By Zephyria 
HF 13
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“First Young Master, you must govern your heart fire yourself.”
At that moment, a middle-aged man entered the bathhouse.
Even upon seeing the sprawled corpses, the man dared to offer candid advice to Cheon Beom-yeong. After instructing subordinates to dispose of the bodies as if they were mere trash, he walked closer to the bath.
As Cheon Beom-yeong rose from the bath and approached, the man draped a silk robe over him, replacing the role of the dead servants. Cheon Beom-yeong threw the robe on carelessly, as if it were a nuisance, and stood askew before the man.
“Govern my heart fire myself? Hyeol-jon, do you still say such things after seeing the state I am in? The damn Cheon Mu-gyeong is sitting in the position that should have been mine by birth!”
Hyeol-jon bowed his head before the violent indignation of Cheon Beom-yeong. But his position by birth? A sneer flickered behind Hyeol-jon’s lowered gaze.
The previous leader of the Demon Sect had three children. Since the eldest had died suddenly as a child for unknown reasons, only the second, Cheon Beom-yeong, and the third, Cheon Mu-gyeong, remained. Thus, Cheon Beom-yeong was called the First Young Master, and Cheon Mu-gyeong the Second.
However, from the very beginning, Cheon Beom-yeong and Cheon Mu-gyeong possessed martial prowess that could not even be compared. The high level of martial arts Cheon Mu-gyeong displayed from a young age was unparalleled in the entire history of the Demon Sect.
It had reached a point where rumors frequently circulated that the current Cheon Mu-gyeong was the reincarnation of the first Heavenly Demon, the founder of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. In the midst of this, the only reason Cheon Beom-yeong had once been able to ascend to the position of Young Sect Leader was that Cheon Mu-gyeong was believed to be dead at the time.
Twelve years ago, the reason the Demon Sect retreated during the Great War of Righteous and Demonic was entirely because of the Fire Dragon. When the legendary divine beast, the Fire Dragon, appeared in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, the previous leader immediately returned to prioritize its subjugation.
He likely believed that by obtaining the Fire Dragon’s inner core, he would lack nothing to become a true Heavenly Demon. However, in facing the Fire Dragon, the Demon Sect suffered casualties far greater than those of the Great War.
After a long struggle, the Fire Dragon collapsed the ground beneath it and plummeted into the distant depths of the earth. It was a desperate struggle to find the lava hidden deep underground. The demonic practitioners who fell with it were all listed as missing. They called it “missing,” but everyone knew they had all been melted to death by the lava.
Since Cheon Mu-gyeong, who had led the subjugation, also fell into the lava, everyone assumed he was dead. However, in less than a year, Cheon Mu-gyeong returned—after consuming the inner core of the subjugated Fire Dragon.
“If Cheon Mu-gyeong gets his hands on the extreme yin constitution, our plans will become irreversible.”
Hyeol-jon immediately followed behind Cheon Beom-yeong, who walked while clicking his tongue. Cheon Beom-yeong still held a liquor bottle in his hand.
Instead of heading to the bedchamber, Cheon Beom-yeong walked toward a pavilion near the pond. Before reaching the top of the three-story pavilion, he sat perched on the creaking stairs.
“Do not worry too much. We are pursuing Wi Ho-yeon. Furthermore, since the Sect Leader has entered closed-door cultivation, nothing concerning will happen.”
“Closed-door cultivation?”
Cheon Beom-yeong’s yellowish eyes gleamed.
The reason Cheon Beom-yeong’s martial prowess, which had been mere Peak realm, had risen to the Transcendental realm lay in the Blood Soul Essence Absorption Art, a martial art of the Blood Cult. He had raised his realm by one stage through dark arts that absorb human blood and vital essence to make them his own internal power. Since this was a result obtained without his own effort, the mention of the Sect Leader’s closed-door cultivation grated on his nerves even more.
“I suspect it is to suppress the fire energy in his body.”
As if guessing Cheon Beom-yeong’s inner thoughts, Hyeol-jon quickly offered the reason.
“Look at him, unable to even digest the Fire Dragon’s inner core.”
Cheon Beom-yeong chuckled. This time, Hyeol-jon also curled his lips into a wide, matching grin.
The original roots of the Blood Cult were the Demon Sect. They had split from the Demon Sect a long time ago, but because they practiced dark arts so heinous that even demonic practitioners shuddered, the first Heavenly Demon had exterminated them. The remnants who luckily survived gathered to form a cult, which became the current Blood Cult.
The goal of the Blood Cult was to trample the Demon Sect and become the masters of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Having built their strength over a long period, the Blood Cult intended to strike the Demon Sect during the Great War. However, because all the demonic practitioners returned to the main sect for the Fire Dragon subjugation, everything had gone awry.
