My Wife is the Demonic Cult Leader

Chapter 226: Southern Murim Tournament (3)

‘That bastard deserves to be killed six times over!’

There were only a few people who had stirred up my fighting spirit or anger before, but this was the first time someone made me reveal such malice with just a single sentence.

‘I’ll kill him.’

Forget suspicion or caution—my only focus now was to tear that bastard apart with everything I had.

Anyone who insults my lover doesn’t get to die peacefully!

But—

“Ugly, you say?”

Even after being directly insulted about her appearance, Cheon Yura surprisingly didn’t seem that angry.

No—she actually looked intrigued.

She turned her gaze toward me and asked,

“Jin Yeomyung, do you think I’m ugly?”

Without a moment of hesitation, I shook my head.

“Of course not. Anyone who calls the most beautiful woman under the heavens ‘ugly’ is the one who’s deranged.”

I softened my words as much as I could, since she was right beside me.

But the moment that bastard Baek Cheon-ho scoffed, my composure shattered again.

“Hah, you’ve got no eyes. What a fool.”

“No, this son of a bitch really wants to die, huh?”

Just as I was about to fully draw my sword—

“Y-Young Lord! Please calm yourself! You mustn’t cause a commotion here!”

The chief steward hurled himself at me to stop me.

He whispered urgently in a low voice.

“W-What do you think you’re doing?! Charging at someone who’s reached the peak of the Master Level?!”

“…?”

His words struck me as odd.

“Didn’t the Alliance Leader give you a separate warning?”

“A warning about what?”

“…Nothing. Never mind.”

So it seemed the Sword King hadn’t informed him of my current cultivation level…

While I was still dwelling on that strange feeling—

“Kuhuh! Judging from that burst of killing intent, you’ve got some skill after all, huh?”

Baek Cheon-ho slowly stood up from his seat.

“A fool who can’t even judge a woman properly—let me teach you a lesson.”

“Hah, who are you calling a fool with no eyes?”

A bastard who couldn’t even tell the difference between the sky and his own pointing finger dared to lecture me?

I shoved the chief steward aside and slowly walked toward Baek Cheon-ho.

This time, the chief steward clung to Cheon Yura instead.

“P-Please stop him, Young Cult Leader! If a ruckus breaks out here, we won’t be able to contain it!”

He was so flustered that his words came out far stronger than before.

“Shouldn’t we consider the honor of the Heavenly Demon Cult?”

Even after hearing that, Cheon Yura remained indifferent.

“Why should I?”

“…Pardon?”

“Why should I stop someone who’s trying to punish the man who insulted me?”

“B-But Young Lord Baek is—”

“Shut up and watch. I think this will be quite entertaining.”

Cheon Yura’s eyes never left Baek Cheon-ho.

“You’re not allowed to draw your sword in a place like this, so I’ll just tenderize you with my fists.”

The moment he finished speaking, Baek Cheon-ho’s fist shot out like lightning.

But calling it lightning was generous—any martial artist with real skill could clearly see the trajectory of the attack.

‘He’s underestimating me.’

It was so easy to dodge, I barely had to turn my chin.

‘Let’s see what kind of martial art you’ve trained in.’

I intentionally exaggerated my movements as I avoided Baek Cheon-ho’s punch.

“Oh? So you’ve got a bit of skill, huh?”

Seeing me narrowly dodge, Baek Cheon-ho’s grin widened.

“Then try dodging this!”

Papapapap!

With every movement, multiple afterimages trailed behind him, aiming to confuse the eyes.

I frowned at the display.

‘What a show-off.’

His internal energy efficiency was poor, and his movements were riddled with wasteful flourishes.

‘That guy would get wrecked even by Lady Baek.’

Still, he probably lived his life basking in praise, since this level was enough to fool the untrained.

‘I’ll make you pay for insulting the flower that’s mine alone!’

I calmly took the basic stance of the Tyrant Asura Divine Fist.

Then, right into the center of the afterimages created by his extended fist—

I drove my punch into the gaping opening.

Thud!

My fist pierced through his empty stance and smashed directly into his solar plexus.

“Guh!”

A thin stream of blood sprayed from his mouth, splattering my face.

At the same time, his charging body was flung all the way to the opposite wall.

BOOOOM!

“Kyahhhhhh!”

“Wh-What happened?!”

The impact was strong enough to collapse part of the VIP lounge’s wall, causing guests and courtesans to panic and flee.

