Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 140 - Heavenly Demon

Chapter 140 – Heavenly Demon

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Zhejiang Province.

Four giant evil sects based in that land of plenty were called the Four Powers of Zhejiang.

All members of the Twelve Evil Sects, the fact alone that all four were located in Zhejiang spoke volumes about what a significant region it was.

Martial organizations were monsters that devoured wealth and resources, yet to support four major sects meant Zhejiang’s interests were that vast.

The four evil sects of Zhejiang held regular meetings. Being evil path didn’t mean constant hair-pulling fights.

Any faction, once established and holding power, eventually sought stability.

Today was the day of that meeting. And unusually, there was an uninvited guest.

“The Four Clouds Society… An interesting name.”

A tall middle-aged man suddenly walked into the meeting hall.

“The Imperial grace is like sunlight, so like clouds covering that light, they blanket Zhejiang… is that the meaning? A domain free from the government’s eyes, ruled by evil sects…”

“Who are you?!”

A giant in dark blue robes roared as he snatched up the halberd beside him.

Gam Dong-hyeok, Sect Master of the Azure Thunder Sect.

Boldly carrying around a weapon of that length… Zhejiang really was an evil sect’s world.

The hot-tempered Sect Master Gam had stood abruptly, but the other three masters were patient enough to stay seated.

They examined the middle-aged man who had suddenly entered.

One elder let out a soft exclamation.

“What an extraordinarily handsome man indeed.”

As he said, the middle-aged man was remarkably handsome. Despite his age, his beauty had only deepened with maturity.

Features as sharp as if drawn with ink, a well-built frame… any man would feel uncomfortable standing next to him.

The middle-aged man nodded lightly.

“Thank you.”

At his words, the elder chuckled and shook his head.

“Informal speech.”

Immediately the elder’s sleeve twitched, and a chakram wrapped in blue radiance shot toward the middle-aged man at terrifying speed.

The chakram was wrapped in Blade Aura Materialization.

With just a few exchanged words, the elder had already gauged the middle-aged man’s presence.

By his estimation, the opponent was similar to or slightly above the level of the sect masters present. It was best to subdue him first and then talk. Catching his signal, the other sect masters also charged in.

All except Sect Master Gam, who’d wielded his halberd so boldly a moment before. For some reason, he stood frozen.

And then…

-Ping…

The middle-aged man lazily raised a finger and flicked it, and the chakram flew right back the way it came.

‘Finger Flicking Technique?’

Finger Flicking was a venerable jianghu technique. Any attack using a flicked finger powered by internal energy was called that.

But to send a flying blade back with a single finger flick?

‘Did he specialize in Finger Flicking? Quite unusual.’

Puzzled, the elder tilted his head to dodge the chakram and was reaching into his sleeve to draw a second and third…

When the middle-aged man flicked his finger slightly.

The chakram that had flown off in the distance curved back, swooping toward the back of the elder’s head.

The chakram now sprouted a black blade of energy.

-SPLAT!

The elder’s body split in two, blood mist exploding. Then, the middle-aged man’s repeated finger gestures sent the chakram whirling at insane speed to attack the remaining two sect masters.

-Shriiiing…

The circular blade sang as if alive.

Sect Master Gam stood trembling, lips quivering, frozen in place.

-Thwack! Crack! Squelch! Splat!

The moon-round blade danced madly, alternating between the two to hack them apart.

The middle-aged man hadn’t moved a single step from the start. Only his fingers moved.

Every time his fingers twitched, the chakram moved like a puppet, slicing through people.

When Sect Master Gam barely managed to look down, he saw someone’s eyeball rolling toward him.

The corpses were chopped into over a dozen pieces, strewn across the floor. Meanwhile, not a single drop of blood had splattered on the middle-aged man’s feet.

As if an invisible barrier surrounded him.

-Step.

When he walked, the blood parted to clear his path.

Casually using Air-Seizing Technique as easily as breathing. A supreme realm.

-Step.

