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

Chapter 7 : The Blood Demon's Visit (1)

Since yesterday, the Heavenly Demon, Hyeok Sa-wol, had been feeling a persistent dampness, like the rainy season in the sweltering summer.

He had known the reason for a while.

Was he really mistaken yesterday?

He had reached the Soul Detachment Realm. To misjudge something related to martial arts, of all things? Honestly, it was close to impossible.

Especially when it was related to the Heavenly Demon True Qi.

"What do you think of me?"

The cult's strategist, Noe In-mu, calmly answered his lord's question as usual.

"You are the supreme one of the Heavenly Demon Cult, and furthermore, the ruler of the Central Plains."

"That is a given. I am talking about my condition."

"My condition, you say?"

"Yes."

"You are as great as usual. Did something happen yesterday?"

Noe In-mu knew that the Lord had visited the nursery with the elders yesterday. According to the report he had heard, there was nothing particularly unusual.

"No. Nothing happened."

He dared to gaze at his lord. To someone who didn't know the Lord well, it would look like his usual expressionless face, but as someone who had always served the Lord right by his side, Noe In-mu could tell that the Lord was currently wearing a slightly uncomfortable expression.

Confirming that, Noe In-mu realized that he was missing something related to the Lord.

And if there was something, it was most likely that there was something in the nursery, where he had been separated from the Lord yesterday, that was making him uncomfortable.

There was nothing particularly unusual in the report from the nursery.

Out of a total of 999, the final 50 passed and were admitted to the Little Demon Academy. The top student was a girl named Murong Seryeong from the Murong family, the second was the Fifth Elder's grandson, the third was Gu Gwang-hyeon from the streets, the fourth was Zhuge Myeong from the Zhuge family, the fifth was the Third Elder's grandson, the sixth was Jeok Dan-pung from the Huashan Sect, the seventh was Daegugu from the streets, the eighth was the son of the Demonic Dragon Brigade's unit commander, the ninth was the son of the War Demon Brigade's grand commander, and the tenth was Yoo Jae-ha from the streets.

Even among the top ten successful candidates, there were no children who seemed to be a problem.

If there was anything, it was that the child who took the top spot was a child of the Orthodox Faction.

The Heavenly Demon, if nothing else, was more thorough than anything else about the position the cult held.

And Noe In-mu, knowing that, had also taken appropriate measures.

"The top student of this year's nursery is a child of the Murong family."

"I suppose so."

The Murong family was abandoned by the Orthodox Faction during the Great War of Righteousness and Demons and was annihilated, with few survivors.

Murong Seryeong was one of the survivors, and the others who had survived were already under the cult's protection.

As a means to control the children of the Murong family in the future.

"The two surviving children from the Murong family have been taken in as servants of the First Elder. When you take in a dog, you must put a leash on it."

"As expected of the strategist. I was about to order that, but to think you've already done it, I feel somewhat at ease."

"I have only done what is my duty as a strategist."

But the worry on the Lord's face still hadn't disappeared.

'This isn't it?'

It was then.

"What is the assignment for the Little Demon Academy this time?"

Unlike the nursery, from the Little Demon Academy onwards, they could be considered the cult's actual combatants.

In fact, from the Little Demon Academy onwards, it was common for them to be deployed in the field.

Therefore, it was very natural for the Heavenly Demon to be interested in the affairs of the Little Demon Academy now.

"Since new children have come up from the nursery this time, while verifying their skills, they will also need to learn proper martial arts, so I believe they will probably evaluate the disciples' characteristics and martial talent with the traditionally held Sword Path Test."

Sword Path Test.

It was one of the cult's long-standing traditional tests to distinguish the child's habits and preferences regarding martial arts characteristics, and to teach them martial arts that suited them, by deliberately teaching them the wrong sword path and having them correct it themselves.

"Yes, who is in charge of the Sword Path Test this time?"

The martial arts learned at the Little Demon Academy are the first time a disciple of the cult learns proper martial arts. Considering the importance, the final management of past tests had been carried out by those of the grand commander level or higher. And this time.

"It is the Sword Demon."

One of the greatest military powers the cult possesses.

An elder and a master who has reached the Demonic Zenith.

"If it's the Sword Demon, he can be trusted."

"Seeing that he suddenly volunteered on the day, I predict that there was a child who caught the Sword Demon's interest when you went to the nursery with him yesterday."

The moment he heard those words, a child flashed through the Heavenly Demon's mind.

"Well, there was."

At the Heavenly Demon's indifferent response, Cheon-gwang could still tell that he hadn't found what was making the Heavenly Demon uncomfortable.

'It's not about the nursery? Did I guess wrong?'

"Ahem!"

Noe In-mu was startled by the Heavenly Demon's sudden cough.

He knew that this was a habit that came out when the Heavenly Demon was quite uncomfortable.

'The next thing to come is definitely something big!'

At times like this, someone's head would always fly.

'One of the Orthodox Faction bastards is going to die again.'

