The Sword Demon Regresses Chapter 127

Chapter 127

At Cheonung’s words, Han Yonghu frowned. Since Cheonung had co out stronger than expected, Han Yonghu first sent him a voice transmission.

Aren’t you coming on too strong?

Look at the people you brought. Compared to ours, the difference is like heaven and earth. Of course, we’ll win.

Hm? Our forces are far greater in number. At this rate, your side will lose.

We have Youngho.

Since Youngho and the Heavenly Demon knew the two were friends, they watched the two’s theatrical performance with bored expressions.

Han Yonghu spoke, not bothering to hide his displeasure.

“No matter that you are the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance, that remark is quite dangerous. Can you take responsibility for it?”

“Must one always take responsibility? The noble Murim Alliance Leader seems intent on correcting every action of others.”

At Cheonung’s sneer, Han Yonghu glared at him with a murderous gaze.

In truth, it was widely known throughout the Martial World that Cheonung and Han Yonghu were not on bad terms.

It was simply not known that they were extrely close friends.

However, at present, Han Yonghu was trying to forge a path beneficial to the Orthodox Sect as the head of a faction.

To be precise, he was acting so that it would appear that way.

It was, quite literally, a theatrical play. Even Han Yonghu’s escort, who knew well the true relationship between the two, wore a bored expression.

The Heavenly Demon was so bored he even yawned.

“Pungwol.”

At the Heavenly Demon’s call, Pungwol, the brain of the Demonic Cult, opened his mouth.

“Did you call for , Heavenly Demon?”

“From here on, you handle it. I have finished what I ca for.”

“I obey.”

The Heavenly Demon naturally withdrew from the place of discussion, and Pungwol took his place.

As if he had anticipated this situation, Pungwol was accompanied by an escort.

It was soone Youngho was seeing for the first ti. However, he could not be called weak by any ans.

At the very least, he was soone who had reached the realm of an Absolute Being. Youngho subtly glanced at the man’s shadow.

Within the escort’s shadow, an assassin was secretly concealed. It was to the extent that even a master of the Transformation Realm would fail to notice.

Of course, it was not only the Demonic Cult that had brought assassins.

Han Yonghu’s escort and Youngho himself had also hidden assassins within their shadows.

Youngho cast a sidelong glance at Pungwol and thought.

‘Can I kill him?’

Now that the Heavenly Demon was not by his side, this was an opportunity.

His hand naturally tightened.

Crack!

A chilling sound of bones rang out from Youngho’s hand. For a fleeting instant, killing intent filled his heart, but he quickly regained his composure.

First of all, there was no way Pungwol would appear before him without any preparations. Above all, Pungwol’s escort was strong enough to block one of Youngho’s moves.

Of course, that was under the assumption that he would throw away his life to do so.

If he failed to deal with him in a single strike, matters would grow considerably more difficult.

Pungwol’s own Martial Might was no trifling matter either. He would surely be able to flee swiftly.

Even after Pungwol arrived, Cheonung and Han Yonghu continued their performance. Though fierce toward each other outwardly, through voice transmission they were weaving a plan layered with complex calculations.

‘But if this could be resolved with sothing as simple as this, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.’

Pungwol possessed knowledge more vast than anyone else. And he had the vile hobby of using that knowledge to pinpoint and bite into his opponent’s weaknesses.

Pungwol spoke toward the two who were acting like savage wolves.

“Enough with the farce.”

For a mont, a heavy silence flowed between the three.

Fortunately, Cheonung had deployed a Hardened Force Barrier; otherwise, had precautions not been taken, Pungwol’s words might have reached the other martial artists.

With a detached expression, Pungwol spoke.

“No matter what plans you devise, I can dismantle them all.”

As if refusing any further objection, Pungwol spoke plainly.

“Representing each faction, let martial artists between the ages of forty and fifty engage in a sparring match. The side that wins shall claim the Grave of the dicine Immortal.”

It was not a foolish proposal, but neither was it a particularly clever one.

Originally, he had intended to propose sothing most advantageous to the Divine Cult, yet impossible for the other side to refuse.

But everything had been ruined by a junior disciple nad Youngho. A man not even forty, yet possessing Martial Might surpassing Cheonung.

Moreover, he had received the Heavenly Demon’s recognition. At this point, there was no room to doubt Youngho’s ability.

‘I should have exercised more caution then!’

In truth, Pungwol had exercised such caution that he had appeared almost cowardly, deploying an excessive amount of force.

All for the sake of killing Youngho.

At first, he had sent the Demonic Cult’s Right Guardian to kill him, only for the Right Guardian to be slain by Youngho instead.

After that, he had sent ten experts at the level of Absolute Beings—n who, gathered together, could easily kill even Cheonung—to eliminate Youngho.

Yet that too had failed. Even now, the hatred Pungwol bore toward Youngho only continued to deepen endlessly.

Pungwol quietly glared at Youngho as he spoke.

“This would be the fairest course. Any objections?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to have the junior disciples compete instead? Why insist on making those at the level of first-generation disciples from each sect fight? Is this a display of military strength?”

If junior disciples were the future of each faction, then first-generation disciples were its core—its present strength.

Despite Cheonung’s blatantly provocative remarks, Pungwol did not take the bait.

“Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance, it is because your disciple is too strong. It is not fair.”

Cheonung clicked his tongue once. It was true, so he found himself at a loss for words.

“Are you satisfied with my proposal? In my view, this is the most equitable solution.”

It was a lie. More precisely, it was nine parts truth mixed with one part falsehood.

Within the Demonic Cult, once one reached around forty, there would be one or two Absolute Masters. The Demonic Arts were simply that exceptional in performance.

