Chapter 3. Tell the Sect Leader I'm Sorry

The Left Guardian of Light said with a bitter expression,

"Originally, it's just called a holy artifact. How did you know it was called Heavenly Jade?"

"Did you think I was just running for three days and nights? I also ate, went to the bathroom, recited a poem, tortured your subordinates, and even went boating. I had a very fulfilling time."

The Left Guardian of Light suddenly glared at the subordinates waiting behind him and said,

"Can't even withstand a little torture?"

"They should know what this is, right? They didn't seem to know exactly. I also wanted to know what this is before I die."

The Left Guardian of Light replied in a low tone,

"…Demon Light, this is a special elixir made specifically for the Sect Leader to consume. If anyone else takes it, their limbs will melt. Don't even dream about it. It was hard to make, so it must be recovered."

"Don't lie with that open mouth. Do I look like a naive young lady of the Nan Gong family? Do I look like a woman from the Bai Li family who only knows men's faces? You pervert."

"You don't believe the truth even when I tell you. The nickname 'holy artifact' comes from the fact that the Sect Leader will consume it. Believe me."

"That's strange. If this is an elixir, shouldn't the old Sect Leader have taken it before entering seclusion?"

"There are circumstances in the world. The Sect Leader has a specific order for his martial arts practice."

"How did you make it? It doesn't seem to be a naturally occurring elixir but rather one manufactured using dark arts."

"Will you tell me if I do?"

Instead of answering, I scrutinized the Left Guardian of Light's eyes.

"No."

I knew roughly how it was made because I was aware of the evil deeds the Devil Sect had committed. Moreover, the color of the Heavenly Jade kept changing. It seemed like there was a mix of extreme yang and yin energy inside, and the color kept changing with the surrounding temperature and sunlight.

If I had to describe it, it was like a Taiji symbol.

In Devil Sect terms, it would be called a Reverse Taiji.

Since the elixir contained a Taiji, it meant it was no ordinary elixir.

I thought that if this fell into the Sect Leader's hands, the world could very well be destroyed.

'Damn... The real martial arts alliance should give me a hero's award. Bastards.'

I revealed what I had guessed.

"Oh, I understand. I must be a genius. Let me guess. The reason you often attacked sects and had frequent skirmishes with the martial arts alliance was because of this, right? I don't know how, but you extracted the essence of living martial artists and stored it in this. It wasn't easy for you to make this, was it? You had to extract the yang and yin energy evenly."

As I spoke, I realized the Sect Leader's intentions.

"To consume it, one must either be a yin-yang body or have their dantian balanced with extreme yang and yin energy. That's why you went into seclusion, right? Is there anything wrong with what I said? Or did the old Sect Leader plan to use it to transform his body?"

To be more effective, it should be consumed in a new body.

The Left Guardian of Light smiled as he listened to me.

"You, I thought you were just a crazy fool."

"Please."

"Think what you will. Even if you know the truth, it won't be more valuable than your life."

"That's true, but—"

"You're not a yin-yang body, so hand it over."

"If the Sect Leader consumes this, he'll be unbeatable in the world. He's already strong enough to be annoying. How much stronger will he get? I can't give it to you. This is the path of the lone hero I walk alone."

I said it as a joke, but the Guardian didn't laugh at all.

"…"

The Devil Sect and I are just not compatible.

The Left Guardian of Light kept glaring at me.

He seemed really scared that I would fall into the Ten Thousand Cliffs in a fight.

Actually, I found falling into the Ten Thousand Cliffs to be a hassle.

Who in their right mind would like cliffs? Unless there was a hidden treasure at the bottom.

In this situation, the best action to infuriate the Left Guardian of Light would be to swallow the Heavenly Jade.

Since I was already seriously injured, I swallowed the Heavenly Jade without much thought.

With a gulp, the Heavenly Jade slid down my throat, and the Guardian's face turned pale.

I savored the taste of the Heavenly Jade.

"Surprisingly sweet. It tastes like a soft peach at first, then has a very fresh aftertaste. Did you mix peach to make it easier for the old Sect Leader to eat? Hahaha."

The Guardian and his subordinates' eyes widened. If I exaggerated a bit, they all looked like they were about to faint. The Guardian pointed at me, stammering.

"You ate it?"

I slightly frowned.

"You said it was an elixir, you crazy fool. Elixirs are good for the body. I wish the Sect Leader's wrath falls on you. Don't worry, your subordinates will report exactly what they saw. Or you can kill them all with your own hands."

The Guardian stomped his foot and cursed.

"You crazy fool! You ate it!"

I deliberately said in a foolish tone,

"Should I have given it to the Sect Leader instead of eating it? But it's already in my stomach. Choke…"

As the Heavenly Jade entered my stomach, I felt a bit strange. It wasn't just a joke; the taste of a large peach was actually strange.

