Chapter 448: The Overturned Heavens (9)
“Karmic Fate, is it…”
My words wavered on my tongue, and suddenly Master chuckled under his breath.
“That’s no name one would attach to a Martial Art. Then again, this isn’t really martial art, so it hardly matters.”
He reached out a hand toward me.
“Here, take it.”
On his palm, a dark-red orb-like object popped into existence.
It clearly contained something high-dimensional, but its true essence—even I in my current state—found it difficult to discern.
“I received it from the Founder. Seems you’ll need it in the not‑too‑distant future.”
The orb drifted slowly toward me and seeped into the area around my heart.
‘I feel nothing.’
Unlike when I retrieved the Founders’ fragments, no energy was gained or lost, nor did it affect my conscious thought.
Only a ripple, slight as a single drop falling into a silent lake, was all I perceived.
“I didn’t intend to give it to you like this at first.”
“……”
“I wanted to give you something under better circumstances…”
Master offered an awkward smile and bowed his head.
“As your teacher, all I did was trip you up. What a disgrace to my reputation.”
“…That’s not it.”
“Don’t give me that. Still, I’m glad I could do my part in the end.”
He slowly embraced me.
This place was originally a mental plane that transcends the physical. Very similar to the Muksa region known as the Musekgae.
Normally, all senses but mental communion would be sealed off here….
Yet somehow, warmth radiated from within Master’s embrace.
He patted my back and spoke.
“Why are you crying? That’s unmanly.”
“……”
Just as he said, I couldn’t suppress my emotion and tears fell.
There had been many meetings and farewells so far, but the bond with Master was truly special.
“Still, I suppose… it’s a relief.”
“What do you mean… Master?”
“Even after reaching a realm that touches the heavens, you remain this full of emotion. Heh… I truly did raise a fine disciple.”
As one ascends in realm of attainment and approaches a transcendent state, emotion normally fades, giving way to pure reason.
When I reached Supreme Demon Realm, I should have lost most emotions—that’s the natural course.
But Master rejoiced that I retained my feelings intact.
After another gentle pat on my back, he stepped away.
“It’s farewell now.”
“…Mas, ter.”
“There’s so much I want to say, but time won’t allow it.”
Crack!
Master’s perfectly whole form began to fracture.
From the start this wasn’t a physical body. His physical vessel as Four Atrocities Chaos had long since vanished.
His mind, affected by that loss, was now about to completely disappear from this world.
A true cessation beyond the wheel of reincarnation.
This was the end and fate Master met, struck by my own full power.
“I trust Cheong‑i will take good care of you. I regret that my wanderings kept me from being a proper father.”
I nodded slowly.
“Yes. As brothers, Cheong‑i and I will care for him our whole lives.”
“No need. Just watch over him until he can stand on his own. Too much care spoils a child.”
As ever, Master held firm to his philosophy even in his final moment.
“If there’s any lingering regret… is it Baekryeo? Ah, damn.”
He frowned and scratched his head fiercely.
“I don’t know why regrets overflow, when I should be letting them go.”
“……”
“Anyway, I’m really going now. Live well, eat well… have just three children. More than that is hard to raise.”
A mischievous smile touched the wrinkles at his mouth.
“Farewell… my disciple.”
Fssss!
At last, Master’s spiritual form completely vanished.
As he faded, the Bright Net Karmic Fate space that had been created expelled me back to reality.
“……”
Upon returning to the real world, I found myself surrounded by shards of chaos—pure white fragments scattered about—and a core essence radiating an ominous, blindingly white light.
Kraak!
Without hesitation, I shattered the essence of Chaos.
The immense power contained within lost its form and tried to scatter, but with a single flick of my hand, the power vanished without affecting the human realm.
Having destroyed the Essense of Chaos, I retrieved the masterless sword of Master.
Upon its blade, faint blue light shimmered, and these words were inscribed.
Eternal Azure Sword
"This... should be given to Cheong‑i."
I was not qualified to wield this sword.
In all of Heaven and Earth, there was only one person who could be the next master of this Eternal Azure Sword.
I carefully retrieved the Eternal Azure Sword and looked up at the peak of Soaring Demon Peak.
Thanks to the barrier cast by the Hwan Clan still holding firm, the energy hadn't yet spilled outward...
Yet somehow, I felt a strange will emanating from the energy gathered at the peak—it did not care whether the ritual succeeded or not.
"Wait just a bit longer. I'm coming to save you now."
Leaving my master’s position behind, I took a step toward the summit of Soaring Demon Peak.
It didn’t take long to reach the entrance to the summit.
Before long, the entrance to a barrier that rejected the life of any living being came into view.
It felt like I was standing before the gate to the Underworld.
Right in front of the entrance stood a young man in snow-white martial robes, who bowed respectfully toward me.
"Welcome, noble one."
His appearance had changed greatly, but there was no way I wouldn’t recognize him.
"I figured you’d return eventually, but you look better than I expected."
He was an elder of the Hae-nam Sect, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and also the Grand Advisor of the imperial court...
The Priest of Heavenly Evil, Sixth Heavenly Lord Sangseon.
The Sixth Heavenly Lord gave a small self-deprecating chuckle.
"Isn’t this what it means to have a leash around one’s neck?"
