The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

Third Unit of Dark Heaven Execution Pursuit Squad, annihilated.

Squad Leader of Dark Heaven Execution Pursuit Squad, deceased.

Elder of True Demon Palace faction, White Hand Demonic Emperor, deceased.

Excluding the Beggars’ Gang, the Demon Cult was the largest single organization in terms of scale.

Moreover, if you included the villagers of Xinjiang region under the Demon Cult’s rule, even the common followers, it was larger than the Beggars’ Gang.

The number of martial artists in the Demon Cult was like the grains of sand of the desert, with martial masters being born or vanishing every day.

Many who went outside never returned, especially since the Kunlun Mountains were a dangerous place even for the followers of the Demon Cult.

However, the death of the elder and the squad leader of the Dark Heaven Execution Pursuit Squad was no small matter.

Weren’t both of them Supreme Demon masters?

Naturally, the surveillance department of the cult initiated an investigation.

The problem was that it was difficult to get to the bottom of the internal details.

They had to identify the pleural fluid from the wounds on the bodies, but only bones remained of their corpses, cleaned by the scavengers of the Kunlun Mountains, including the Blood Moths.

However, there was only one place nearby capable of confronting masters of this magnitude.

“Is it the Kunlun Sect…”

It was unlikely that an unknown reclusive master would appear suddenly.

There was no other force to be involved with except the Kunlun Sect.

The issue was why the pursuers chasing White Monkey Demonic Hand were entangled with the Kunlun Sect, and what had become of White Monkey Demonic Hand.

“It is presumed that White Monkey Demonic Hand is inside Heaven-Slaying Demon Valley.”

A martial artist reported from the Surveillance Department.

Ever since the Heavenly Demon had decreed the prohibition of entry, it had become a rule of the cult.

Therefore, no matter how much the pursued hid inside, ordinary members of the cult couldn’t enter.

The target of the report, the chief of the Surveillance Department, was no exception. He too had not reached the realm of Unrestrained Demon.

“We have been surrounding this place for three days, but there’s no response from inside. It seems he’s dead.”

The martial artist of the Surveillance Department said with a highly tense tone.

He had not expected the chief to come personally. Whether White Monkey Demonic Hand was alive or not, the battle that had occurred here had long been settled.

The chief stood up after seeing the corpses that had already turned to bones.

“Everyone retreat except for the unit leader. Proceed to the point where Heaven-Slaying Demon Valley is no longer visible.”

It was a statement that was hard to understand.

But the order was absolute.

“Understood!”

The martial artists from the Surveillance Department hurriedly retreated.

The unit leader, left alone, seemed to want to know the chief’s intentions and waited cautiously.

And he was utterly shocked by the chief’s next move.

“Wait.”

The chief, just like that, cleared the debris at the ruined entrance of Heaven-Slaying Demon Valley and entered.

Who would have thought the chief of the Surveillance Department would break such an old taboo?

The fact that the grumpy chief took such action meant… there must be some secret with White Monkey Demonic Hand.

The chief soon came out.

“Tsk.”

The chief muttered, clicking his tongue.

“Either it was hidden, or someone has taken it.”

The unit leader had heard that White Monkey Demonic Hand had stolen an item from the cult and fled.

He had heard it wasn’t such a significant item, but seeing the chief’s attitude, it seemed not to be the case.

“…We’re going back.”

The chief of the Surveillance Department turned around with a stern face.

The loss of the Divine Demon Disk was a painful loss.

A greater loss than the death of an elder.

‘It’s useless to try using it anyway. It doesn’t matter.’

The chief of the Surveillance Department consoled himself.

---

In Yi-gang’s hand was a compass the size of a chestnut.

It was, more precisely, an object similar to a compass.

He threw it into the air and caught it again.

The compass in Yi-gang’s hand was turned upside down.

There, very small characters were engraved.

Divine Demon

Because Divine Demon was another name for the Heavenly Demon, the word had a strange resonance.

Dam Hyun named the object “Divine Demon Disk.”

It was a name made intuitively, but coincidentally, it was also the original name.

“What’s there?”

The needle kept pointing to the southwest. What lay in the direction Divine Demon Disk points to was unknown.

Dam Hyun was very curious, but it seemed he couldn’t uncover the secret right away.

「For now, there’s the Wudang Sect in that direction,」Zhang Sanfeng muttered softly.

Incredibly, he was bound by the soul to the Divine Demon Disk. Being half immortal, he could ascend to the heavens immediately if he wished, but he chose not to.

Instead, he could not leave the Divine Demon Disk while maintaining the state of a bound soul.

「My yearned-for Wudang…」

Initially, he wanted to return to Heaven-Slaying Demon Valley, but at some point, he let go of that longing.

He was more capricious than one would expect for an immortal.

“You must miss Mount Wudang.”

「It’s as good my homeland…」

Zhang Sanfeng’s eyes became distant. The more one looked, the more his personality seemed at odds with his bandit-like appearance.

