Chapter 8: When the Blade Glistens in the Moonlight

TL: FoodieMonster007

A rumor spread rapidly through the academy that I had killed a disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

As the rumor spread, Lee Ahn's worries grew. "It's absolute chaos. Everyone I meet is talking about you and Yang Po, Young Master." She sighed. "…And about me, too."

It was only natural for people to talk about her, since she was the cause of the fight.

"Isn't it good to be famous? Aren't martial artists the kind of people who do crazy things just to get famous?"

"I don't like it."

"You're going to get even more famous from now on. What will you do?"

Lee Ahn sighed lightly, but her expression wasn't dark. The chaos centered around a positive change, which was likely why.

"I'm worried because the Blood Heaven Blade Demon values honor. I really hope he just lets this go."

"Who told you that? That the Blood Heaven Blade Demon values honor?"

"Huh? He doesn't?"

"Would someone who values honor neglect and condone his disciples' trashy behavior?"

"Maybe he doesn't know?"

"That's severely underestimating the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's perceptiveness."

"You did this before, too. You keep talking like you know the Blood Heaven Blade Demon well."

"I know a fair amount about the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the other Demon Supremes. I'm the Heavenly Demon's son, after all. I have to at least investigate that much."

Lee Ahn stared at me with wide eyes. She probably thought she knew everything about me and wondered when I could have possibly done such an investigation.

"Then why does the Blood Heaven Blade Demon just let his disciples run wild?"

"That's…"

There was a clear reason, but I couldn't explain it to Lee Ahn.

So I gave her a different reason, one she could accept.

"Because it's easier that way."

"What?"

"It's easier to handle greedy, selfish bastards than well-behaved disciples. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon hasn't chosen a head disciple in a long time. Instead, he makes his disciples compete. Why? Because it makes them easier to use as consumables. Just watch. Yang Po's empty spot will be filled in a few days."

"He's a frightening person, the Blade Demon."

"I think the disciples are scarier. They rush in fully knowing what kind of person their Master is."

"I'm glad I get to serve you, Young Master."

"Of course. There's no comparison. Lee Ahn, want to have a drink? It's been a while."

She looked at me, surprised.

"Why are you so surprised?"

"Because it's not 'been a while,' it's the first time."

"The first time?"

"……"

I've never had a single drink with you until now? What in the world has motivated you to throw yourself on the line for me?

"Let's go. Let's drink till we drop today!"

I went to the Demon Village with Lee Ahn.

The Demon Village was a town formed around our Cult. It started as a small village for the families of our cultists but had since grown into a large city.

I took her to the most expensive and finest tavern in the Demon Village.

"It's a historic day, so let's drink somewhere nice."

"I'm fine with a small, shabby place too."

She was uncomfortable in crowded places. Eyes were always drawn to her first, no matter where she went, so she naturally disliked it.

Out of consideration for her, I led her into a private room in the tavern.

"How much can you drink?"

"I can't drink much."

"Let's find out how much you can drink today. Don't worry, if you get drunk, I'll carry you back."

"I'm… heavy."

"It's fine. Look at these biceps."

"They're half the size of my forearms."

"That's because I'm not flexing yet!"

Since it was my first time drinking with her, I ordered a feast of fine liquor and dishes.

"I've never had this kind of food before. This, and this too."

"Try everything, and let's order more of whatever's delicious."

"My stomach is in for a surprise."

"You're always busy being a bodyguard, so you just eat whatever, right? From now on, pay more attention to what you eat."

"Look, with a body like this, it's fine to eat whatever."

She lifted a thick forearm and grinned.

"Eating carelessly makes you gain more weight. You need to think, 'What am I eating? What ingredients is this made of?' The more you pay attention to your food, the less weight you gain. To lose weight, you have to become a gourmet."

"Ah! I never knew! I'll do that from now on."

However, I knew the truth. She wouldn't lose weight no matter what she ate, even if she starved herself every day. That weight wasn't from food.

