How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives Chapter 78 : Cooperation Between the Bright Cult and the Mou

Chapter 78: Cooperation Between the Bright Cult and the Mount Dian Sect

“Did you co here to fight?”

Despite the bitter smile in Ghost Immortal’s reply, Iron Demon still acted roughly.

“Then did you run in here with a blade because you wanted to play?”

Judging that smooth conversation would be difficult with an Iron Demon who was thoroughly twisted out of shape, Ghost Immortal spoke.

“I wish to et the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”

“Do you think our Vice Cult Leader is soone you can et just because you want to?!”

“Is there any reason it can’t be done?”

At the voice that suddenly cut in, Iron Demon’s eyes twisted sharply.

“What bastard son of a dog dares to open his mouth so carelessly—uhhhk! V, Vice Cult Leader!”

The mont he recognized the person stepping between the two opposing sides, panic burst from Iron Demon’s mouth.

Looking at Iron Demon like that, Yul Han spoke.

“Well now, I didn’t realize Iron Demon thought of as a puppy.”

“A, a puppy?”

“You said ‘bastard son of a dog’…”

“I, I’ve committed a cri worthy of death, Vice Cult Leader.”

“Ah, it sounded like you just didn’t know. No big deal.”

“R, right. I didn’t know. If I’d known and still said it, then this wretch would deserve to die.”

“To die over sothing like that? Let’s just have a round of training and forget it cleanly.”

“T, training?”

“Yes. Among martial artists, isn’t it true that once you have a solid sparring match, any pent-up feelings disappear completely?”

“I, is that so?”

“Of course.”

“There’s no need for the busy Vice Cult Leader to spare ti for training. How about resolving it over a drink—”

“Alcohol is the root of all evils and a harmful poison to martial artists. I believe I heard Iron Demon say that just yesterday.”

Yul Han was right.

Yesterday, during sparring matches held with squad leaders under the Profound Demon, the squad leaders under Iron Demon had suffered consecutive defeats.

Three squad leaders under Iron Demon, two under the Profound Demon.

Though it was a one-on-one sparring format, it was still three losses to two wins. As the Profound Demon had sneered, it ant they had been utterly crushed despite having fully fifty percent more manpower.

When an enraged Iron Demon gathered his squad leaders and questioned them, the answer was that they had drunk too much the night before.

With similar levels of skill, one side was in miserable condition from a hangover while the other was not—consecutive losses were inevitable.

What truly poured oil on Iron Demon’s rage was the reply he received after shouting, ‘Then you should have driven out the alcohol poison with energy circulation before sparring!’

Two of them said, ‘We woke up too late and didn’t have ti,’ while one said, ‘Why ruin such a good feeling…?’

After kicking away the squad leader who insisted that one had to love even a hangover to be a true drinker, and slamming the startled heads of the other two into the training grounds floor, Iron Demon delivered a long lecture.

Alcohol is the root of all evils and no different from a harmful poison to martial artists, and so on. It wasn’t sothing Iron Demon—famous as the Bright Cult’s greatest drinker—should have said, but he poured it all out anyway.

And so, a one-month alcohol ban was imposed on the three squad leaders under Iron Demon.

Yul Han seed to have witnessed the entire scene.

“Ahahaha.”

At Iron Demon’s awkward laughter, Yul Han asked,

“So? Are you going to make drink sothing that’s the root of all evils and a harmful poison to martial artists? Or…”

“I, I’ll train. Of course I will. Training it is. Alcohol would be unthinkable.”

Seeing Iron Demon with a face like soone chewing on a sack of salt, Yul Han snickered.

“Good. Once we return, let’s have a refreshing sparring match.”

“Yes…”

At Iron Demon’s unusually lifeless 모습, Yul Han snickered once more, then turned his body and faced Ghost Immortal.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes. It has been a while, Vice Cult Leader.”

“Why are you looking at like that?”

“You seem a little different from before.”

