Ju Na Rin didn’t have much thought for gods or religion, even in his past life as a Taoist priest, let alone in the days when he was barely surviving.

‘I might need to find out more.’

Just the fact that the Asura Blade, said to have been received from the gods, actually served as a verifier of the Heavenly Demon bloodline made it clear there was something to it. Though, in a world that was merely the setting of a martial arts novel, there was no way there would be any significant divine intervention.

‘At least there might be clues about the status window or notification window.’

Na Rin said to Gong Son Wu.

“Could I read it later as well? The scriptures, I mean.”

“You say the most remarkable things. Let’s see, if it’s the Demon Scripture compiled in the Central Plains language, you should be able to read it. The Avesta, however, would still be too much for you.”

Avesta?

As Na Rin tilted her head at the unfamiliar pronunciation, Gong Son Wu smiled brightly and said.

“For the details, ask Yebi Jo. I’m a martial arts teacher, not a doctrine teacher, after all.”

“Mmm. Yes.”

When Na Rin pouted her lips as if disappointed, Gong Son Wu laughed and said.

“The Heavenly Demon Cult is a complex religion. Over a long time, people of various skin colors have joined hands and crossed swords, constantly changing. Even before the Demon Scripture was established, there were various scriptures such as the Ming Scripture and the Hyeon Scripture.”

Na Rin roughly knew about this.

“The Avesta is the scripture that forms the basis of all those variations. The Demon Scripture we use may become a thing of the past as time goes by, but the Avesta will be eternal.”

“I see.”

Na Rin quietly nodded.

Gong Son Wu ruffled Na Rin’s hair as if proud, then said.

“If I could, I’d like to buy you a snack, but time is not on our side. Let’s hurry. We need to confirm whether the Asura Blade is real or fake.”

“Yes. Elder Brother!”

Na Rin answered vigorously.

The Hall of Ten Thousand Years.

Built so sturdily it was said to last ten thousand years with ease, it was the largest outdoor event hall in the Shimantai Mountains. The structure was simple.

In the center of the wide plaza, finished with white granite, was a three-story high stepped platform. That was all.

But while the structure was simple, the decor was by no means plain.

To match the festivity of the first time in thousands of years, the sky was filled with colorful kites, balloons, and iridescent flags and tents fluttering in the wind. On the ground, dancers wearing splendid lion masks, actors dressed as mythical figures, and musicians were lined up to liven up the atmosphere.

“The Guardians who watch over the twelve directions! The Twelve Elders have arrived!”

“Woooaah!”

A path opened up among the believers filling the plaza, and the procession of the First Elder, holding high the flag with the image of a rat, revealed themselves. Following the call, the flags depicting the twelve zodiac animals appeared one by one and ascended to the bottom tier of the platform.

“I never thought I’d see the Asura Blade in my life.”

“That’s what living a long life is for.”

“Oh my, I’m tearing up for no reason.”

“Haha. We’re all old and sentimental.”

The expressions of the Twelve Elders were mostly bright.

While there were things that weighed on their minds in many ways, there was no doubt that today was an auspicious day.

“The Seven Demon Lords who rule the seven parishes have arrived!”

“Woooaah!”

The next to ascend the platform were the eight Demon Lords.

Sword Demon, Blood Demon, Thunder Demon, Ghost Demon, Poison Demon, Illusion Demon, and Divine Demon.

While they were called the Seven Demon Lords, there were actually eight of them, as the twin women were collectively referred to as the Divine Demon. They ascended to the second tier of the platform.

“……”

The Demon Lords stood in their respective positions, ignoring each other as if they couldn’t see one another. With this, the plaza filled with believers, the first tier where the Twelve Elders were seated, and the second tier where the Seven Demon Lords stood were all packed.

The next order of business was to call out the person who would ascend to the third tier.

“The Protector of the Eastern Sky! The Dharma-Protecting Lion, Lord Jiguk, please come forth!”

“Uwaaaah!”

The Blue Dragon Flag, the symbol of the Eastern Heavenly Palace, fluttered high.

Walking majestically at the very front of the procession was, of course, Lord Jiguk Gong Son Wu himself, followed by the members of the Blue Dragon Squad.

On any other occasion, Na Rin, his chief disciple, would have been standing by Gong Son Wu’s side, but unfortunately, Na Rin was very busy at the moment.

Busy doing what, you ask…?

“I’m telling you, I need to see the Asura Blade right now!”

“How can we take out an item that has already been placed in a glass case and sealed with lead? We can’t just break it without having a spare glass, can we?”

Na Rin was so frustrated she could go crazy.

Dokgo Cheon had delayed the time of the dedication ceremony, but due to the rule that all events had to end before sunset, there was only about an hour of leeway at most.

“We just need to melt the lead, right? I’ll melt it with the Samadhi True Fire and slightly peel off the glass tube, so hand it over.”

“No, you can’t! What if the glass gets hot and shatters into pieces!”

Should I just strike his acupoint and put him to sleep?

Sensing an ominous aura in Na Rin’s eyes, the staff member took a step back and glanced at the open door as if he was about to call someone.

There’s no other way.

“Choose,” Na Rin said.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“One is to listen thoroughly to the unseemly secrets of those in high positions and take responsibility for your actions. The other is to be put to sleep by me striking your acupoint, knowing nothing.”

The staff member stared at Na Rin blankly for a while, then cautiously opened his mouth.

“…Please be gentle.”

“You made a wise choice!”

Na Rin, who had been smiling brightly, immediately tried to strike the staff member’s acupoint but suddenly stopped.

“Oh, right. Where is the glass case?”

