Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Previous Heavenly Demon
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The Previous Heavenly Demon.
More precisely, the one who had vanished over thirty years ago.
During the period he concealed himself, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult underwent many changes. No matter how you looked at it, he was a pivotal figure in Hyeok Mulin eventually becoming the Cult Leader.
"He entered the Demon God Realm as well."
In a way, it was only natural.
As one could tell from the traces left behind, most Heavenly Demons had sought out the Illusion Gate to test themselves.
However, there was only one reason Hyeok Mulin froze upon seeing it.
He hadn't demonstrated any martial arts.
He had left behind only a brief message.
"The third trace of that person..."
The "that person" mentioned by the Previous Heavenly Demon had to be the very same individual Hyeok Mulin had in mind.
But the third trace of that person?
'I've only seen two myself—once in the Thousand-Year Prison and now here.'
Three times.
Did that mean another such miraculous trace existed somewhere in the world?
Who on earth had left these marks scattered across the lands, and for what purpose?
Pure curiosity welled up within him.
His gaze returned to the inscription.
'But seeing this...'
Hyeok Mulin's expression hardened as he read the words.
Come to think of it, the Previous Heavenly Demon was known to have possessed extraordinary martial prowess.
Records described him as one of the greatest prodigies among all past Heavenly Demons, with an innate talent for interpreting martial arts.
Then...
"Could it be that the Previous Heavenly Demon vanished because..."
Hyeok Mulin pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
No, he couldn't be certain.
Hasty judgments were poison, and this was still mere speculation.
Besides, the Previous Heavenly Demon was long gone. What could he do about it now?
Chasing his footsteps would yield nothing.
He himself was the current Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Thud—
The Previous Heavenly Demon had left a trace.
Feeling no need to dwell further, Hyeok Mulin moved on.
A short walk later, something bizarre caught his eye.
"...?"
A wildly crooked inscription.
Hyeok Mulin slowly raised his head and read the words descending from above, line by line.
"Non-Human Martial Arts. Truly, it's hard to see this as a feat a human could perform. Can this even be classified within the realm of martial arts?""Myriad Ages Azure Cliff... Is this a realm humans can attain? I've faced a wall of utter lamentation...""Utterly Vast and Boundless! I can't comprehend even a tenth of it—!"
"At Heaven's Edge, Solitary... Ten Thousand Li Deep Abyss of Pitch Black Darkness......"
The first line brimmed with awe.
The second carried hardship and doubt.
The third conveyed helplessness and profound despair.
And the final line...
It was scrawled in such illegible script that it was nearly impossible to make out, trailing on endlessly.
The characters were so crooked that it was clear the one who wrote them had lost their sanity by the end.
Pity flickered in Hyeok Mulin's eyes as he confirmed it.
"Their spirit broke."
From the traces of past Heavenly Demons he'd seen so far, those who faced these wall inscriptions generally reacted in one of two ways.
One was a sense of utter powerlessness, no matter how many times they looked—no matter what, they just couldn't grasp it.
The other was despair upon comprehending even a fraction of its ocean-like depth, realizing it was a wall impossible to surmount.
But both shared the same fate: they failed to cross the threshold and crumbled.
'Me... if I had to say, I was closer to the former.'
Hyeok Mulin's talent was far from mediocre, but it didn't match the earth-shaking genius of legendary past Heavenly Demons.
He had become Cult Leader not purely through overwhelming might, but due to political circumstances.
Still, his current meteoric rise stemmed from a lifetime of struggling to research and comprehend martial arts.
Thus, he vaguely understood.
"If I hadn't seen that person's trace at Daoang Cliff before my regression, I wouldn't have even realized this was a martial arts inscription."
Had he entered the Demon God Realm before his regression, he might have felt only powerlessness from incomprehension—or like this person, lost his mind entirely.
'In a way, I was lucky.'
With a bitter expression, Hyeok Mulin turned his gaze from the words.
As he pressed onward, he spotted something that felt out of place.
"Who left this?"
There was a martial arts trace he'd never seen before.
But upon examining it, Hyeok Mulin was certain.
This wasn't left by someone from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Whether orthodox or unorthodox, he couldn't tell.
But it was unmistakably made by a Central Plains martial artist who hadn't used demonic energy.
'Isn't this a place only Heavenly Demons can enter?'
This was the Demon God Realm, accessible solely through the Illusion Gate by past Heavenly Demons.
Yet another person's trace was here.
