Chapter 60
"All of my two masters' martial arts are precious to me."
Although they often fought and cursed, the Taoist Lingbao was also Agong's lifesaver and also his master.
Although Tongtian had also trapped him, in the end, it was his own choice for Agong's training.
"I will not say it three times. Abandon Lingbao's martial arts and inherit my mantle to practice the true number one divine art of the demonic path."
Tongtian said again at Agong's answer.
The fact that he had repeated the same words more than once was also proof that his affection for Agong had deepened a lot.
It was a humanity that could not be found when he was watching the dozens of candidate children who had gathered to become his disciples die when he was in the Divine Cult.
"Why are you masters competing over me? Can't you all just leave me alone?"
Agong, who had a good sense, knew that the Taoist Lingbao and Tongtian had taught him martial arts as if they were competing over him.
"Since you have learned the Manifest Demon True Art and the Nine Gates Harmonious Heart Art, you are no longer your own, so how can I just leave you alone?"
"What do you mean I'm not my own!"
"How can you say that you are only your own? A part of your life is also for someone else. Do you not know that, having learned the ultimate art that has been passed down for hundreds of years?"
Agong was at a loss for words.
Although the Taoist Lingbao was also like that, sometimes the people here seemed to have their own thoughts so firmly that they could not think of anything else at all.
"I'm a person who thinks and speaks, not an object! And I'm your disciple!"
"If you are truly my disciple, you should have abandoned the miscellaneous martial arts of that old fox!"
As Tongtian raised his hand, an untouchable power began to flicker in his grasp.
In the sky where there was not a single cloud, a wind raged, and as if the ground were shaking, a pile of dirt began to scatter loudly.
"If you don't listen, I have no choice but to do it by force."
Agong could tell that Tongtian was not joking.
Although he had had many duels with Tongtian so far, the martial art that the Tongtian in front of him was displaying was at a level that Agong could not touch in its depth and height.
"This is the last time... I have never once in my life asked three times. Abandon the martial arts of the Taoist Lingbao!"
"I don't want to!"
As the angry Agong shouted as if he were screaming, Tongtian's beard trembled with anger.
He was even more angry because he had put so much affection and effort into it.
"Do not resent me even if you become a cripple."
As Tongtian's hand moved, the wind that had been swirling around became a gale and raged around Agong.
It was not a wind, but a huge palm force, a huge tornado that tore flesh and turned the heavens and the earth upside down.
Agong immediately stuck Tonglin into the ground and hastily engraved the art of the eight trigrams that he had learned from Master Gongsun on the floor.
And he raised all the internal energy of his whole body, displayed his protective qi, and pulled out Tonglin, thickly displaying a purple sword membrane with the technique of the Heavenly Demon Hand.
The situation was as precarious as a small boat in a typhoon.
Although Agong thought that Tongtian would not really display his martial arts with the intention of killing him, seeing the huge palm force coming down towards him in the darkened surroundings, he even regretted not listening to Tongtian's words.
"Aaaah!"
Agong, with a scream-like sound, received Tongtian's one blow alone.
Neither Agong's Heavenly Demon Hand nor the art of the eight trigrams.
Neither of them was of great help.
Tongtian's one blow had too easily torn apart the defense that Agong had displayed with all his might.
Grab!
The moment blood and qi were in a mess and blood was pouring out of his mouth, Agong felt someone's strong grasp on his waist.
It was Li Hachan, who had seen Tongtian display the Manifest Demon True Art to Agong from the nearby tavern and had displayed the Nine Palaces Divine Steps with all his might.
Swoosh!
Although he was not a supreme master, Li Hachan's footwork was so outstanding that it was comparable to it. He, even though his clothes were all torn and his back was torn, with blood flowing down, embraced Agong in his armpit and avoided Tongtian's palm force.
"You crazy old man! Are you really going to kill a child!"
Although Li Hachan would not have gone near Tongtian on a normal basis, he was genuinely angry and put strength into the arm that was embracing Agong, who was hanging from his armpit.
"Shadowless Divine Thief. This is a matter of my sect, so do not interfere."
Although Tongtian had shown some mercy in his hand, he showed his displeasure without reservation at the fact that Li Hachan had interfered with his one move.
The reason he had not made a second move was that Li Hachan, unlike Agong, was purely a person of the Mountain Sea Tavern.
"No matter how much you are the Divine Cult or the Manifest Cult or whatever, a master who beats his disciple! You six-limbed bastards, aren't you a bunch of ruffians who are worthy of the demonic cult!"
Once his mouth was open, rough curses poured out of Li Hachan.
As Tongtian lightly stomped his foot, his body floated up into the air.
Stepping on the Void.
As a scene that could be called a legendary state unfolded, Li Hachan felt a regret rush in his heart.
Although he had become calmer compared to the past, Tongtian was also a murderer who had slaughtered thousands of righteous martial artists when he was the cult leader of the demonic cult.
"Tongtian Cult Master! No matter how arrogant you are, this child is also my joint disciple with the Taoist Lingbao! If you still harm Agong in the Hermit's Valley, it means you are antagonizing both the Mountain Peak and the Mountain Sea Tavern!"
Flinch.
Tongtian, who had been slowly raising his two hands, stopped his move for a moment at Li Hachan's roar.
"Joint disciple?"
Tongtian had never once thought that Agong was a joint disciple.
In the first place, since the doctrine of the demonic cult was the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, Agong was also his disciple in the end, so he had considered the rest as just extras.
Moreover, the Nine Palaces Divine Steps of Li Hachan, which did not even reach the Taoist Lingbao, was just a miscellaneous study that would soon be erased if Agong learned the Manifest Demon True Art.