But my body also felt strange.

I frowned and touched my dantian.

It felt like my dantian was forcibly split into two.

To the Devil Sect members, my face was gradually turning pale.

I was having a bizarre experience where half of me was yang and the other half was yin, but it wasn't a particularly painful process, so I thought it was a holy artifact.

The Guardian clenched his teeth and said,

"Kill him! No, capture him alive. I'll flay him alive and present him to the Sect Leader."

"Yes, sir!"

I extended my hand and frowned as if I was about to say something.

"Wait! You're saying 'Yes, sir.' I have something to say. My stomach really feels uncomfortable. Wait. I think I need to vomit it out."

I looked at the Guardian with the most serious expression.

At the mention of vomiting, the Guardian raised his hand to signal his subordinates to wait.

"Wait!"

The Guardian held his breath.

I continued with a serious expression.

"My dantian…"

"What about your dantian?"

"Feeling hot and cold alternately, it seems I'm about to have a bad case of diarrhea. This elixir doesn't suit my constitution."

Indeed, a thunderous fart erupted, and the Devil Sect members frowned or covered their noses.

"…"

The Guardian also covered his nose and said,

"Vomit it out quickly."

I also covered my nose and said,

"Don't nag like a child. I didn't say I would vomit it out through my mouth. I need to defecate… You guys should go down the mountain first. I'm a man of manners and can't show you while I'm doing it."

"What?"

As I watched the Guardian's face turn paler, I said calmly,

"Tell the Sect Leader I'm sorry. He should come here later and examine my feces. The answer to becoming a Demon God will be in that feces. Ah, a legendary Devil Sect Sect Leader will be born, ascending to the top through feces. Finally, Demon Light will defecate the greatest feces in history. Legendary."

The Left Guardian of Light, who had been listening to me seriously, finally lost his sanity and launched a palm strike at me.

'No way!'

I had no choice but to counter the Guardian's palm strike with the Golden Turtle Freedom Technique's palm strike.

A huge palm-shaped energy collided in the air.

Kwaang!

The Left Guardian of Light was pushed back at an incredible speed, and I was also pushed back several steps into the vast emptiness of the Ten Thousand Cliffs.

At that moment, I realized for the first time that the Left Guardian of Light had mastered an extremely cold martial art.

'This guy, he knows Ice Technique.'

The Guardian was pushed back a bit further, but my pride was also greatly hurt. It must have been due to my deep injuries.

Falling into the cliff was not part of the plan, so I was truly flustered.

Life doesn't always go as planned.

As I fell, I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the Devil Sect members, who were getting farther away.

"Ha ha ha ha ha."

My laughter echoed off the Ten Thousand Cliffs and soon filled the sky and the earth.

Was it because of the peach-flavored Heavenly Jade that my laughter was so loud?

Anyway, the Ten Thousand Cliffs were really deep.

I laughed loudly for a long time, but I was still falling.

* * *

My legs were fine, and the strange energy from the Heavenly Jade in my dantian was surging, so despite being exhausted, I felt quite energetic.

This was not part of the plan.

Just before hitting the ground, I used the Wild Wind Laugh technique to counteract the falling force, rotated my body about three and a half times, and landed lightly on my feet.

Almost a perfect landing.

"Hehehehe."

Looking up, I saw that not only the Left Guardian of Light but also the lowly sect members who would surely die if they fell were jumping down the Ten Thousand Cliffs without hesitation, heading straight for me.

They were enemies, but the sight of them jumping down in unison at a single command was so impressive that I couldn't help but applaud.

"Wow… Crazy bastards."

The Devil Sect was truly the Devil Sect. They were people who would live and die at a single command. That's why the martial arts alliance couldn't attack the Devil Sect's main base.

"But half of them will die from broken bones."

Indeed, screams filled the Ten Thousand Cliffs. Many died instantly upon hitting the cliff or protruding rocks.

Watching them die pointlessly, I finally understood the Guardian's words that no one in the martial world dared to defy the Sect Leader.

The Devil Sect was truly a terrifying organization.

Of course, they officially called themselves the Heavenly Demon God Sect.

At that moment, the Devil Sect members who had filled the sky suddenly disappeared, and the Ten Thousand Cliffs and the blue sky turned white.

"Hmm?"

What in the world.

Everything in sight was dyed pure white.

A man was floating in the air, his face obscured by a strange, dazzling light.

I was so surprised.

What is he?

Instantly, I sensed that my life was in his hands.

* * *

Surprisingly, I couldn't even hear the wind.

In the eerie silence, as if the world had paused, the mysterious man slowly descended to the ground.

