Chapter 313: Verification (2)

‘Did he just say Endless Challenge?’

While everyone inside the hall silently mulled over Ilro’s words, Sa Myeongnin suddenly shot up in anger and glared at him.

"Isn’t this far too strict of a standard?!"

Ilro replied with a faint smile.

"Does it seem that way to you?"

"Of course it does! More than anything, you said under twenty, didn’t you? That’s just asking for every so-called talented youngster in that age group to flood in!"

Anyone under twenty who had already broken through to the First Rate Martial Artist level would certainly be recognized as a talent by the Cult.

However, even those talents—if they shook down the entire Cult—would number in the hundreds, if not thousands.

"You’re essentially telling them to face more than a thousand late-stage challengers. Even if Jin Clan’s boy has the ability to endure that much, countless lives are bound to be lost in the process!"

No matter how young the challengers were, fighting through endless matches without killing was something even those at the Extreme Demon Realm struggled to do.

Naturally, the path of this competition was bound to turn into a matter of life and death.

"Jin Clan Leader! The other two Clan Leaders as well! Don’t you have anything to say about this?!"

In truth, of the Four Great Clans, the one with the weakest ties to Jin Yeomyung was the Black Gold Sa Clan.

While Sa Biyeon, their Young Clan Leader, had a personal connection to Jin Yeomyung, there were no other meaningful ties.

Since the Pa Clan and Ma Clan, the two leading factions of the Six Great Demonic Clans, had sided with the Jin Clan, the Sa Clan had no choice but to follow suit, despite having little actual connection.

"Hurry up!"

Sa Myeongnin’s glare swept across the other Clan Leaders in frustration.

Here he was, doing everything he could to counter Ilro’s trap, while the ones who should have felt the most threatened sat there completely unbothered!

"Hmm."

"Mmh."

"A word, you say…"

The three Clan Leaders all wore unreadable expressions.

"Well, isn’t it fine?"

"……What did you just say?"

Sa Myeongnin’s face twisted the moment he heard the sluggish remark from Saber Demon, who had been resting his chin on one hand.

Crossing his arms, Sword Demon added his agreement.

"Honestly, this seems perfect. If he suffers once, there won’t be any needless complaints afterward."

"You too, Clan Leader Ma?!"

He looked at them in utter shock.

This was blatant betrayal—an absurd abandonment.

His desperate gaze turned to Jin Gun-ak, his last hope.

Surely, he wouldn’t—

"As a man of the Jin Clan, he ought to be able to handle at least that much."

Jin Gun-ak betrayed his with words that were so like him.

"……?!"

Not only Sa Myeongnin, but almost everyone in attendance turned to stare at the three Clan Leaders with the same thought.

‘Have they gone mad?’

Just moments ago, everyone had been whispering about how to oppose Ilro’s outrageous proposal or how to twist the situation in their favor.

And yet they had just accepted this madness?

As the hall fell eerily silent, Ilro spoke again.

"What do you think, Young Cult Leader?"

This time, all eyes turned to Cheon Yura.

Everyone awaited her response.

Finally—

"What are the exact procedures?"

"……!!"

The hall erupted with silent shock.

Wasn’t this practically a public declaration to grind her own future husband to dust?

"As expected, Jin Master will receive numerous challenges."

"That much is certain."

"However, for that very reason, the duels must be carried out transparently, with the results open to all."

"That’s true."

At Cheon Yura’s indifferent agreement, the faces of several others began to change.

Some of the more perceptive ones began to realize that if this continued, there had to be something else going on behind the scenes.

"I suggest we throw open the gates of the Cheon Clan. For three days, from Si to Yu time, we shall accept challengers there. What do you think?"

"Hmm, that’s about five hours a day, I suppose?"

"Jin Master deserves some rest, after all."

Though she phrased it as a generous concession, it was, in essence, an order for him to fight for five hours straight without rest.

Cheon Yura paused for a moment, as if considering the proposal, then smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

"This old man is overjoyed to be of help to you, Young Cult Leader."

Ilro responded with a matching smile and slight nod.

