Scholar Demon Venerable

She wanted to block Cheongun's front, but she was in a situation where she couldn't step forward because she was firmly held by her guard.

Thwack.

"Huh?"

Crack!

The arm of the attacker was strangely bent backwards.

Cheongun lightly grabbed the fist, broke the arm, and then kicked him.

In just one move, three guards fell.

Not only Ou Yongping, but everyone was astonished.

It was such a natural movement that only a few people had seen properly how Cheongun had used his hands.

Cheongun took a step forward and said.

"Now, think about it while you're getting beaten. What you did wrong."

Cheongun's figure became blurry.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The onlookers could only hear the sound. Something had been scuffled, but Ou Yongping and his party were already lying on the floor of the inn.

They didn't know how they had fallen. But they could confirm their appearance with their own two eyes.

The guards were just limp as if they had fainted, but Ou Yongping was in a miserable state.

His limbs were strangely bent, and his two eyes were rolled back, showing the whites.

Moreover, Cheongun was lightly stepping on his head.

'Should I kill this one? Or not?'

Cheongun worried for a moment. If he let him live, he seemed to be a guy who would only commit sins in the world. Although he could turn over a new leaf, it seemed impossible looking at his actions.

"Young Master, Young Master Lee."

As Cheongun was lost in thought, Miao Qingqing called from behind with an urgent voice.

"You can't kill him. If you've done this much, this person will have come to his senses."

At Miao Qingqing's words, Cheongun relaxed his foot, which had been applying force.

"Since you say so, Young Lady, I will stop at this point."

"Thank you for listening to my request."

Miao Qingqing asked Cheongun questions as if nothing had happened.

"Young Master, but were you learning martial arts?"

"It's not a skill worth boasting about to others. But I can face this kind of ruffian."

"You're amazing. How can you be so humble?"

At Miao Qingqing's appearance, who was approaching closely, Cheongun flinched for a moment.

Something felt strange.

It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but it was awkward.

"Ahem. Young Lady, I have an urgent matter, so I have to go now."

Pat.

For a moment, Cheongun's figure disappeared.

Miao Qingqing's face was full of surprise.

Although she had extended her hand to catch Cheongun, she could only see her own hand that was clutching the air.

"Ah!"

A deep sigh flowed out of Miao Qingqing's mouth.

Cheongun did not know why he was unfolding his lightness skill to the extreme. The Blood Emperor, who was watching Cheongun running as if he were being chased by something, threw a word.

[Foolish guy.]

"What?"

[That's enough. All scholars are like that. Tsk, tsk.]

"What are you talking about?"

[You don't need to know, you bastard.]

Although Cheongun asked, the Blood Emperor just made a pathetic expression and did not say anything.

* * *

An unknown tension flowed in the Zirong Palace, which was located at the foot of Tangshan.

At the attack that had continued for several days, the nerves of the Zirong Palace members had become sharp.

The ordinary people who had been staying in the palace had already moved to other places.

Moreover, hearing the news of the attack on the Zirong Palace, martial artists had flocked from not only Anhui Province but also from the nearby provinces to help.

The sects that had received the help of the Zirong Palace in the past had extended a helping hand in large numbers.

A time when darkness had fallen.

Cheongun looked down from a cliff overlooking the Zirong Palace.

He had to find a document or evidence that would reveal the identity of the Zirong Palace, but he had not yet found it. He had not been able to find any traces of Hyeokryeon Hui and the martial arts teacher, as well as the Yiqi Great Hero and his party.

There was no time.

If a few more days passed like this, the inspector who was coming down from the imperial capital would arrive. If he put a brake on his work, there would be many obstacles in his future actions.

'I have to find it tonight.'

He unfolded the Ten Thousand Flowers Concealment Evil Form and slipped into the Zirong Palace.

Cheongun, who was going around the Zirong Palace once, found something strange.

There was something important going on, and people were gathered.

Cheongun hid his body in the shade above the right pillar of the hall. Although there was also a masked person hiding there, he pressed his acupoints and knocked him out, and then took his place.

The wall in the center of the right side of the hall was pushed to the side.

It was a secret passage.

People were constantly going in and out of it. They were carrying something. The appearance of them carrying a lot of things like documents seemed to contain the secrets of the Zirong Palace.

Cheongun's eyebrows gathered in the middle.

'Why are they carrying it this evening?'

A question arose.

Every night at this time, he would come and make a mess.

They would know that today would be no different. In that case, it would be right to move it during the day, but they were carrying something. And they were doing it with the tightly hidden secret passage open.

'Is it a trap?'

Cheongun immediately grasped their intention. It was a trap that was too obvious.

It was clear that they had set a trap to catch him, who was appearing and disappearing like a ghost.

'I don't know who it is, but he's a sloppy guy.'

Although he had used his head quite a bit, he could not follow the head of Cheongun, who had achieved the top rank in three exams.

Cheongun looked around. Dozens of masked people were hiding their bodies in the dark.

Although they were unfolding their own concealment arts, they could not avoid Cheongun's eyes.

The Ten Thousand Flowers Concealment Evil Form that Cheongun was unfolding was more amazing than the concealment arts they were unfolding.

Cheongun silently approached behind the masked people. He pressed their acupoints and blood points and began to put the masked people to sleep without a sound.

Puk, puk.

As they fell one by one, he was able to put most of the masked people who were hiding in the hall to sleep.

Now, only the two masked people who were on the side of the grand preceptor's chair were left.

But he did not touch them.

'He has quite a bit of skill. It would be impossible to put him to sleep quietly.'

He felt the two masked people on the side of the grand preceptor's chair glancing at the side where Cheongun was hiding.

