Chapter 115: Great Heavenly Martial Festival
The Cult Leader, who had been silently staring at the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult as he poured out his words after coming to see him, finally asked,
“What exactly are you proposing?”
“To put it simply, I intend to hold faction-versus-faction matches during the Heavenly Martial Festival.”
“So instead of individual sparring, you want to conduct group matches?”
“That’s correct. The format could be one-on-one, or many-versus-many. As long as it’s a team battle.”
“Hmm. Since it’s a live-blade spar, many-versus-many would be too dangerous. Half of them would end up dead.”
“Then we’ll have them fight one-on-one and determine the result by adding up the total victories and defeats.”
“How many participants?”
“I’m thinking about five. One Super-Peak Realm, one Peak Realm, one First Rate Martial Artist, one Second Rate Martial Artist, and one Training Martial Artist.”
“And what about Transcendent Realm?”
“I plan to prohibit it.”
“There won’t be complaints?”
“I intend to make those in the Transcendent Realm compete for the position of Sacred Fla Throne.”
“Sacred Fla Throne?”
“It’s the position responsible for managing the Sacred Fire Furnace.”
“Managing the Sacred Fire Furnace? That’s an incredibly tedious task. You have to polish it every single day.”
“I know. But from the believers’ perspective, that’s a privilege granted only to the Cult Leader.”
“What privilege? It’s nothing but a hassle—”
He trailed off mid-sentence, then grinned as though he had realized sothing. Yul Han spoke.
“That’s right. It may be sothing you find terribly botherso, Cult Leader, but to a martial artist, the chance to do it would be considered an honor.”
“So by attaching the word ‘Throne’ to it, you give it aning?”
“Yes. No one dislikes having the word ‘Throne’ attached to their title.”
Cult Leader, Sect Master, Hall Master, Pavilion Lord—and Sacred Fla Throne!
All of them ant the head of an organization. In other words, a position of authority.
The Cult Leader nodded, a sly smile hanging on his lips.
“Go ahead. The brats are going to bleed.”
“I’m also thinking of creating the position of Treasury Throne.”
“Treasury Throne?”
“A position that receives the Cult Leader’s orders and guards and manages the Treasury.”
“The Blood Sword Unit handles the Treasury’s security.”
“If a Treasury Throne is selected, his subordinates will take over that duty.”
“People will be able to enter the Treasury rather freely. Can we really trust them?”
“That’s why I plan to allow only those in the Manifestation Realm to participate. At that level, it wouldn’t be a waste to show them what’s inside.”
“In the Manifestation Realm? Wasn’t it just you and ?”
“I believe the Iron Demon will enter it soon. The Ghost Demon has also stepped halfway in after obtaining the Thousand-Year Ice Essence. He’ll likely perfect it before long. And lately, the Profound Demon has been catching up at a frightening pace.”
At my words, the Cult Leader’s eyes glead strangely.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
“Afraid?”
“That those in the Manifestation Realm, once they can freely co and go from the Treasury, might surpass you… or ?”
“It’s not like we’re going to sit idle. Wait—surely you’re not thinking of going off sowhere, like the rumors in the cult have been saying lately?”
Understanding that I was alluding to the rumors about him handing over the position of Cult Leader, he gave an awkward smile.
“And why not?”
“Senior Brother. Let be clear—I have no intention of becoming the Cult Leader of the Bright Cult. The mont you throw away that position, I’ll leave the Bright Cult.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Perhaps because I was bound to this body, I couldn’t deny that I had developed an inexplicable sense of responsibility toward the Bright Cult.
Caring for the people of the Bright Cult ca naturally—it was sothing my master from the Righteous Will Sect had taught : cherish those where you belong even more than yourself.
So any pure affection for the organization called the Bright Cult…
It should have felt natural to think, ‘None!’ Yet for so reason, that thought weighed on .
The Cult Leader gazed at as I found myself flustered by my own reaction.
“You bastard. You really can’t stand to see your senior brother take it easy.”
“I’m… sorry.”
As I lowered my head, he spoke again.
“Fine, go ahead and try it. It does sound entertaining. But that Treasury Throne—can I compete for it too?”
“You and I are prohibited from participating in anything other than the one-on-one duel at the Heavenly Martial Festival.”
The climax of the Heavenly Martial Festival was the challenge against the Cult Leader.
It wasn’t held every year.
Participation in the Heavenly Martial Festival for those at Elder-Level Master and above was stipulated to occur once every five years.
In other words, once soone secured the position, it was guaranteed for five years.
Of course, challenges could still be made at the Heavenly Martial Festival before that period ended.
But they required the Cult Leader’s permission. Moreover, the challenger had to be prepared for death.
Out-of-regulation challenges permitted execution by beheading.
In other words, if the Elder who was challenged, consud by fury, chose to behead the challenger—who had already lost the will to fight or was incapable of continuing—it was entirely permissible.
The sa applied to those who challenged the Cult Leader.
Perhaps that was why, over the course of a thousand years, such out-of-regulation challenges had occurred fewer than ten tis.
Because the repercussions afterward were greater than death itself.
It wasn’t just the challenger who would be hated—but everyone associated with him as well.
That didn’t an the authority who received the challenge would act that way. It ant that the entirety of the Bright Cult would.
Contrary to expectation, the martial artists of the Bright Cult placed trendous importance on tradition and law.
Well, when it ca down to it, the only law they truly upheld was Might Makes Right.
An out-of-regulation challenge was taken as a declaration that one could not even uphold that.
Such a person, they believed, had no value remaining in the Bright Cult.
It was because of that very atmosphere that demonic beings, who cultivated vicious and grotesque demonic arts beyond easy description, adhered with absolute precision to their Unsealing Training periods.
