Chapter 164: Lord of Ten Thousand Demons? (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 164: Lord of Ten Thousand Demons? (2)
Seo-jun left the scene, abandoning the demon’s corpse where it fell. Now that the threat was dealt with, he figured the city’s martial artists could handle the cleanup on their own.
Following the map he had obtained from the Hao Sect, he scoured the surrounding region. It marked six suspected locations, and he found demons in four of them.
As expected of the Hao Sect. Their batting average isn't bad at all.
The entire process took less than a day.
With his immediate tasks finished, Seo-jun fell into deep thought.
What is this, really?
The four demons he had encountered this time were all small fry at or below the Peak Realm. But no matter how insignificant they were, Seo-jun didn't actually possess any technique that let him control people with a single word.
Yet, as if his voice carried absolute authority, they couldn't even resist the command to commit suicide. They had simply taken their own lives.
Naturally, one could assume this was only possible because of their unique nature as demons.
He had done something similar before, of course.
He would capture someone, soak their brain in demonic qi, and extract a confession.
He had used that method a few times, but this was entirely different. That old method involved bleaching the subject's consciousness with demonic qi just to drag out an answer to a specific question.
It wasn't something that could be weaponized like a Word Spirit, which was exactly what he had just done.
I’ll have to look into this a bit more.
He quickly reached a conclusion.
He had told Chun-bong he’d be back soon, but the work had finished much faster than expected.
Since he had some spare time, he might as well catch a few more demons to experiment on.
And while he was at it, he could test out his New Primordial Unity Divine Art.
*
The New Primordial Unity Divine Art.
The name sounded grand, but the reality wasn't anything too special.
While slaughtering the demons this time around, he had easily plundered their martial arts. All of their heart methods utilized a "reverse-flow" system, circulating internal energy in the opposite direction of orthodox techniques.
He didn't know yet if that was simply because their demonic arts were low-level, or if all demonic arts functioned that way.
It was especially unclear to Seo-jun, considering he could easily generate demonic qi without relying on such restrictive methods.
Regardless, he had acquired several demonic heart methods.
Since his ultimate goal was to reach the middle ground between the Extreme Demon and the Transcendent Realm, the Primordial Unity Divine Art needed to evolve accordingly.
What was it called again? Quantum superposition?
Relying on hazy memories, Seo-jun laid the foundation for the New Primordial Unity Divine Art.
Roughly speaking, it was the concept that before measuring a quantum state, multiple possible outcomes exist simultaneously as probabilities. He couldn't remember the exact scientific details, so he just borrowed the motif.
Schrödinger’s cat was a perfect example.
Was the cat in the box dead or alive? Before opening the box, there was no way to know.
The probabilities of both outcomes existed simultaneously, and the cat's state was determined only by the act of observation. The logic of the New Primordial Unity Divine Art was exactly the same.
In this case, the observer was, of course, Seo-jun himself.
Since qi was a concept that simultaneously existed and did not exist, Seo-jun established the circulation paths of the Primordial Unity Divine Art without fixing the actual direction of the flow.
At this point, the direction of the flow could be represented as a wave function... actually, that was bullshit.
It simply meant that his internal energy flowed in both the "Orthodox" and "Reverse" directions simultaneously.
He left room for the direction to be determined the moment he willed it into action.
In short, it was the "Whatever-the-Fuck-I-Want Martial Art."
Easy.
When Seo-jun opened his eyes, a faint dawn was breaking over the horizon. Despite staying up all night, he felt better than ever.
He hopped down from the tree where he had perched to perform his breathing exercises while simultaneously creating the New Primordial Unity Divine Art.
To be honest, the New Primordial Unity Divine Art didn't hold much significance on its own.
Seo-jun could already generate demonic qi without being restricted by circulation paths. The reason he went through the trouble of creating it was simple: to maintain the delicate balance between the Extreme Demon and the Transcendent Realm later down the line.
If I get my hands on a better demonic art later, I can just adjust it again.
It wouldn't be a difficult task.
Seo-jun took a refreshing stretch and organized his plan for the day.
It was a flawless plan.
"Let’s go."
Taking flight, Seo-jun began to roam the Murim.
*
He had forgotten for a moment just how crazy the Central Plains were. The land was, without exaggeration, insanely vast.
If an ordinary person wanted to travel across the entire Central Plains, a single lifetime wouldn't be enough. And that was setting aside the massive balls required to brave all sorts of dangers along the way...
Seo-jun spent three days scouring Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia without a wink of sleep before he finally caught a trace of demonic qi.
It was in the western part of Gansu, near the territory of the Black Lotus Union. It was also subtly close to the Demonic Cult's sphere of influence.
Of course, Tianshan—the headquarters of the Demonic Cult—was still absurdly far away, but this area was practically adjacent to Qinghai, where the Kunlun Sect was located.
"Lucky."
Was this a reward for all his wandering? Judging by the traces of demonic qi, there wasn't just a single demon here.
There were at least three.
If things went well, he could secure plenty of test subjects.
Seo-jun first used a disguise technique to alter his appearance, adopting the face of a "cool middle-aged man" and the alias Cheon Seo-jun.
Since he was still in Righteous Faction territory, he wasn't about to do anything crazy like openly flaunt his demonic qi.
