episode_0020

They thought to themselves.

What the hell is wrong with this crazy bastard?

Everyone stared at the Pavilion Master’s head rolling on the floor.

The cross-section was so clean; it was clearly cut with sword energy, at the very least.

They merely blinked, and the Pavilion Master was dead.

In that brief instant, he executed his footwork, imbued his sword with sword energy, and precisely severed the neck.

Yet, no one here had even registered the sequence of events.

So, they could only stand dumbfounded.

They must have been wondering what just happened.

“From now on, I am the Pavilion Master of the Blood Bond Pavilion.”

“…”

As soon as Cheongun finished speaking, an eerie silence fell.

A lunatic, and clearly one who was absolutely insane.

However, Cheongun’s every expression, action, and tone of voice created such an immense sense of discord that no one could easily move.

That’s not to say everyone was completely cowering in fear.

One by one, the men presumed to be executives exchanged glances, then gradually spread out to surround Cheongun, as if to encircle him.

As the executives stepped forward, the others, seeing themselves as a group, also began to join the encirclement, gauging the situation.

The executive at the forefront asked.

“Do you know what you’ve just done, you scoundrel?”

“I know.”

“Are you confident?”

“Confident about what?”

“Confident that you’ll escape this place with all your limbs intact.”

“That’s not for me to worry about, but for you weaklings…”

Before he could even finish his sentence.

*Whoosh!*

Something heavy tore through the air.

At that moment, an axe flew at an incredible speed towards Cheongun’s forehead from somewhere.

*Thud!*

The axe blade struck Cheongun’s forehead precisely.

But Cheongun’s forehead was unharmed.

Instead, the axe blade embedded in his forehead warped from the impact…

*Crumble!*

The tip of the blade bent sideways and then unfolded with a *shatter*.

Soon, steel fragments flew in all directions, and only the crumpled axe head fell to the floor with a *thud*.

Seeing that, Cheongun sneered.

“See that? This is an Adamant Body.”

“…”

The more demonic practitioners there were, the more his unique abilities strengthened.

Currently, Cheongun could deflect even considerable sword energy with his bare body.

That’s why he asked confidently.

“Anyone else want to try?”

At his words, some men hesitated and retreated.

It was astonishing enough that he had stormed in and taken the Pavilion Master’s head, but for an axe to be crushed just by hitting his forehead!

What audacity would a mere low-level martial artist have to challenge him?

However, there were also those whose fighting spirit ignited.

None other than the demonic practitioners who had mastered demonic arts.

Around thirty of them roared their battle cries and charged at Cheongun.

Their weapons were diverse.

Twin swords, nine-section whips, crescent blades, maces, willow leaf sabres, spiked clubs…

Oh, how many are there?

Cheongun swung his sword in admiration.

While it wouldn’t be an issue to take the blows with his bare body, he didn’t want his clothes to tear, so he deflected the incoming weapons appropriately.

Suddenly, something like a smoke bomb exploded before his eyes, and beyond it, hidden weapons flashed and flew at him.

From blind spots, all sorts of bladed weapons tore through the air with *swishes*, and occasionally, sword energy and palm strikes also rained down.

But Cheongun felt no tension.

Dealing with dozens of these small fries was far easier than dealing with that damned master of his.

He didn’t even need to use his advanced footwork.

He simply stood still, deflecting what he needed to deflect, dodging what he needed to dodge, and occasionally, when he saw an opening, he’d stab the shoulder of some unlucky bastard with his sword tip.

*Thunk!*

“Argh!”

Ah, what a satisfying feel!

But there was no time to indulge in such sentiment.

Because of the sheer numbers, putting merely a few out of commission didn’t significantly diminish their offensive.

However, panic began to appear in their eyes, as if they were flustered by the fact that they couldn’t land a single effective blow.

On the other hand, Cheongun’s mind was complicated.

Since they were attacking, he was dealing with them appropriately, but he was holding back to avoid killing them as much as possible.

These were demonic practitioners.

