Chapter 32. Is It Perhaps a Bluff?

Baek A-rin’s respect for the Iron-Blooded Demonic God was truly immense.

“Isn’t she amazing? In that era, as a woman, she became the Captain of the Iron-Armored Ghostly Demon Squad, and eventually rose to the position of the supreme one.”

In the past, when the trend of disregarding human life and looking down on women was rampant, she said that even entering the path of martial arts was not easy.

No matter how outstanding one's innate qualities were, it was the policy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult not to teach women martial arts, citing physical disadvantages.

The Iron-Blooded Demonic God was a legendary figure who was born in such an era, overcame the disdain and discrimination against women, and became the Captain of the Iron-Armored Ghostly Demon Squad, one of the five major military forces of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Would she be called the Iron-Blooded Demonic God for nothing?

She staged a rebellion against the Heavenly Demon, executed him, ended the First Righteous-Demonic Great War, and went on to reform the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?

It was an unprecedented great achievement in history, which would not be an understatement to call her a great revolutionary.

“The word ‘amazing’ isn't enough to describe her.”

Having witnessed the divine might of the Iron-Blooded Demonic God himself, Jin Yeong-in fully agreed with Baek A-rin’s opinion.

‘Is that why talking about her was taboo?’

Jin Yeong-in thought that might be the case.

In the Central Plains, discussing the Iron-Blooded Demonic God was strictly taboo.

It was so severe that even the gossipmongers did not dare to mention the Iron-Blooded Demonic God.

Why?

Because if anyone belonging to the Righteous Heavenly Alliance heard, they would be severely punished.

If one discusses the Demonic, the Demonic will come and one will suffer the tragedy of having their entire clan annihilated.

The Righteous Heavenly Alliance had strictly forbidden any mention of the Iron-Blooded Demonic God with such logic.

It was so extreme that even Jin Yeong-in did not know the Iron-Blooded Demonic God’s gender.

Even his own master, the Azure Heaven Divine Warrior, who was said to have a connection with the Iron-Blooded Demonic God, had never mentioned her.

Jin Yeong-in recalled a conversation he had with his master, the Azure Heaven Divine Warrior.

* * *

It was a bright, sunny day.

He suddenly became curious about the Iron-Blooded Demonic God, the Heavenly Demon of the era, and decided to ask his master.

After all, it was natural for any martial artist to be curious about the greatest martial artist and the greatest demonic figure of their time.

His master, as always, was sitting on a tree stump playing a grass flute.

How on earth did he play it…

It was always a marvel to see how he could play a tune by simply picking any leaf off the side of the road and blowing into it.

He prided himself on having fully inherited his master's teachings, but no matter how much he learned, he never seemed to improve at the grass flute.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“Have you ever met the Iron-Blooded Demonic God?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because I’m curious.”

“Spend your time training instead of being curious about useless things.”

“Ah, why?”

“You rascal?”

“You said you helped in the execution of the Heavenly Demon. That means you were at Mount Hua then, so didn't you fight alongside the Iron-Blooded Demonic God?”

“W-well, yes.”

His master subtly averted his gaze.

“Then you must have met her, right?”

“You brat! I told you to train instead of asking useless questions! What business does a would-be warrior have knowing about the greatest d… no, about the Demonic Cult?”

“There's a saying, 'know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles'.”

“Don’t you know the sayings, ‘knowledge brings worry’ and ‘to hear is a sickness, to not hear is medicine’?”

Seeing his master, who never used such literary phrases, suddenly bring them up, a suspicion arose.

Indeed, his master was a person with many questionable aspects.

He had heard that opinions were divided about his master’s level of martial arts, and most of his past deeds were nothing short of absurd.

And what supported this suspicion was the treatment he received from fellow members of the Orthodox Faction.

A warrior who had achieved great military merit should have been treated with great respect and admiration by the Orthodox Faction, but his master was the opposite.

Not only the Nine Sects One Gang but also the people of the Five Great Clans seemed to not welcome his master, and far from respecting him, they often treated him like a third-rate martial artist.

