The Heavenly Demon Wants a Quiet Life - Chapter 75

Chapter 75: You’ve Got Some Strength

Byeok Taesan quietly observed the two men approaching from afar. Tilting his head slightly, he muttered to himself.

“Something about this feels familiar.”

Of course, that didn’t mean he stopped walking.

Byeok Taesan continued forward at the exact same pace he had been walking before.

Before long, the two men had approached him.

Byeok Taesan, as if intending to walk right between them, kept on moving.

“Has this guy gone mad?”

One of the men shouted before swinging his hand with force.

Immense energy gathered in his palm, and it shot toward Byeok Taesan’s head, carried by his hand.

Byeok Taesan simply kept walking.

Whoosh!

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had clearly aimed for the back of Byeok Taesan’s head, but there was no one there.

In an instant, Byeok Taesan had quickened his steps, moving out of the attack’s range.

The other man rushed forward, throwing a punch toward Byeok Taesan.

Crackling!

Lightning surged around his fist as his strike swept through the air in a straight line, tearing through everything in its path.

But Byeok Taesan was still walking. He had simply shifted his direction slightly, stepping outside the range of the lightning strike.

At that point, the two men’s expressions changed noticeably.

“This guy’s got some skill.”

“Indeed. Makes it all the more satisfying to take him down.”

The two of them charged at the same time.

Their attacks came in a storm of palm strikes, punches, and kicks.

Yet, to their astonishment, not a single attack landed. Byeok Taesan simply continued walking, untouched.

His pace occasionally sped up or slowed down, and he adjusted his direction slightly here and there, but he never stopped moving forward.

The two men’s faces hardened.

This was humiliation. They had never experienced anything like this before.

“You’re dead!” one of them roared.

Vicious energy exploded from their bodies as they charged toward Byeok Taesan, determined to overwhelm him with brute force.

Byeok Taesan stepped forward, spinning his body slightly as he moved. At the same time, he swung his palm.

Smack!

Byeok Taesan’s palm struck both men squarely on their cheeks, as though they had willingly offered their faces to him.

Crash!

The two men collapsed, their heads slamming into the ground.

It looked almost as if their bodies had spun out of control from the sheer force of the slap, causing them to fall headfirst.

The shock left them writhing on the ground, unable to move for a while.

But they didn’t die.

“You’ve got a decent amount of endurance,” Byeok Taesan remarked casually, continuing to walk forward.

Not once had he stopped walking.

The two men staggered to their feet, wobbling as they repeatedly fell and tried to rise again.

By the time they finally steadied themselves, Byeok Taesan had already reached another of their comrades.

The two men scrambled toward him.

There was no way their comrade could stop Byeok Taesan alone. At the very least, the three of them would have to combine their strength.

But they were too late.

They could only watch as Byeok Taesan’s palm struck their comrade’s cheek.

Smack!

Crash!

The man’s body spun mid-air before his head slammed into the ground. Watching the scene, the two men thought bitterly, ‘So that’s what we must have looked like earlier.’

Warriors charged at Byeok Taesan from all directions.

“No! You can’t just rush at him like that! You’ll only—”

One of the men shouted desperately, but it was already too late.

Byeok Taesan’s figure disappeared from view, obscured by the bodies of those charging toward him.

—

Byeok Taesan’s lips curled upward into a faint smile. As his teeth showed slightly, the expression was meant to reflect his good mood, but for his enemies, it was like a nail driving terror deep into their hearts.

It wasn’t hard to understand why. Every time Byeok Taesan moved, one of their comrades would spin uncontrollably before crashing headfirst into the ground, their bodies trembling violently. How could such a sight not inspire fear?

Byeok Taesan seemed intent on slapping every single person charging at him.

With just a light swing of his hand, anyone struck by his palm would lose consciousness instantly. Their bodies would spin out of control, and they would fall headfirst into the ground.

Those who collapsed never got back up. They simply twitched like insects pierced by needles.

Despite this, none of the warriors retreated. Like moths to a flame, they kept throwing themselves at him—and kept getting struck down.

Eventually, the first two men who had attacked Byeok Taesan arrived back at the scene.

