Dark Resolve Divine Demon sat there in a daze, his face frozen in shock.
He was still reeling from losing to Jeok Mugun.
Even Jeok Wigang was surprised.
“Grandfather, when did you get that strong?”
“I actually broke through not long ago.”
“Really? Congratulations.”
“Hahaha! Thank you! It’s all thanks to you, isn’t it? Ever since you put me through Bone-and-Body Rebirth, my progress has been soaring.”
“Come on. How is that thanks to me? You’re the one who worked hard enough to get there.”
As he spoke, Wigang looked toward the Four Divine Guardians, Son Gang, and Jung Saheon.
They had defeated their Calamity Demon-class opponents as well and were now glancing at Dark Resolve Divine Demon while playing rock-paper-scissors.
Apparently, they were deciding who would get to fight him first.
“I won!”
The one who shouted in triumph was Jin Muryang.
“Now we’ll see which is stronger—his dagger or the one Big Brother made for me.”
Wigang smirked at that.
Jin Muryang approached Dark Resolve Divine Demon, who was still sitting there in shock.
“Why don’t you fight me too?”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon looked up at him.
“And who the hell are you?”
“Me? Former White Horse Heaven. By the current classifications... Demon-Slayer class, I guess?”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s expression twisted at the words Demon-Slayer class.
“A mere Demon-Slayer-class fighter dares... challenge me?”
“That’s right. A mere Demon-Slayer-class fighter. What class were you again?”
“You bastard!”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon shot to his feet.
“You have a death wish?”
A demon was still a demon.
In front of anyone other than Wigang, his true temperament came right back out.
“I don’t particularly want to die. I said I want to fight you.”
“I cannot show my true strength unless I fight with the intent to kill. If you insist on seeing it, then stake your life.”
“Fine by me.”
At Jin Muryang’s answer, Dark Resolve Divine Demon looked at Wigang.
His expression clearly asked whether that was allowed.
When Wigang nodded, Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s face turned cold.
“He says I’m allowed to kill you. Still want to do this?”
Jin Muryang answered the provocation with a cold smile of his own.
“I was about to say the same thing. Maybe I used to be Demon-Slayer class, but not anymore. See those guys over there? Every one of them lost to me.”
He pointed toward the Calamity Demon-class demons.
Dark Resolve Divine Demon stared at him incredulously.
“Those things would not last ten moves against me.”
“That’s why I want to fight you.”
Jin Muryang grinned and drew his dagger.
Dark Resolve Divine Demon drew his as well.
“What is that dagger?”
“Big Brother made it for me.”
“Big Brother?”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon looked toward Wigang.
“That’s right.”
“Is there anything he can’t do?”
The dagger was flawless.
So flawless that admiration came naturally.
Hummm—
“My dagger says yours is a joke.”
Did his dagger possess a spirit as well?
Hummm—
Dark Resolve Divine Demon smirked.
“This one says not to make it laugh.”
“Shall we start?”
“Come.”
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Clang!
Kakakakak—
The blades of the two daggers crossed, shrieking as metal scraped against metal.
“Not bad!”
Jin Muryang grinned at Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s praise.
“So Fell Demon class really is different. I always used to envy the guys higher up the rankings. Nice to finally meet one. What was your old rank?”
“I was sixteenth.”
“Wow. You were so high up I wouldn’t even have dared look your way.”
“Consider it an honor. You are crossing blades with me now.”
“It is an honor.”
Clang!
The instant the words left his mouth, the two broke apart and widened the distance between them.
Jin Muryang smiled.
Then his body sank straight into the shadows.
Flowing Shadow Flash Step.
He slid like a shadow and slipped into Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s blind spot.
Shhk—
Riiip—
The dagger grazed Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s side by a hair.
“Oh? I was waiting to see how you’d get an attack through. You’re faster than I expected.”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon did not remain idle.
His dagger hand moved in a dazzling blur.
Dark Resolve Chaotic Slash.
Several afterimages descended on Jin Muryang at once.
