Chapter 78: The Heavenly Demon Cult Serial Murder Case: A Night of Murder Without a Culprit

A new tenant had settled in Qing’s dantian.

Cold and dark, brimming with extreme yin—a new arrival with a nasty temperament.

Heavenly Ice Demonic Qi!

A sinister energy originating from the Northern Sea.

The Heavenly Ice Demonic Qi strutted into her dantian with an air of arrogance.

And then, it spotted Zhu Xiang True Qi.

The radiant and pure Zhu Xiang True Qi took one look at the newcomer—then casually signaled to Bliss True Qi.

The Yue Maiden True Qi gave a silent nod, feigning ignorance.

In the next moment, Bliss True Qi shot up from its spot, sending Heavenly Ice Demonic Qi scrambling away in retreat.

“Oh, nice. Another auto-cultivating one. That’s sweet…”

Qing could feel the Heavenly Ice Demonic Qi naturally circulating through her body on its own.

This was the power of a three-star cultivation in the Heavenly Ice Sura Demonic Arts.

She had tested it the previous night.

At three stars, it was barely strong enough to counteract the effects of one-star Maiden’s Blissful Art.

The issue was that gold-tier martial arts boosted stats more than red-tier ones, so even with Heavenly Ice Sura Demonic Arts, it wasn’t nearly enough to negate the side effects of Maiden’s Blissful Art.

Well, shit. Now what?

Did she need to learn Snow White Divine Arts too?

Actually, there was already a technique Qing had considered getting through a 1,500 Karma Point exchange.

It was an internal energy cultivation technique called Reversing Tendons, Cleansing Marrow Sutra.

She had heard about it before—during a conversation with Ximen Surin.

— “Master, if I could only learn one martial art in the world, what would be the best choice?”

— "That would be the Reversing Tendons, Cleansing Marrow Sutra."

— “The Reversing Tendons, Cleansing Marrow Sutra?”

— "Indeed. It is the greatest internal cultivation technique for those who walk the righteous path."

— "It provides the second strongest protection against Demonic Qi Invasion, only surpassed by Zhu Xiang's Nourishing True Soul Sutra, and there is no technique in the world that strengthens the dantian and meridians better than this one."

— “Then compared to Zhu Xiang's Nourishing True Soul Sutra, which one is—AAARGH!! That really fucking hurts!!”

— "This disciple really loves asking for a beating, huh? Go on, keep digging your own grave."

— "The Reversing Tendons, Cleansing Marrow Sutra is the greatest martial art of Buddhism. How could you possibly compare it to the techniques of our Daoist school?

— "Even if you could learn it—Haah. Forget it."

— "There’s no point in talking about something you’ll never obtain. Just drop it."

— “...Understood.”

That’s how it went.

And sure enough, when Qing searched for it in the Martial Arts Window, it was marked purple.

A sinful thought crossed her mind—

This technique is definitely stronger than Zhu Xiang's Nourishing True Soul Sutra.

If they were equal, her master wouldn’t have gone out of her way to smack the living hell out of her for asking.

Clearly, she had nothing to refute, so she just resorted to violence…

So Qing had originally planned to return with it and be like:

"Tada~! Master! Your dear disciple mastered the Reversing Tendons, Cleansing Marrow Sutra!"

Wouldn’t that have been hilarious?

That was the plan.

But instead, she had just ended up stockpiling more demonic arts…

Ugh. Whatever. I need to get stronger now. What else am I supposed to do?

Qing wasn’t blind—she had seen the absurd number of high-level martial artists lurking among the abductees.

Compared to her own experience, they were downright monstrous.

But within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, she was nothing more than one of the countless Peak Realm martial artists.

The fact that they were leaving her alone so far?

Probably because they figured she wouldn’t be able to escape anyway.

Sure, the whole “crippled leg” act was helping, but even without it, they were probably just waiting to see if she’d run.

Fine. For now, I’ll just collect as many martial arts as possible.

