Not many people were in the meeting room.

The Heavenly Demon, Sage Demon, and Left Guard were present from the Demon Cult. Elder Ho and the Cleave Saint were there from the Orthodox faction while Sima Dan and Sima Gong were present for the Unorthodox faction.

Cale’s side had Cale, Choi Jung Soo, and the Fist King. Of course, Choi Jung Soo was still covering his face with the bamboo hat. The original plan was for Chief Eunuch Wi to come along but the Fist King stepped in and said that he would go.

– Human, why are they all looking at you like that?

Of course, Raon was with Cale while invisible.

Cale made eye contact with the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon, who was seated at the head of the table, pointed to the seat across from him.

“Sit.”

Cale nodded his head and sat down on the seat.

“Young master Kim-nim.”

Elder Ho, who was seated on the right side, slowly looked at him and started speaking.

‘Mm.’

Cale subconsciously started scowling.

The look on Elder Ho’s face was a bit, no, seriously concerning. ‘How should I describe this?’ It was sentimental unlike his usual self and pitiful, making it unpleasant to look at. The way his lips were smiling as if he was trying extremely hard to hold back his sorrows was especially annoying.

Cale frowned more. Elder Ho became shocked and asked.

“Your body, is it still not well, Young master-nim?”

Cale responded honestly to him.

“Not at all. It feels great, Elder Ho-nim.”

“Ah.”

Elder Ho gasped.

He then clenched his eyes shut and raised his head toward the ceiling.

– Human, what is up with Elder Ho Song Yi?

‘I know, right?’

Cale wondered why he was acting like this.

The Cleave Saint squeezed Elder Ho’s shoulder at that moment.

– Human! The Cleave Saint is talking to Elder Ho through sound transmission!

‘I wonder what he said.’

Cale became curious.

– ‘We must respect his great intentions and his heart that is as vast as the sea. Let’s feign ignorance.’ That is what he said!

‘What is he talking about?’

Cale felt uneasy after hearing about this conversation he could not understand but felt as if it was about him for some reason.

“…Hwaaaa.”

Elder Ho let out a weird noise and lowered his head.

Cale just looked away.

He then made eye contact with Sima Dan.

Shh.

She pushed an extremely expensive looking bottle of alcohol toward Cale.

‘What’s up with her?’

Cale reached his hand out since she was giving it to him. However, Sima Gong stepped in and swiped the bottle.

“Noonim. Alcohol is fatal for internal injuries.”

Cale responded honestly to him.

“Ah. I do not have internal injuries. And my body’s condition is great right now.”

Sima Gong flinched before smiling.

‘Yeah, compared to Elder Ho, it is much easier to talk to this guy.’

Cale’s face was about to light up a bit when he saw it.

He saw Sima Gong bite his lips for a moment before returning to normal. It was done with an extremely solemn look on his face.

An unexplainable chill descended on the back of Cale’s neck.

Sima Gong asked with a normal look on his face as if nothing had happened and nothing was wrong.

“By the way, young master-nim, is it true that you are going to purify the other living jiangshi victims in the Demon Cult?”

‘Ah. Right.’

Cale immediately started speaking now that one of the topics he wanted to discuss was brought up. He looked around as he answered.

“That is correct. Of course, I plan on purifying not just the living jiangshis in the Demon Cult but also in the Orthodox faction and the Unorthodox faction as well. However, there are quite a lot of them, so we may need to temporarily lock up the people who are revealed as living jiangshis so that they cannot cause any trouble.”

He then added on.

“Furthermore, I am able to purify larger numbers if the seal placed on my body is removed. Of course, it will take some time for that seal to be removed.”

It would take some time to nab elixirs from different places.

‘But I need to release at least ninety percent of the seal.’

Cale had set a goal to make the purification process effortless.

“Anyway, I plan on purifying as many as possible before major battles break out against the Blood Cult in order to prevent the living jiangshis from self-destructing.”

Cale then realized that it had become quiet and looked around.

“Ha.”

This time, it was the Cleave Saint who looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

Pop!

Cale turned his head after hearing a cheerful noise and saw that Sima Dan had opened the bottle she had tried to hand to Cale earlier and was gulping it down.

“Haaaaaaa.”

Cale turned his head after seeing her sigh in relief after finishing the whole bottle at once. He made eye contact with the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon was chuckling.

However, his gaze was quite scary and vicious.

Cale made a simple decision after seeing all of this.

‘Let’s ignore everything.’

Their reactions were not important.

What was important right now was to take care of things as quickly as possible and…

‘Home!’

He wanted to go home.

Cale’s face subconsciously became serious and his gaze was full of determination.

The Cleave Saint noticed and started speaking.

“Elder Ho informed me that the Martial Arts Alliance Leader and Chief Advisor are aware of the current situation. I realized the true intentions behind coming to the Kunlun Sect as well.”

