Chapter 301
Chapter 301
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 301
Chapter Title: The Cult Leader's Offer
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Cheonhwi's single remark rapidly cooled the atmosphere.
Even the occasional blast of midwinter chill felt downright warm compared to this space.
Who could have imagined it?
The one who reigned like a god in Guizhou, to the point that even the other Five Emperors dared not touch him—the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader.
Yet now, a young upstart who had only just made a name for himself in the martial world spat words of utter contempt.
The shock was inevitable.
Even his allies—Yukwon, Eunseolseol, and Gi Jung-hak—lost their words in that instant.
"You insolent brat dares to spout such nonsense!"
The Lost Soul Lion glared with bulging eyes.
To him—no, to all the Immortal Heaven Cult's followers—the Cult Leader was their one true god.
Such insolence was blasphemy against divinity.
From his bloodshot glare at Cheonhwi, hazy energy seeped out, spreading low like mist.
And in that moment.
Whoooosh—
His pure white martial robes fluttered wildly.
Then he took a massive step forward.
The moment the tip of his snow-white leather boot touched the cracked floor.
Flash!
His figure flickered and shot forward.
In an instant, the distance closed, and he slashed his lowered sword upward in a fierce diagonal arc from the side.
It was a crude, unhesitating sword path.
As his blade surged like light, hazy mist formed along it.
Amid the long trail of mist following the sword, faint dark thunder silently sparked.
The power behind it was no joke.
The crescent slash seemed ready to cleave everything in two.
But then.
"Who said you could move?"
The Six Harmonies Resonance drilled directly into his mind, forcing the Lost Soul Lion to halt abruptly.
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader's command was absolute.
How could he defy it?
Thus, the sword strike he had been about to unleash fizzled out incomplete.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor around his halted stance, unleashing a storm.
Cheontong Pavilion shook violently and half-collapsed.
The backlash of the unspent energy spread from his sudden stop.
Amid the circular storm expanding outward.
"You possess the skill to back such confidence."
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader parted his red lips.
Not batting an eye amid the oncoming wind, he gazed straight at Cheonhwi, utterly unshaken.
There wasn't a hint of tremor.
Even after hearing such contempt to his face, he remained perfectly serene.
"To wield such prowess at your age... It's astounding. A heavenly genius unparalleled through the ages."
"Tell me about it."
Cheonhwi smirked in agreement.
His mocking sneer unchanged.
Veins bulged on the frozen Lost Soul Lion's forehead at the sight, but he couldn't move recklessly. And at Cheonhwi's reaction, a dizzying smile hung on the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader's lips instead.
Divine Technique: Soul-Subjugating Heart-Exterminating Whisper.
Step.
He took another step forward.
The floor, cracked everywhere and on the verge of collapse, yielded to his calm stride as if it were flat ground.
Yukwon gripped his sword tighter and signaled Eunseolseol and Gi Jung-hak nearby with his eyes.
The two, who had been watching him intently, nodded faintly.
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader had stepped in personally.
And the Lost Soul Lion couldn't move under his orders.
This was a chance that wouldn't come again.
'If we move with the Plum Blossom Divine Hero...'
Hope, nearly extinguished in Yukwon's eyes, reignited fiercely.
Cheonhwi's skill surpassed the rumors.
Combined, they could take down the Lost Soul Lion and the Cult Leader.
Just as he prepared to unleash his energy.
Thud!
His heart plummeted.
'Wh-what!'
Oppressive pressure crushed his skin.
A chilling sensation stabbed at his throat, like a honed blade piercing it.
'I'll die like this!'
His warrior's instincts screamed the warning.
In panic, he rolled his eyes.
Only then did Yukwon realize the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader was looking right at him.
Clad in ornate robes embroidered with golden threads in intricate patterns, his blood-red lips curled up.
Cold sweat poured down.
His pitch-black pupils spun illusions, tendrils stretching in all directions.
'Sor-sorcery! I need to look away...'
Startled, he tried to avert his gaze.
But he couldn't budge.
He was already swallowed by the Soul-Subjugating Heart-Exterminating Whisper's demonic power.
Then, the Cult Leader's mouth opened.
"You vermin dare interrupt me?"
He casually turned his head.
The three were beneath his notice.
His sole focus now was one person: Cheonhwi alone.
Having turned, the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader stared quietly at Cheonhwi.
He had stopped walking as well.
Meeting the impassive Cheonhwi's eyes, he parted his lips once more.
"I have a proposal for you."
The Six Harmonies Resonance overlapped and resounded.
The Whisper's power rippled out like waves on a still lake—calm yet swift.
"Kuh!"
"What is this!"
"Hup!"
Yukwon, Eunseolseol, and Gi Jung-hak clutched their heads as his voice pierced directly into their minds, bypassing their ears.
It felt like their skulls would split.
But it was fleeting.
They instantly forgot the pain at the Cult Leader's next words.
"Will you join my cult?"
"...!"
"What?"
"Insane!"
The utterly unexpected offer left the three dumbfounded.
The Lost Soul Lion was no different.
"Cult Leader! Why that vermin...?"
As the shocked Lion began to protest.
"Pass."
Cheonhwi replied indifferently.