Just like when she reached the Peak Realm, if her realm somehow increases, she'll also aim for the Alleged Supreme.

And if she never hit that breakthrough?

Well—

She’d just bide her time, gather power, and when the moment was right…

Burn everything to the fucking ground and run.

Goddamn it. I thought that bastard at the top was just a delusional idiot, but this really is a fucking tiger’s den.

But what the hell was I supposed to do?

How the fuck was I supposed to know I'd get kidnapped in my own goddamn front yard?

Honestly, this is just bullshit. Pure bullshit.

Growl.

Qing’s stomach interrupted her thoughts.

“Ah. I’m hungry.”

The sun was already high in the sky.

She hadn’t slept the night before, wandering around instead. That meant she had skipped breakfast and slept straight through the morning.

Hadn’t someone tried to wake her up?

Or was that a dream? Ugh. Who cares. She was starving.

Was it lunchtime yet?

Surely, she hadn’t missed it?

Just as Qing was licking her lips in hunger, a sound reached her ears from beyond the wall.

— “Kyaak! Gghk! Ugh! Agh! Kyaak!”

It was coming from the room next door.

That was Gyeon Pohee’s room.

What now?

Was that idiot getting beaten up again?

Frowning, Qing got up.

Even in the midst of this, she didn’t forget to stay in character, dragging her leg in a limp as she opened the door to the neighboring room.

And, of course.

A spectacle of suffering was on full display.

Though… it wasn’t exactly what she had expected—

“Oh! Junior sister! You’re up!?”

Sitting atop a pile of five stacked disciples, Gyeon Pohee cheerfully waved at her.

The disciple at the very bottom looked particularly pale.

That one’s gonna suffocate to death at this rate. What a waste.

“Uh, Gyeon? What exactly are you doing?”

“Hm? Training! I’m officially the Second Senior Disciple now! That means it’s my duty to educate the juniors!”

They had talked about that yesterday.

So she was actually serious about it, huh?

“Oh? Junior Sister Cheon? Why isn’t your head down properly? How do you expect to survive in this harsh world when you’re so weak? If it’s too hard, should I just let you die instead?”

Cheon flinched and scrambled in a panic.

She fumbled around the floor before grabbing a small wine cup and planting her forehead onto it.

For reference, Central Plains wine cups were tiny little things that held no more than two spoonfuls of liquor.

Wow. That’s basically smashing your head on a bottle cap.

A miracle that transcended time and space.

From an anthropological perspective, this just proved that human cruelty remained consistent throughout history.

Especially when it came to torturing people.

Maybe those philosophers who insisted that humans were inherently evil were actually onto something.

Qing watched in fascination.

And then—

“Mmph! Urgh…! Bleeghh!”

The woman next to Cheon vomited.

“Junior Sister Dap? I went through all that trouble to get you fresh raw meat because cooked food is bad for you. You should set an example since you love food so much.”

“But…”

“You understand, right?”

Dap lowered her trembling gaze to the floor.

Oh.

So she was the one.

The infamous “eat raw meat, puke it up, then eat it again” girl.

Now that she thought about it, this was Gyeon Pohee’s revenge match.

Well, in that case…

Might as well let her have her fun.

Gyeon Pohee looked absolutely delighted.

Meanwhile, her karma score—

Wait. What?

Right in front of Qing’s eyes, Gyeon Pohee’s karma score dropped.

From -149 to -150.

…That’s weird.

Yesterday, she had worked it down to -145.

Why the hell was it back at -150 now?

Just then—

The trembling Cheon, who had been balancing on the wine cup, lost her footing and crashed to the floor.

A perfectly round, dark bruise bloomed on her forehead.

Qing snorted.

“Junior Sister Cheon? Are you alright? That was five times, right?”

“Gasp! N-No! No, it wasn’t!”

“Lying is bad, you know. What a bad girl.”

Gyeon Pohee plucked a hairpin from her head and threw it.

Her form was sloppy, but there was some technique in the movement.

The hairpin embedded itself into Cheon’s thigh.

