Chapter 16: Business Trip (1)

As I predicted, the task Master had for me was a follow-up to my big idea at the banquet.

But he wasn't just telling me to design a whole new system from scratch.

"Your suggestion was quite excellent, but it was also a suggestion made without fully understanding the actual circumstances of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Therefore, let us first familiarize you with the realities of our Cult," Master declared.

Saying so, Master instructed that I should first go and grasp the situation in the regions governed by the Divine Cult.

In other words, I had to go on a business trip.

And our gracious Master, who was kind enough to make me grind my teeth, gave me two days instead of leaving immediately.

"You should bid farewell to that child. She might be quite anxious if you suddenly disappear," he added, his gaze fixed on me with an oddly amused glint.

Though I couldn't decipher the meaning behind his look, I was grateful for the opportunity to say goodbye to Seon-ah the following day.

"Do you have to go...?" she pleaded, her eyes welling up.

"Urgh..."

My heart aches at the eyes of the little child looking up at me so desperately. However, my sadness wasn't solely due to her cuteness.

'I don't want to go either!!!'

The fact that this wasn't a voluntary trip made the situation twice as distressing.

Yet, I couldn't explain the truth about being forced to go.

"Seon-ah. Big Brother is a disciple of the Supreme One."

I couldn't badmouth Master in front of Jin Hayeon who was watching with cold eyes from the side.

"Because I am the disciple of the great Heavenly Demon, I have various duties to fulfill. So, even while I'm away, you must diligently study and practice every day."

"Why...?"

“Because someday, I’m going to be even busier. I like playing with Seon-ah, but if Seon-ah becomes smarter and better at martial arts, we can work together instead of just playing. Then we can be together all the time, right?"

"Ah!"

As if struck by a sudden realization, Seon-a's already large eyes widened further, and she nodded vigorously. Charmed by her cuteness, I patted her head and extended my pinky finger.

"I'll bring you a gift when I return. So make sure you study hard while I'm gone, okay?"

"Yes!! I'll definitely become an excellent person and work together with Big Brother!"

After finishing my brief farewell with Seon-ah, it was time for training with Master again.

"Since you've learned all the main forms of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword. Today, let's learn the forms of footwork and movement techniques."

With those words, Master gracefully moved around Windrock Palace. Astonishingly, deep footprints were left wherever he stepped.

"Follow these footprints and execute the movements I demonstrated."

So for the next two hours, I basically jumped and spun and twisted my body all over the place, trying to keep up with his instructions. By the time the movements of the lightness technique and footwork started to become familiar, the training session came to an end.

The next morning...

"Huaaam."

I was all packed and ready to go. I stretched and yawned as Jin Hayeon led me away. She was carrying a pack with all my study material. Following her lead, we traversed the inner grounds of the Demonic Cult.

We soon arrived at a location where a large carriage was parked.

"Haha. Come on in."

And sitting inside was Master. He’d gotten there early, what with being an old guy who wakes up at the crack of dawn.

To my surprise, he would be accompanying me on this trip.

Once Jin Hayeon and I boarded, the coachman, who also served as a bodyguard, set the carriage in motion.

As we passed the cult's ground and entered a forested path, lush greenery filled the view from the carriage window.

'Maybe because Master is with us, it feels quite relaxing.'

It felt more like going on a casual trip somewhere than a business trip.

As I was enjoying the forest bathing in the carriage since early morning.

Thump.

The carriage suddenly stopped, and Master looked at me and spoke.

"Get off now."

"???"

There wasn't a village in sight. Why would I get off here?

Confused, I obeyed.

The scene outside was even more perplexing.

'Why am I the only one getting off?

As if reading my expression, Master spoke from inside the carriage.

"From now on, run after us."

"!?"

Before I could react, the carriage started moving again.

'Are you crazy!?'

Shocked, I quickly moved my feet to chase after the carriage. Oddly enough, the carriage was moving at quite a leisurely pace as if matching my running speed.

And when I finally managed to catch up to the carriage's side, Master spoke.

"Have you forgotten the movement techniques I taught you yesterday? This too is part of your training. In any situation, whenever you run, move according to the movement technique's principle until those movements are completely ingrained in your body."

Only then could I fully grasp the situation.

The reason Master gave me two days' grace was not out of consideration for me to say farewell to Seon-ah.

It was because he needed time to teach me the movement techniques.

'Wait a minute... maybe the entire reason he waited this long to give me a mission was for this.'

Master had a plan all along—a plan to efficiently exploit my abilities. Just then, his sharp voice cut through the air.

"Your posture is wrong. Focus. Do you think an enemy's sword will miss you in a real battle just because you're tired? Your form must be flawless, even under the most strenuous circumstances."

This was going to be one hell of a business trip.

* * *

"The angle of your waist is wrong."

"My apologies. It is due to this lowly one's inadequate martial arts instruction," Jin Hayeon chimed in, echoing Master's nagging.

