Chapter 137: The Cleanup (2)

Deep within the Tianshan Mountain Range lay the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

A little way off from the central area, there was this massive estate sprawling across the mountainside.

Inside, you'd find middle-aged and elderly martial artists either lost in quiet contemplation or buried in books. Some gathered in small groups, chatting away or playing chess to pass the time.

The place, which gave off an atmosphere similar to the Peach Blossom Ridge, was officially known as the Council of Elders.

These were men who had accumulated decades of merit in the Cult and reached a high realm, having served as vice commanders of the martial units or as high-ranking officials in various departments.

However, they had ultimately failed to break through their limits, never becoming commanders or heads of their respective organizations, and had stepped down from the front lines, ceding their positions to those more outstanding than themselves.

Still, their years of service hadn't gone unnoticed. They were given the title of "Elder" and treated with respect throughout the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as the senior members they were.

Today, the Council of Elders was about to receive some unexpected visitors.

As the main gates of the council suddenly swung open, the gazes of the elders, who had been enjoying their leisure alone or in groups, all turned to the entrance. Then, as one, they prostrated themselves, paying respects to the unannounced guest without a word.

"We greet the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons!!"

The sudden arrivals were none other than the Heavenly Demon himself, along with the Hidden Guard Pavilion Master who was like his shadow, and Wi Jin-hak, the Heavenly Demon's first disciple.

As they bowed before the Heavenly Demon who'd shown up without any warning, the elders gathered there all had similar thoughts running through their minds.

'What brings the Supreme One here?'

'...I can sense presences around the perimeter walls. Something's definitely going down.'

As the saying goes, the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves (長江後浪推前浪), and these elders had indeed been pushed aside by their successors. But they were still men who had held great responsibilities. Naturally, most of them could sense the presence that had begun to envelop the council.

The Heavenly Demon walked past those bowing to him, heading deeper into the compound.

Normally, he would've commanded them to rise by now.

But he didn't.

Cold sweat started trickling down the spines of the prostrating elders.

Their instincts were screaming that something was very, very wrong.

The Heavenly Demon, accompanied by the Hidden Guard Pavilion Master and Wi Jin-hak, strode past the elders toward the main hall at the center of the compound.

Click.

Before the Heavenly Demon even reached it, the hall's doors opened, revealing several elderly figures.

It was the Head of Council of Elders, Deng Bi, and the others who were responsible for managing the Council of Elders.

The moment they stepped out, they immediately prostrated themselves just like the other elders, greeting the Heavenly Demon.

"We greet the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons."

Only then did the Heavenly Demon stop walking.

But he didn't permit them to rise. He just stood there, staring down at the Chief Elder pressed flat against the ground.

"......."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the Council of Elders.

Still on his knees with his head down, the Chief Elder finally spoke up.

"Might this lowly one ask what brings the Supreme One to this place?"

“I have come to ask you something.”

“Please ask, my lord.”

The Chief Elder waited.

That's when the Heavenly Demon dropped his question.

"Why did you try to kill Il-mok?"

"!!!"

The ones who reacted to that question weren't the Chief Elder; it was the other elders nearby.

They couldn't help but flinch where they lay, and sweat began dripping from their foreheads onto the ground.

It was weird, really.

The Heavenly Demon hadn't even activated his Heavenly Demon Divine Arts yet. That heavy, sticky demonic energy characteristic of his technique wasn't crushing down on everyone.

He hadn't released any kind of aura at all, but somehow the elders were already trembling in fear.

After decades of serving the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, they all knew exactly what the Heavenly Demon was truly capable of.

In that tense atmosphere, the Chief Elder—still unable to raise his head without permission—gave his answer.

"...Since you've come here personally to question me, I assume Vice Hall Master Yu Geuk has opened his mouth."

That response was basically an admission of guilt. And another chilling silence descended upon the Council of Elders.

All the prostrating elders didn't know what to do with themselves, and Wi Jin-hak's body began radiating intense heat as his anger flared.

