Chapter 428: The Path of the Heavenly Demon (2)
Bang!
Starting from the moment the puppet’s hand that had grabbed my ankle was ruthlessly shattered.
The old monsters of the Supreme Demon Palace all charged at me in unison.
“Keuhaha! Back then, you were just a brat who could talk a lot, but you’ve grown up quite a bit!”
“Indeed, you have!”
The two elders of the Cheon Clan, who had past acquaintance with me, reached me first.
Screech! Screech-screech!
The Ghost Soul Ice Palm of Thousand-Handed Witch Cheon Mireong came flying from the left, and the Strange Thousand Explosion of the Temporal Demon Lord came from the right.
Purely in terms of destructive power, their strikes were on par with those of the Extreme Demon Realm.
However.
“Sun and Moon Radiance Circle.”
Just like with Gunggi, their ultimate techniques curved and slipped past without touching my body.
“Wait, isn’t that the Ten Thousand Phase Tai Chi of Dao Zun, that old hag?”
“It looks similar, but it’s different. That circle lacks the destructive force stemming from Wudang’s unique distortion.”
“Rather, it resembles the completed cycle… closer to the Primordial Origin of the Tai Chi circle.”
Several elders frowned as they analyzed the mystery just shown.
“Impressive!”
“Try receiving this again!”
The Thousand-Handed Witch and the Temporal Demon Lord laughed heartily as they prepared their ultimate techniques again.
Unfortunately for them, their chances had run out.
Bang!
As a massive repulsive force appeared, both of their bodies were flung hundreds of jang away!
“……!”
The blood-boiling atmosphere inside instantly cooled down.
Not simply because two of them had been helplessly blown away.
But because the force they saw reminded them of something none had ever been able to surpass—something absolute.
“……The Seal of the Heavenly Demon?”
“The real Seal of the Heavenly Demon?”
The former Cult Leader, Cheon Taejong’s Signature Technique.
To be exact, it was only called his signature technique because no one else had ever drawn out something beyond it.
To the old monsters of the Supreme Demon Palace, that force was enough to evoke the scent of the previous Cult Leader.
I smiled bitterly at the old monsters who didn’t even dare think of attacking.
“This feels a bit like cheating, so I’ll withdraw it.”
Though it wasn’t yet at Cheon Taejong’s level of completeness, it was still impossible for anyone below the Extreme Demon Realm to penetrate it.
I picked up a branch lying nearby.
“Let’s go with this.”
Creak!
The moment they saw me holding a branch, the faces of the old monsters simultaneously contorted.
What I had done was something they only did when instructing young heirs of their clans—yet this greenhorn dared to pull it on them!
“This should be just right if I don’t intend to kill.”
“You, you arrogant brat!”
Unable to contain his rage, one of the old monsters gathered power in both hands and charged.
“Pa, Pa Ryeok-Gwiwang! Stop!”
“Even for you, this is too much…!”
Those still tethered to reality hurriedly tried to stop him.
But he paid no heed and unleashed his palm technique at full power toward me.
Pa Ryeok-Gwiwang was a hidden master who had pierced the wall of the Extreme Demon Realm after entering the Supreme Demon Palace.
But he wasn’t capable of piercing my branch.
“One strike, Bright Spiral Opening the Heavens.”
A single slash swung from top to bottom.
That one slash cleaved through the Tyrant Ghost Demon Palm that Pa Ryeok-Gwiwang prided himself on.
“What…!”
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
Struck by the crescent-shaped slash flying through the cleaved gap, Pa Ryeok-Gwiwang met the same fate as the two before him.
Now that even the hidden powerhouse, Pa Ryeok-Gwiwang, had been neutralized, no one else dared move easily.
Could such a slash capable of cleaving the Tyrant Ghost Demon Palm really be performed with just a tree branch?
I swear, even the Sword Demon couldn’t manage that!
Before the slash was released, the branch should have long turned to ashes.
This wasn’t a matter of internal arts.
“The free shaping of Sword Intent… the ultimate martial art….”
A divine art impossible to achieve without truly transcending demonic boundaries.