“?”

At the Vice Cult Leader’s question, Ghost Immortal nodded.

“Yes. Compared to the last ti I saw you, you seem to have gained more composure.”

Yul Han understood what Ghost Immortal ant.

It was sothing he had heard occasionally ever since he resolved to broaden the frawork of righteousness and cooperation.

He realized belatedly that he had been interpreting righteousness and cooperation too narrowly.

And that he had been judging others by that standard alone.

He himself had always been exempt from the standards of righteousness and cooperation that he set.

It was only after becoming a Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Path—of all things, of the Bright Cult—that he realized that irrationality.

Yul Han was rely changing that. Even so, people said he had gained composure.

Yul Han took those words to an that he was moving along the right path.

That was why he could smile easily at Ghost Immortal’s words.

“Is that so.”

As Yul Han replied with a faint smile, Ghost Immortal’s eyes widened.

“So you do smile.”

Lately, many people had been saying that.

Even though, when he looked at his reflection in a Bronze Mirror, he wondered, ‘Is this really a smile?’—more and more people were sohow recognizing that he was smiling.

Since that wasn’t a bad thing, Yul Han simply snickered once more.

“You truly have gained composure.”

At Ghost Immortal’s repeated remark, Yul Han smiled lightly again and asked. After all, Ghost Immortal would not have brought fifty martial artists all the way to Sichuan just to talk about Yul Han’s changed deanor.

“By the way, why is the Mount Dian Sect here…?”

Just as the Demonic Path and the Hundred Paths kept clear boundaries, the spheres of interest among the Hundred Paths sects were also sharply guarded.

In other words, it was rare for the Mount Dian Sect, whose sphere of interest was Yunnan, to enter Sichuan.

Yet that line had been crossed.

In response to Yul Han’s question, Ghost Immortal relayed the story of the bloodshed blowing through Yunnan and the Mount Dian Sect’s concerns over the Bright Cult’s growing prosperity.

“So you’re saying you ca as far as Sichuan while investigating.”

“Yes. Perhaps because the source is in Sichuan, all traces of your cult scattered in Yunnan seem to lead back here.”

“We also suspect Sichuan, but we haven’t been able to grab the tail. Whenever we strike thinking this is it, there’s nothing but an empty shell.”

That ant the Bright Cult was also pursuing the Apostate Cult. Pleased by that, Ghost Immortal asked,

“Has the Bright Cult uncovered any connection between the Apostate Cult and the recent bloodshed?”

At Ghost Immortal’s hopeful question, Yul Han barely managed to stop his head from shaking on its own.

If the Cult Leader’s speculation from the traces left behind by Monk Eightfold Confusion’s disappearance was correct, then the true culprit behind the bloodshed was the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor.

There was a high possibility that he had created the Blood Demons.

He did not know how Monk Eightfold Confusion had been used in that process, but one thing was certain—he was not alive.

If Monk Eightfold Confusion were alive and pursuing him, the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor would not be able to rampage freely through Sichuan and Yunnan as he was now.

So he could not say it.

Because if even a rumor spread that Monk Eightfold Confusion of Tibet had died in the Central Plains and contributed to the birth of a Blood Demon, there was no way to know what kind of catastrophe would erupt between Tibet and the Central Plains.

For that reason, as Yul Han remained silent, Ghost Immortal asked cautiously.

“Still, it is a relief that the Bright Cult seems to be searching for the culprit behind the bloodshed, but…”

Anxiety deepened on Ghost Immortal’s face as he trailed off.

Even in this situation, he was wary of the fact that many Bright Cult martial artists were entering the territory of the Hundred Paths.

It was frustrating, but since Yul Han understood that this caution was rooted in fear of the Bright Cult, he did not bother to bring it up.

“We won’t deploy any more. The Cult Leader seems to have no intention of moving until your people or the bloodshed enter Cheonghae.”

