C130
Blood Cult. The moment that word was mentioned, Eunuch Chief Wi took a deep breath.
It was then that Cale leaned against the chair's backrest, leaning toward the Brain Demon.
"I have some questions."
He asked, not waiting for the Brain Demon's response.
"How did you find out about the Blood Cult?"
Rumors about the Blood Cult had recently spread, starting with Cale.
The rumors said that the Blood Cult existed beneath the surface, that they had killed the descendants of the Namgung Family, and that the Sword Demon was from the Blood Cult.
Although the rumors were spreading like wildfire in the Murim, the Brain Demon's attitude already showed that he had been aware of the Blood Cult even before all these rumors began circulating.
"The Heavenly Demon knows about the Blood Cult. No..."
The Brain Demon shook his head.
To be precise, he remembered it."
A doubt crossed Eunuch Chief Wi's expression upon hearing this.
Seeing this, the Brain Demon opened his mouth.
"I guess I need to explain a bit more."
He stirred his tea cup and continued.
"Usually, when Dantian is mentioned in the Murim, it refers to the lower Dantian, which is the area around the navel. However, there are three Dantian in the human body. As you already know, the middle Dantian is in the heart, and the upper Dantian is in the brain, and the Heavenly Demon said he came into contact with the upper one when he reached the Profound Realm." (Note: Dantian is a point where a Martial Artist's Inner Energy accumulates)
From the Peak Realm to the Transcendental Realm, and beyond to the Unrestrained Realm and the Profound Realm.
Not everyone could establish a connection between the upper Dantian and the middle Dantian even after reaching those stages.
The Heavenly Demon was one of the cases where he had managed to connect the upper Dantian with the middle Dantian.
"The brain. He said that when he attuned to the upper Dantian, he was able to observe his entire body. Specifically, he didn't just look at himself from the inside. He said he could look at his body as if it were an object, and that was when he discovered something."
Cale opened his mouth.
"What did he manage to see?"
"The vision of black liquid being injected into his own heart."
Ugh~
A small gasp escaped from Eunuch Chief Wi's mouth.
"Furthermore, I heard the word Blood Demon."
The Head of the Blood Cult was the Blood Demon.
"With this information, he ordered me to investigate the Blood Demon and the Blood Cult."
Smile. The Brain Demon chuckled to himself.
"Of course, it was the real Heavenly Demon who told me."
"Are there also fake Heavenly Demons?"
"Yes. There is. The fake Heavenly Demon keeps giving me orders to come up with plans to attack the Central Plains."
The real Heavenly Demon and the fake Heavenly Demon.
They were all one person, but the Brain Demon clearly distinguished between them.
"So I did two things: Devised a plan to invade the Central Plains and learned about the Blood Cult."
The Brain Demon continued to hold his tea cup without drinking, just toying with it.
"I must have spent about two weeks doing that when suddenly, rumors about the Blood Cult started slowly circulating in the Central Plains."
His gaze turned toward Cale.
"That's right, not long after you, Young Master Kim, made your appearance in the Central Plains."
Cale's lips slowly curled up.
The Brain Demon continued.
"And then, the Murim Alliance rushed to negotiate with us, and along the way, Young Master Kim was with them, and along the way, it turned out that people from the Evil Alliance were also there."
"So, did you find an answer?"
The Brain Demon smiled pleasantly at Cale, who asked straightforwardly.
"Yes, I did. To be precise, I was able to find it when I recently traveled to Kunlun."
Eunuch Chief Wi suddenly understood why the Imperial Family was so distrustful of the Demon Cult.
The Brain Demon spoke in a calm tone.
"It was Young Master Kim who began to reveal the existence of the Blood Cult, and that includes the Imperial Family's side. And furthermore, at the center of the encounter with the real Demon Cult was Young Master Kim, not the General Commander. That's what I found out."
Demon Cult.
Although the number was extremely small compared to the Justice Faction and the Evil Faction.
Even though this force united around the Heavenly Demon was located on the outskirts of the Murim, its information and military power were not inferior to the other two factions, and at times, it was even more formidable and meticulous.
Eunuch Chief Wi was feeling it now.
He looked at Cale, who seemed even more relaxed than the Brain Demon. Cale leaned back in his chair, already quite comfortable, and asked casually.
