Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon
Chapter 154 – Recruiting Sa Ryong-hui (2)
Translated by : moonchildkhz
***
“Puhahahahaha!”
Sa Ryong-hui’s words made Woon-seong burst into laughter, as if the man had said something hilarious.
The laughter made Sa Ryong-hui’s face twist.
I am prepared to bend my faith, and even said it aloud.
But here you are laughing at me like this.
But Sa Ryong-hui’s position was that of a captive.
He was nothing compared to Woon-seong, in both status and strength.
Sa Ryong-hui did not dare open his mouth.
How long did that laughter continue?
At some point, Woon-seong stopped. Silence filled the tent, like the laughter had been an illusion.
In the silence, Woon-seong’s eyes were sharp.
“You tend to overestimate yourself.”
“…? ”
“I will admit that you are talented for your age. But there are many people like you in the Cult. Do I have to go through all that trouble just to get one of you? ”
Sa Ryong-hui clenched his fists. After everything, this is it. I was eager to change my views and asked for a meeting, but I couldn’t achieve anything.
Sa Ryong-hui grit his teeth.
It seemed like he wanted to bite his tongue and commit suicide.
Then Woon-seong spoke again:
“I will allow it.”
Sang Gwan-chuk was surprised and exclaimed, “My lord!”
Woon-seong silently shook his head. He then spoke while looking at Kang So-san.
“I heard you helped my disciple?”
“Ah!”
Sa Ryong-hui suddenly remembered what happened in the inn a while ago. He certainly had helped Kang So-san once.
The relationship with Kang So-san continued then.
Woon-seong stared at Kang So-san, before turning to glance back at Sa Ryong-hui.
“Then let us consider there to be no debts after this. Senior Strategist!”
Sang Gwan-chuk immediately bowed his head, “I heed the words of the Cult Leader.”
“Assign someone to watch the New Dragon Leader so he can look around the Cult for the next ten days. Of course, I’ll keep his strength sealed for the meantime.”
Woon-seong reached out and grabbed his wrist. His energy flowed through like a maelstrom, solidifying in certain areas.
“If you try to use more strength than third-rate, the planted energy will explode and your veins will shatter.”
Sa Ryong-hui bowed his head at Woon-seong’s icy gaze, putting his arm down.
“Thank you very, very much. ”
Ten days was all the time allowed for Sa Ryong-hui.
It wasn’t just a random number. It was the same as the time given for the Demonic Army to rest before moving on to the next region.
To date, the militia of the Demonic Cult had continued to advance without proper rest.
Thanks to that, about ⅓ of Sichuan had already landed beneath Woon-seong’s feet.
However, since they had gone for so long without rest, even martial artists would get tired.
They needed time to recover from fatigue.
But that was not the only reason.
The next group of enemies included the Sichuan Tang Clan, a family known as manipulators of poison.
When dealing with them, one had to always beware of poison.
It was natural to have antidotes for different kinds of poisons on hand.
Ten days was also the time to prepare these antidotes.
Most of the antidotes were carried by the Southern Army, who were located in the rear of the Demonic Army and would need ten days to prepare and distribute the supplies.
In other words, ten days was the time to prepare for the next battle.
What about the Western Army?
The Western Army, which was relatively less fatigued than their eastern allies, set out for the next region.
The Western Army was marching for the province of Ningxia, which touched both the Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.
If they successfully captured both Ningxia and Sichuan, then a total of four provinces, large and small, would belong to the Cult.
One third of Zhongyuan would be under the dominion of the Cult.
But it’s too easy.
Woon-seong slowly closed his eyes.
If war was easy, it was natural to become complacent.
But that was the idea of the soldiers.
A leader should never think that way. The easier the battle, the more vigilant one should be.
You had to keep thinking about what the enemy was planning and what they were doing.
It was the Martial Alliance who had started this war. But the movement of the Alliance had been too quiet, especially after attacking the branches and calling for war.
Jwa Do-gyul is a cunning bastard.
Someone with three faces.
Perhaps he was preparing a number of tricks.
From there to the Imperial Court…
Woon-seong closed his eyes. Whatever the Martial Alliance was doing, he had to trust the mysterious Justice Alliance.
If the Justice Alliance was successful, they would be able to drastically reduce the power of the Orthodox factions.
This is the beginning of a complicated war.
Woon-seong sighed.
In the meantime, ten days passed.
***
Kung-
Sa Ryong-hui shook his head.
In front of him was the bronze sword he had been using as the leader of the New Dragon Battalion, broken in half.
