The Shadow of the Demonic Fire
"You're running your mouth."
"It seems he doesn't know the time or place."
The martial artists did not hide their displeased eyes and voices.
Having already been deemed dead weight by Dang Hwa-young, they desperately needed someone to vent their anger on.
Coincidentally, the sentiment regarding Yoo-sung within the Dark Moon Unit was largely negative.
To them, he was merely someone receiving special treatment because he happened to be Dang Joong-myung's maternal grandson.
Thus, Heo Won-ho and the other heirs of fallen families were deeply displeased by the way Yoo-sung carried himself, acting as if he were the third-in-command.
"If we are baggage, then isn't that fellow the same?"
When Heo Won-ho openly pointed at Yoo-sung, Dang Hwa-young clicked her tongue.
"Yoo-sung is someone who has been working with us for a long time. Aside from being our cousin, he was of immense help in wiping out the White Wolf Bandit Clan."
"I've heard those rumors. But in the end, they were just bandits."
"Just bandits, you say."
Dang Hwa-soo muttered quietly in response to Heo Won-ho's complaint.
Everyone was taken aback by his tone and demeanor, which were completely different from his usual stiff yet serious self.
"Does that mean you are looking down on my sister and me?"
If there was one thing Dang Hwa-soo would never tolerate, it was an insult to his family.
His sharp gaze swept over Heo Won-ho and the others.
"Since my sister is speaking politely, do you really not understand? In the last battle, you lot already had one foot in the grave."
"...!"
"What did you say?!"
"You think I'm lying? You, right there!"
As Dang Hwa-soo pointed at him, Heo Won-ho's face flushed red as he recalled a certain memory.
"On the second night, you almost died on your way to the latrine, didn't you? If I hadn't warned you beforehand, your forehead would have been pierced without you even knowing how you died."
"..."
Heo Won-ho's silent inability to refute was only the beginning.
"And you, you swung your sword so clumsily you almost killed an innocent ally."
"You got so drunk on blood that you missed the timing to retreat, nearly getting your left arm blown off by an arrow."
As Dang Hwa-soo pointed out their failures one by one with cold precision, everyone was left utterly speechless.
"On the other hand, Yoo-sung survived perfectly fine on his own. He anticipated the Flying Daggers Gang's offensive and killed quite a few of them. Unlike you lot."
"..."
"Our achievements weren't made by us alone; they were made together with Yoo-sung. So shut up and face reality. It's because you keep turning a blind eye to reality that you never improve."
A cold silence descended after Dang Hwa-soo finished speaking.
Dang Hwa-young let out a long sigh at the suddenly heavy atmosphere.
"Anyway. Please just stay here quietly and guard this place."
With no one able to refute this time, the meeting concluded in a heavy silence.
After the meeting, several of the noble heirs gathered around Heo Won-ho.
They were deeply offended by Dang Hwa-soo's humiliating words.
However...
"Damn it!"
"I have nothing to say."
"Curse it all!"
Ultimately, their lack of strength was their limit.
"How long must we endure this?"
"Indeed. Our standing is shrinking by the day..."
"Even if we return, nothing will be left for us."
The main reason Heo Won-ho and the others were so anxious was that their immediate achievements were mediocre.
No matter how hard they tried, it was difficult to reclaim their families' past glory.
Their ancestral heirlooms had been lost, and what little remained was negligible.
They couldn't even openly switch sides like the Sasa Sect or the Flying Daggers Gang.
They were noble families to the bone and had guarded Sichuan's righteous path.
The moment they abandoned that, no one would ever help them again.
So they could only swallow their anger and try to ignore the frustrating reality.
"If only we had power, we could do anything."
"Is there no demonic cave or miraculous encounter out there for us?"
As the atmosphere sank further in bitter lamentation...
*Rustle.*
"Would you like some help?"
At the sudden voice, everyone hastily drew their weapons.
"Who's there?!"
"How dare you trespass here?!"
They glared at the intruder with murderous eyes and sharp voices.
But the intruder seemed completely unbothered by the tense atmosphere, exuding an air of leisure.
