Chapter 466: The Night Before (2)
Bzzzt-!
Bolts of thunder infused with the hue of black gold filled the heavens and earth.
At a glance, it seemed like a cataclysmic natural disaster, evoking the overwhelming violence of nature—but in truth, what lay before my eyes was a man-made catastrophe.
“Ha ha ha ha! It feels good to use my strength again after so long!”
Rumble! Rumble!
The once-clear skies above Heaven of Sacred Spirits had turned pitch-black, saturated with thunderclouds.
Amidst those clouds, standing with arms outstretched in joy, was an old general.
His once-yellow hair, reminiscent of a Westerner, had turned completely white, but his robust frame and bronze-toned skin were just as I remembered from his youth.
The only thing that had changed...
“Come on, our new youngest. Let’s have ourselves a proper round of fist-throwing with this Senior Brother!”
Golden Demon God, Sa Gumhui, let out a hearty lion’s roar.
‘I don’t recall Senior Brother Sa having such a boisterous personality.’
“Wahaha!”
Regardless of how I looked at him, Sa Gumhui began sealing the dispersed thunder qi throughout the area into his own body.
“…!”
Cheon U Divine Thunder Art
Descent of the Thunder Demon
The thunder qi that had spread in all directions surged into him in an instant.
The sound of thunder qi crackling and tearing through the air rang violently in my ears.
Even a seasoned expert would have suffered ruptured eardrums and bleeding under that pressure.
But what astonished me wasn’t the pressure—it was the fact that he had contained the thunder qi within his body.
That had allowed his physical form to become one with nature.
“Take this, youngest!”
His fist reached my nose before the sound could.
Even though it was lightning-fast, it wasn’t beyond my ability to react.
Naturally, I extended one palm to block Sa Gumhui’s strike.
Rumble!
Though it was merely fist against palm, the sound that erupted between us was anything but ordinary.
What I collided with wasn’t a fist—it was thunder.
‘He’s transformed his body into thunder!’
I could understand that he had expelled his thunder qi outward to fuse with nature’s energy, amplifying and then reabsorbing it.
Putting aside how the reabsorbed thunder qi might differ in quality from qi refined through internal arts, how could one’s very body become lightning?
‘There was no such thunder transformation technique in the Black Gold Sa Clan.’
The previous strongest of the Black Gold Sa Clan was Thunder Commander Sa Myeongnin.
Had she mastered such a technique, even a master turned Four Atrocities like Master wouldn’t have overcome her easily.
‘There’s likely some insight still buried deep in the clan’s inner archives.’
Unlike the techniques of the other Senior Brothers that could be learned even below the realm of Extreme Demon, the technique Sa Gumhui used—Descent of the Thunder Demon—was clearly at the threshold of the Transcendent Demon Realm.
It was certain the minimum entry requirement for that was the latter stage of Transcendent Demon Realm.
It would be on par with Yoo Jeon’s Heart’s Path Transcending Resentment or Ma Seoyeon’s Temporal Island in terms of difficulty.
“Haha ha ha!”
Boom boom boom!
His hearty laughter echoed as bolts of lightning relentlessly pounded my defensive barrier.
‘Tch!’
It wasn’t just the speed. The real marvel was the precision.
Though it seemed violent and chaotic, this barrage was in truth the epitome of controlled stillness within motion—an artfully calculated onslaught.
Just then, the Heavenly Demon Founder’s voice softly rang from afar.
“Do not get buried in the thunder transformation.”
“…!”
“Even if that technique looks miraculous, if you understand its principle, you too can perform it.”
The Heavenly Demon Founder continued.
“What you need to focus on is how he handles the thunder transformation. You must discern the ultimate technique hidden beneath the dazzling facade of lightning.”
He too was an absolute being who had reached the Supreme Demon Realm by finding his own answer.
“Though he’s judged harshly due to his womanizing, Gumhui’s talent itself is second to none among the disciples.”
Indeed, that was true.
Even Master had only barely managed to manifest the water attribute through his sword.
To transcend even Master and express the thunder attribute so vividly through the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art—such a person could never be ordinary.
Sa Gumhui, who had continued hammering away at my barrier, smirked.
“Youngest, how long are you just going to keep blocking?”
“…Don’t act like you’re the real Senior Brother.”
No matter how much he spoke like Sa Gumhui, the figure before me wasn’t the real Sa Gumhui.
What stood before me was, ultimately, the will of the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword.
Because the lightning acted like a veil of Sword Intent, it was difficult to read what lay inside, which caused confusion.
But still—
‘I won’t cling to the outcome of the duel itself.’
I steal. I learn. And I feel.
Desperately, I began breaking down and reconstructing the technique known as Descent of the Thunder Demon.
Several hours passed.
“How was it?”
The Heavenly Demon Founder asked Sa Gumhui.
Sa Gumhui responded without dispelling the veil of Sword Intent.
“Impressive. That thunder transformation must’ve been a first for him, yet his adaptability is exceptional. Rather than simply having good instincts… it seems he's had a lot of combat experience against non-martial artists.”
Sa Gumhui stretched with a refreshed expression, as if he had thoroughly enjoyed the rampage.
His gaze turned toward the youngest, who had entered breathing meditation in the distance.
“If he had drawn his sword, it would’ve been dangerous.”
“Indeed.”
The Heavenly Demon Founder nodded without hesitation.
Even if they could exert near-peak divine might here, it was still only “near.”
Like Ma Seoyeon, who remained in the original Thousand Day Pass, they were but fragments of thought—bound by the limits of their very nature.
