The Demon and the Lord (1)
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE!
The world began to change.
The heavens turned blood-red.
The shadows of the entire lower realm started flickering as if they were alive.
Ooooooooo-
Negative energy temporarily projected human-like figures, and countless Demon Beasts began sprouting up.
Of course, everyone around me was fleeing in panic, but to the average people of the lower realm, this was fatal.
I was sweating coldly as I looked up.
I felt it.
The [Light] had been cut off.
Just like in the Demon Realm, no heavenly qi was being read from the sky anymore.
At the same time, I felt the Hwahonmancheon inside my body writhing madly.
'This is…'
I understood.
There was no longer any heavenly qi flowing in that sky.
What flowed instead was the [Purple Soul Filling the Heavens]!
[…I see now.]
I recalled Yuk Rin.
The mysterious technique that had formed an affinity with Hyeol-eum through Yuk Rin’s Dragon Vein.
That technique was clearly meant to form an affinity with the [Purple Soul Filling the Heavens].
'Back in the day, the Purple Soul Filling the Heavens that I found in the Purple Soul Jade was inherited from Hyeol-eum.'
The Purple Soul Filling the Heavens was completed through inheritance.
And the one that had resided inside the Purple Soul Jade was inherited ‘from Hyeol-eum.’
I knew that the Hwahonmancheon would react to the Purple Soul Filling the Heavens in the sky above, but it would never merge with it.
So I let out a sigh of relief.
From the moment my Hwahonmancheon awakened, this technique had completely escaped Hyeol-eum’s influence.
'Thank you, Ryeo-hwa.'
Thanks to Ryeo-hwa, my soul remained safe.
But it was not a time to be at ease.
'The world is changing…'
KUGUGUGUGU!
Thick demonic blood qi.
WOOOOONG!
The drop of Original Blood that I had been hiding in a corner of my domain started reacting madly.
I had been keeping even a tiny fragment of it in storage ever since it became useless long ago.
That fragment of Original Blood began reacting to the power of the Underworld.
I sent it outward, and the drop immediately started absorbing the demonic blood qi, beginning to regenerate its body.
Gurgle, gurgle!
In an instant, the cultivation level of the regenerated Original Blood began to rise.
It exceeded the Nascent Soul stage, surpassed the Heavenly Person realm, and was now at the Four Pillars level! The cultivation of the Original Blood was exploding!
Swaaaah-
At the same time, a sinister light glinted in the eyes of the Original Blood.
[…Who are you?]
I asked, knowing the body had been seized by something.
And the Original Blood answered with a sinister smile.
'Have you been well, Lord…'
KWAH!
It was Seo Hyeol.
I didn’t even think—I pulled out the Colorless Glass Sword and jammed it straight into its mouth.
Twitch, twitch…
But Seo Hyeol created another mouth near the throat through the Original Blood and continued speaking.
'You’re too aggressive, Lord… Hahaha…'
'Why did you come here?'
I pushed my Asim-geom into its soul and warned it.
It smiled faintly.
'I have come to possess you according to the orders of my master, Lord Hyeol-eum. Since it’s a Star-Shattering level Demon Beast, I had to be careful.'
'…'
I looked into Seo Hyeol’s eyes.
It looked back at mine and smiled.
'…'
Sring!
I pulled the sword out of its mouth again.
Madmen had their own ways of communicating, after all.
But I read its true intent from within the darkness of Seo Hyeol and began twisting its body with my affinity.
Seo Hyeol stretched both hands out as if trying to possess me and clung to me.
And through my dream connection, I asked.
—I understand what you mean.
Interpreting it in Seo Hyeol’s language: ‘Hyeol-eum is neither my master nor someone I want to follow, so let’s kill him together. There is a way since it’s a Star-Shattering level Demon Beast.’
What a joke.
Just the other day, Seo Hyeol had called himself Hyeol-eum.
—But how can I trust you? It was you who betrayed me back when I was Kang Min-hee.
Seo Hyeol answered with a faint smile.
'I will take the flesh, Seo Dou… haha…'
—I have obtained a fake Hyeon-go paper. After making the contract owner Lord Seo Dou, the contract will be overwhelmingly advantageous to you, and there will be no worry of betrayal.
I rolled my eyes.
'You think it will go your way?'
—If you don’t betray me?
'Accept it. This is fate. The lower realm is over, and this world will become the Underworld.'
—Then I will make a contract under the assumption that you will betray me. Do not trust it and use it. I need Lord Seo Dou right now, and Lord Seo Dou needs my knowledge.
'The lower realm will become the Underworld…?'
—If things go wrong, I have ways to blow everything up, right? Give me a reason I should trust you. Seeing how you’re avoiding the question by saying you never swore allegiance to my main body, I can’t believe you.
'I should explain the purpose of our master. To begin with, do you know why the Underworld Heavenly Lords were targeting the lower realm so fiercely? They had better options like the Demon Realm or the Ghost Realm. Why the lower realm when the Demon Realm or Purple Gold Realm would have been fine?'
—Hmmm, fine. Since I’m in a sorry state right now, I’ll step back for a moment. I will tell you a method to earn your trust. Drop Lord Seo Dou’s ‘Superior Divine Blood’ onto the fake Hyeon-go paper. Then trust will sprout between us.
I looked at Seo Hyeol with suspicion.
Carefully watching the blood-red sky above, we were verbally eroding each other with demonic beasts and countering them with smoke, and through my dream connection we were having a proper conversation.
But from my perspective, I couldn’t be sure whether this was truly ‘proper conversation.’
'Just spouting nonsense… What scheme is he trying to pull?'
While suspecting him, I prepared to drop the Superior Divine Blood onto one of the fake Hyeon-go papers inside my domain.
For now, nothing seemed particularly strange.
