The night before the second competition began:
Outside of Tiandu Province rests an abandoned house that looks old enough and ready to break at any time. In front of the house is a man playing with his sword. He practices his swordsmanship like this every night. In his hand is an eerie-looking sword spreading its ominousness, but the wielder seems not to care about it.
The wielder of this eerie-looking sword is a young man with striking features, long blonde hair, and eyes as red as blood. Yes, this man is Lucian; as hardworking as ever, he has been training outside Tiandu almost every day for the past 7 days. He had been staying here since the moment he arrived in this province. It's not because he doesn't want to be seen by others and just wanted to be humble, but because he doesn't have money to even rent an inn since all his attention is focused on training and didn't even think of making money.
"Ha... If this was in my previous world, I wouldn't be living like a beggar... It's good that I don't have to beg for food."
Since this abandoned house is close to the forest, he can hunt animals for food or simply pick fruit. And truthfully, he doesn't need to eat anything since he's now a cultivator. He can live for a month without eating food, so it's not really a big problem for him.
Every time he trains with his sword, he has this feeling he didn't have when he was still in his previous world. The more he trains with the sword Jeonglak gave him, the more he feels them becoming one. At first, he thought it was just him thinking too much, but now, he has confirmed it. He and the Soul-Rending Demon Sword are becoming one in harmony when executing his sword technique. He can feel the sword becoming part of his body, and this is not a bad sign. It only means that he is about to reach the peak of Jeonglak, meaning he's turning into a real monster now.
Lucian, without knowing the name of this sword, decided to give it a name based on his observation of this sword.
"Hmm... You are now Blood–Soul Eating Demonic Sword." He decided to name it this because the moment he slew the Ferocious Tiger Warrior, the blood of the Ferocious Tiger Warrior that was on his sword was absorbed by it, and that corpse became soulless.
The Soul-Rending Demon Sword shook as if loving the new name Lucian gave it. Lucian already knew this sword was alive and had its own consciousness the moment he first touched it. At first, he was a little shocked by this sword, finding this fact more amusing and his curiosity about this world grew more.
"This sword is really alive... It seems like it loves its name... What an amusing sword~" Lucian thought to himself while stopping his training abruptly.
"I really hate when someone is secretly watching me. State your business." Lucian said calmly, looking at one specific tree.
Three mysterious figures appeared, two of them behind while a female stood in front of them. She chuckled and complimented Lucian.
"You are so perceptive, young master..." she said.
This female is none other than the Crimson Flower of Murim—Seo Hwa-rin, the one who easily defeated a renowned disciple of the Celestial Sound Pavilion—Song Areum.
"Cut the crap and immediately state your business. My patience is wearing thin." Lucian looked at her as if giving her a last warning.
"We are from the Evil Faction, and our leader wanted to give you the successor position if you want to join us," she said.
This is not strange for a Faction like that to offer Lucian that position considering his talent. He can make his own sect if he wanted to, as his strength might even be on par to the leader of each factions.
If others were to hear this, they might faint in shock. The Evil Faction is as powerful as the Murim Righteous Alliance or the Heavenly Demon Cult. This isn't a bad idea since being the successor means he will be the next leader.
"Alright, I will keep that in mind." Lucian replied vaguely. He didn't accept it nor reject them.
Actually, he is really considering it. He doesn't care which faction he is in or whether he's alone because his goal will always be the same regardless of the faction he chooses: to rule this world.
Seo Hwa-rin understood the meaning behind this young lad's words, she didn't want to be on his bad side and just by not flatly rejecting them, it meant he's actually considering it.
"Alright, please come to the Moonlight Inn if you come to a decision," she said before she and the two masked men behind her left.
After sensing that she had actually left, Lucian suddenly swung his sword imbued with qi gently at one place, cutting multiple trees at once.
"I thought I made my words clear earlier."
After defending himself and being heavily injured by Lucian, he finally showed himself. He had been confident in his hiding technique and was quite shocked that Lucian found him, since even Seo Hwa-rin didn't sense him. He had just planned to observe Lucian after seeing him using the Soul-Rending Demon Sword, as this man knew its origin clearly.
"Urgh...… Forgive me, respected one. I should not have hidden myself while you trained. I meant no offense—I only wished to confirm something... There was never ill intent in my actions." He then took out his plaque, and it said Heavenly Demon Cult.
