It was 9:00 a.m. The sun was high enough to reveal every dust and crack in the Evernight Gate courtyard. Yoe Choin stepped out of his private pavilion with a much lighter step after his emergency hibernation had ended. However, his face showed no sign of calm. In his hand, he clutched Han So-Wol's audit report—a document that would be a death warrant for anyone whose name appeared on it.
"Young Master, have you read the part about Mount Hua?"
Han So-Wol's voice came from beside him, waiting, her eyes still red from lack of sleep.
"Yes,"
Choi replied curtly.
"We can exterminate the termites eating the wood inside the warehouse, but the termites deliberately inviting outside enemies to undermine the main pegs are waste material with no residual value. We cannot allow them to remain on the project site."
Choi walked toward the door, but stopped when he saw a letter with a dark purple wax seal tucked under the door. The seal belonged not to Evernight Gate, but to the Demon Faction Central.
"That seal... it belongs to the Demon Empress,"
the real Kang Yo hissed with deep hatred.
Yoe Choin slowly opened the letter. Its contents were brief but extremely dangerous:
"Young Master Moen Kang Yo, your audit of Evernight Gate has disrupted the stability of our investments. If you don't immediately stop this 'renovation,' we will send a real demolition team to level this entire sect along with you."
Choi crumpled the letter until it turned to ashes in his hands.
"It seems the termites in this sect have protection from the central government,"
Choi muttered coldly.
"Good. The more obstacles, the more valuable this project is to complete."
He looked at Gwi-Hyuk standing in the doorway.
Yoe Choin stepped in, dressed in new, clean robes, but the aura of Internal Finishing Level 3 radiating from his body made the air around him feel heavy, as if a giant compressor were working nearby. Beside him, Han So-Wol walked with a stern expression, her fingers gripping her beloved iron abacus as if it were a weapon of mass destruction.
"Gwi-Hyuk, guard the door. Don't let a single mouse escape through this hole,"
Choin ordered flatly.
As soon as the three-meter-tall teak door was pushed open, the aroma of expensive jasmine tea and sandalwood incense immediately wafted in, a disgusting contrast to the musty, poverty-stricken stench of the outer disciple barracks Choin had just left.
Elder Gong sat in his grand chair, trying to maintain a calm expression even as cold sweat glistened on his brow.
"Young Master Moen Kang Yo,"
Gong's voice trembled, but he tried to sound dignified.
"This sudden visit... is truly rude. Especially bringing a logistics accountant into my private room."
Choin didn't sit down. He walked around the room, touching the ancient ceramic vases and the beautifully carved wooden pillars.
"First-grade teak pillars, Han Dynasty ceramics, and enough tea to feed a Class 2 division for a month,"
Choin muttered, his glowing blue eyes scanning the room for assets.
"Gong, you are the greediest rat I have ever met."
"What do you mean?!"
Gong stood up, his face flushed.
"I've been managing this sect for ten years while you've been cowering in a cave! All of this is a representation fee to maintain the good name of Evernight Gate!"
"Representation?"
Han So-Wol stepped forward, her voice sharp like scraping metal. She slammed a ledger down on Gong's jade desk.
"According to what I've learned from Han So-Wol, there's a 40% difference between the funds coming out of the Black Iron mine and what's coming into the sect's coffers. Where did the 4,000 gold pieces per month go, Elder?"
"That... that's an unforeseen expense! Securing the distribution channels! Tributes to local officials!"
Gong stammered.
"Unexpected expenses aren't recorded in the authorized expense schedule,"
Choi interrupted, his voice rising, betraying his deep annoyance. He threw the Shadow Cash Book, still stained with dried blood, in Gong's face.
CRASH!
"This is a record of last night's illegal shipment,"
Choi hissed.
"You sold high-grade Black Iron materials to outsiders at a low price, then pocketed the difference. You let the sect gate tilt 15 degrees and the roof leak, while you built a palace inside a house that was about to collapse!"
"You have no right! The Demon Empress supports my policies!"
Gong shouted, trying to use his last trump card.
"Right?"
Choi laughed sarcastically, a laugh that made the real Moen Kang Yo within him churn with bloodlust.
"In my current position, rights belong only to those who maintain the integrity of the structure. You are no leader, you are merely a termite eating away at the foundation. And today..."