Seeing that, he couldn't possibly believe that this was the man who had stood shoulder to shoulder with the great masters of the martial world and joined forces to execute the Heavenly Demon.

Perhaps it was just a bluff born from a childish desire to look impressive in front of his young disciple…

“Well, is it perhaps a bluff?”

He asked, narrowing his eyes.

“What?”

“This disciple understands everything. Don't be ashamed, and speak your mind freely. The part about helping to execute the Heavenly Demon at Mount Hua was actually a li…”

Thwack!

“Ack!”

A flick to the forehead sent his vision spinning.

“Why did you hit me! Ugh!”

“How dare this rascal doubt his master who is like the heavens?”

“It's because you keep beating around the bush!”

“Who's beating around the bush! You ill-mannered brat! How dare you mock your master instead of training as you're told? Fine, let's see how much you've improved to be slacking off on your training!”

“What does this have to do with trai… Uwaaah!”

“Oh, trying to run away? Stand still!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

Seeing him throw a fit when he could have just honestly admitted it was a bluff, he must have been quite embarrassed.

At least, that was the conclusion he came to back then.

That his master’s tales of valor were nothing but bluffs.

* * *

Recalling the memory with his master, Jin Yeong-in gave a bitter smile.

How much he had been beaten that day under the pretext of training…

Looking back now, he deserved it.

After defecting to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, he realized that the tales of valor that had seemed so absurd were actually true, and it seemed his master had not just seen the Iron-Blooded Demonic God but also had some sort of connection with her.

However, seeing as neither his master, the Azure Heaven Divine Warrior, nor the Iron-Blooded Demonic God would speak of their connection, he could only guess there was some untold story.

‘That aside.’

Jin Yeong-in thought that the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s gag order on the Iron-Blooded Demonic God might be for an incredibly petty reason.

‘Because they were ashamed of losing the title of the world’s greatest martial artist to a mere woman?’

It was a rather logical inference.

The Righteous Heavenly Alliance he knew was a collection of narrow-minded fools who would risk their lives for face and reputation.

Considering that, it was highly likely that they had intentionally made it taboo to discuss the Iron-Blooded Demonic God to conceal the fact that she was a woman.

‘A bunch of morons. What does gender have to do with being a martial artist?’

A sword has no eyes.

Death does not discriminate between men and women, young and old.

A martial artist is just a martial artist, not a man or a woman.

To revere someone for being a man and belittle them for being a woman, wasn't that what only petty people would do?

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Jin Yeong-in shook his head at Baek A-rin’s question and picked up the broom again, starting to gather the debris of the shattered gate in one place.

“If I demand compensation for damages from the Ghost Soldier Corps, will they pay up?”

“I think it’s better not to.”

“As I thought, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll have to get it back with interest later.”

Just as Jin Yeong-in vowed to one day get the money for the broken gate from the Ghost Soldier Corps.

“Why is it such a mess here?”

Yeom Bi, who had shown up unexpectedly, asked bluntly.

“Greetings, Fourth Young Master. But, what brings you here?”

“It was time for you to come, but you didn’t. I came to see if something had happened.”

“I apologize. Haha.”

“Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing, you say. It looks like someone came and raised hell. Who was it? The guys from the Ghost Soldier Corps?”

“Yes, well…”

“Looks like it was resolved well. Seeing as you’re unharmed.”

“As you can see, it was resolved well.”

“Then that’s goo…”

Yeom Bi stopped mid-sentence.

His gaze was directed at Baek A-rin, who was standing right behind Jin Yeong-in.

“Ah, this is Miss Baek, whom I mentioned before. Greet him. I told you, right? The Fourth Young Master highly praised the dishes you made.”

Jin Yeong-in turned to look at Baek A-rin.

“Greetings, Fourth Young Master. Thank you for enjoying the food of this humble one.”

“Uh, yeah.”

As Baek A-rin knelt on one knee and paid her respects, Yeom Bi gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.

‘Why is his reaction like this?’

Jin Yeong-in was slightly taken aback by Yeom Bi’s attitude towards Baek A-rin.

He had praised the dishes Baek A-rin made so highly, yet when he met her in person, he treated her greeting so dismissively…

‘Is it because of her low status?’