And the rest?

"……."

"……."

All they could do was continue watching the ridiculous meeting unfold in stunned silence.

And so, the final resolution of this Heavenly Demon Gathering was a bloody, endless series of duels dubbed Jin Yeomyung’s Endless Challenge.

"Is there anyone who wishes to voice another opinion?"

Cheon Yura looked around the hall, asking one final time before closing the meeting.

But no one answered.

After all, from the perspective of the Demonic Faction Lord’s candidate, this was the perfect strategy for complete destruction.

For everyone else, even if it was cruel, it still offered them a chance—however slim.

Who among them would turn down such an opportunity?

Even Sa Myeongnin, who had voiced the strongest objection earlier, had fallen silent, realizing how the tide had shifted.

However, after the meeting ended—

Bang!

He slammed his  palm down on the massive round table and glared fiercely at the three Clan Leaders.

"What the hell kind of bullshit was that?!"

"Careful, or you’ll wrinkle that pretty face. Calm yourself."

"Jin Gun-ak! Do I look calm to you right now?!"

He glared at Jin Gun-ak as if he would kill him on the spot.

"Are you seriously trying to kill your own damn son? No—fine, fine! Let’s say you’re okay with that. But shouldn’t you at least have told me before pulling a stunt like this?!"

"Hmm? What are you talking about? What stunt?"

Jin Gun-ak tilted his head with an innocent expression.

Seeing that, I felt flames of fury surge within me, but I clenched my teeth and suppressed it with all the restraint I could muster.

After all, the one in the desperate position right now was me.

"You’ve just shoved your eldest son into a death trap! How are you going to clean up this mess? Or do you have another candidate prepared!?"

If Jin Yeomyung died, or if there was no other candidate—then the alliance with the Sa Clan was as good as over.

But at that moment—

"Do you really think that’s worthy of being called a death trap?"

"……What?"

My expression froze.

Then, Sword Demon continued.

"That old bastard Ilro played it well."

"……What are you saying?"

Saber Demon chimed in, continuing Sword Demon’s point.

"Indeed. Now that I think about it, that old man’s proposal laid out three strategies."

"……???"

While I stood there with nothing but question marks popping over my head, the three Clan Leaders began sharing their thoughts.

"First, he completely redirected the Cheon Clan’s attention away from the Young Cult Leader’s claim to the throne."

Even though no one knew when the current Cult Leader might pass away, the Cheon Clan could very well challenge Cheon Yura’s legitimacy at any moment.

But thanks to Ilro’s extreme proposal of the ‘Endless Challenge’, no one in the Cheon Clan paid her any attention now.

"Second, he redirected the unrest within the Cult toward a single target."

It wasn’t just the Cheon Clan that had been distracted by this.

Even though the Heavenly Demon’s ascension was celebrated, the pointless end of the war had stirred deep dissatisfaction among the younger generation of the Cult.

And now, all of that pent-up frustration had been dumped onto Jin Yeomyung.

"Lastly, he laid out a stage for that brat to make a name for himself. Opening the Cheon Clan’s gates was his way of making sure they couldn’t protest afterward."

"Exactly. Although… it is a little strange that the Heavenly Thunder Corps Leader stayed silent—"

"Hold it, hold it, hold it!"

Jin Gun-ak clicked his tongue.

"Interrupting someone’s words? Even if you’re the Sa Clan Leader, that’s not very polite—"

"What the hell are you all babbling about?!"

I cut them off, raising my voice.

"Everything you’re saying… all of that only makes sense if you’re assuming the Jin Clan’s eldest can actually survive this whole thing!"

"Of course, right?"

"Naturally."

"Obviously."

All three Clan Leaders answered in unison.

My mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Are you all drugged or something?! How is that even possible?!"

The last I remembered, Jin Yeomyung’s cultivation had only reached the Peak Master Level.

Sure, that alone was enough to make anyone envious. I’d grumbled plenty of times to my subordinates about how my clan had produced no such talent.

But overcoming this insane ordeal? That was impossible!

"It’s more than possible."

Sword Demon declared firmly.

