Chapter 11
Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Unbelievable Talent
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Heavenly Demon: Then, I have some preparations to make, so wait here a moment.
It had already been an hour since the Heavenly Demon left those words behind and vanished.
At first, I waited leisurely.
But as time dragged on, impatience began to creep in.
I started worrying that maybe something dangerous had happened.
That was when my anxious thoughts were swirling in my head.
Heavenly Demon: My disciple, have you been waiting long?
Disciple...
I gave a wry smile inwardly.
I'd never said I wanted to join the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
But I was in the position of a learner.
She was clearly my master, so there was no need to argue the point.
Shihanbu: No? You got here in no time. What are you talking about?
Heavenly Demon: Huhu. Are you being considerate of this master? As expected, you're a good person.
Her unexpected praise made me scratch the back of my head.
I'd only been careful because I was the one learning.
But having her think so highly of me was embarrassing.
Heavenly Demon: Accept the incoming call now.
With those words, a notification popped up in the gallery window.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Heavenly Demon-nim has requested a video chat.] [Accept?] There's a function like this too?
I hit the accept button in surprise.
That very instant.
A video appeared in one corner of the chat window.
In a lush forest, a young woman was waving at me.
-Can you see me well, disciple?
"Ah, yes. It's clear. But Heavenly Demon-nim, you're really pretty."
-W-W-What are you saying!
The Heavenly Demon's face flushed red in an instant as she swung her fist.
Of course, that fist didn't reach me.
This was just a video, after all.
-Ahem. No need for empty flattery.
"It's not flattery."
It was true.
The Heavenly Demon, with her black hair and violet eyes, was truly beautiful.
Far more so than modern celebrities who'd had every treatment available.
Even her worn daoist robes, patched here and there as if showing her meager means, looked like high fashion on her.
-Hey! Quiet down! Just look at this!
Evidently embarrassed, the Heavenly Demon hurriedly changed the subject.
The camera angle shifted with her.
And there...
"A bear?"
A massive bear was baring its teeth, menacing the Heavenly Demon.
-It took a while to find this beast. Now, I'll show you. I'm only demonstrating once, so watch closely.
The moment those words ended.
The camera shook violently.
When the screen steadied again, a sword—black from blade to hilt—was touching the bear's chest.
Yes,
touching it.
Not piercing.
That was clear.
Yet...
Pfshhh—
The next instant, blood erupted from the bear's entire body, and it dropped dead on the spot.
-This is the Blood Wave Sword, created by the Third Heavenly Demon using the mysteries of the Penetration Scripture.
-It's an ultimate technique that sends qi into the enemy's blood vessels, causing them to go berserk.
At that moment, I was certain.
That the beautiful woman before me was truly the Heavenly Demon, master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. And that she was more than worthy of the position.
I realized I'd just gained a tremendous opportunity.
"A-Amazing, Heavenly Demon-nim."
-Hmph! It's n-nothing!
She blushed again at my exclamation, looking embarrassed.
I'd heard the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult fell a hundred years ago. She must have lived alone ever since.
She seemed to have almost no tolerance for people.
Well, that wasn't important right now.
"But, Heavenly Demon-nim, there's one problem."
-A problem? What is it?
"You said you make the blood vessels go berserk using qi, right? But me... I don't have any qi?"
The woman on the screen laughed at my concern.
-Don't worry. I sensed it.
Sensed it?
-You merely lack a vessel for it. You just need time. Your realm has already reached that point.
"..."
-Huhu. That look says you don't get it.
"Yeah... yes."
-It means you're the closest to qi among those who can't handle it.
Hmm, still don't get it.
Reading my expression, the Heavenly Demon smiled and said,
-You'll know when you try. So, draw your sword.
I drew my sword as the Heavenly Demon instructed.
Then, just as she'd done to the bear, I pressed the tip against the tunnel wall.
-Close your eyes and feel it. The earth's qi.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Ten Thousand Demons Hall.
In the crumbling hall, Heavenly Demon Cheon A-ryeong stared at the screen, her lips curling up.
On the screen.
-Grooooar...
Shihanbu was pressing his sword against the wall, wriggling his body like a worm.
"Huhu. What on earth is he doing?"
Trying to sense the earth's qi by rubbing against the wall—it was utterly adorable.
After watching the man for a while, the Heavenly Demon suddenly turned her head.
The sun was rising before she knew it.
"It's already the second day."
Two days had passed since Shihanbu began his training.
"How long until he opens the Heavenly Net Eye... I wonder."
Heavenly Net Eye.
The realm that pierces through the flow of qi like a spider's web.
The Blood Wave Sword was merely a superficial derivation of it.
Cheon A-ryeong recalled her own experience at age ten.
When she'd voluntarily entered secluded training to open the Heavenly Net Eye.
"For me... yes, it took 30 days."
Even that was amazingly fast, according to the records.
Among all past Heavenly Demons, only two had been faster.
The First Heavenly Demon and the Seventh.
"My disciple, I wonder..."
