By Zephyria 
* * *
Meanwhile, a meeting was held in Demon Subjugation Valley. Seong Mu-jae hurried toward the meeting hall after receiving a summons. Everyone holding a certain level of status within Demon Subjugation Valley had gathered.
Standing side by side on the platform, Left Horse General Peng Yuan-jin and the Venomous Ox-Demon General greeted them.
“News has arrived from Lanzhou City. An enemy targeting this place, Demon Subjugation Valley, has just arrived in Lanzhou,” Peng Yuan-jin spoke, scanning the crowd.
“We have already faced one enemy raid, yet we suffered no damage. They shall never set foot in this place.”
His powerful voice, infused with inner force, echoed loudly throughout the hall. The Demonic humans, who had been stirring at the news of the approaching battle, were not intimidated; instead, they gradually calmed down by Peng Yuan-jin’s imposing demeanor.
“We have held our breath for a long time. Finally, the time has come to show our true strength. Do not show your backs. Hold your positions and fulfill your roles. If you do that, they will be the ones shedding blood.”
Starting with someone who couldn’t contain their boiling blood and let out a shout, fighting spirit began to spread like wildfire throughout the hall, leaving it simmering with intensity.
“…….”
Seong Mu-jae, who watched them from a step away as he had no part in the direct combat, glanced at the man standing loftily beside Left Horse General Peng Yuan-jin.
No emotion could be felt from the tall young man with a refined, scholarly appearance who looked terrifyingly similar to Peng Yuan-jin. A massive greatsword, difficult to even lift with ordinary strength, was slung across his back. His posture and presence carried the elegant air of an orthodox sect dignitary, which felt out of place here and made him seem all the more alien.
A few days ago, when Peng Yuan-jin brought him in while he was on the verge of death, Seong Mu-jae had not expected him to recover so perfectly. However, Peng Do-hwan now overwhelmed the crowd with a presence even more dignified than before.
“…….”
Seong Mu-jae looked down at his own hands with a bitter heart. His clenched fists were so gaunt, with knuckles protruding, that they looked pitiful.
Once, high-purity inner force, compressed with powerful strength, had flowed infinitely through these hands.
But after experiencing various events and losing his dantian, Seong Mu-jae could no longer feel the inner force flowing through his body, nor was he a man who could accumulate inner force through meditation.
Unlike him, Peng Do-hwan had recovered perfectly even after losing his Innate True Qi, and Seong Mu-jae couldn’t help but envy him.
‘I will soon…’
Seong Mu-jae did not follow the Third Young Master simply because he was a powerful candidate for the next Cult Leader who would soon swallow the Demonic Cult.
At first, he had pretended to serve him out of necessity due to coercion, but not long after, everything changed.
Seong Mu-geuk had promised to fix his broken dantian. Seeing Peng Do-hwan, who had been dying, recover completely after taking a Spirit Pill, that hope turned into certainty.
He could reclaim his dantian.
Peng Yuan-jin gave separate orders to the high-ranking officials, and Seong Mu-jae was no exception.
“Sixth Young Master, please check if the supplies are sufficient and report back on how long the entirety of Demon Subjugation Valley can hold out without replenishment.”
“I understand.”
Seong Mu-jae nodded and left the meeting hall.
‘A raid? Ridiculous. Those orthodox sect bastards don’t know how great this place is.’
He had done his best for three years to gain the Third Young Master’s recognition and revive his dantian. In the process, he had managed the affairs of Demon Subjugation Valley quite well.
Because he knew the valley he had developed so well, he felt no anxiety even in the face of battle.
The enemies would never set foot in Demon Subjugation Valley.
Seong Mu-jae first went to find Seong Mu-yeon.
Whenever he had time, he had visited to provide meals and tried to change Seong Mu-yeon’s mind. He tried persuading him gently and even attempted negotiations, but his youngest brother, who possessed an incredible stubbornness, would never follow his will.
〈Fix my dantian? Brother, do you actually believe those words? If he could do it, why wouldn’t he have fixed it sooner? Look at Peng Do-hwan. If one has the will, a Spirit Pill is something that can be obtained right now, isn’t it?〉
It was a valid point.
However, Seong Mu-jae was so desperate that he couldn’t let go of even a sliver of hope.
Born as the Sixth Young Master of the Demonic Cult, he had lived his whole life being revered by others. The fact that someone in charge of a mere canyon could now give him orders was entirely because he had lost his power.
If only he could regain his strength…
Lost in thought, he arrived at Peng Yuan-jin’s quarters before he knew it. As Seong Mu-jae entered, Seong Mu-yeon glanced at him and, as expected, turned his head away without a word of greeting.