The truth was, Jin Yeomyung had surpassed the Extreme Demon Realm after encountering the Heavenly Demon Founder at Heaven of Sacred Spirits.

And then, after spending a year in the southern region of Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain, he had reached the Transcendent Demon Realm.

Jin Gun-ak had confirmed his son’s advancement when the boy returned to the Cult.

Sword Demon and Saber Demon had known even earlier than that.

The Clan Leaders had done a decent job controlling the information.

They had spread the rumor that the duel near Xi’an had been caused by Saber Demon picking a fight with Sword Demon, not Jin Yeomyung.

And most importantly—

Even though the four Clan Leaders stood united politically, their personal relationships were far from amicable.

They had no reason whatsoever to share such top-secret information with me!

But now that I had cornered them this much, they couldn’t avoid revealing the truth.

"What… did you just say?"

"He said he stood as my equal."

In fact, I had heard a report about that.

But since the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan’s warriors hadn’t been able to fully verify it, I had dismissed it as little more than a baseless rumor.

When I later received an additional report that Saber Demon had also been seen nearby, I had assumed the two fools had simply gotten into a childish squabble.

But now they were saying… that report had been true?

"Wait… hold on."

I staggered and covered my face with one hand.

My mind was spinning with confusion.

If it had been just Jin Gun-ak, I wouldn’t have trusted it. But Sword Demon Ma Seong-hwan wasn’t the kind of man to joke about something like this.

"That’s not just talent… that’s a monster."

"……Tch."

"That’s true."

I pressed on.

"Even the former Cult Leader wasn’t that terrifying. Are you sure something didn’t kill your son and take his place in disguise?"

A late-stage prodigy standing as an equal to a Transcendent Demon Realm master?

Frankly, someone impersonating him seemed far more believable.

Jin Gun-ak let out a small, hollow laugh.

"At the very least, when I spoke with him face to face, he was my son."

Saber Demon added quietly.

"Even if that’s true, there’s nothing we can do. We’ve already climbed onto the tiger’s back."

"……."

I forced myself to take deep breaths, trying to calm my mind.

Saber Demon was right.

With the Cult on the verge of a regime change, there was no room left for hesitation.

Fine. If Jin Yeomyung really stood as Sword Demon’s equal, then even a thousand or ten thousand late-stage prodigies wouldn’t be a problem.

But—

If he really was that much of a monster…

Wouldn’t the balance of the next generation’s Six Great Demonic Clans completely collapse, placing them entirely under the control of the Cult Leader and that brat?

That unsettling future suddenly crossed my mind, and I shuddered slightly at the thought.

***

"Welcome, Jin Yeomyung."

When I made my way to the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, I was able to meet Cheon Yura without much difficulty.

Even after all this time, she was still waging a war against the endless pile of paperwork.

‘Looks like I won’t be able to talk to her properly for quite a while at this rate.’

I approached her with a bitter smile.

"Let me help you."

"……Mhm."

If the matters had reached the point where Cheon Yura herself had to sign off on them, they must have already been thoroughly filtered and deemed important.

Technically, stepping in like this was beyond my authority… but assisting my busy wife was part of a husband’s duty, wasn’t it?

I gave the pile of documents next to her a quick scan, then immediately began sorting them by priority—high, medium, and low.

I set aside matters concerning the budget of the Five Great Halls and post-war clean-up as high priority, and shifted religious matters like the maintenance of the Cult’s sacred grounds to low priority.

As I sorted, I double-checked the figures for any discrepancies, and if I found nothing wrong, I handed the most important ones to Cheon Yura first.

She watched me work for a while, her eyes widening in surprise.

"You’re quite skilled at this. Have you done something like this before?"

"Well, something like that."

No, not just something—I had done exactly this kind of work many times before.

Back when I served as the Inner Adminstrator, I used to spend countless nights reviewing paperwork with the Heavenly Thunder Corps, going over the documents they submitted just for formality.

Remembering those days, which now felt like a distant past, I was overcome by a strange sense of nostalgia.

‘Maybe… I do miss those times, just a little.’

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