-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Return (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The Cult Leader's attention?"
Yang Jeon looked extremely skeptical.
"You've never cared for such things before. Why the sudden change?"
The old Jinmyeong used to say that needlessly attracting the Cult Leader's attention would only draw the unwanted gazes of his fellow disciples.
"Didn't you say that's why you had to live quietly?"
That had been Jinmyeong's chosen method.
To live as quietly as a dead mouse.
To show everyone else he had no interest in the Cult Leader's throne.
That was how he'd tried to stay alive.
"And to receive this estate in the process."
"That's right. Do you remember now?"
"No. Not at all."
He couldn't remember such minor details.
But he figured it must have been something like that.
"But now you suddenly want the Cult Leader's attention?"
"That's right."
"That's the same as saying you want to become a candidate for Young Cult Leader."
As a disciple of the Cult Leader, Jinmyeong was naturally qualified.
But because he lacked the requisite skill, no one considered him a candidate.
"The other disciples have already won over other Elders."
"I see."
"You're incredibly late, but are you still going to try?"
Yang Jeon was right.
Right now, Jinmyeong had no faction of his own.
Not a single martial artist was there to help him.
And yet, Jinmyeong was declaring his intent to become a candidate for Young Cult Leader.
"Isn't there a saying that the best time to start is when you think you're late?"
"Who on earth spouted such nonsense? If you think you're late, you're really late."
Jinmyeong chuckled at Yang Jeon's grumbling.
"Are you confident?"
"About what?"
"Isn't it only a year since you started learning martial arts?"
"I trained before that, too."
It's just that there were no results.
In fact, Jinmyeong's body was far too conditioned to say he had never trained in martial arts.
"That's not what I mean, is it?"
"Mm."
"Can you really use martial arts now?"
A body abandoned by heaven.
A Heaven-Forsaken Body.
That was Jinmyeong's constitution.
Every physician in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had shaken their heads, declaring it a body incapable of ever using martial arts.
And yet this same Jinmyeong, having returned after a year, was overflowing with confidence.
"I've become able to use them, yes."
"Hoo. Honestly, I don't believe you at all."
Yang Jeon narrowed his eyes and stared at Jinmyeong.
"How much stronger have you become? Are you really strong enough to earn the Cult Leader's trust?"
"And how strong is that?"
"You naturally have to be on par with the other disciples."
Only then would he be at a level to at least draw the Cult Leader's attention, if not his trust.
"Hoo. You must have acquired some incredible martial art. Enough to suddenly make you covet the Young Cult Leader position."
Yang Jeon wondered if Jinmyeong had stumbled upon some incredible fortuitous encounter.
*I can't tell at all.*
Yang Jeon continued to observe Jinmyeong.
But he couldn't sense any particular aura from him.
*Hm? Why can't I feel anything?*
The thought suddenly occurred to him.
*Before, I could tell he had trained in martial arts.*
Whether you called it an imposing air or a presence.
In any case, he couldn't feel anything like that at all.
*I can even sense it from an ordinary person who hasn't learned martial arts.*
It was to the point where he wondered if he would even know Jinmyeong was there if he wasn't looking at him.
"What is it?"
"It's nothing."
But Yang Jeon was still preoccupied with observing Jinmyeong.
"If you truly wish to become the Young Cult Leader, I will look into a method."
"Oh? My subordinate is more impressive than I thought. To think you can even look into methods."
"…I'll let you know when it's confirmed."
With that, Yang Jeon left the bedchamber.
And Jinmyeong silently watched his retreating back.
*He doesn't appear in the novel, but...*
There's definitely something about him.
Jinmyeong grew curious about what Yang Jeon was hiding.
*Now, I've revealed everything to you. What will you do?*
The reason Jinmyeong revealed everything to Yang Jeon wasn't because he trusted him completely.
On the contrary, it was because he couldn't trust him that he revealed everything.
*I'm alone here. I have no faction, no one to trust. I need at least one person I can rely on.*
He planned to judge Yang Jeon based on how he responded.
*Still, it makes no sense that he was guarding this place alone.*
Looking at him now, he could tell.
Yang Jeon had learned martial arts.
For what reason would someone like him have stayed here with Jinmyeong?
*He said we've been together since childhood? He didn't seem like that much of a fool.*
If Yang Jeon were an idiot, he might have believed his talk of friendship and loyalty.
But the Yang Jeon he saw was not like that.
*I need to know the reason.*
The reason he waited for Jinmyeong here.
The reason he stayed here with Jinmyeong even when everyone else left.
*I hope there's a proper way.*
More important than Yang Jeon was Jinmyeong's own survival here.
And not just surviving, but rising to a fairly high position within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
*My voice needs to carry weight.*
Only then could he fend off the protagonist's attack on this place.
*There's no point in running away...*
Jinmyeong hadn't returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult because he had nowhere else to go.
Nor was it because he had any lingering attachment to it.
*If the Demonic Cult falls, the Central Plains will eventually fall too.*
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is destroyed by the protagonist.
As a result, the balance of the Central Plains collapses.
The Central Plains had been maintained by a precarious balance between the three great powers: the Righteous Alliance, the Heretical Alliance, and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
When the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which served as a pillar of that balance, disappeared, the delicate equilibrium shattered.