What the hell is this martial art?

It was astonishing that a man could fall from such a height with his hands behind his back.

Looking around, I saw that the bottom of the Ten Thousand Cliffs had turned completely white.

The man, exuding an overwhelming presence, approached with his hands behind his back and said to me,

"To consume a soul-infused object so easily. You must be out of your mind."

I shuddered at the sound of his voice. It was a strange mix of worldly wisdom, the confidence and courage of a martial artist, and authority.

This man was on a different level.

I asked,

"I am indeed out of my mind, but who are you?"

Only then did I get a good look at the mysterious man.

He was dressed in the same martial world attire as me, but it was an outdated style. He gave off the aura of an absolute master from an old painting.

Even the greatest masters I had seen would struggle to maintain their composure in front of this man.

I knew a lot about the strong martial artists in the world, but this man was truly incomprehensible. I couldn't think of anyone who matched his presence.

I spoke my thoughts aloud.

"You are truly an incredible man."

I had never complimented anyone like this before. It was not just his martial arts, but the fact that there was a man I didn't know in the martial world was truly amazing.

The man replied with a nonchalant expression.

"I am somewhat impressive. You are holding up well in front of me. You are brave. Anyway, why did you consume the Heavenly Jade? It contains the souls of many masters. They are in a state of unrest. Do you understand this much?"

"Who do you take me for?"

The man stroked his chin in thought and continued,

"Now, the souls of the unrested will stick to your soul."

"Hmm?"

"Whenever you sleep, the souls will awaken. When you eat, the essence in the food will be shared with them. When you touch someone, the souls will stick to them. Your inner energy will surge uncontrollably."

I focused on the positive aspects.

'Oh, the inner energy is appealing.'

The man continued,

"You are now a living Heavenly Jade and, at the same time, half a ghost. You no longer have the possibility of living a normal life."

"I never lived a normal life to begin with."

"You look like it. You have experienced madness several times."

"How did you know?"

"Take a look in a mirror when you have time. Your eyes will tell you… Madness is accompanied by a mental illness."

"Hmm, if the Sect Leader had consumed this Heavenly Jade, what would have happened? I didn't eat it because I wanted to, but to prevent the Sect Leader from consuming it."

The man smiled.

"You ate it out of your own sense of justice?"

"Yes."

It was the truth. For some reason, this man seemed to have the ability to see through lies, so he would know my words were true.

The man sighed and continued,

"It is the truth. The Heavenly Jade is an object that defies the natural order. If the Sect Leader had consumed it, I would have had to destroy the Sect Leader and take the blame for interfering in the world. But life doesn't always go as planned."

Life is indeed terrifying.

Even this great man couldn't predict what would happen.

The man continued,

"Still, the souls need to be released. They need to be judged for their past lives and move on to the afterlife. Many of them lived good lives, so it must be done."

"What should I do? It sounds like you're telling me to die. I can't do that. Rather, take me to the Sect Leader. I need to die with him to close my eyes in peace. I will surrender after killing the Sect Leader."

The man chuckled and replied,

"Don't try to outsmart me."

"Caught? You're perceptive."

"Anyway, do you hate the Sect Leader so much?"

"What's the point of saying it?"

"Why?"

"Why? The Sect Leader doesn't treat people as people. My lifelong goal was to beat the Sect Leader to death. If the Sect Leader asked me for a reason, I would have only one thing to say."

I raised one finger.

But the man seemed to already know my answer.

The man replied to my words,

"Doesn't treat people as people?"

I nodded, meeting the man's eyes.

"Exactly. And that was the only reason I wanted to kill the Sect Leader."

The man crossed his arms and smiled faintly.

"A good reason."

"A good reason?"

I stared at the man. Strangely, he was someone I could communicate with. I didn't believe it right away, but this man seemed to be a god-like being.

The man uncrossed his arms, sighed as if resigning to something, and pointed at me, saying,

"Yi Xia…"

My eyes widened.

'He knows my name?'

The man continued,

"This is the last time I'll help you. Don't consume the Heavenly Jade again. After this, I will be punished and won't be able to help you. Whatever the outcome, I will treat you with kindness. This is the best choice and the best gift I can give you. I bless you."

The man extended one hand toward me.

I wondered if I would die from his palm energy.

Given the situation, it seemed unlikely.

Then, what the hell was this?

As I pondered, I was enveloped by the light from the man's hand, and my senses disappeared instantly.

'Huh?'

It seemed my consciousness was about to fade.

.

.

.

Am I dead?

It felt like my body was shattering, but there was no pain.

Just before my consciousness faded, my soul whispered,

I don't want to die yet.

Oh, I haven't…

I haven't even been with a beautiful woman once.

Damn…!