The Heart Demon Tribulation
BOOM!
A thunderous roar tore through the heavens, and I watched thick smoke billowing up from the very heart of my domain. It was the Tribulation of Integration Grand Completion. This was the Tribulation I had been postponing with Jeon Myeong-hoon’s power after Buk Hyang-hwa’s death. I had expected something stronger once I removed the artificial delay, yet…
‘Is this the Tribulation of Integration Grand Completion?’
I let out a long sigh as faint electric currents still danced across my skin. The shock had been… immense.
Hiss—
Nan-gye Region.
An endless stretch of jagged rock mountains beside the Three Wood Grove. My Tribulation had shattered the entire area, leaving gaping spatial cracks that tore through the landscape itself. It wasn’t even the direct hit; the residual backlash from the Tribulation striking my body had been catastrophic enough. If my domain had been a normal Integration cultivator’s, it would have been ripped apart and crushed long before this.
Integration Body Comprehension.
Normal cultivators in the Heavenly Dao only filled their domains with energy and learned through repeated practice. I had always assumed that was the only way. Only after realizing that Integration domains were linked to the mind did I truly understand. Body Comprehension was never truly grasped unless one had already achieved Foresight Post-Comprehension. Jun-je and the vast majority of Integration Grand Completion cultivators had never truly comprehended it. They simply filled their domains and pretended.
‘That’s why the success rate for Star Shattering ascension is so abysmal… and even reaching Integration Grand Completion is rare.’
I chuckled bitterly while recalling the absurd power of the Tribulation I had just endured. Relying solely on the Heavenly and Earthly Twin Energies without the Void Shattering force, I had barely survived what should have been a mind-shattering ordeal.
‘Ordinary cultivators probably rely on laws or treasures to advance. When they rely on external things, they struggle to promote their own realm and fail at Star Shattering ascension…
I shook off the stray thoughts and waited for the final stage of the Integration Grand Completion Tribulation.
CRACK! CRACK!
The dark clouds that had been descending the Tribulation still lingered in the sky. Integration Grand Completion was a special realm—the final step before Star Shattering ascension. The Tribulation of this realm always brought one more trial at the end.
ROAR!
The dark clouds roared and began to descend slowly. Wait… upon closer inspection, those weren’t clouds at all. Shadows were falling from within the clouds. And the shadows already pressed flat against the ground began surging toward me. Heavenly and Earthly Directions. In the Six Directions of Heaven and Earth, pitch-black shadows swarmed. Shhh… shrrrk… shurrrurk…
I closed my eyes. From this moment forward, it was the Heart Demon Tribulation.
_* * *_
Integration Grand Completion.
Since Body Comprehension had been completed, a new type of Tribulation was added for cultivators. It belonged to the category of Heart Demons—darkness infused with the power of the soul aimed at Heavenly Dao cultivators. From Integration Grand Completion onward, one had to overcome this darkness to stabilize at the next realm. Countless cultivators called this “darkness bestowed by the world” the Heart Heaven Demon, likening it to the Heavenly Demon of the Blood Demon Realm.
Deep within the pitch-black darkness, figures began to appear inside Seo Eun-hyun’s mind. The darkness of the soul’s rank. Negative, sinister emotional torrents born from the world, reborn as Heart Heaven Demons and entering his mind.
[Hahahaha! What is this darkness!]
[It seems this fool is enjoying a bit of suffering in his mind!]
[True suffering for a cultivator only begins now, you fool!]
The Heart Heaven Demons laughed uproariously and reached into the depths of darkness with claw-like fingers.
[Kiiieeeek! Kurrrurk! Kryeeeeeeeg!]
What they pulled out was a monster. Its entire body blazed with flames, countless eyeballs dotted its skin, and tears streamed down its face in agony. The Heart Heaven Demons laughed at the sight.
[Huahahaha! Is this the essence of you?]
[How disgusting.]
[It looks pitiful and hard… I wonder what good a hard skin does when the inside is so soft!]
They laughed and dug into the monster’s soft flesh, tormenting it without mercy.
Then something strange happened. The monster being tortured by the Heart Heaven Demons suddenly smiled peacefully, closed its eyes, and fell asleep.
[…?]
[What did I eat by mistake…]
At that moment, one of the Heart Heaven Demons, idly scratching in the darkness, saw another monster dragged toward its claws.
