Chapter 292: The Seven Demon Gods (2)
It seemed that the Heavenly Demon Founder had realized that this entire incident had, to some extent, unfolded according to my intentions.
His gaze turned toward my Master.
"The Master of this era must be having a hard time because of you."
‘What the—?!’
I tried to protest with a sense of injustice.
In both my past life and this one, my Master had never truly suffered because of me.
If anything, it had always been me who suffered because of him!
But before I could say anything—
Click!
My Master grabbed his sword in a reverse grip and bowed deeply to the Heavenly Demon Founder.
"Isn’t that also part of the karma a Master must bear?"
"Hmph, that’s certainly true."
The Heavenly Demon Founder replied with a smirk.
"……."
I glared at my Master, utterly dumbfounded.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"…It’s nothing."
I thought about snapping back, but I held my tongue.
Regardless of everything that had happened until now, my Master had just tried to risk his life in my place.
Left without much to say, I decided to change the subject.
"The three Senior Brothers won’t be enough. We should join them as soon as—"
But my words were cut off by the Heavenly Demon Founder.
"There’s no need to feel threatened by that half-baked thing. Don’t let yourself be swayed by the power it shows on the surface."
Half-baked?
The Heavenly Demon Founder cast a pitiful glance.
"You should be at a level where you’ve already broken past the limits of mere inner energy, shouldn’t you? Then you ought to adjust your perspective. I’m talking about the 'perspective you once had but lost.'"
"……!"
My expression hardened slightly.
"That thing before you certainly has the power to destroy the world with brute strength alone. But it seems the Transcendence it was meant to achieve has been severely damaged, likely due to the True Star Sword."
Indeed, the True Star Sword had lived up to its reputation as the strongest of the Illusion Clan’s Three Great Treasures.
Though it hadn’t completely annihilated it, it had cornered the enemy to the point where it had to choose mutual destruction.
The Heavenly Demon Founder pointed toward the ongoing battle between my three Senior Brothers and Heavenly Evil.
"Watch carefully. If it’s you, you’ll soon realize the meaning behind sending those three."
---
Standing to Yoo Jeon’s right, Pa Gooncheong let out a bitter smile.
"It’s been ages since we’ve coordinated like this."
Jin Gwanchun raised the corner of his mouth and replied.
"Hmph, Pa Senior Brother, don’t tell me you’ve gone soft and stiffened up from living in peace?"
"We are beings who can neither progress nor regress. Just like your intelligence hasn’t improved one bit in a thousand years."
Despite Pa Gooncheong’s sharp remark, Jin Gwanchun didn’t seem to care.
Because deep down, he knew Jin Gwanchun cherished his fellow disciples, even if he never expressed it in words.
"Well, I suppose it is a blessing to have lived so long without succumbing to dementia."
Flash!
In an instant, dark light surged from Jin Gwanchun’s entire body.
It was the Demonic Heavenly Body, known to the world as the perfected form of the Asura God.
"Let’s do it like we used to. I’ll take the hits, Pa Senior Brother draws its attention, and First Senior Brother finishes it off."
"Sounds good."
"I’ll be counting on you, brothers."
With both of them agreeing, Jin Gwanchun let out a hearty laugh and charged forward.
In response, bright white beams shot out from all six of Heavenly Evil’s arms, sweeping over Jin Gwanchun’s entire body.
However—
Booooom!
"Ha ha ha! That tingles a little!"
He dodged what he could, and for what he couldn’t avoid, he took the hits head-on.
Seeing his reckless defense, which didn’t falter even under Heavenly Evil’s spatial-warping strikes, I couldn’t hide my shock.
'Isn’t he even tougher than Jin Gun-ak?!'
At this rate, I felt like even if I unleashed Destruction of Heaven and Earth at full power, he’d block it head-on.
"Well done."
Pa Gooncheong didn’t miss the tiny gap created while Jin Gwanchun was taking the brunt of the attacks.
