The Regressed Young Master’s Guide to Living on Easy Mode

Chapter 65 : The Gansu Province Battle (1)

The Gansu Province battle could be said to be largely composed of two parts.

The battles in Sichuan, Henan, and Anhui, which served as bait.

And the battle in Gansu, which was the real target.

The battles in the three provinces mentioned above had the purpose of dispersing the enemy's forces.

And at the point where they had been dispersed, it could be said to have already been successful.

The number of Heavenly Demon Cult troops in front of me now was about 100 at most.

This was equivalent to the number of a single unit of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Moreover, among the 100 people there, two were opponents who would have been quite troublesome if they had been in Gansu.

Most of them were new faces, but I could definitely recognize two of them.

One was, of course, the Mad Demon, and the old man standing at the very end with his arms crossed was the Fist Demon, the Fourth Elder.

That meant that the people there were the Fourth Unit, the Demon Ghost Unit, which the Fist Demon directly led.

'Seeing that most of them are unfamiliar faces, I wonder if they've been reorganized.'

It had been three years since I had left the Heavenly Demon Cult, so it wouldn't be strange if many things had happened during that time.

However, what was surprising was that the one leading the Demon Ghost Unit was the Mad Demon.

In other words, the Mad Demon had become the grand commander of a major military unit of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

For a moment, the Mad Demon and one of us made eye contact.

Swish.

Without any warning, the Mad Demon kicked off the ground.

His speed was extremely nimble.

It was completely different from the immature time three years ago.

A movement with an established identity.

I had the illusion that a snake was crawling on the ground.

It was definitely the Fourth Elder's Snake God Steps.

The Mad Demon, who had arrived at one of the 108 Arhats in an instant, thrust out his fist.

This was also one of the Fourth Elder's unique martial arts, the Annihilation Chain Fist.

What was unfolding was the 5th technique, the Illusion Chain Technique.

Five illusions are scattered. Among them, only one is the real technique.

The one from the 108 Arhats who was attacked would have been flustered by the sudden attack, but this side was also an elite selected from the Shaolin Temple.

From the time the Mad Demon had kicked off the ground, he had been raising the wooden staff in his hand.

Clatter.

At the same time as his wrist twisted, the wooden staff was showing a tremendous rotation. Perhaps because of the rotation, an illusion as if the number of wooden staffs had increased was seen.

It was one of the martial arts of Shaolin, the Single Wheel Staff.

The fist and the staff collide.

A confrontation of illusion and illusion unfolds.

Crack.

The wooden staff brushes past the air. One of the fist's illusions is erased. Then the reduced four illusions show a change again.

'That's?'

It was similar to the technique of layering a presence on top of a presence that I had used in the Divine Demon Tournament in the old days.

No! It was just the same.

The four illusions were each showing a different movement.

Not to be outdone, the wooden staff also repeats its changes. The rotational force of the wooden staff increases further, and the two hands that are swinging the wooden staff move so fast that they are not visible. Whir! As if a hornet were flying right in front, a sound is heard, and at the same time, it looked as if the number of wooden staffs had increased to four.

Crack!

One of the wooden staffs shattered against the fist.

Crack!

On the other side, the fist was shattering against the wooden staff.

Crack! Crack!

And two more wooden staffs shattered, and finally, with a cracking sound, the broken wooden staff was scattering in the air.

It was just then that the scattered illusions of the Mad Demon gathered into one. The Mad Demon's figure was right in front of him, who had lost the wooden staff from his hand.

At the same time, dozens of wooden staffs were aimed at the Mad Demon.

Regardless of that, the Mad Demon inhales.

Then, I had the illusion that the space around the Mad Demon was being sucked in.

He gently pulls his arm and clenches his fist.

I couldn't take my eyes off that appearance.

Because I could feel a reverence from the Mad Demon, as if a monk were bowing.

He must have repeated the same movement thousands, no! tens of thousands of times to achieve that single movement.

Therefore, I could feel a belief from those two fists of the Mad Demon that he could break anything.

The Mad Demon, who had been a novice in the old days, was not here.

The Mad Demon here was a martial artist.

However, there was also such a person on this side.

The Little Divine Monk had been quietly gathering his energy alone before the clash. A half-lowered center of gravity. Two feet pressing down on the earth. Half-closed eyes. The sound of chanting Buddhist scriptures that was heard softly. Tense pectoral and biceps muscles.

At a glance, the two looked similar.

The energy felt from the two was evenly matched.

This meant that the Mad Demon, like the Little Divine Monk, had entered the Transcendent Peak.

A qi wave rises from the two. They recognize each other. And they seemed to have no intention of avoiding each other.

"Annihilation!"

With a short sound, the Mad Demon thrust out his fist.

Almost at the same time, the Little Divine Monk also thrust out his fist.

"Hundred-Step Divine Fist!"

The single fist of each that was thrust out quickly.

Although the forms were different, the single fist that the Mad Demon and the Little Divine Monk had thrust out within the framework of fist arts was the standard.

Two energies containing great power were shot towards each other.

