Chapter 509: Kill the Fake, Kill the Onlookers

TL: FoodieMonster007

Seo Daeryong's instincts screamed.

This is him.

But at the same time, a single doubt arose in his mind.

He's this young?

No, it wasn't his youth. It was his brightness. How could someone with such a handsome face and a friendly smile be the culprit? This man, a fiend?

If you asked ten people passing by, not a single one would identify this man as the fiend who annihilated the Great Justice Sect or a practitioner of demonic art. It would be the same even if he were the one asked.

Or is he not?

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the man approached Seo Daeryong.

Seo Daeryong secretly raised his qi, preparing to counter an attack at any moment.

The tall man still had a friendly smile in his eyes as he looked down at Seo Daeryong.

"You've got guts. Carrying a giant dao around these days is just asking to be misunderstood."

Even his voice was calm and gentle, making him sound like a good, kind person.

Seo Daeryong's gaze shifted to the giant dao strapped to the man's back.

"Don't you carry one, knowing that?"

He looked at Seo Daeryong and gave an unreadable smile.

What were those eyes trying to say? Because I'm strong enough to carry one? Because I'm the one who came here to kill everyone?

What if this man was the fiend? He had thought the rumors about a young man were spread to frame him, but was the culprit really young?

Seo Daeryong tensed. He had to stall for time, somehow, until Geom Mugeuk returned.

Handle it himself? That was a confidence Seo Daeryong had not cultivated.

His confidence had swelled from his increased inner arts and his practical duels with Geom Mugeuk, but Seo Daeryong was cautious and then some. He wasn't foolish enough to let his guard down against an opponent who approached him with a smile.

"Which sect are you from?"

Seo Daeryong knew the man didn't belong to any of the sects invited today, but he asked as if he didn't.

"Peerless."

"Are you saying you're from the Peerless Sect?"

There was no such sect in Chongqing.

"No, the characters written on your blade."

The word 'Peerless' was inscribed on the blade the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had used in his youth. The man, having approached from behind, must have seen it.

"A fine blade."

"My Master gave it to me."

How would he react to the word 'Master'? Seo Daeryong carefully observed his reaction.

The man showed no particular reaction. Still wearing the same friendly smile from before, he instead asked about the Master.

"What kind of person is your Master?"

He was asking about his master. Seo Daeryong could feel it instinctively. He had deliberately read the characters on the blade and then asked about his master.

He knows who my Master is, and he's asking anyway.

And he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he had approached him with prior knowledge. The conviction that this man was an enemy grew stronger.

"He's exactly like the characters on the blade. A man with no equal in this murim."

The man then refuted Seo Daeryong's words.

"There's no one in the world without an equal. Everyone has a rival. The only difference is whether you meet them in your lifetime or die without ever doing so."

The word 'rival' struck Seo Daeryong as deeply significant.

Who did he have in mind when he said that? Me? Master? Or the Young Cult Leader?

This time, Seo Daeryong asked about rivals.

"Are rivals fated to fight each other?"

"How can you know if you are rivals?" the man countered.

"You can tell by looking," Seo Daeryong stated.

"Of course. They are fated to kill each other."

As he said this, he stared intently at Seo Daeryong. A tense atmosphere naturally formed between the two.

This man, he considers me his rival!

It was, again, an instinctive judgment. He felt some fateful entanglement with the man before him. While he felt fear, he also felt a sense of pride.

Seo Daeryong still recalled his gloomy days as an investigator. No matter how strong he became, he believed his identity would always be rooted there. That way, he wouldn't become arrogant.

For someone to consider him a fated enemy? It was frightening, yet he was pleased. His thoughts even went a step further.

Yes, rather than aiming for Master or the Young Cult Leader, aim for me! I will be your opponent.

The man's gaze shifted to the great hall in the distance where the meeting was to be held. In front of the hall stood the martial artists who had accompanied the leaders of each sect. Judging by their numbers, it seemed most of the invited guests had arrived.

The man asked Seo Daeryong, "Do you know the purpose of today's meeting?"

"I don't know."

"The purpose is to unite against us."

"Us?"

The man nodded at Seo Daeryong's question.

"That's right. Us."

"What do you and I have in common to be called 'us'? Are you saying this is a meeting to deal with those who use blades?"

The man then answered without hesitation.

"We're demonic practitioners, aren't we?"

"!"

Seo Daeryong was startled. The man had said it so casually that he thought he had misheard. As he suspected, this man was one of the masterminds behind this incident.

Revealing his identity just like that? Then why did he approach me?

"It's a meeting to oppose us."

Then he said something even more shocking.