“Got my face dirty.”

Amidst the chaos, Cheon Yura took out a silk handkerchief and calmly wiped the blood off her forehead.

“It’s not over yet. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. That didn’t even feel like a proper hit.”

Although my strike was precise and faster than his consciousness could follow—

For some reason, it didn’t deal critical damage to his body.

“Bwahahaha! Now that was a spicy hit!”

“……”

Sure enough, the bastard got up again, laughing heartily.

“I thought you were a nobody, but you’ve got some real bite, huh?”

Crack! Crack!

He twisted his neck, flexing his bones and muscles as he emanated a murderous aura with a serious expression.

“I’ll face you properly now.”

Baek Cheon-ho charged at me once more.

Apparently wary after my previous strike, the bastard now approached with noticeably more caution, trying to exploit the openings in my form despite the overwhelming aura I emitted.

After about ten seconds passed—

‘Something’s off about his stance.’

I frowned as I watched his posture become more refined, yet felt something was still out of place.

‘He’s trained in a fist technique, but that’s not the stance of a fist master.’

The balance, which should be innate to a proper martial artist, was utterly broken. That was unmistakably the form of someone trained in weapon techniques.

‘Not a one-handed weapon. A two-handed one… and among them…’

“Spear technique?”

Flinch!

The moment I instinctively muttered those words, Baek Cheon-ho jerked back in surprise and widened the distance between us.

“H-How… how did you know that?!”

“So I was right?”

Debauched private life. Overwhelming talent. And spear technique, combined with the name Baek Cheon-ho.

As the pieces fell together, only one name surfaced in my mind.

“Ak Cheon-ho.”

“…!!!”

His expression twisted into absolute horror.

But it couldn’t compare to my own shock.

Twenty years later in the Central Plains, he would be known as one of the Five Kings—Northern Spear King, Ak Cheon-ho.

One of the elders of the Orthodox Murim Alliance, and a key strategist behind the Great Demonic Cult War.

In other words—

He was one of the enemies on my personal kill list.

“How… how do you know that?”

“……”

“Answer me! No one’s supposed to know! Unless you're the Ninth… elder who brought me here!”

Baek Cheon-ho glared at me like a demon possessed.

“If you won’t talk, then I’ll beat it out of—!”

“What is this commotion?!”

Multiple presences surged from outside, accompanied by a familiar voice I had just heard earlier.

“Th-That’s the Twin Blades of Nanil!”

“They’re warriors of the Namcheon Baek Clan!”

It was Baek Jiho, one of the inner hall warriors of the Namcheon Baek Clan, known as the Twin Blades of Nanil. He appeared leading his subordinates.

“To think you’d cause trouble within Namcheon’s territory... this is outrageous—what in the world are you two doing?”

Baek Jiho’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Baek Cheon-ho and me.

Then, upon noticing Cheon Yura behind us, he stiffened in shock.

“Y-Young Cult Leader?! What are you doing in a place like this?!”

“…Did he just say Young Cult Leader?”

There were two or three individuals in the Central Plains called “Young Cult Leader.”

But only one of them truly represented the title.

Cheon Yura answered nonchalantly.

“I was invited by the chief steward for a private drink. Then this conflict broke out. Quite regrettable.”

“I-I see…”

“That man insulted me by calling me ugly. My attendant couldn’t tolerate it.”

Baek Jiho’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

No matter how wild things got, who would dare call her that?

“Y-Young Lord… just what were you…?”

“……”

Even Baek Cheon-ho had no excuses to give and could only chew his lip.

Who could have guessed the woman he had approached was none other than the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?

While the entire room was thrown into chaos,

I quietly approached Baek Cheon-ho and whispered to him.

‘You must be wondering how I know your identity.’

“……!”

‘I’ll tell you when we meet at the martial arts tournament. Make sure you reach the final round.’

“You bastard…”

Baek Cheon-ho let out a bitter chuckle.

“Fine. If you want to be humiliated in front of the crowd, be my guest. State your name and title.”

“Jin Yeomyung.”

I looked straight at him and declared clearly.

“I am Jin Yeomyung, the Demonic Heaven Dragon of the Six Demonic Dragons of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”

“One of the Six Demonic Dragons?”

“Don’t run. I’ve got a lot of questions for you.”