In an instant, brilliant holy energy burst from Pa Gooncheong’s saber.
"I respect everything about Master, but there’s one thing… one thing I can never understand."
He raised his saber high in a straight line and shouted boldly.
"That’s the fact that Master never recognized the greatness of the Saber!"
Supreme Demon King Saber Technique
Conquering Meteor Qi
One of the secret arts of the Pa Clan, which Pa Yeongyeong had once demonstrated to me.
But this time, its power was beyond any comparison.
Pa Gooncheong’s strike literally tore apart a portion of Heavenly Evil’s upper body.
Heavenly Evil let out a shriek.
-Once again, you dare to interfere with this one, fragments of the Will!
At a glance, it seemed like Heavenly Evil had taken a fatal hit from that single strike.
But—
'That’s not enough!'
It was nothing more than superficial damage; Heavenly Evil’s power remained completely intact.
It regenerated its upper body right away and began firing blasts of energy toward Pa Gooncheong and Jin Gwanchun.
"Uh, should… should I go too?"
At that moment, So Jeong stepped forward with a sly grin.
But the Heavenly Demon Founder shook his head instead.
"There’s no need. Seeing that it hasn’t used any of its authorities yet, there’s nothing to worry about. Its movements will soon be sealed, so you don’t need to concern yourself."
Its movements will be sealed?
"More importantly, it seems there’s no time to pass this on slowly. After all, that shell of Heavenly Evil and we… share the same fate."
Flinch!
My shoulders twitched slightly.
The reason the Heavenly Demon Founder and the Seven Senior Brothers could appear here in the first place—
It was because the shrine erected in Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain had been consumed by Heavenly Evil’s domain.
In other words, if Heavenly Evil perished here, the Heavenly Demon Founder and the seven Senior Brothers present here would vanish along with it!
The Heavenly Demon Founder let out a soft sigh.
"Passing down knowledge to a successor is proving to be quite difficult. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. After all, we have an excellent learning material right in front of us."
He couldn’t possibly mean… using Heavenly Evil as a training tool?
I was appalled by the very idea.
"One might say this is a blessing in disguise. If we had blindly focused on the transmission alone, we might have courted disaster instead. In a way, your brief trip outside turned out to be heaven-sent."
"Hmm…."
He had a point.
Even though time flowed differently between the two spaces, there were still limits.
Had I kept training endlessly for the succession of the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art, the situation outside might have worsened even further.
And I would have encountered Cheon Yujeong without any preparation during that time.
"It’ll be over soon."
"……!"
Heavenly Evil was still swinging its overwhelming power.
My three Senior Brothers didn’t appear to have the upper hand at all, and by the look of things, the situation clearly seemed unfavorable.
How in the world did they plan to finish this?
While maintaining his posture in the ritual stance, Yoo Jeon spoke to the two of them.
"My technique will be ready soon. Hang in there a little longer."
Pa Gooncheong and Jin Gwanchun nodded.
"Leave it to us."
"It’s been ages since I’ve seen you use that technique, First Senior Brother."
At the same moment, the lights from Jin Gwanchun’s Demonic Heavenly Body and Pa Gooncheong’s holy energy blazed even fiercer as they pressed Heavenly Evil.
The moment Heavenly Evil’s attention was fully locked onto them—
"Now!"
Whoosh!
Yoo Jeon’s sword left his hand and shot toward Heavenly Evil.
Transcendent Technique
Heart’s Path Transcendence Resentment
…Huh?
At first glance, it looked like a simple sword-throwing technique.
But I could sense it.
From that seemingly simple sword, I could feel a level of transcendence similar to that of the Venerable Buddha.
No, the completeness of this attack actually surpassed the Venerable Buddha’s flawed attempt.
'…There’s no doubt.'
Yoo Jeon, my First Senior Brother and the Great Master, had clearly set foot into the Supreme Demon Realm.