Then, a second opportunity came to the Blood Cult. Cheon Beom-yeong, who had fought a struggle for the position of Sect Leader against Cheon Mu-gyeong after the subjugation, had been defeated. The Blood Cult sought out Cheon Beom-yeong, who had fled with his own faction, and extended a hand first.
The Blood Cult promised to raise Cheon Beom-yeong’s realm using dark arts, and in exchange, Cheon Beom-yeong pledged that once he became the Sect Leader, he would fill all key positions with members of the Blood Cult. Thus, Cheon Beom-yeong, the First Young Master of the Demon Sect, came to reside in the Second Blood Demon Valley.
“Hyeol-jon, did you say the one who helped Wi Ho-yeon couldn’t possibly be from the Sect Leader’s faction?”
“Yes. If the Sect Leader’s faction had saved Wi Ho-yeon, news of an Ice Palace inhabitant would have reached the Demon Sect in some way. However, First Young Master…”
“Speak.”
“According to my detailed investigation, Wi Ho-yeon is not an extreme yin constitution. I suspect that since there was no extreme yin constitution in the Ice Palace, they simply offered the Palace Master’s child as a desperate measure.”
Hyeol-jon had been able to obtain information on the Ice Palace by paying a large sum to the Haomun, an information organization. However, since the Ice Palace was a group as closed-off as the Demon Sect, he could not guarantee the information was perfect.
“I do not care if Wi Ho-yeon is not an extreme yin constitution.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If the child of the Palace Master is killed, would the North Sea Ice Palace just stand by? Friction with the Demon Sect will occur. That would be a beneficial situation for us. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that Wi Ho-yeon is an extreme yin constitution, we must kill him to cut off Cheon Mu-gyeong’s path to survival.”
Either way, killing Wi Ho-yeon was entirely beneficial for them. Hyeol-jon understood Cheon Beom-yeong’s deeper intent.
Cheon Beom-yeong handed his liquor bottle to Hyeol-jon. Hyeol-jon took the bottle with a sinister smile.
“I believe I can gather three hundred sacrifices within a month. Now, only the path to your great achievement remains, Young Master.”
“Since it is a sacrifice for my sake, what an honorable death it shall be.”
The chuckling Cheon Beom-yeong was no longer a martial artist of the Demon Sect. He was a butcher of humans, seeking the completion of the Blood Soul Essence Absorption Art.
* * *
There was no particular reason why Ho-yeon had recently taken up embroidery. It was simply to make a living. Ho-yeon had never imagined he would have to do such work to survive in the Demon Sect.
“G-g-g-get that b-b-bastard out of the house!”
It was because Mu-gyeong’s father, Mu Seong-pyeong, had kicked Mu-gyeong out of the house.
More than fifteen days ago, Ho-yeon had somehow gone to the Demonic Shadow Martial House to meet Mu Seong-pyeong, and since the man had a habit of stuttering, he had almost run out of breath by the time he conveyed his meaning.
According to Mu-gyeong, because his servant failed to provide a proper excuse, the fact that he had been frequenting courtesan houses like he was eating noodles had been discovered.
Since the amount of money spent was enormous, Mu Seong-pyeong declared that he would not provide a single penny of support until his son came to his senses. He must have hated his son dearly, for he did not look at Mu-gyeong once and stuttered throughout the entire conversation. His face turned pale and his body trembled so much that Ho-yeon worried he might collapse.
Mu-gyeong remained nonchalant despite his father’s shouting, but for Ho-yeon, it was a bolt from the blue. Mu Seong-pyeong truly cut off all support for his son and gave him nothing but a single, dilapidated thatched cottage.
Ho-yeon had hoped that Mu-gyeong would have at least some money saved up, but he was penniless. It seemed that as soon as he got money, he not only went to courtesan houses but also frequented gambling dens.
How did such a libertine become his benefactor?
Ho-yeon added a sigh to his embroidery. Since Mu-gyeong’s martial prowess was considerable, Ho-yeon wanted to suggest he become a guardian for some high-ranking official, but that was unrealistic. Even if he was kicked out without a penny, he was still the Second Young Master of the Demonic Shadow Martial House.
Ho-yeon intended to feed and support Mu-gyeong, even if it wasn’t lavish, until Mu Seong-pyeong’s heart softened. That was also his way of repaying his benefactor.
Ho-yeon does not forget debts of gratitude or grudges. While grudges often don’t go as planned, he intended to repay kindness even more generously.
He had wondered if the cult would provide something, since he was the child of the Ice Palace Master, but it was merely a vain hope. Other than the Right Guardian, the Sect Leader’s representative, handing over his custody to Mu-gyeong, there had been no other word.
Perhaps it was a way of conveying that he should know his place as someone from the Ice Palace.