He shouted:
“From this moment onwards, this one vows to Heaven that he will become a member of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, to be the sword of the Leader, to be the hands and feet of the Leader, to do everything in his power for the prosperity of the Cult!”
In response, all the demonic practitioners behind him bowed to Woon-seong.
“Hail the Immortal Heavenly Demon!” Sa Ryong-hui shouted without looking behind him.
“Hail the Immortal Heavenly Demon!”
The Heavenly Demon’s life would continue for a thousand years and all demonic beings would obey him…
In the last ten days, Sa Ryong-hui has seen a lot of things under the watchful eye of his guard.
In the process, he learned that the Demonic Cult was not so bad, and that the demonic practitioners were the same as him.
All the ideas I had so far were biases and errors.
When he confirmed that, it fell like his wrong beliefs melted away like snow.
And a new belief settled in his heart.
It was closer to the truth this time.
If the sects are wrong and the Cult is wrong….
Even if the Cult has the name of demon, they can be saints.
Justice.
Do not forget to question your surroundings.
Woon-seong looked down at Sa Ryong-hui, asking, “You have committed to this Cult, but what about your colleagues?”
Sa Ryong-hui’s face hardened.
“And I am also the leader of those who killed your colleagues. Can you really follow me?”
Sa Ryong-hui swallowed. He had observed and thought about this question too.
But ten days was not a short time and Sa Ryong-hui had some answers.
“We did what we had to do.”
“Obligation…”
“The Leader and I were enemies at the time, and we cannot blame each other for what we did as enemies. ”
“What about your colleagues?”
“I will persuade them.”
Woon-seong laughed at the word ‘persuasion’. Sa Ryong-hui’s body was trapped, but his mind was awake.
What an interesting turn around.
Sa Ryong-hui never would have thought about such a thing if he hadn’t been awakened to the world.
Then, how many of the New Dragon prisoners have come to their senses?
Woon-seong laughed at that thought.
“I’ll allow you to persuade them. ”
“Thank you!”
Sa Ryong-hui slammed his head into the floor.
But Woon-seong’s words were not over.
“However, the people of the Tang and Peng cannot be persuaded.”
Sa Ryong-hui raised his head, eyes filled with questions.
“It won’t do any good to convince them anyway. ”
Woon-seong had received a list of factions who were influenced by the Cult of the Inverted Sky. The Tang and Peng Clans were included in that list.
Such people would not have surrendered to the Cult. No, even if they surrendered, their families would not approve.
Of course, he did not explain that to Sa Ryong-hui.
Woon-seong words contained strong certainty and Sa Ryong-hui nodded, even though he looked unsure.
Well, either way, Sa Ryong-hui had decided to become a believer of the Heavenly Demon.
“I allow Sa Ryong-hui to become a member of the Cult. However, until recently, he was an enemy, so he will not be appointed here.”
Woon-seong looked down at Sa Ryong-hui and said:
“As a soldier of this Cult, I order you to serve in war wearing white clothes for a hundred days. His position will be determined by his merits after this period is over. ”
Sa Ryong-hui bowed his head. “Understood!”
The Demonic Army, which accepted Sa Ryong-hui, began to advance again.
Towards the place where the Tang Clan and Qingcheng Sect awaited.
During the past ten days, antidotes had already been prepared.
The Cult’s march was unstoppable.
As a new member, Sa Ryong-hui dutifully marched. But everyday, he would visit his former colleagues to persuade them.
Among them were those who spat and called Sa Ryong-hui a traitor.
As expected, this group of people included the people of the Tang family. Peng Hak also ridiculed Sa Ryong-hui, calling him a groveling dog.
However, Sa Ryong-hui calmly tried to convince the others, not caring about the Tangs and Peng Hak.
He could not deny the fact that he had turned traitor, but he still had connections inside the New Dragon Battalion.
After his everlasting persuasion, some people agreed.
They too had the opportunity to take a look around the Demonic camp and its land, just as Sa Ryong-hui had.
Three of the captive New Dragons surrendered to Woon-seong, just like Sa Ryong-hui.
They were all part of weak or single-disciple sects.
Those from moderately sized sects never surrendered. Instead, they cursed the Cult, saying it wouldn’t last long.
At the same time, the prisoners were all begging for their lives.
Woon-seong heard the story and laughed in relief, saying, “Just as well.”
Unlike the smaller sects, those from larger Murim sects couldn’t join the Cult.
It was an act of treason.
The three who surrendered to the Cult were ordered to serve in white robes, like Sa Ryong-hui.
Thus, in the army, there were four soldiers dressed in white, unlike the other demonic soldiers.
This all happened not long before the battle with the Sichuan Murim.