After the incident at the pleasure house came to a close,

While the chief steward negotiated a cover-up with the owner of Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Cheon Yura and I spoke privately in an empty room.

“There are definitely a lot of suspicious things going on.”

I understood what she meant right away.

“Those weren’t outer hall guards but inner hall warriors. There’s no way they should’ve responded that quickly.”

It hadn’t even been a quarter of an hour since Baek Cheon-ho and I clashed.

And yet, warriors from the Namcheon Baek Clan—not the guards of the pavilion—had appeared?

“They must have been stationed nearby from the beginning. Otherwise, it’s impossible.”

“Exactly. This is getting more and more interesting. The little clan lord is sick and bedridden, the chief steward doesn’t seem trusted by the clan leader… what a dysfunctional family.”

The situation within the Namcheon Baek Clan was more serious than expected.

It was enough to make me think we might need to use some extreme methods.

“By the way, what’s the deal with that ‘Ak Cheon-ho’ name? Do you know something about him?”

I nodded heavily.

“Yeah. I’ve got a bit of a personal vendetta.”

“Vendetta?”

She looked a bit baffled, but I continued, recalling the earlier battle with Baek Cheon-ho.

“Before he even registered it, the Qi around him reacted on its own to block my attack.”

“That’s right. That’s not something you achieve through hard work.”

My strike had clearly been beyond his conscious reaction.

Yet, even after taking a direct hit, he’d barely taken any damage.

Northern Spear King, Ak Cheon-ho.

The man known in my past life as a prodigious degenerate.

His most defining trait?

Heavenly Martial Body.

“…What did you say?”

“I said ‘Heavenly Martial Body.’ If it’s that, then his abnormal achievements make sense.”

A legendary physique said to be optimized in every aspect for mastering martial arts—blessed by the heavens.

In my previous life, the Demonic Cult had gathered reports that suggested the Spear King might possess the Heavenly Martial Body, but the information was vague and unconfirmed.

But now that I had directly faced him—even if the sequence of events had changed—I was convinced.

‘He might even become one of the future Ten Heavenly Lords.’

He was connected to Baek Mun-jeol and came from an external source unrelated to local factions.

The probability was high.

If he truly had ties to the Heaven-Defying Society...

“Then I must kill him before that seed fully sprouts.”

“Agreed.”

Cheon Yura nodded in full agreement.

I had initially planned to leave it to the Demonic Dragon Trios, but if the opponent was someone possessing the legendary Heavenly Martial Body, I had to handle it myself.

But oddly enough, Cheon Yura didn’t show much more interest in Baek Cheon-ho even after hearing the phrase Heavenly Martial Body.

Rather—

“By the way, Jin Yeomyung.”

“Yeah?”

She suddenly asked, her eyes sparkling in an uncharacteristically curious way.

“What do you really think of my appearance?”

“…H-Huh?”

For some reason… her face seemed to be drawing closer?

“That ‘ugly’ remark was quite refreshing. You see, I’ve never really been evaluated on my appearance by others.”

Having devoted her entire life to martial arts, she had shown little interest in beautifying herself.

Moreover, the believers of the Heavenly Demon Cult revered her for her noble status from birth—they wouldn’t have dared to casually comment on her appearance.

Since she’d never really been self-conscious about her looks, she found the insult more novel than offensive.

At that moment, Wang Cheongeol, who had been quietly suppressing his presence, opened his mouth to say something.

“Of course, the Young Cult Leader is—!”

Glare!

“……”

Hit directly by Cheon Yura’s murderous gaze, he immediately shut down.

As Wang Cheongeol shriveled under pressure—

I spoke without hesitation.

“Peerless beauty of the world, or perhaps a beauty unmatched even through the ages.”

“Oooh?”

The cold look in her eyes as she glared at Wang Cheongeol melted into a soft, pleased gaze.

“Any other expressions?”

“…There’s ‘beauty that shames the moon and flowers’, or even ‘one who sinks the fish and makes the geese fall from the sky’.”

“More. I want to hear more!”

I had no idea why Cheon Yura suddenly craved this, but—

Without changing my expression, I spent a full quarter-hour endlessly praising her beauty.

And since I was simply stating facts, my voice flowed effortlessly and without pause.

Just then, one passing guest, seemingly having overheard my passionate flattery, clicked his tongue and muttered:

“…What a joke.”

But Cheon Yura, who had been intently listening to me, didn’t even spare the man a glance.

Lucky for him, really…