Chapter 608: With Those Tiny Baby Hands!

TL: FoodieMonster007

The carriage sped swiftly toward the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Headquarters.

It ran without rest, stopping only to eat, let the horses recover, or for its passengers to sleep at an inn for the night. Today was no different as the carriage raced down the road.

As the carriage passed and kicked up a cloud of dust, a flock of sparrows perched on a scarecrow took flight all at once.

"They're just like me."

Geom Mugeuk looked up at Lee Ahn's words.

"What is?"

Just a moment ago, beyond the sparrows that had soared into the sky on the wind, a single crane stood on a rice paddy ridge. Its noble figure reminded her of Geom Mugeuk. The thought that she was like one of the sparrows that had just flown away suddenly occurred to her, and she had spoken it aloud.

When Geom Mugeuk glanced out the carriage window, the scenery had already changed, as if to say that everything was just a fleeting moment.

"There is. Something that just chirps away."

"How silly."

"But what are you thinking so hard about?"

Geom Mugeuk had been lost in deep thought for the entire duration of the carriage ride.

"Will it be cut, or will it not?"

"……"

Lee Ahn's eyes went wide, not understanding what he meant. Seo Jin, who was traveling with them, also wore a puzzled expression.

Geom Mugeuk stuck his head out the window and shouted to the carriage in front.

"Let's stop for a moment!"

The two carriages running ahead came to a halt.

Geom Mugeuk exited his carriage and approached the one carrying the Fist Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme. He said, "We only have three or four days left until we reach the Headquarters. Let's travel together from here."

The Fist Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme, thinking there must be a reason for this when they were traveling perfectly fine, readily disembarked.

Geom Mugeuk sent back the two carriages that had been leading them, along with all three coachmen.

"From now on, I will drive the carriage."

Indeed, there was a reason for Geom Mugeuk's actions.

After unhitching the horses to let them graze in a nearby field, Geom Mugeuk gathered the two Demon Supremes, Lee Ahn, and Seo Jin in one place.

"Please come here for a moment!"

The four of them gathered around Geom Mugeuk. They were all wondering why he was acting this way.

"Lee Ahn, draw your sword."

When he suddenly told her to draw her sword, Lee Ahn did as she was told. The sharp edge of the Sun Moon Sword glinted along its blade.

Is he trying to duel me?

Her guess, however, was completely wrong.

Geom Mugeuk rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm.

"Strike my arm with that sword."

A moment of silence passed.

"Are you testing your protective enhanced qi?"

"No. I'm going to try blocking it without protective enhanced qi."

At those words, not only Lee Ahn but the other three were also startled. Everyone's gaze fell upon Geom Mugeuk's arm and the Sun Moon Sword.

"This is the Sun Moon Sword. The very same Sun Moon Sword the Young Cult Leader gifted to me. Isn't its blade too sharp to test if it's genuine or not?"

"I'm not trying to test if that's genuine. I'm trying to test if something else is."

What on earth was he talking about?

"My arm is getting sore. Hurry up and strike."

"If I strike, that sore arm will be gone."

"Hurry!"

Lee Ahn looked toward the Fist Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme. How could the two of them possibly know Geom Mugeuk's intentions?

Finally, the Fist Demon nodded at his daughter. It was a signal for her to do as she was told.

"I'm really striking."

"Strike hard!"

Right, I'd be worried if it were anyone else, but since it's the Young Cult Leader, he must have a plan. Oh, whatever, I don't know anymore.

The Sun Moon Sword cut through the air. Since he said he wouldn't use protective enhanced qi, she did not imbue the sword with inner arts either. Even so, it was not a sword that could be blocked with a bare body.

SHWIIK.

PWAK.

In that instant, a profound silence fell over the area. Everyone's movements had stopped as if time itself had frozen.

The Sun Moon Sword was resting directly on Geom Mugeuk's forearm. Astonishingly, despite having been struck down hard, the sword had failed to cut Geom Mugeuk's arm.

"Are you alright?"

"No. It hurts like hell. Are you trying to cut off the Young Cult Leader's arm!"

"You told me to strike hard, didn't you?"

"Not this hard. I think my bone is broken."

Of course, contrary to his whining, Geom Mugeuk's arm was perfectly fine.

"You just used protective enhanced qi, didn't you? Right?"

"No."

Geom Mugeuk shook his head.

A strange light flashed in the eyes of the Fist Demon, who had been watching the exchange.

"It wasn't protective enhanced qi."

At that, Geom Mugeuk gave a faint smile.

"As expected. You recognized it, Master."

Everyone was surprised by his words. Lee Ahn's surprise was particularly great.

"Even for you, Young Cult Leader, you withstood the Sun Moon Sword without protective enhanced qi?"