“If you like Mount Wudang so much, why didn’t you stay there? Why were you in such a remote, uninhabited place?”

Contrary to the legends that he had ascended to heaven via riding a crane, Zhang Sanfeng had been staying in Heaven-Slaying Demon Valley in the Kunlun Mountains.

He had been evasive about the reason when asked.

But today was different.

Perhaps because he was lost in memories, he cautiously opened up.

「I was just waiting.」

“Waiting? For whom?”

The subject was something Yi-gang had not anticipated.

「…For the Heavenly Demon.」

Yi-gang’s eyes widened.

Zhang Sanfeng had lived during the same era as the Heavenly Demon.

Before the Heavenly Demon, known at the time by the epithet Heaven-Shattering Divine Demon, had emerged, Zhang Sanfeng was already considered the greatest in the world.

「I’ve waited a long time…」

Both would have been the greatest in the world in any era, and they still compete for the top spot among the greatest of all time.

They fought each other twice.

Once when the Heavenly Demon was young, and again ten years later.

「Once I won.」

Initially, Zhang Sanfeng was victorious.

It was when the Heavenly Demon was still an emerging master within the Demon Cult.

「Then it was a draw.」

In the second duel ten years later, it ended in a draw.

The shock this caused in the orthodox Murim was beyond imagination.

A much younger member of the Demon Cult was on par with Zhang Sanfeng, heralded as the second coming of the Sword Immortal Lu Dongbin.

Although witnesses of the duel claimed Zhang Sanfeng had held back, it was still a dreadful event.

Time passed, and the Heaven-Shattering Divine Demon grew even stronger. He reached the Absolute realm and was rumored to be looking beyond that.

The Heaven-Shattering Divine Demon became the Cult Leader of the Demon Cult and was known as the Heavenly Demon.

The Demon Cult invaded the Central Plains.

The Great Orthodox-Demonic War occurred, and the orthodox Murim was devastated.

It was then that the Shaolin’s Sutra Pavilion burned down.

The martial artists, who were calling for a hero, held their breath quietly to avoid catching the Heavenly Demon’s attention.

But truly, the Heavenly Demon was a madman.

「With that madman.」

In the martial world, there was only one person who could stop him.

‘Zhang Sanfeng must finish the third duel that never happened and cut down the Heavenly Demon.’

The hopes of the entire martial world gathered at Mount Wudang, but the third duel never materialized.

「I should have finished it…」

Zhang Sanfeng had slain an evil dragon that awoke on Mount Wudang.

He fought the dragon day and night for seven days, but ascended to heaven in a broken physical state after the battle.

After that, it was the era of the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Cult.

When the Song dynasty fell and the Yuan invaded, the Demon Cult opposed them.

As the conflict intensified, the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Cult eventually advanced toward the imperial capital.

The Khan’s great army gathered to protect the emperor, and they managed to stop the Heavenly Demon and his followers, incurring tens of thousands of casualties.

This happened not long after Zhang Sanfeng had ascended to heaven.

“The Heavenly Demon is dead,” Yi-gang said.

There were various theories about how the Heavenly Demon died, but it was certain that the Imperial court had killed him.

The Emperor displayed the decapitated head of the Heavenly Demon as a warning, to show he was still in complete control.

The head of the Heavenly Demon, preserved in salt, was paraded throughout the Central Plains.

It was meant to convey the message, “Do not dare challenge the authority of the Imperial family. Even martial artists are but mere subjects.”

The Heavenly Demon was indeed dead.

「Yes… he is dead. He must be dead.」

However, Zhang Sanfeng murmured this in a strange tone.

Even when asked further about his reason for staying in Heaven-Slaying Demon Valley, he did not answer.

It was only after talking about the Wudang Sect that Zhang Sanfeng spoke again.

「Even though I would like to fulfill the request of the young priest, all my spiritual energy is bound to the heavens. I have no lingering wishes to ask of you.」

Zhang Sanfeng had heard about Yi-gang’s constitution.

That he was born with the Great Yin Meridian Blockage and must connect the major meridians to survive.

Zhang Sanfeng wanted to help Yi-gang, seeing it as fate, but he was different from the other spirits Yi-gang had encountered.

「Although I am in this state of a spirit, I indeed possess the qualifications of an Earth Immortal. I have no right to tamper with life spans…」

However, this did not mean he would not help.

「After I subdued the evil dragon, I sealed its heart somewhere in Mount Wudang. If you create an elixir from it, it might well heal the body of the young priest.」

It was a mysterious story.

So mysterious, it was almost unreal. To brew an elixir from a dragon’s heart.

“Kiing.”

But as someone who walked around with the offspring of a great yokai, what wouldn’t he believe?

Yi-gang nodded as he held Cheongho in his arms.

“Thank you, but will the Wudang Sect folks give it to me?”

