Chapter 167: Yin-Yang Demon-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167: Yin-Yang Demon-2
All martial arts under heaven originate from Shaolin!
The roots of every martial art existing under the sky can be traced back to the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song.
While it is an incredibly arrogant claim, most people would nod in agreement upon hearing it. In truth, countless martial arts have indeed branched out from Shaolin’s techniques. Even Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of the Wudang Sect, was once a disciple of Shaolin. Thus, people accept it as an established fact that most, if not all, martial arts are derived from Shaolin.
But what about Demonic Arts?
Though countless martial arts exist in the world, they are not all of the Orthodox path. There exist sinister, dark, overbearing, and destructive arts that run entirely contrary to the Orthodox path. The world calls these Demonic Arts.
Do these Demonic Arts also originate from Shaolin?
If one were to ask this, people would tilt their heads in doubt. The essence of Demonic Arts is far too different to be linked to Shaolin. While Orthodox martial arts seek harmony through mental cultivation and physical discipline, Demonic Arts pursue nothing but pure destruction. Because their fundamental natures are so diametrically opposed, many remain skeptical.
Where, then, is the origin of Demonic Arts?
The world would answer: the source of all Demonic Arts in the Central Plains is the Demonic Cult.
Long ago, a man known as the Heavenly Demon appeared in the Central Plains. Upon his arrival, he performed miracles—making the blind see and the lame walk—earning the fervent support of the common people. Many began to praise and worship him as the Son of Heaven, and soon his followers gathered to establish a massive religious organization: the Demonic Cult.
His doctrine emphasized the afterlife, claiming that only those who met a "true death" could enjoy a prosperous and happy life in the world to come. Moved by his philosophy, many pleaded with him to grant them such a death.
In response, he commanded them to spread the faith of the Demonic Cult, to enlighten others, and to make them worship the Heavenly Demon. By doing so, he promised, their prosperity and happiness in the afterlife would be guaranteed. His followers, deeply moved, began spreading the doctrine throughout the Central Plains, and the power of the Demonic Cult expanded with terrifying speed. A following that once numbered only in the hundreds or thousands soon swelled to tens of thousands.
Perhaps sensing a threat in this rapid growth, the Imperial Court drew its sword against the Demonic Cult. Labeling them a wicked group deluding the masses, the Emperor ordered their annihilation. An army of a million soldiers began the slaughter, and countless cultists lost their lives.
As his followers fell in droves, the Heavenly Demon personally bestowed martial arts upon them to fight back. The techniques he granted were fundamentally different from existing martial arts; while they allowed one to become strong at an incredible pace, they also turned the practitioner’s mind and methods cruel. Furthermore, they were incomplete arts that would eventually lead to death via Qi Deviation.
Despite these side effects, many cultists practiced the Heavenly Demon’s arts, dying with smiles on their faces even as they succumbed to Qi Deviation. The fanatical belief that they were transcending to the afterlife had stripped them of their reason. They charged relentlessly even with severed arms and legs, leaving the Imperial army in a state of utter dismay.
However, even their fanaticism could not ultimately overcome the wall of a million-man army. Pushed back by overwhelming numbers, the cultists resisted fiercely but were eventually driven to the Hundred Thousand Mountains at the edge of Qinghai Province. The Imperial Court intended to wipe them out entirely, but the rugged terrain and freezing weather created a natural fortress that could withstand a siege for months. Moreover, the sudden passing of the Emperor caused the campaign to fizzle out.
The cultists, spared by a stroke of heavenly luck, researched and refined the Demonic Arts bestowed by the Heavenly Demon, hoping to one day reclaim their place in the Central Plains. They periodically released these experimental arts into the world to test them, and these techniques became the roots of the Demonic Arts that took hold in the Central Plains. It is no exaggeration to say that the history of Demonic Arts was written by a single man called the Heavenly Demon.
*
The Fist Demon was trembling from head to toe. He had realized exactly who the old man before him was.
The man who had once fought as an equal against the Heavenly Demon, the very source of all Demonic Arts. The man who had dared to learn the cult’s protection martial art, the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, yet could not be killed by anyone.
He was the Yin-Yang Demon.
