Chapter 71
That day was the first time Ya Socheong had faced all the junior lords.
Dan Mok-hwawun, Dan Mok-heukya, Dan Mok-seol, and Dan Mok-cheongyeong.
They each led their own guards and came to the Sect Leader's residence.
There was no mention that they could bring their guards, but the Sect Leader did not point it out separately.
The Sect Leader's residence was full of the leaders of the Heavenly Demon Sect, who had come to watch the start of the competition.
Ya Socheong knew that people were stealing glances at him with curious eyes.
The Sect Leader recited a formal story.
A long story followed, saying that since it was a competition to select the junior sect leader, everyone should do their best.
The Sect Leader did not pay special attention to Ya Socheong, nor did he speak to him personally.
"The first mission is to find the treasure of our sect that was lost long ago. It is a painting of the Demonic God decorated with colorful jade. It is only known that a thief named Shintou stole it, and it has been kept by a mysterious martial arts sect in the martial world. The person who brings it to me last will be recognized as the one who has passed the first gate."
A few people asked questions, but Ya Socheong did not say anything.
Even if he wanted to pass the gate, he had no intention of finding it himself.
If someone else found it, couldn't he just go and take it later?
Even if he couldn't take it, he had no intention of doing something like finding it and then having it taken away.
When the questions were over, the Sect Leader told everyone to leave, and Ya Socheong also went out with the junior lords.
Outside, Dan Mok-hwawun gathered the people and said.
"We know each other, but since we have never met Ya Socheong, let's get introduced here."
It seemed to be a way of telling them to greet him.
They were all older than Ya Socheong.
The reason why only they among the Sect Leader's numerous offspring had participated in the junior sect leader competition must have been reflected to some extent.
Among the Demonic Empresses who had young junior lords, there must have been those who thought it was unfair that their children could not participate in the junior sect leader competition.
But Ya Socheong thought that there would be more to gain by not participating in this competition than by participating.
There was only one winner, but all the others would be buried in his victory, and their reputation would be greatly tarnished.
Even if they didn't win this competition, there might be another chance for the other young junior lords because they hadn't had a chance to participate in the competition.
If the Sect Leader said that he would give them a new opportunity then, who would say what about it?
Ya Socheong greeted them.
"I am Ya Socheong."
At that, Dan Mok-heukya's eyes sharpened, and he picked a fight.
"That's not what you should say. Aren't you the great faction leader of the Nether Shadow Faction? Why can't you say that you are Ya Socheong, the Nether Shadow Faction Leader?"
Ya Socheong just laughed once and let it go.
There were many things he could say, but if he got caught up in a fight, he would be the only one at a loss.
He didn't mind fighting with other people, but fighting with Dan Mok-heukya was not good.
For some reason, it seemed that if he fought with Dan Mok-heukya, it would become a mud fight, and he wanted to avoid such a disgraceful thing.
The people who seemed to be expecting something to happen between him and Dan Mok-heukya seemed to be disappointed when the matter ended so simply.
"The ones who are hiding the treasure are said to be in Cheonbong Mountain. Let's all go there together."
The person who spoke was Dan Mok-hwawun.
If he had intended to find the treasure himself, he probably wouldn't have revealed that information, but it seemed that his plan was to incite others to find the treasure and then just hand it over to the Sect Leader at the end.
For now, the other junior lords also seemed to be following the words of Dan Mok-hwawun, the eldest son of the Sect Leader.
Until they left the Heavenly Demon Sect, many people followed them and wished them a safe return.
The only person who had no followers was Ya Socheong.
There were at least hundreds of people who wanted to see him off, but Ya Socheong had absolutely forbidden them to come out.
If it was the Sect Leader's information power, he would have already known that they were related to Ya Socheong, but he had repeatedly urged them, saying that there was no need to reveal it in front of others.
But even if they were not visible, it seemed that they were watching from somewhere, hidden.
Even after leaving the Heavenly Demon Sect, the junior lords were continuously accompanied by their guards.
Each guard had about ten people, and they were of a similar scale.
They all rode horses, and the horses that the guards rode were not inferior to the horse that Ya Socheong rode.
Their respective weapons were also top-notch.
While Ya Socheong was looking at such things, the junior lords thought that Ya Socheong was envious of them, but that was their miscalculation.
Ya Socheong had already given the junior brothers of the Nether Shadow Faction things that were better than that.
It was okay if the food and clothes were a little lacking, and it was okay if the house was a little shabby, but since horses and weapons were directly related to life, he had not spared money in obtaining good ones.
So he had provided them with good horses and weapons, to the point where he was not envious of what the direct descendants of the great families had.
Since the road was long, the junior lords started to talk a little among themselves, perhaps because they were bored.
But since they didn't seem to be close on a daily basis, whatever they talked about, it didn't last long.
"Ya Socheong, I know that you have great ambitions, but do you know this? That the one who harms the bloodline of the Heavenly Demon will have not only himself but also his family exterminated."
