So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

It was pretty simple why the Military Commander thought Jin Hayeon was just an average woman. 

Ever since she reached the Realm of Truth, she was able to hide her energy completely, meaning anyone weaker than her couldn’t even sense her true strength no matter how hard they tried, unless she willed it.

That included the Provincial Military Commander himself, a hardcore military veteran and a Rank 2 official sitting comfortably at the Supreme Peak Realm.

The same applied to his bodyguards as well. All four were at the very edge of the Peak Realm, or had just stepped into the threshold of the Supreme Peak Realm.

In any case, since the Provincial Military Commander had mistaken Jin Hayeon for a concubine, it took his brain a second to catch up with the Left Commissioner’s next question.

"Provincial Military Commander, what are your thoughts regarding the Supreme Eunuch?"

"...Are we talking about the same Supreme Eunuch that I'm thinking of, Lord Cheon?"

"We are."

Unable to grasp Cheon Ryang's true intentions, the Commander felt his mind fall into a state of confusion. 

After chewing on it for a moment, the Commander decided to dodge the question and fired one back instead.

"Why are you specifically bringing 'him' up in a place like this, Lord Cheon?"

Instead of giving a straight answer, Cheon Ryang threw out another seemingly random question.

"Provincial Military Commander, for what purpose do you believe the army exists?"

"Obviously, it's to protect the Empire from outside threats.”

"The Empire, you say.... Then, what is the Empire as the Provincial Military Commander conceives of it?"

Only then did the Provincial Military Commander start to catch on to what Cheon Ryang was implying, and he frowned heavily.

"I'm sure you know this, but wagging your tongue about this any further is a fast way to get yourself killed."

Despite the Commander's grim warning, Cheon Ryang just flashed a gentle smile and kept talking.

"It seems you find the question difficult to answer. Since I'm just a civil official, I don't have the right to lecture you about the army. So, let's talk about the government instead. Among the high-ranking local officials who actually know of the Supreme Eunuch’s existence, there's a certain rumor going around.  People are quietly whispering, 'We can't even tell if we're following the Emperor's orders or the Supreme Eunuch's anymore.'"

The Commander scowled at the blatant disrespect toward the Emperor's authority, but the Left Commissioner's next words completely shut him up.

"Is this not equally true of the military as well?"

"...."

Cheon Ryang stared right at the speechless Commander and kept pushing his point.

"Commander, even a civil official like myself knows this much. Whatever Empire the military is supposed to be protecting, it sure as hell isn't the Supreme Eunuch.”

"Ha. Are you actually saying we should try to overthrow that old monster?"

The Commander looked at him like he was crazy, but Cheon Ryang just gave a confident nod.

The Provincial Military Commander let out a scoff at that sight and asked, "And how exactly are we supposed to pull that off? He holds the Forbidden City in Beijing in the palm of his hand, so by what means do you propose to bring him down from his post?"

But instead of providing his answer right away, Cheon Ryang slowly turned his head to look around them. He stared out at the obliterated clearing before his words came out.

Given your own outstanding realm of martial prowess, Commander, I believe you must have noticed the massive explosion and flash of light last night that can be felt from afar. It’s the sight of the remembrance of a lightning strike from the heavens.”

"I indeed noticed that, but you're making it sound like that wasn't actually lightning."

"You're right. That wasn't a lightning bolt. It was a miracle pulled off by a human."

Only then did the Provincial Military Commander start to connect the dots. He frowned as he voiced the question in his mind. "Wait, are you saying this entire clearing was made last night?"

“Yes. And all of this devastation came from just a single strike.”

"Bullshit!"

The Provincial Military Commander was in disbelief at the revelation.

He stared blankly at the landscape where everything within a radius of dozens of meters had been completely devastated. 

'If someone can casually drop the equivalent of dozens of heavy explosives with a single martial arts move, can you even call them human anymore?' 

That was the first thought that rose from his mind.

Staring right into the Commander's totally skeptical eyes, Cheon Ryang dropped another shocking revelation.

"Last night. I saw it happen right in front of me. I watched the miracle performed by Young Master Il-mok, the youngest disciple of the late Heavenly Demon and the youngest brother of the current Cult Leader.”

Finally catching on to what Cheon Ryang was really getting at, the Commander scowled and snapped at him.