Looking closer, some weren't even martial traces—they were worn-away writings.
Etched so long ago on the wall that the characters were now illegible.
Hyeok Mulin tilted his head as he scrutinized them.
If they were this eroded and damaged, they likely predated the founding of the Cult.
"But wasn't the Demon God Realm created by the Founding Heavenly Demon's decree?"
The timeline of the space clashed with the records.
So the answer was one of two things.
Either the damaged records were inscribed later than expected.
Or this place had existed even before the Illusion Gate reached it.
Organizing his thoughts, Hyeok Mulin continued onward.
After all, more important matters than the history of the Demon God Realm awaited him.
"Is that all?"
He had walked the walls, examining nearly every inscription.
But disappointment shadowed Hyeok Mulin's face upon reaching the end.
'No trace of that person after all.'
If asked to leave just one martial art here right now, his choice was obvious.
The Pure Soul Divine Demon Art—his foundation, pillar, and core.
So when he discovered the traces of past Heavenly Demons here, he'd subtly searched for one in particular.
The Eleventh Heavenly Demon, creator of the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art—the Three-Day Heavenly Demon.
He'd scoured every inch hoping to glimpse that trace.
'But nothing.'
Just like the empty records, no trace of the Three-Day Heavenly Demon existed here either.
No martial arts, no writings—nothing.
"Enough. The Pure Soul Divine Demon Art is progressing smoothly anyway."
Shaking his head, Hyeok Mulin set aside his regret and walked on.
Stepping back from the wall as before, he gazed at the massive martial inscription from afar.
"What a sight."
From this vantage, he dimly understood.
When he'd seen the trace at Daoang Cliff before, he'd been convinced it was a clear swordsmanship mark and named it the Millennium Divine Sword.
But now, facing it again, Hyeok Mulin changed his mind.
The traces here were on an even higher level than Daoang Cliff's. He couldn't discern if they'd been left by sword, saber, fist, or palm.
Unable to comprehend it, Hyeok Mulin simply stared.
He stared and stared.
Forgetting to breathe.
Forgetting to blink.
Forgetting his very posture.
He just stared.
Only when his body stiffened after who-knows-how-long did he finally...
"...Hoo."
Letting out a sigh, Hyeok Mulin shook his head.
"No matter how long I look, I don't get it."
His head throbbed like it might burst, his neck was stiff and immobile, and his eyes felt like they'd pop out.
The notion that staring long enough would bring enlightenment was a pipe dream.
If it worked, he'd smack his own head.
It was fantasy, not reality.
And one more certainty.
"Staying here doing nothing won't change a thing."
Hyeok Mulin drew closer to the wall and unsheathed his sword.
With the Sky-Splitting Demon Sword, he traced the distant inscription from memory.
Yet moments later, staring at his own mark, he let out a hollow chuckle.
He'd thought he'd followed it faithfully, but the result was a childish mess—like a kid scribbling a scarecrow with a stick.
What kind of martial art was this?
What he'd carved was mere filthy graffiti.
"No good."
Time to give up.
Hyeok Mulin didn't believe this trial demanded comprehending or imitating that miraculous trace.
Most Heavenly Demons had given up on it yet still emerged from the Demon God Realm to thrive.
Instead of chasing the impossible, he should do what he could right now.
Gazing at the wall a moment longer, he did as the others had and left a single inscription.
This fundamental question was his own, but since he'd never return here, it would remain unanswered forever.
With a smirk, Hyeok Mulin raised the Sky-Splitting Demon Sword high.
He decided to leave his ultimate technique: the Soaring Heaven Nine Souls Sword.
Soon after, from his hand, the first form—Severing Soul Sword—unfolded, followed by the others in sequence.
Second form... Fifth form... Seventh form... Eighth form...
And just as he moved to conclude with the ninth form...
"...!"
Hyeok Mulin halted.
The miraculous trace on the wall.
The messy marks of past Heavenly Demons.
And even his own clumsy attempt.
Kwa-gwang!
His body moved as if entranced, completing the ninth form.
All the paths he'd witnessed here fused into one in his mind.
They'd seemed like mere scribbles, but a single unifying path pierced through them all.
And in that instant, Hyeok Mulin realized.
'Ah.'
That trace wasn't left by a sword.
The heart.
It was a Heart Sword.
The moment Hyeok Mulin grasped that fragment of the Heart Sword's existence...
An abyssal darkness devoured the world's light and swallowed him whole.