Chapter 207: Demonic Arts (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 207: Demonic Arts (2)
Demonic Arts.
This was a power bestowed by the Heavenly Demon, a blessing for those who walked the demonic path. Alongside Demonic Qi, it served as the fastest means to break through one's limits and step into an entirely new realm.
Demonic Qi enhanced the body and martial arts, much like Blood Qi. However, depending on the user's mastery, they could be consumed by that very power, eventually losing their minds. I had witnessed far too many people turn into monsters after being devoured by Demonic Qi.
But Demonic Arts were different.
Once received, they became a new power in their own right, capable of evolving when fused with the user's own strength. As I mentioned with my Demonic Absorption Art, it was an entirely new power granted to me by the Heavenly Demon—the ability to absorb Demonic Qi directly from Demonic Stones.
Thanks to this, I could manage the extreme Qi consumption of my Fire Arts. At the same time, the Demonic Qi amplified my martial techniques, making my flames even more potent. The final result was a Black Flame infused with Demonic Qi.
Of course, thanks to that, I was stuck with a dogshit title for what felt like an eternity.
If I ever find the bastard who came up with that name, I’m going to kill him.
Anyway, Demonic Arts compensated for a martial artist's flaws and shortcomings, allowing them to achieve their desires and goals much faster. That was the power granted by the Heavenly Demon—a means of progressing quicker than anyone else. How could any martial artist striving for greater heights resist such temptation?
The reason so many ended up becoming Demonic Humans wasn't just due to the Heavenly Demon's overwhelming strength. Many simply couldn't overcome their own bottlenecks. They yearned for power and ultimately succumbed to that lure.
And I, who knew all too well where that path led, could hardly fail to recognize the energy and aura emanating from the Palace Lord.
Demonic Arts.
It was undoubtedly Demonic Arts.
A vile energy that made it hard to breathe. The black mist seeping from the Palace Lord was composed of pure Demonic Qi.
When I had encountered other martial artists of the Black Palace before, I sensed they carried Demonic Qi as well. Though it felt nastier and more corrupted than what I was familiar with, something about them felt incomplete—I couldn't quite label them true Demonic Humans. They were in a state where the Demonic Qi hadn't fully merged with their bodies.
But the Palace Lord was different.
That bastard is a genuine Demonic Human.
Not only did he use more Demonic Qi than ordinary Qi when executing his techniques, but the density and purity of that energy could only belong to a true Demonic Human.
I’d heard the Palace Lord’s martial art resembled a black fog, but…
All I had to go on were secondhand accounts. This was the first time I was seeing it with my own eyes.
I’m certain of it.
I could never mistake Demonic Qi.
That bastard was absolutely a Demonic Human.
If the Palace Lord had already become one, that meant the Black Palace was somehow connected to the Demonic Cult—or even the Heavenly Demon himself.
…Which means the Heavenly Demon is already somewhere in this world.
I had half-expected this. Although the Heavenly Demon's first appearance in my past life was when he tore through the void from the Demonic Realm—also known as the Abyss—I had already considered the possibility that he might be lurking somewhere in this world already.
Is the Heavenly Demon inside the Palace right now?
I prayed that wasn't the case. If the Heavenly Demon I knew was truly here, then everyone could die. At least, that was the Heavenly Demon I remembered.
After uncovering the Black Palace's secrets and meeting the Blood Demon, I knew something like this was possible.
Fuck.
Given how my predictions about bad things were never wrong, I grew extremely anxious. Why did my life have to be so shitty?
Sigh. Still, since the Palace Lord is here, Gu Huibi should be safe for now.
I had deliberately broken through the wall and unleashed my energy, causing a huge disturbance, all to draw the Palace Lord's attention. It was because the Marble of Celestial Captivation had suddenly activated on its own, showing me a vision—Gu Huibi speaking with the Palace Lord in a prison cell.
But then the situation turned dangerous.
…If I had been even a moment later…
Gu Huibi would have died. The hesitation in the Palace Lord's gaze and the subtle shift in his hand were enough to guess his intentions.
Bastard.
I didn't have time to think of another plan, so I resorted to causing a scene. Of course, that put them on even higher alert.
But I had no other choice.