Dan Mok-heukya suddenly said, out of context.
It seemed that he had said that because he wanted to trample on Ya Socheong, since he had a lot of things piled up against him.
"Why do you think my father let you, who have no qualifications, participate in the competition? No matter how much you run wild, you are nothing. You are just a lowly bastard. Since such a brat has won the hearts of equally lowly brats, the Sect Leader has thrown you to us. You cannot harm us, and it is not a problem for us to kill you, so what do you think will happen in the future?"
The other junior lords did not step up in that matter.
Even Dan Mok-hwawun, who seemed to be about to say a word in a condescending tone, seemed to be quietly waiting for Ya Socheong's reaction at that time.
Ya Socheong slowly nodded.
He didn't know that there was such a thing about the Sect Leader's bloodline.
He had known that such a punishment followed the one who harmed the imperial family, and it seemed that the Heavenly Demon Sect had also adopted such a thing.
If there was such a thing, the Sect Leader had used his head well in a vile way.
Hadn't he tied his own hands and let his children swing their weapons as they pleased?
But Ya Socheong was not very scared.
What did it matter if he cut them down without leaving a trace?
"I will keep that in mind."
When Ya Socheong said it without wavering, the expressions of the other junior lords hardened.
"How many lives do you have that you can be so calm? I'm curious how long you can be like that even when we're talking about your life."
Dan Mok-cheongyeong, the youngest among them, said, and Ya Socheong laughed again this time.
"I have one life."
Dan Mok-cheongyeong was furious, thinking, 'Did he really ask because he didn't know that?'
"Seeing that you're avoiding a direct answer, it seems you do have a mind to look for an opportunity and kill us."
Danli Seol said with a seductive smile.
Although she was in her mid-thirties, on the outside, she had the appearance of someone who had just entered her twenties.
Her beauty was also great, and she was a woman who knew well that she was beautiful.
She was full of the confidence peculiar to a person who knew well that a beautiful appearance could sometimes be a fatal weapon, but Ya Socheong was not interested.
Since he had gotten two wives in a moment of being absent-minded, he was now trying to be on his guard.
And since Danli Seol was not Ya Socheong's type, it was not difficult to be on his guard.
"I will follow the Sect Leader's order."
When he said that in this situation, it became ambiguous what he was talking about.
Whether he was talking about the order to find the treasure of the Heavenly Demon Sect, or about not harming the bloodline of the Heavenly Demon.
Since the order that the Sect Leader had directly given was to find the treasure, it seemed to be about that, but why did the story suddenly jump there?
Dan Mok-hwawun thought that Ya Socheong was an interesting guy.
In any case, there was no need to get worked up every time other guys got on his nerves.
Ya Socheong, in the gap when the others had quieted down, thought about Cheonbong Mountain.
For some reason, he felt that that name was familiar.
It was not just a name that passed by, but it felt like it had come out as the place of a momentous and big event.
'Cheonbong Mountain... Cheonbong Mountain...'
Then Ya Socheong's eyes widened.
It was a good thing that everyone was riding horses and looking forward, otherwise, someone might have noticed that Ya Socheong had realized something important.
'If it's the mysterious martial arts sect of Cheonbong Mountain, aren't they those guys?'
There was a group made by the elders and seniors of the martial world sects who were crazy about martial arts.
They wanted to know what the strongest martial art was, and they wanted to learn and develop it eagerly.
They, who wanted to create the strongest martial art on their own, leaving their sects, considered belonging to a sect as a shackle.
But since they had already learned martial arts in their sects, it was difficult to quietly withdraw.
In the end, they faked their deaths with the Turtle Breathing Great Art and left their respective sects.
There were also those who joined them from the Nine Factions and One Union and various small and medium-sized sects.
Even after that, they did not hesitate to recruit those with outstanding martial arts.
In the end, there was a result in that, and they succeeded in creating a new martial art.
And they spent their time mastering it and achieving great success, with only themselves learning it.
They named the martial art they had created the Flawless Nine Swords and would ask for a spar with swordsmen to see if there were any flaws in that sword style.
The spar was not simply to determine the superiority of the sword techniques, but to confirm the various attack methods using the Flawless Nine Swords.
It was a natural consequence that casualties would arise from that.
'Are we going to that Cheonbong Mountain now?'
If that was correct, he should not continue to follow that path.
Sweat flowed down his back at the thought that he would die at the hands of the madmen of Cheonbong Mountain before he was defeated by the junior lords.
Ya Socheong began to fall behind a little.
Then he wondered if he could go to another place and pretend to be looking for the painting on his own.
But the people who had followed him, he didn't know when, came up to his sides and said.
"The treasure that the Sect Leader mentioned is indeed in Cheonbong Mountain. So you can just go as you are without leaving the ranks."
Ya Socheong clearly realized that the Sect Leader had not sent just them.