That was when she gazed at the screen with expectant eyes.
-What... is this?
Shihanbu's puzzled voice echoed from the screen.
He was slowly tracing the wall with his finger.
And the path his finger drew...
Followed the qi flow lines exactly.
Cheon A-ryeong's eyes widened.
"In... in just two days, he opened it?"
It was hard to believe.
In a trembling voice, A-ryeong asked,
"What... do you see?"
"It feels like... qi. A net of thin veins wriggling inside the wall like it's alive."
It was certain.
Shihanbu had opened the Heavenly Net Eye.
Even the legendary genius First Heavenly Demon had taken seven days, yet this man did it in just two...
"...What an unbelievable talent. Truly one that beggars belief for a human."
-Yes?
"Never mind. Try sending your will into that net."
-My will? Mm... I'll try.
With his response, Shihanbu closed his eyes.
That instant.
The ambient qi began rushing toward him.
As if vassals kneeling before an emperor, nature itself was submitting to him.
"Even seeing it again, it's an astonishing sight."
To A-ryeong, Shihanbu now felt like a massive mountain range.
As if nature was yielding to an even greater force of nature.
"The World Tree that the elves say they've lost must have been like that..."
A-ryeong's thoughts cut off.
Kwaaaang—!
With a massive roar, smoke billowed thickly in the tunnel.
And the wall where Shihanbu's sword had touched cracked with a jagged split.
A perfect Blood Wave Slash.
"Ten years."
-Yes?
"Ten years... no. If you survive just five years, you'll be the world's greatest."
-Not the supreme under heaven?
A-ryeong was exasperated by how casually he spoke of becoming the world's greatest.
But she wasn't angry.
The man before her had the qualifications for it.
Yes, he had them.
But.
"The supreme under heaven is this lady."
She had no intention of yielding.
That was her throne.
"Still, I can't leave a future supreme under heaven as a mere cult member. From today, I appoint you Vice Cult Leader."
A dramatic promotion from ordinary follower to Vice Cult Leader.
But Shihanbu's face looked dissatisfied.
Noticing it, A-ryeong asked,
"Why? Don't like it?"
-No, before like or dislike... I never said I was joining the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
Her lips trembled at his words.
This madman had learned the Heavenly Demon's ultimate technique yet was insisting he hadn't joined the cult.
"...Do you perhaps have a head injury?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Preparations are complete."
I muttered as I gazed outside the tunnel.
The moon hung directly overhead.
From days of observation, the Cryoraptor always headed to the rocky lake at this time to drink.
So my job was to set a trap along its return path.
"I'll be back."
I stroked the forehead of the soundly sleeping wolf pup, then quietly slipped out of the tunnel.
After trudging through the dark forest for a while.
I reached the spot where the Cryoraptor would pass the lake.
"Hoo."
With a deep breath, I got to work.
I set up the pre-prepared slime trap.
In front of it, I placed the bear meat soaked in blood that the Heavenly Demon had given me.
Bait.
Finally, to mask my scent, I smeared mud from the surroundings all over my body. The earthy smell stung my nose, but I endured.
"That should do it."
I'd done everything I could.
If I still died like this, I'd curse out the gods on my way out.
"Hup!"
With a short shout, I leaped up into a nearby tree.
I held my breath, waiting patiently.
Snap—
The sound of leaves crunching underfoot.
In the darkness, blue feathers glinted.
A figure approaching silently, like a moonlit blade.
The Cryoraptor.
'Take the bait. Please.'
As I closed my eyes and prayed fervently.
Clank—thud!
The trap sprang.
"Yes!"
I shouted, looking down from the tree.
The Cryoraptor was thrashing, its body entangled in sticky slime mucus.
"Kieeeek!"
It desperately tried to tear off the goo, but the more it struggled, the tighter it bound it.
I immediately jumped down from the tree.
Drew my sword.
Time to finish the hunt.
But then.
Shiver—
A chill ran up my spine.
I stumbled back and turned around.
Three pairs of brightly glowing eyes stared from the darkness.
"...Watching."
Dinosaurs other than the Cryoraptor.
The true masters of this forest were eyeing me.
And I could feel it.
Clear emotions in their gazes.
"...Mockery."
They were despising me.
Conveying it with their eyes alone.
'You thought you could claim this territory with that?'
Reading their intent, I realized.
"...I'd been mistaken."
This was the wild.
A world of the law of the jungle.
They didn't trespass each other's territories out of respect.
Because the owners were equals in strength.
Even if I trapped the Cryoraptor, to them I was still just prey.
Just slightly more troublesome than the rest.
That was all.
Realizing that, I looked back at the Cryoraptor.
A small theropod trapped and wailing helplessly.
Prey that would end with one Blood Wave Sword to the chest.
I swung my sword at it.
Slicing through the slime trap's structure.
"Kieeeek!"
Regaining its freedom, it let out an enraged screech and charged straight at me.
Facing it head-on, I leveled my sword as well.
It was time to prove my strength to survive.