「I left many other things to the sect. Surely those who practice the Tao wouldn’t covet my inheritance.」

For Yi-gang, it was an idealistic story he couldn’t agree with.

After all, there was no certainty that the dragon’s heart was still in Wudang.

「Don’t worry about that. I made a hermitage in a secluded mountain cove and lived there. The seal should still be intact.」

“Yes…”

Yi-gang had never heard that Zhang Sanfeng had dug a hermitage in a mountain cove instead of a Taoist temple.

「Since the Demon Cult has risen, Wudang wouldn’t stay idle either. I wonder if there are disciples left who remember my hermitage.」

“Ah.”

「All the masters of the sect might have already gathered at the Murim Alliance… That could be a bit problematic. Hoho.」

Zhang Sanfeng laughed kindly, unlike Yi-gang, whose expression became complicated.

Dam Hyun had taken the Divine Demon Disk to study, so Zhang Sanfeng hadn’t heard the details of the situation.

The reason the envoy of the Murim Alliance came to the Kunlun Sect.

The first was to inform Kunlun of the Demon Cult’s declaration of war, and the second was to take the Kunlun Sect Taoist and the Golden Needle Phantom to open the doors of Wudang.

“Actually, the Wudang Sect is currently…”

In essence, the Wudang Sect, which Zhang Sanfeng was proud of, was said to have locked its doors despite the Demon Cult’s threat of invasion.

Yi-gang relayed this story.

「That can’t be… Wudang wouldn’t do that.」

Zhang Sanfeng denied it with a forced smile.

But when Neung Ji-pyeong’s group returned, and they talked about going to Wudang Sect immediately the next day—when he heard that Wudang really had locked its doors—Zhang Sanfeng’s reaction was intense.

「M-my Wudang Sect couldn’t have done that. Surely, there must be some important reason.」

He said he was going to find out. Yi-gang responded in kind.

The journey from Kunlun to Wudang was very long.

Together with Go Yo-ja, a Taoist of Kunlun, they set off on the long journey the next day.

---

And Mount Wudang.

Since there were no pilgrims at all, the Taoist temples of the Wudang Sect were eerily quiet.

Although the shouts of the Wudang Sect Taoists deep in training occasionally rang out, it was still peaceful.

Even worries about the Demon Cult’s invasion, said to occur in three years, were not felt.

Among the Wudang Sect disciples dressed in blue robes, there was a Taoist who stood out markedly.

He was a middle-aged swordsman wearing a black robe.

His aura was as sharp as a knife, and he exuded the demeanor of a master.

It was Hyun Cheol, a first-generation disciple of Wudang.

A second-generation disciple in a blue robe rushed up to him with a frantic expression.

“Cheong Su, what’s the matter…ugh.”

Hyun Cheol instinctively covered his nose.

This was because the rushing second-generation disciple reeked badly.

“It’s, the Great Senior Elder’s condition has worsened… You should go see him.”

“Tsk.”

The Great Senior Elder that Cheong Su mentioned was a distant senior elder to Hyun Cheol as well.

He was one of the few respected absolute masters in the current orthodox Murim.

Despite hearing that the senior elder’s condition had worsened, Hyun Cheol clicked his tongue.

“Let’s go…”

Hyun Cheol followed Cheong Su to the destination.

Jang Gyeong. The residence of the Taiji Sword Emperor, also known as the Sword Emperor, a high star in the martial world.

“Is his condition very bad?”

“Today, particularly…”

“Ugh.”

Pain and fear were evident on Hyun Cheol’s face.

Even for him, a Supreme Peak master, the senior elder was someone to fear, but the type of fear seemed different.

The Taiji Sword Emperor was suffering from a severe incurable disease.

It’s so serious that the Wudang Sect had to seal its gates.

“You must be careful, Senior.”

“Yes.”

In front of a simple straw-roofed hut in a secluded area, Hyun Cheol paused for a moment.

Then he announced his presence.

“Ahem, Senior Elder, it’s Hyun Cheol.”

No response came back.

Originally, the personality of the Taiji Sword Emperor was exceptionally noble.

He enjoyed the way of tea, was compassionate, and well-learned.

But now, he was…

Ssssshhh!

Instead of a response, something flew out from the straw-roofed hut.

Hyun Cheol instinctively drew his sword to block the attack.

The throw was so fast that even a master would find it difficult to intercept.

However, Hyun Cheol successfully blocked it with his sword.

Clang!

But as he deflected the metal disc, liquid splashed onto his face.

He didn’t need to smell the noxious odor to know what the liquid was.

“Ugh!”

Next to Hyun Cheol, a crushed chamber pot lid was rolling around.

Then, the Taiji Sword Emperor appeared.

Forgetting his dignity, he was shirtless.

“Get out of here, you demon!”

“S-Senior Elder!”

Unknown to the martial world, the Taiji Sword Emperor had succumbed to senility.

His mind had regressed to that of a child.

While some might find it laughable, for the Wudang Sect, it was an unparalleled tragedy.