*Endless war, war, war.*
Once the Demonic Cult was gone, war erupted between the Righteous Alliance and the Heretical Alliance.
The more they fought, the more desolate the Central Plains became, and the number of martial artists continued to dwindle.
*Eventually, the Imperial Palace gets involved.*
The common people, who knew no martial arts, were also harmed by the war, forcing the Imperial Palace to finally take action.
With the Imperial Palace moving to annihilate the martial world of the Central Plains, foreign powers finally appeared as well.
*The protagonist manages to resolve it somehow in the end, but...*
It was by no means a short period of time.
And in the end, the martial world of the Central Plains was gone.
*To prevent that from happening, I have to protect the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.*
The root of the problem is the fall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
*And the Cult Leader at that time isn't the current Cult Leader.*
It's the Heavenly Demon's first disciple.
He didn't know why the current Heavenly Demon wasn't around then.
*The current Heavenly Demon is nearly the strongest under heaven, but his disciple is not.*
It seemed unlikely that the Heavenly Demon would have handed over the Cult Leader position to such a disciple and stepped down.
He didn't even appear in the story, so something must have happened.
*I have to figure it all out and make sure the current Heavenly Demon remains the Cult Leader.*
Jinmyeong believed that was the only way to protect the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
*Now, shall I wait and see what kind of method he brings back?*
While anticipating what method Yang Jeon would bring, Jinmyeong began to unpack the things he had brought with him.
*A decent amount of luminous pearls and some swords.*
These were all that Jinmyeong had brought from that place.
He had already consumed all the elixirs, and after memorizing the martial arts manuals, he had burned them all.
In the end, all that remained were the luminous pearls embedded in the ceiling and the eight swords left behind by the Heavenly Demon.
*Right now, I can only handle five of them properly.*
Jinmyeong hid three of the eight swords in a corner of the room.
Since it was more than the number of swords he could handle anyway, there was no need to carry them around.
*I need to be able to handle all eight soon.*
Besides, he still couldn't even perform the sword techniques.
*I need to achieve more, faster.*
But that wasn't easy.
*I'll need to reach at least the fifth stage to be able to use the sword techniques.*
Jinmyeong gazed at the sword floating before his eyes.
And the sword slowly began to execute a sword form.
*It's barely even mimicking the movements.*
Because he was simply controlling it through the air, the attack was incredibly slow.
No one would ever get hit by an attack like this.
*For now, it might be easier to just have them fly around cloaked in sword qi or sword aura.*
Executing sword techniques was still difficult, but he could move the swords at high speeds.
It would be more effective to use that to attack the opponent erratically.
*I just have to do what I can.*
The only things he could do now were to perfectly master the Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts and the Heavenly Demon's Touch.
*So, this is the beginning.*
He had to survive here from now on.
That is, if he couldn't find a way back to his original world.
*I need to remember the contents of the novel.*
The fortuitous encounters the protagonist gets, and the future that is to come.
From among those things, he had to filter out what he could take for himself.
*Just enough to not harm the protagonist, but also enough to be able to block his attacks...*
It was truly ambiguous.
In the end, the protagonist had to become strong, so he couldn't steal all his opportunities.
But he also had to withstand the protagonist's attacks, so he had no choice but to take some of them.
*After all, that guy has to solve everything in the end.*
Wasn't that the protagonist's destiny?
*Anyway, let's pick out the fortuitous encounters that the protagonist didn't use much.*
The martial arts the protagonist acquired were actually unnecessary for Jinmyeong.
Elixirs that could increase his internal energy would be more helpful.
*In fact, there were times later in the story when the protagonist didn't bother taking elixirs because he no longer needed them.*
Jinmyeong began to write down all the fortuitous encounters the protagonist had in the novel, as he remembered them.
* * *
"We'll be moving in a few days."
A few days later, Yang Jeon, who had been away for a while, reappeared.
"Well, well. The one and only steward of my estate has finally shown himself."
"What kind of joke is that?"
"No, it's just that the estate felt a bit empty without its steward."
In reality, Yang Jeon managed most of the estate.
"What do you mean? I barely have any work as a steward."
Though, his only duties were to assign tasks to the servants and pay their wages.
"I guess with so few people here, the absence of even one person feels lonely."
"Enough with the jokes. You should prepare yourself."
"Where are we going?"
Yang Jeon didn't answer Jinmyeong's question and just said what he had to say.
"You'll need to bring your weapon, so make sure it's well-maintained."
"Hmm. Are you going to keep avoiding the question?"
Jinmyeong asked, fiddling with the wooden case containing his swords.
"I'd appreciate an answer soon. It's not a secret, is it? You told me to prepare myself."
"Hoo. We are going to see the Vice Cult Leader."
Jinmyeong looked bewildered at Yang Jeon's answer.
"The Vice Cult Leader?"
"Yes. The Vice Cult Leader. So you should thank me. It was incredibly difficult to arrange this meeting."
Even with Yang Jeon's words, Jinmyeong's expression didn't relax.
*There was a Vice Cult Leader?*
Because in the novel, the Vice Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a character who had never once been mentioned.