So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

Chapter 350 : Chaos (4)

From Il-mok's perspective, the whole scene carried a strange sense of déjà vu.Even during their first encounter, the Alliance Leader had launched something close to a sneak attack on him.

Back then, just blocking that single exchange had been enough to send blood surging up from his stomach.

But now?

Now was different.

Il-mok drew the Ascension Sword in an instant and deflected Cheok Pae-myeong's first strike without much difficulty. The draw and the swing flowed together like a single motion, and unlike before, he didn't give a single step of ground. And this was even with Cheok Pae-myeong's saber carrying far more ferocious energy than it had the last time.

Back during that first encounter, Cheok Pae-myeong hadn't actually been trying to kill him. There had been too many civilians around, so the attack had been nothing more than a quick probe to gauge his level. And even that had been enough to send Il-mok stumbling back helplessly.

'I guess I've leveled up quite a bit since then.'

Even as that brief thought crossed his mind, Cheok Pae-myeong's saber was already carving countless arcs through the air.

As Il-mok held the onslaught at bay, his expression grew serious.

'If this drags on, things are going to get incredibly dangerous.'

Not because he was struggling to keep up with Cheok Pae-myeong, but because while he was tied up with just this one man, nearly a hundred Martial Alliance warriors were charging at his companions.

Some of their group had already picked up minor injuries from the Emei fight, and the enemy numbers were larger than before. Back then, Il-mok had taken on dozens alone, but now he was pinned down by a single opponent that is the Alliance Leader himself.

While Il-mok was busy sending a message through sound transmission to Jin Hayeon—

"How dare you take your eyes off me!!"

In that split second of inattention, Cheok Pae-myeong formed a Saber Force and swung straight for Il-mok's vitals.

There wasn't enough time to form a Sword Force in response, so Il-mok simply channeled raw Force Qi and used the principle of redirection to shift the weight of the incoming strike.

The Ascension shrieked under the weight of the blow, and the shock that he couldn't fully redirect made his muscles and bones scream in protest.

"Tch."

Realizing that this wasn't the kind of fight where he could afford to keep half an eye on the battlefield, Il-mok left everything else in Jin Hayeon's hands and locked his full focus onto Cheok Pae-myeong.

Cheok Pae-myeong was thinking much the same thing.

'Unbelievable. In just a few years, he's actually caught up to me.'

When he'd first heard that Emei had been crushed by the Maitreya Luminous Cult, his instinct had been to think, 'Just how incredibly stupid were those nuns to get wiped out so easily?'

It had never even crossed his mind that this man could have closed the gap between them in less than five years.

Back when they crossed blades in Lanzhou, this punk was so weak he wouldn't have even survived three exchanges.

Now he was a dangerous opponent whose outcome couldn't be called easily.

As the two grandmasters blurred across the battlefield with their profound footwork, deafening explosions constantly rang out every time the Ascension Sword and the great saber collided.

Despite the intense physical exertion, Cheok Pae-myeong was actually breathing a sigh of relief in his mind.

'It's a shame Emei fell so soon, but this is actually a blessing in disguise. I can use this perfect excuse to completely nip his cult in the bud.'

Even while facing a dangerous opponent where a single mistake could decide everything, the thought of losing never entered Cheok Pae-myeong's mind. Just as Il-mok had ordered his allies to flee, Cheok Pae-myeong understood it clearly too.

As long as he kept this man occupied, the victory would ultimately be theirs.

With Cheok Pae-myeong radiating a confident aura, Il-mok was shrouded with unease.

The two of them clashed in earnest, while the Maitreya Luminous Cult warriors and Hwangbo Yeon frantically searched for a way out.

Suddenly, a shout echoed out from far across the horizon.

"Stand down!!"

Despite being projected from a distance away, the voice was loaded with such monstrous internal Qi that it thundered clearly into the ears of every single person on the battlefield.

"Alliance Leader!! Calm yourself!!"

The shouts came alternating from the left and right. When Il-mok recognized one of the voices mixed in among them, he launched a sudden slash and used the rebound to put distance between himself and the Alliance Leader.

"Tch."

Cheok Pae-myeong also seemed to recognize the voices, because he clicked his tongue in irritation and came to a stop.

With a moment to breathe, Il-mok turned his head to see a small army of men draped in ragged straw mats charging in from the left, while martial artists wearing traditional Taoist crowns soared in from the right.

The Beggars' Gang and the Qingcheng Sect.

Cheok Pae-myeong furrowed his brow and directed his words at the Beggars' Gang.

