The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

At some point, a woman was looking at Cheon Myeong from the front.

As soon as he saw the woman, Cheon Myeong's gaze first went to her appearance.

'She's beautiful.'

Even in the eyes of Cheon Myeong, who had seen quite a few beauties, the woman in front of him had a beautiful appearance.

Her jade-like skin and moderately red and plump lips enhanced her femininity, and the black and deep pupils seen in her slightly slender eyes further enhanced her mysteriousness.

Sway-.

And her long hair, which was swaying in the wind, made her innocent beauty stand out, and all those parts were appropriately harmonized to form a beauty like that of a flower's face and the moon's form.

'I haven't seen this face before?'

But that was all; to Cheon Myeong, the woman in front of him was just a woman.

Of course, objectively speaking, the woman in front of him had a beauty that could steal the hearts of countless men, but since he had already become accustomed to beauties when he was the leader, it could not even shake Cheon Myeong's heart.

However, it was true that a rather extraordinary presence was felt from the woman in front of him.

That would not be just because of her beauty.

Cheon Myeong continued to watch the woman without a word.

"...Who are you?"

At that moment, the woman asked Cheon Myeong first.

A clear voice that matched her beauty.

If a man were to hear that voice, his mouth would naturally be wide open, but Cheon Myeong said with a consistent expressionless face.

"Who are you?"

"..."

"I felt a gaze and my gaze naturally went to that side, but didn't you look at me because you knew who I was?"

But hearing her tone, it seemed that the woman did not know who he was.

Of course, it was still too early to conclude that.

Because it was possible that she was pretending not to know, even though she knew who he was.

"...My name is Yu Eunseong."

"Yu Eunseong?"

That name was not unfamiliar to Cheon Myeong.

As he thought about where he had heard that name, he was able to recall the memory immediately.

'Is she Yu Eunseong of the Seong-yu Family?'

The Seong-yu Family, that was also one of the Five Great Demonic Families.

Since he had memorized all the names of the people who had entered as Cheon Jin's disciples from the Five Great Demonic Families in advance, Cheon Myeong was able to know that fact immediately.

'I didn't expect to meet her in this way.'

The Five Great Demonic Families were beings that would become Cheon Myeong's enemies in the future.

Moreover, there was no need to say more about the guys who had come as Cheon Jin's disciples.

Since there had been such an incident with Jo Seokjin just now, as soon as Cheon Myeong heard Yu Eunseong's name, a sense of vigilance naturally arose.

But since that side had introduced herself, this side could not just pass by without saying anything.

Although he didn't know whether the woman named Yu Eunseong really didn't know Cheon Myeong or was pretending not to know, it was a natural flow to at least briefly introduce himself.

"My name is Cheon Myeong."

Cheon Myeong briefly introduced himself.

Then, Cheon Myeong could feel that Yu Eunseong's gaze had changed slightly.

And Yu Eunseong immediately took a fist salute and bowed her head to Cheon Myeong.

"So you were Young Master Cheon Myeong."

"..."

"It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. My name is Yu Eunseong of the Seong-yu Family."

Yu Eunseong introduced herself once more.

Since Cheon Myeong was of a higher status than Yu Eunseong, she had revealed her family and had properly greeted him again.

Cheon Myeong watched her silently and thought to himself.

'For now, shall I figure out what type this woman is?'

There is a saying, 'Know your enemy and know yourself.'

Since Yu Eunseong was a person who would one day clash with him, Cheon Myeong thought that it would not be bad to figure out about Yu Eunseong now.

"Did you say Yu Eunseong?"

As soon as Yu Eunseong released her fist salute and raised her head, Cheon Myeong asked.

"Yes, Young Master."

"As far as I know, I heard that you came as the leader's disciple."

"I have become so, undeservedly."

"It's a little funny to ask this now, but how do you feel about becoming the leader's disciple?"

Cheon Myeong said with a light smile.

