Chapter 349: The Number One of the Unorthodox Faction (2)
The Number One.
No matter where it is, the one who reaches the peak naturally receives treatment befitting that position.
The title Number One of the Unorthodox Faction was no exception.
The mad stream of visitors and the endless flood of letters flying in were proof enough.
I rejected or ignored all of them, of course—but they were still annoyingly troublesome…
While I was grumbling inwardly, Tang Sowol approached while hugging a pile of letters that had accumulated just since yesterday.
“Brother Cheon. Please look at these. I don’t even know how many days it’s been like this already.”
“Again?”
Tang Sowol was carefully walking toward me with a stack of papers almost as tall as her upper body.
The poison pouch at her waist was rather large, so the tall stack of letters kept bumping against it, making it hard for her to maintain her balance.
Without realizing it, my heart thumped as I watched closely to see whether it would fall or not.
Then I came to my senses and used Telekinesis to lightly support the stack.
“Hyak!”
The swaying bundle of papers steadied—but Tang Sowol herself hurriedly stepped back and nearly lost her balance.
After flailing her arms wildly and barely regaining it, she made a coy expression before smiling sweetly.
“Brother Cheon… isn’t that method a bit sly?”
“I have no idea what you’re suddenly talking about.”
“Pretending to help while secretly touching me. Wouldn’t it be better if you were more honest about it?”
As she said that, Tang Sowol straightened her waist and stretched her shoulders back.
In simple terms, she pushed out her chest.
It was quite a confident posture.
“…I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Hmph. Even when I present myself like this, you still pretend not to know? Well, that’s fine. I already know that aside from your martial arts and your face, you’re quite a terrible person, Brother Cheon.”
Glancing at the floating pile of papers held in the air by Telekinesis, Tang Sowol spoke again.
“So? What were your impressions?”
“That’s unfair.”
I knew what she was trying to say.
But there was something Tang Sowol didn’t know.
“Telekinesis is not originally such a delicate technique. You can lift a brush with it, but you can’t write with that brush after lifting it.”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
“More importantly, Telekinesis is a technique performed purely with willpower and internal energy. Naturally, there is no sensation at all.”
“Then would you like to confirm that right now?”
I glanced around subtly.
Since this was the room the Black Lotus Sect Lord had set aside for me, there weren’t many people coming and going privately…
but it wasn’t completely empty either.
Which was only natural.
There had to be at least a few attendants nearby in case I called for them.
They were probably moving quietly to avoid attention or resting somewhere out of sight while waiting.
For a moment, I almost nodded without thinking, but I barely restrained myself and instead let out a sigh.
“There are too many eyes here.”
“You were perfectly bold in the Shaolin Temple though…”
“There really wasn’t anyone around us at that time.”
Shrugging, I set the pile of letters down nearby.
Tang Sowol pouted her lips before slowly approaching me again.
“By the way, Brother Cheon. Did you read the letters?”
“How could I read this many? Besides, they must contain nothing but nonsense. I only pretended to read them before throwing them away.”
“Mmm. That was a good decision. Actually, I took a peek at them…”
“…Why are you reading letters sent to me?”
“Well, you didn’t seem interested anyway, and I was curious about the contents. What else could I do?”
Tang Sowol shamelessly tapped the stack of letters.
“So? What do you think they contained?”
“Let’s see. Probably people asking to become my disciple, or asking to be my subordinate if I start a sect, or offering money to borrow my reputation… things like that. No—there are probably also some contracts asking me to kill someone.”
“Of course there were letters like that. About thirty percent of them.”
“…What?”
Thirty percent was far too little.
There aren’t that many things people can request from a martial artist.
Teach martial arts. Lend strength. Borrow fame.
Most requests never go beyond those three.
In fact, many sects and clans earn money and power using exactly those things.
Before my regression, when people began approaching me after the Black Lotus Sect Lord took an interest in me, most of them had those same intentions.
But if all of that combined was only thirty percent…
Then what was the other seventy?
I hadn’t cared before, but now I was getting curious.
“Then what on earth was the other seventy percent?”
“Surprisingly—surprisingly!”
Tang Sowol made a drumroll sound with her mouth and raised both arms dramatically.
“Most of them were love letters or marriage proposals addressed to you, Brother Cheon!”
“……”
Her tone sounded like she was telling a funny story.
But her eyes were dark and gloomy.
Seeing that, I flinched.
I see.
So that’s why she suddenly showed off the poison pouch earlier…
Lately, Tang Sowol had seemed a bit insecure.
Or perhaps anxious.
Anyway, she occasionally showed signs of wanting reassurance about my feelings toward her.
If most of these letters were love letters, that reaction made sense.
I nodded inwardly but shook my head outwardly.
“It doesn’t matter. They may call them love letters or marriage proposals, but how many people actually have genuine feelings for me? They all have their own schemes and calculations.”
“That’s true. Some of them were even sent by men.”
“……”
“I’m going to burn them immediately.”
I knew the rumor caused by the incident with the Brahma Heavenly Lust Demon was to blame, but I still couldn’t laugh it off.
Lifting the letters again with Telekinesis, I walked out of the room.
Burning things indoors wouldn’t be good.
I planned to deal with them in a corner of the training grounds.
When I stepped outside, Tang Sowol followed beside me with a bright smile.
As we headed to the training ground together, someone was lying flat on the ground, absorbing the sunlight with her entire body.