To Cheongun, demonic practitioners were more precious than elixirs.

He couldn’t carelessly kill such precious individuals.

However.

“Die!”

A bladed weapon descended towards his shoulder from behind.

Cheongun casually placed both hands on the ground, leaned his body forward, and assumed a handstand position.

Then, he channeled his internal energy into his hands and pushed his body upwards as if bouncing.

Simultaneously, both his feet shot up like lightning, flying straight towards the descending sword.

“!!!”

*Crunch!*

As soon as his heel made contact, the sword blade shattered into two.

His momentum-filled heel pierced through the sword and then *smacked* directly into the man’s face.

*Splat!* A refreshing burst of nosebleed.

Cheongun, suspended in mid-air, deftly straightened his upper body to regain balance.

Immediately after, he plucked a handful of his own hair with his fingers, then swiftly flicked his wrist, shooting them out.

‘Maogong Sword!’

*Flurry!*

With crisp sounds, the hair strands imbued with sword energy accurately embedded themselves into their shoulders, ankles, wrists, thighs, and other parts.

One could see the precision of striking only the vital points.

“Arghhhhh!”

Ugh, so noisy.

Cheongun landed, then immediately looked around to assess the situation.

Fifteen men were sprawled on the ground, nine were hesitantly backing away, having lost their will to fight, and approximately six were still panting and displaying their fighting intent.

“Still want to fight?”

“You bastard! Shut your mouth!”

“Ha, how annoying. Is being a demonic practitioner everything? Yes, it is. I should respect that.”

Cheongun grumbled, drawing up his sword energy.

Originally, he planned to subdue them all and make use of them, but these guys had become a little vexing.

*Flash!*

Cheongun vanished.

He then reappeared behind one man and directly slashed his shoulder from top to bottom.

*Rip!* Flesh parted as if cut by tofu, and red blood gushed out like a fountain.

Cheongun mechanically executed his footwork, repeatedly disappearing and reappearing.

Every time Cheongun disappeared and reappeared, a dizzying scream echoed.

After finally severing the arms of the remaining six, Cheongun resheathed his sword.

“I am the Pavilion Master of the Blood Bond Pavilion.”

“…”

“Anyone have a complaint?”

“…”

…This time, no one dared to challenge him.

****

The situation was resolved much faster than expected.

The Blood Bond Pavilion was, undeniably, a force of the unorthodox faction.

True to the dark path’s culture, where power was everything, not a single person rebelled against Cheongun’s somewhat illogical declaration of becoming Pavilion Master.

On the contrary, many willingly tried to curry favor with Cheongun.

“From now on, my word is law.”

“…”

“As for the corpses and the floor, you all clean them up yourselves. Those fallen men over there are all demonic practitioners, so lock them in the dungeon. Oh! And those who think their rank is somewhat high, come over here.”

At his words, a few individuals cautiously approached Cheongun.

“You have a vault, right?”

“Huh?”

“There must be a place where you keep slush funds or money hoarded like trash from various sources, right?”

“Ah! Yes, there is.”

“Good, lead the way immediately.”

Cheongun immediately moved to raid the vault.

Since he had obtained a bundle of keys from the Bloody Fate Sword Sovereign’s corpse, security wouldn’t be an issue.

A moment later, upon entering the vault, Cheongun couldn’t help but be astonished.

Was it because it was ostensibly a dark path organization and a branch of the Demonic Cult?

The amount of hoarded money was absolutely immense.

Cheongun barely managed to calm his pounding heart.

Then he asked the men he had brought with him.

“Those who are the Money Master here, raise your hand!”

The Money Master, literally referring to the one who manages money in a faction.

At that moment, an old man cautiously raised his hand.

“You’re the Money Master?”

“Yes, yes. Pavilion Master-nim.”

“Bring the ledger.”

The sources of the hoarded money were truly diverse.

Murder, kidnapping, robbery, fraud, extortion, forgery…

The commonality was that every single bit of it was money accumulated like trash.