This man turned out to be Matheus, the unknown master who also made his name in this competition on par with Seo Hwa-rin and Lucian in terms of popularity. It turns out he's actually a disciple of the current Cheonma of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
After seeing the Soul-Rending Demon Sword, filled with curiosity, he decided to see for himself if this was the real one.
"I am a direct disciple of the current Heavenly Demon Cult leader, and... that sword in your hand belongs to our predecessor..." Matheus explained.
Lucian just stared at him and replied plainly,
"I know."
"Then... Where did you find it?"
Lucian thought that since this one was a subordinate of his master, he decided to tell him the truth.
"My master gave this to me before dissipating." Lucian replied with his stoic face, as if it were natural that this sword was in his hand.
Matheus was stunned. "Dissipating? What is this brat saying?" is what he thought, but he replied politely.
"Can you please tell me the name of your master and how he is related to Blood Sovereign Heavenly Demon?"
"Hmmm... That's my master's name. He said he is Jeonglak Cheonma, the 3rd Heavenly Demon Cult leader. By seniority, I am your senior." Lucian said, showing a plaque with Jeonglak's name on it, clearly solidifying his identity. The plaque of the Heavenly Demon Cult leader can't be forged, and it's even more impossible to snatch, so this is definitely a solid proof of his identity.
But... Jeonglak disappeared 600 years ago. How can he have a disciple? But the proof is hard to deny, as he also saw Lucian use Void Reaping Steps that only the Blood Sovereign Heavenly Demon knew. After all, Jeonglak didn't leave his legacy in the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And among all the Heavenly Demon Cult leaders, Jeonglak is the most mysterious of them all. So him being alive until now, although hard to believe for others, is not unbelievable to the followers of this cult like Matheus. What does this mean? It means that their predecessor actually achieved such feats, and they didn't even know of it.
Thus, Matheus immediately bowed and greeted Lucian as his senior despite him being much younger. After that, Matheus offered him to stay at his inn instead of this worn-out house. There, he finally tasted the true feeling of eating the food of this world.
Back to the present:
Both Lucian and Matheus arrived at the grand tournament, making the crowd gasp as Lucian walked in front while Matheus trailed behind him like a shadow. The murmurs were immediately spread.
"Why is Matheus... following him? Is he his subordinate?" someone whispered, their tone laced with disbelief.
"Do they know each other?!" another one asked. "These two are among the most outstanding candidates in this Dragon and Phoenix Competition! What's their relationship?"
The whispers spread like wildfire through the gathering martial artists, but the shock didn't end there. All eyes widened when Seo Hwa-rin, the terrifying prodigy that slaughtered her whole sect and later joined the Evil Faction, strode forward with a graceful yet authoritative step and greeted Lucian with a courtly bow.
"Seo Hwa-rin... bowed to him?!" gasped a young disciple, barely managing to keep his voice down.
"Why are they together?" some clueless people asked.
"Impossible," an elder muttered. "That woman's a demon in human skin. After slaughtering her whole sect at the age of twenty, she joined the Evil Faction, and at twenty-six, she's already recognized as an elder of the Evil Faction..."
"Then why is she showing respect to Lucian?!"
The whispers grew more frantic as onlookers craned their necks to see better.
"Are they all from the same faction?" some threw guesses.
"I don't think so... They weren't this close yesterday," some answered.
"He appeared out of nowhere... But why is that unknown master Matheus following him like a servant?!"
"It's worse than that," another murmured, voice trembling with excitement. "Look at Hwa-rin's expression. She's not mocking him... she's seriously being respectful to him... Doesn't she treat men worse than insects???"
The three of them—Lucian, Matheus, and Seo Hwa-rin—stood together, conversing in calm tones, as though the eyes of hundreds weren't fixed on them. The tension in the air grew heavier.
"Are they forming an alliance?"
"If they are, this competition is already over," someone said bitterly.
"Not even the elders will be able to ignore that."
All other competitors have various expressions and opinions to this. Some have grim and other's happy to see this, most of them are not from righteous sect alliances.
The martial artists in the crowd exchanged uneasy glances. The Dragon and Phoenix Competition had not even begun, yet its outcome already seemed to tilt in one direction.