How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives Chapter 18 : Even Such a Death Was Fleeting

Chapter 18: Even Such a Death Was Fleeting

What was strange was that despite the pressure being so imnse that even the Eightfold Confusion Monk had hunched his shoulders, the Taiji Sword Emperor appeared completely free.

That did not an the Taiji Sword Emperor was unaware of the current situation.

Within a radius of a hundred jang, his ki senses were sharp enough to detect even an ant crawling, so there was no way he could fail to read the overwhelming montum that was pressing down on everything around him except himself.

Only then did he properly understand the aning of the Eightfold Confusion Monk’s words. His opponent was soone beyond a realm he could do anything about.

He had expected him to be strong. That was why the Taiji Sword Emperor, known as the number one of the Hundred Paths, had co out in person, mobilizing not only the Seven Swords of Wudang but also the Four Vajra Guardians, the Eighteen Arhats, and even the Thirty-Six Beggars Unit of the Beggars’ Sect.

Even so, he had judged that with that level of support, he would be able to suppress the Vice Cult Leader.

The leadership of the Hundred Paths had agreed with that judgnt.

However, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult he faced in reality far exceeded those expectations.

“So they say one should look again with fresh eyes. It seems the Vice Cult Leader truly fits that saying. Your presence is entirely different from five years ago.”

Having unconsciously switched to an informal martial tone, the Taiji Sword Emperor was answered by Yul Han in a gentler manner than before.

“If you know you are lacking, withdrawing is not sothing to be ashad of.”

“There are tis when that simply isn’t possible. And this is such a ti for .”

“If it is for the sake of honor, I would think returning alive is better than being carried away as a corpse.”

“Turning back without even drawing my sword could be a humiliation greater than death to .”

“I say this because this is not a situation that can end with swords rely clashing.”

Hearing such words from the mouth of a man whose killing intent was said to make the heavens tremble, one who bore the epithet Emperor Salyejin the Slaughtering Emperor, the Taiji Sword Emperor showed a hint of surprise.

“It almost sounds as though you do not wish to kill anyone.”

“Is there truly anyone in this world who wishes to kill another as a person? If possible, it is best not to see blood at all.”

As if he could not believe even that answer, the Taiji Sword Emperor’s eyes widened.

“It seems the Vice Cult Leader I knew was not the whole of you.”

“That is how the world works. Just when you think you understand it all, sothing deeper remains, and when you think soone is nothing but a demon, you may not even know what they truly did wrong…….”

From Yul Han’s perspective, he was speaking about himself, but to the Taiji Sword Emperor it sounded like a rebuke likening his own reckless actions.

Just as the Vice Cult Leader had claid earlier, he too had his reasons for needing to draw his sword and see blood. Yet the mont he acknowledged that, the moral high ground of the Hundred Paths—who had long branded the Bright Cult and others as part of the demonic path and claid righteousness for themselves—would collapse.

The Taiji Sword Emperor could not stand by and allow that.

So……

Shrring.

Drawing his sword, the Taiji Sword Emperor spoke in an indifferent voice.

“A martial artist seeks answers with the sword. If you win, then I am wrong, and you are right.”

“Do you believe what is happening now holds enough value to wager your life on it?”

At Yul Han’s question, his eyes lowered, the Taiji Sword Emperor discarded his scabbard and gripped the sword with both hands.

“I will hear the answer from your blade.”

For a martial artist to discard his scabbard ant he was prepared for death. With that single act, the Taiji Sword Emperor made it clear that no further words would be of any use.

In the end, Yul Han let out a deep sigh while looking at the sky, and his hand moved to the sword hilt.

In that instant, the Taiji Sword Emperor’s figure shot forward like a beam of light.

Given that it was a clash between masters who dominated their age, one might have expected a trendous explosion, but from the point where the two t, not a single sound rang out.

As the two collided, their bodies nearly touching, the Taiji Sword Emperor, eyes wide, slowly lifted his head.

To him, Yul Han spoke.

“I thought that trading blows with drawn swords while holding back out of courtesy would be more of an insult……”

At those words, the Taiji Sword Emperor slowly steadied his startled gaze and gave a faint nod.

“Thank you. For not letting make a disgraceful spectacle of myself. Since we’re at it, may I ask one favor?”

“What……?”

“As the victor, please rember just one thing.”

“What is it?”

“That at least Bin-do did not move for the sake of gain.”

With those words, the Taiji Sword Emperor collapsed limply. The one who caught him was the Eightfold Confusion Monk, who had silently watched the duel between the two.

The Eightfold Confusion Monk was also under the trendous pressure of the Sovereign’s Stride, but unlike the others whose movents were restricted, he was different.

He was one of the absolute beings who possessed imnse inner power spanning at least ten Cycle.

Thanks to the Eightfold Confusion Monk catching him, the Taiji Sword Emperor’s corpse was spared from rolling across the ground. Looking at it, Yul Han shook his head.

“He does not know. That even such a death is fleeting.”

After all, Yul Han himself had not known it before dying and returning to life.

So……

He had no intention of condemning him.

He had no right to.

He simply felt pity—and anger.

‘Is life really so fleeting!’

Honestly, he had not wanted to kill the Taiji Sword Emperor. He was not soone who had piled up enough evil karma to deserve death.

Yet the fact that he had been forced to kill him made anger boil up inside him.

‘What in the world is good, what is righteousness, and what is chivalry!’

Perhaps it was because the Taiji Sword Emperor’s obstinacy—his insistence that everything he had was chivalry and righteousness, and that he would not retreat even in death—resembled Yul Han’s past self, but Yul Han was furious at that fleeting folly.

In truth, he did not even know whom that anger was directed at.