"I used this instead."

Geom Mugeuk took out a martial arts manual from his robes.

The Big Dipper Body.

It was a protective demonic art that shields the body. This was the very manual he had taken from the treasury where the Secret Box had been kept.

The Fist Demon was familiar with this martial art.

"The Big Dipper Body is a demonic art that was lost long ago, isn't it? Where did you get it?"

"I acquired it from the underground treasury this time."

Geom Mugeuk explained what he knew about the Big Dipper Body.

"The good thing about the Big Dipper Body is that it can be used in conjunction with other protective arts. Using it with protective enhanced qi in a moment of crisis will be a great help. Since we obtained it while handling the matter with the Yellow Dragon Academy, let's all learn this martial arts together."

At that, the Fist Demon declined.

"A supreme martial arts like this has its own destined master. Since fate has brought it to you, only you should learn it."

"Actually, I was planning to learn it by myself anyway."

It was not because of fate or greed.

"To use both protective enhanced qi and this Big Dipper Body simultaneously requires an immense amount of inner arts. If used carelessly, you might just waste inner arts and be worse off than if you had only used your existing protective enhanced qi. Even if you succeed, it could strain your body."

That was why he had planned to use it alone.

"However, while practicing it, I found a way to use it with existing protective arts while minimizing the consumption of inner arts."

At his words, the Fist Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme looked at each other with surprised expressions. They knew very well how difficult it was to revise a supreme demonic art like the Big Dipper Body. And he had fixed its greatest weakness at that.

"You figured that out while traveling here?"

"Am I not a genius when it comes to martial arts?"

Of course, whenever they stayed at an inn, he used the Heavenly Space Secret Art within the Spacetime Manipulation Technique to contemplate and train for a much longer time. Even so, to newly modify and use a martial arts like the Big Dipper Body was truly an incredible feat.

"Please accept it, so this disciple can show off a little. And you two must accept it so that Lee Ahn and Seo Jin can receive it as well."

After all, they could not just readily learn a demonic art that the Demon Supremes had declined.

Since he had gone that far, the Fist Demon no longer refused.

"I will now recite the incantations."

At that, Lee Ahn and Seo Jin were greatly humbled and grateful.

"Are you really passing down such a precious demonic art to us as well?"

Lee Ahn was truly moved. The Soaring Sky Sword Art, the Sun Moon Sword, and now the Big Dipper Body. The Cult Leader had even given her the Ten-Thousand Year Blood Ginseng.

Just how hard are you planning to work me?

Seeing her trembling eyes, Geom Mugeuk shattered the touching moment.

"It's not for you."

"Then?"

Geom Mugeuk spoke as he drew the Black Demon Sword.

"This way, I can strike back too. See this bruise here? You, get ready!"

Lee Ahn flinched and stepped back at the sight of the Black Demon Sword.

"I'll offer my arm after I've achieved complete mastery. Please wait about thirty years."

Knowing it was obviously a joke, Geom Mugeuk played along.

"I won't forget to test you then."

Her mood lifted at his words. It also meant they would still be together in thirty years.

The most humbled among them was Seo Jin. She even waved her hands in refusal as she backed away.

"I'm fine."

Lee Ahn was Geom Mugeuk's direct Commander and was called his heart, so it was understandable for her. But wasn't she a mere Group Leader? She could not possibly learn such a great demonic art alongside the Demon Supremes.

"No, you need this martial arts the most. You have to survive until you can save us with your ghost arts, don't you?"

Seo Jin truly wanted that. She hoped the day would come when she could save these people with her ghost arts.

"A martial artist must be cautious not when learning martial arts, but when using them. For now, you just have to say, 'Thank you'."

Seo Jin felt it again. The Young Cult Leader's overwhelming affection.

"Thank you."

How could Geom Mugeuk not give them such overwhelming affection?

Lee Ahn and Seo Jin.

They were the two people who had made his regression possible. They were people to whom he would give anything without regret.

And so, Geom Mugeuk taught the four of them the incantations for the new Big Dipper Body. He repeated the incantations several times so that everyone could memorize them.

For the next few days on their way back to the Headquarters, they all trained in the Big Dipper Body.

The Fist Demon, who had vehemently refused the Big Dipper Body at first, trained the hardest.

"My, what would you have done if I hadn't passed it on?"

Geom Mugeuk teased him whenever he saw that large frame training late into the night, but the Fist Demon silently focused only on his training.

In fact, it was understandable. A protective art like the Big Dipper Body was the most helpful martial arts for a fist master who fought bare-handed.

Perhaps his fervor was contagious.

The Flower Sword Supreme also trained properly in the Big Dipper Body. It was a protective art that suited her demonic art well, so she too felt its necessity.