Join the cult? What nonsense.
It was absurd.
Who had he been in his past life?
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Cult Leader.
For him to join this pathetic little evil cult?
Not even worth a scoff.
Yet the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader persisted, lips moving as if unwilling to give up.
"Join, and I'll make you Vice Cult Leader."
He added the outrageous offer.
But.
"Vice what now? Vice Cult Leader?"
Cheonhwi recoiled in disgust.
"Cut the bullshit and fight if you're gonna."
With that, he crooked the index finger of his empty left hand.
Utter provocation in tone and gesture.
"What a pity."
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader sighed.
"I offered you a chance personally, and you toss it away."
With those words, chaotic energy erupted from his entire body like a tidal wave.
The surrounding space trembled instantly.
It was a world-shaking wave of power.
"Ahh, Cult Leader!"
The Lost Soul Lion cried out in ecstasy.
Surrendering to the surging aura, he smiled and dropped to his knees.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi deflected the oncoming energy and half-closed his eyes.
Hm? Not bad?
His fathomless inner energy swelled rapidly, encroaching on the entire Immortal Heaven Cult headquarters.
Divine might.
A supreme master worthy of claiming the world.
In terms of raw inner strength alone, he ranked among the top handful of experts Cheonhwi had seen.
And then.
Rumble rumble rumble—
Cheontong Pavilion began to sway perilously.
Already on the brink, it couldn't withstand the Cult Leader's emanating energy.
Impressive it had held this long.
Soon.
Boom boom boom!
Cheontong Pavilion collapsed.
And those atop it plummeted below.
"Dodge!"
At Yukwon's shout, Eunseolseol and Gi Jung-hak frantically leaped aside.
Thud!
They landed safely on a nearby building.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. What about Lady Eunseol...?"
"I'm good too."
As the three checked on each other.
"Where's the Plum Blossom Divine Hero...?"
Looking up for Cheonhwi, they froze in shock.
"No way..."
"Is this even possible?"
The sky had darkened.
The distant mountain peaks' glow was swallowed by the Cult Leader's energy.
It defied words.
As if time had reversed, bringing night anew.
Spotting the source, they gulped dryly.
Amid the rubble of Cheontong Pavilion, only two pillars precariously remained—and atop them stood two figures ramrod straight.
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader and Cheonhwi.
Their presence was transcendent.
The Cult Leader, who had summoned night itself, seemed sacred despite his evil cult status.
And opposite him, Cheonhwi stood aloof amid the pressure, like an immortal descended to the mortal world.
"...He's beyond us now."
Yukwon muttered.
He knew it the moment he saw.
This was no place for them.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Whoooosh—
Indescribable energies surged around the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader like waves.
Even amid the chaos, he alone remained serene.
Standing solitary in the storm of his aura, not even his ornate robes or a single hair stirred.
And opposite him.
"Now we're getting serious."
Cheonhwi cracked his neck and spoke.
He bore no damage from the onslaught, pristine as before.
Chaotic energies swirled in the Cult Leader's eyes, gleaming.
Heaven-Destroying Divine Demon Art.
The supreme technique crafted to shatter the heavens coursed through him.
His lips parted as he fixed piercing eyes on Cheonhwi.
"The more I see, the more I covet you."
His Six Harmonies Resonance reverberated.
A colossal force, like heaven's decree, pressed down.
Fwaaaash—
Dark energy instantly spread from him in all directions.
The rapidly expanding power engulfed the cult headquarters in a circular wave.
A truly shocking aura.
"Thus, what a shame. I must grant you rest with my own hands."
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader slowly moved his hand.
Golden threads adorning his fluttering sleeve sparkled in the darkness.
Then his hand emerged from the sleeve.
Snow-white and flawless.
With it, the energy around him suddenly whipped into a gale and compressed.
Above his head.
Demonstrating astonishing inner energy control, he raised his pale hand.
Flash!
Amid the darkened landscape, dark thunder crackled from his strikingly white hand.
Rumble rumble—
Thunder poured from all sides.
An unreal sight.
The Cult Leader's summoned power turned the impossible real.
Finally, his hand—raised nearly to chest height—dropped vertically.
The air shuddered.
Woooong—
The atmosphere quaked as the dark thunder clinging to his hand crashed down like lightning.
A heaven-and-earth-shattering blow.
Heaven-Destroying Divine Demon Hand.
The Immortal Heaven Cult Leader's ultimate technique plummeted toward Cheonhwi's crown.
"Neat technique."
Cheonhwi murmured, looking up.
With Plum Blossom Divine Art already unleashed, he perceived the world's flow.
His thoughts raced.
Even in accelerated consciousness where time seemed frozen, the dark thunder felt blindingly fast.
Like real lightning.
Fascinated by this unseen art, a pure white smile crept onto his lips.
He was thrilled.
Fwaaaash!
Plum Blossom Divine Art's inner force poured forth.
Gazing at the descending thunder, his eyes gleamed as he unleashed his glare.
'Slice.'
His intent flowed into the sword.
His sleeve twitched faintly.
In an instant, the draw.
The Plum Blossom Divine Art in Hwawol rippled with faint crimson waves.
Screeeeech!
It soared like a dragon ascending to the heavens.