Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Unable to Protect Even My Family or Sect
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“How… how in the world did you… learn the Crimson Lotus Hell Art?!”
Even as his Primordial Spirit was dragged into the Infinite Abyss, the North Sea Sect Master was fixated on how I had mastered the sect leader’s secret art.
“You think that’s all I know?”
I lightly formed hand seals once more.
Descent of Emperor Songje
Ice Art Reinforcement
A fire dragon materialized around my body, coiling up tightly.
ROOOAR!
But this was on a whole different level from the fire dragons I had summoned before.
Its color leaned toward azure-white, and its size and presence were far greater.
Most notably, it carried the faintest trace of Emperor Songje’s divine power.
The scent of death, something that only emanated from the deceased.
“What in the…?!”
“Why the shock? You taught me everything.”
“…What?!”
The North Sea Sect Master had every reason to be appalled.
After all, he had never taught me anything like this.
But it was the truth.
Hadn’t I stolen his divine power and spiritual energy?
From within them, I had pilfered every technique I needed.
Of course, simply absorbing energy wouldn’t reveal the incantations or methods of operation. If it did, the martial world would be dominated by energy absorption arts.
Absorption merely stole the energy itself—it could never uncover the secrets embedded within.
So why had I succeeded?
「The Heart Devouring Ice Poison and the Ice Soul Demon Art already handed over every incantation of the North Sea Sect’s arts to Young Master. You think he couldn’t deduce even this one?」
「It’s like you’ve completely forgotten what a monster Young Master has been these past six years.」
「Heh heh heh heh! The North Sea Sect’s marrow has already been sucked dry by Young Master!」
All the Demonic North Sea Sect’s martial arts stemmed from the Descent of Emperor Songje and the Crimson Lotus Hell Art.
Even if the Assembly had tweaked the incantations slightly, the essence remained unchanged.
So, if I dissected every art I had absorbed, grasping their core principles…
And then analyzed the nature of the absorbed divine and spiritual energies, finding common threads with those principles…
I could roughly infer the incantations.
Of course, it was far easier said than done—it demanded immense effort.
But I had the Multi-Tasking Heart Technique, and in my mind, the Heavenly Demon’s Wisdom.
Given a model and enough time, I could pull it off.
That was how I flawlessly executed the Descent of Emperor Songje and Crimson Lotus Hell Art, plunging the North Sea Sect Master into shock and terror.
Naturally, a close look at the details would reveal major differences from the originals.
My Descent of Emperor Songje only borrowed Emperor Songje’s nature without summoning his divine power, and my Crimson Lotus Hell Art was based on vengeful spirit poison.
It should rightly be called the Azure Lotus Hell Art.
But the North Sea Sect Master, on the brink of annihilation, couldn’t perceive the difference.
The other deities were no different.
「As you said, is the Demonic North Sea Sect ultimately destined to fade into the shadow of the Dark Demon God Transformation Sect—!」
A new emotion flickered in the North Sea Sect Master’s trembling pupils for the first time.
Shock.
Despair.
Resentment.
Fear.
“No… not like this… This is my North Sea Sect… a sect passed down for over a thousand years…! I cannot let it end in my generation—”
“It’s not ending. It’s merging. Returning as one to the Great Demon God’s embrace.”
The North Sea Sect Master tried to shout something.
But I had no intention of listening any longer.
I shook the Dread Wind Flag downward.
The fire dragon shattered into dozens of fireballs that rained down.
It was like a meteor shower.
BOOM! KABOOM! KABOOm!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!
“Argh! Aaaargh! Aaaaaaaargh!”
The meteor shower pierced through the Primordial Spirit’s defenses.
Ice shards flew, leaving craters everywhere.
Rrrumble!
With the sound of a winch turning, the Golden Prison Chains tightened further, beginning to crush the North Sea Sect Master outright.
At the same time, the absorption rate accelerated.
Using Pure Demonic Energy, I absorbed only the essential essence and expelled the rest as waste.
It meant taking only about ten percent and discarding the rest—a waste, but for me at my current realm, excess was poison.
Besides, the absorbed amount was plenty to summon even more Golden Prison Chains.
The North Sea Sect Master’s realm plummeted rapidly.
From One with Origin to Three Flowers Gather at Crown… from Sword Qi Realm to Sword Aura Realm… from peak transcendent to transcendent, first-rate to second-rate, shrinking at breakneck speed until his Primordial Spirit collapsed entirely.
In the giant’s place remained only the North Sea Sect Master, barely holding onto a spirit body less than a third of its original size.
Clank!
I halted the absorption right there.
The winch’s creaking stopped.
“Now you’re finally worth looking at.”
“You…!”
The North Sea Sect Master, wrapped in chains like a silkworm in its cocoon, could barely lift his head.
Haggard eyes. Hunched torso. Gaunt arms.
He was clinging to consciousness by a thread.
No need to hide my face anymore, so I removed the lion mask.
His eyes quivered slightly.
“I won’t say things like I’ll spare you or leave your soul for reincarnation. I want to tear you apart right now and scatter you across this field.”