"Hahaha!"
Tongtian burst out laughing.
Why had Hongjun brought Agong and had not laid a hand on him?
He felt his insight, which had been clouded for a while by the bet with Lingbao and the joy of having a disciple, become clear again.
A joint disciple.
In the end, Agong was a child who had stayed at the Mountain Sea Tavern with Old Ancestor Hongjun's intention.
Hongjun had truly blown his nose without even laying a hand on him.
'A cunning fellow.'
Tongtian also fully sympathized with the great cause and necessity of the God-Sealing Platform that he wanted to build here.
But in the end, someone had to step forward to realize it.
Although Tongtian had thought that Shen Gongbao, who was said to be a joint disciple of the Mountain Peak, would take on that role, now it was clear that Agong had been chosen as the right person.
'But no matter what you say, as long as he has learned the Manifest Demon True Art, Agong is a disciple of the demonic path.'
Tongtian, who had calmed his excitement, looked at the sight of Agong, who was covered in Li Hachan's blood and his own blood, fainted without strength.
Perhaps he had been too hasty in laying a hand on him.
It was something that a master like him could know, that a supreme martial art like the Manifest Demon True Art would eventually be embodied in a slightly different form according to the understanding of the practitioner.
Perhaps the martial art that Agong was displaying now was not a different form of the Manifest Demon True Art?
The Manifest Demon True Art was the ultimate art of the Divine Cult, which ate everything and burned.
The energy of the Nine Gates True Scripture that he had seen while taking a pulse could also be a process of merging into the Manifest Demon True Art in the end.
'I'll know if I watch more.'
Li Hachan, holding Agong, flew his body as if running away to the tavern.
Although Tongtian knew that he would be thoroughly hated by Agong for this incident, he hoped that Agong would clearly realize what it meant to learn the number one divine art of the demonic path this time.
"Hmph!"
Tongtian, who had turned his body, moved his unpleasant feet, recalling Li Hachan, who had run away to the tavern again.
In any case, since he had interfered with his move, being a thief hiding in the tavern, it was a matter worthy of death.
It was unlikely that Li Hachan would hide in the Mountain Sea Tavern like a turtle hiding its body in its shell forever.
Tongtian, engraving this incident in his memory, soon hid his body.
* * *
"What is this?"
Master Gongsun, seeing Agong and Cook Li, who had suddenly appeared covered in blood, came running out in surprise.
Although he had seen the outside become noisy and Cook Li hurriedly run out of the tavern, it was natural to be surprised that he had appeared with such a big wound in that short time.
"Don't just stand there and help me."
Although Cook Li did not usually mix words with Master Gongsun, now he was in a situation where he had to borrow even a cat's paw.
His back was hot, and perhaps because he had shed a lot of blood, he was dizzy and sleepy, so if he did not get treatment quickly, not only Agong but also himself seemed to be in danger.
Master Gongsun hurriedly packed medicinal herbs for hemostasis and treatment and treated Agong and Cook Li.
"Damn bastards... everything here is a damn thing that you can't associate with!"
Without even having time to care about the rough words of Cook Li, who was spewing out curses, Master Gongsun, dripping with sweat, stopped the bleeding and placed a simple needle to open Agong's blocked blood and qi.
"Was the commotion outside because of Agong?"
"Tongtian! The six-limbed leader of the demonic cult has shown his true colors."
"How could he do this to his own disciple..."
"Haven't you even heard the story that the demonic cult kidnaps a hundred infants of the world with outstanding bones and muscles to choose a successor, and in the end, only one of those who have been made disciples survives?"
At the terrible story, Master Gongsun firmly closed his lips and engraved the art of the eight trigrams around Agong's body.
Since he had no great internal energy, it would not be of much help, but he thought that it would at least be of a little help to Agong's recovery.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck... in the first place, that old monster Hongjun, who caught a child who knew nothing in a place like this, is the one to be killed."
"..."
Master Gongsun, who was cooperating with Hongjun's plan more than anyone else, could not bring himself to add to Cook Li's lament.
He just felt sorry and pitiful at the sight of Agong, who was so badly injured.
"If this brat is to survive, the only way is to send him out of this place as soon as possible."
Although he had tried hard not to give his affection to Agong, Cook Li was sure of it after today's incident.
That a person's heart could not move as one wished.
How long would he live? Did he have to see a child being carried out as a corpse in a tavern like this?
"Master, you must know Hongjun's plan well. Can Agong leave the Hermit's Valley someday?"
Those who stayed in the Hermit's Valley had to pay a suitable price to get out of this place.
Wasn't he also tied to the Mountain Sea Tavern because he could not pay that price?
Although he didn't know what price Agong would have to pay, it would not be an easy matter.
"...Because of that price, Agong will be able to leave the Hermit's Valley."
At the words that Agong would be able to leave the Hermit's Valley in any case, Cook Li let out a sigh of relief.
"Finish it as soon as possible. Aren't you and I too soft-hearted to see a child's corpse?"
Master Gongsun, looking at the back of Cook Li, who was walking into the kitchen as if tired, placed his hand on Agong's forehead.
Hadn't he also joined hands with Hongjun for his own dream and was a body that was staying in the Hermit's Valley?
Agong probably had no idea.
That he was also doing a terrible thing to Agong, whose life and death could not be guaranteed in the future.
A man's dream was a goal in life that had to be achieved even at the risk of criticism.
But although he could not tell how rough Agong's future would be even with his divination, Master Gongsun sincerely hoped that Agong would be at peace, at least for now.
(End of Chapter)