After all, this bastard had tried to kill his youngest brother. But even in his fury, Wi Jin-hak didn't step forward.

It wasn't just because he'd achieved Transcendence and could control his anger. It was because his revered master's interrogation was still ongoing.

While Wi Jin-hak glared at the Chief Elder with murderous eyes from behind his master, the Chief Elder spoke again.

“May I rise to give my answer?”

“You may.”

The Heavenly Demon's tone was calm.

No, it sounded like he was suppressing his anger.

The Chief Elder slowly got to his feet.

"You asked why I tried to kill the Eighth Young Master?"

“I did.”

"After the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons ascends to heaven, I wanted to become the next generation's Cult Leader. Killing each other to become the Cult Leader, isn't that a long-standing tradition of our Divine Cult?"

Maybe because it was the answer he'd been expecting, the Heavenly Demon asked another question.

"Il-mok is still too young to become Cult Leader. You are trying to kill a child who isn't even aiming for that position and has nothing to do with the tradition. Are you really going to claim you didn't know that?"

For some reason, the Chief Elder turned his gaze away at that question.

It wasn't to avoid the Heavenly Demon's eyes.

His gaze went to Wi Jin-hak, who was glaring at him with murderous intent.

"It was a decision made with the First Young Master in mind, not the Eighth."

Wi Jin-hak's face filled with confusion as he was suddenly brought into this.

"If that foolish First Young Master becomes the Cult Leader, there is no telling what disaster would befall our Divine Cult. Therefore, I only intended to first dispose of the Eighth Young Lord, who had the potential to become his greatest ally.”

At the Chief Elder's follow-up words, Wi Jin-hak's face turned bright red.

It wasn't just from anger.

'He targeted my youngest brother because of my foolishness'

His anger was already through the roof, and now this bastard was poking at the inferiority complex he thought he'd overcome. For a moment, his inner demons came calling.

But Wi Jin-hak had already overcome the side effects of his Demonic Art and achieved Transcendence. He managed to hold back from losing control, working to subdue his inner demons, albeit barely.

Whether he knew about his first disciple's condition or not, the Heavenly Demon addressed the Chief Elder.

"Sophistry. If Jin-hak truly were foolish, he wouldn't listen to Il-mok's advice, making it meaningless. On the flip side, if Jin-hak does listen to Il-mok's counsel, then the foolishness you speak of becomes irrelevant."

As he spoke, the terrifying demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts finally began flowing from the Heavenly Demon's body.

"You were simply blinded by your ambition for the Cult Leader position and tried to kill a child who would brighten our cult's future."

As the demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts pressed down on the entire Council of Elders, the Chief Elder—who was taking the brunt of it—managed to force words out despite the crushing pressure on his entire body.

"A child who would brighten the cult's future... I had no idea the Supreme One held the Eighth Young Master in such high regard."

"You witnessed the changes that child brought about in just a year and a half, yet you still don't understand? You're the one who's truly foolish beyond measure."

The Chief Elder's complexion had turned deathly pale.

It wasn't just from the Heavenly Demon's harsh criticism. The demonic energy was crushing him, and his internal injuries were getting worse by the second.

Blood began trickling from the corner of the Chief Elder's mouth as he spoke.

"Might this foolish one make a final request?"

"Speak."

"This was merely the result of my own greed blinding me. Please let your anger be satisfied with my life alone."

The Heavenly Demon seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding.

Right after that, the amount of blood flowing from the Chief Elder's mouth increased dramatically.

On top of his internal injuries, he'd bitten off his own tongue to commit suicide.

The Chief Elder's face quickly turned pale, and everyone in the Council of Elders watched as he slowly died.

With excessive blood loss making even the Heavenly Demon's figure appear blurry, the Chief Elder had one final thought.

'...Where did it all go wrong?'

Everything had been going smoothly right up until he got involved with the Eighth Young Master.

That's why he couldn't understand it even more.

He'd clearly sent word to lay low after the series of failures, so how had his identity been exposed?