“It’s inside the chest placed next to the door over there. Ah, here. The key to the chest.”

“Thank you for your cooperation!”

Thwack!

It was unclear if Na Rin had heard the request to be gentle, as she struck the staff member’s acupoint in one swift motion, putting him to sleep, and headed towards the chest. Opening the chest with the key, she immediately saw the glass case containing the Asura Blade.

Crash!

Without hesitation, Na Rin shattered the glass case with her fist and took out the Asura Blade inside.

“Wow. They really made an exact replica.”

There must have been an extremely skilled swordsmith in the Northern Heavenly Palace.

The transparency of the blade, which had been as clear as a silver mirror, seemed to have become murky, and the leather wrapped around the hilt seemed to have a slightly different texture.

But it was a well-made sword that could make one dismiss all those uncanny feelings as mere imagination.

‘This is troublesome. I can’t be certain just from the appearance.’

If it were possible to compare it with the genuine article, the craftsmanship of the counterfeit would prove to be inferior in many ways, and understanding could be gained.

However, with the whereabouts of the genuine article unknown, there were many difficulties in choosing that method.

“If only I had a little more time…”

No matter how skilled Jeok Gun Ak was, creating such an elaborate replica was no easy task.

Not only did it require a lot of money and legwork to procure the materials, but it also needed a highly skilled and tight-lipped craftsman to work on it for a long time.

‘There would have been a mountain of evidence from that entire process.’

Na Rin let out a deep sigh.

Unfortunately, even Na Rin herself couldn’t be certain that this was a fake Asura Blade at the moment. Unless she found a feature that was unique to the genuine article and impossible for a counterfeit to replicate…

“That’s it!”

Na Rin brought the tassel attached to the end of the hilt close to her eyes and covered the surroundings with her palm to darken it. It was a guess that the white tassel, being rare, wouldn’t be easily obtained.

“…Tsk.”

It is a tassel, indeed.

Come to think of it, even if a white tassel was precious, it wasn’t completely non-existent in the world. There was no reason why the Northern Heavenly Palace, with ample time and wealth, couldn’t obtain such a treasure.

Just as Na Rin was moving the tassel away from her eyes in disappointment, the light of the winter sky shone through the gaps between her fingers that had been covering the tassel to block out the incoming light.

Too clear, too bright.

“Huh?”

As if something had suddenly dawned on her, Na Rin closely examined the tassel, shining light on it from various angles.

On the very day the Asura Blade was found in Bongma-dong.

The day she fought the formless dark demon and unleashed a huge Samadhi True Fire to burn it away.

Dokgo Cheon sealed the remnants of the demon that had remained in Bongma-dong.

Inside the tassel of the Asura Blade, of all places.

‘It’s not there.’

If this Asura Blade was genuine, there should have been remnants of the demon inside the tassel.

That black stain Na Rin had seen with her own two eyes.

“It’s fake.”

Na Rin unconsciously raised both hands and struck a victorious pose.

“This Asura Blade is faaaake!”

Na Rin had no idea.

That the place she was in was right below the platform where the dedication ceremony was being held.

And that the chest containing the Asura Blade was meant to be pulled up to the platform through the open ceiling, like a bucket in a well.

In other words, every word Na Rin said had leaked out through the hole.

−This Asura Blade is faaaake!

−Faaaake!

−Fake!

And through the largest resonance chamber ever, at that.

−Fake!

Na Rin’s declaration of the fake Asura Blade, which shocked Mahou and horrified Gong Son Wu.

The believers gathered at the Hall of Ten Thousand Years first doubted their own ears, then discussed with those around them.

“Was that for real just now?”

“They said it’s fake.”

“No, I mean, is it true that it’s fake?”

“So it’s fake, isn’t it?”

“Really?”

It was utter chaos.

Gong Son Wu, his face turning pale, ran to where the sound had come from and frantically pulled the rope to haul Na Rin up to the platform along with the chest.

“Wow, Elder Brother! Listen, the Asura Blade is−!”

Smack!

“You troublemaker! Mischief-maker! Not a single day goes by quietly with you around!”

Smack! Smack!

“Ack! Ack!”

Na Rin, who had rolled down below due to the forehead flicks Gong Son Wu had delivered with his internal energy, jumped back up with a thud.

“Why did you hit me!”

“Do you even realize what trouble you’ve caused…! No. More importantly, are you certain?”

“About what!”

“That the Asura Blade is fake, are you certain!”

Huh? I thought I was talking to myself, how did Master hear it?

Na Rin scratched her head as if embarrassed and said.

“Hehe. You heard? I got carried away.”

“If only I had heard it, I wouldn’t even mention it. There probably isn’t a single person in the Hall of Ten Thousand Years who didn’t hear it.”

“Come on, even so, I didn’t say it that loudly.”

Gong Son Wu looked at Na Rin, who was waving her hands as if to say ‘Elder Brother, you’re exaggerating too much’, with a dumbfounded expression.

“Just answer the question. Is it truly a counterfeit?”

Na Rin puffed out her chest and nodded vigorously.

“They put quite some effort into making it, but they can’t deceive my eyes. This is definitely fake!”

“…A blessing in disguise, I suppose.”

The misfortune Gong Son Wu was referring to here was completely ruining the dedication ceremony that all the believers had been looking forward to with glee, and the blessing was that there was at least a justifiable reason for it.

Clap clap clap!

The sound of applause was heard.

“The Blood Heiress is truly unrivaled when it comes to making a scene.”

Turning around, Mahou Yang Ju Ran and all the leaders of the demon cult who had been on the platform were looking at Na Rin and Gong Son Wu in unison.