Amid the chaos, they sought an opportunity to ambush Byeok Taesan, hiding among their comrades and waiting for an opening.

Their leader, Budu Cheol, had also arrived. Watching the situation unfold, his face twisted into a grimace, his expression so contorted that it seemed his face might collapse under the strain.

“We weren’t prepared enough for this.”

He hadn’t anticipated that Byeok Taesan would be this powerful.

While he couldn’t measure his exact strength, he was certain it was nearing the level of a top-ten expert in Murim.

Could someone this young really possess such skill? Or was he some ancient master who had reversed his aging?

Wild thoughts raced through Budu Cheol’s mind.

As he continued observing Byeok Taesan, circling around him, the opportunity finally arrived.

Three warriors stronger than Budu Cheol himself launched a simultaneous attack on Byeok Taesan.

Crack! Smack!

Byeok Taesan responded differently this time. He used his foot along with his hands, sending all three of them flying.

Two of them were struck on their cheeks by his palms, while the third received a blow from his foot to the face.

The two hit by his palms fell headfirst to the ground, while the one struck by his foot flew backward.

At the exact moment Byeok Taesan dealt with the three warriors, Budu Cheol lunged forward, almost crawling on the ground, aiming for Byeok Taesan’s lower body.

But Byeok Taesan’s foot came down directly on Budu Cheol’s back.

Crunch!

The sheer force rattled through Budu Cheol’s entire body.

And that was the last thing he remembered from the fight.

—

The group that had split from Byeok Taesan divided into three teams.

The most skilled martial artist, the Needle Master, went with four attendants.

The Heavenly Divine Healer accompanied two physicians from the Heavenly Medicine Pavilion.

Meanwhile, Yeon Harin, Cheon Kyungwan, and Yoo Seoyeon formed the third group.

Their plan was to take a roundabout route and attack from the outskirts.

However, they encountered quite a few scouts in the area.

Eventually, they were caught by a reconnaissance team before they could properly launch a surprise attack, leading to a skirmish far from their destination.

Fortunately, the warriors in the reconnaissance team were relatively weaker compared to those in the core unit, so the group wasn’t in much danger.

Additionally, the enemies they encountered were focused on scouting, which meant they moved in small groups of no more than three, making them easier to deal with.

However, capturing the fleeing ones was a bit tricky.

Since the goal was to launch a surprise attack, it was essential that they not get caught revealing their intentions while striking. That meant they had to thoroughly eliminate any runners.

Yeon Harin moved alongside Cheon Kyungwan and Yoo Seoyeon, her thoughts swirling with slight self-doubt.

Not long ago, she had fought alongside the two and confirmed how much stronger they had become.

But now, things felt different again.

The two of them had grown even stronger than before. In contrast, she remained stagnant, still in the same place.

Of course, it had only been a few days, and she knew very well how difficult it was to grow stronger in such a short span.

Yet, those two had managed it.

“Young Lady, we should hurry. If we don’t, the Young Master might end up fighting all those enemies alone.”

At those words, Yeon Harin snapped back to reality.

‘What am I doing right now?’

This wasn’t the time to be consumed by useless thoughts.

“You’re right. Let’s hurry. There’s not much left to cover now, is there?”

The group quickened their pace, doing their best to avoid encounters with reconnaissance teams, heading swiftly toward the destination where Byeok Taesan awaited.

Meanwhile, other groups engaged in similar efforts were also moving rapidly.

Thanks to their urgency, they reached the target location swiftly.

But something felt off. At this distance, they should have heard the sounds of battle, yet there was only silence.

The three of them rushed forward in alarm.

A foreboding thought crossed their minds—perhaps the fight was already over.

No matter how strong Byeok Taesan was, even he couldn’t withstand sheer numbers indefinitely.

The size of the reconnaissance teams alone suggested the enemy’s forces were massive.

How could Byeok Taesan possibly handle all those foes alone?

They had to disrupt the enemy’s formation from behind to give him a chance to fight properly.

With that thought, the three of them hastened forward, and a vast clearing suddenly unfolded before their eyes.