[Eh…? What is this?]
He looked confused, alternating between the two monsters. They looked identical.
[This guy… a double personality?]
[No wonder it seemed like a lunatic’s mind. Judging by the despair of losing a companion, it’s someone who couldn’t protect anything and whose mind shattered…]
Right then.
KUGUGUGUGU!
The mind began to shake. And countless monsters began pouring toward the Heart Heaven Demons.
[H-heh…! ]
[What… what is that!]
They blocked the monsters in fear. But the numbers were overwhelming. The Heart Heaven Demons were outnumbered by newbs.
[Come together! ]
[Combine our strength to protect our domain! Gather or we die!]
They gritted their teeth and fought the tidal wave of monsters. But at that moment, one Heart Heaven Demon stared into the depths of darkness.
[Eh…]
POP!
The instant the Heart Heaven Demon looked inside, its body exploded, and a sword-shaped tree sprouted in its place. The tree burned fiercely, and endless wails of agony echoed from within. A hideous sword-tree that spewed darkness instead of light despite being on fire! The Heart Heaven Demons began to panic. And several more stared into the depths of darkness.
[Hwaaaak!]
[Kuaaa! Run…]
After they finished speaking, the remaining Heart Heaven Demons began to change. The survivors stared into the darkness in terror. And they shouted as if they had understood something.
[I-I see! It was the senior!]
[When Jun-seon cultivators promote, the senior appears to them! The Heart Demon senior at the Jun-seon level had already infested this cultivator’s mind!]
[Th-that! I was mistaken!]
The Heart Heaven Demons bowed toward the darkness and shouted.
[The Great Yin Soul has ordered us to ensure that no more Heavenly Dao cultivators in the Gwanghan Realm can ascend! We were gathered here because of that! We beg the senior not to violate his will…]
In the next instant, the noisy Heart Heaven Demon exploded and was absorbed into the darkness. A massive presence murmured from within the darkness.
[Shut up.]
KWOOM!
With it, all the Heart Heaven Demons were pulled into the darkness.
[Hwaaaaa!]
[The Heart Demon senior is angry!!]
[Run away!!!]
The Heart Heaven Demons fled in terror. But soon they were sucked into the darkness, and horrific screams began to echo from within.
[Kuaaaaaaaa!!!]
[Let me out!!! Please let me out!!!]
[What is this!!! What the hell is this!!!]
The Heart Heaven Demons who reached the outer side of the darkness listened to the screams and tried even harder to escape. But their minds twitched, and they were all pulled back inside.
[Kuaaaaa! Master! Master, please! Kuaaaak!]
Finally, even the last remaining Heart Heaven Demon was sucked into the depths of darkness. And in the deep darkness, Seo Eun-hyun’s eyes, which had absorbed the last Heart Demon into his heart, glowed.
“…Great Yin Soul?”
_* * *_
Blink.
I opened my eyes. The Heart Demon itself was nothing special. It was merely a collection of negative energies. Once I absorbed it into myself and melted it in pain, it would revert to its original form. But there was something that bothered me more. The Great Yin Soul. The information I had discovered while melting the Heart Heaven Demons. It wasn’t a proper name, but I understood its meaning. A great Yin. The [something] they referred to possessed the nature of great Yin, and that was why it was called the Great Yin Soul.
Thump… thump…
I looked at the sky. I had fully settled into Integration Grand Completion. The sky was clear, and no visible heavenly qi appeared. Yet I knew. Ever since I had listened to the Heart Heaven Demons’ words at the soul rank, I had felt it instinctively—the Gwanghan Realm had begun to deviate. ‘The something the Heart Heaven Demons call the Great Yin Soul has begun using power in the Gwanghan Realm.’
_* * *_
KUGUGUGUGU!
Gwanghan Realm.
One of the colony lands of the Jang-mok Clan. It was currently reduced to ashes beneath the floating Wondrous Castle.
Wiiiiiing!
Wasp-like puppets flew through the sky, capturing Jang-mok Clan cultivators and dragging them inside the Wondrous Castle. Inside the Wondrous Castle, hundreds of Jang-mok Clan cultivators were imprisoned in barrels, their heads fitted with iron rings and trembling violently. Goe-gun watched with sparkling eyes, stroking his chin.
“Ohoho… interesting, interesting, interesting… don’t you think? You?”