Each footstep seemed to crush the heart.

Sect Master Gam realized that the presence the opponent had shown at first was entirely false.

“Interesting.”

The middle-aged man spoke to Sect Master Gam in a melodious voice.

“How did you know not to charge in? Tell me.”

Sect Master Gam felt that speaking might let him keep his life. He barely drew breath and pushed out words.

“Y-Your presence… slightly resembled that of our Grand Elder…”

“Ah, I’ve heard of him beforehand. A master named Azure Thunder Ghost, Ha Sang-mu, who holds a seat among the Ten Greats Under Heaven and the title of Zhejiang’s Greatest?”

Sect Master Gam sensed something odd in the man’s words.

Heard beforehand?

As if he’d never known of Azure Thunder Ghost Ha Sang-mu before that.

A martial artist couldn’t possibly not know? Had he spent decades cultivating in some mountain?

The middle-aged man smiled slightly, as if Sect Master Gam’s thoughts were completely visible.

“My subordinates handle trivial matters. I’ve barely listened to news of the martial world for about thirty years.”

Sect Master Gam’s face hardened. The man looked barely in his forties, yet claimed to have ignored jianghu news for thirty years?

The more they talked, the more the man before him seemed to grow larger. His beauty beyond handsome no longer registered.

Only a great shadow seemed to stand before him. The shadow spoke.

“By the way… to think I seemed similar to that man. Look again.”

Suddenly, the middle-aged man’s presence transformed. Until now he’d been projecting an aura similar to the Azure Thunder Sect’s Grand Elder, but now…

‘Ah.’

Sect Master Gam’s eyelids trembled, tears streaming down. His body lost control, sweating on its own, trembling like a wind-bitten dog, desperate to run to a warm hearth, to curl up in his mother’s arms.

In other words, this was…

The feeling of one’s very existence shrinking to nothingness. With tear-filled eyes, Sect Master Gam barely managed to ask.

“…Who are you?”

The middle-aged man smiled slightly and asked back.

“If I answer, will you guide me to Zhejiang’s Greatest?”

A question with no choice. Sect Master Gam nodded blankly, face ashen.

“Good. You may call me Hundun Venerable. But when I officially step into jianghu, I’ll use a different name.”

The man who introduced himself as Hundun Venerable paused a moment, then spoke.

“Then, the world will call me Heavenly Demon.”

* * *

The duel with Jang Hwa-rin had given Ju-seong considerable fortune.

First, the insight from synthesizing all his martial arts raised his level as a martial artist by a whole tier.

Now, against anyone within the same peak level, Ju-seong was confident he could fight. The Karmic Fire Demonic Art, the Three Yang Fist, and the Flame Crow Six Stage Art felt more tightly melded than ever.

Having absorbed moving cultivation’s nature into his martial arts, he could now replenish internal energy by drawing in natural energy even during combat.

‘Useful when cleaning up small fry.’

If a situation arose requiring prolonged fighting against many, this would be a significant advantage.

The benefits didn’t end there.

‘This poison…’

Ju-seong simultaneously organized his insights while contemplating the Qi-Dispelling Poison now stored in his dantian.

‘It’s one of the five poisons I’m looking for, isn’t it?’

Ju-seong needed to find the most terrible poisons of the Five Elements and consume their poison cores.

And by chance, Jang Hwa-rin had slammed that clue right into Ju-seong.

“Grateful, though…”

This Qi-Dispelling Poison was a consumable that would be gone once used. He had to swallow the actual poison core to store it in his dantian for continued use.

Like the Heavenly Silkworm Moth’s wood poison or the Purple Gold Centipede’s metal poison.

So to achieve his goal, he had to find the poison’s source… meaning he had to ask Jang Hwa-rin.

“First, I don’t want to talk to that bastard.”

Second, he’d be thoroughly protected inside the Mount Hua Sect quarters in the Martial Alliance.

“…Should I just brazenly go ask?”

A devilish idea flashed through Ju-seong’s mind.

