Chapter 106: Cheon Yujeong (2)
The Tenth Elder of the Heavenly Demon Cult, White-Faced Demon General Jang Gil-san, was a man with considerable ambition.
Though he usually remained silent during Elder Council etings, when it ca to making achievents through action, he was always the first to step up.
“Ha ha ha! It’s a pleasure to et the future pillars who will lead the Cheon Clan!”
Such a man of great ambition, Jang Gil-san had both the strength of an extre-level master and the patience to cater to those who were more than half a century younger than him.
True Blood Unit.
This group, ostentatiously calling themselves “True Blood” from the na alone, was made up of late-generation descendants of the Cheon Clan who once competed for the position of Young Cult Leader.
They were no ordinary individuals.
“Pleased to work with you.”
“Hmph, soone who doesn’t even bear the Cheon na is going to lead us?”
And… as grand as they were, their arrogance was even grander.
“If it’s soone at the level of the Tenth Elder, I suppose it’s just barely enough to be qualified to lead us.”
“H-Haha… Th-thank you.”
Jang Gil-san’s lips trembled.
Even if they were of Cheon Clan blood, these greenhorns dared to speak to a Tenth Elder in casual tones and with such impudence?
He nearly lost his temper and wanted to slap them across the face with his White-Faced Demon Palm.
“To think that so trash from the Hwan Clan could move us. If we capture him, I won’t let him die easily.”
“I have no idea what the Grand Elder was thinking, sending us on this mission.”
“……”
Jang Gil-san imdiately began regretting accepting this task.
At best, these brats were just barely touching the threshold of Master Level, yet they were unbearably arrogant and utterly defiant.
‘Hold it in. These will all beco part of my network soday.’
Drawing the character for patience three tis in his heart, Jang Gil-san let out a soft sigh and spoke.
“Hoo, co to think of it. As far as I know, the True Blood Unit has its own leader. Why isn’t that person showing themselves?”
“Ah.”
“Mm!”
Their reaction puzzled Jang Gil-san.
These guys who had been so full of themselves suddenly fell silent the mont he ntioned their leader.
“She’s probably…”
“Moving separately at the mont.”
“What? S-separately?!”
Outrage flared in Jang Gil-san’s eyes.
He was the one ultimately responsible for this mission. Regardless of what Cheon Yeongha had said, if even one person went missing or got hurt, he couldn’t escape the bla.
“H-How dare she act on her own without the order of the person in charge!”
Jang Gil-san’s temper, which he had barely been restraining, exploded.
The overwhelming killing intent emitted by a master of the extre level made the Cheon Clan youths in True Blood Unit shrink back.
“W-Well…”
“She’s always done things her own way…”
“In na she may be the leader, but in truth she doesn’t really do anything.”
Whether she did sothing or not didn’t matter—Jang Gil-san’s fury did not subside.
“What’s the na of this so-called leader? Even if she is of Cheon blood, I’ll find her and make an example out of her!”
Under the brunt of Jang Gil-san’s pressure, one of the late-generation mbers of the Cheon Clan trembled as he responded.
“C-Cheon Yujeong… is her na.”
“Cheon Yujeong?”
The na struck him with a strange familiarity, making Jang Gil-san tilt his head.
“Cheon Yujeong, huh.”
And then, a mont later—
“Ah! That final contender for the Young Cult Leader position!”
Cheon Yujeong.
A genius who had once stirred not only the Cheon Clan but the entire Cult itself.
***
‘What was that?!’
It happened in the blink of an eye.
From Hwan Ryung’s blind spot, sothing flashed.
I judged it to be sword qi.
A surprise attack—flawless in every sense.
Sensing the imminent danger, I quickly distanced myself from Hwan Ryung.
Flash!
As expected, at the very mont a dark flash glead, a sword qi ca flying from behind and sliced through Hwan Ryung’s neck.
‘So fast. Just in terms of speed, it’s hard even for to respond.’
If I hadn’t withdrawn my hand, I would have been injured as well.
Hwan Ryung’s severed head rolled along the ground, but I had no ti to pay it any attention.
I looked beyond the place where Hwan Ryung had stood and shouted,
“Who’s there.”
“……”
“Show yourself. If you don’t, I’ll consider you an enemy.”
Even if I had been distracted by Hwan Ryung, to deceive my senses even for a mont required soone of exceptional skill.
‘Definitely not from the Thousand-Day Pass. I haven’t seen anyone with that kind of presence.’
It was ominous yet overwhelming, sharp yet volatile.
No one with such contradictory energy could be from the Thousand-Day Pass.
Then a clear woman’s voice echoed.
“More composed than I thought… No, just as composed as I expected.”
“A woman’s voice?”
Baek Sang-ah frowned.
“It sounds oddly familiar.”
I didn’t respond, but I too felt the sa.
It was clearly a voice I’d never heard before—yet for so reason, it felt like I’d heard it at least once.
Not long after, soone erged from behind the veil of darkness.
A woman with long black hair and sharp, striking eyes.
I found myself unconsciously uttering a na.
“Lady Cheon Yura?”
“How unpleasant. To mistake for that weakling.”
The woman frowned and glared in our direction.
“My na is Cheon Yujeong, First Son of the Jin Clan.”
***
“Cheon Yujeong?”
A na I had definitely heard sowhere before…
“I’ll forgive it once, but not a second ti. Keep that in mind.”
Cheon Yujeong approached the corpse of Hwan Ryung and snatched the sword he had been holding.
“So this is the Phantom Soul Demonic Sword?”
The sinister demonic sword, veiled in a grayish aura far beyond the scope of a re treasured sword.
It was clear that, should an unworthy hand grasp it, the weapon would drag its owner into ruin.