Kakakakak—
Instead of retreating, Jin Muryang knocked aside every afterimage flying toward him and pushed forward into Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s range.
“Chain Meridian Severance.”
His dagger whipped forward like lightning, targeting nothing but fatal points.
Dark Resolve Divine Demon immediately defended.
Kakakang!
Shhk-shhk-shhk—
Even as he blocked, pieces of Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s clothes were sliced apart as though cut by invisible blades.
A smile spread across his lips.
“You are... no mere Demon-Slayer-class fighter. I take that back.”
“That almost sounds like praise. Feels pretty good.”
“I acknowledge you.”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon reversed his grip on the dagger.
Jin Muryang’s expression grew serious.
He had seen that stance earlier, during the fight with Jeok Mugun.
He had even wondered how he himself would stop it.
The instant the thought crossed his mind—
Whoosh—
The first attack was a feint.
The next would be the real one.
He would take the feint.
Shrrk—
Slick—
The blade cut into his flesh.
Unlike Jeok Mugun, who had defended against both the feint and the true attack, Jin Muryang sacrificed flesh to seize his chance.
Now!
He slashed his dagger through empty air.
Clang!
The trajectory of the incoming dagger changed.
Using the impact from Jin Muryang’s block, his own dagger continued straight toward Dark Resolve Divine Demon.
Thud!
The dagger buried itself in Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s chest.
“How...?”
“Damn it... I saw it earlier....”
He should not have watched.
But what martial artist could possibly have looked away?
His eyes had been {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} drawn to it on their own.
Jin Muryang withdrew his dagger.
“I lost. Do what you want.”
He closed his eyes and waited for Dark Resolve Divine Demon to decide his fate.
“Forget it. It’s barely a wound.”
When Jin Muryang opened his eyes, the wound in Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s chest had already healed.
“It’s impressive enough that you saw it once and managed to react and counter. Most people couldn’t do that.”
“The feint wouldn’t kill me even if I took it, so I threw my body into it.”
“Hmm. Then I’ll have to modify the feint so that it’s lethal too.”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon looked at him.
“How did you become so strong?”
“Big Brother.”
“He made all of you stronger?”
“Yeah.”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon gazed at Wigang with an oddly wistful look.
“But... why doesn’t he feel unfamiliar?”
“That’s just how Big Brother is. Even when you meet him for the first time, he doesn’t feel like a stranger. You can’t help feeling attached to him.”
“You felt that too?”
Jin Muryang nodded.
Dark Resolve Divine Demon gave a faint chuckle.
“I suppose there are people like that... people who feel familiar for no reason at all.”
“That’s our Big Brother.”
“You may be right.”
“We’re family now, so let’s get along.”
“Family?”
“If Big Brother spared you and brought you here, it means he intends to take you in.”
“I’m under a restriction.”
“So was I at first. Once Big Brother formally accepts you, that’ll disappear too.”
Dark Resolve Divine Demon stared at him in surprise.
“Once Big Brother wins you over, you’ll forget all about White Horse Heaven too.”
“White Horse Heaven... The Demon-Brain Divine Demon will not leave us alone.”
“As long as Big Brother is here, the Demon-Brain Divine Demon can’t do anything to us.”
“The Lord of Heaven... will soon descend upon this world....”
Fear entered Dark Resolve Divine Demon’s voice.
Jin Muryang merely smirked.
“Our Big Brother is stronger. That’s what I believe.”
“Hmm....”
“Come on. Since we’re family now, I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Liquor! Now that I like! Why is the liquor humans make so damn good?”
“Drink all night if you want.”
“Sounds good.”
That was when—
“I’ll buy.”
Wigang’s voice rang out.
“Everyone, forget about everything for today. Drink and enjoy yourselves.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Empty every liquor cellar in Heavenly Martial Castle!”
“Yes!”
At Wigang’s order, everyone sprang into motion with excitement.
As though the awkwardness between them had never existed, the demons of White Horse Heaven and the people of Heavenly Martial Castle began drinking and celebrating together.
The next day.
Three people stood before Wigang.