Although they had been pushed south of the Yangtze River, the Orthodox Faction bastards were causing incidents and accidents without a day's rest.

The endless espionage and spies against the cult were a prime example, and Noe In-mu quickly recalled the spies hiding and operating in the cult.

'How many do I have to offer this time for the Heavenly Demon to calm his anger?'

Based on experience, it seemed to be around ten people, at least of the Transcendent Realm or higher.

The Lord opened his mouth, and Noe In-mu tensed.

"Bring me the paper with the sword path drawn by the top student of this Little Demon Academy assignment."

He had been about to say, 'I must cut off the head of the Shaolin Temple's abbot,' as usual, and he had been about to persuade the Heavenly Demon with a heart that felt like he was vomiting blood, explaining the loyalty he had offered so far and the cult's situation of not having fully recovered from the aftermath of the war, and to appease his anger with a minimum number of spies...

"The sword... path... you say?"

Why the sword path all of a sudden?

"Yes. I must see it for myself. No. I will tell the Sword Demon myself."

Then the Lord really left.

Noe In-mu's tension rose to the extreme.

As a strategist, his instincts were sounding an alarm that something he didn't know was happening in the cult.

There is nothing more frightening than an uncontrolled variable.

And what if the Heavenly Demon was included in the list of those variables?

This was not a personal problem of the Heavenly Demon, but a matter of the entire martial world north of the Yangtze.

"No! Considering the Heavenly Demon's influence, it is no exaggeration to say that it is a matter of the entire martial world!"

He had to find out.

And what was certain was that that something was related to the Little Demon Academy.

Noe In-mu decided to go through all the information about the Little Demon Academy as soon as he returned.

* * *

The Sword Demon had recently fallen into a dilemma.

He was a martial artist respected by everyone, both in the Orthodox and Demonic factions.

It was no exaggeration to say that he had reached the highest realm one could reach with the sword.

The pinnacle of the sword!

The ideal of the sword!

The apex of the sword!

With just one sword, he had come out into the martial world and achieved numerous accomplishments, and he eventually became one of the ten elders of the cult.

His status in the cult was the Sixth Elder, but most people called him the Sword Demon.

Because the Sword Demon was the term for the head of the Five Great Swordsmen of the Central Plains.

He, the object of respect for swordsmen, was sighing in succession.

"Haaah..."

After reaching the Demonic Zenith, the Sword Demon was suffering from insomnia for the first time in his life.

"Am I finally breaking?"

He had visited the nursery yesterday and felt his heart burn for the first time in a long time, so he had volunteered to be the supervisor of the Little Demon Academy's Sword Path Test without realizing it, but thinking about it now, it was all a futile act.

"Is my path of martial arts ending here?"

He had run his whole life with just one sword. He finally reached the Demonic Zenith and felt an unparalleled sense of fulfillment.

And, he was so curious and excited about what awaited him beyond that, that he swung his sword without sleeping.

He spent over ten years like that.

And he finally decided to admit that he hadn't taken a single step forward from the entrance of the Demonic Zenith.

That his path as a martial artist called the Sword Demon ended here.

He didn't want to admit it, but it seemed he had to admit the fact he had been ignoring all this time.

"Yes. To be honest, the Demonic Zenith is nothing to be ashamed of anywhere."

Didn't even the Wudang Sect's leader say at the last moment that he was happy to be able to fight a martial artist like him?

The Sword Demon had personally and kindly sent the Wudang Sect's leader, who had praised him so highly, to his ascension.

"Let's admit it. I've become an old man in the back room now."

"What?"

The words that came from right next to him at that moment.

There were only about two people in the cult who could come right behind him, avoiding his senses that had reached the Demonic Zenith.

One of them was currently on a secret mission. Then there was only one person in the cult.

The Sword Demon, without even looking back, knelt on the spot, bowed his head to the ground, and shouted.

"Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years! The Sword Demon greets the master of the Heavenly Demon Cult!"

The Heavenly Demon naturally sat in the seat the Sword Demon had been sitting in.

"Raise your head. I have come here to speak comfortably, so there is no need to be so formal."

"Yes, my lord!"

The Sword Demon, who had answered, was motionless. No matter how much the Heavenly Demon told him to be comfortable, to the Sword Demon, the Heavenly Demon was a being in the heaven above the heavens.

He was just struggling at the Demonic Zenith, but the Heavenly Demon was already the number one under the heavens who had reached the Soul Detachment Realm beyond that.

As a martial artist who practices martial arts, the Heavenly Demon, apart from being the master of the cult, was an idol to the Sword Demon, and a sun that never sets.

"Well, if you're comfortable in that position, then keep listening like that."

Now that he was old, it was honestly uncomfortable. But the Sword Demon did not have the courage to dare to say that he was uncomfortable to the Heavenly Demon.

"I have come here for no particular reason. I hear you are in charge of the Sword Path Test this time?"

"That is correct!"

Could it be that his slight excitement and rashness had dared to offend the master's feelings!

The Heavenly Demon must have been quite angry.