“You are telling me we should team up with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to get rid of the Supreme Eunuch?”

"Correct."

"You've completely lost your mind. The Imperial Family officially branded the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as traitors over two hundred years ago."

"Why should that matter now? Isn’t it common sense that stagnant water is bound to be discarded for fresh spring water?”

The treasonous words coming out of Cheon Ryang are the final breaking point of the Provincial Military Commander. His face flushed red as he bellowed, "You crazy bastard!! You dare to speak of treason before my face!!!”

The Commander was fine with plotting against the Supreme Eunuch, but plotting against the Emperor himself was crossing the line into straight-up treason.

Deciding that yelling just wasn't going to cut it, the Commander suddenly yanked the saber from his waist and slashed it straight at Cheon Ryang. But his saber did not reach the body of Cheon Ryang, someone who had never trained in a single martial art.

Clang!

Out of nowhere, the cold-looking woman reached out her hand and blocked the heavy saber strike.

"Commander!!"

"You wretch!!"

The bodyguards had never imagined that the Provincial Military Commander's saber could be blocked; they belatedly snapped out of their daze and charged in to back him up.

In response to their charge, Jin Hayeon tightly grasped the Commander's saber with her right hand and unleashed a left palm strike. 

A wave of freezing Yin Qi exploded from her left hand and washed over the guards, instantly flash-freezing them mid-stride while their weapons were still swung high in the air.

The Yin Qi that surged forth along her hand was directed at them, and they froze in the very postures in which they had been lunging forward, brandishing their weapons.

Since Jin Hayeon had pulled her punches, they didn't die on the spot. Instead, they were left completely helpless with their internal energy frozen inside their body.

Only then did the Provincial Military Commander and his bodyguards realize that the woman's cultivation had reached a level that was completely out of their league.

'She is no concubine! She is a guard and assassin in one!'

The Provincial Military Commander now also understood why Cheon Ryang could feel so confident in spouting treasonous bullshit while just bringing one woman to this secretive meeting.

He also realized the grim reality that if he dared to refuse the Left Commissioner's proposal now, he was destined to be slaughtered right here in this clearing. 

While the Commander felt his vision rapidly darkening with dread at this revelation, Cheon Ryang offered a respectful salute to Jin Hayeon and pleaded, "Our conversation has not yet ended, so please do not kill him, Miss Jin."

"Since I have restrained my hand, he shall not die immediately."

"Much appreciated."

Cheon Ryang then turned back to look at the Commander whose saber was caught in her hand.

"Commander, Miss Jin is the handmaiden of the Young Master Il-mok of whom I spoke earlier."

"!!!"

The Commander had thought that he’d received too many shocks today, and his eyes bugged out so hard at this revelation.

'A master of this caliber is just a maid?’

His brain started spiraling into the next logical conclusion.

If the maid is already this strong, then it’s plausible for Cheon Ryang’s claim about that young master to be true.

Going even further, if the youngest one is already that strong, how much of a monster is the current Cult Leader?

This was a misunderstanding that Cheon Ryang had purposefully induced.

It was true that she was a maid, but she was no ordinary maid.

Seeing that his calculation had hit its mark, he took advantage of the gap in the Commander’s composure to sway him.

"As you can now see, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has more than enough power to drive out the Supreme Eunuch. The reason I have come to seek out the Commander and deliberately broached this matter is that I want to minimize the amount of innocent blood spilled during this rebellion."

"..."

"Can you not see it with your own two eyes, Commander? Just how happy have the common people been ever since the Maitreya Luminous Cult established itself here in Gansu? And that Maitreya Luminous Cult is actually the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Was it not the sake of these very people that caused you to agonize over whether to mobilize your troops?"

Those words hit entirely too close to home, leaving the Commander completely speechless. 

He knew very well why he had dragged his feet on gathering the provincial troops to attack the Cult. He had thrown around the world non-interference pact as an excuse, but deep down, he was just worried about the civilians.

"You said the military exists to protect the Empire, right? Then tell me, what is the Empire, and can it truly exist if it's just the Emperor and his eunuchs with no actual citizens?"

It was a question the Provincial Military Commander had been forcing himself to avert his eyes from and one he had been burying alone within his own heart.

