Chapter 176
Chapter 176
While the three members of the Orthodox Sect trio stared blankly at Youngho’s face, Kang Hosan realized that their conversation had ended.
Thus he immediately leaned his face toward Youngho and spoke.
“Young Master.”
“It’s not just burdensome—it’s annoying. Move your face away.”
“Yes, sir.”
After obeying his lord’s command, Kang Hosan sat back down and said,
“What in the world happened?”
“Are you talking about Chowon? Or about me?”
“Of course both, isn’t it?”
“…After the war ends, I’ll give you a gold bar.”
“Huh? All of a sudden? Well, I’ll accept it if you give it to me, but why are you doing this?”
“You’re the second person who worried about me after we arrived here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s something like that.”
Youngho inwardly praised himself for having made Kang Hosan his friend—both before his Regression and now.
With a noticeably gentler tone than before, Youngho asked again,
“So what are you curious about?”
“I heard from the Divine Physician that Young Master helped restore Chowon’s Mindscape.”
“That’s right. I helped… no, I did everything.”
Youngho’s expression suddenly darkened. He looked like a low-ranking aide who had been clinging to work for three days straight without sleep.
The exhaustion etched on Youngho’s face was severe enough that even Hyeon-gang—who blindly trusted his lord—felt worried.
“Guys, I’ll overlook it this time since it’s the first time. But if you ever bring me someone whose Mindscape is broken and tell me to heal them again, both the one receiving treatment and the one who brought them should be prepared to die.”
The madness flickering in Youngho’s eyes spoke the truth. As the others swallowed nervously, Youngho let out a sigh.
“The Divine Physician must have roughly explained it, but among the countless ways to fix Chowon’s Mindscape, I removed the Inner Demon.”
In theory, it was possible. However, Hwa Ryeong—who had seen countless patients with damaged Mindscapes—barely suppressed her shock.
To begin with, injuries to the Mindscape were so rare that they could practically be considered extinct.
Yet this brat, who had not even reached the Age of Forty, had restored a Mindscape…
If anyone other than Hwa Ryeong claimed such a thing had happened, physicians would shower them with curses—and probably beat them senseless.
After all, the ultimate goal of medicine, developed through countless studies, was to heal the Inner Demon, an injury invisible to the eye.
But Youngho’s next words were far harder to believe.
“Chowon’s Inner Demon was me.”
The moment Youngho said that, Kang Hosan’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me the reason Chowon was injured… was because of you, Young Master?”
A stream of curses burst out instinctively. Words no one had ever heard before poured from Youngho’s mouth. Except for filial curses, it felt as though Kang Hosan had received every insult in the world, and his shoulders shrank.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Your sister wanted to become like me and used techniques beyond her level—that’s why her Mindscape was injured!”
“Oh? Then in the end it’s Young Master’s respons—”
Youngho glared at Hyeon-gang. Overwhelmed by the crushing presence, Hyeon-gang quietly lowered his head.
“You idiots worse than back-alley thugs. When someone gets stabbed to death, do they blame the person who made the sword instead of the one who stabbed them? Are you all insane? Besides, inside Chowon’s Mindscape, I was literally fighting myself.”
The conversation seemed like it would drag on endlessly, so Hwa Ryeong clapped her hands once and spoke.
Clap!
“Alright, from here on, the expert will explain. What Youngho encountered inside Chowon’s Mindscape was both an Inner Demon and Kang Chowon’s own wall.”
“…Hyung, do you understand what she’s saying?”
“You obviously can’t understand nonsense from someone of advanced age…”
Hwa Ryeong glared at Hyeon-gang and Kang Hosan as they chatted. When the surroundings became quiet again, she continued.
“Most likely, Youngho cut down the Youngho that Kang Chowon imagined. More precisely, he probably helped Kang Chowon cut it down. After all, one must resolve their own Inner Demon personally.”
“Huh? No, that’s not what happened.”
“…Hmm?”
For a moment, silence fell over the area. Hwa Ryeong couldn’t hide her confusion as everyone’s gaze focused on her.
“Not what happened? Then how on earth did you restore Chowon’s Mindscape?”
“Well, originally I was planning to cut down the Inner Demon. Chowon’s Inner Demon definitely looked like me, but no matter what, it couldn’t copy my entire Sword Art.”
“Are you saying there was a difference in enlightenment?”
“That’s right. I was going to cut it down with a single sword strike, but the Inner Demon Chowon created had surprisingly good movements. So before I knew it, I was enjoying it a bit. Seeing my Sword Art from someone else’s perspective was quite interesting.”
There really were all sorts of lunatics in the world. Enjoying a fight with an Inner Demon—and one that wasn’t even his own.
Unaware of Hwa Ryeong’s suspicious gaze, Youngho spoke as if recalling that time.
“So I was enjoying it a bit and then tried to cut it down, but the Inner Demon started growing.”
“What?!”
It was a symptom she had never heard of before. Inner Demons could worsen, yes—but what kind of nonsense was it for an Inner Demon to grow during the middle of a fight?
From the way he described it, Youngho had clearly been overwhelming the Inner Demon. Yet it had grown stronger?
“It turned out that while watching my sword, Chowon herself kept improving. Naturally, Chowon’s Inner Demon also grew stronger.”
“…I’m sure she grew a lot.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing. Continue.”
The story was rather bizarre, but it was undeniably fascinating.
“So I tried to finish it quickly and swung my sword faster, but Chowon’s mind couldn’t endure it. So I had no choice but to fight the Inner Demon on equal footing.”
“…Then there’s no solution, is there? Didn’t you land some decisive blow? Didn’t you exploit a part of your Sword Art that Chowon couldn’t grasp?”
“Chowon was too brilliant.”
“You insane bastard!”
