Spell Release
Battle Demon Heavenly Spear — Ultimate Secret
Ghost Star Absolute Void Pierce
The life-staking ultimate art of the Battle Demon Heavenly Spear — a technique that could only be used after perfecting the Battle Demon Divine Art and ascending to the Extreme Demon realm.
Shin Gi-woon drove that overflowing power straight through the cave ceiling. The hard-packed earth was no obstacle at all.
Extreme Demon meant one had seen the end of the demonic path. From the start, Extreme Demon and Hwa-gyeong were realms reserved for those who had reached the absolute peak of martial arts. In that light, the Twin Stars — One Venerable and One Demon — who had attained Hyeon-gyeong were absurd. Beings beyond the human, one might say.
Even the reclusive masters of previous generations had not easily reached Hyeon-gyeong. Hwa-gyeong itself was not a realm one casually broke through even past the age of forty. Shin Gi-woon had poured his entire being into piercing the Life-and-Death Barrier. If it was this hard for someone who had already done it once, how could it be easy for those attempting it for the first time?
But that was beside the point right now. The moment he punched through the ground, a massive quake rolled out. No matter how solid the foundation, a giant hole torn through it was never going to leave the place intact.
"I'll boost you with my arm. You can jump up from there, right?"
"You absolute—!"
"Next time, give us a little warning first."
"Sorry. My hands were itching too bad. So-hyang, you first."
Bi So-hyang passed the Gongcheongseogyu to Shin Gi-woon, then sprang lightly upward. His palm caught the sole of her foot and braced her. She launched hard.
KRAAAANG!!
Gi-woon's internal energy fused with Bi So-hyang's movement arts, and the leap that followed was monstrous. She shot clear of the cave in a single bound.
There was no time to linger. He sent Sama Yul up the same way just as fast. The hole itself was already on the verge of collapsing, so Gi-woon rose into the air without a second thought. Stepping naturally on empty space, he vaulted skyward and cleared the cave before it finished caving in.
Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul stared at him blankly. It was the look of people regarding a stranger — as if they suddenly didn't quite know how to place him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It just feels like you've become someone incredible."
"I am incredible. Who else hits Extreme Demon at my age?"
"You're insufferable."
"Yeah. Definitely insufferable."
For some reason he suddenly wanted Ma Ra-jin around. Nothing cut through a weird atmosphere quite like the back of that idiot's head. Come to think of it, what was he doing right about now? They'd see him once they returned to the Cult, so Gi-woon didn't dwell on it.
Then it hit him.
This feeling…
Somewhere nearby, a fight was underway. The problem was that blasting up through the ground had practically announced their position to every suspicious presence in the area. As proof, those auras were steadily closing in. The other two caught on almost immediately — someone was coming.
This was no time for leisure. They had raised hell right in Mount Hua's front yard; of course someone would notice.
Without a word, all three shared the same thought. First priority: get off Mount Hua.
"We head straight back to the Cult. Nowhere left to stay here anyway."
The other two nodded at Gi-woon's call, and they poured everything into their light-body arts, racing to leave the mountain behind.
But Gi-woon, leading the way, was forced to slow. Figures carrying a sinister, alien energy — nothing like Mount Hua martial artists — were charging toward the mountain. In the worst case, they could be caught between both sides.
A force radiating that kind of energy was almost certainly Cheongung. Caught between a rock and a hard place. A decision had to be made.
Judging by the auras alone, there didn't seem to be any true masters among them — but the possibility that someone was moving in secret still crossed his mind.
"Fall back. Make them tear each other apart."
"Wouldn't it be better to just punch straight through?"
"We don't know how many Cheongung has brought. In a situation like this, you take the fisherman's profit."
There was no time to deliberate. Both sides were already closing in with light-body arts, so Gi-woon's group spun around and raced back toward the heart of Mount Hua.
As he ran, Gi-woon activated the Disguise Art. Better to change his face just in case. Bi So-hyang seemed to reach the same conclusion and cast hers as well. Sama Yul simply covered her mouth with a black face veil.
That lowered the risk of their identities being exposed — though Hwaseon would still be able to recognize them by their energy.
Preparations complete, they accelerated and closed on the source of the auras.
What they found was a single man surrounded by Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Swordsmen. The one hemmed in was Hwaseon Jinin. Apparently his status as a Cheongung plant had finally come to light.
The Mount Hua martial artists flinched at the sudden appearance of Gi-woon's group. These were not people who normally failed to sense nearby presence — but all three of the newcomers had reached the Transcendent realm or higher. When experts of that caliber deliberately moved in silence, even Plum Blossom Swordsmen could miss them.