For a moment, I thought it was a corpse.
But when I looked closely, her chest was rising and falling.
So she was alive at least.
I walked toward the Illusory Illusion Witch, who was lying spread-eagle with her eyes closed.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you hot?”
“It’s a bit stuffy, but thanks to Cold and Heat Immunity, it’s not unpleasant.”
“…I asked the wrong question. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“…This is my training. What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
“Training?”
“Yes. I’ll be living at the Tang Clan with you from now on, White Moon Sword Lord. I must break the evil methods of the Demonic Cult and the Potala Palace, devise formations useful for battle, and also handle… personal duties. Like assisting you at night. I can’t afford to be lazy.”
“Everything you said was correct except the last part. I only entrusted you with investigating something personally.”
“Huh? But… even though I don’t dress up often, I’m still pretty, you know? Can you really endure it at such a vigorous age?”
I looked down at the Illusory Illusion Witch lying on the ground.
Ignoring the dirt scattered across her body, her hair was messy to the point of looking eerie.
Her smile was awkward at best—and to be honest, rather sinister.
Her base appearance wasn’t bad, and thanks to undergoing Transformation/Rebirth, she looked somewhat decent as she claimed.
But…
“I don’t think it’s to that extent.”
“…Eh.”
“I know women far more beautiful who haven’t even undergone Transformation/Rebirth yet. In fact, they’re right beside me.”
“Oh my!”
Tang Sowol immediately realized that she was one of the two I meant and shyly poked my side repeatedly.
Meanwhile, the Illusory Illusion Witch’s expression twisted.
“Youth… I hate it…”
“Your tone changed. Are you already becoming senile?”
“When you get to my age, you start saying nonsense sometimes. Ah, though I’m not that old yet. But do you happen to know someone senile?”
There was someone who behaved cutely despite their age.
Sometimes they seemed to live too youthfully.
But there was no need to explain further, so I casually changed the subject.
“They’re not that old, but older than the Black Lotus Sect Lord. I heard they’re considered young among Flowering Stage warriors.”
The Illusory Illusion Witch had quieted down somewhat.
I shrugged.
“So? What kind of training is that?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but evil methods are much more troublesome than martial arts. Learning them, training them, accumulating energy—all of it.”
“I see.”
“Yes. In my case, I’m confident in gathering and controlling demonic qi, blood qi, and yin qi… but I’m terrible with yang qi or energies that carry purification.”
“That suits an evil sorceress well.”
“It’s an honor to hear that from the Number One of the Unorthodox Faction.”
“You know I’m joking, right?”
The Illusory Illusion Witch gave a servile smile and slowly scooted a little farther away from me.
It looked like a worm writhing helplessly while drying under the sun.
Escaping my shadow and bathing fully in sunlight again, she continued.
“Ahem. Anyway, although I’m versatile but not omnipotent, there’s a trick that allows me to handle yang qi relatively easily.”
“And that trick is rolling around under the blazing sun?”
“That’s right. More precisely, I use sunburned skin as a kind of vessel. You’ve heard that lightning-struck wood is more spiritually potent than ordinary wood, right? It’s similar.”
“Hm… then would the training be more effective if I roasted you directly with fire?”
“P-people die if you roast them…”
“That’s unfortunate. I thought it was a good opportunity since I happened to have some firewood.”
“Please don’t casually suggest burning someone alive…”
I chuckled at the shivering Illusory Illusion Witch and stepped aside.
She was training, after all—I shouldn’t disturb her.
Then I placed the stack of letters a short distance away and ignited them with Samadhi True Fire.
Tang Sowol squatted beside the fire, staring blankly at the flames.
For a moment, I idly played with her dark-green hair while we watched the burning letters.
Then someone suddenly came running while shouting loudly.
“White Moon Sword Lord! Where are you?! This is urgent!”
The presence and voice were familiar.
It was Twin-Ghost Killing Sword, who had returned to his original duties after coming back to the Black Lotus Sect.
I sent a light burst of internal energy toward the direction of the voice and said,
“I’m at the training ground.”
Far away, Twin-Ghost Killing Sword—who had been running around searching—stopped abruptly and immediately began running toward us.
Even though he possessed the strength of a Sub-Perfection master, his breathing was slightly rough.
“What’s the matter? If you came this urgently, it must not be something ordinary.”
“You’re exactly right, Sir! Did you know that the Black Lotus Sect is trying to join hands with the Murim Alliance? Not just simple cooperation—they’re becoming an actual alliance!”
“…Ah. Right.”
So he didn’t know.
Well, the preparations had just finished. It was about time for the news to surface.
“And the reason for the alliance is because of the Demonic Cult!”
“Well… something like that.”
Naturally, they would also warn everyone of the danger of the Demonic Cult while announcing the alliance.
Everything was as expected.
“Hah! Judging by your calm reaction, it seems you already knew.”
“Even if it was at the request of the Black Lotus Sect Lord, one of the reasons I became so deeply involved in Black Lotus Sect affairs despite belonging to the Orthodox faction was because of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance.”
Perhaps deflated, Twin-Ghost Killing Sword slumped his shoulders.
“I see… so that’s how it was. Then I suppose you also already know that the Potala Palace recently attacked the Kunlun Sect, destroyed it, and took all the survivors hostage—declaring that they will kill them all unless they bring you, White Moon Sword Lord.”
“…? No. I didn’t know that at all. Explain in more detail.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?