Choin leaned forward, staring Gong straight in the eye.
"This visit ends with a total confiscation of assets. So-Wol, start calculating the value of everything in this room. Every vase, every chair, even the silk robe he wears. Everything is confiscated for the sect's coffers!"
"You're crazy! This is robbery!"
Gong screamed hysterically.
"Not robbery, Elder Gong,"
Choin snapped, rotating his Internal Finishing Qi, causing the jade table in front of them to crack a thousand times.
"This is restitution for the sect's losses. And if you refuse... I will perform a direct 'demolition' on your meridians."
Hundreds of miles from Evernight Gate,
in the majestic Moonlight Pavilion, the atmosphere was tense. The Demon Empress stared at the report from her agent burning on a silver tray.
"Internal Finishing Level 3... in less than a week?"
she muttered, her melodious voice now filled with sharp frustration.
"How could trash that should have rotted in a cave regenerate its power so quickly?"
He stood up and walked to the balcony, gazing out at the Black Dragon Mountains. The failure of the Blood Sea tracking and infiltration unit was a major blemish on his grand plan. Moen Kang Yo was no longer a pawn he could control; he had become a variable threatening the stability of his political "investments" in the subordinate sects.
"Elder Gong is too stupid to handle that foreman alone,"
he hissed, squeezing the balcony railing until it crumbled to dust.
"If this transformation isn't stopped, the secret of my private funding through Evernight Gate will be exposed."
He summoned his personal aide.
"Send a message to the 'Elite Demolition Unit.' Tell them... I don't want to see Evernight Gate restored. I want the sect razed to the ground, and Moen Kang Yo's head the first stone in the foundation of its destruction."
Back at the Gong pavilion,
Han So-Wol deftly listed each item with a rarely seen smile of satisfaction. Elder Gong sat limply on the floor, seeing the wealth he had accumulated over ten years starting to be "transported" by the Class 2 students who were now obedient to Choin.
"Young master"
So-Wol called, showing her her notes.
"With this confiscation, we have enough funds to repair the roof and feed all the disciples properly for the next six months."
Choin nodded, but his eyes remained fixed out the window, at the darkening northern sky.
"This is just the initial cleanup, So-Wol,"
Choin said.
"The real storm is moving from the center. Make sure all the pillars are reinforced before the Empress's demolition team arrives."
Then Elder Gong still tried to defend himself, shouting about the legality of his position.
"You can't touch me! I am the pillar of this sect! Without me, Evernight Gate will be destroyed—"
CRAAAK!
Before Gong could finish his sentence, a flash of black light streaked through the air. Without a word, without warning, and without a change in expression, Yoe Choin swung his Black Iron Heavy Sword in one perfect horizontal motion.
Elder Gong's head was detached from his shoulders, rolling across the expensive marble floor before coming to a stop right at Han So-Wol's feet. The headless body remained upright for a few seconds before collapsing, spraying blood onto the stack of corrupt ledgers.
"AAAKHHH!"
Han So-Wol screamed, the abacus in her hand clattering loudly to the floor. She backed up and hit the wall, her body trembling violently and her face filled with pure terror as she stared at the pool of blood before her.
Yoe Choin remained calm. He didn't even blink. He took a handkerchief from his robe pocket and began to wipe away the blood splatter on his hands with meticulous care, as if he had just completed a menial job in the field.
"Gwi-Hyuk,"
Choin called out flatly, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"Clean up this mess. Get that piece of junk out of my office."
Gwi-Hyuk bent down silently and quickly dragged Gong's body out of the room.
Choin then walked over to Han So-Wol, who was still sobbing in fear. He lowered his body, looking into her eyes with a softer, yet firm, gaze.
"Calm down, So-Wol,"
Choin whispered softly, his clean hand now resting on So-Wol's shoulder to stop her trembling.
"Demolition procedures are always dirty. But now, the blockage in this sect is completely removed. Take a deep breath... your task of rebuilding our coffers has just begun."
Han So-Wol looked up, staring at the man who looked like a demon but spoke like a savior. In the distance, the afternoon training bell began to ring, signaling that under the new foreman's leadership, Evernight Gate had officially entered a bloody phase of total renovation.