When Elder Ho had told the Cleave Saint… At first, he had been angry that things had progressed without him knowing about it, but accepted it once he understood that this had to proceed as secretly as possible.

He also felt frustrated.

How terrible must he have looked sharply rebuking the Demon Cult and the government without knowing the situation at all?

‘I was so bound by my memories of the past that I did not realize what was happening in the present.’

He loathed the government.

He had lost his family because of a corrupt official after all. However, young master Kim, a member of the Imperial family, as well as the Fist King and Chief Eunuch Wi, whose position was high, were personally traversing through the Martial Arts world to create peace.

They were doing it stealthily without making it visible to anybody.

Furthermore, the Emperor even sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to young master Kim to support him from behind.

The Emperor was doing it for peace throughout the Central Plains, but the Martial Arts world and the Orthodox faction were benefiting from it as well.

Most importantly, who in the world would try so hard to save the life of someone they didn’t even know?

But young master Kim was such a person.

‘He’s like that despite there being restrictions on his body.’

Using so much power that you cough up blood while your body is under restrictions was extremely dangerous and putting his life on the line.

However, this person had not shown any hesitation while doing so.

He just acted as if he was doing something that was obvious.

Wouldn’t this be the true meaning of justice and chivalry?

‘And I don’t like the Demon Cult and what they do, but… This place has changed too.’

The Cleave Saint realized that the Demon Cult in his mind was stuck in the era of the former Demon Cult.

The current Heavenly Demon was someone you could at least talk to, and was someone who revealed the fact that he was a living jiangshi despite it being shameful. He also showed the purification process without holding back.

All of it was only possible because of his confidence in himself and the level of his martial arts, but it was not easy to do as the leader of an organization.

‘And the Unorthodox faction as well-’

Sima Dan and Sima Gong. The two of them were young but knew what they needed to do.

At least the people here all recognized that fighting between the three major forces was not the issue right now. They knew that there was something to take care of first.

That was enough.

This was the reason this meeting could proceed without any obstacles.

“Although I do not represent the Orthodox faction… We will be putting the Blood Cult as the top priority for all issues.”

Despite not having communicated with the Chief Advisor, the fact that she had come to Kunlun basically meant that the Martial Arts Alliance’s decision had been made.

As a result, he made a request to the Heavenly Demon.

“I need to go to Kunlun. I must discuss this in detail with the Chief Advisor.”

Sima Dan, who had been silent, started speaking as well. She was tightly clenching her bottle of alcohol.

“I too must go to meet with the Coalition leader-nim.”

The leader of the Unorthodox faction did not have as much information as the leaders of the other two major forces who were properly aware of the situation.

She needed to inform him of the details as quickly as possible to have him join the cause in the right direction.

It was not for justice and chivalry.

Sima Dan only thought about the Unorthodox faction.

‘If the Unorthodox faction feigns ignorance in such a situation, our fame and justification for doing things in the future will fall.’

The Triumvirate will have to contend against each other once again after the Blood Cult was destroyed.

This situation was one where even the Imperial Palace and the government were participating through young master Kim. The Unorthodox faction was known for doing whatever they wanted, but feigning ignorance for something like this would get them on the Imperial Palace’s bad side and the commoners would think that they were just cunning bastards. Having people be scared of them was a different issue than being seen as cunning and cowardly.

‘I also need to make a connection with young master Kim!’

The Heavenly Demon and young master Kim seemed quite close.

This was probably the first time someone from the Imperial family and someone from the Demon Cult had been so close.

“Look at the gazes on the faces of the Sage Demon and the Left Guard.’

They were looking at young master Kim as if they were looking at one of their own.

‘I can’t let this be.’

The hand holding the bottle automatically tightened.

‘Based on what I heard, Pavilion Master Gong is planning on a way to get young master Kim-nim to become their Grand Elder?’

Her brother, Sima Gong, had learned of that information.

‘I can’t let that happen!’

She had to prevent the Demon Cult from getting any closer to young master Kim.

Looking past the benefits-

‘I didn’t expect him to say that he would purify people immediately.’

She had never even considered it.

She would never have come out like this today after coughing up so much blood. She would have just stayed in and rested.

She couldn’t help but gasp in admiration at his mental fortitude.

Stories of his actions were spreading not just to the top executives of the Demon Cult but the entire Demon Cult.

How could they not?

Those rose gold thunderbolts…

The power that fell from the sky was something that transcended martial arts.

Stories of the person who used it had no choice but to spread and Sima Dan had heard the staff working in young master Kim’s lodging saying all sorts of things while looking at his bloodied clothes.

‘They said that he coughed up so much dark red blood that it would be better to throw them away than to wash them.’

Just thinking about it was dreadful.

Someone who coughed up that much blood showed up at this meeting the next day.

Sima Dan felt that young master Kim was extremely respectable but also got scared.