If I hadn't acted, it would have been over anyway.
I tightened my grip on Namgung Bi-ah’s arm. She understood immediately and suppressed her Qi presence. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Suppressing one’s presence isn’t easy.
It was almost ridiculous. I had been ready to cast a Qi Barrier over her if she failed, but she managed it effortlessly.
For now, we had avoided detection. But the real problem started here.
This is going to be tough.
After that commotion, their security would be at its peak. What's more, there was no guarantee the Palace Lord wouldn't try to kill Gu Huibi again.
If he intended to kill her, why go through the trouble of kidnapping her in the first place?
I needed to figure out why he abducted her, but no matter how I racked my brain, it didn’t make sense. This never happened in my past life, and I still didn’t know what the Black Palace's true goal was.
Charging in recklessly is too dangerous.
Even the leader of the Seven Night Assassins, the Dark King, would hesitate to rush into a situation like this. The interior of the formation was completely different from the outside. To begin with, the fog that had shrouded the area was gone, making it far easier for enemies to spot us if we slipped up.
Even the terrain had changed.
How is something like this possible?
Not only had they concealed their base from the outside, but they had also transformed the Palace into what felt like another world. I had never seen anything like it…
No, wait—I have!
I remembered one instance. A place where I encountered an equally absurd formation: the secret vault of the Golden Sky Yeon Clan in Sichuan. This felt similar to what I saw back then.
Is it a coincidence?
It felt too strange to be mere chance, yet it also didn’t feel right to assume a connection.
This is most likely the Great Oni’s work.
That old man, covered in age spots, who managed the Demonic Cult's base. Only someone of his caliber could pull off something like this. Even the mechanism I faced at the Black Palace branch on Mount Hua was his creation. I was sure that old man was here now.
But I can’t just dive in recklessly.
Although I had broken through to a higher realm, I still struggled against the First Elder—who was practically a living corpse. There was no way I could defeat the Palace Lord in a one-on-one fight.
So here I am, hiding.
And it wasn’t just the Palace Lord; I had no idea how many martial artists were inside the Black Palace. In my past life, I could have stormed through the front gate and burned everything in my path, but I lacked that kind of power now.
Knowing that, I had to bide my time—waiting for the perfect moment to slip through the cracks.
And that moment…
Just a little longer.
…was not far off, I believed.
* * *
Time passed.
Night turned to day, and inside the cell where Gu Huibi was held, an uneasy silence lingered. The Palace Lord had vanished after that brief disturbance and hadn't returned since.
Was she supposed to consider herself fortunate?
Gu Huibi stared out from her cell, eyes wide and alert.
Snore—
Elder Mook’s snoring continued to echo in her ears, but she was long past being bothered by it. Far more important than an old man’s sleep sounds was the need to read the situation clearly.
The Palace Lord had gone through the trouble of kidnapping her instead of killing her outright. That meant he needed her for something.
But what about earlier?
Gu Huibi knew she had narrowly escaped death. The Palace Lord had definitely been about to kill her. She wasn’t mistaken.
It seems his plans went awry.
It started when he saw the child on her lap. His aura had shifted subtly then.
The child. Yes, the child seemed to be the problem.
Was it because I got too close to the child?
Maybe her mocking tone had provoked him. Or perhaps speaking to the child—even for less than a day—had crossed some line.
But why would that be a problem?
She didn’t understand, but Gu Huibi felt certain the Palace Lord’s murderous intent was related.
Paternal affection? Hmm. Unlikely.
It didn’t seem like they had that kind of relationship to begin with.
As for why she treated the child that way—to Gu Huibi, the child was simply a child. She recognized the emotion in those young eyes. Having raised Gu Yangcheon, Gu Yeonseo, and Gu Ryunghwa when they were small, she knew that look. She remembered seeing it reflected in the eyes of Gu Yangcheon’s mother.
That was how she knew.
The child’s eyes were searching for love.
She didn’t know what the Palace Lord’s ultimate goal was, but Gu Huibi couldn’t just stand by. She hadn’t even managed a proper conversation with the child in that short time.
But what is that child, really?
