Scholar Demon Venerable

Since he needed to leap straight upward, he executed the Qi-Riding Upward Surge using the lightness technique of the Flying Heaven Shadowless Divine Step.

Cheongun, who had soared, cutting through the wind, immediately concentrated his internal energy on the Yongquan acupoint and balanced himself in the air.

He briefly imitated the subtlety of the Void-Stepping Technique, a legendary divine step that was said to be able to step on the sky like stairs.

In that fleeting moment, the Blood Emperor soared higher into the sky again.

The Blood Emperor, who had jumped higher than Cheongun, who had soared nearly twenty zhang, looked at one place for a while and then came down.

Cheongun also slowly descended.

When he had trained for a year, he had been able to soar a little over ten zhang, but his skills had improved a lot during that time, so he had been able to soar higher.

As he landed on the ground, the Jinyiwei who were watching looked at Cheongun with an expression of awe.

It was a natural reaction since they had seen a divine prowess that they could not even dare to imagine.

The Blood Emperor pointed to one side to Cheongun.

[That rocky area on the ridge over there is suspicious.]

Pabat.

Cheongun unfolded his lightness skill as soon as the Blood Emperor's words were finished. He immediately arrived at the place the Blood Emperor had pointed to and looked around.

The Blood Emperor pointed to a pile of stones under a large rock. Cheongun immediately struck the rock using the Coiling Dragon Palm.

Kwa-kwang!

The collapsed stone blocks were cleared by Cheongun's single move. In the space that was revealed after the rock was cleared, a small cave was drilled.

"I found it."

Although they had made a lot of effort to erase their traces, in the end, the traces were discovered by the Blood Emperor.

As he was looking around for a while, the Jinyiwei chased after Cheongun and landed in the field.

Cheongun gave instructions to the Jinyiwei.

"This is the exit of the secret passage. There is a high probability that poison has been released inside, so find a master of poison arts and have them take a look, and keep it a secret."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

It was not something he could leak information about when he had not yet caught them.

Cheongun began to look around. The Jinyiwei also began to carefully look for any traces.

"There is a trace of a broken branch here."

A Jinyiwei who was looking at the forest shouted.

Cheongun immediately approached the Jinyiwei who had shouted. In the place he had pointed to, there was a tree with a broken branch.

Since it could have been broken by an animal, Cheongun carefully observed the surroundings.

Whether it was a mountain beast or a person, a long trace of movement over the ridge continued.

Cheongun had a Jinyiwei who was skilled in tracking examine the traces and then asked a question.

"How much time do you think has passed?"

"At least a week has passed."

"Really? Then, is it a person or an animal?"

"Yes, it's not an animal. The location is different."

The Jinyiwei who had been pointed out by Cheongun raised his hand to his chest.

"The only animal that comes this far is a bear. Tigers and wild boars only come up to the waist. And it is said that there is no large tiger that can be called a great tiger here."

"They were people who thoroughly erased their traces. What do you think is the reason they left such a trace?"

"It seems to be a trace that was made while moving at night. Even if you are careful, if you use a mountain path at night, you are bound to leave a trace."

Cheongun nodded his head. If they had escaped the Zirong Palace, it would have been at night.

Moreover, if it was a week ago, it was a day when the new moon had risen.

The new moon is the darkest night except for the day when there is no moonlight. It would have been a perfect day for them to escape without being caught.

Cheongun looked down at the mountain.

The south of Tangshan came into view at a glance.

Although Tangshan was in Anhui, it was in a place that protruded sharply, and the area below it geographically belonged to Henan Province.

He did not worry for long and gave an order.

"Send a person to Yongcheng right away. Spread the descriptions of Hyeokryeon Hui and his party in the area and have them find similar people. Also, contact the Beggars' Sect and inform them that they have probably entered Yongcheng."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The possibility that Hyeokryeon Hui and the ones who had escaped had stopped by Yongcheng was as great as the fact that a person has ten fingers.

"Investigate the Yongcheng branch of the Zirong Palace right now and then report."