But his eyes were narrowed, as if he were watching what Yu Eunseong would say.

"How I feel... why are you curious about that, Young Master?"

"Because this is the first time I'm meeting the leader's disciples in this way. As you know, I couldn't see them during that period because of circumstances."

The fact that Cheon Myeong had been kicked out of the main headquarters for several years would be known by most of the people who should know.

That was the same for Yu Eunseong.

In order to figure out what kind of person Yu Eunseong was, Cheon Myeong had deliberately not hidden that fact.

"...I see."

Yu Eunseong muttered as if she had understood something.

"Of course, I can accept the fact that I was selected as the leader's disciple as a great honor."

"..."

"But to be honest, I don't have much of a feeling just by becoming the leader's disciple."

Oh?

At first, he had thought that she would just say plausible and superficial words, but hearing the latter part, it was completely different.

Cheon Myeong judged that it was worth listening to more and continued to ask.

"What do you mean, you don't have much of a feeling?"

"Although I have actually become the leader's disciple, I have never been directly taught until now."

"..."

"Of course, the leader must also have his thoughts, but since there are more disciples besides me, it seems too early to be happy just because I was selected as one of them."

This woman... she has quite an interesting thought.

So does that mean that she is not satisfied for now?

It sounded to Cheon Myeong as if she were saying that she could only be happy when she had been taught the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and had become the leader.

'She's a woman with great ambition.'

Of course, all the guys who had come as Cheon Jin's disciples besides Yu Eunseong would be thinking like that.

But when he had heard those words just now, Cheon Myeong had felt an unknown sense of purpose from Yu Eunseong.

A mission that had to be accomplished even if it meant sacrificing her life.

Since such a feeling was felt from that appearance, it seemed that Cheon Myeong felt a greater sense of vigilance from Yu Eunseong, whom he had just met for the first time, than the other guys he had met until now.

"I see."

Cheon Myeong said with a meaningful smile.

Then, Yu Eunseong maintained her expressionless face and asked Cheon Myeong.

"Do you have anything else to ask?"

"No, not for now."

"Then I will be on my way."

Saying that, she greeted him once more and Yu Eunseong walked away.

And Cheon Myeong, who was watching Yu Eunseong's back.

Although it was a short conversation, he was able to learn quite a bit about Yu Eunseong.

'...I don't know.'

But at the same time, it seemed that there were also many things that he did not know.

* * *

Creak-.

Cheon Myeong carefully opened the jade box in front of him.

Then, inside, there were four red heart-like things.

And at the moment he discovered them, the corners of Cheon Myeong's mouth couldn't help but go up.

Swish-.

Cheon Myeong carefully picked up one of them with his fingers and held it up in front of his eyes.

And as if to confirm something, he began to sniff it with his nose.

'It's a real Hyeol-su-yu, for sure.'

A refreshing scent that pricked the tip of his nose as soon as he smelled it.

It was surely the unique scent that a Hyeol-su-yu originally had, just as it was written in the Medical Supplement Manual.

'I thought he might give me a fake, but he gave me a real one from the beginning.'

Although the appearance could be decorated to look real, the smell could not be imitated in this way.

Moreover, no matter how exquisitely it was decorated, the shape of a Hyeol-su-yu could not be imitated to this extent.

Just as it was written in the Medical Supplement Manual, if one looked at a Hyeol-su-yu from a little far away, it really had a shape similar to a human heart.

Since he had actually seen a heart itself, Cheon Myeong thought so as he looked at the Hyeol-su-yu in his hand.

Swish-.

Cheon Myeong looked at the appearance of the others in the same way and even smelled them.

As a result of checking, all four seemed to have no particular problem, and it seemed that it would be okay to think that they were all genuine.

'With this, I can now make a Poison Transformation Pill.'

From the time he had asked Jo Seokjin for a Hyeol-su-yu, Cheon Myeong had been planning to make a Poison Transformation Pill.

There are two main ingredients for a Poison Transformation Pill.