They froze in place.

The clearing was teeming with people. Just as expected, the enemy’s numbers were enormous.

But every single one of them was lying on the ground.

In the center of the clearing sat Byeok Taesan atop a large, flat rock.

Judging by the marks left behind, the rock seemed to have been moved to the center of the clearing deliberately.

Whether Byeok Taesan had moved it himself or the fallen enemies had done it beforehand was unclear.

For a moment, Yeon Harin stood there, staring blankly at the scene in front of her, before she came to her senses.

“He did… all of this by himself?”

At that moment, the other groups began arriving from different directions.

Their reactions were identical to Yeon Harin’s.

The party regrouped in front of Byeok Taesan, who sat on the rock with his eyes gently closed.

Various emotions flickered in their gazes as they looked at him—admiration, disbelief, and confusion, all tangled together.

“How long do you plan to just stand there and gawk?”

Byeok Taesan slowly opened his eyes and asked.

“Please give us your instructions, Young Master.”

As Hwaryeong quickly responded, Byeok Taesan nodded.

“There are still remnants scattered around. Go and eliminate every last one of them. Don’t let a single one escape.”

“Understood.”

“And Hwaryeong, stay behind.”

“Yes.”

At Byeok Taesan’s command, the group moved in perfect unison.

The remaining stragglers were likely part of the reconnaissance teams they had encountered earlier.

If any of them managed to return alive, it would lead to no small amount of trouble.

Concealing their side’s information was crucial.

Hwaryeong and the Heavenly Divine Healer, being the ones most knowledgeable about the matter, diligently emphasized this point to the group and issued precise instructions.

Having gone through similar operations numerous times, the two were efficient and left no room for error in their directions.

As the others scattered in all directions, only Hwaryeong remained behind. Byeok Taesan rose from his seat.

“Follow me.”

Byeok Taesan led the way, and Hwaryeong silently followed.

They arrived at a spot where four people were lying side by side.

At a glance, it was clear that their attire differed from the rest.

“So these are the leaders.”

“Seems like it. They were quite skilled.”

Hwaryeong first checked whether they were alive.

All of them were. Though it didn’t seem like they’d regain consciousness anytime soon.

“I’ll wake them up. Extract as much information as you can.”

“Understood. However, uncovering the identity of their backer may prove difficult.”

They had already encountered this issue once before with the Four Monsters of the Great East.

Byeok Taesan chuckled.

“Their backer? I don’t care about that. Just find out where the semi-reanimated corpses are. By the way, how do they feel? Do you sense anything specific?”

Hwaryeong gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

“Similar to the Four Monsters. Blood and blades—scenes commonly associated with those who revel in slaughter.”

“I see. Well, interrogate them. Let me know immediately if you uncover anything.”

After saying this, Byeok Taesan lightly unleashed his energy to wake the four. Then, he found a clean spot nearby, sat down, and closed his eyes.

During the intense battle earlier, he had absorbed the high-quality soul essence stored in his body.

He hadn’t intended to refine it so quickly, but as the battle raged, it happened naturally.

Now, he needed to use the Soul Augmenting Demonic Art to fully integrate the soul essence. Otherwise, it would be wasted on healing his severed meridians.

The healing process would proceed on its own, so there was no need to squander valuable energy on it.

From now on, he needed to store spiritual energy in his body. He planned to convert it into internal energy gradually, storing it in his dantian as his recovery progressed.

While it was possible to use spiritual energy directly in battle, the efficiency was far too low.

It would be like using a tiger-slaying blade to kill a chicken.

In the past, such considerations hadn’t mattered. He had burned entire souls to absorb their power, resulting in an excess of spiritual energy.

But that was no longer the case.

For the first time in a long while, Byeok Taesan was carefully considering efficiency.

And it was a surprisingly enjoyable process.

While Byeok Taesan refined his spiritual energy, Hwaryeong began interrogating the fallen four methodically.

Starting with their identities, she quickly fell into confusion.

“Mad Blood Trio Demons!”

These were martial artists who had been active over fifty years ago.

And they were supposed to have been executed by the Murim Alliance under a pursuit order.