"Is that why you're inviting me?"
"Yes."
The Brain Demon responded simply but confidently.
This was the person sought by the Heavenly Demon.
The one who would provide information about the Blood Cult and pave the way for its destruction.
Tok. Tok.
The Brain Demon could see Young Master Kim's fingers tapping the armrest.
He was looking at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought, but he didn't appear to be struggling.
After a moment of silence, Cale's mouth opened.
"Brain Demon-nim. There's something I'd like to ask you."
"Yes, go ahead."
"You said the Heavenly Demon is currently struggling with himself, right?"
"That's right."
Cale shifted his gaze to the Brain Demon, not to the air.
"So, right now, has the Heavenly Demon found a way to get rid of that contaminated Inner Energy?"
Of all the questions he had before, this was the one Cale was most curious about.
"The Heavenly Demon hasn't found a complete answer yet, but he's working on it."
Cale's eyes lit up.
"If he doesn't have a complete answer, is it fair to say he has a partial answer?"
The Brain Demon laughed instead of answering and then nodded slightly.
"Young Master, that's part of the reason why I'm inviting you."
"Is there another reason you're inviting me?"
"Yes, there is."
The Brain Demon raised his tea cup.
"At first, he thought it was contaminated Inner Energy. But before coming here, the Heavenly Demon told me."
He finally took a sip of tea and then spoke.
"This is not contaminated Inner Energy, but rather energy containing tainted Nature's Death Energy."
Wow.
Cale couldn't help but be impressed.
"That's quite accurate, huh?"
The first world Cale had visited, Shaolen.
The Living Jiangshi created there were made of Dead Mana.
And now that he was in the Central Plains, he wondered if the Living Jiangshi he had encountered didn't use just Dead Mana, but something else as well.
"The Heavenly Demon described Dead Mana as Nature's Death Energy and said something mixed with it was contaminated."
Wow.
Admiration surged again.
"Heavenly Demon, this guy is no joke."
Although he had never seen the Heavenly Demon, he knew the assessment of him.
"He has an ordinary body, but his martial arts intelligence is heaven-sent."
In the realm of martial arts, the Heavenly Demon was a man with an extraordinary brain.
Cale thought that assessment was quite accurate, given what he was hearing now.
"Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that we must take Young Master Kim, who is an expert in the Nature Realm and knows how to manipulate Nature's Energy, to the Demon Cult."
Nature Realm.
At that, Cale paused.
"I'm not an expert in the Nature Realm."
Cale himself was a human who didn't even know how to use Martial Arts, let alone be in a realm like the Nature Realm.
But Cale shrugged.
It didn't matter.
"The Brain Demon has told me quite a few things, so I should talk too."
Cale told the Brain Demon, who seemed to be waiting for something.
"I accept the invitation."
"Thank you."
A genuinely pleasant smile tugged at the corners of the Brain Demon's mouth.
'I can see the path with this.'
The Brain Demon had spent days imagining how lonely and difficult it would be to deal with the Blood Cult with the current state of the Heavenly Demon, and his whole body was on edge.
It was a relief to see Young Master Kim arrive and turn the tables in their favor.
The Brain Demon took another sip of tea.
Unlike before, he could taste it now.
"It's a bit sour."
Was this Young Master Kim's taste?
It was time to think about it.
"And I'll tell you one thing, that Contaminated Energy. I can get rid of it."
Click.
The Brain Demon abruptly lowered his tea cup.
His pupils flickered and then widened.
"So that's why that woman, Jegal Miryeo, believes so much in Young Master!"
The Brain Demon smiled as if the last of his doubts had been resolved.
"The Evil Faction, the Justice Faction, and the Demon Cult. Surely there are people in the Murim in the same state as the Heavenly Demon everywhere, and since Young Master Kim knew how to resolve them, they have no choice but to follow him, regardless of their martial arts level or Royal Family status! The reason why the General Commander, Jegal Miryeo, concealed her intentions in the name of negotiations must be to hide Young Master Kim's ability! The lack of reaction from the Evil Alliance means they still don't know! Furthermore, the Imperial Family provided a lot of support, including the Golden Guard, and even the introduction of that Eunuch from the Eastern Office, because Young Master Kim is the sword that will block all the Blood Cult's operations!
Cale could hear Raon's voice in his head.