Though the sword seemed to move slowly, it landed unerringly, stabbing right into Heavenly Evil’s forehead—the one bearing Cheon Yujeong’s face.
And at the very same moment—
Crack! Crackle!
Like a broken machine, Heavenly Evil’s body froze in place.
"Could it be… it’s over?"
I knew it was a jinx to say such things, but the sight of Heavenly Evil frozen like a statue practically begged those words to be spoken.
Yoo Jeon, who had approached while putting away his sword, spoke to me.
"Unfortunately, it’s not dead. I’ve only sealed it temporarily."
"Hmm, I had a feeling that was the case."
I had already guessed as much.
"As beings born of thoughts and will, we are bound by the laws that prevent us from physically destroying Heavenly Evil. Even if Master himself took action, it would make no difference."
Which meant…
"You’ll have to be the one to finish it."
…So it was true after all?
I looked at Heavenly Evil, bearing Cheon Yujeong’s face, with a heavy heart.
Was there truly any trace of Cheon Yujeong’s personality left in there?
It was then that the Heavenly Demon Founder spoke.
"While inducing its self-destruction as you intended wouldn’t be a bad approach, wouldn’t it be better to get used to fighting Heavenly Evil while you have the chance?"
"Master…"
"Your original intention was to use this as a preview for the ‘future,’ wasn’t it?"
It was as if he could read my mind. The Heavenly Demon Founder had seen right through me.
"…That’s right."
"However, as you are now, you cannot destroy Heavenly Evil. Not even its empty shell."
That was true.
Unless I reached a level on par with Yoo Jeon, there was no way I could destroy it in the material world.
"Which means you’ll have to keep raising your level during the time you have left."
The Heavenly Demon Founder casually clapped his hands.
Suddenly, the swirling world, painted in black and white like mixed ink, shifted into the forest where I had been training not long ago!
'He’s reversed the domain’s invasion?!'
This was beyond what a martial artist should be capable of.
Even the Heavenly Demon Founder I met at the Heaven of Sacred Spirits had been shocking, but the current him had far surpassed the boundaries of a martial artist, practically standing as a transcendent being.
"How many are left?"
"Only the Little Junior and the First Senior Brother remain."
"Considering the remaining time, that seems about right."
The Heavenly Demon Founder nodded.
In Hwan Seong’s case, since he was a sorcerer by nature, there wasn’t much he could pass on to me.
Just then, the Heavenly Demon Founder suddenly turned to Hwan Seong and said something unexpected.
"Seong-ah, can you bring her here?"
"……?"
Bring who?
Hwan Seong hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
"I’ve never seen her directly, so I can’t say for sure… but since she and the disciple are bound by an abnormally strong thread of karma, it should be possible. Besides, there’s a thin karmic thread connecting her to you as well, Master."
"That’s promising."
"Of course, once she’s brought here, she’ll lose all her memories the moment she wakes up. It’ll be nothing more than a fleeting illusion."
"Even so, the powerful experience engraved in her subconscious will surely help her someday in the distant future. Bring her here."
"Understood, Master."
With a nod, Hwan Seong immediately began chanting a long incantation.
'What in the world is he saying?'
The Heavenly Demon Founder turned to me.
"I hadn’t intended to go this far, but given the circumstances, I suppose we should use the best method available."
"What do you mean…?"
"Originally, to erase Heavenly Evil’s shell, you would have had to reach the later stages of the Transcendent Demon Realm and enter the Divine Domain. But reaching that level isn’t something that can be done in just a few years of training. We’ll have to use a different method."
"A different method?"
"Combining your power with someone who shares deep karmic ties with you, to manifest transcendence even at a lower level."
'No way…!'
There was only one technique that had the potential to achieve that.
Before long, the space in front of Hwan Seong split open, forming a gate just big enough for a person to pass through.
And from that gate emerged—
"Jin Yeo…myung?"
"…Yura!?"
After nearly half a year apart, standing there with a slightly weary face…
Cheon Yura appeared before my eyes.