As the old monsters hesitated, struck by the difference before them—
“What are you all cowering for, you damned geezers!”
Eradication Divine Beast Cheon Baeseong shouted toward them as he charged at me.
Even though his refinement level was not as high as Pa Ryeok-Gwiwang’s, he laughed heartily and threw a strike at me.
“Have you ever seen someone this shameless!? Giving such a name to a technique—aren’t you ashamed!?”
I smiled in return at what wasn’t quite a rebuke.
He had always supported Yura from the beginning. Even in this situation, he was worthy of my respect.
“If it were Yura, she’d love a name like this.”
Surprisingly, the Eradication Divine Beast affirmed my words.
"That might be true. Then, what is the second form?"
"This."
I extended my folded elbow and thrust straight out.
This move, Bright Net Ascending to Heaven.
Flash!
Though the Shooting Sun of the Diancang Sect was said to be the fastest sword in the world, it wouldn't be able to catch up with this speed, which bordered on reversing causality.
In an instant, a penetrating wound opened on his shoulder, and the Eradication Divine Palm was rendered powerless.
And just like that, Cheon Baeseong was knocked out as well.
I lightly shook the tree branch towards the tensed veterans of the Supreme Demon Palace.
"We don’t have much time, so I’ll move quickly from now on."
If I subdued them one by one, it felt like even a single moment would pass us by.
Thud!
I stepped lightly and hurled myself straight into the lion’s den.
"Respond!"
"Show that brat who we really are!"
The veterans of the Supreme Demon Palace hesitated only briefly, then raised their momentum and launched a counterattack.
They were indeed the martial artists who once led the Divine Cult of a past era.
Waves of absolute techniques surged from all directions.
Amidst that overwhelming pressure, I gracefully moved my feet and began countering the incoming absolute techniques.
'Amazing!'
Despite never having coordinated before, the veterans of the Supreme Demon Palace formed an organic formation like comrades who had trained together for decades, probing for openings on my side.
Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
As if they knew that simply expanding the range wouldn't work, they began compressing their energy to extreme levels so that their techniques wouldn’t overlap.
Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t wide-range attacks flying at me.
A toxic mist strong enough to melt the surrounding terrain in an instant spread out, and to hinder even the slightest movement of mine, something akin to iron tendrils laced with neurotoxin was scattered in all directions.
More than anything, the precise arrangement that didn’t interfere with their allies’ trajectories was truly impressive.
"Don’t blame us for being ruthless!"
"If you claim to be the Heavenly Demon, this much should be something you can laugh through!"
"Of course, I hold no grudge at all."
The tree branch drew a gentle arc from left to right.
"Third form, Bright Net Heavenly Trap."
Hwaaaah!
A vortex of Qi began to rise around my body without warning.
That vortex began to suck in all the toxic mist and traps laid around me.
"The control, it's being taken!"
"You damn monster bastard!"
What they deployed wasn’t a simple trap.
It was a secret technique that defied the laws of nature, laced with Sword Intent, and wouldn’t budge with just average destruction.
But that technique lost control too easily and swept over their own allies.
"Aaaagh!"
"Bloodlight Poison Demon, you crazy bastard!"
"How the hell do you use the Ten Thousand Poison Blood Shadows Dance?!"
The Bloodlight Poison Demon, who once reduced the elders of the Tang Clan to a puddle of blood with this very technique, was so shocked when it struck his own allies that he went beyond panic into full-on hysteria.
But that shock didn’t last long.
Sensing the danger, I struck the Bloodlight Poison Demon’s jaw with my tree branch and sent him flying.
While the veterans of the Supreme Demon Palace were disoriented by the wave of poison Qi,
I weaved through the toxic mist and steadily reduced their numbers.
Thwack! Thwack! Thud-thud!
The veterans, struggling in desperation, couldn’t withstand the blows of my tree branch and collapsed.
Those at the rear, barely unaffected by the poison mist, gathered themselves and charged forward, but—
"Fourth form, Bright Net Thousand Loves."