"You said you needed power. At this rate, you will achieve nothing. The Iron Flower and Iron Sword will take everything, and that second son of a provincial martial family will take the rest."
Their eyes shook violently at the words that pierced their hearts.
"Do not try to sway us with empty words."
Despite their shouting to save face, the shadow remained relaxed.
"I shall give you this."
They fell into conflict as they read the martial arts manual the shadow handed over.
It was the high-level martial arts they had always yearned for.
But there was no way such martial arts would be given without a price.
"What do you want?"
"That is..."
Their eyes shook even more at the following words.
As they hesitated, unable to readily agree, the shadow forced a choice.
"One quarter of an hour. If you do not decide within that time, I am leaving."
"..."
In the brief conflict, the answer was already decided.
"Tell us more."
With Heo Won-ho's words, they joined hands with the mysterious intruder.
Even though they knew they were boarding a carriage heading toward ruin.
Late at night, Yoo-sung moved alone.
Before heading to the Sasa Sect in earnest, they had agreed to completely suppress the Flying Daggers Gang.
Dang Hwa-young and Dang Hwa-soo moved with the Dark Moon Unit, and the orthodox heirs, including Heo Won-ho, also set out.
For once, Yoo-sung was left completely out of the spotlight.
"He's alone!"
"Kill him first!"
Martial artists from the Flying Daggers Gang appeared to kill the solitary Yoo-sung.
Killing them with ease, Yoo-sung fell into deep thought.
"The vice-commander of the Dark Moon Unit is a demon..."
Just like Dang Sa-oh, demonic qi existed within Dang Ja-ryeo's body.
Because it was so stealthily blended, even the Demon Eradication Unit had difficulty detecting it.
Come to think of it, Dang Sa-oh was the same.
It was visible to Yoo-sung's eyes, but apparently invisible to the Demon Eradication Unit or others.
"Well, the basic method of perceiving demonic arts is similar."
It was just that the Demon Eradication Unit or the Demon Eradication Monks reacted excessively sensitively to demonic arts compared to others; the essence did not change.
In the end, as long as one could hide the essence of demonic arts, they could deceive others' eyes and practice them as much as they wanted.
In the first place, demonic arts were just another form of martial arts.
The choices made during the process of learning them would determine whether one became a demon or not.
The martial arts Yoo-sung practiced also had a strong, domineering nature.
If living, breathing martial arts were defined as demonic arts, then the energy flowing through his body would also be demonic qi.
And the martial arts he learned would also be called demonic arts.
But no one could recognize the demonic arts he practiced.
Not even the Matian Lord who died by his hand.
"I no longer wish to live as a puppet. A great calamity will soon befall the Murim, so please, do your best to stop it."
The dying words left by the Matian Lord still cluttered Yoo-sung's mind.
At the center of the calamity he spoke of, Matian undoubtedly existed.
The Ten Demonic Sects were already on the move, and various other demons left their traces throughout the Murim.
Although the massive shadow of Matian had vanished, its shadow still hung heavily over the entire Murim.
This was one of the reasons Yoo-sung had bothered to accompany Dang Hwa-young.
While it was partly to buy time for his family to grow, his greater desire was to see with his own eyes how deeply the remnants of Matian had rooted themselves in the Murim.
The results were deeper than he had thought. Though it was still in its infancy, that was only by Yoo-sung's standards.
He had no way of knowing how others would perceive it.
That was why, even if it was troublesome, Yoo-sung intended to clean up as many demons and annoying enemies as possible.
"Come out."
Yoo-sung's low voice was answered only by the night wind.
"This is your last warning. Come out, or die."
His indifferent warning was also lightly ignored.
*Whoosh.*
Yoo-sung never offered a third chance.
The moment he lightly waved his hand—
*Splat!!!*
With a gruesome sound, the uninvited guests turned into lumps of flesh.
"Kill him!!!"
With urgent shouts, the Flying Daggers Gang's counterattack began.
"Kill me."
The subordinates he had brought died without even being able to scream properly.
"Your status seems quite high."
That was the reason Yoo-sung had bothered to spare the man.