He'd deduced it came through the Vice Hall Master, but the Chief Elder had no way of knowing exactly what had happened at the Hall of the Demonic Way.

To avoid suspicion, he'd also been lying low and cutting off communication.

But one thing he could guess:

'This time too, it must be something the Eighth Young Master pulled off.'

As he collapsed to the floor from blood loss, through his completely darkened vision, he could vaguely picture Il-mok's form.

But with his consciousness already fading, he couldn't continue that line of thought.

Only one final thought came to mind.

'At least it can end with just my death. How fortunate.'

With that thought, the Chief Elder's consciousness faded away.

The Heavenly Demon looked down at the Chief Elder lying on the ground, blood still flowing from his mouth.

After confirming that his life had completely ended, the Heavenly Demon withdrew his demonic energy and gave his command.

"Clean this up."

“As you command!”

The moment the Hidden Guard Pavilion Master's response fell, the Hidden Guard warriors who had been surrounding the Council of Elders entered and began removing the Chief Elder's corpse and cleaning up the bloodstains.

***

That night.

"I greet my Master."

Wi Jin-hak, summoned by the Heavenly Demon to the Heavenly Demon Palace, prostrated himself in greeting.

"Rise."

The Heavenly Demon stared intently at Wi Jin-hak's face for a moment.

Seeing the somewhat troubled expression there, the Heavenly Demon asked, "Are the Chief Elder's words bothering you?"

"...Yes, master."

Wi Jin-hak had considered denying it, but he answered honestly. He'd learned by now that there was no point in telling pointless lies.

Hearing his disciple's honest answer, the Heavenly Demon nodded once and said. "Then do you also remember the answer this old man gave?"

The Heavenly Demon had noticed that his first disciple had fallen into inner demons. But what he'd said to the Chief Elder wasn't something he'd made up just to comfort his disciple.

"Those were this old man's true feelings. Didn't Il-mok tell you as well? A leader is simply someone who must utilize talent in the right places. They do not need to be a genius themselves.”

"I think the same way, and I'm gradually overcoming my inner demons, Master."

Maybe there was a difference between thinking something yourself and hearing it from the master you looked up to. Wi Jin-hak's face looked much more at ease as he answered.

And perhaps because his first disciple's expression had relaxed a bit, the Heavenly Demon threw out an unexpected question.

"Then do you understand why this old man ended this matter with just the Chief Elder's life?"

Wi Jin-hak pondered that question for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.

"I thought it might be to end this matter as a warning. A warning to prevent innocent young cult members from dying in the struggle for the Cult Leader position, including my youngest junior brother."

It was an answer he'd reached by recalling his master's behavior over the decades he'd observed him as a disciple.

Like when he'd reformed the educational methods at the Hall of the Demonic Way, his Master didn't want cult members dying meaningless deaths.

"In the same vein, if we tracked down and punished everyone who followed the Chief Elder, we'd have to kill too many cult members."

The Heavenly Demon nodded.

"From Il-mok's perspective, that's the correct answer. Now, think of the answer from your position, Jin-hak.”

"...?"

Wi Jin-hak looked puzzled.

One might have expected the Heavenly Demon to be disappointed in a disciple who couldn’t easily find the answer, but he simply looked at Wi Jin-hak with a leisurely expression, as if he was content to wait.

So instead of asking his master for the answer, Wi Jin-hak calmly pondered the question over and over.

After quite a long silence, Wi Jin-hak carefully spoke up.

“I believe it might be to test me.”

"A test... Why do you think that?"

At his master's neutral reaction, Wi Jin-hak explained the reasoning he'd spent so long working through.

"The Chief Elder said his ultimate goal was to push me aside. Therefore, if we punished everyone connected to the Chief Elder, it could mean eliminating all those who were targeting me. If that happened, I'd have a very high chance of ascending to the next Cult Leader position without anyone's interference. To prevent this, you ended the matter with just the Chief Elder's life—that's what I believe."

Surprisingly, the Heavenly Demon nodded at Wi Jin-hak's reasoning.

It meant he'd deliberately left alive those who were targeting his first disciple.