I could naturally tell that the winner of this round would take the momentum before the start of the fight.

Everyone was watching with tension.

Originally, if this were a real fight, I would have been waiting for the result while tearing, chewing, tasting, and enjoying beef jerky.

But this time, our role was just bait. There was no need to fight with such heat.

And over there, the final boss, the Fist Demon, was not moving yet. Of course, since the 108 Arhats were still intact on this side, we would have to fight directly to know who would win.

To say it again, we, no! I did not come here to fight with my life on the line.

In this Gansu Province battle, I had a different real goal, not the role of bait.

'To bring the third force to the surface!'

There was no need to waste precious military power when we hadn't even started to do that yet.

Swoosh.

I drew my sword. At the same time as my movement, I could see the Fist Demon clenching his fist.

And for a very short while, my eyes met with the Fist Demon's, and we read each other's thoughts.

You too? You too?

Me too! Me too!

Slice!

I cut the grain of the Hundred-Step Divine Fist.

The huge power of the Hundred-Step Divine Fist scattered in the air.

Boom!

The Fist Demon's fist tore apart the Mad Demon's power as it was.

'To use such a crude method!'

The Little Divine Monk and the Mad Demon looked at the one who had nullified their attacks with a dumbfounded expression.

I stepped forward confidently and proposed one thing.

"I request a one-on-one duel! If we lose, we will retreat. How about it?"

To say it again, the role given to us is bait, that is, to buy time.

A fight where we try to kill each other is only a loss for us.

"The young one's sword strike is quite sharp."

"The old one's fist strike is quite rough."

"Heh heh heh. It seems the Orthodox Faction guys don't know how to respect their elders."

"It seems the Demonic Cult guys haven't learned any manners."

"I accept the proposal. You! Come out! You little bastard!

The reason I proposed a one-on-one duel was first, to maintain the power of the 108 Arhats. And there was also a second reason.

Because it's more convenient later if I get rid of the strong guys who might be a hindrance in advance.

I said to the Fist Demon.

"I ask of you, Lord of the Pavilion."

"Amitabha. I was suspicious that the donor might be taking all the fun parts."

"With the Lord of the Pavilion here, how can a young one like me step forward? As a true disciple of the Orthodox Faction, I must be polite, have a proper sword ceremony, and not neglect my Buddhist prayers."

The First Pavilion Lord, who is in charge of the 108 Arhats, has the same seniority as the abbot of the Shaolin Temple.

This meant that he had the same seniority as the Fist Demon.

"Amitabha. It's been a long time."

"Phoenix King Il-so. You're still alive."

"Because there's a reason I can't die."

Phoenix King Il-so.

The head of the 108 Arhats of the Shaolin Temple, and a master of the Transformation Realm who is called the Phoenix King in the martial world.

From the moment the Phoenix King came out, the Fist Demon seemed to have forgotten my existence. The two naturally glared at each other and raised their momentum, and the people around, regardless of whether they were from the Orthodox Faction or the Demonic Cult, each stepped back to get away from the two.

It was to avoid getting caught up in their fight.

I also stepped back and fiddled with my sword.

The third reason I proposed a one-on-one duel.

'A fair duel? Fuck that! Shit!'

Nobility in a battlefield? Conscience? Romance? That's just bullshit.

In a battlefield, the strong one is not the one who wins, but the one who survives.

If I see even the slightest opening during their fight, I will immediately attack the Fist Demon.

Don't call me cheap for this.

Because this is a just fight of the Orthodox Faction.

I am now a member of the Orthodox Faction.

* * *

Everything changed after the captain disappeared.

The Sword Demoness swung her sword all day. In the past three years, the number of times she had talked with the Sword Demoness could be counted on one hand.

The Demonic Brain was the same. The Demonic Brain was cooped up in a small room and didn't come out at all. When I occasionally peeked in, I could see that he was doing something alone, seeing the pile of books.

The captain's absence was also quite large for me. I often felt an unknown emptiness. That was the same recently. Whenever that happened, I trained.

Now, even if I recall the memory of the captain, I can think of it as a memory of the past.

But from a while ago, my eyes kept going to the man over there. The heart that had been quiet began to ripple again.

-Mad Demon!

I hear a hallucination.

It was definitely the captain's voice, which I had felt had become faint.

-Mad Demon!

The sound became clearer and clearer.

Come to think of it, that voice from before.

If I were to listen with my eyes closed, it was so similar that I would mistake it for the captain.

Come to think of it, it wasn't just the voice.

The more I looked at his appearance, the more he resembled the captain.

When he was quietly closing his mouth, he exuded an atmosphere as if he were a different person, but all his other actions reminded me of the captain.

'If the captain were to be reincarnated, wouldn't he look like that?'

The Mad Demon knew. The captain was dead. Therefore, that person was definitely not the captain.

Grin.

As our eyes met, the Orthodox Faction member who resembled the captain showed a smile.

"Captain?"

For a moment, I had spoken without realizing it. After speaking, I realized it was absurd.

This was definitely because I was mistaken due to the similar appearance.