“……”
“But there’s something I need to learn from you, so I’ll grant you one promise.”
My voice sounded like it held the growl of a furious beast.
“As sect master, you’ll meet an honorable end. At least I’ll spare you the disgrace in front of your followers. That’s my last shred of mercy.”
The North Sea Sect Master’s gaze shifted to my back.
There, the North Sea Elders were still bound tightly in Golden Prison Chains.
They lay prostrate on the ground, tears streaming down their faces.
The North Sea Sect Master squeezed his eyes shut.
“What will you do?”
“…Fine.”
His reply came only after a long delay.
A feeble voice.
The cold menace that had filled the hell formation moments ago was gone.
He attached no further conditions.
He knew this was the utmost concession I’d offer.
“Tell me about what you mentioned. Starting with things about my master.”
“……”
The North Sea Sect Master spilled everything he knew without resistance.
Most of it matched what he’d said before the battle began, but the added details painted a clearer picture in my mind.
The Seventh Apostle’s disappearance was just a year ago.
The Assembly had sent an investigation team themselves but found no trace. They speculated it was due to my master’s resurrection or the emergence of hidden experts from bygone eras.
The location was roughly near Gansu’s Kongdong Mountain.
A secret cave known as the site where the ancient sage Guangxingzi had cultivated and ascended.
An Assembly team was still stationed there.
‘If the legends of Guangxingzi aren’t mere myths but fact, it wouldn’t be odd for there to be a spiritual vein or dragon vein hidden there.’
Spiritual veins held the pure essence of heaven and earth.
Perfect for treating my master, whose body had withered from prolonged illness.
No proof, of course, but having a positive lead made all the difference.
I wondered how to reach it without raising suspicion.
‘Guangxingzi is the Kongdong Sect’s founding ancestor. The Assembly team there might have made contact with the Kongdong Sect.’
Then a wild thought.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t there a Kongdong Sect elder at the manor?’
If memory served, his Taoist name was something like Scholar of the Teachings.
Might be worth digging into, so I filed it away.
Afterward, I extracted plenty more from the North Sea Sect Master.
The covert alliance between the South Palace Clan and the Divine Cult.
Even the list of Assembly members dispatched to the Heavenly Mountains.
I memorized every detail, and my questions finally reached the last one.
“Who is the current head of the Assembly’s dispatched team?”
“Cardinals and archbishops are generally of similar rank—”
“Not them. The one who incited you lot. The bastard with the inverted Taiji in his eyes.”
“How do you know of him?!”
Terror flashed across the North Sea Sect Master’s widened eyes.
An emotion he hadn’t shown even in defeat to me or the Dark Lord.
…Just the thought of him terrified the North Sea Sect Master.
Clearly a figure who had crossed into the realm beyond mortals.
“We… don’t know his true identity either. He only occasionally showed his face, never spoke much. When there were orders, his subordinate cardinals or archbishops handled it. But—”
“But?”
“His underlings had another title they used for him.”
“What?”
“Sixth Apostle, Yeon-gye.”
“Yeon-gye?”
Yeon-gye was the pen name of Zhu Xi, the scholar who first proposed the Taiji cosmology.
And this inverted version bore such a name?
Absurd.
“We don’t know why he’s called that either. But one thing is certain. He’s a god. One our sect masters couldn’t handle even in a swarm—someone even the Cult Leader would struggle against.”
The North Sea Sect Master’s eyes locked onto mine.
“If you even glimpse him from afar, you’ll understand soon enough. The terror he inspires. How futile your current thoughts and ambitions are—”
“No need for a soon-to-be corpse like you to worry about that.”
I sneered.
“Don’t assume I’ll bend like you just because you submitted. Don’t presume I’ll kneel because you did. At least I didn’t drop to my knees before the fight even started.”
“…I merely—”
“Don’t make excuses that it was unavoidable to protect your followers. In the end, wasn’t your ambition to become Cult Leader the root of it all?”
“……”
“If your excuses were truly sincere, you should have protected your own family first. How can a man who can’t safeguard his family protect his sect? How can one who can’t rule his sect lead the Divine Cult?”
“……”
“So everything you spout is just the ravings of a loser trying to ease his guilt.”
“……”
“If you get it, then shut up and feel genuine remorse toward your followers. That’s the only path to atonement.”
“……”
In the end, the North Sea Sect Master closed his eyes and bowed his head in silence.
Whether he truly understood my words and felt guilt toward his followers, or if he simply lacked the strength to respond anymore, I couldn’t tell.
But I had nothing more to say to him.
I raised the Dread Wind Flag and brought it down.
This was the punishment decreed by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s Young Master upon the apostate Demonic North Sea Sect’s leader.
Execution.
Fwoooosh!
The North Sea Sect Master’s head flew into the air.
His half-crushed face had its eyes closed.
Then it shattered into fragments midair and scattered.
Rrrumble—
The chains moved, absorbing the remaining spiritual energy.
All that lingered where he had been were a few melted ice shards.