“Would that be too mean?”

Going to someone he’d utterly crushed and implanted demons into, then saying ‘Hey, I’ve got a question…’ was a bit much. Not something a proper human should do.

“But when did I ever live virtuously? Today I’ll be a demon for you. Shiva, Shiva…”

Finding this poison’s source took priority. Ju-seong got up without a word to his companions and headed straight for the Martial Alliance.

Crossing the bridge to reach the island, Ju-seong loudly announced himself to the gate guards.

“Working hard! Day and night, constantly guarding the Martial Alliance’s safety!”

“Mm, Young Master Mad Dragon… Good to see such energy in you.”

Ju-seong saluted with his fist and declared as if reporting.

“I’ve come for a private meeting with Mount Hua martial artist Jang Hwa-rin!”

“…Mm? You don’t have to announce your purpose at this hour. It’s a busy time.”

Indeed, people were constantly passing through the massive four-zhang-wide gate.

Of course, Ju-seong’s announcement had caused attention to focus and slowed traffic momentarily.

People murmured, curious about Ju-seong’s purpose. Like it or not, Mad Dragon was the most watched martial artist of this Assembly.

Even after that, Ju-seong loudly proclaimed his purpose to every Martial Alliance personnel he encountered.

This was a precaution to ensure he’d come out alive from Mount Hua territory. If anything happened to Ju-seong now, even the carp in the Martial Alliance pond would gasp ‘Mount Hua! Mount Hua!’

“Mm, Young Lady Zhuge Hye! Is the Military Affairs Division fun? I’m on my way to meet Martial Artist Jang of Mount Hua!”

Zhuge Hye, caught on her way to enjoy her one hobby of dining out, asked with a startled face.

“…On, what, what business? The Mount Hua side will strongly object.”

“Mm, personal business.”

“Please reconsider, Young Master.”

Ju-seong had rendered Mount Hua’s greatest talent unrecoverable. Zhuge Hye, as Military Affairs, knew just how serious Jang Hwa-rin’s condition was.

“According to intelligence from the Military Affairs Division, the Mount Hua elder present is quite furious, and the first-generation disciples who accompanied him also harbor hostility toward the young master…”

Ju-seong stopped abruptly and spoke with a serious expression.

“Does that fine Military Affairs Division also know he used poison?”

“…Pardon?”

Zhuge Hye asked blankly. By Zhuge family custom, such responses were trained out… they looked stupid.

But what she just heard was shocking enough that she couldn’t help it.

Ju-seong nodded, thinking inwardly.

‘So even the Alliance didn’t know. As expected… it’s a high-grade poison.’

Poisons had grades too. The higher the grade, the harder to detect symptoms before they manifested.

The ultimate poison, Gu poison, was an exception, its presence radiating everywhere.

In short, the higher the poison’s level, the closer to colorless, odorless, and scentless.

Ju-seong had detected it only because of his extremely sensitive nose; others wouldn’t have. Meaning that even in defeat, Jang Hwa-rin had at least succeeded in hiding his use of poison.

Probably his own sect members and elders didn’t know either.

Just then…

A man in scholarly robes like Zhuge Hye came running from a distance, even using movement techniques in his haste.

“Third Strategist! My apologies during your meal time, but this is urgent news!”

Zhuge Hye raised one eyebrow irritably.

“Mm…? Mr. Cheon, Archivist, my mealtime…”

“I know, but this is truly urgent.”

The man called Archivist Cheon glanced at Ju-seong, then leaned in to whisper to Zhuge Hye.

Of course, at this distance, Ju-seong could eavesdrop even on transmitted whispers.

Sound meant to reach only a specific target still resonated through the listener’s eardrum and spread through their body to the ground.

Ju-seong caught that sound.

[A whistleblower has come forward from Mount Hua. He confesses that his senior… that is, Jang Hwa-rin… used poison in the match…]

Ju-seong tilted his head with interest.

‘Well then, I don’t need to barge in myself, do I?’