Return of the Heavenly Sword

Chapter 225. Sichuan Sword Clan (4)

Jin Yuseong moved his hands repeatedly.

He struck various points on the meridians of the Guardian Envoy, whose limbs had already been severed.

His paralysis points subdued, the Guardian Envoy glared at Jin Yuseong with murderous eyes.

A vast amount of demonic qi still flowed through his body.

Because of that fierce energy, it seemed as though the vital points Jin Yuseong had suppressed would be released at any moment.

“Dang Sopyeong!”

At Jin Yuseong’s shout, Dang Sopyeong, who had been tending to Baek Hyang, quickly approached.

“Tsk. If we leave him like this, he’ll die from excessive blood loss.”

Dang Sopyeong quickly stopped the bleeding from the Guardian Envoy’s arms.

At the same time, he stuck needles into various parts of the man’s body.

They were not needles for treatment.

He had stuck them indiscriminately into the paralysis points that Jin Yuseong had barely managed to subdue.

With the needles embedded, even with demonic qi, he could not easily release the meridians.

Dang Sopyeong, having completely subdued the Guardian Envoy, looked at Jin Yuseong.

“Are you all right?”

Jin Yuseong nodded.

Now that he was out of the state of no-self, a headache surged.

But it was not unbearable.

Only then did people begin to gather there one by one.

While Jin Yuseong subdued the Guardian Envoy and Dang Sopyeong took care of the aftermath, the battle had already ended.

Hwangbo Ak, who had dealt with the First Elder, snorted as if disappointed.

“Hmph. I wasted time dealing with that damned old man.”

Hwangbo Ak’s condition seemed quite fine.

The others also had almost no injuries. If any, they were just scratches.

The most seriously injured was Baek Hyang, but her injuries were not severe either.

They surrounded the Guardian Envoy just in case.

Then, Jin Yuseong asked the Guardian Envoy.

“Where is your base of operations?”

“Kehehehe. Do you think I would tell you?”

Jin Yuseong willingly began to stab the Guardian Envoy’s body with the Master's Blade.

After torturing him several times, the man did not open his mouth easily.

“It would be better to use medicine.”

Having said that, Dang Sopyeong forced open the Guardian Envoy’s mouth and poured something in.

It was an energy-scattering poison.

Since the man’s demonic qi was so strong and abundant, he intended to calm the demonic qi first before using the poison.

After the man’s demonic qi had stabilized a little, Dang Sopyeong took out a pill and shoved it into the man’s mouth.

It was the Soul-Losing Pill, which he had used several times in the past.

A poison core that could induce confession by making one lose their sanity. But because of its side effects, it was a poison that would cause one’s five viscera and six bowels to melt and lose their life in about a quarter of an hour.

Immediately after the Guardian Envoy’s eyes became hazy, Jin Yuseong asked various questions.

“Where is your base of operations?”

“How many experts of your level are there?”

As a result, he was able to obtain various pieces of information.

The name of the faction they belonged to was the True Light Cult.

“Hehehe. This is all a false world. We must escape the false world and ascend to that high place. We, the chosen ones.”

And this man’s identity was, as Jin Yuseong had expected, the Right Guardian Envoy.

The reason for spreading the demonic art also more or less matched Jin Yuseong’s expectations.

“Hehehe. It is to head toward the true world. No matter how many cicadas emerge, insects are just insects. Only we, the chosen, can truly reach the heavens.”

“Have you not considered that you might be devoured by those insects in return?”

This was a part he had been slightly curious about from before.

Although it was for the sake of researching demonic arts, such a risk followed.

The Killing Demon and the Lust Disaster of his previous life were experts who had reached a very terrifying realm.

Especially the Lust Disaster, he thought, might have been an expert even higher than this Right Guardian Envoy here.

“Heheh. If a cicada grows into a peach, what could be more joyous than that? It would not compare to the heavenly peaches of the Peach Blossom Spring, but by devouring them, we should be able to reach the heavens.”