Gi-woon raised both arms, making it clear he had no intention of fighting. A calculated move. Starting a brawl with Mount Hua here, only for Cheongung to arrive mid-fight, would turn the whole situation into total chaos. If their interests aligned, this meeting could even work to mutual advantage. Time to put on a brazen face.
"I greet the Plum Blossom Swordsmen of the great Mount Hua Sect."
"Who are you? How did you come so deep into our mountain?"
Myeong-seol, leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, asked without dropping his guard. A sound judgment — take your eyes off Hwaseon for even a moment and there was no telling what the man might try.
Hwaseon recognized them at once. They should have been buried alive. Instead they had returned stronger than before — which meant they had consumed the Gongcheongseogyu inside the cave. Whatever fortuitous encounter they had stumbled into, Gi-woon's group was already beyond anything Hwaseon could handle alone.
Cheongung's forces would reach Mount Hua soon enough, but securing the Gongcheongseogyu had failed. At the very least, he wanted those brats dead. Hwaseon opened his mouth.
"Seol-ah. Those are Demonic Cult dogs. Did I not teach you never to trust strangers based on appearances alone?"
"I'll return those words to you. The greatest mistake I ever made was trusting you as an elder."
"Is that what matters right now? The Demonic Cult. Demonic Cult scum have entered Mount Hua without leave. You of all people should understand what that means."
Exactly as expected. The moment Hwaseon recognized Gi-woon, he launched straight into sowing discord — stalling for time until Cheongung's army arrived.
But Gi-woon had a finishing move of his own.
"I deeply regret entering Mount Hua without permission. However, all of this is because of that man."
"…That man?"
"The force he belongs to inflicted grave harm upon our Cult. An incident severe enough to enrage even our Cult Leader."
It was true enough. During the secret branch infiltration, if Cheon Se-hwa's tearful plea and Shindogun's return had gone even slightly differently, the annihilation of the Kunlun Sect would have ignited a full Orthodox–Demonic war. Of course, the Mount Hua side had no way of knowing any of that, so Gi-woon steered the conversation as carefully as he could.
"Our Cult does not forgive traitors. Tracking his trail brought us to Shaanxi, where we discovered he was an elder of Mount Hua."
"Then a formal request would have sufficed. Why invade our mountain?"
"Hwaseon — that man's organization has already dispatched troops. They are climbing Mount Hua as we speak. We moved faster than they did in order to bring Mount Hua this information. Whatever grudges may exist between us, we propose dealing with a common enemy together."
The situation was twisting in a direction Hwaseon did not like. A bad feeling seized him, and he rushed to speak.
"Seol-ah. You can't possibly be believing the words of a treacherous demonic—"
"So. You are proposing cooperation?"
Myeong-seol ignored Hwaseon entirely. He, too, was beginning to sense it — the line of figures advancing on Mount Hua. He could not fully trust the Demonic Cult, but the existence of another set of invaders was fact. For now, he would hear them out.
Gi-woon cheered inwardly. A little falsehood mixed in or not, the fact that dialogue was even possible meant Myeong-seol was a true Taoist. That a man of his caliber still existed in Mount Hua was almost a waste — too good to be merely the leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
"Let us handle this together. There are only three of us, but all have reached the Transcendent realm. We will be of use."
"…Very well."
Myeong-seol decided quickly. He did not take the words of these younger demonic practitioners at face value — but their strength was impossible to gauge. Better to cooperate than to clash. Especially that boy with the spear across his back…
He couldn't read him. He felt nothing at all. If they truly bared their fangs at each other, the casualties would be considerable.
A practical judgment. Here and now, he would take the Demonic Cult's hand.
"Hey. They're actually buying this?"
People are beasts who pick sides and split apart based on whatever benefits the situation.
"But are you seriously going to fight for real?"
Have I lost my mind? Kill just enough, take Hwaseon's head, and slip out clean. They don't know my real face anyway.
The Disguise Art was omnipotent. The ability to reshape every feature of one's face at will — now he understood why the moniker Thousand Transformations Ghost had spread through the martial world with such vicious weight. Even if he went around painting over his face and changing rooms, it wouldn't matter. Alter the face with the Disguise Art, and a brand-new demonic master was born.
Either way, Cheongung's dogs would come pouring in soon. Having temporary allies he could entrust his back to — even briefly — was fortune enough.
Allies who would stab each other in the back the moment things went south, of course. But still.