Listening-Eye Beggar, an elder of the Beggars’ Union; Miryeong of the Lower Gate; and Yi Hwabaek, Gate Master of the Thousand Flowers Sect.
“Sour jujube seed, poria, rehmannia, astragalus, white atractylodes, and licorice. Investigate everything about the recent movement of those medicinal herbs.”
Miryeong tilted their head at the list.
“Those are all herbs whose prices have skyrocketed recently.”
“Skyrocketed?”
“Yes. There is so little supply right now that sellers can practically name their price. They used to be among the cheapest and easiest herbs to obtain, but now even physicians are struggling to find substitutes.”
“It’s that bad?”
“The shortage itself is serious, but there are also rumors that once demand began rising and prices started climbing, herb merchants began holding back their stock and waiting for prices to rise even further.”
Catching the Demon-Brain Divine Demon was important.
But Wigang could not simply ignore this either.
“Look into that in detail.”
“Understood.”
“The herb merchants are hoarding their stock and refusing to release it.”
“Why?”
“After someone swept up practically the entire supply, prices rose sharply. The merchants don’t want those prices to come back down.”
“And apparently, the prices the herb gatherers themselves receive haven’t changed much at all.”
Hwang Geumman sat beside Wigang as he listened to the report.
“Merchant Master of the True Martial Merchant Company.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“We need our own medicinal-herb business.”
“I’ll prepare it immediately.”
“Build mobile herb shops loaded with medicine so we can supply the entire Central Plains. As many as possible.”
“Understood!”
Wigang then turned to Miryeong and Yi Hwabaek.
“Recruit as many herb gatherers as possible and put them under contract. If that still isn’t enough, gather every expert who knows medicinal plants and send them into the mountains to harvest everything usable.”
“Understood.”
“Once it’s gathered, bring it all to one place. I’ll process the herbs into medicine myself.”
“Yes!”
Then he spoke to Listening-Eye Beggar.
“Secure prime locations in every city. That’s where we’ll sell the medicine.”
“Understood, Lord of the Castle. I’ll tell the Beggars’ Union disciples to claim the best spots immediately.”
Wigang’s eyes turned cold.
First, he would put out the immediate fire.
Then he intended to show hell itself to the herb merchants who were hoarding medicine and driving up prices.
“Come now. You know how it is. Medicinal herbs are extremely scarce these days.”
“We’d love to sell them cheaply too. But what are we supposed to do when supply is this low? We had to pay a fortune to get them ourselves. Surely we’re entitled to make a profit.”
“The herb gatherers say it’s become difficult to find anything lately. They claim someone must have already stripped the mountains bare. There’s nothing we can do about it either.”
The same excuses came from every herb merchant.
An old man with a white beard hanging down to the middle of his chest let out a sigh.
“Even if you are the Divine Physician of Clear Life, what cannot be done simply cannot be done.”
“Is there truly no other way? Innocent people are dying.”
“What could we possibly do? This isn’t something we can replenish simply by trying harder. We feel terrible about it too.”
“Haa....”
The Divine Physician of Clear Life’s sigh seemed to sink all the way to the floor.
There were countless illnesses he could cure easily if only he had the necessary herbs.
Yet now he had no choice but to watch patients grow worse simply because the medicine did not exist.
It made him resent the heavens.
Where had all those plentiful medicinal herbs disappeared to?
Sending people directly into the mountains to gather them as a temporary measure had its limits.
Harvesting herbs was only the beginning.
A great deal of processing was required before they could actually be used as medicine.
And while all of that took place, illnesses worsened and greater quantities of medicine became necessary.
Poor commoners could not afford such prices.
They had no choice but to endure their sickness in silence.
The Divine Physician of Clear Life could not bear to watch people suffer that way.
That was why he had been going from herb merchant to herb merchant himself, searching for any way to secure medicine.
He was sighing and wondering what else he could possibly do when—
“Hmm? That’s... the scent of medicinal herbs.”
One breath told him they were of the highest quality.
It had been a very long time since he had encountered medicine with such a rich fragrance.
He shot to his feet and followed the scent.

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