He had no Takhonmancheon, and no suspicious signs.
'But this guy is still the same unknown.'
Puk!
I connected my Gimyoseongsimjeon with Seo Hyeol’s consciousness.
'What is it… Hyeol-eum… Tell me the reason you’re targeting the lower realm…!'
—I connected our consciousnesses. Even if you cut the connection and run, it’s useless. My Asim-geom will chase you until the end and reconnect. If this Hyeon-go paper causes my spirit to connect to some True Immortal realm or to be under observation, you will have to suffer the same side effects with me.
'…It’s too obvious, isn’t it? You know it well. [Myeongma Jin-gun, Chief Judge of the Underworld, Yu Ho-deok] and [Gwang-han, the Cold Lunar Heavenly King], [Haening, Second Judge], [Yu Su-ryeon, Reincarnation Judge], and [Ban-ta, the Purple Gold Heavenly Lord]! The five Lords fought a battle against [something] in the Ilwol Cheonyeok, and they all died…'
'KUAHAHAK!'
'This snake brat…'
Black blood poured from my entire body, and Seo Hyeol took quite a shock, causing the Original Blood to melt and drip everywhere.
But the demonic blood qi entered its body, and it was recovering rapidly.
—I will endure it. So please drop the Superior Divine Blood on the Hyeon-go paper.
I had already split my consciousness beforehand to prepare for the possibility that dropping the Superior Divine Blood would immediately seize control of my mind, then dropped it onto the Hyeon-go paper.
Chwaaaak!
At the same moment, I felt part of my consciousness move somewhere.
'Where is this…?'
CLANG!
When I came to, my consciousness was standing on top of one pan of a scale.
On the other pan sat Seo Hyeol in lotus position.
I glared at it.
'You… Where is this place…!'
'No need to worry, Dou. Here, there’s no need to speak carefully. First, please look at [the one holding the scale].'
Without thinking, I looked at the top pan of the scale.
It wasn’t because of Seo Hyeol’s words, but because it felt like ‘it must be like that.’
'…!'
And what I saw was a giant.
No, it wasn’t even something that could be called a giant.
A divine being!
It was a god of chaos condensed into a colossal form.
Its size was so vast that one could only vaguely sense ‘it is large,’ but the true scale was impossible to imagine.
Seo Hyeol smiled faintly from the opposite pan and said,
'Please show your manners, Seo Dou. You are the human-race immortal beast, the [God of Names]. The supreme authority of all contracts and oaths… the Immortal Beast Xuan-gu… the Supreme Emperor of the Nine Heavens who governs the High Path and protects the birth of heaven…'
Seo Hyeol bowed to Xuan-gu on the opposite pan, and I hurriedly did the same.
But Xuan-gu showed no reaction.
What was before us now was not the main body, but some law.
I looked up at the colossal divine being of steam and sensed something strange.
'It’s definitely an existence above True Immortal level… but why does it feel normal?'
It was then that Seo Hyeol laughed and answered.
'I have seen the Ancestor God. You are the seed of the human-race immortal beast.'
The human-race immortal beast, Xuan-gu.
That meant my companion and this divine being were of the same race in some sense.
'…So this is the method you were talking about?'
'That would be accurate. I don’t know how fortunate you are to possess the blood of antiquity. When the Hyeon-go paper meets the power of the ancients, it pulls the targets into the sanctuary of contracts and oaths governed by Xuan-gu. Here, there is no need to worry about Hyeol-eum’s gaze.'
KUGUGUGUGU!
I nodded, feeling the majestic qi of Xuan-gu.
Certainly, the sacred and divine aura emanating from this divine being was no ordinary thing.
It could be felt even at the genetic level that even someone like Hyeol-eum could not casually probe it.
I asked Seo Hyeol,
'If we make a contract here, will you be trustworthy?'
'Indeed. A contract made here cannot be broken by a mortal, and even if I become an immortal True Immortal, I cannot exceed the level of Xuan-gu. Fate will assist the contract, and even if someone tries to break it, the Heavenly Sovereign will adjust things so that they cannot.'
I nodded.
'If that’s the case… I could even trust a scoundrel like Sarasu.'
But after nodding, I hardened my expression.
'…Tell me. Why is someone who never gives absolute trust pulling out such a card and joining hands with me? Why is Hyeol-eum’s purpose so serious that you’re willing to do this just to join my side?'
And Seo Hyeol’s smile faded.
It wasn’t completely gone, but thinking about how his smile vanished only when he truly faced his own nature, it meant the matter was extraordinarily grave.
'Just now, I mentioned avoiding Hyeol-eum’s gaze. The five great existences fought against [something], and the five great existences are dead.'
'That’s right.'
'Indeed, all five great existences are dead. However, the second strongest, Yu Ho-deok, succeeded in leaving even a scrap.'
It seemed that here, the names of True Immortals could be said freely.
The truth of Hyeol-eum began to flow from Seo Hyeol’s mouth.
'The judge of morality who seized the left side of good and evil, Yu Ho-deok. His scrap seized only the left side of his great power—‘evil deeds’—and was reborn anew.'
The facts I had vaguely guessed were confirmed once more by Seo Hyeol’s words. Since I had already suspected them, I only nodded without surprise.
But I could not hide my shock at the next revelation.
'However… if the second strongest left a scrap, what did the strongest, Gwang-han, leave behind?'
'What did he leave?'
'His life.'
'…?'
'Fifty thousand years ago, the strongest god, Gwang-han, fought against [something]… and [still had a life attached to him].'
Bam!
I looked at Seo Hyeol with bewildered eyes, and he continued.
'The soul of Gwang-han vanished somewhere and became brain-dead, but even in a vegetative state, only its flesh remains [alive]. Right now, even now.' --- ---