Of course, Lee Ahn knew it well too. She only said that because she thought I didn't know about the side effects. She could have revealed them and made a resentful joke, but she had to become an adult too young.

"From now on, learn by eating delicious things with me."

Lee Ahn stared at me intently and asked.

"Please tell me your secret."

"What secret? Cooking?"

"No. How a person can change so much."

I looked at her and smiled faintly.

"Why? Do you want to change too?"

"That's not it, but…"

She emptied her cup. How could she not want to change? The image of her younger self was forever enshrined in her heart. She would remember that day whenever things got tough, which only made it harder.

Once you regain your original form, you won't need any such secrets. The whole world will adore you.

Lee Ahn politely accepted the drink I poured for her and asked.

"Young Master, what are your plans for becoming the successor?"

She asked a question she had never asked before. She likely saw that potential in me now.

I raised my cup and said softly.

"Sucking up is the only way to survive!"

Lee Ahn laughed, raised her cup, and lightly clinked it against mine.

"Make sure you melt the Cult Leader's heart!"

I emptied my cup with her.

Lee Ahn held her liquor quite well for someone who claimed she couldn't drink much.

Of course, I paid the price for getting her drunk. I had to carry the completely intoxicated Lee Ahn on my back.

She shouted from my back the entire way.

"Don't worry! I'll definitely protect you, Young Master. Just trust me!"

"I wasn't worried at all, but hearing you say that over and over is starting to make me worry."

"I told you not to worry! I'll protect you!"

"Alright, I won't worry."

"You should. You have to worry, but don't worry! Because I'll protect you!"

"Hahaha."

Just then, a window opened in a nearby building and someone shouted.

"What kind of crazy bitch keeps saying the same thing over and over?"

I looked at the man who had stuck his head out the window and said.

"Cut her some slack, for my sake."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Second Young Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult."

He stared at me blankly for a moment, then apologized as fast as light.

"Oh! My apologies, Young Lord!"

The window slammed shut even faster than it had opened.

Lee Ahn breathed softly, sound asleep on my back.

I'm sorry it took me so long to carry you like this.

After returning to my residence, I laid her on the bed and went outside.

I sat in the courtyard, stretched out my legs, and looked up at the moon.

Thinking back, I remembered my life as a fugitive after my clan was annihilated. I was mired in a deep sense of defeat. The depression was so profound that I only sustained my life by racing toward the goal of regression.

If I hadn't met Seo Jin back then, or learned about the Great Regression Technique, I might have taken my own life. Or I would have sought out Hwa Mugi, only to die miserably at the hands of his followers without ever meeting him. Yes, that's what would have happened.

I was lost in such thoughts when something flashed beside me, reflecting the moonlight.

I slowly turned my head. A large blade was right beside my face.

My tense face reflected on the absurdly large giant dao's blade.

The blade slowly lowered, revealing its owner.

Wrinkles like valleys of experience creased the back of the rough, gaunt hand gripping the blade, showing the past years had not been easy. Beyond those valleys, a pair of sharp eyes glared at me.

He was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

I was inwardly surprised. I hadn't expected him to visit so suddenly.

The blade aimed at my neck was his unique weapon, the Heaven Destroying Dao. It was listed as one of the murim's ten great weapons and had earned the nickname 'Weapon Breaker' because it could shatter most other weapons on impact.

Cold demonic qi emanated from the Heaven Destroying Dao, enveloping the area. A chill so cold it felt like my breath would stop made all the hairs on my body stand on end.

If that blade flies at my neck, can I dodge it?

I couldn't easily answer.

My inner arts were overwhelmingly inferior right now, no matter how profound the insights I gained in my previous life.

In that moment of heightened tension, the frigid energy enveloping the area vanished instantly.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon grinned and poked my side with the pommel of the Heaven Destroying Dao.

"Why'd you do it?"

He meant, why did I kill his disciple.