"What do you say? Let's the two of us go in there and wipe them all out."

His eyes and tone were completely serious, as if he meant it.

Seo Daeryong laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I'm so tense, I couldn't help but laugh."

The man also laughed at Seo Daeryong's honest answer. He was clearly more at ease than Seo Daeryong. It was definitely this man who was leading the current atmosphere.

"Are you scared?"

"Wouldn't you be? A man I just met is suggesting we go on a suicide mission together."

"Why do you assume we'll lose? With your martial arts and mine, don't you think we can wipe out all those bastards from the orthodox sects?"

Instead of answering, Seo Daeryong slyly brought up his own story. He had no desire to talk about himself to this man, but he needed to stall for time until Geom Mugeuk returned. Even if it was just for a few words, he had to drag this out as long as possible.

"In my gloomy days, I too once wanted to just wipe out the world."

His words were sincere. Before meeting Geom Mugeuk, when the Sanzu River Hall Senior who had cared for him died unjustly, his gloom had reached its peak. If he could have, he really would have wanted to wipe everything away.

"Why were you gloomy?"

He must have noticed that he was stalling for time. Yet, this man was playing along with his words. Seo Daeryong felt an inexplicable anxiety, but for now, this was the best he could do.

"As you can see, I'm short and have a small build."

"Did you learn martial arts that use a giant dao because of that inferiority complex?"

Seo Daeryong could feel it. The opponent had deliberately used the words 'inferiority complex' to provoke him. In the past, he would have flared up. But he was different now.

Who is by my side? Who did I learn from?

Seo Daeryong had grown up watching Geom Mugeuk face the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Supremes. He was not one to fall for such a simple provocation.

"The fact that I was learning martial arts that used a giant dao made my heart feel like it would burst with joy. Thinking about it now, I guess I did have an inferiority complex like you said."

Instead, Seo Daeryong asked the man a question.

"Have you ever felt such an inferiority complex in your life?"

As if finding it absurd, the man laughed again. Conversing with him up close and seeing his laugh, Seo Daeryong finally understood. He was a man who laughed habitually, and this friendly, good-natured smile wasn't due to his personality, but his appearance. His handsome features merely made him seem friendly. A certain arrogance could be felt in his eyes.

He could now see what he couldn't before.

"There's someone I'd like to introduce you to. A person I truly respect. The one who changed my life."

The man then provoked Seo Daeryong again.

"I don't want someone else to change my life. Wouldn't that be a rather pathetic life?"

Seo Daeryong stared at him intently and said, "Isn't it natural for people to be changed by others? We read books, listen to what others say, and see how others live. Seeing as you consider such things pathetic, you must be truly remarkable."

Perhaps taking it as sarcasm, the smile vanished from the man's face for the first time.

Seo Daeryong, on the contrary, felt relieved at the reaction.

Yes, a villain should have eyes like these. If a scoundrel had such kind eyes, how would I know to fight him?

A villain who shows his colors like this is actually less frightening. The truly scary villains are those who show no sign at all.

However, the man soon returned to his friendly expression.

"Come to think of it, we haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Seo Daeryong. My apologies for the late introduction."

The man then introduced himself.

"I'm Ja Jyeong."

Ja Jyeong, are you my rival?

"You said you were a demonic practitioner earlier. What is your affiliation?"

What identity would he reveal?

Ja Jyeong answered Seo Daeryong's curiosity with a surprise.

"I'm a disciple of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Blade Demon."

"!"

Then he shamelessly asked Seo Daeryong, "And what is your affiliation?"

Seo Daeryong stared at him with a shocked expression.

He knew the man had learned the Heaven Destroying Demonic Blade Technique, but a disciple of the Blade Demon? Which Blade Demon? Surely not a disciple of his master? Could he be a disciple taken in long ago? Seo Daeryong's mind became a tangled mess.

"I am also a disciple of the Blade Demon."

Seo Daeryong answered honestly. There was no need to lie to someone who had sought him out already knowing the truth.

Ja Jyeong gave a strange smile and said, "I've never heard of a disciple like you."

"The same goes for me."

SHHHHK.

The giant dao on Ja Jyeong's back moved on its own, settling into his hand.

"Then one of us must be a fake."

Seo Daeryong felt his spirit falter at the sight of the man drawing his blade. He couldn't draw his own so magnificently with telekinesis.

Instead of raising his blade, Seo Daeryong spoke quickly.

"Won't we be able to tell the real from the fake if we see our Master?"

He was certain that, at the very least, the man wasn't trying to kill him. If he were, he would have attacked from the start. However, that thought proved to be a grave miscalculation.

SHWAAAAAAK!