“I have nothing to say to you, Brother.”
“You brat, even so…”
He was still confined to Peng Yuan-jin’s quarters, and not only that, two Demonic humans were stuck to his sides, monitoring him thoroughly. That was why Seong Mu-yeon was in a foul mood.
Since Seong Mu-jae would not follow his wishes, Seong Mu-yeon seemed to have decided to escape on his own.
As a result, over the past three days, Seong Mu-yeon had attempted to escape dozens of times, and somehow, he had succeeded a few times in even leaving the quarters.
However, the person who found and captured him each time was Seong Mu-jae.
Seong Mu-yeon had hidden several thin metal needles capable of undoing bindings between his clothes and hair, and his skill in using them to free himself was extraordinary. No matter how many were confiscated, metal needles kept appearing from somewhere, so eventually, both of his arms were bound.
Even poisons like fire-beads and meridian crippling poison, which most people would never even have the chance to see, kept popping up, despite the body searches.
It turned out he had hidden them by minimizing their volume as much as possible—between the lining and outer fabric of his clothes, inside his belt, in the soles of his shoes, in the gaps of his hair ornaments, and even in his ear canals and between his gums.
Among the belongings confiscated during the initial body search upon his arrival, there were also several bottles of high-quality, famous liquor of unknown origin.
Seong Mu-jae could not understand where or how he obtained such items, or why he prepared them to such an extent.
Finally, after being stripped of everything down to his undergarments, Seong Mu-yeon was dressed in new clothes.
When physical methods stopped working, he changed his approach, using his fluid eloquence to seduce the Demonic humans guarding him and turn them to his side.
It was true that Seong Mu-yeon was the Demonic Cult’s Seventh Young Master, and unlike the other brothers, he shared a particularly deep bond with the Sixth Young Master who managed the household of Demon Subjugation Valley. It was also true that their Lord, Seong Mu-geuk, had once favored him greatly and bestowed a Spirit Pill upon him.
Seong Mu-yeon used these facts to brag about how high a position he would attain after being forgiven by the Third Young Master’s ocean-like grace. Then, as his first mission for the Divine Demon Sect, he laid out a detailed and feasible plan on how he intended to lure the Second Young Master, Seong Mu-ryong, and offer him to the Lord, which shook the hearts of the Demonic humans.
The Demonic Cult, like any other group, was a small society. Everywhere, academic, blood, and regional ties inevitably led to success. The Demonic humans assigned to monitor Seong Mu-yeon were also low-ranking warriors dreaming of luckily catching the eye of a high-ranking official and walking a steady path to promotion.
Though Left Horse General Peng Yuan-jin was one of the two pillars ruling Demon Subjugation Valley along with the Poison Freak, could he be greater than the Lord’s own brother?
Even the Venomous Ox-Demon General, who visited whenever he was bored to tease Seong Mu-yeon, was completely captivated by his brilliant silver tongue and ended up serving as evidence to support Seong Mu-yeon’s claims in front of the other Demonic humans, adding credibility.
Eventually, the Demonic humans, fooled by Seong Mu-yeon’s coaxing, gave in to his pleas to just take a short walk, untied his bindings, and let him out, only to make the mistake of looking away for a moment.
That brief lapse in vigilance was enough for Seong Mu-yeon.
He quickly entered any available passage and hid whenever he sensed someone. If that didn’t work, he skillfully knocked the opponent unconscious, stole their clothes to disguise himself, and roamed around Demon Subjugation Valley.
Unfortunately, because the interior of Demon Subjugation Valley was as complex as a maze, far from escaping, Seong Mu-yeon ended up walking right into the tiger’s mouth—and even shoving himself down its throat—resulting in the failure of his escape.
It was a misfortune for Seong Mu-yeon and a stroke of luck for them.
If Seong Mu-jae, who knew Demon Subjugation Valley inside out, had not searched for him personally, Seong Mu-yeon might have gotten lost somewhere in an abandoned mine where no one traveled and been found later as a corpse.
Or, he might have luckily found the right path and disappeared forever.
After that, a sense of crisis emerged that he might actually succeed in his next attempt, and eventually, Peng Yuan-jin had to bear the loss of assigning subordinates who were smarter, more loyal, and held important roles to the mere task of guarding a prisoner.
Now, Seong Mu-yeon’s arms were both bound, and he was under seamless, rotating surveillance. The newly arrived Demonic humans didn’t even blink at Seong Mu-yeon’s whispering.
“Why are you here? It’s not even mealtime yet. Is something wrong?”
Once all his attempts had come to nothing, Seong Mu-yeon had eventually adopted this rebellious attitude with a face full of discontent.