However, Jin Yeong-in’s status was just as low, so that didn’t seem to be it.

Although he had Baek A-rin as a maid, Jin Yeong-in himself was also just an ordinary cult member.

“Will you go on ahead? I’ll clean up and follow you.”

“It’s fine. We don’t necessarily have to train at the Body-Fortifying Prescription.”

“Pardon?”

“We can do it with just our bodies.”

“That’s true, but…”

“I’ll help, so let's clean up and then do some bodyweight training.”

“Here?”

“Why not?”

“There’s no reason not to.”

“Then let’s do that. After training, we can eat right here too.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Jin Yeong-in accepted Yeom Bi’s proposal.

Who was he to refuse?

As a mere common cult member, he had made a Fourth Young Master wait and even come to his house, so he was in a position where he had to grant almost any request.

Why?

Because in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, rank was law.

* * *

“Tsk tsk. I don’t know whose handiwork this is, but he’s been beaten to a pulp.”

The Life-Saving Demonic Dao, Gongson Chaek, clicked his tongue as he looked at Jang In-geol.

“This is practically playing with someone. Who on earth did this to him?”

“It was Young Master Jin.”

“Young Master Jin… you don’t mean that tenacious fellow who defected to Our Cult?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t lie. That fellow shouldn’t be in any condition to do that yet.”

Gongson Chaek frowned.

“He has almost fully recovered.”

“The last time that fellow received treatment from this old man was five days ago.”

“It may be hard to believe, but in those five days, he has completely recovered and even succeeded in the Small Heavenly Cycle of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. Young Master Jin was evaluated as a prodigy sent from heaven even in the Orthodox Faction.”

“Hmm. Even so, it would have been beyond his capabilities to beat this fellow to this extent…”

Despite Danmok Cheong’s explanation, Gongson Chaek showed clear signs of disbelief.

“I understand for now. Tell that Jin Yeong-in fellow that I want to see him. I need to see him for myself.”

“Understood.”

“It’s a clean break, so the surgery will be easy. He’ll need a few months of rehabilitation, but there won’t be any problem with using his leg. Hurry and move him.”

At Gongson Chaek’s command, the medical students took Jang In-geol away somewhere.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Take care on your way out.”

After leaving the clinic, Danmok Cheong went straight to the Outer General Manager, Yi Ja-yeong, and reported in detail everything that had happened from last night until just a moment ago.

“And you expect me to believe that?”

Yi Ja-yeong frowned her alluring eyes, expressing her displeasure.

And for good reason, Danmok Cheong’s report was truly preposterous.

Not only did he achieve the Small Heavenly Cycle of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art in just two hours, but he also emitted a demonic qi so intense that Danmok Cheong couldn't move an inch, and in the morning, he crushed the Seventh Captain of the Ghost Soldier Corps?

And this was a person who, until just a few days ago, was focusing solely on rehabilitation in preparation for entering the Blood Wolf Corps?

“Do you know how long it took the Grand Young Master, who is called a prodigy of the ages, to achieve his first Small Heavenly Cycle?”

“This subordinate does not know.”

“One month. And even that was largely due to the resources of the Demonic Dao Heavenly Family. It was only possible because they had him consume a Humanoid Ginseng at least five hundred years old, and the family elders assisted him with everything from Body Cleansing and Marrow Washing to even the guiding of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art. And you're telling me that Jin Yeong-in achieved his first Small Heavenly Cycle in just two hours?”

“Yes.”

Danmok Cheong answered without a hint of hesitation.

“It may be hard to believe, but there is not a single falsehood in my report. As you know, I was a member of the Bat Squad. I was trained to report what I see and hear without a single word being wrong.”

“…That is true.”

“I say this, staking the honor of the Bat Squad, which prides itself on being the eyes and ears of Our Cult. If my report is false, I will gladly offer my neck in accordance with the laws of Our Cult.”

“…!”

“I can say with certainty, Young Master Jin is truly a prodigy of the ages. He is undoubtedly a genius of demonic arts sent from heaven.”

The look in Danmok Cheong’s eyes as he said this was filled with conviction.