A fierce stream of blade energy flew toward Seo Daeryong.

Seo Daeryong threw himself aside to dodge the blade energy.

If I hadn't dodged, I'd be dead.

Rolling on the ground and getting back up, Seo Daeryong found his giant dao already in his hand.

Is he insane?

They had been talking and laughing, and then he suddenly started a fight. Moreover, his killing intent was genuine.

So he wants to fight here? If a fight breaks out, everyone will come running, won't they?

He was an opponent whose thoughts were impossible to grasp. If he wanted to kill him, it would have been better to launch a surprise attack from the beginning.

"If we fight here, everyone will gather, won't they?"

"Kill the fake, and kill the onlookers."

SHWAAAAAAK!

Once again, Ja Jyeong's blade energy raged forward.

This time, instead of dodging, Seo Daeryong also unleashed his blade energy. Since his opponent wasn't using the Heaven Destroying Demonic Blade Technique, Seo Daeryong simply released his own blade energy to counter the attack.

The two streams of blade energy collided in mid-air.

BOOM!

Seo Daeryong, at least, was not pushed back in terms of qi.

As the two began to fight, martial artists flocked to the scene. At the news of a fight, even the sect leaders who had been waiting in the great hall came rushing over.

"You two, stop this fight!"

When they appeared, Ja Jyeong stopped attacking. A moment ago, his momentum had been such that it seemed he would launch his blade energy at everyone gathered here.

Ja Jyeong's expression was placid, as if nothing had happened.

He said he'd kill the fake and the onlookers?

Then, something Seo Daeryong could never have imagined happened. Ja Jyeong spoke to everyone.

"The one who committed the atrocity of the blood threads at the Great Justice Sect is this man right here."

Everyone's gaze turned to Seo Daeryong, whom Ja Jyeong was looking at.

"This man is none other than Seo Daeryong, a disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon."

Seo Daeryong stared at Ja Jyeong with a shocked face. He truly hadn't expected the man to frame him while revealing his identity to the members of the orthodox sects.

What in the world are you doing?

Does he think this will work? If they investigate the truth, won't it be revealed that he also practices demonic art?

Even so, Ja Jyeong's exposé continued.

"That man's blade is the cherished weapon used by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon in his youth. The word 'Peerless' on the blade's body proves it."

The masters in the vicinity all drew their weapons at once, surrounding Seo Daeryong.

"He said he came here today to kill all the masters present!"

Seo Daeryong was flabbergasted. The man was saying the very words he should have been saying.

Seo Daeryong said to everyone, "It's a lie! This man is the fiend! He's the one who committed the tragedy at the Great Justice Sect."

Then, an elderly master from the surrounding crowd stepped forward. He was the Chairman of the Flying Sword Manor, who was attending the meeting today.

"Are you truly a disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon?"

He had already been imprisoned and released from the Chongqing Branch. He couldn't hide his identity.

"I am. But it's a lie that I annihilated the Great Justice Sect. The one who did it is that man. He also said he would eliminate all of you today."

At that, the people standing around sneered in unison. Some shook their heads, and others directed their killing intent straight at Seo Daeryong.

What? Why are they acting like this?

The Chairman of the Flying Sword Manor looked at Seo Daeryong on behalf of everyone with a look of disbelief.

"Do you even know who this man is?"

The words that followed from the Chairman of the Flying Sword Manor were shocking.

"This master here is the Blue Cloud Hero."

Seo Daeryong stared at Ja Jyeong with a shocked face.

The Blue Cloud Hero. He had heard of him.

He was a young hero who had recently risen in the orthodox sects' murim. A budding righteous warrior who had killed many villains and saved countless lives through various heroic deeds. Ah, come to think of it, he had heard that he was also a master of the blade.

So this man has been posing as a hero!

Seo Daeryong could see it now. This incident related to his master was a conspiracy that had been in preparation for a very long time. And this gathering today was clearly a trap designed to ensnare him.

I wasn't the one stalling for time!

Ja Jyeong had been stalling, waiting for as many masters as possible attending the meeting to gather. Furthermore, his earlier words about killing everyone here were meant to make Seo Daeryong reveal them in this very spot.

The Blue Cloud Hero tried to annihilate the masters of the orthodox sects? The Blue Cloud Hero was a demonic practitioner who learned demonic art? The moment he said something no one would believe, his credibility had already crumbled.

Ja Jyeong shouted to the assembled heroes, "Let's all attack together and eliminate this demonic practitioner!"

At the same time, he sent a telepathic message to Seo Daeryong.

[If you want to survive this, you'll have to use the Heaven Destroying Demonic Blade Technique!]