Jin Yuseong’s brow furrowed.

Now he saw that it was not just for the sake of researching demonic arts.

It seemed that if there was anyone who reached a high realm by learning the demonic art in that way, they planned to devour them later.

Just then, the Right Guardian Envoy, intoxicated by the drug, uttered a shocking story.

“Hehehe. No matter how strong the insects become, they are just offerings to the Cult Leader. The same goes for you. Even that Sword Venerable was no match for our Cult Leader.”

“...Are you saying the Cult Leader devoured the Sword Venerable?”

The Right Guardian Envoy grinned.

“Hehehe. Yes. The Cult Leader is already just awaiting the day he ascends to heaven. If only I could have offered you, I could have witnessed him ascending to heaven. Truly a shame.”

Jin Yuseong’s face inevitably contorted.

‘So that’s why the Thunder Blade Emperor told me to build my strength first.’

It seemed that, in terms of timing, the Cult Leader had already devoured the Sword Venerable a few years ago.

Thinking about the Sword Venerable and the Cult Leader of the True Light Cult, a thought came to Jin Yuseong’s mind.

Come to think of it, the Sword Venerable was an existence who opposed the northern nomadic tribes.

That Sword Venerable had been in seclusion for the past few years.

It seemed that the reason the Sword Venerable went into seclusion was because he was devoured by the Cult Leader.

If so, how on earth did the Sword Venerable and the Cult Leader of the True Light Cult cross paths?

And without any news of it reaching the Central Plains.

“You people. Were you hiding in the northern steppe region?”

***

Before long, the Right Guardian Envoy coughed up blood and collapsed.

He was a corpse whose five viscera and six bowels had all melted away.

Still, he had managed to obtain most of the necessary information.

These people were hiding in the northern steppe region.

Not in a place adjacent to the Central Plains, but far away, in a barren region where only nomadic tribes lived.

War was a frequent occurrence among the nomadic tribes. Because food was scarce.

And these people had built up their strength by devouring the opposing tribes in those wars.

Literally ‘by devouring them.’

Because they had built up their strength with demonic arts, there were also many experts.

The Cult Leader was a matter of course, and there was also one called the Great Elder.

The Great Elder was also an expert several levels above the Right Guardian Envoy here or the previous Left Guardian Envoy.

If there was any good news, it was that apart from the Great Elder, the Left and Right Guardian Envoys were the most outstanding experts.

The old nun who had been watching the whole situation from the side opened her mouth.

“Amitabha. I never even imagined that such atrociously cruel people were hiding.”

At the nun’s words, Jin Yuseong nodded.

Then he turned his head and looked inside the Sichuan Sword Clan.

“First, it seems we need to release the people captured by the Sichuan Sword Clan.”

Jin Yuseong and his companions, along with the nuns, went around inside the Sichuan Sword Clan.

Fortunately, since Dang Sopyeong had been born and raised here, it was not difficult to find the people.

After finding dozens of people captured by the Sichuan Sword Clan, Jin Yuseong said to the nuns.

“We plan to head north with those who have decided to join our cause. So, would you take care of these people in our stead?”

“Are you saying we should forcibly make them leave their homes and become monks?”

Jin Yuseong shook his head.

“Have you not decided to set your sights on the secular world now? Please take in those who have an interest in Buddhism, and for those who do not, I would like you to help them return to their hometowns and live in peace.”

After pondering Jin Yuseong’s proposal for a moment, the old nun nodded and recited the Buddha’s name.

“Amitabha. We shall do so, Benefactor.”

Having succeeded in persuading the nuns of Mount Emei, Jin Yuseong turned his head again.

While looking around at the captured people, the face of a boy caught his eye.

A face that gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Feeling curious, Jin Yuseong approached the boy.

Unlike a person who had been kidnapped, the boy looked up at Jin Yuseong with clear eyes.

Jin Yuseong, who was looking intently at the boy, belatedly realized.

Where he had seen this face.

