Chapter 191: Heavenly Demon Divine Art (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: Heavenly Demon Divine Art (3)
A question was the first thing that came to mind.
Nok So-pyeong had only just met Seo-jun today. This meant she had no way of knowing the true extent of his abilities.
Of course, having reached the realm of Extreme Demon, she might have gleaned a general sense of his strength through Qi Sensing. But there was no way she had enough information to suddenly bring him straight to the Purification Tree.
Because of this, rather than doing anything to the tree, Seo-jun stared intently at Nok So-pyeong.
"So, what do you want from me? Why bring me here?"
"I brought you here because you seemed interested in the Purification Tree. Weren't you?"
"Didn't you say it was a Sacred Object in its own right?"
"It used to be. Now, it's just a slightly overgrown tree."
When Seo-jun didn't withdraw his suspicious gaze, a mysterious smile graced Nok So-pyeong's lips.
"And..."
Nok So-pyeong’s green eyes pierced right through him.
"I was just curious. For some reason, I get a strange feeling from you. Should I call it familiarity...? I feel an inexplicable sense of kinship."
Kinship? Two things flashed through Seo-jun’s mind.
His inner core and the sprout of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.
Other than those, there was no reason for Nok So-pyeong to feel any sense of kinship with him.
While Seo-jun stared at Nok So-pyeong, Nok-yo approached the Purification Tree with quick, short steps and tapped on its surface.
"It's making a strange sound, is it?"
Nok So-pyeong tilted her head.
"A strange sound?"
"It's a whiny sound, is it? The tree is suffering."
Nok-yo pressed her ear against the Purification Tree, then placed her fingers on both temples and furrowed her brow.
"Umm...?"
Then, in an instant— crack! A small branch sprouted from Nok-yo’s head, right next to her tiny horn.
Nok-yo, who suddenly found herself with two pairs of horns, let her mouth hang open.
"Has Nok-yo turned into a deer-deer, is it...?"
"This is...?"
Nok So-pyeong looked up at the Purification Tree. Her previously gentle eyes flashed fiercely.
"How insolent. To dare pull a stunt like this right in front of me..."
"What’s happening?" Seo-jun asked.
"The Purification Tree possesses an ego," Nok So-pyeong replied. "It seems that piece of vegetation has chosen Nok-yo and passed a divine power onto her..."
"A divine power? Isn't that a good thing?"
"No. A connection has been forged between the Purification Tree and Nok-yo. If the tree were to rot away in its current state, the backlash would severely harm her."
Wooooo──────────
An eerie vibration, like the mournful cry of a whale, echoed through the space. It was the influence of the demonic qi rising from Nok So-pyeong’s entire body.
"I don't like this. It would be one thing if it happened elsewhere, but to dare do this right before my eyes..."
Her surging energy flared like a wildfire. Like a massive blaze devouring a vast amount of kindling to grow even larger, the dark demonic qi condensed into the shape of a deer larger than a mountain.
"Wait. If you destroy the Purification Tree like this, what happens to Nok-yo?"
"Now is actually the best time. If I destroy the tree before their connection grows any stronger, Nok-yo will just be sick for a few days and that will be the end of it."
Demonic qi condensed between Nok So-pyeong’s magnificent horns, forming a sphere the size of a fist.
However, it was a pure crystallization of power—a mass of demonic qi with the weight of a great mountain. Without exaggeration, it could easily obliterate three or four peaks in a single strike.
Kwaaaaaaaa────────!!
That absurd concentration of energy blasted toward the Purification Tree. In that split second, Seo-jun hesitated.
Should I stop it?
He briefly tried to weigh the pros and cons, then stopped. There was no one here he was obligated to protect anyway. He would just do as he pleased.
Bang!
A small explosion erupted beneath Seo-jun’s feet. It was a lightly executed Primordial Unity Step.
Moving like a bolt of light, Seo-jun’s figure intercepted the path between the Purification Tree and Nok So-pyeong.
"What...!?"