Fortunately, he was not caught. Since the place where Cheongun was was originally the place where another masked person was, it seemed they felt it as that person's presence.

'Shall I go inside?'

It was uneasy to just go into a place that was clearly a trap.

At that moment, the Blood Emperor slid forward and disappeared into the wide-open secret passage.

In the past, he could not go beyond ten zhang, but these days, he could be separated from Cheongun by up to thirty zhang.

After waiting for a while, the Blood Emperor returned.

-How is it?

[The passage is long. There were various mechanisms.]

-It's clearly a trap.

[Isn't that obvious?]

It was as Cheongun had expected. It was clearly a trap to ensnare him.

The Blood Emperor looked at the secret passage and then said to Cheongun.

[So you're not going in?]

-No way. Since they have prepared it with sincerity, shouldn't I go in and see?

Cheongun unfolded the Ten Thousand Flowers Concealment Evil Form to the extreme and slipped into the passage.

Although he had thought the passage would be dark, it was surprisingly bright. On both sides of the passage, torches using oil were lined up in a long row.

It was a fairly large passage that seemed to be at least one zhang in width and height.

He said that various mechanisms were installed in it.

When Cheongun looked, he couldn't see any particular mechanisms. Rather than not being able to see them, he couldn't tell because he had no knowledge of mechanisms.

Cheongun carefully watched the people who were going in and out. He looked several times at where they were stepping and what they were doing.

[There won't be much time. The ones you have subdued could be discovered, so you have to hurry.]

It was too tight to move while looking at each one. Since he didn't know when he would be caught, he moved in a hurry.

Hwik, hwik.

Cheongun moved forward quickly like the wind. The passage was quite long.

After turning twice, he saw stairs going down. But for some reason, the ones who had come into the passage turned back in front of the stairs.

'As expected, it's a trap.'

Although it was an expected thing, it felt strange to confirm the fact in front of his eyes.

He saw them pushing the things they had brought into a hole next to the stairs.

Since it was drilled vertically, the things flowed straight down.

'Shall I see what they have prepared?'

It was something he had to face anyway. Since he was short on time, he had planned to cause confusion only until today and then come with the Jinyiwei next time.

Seureureuk.

Cheongun's figure appeared in the passage. As if he had been standing there from the beginning, he stood tall and stared at the stairs.

Cheok.

He took a step towards the stairs. There was nothing particularly strange.

He went down five stairs in a row, and it was when he had just stepped down the seventh stair.

Thump.

With the sound of something being stepped on, something sharp shot out from the wall.

Shushushuk.

Cheongun's body disappeared like smoke. A black iron arrow pierced through the place where Cheongun had been.

Tududuk.

It hit the opposite wall and fell.

In succession, a hazy smoke was shot out from the entire passage.

'Poison?'

Cheongun held his breath and crouched his body.

Seven Treasures Soul-Chasing Powder.

It was a deadly poison that was said to cause death before taking seven steps.

He held his breath and raised his internal energy. He used his palm force to shoot the poison that was being shot at him back and forth.

He swung his twin palms and prevented the poison smoke from approaching.

The poison that had been shot once was no longer sprayed.

But the mechanism that had been activated once did not stop and continued to operate.

Shushushuk.

The iron arrows and hidden weapons that were flying across the passage sharply cut through the air.

Cheongun moved his body here and there and dodged and deflected the attacks.

At the same time, he ran down the stairs that were extending downwards.

Cheolkang, cheolkang.

The sound of a mechanism operating was heard in succession. But it was not faster than Cheongun's lightness skill.

The hidden weapons only cut through the air after he had passed.

When he came out of the stairs, he felt a killing intent from the left and right.

With a sharp sound of something cutting through the air, it attacked Cheongun's neck and waist.

Cheongun floated his body in the air, lay down horizontally, and rotated.

Two longswords cut through the top and bottom and passed by Cheongun's body.

Cheok.

Cheongun lightly landed on the floor.

He had already scanned the area below the stairs.

A huge underground space of over twenty zhang was spread out. In it, dozens of people were on standby.

Every one of them was a martial artist who was at or above the first-rate. Their sharp eyes were not ordinary.

Cheongun swung his twin palms and struck the chests of the two who were trying to attack him again.

Thwack.

Kwa-dang.

The two could not even scream and flew back and fell.

Cheongun looked over the ones who were surrounding him in a fan shape and then opened his mouth.

"For a welcoming greeting, it's a bit burdensome."

Although Cheongun said it as if he were teasing, they did not attack right away. They just stood in a confrontation and stared.

It was a look that said they thought he was a rat in a trap.

"Why aren't you attacking? Are you scared?"

Cheongun, who had realized that the opponent had no intention of attacking right away, slowly looked around.

The wide space of over twenty zhang was supported by four pillars made of blue steel stone.

Perhaps because it was a place used as a training ground, he saw a rack with various kinds of weapons on the wall.

But the Blood Emperor went to one of the pillars made of blue steel stone and was looking at it intently.

He soon nodded his head and then returned to Cheongun's side.

[There's a martial art written on it.]

-Is it a martial art of the Heavenly Cult?

Cheongun asked, just in case. As expected, the Blood Emperor nodded his head.

Cheongun's eyes lit up, and he asked the ones who were watching him.

"Do you know a place called the Heavenly Cult?"

But no one answered.

Cheongun asked again and looked at their reaction.

"Don't you know the place that ruled the world three hundred years ago?"

There was still no one who answered. There were no people who showed any particular action or were surprised. They were as calm as a well-refined sword.

But a heavy voice was heard from one side.

"Who are you to be talking about that vicious Heavenly Cult?"

(End of Chapter)