“Tsk, this is troublesome.”

No matter how obsessed with money I am, I’m not brave enough to use such utterly black and rotten money for my personal gain.

It was good that he took over the Blood Bond Pavilion, but if he didn’t want to needlessly antagonize the orthodox faction in the future, it was appropriate to clean and recycle this money nicely.

Well, he’d think about that later.

“Black In Sword.”

“It’s Black Killing Sword.”

“Have the demonic practitioners been properly confined?”

“Yes. Shall I guide you?”

Kid, look how polite his tone has become.

As Cheongun nodded, Jin Cheonwoo immediately led Cheongun to the underground dungeon.

“Who are the other people locked up here?”

“They are captives.”

“Captives?”

“Yes, most of them are ordinary villagers who were dragged here.”

“So they were wrongly dragged here?”

“Indeed?”

Cheongun clicked his tongue.

That Bloody Fate Sword Sovereign or whatever, why did he leave behind so much mess?

“Release them all.”

“All of them, sir?”

“Yes. Give them a generous compensation, and tell them to rest easy, as that Bloody Fate Sword Sovereign or whatever had his neck severed and is dead.”

“Understood.”

Cheongun finished his brief instructions and strode away.

As he descended the gloomy stone stairs, a spacious dungeon, surrounded by iron bars, came into view.

Inside, the confined demonic practitioners were tied up neatly.

Cheongun asked Jin Cheonwoo.

“Which of those guys is the biggest piece of trash?”

The biggest piece of trash.

Who among them had committed the most evil deeds.

Understanding Cheongun’s meaning, Jin Cheonwoo subtly pointed to one man.

“That one.”

Cheongun’s gaze snapped over.

The man pointed out couldn’t speak because his vital points were sealed, but he still glared, grumbled, and struggled with his entire body tied up.

“Name?”

“Samahuk. His alias is Blazing Ghost Killer.”

He was someone he remembered.

He couldn’t recall exactly, but he was quite well-known as a piece of trash in the original work too.

“That man has the highest bounty in the vicinity.”

“What did he do?”

“That man has killed over hundreds of people. And that’s not all, is it? He kidnapped and violated girls the same age as his daughter, specifically chose married women to defile in front of their husbands, and arson was basic on top of looting…”

“Is that so?”

Wow, an NTR enthusiast?

And an arsonist?

This is enough.

“Hmm.”

Cheongun pondered.

Unique ability: Subdue Demonic Cult.

It was a cheat-like ability where his martial arts would soar whenever he encountered demonic practitioners, but he still needed more information about the ability.

Among them, what Cheongun was most curious about was the standard for what constituted a demonic practitioner.

If one could use demonic arts, were they a demonic practitioner?

If one belonged to the Demonic Cult, were they a demonic practitioner?

If one was a demonic practitioner once, were they designated as one for life?

He needed certainty regarding that standard.

Only then did Cheongun raise his hand.

And he placed his palm over the Qihai acupuncture point of the bound man.

Why, sometimes you see a master beat up a low-level martial artist, then spout something like, ‘I’ll spare your life, but I must take your martial arts,’ and destroy their dantian, don’t you?

In such cases, the Qihai acupuncture point is a frequently appearing vital point.

It’s right above the dantian, so destroying just this spot destroys the dantian.

If the dantian is destroyed, internal energy is lost.

If internal energy is lost, one cannot use demonic arts.

Even so, would the system still classify this man as a demonic practitioner?

“Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!”

The man, now a guinea pig, seemed to realize what was about to happen; he teared up and twisted his entire body.

“It’ll sting a little?”

“Mmmphh!!”

“Just a sting.”

“Mmph!! Mmmphh!! Mmmphh!!”

Cheongun then pushed his internal energy straight in, lightly tearing the man’s Qihai acupuncture point.

At that moment, the man writhed in immense pain, then foamed at the mouth and fainted.

And then.

[Unique Ability: Subdue Demonic Cult! is active!]

The fellow was, still, a demonic practitioner.