“At this rate, he will surely uncover a clue to True Martiality.”
The Heavenly Demon Founder agreed.
It wasn’t something to say lightly to someone who had come this far, but his potential was undeniable.
“But… is there truly a need to keep hiding it?”
Flinch!
Sa Gumhui’s brow twitched slightly.
A rather meaningful remark.
He quickly regained composure and shrugged, averting his gaze.
“They’re all rather shy.”
His tone carried a tinge of self-mockery.
“We’ve changed a lot since the days of Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain. The ones Master remembers are certainly the people we were back then.”
“He will understand.”
“It’s about how we feel. Even if we joined forces for Seoyeon’s sake one last time… you know how it is. Even if that kid knows how we ended, we’d rather remain dignified Senior Brothers than show an unsightly side.”
“I see...”
The Heavenly Demon Founder exhaled a rare, heavy sigh.
“I have no right to say otherwise. I respect that choice.”
“……”
“……”
Their timelines differed, and so too did their perspectives.
Because they understood that, they said no more and chose silence.
It was Sa Gumhui who finally broke it.
“What do you think? Do you believe there’s any chance of winning against Heavenly Evil?”
“Not much.”
“So, there is a chance.”
“If they burn everything, perhaps it’s possible. But is that truly the future they desire?”
Sa Gumhui fell silent.
“I prefer a happy ending. No—”
More precisely.
“I just hope that their descendants, at least, find a happy ending unlike ours.”
“…Yes, we feel the same.”
Sa Gumhui agreed without hesitation.
Even after the spar with Sa Gumhui ended, the will of the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword transformed into other Senior Brothers, displaying their ultimate techniques to me.
Unlike Sa Gumhui, who had been fairly talkative, the next to appear—Jin Gwanchun and Pa Gooncheong in their elder years—remained nearly completely silent, simply demonstrating their techniques without a word.
I had secretly hoped for similar friendliness as with Sa Gumhui, but it seemed they had no intention of maintaining the act.
And then—
“……”
“……?”
The next to appear was an old man whose ragged appearance was enough to inspire the phrase “unsightly to behold.”
His body was covered in burns, and it wasn’t hard to guess that this was none other than Murder Demon So Jeong.
After ignoring me for a while as he scanned the area, So Jeong suddenly spoke.
“My will has already been passed to someone. So I won’t bother transmitting my ultimate technique.”
His tone had changed drastically from the previous So Jeong, who had stuttered heavily.
“More importantly, unlike the others, you don’t need to learn my technique. The skills of an assassin are best passed to another assassin. You’d be better off learning countermeasures for divine arts from Hwan Jeong. But…”
Tsssss!
In an instant, an intangible killing intent began to pour from So Jeong’s entire body.
“…!”
The skin all over my body bristled in response.
“Still, it’s best to see it at least once. The essence should be the same.”
Chill—
From the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword in So Jeong’s hand, something dark and ominous pulsed—different from anything seen until now.
“You’d better draw it now. The highest tower you’ve built.”
So Jeong truly intended to kill me.
“If you don’t… you’ll die before you ever stand beside Master.”
True Kill
So Jeong did something in an instant.
And the moment I sensed that “something,” I instinctively unleashed the Bright Net Karmic Fate.
Slice!
A threadlike capillary opened across my neck.
I immediately gave up counterattacking and clutched my nape with all my strength.
“Oh?”
A faint murmur of astonishment escaped So Jeong’s lips.
“You blocked it?”
“…Can that really be called blocking?”
“If you’re not dead, then it’s blocked.”
So Jeong withdrew his sword.
“For a brief moment, I felt a massive spatial distortion centered on you. That distortion saved your life.”
“……”
Unlike when I unleashed it on Master earlier, there had been no grand change.
Before that change could even begin, the Bright Net Karmic Fate had been nullified by So Jeong’s strike.
Just as So Jeong said a moment ago—
‘If I hadn’t instantly drawn out the Bright Net Karmic Fate, I definitely would’ve died.’
No matter how special the environment of Heaven of Sacred Spirits was, if I had died from that strike, would I really have resurrected?
Honestly, I couldn’t say for sure.
“If it had been properly unleashed, it would’ve been quite spectacular. Perhaps it could’ve completely blocked it, but my True Kill was faster.”
“…Please teach me.”
Suppressing the bleeding as much as possible, I bowed my head to So Jeong.
So Jeong nodded and explained.
“The principle is the same. Just like how Master pierced your abdomen after breaking through your defense, this is of the same essence.”
But I still hadn’t grasped what that essence was.
Only by understanding that essence could I obtain the core of Heart’s Path Transcending Resentment from the will of the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword.
“You manifest force through power, fix form with thought, and distort law with will. Then, what comes next?”
“……”
“No, what is the Wuji in the first place? If divine arts are the peak of a sorcerer, what’s the pinnacle for a martial artist?”
I was about to answer “transcendent techniques,” but held my tongue.
Somehow, I had a strong instinct that wasn’t the answer he was looking for.
“True Martiality. That’s what we called the techniques wielded by martial artists who reached the realm of gods.”
Ssshk!
Before I realized it, So Jeong had leaned his head in close, just in front of me.
“Attain True Martiality. Only then can you kill Heavenly Evil and save your beloved.”
“……”
“You can reach a different ending from ours. So please…”
Drip.
“Don’t fail.”
I was left speechless as I saw the blood beginning to stream from So Jeong’s eyes.