If they violated it, they would be turning the entirety of the Bright Cult’s martial artists into their enemies.
The noteworthy thing was that this year marked the five-year cycle.
In other words, this Heavenly Martial Festival would grant the opportunity to challenge both the Cult Leader and the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
The martial artists of the Bright Cult called the Heavenly Martial Festival of such a year the ‘Great Heavenly Martial Festival.’
“Ah, it was just about to get interesting. So this ans I’ll have to sit around in boredom again this year?”
The Cult Leader had reason to grumble.
Even at the previous Great Heavenly Martial Festival, he had not received a single challenge.
At that ti, even the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, who had secluded himself in his residence, did not attend—yet no one protested.
Because there had been no one willing to challenge.
Back then, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had been so bloodthirsty that he seed ready to tear apart anyone who so much as brushed against him.
There was no one who would dare request a spar against such a man.
No one wanted to step up just to asure their skills and end up descending from the arena without their head.
Naturally, there had been no one capable of defeating the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult and earning the right to face the Cult Leader either.
To the grumbling Cult Leader, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult said,
“If there’s no challenger again this year, how about a friendly spar between you and , Senior Brother?”
“A friendly spar?”
“It would be more like an exhibition match demonstrating the Demon Wall Five Absolutes.”
In other words, he was suggesting introducing the Demon Wall Five Absolutes, which had newly beco the Cult Leader’s martial art.
That caught the Cult Leader’s interest.
“With live blades?”
Sensing the anticipation radiating from him, I gave a wry smile.
“That would make it more thrilling.”
“Good! Then we’ll do it. Let’s see how much you’ve improved. This is the first ti I’ve actually looked forward to the Heavenly Martial Festival. Hahaha!”
As he burst into loud laughter, I added,
“Ah! Please also bestow a banner and a sash upon the faction that wins the group battle.”
“A banner and a sash?”
“Attach a sash bearing, in your own handwriting, the na of the victorious faction and its leader to the Bright Cult Banner, and award it to them.”
“Are you referring to that banner?”
He gestured behind him. There stood a large banner emblazoned with a vivid fla emblem.
“Yes, that one.”
“The Sacred Fla Banner is a sacred relic personally created by the Heavenly Demon. To give that away and make a new one would—”
“That won’t be necessary. The victorious faction will only hold it temporarily. At the beginning of the next Great Heavenly Martial Festival in five years, they will return it to you. Then the winners of that year’s group battle will attach their sash and take it.”
“So the previous winners’ sashes are removed and replaced?”
“No. The previous winners’ sashes are preserved. It is a matter of honor. And if the Bright Cult ever goes to war, they will carry the banner and stand at the very vanguard.”
“Oh ho. So you guarantee them the glory of leading the charge?”
“Yes.”
At my answer, the Cult Leader smiled aningfully.
“You really will do anything to strengthen the factions’ power.”
“They’ll naturally try to teach their martial arts to their subordinates and disciples. Can they so easily disregard a master they’ve surpassed?”
“You’re not concerned that it’ll turn into a hereditary power structure like those Hundred Paths dogs? I’ve heard the side effects of that are considerable.”
“I believe the one-on-one spar will compensate for that. In the Bright Cult’s one-on-one spar, faction or master-disciple relationships are not taken into account.”
In short, even master and disciple could face each other in combat.
That didn’t an a disciple would directly request a spar against his master.
Matchups were determined by random draw and arranged in a tournant bracket.
If either party concealed their true ability or showed leniency out of personal ties, neither would be forgiven.
That would be a direct violation of Might Makes Right—the law of the Bright Cult.
“Indeed. Anyone who pollutes a sacred spar that way has no right to live.”
“That’s why I believe it won’t harden into a hereditary system.”
The Cult Leader did not fully agree. Unexpected matters arose everywhere, and people’s thoughts were never the sa.
Still, he had no intention of stopping it.
It sounded entertaining, and it was sothing his junior wished to do.
If problems arose, he believed he would resolve them—whether through bloodshed or brute force.
“Fine. Go ahead.”
With the Cult Leader’s permission, I bowed deeply and withdrew.
That very day, a proclamation was posted throughout the Bright Cult.
It detailed the Sacred Fla Throne, the Treasury Throne, and the group battle centered on the Sacred Fla Banner.
The entire Bright Cult erupted in excitent.
The first noticeable change was the spark that ignited in the previously indifferent eyes of the Elders.
Especially the Five Demons who had reached the Transcendent Realm, and those nearing it—their resolve had changed.
Even those on the verge of the Manifestation Realm had been presented with a new goal.
Their movents around the Vice Cult Leader’s Pavilion shifted.
As for the Iron Demon, it seed he no longer slept at all.
When I expressed concern, he replied, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” and threw himself back into training.
Even below the Transcendent Realm, a new wind blew.
Until now, training among the Bright Cult’s martial artists had been almost entirely individual.
Now, each faction established designated group training sessions.
Faction by faction, individual by individual, they beca obsessed with raising their strength.
Only three months remained until the Great Heavenly Martial Festival.
The Bright Cult, already mad with martial training, beca even more extre in its devotion.
Dark circles ford under eyes. Eyes grew hollow. Cheeks sank in.
Many neglected sleep and als, focusing solely on cultivation.
And yet many walked around grinning weakly.
Because they could clearly feel their martial prowess improving day by day.
Masters and superiors began explaining details they would once have ignored, demonstrating techniques in person.
Of course, curses flew constantly, and it wasn’t uncommon to be struck on the back of the head for failing to grasp sothing imdiately—but it felt good.
Because I could feel that yesterday’s self and today’s self were no longer the sa.
So even joked that they wouldn’t mind starving to death, or being beaten to death by their master or superior.
That was how rapidly the strength of the Bright Cult’s martial artists was advancing.
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