***
A white-haired old man seated at the farthest end asked.
"Demonic Strategist, was there an operation carried out in the Central Plains without my knowing?"
The white-haired old man was the Blade Demon.
First among the Ten Great Demon Lords, and a master ranked fourth in the entire Demonic Cult.
The Demonic Strategist shook his head as if such a thing could never happen.
"How could there be an operation the Blade Demon does not know of?"
The Demonic Strategist was the man who devised every operation of the Demonic Cult.
If he said no, it meant the Demonic Cult had not done it.
The Blade Demon asked again.
"Then why did the Murim Alliance and the North Sea Ice Palace send letters to our cult?"
"Who can say? Rather than my thoughts, reading the contents of the letters would be more accurate."
The Demonic Strategist answered, hiding the smile at his lips behind his folding fan.
"This is the letter sent by the Murim Alliance. It demands a clear explanation regarding the Demonic Cult's involvement in the large-scale slaughter that recently occurred in the Yunnan region."
"Heh heh heh."
The Blade Demon revealed his killing intent and drew a cold smile.
"What was that? The dregs of the orthodox dare demand an explanation from our cult?"
"It says that should the truth not be made clear, this will be regarded as a provocation by the Demonic Cult."
Displeasure and irritation mixed on the faces of every attendant, the Blade Demon included.
"Ha."
Someone laughed shortly.
"What nonsense is this now?"
"It is not our cult's doing. Why should we explain ourselves to those orthodox bastards?"
The Radiant Right Envoy, Blood Demon, who had been listening, opened his mouth.
"It is always the same with them, pinning crimes on us that we did not commit, so there is nothing new in it. But that they moved at the same time is troublesome."
The Demonic Strategist agreed with Blood Demon's view.
"Indeed. The North Sea Ice Palace of the outer-region murim, and the Murim Alliance. Two forces that would never cooperate sending letters in the same period is by no means a coincidence."
"The outer-region murim and those orthodox bastards conspired to pin a false charge on us?"
"With those devious bastards of the Murim Alliance, it is entirely possible."
CRASH!
The Blade Demon slammed the table with his fist.
"Hmph! Even if war breaks out with the Central Plains, there is nothing to fear."
"Even so, we cannot let ourselves be played by the schemes of those orthodox bastards, can we?"
Just then a middle-aged man who had been listening from a corner with a grave expression spoke.
"We cannot dismiss it as pure fabrication either."
Every gaze turned to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man in a black long robe leaned slowly forward.
His identity was the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall, who oversaw the cult's laws.
"What do you mean by that?"
"There was one piece of intelligence concerning the matter. On the night the Yunnan Massacre occurred, there was one of the Ten Great Demon Lords who left the cult grounds."
In an instant, the air within the pavilion froze.
The Ten Great Demon Lords were the beings who symbolized the Demonic Cult's might in the Central Plains.
If a Demon Lord was involved in the Yunnan Massacre, the Demonic Cult would have no way to explain itself.
The Radiant Right Envoy, Blood Demon, frowned and asked.
"There was a Demon Lord who left the cult? Who in the world was it?"
"The Demon Empress was absent from the cult that night."
It was an unexpected answer, and Blood Demon asked again with a look of disbelief.
"......Why in the world would the Demon Empress?"
The Ten Great Demon Lords were belligerent by nature.
There was more than one or two among them who insisted at every opportunity that the Central Plains must be conquered.
But the Demon Empress differed from the other Demon Lords in temperament.
She did not avoid a fight brought to her, but she shut herself away in her residence, and so had never caused trouble with the orthodox.
That such a woman had abruptly fought masters of the Diancang Sect was a hard story to believe.
"It was not a formal departure either. There is a report that she entered Yunnan Province in secret."
"Hmmm!"
At the words "Yunnan Province," several of them let out short groans.
"And there is another suspicious circumstance."
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall's mouth twisted briefly.
"There is intelligence that a person of unknown identity has recently been staying at the Demon Empress's residence."
"......The Demon Empress took someone into her residence?"
That too was a hard story to believe. The Demon Empress was a woman who had lived looking at the Cult Leader and no one else.
"A person whose identity is unknown. Origin unknown. Status unknown. There is no formally reported record of his entering the cult either."
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall slowly drummed his fingers on the table.
"That a person of unknown identity is staying at the Demon Empress's residence at precisely such a time is not a matter to let pass."
Someone muttered low.
"It fits together too well to be coincidence."
"Indeed."
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall's gaze swept slowly around the room.
"On the day the Yunnan Massacre occurred, the Demon Empress entered Yunnan Province, and a person of unknown identity appeared at her residence. Would it not be difficult to regard the two events as unrelated?"
"But there is something strange."
The Radiant Right Envoy stroked his beard and tilted his head.
"Does the Diancang Sect not have that old man, the Sword Saint? Even for the Demon Empress, facing the Sword Saint alone would be beyond her."