"Why are you silent?" the Yin-Yang Demon asked, as if genuinely curious.
"How... why... are you here?!" the Fist Demon managed to squeeze out in a trembling voice.
It made no sense. Had he not vanished decades ago? Why would he suddenly appear in the territory of the Demonic Cult?
"The Heavenly Demon."
In response to the Fist Demon’s question, the Yin-Yang Demon uttered just those three words. The Fist Demon’s expression turned to one of bewilderment. The Yin-Yang Demon had come because he knew the Heavenly Demon had been resurrected.
"What... is your purpose?" the Fist Demon asked.
He couldn't understand why this unpredictable man would seek out the Heavenly Demon.
"Isn't it obvious?" The Yin-Yang Demon replied with a thick smile. "I have to kill him."
The Fist Demon’s face went pale. He had suspected as much, but it seemed the Yin-Yang Demon truly intended to assassinate the Heavenly Demon.
"But why!" the Fist Demon shouted.
He couldn't wrap his head around it. Of course, the Demonic Cult did not have a good relationship with the Yin-Yang Demon. He had not only killed his own master, the Yin-Yang Twin Demons—who were Elders of the cult—but had also stolen and mastered the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, a technique passed down only to the Cult Leader. To the Demonic Cult, he was an arch-enemy.
However, once the cult realized he had reached the Profound Realm, they had withdrawn the Pursuit Order against him. They had judged him to be an enemy too difficult to handle. In the end, the relationship had settled into a state where the cult simply absorbed whatever damage the Yin-Yang Demon dealt and moved on. So why would he go out of his way to appear at the cult's headquarters to kill the Heavenly Demon?
"Khahahaha!"
The Yin-Yang Demon burst into a jovial laugh at the question.
"What is so funny!" The Fist Demon raised his voice, feeling insulted by the laughter.
"Who do you think I am?" the Yin-Yang Demon countered with a question of his own.
"Are you not Senior Yin-Yang Demon?" the Fist Demon answered as if it were obvious.
The old man before him was the Yin-Yang Demon—the peerless master of the Profound Realm, a Half-Immortal who had once laid waste to the Demonic Cult and walked away unscathed.
"Correct. I am the Yin-Yang Demon," the old man nodded. "I have reached a high realm and am called a Half-Immortal, but in the end, my essence is that of a demon."
The Yin-Yang Demon’s smile deepened. "Does a demon need a reason to kill someone?"
"Wha... what do you mean by that!"
The Fist Demon fell into confusion. It was an answer he hadn't expected, yet it wasn't wrong. Why were demons called demons? Was it not because they acted on their desires—killing when they wanted to kill, raping when they wanted to rape, and taking what they wanted to take? Asking why he would kill was, in a sense, a foolish question.
And yet, it still didn't make sense. The Heavenly Demon was a being beyond humanity. The Yin-Yang Demon, who had fought him in the past, should know that better than anyone. Why would he challenge an enemy whose defeat was not guaranteed, where even his own life would be at risk?
"The Heavenly Demon has reached the realm of a Demonic Immortal!" the Fist Demon screamed.
The Heavenly Demon had already attained the Life and Death Realm. No matter how great a master the Yin-Yang Demon was in the Profound Realm, he could not defeat the Heavenly Demon.
"No matter if you are in the Profound Realm, you cannot reach him!"
"Khahahaha!"
The Yin-Yang Demon laughed again at the Fist Demon’s desperate shouting. The man looked like a bear but spoke nothing but nonsense; it was impossible not to laugh.
"How could someone who reached the Life and Death Realm still be in the Mortal World?" The Yin-Yang Demon looked straight at the Fist Demon. "That fellow has been a master of deception since the old days. I don't know what trick he's using, but it's the same this time."
The Yin-Yang Demon spoke with absolute certainty. The Life and Death Realm was the stage of a god or immortal. Upon reaching it, one would immediately ascend to the Immortal Realm. So, a Demonic Immortal remaining in the mortal world? That was proof that he hadn't truly reached the Life and Death Realm. No matter how immortal he claimed to be, he could not escape the laws of the world.
"You're mad! You will die! And it will be a gruesome death!" the Fist Demon bellowed.