When complicated emotions intermingled in the Provincial Military Commander's eyes, Cheon Ryang asked him once more to drive in the final nail.

"You can't heal a part of the body that's already rotted away, and since the Supreme Eunuch has completely rotted this country, don't we have to cut out the infection and start over? So please, Commander, join our cause." 

The Provincial Military Commander let out a deep sigh.

Thanks to Jin Hayeon's Yin Qi, that sigh came out as a puff of frozen air.

"Hah. First, would you release my bodyguards?"

Jin Hayeon willingly withdrew the Yin Qi she had been emitting.

On top of that, she finally let go of the Commander's saber that she was still gripping with her right hand. 

The Provincial Military Commander sheathed the now-frozen saber and stared at Cheon Ryang. "Do you think I could meet this Young Master Il-mok and have a conversation with him?"

***

After heading back to Lanzhou, the Commander went straight to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's branch office. 

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Il-mok."

The Provincial Military Commander was caught off guard after seeing how young Il-mok was.

"I am Yang Gwang, the Provincial Military Commander of Gansu Province. Before we get down to business, mind if I ask you a question?" 

"Please ask."

"Was it your design from the very beginning to slip into Gansu and operate under the false name of the Maitreya Luminous Cult?"

Il-mok didn't even hesitate for a second before shaking his head. "Our Cult's main goal is to save the common folks and punish evil. The only reason we hid our identities while taking care of the citizens is that the Central Plains had labeled us officially as a treasonous group."

"If that's the case, why are you deciding to start a war now?"

"You've got it backward. We're only taking such extreme action because of the mess the Imperial Family and the Eastern Depot created."

"???"

When Yang Gwang wore a puzzled expression, Il-mok told him about what the Eastern Depot had done by disguising itself as the Blood Cult.

He even dropped the bombshell that the government had tried to force the Central Plains martial artists—the people they were supposed to be protecting—into a mutual suicidal war with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

"That is why Wudang and the Beggars’ Gang, the Hwangbo Family and the Zhuge Family, and on top of these, even Qingcheng have come to join hands with our Divine Cult. We couldn't just sit back and let the Central Plains be ruled by people who treat civilian lives like swatting flies."

After sitting through Il-mok's entire explanation, the Commander felt like the room was spinning.

'The Supreme Eunuch. That monster has surely gone mad. Even if he is the head of the eunuch, how could a government official commit such insane war crimes without batting an eye?' 

The Provincial Military Commander was so dizzy at the news that he forced himself to calm down and voiced his next question.

"Then, do you have a concrete plan in mind? Tell me you aren't just going to start a random riot and blindly declare war on the Empire."

To answer Yang Gwang's question, Il-mok walked him through the master plans he had been cooking up.

Most of what he talked about were the additional strategies Il-mok had specifically designed for massive propaganda campaigns and securing the civilian rear lines.

Yang Gwang could not contain his astonishment as the hours went by.

It wasn't just because of the bizarre strategies he never would have thought of, like dropping propaganda flyers or plastering posters everywhere.

‘This man… is really putting the people first even in the midst of war?’

It was because he realized that the noble banner of 'stabilizing the people's livelihoods' was deeply embedded in every single facet of the stratagems Il-mok had proposed.

‘So it’s true, the Maitreya Luminous Cult really was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult this whole time.'

The reason he had wished to meet Il-mok and converse with him was because he wanted to confirm with his own eyes.

He had to know if the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was just faking their charity to brainwash people, or if they genuinely cared about helping the citizens. 

And all of his suspicions completely evaporated the second he heard Il-mok's master plan. 

"Very well. Then, what do you want me to do first?"

Hearing that, Il-mok flashed a faint smile and laid out the next steps.

"First, do what the Left Commissioner is doing and bring in anyone from the Military Command who will follow your orders. On top of that, write up a list of every corrupt official who's been exploiting the common folks."

"If that's all you need, I can have it done in a day."

"As for myself, I have nearly finished meeting those I am to meet today, so I should be able to wrap up my end within a day too."

When the Left Commissioner gave such a reply following the Provincial Military Commander, Il-mok nodded with an expression of satisfaction.

"In that case, we'll kick off the rebellion right before the sun comes up tomorrow." 

It was finally time to exterminate those who refused to join their side, and the corrupt scumbags who were just too dirty to be on the team.

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