The county he entered was named Gorang County.
Walking boldly through its streets, Seo-jun followed the trail of demonic qi.
Wait, what?
Something was strange. Small fry below the Peak Realm weren't exactly good at hiding their demonic qi, but there were traces of them wandering all over the place—far more than he had expected.
The stench was so obvious that it would be strange for any decent martial artist not to notice.
And one of those traces led straight into the largest-looking sect in Gorang County.
Frowning, Seo-jun activated Shadowless Under the Moon and melted into the shadows.
The plaque hanging above the sect's main gate bore the words "Righteous Profound Sect" in powerful calligraphy.
Seo-jun silently infiltrated the compound and scouted the interior of the Righteous Profound Sect.
"Hey, we should grab a drink after training today."
"Sounds good! Your treat this time, right?"
"Hmm... I’m a bit short on cash right now..."
"Ugh... fine, you're buying next time. I’ll pay today."
"Haha! Thanks!"
For a place reeking of demonic qi, it looked no different from an ordinary sect. It was exactly what you’d expect from a moderately large sect in a moderately small city.
Puzzled, Seo-jun continued to follow the trail.
The traces led deep into the sect. Specifically, to a rather grand building that appeared to be the Sect Leader’s residence.
What’s this? Did the Sect Leader learn a demonic art?
He didn't intend to beat someone to death just for learning a demonic art. After all, anyone could learn one.
In fact, if that were the criteria, Seo-jun himself belonged at the very top of the Murim’s Most Wanted list.
Seo-jun slipped into the Sect Leader’s hall.
The interior was empty. There were signs of recent occupation, but no one was in sight.
However, Seo-jun’s Qi Sensing immediately detected a hidden space beneath the floorboards.
A secret room... well, those are common enough.
Keeping an open mind, Seo-jun searched for the entrance.
Naturally, he couldn't find the mechanism. To be precise, he found the physical entrance, but he had no idea how to actually open it.
In the end, he had to resort to his master key.
Sring—
Drawing his sword, Seo-jun cleanly sliced through the floorboards leading down into the hidden space.
Nice.
It was a remarkably clean cut. If he fitted it back into place properly, no one would notice it right away.
It would be discovered eventually, but... he’d be long gone by then, so it didn't matter.
After dropping into the secret space, Seo-jun carefully fitted the cut floorboards back into place above him.
Click. The light was entirely cut off, plunging the interior into pitch-black darkness.
Seo-jun channeled internal energy into his eyes to enhance his vision, instantly turning the darkness as bright as broad daylight.
He could feel the presence of people further inside. Maintaining Shadowless Under the Moon, Seo-jun moved stealthily down the corridor. Soon, faint voices reached his ears.
"...When did you say it was happening?"
"Soon. When the Heavenly Demon descends, the Central Plains will become a paradise for the Demonic Path."
"I have no interest in a demonic paradise. Where is the merchandise?"
"You impious bastard."
Seo-jun carefully observed the source of the voices.
There was one man radiating the pure energy characteristic of the Righteous Faction, and one demon radiating coarse demonic qi.
Surprisingly, the demon’s cultivation was near the absolute peak of the Peak Realm. Seo-jun might not know every detail of their hierarchy, but a demon at that level definitely wasn't mere small fry.
"I have the merchandise with me. Did you prepare what you promised?"
"Of course."
The man from the Righteous Faction tapped a specific brick on the wall. Rumble! The secret space vibrated slightly as a hidden panel slid open.
Inside the opened wall was a small cell. Within it, about ten people were squirming on the floor, their limbs tightly bound.
Seo-jun, who had already sensed them with his Qi Sensing, clicked his tongue.
"So, you’re just a damn traitor."
Both men jumped in shock at the sudden voice. The man from the Righteous Faction froze in sheer panic, but the demon reacted differently. He immediately whipped his sleeve, sending over a dozen hidden daggers flying out from within.
Swish-swish-swish!
Seo-jun nonchalantly reached out his right hand and pressed down firmly.
Boom! The Black Water Great Demonic Palm manifested, projecting a massive palm of energy that slammed all the daggers into the floor.
"A demonic art...!"
The startled demon glared at Seo-jun, his gaze filled with intense wariness.
Seo-jun first withdrew his demonic qi. Instead, he circulated the Ice Soul Divine Art and spoke.
"Cut off your right arm."
The demon flinched. However, he showed no signs of obeying.
This time, Seo-jun stopped the Ice Soul Divine Art, circulated the Primordial Unity Divine Art, and let his demonic qi flare up.
"I’ll say it one last time. Cut off your right arm."
The demon’s body began to tremble violently. His shaking left arm twitched, as if fighting the urge to move.
As I thought, it definitely has something to do with demonic qi.
It also seemed clear that the higher the opponent’s cultivation, the less effective the command was. It appeared someone at the peak of the Peak Realm could resist it to some extent.
But that was all they could do.
Since he was exhausting all his mental and physical strength just to resist...
Crunch!
With a casual strike from Seo-jun, the demon’s limbs were blown away.
It was a strike the demon normally could have dodged, but he failed to move because he was entirely consumed by resisting Seo-jun’s absolute command.
"Aaaaaagh...!"
The demon let out a piercing scream.