The Shadowless Sword Saint, Sect Leader of the Diancang Sect, was an absolute master counted among the Ten Greatest Swordsmen under heaven.
However great a Demon Lord might be, there was no way to face the Sword Saint alone while he stood with his Diancang disciples.
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall's eyes gleamed.
"Just so. A third force was clearly brought in."
"The Demon Empress joined hands with some other bastards?"
"Yes. According to the information obtained, the garden of the Dan Clan where the Yunnan Massacre took place was reduced entirely to ash, as if burned."
"Does that serve as proof that the Demon Empress joined hands with others?"
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall answered in a firm voice.
"There are other circumstances as well. The Diancang Sect is said to be urgently gathering ice crystals to treat the Sword Saint's internal injuries. There is a rumor that he fell into qi deviation because he could not govern the fire qi."
"Blazing yang qi strong enough to inflict internal injuries on the Sword Saint?"
Blood Demon's eyes widened and he asked again in a loud voice.
"......Could it be the Fire Worship Tribe?"
"Just so. Blazing yang qi capable of wounding the Sword Saint with yang energy could belong to none but those apostates."
The Fire Worship Tribe were as good as the roots of the Demonic Cult, but they were the ones who had departed a hundred-odd years ago, saying the Demonic Cult of the present had lost its holiness and fallen into corruption.
Blood Demon frowned deeply. As if a headache had come on, he tapped his forehead.
"Do you mean to say the Demon Empress joined hands with those apostates?!"
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall wore a grave expression.
"If she waged war on the orthodox in league with a force outside the cult, that alone is a serious matter. But if she joined hands with apostates, is that not a matter we can never overlook?"
"But why in the world would the Demon Empress?"
"The Demon Empress came in from the Central Plains with the Cult Leader. She was not originally a follower, she is of different stock to begin with, and with her many grievances toward the cult, there was always the possibility she would betray us."
"Hmmm. That such a thing should happen precisely while the Cult Leader is in isolated training."
"It is at times like this that a thorough investigation is needed. First, the Law Enforcement Hall will begin an inquiry into the Demon Empress in secret."
The Demon Empress was one of the Ten Great Demon Lords, but she also stood in a special relationship with the Cult Leader.
Moreover, even the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall, who oversaw the laws, could not decide a Demon Lord's fate without the Cult Leader's permission.
Then the Blade Demon asked.
"Head of the Law Enforcement Hall, you are not saying this out of private feeling toward the Demon Empress, are you?"
That the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall regarded the Demon Empress unfavorably was no secret.
There was no one within the cult who did not know that the Cult Leader still held the Demon Empress in his heart above his lawful wife, the Head's own sister.
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall, who rarely showed any expression, turned serious.
"If I could not separate public from private to that degree, would the Cult Leader have appointed me Head of the Law Enforcement Hall? This matter is not a private one. However great the Cult Leader's favor, an apostate cannot simply be left alone."
According to the doctrine of the Demonic Cult, an apostate is beheaded and the severed head displayed outside the walls.
It was a humiliating method of execution unbefitting the standing of one of the Ten Great Demon Lords, but if an act of apostasy were proven, there would be no choice but to follow the doctrine.
When the council ended, people left their seats.
Within the vast pavilion, only the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall, the Demonic Strategist, and the Radiant Right Envoy remained.
The Radiant Right Envoy let out a short sigh.
"The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall's opinion has reason in it. But with the Cult Leader in seclusion, the conclusion must be reached with care."
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall bowed his head.
"But if we drag out the time, the pressure from the orthodox will grow fiercer. The timing of the Yunnan Massacre and the timing of the Demon Empress taking a person of unknown identity into her residence match too precisely. Measures must be taken."
"And what do you propose to do?"
The Demonic Strategist opened his folding fan. An inscrutable smile brushed his lips once.
"Let us proceed with both at once. Investigate the Demon Empress's residence internally, and send other investigators to re-examine the site of the Yunnan Massacre as well. How would that be?"
"Whom do you intend to send for the site investigation?"
"I will send a man to Yunnan Province myself. I have a spy whose identity will not be exposed."
The corner of the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall's mouth twisted faintly as well.
"I will send men to the Demon Empress's residence personally."
The Radiant Right Envoy slowly rose from his seat.
"You must bring the results before the Cult Leader awakens. Only then will the necks of everyone in this room remain intact."
The door closed. Only the Demonic Strategist and the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall remained in the pavilion. A brief silence flowed.
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall asked in a low voice.
"Demonic Strategist, do you happen...... to have any guess as to who the bastard at the Demon Empress's residence is?"
The Demonic Strategist shook his head.
"There is something even the Demonic Strategist does not know?"
The Demonic Strategist folded his fan slowly and wore an inscrutable smile.
"Could he be the Demon Empress's blood?"
The Demonic Strategist asked.
"Her blood?"
"I mean, is there no possibility that he is a child born while the Cult Leader and the Demon Empress were in the Central Plains?"
"Head, that is too extreme a fantasy. It is a matter that could shake the succession of our cult, so never let such a thing pass your lips."