Startled, Nok So-pyeong tried to withdraw her power. However, it was impossible to completely retract a force that had been fired without regard for the consequences.
This was especially true for Nok So-pyeong, whose fighting style relied on crushing opponents with overwhelming power rather than utilizing delicate techniques.
No...!
Nok So-pyeong’s pupils dilated. If Seo-jun were to die like this, her position would become incredibly difficult.
No matter how powerful she was, it would be hard to withstand Mara’s wrath.
This was a blow nearly impossible to block for someone at the Super Peak Realm. In a combat situation, he might have been able to dodge or deflect it, but from the looks of it, he fully intended to block it head-on.
If he were only heavily injured, she could heal him somehow, but even that outcome would likely bring immense pressure down upon her.
The very moment a look of dismay appeared on Nok So-pyeong’s face, Seo-jun drew his sword.
My heart is calming down.
It was a blow that felt genuinely threatening even to him. He wouldn't be critically injured if it hit, but the sheer, massive pressure made his entire body tingle.
And the more his body tingled, the more the corners of Seo-jun’s mouth curled upward.
The more his personal safety was threatened, the more his life was in danger, and the stronger the enemy he faced... the more at peace his mind became.
It was a twisted quirk he had acquired after falling into the Murim. He simply couldn't stop his lips from rising in pure excitement.
Peace and excitement. Would the scent of a wife one had lived with for a long time feel like this?
Seo-jun leveled his sword with a mysterious smile.
Of Heaven, Earth, and Man, this was 'Man' (人). Man represented the person, and in terms of Essence-Qi-Spirit, it corresponded to Qi (氣).
His senses floated upward, reaching a higher plane. Seo-jun, having only shallowly dipped his toes into the Qi Spirit Scripture, took a slow breath.
The path a Murim Immortal walks. No. The path toward becoming an Immortal?
In the face of a disaster as grand as a great mountain, a mere human was as powerless as a speck of dust. That was exactly why humans could never abandon the desire to reach higher places.
With a body no larger than a speck, one takes up the sword and walks the path of cultivation to face disasters that are otherwise utterly unmanageable.
His mind emptied, fading into pure white. A brilliant light burst forth, dazzling the eyes.
Exhaling a thin breath, Seo-jun slowly thrust his sword forward.
The blade, moving straight forward while crushing all winding paths before it, drew a Path of Hegemony.
This is my path.
Heavenly Demon Divine Sword 3rd Form, Immortal Pointing the Way.
With a sensation that made his entire body tingle, the extended sword lit the way.
Fwaaaaaaaa─────────!!
"Oh my..."
Nok So-pyeong swallowed hard. It was a sword strike delivered from a distance. Yet, Nok So-pyeong could feel something sharp that had stopped right in front of her nose.
Her eyes, shimmering with a strange light, captured Seo-jun’s figure. He had used the Mystique of Absorption from the Star-Absorbing Great Art to swallow even the aftershocks of her fading strike.
Seo-jun placed his hand on the Purification Tree, meeting Nok So-pyeong’s blooming, suggestive smile.
"I'll take care of this. In exchange," Seo-jun’s gaze pressed heavily upon Nok So-pyeong, "you must honestly confess everything you're hiding."
*
The moment Seo-jun placed his hand on the Purification Tree, he felt an amount of demonic qi that defied imagination.
Because the Purification Tree served as a filter, there was a significant amount of accumulated impurities. But even excluding those, the volume of stored demonic qi was absurdly high.
It was several times greater than even the massive demonic qi of Nok So-pyeong. That alone said enough.
If this had exploded...
There probably would have been some countermeasure, but if the demonic qi inside the Purification Tree had burst out, it would have caused a significant shift in the demonic qi concentration of Tianshan.
At the very least, Nok-yo, who lived nearby, would have been severely affected.
No matter how much of an Extreme Demon spiritual beast her mother was, being exposed to such dense demonic qi from a young age was never a good thing.
Even snakes could be poisoned by snake venom. It was a similar principle.