Whether it was at his past self, who had stepped forward knowing he could not win under the banner of stopping demonic beings, or at the Taiji Sword Emperor, who had chosen death clinging to a hollow principle, he could not tell.

Perhaps that was why the sight of the Taiji Sword Emperor’s lifeless body reminded him of his forr self, and he could not bear to remain there any longer.

Whoosh.

As Yul Han turned roughly and began to walk away, the pressure bearing down on Cold Blade Blood and Flashing Light Blood vanished as if it had been a lie.

The others, however, remained in the sa situation, making it seem as though Yul Han had deliberately withdrawn only the pressure focused on the two of them.

Freed in their movents, the two imdiately raised their sword and blade toward the Four Vajra Guardians and the Thirty-Six Beggars Unit surrounding them.

It seed they wished to exact revenge for having been blocked, but Yul Han’s sudden voice stopped them.

“There is no need to see blood that need not be seen. So…… let’s just go.”

At those words, the two glanced at Yul Han as he boarded the carriage, then reluctantly withdrew the sword and blade they had been about to swing in fury.

They soon climbed onto the driver’s seat and set the carriage in motion.

Until the carriage disappeared beyond a mountain path hundreds of jang away, the campsite was still being inundated with an overwhelming pressure.

At that unbelievable situation, the Eightfold Confusion Monk clicked his tongue. It was out of astonishnt at Yul Han’s abilities, which far exceeded his expectations.

That astonishing power ended once the carriage completely vanished beyond the mountain path.

The pressure that had weighed down the surroundings disappeared like a lie.

Only then did the Seven Swords of Wudang, shedding tears of blood, rush toward the fallen Taiji Sword Emperor.

The disciples of Shaolin and the Beggars’ Sect rely watched the wailing seven swordsn of Wudang with heavy gazes.

The Taiji Sword Emperor, acknowledged by all as the number one of the Hundred Paths, had been subdued before he could even draw his sword.

They could not even muster the courage to pursue Yul Han, who had accomplished such an incredible feat with terrifying ease.

Thus, as the desolate cries of the Seven Swords of Wudang filled a certain wild mountain slope in Tibet, the Eightfold Confusion Monk stood silently, his gaze fixed in the direction where the carriage carrying Yul Han had disappeared.

Yul Han was lost in thought inside the swaying carriage. His conversation with the Taiji Sword Emperor continued to shake him to the core.

Perhaps sensing his mood, even the Blood Wolf, which had turned into a mongrel, lay quietly curled up in a corner.

The driver’s seat, too, was steeped in silence.

That was because the Taiji Sword Emperor, the current number one of the Hundred Paths, had been killed by Yul Han in a single exchange.

The shock the two n felt after witnessing that scene from up close was imnse.

In particular, Flashing Light Blood’s shock was of a different kind from Cold Blade Blood’s.

Even he, called a master of fast swordsmanship, had not seen the Vice Cult Leader’s sword being drawn.

In other words, the Vice Cult Leader had used a fast sword so swift that even Flashing Light Blood failed to perceive it.

Given that, it was no wonder that an absolute master like the Taiji Sword Emperor had been struck down without even drawing his sword.

As Flashing Light Blood drove the carriage in a daze, Cold Blade Blood’s voice reached his ears.

“Do you think leaving like this is the right thing to do?”

At the question, spoken aloud rather than through voice transmission, Flashing Light Blood looked startled.

But that surprise quickly faded.

Since the Vice Cult Leader could hear voice transmissions anyway, he thought there was no real difference between speaking aloud or transmitting.

In that sense, he felt Cold Blade Blood was speaking for the Vice Cult Leader to hear.

That was why he played along.

“What…… are you talking about?”

“I an we should have killed all of them and wiped them out.”

After pondering Cold Blade Blood’s aning for a mont, Flashing Light Blood asked,

“You an sothing like ‘the dead tell no tales’?”

“If the Hundred Paths learn that the Taiji Sword Emperor died by the Vice Cult Leader’s hand, they’ll co at us with fire in their eyes.”

“Let them co if they want. We can’t live under the sa sky as those bastards anyway.”

“That’s not what I an. Fighting while we’re short on food brings us no benefit. If we clash with the Hundred Paths, not only Mount Dian but even Kunlun, which we visited earlier, won’t give us any rice.”

“If war breaks out, what use will that be? We should just wipe them all out and—”

“They know we’re short on food. If you were them, would you just leave it alone when victory was within reach?”

“You’re saying they might burn it……?”

“Burn it or whatever else. At the very least, they won’t let it fall into our hands.”

Finding Cold Blade Blood’s words reasonable, Flashing Light Blood darkened, and then the Vice Cult Leader’s voice reached his ears.

“Set the route for the Martial Alliance.”

It ant heading straight into the enemy’s nest, which would now be like a stirred-up hornet’s nest, so Flashing Light Blood asked back in confusion.

“T-The Martial Alliance?”

“Yes. Settling matters with them directly will be faster.”

Once the Vice Cult Leader’s intent beca clear, Flashing Light Blood grimaced but still pulled the reins and changed the direction of the road they were traveling.

The new route led from Tibet toward Sichuan.

As he drove, Flashing Light Blood glanced to the side and saw Cold Blade Blood nodding silently, unlike himself.

At that sight, Flashing Light Blood asked in a puzzled voice,

“What is it? Do you understand the Vice Cult Leader’s thinking?”

“If we can’t fight a war, then the fastest way is to go into their inner sanctum and settle things with their head.”

“Then don’t tell …… with the Alliance Leader, the Shaolin Divine Monk?”

“Most likely.”

At Cold Blade Blood’s answer, Flashing Light Blood shook his head, yet did not stop steering the carriage toward Sichuan.

And so, the carriage carrying Yul Han continued on its way to Sichuan.