Goe-gun asked one of the Jang-mok cultivators with an intrigued expression.
“U-uh, w-what are you saying…?”
“Your minds are speaking! Analyzing the waves in your minds right now reveals the Seongsa of the Star Plate! The only thing in your minds is that!”
“…Y-yes. The Seongsa is our idol… of course.”
“No no no… that’s not the problem. I already know about your idols. But what’s interesting is that one in ten of you harbors a sinister intention toward that Seongsa’s form!”
Upon hearing those words, steam rose from the Jang-mok cultivator’s face. His expression twisted into something demonic, and Goe-gun laughed madly.
“Surprised? You harbor such intentions!?”
“…That perversion…”
“No, it’s accurate analysis! But the other perverse desires you have toward the Seongsa are none of my business. The real surprise is… one in ten! No matter which colony you raid! No matter how many ten people you capture! It’s always one in ten who harbor that sinister, ugly intention! Do you understand what that means?”
The Jang-mok cultivator tried to speak, but Goe-gun shoved both hands into his mouth, pressed his eyes into the cultivator’s throat, and shouted. It looked like he was greeting someone inside the cultivator’s throat.
“Clearly something is wrong! Hahahaha! Isn’t that right, [Black Hou]!?”
Inside the Jang-mok cultivator’s throat, dark yin qi surged. But the next moment, as Goe-gun opened his mouth, countless organs and puppet arms burst out from his own mouth and seized the black thing inside the Jang-mok cultivator. After a while, Goe-gun pulled out the black lump and his eyes sparkled.
“Hahahihi! Good, good, good! Thanks as always, [Black Hou]! Thanks to you, the new Heavenly Qi Calculation Device is progressing smoothly!”
Goe-gun shoved the captured black lump somewhere. The devices inside the Wondrous Castle began analyzing and decomposing the black lump into something else. The converted black substance moved to the transparent crystal chamber inside the Wondrous Castle and activated something. Flash!
The crystal chamber glowed, drawing constellations in the void. Goe-gun rubbed his hands furiously while watching.
“It’s really, really interesting… Even I, a Sachuk Grand Completion cultivator, see nothing when I look at the heavens… but when I calculate with this, it predicts a Great Evil in the Gwanghan Realm… it must be your doing too, right? [Black Hou]! Answer me!!”
Goe-gun forced another Jang-mok cultivator’s mouth open and stared into his throat, shouting toward the inside.
“Perfect! Continue!”
He drooled while glancing at the [Her] being modified in the back.
“Seeing the Star Shattering treasure up close was Cheon-un! Thanks to his data and experience, I could transform you into [True Star Shattering]!”
KUGUGUGUGU!
Behind [Her], a round spherical object was being dried.
“[Artificial Star]! Once this is completed and inserted into you, you will truly enter the Star Shattering realm… The power source is the problem. Even the Seopmyeong Ship’s power device isn’t enough to operate the artificial star… Can it run for about five seconds now…? But that’s fine. When the Great Evil sweeps the world, the Heavenly Dao will change!!”
Goe-gun laughed madly with eyes full of madness.
“If I process the entire Gwanghan Realm, I can definitely turn you into a Star Shattering cultivator!!”
Goe-gun hurriedly extracted the glowing red-black lumps from inside the Jang-mok cultivators and rushed [Her]’s modifications.
_* * *_
KWOOM!
Outside the Wondrous Castle.
In an endless wilderness, a 21-headed Ghost King appeared in the sky.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Below the Ghost King, dark clouds gathered in the heavens. Above the clouds surrounding the Ghost King, several figures stood. Kim Yeon, Oh Hyun-seok, Hong Beom, Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kim Young-hoon, Siho, Seo Ran, and others. The force gathered to confront Goe-gun.
Seo Eun-hyun, the Ghost King, looked at his own hands. ‘Strange…’
He read the heavenly qi of the sky again. ‘In all the heavens and earth… the power of the Demon is growing stronger.’
Because of that, the Ghost King’s ears and yin qi had become stronger than usual.
Krrung, Kurrung…
He looked far toward the Wondrous Castle. Dark clouds were also rising there. ‘…The thing just now…’
Feeling as if a red afterimage had flashed by, the Ghost King turned one of his 21 heads 180 degrees to the companions and said in a tense voice.
[From now on, I will begin the Gwanghan Purgation Operation.]