"Of course. And even if it were true, there must be no one at all who knows of it."
The Head of the Law Enforcement Hall revealed a sharp killing intent and murmured to himself.
"Even if it takes killing him to silence it."
***
Dan Se-min was alone in the room.
He looked out the window. The moon was high.
'The greatest of all time.'
That single phrase slowly took its place inside Dan Se-min's chest.
The strongest man in several thousand years of murim history.
The single remark the Demon Empress had thrown out today was lodged deep within him.
The words that climbing that road might let him overcome the Supreme Yang Body.
It had become a new subject of contemplation.
He settled into a cross-legged seat. His breathing deepened.
The blazing yang qi of the Blazing Heaven Divine Art rose from his qi center.
At the same time he drew up the extreme yin qi of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal.
Place the two at the same height and match their flows. The Demon Empress's teaching passed through his head.
The two energies collided. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
It was a failure.
'Not easy.'
Another attempt. He lowered the fire qi by one degree. The cold slowly responded. For a moment the two energies ran parallel.
Soon the balance broke.
But Dan Se-min did not stop. A third time. A fourth.
The fifth attempt. The two energies met at a single point.
They did not devour each other. Nor did they push each other away.
The two energies began to rotate slowly around that single point.
Fire qi wrapped the cold, and the cold wrapped the fire qi.
Above his head, blue light and red light wove into a single strand and rose. The shape of the two lights turning while embracing each other was a flow of qi that had never been realized anywhere in the history of the murim.
'This is......'
A single word surfaced in Dan Se-min's head.
'The Supreme Ultimate.'
It was a word he had never consciously considered. And yet the energy rising within his body was calling for that word.
The air in the room rippled quietly. The lamp on the desk bent once and straightened again.
Just then, outside the Demon Empress's residence.
Atop a tiled roof some distance away.
A single white-haired old man was looking down at that light.
The Blade Demon.
Immediately after the council broke up, the Blade Demon had not returned straight to his own residence.
He had come here intending to confirm with his own eyes who the bastard that appeared at the Demon Empress's residence was.
And in the middle of that, he witnessed a strange light pouring out through the window.
'The energies of yin and yang are forming a harmony.'
It was a flow of qi he had never seen before. And a stable one, at that, impossible to believe had been produced by someone who looked not yet twenty.
Being a martial artist, the Blade Demon could not hold back his curiosity.
His figure scattered. The place where it appeared again was inside the room where Dan Se-min was.
Dan Se-min, having finished circulating his qi, slowly opened his eyes.
A white-haired old man stood before him.
His clothing was ordinary, but the presence flowing from him was not.
Dan Se-min instinctively realized it. A master on par with the Demon Empress was standing before him.
"Not bad for a young one."
The Blade Demon's voice was deep.
"What are you?"
Dan Se-min rose from his seat and clasped his hands in a light courtesy.
"I am staying here as a guest."
"......A guest?"
The Blade Demon's eyes narrowed once.
"The Demon Empress takes in guests? This one has known the Demon Empress for well over a decade. I have never heard of such a thing."
The Blade Demon's gaze traveled slowly over Dan Se-min's face, his shoulders, and then his face again.
"Are you perhaps the Demon Empress's lover? Have her tastes changed?"
The Blade Demon asked with a grave expression, but Dan Se-min laughed a little, as if the idea were absurd. It was laughter that slipped out before he knew it.
"Hardly."
"Well, the Demon Empress would not have such tastes."
"...... We are of the same house."
In that instant the Blade Demon's eyes widened.
'Her blood?'
The Blade Demon's mind moved quickly.
The Demon Empress had never married. There was no one in the cult who did not know that. She was a woman who had lived looking at the Cult Leader and no one else.
And until now the Demon Empress had never revealed anything of her origins.
The Blade Demon studied Dan Se-min closely.
Seen up close, it was a young face, not yet twenty.
And looking carefully, the outline of the Demon Empress was faintly echoed in it.
'He resembles the Demon Empress.'
Gooseflesh rose all across the Blade Demon's back.
'If he is the Demon Empress's son, then who is the father?'
There was no one in the cult who did not know that the Demon Empress had had only one beloved.
'The Cult Leader's hidden son? If so, this is not a matter for this one to meddle in. If the Head of the Law Enforcement Hall learns of this, it will only grow noisier.'
The Blade Demon took a step back.
"......My apologies. It was an old man's curiosity."
The old man's tone had changed abruptly.
Turning his back, the Blade Demon added one more remark.
"It would be best to keep your relationship with the Demon Empress a secret. I will keep today's matter a secret as well."
"......?"
Having spoken, the Blade Demon's figure scattered from where he stood.
Before he knew it, Dan Se-min was the only one left in the yard.
On his way back to his own residence, the Blade Demon muttered a single remark.
"The Cult Leader said he would hold the contest for Young Cult Leader once his isolated training ends. This is serious. The board is going to shake badly."