A man possessing strength incomparable to the dead must be at least a vice-chief or hold a corresponding position.
If so, wouldn't he know much more?
"I told you to kill me."
"Are you the vice-chief?"
"Yes, so kill me."
Watching the vice-chief repeatedly beg for death, Yoo-sung smiled.
"Let's see how long that mouth of yours stays shut."
Seeing Yoo-sung's smirk, a chill ran down the vice-chief's spine.
*Pant...*
*Pant...*
After a short while, the battered vice-chief stared at him with eyes full of terror.
"Are you truly an heir of the Orthodox path?!"
Yoo-sung's hands were more brutal than those of the Unorthodox path, and more domineering than the Demonic path.
"Do you not know of Yeo Ui-gi?"
"I don't!! Who on earth is that?!"
At the vice-chief's screaming reply, Yoo-sung realized one thing.
The only one who knew of Yeo Ui-gi's existence was the sect leader of the Sasa Sect.
"What is the Sasa Sect Leader doing?"
"...I don't know either! He only said something about needing to light a fire."
"A fire?"
"Yes! A fire! He said that if we gather sacrifices and light the fire, we can avenge our grudges!"
The vice-chief knew nothing beyond that.
"Hehehe."
Suddenly, laughter burst from the vice-chief's mouth.
Glaring at the indifferently watching Yoo-sung, the vice-chief shrieked.
"The Sasa Sect will become hell. You lot probably intended to use us as sacrifices to announce the grand launch of the Sichuan Righteous Alliance. But instead, we will kill all of you and show you the power of the Demonic path that you have forgotten!"
The vice-chief left a curse as he died.
Staring at the dead vice-chief, Yoo-sung quietly pondered the word he had left behind.
He knew of many kinds of fire, but there was really only one fire that would come from a demon's mouth.
"Could they be trying to light the Holy Fire?"
The Holy Fire of Cheon-san was the symbol of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and embodied the wishes of those who hoped for the Heavenly Demon's return.
Even before Matian appeared, the Holy Fire had vanished.
It was the decisive reason why the demons of Cheon-san fell and Matian became the sky of the demons.
"It won't be the real Holy Fire. In the end, it must be that."
The Holy Fire that all demons dreamed of could only be lit on the altar at Cheon-san.
Since even the vicious Matian had failed to light the true Holy Fire, it would be impossible for the Sasa Sect Leader or Yeo Ui-gi.
If so, it meant they were going to light an imitation of the Holy Fire.
Yoo-sung knew the exact name of that imitation.
"The Demonic Fire."
The Demonic Fire was a flame created from demonic qi, possessing extremely powerful heat.
Unlike the Holy Fire, which exuded a sacred aura, the Demonic Fire was ominous and brought disaster just by looking at it.
Even so, Yoo-sung wanted the Demonic Fire.
He didn't know how Yeo Ui-gi and the Sasa Sect Leader would light the Demonic Fire.
He didn't particularly care about the number of sacrifices they offered to light it either.
He only knew that the Demonic Fire would be quite useful to him.
"It wouldn't be bad to make up for So-so's deficiency."
The Blazing Fire Pills were slowly reaching their limit.
No matter how good a medicine was for the body, tolerance would eventually build up. The efficacy of the Blazing Fire Pills for So-so was bound to drop.
Thus, he needed something else to replace the Blazing Fire Pills.
"Do I have to move earlier than expected?"
He didn't intend to fully reveal his strength yet, but that wasn't to the extent of putting his precious niece's safety on the back burner.
"I just need to move diligently."
If all else failed, he could always use the old Taoist of Kunlun.
Or he could drag out the old man hiding in Sichuan.
And if even that was difficult, he could just erase the Ten Demonic Sects one by one.
In the first place, the only reason he had left the Ten Demonic Sects alone was because of the Matian Lord's final words.
At that moment, Yoo-sung did not know that the old Taoist of Kunlun had woken up from his sleep in sheer terror.
"Shall we go?"
With leisurely steps, Yoo-sung moved toward the Sasa Sect alone.