-Wow. Human, this Brain Demon is really amazing.
He is.
Cale agreed.
He was talking to himself, and everything was true.
'It's convenient, but a bit creepy.'
It was good for Cale to be able to speak less, and it was good to know that the other person was ready to handle everything on their own. Cale was more relaxed than when he met the Murim Alliance Leader who was trying to test him.
'But it's still strangely creepy.'
"Haha."
That smile on his face, those eyes, resembled Clopeh's.
'Hmm. But what could happen to me?'
It wasn't a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
He just felt a certain unease, like a tingling sensation when talking to Clopeh.
'It must be my imagination,' Cale thought, and made some quick arrangements with the Brain Demon.
At the end of the meeting, the Brain Demon had one last thing to say.
"I would like to insist a little more."
And that insistence began that very night.
"What? What are you saying?"
Byuk Sun was astonished and confused.
"You're saying we won't negotiate unless we first invite Young Master Kim to the Demon Cult? Hah! What a surprising statement!"
He sighed in disbelief.
In Ho, the Kunlun Sect Leader, opened his mouth with a stern face.
"They may want to lure Young Master Kim to their side by inviting him to the Demon Cult first. To gain an advantage in the negotiation."
"Mmm."
Peng Yu sighed and spoke up.
"Although it's difficult for Young Master Kim to exert any power in the negotiations."
"Exactly! He's an outsider!"
Byuk Sun raised his voice but fell silent in the face of Peng Yu's words.
"However, if Young Master Kim, perhaps the greatest Master of the current era, who has reached the Nature Realm and is a member of the Imperial Family from birth, were to align with the Demon Cult, it would be difficult for the Justice Faction to completely ignore him."
"Hmph. Brain Demon, that cunning bastard, who knows what he'll do."
Byuk Sun couldn't retort; he only made a pained expression.
"General Commander."
Just then, the Sect Leader spoke up.
"What does Young Master Kim want to do?"
The General Commander who had delivered the news pursed her lips.
"He has been invited, and since he has no reason to refuse, he says he will go."
"Hah! In the end, the Imperial Family believes that any group, whether it's the Justice Faction (정파) or the Demon Cult, is easy to control, right? Ah! Truly the government is not trustworthy!"
Byuk Sun raised his voice with a ruthless look. The Sect Leader spoke with a brighter face.
"Did he say he would attend?"
"Yes."
The General Commander smiled weakly.
"Young Master Kim said he would first go to the Demon Cult and then return to Kunlun."
She added:
"He also said we should make sure the main gate and the signboard are well repaired."
The Sect Leader took a deep breath and exhaled.
A gentle smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
"We should see him off properly."
This made Byuk Sun frown.
"No, Sect Leader-nim, what are you saying! Are you really suggesting we bid him farewell cheerfully at this moment?"
At that moment, Byuk Sun stopped.
It was because of the Sect Leader's cold gaze.
"Venerable Byuk Sun, it has always been the Demon Cult that has destroyed Kunlun's main gate and signboard."
Except for this time.
"Young Master Kim has said he will build a very sturdy new gate and signboard and wants to make sure they are well repaired. And when he said 'attend,' it ultimately means he will return to Kunlun."
Of course, although Cale was from the Imperial Family, he would take responsibility, and he simply wanted to make sure everything was in order.
When he said he would attend, he just meant that he would talk to the people of the Demon Cult and then return to Kunlun.
But the General Commander and Sect Leader In Ho didn't take his words literally.
They read between the lines.
Especially the General Commander.
"Young Master Kim will surely return with good news."
"...Does the General Commander know something?"
In response to the Sect Leader's words, Jegal Miryeo smiled gently.
"Young Master Kim moves for the sake of justice. I am sure of it."
When she said that, the others couldn't say anything more.
Jegal Miryeo looked around.
From Byuk Sun, who fell into thought after the Sect Leader's words, to the silent consent from the Justice Faction side...
'So he will first go alone to the Demon Cult to establish negotiations to deal with the Blood Cult.'
No matter how deep Young Master Kim's mind is. No matter how great his martial prowess is.
She admired Young Master Kim for taking the initiative and moving for justice in this way.
The next day.
Cale headed to Xinjiang, where the Demon Cult was located, along with the Brain Demon.
-