‘To think that Taoist was from Sichuan.’

It was a face he had seen in his previous life.

The young Taoist who had given him his first taste of despair in his previous life.

- I just swung it as I felt like it. Thinking that it might be good to swing it like this.

When Jin Yuseong had knelt down and begged for his teaching. The young Taoist who had given this answer with an awkward face.

That genius Taoist was this very boy.

Jin Yuseong was lost in thought for a moment.

‘Should I just leave him be?’

He was not thinking of something like revenge from his previous life.

It was not as if that young Taoist had committed any crime against him.

What he was thinking about was something further in the future.

The young Taoist he had met back then was on his first foray into the martial world.

And after finishing his first journey, the Taoist never showed his face in the martial world again.

It was not that he had died somewhere on the road.

It was because he had belatedly realized during his journey through the martial world.

The truth about the sect he belonged to.

Although they claimed to be Taoists, they were, in reality, closer to hypocrites.

The reason why he had been able to comfortably devote himself to training all this time. Where the clothes he wore and the sword he wielded came from. He had realized it belatedly.

But he could not bring himself to attack the sect elders who had raised him for over a decade.

So he had secluded himself deep in the mountains.

If he leaves this boy and goes, what will happen?

As fate would have it, he might end up becoming a disciple of that sect again.

If so, would it not be better for him to take him in?

His thoughts having reached that point, Jin Yuseong calmly opened his mouth.

“What is your name?”

A situation where he had been kidnapped and then released.

It would be natural to be afraid, but the boy answered in a calm tone.

“My name is Jang Gunsil.”

Looking at those clear eyes, Jin Yuseong asked.

“Have you ever thought about learning martial arts?”

“What is good about learning martial arts?”

Jin Yuseong turned his head and looked at the people around him.

“You can save people from trash. Just like how we have now saved the people who were being tormented by the Sichuan Sword Clan.”

“Are not the ones who tormented people also those who have learned martial arts?”

At the intelligent question, Jin Yuseong nodded.

“Martial arts are just a tool. If you want to help people, you can save them with those martial arts. The opposite is also true. What do you think? Do you want to save people?”

At this, Jang Gunsil also turned his head and looked around.

The people who had been kidnapped just like him.

After a quick glance at them, the boy said.

“Should I start calling you Master from now on, Great Hero?”

At the boy’s question, Jin Yuseong was lost in thought for a moment.

Until now, he had felt a sense of aversion to the expression ‘Master’.

This was also why he had told Baek Hyang and Choyeon to call him ‘Senior Brother’.

He felt it was a contradiction to be called ‘Master’ by those who had greater talent than him.

But not anymore.

Because he had given teachings to those more talented than him several times.

Even if their talent was greater, the things he could teach them right now were endless.

“You may call me Master.”

At that answer, the boy bowed to Jin Yuseong.

Jin Yuseong quietly looked down at the boy.

It was a strange feeling.

In the past, he was a Taoist to whom he had knelt and begged for teaching.

Now, that Taoist had conversely become his disciple.

But what was more important was what this boy would become after he grew up.

A Taoist who had outstanding talent but had secluded himself out of regret for his sect’s ways.

The image of that Taoist properly grown and fighting for the people was drawn in his mind.

This too seemed like a truly rewarding thing.

‘For the sake of that future, it seems I will have to teach him very properly.’

While Jin Yuseong was making such a resolution to himself, someone hurriedly approached the Sichuan Sword Clan.

When he turned his head, he saw a few beggars running.

“Late again?”

It was the Beggars’ Sect, who always appeared after the fight was over.

As if in response, the beggar who was approaching at the forefront shouted.

“Great Hero! Heavenly Sun Village, Heavenly Sun Village has been attacked!”

Flames surged in Jin Yuseong’s eyes.

“What do you mean? Heavenly Sun Village was attacked?”

Heavenly Sun Village was Jin Yuseong’s hometown, and it was where Elder Yang, who had taken care of him since he was young, lived.