The moment she first saw them, she knew the child wasn’t ordinary. There was an instinctual condescension in their gaze, and a mysterious aura surrounded them. What’s more, she recognized someone with a similar aura—and their faces bore a resemblance, too.
Could it be a coincidence?
No.
Gu Huibi shook her head. Such a thing couldn’t happen by chance.
—Snore.
She frowned at the snoring old man behind her.
“…Ugh.”
She wanted to ask him questions, but judging by the last few hours, Elder Mook showed no intention of waking up. She had tried everything—pinching his nose, slapping him lightly—but with her strength greatly reduced, it probably felt like tickling to him.
Not that Elder Mook would know everything, but for some reason, Gu Huibi felt he knew something.
“Tsk.”
Frustrated, she clicked her tongue. She didn’t know what to do. She felt utterly helpless, and her ignorance of the situation grated on her.
But still…
Get it together.
Gu Huibi shook off the creeping despair. She couldn’t afford to lose hope when she still had to find a way out.
So first…
“Elder Mook, please wake up.”
She had to rouse this snoring old man who might hold answers. But no matter how hard she shook him, he didn’t stir. She wondered if she should hit him properly to wake him. How could anyone sleep so soundly, snoring all day?
After some thought, Gu Huibi decided—she would hit him until he woke up.
But just as she raised her hand—
“Is it daytime?”
Elder Mook spoke.
“…!”
Gu Huibi jolted in surprise. His voice was clear, as if he hadn’t been asleep at all.
“Daytime…?”
“Yes. What time is it?”
Suppressing her shock, Gu Huibi glanced out the small cell window.
“It’s daytime. The sun is shining brightly… Huh?”
Her voice trailed off.
Outside, it was clearly daytime, but…
Something was wrong.
Where there should have been a blue sky…
It was red.
…What is that?
The sky had taken on an orange-red hue, like a sunset, but that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t even noon yet.
“I see, I see.”
Elder Mook nodded slowly as he observed the bizarre sight. He rose to his feet.
“So he’s finally come.”
Hearing his words, Gu Huibi’s eyes trembled slightly. She felt she finally understood what the red sky meant.
* * *
The Palace Lord, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them. A faint violet light still glowed within.
He rose slowly.
“Hooo…”
He could feel it. The air was thick with dense, overwhelming Qi—how could he not?
“…I thought you might have mellowed with time, but it seems you haven’t changed at all.”
He walked out onto the balcony.
There, he saw it—a bright, blazing sky enveloping the entire palace, stretching even beyond the formation barrier. It was so intensely bright it seemed red.
Watching the scene, the Palace Lord felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.
“Hah, and I thought you were just a toothless old tiger.”
A tiger waiting to die, its fangs worn down to nothing, hiding in its cave, clinging to life.
“But even after all this time, a great tiger remains a great tiger.”
He could tell just by looking at the red sky. That was an illusion, woven from an immense amount of Inner Qi. Flames of resolve, rising skyward, declaring their intent. It was a sight far too terrifying to be the work of a mere human.
And yet, it was created by one man alone.
Blaaaze!
The fog outside the formation barrier was engulfed in fire. The same fog that even Gu Yangcheon couldn’t disperse with his Qi was now burning away into nothingness. Flames, redder than anything, raged as if they wanted to devour the world.
The scene resembled a tsunami—a colossal wave of fire.
Watching it, the Palace Lord was reminded of someone.
A monstrous man with flaming red hair, dyed crimson by the sheer intensity of his Fire Qi. A demon who burned people alive without a flicker of emotion.
Flaming Demon.
Those flames undoubtedly belonged to the Flaming Demon.
In other words…
Gu Cheolun, the Flaming Demon, had arrived.
Making such a grand entrance, announcing his presence to his enemies without hesitation—that was the kind of martial artist Gu Cheolun was.
But even so…
How had Gu Cheolun found the Palace’s location?
The Palace Lord couldn’t help but frown at the question. But setting that aside, a bigger mystery remained.
Leaping down from the balcony into the air, he pondered deeply.
Who caused the disturbance earlier, then?
That earlier commotion… If the Flaming Demon had only just arrived outside the barrier, then who was responsible for breaking the wall?
Something’s not right.
The Palace Lord had a feeling things were unfolding in a strange, unpredictable way.