He had to hurry.

He was already a week behind.

Cheongun had the Jinyiwei chase the traces, and he himself returned to the Zirong Palace and summoned the Baihus of the Jinyiwei.

Cheongun entrusted the Zirong Palace to Seok Deok-jo again and gave an order.

"Thousand-household Commander Seok, cooperate well with the Censorate's censors. And also cooperate well with Thousand-household Commander Song In-ho without clashing, and after finishing the work here, join us."

"Yes, Your Excellency, please do not worry about anything."

"Oh, and tell Baihu Yun, who is out at the Fengyun Manor, to handle the Hyeokryeon Manor's matter together."

"Yes, I understand."

"Baihu Xiong Tian, prepare a separate unit of a hundred men from the third group."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"I will depart first, so come to Yongcheng as soon as you are ready."

"I will follow you soon."

Cheongun, who had given the last order to Xiong Tian, left the Zirong Palace.

* * *

Yongcheng was by Mount Mangdang.

Although this Mount Mangdang was not a very high mountain, it was a historically important place.

It was famous as the place where Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, had risen up and had cut off the head of a snake.

That place was the southern foot of the Chizai Peak of Mount Mangdang, and Cheongun unfolded his lightness skill and landed there.

[Why did you stop?]

"Ah, I just stopped by since I was passing by."

[Do you have something to do at the place where Liu Bang cut off the snake's head?]

"It's a place that the heroes of the world visit at least once when they are about to unfold a great will."

It is said that when Liu Bang was passing by this place with his subordinates, a large snake blocked the front. It is said that at that time, the drunk Liu Bang had cut off the snake's head and had shown his spirit.

In this place, which was called the place where Liu Bang had cut the snake, a large stone monument in memory of Liu Bang was erected.

Since ancient times, many people had offered incense in memory of Liu Bang's great will.

Even now, dozens of people had flocked and were offering incense.

Cheongun also waited for his turn and looked around.

There was nothing particularly special about this place except for the stone monument.

If there was no stone monument of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, there would be no reason for people to flock to this place.

But something caught Cheongun's eye.

-Blood Emperor, it was a good thing we came here.

[What are you talking about?]

The Blood Emperor's head turned to the place Cheongun was looking at.

He saw a person who was just turning around after lighting incense, and he was wearing a hat with a deep brim as if to cover his face.

It was a common sight anywhere, but to Cheongun and the Blood Emperor, he was a person as welcome as finding a needle lost at the beach.

[The heavens are helping.]

Cheongun examined the back of the man who was slowly disappearing with a sidelong glance and lit the incense.

He offered the incense with all his heart, with a heart of gratitude for the work that had been accomplished as if by fate.

There was nothing strange, so much so that anyone would see him as an incense offerer.

Cheongun turned back and went down the mountain. About a dozen people were hurrying along the road in groups of three and five.

Far away, he saw the person who had caught Cheongun's eye walking.

Cheongun did not hurry and hurried along the road to Yongcheng with the others.

* * *

Cheongun unpacked his luggage in a detached house behind an inn where he could handle meals and sleep together and went out to the main building.

Since there was still time before evening, the inn was quiet.

Cheongun, who had taken a seat by the window on the second floor, ordered a simple meal.

Since Yongcheng was the most prosperous place in the vicinity, there were quite a few people coming and going.

Cheongun, who had eaten a rough meal, called the waiter who had brought the tea.

"Let me ask you something."

"Yes, please speak."

He was a common waiter who seemed to be fifteen or sixteen.

"If you go that way, there is a fairly large caravan, what kind of place is that?"

At Cheongun's gesture, the waiter's head turned and then came back and said.

"That is the Yongfeng Caravan."

"Yongfeng Caravan... I haven't heard of it, is it a famous place?"

"Not really. The size of the manor is large, but it's a caravan that only operates in the vicinity. So we don't call it a caravan, we call it the Yongfeng Manor. They sometimes go on long journeys, but the scale is not large, and they only go once in a while."

"Thank you."