A Hyeol-su-yu and a deadly poison.

He could get a Hyeol-su-yu from Jo Seokjin, and the other one, a deadly poison, Cheon Myeong originally had.

'I didn't expect to use it in this way.'

Cheon Myeong thought so and took out a bottle from somewhere.

A dark red liquid inside the bottle.

It was the poison of the Black-spotted Python that he had taken from Musan before.

'If it's the poison of a Black-spotted Python, it will have a toxicity that is in the top rank among poisons.'

There was no particular deadly poison that was the main ingredient of a Poison Transformation Pill.

However, the stronger the toxicity, the higher the efficacy of the Poison Transformation Pill.

In other words, if Cheon Myeong were to manufacture a Poison Transformation Pill with the poison of a Black-spotted Python and take it, from now on, Cheon Myeong would not only become resistant to the poison of a Black-spotted Python, but he would also become resistant to most poisons with a lower toxicity than that.

So theoretically, it would be best to put the poison with the strongest toxicity among the poisons that exist in this world as an ingredient from the beginning and manufacture it as a Poison Transformation Pill.

But what was as difficult to get as a Hyeol-su-yu was also a poison.

Of course, a common poison could be easily obtained, but how easy would it be to get a deadly poison that could compete for the first place?

If he were to get such a poison later, he could make it into a Poison Transformation Pill and take it, but for now, it would be better to use the poison he had, as a last resort.

Because even if the poison of a Black-spotted Python was not the best, it would be at least in the top ten or top hundred.

'It's a pheasant instead of a chicken.'

But still, with this, he would become resistant to poison to some extent.

That would be the same as him getting a tremendous weapon in his hands.

Since it was common in the martial world for even peak masters to die from poison, Cheon Myeong knew how frightening a being poison was.

Peep-.

At that moment, Baekjo approached the jade box containing the Hyeol-su-yu with quick steps.

It seemed that it had become interested, drawn by the smell of the Hyeol-su-yu.

Seeing this, Cheon Myeong quickly blocked Baekjo's front with his hand.

"Hey!"

"Peep-!"

As Cheon Myeong held out his hand and berated it, Baekjo was startled and retreated.

"How precious this is. Where are you trying to covet it?"

"Peep, peep-!"

"You know what's expensive... but I can't give you this."

"Peep-!"

As Cheon Myeong spoke firmly, Baekjo returned to its cage as if it were sulking.

'Was I too harsh?'

But it couldn't be helped.

No matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense to give a Hyeol-su-yu as food for Baekjo.

Anyway, if he coaxed it with meat later, Baekjo would cheer up on its own.

'Hmm... but I'm still a little short on ingredients to make a Poison Transformation Pill.'

Although he had gathered the main ingredients, those were not the only ingredients that went into a Poison Transformation Pill.

Since various other medicinal herbs went in, strictly speaking, Cheon Myeong could not manufacture a Poison Transformation Pill now.

'Hmm... yes, let's get it there.'

He could go to Musan and get medicinal herbs.

But it would take quite a while to get there, and there was no guarantee that the medicinal herbs he wanted would be there.

So Cheon Myeong decided to go to a place that was very close and at the same time, where he could get the medicinal herbs he wanted right away.

Swish-.

As he finished his thoughts, after organizing the Hyeol-su-yu and the poison of the Black-spotted Python, Cheon Myeong immediately got up from his seat.

And before leaving the room, he looked at the birdcage where Baekjo was and said.

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"Peep-!"

"If you don't want to, then don't."

"..."

Creak-.

Cheon Myeong said that and opened the door.

And before going out and completely closing the door, he looked at Baekjo through the slightly open crack in the door and said again.

"This is the last time."

"..."

"Three, two, one..."

"...Peep, peep-!"

In the end, Baekjo came out of the cage and flew to Cheon Myeong in a hurry.

Seeing this, Cheon Myeong couldn't help but let out a laugh.

(End of Chapter)