If the smart Demonic Brain were here, he would surely have hit my head and said... no, he wouldn't have said anything, he would have just hit me.

In the Mad Demon's eyes, the Orthodox Faction member who resembled the captain was about to move.

Why?

At first, I couldn't understand.

Now, two masters who had reached the Demonic Zenith were having a fierce fight.

A qi wave containing strong qi was flying in all directions, devastating the surrounding terrain.

A stray fist strike falls to the ground.

With a loud noise, the ground is gouged out. The depth was enough for a child to fit in.

There were already dozens of such things.

It was a result created in just over a hundred seconds after their fight had begun.

This was the fight of masters who had reached the Demonic Zenith.

Just watching it gave me a thrill.

There.

'Is he trying to intervene?'

The Mad Demon couldn't understand.

Jumping into that fight now was clearly a suicide act.

The moment his body touched the qi wave that the two were emitting, his body would be torn apart.

If he were a master of the same Demonic Zenith, it would be a different story, but the energy felt from the Orthodox Faction member was only at a similar level to his own.

Just then.

Without anyone having time to stop him, the Orthodox Faction member kicked off the ground. It was perhaps a natural action for the people of the Orthodox Faction, who were surprised to see that.

And the Little Divine Monk, who had gone up to the semifinals in the Divine Demon Tournament, was drooling with his mouth wide open.

It was said that all the Orthodox Faction members were madmen, and that was exactly right. As a true Demonic Cult member, I couldn't help but be genuinely impressed by the new method of suicide. I drew in my mind the future of the mad Orthodox Faction member who would turn into a pool of blood in a short while.

Crack!

As expected, the Fist Demon's fist and the Phoenix King's strong qi clashed, and the bounced-off strong qi was flying towards the Orthodox Faction member who was just running.

Swoosh.

The Orthodox Faction member confidently drew his sword.

He's going to cut that with that?

This was on a different level from cutting the Little Divine Monk's energy just now.

'Is he a madman?'

And after that, a dozen bundles of strong qi were pouring down.

The master and the Phoenix King, who were fighting, seemed to have noticed the mad Orthodox Faction member's movements, and their gazes shifted.

Just then, the Phoenix King let out a shout and began to swing the staff he was holding at a tremendous speed.

At this, the master also thrust out his fist at a speed that was not visible to the eye.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Strong qi and strong qi clashed in the air, creating a tremendous hitting sound. The surrounding area was covered by the bounced-off strong qi.

It was at that moment that the mad Orthodox Faction member swung his sword.

He drew a single sword strike towards the strong qi that was falling on him.

Crack.

The strong qi froze as it was and then fell to the ground.

Clang!

And it shattered.

'The strong qi froze?'

And at the sight that the young man showed after that, the Mad Demon, though an enemy, could not help but be impressed.

The sword passes.

An ice flower blooms in its place.

The strong qi freezes.

The young man passes through it.

On both sides of the path the young man had passed, countless pieces of ice fall.

A path was being created in the young man's steps.

Finally, the young man reached the front of the master.

"Tahaat!"

It was at that moment that the Phoenix King swung his staff greatly. A strong qi of three feet long was extending from the staff.

The Mad Demon kicked off the ground. At the same time as the movement, he instinctively knew that it was already too late.

But he wasn't worried about the master.

The master was a great elder of the Heavenly Demon Cult, and a master who had reached the Demonic Zenith.

A haze was constantly rising from around the master's body.

A premonition that comes when the Annihilation Chain Fist has sufficiently ripened.

The martial art that becomes stronger as the chain continues is the Annihilation Chain Fist.

And the chain that had continued until now was well over two hundred.

The master thrust out his last fist.

A single fist containing great power was shot towards the opponent.

Crack!

The strong qi on the Phoenix King's staff scattered. After that, the staff that had met the single fist shattered.

The second fist that was thrust out right after went towards the Phoenix King's heart.

'We won.'

Just as he thought that, the Mad Demon, who had been running, had no choice but to stop.

The master's fist was stopped right in front of the Phoenix King's chest. No! To be precise, it could not go any further.

Cough!

Blood was vomited from the coughing master. However, as soon as the blood came out, it froze and fell to the ground. White breath was constantly coming out of the mouth that had vomited blood.

Frost was on the master's body.

"Wow! I almost died."

It was certain that the Orthodox Faction member from before had done something. But at his current level, he couldn't know what he had done at all. At that moment, his eyes met.

The Orthodox Faction member showed a smile that resembled the captain's and opened his mouth.

"We won, right?"

The Mad Demon wanted to say that this was a foul.

At that moment, the words the captain had said in the past flashed through his mind.

-Nine out of ten things the Orthodox Faction bastards say are lies. So if you make eye contact, just hit them first.

As expected, the captain was always right.

And in today's match, he had clearly lost.

The Mad Demon took in the Orthodox Faction member who resembled the captain. He thought that he would definitely repay today's debt when they met next time.

The Mad Demon supported the master and said.

"Everyone, retreat."

As soon as the Mad Demon's figure disappeared from sight, Yoo Jae-ha vomited blood.