A man who could not even die unless the will of his master permitted it.
That was the existence known as the Sixth Heavenly Lord.
'Killing this one would be meaningless.'
Now, he was nothing more than a punching bag. Nothing more, nothing less.
Unless he dared to provoke me first, there was no need to touch him...
"The Grand Heavenly Lord awaits you with bated breath."
"She's waiting for me?"
Had he not stationed my master halfway up the peak to desperately prevent me from arriving?
If what he said was true...
"Go on ahead."
The Sixth Heavenly Lord stepped aside and gestured politely inward.
"Go... and fall into despair."
"..."
I let out a hollow laugh at his pathetic attempt at provocation.
Step. Step.
I was about to pass him and head toward the summit of Soaring Demon Peak when—
Smack!
Without hesitation, I reached out and grabbed him by the neck.
“Ghk!”
Caught off guard, the Sixth Heavenly Lord struggled instinctively.
"I prohibit you from using all the power you possess."
With Sword Intent, I pressed down on everything he was, and his weak resistance died out immediately.
"A-An Incantation?!"
All his internal energy and sorcery sealed, the Sixth Heavenly Lord looked down at me with terrified eyes.
"An Incantation... well, something like that, I suppose."
He had cultivated martial arts and sorcery to a fairly high degree across the board, but had not reached the extreme in any field.
That was why he was completely helpless against my Sword Intent.
"A being like you... venting your anger... on a lowly one like me..."
"Yes. Normally, I wouldn’t even bother reacting to the provocation of a lowly creature like you."
I looked up at the Sixth Heavenly Lord, who was thrashing in my grip, with cold eyes.
"But I’m an emotional person. And I get angry easily."
"W-What?!"
"Right now, I feel like I’ll go mad if I don’t slaughter every last one of those Heaven-Defying Society bastards who did that to my master."
Crack! Creak!
Demonic Qi of the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art flowed into his throat.
"Even if you kill me... it’s meaningless... I will... be resurrected..."
"You think you can come back? Do you really believe that?"
"...!!"
A faint fear appeared in the eyes of the Sixth Heavenly Lord.
He must have witnessed the annihilation of Chaos here with his own eyes—my words weren’t something he could laugh off.
"Draining energy to shatter your immortality is a huge loss, but..."
I immediately activated Yorang’s sorcery.
"As expected, the fire inside me still won’t settle."
Heavenly Flower Devouring Technique
Ten Thousand Feedings
"T-This is?!"
In the way it shattered the target's origin, Heavenly Flower Devouring Technique shared a similar nature with Bright Net Annihilating the Heavens.
But unlike the still-rough Bright Net Annihilating the Heavens, Heavenly Flower Devouring Technique was a perfected Divine Sorcery, polished over thousands of years by Yorang.
More than anything, when dealing with a sorcerer, few techniques were as lethal as Heavenly Flower Devouring Technique.
"The c-contract...!"
"I owed her back at Lady Cheon Yujeong’s incident. If you hadn’t manipulated her, she wouldn’t have met such an end."
"L-Lady Cheon Yujeong? That woman wasn’t even your enemy..."
"She wasn’t an enemy."
The fangs of Heavenly Flower Devouring Technique appeared behind the Sixth Heavenly Lord and bit down, consuming his entire body.
"She was my friend."
Panicked, the Sixth Heavenly Lord cried out desperately toward the inner sanctum.
"G-Grand Heavenly Lord! Please, have mercy on this lowly servant...!"
His pitiful cries echoed.
But from within, no saving hand reached out.
"The path my master walks will be quite lonely, so be his companion for a while."
"N-No...!"
"Yes."
Crunch! Crack!
With a final scream, the body of the Sixth Heavenly Lord began to compress gruesomely.
Though he had maintained immortality through contracts with others, against ancient Divine Sorcery or techniques that struck at the origin, such tricks were useless.
Having thus erased the Sixth Heavenly Lord, I calmly stepped forward into the barrier.
'Despair, huh...'
Even if some despair awaited me ahead—
I would destroy the Grand Heavenly Lord and save Yura.
Thus, I arrived at the summit of Soaring Demon Peak.
I had expected to see an altar for the Cult Leader ascension ritual, but what appeared before my eyes was something I never could have anticipated.
"Heavenly Demon Pavilion?"
The Heavenly Demon Pavilion, which should have crumbled and vanished, now stood firm atop the peak of Soaring Demon Peak.
"……."
The red light pouring down upon the Heavenly Demon Pavilion reminded me strangely of its final moment in my previous life—when it was engulfed in fierce flames.
Naturally, there were no guards or Guardian Lions to be seen.
Creak!
I slowly opened the iron doors of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion and stepped inside.
A sense of déjà vu swept over me.
If I continued down this corridor to the end...
Somehow, I felt that at the end would not be the Grand Heavenly Lord, but—
"Welcome, my lord."
At the far end of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.
In the hall where the Cult Leader was received—
There, unlike before, sat a beautiful woman with softened eyes and a seductive smile, greeting me.
"You arrived quicker than I thought. I almost wasn’t ready to welcome you, my dear lord."
"……."
With trembling eyes, I looked upon the woman before me.
Cheon Yura, radiating a soft white and serene aura throughout her entire body, sat upon the throne, gazing down at me.