To a cultist like him, the Heavenly Demon was the Son of Heaven and a living god. He could not stand by and listen to such blasphemy.
"The one who dies will be the Heavenly Demon. And it will be quite gruesome," the Yin-Yang Demon countered leisurely.
"Arrogant! How can you be so certain!" The Fist Demon shook his head.
It was pure arrogance—the attitude that he knew everything, the way he treated even the Heavenly Demon as insignificant.
"Is it not obvious?" the Yin-Yang Demon asked back, as if he were the one confused. "There is no human being who can defeat me."
He spoke as if he were stating a simple fact of nature.
"He is a god!"
"Don't worry. I'll confirm for you soon enough that he is merely human." The Yin-Yang Demon’s eyes flashed. "Now, enough small talk. Lead me to the Heavenly Demon."
The Fist Demon’s face turned a dark, sickly shade. The Yin-Yang Demon savored the reaction.
*
Who is the greatest strategist in the Murim?
Some would say it is Zhuge Cheon, the "Divine Brain" of the Cheonmu Alliance—the most brilliant mind in the martial world. Others would argue for Sima Jin, the "Ma-noe" of the Demonic Cult—the strategist with the ultimate intellect.
Twenty years ago, during the Great War of Righteousness and Demons, Zhuge Cheon and Sima Jin displayed their genius through countless tactical battles. Their exploits were so impactful that they are still discussed today. They were said to calculate so many moves ahead that it seemed they could see the future, always devising perfect countermeasures. They possessed transcendental intellects that ordinary strategists couldn't even begin to fathom.
But Sima Jin, the man with that very intellect, was currently overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness. A variable he had never anticipated had suddenly appeared.
"Child, why are you silent?"
The man before him was a parricide who had killed his own master, an Elder of the cult. He was a Great Demon who had once been the cult's public enemy number one. An absolute master who had appeared out of nowhere to fight the Heavenly Demon to a standstill.
It was the Yin-Yang Demon.
The man who had vanished without a trace decades ago had suddenly manifested in Sima Jin's private office.
"Wh... why are you here, Senior?" Ma-noe stammered.
"I came to see the Heavenly Demon," he replied casually, as if he were just visiting a neighbor.
Ma-noe felt his head spin. He couldn't grasp the Yin-Yang Demon's intentions at all.
"But... why?"
"Get the details from that fellow over there. Just show me where he is."
Too lazy to explain, the Yin-Yang Demon pointed behind him. Ma-noe shifted his gaze and gasped in horror.
Standing there was the Fist Demon, both of his arms severed. Had he not left the cult to annihilate the Hwangbo Clan? How could he be here in such a state?
Goosebumps erupted all over Ma-noe’s body. Seeing the Fist Demon like that, it was clear the Yin-Yang Demon hadn't come with good intentions.
"...How many have you killed?" Ma-noe asked, his voice trembling.
The office of the Demonic Cult's strategist was located in the deepest, most secure part of the headquarters. Given the Yin-Yang Demon's personality, he wouldn't have snuck in. If he had strolled in after maiming the Fist Demon, countless cultists must have died.
"You ask an amusing question." The Yin-Yang Demon laughed. "Do you remember every ant you've stepped on in your life?"
Ma-noe’s face turned deathly pale. Even without a specific number, he realized the damage must be catastrophic.
"Child, where is the Heavenly Demon?" the Yin-Yang Demon asked, staring at the pale strategist.
"The Heavenly Demon is currently away," Ma-noe replied steadily.
In reality, the Heavenly Demon was resting in the deepest sanctuary of the cult. Even for an immortal being, it was impossible to fully recover from near-fatal wounds in a mere twenty years, so he was focusing entirely on his recuperation.
"You're lying."
The Yin-Yang Demon caught the lie instantly. His incredibly sharp senses had picked up the minute tremor in Ma-noe’s voice.
Vrooooooom!
The Yin-Yang Demon began to circulate his Yin-Yang Harmony Qi. The furniture in the office began to rattle and shake.
"If I tear the house down, the owner will eventually come out," the Yin-Yang Demon said with a casual smile.
Ma-noe’s face began to turn a dark, ashen hue.