As a result, Geom Mugeuk and the two Demon Supremes naturally ended up discussing the Big Dipper Body together.

The Fist Demon had his own sense of the Big Dipper Body's weaknesses, and the Flower Sword Supreme had her own insights. Having never discussed a single martial arts so openly before, the two Demon Supremes found this conversation extremely interesting.

This was especially true as the three of them had recently made great achievements in martial arts. Because of that, their conversation went beyond the principles of protective arts, containing deep implications and enlightenment concerning martial studies as a whole.

Lee Ahn and Seo Jin just listened. There were many things they could not understand, but the two tried their best to remember everything. The day would come when they would understand the meaning of what they heard today.

As a result of their discussion, they were able to make the incantations flow a little more smoothly.

"Thanks to you two, it's not the New the Big Dipper Body, but the New New the Big Dipper Body! The martial arts is finally complete."

However, the Fist Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme knew. They were only able to make such suggestions because of the technique Geom Mugeuk had modified.

If they had been given the original the Big Dipper Body, they would not have even thought of improving it. They would have just accepted it as 'this kind of martial arts' and moved on. The difference was immense.

"Now, draw your sword."

This time, the Fist Demon had Geom Mugeuk draw his sword.

The Fist Demon held out his large fist and forearm.

"Strike."

"You know, right? My sword is the Black Demon Sword. It's the second-ranked demonic sword. Oh, and the one striking is also ranked second. It'll get cut, it'll really get cut."

"Enough. Hurry up and strike."

"Here I come then!"

SHWIIIIK.

PWAAAAK!

The Black Demon Sword failed to cut the Fist Demon's thick forearm.

"Excellent."

Of course, Geom Mugeuk had not imbued his sword with inner arts either.

However, considering they had only been learning it for a few days, blocking the sharp edge of the Black Demon Sword proved just how incredible a protective art the Big Dipper Body was.

"Alright, let's test its resistance to strikes this time."

"Sounds good. Where should I hit? Just say the word."

"This time, I'll be the one hitting. What kind of test would it be with those tiny baby hands?"

Seeing the Fist Demon clench his large fist, Geom Mugeuk scrambled backward.

"I'll take that punch on the day I cut Lee Ahn's arm in thirty years."

The three women watching the scene laughed together.

Just then, Seo Jin suddenly said to Lee Ahn.

"Did I ever tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That I'm grateful you chose me."

Seo Jin looked at Lee Ahn and said formally, "Thank you for being my Commander."

It was a sudden thing to say, but it was a proper, heartfelt greeting. She felt that she had learned and realized more on this trip than in all her life experiences combined. She was grateful to be obtaining so comfortably and easily what others might have to struggle a lifetime to get.

"Thanks to you, Group Leader Seo, I've learned a lot too."

This was not just something nice to say. On this mission outside the cult, Lee Ahn had also gained much enlightenment and learning.

Lee Ahn's gaze naturally shifted to the Flower Sword Supreme standing beside her.

An elegant and beautiful figure, yet stronger than anyone else.

Lee Ahn saw in the Flower Sword Supreme the person she should strive to become. She knew well how important this was.

Direction is always what's important. No matter how hard a person tries, if the direction of that effort is wrong, they won't achieve results proportional to their effort. Instead, that effort can become a poison that consumes the person. I tried so hard, only for this result. I was a fool to work so hard for nothing. In such cases, one could just turn back, but instead, the effort they've put in so far holds them back. That is why direction is important from the very beginning. Because it is only when effort meets the right direction that it becomes destiny.

Lee Ahn's gaze turned to the person who had taught her all of this.

As if they had never been joking, Geom Mugeuk and the Fist Demon were having a serious discussion about martial arts.

Lee Ahn conveyed the same words Seo Jin had said to her, directly to Geom Mugeuk.

Thank you. For being my Young Cult Leader.

Geom Mugeuk and the two Demon Supremes entered the Heavenly Demon Hall.

With Geom Mugeuk in the center, the Fist Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme followed behind him. This was natural for the Young Cult Leader, and it was also customary for the Demon Supremes to greet the Heavenly Demon upon returning from a mission.

Stepping into the Heavenly Demon Hall, Geom Mugeuk shouted loudly as always.

"Father, I've returned!"

However, at the end of the blood-red path, his father's grand throne was empty.

In his father's place, Head Strategist Sama Myeong was waiting.

"Young Cult Leader, you've arrived?"

"Head Strategist."

The Demon Supremes and Sama Myeong also exchanged greetings.

As soon as the greetings were over, Geom Mugeuk quickly asked, "Where is my father?"

At that, Sama Myeong delivered some unexpected news.

"The Cult Leader has entered seclusion training."