To be honest, the Cult Leader believed that no bloodshed would occur in Cheonghae or Xinjiang.

He judged that the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor’s final target would be himself.

He believed that once the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor completed the Blood Corpse, instead of expending strength in Cheonghae and Xinjiang, he would co straight for him.

When Yul Han had asked why he thought the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor would target his senior brother, the Cult Leader had replied:

The Cult Leader firmly believed that for the sake of that vengeance, the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor would inevitably co for him.

His plan was to settle everything when the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor ca looking for him like that.

Yul Han agreed that the possibility was high.

But Yul Han could not simply stand by and watch innocent commoners continue to die in the anti.

So he persuaded the Cult Leader that at the very least the Vice Cult Leader’s force should intervene in matters unfolding within the Hundred Paths’ territory, and only after much effort did he obtain the Cult Leader’s permission.

That was the reason the experts of the Vice Cult Leader’s force could be dispatched to Sichuan.

Of course, the Cult Leader made Yul Han swear several promises.

If they happened to encounter him—the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor—during the pursuit, they were to withdraw without hesitation.

If he was detected in advance, they were to summon the Cult Leader without exception before approaching.

And if they encountered a completed Blood Corpse, they were never to clash with it.

Only after making those three promises was Yul Han able to leave the Bright Cult.

It was due to the Cult Leader’s insistence that Yul Han brought along Iron Demon, Profound Demon, and the squad leaders under their command.

From the start, the number of martial artists the Cult Leader wanted Yul Han to take with him had been far greater.

He had ordered him to bring Poison Demon and his squad leaders, as well as all of the Thirteen Bloods and the Twenty-Seven Ghosts.

However, Yul Han opposed deploying additional martial artists.

At a ti when the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor was preparing so sche sowhere, there was no need to expand the possibility of clashing with the Hundred Paths by pouring in large numbers of martial artists.

Their argunts collided head-on.

It was Yul Han’s words at that mont that broke the Cult Leader’s resolve.

With those words, Yul Han’s will was ultimately carried through.

That was why the participation of Poison Demon and his squad leaders was rejected from the outset, and why the requests of the Thirteen Bloods and the Twenty-Seven Ghosts to join were denied.

Unable to reveal all of these inner circumstances truthfully, Yul Han had simply spoken in vague terms.

And honestly, it wasn’t a lie.

No matter how much the Cult Leader had decided to wait until the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor ca to him, he was not the kind of person who would sit idle if bloodshed broke out in Cheonghae or Xinjiang, the heartlands of the Demonic Path.

At Yul Han’s answer, Ghost Immortal showed a relieved expression.

He seed relieved simply by the fact that the Bright Cult would not enter Sichuan in earnest.

Perhaps because that relief was so deep, or because he judged it dangerous for the Mount Dian Sect to move alone, Ghost Immortal made an unexpected proposal.

“How about we move together?”

The expressions of not only the Bright Cult martial artists of the Vice Cult Leader’s quarters, including Iron Demon, but also the Mount Dian Daoists standing behind Ghost Immortal crumpled.

For the Bright Cult and the Mount Dian Sect to move together was no different from sleeping with the enemy.

At their reaction, Yul Han answered with a bitter smile.

“If you want to. But will that truly be all right?”

At Yul Han’s question, Ghost Immortal turned to look behind him, then smiled and replied.

“Being uncomfortable is better than suffering so calamity.”

It ant practicality over justification.

He had judged that at least if they were together with the Vice Cult Leader, most attacks could be repelled.

“Tch. For soone who looks like that, he does seem to care about his subordinates.”

At Iron Demon’s muttered remark, the Bright Cult believers lined up behind Yul Han nodded their heads, as if they too had grasped Ghost Immortal’s thinking.

But Yul Han felt regret.

He saw that while Ghost Immortal took care to protect the safety of the Mount Dian martial artists, he relegated the safety of Sichuan to a secondary concern.