As a result, she had to ask.

“Young master Kim-nim, could you please come to the Unorthodox faction with us?”

“I was planning on doing so.”

Sima Dan tightly clenched her bottle after hearing him easily answer that he would go.

Cale simply explained his next steps.

“After stopping by Kunlun, we will meet with the Divergent Coalition’s leader and then immediately move toward Sichuan and Nanman.

He looked around as he answered.

“So please exchange information based on that timeline so that we can control the timing to attack the Blood Cult.”

It would be difficult to move immediately because the Demon Cult had quite the number of troops.

The distance from Xinjiang to Nanman was quite far, so they had to consider moving such a large army.

It should be the same situation for the Divergent Coalition and the Martial Arts Alliance.

At least they would be able to investigate the Blood Cult, which is suspected of being in Nanman, a bit easier if they could get help from the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions’ forces that should be around Sichuan and Yunnan.

“Of course, I plan on continuously purifying people as we move.”

The Sage Demon nodded his head with a stiff expression on his face after hearing that part.

“I guess that is about all we can determine right now, young master-nim.”

“Yes sir. The details about the troops and strategy are things that the leaders of each major force should set. Of course, we need to find all living jiangshis in each major force while we do that so that information is not revealed to the Blood Cult.”

“As for that part-?”

Cale nodded his head at the Sage Demon’s question.

“Noble Warrior Do has agreed to suffer a bit more.”

Durst was voluntarily offering to step up.

Cale found it weird that Durst would do so despite vomiting and fainting so much but he didn’t have much to say on the matter because of Durst’s response.

‘Oh esteemed Purifier, why are you confused about my actions when you cough up blood each time as well?’

Cale became at a loss for words after seeing that Durst was truly confused.

Cale pushed the thought of Durst deep into a corner of his mind and finished organizing things.

“I hope that we can focus on working together to take down the Blood Cult first rather than opposing each other.”

The Orthodox faction and Unorthodox faction nodded their heads.

The weight of the words said by the person working the hardest was quite heavy.

“Everything young master Kim said is correct.”

The Heavenly Demon started speaking. His calm voice continued.

“Our Demon Cult has also decided to focus our full attention on fighting the Blood Cult and has firmed our resolve on the matter.”

The words being said with the gruff look on his face was quite heavy.

He looked at the Orthodox faction, Unorthodox faction, and finally at Cale before slowly speaking.

“That is why I am debating whether I should make an entrance into the Martial Arts world.

‘Hmm?’

Cale had a confused look on his face.

‘What is he saying right now?’

“I plan on traveling together with young master Kim.”

Cale was even more confused.

‘What does you going into the Martial Arts world have to do with me?

You just need to bring people to the fight later?’

“T, then I will as well!”

Sima Dan suddenly jumped up from her seat and shouted.

“Then me too!”

The Cleave Saint shamelessly raised his hand in the air and shouted.

While that was going on, the Heavenly Demon had a confident smile on his face as he addressed Cale.

“Having a large group will only inconvenience young master Kim’s movement. I am a purified living jiangshi. Having someone like me as proof of his purification will definitely be helpful for the purification processes. It will be best for me to be with him. For many reasons.”

Nod nod.

The Sage Demon nodded his head multiple times while standing next to him.

Cale subconsciously thought to himself after seeing the Sage Demon looking so confident.

‘What is going on?’

He heard Raon’s voice in his mind at that moment.

– Human! The Sage Demon sent a sound transmission to the Heavenly Demon!

– ‘Oh esteemed Heavenly Demon. I pray that you achieve your will.’ is what he said!

‘…What is the Heavenly Demon’s will?’

Cale blinked his eyes.

* * *

Three days later.

Cale lifted his head up.

The sun was high up in the sky. The Heavenly Demon nonchalantly commented while standing next to him.

“We are immediately heading for Kunlun after purifying these two people?”

“…Yeah.”

“I see. I have already packed the bags.”

“Whose bags?”

“?”

The confused Heavenly Demon pointed at himself.

“My bags. I need to pack some things because it is my first foray into the Martial Arts world.”

‘Wow.’

Cale was amazed.

The Heavenly Demon was saying that this was his first time entering the Martial Arts world.

‘Wow.

This should be quite entertaining.’

He looked away from the Heavenly Demon. He then gently smiled toward the two people standing in front of him.

“This should not be that difficult.”

Cale then became anxious.

“Young master-nim!”

“…Young master-nim, sob.”

There were only two other living jiangshis in the Demon Cult. The two of them, one Battalion Commander of the Eight Battalions and one Pavilion Master of the Eight Pavilions, were looking at Cale with tears in their eyes as if they were deeply moved.

Cale felt quite uncomfortable while looking at these two people who looked like they might start crying at any moment despite the purification process not even having started yet.

—

Translator’s Comments

How do you deal with two crybabies?

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