A moment ago, his presence was like an assassin's, but now he grinned like a friendly neighborhood old man poking my side.

"Because he acted like an idiot."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon stared at me intently after my nonchalant reply. His gaze was similar to my father's, yet different.

While it was impossible to read my father's thoughts from his eyes, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's gaze was clear.

Hostility.

I saw a blazing fire in his pupils.

"What kind of idiot in this world picks a fight with the Cult Leader's youngest son, the apple of his eye?"

WHOOSH!

The dao resting on the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's lap shot up, once again aimed at my neck.

"Should I cut this head off and tell the Cult Leader to put it in his eye? See if it hurts or not?"

The sharp killing intent flowing over the blade carried its master's will. It said, 'It might have sounded like a joke, but it's not.'

"I don't think my head would fit in my father's terrifying, slanted eyes."

When I stepped back, the energy flowing over the blade vanished instantly toward the hilt. It was amazing. He handled such powerful energy so freely with that gaunt body.

This time, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon used the Heaven Destroying Dao to draw a long line on the ground. Then, he drew a vertical line about a handspan from the left end.

"From here to here is our Second Young Lord, and from here to the far end is me."

He divided the line in a nine-to-one ratio.

"What is this?"

"It's the degree to which the Cult Leader cherishes us."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was the nine, and I was the one.

I used my finger to draw a new line at about the two-thirds mark.

"No matter what, I'm his son, in name at least. This side is me, and that side is you, Elder."

This time, I was the seven, and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was the three.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon smiled slyly.

"We can just test it, then. If I bring him the Second Young Lord's head, will the Cult Leader kill me or spare me?"

"Aren't you underestimating the Heavenly Demon's paternal love a little too much?"

"That's why I'm saying we should test it."

The Heaven Destroying Dao slowly moved toward me again.

I pressed my palm firmly against the flat of the dao, stopping it from reaching my neck. The blade was cold. This coldness was his true nature, no matter how brightly the Blood Heaven Blade Demon smiled. To forget that was to die.

"There's no need to test it. There are two sons, but only one Elder."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon grinned.

"The Second Young Lord is no idiot like my disciple."

"If your disciple had resembled you, Elder, he would still be alive."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon placed a hand on my shoulder and patted it a few times.

"Second Young Lord, this old man has lived his entire life with misfortune. So it's best we don't see each other often."

After he finished speaking, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon vanished. His body shot up from beside me with a whoosh and disappeared into the distant darkness.

Once the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was gone, I checked my side. A dark bruise had already formed where he had poked me with the dao's pommel. It had seemed like a playful 'poke, poke,' but the impact felt more like 'BAM, BAM.' The pats on my shoulder were the same.

"Damn it, that damned old man."

I hadn't let my guard down for a moment while dealing with him. Even though I had regressed, I always had to be cautious of the dangers created by variables.

He repeated his threat to take my head to my father twice, which meant the thought of actually doing it was in his mind.

At a glance, he seems whimsical, but he is not. He is a man who always calculates everything thoroughly. If his actions feel whimsical, that too is a calculated whim. That's what made him so difficult to deal with.

I knew a lot about him, but knowing him well didn't mean I could handle him well. Information is just information, and a variable could appear at any time to overturn this advantage.

Anyway, why did he come to see me?

Was it a warning for killing his disciple?

No. As I told Lee Ahn, he isn't someone who cares about his reputation.

He came to see me. My performance on the duel stage must have been impressive, and my wish for a hunt must have felt special. On top of that, I had cut down his disciple, so he must have felt the need to test me. He came to see for himself whether I tasted sweet or like shit, to see if I had what it takes to be the successor.

So, how did I taste?

To me, he was spicy. I only had a small taste, but it was fiery. A deliciously spicy flavor.

Will my first opponent be the Blood Heaven Blade Demon?

Perhaps. After all, I was sent back to the day I dueled a disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

Perhaps your big blade was just particularly eye-catching to the heavens.