“Not bad. If it didn’t have to be returned to the Hwan Clan or whatever, I might’ve taken it for myself.”
Seeing this, Baek Sang-ah clicked her tongue lightly.
“That woman… she looks like she’s got an even nastier personality than the Young Cult Leader.”
“Lady Baek… please keep your voice down…”
“I believe I said there wouldn’t be a second ti?”
Flash!
Whether she heard it or simply sensed it, Cheon Yujeong suddenly launched a surprise attack.
“What, is this crazy bitch for real?!”
Unlike the attack that had co from a blind spot earlier, this one ca head-on.
No matter what, Baek Sang-ah wasn’t soone who’d be caught off guard by a surprise of this level—unless it was from soone of equal or greater strength.
“Hmph! Like I’d fall for sothing like this!”
With lightning speed, Baek Sang-ah drew her twin swords, forming an X as she intercepted the sword qi directly.
“…Not bad.”
Cheon Yujeong’s brow twitched slightly as her sword qi was dispelled with such ease.
“My turn now!”
“Lady Baek!”
“I know, I know what you're going to say!”
Though she’d always been the type who couldn’t let provocations slide, ever since her internal energy had turned into demonic energy, she had beco a full-fledged brawler.
Baek Sang-ah’s twin swords struck sharply at her opponent’s openings.
Cha-cha-cha-CHANG!
In an instant, the two exchanged five fierce moves, and with the recoil from the final clash of sword qi, the distance between them widened.
“You’re quite skilled. Which family are you from?”
“Baek Clan.”
“Baek Clan? Is there even a prominent clan among the upper ranks that uses the surna Baek?”
“If you don’t even know who I am, then your standing within the Cheon Clan must be quite pathetic.”
“……”
Fwoosh!
Cheon Yujeong didn’t respond.
Instead, the sword qi enveloping her blade grew even more intense, expressing her emotions in its stead.
“Ha, you think I’m gonna back down because of that?”
With a fierce grin, Baek Sang-ah strengthened her own sword qi in response.
“I don’t know what back alley you crawled out of, but co here. This unnie is gonna beat the crap out of you!”
“Every word out of your mouth is vulgar.”
The mont those words left her mouth, the two clashed once again.
‘Hmph!’
Ordinarily, Baek Sang-ah—who had reached the peak of Master Level—should have been overwhelming her opponent.
I wasn’t sure of this Cheon Yujeong’s exact level, but it was clear she hadn’t reached peak Master Level yet.
And yet, their battle was nearly even.
‘She’s definitely hiding her finishing techniques, but even accounting for that… this is unexpected.’
Cheon Yujeong hurled Killing Strikes and Finishing Strikes emotionlessly.
On the other hand, Baek Sang-ah, forced to hold back her power, showed clear signs of frustration from not being able to go all out.
“You talk big, but you’re nothing special. Just die.”
“What? You…!”
Just as Baek Sang-ah was about to snap in rage, she sensed a strange shift in Cheon Yujeong’s sword and her face hardened.
I noticed it too.
‘One wrong move and she’ll die!’
FWOOSH!
Just as energy was about to surge around Baek Sang-ah’s sword—
“That’s far enough.”
“…!”
“…!”
I leapt in, throwing a burst of force between Baek Sang-ah and Cheon Yujeong.
“Tch!”
Baek Sang-ah, realizing her mistake too late, was unable to react to my force as she frantically tried to retract her internal energy and was knocked back.
In contrast, Cheon Yujeong effortlessly deflected my strike and landed gracefully on the sparring stage.
She cast a disdainful glance at Baek Sang-ah.
“Pathetic. You couldn’t even block that.”
“You… you bitch! You think you know what kind of situation I—!”
Just as Baek Sang-ah was about to radiate killing intent—
“Lady Baek.”
I glared at her with a cold gaze.
No matter what, now wasn’t the ti to act on pride.
Baek Sang-ah, catching on to my expression, wilted.
“S-Sorry.”
As she withdrew her swords and stepped back, Cheon Yujeong continued to prod.
“Hehe, you don’t seem like lovers… but she listens like a well-trained dog.”
“…That’s enough.”
“Hmm, should I stop?”
Cheon Yujeong smiled subtly as I waved her off.
“If your objective was Hwan Ryung’s head and that sword, then I won’t interfere. Take them.”
Based on what she said earlier, it was clear that her goal had been Hwan Ryung and that demonic sword.
But strangely, Cheon Yujeong shook her head.
“That’s true, but my goal isn’t just this trivial thing.”
“What do you an by that?”
“The reason I ca here alone… was to see you, Jin Yeomyung.”
Step, step.
Cheon Yujeong slowly approached, closing the distance between us.
Though her killing intent and hostility had vanished completely, I stayed alert, ready for a sudden attack.
But separate from that…
‘The more I look at her, the more she resembles Cheon Yura.’
They looked so much alike, it was easy to tell they were blood relatives.
Cheon Yura also had a sharp impression at first glance, but Cheon Yujeong was even more so.
No—rather than “sharp,” the better word might be “high-strung.”
“It’s pretty widely known within the Cheon Clan that she’s got a competent escort at her side.”
She must’ve realized that I, not Sa Biyeon, was that escort.
“Not just any lackey, but a direct descendant of the Jin Clan. And not just any descendant—a Grand Heir. Even I was surprised.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I spent ti and effort investigating you. I saw everything you’ve done for Cheon Yura.”
“……”
Cheon Yujeong didn’t wait for to respond and simply continued.
“And I reached a conclusion: you’re far too good for Cheon Yura.”
What filled her eyes was not bloodlust—but sothing entirely different.
It was greed.
“Beco mine. I’ll make you the second-in-command of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
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