How long had I been running while enduring their relentless criticism? Just as my mind began to cloud over…

Thud.

The carriage running alongside me stopped.

"Get in."

"Huff... huff..."

Completely out of breath, I clumsily climbed aboard and gulped down the water from a flask offered by Jin Hayeon.

"Regulate your breathing by exercising your breathing technique. It might be uncomfortable at first, but there's nothing better than breathing exercises to restore a tired body and stabilize your breathing," Master instructed with his tone sterner than usual.

Suppressing a sigh, I assumed the lotus position inside the carriage.

"Inhale... Exhale."

I took a deep breath, guiding the surrounding energy deep into my lungs. As I controlled this energy, circulating it through my meridians according to the principles of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, transforming it into demonic energy, a sudden thought jolted me.

'Shit.'

I almost flinched without realizing it.

Maybe it was because I was so out of breath, or maybe it was the rattling of the carriage.

Whatever the reason, the energy inside me was going haywire. I felt sharp pangs of pain as it surged violently through my body.

That’s when it really hit me. This wasn’t some safe, orthodox cultivation method.

This is a Demonic Art.

Unlike the stable techniques of the righteous sects, Demonic Arts were volatile and prone to causing Qi Deviation.

It’s a pain to control when you are in perfect condition, and it’s an even more pain in the ass when you are much worse.

But stopping the energy flow halfway through was even riskier than continuing.

With the feeling of walking on thin ice, I carefully operated my internal energy.

"Inhale... Exhale..."

I focused my mind while breathing as deeply and slowly as possible.

After repeating several small cycles like this, the violently raging Demonic Energy gradually began to stabilize, and seizing the opportunity, I put it back into my dantian.

'Whoa. My absorption level actually jumped up a lot.'

I took one last deep breath and opened my eyes, feeling a cold trickle of sweat run down my back.

"Hahaha. As expected, I knew you could do it, Il-mok," Master chuckled.

"...Did you intentionally make me practice my breathing technique in a dangerous situation?"

When I asked back in a voice that had become blunt without my realizing it, the crazy old geezer smiled with satisfaction and stroked his beard.

"As a martial artist, you will often encounter situations where you must practice breathing exercises in unstable physical or mental states."

"...Was it truly necessary to practice that now?" I countered, implying that such training would be more appropriate after attaining a higher level of mastery.

Master shook his head. “You have it backwards. It’s far more dangerous for a master to lose control. Think of it this way: what’s worse, a small creek overflowing its banks, or the whole great river flooding?”

“So Master is saying Master put me through that now because my power level is still low enough that it wouldn't kill me?”

“Hahaha! Exactly! You understand my words well. And besides, if you had lost control, your internal energy is not yet so vast that I couldn't intervene. If you possessed even a sixth of the internal energy of, say, your Sixth Senior Brother, even I could not guarantee your safety.”

As expected, Master had it all planned out.

‘It would be really nice if he would just share that plan.’

While I was feeling such regret inside, the carriage suddenly lurched to a halt.

Noticing my puzzled expression, Master stared blankly at me before speaking. "What are you doing? Why aren't you getting off?"

“Are we there already?”

"Now that you've rested enough, shouldn't you practice lightness skill again?"

"..."

For a moment, I was speechless and looked back and forth between my master and Jin Hayeon.

I got off the carriage with a sigh.

'Fuck.'

That word kept echoing in my mind.

* * *

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the village wasn't far. By the time we began the third round of my training, our destination was visible in the distance.

"Let's end this training when we reach that village."

That was all the motivation I needed. I ran towards the village with the fervor of a traveler discovering an oasis in the desert.

Ironically, Master's plan had worked.

I don't know if it was because of the sheer desperation or because this body is just ridiculously talented, but the footwork techniques were now second nature.

Master had even stopped nagging at me. Even with my mind half-absent, my body instinctively executed the movements. As I blindly ran towards the distant village…

…it gradually grew larger until the carriage and I finally arrived at its outskirts.

"Giddy up!"

Neigh!

As we neared the village, the carriage stopped, and Master and Jin Hayeon, who had been traveling comfortably in the carriage until now, got off with calm steps.

I, drenched in sweat, entered the village together with them while half out of my mind.

"Long live the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons!!!"

The loud shouts coming from all directions made my clouded mind snap back to attention.

When I looked around, people who seemed to be residents of this village were all shouting with their entire bodies prostrated on the ground.

"Oh, Heavenly Demon!"

"Please save us!!"

"Please keep us from falling into evil!!"

Watching that scene gave me goosebumps.

'They're acting as if they're welcoming a god.'

At Tianshan Mountain Range, the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I had put up with it thinking that was just how it was, considering the inherently cultish nature of the place.

However, witnessing such fervent reactions in an ordinary village was unsettling.

I never expected such an intense reaction even in a village where ordinary civilians lived.

'Is this the power of a cult?'

It was a terrifying sight to behold.