He, a Soul Detachment Realm master, had remained still, but he had witnessed a mere Demonic Zenith master acting up right in front of him!

If so, the Sword Demon was prepared to offer his life.

"Bring me the answer sheet of the top student of this Sword Path Test."

"Not my life?"

"What use is an old man's life. Even if it's you, you have to at least stick your butt in the cult to fill a seat."

"Yes, my lord! I will carry out your order with my life!"

When the Sword Demon raised his head, the Heavenly Demon was already gone. The Sword Demon, while once again admiring the Heavenly Demon's martial prowess, recalled something he hadn't thought of in the sudden situation earlier.

"But why? Did he ask for it?"

To the Sword Demon, the Lord was the sun and god itself.

"Could it be that he was indirectly telling me a solution to the problem I am currently facing?"

And that answer lies with the students who have just entered the Little Demon Academy?

If someone else had said this to the Sword Demon, he would have immediately sent them to the side of the Wudang Sect's leader. Is he the former leader now? Anyway!

No matter how good the students of the Little Demon Academy were, in the eyes of the Sword Demon who had reached the Demonic Zenith, they were nothing more than little kids with wet heads who had just started learning martial arts.

The Demonic Zenith was a realm that even the most outstanding among them could only reach after decades of effort with a heart that felt like vomiting blood.

But the little kids know the solution to the problem he is currently worrying about?

The Sword Demon, facing the direction of the Lord's hall, bowed his head until it bled and shouted.

"Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years! Heavenly Demon eternal! Heavenly Demon unchanging! Heavenly Demon supreme! Heavenly Demon invincible! Long live the Heavenly Demon!"

If the Heavenly Demon said it, then it was so.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demon, who had returned to the Lord's hall, thought that this dampness that was tormenting him would naturally be resolved over time.

The Heavenly Demon leaned deep into the throne and opened his mouth in the empty hall.

"What is your identity?"

* * *

I was cooped up in my room all day yesterday.

And today, I entered the Little Demon Academy.

Sharp gazes flew at me from all directions, as if they had been sharpened with a knife.

If looks could kill, they would have stabbed me to death dozens of times already.

Well, from their perspective, it was understandable that they were displeased with us who had come up from the nursery.

To them, who had entered the Little Demon Academy without going through the nursery, we would look like rolling stones.

Seeing even the grandsons of the Fifth Elder and the Third Elder, who had been so cocky in the nursery, cowering like that, it seems the kids here are quite something.

Of course, to me, who had conquered the Little Demon Academy before my regression, they were all the same.

Alright! Let's admit what needs to be admitted!

My grand plan to go to the outskirts and live a sweet life had failed miserably. And it was all my fault.

I never imagined that my piss-ant amount of internal energy would go out of control there. If I had practiced my internal energy even a little bit on a regular basis, I could have easily and quickly regained control and achieved my grand plan.

'It's all my carelessness.'

There was no one to blame.

Although it was a bit of a mystery why my internal energy suddenly went out of control at that time.

Anyway, it's an irreversible situation now!

Regretting it wouldn't provide an answer.

'It's better this way!'

Being on the outskirts and being at the main headquarters is a difference of several times in terms of money.

The level of welfare was also completely different.

If you're at the main headquarters, you can receive spiritual pills every month, and they give you a mansion, not just a house. They even provide servants. And the monthly salary is about ten times higher.

As long as I don't become the Young Lord, it's logically much more advantageous to be at the main headquarters.

Well, if that happens, the probability of meeting my junior sister later increases slightly, but she's destined to become the Young Lord anyway.

If I'm stuck in a low-ranking position in some unit at the main headquarters, the probability of meeting her is almost non-existent.

Huh? Thinking about it this way, the main headquarters is even sweeter?

And I've come to the Little Demon Academy! Now I can just learn martial arts properly without worrying about anyone's opinion.

'I must avoid a situation that goes beyond my perception like last time.'

First, I had to be able to completely control the martial arts I learned.

For that, the Peak Realm would be appropriate. After all, for the students of the Little Demon Academy, the Peak Realm is about average.

'Shall I lightly build my foundation?'

Just then, the instructor's words were coming to an end.

"Therefore, before the students who have just entered the Little Demon Academy learn proper martial arts, I will give you one assignment!"

Searching my memory, the next words should be about the Sword Path Test.

And the sword path given to us would be the Demonic True Sword Art, the representative sword art of the cult.

The Demonic True Sword Art is a perfect sword art that lacks nothing in speed, illusion, or tyranny.

Therefore, it was also a sword art that could be colored by any of those.

In fact, among the many masters of the cult, there were many who added their own insights to this Demonic True Sword Art and created a completely new sword art.

The most representative figure among them was the Sword Demon.

He had incorporated his insights into all three: speed, illusion, and tyranny.

Tsk. You have to be at that level to reach the Demonic Zenith. Only a bitter reality came to mind.

The instructor was handing out papers with the sword path written on them.

After receiving the paper, I was able to find the wrong parts immediately.

As expected, I could see the same three places as before my regression.

(End of Chapter)