Even Seo-jun couldn't deny the fact that his "well-behaved" demonic qi possessed a somewhat violent nature.
Of course, Nok-yo was just a kid he had met recently. She was even a bit annoying at times. There was no reason to care for her this much.
Still...
Since she somehow reminded him of Geum Chun-bong in her younger days, he couldn't help but feel concerned.
"Tsk."
Seo-jun clicked his tongue and focused his mind on the demonic qi inside the Purification Tree.
As expected, the well-behaved demonic qi perked up its ears and focused, ready to follow Seo-jun’s will the moment he set his intention.
The only thing that could have been a hindrance was the will of the Purification Tree itself. However, the tree also seemed to desire its own purification, obediently accepting Seo-jun’s will.
It's not much different from Yin-Yang Reversal.
He just had to revert the demonic qi back into qi in its purest state. In a way, it was even simpler than Yin-Yang Reversal, which involved flipping energy into a completely opposite property.
But right now, the problem was the sheer quantity.
Starting from where his hand rested, Seo-jun slowly began to substitute the demonic qi of the Purification Tree with pure qi.
Saaaaaaaa──────────
Along with the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the demonic qi began to purify at a rapid pace.
It was an absurd amount of demonic qi, but Seo-jun’s absolute talent for qi made it possible.
At this rate, it'll take about half a day.
It was just as Seo-jun was concentrating on this thought—
Rumble!
A massive amount of demonic qi suddenly began to stain Seo-jun’s body.
The vast demonic qi of the Purification Tree linked directly to Seo-jun. Using his body as a relay, the energy was being substituted into pure qi, and in the process, it was staining his physical form with demonic qi.
This is...
It wasn't intended. But it wasn't a harmful situation, either.
Seo-jun silently accepted the waves of demonic qi pouring into him and continued the purification of the tree.
Crack!
His body, saturated with demonic qi, began to transform into a demon. Even though his inner core hadn't broken, horns sprouted from his head.
Extra arms didn't sprout from his sides. The six pairs of arms were a mutation created by an imbalance of Essence-Qi-Spirit. In his current state, where perfect balance was maintained, there was no reason for extra limbs to appear.
Seo-jun opened his eyes. He observed his own appearance as if looking down from a very high place.
He saw the Purification Tree rapidly regaining its vibrant greenness as it was purified, and in stark contrast, he saw himself becoming deeply stained with demonic qi.
The moment he realized this, the demonic arts of the Heaven-Defying Realm that had been writhing inside his body began to bloom.
Ah...!
Pure joy welled up within him. The essence of the New Primordial Unity Divine Art, which had simply reversed the direction of his qi circulation, became beautifully distorted.
The tree that grew upside down, with Heaven-Defying as its roots, became a sturdy pillar. Countless branches supporting the earth bloomed and grew darkly stained.
Slide—
He took his hand off the Purification Tree. The purification, which he had expected to take half a day, was finished in an instant.
His soul rejoiced at the overwhelming sense of omnipotence. Managing the overflowing demonic qi, he pointed a single fingertip toward the high-hanging sky.
Enlightenment took the form of language and burst from his lips.
"Above heaven and below, I alone am honored. The three realms are in suffering; I shall reign over them."
In this world, I alone am precious. Since the three realms are in pain, I shall rightfully rule over them.
The sky vibrated at the mantra he spat out. The demonic qi of Tianshan, following the will of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, stained the heavens. Seo-jun, standing at the center of it all, wore a faint smile.
"All demons are beneath my feet."
He hadn't reached the Extreme Demon realm. No, he simply hadn't bothered to step into it.
It was because he found no reason to stain his Essence-Qi-Spirit with demonhood and forcefully merge them.
Instead, he had achieved demonhood through his very existence. Thus, he named this the Demon Transformation Realm (化魔境).
Furthermore, Seo-jun gave a new name to the demonic art that naturally took shape as he achieved this stage.
That name was, finally, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The sprout of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons had finally blossomed.