Cheongun gave the waiter a few iron coins.

His head turned to the window again.

-It's definitely a strange place. The reason they are running a caravan seems to be a disguise to hide their identity.

[That's right. A place where well-refined sword-like warriors are guarding a manor of that size is a caravan? A passing dog would laugh.]

Cheongun had watched the target enter the manor of the Yongfeng Caravan and had immediately unfolded the Ten Thousand Affairs Concealment Evil Form and had slipped into the manor. And he had confirmed that Hyeokryeon Hui and the martial arts teacher were hiding there.

-But who were the ones who were there?

[Are you talking about the two old monsters?]

-Yes, didn't you see the place I was hiding?

There was a reason why Cheongun had not been able to examine it more closely and had turned back.

The problem was the old man and woman who were with Hyeokryeon Hui.

Although he was hiding his body far away, they had looked at the place he was hiding exactly.

He had been startled and had quickly pulled out his body, and if he hadn't, he might have been caught.

[The old man's martial arts were quite good. But he probably couldn't see through the concealment art you unfolded. He just had a good sense and felt a strange premonition.]

Occasionally, there were people who were more sensitive than their skills. That old man might have been such a case.

[But you have to be careful. The two old monsters looked quite strong.]

-I understand.

He might be the strongest among the people he had met so far after entering the martial world.

Of course, among the strong, there was Ou Huliang, but he had looked down on Cheongun and had not been able to unfold his proper skills and had become a guest of the underworld.

But it wasn't that he wasn't confident.

He had already competed with numerous masters and had always won.

[Don't be lazy in your training. If you look down on your enemy, you could end up like Ou Huliang. What's heavenly silkworm silk that he disregarded defense. Tsk, tsk.]

It was as the Blood Emperor had said.

He himself had never not read a book for a single day. Because he had worked tirelessly, he had been able to rise to the glorious position of Samwon.

He thought martial arts were the same. He thought that if he worked tirelessly, he would one day be able to see the ultimate of martial arts.

[Are you going to attack right away?]

At the Blood Emperor's question, Cheongun worried for a moment and then barely opened his mouth.

"No. Let's watch a little longer."

He had originally planned to catch him right away. But other suspicious people had appeared.

Perhaps they were people related to the backer of the Zirong Palace. The descendants of the traitors of the Heavenly Cult, or the ones who had held hands with them and had destroyed the Heavenly Cult.

In that case, it could be a bad move to stir things up to catch Hyeokryeon Hui right away.

Cheongun planned to stay at the inn and look at the Yongfeng Manor.

But he heard that a manor near the Yongfeng Manor was for sale.

It was a place called the Gong Family Manor, and it was said that the caravan it operated was on the verge of bankruptcy, so it was being sold cheaply.

Cheongun looked into the owner of that place in detail.

The owner was a person named Gong Xian, and his reputation was quite good. He had helped the poor with the profits he had made while operating the caravan, and he had not spared his support so that scholars in difficult situations could study.

Cheongun organized his thoughts and then went to the Gong Family Manor.

Gong Xian's eyes widened as a young person came to him and said something unexpected.

"You want to invest?"

"That's right. I think this manor will be enough as collateral."

Gong Xian thought that Cheongun was trying to get the manor for free and was about to refuse.

There had been a couple of people who had come with such an intention before. Among them, there was also a person who had offered three thousand taels and had said he would take the manor worth twenty thousand taels as collateral.

But Cheongun said.

"I heard you put the manor up for sale because you were short of ten thousand silver taels."

"That's right. I'll say it in advance, but I will not sell or put the manor up as collateral for less than ten thousand silver taels. Please keep that in mind and speak."

"I'll offer twenty thousand silver taels."

Gong Xian's eyes widened.

He had been trying to sell the manor for ten thousand taels, but he was saying he would offer twenty thousand taels with the manor as collateral.

With that money, it was the same as selling the manor for its proper price.

But Cheongun went one step further and completely broke Gong Xian's shaken heart.

(End of Chapter)