If Ghost Immortal cherished Sichuan and the people living there as much as he did his sect’s disciples, then even if Sichuan were to fall into the hands of the Demonic Path, he should have demanded a large-scale dispatch of Bright Cult martial artists.

Because of those thoughts, unlike the other Bright Cult martial artists whose evaluation of Ghost Immortal had risen, Yul Han’s assessnt of him was instead declining.

Perhaps for that reason, Yul Han’s gaze was cold as he watched Ghost Immortal soothe the Mount Dian Daoists who were shouting that it made no sense.

Regardless, the Bright Cult martial artists led by Yul Han and the Mount Dian Daoists led by Ghost Immortal began moving together.

Yul Han did not even notice that two eyes were watching the encounter and negotiation between those two forces from afar.

Because they were not human eyes.

A single crow, its eyes completely filled with blood-red pupils, was perched atop a guesthouse pavilion, looking down at them.

The expression on the Wave Sword Venerable’s face was grim as he watched the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor sitting absentmindedly on the Grand Preceptor’s Chair, grinning vacantly as if lost in thought.

It was because he felt that the goal he envisioned and the goal of the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor after coming up to the mainland were constantly diverging.

What the Wave Sword Venerable wanted was to firmly establish the na of the Hae-nam Sword Sect on the mainland as well.

In other words, his long-cherished wish was to elevate the Hae-nam Sword Sect from a nondescript sect on the frontier beyond the passes into a recognized mber of the venerable martial world of the Central Plains.

But the things the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor was doing had almost nothing to do with the reputation of the Hae-nam Sword Sect.

That was especially true of the matters involving corpses.

Throughout history, there had been no case in which those who rose as corpses left behind a good reputation.

Although the nas of the Hae-nam Sword Sect and corpses were not yet being ntioned together, it made him uneasy.

There was no knowing when or where the Hae-nam Sword Sect and corpses might be spoken of in the sa breath.

At least, when the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor said that he would no longer create Living Jiangshi, the Wave Sword Venerable had been forced to think of it as a blessing.

Even to his eyes, the creation of Living Jiangshi capable of exterminating an entire sect in a single night looked dangerous.

Still, this was no ti for relief.

That was because the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor was raising Monk Eightfold Confusion—now turned into a blood-craving ghostly being—like a pet.

To be honest, the shock and astonishnt he felt upon first encountering Monk Eightfold Confusion as a ghostly being could not be adequately expressed even with the word “horror.”

The Wave Sword Venerable knew better than anyone the danger of the Transformation Realm, a level above the Entry into Divinity Realm he himself had reached.

He was appalled by the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor’s outrageous power in turning a Transformation Realm master like Monk Eightfold Confusion into a ghostly being.

And he feared where that outrageousness might be headed.

That was why, for now, he continued to follow the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor without defying his will.

As the Wave Sword Venerable watched with such uneasy eyes, the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor beckoned him with a gesture.

“Yes.”

Responding quickly, the Wave Sword Venerable approached cautiously, and the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor asked,

“You said you conveyed my will to the Green Forest, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I did, but…”

“Since they didn’t co, they must be telling to co myself.”

“Are you really going?”

If he went, Monk Eightfold Confusion, turned into a ghostly being, would go as well.

Knowing what that implied, the Wave Sword Venerable asked with concern, but the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor rely snickered.

“Why? Do you have so friend in the Green Forest?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why are you so startled?”

“I was just thinking there’s no need to offer the Green Forest up as a blood sacrifice. Once subdued, they’re useful in many ways…”

At the Wave Sword Venerable’s words, the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor shook his head.

“No, they’re more useful this way. With that many heads, they’ll fill the blood for our Blood Corpses. Kuahahaha.”

The Wave Sword Venerable could only look on with a worried gaze as the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor laughed loudly, as if sothing were imnsely amusing.

That day, the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor left the hideout and headed for Guizhou, where the Green Forest crouched, driving his Blood Corpses before him.