"I can understand the Qingcheng Sect being here since Sichuan is their home territory, but what possible business does the esteemed King of Beggars have all the way out here?"

His question was aimed at the old master standing at the center of the ragged crowd.

The Father of Beggars, the Beggar King.

"Hahaha. Since when does a beggar have a place to call home? Wandering wherever the wind takes you, that's a beggar's life, isn't it?"

"And yet the man who says he followed the wind here is trying to interfere with the punishment of a criminal?"

"It's because of the news that rode in on that wind. Word reached me that innocent blood was about to be spilled here in Sichuan. Hahaha."

"Innocent blood. You must mean Emei."

The Beggar King shook his head at that word.

"No. I mean the Maitreya Luminous Cult."

"Ha. You're defending our common enemy now?"

"They've committed no crimes, so how are they criminals, Alliance Leader? Regardless of your position, on what authority do you have to brand innocent people as public enemies?"

Before Cheok Pae-myeong could respond to the Beggar King's words, a sharp cry rang out from another direction.

"Beggar King!! What are you saying?! Are you saying our Emei is the one at fault here!!"

The hysterical voice belonged to the captive Emei elder, who was being dragged along by the Maitreya Luminous Cult with her Qi thoroughly sealed.

Her perfectly timed outburst gave Cheok Pae-myeong something to work with, and he seized on it.

"More than a hundred innocent disciples of the Emei Sect were slaughtered by that demonic Maitreya Luminous Cult! While the righteous warriors of the Orthodox Faction were laying down their lives fighting the Blood Cult, these people were hiding in the shadows, oppressing the common folk and building their strength, and now they've used that strength to threaten Emei!!"

Il-mok let out a derisive snort. "What an absolute load of. When exactly did we trick the commoners to build an army? All we did was give them a helping hand."

As if to back up his words, Qingcheng's Taoist Master Cheongmok spoke up, and the Beggar King followed to reinforce him.

"The Incarnation of Maitreya speaks the truth. Qingcheng initially shared the Emei Sect's suspicions regarding their sudden rise, but after conducting a thorough investigation of the region, we discovered that rather than extorting the peasants, they were actually freely handing out money to the starving and educating them."

"Our Beggars' Gang's information pointed to the same conclusion. They took nothing from the common people."

"That's outrageous!! So are you saying our Emei was the one oppressing innocent people!!"

The Emei Elder screeched in response, and Cheok Pae-myeong cut in with a sharp shout.

"You're all being deceived right now!!! Think about what these treacherous people have been doing! While we were putting our lives on the line to stop the Blood Cult, these people were busy hiding themselves in the back?!"

The Beggar King merely chuckled. "Well then, if they eventually drop their holy masks and reveal their grand, evil conspiracy, you can just officially declare them public enemies and execute them then, Alliance Leader. Slaughtering people who haven't committed a single crime just because you have a hunch they might turn evil later is just absurd.”

"They attacked Emei, which is a member of the Alliance, so they are not without guilt, Beggar King."

"Hah. From what I've heard, it was Emei that attacked the Maitreya Luminous Cult first. Furthermore, has the Maitreya Luminous Cult not shown mercy by accompanying them like that to enforce the sealing of their gates instead of completely exterminating the Emei Sect that had lost its power?"

"..."

That point seemed to hit a nerve, because Cheok Pae-myeong fell momentarily silent.

Watching the Beggar King and Taoist Master Cheongmok argue on his behalf against the Alliance Leader, Il-mok felt a strange mix of emotions settle over him.

'...A blessing in disguise, huh.’

If he hadn't listened to Hwangbo Yeon and had gone ahead and massacred Emei, the Beggars' Gang and Qingcheng might not have been standing on his side right now.

While he was sitting with that thought, Cheok Pae-myeong slid his saber back into its sheath and fixed the Beggar King with a steady look.

"When their treachery finally shows itself, I trust the Beggars' Gang will stand with our Alliance."

"Hahaha. But of course."

With the Beggar King's answer received, Cheok Pae-myeong shot one final glare at Il-mok and turned his back.

"All units, return to the Alliance!"

"Yes, sir!"

***

After Cheok Pae-myeong and the Martial Alliance warriors had gone, Il-mok sat down to talk with the Beggars' Gang Master, Little Tiger Beggar who had come with him, and Qingcheng's Taoist Master Cheongmok.

"Thank you for believing in us and standing with us."

Il-mok gave a cupped fist salute in gratitude, and the others returned it lightly.

