simply common sense.

More precisely, they did not see much difference between humans and animals.

Just as no human would volunteer to join hands with a pig that only grunted, gods did not see humans all that differently.

There were gods that occasionally descended into human bodies, and there were people such as shamans who served gods, but...

That is merely like keeping a pet around because it is cute and follows you.

They did not regard humans as equals. That was what gods were like.

But evil gods are different.

Evil gods were different.

Those consumed by malice did not distinguish between humans and animals. They saw even humans as things to exploit.

And the Heretic Cult Leader was skilled at using them.

One might wonder how a human could exploit gods, supposedly higher beings.

“Well...”

Imagine it.

Could you respond if a pig that seemed to know nothing suddenly clamped a knife in its mouth and stabbed you in secret?

Because they saw humans as so far beneath them, they did not even bother to let down their guard.

And it was not only that. No matter how high their rank, they were all alike in this regard.

It did not matter which god it was. I knew their incompetence well enough.

That was why so many of them had gotten their asses kicked by me and dropped to their knees.

Which meant...

Sky-Crushing Palace intends to use the Divine Tree and the Dancer to make contact with an evil god.

In other words, they needed the Divine Tree and the Dancer to make contact with an evil god.

They established a branch for that purpose, but...

They had practically left it unattended.

Why?

Because they could use another route.

They had something prepared separately inside the Demonic Cult, so they could leave the other site alone.

Or perhaps...

A distraction.

A distraction to draw attention in case something went wrong.

And I half-destroyed that place.

I had smashed it to pieces, so word must have reached them by now.

They will be on guard.

They would be wary that someone had infiltrated.

And since Azure Moon Sect had a presence in Xinjiang, they would likely give even more thought to the possibility that it had been me.

“Hm.”

I tilted my head back and forth.

Was that the wrong choice?

Had it been a mistake to go to the Sky-Crushing Palace branch and tear it apart?

No. It was necessary.

In the end, I had needed to do it to obtain information.

“Now, then...”

What came next?

What I had to do after coming to the Demonic Cult was understand the Dancer and the Divine Tree, watch Sky-Crushing Palace’s movements, and handle—

The training inside the Cult. The orthodox faction’s business.

We needed to carry out training in Xinjiang for the agreement.

When it came down to it, that was the main purpose.

That will take care of itself.

I only had to do what I was supposed to do. There was nothing else I needed to concern myself with.

“But that is not what I need to do.”

That was only what I had to do as Azure Moon Sect’s Moon Hero.

What Bang Seongyeon the man had to do was—

“...Yoo Cheongil’s secret technique, and...”

The identity of the old man said to be Sword Saint Yoo Cheongil’s master.

I needed to look into that.

“Good.”

I had set my objective.

“Let’s find him.”

The last task.

The old man said to be Yoo Cheongil’s master.

“I suppose I need to meet him, then.”

*****

There were a number of historical facts that Azure Moon Sect had investigated.

As I had said before, there were not many records. And because what I was allowed to access was limited, the only information I could call information was the public kind.

The greatest sect under heaven.

It had produced more greatest men under heaven than any other sect, and since the founding of the Murim Alliance, it had raised more Alliance Leaders than any other.

That was why, in its own way, it had no shortage of records.

“...But the most important records were missing.”

The record I most wanted to see.

“Yoo Cheongil’s master.”

There was nothing about the person called Sword Saint Yoo Cheongil’s master.

Surprisingly enough.

Then again, perhaps it was not surprising.

It is a sect, after all.

One of Azure Moon Sect’s characteristics was that its disciples did not have a single master. So it was possible for a master not to be known.

But was Yoo Cheongil’s master truly unknown?

Even the current Sect Leader, Moon Immortal Sword, was an example. The identity of his disciple was known.

Of course, Moon Immortal Sword’s own master is not known either... so Yoo Cheongil may not be strange, when you think about it.

If an elder or a high-ranking martial artist had taken on a disciple, it should have become known.

Conversely, if he had learned martial arts collectively inside the sect, no one would know who his master was. All that would remain would be the title of Azure Moon Sect disciple.

So if Yoo Cheongil had not had a personal master, that was possible.

“...But I do not think that is the case.”

Yoo Cheongil’s master was in Xinjiang.

And if he existed...

It was more likely that Yoo Cheongil had had a personal master.

Why?

Why was he unknown?

Why?

Why was his master still alive in Xinjiang?

It was a time when everything was in question.

That was why I had made this my top priority.

Meeting the man said to be Yoo Cheongil’s master.

I thought unraveling that would be the starting point for undoing the knot.

So I had to find him.

“How should I find him...?”

I thought about it as I looked around the county town.

How exactly was I supposed to find him?

Finding someone who had gone into hiding was difficult.

I was not good at finding people.

Ghosts might be another matter.

[So you intend to search this place without any sort of plan?]

The Heavenly Demon asked.

“That is right. There is no other way, is there?”

I had no other option, so I had to do this much at least.

For now, I intended to begin by asking around every corner.

“Do you know anything?”

I asked the Heavenly Demon as I went.

[What do you mean?]

“About that old man.”

Yoo Cheongil’s master.

If he was strong enough to have the Sword Saint as a disciple, I wondered whether the Heavenly Demon knew anything about him.

[I do not.]

The answer was simple.

Firm and unequivocal.

[I have never heard that the Sword Saint had a master, and no such person appeared in the war.]

“...That makes things vague.”

[If I had to guess, perhaps he is connected to figures like Heavenly Fist or the Head of the Office of Justice.]

Martial artists who had existed a generation before the present one.

Perhaps he was connected to them.

Hm.

I had thought that far too.

It just did not seem likely to be much help right now.

Then...

As I was searching for another method—

“Oh.”

I spotted something over there.

“Hm.”

My eyes widened.

A familiar back.

I walked closer.

When I approached while making my presence known, the person strolling through the county town turned around.

“...Hm?”

“Good to see you.”

I greeted him.

The person before me was, surprisingly, Heavenly Sword.

“...Why are you here?”

“I have a question.”

“For me?”

It was strange enough that we had met in a place like this. Heavenly Sword tilted his head at my abrupt question.

“What could you possibly..."

“Where is your master?”

“...What?”

I asked him point-blank.

“I have business with your master right now. Could you arrange a meeting?”

Heavenly Sword’s expression changed.

His master.

I was certain that Heavenly Sword’s master was the man I had been seeking—the old man said to be Yoo Cheongil’s master.