“KYAAAH!”

“Hm? I heard a whistling sound? Is it allowed to scream when your senior sister personally educates you?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

"It’s because she wasn’t tense enough. Junior Sister Cheon said it before—getting beaten up makes you tense up."

Gyeon Pohee suddenly sprang up, yanking Cheon’s hair and swiftly kicking her.

She made sure to hold her down so she couldn’t escape, delivering each kick with practiced precision.

Junior Sister Cheon sobbed as she begged for forgiveness.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

“Oh? And that’s enough? Oh, right. Junior Sister Cheon always says that, doesn’t she? ‘Is sorry enough?’ So tell me, if sorry isn’t enough, then what the hell is?”

“I was wrong… sniffle…”

“Junior Sister Cheon. Senior Sister just asked you a question. Is Bliss Palace a joke to you? Do I look like a dick—ah, no, I mean, do I look like a damn genital to you?”

“I was wrong! I was wrong! Senior Sister! Please forgive me!”

Cheon clung to her like a desperate fly, groveling without shame.

And then, Gyeon Pohee’s karma score dropped.

-149.

Qing’s eyes sharpened.

Oh? This time it went down? What’s different?

Why was it rising and falling, even when she was enjoying herself the same way?

Wait.

Could it be that?

A thought struck her.

Qing pointed a finger at one of the women.

“Senior Sister, Senior Sister! Look at her eyes. She’s glaring at you.”

“Huh!? What kind of glare!?”

“Look, even now, she’s staring all defiant. Is it really okay for a junior to give her senior such a disrespectful look? Maybe she thinks you’re easy?”

“N-No! I wasn’t doing that!”

“Junior Sister Jin… you liked drawing, didn’t you?”

“Hiiik…!”

“Junior Sister Jin? Strip.”

Gyeon Pohee pulled out a dagger as she spoke.

Oh.

So that kind of “drawing,” huh?

Qing understood now.

The revenge match came to an end.

It seemed like messing with a villain in a way that only fueled their malice made karma rise.

Turning a bad person into an even worse person?

That was what counted as evil.

By the same logic, breaking someone’s spirit and crushing their will to do harm seemed to be considered good.

Which meant…

Did that mean good karma was earned by stopping someone from committing future atrocities?

Thinking back, even when she dealt with Jang Myung, that mission window bastard had…

Ah, but that little brat must be living comfortably right now.

Meanwhile, she was going through this shit…

Why?

Why just me?

The more she thought about it, the more pissed off she got.

Qing let her frustration build.

Half of the Bliss Palace disciples were sprawled out, dazed and barely breathing. The other half still had a flicker of life in their eyes.

She was annoyed enough that she figured she might as well pick one and play around.

Which one should I choose…?

Just as she was making her selection—

Gyeon Pohee suddenly scooped Qing up into a hug.

It was surprisingly comfortable—no, actually, it was just surprisingly familiar.

Looked like she had fully embraced her role as Crutch No. 2.

The crutch spoke.

“Junior Sister! You’re hungry, right!? Let’s go eat lunch!”

Lunch!

Qing’s killing intent immediately evaporated.

Because food was serious business.

At least, for Qing, it was.

But now she was curious—was Crutch No. 2 really into this more than food?

Qing asked.

“Senior Sister, aren’t you going to, you know… ‘finish up’?”

“Huh? Of course not. I’m a Senior Sister.”

What the hell did that have to do with anything?

Qing asked again.

“What does being a Senior Sister have to do with it?”

“Challenges are for juniors. Seniors only have the right to educate their juniors.”

“Oh. So that’s how it works.”

Well, that made sense.

If seniors could just freely devour their juniors, then eventually, only one person would be left standing.

The rule probably existed to prevent that from happening.

But still—could they even call this a martial sect?

This was just a shameless pile of human garbage.

Qing suddenly missed the Divine Maiden Sect.

And soon after, she missed it even more.

Because today’s lunch…

Was absolute garbage.