"Hahaha. Don't misunderstand, we didn't stick our necks out because we hold any special affection for the Maitreya Luminous Cult. Just as I warned the Alliance Leader, we only intervened because your Cult hasn't actually committed any punishable sins yet."

"Qingcheng shares the same sentiment. We swore an oath to remain neutral in your war against Emei, but that was only because we viewed it as a territorial dispute between two independent sects. But once the Alliance stepped in, that's a different story entirely."

Faced with the Beggar King and Taoist Master Cheongmok's words, Il-mok gave a faint smile.

For a short while after that, the three men continued to share a pleasant conversation.

Maybe because his strict Master was beside him, the Little Tiger Beggar was unusually quiet and only struck up a conversation with him much later.

"By the way, your skills have really improved by leaps and bounds since we last met. I honestly didn't expect you to be trading blows on equal footing with the Alliance Leader, famed as the Greatest Saber in the Central Plains.”

"And you seem to have grown as well. Looks like the war against the Blood Cult taught you a lot."

"Hahaha. It's all thanks to my Master's teachings."

"Oho? Look at this little punk. You usally treats my lessons like they are garbages but now you sing a different tune in front of your friend.”

Unlike when he was facing the Alliance Leader or Il-mok, the Beggar King warmly scolded the Little Tiger Beggar with an expression full of mischief.

"Master, what are you talking about? How could I ever treat your teachings like garbage?"

Taoist Master Cheongmok and Il-mok both broke into quiet laughter at Little Tiger Beggar's flustered reaction.

After that, Taoist Master Cheongmok seamlessly transitioned the topic to how the Incarnation of Maitreya had miraculously broken through his bottleneck while adventuring in the Western Regions.

"Our Beggars' Gang was already aware that the Maitreya Luminous Cult had been making trips to the Western Regions to earn money for helping the common people, but I never imagined you'd gone through all of that. Hahaha."

Listening to the Beggar King casually reveal that information, Il-mok internally clicked his tongue in begrudging awe.

‘As expected of the number one info broker in the Central Plains.’

Even in the middle of a war against the Blood Cult, they'd somehow managed to get their hands on the information that the Maitreya Luminous Cult had been traveling to the Western Regions.

Fortunately, they hadn't dug deep enough to uncover the connection to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

"Haha. Going through such hellish journeys for the sake of helping the common people is really admirable. It makes those of us who neglected the commoners to fight the Blood Cult feel deeply ashamed of our own shortcomings."

Knowing that letting the Beggar King pry any further into his Western trade routes would be dangerous, Il-mok quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Please, how could my minor struggles ever compare to the sacrifices made by the Beggars’ Gang? You didn't just deal with those brutal Blood Cult bastards; you also handled that terrifying Jiangshi."

"We did deal with the Blood Cult, but that Jiangshi had nothing to do with us. It was the Alliance Leader and the Buddha Venerable who handled it.”

That gave Il-mok pause.

'They killed that Jiangshi with just two people?'

The energy that Jiangshi had radiated back in Sichuan had been on a level that was genuinely horrifying. He'd just measured himself against Cheok Pae-myeong moments ago, and in terms of sheer Qi reserve alone, Cheok Pae-myeong didn't even come close to it.

Excluding the late Heavenly Demon, that creature possessed the most massive well of energy among all the beings Il-mok had ever laid eyes on.

And that was when the Jiangshi was still incomplete.

Yet it took only two of the Twelve Heavenly Pillars to take something like that down?

Unless the Buddha Venerable was on a completely different level from what he appeared, his known capabilities weren't all that far removed from Cheok Pae-myeong's.

'I'd assumed that cursed thing had been taken down with all Twelve Heavenly Pillars fighting together.'

To shake off the unease, Il-mok asked carefully.

"By any chance, do you remember what the Jiangshi's face looked like?"

"Its face?"

The Beggar King gave him a look that clearly said what kind of out-of-nowhere question is that, but Il-mok pressed on.

"As you know, I personally saw that Jiangshi during the Sichuan massacre. I'm just asking on the off chance."

Suddenly realizing the implications hiding behind Il-mok's question, the three martial artists’ faces rapidly twisted into a mess of shock and disbelief.

All three of them had fought in the final battle against the Blood Cult, so they pooled their memories together and worked to piece together the jiangshi's face.

They sketched and erased on the ground with sticks for a good while, gradually rebuilding a picture of the Jiangshi's features.

"If the memories of all three of us are perfectly aligned, the creature we fought looked like this."

Il-mok looked at the finished sketch and his expression darkened.