As the poison mist cleared and revealed a thousand sword projections, they all slightly opened their mouths and lost their will to fight.
"……"
"……Insane."
At the sight of countless sword projections painting the sky, the veterans uniformly lowered their arms.
One of them let out a hollow laugh.
"I heard the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword wields twelve sword projections, but isn’t this a bit too much?"
Not a single drop of fighting spirit emanated from him.
The others were no different.
They had completely lost their will to fight and began murmuring in small voices.
"Can we even call that a technique or martial art?"
"If the initiation requirement is the Supreme Demon Realm, maybe."
"Not even Heaven-Sword, it’s Heaven-Love. Is he bragging that he’s henpecked or wha—urk!"
Though one foolish veteran’s abdomen was instantly pierced for spouting nonsense,
There was no need to go beyond the fourth form—by then, all fighting spirit from the Supreme Demon Palace was utterly crushed.
"So, will you continue?"
"……"
Everyone stayed silent, watching one another.
Only about a hundred remained.
And about half a keun of time left.
If those hundred were to charge at me, ready to burn their lives all at once, honestly, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to buy at least half a keun.
More than anything, their opponent was restricted by a vow not to kill.
But no one inside the hall dared to make a move.
Because most of them were thinking, ‘Isn’t this enough already?’
As that strange silence continued stretching on—
“I suppose there’s no need to go any further.”
The Vice-Leader of the Supreme Demon Palace, Ghost Shadow Demon, stepped forward and approached me.
Then he slowly lowered himself onto one knee—
Thud!
He slammed his head against the floor in a full obeisance.
“Vice-Leader of the Supreme Demon Palace, Ghost Shadow Demon Gonmu. I pledge my loyalty to the Fourth Generation Heavenly Demon.”
That was the beginning.
“Thousand-Life Killing Ghost, Cheon Sewoo, pledges loyalty to the sky of the Divine Cult.”
“Mad Warrior Jin Manho pledges his loyalty.”
“Blood-Willed Demon Sword, Ma Haryun, offers his blade to the new god.”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
All the veterans of the Supreme Demon Palace who still had their limbs intact simultaneously bowed their heads to the ground.
Even among those who had been knocked down, those who hadn't lost consciousness quietly lowered their heads from afar and pledged loyalty.
In the midst of that grand scene, I looked up at the sky, now completely red, and slowly closed my eyes.
‘I’ll come rescue you right away, so wait just a bit longer.’
Then I opened my eyes again and declared to them,
“From now on, I am your master.”
“We heed your command!”
The veterans of the Supreme Demon Palace responded in unison.
“Tend to the unconscious and have the injured recover their bodies. And once you’ve recovered…”
I turned my head and looked at Ma Chulsu and Pa Yeongyeong.
“We will return to the Cult.”
At those words, Pa Yeongyeong held her sword in a reverse grip and clasped her hands.
“If the Heavenly Demon Pavilion is under their control, we won’t be able to use the normal return route. What do you plan to do?”
If the Cult was seized by them, then just like the enemy, we would also have to stage a surprise attack.
But I shook my head.
“No. We’ll use the normal return route.”
“You’re crazy… No, what exactly are you thinking?”
Ma Chulsu questioned me in disbelief.
In response, I smirked and asked him back,
“Are you afraid?”
“Wha—what?! You think I, the Young Master of the Great Ma Clan, would fear those riffraff?!”
As Ma Chulsu shouted in fury, Pa Yeongyeong calmly advised,
“But if you choose to break through the front, our strength might be completely drained before we even reach the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.”
If we were just comparing raw power, that might be true.
But—
Even now, Pa Yeongyeong couldn’t clearly see the reality before her.
“Pa Yeongyeong.”
She bowed her head.
“Yes, Lord… no, Heavenly Demon.”
“Are you truly unaware of how you just addressed me?”
“……!”
Her eyes slowly widened.
“Be clear from now on who it is that leads you.”
Absolute.
The immutable supreme being who permits no rivals.
“We return to the Cult.”
“…We heed your command.”
Pa Yeongyeong dropped to one knee in obeisance.