In the end, the Mindscape had been restored—but judging from the situation alone, both Youngho’s and Kang Chowon’s minds should have shattered to pieces.
‘You should’ve gone all out from the start—why did you act so arrogantly…!’
As if he had expected such criticism, Youngho awkwardly smiled and said,
“So I did as the Divine Physician suggested and struck Chowon where she least expected it.”
Only then did Hwa Ryeong’s complexion brighten.
“I fought the Inner Demon until Chowon’s mind couldn’t endure it anymore. Just watching my sword must have drained a lot of mental strength. I thought she’d collapse in two or three days, but I never expected her to last five days.”
For a moment, Hwa Ryeong’s expression had been very bright.
For a very brief moment.
With a serious expression, Hwa Ryeong looked at Hyeon-gang and said,
“Hyeon-gang. Why don’t you take Jo-pyeong and transfer to the Medical Pavilion? Your master is not sane.”
“Master. Just four years ago, Young Master would have gladly accepted that request.”
“Why can’t he now?”
“That’s because Young Master needs me.”
“Is that your own will?”
“Of course not.”
Hyeon-gang could feel Youngho’s gaze on him. That intense gaze seemed to declare that if he tried to run, Youngho would chase him to the ends of hell.
Noticing that, Hwa Ryeong nodded.
“Stay strong. Even I can’t stop that one.”
On that day, among Youngho’s many nicknames, the title Mad Venerable was born.
And just like that, half a month passed.
Before anyone knew it, hundreds of thousands of Martial Artists had gathered in the Sichuan Territory. They were soldiers assembled jointly by the Orthodox Sect and the Unorthodox Faction.
The Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Families, and dozens of sects belonging to the Murim Alliance had sent support. Meanwhile, the Unorthodox Alliance conscripted nearly a hundred sects under its banner, including the Green Forest, the Eighteen Strongholds of the Yangtze Waterways, and the Hao Sect.
Naturally, in terms of numbers alone, the Unorthodox side had several times more troops. However, since they had also gathered members of the Black Faction, most of them were people destined to die meaningless deaths on the battlefield.
Thus, if one judged by actual combat power rather than numbers, it was fair to say both sides were roughly equal.
But since so many individuals with strong personalities had gathered, conflicts inevitably arose.
Ordinarily, these disputes could have been resolved through conversation.
The problem was time.
Resolving disputes required time—but they had none to spare.
So Youngho crushed every conflict with sheer force.
Everyone wanted Youngho to take the lead. Even aside from the rumor that he was the Heavenly Demon’s only rival, everyone present felt that only Youngho could face the Heavenly Demon.
They had briefly experienced Youngho’s aura during the Dragon–Phoenix Gathering, and the atmosphere here subtly revealed that Youngho was the one in command.
Thus the Abbot of Shaolin, Hye-gak, urged Youngho to step forward and lead.
Youngho became furious at Shaolin’s attempt to send him to the front while seizing all command authority.
That day, Hye-gak was beaten by Youngho’s fists like a dog on the hottest days of summer. Even Hye-won—who normally would have tolerated such matters—was shocked and tried to stop Youngho.
And that day, Hye-won was beaten as well.
Those who witnessed Shaolin’s authority being dragged through the dirt never again dared mention the subject of command authority.
Youngho ruled the entire force through overwhelming fear.
The Orthodox Sect members trembled in humiliation, while the Unorthodox members openly provoked them.
At this rate, even if they won the war, they would lose the trust of the common people.
Even if it meant starting the Orthodox–Unorthodox War right now, they felt they had to fight.
Just as such thoughts arose, Youngho made an example.
Even at a glance, thousands of soldiers surrounded the area.
Seeing that enough people had gathered, Youngho nodded slightly and spoke.
“Attention. These people belong to a sect called the Black Serpent Sect under the Unorthodox Alliance. They’re not weak—but they’re not strong either.”
Youngho addressed the dozen or so “criminals” kneeling with their heads bowed.
“Do you know your crime?”
“W-We are sorry!”
Thud!
The disciples of the Black Serpent Sect slammed their heads against the ground. Youngho swept a cold gaze over them and asked again in an emotionless voice.
“Do you know your crime?”
Their bodies trembled violently under Youngho’s presence, which seemed to touch something primal within life itself. Some were so terrified they even wet themselves.
Yet Youngho showed no mercy.
“Sect Leader.”
The Sect Leader of the Black Serpent Sect, Yeok Minhu, bowed respectfully to Youngho and spoke.
“Yes, Fifth Young Master.”
“Your son is here.”
For a moment, Yeok Minhu’s body twitched. Pretending not to notice, Youngho asked him,
“Do you oppose my will?”
“……”
“I will ask again. I have already given your son and the disciples of the Black Serpent Sect two warnings. Yet they violated my orders. That is a grave problem for military discipline. After all, I must command hundreds of thousands of soldiers. So I will ask once more.”
With his characteristic chilling voice, Youngho asked,
“Do you have any objection to me killing these fools who defied the orders of the one who must serve as Supreme Commander?”
“…I have none.”
“F-Father!”
Just as the child abandoned by his parent lifted his head with a wounded expression—
Slash!
Before he could even raise his head, Youngho cut down Yeok Minhu’s son.
Life instantly drained from the father’s face before he even saw his son’s final expression.
Even so, Yeok Minhu’s feet did not move an inch.
Seeing that, Youngho nodded.
“I commend your loyalty.”
The moment he finished speaking, the swords of the Asura Squad Members cut the throats of the Black Serpent Sect disciples.
“Burn the corpses.”
At Youngho’s cruel order—driving a dagger into the parents’ hearts until the very end—everyone trembled.
And they realized something.
Whether provoked or provoking, the only way to survive was to stay quiet.