Of course, most who practiced the Demonic Arts never made it past forty and died along the way. But if one survived, it would not be an exaggeration to call them an Absolute Master.

However, the situation differed for the Orthodox Sect and the Unorthodox Faction.

By forty or fifty, those who practiced orthodox cultivation thods had blossod more than expected. Yet they were not flowers in full bloom.

They fell just short of being called Absolute Masters, yet were strong enough to rival that level.

In simple terms, it was an extrely ambiguous period. Given another decade, the flower would fully bloom—but most were still not fully ripened.

It was inevitably a slightly disadvantageous condition for the Orthodox Sect. The opponent was in a completed state, while this side was still in the midst of blooming.

It was not only orthodox cultivation that was at a disadvantage; unorthodox cultivation was even more so. Unorthodox cultivation could be seen as a derivative of the Demonic Arts.

The Demonic Arts were dangerous, but they granted rewards—quite substantial ones.

Unorthodox cultivation, however, offered nothing but faster growth. And even that was not faster than the Demonic Arts.

Yet it carried the sa side effects as the Demonic Arts.

The reason mbers of the Unorthodox Faction did not practice the Demonic Arts and instead cultivated unorthodox or orthodox thods was simple: if they practiced the Demonic Arts, they would surely die.

In the entire world, the only force that possessed the Demonic Arts was the Sun–Moon Divine Cult.

All Demonic Arts were derived from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which the Demonic Practitioners revered. From their perspective, every Demonic Art aside from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art itself was a blessing of the divine.

How could they possibly share such divine blessings with unbelievers? Aside from those who had devoted themselves to the Demonic Cult or allied with it, not a single person knew the full breadth of the Demonic Arts.

No—if they knew, they had to die. For the cri of unbelievers daring to possess a divine blessing.

One thing was certain: this condition was highly advantageous to the Demonic Cult.

Fortunately for the Orthodox Sect, Hyeonu, the disciple of the Sword Immortal, would be able to display his skill. And for the Unorthodox Faction…

‘First Senior Brother will finally be of so use.’

There was Jeonghyeon, who had recently received proper training from Youngho.

Han Yonghu and Cheonung imdiately accepted Pungwol’s proposal.

Pungwol rose from his seat, still concealing his emotions thoroughly.

“Then let each side choose its representative for the sparring match. And since soone might falsify their age, let us summon the Divine Physician to conduct a pulse examination.”

For soone of the Divine Physician’s level, determining not only internal injuries but even age through a simple pulse examination was effortless.

Seeing how ticulously prepared Pungwol was, Han Yonghu nodded.

“It is certainly fair. Good.”

“I agree as well.”

Though one might have been flustered by their calm agreent, Pungwol seed to have anticipated even this and left without another word.

Soon, the three returned to their respective factions and began their discussions.

And three days later, the Divine Physician arrived at the Grave of the dicine Immortal.

Hwa Ryeong frowned openly, making no attempt to hide her irritation.

“You brats must be overjoyed, making an old woman run errands like this.”

Despite the murderous tension filling the arena, harsh words continued to pour from Hwa Ryeong’s lips without restraint.

“I already have too many patients to operate on, and these bastards are making more! Demon Brain, you bastard!”

Suddenly, Hwa Ryeong glared at Pungwol with blazing eyes.

“As per the oath I made long ago, I have no intention of treating anyone from the Demonic Cult.”

Pungwol nodded.

“There was no need from the beginning. Here stands a genius in the art of dicine equal to you, Divine Physician.”

“You an the disciple you stole from ?”

“Indeed.”

“Ah, just thinking about that brat makes my blood boil again. Then let tell you one thing.”

Hwa Ryeong grinned as she looked toward the Unorthodox Faction, where Hyeon-gang stood.

“In the Unorthodox Alliance, I have a disciple far more talented than the one who entered the Demonic Cult.”

It was interesting information. But at her next words, Pungwol unconsciously furrowed his brow.

“Give him about three years, and he might surpass . His talent is simply that extraordinary.”

“What do you—!”

“Enough. Let’s asure their ages already. Even if there’s sothing wrong with their bodies, I won’t tell them. Ah, that applies only to the Demonic Cult, so don’t worry.”

In an instant, Hwa Ryeong examined the three representatives of the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic sides before speaking.

“All of them are in their forties. None failed to reach forty, and none have surpassed fifty.”

The Divine Physician grumbled that she had co all this way for sothing so trivial.

Since the dical Pavilion of Hwa Ryeong belonged to no faction among the three, Han Yonghu explained that there had been no choice but to request her presence for the sake of fairness, and he did his best to soothe her mood.

When Han Yonghu added that he would personally compensate her, Hwa Ryeong seed to feel slightly better and let out a faint chuckle.

“Very well. Then I shall watch the sparring match, so bring a decent chair.”

“We have already prepared one for you, Divine Physician.”

“If you an that wooden chair whose finishing wasn’t even properly done, I shall be truly disappointed.”

“…….”

“I jest. Growing old has made rather mischievous. Considering how urgent the situation is, crafting a chair of this quality is quite impressive.”

Han Yonghu, who nearly said, Then please stop if you already know, silently let out a deep sigh as he watched Hwa Ryeong sit down.

“By the way, where is that Heavenly Demon? I heard he ca here.”

“He said it was boring and left.”

“Figures. With that temperant of his, the re fact that he ca here is a miracle.”

There was much to say. And Hwa Ryeong likely had much she wished to hear from Han Yonghu as well.

Yet they refrained from bringing up the Heavenly Demon any further.

War was slowly approaching. And speaking of that matter now made it feel as though war might erupt at any mont.

Hwa Ryeong looked toward where Youngho stood and thought quietly.

‘Child, just what are you?’