Chapter 197: Beiming Divine Art (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 197: Beiming Divine Art (2)
Baek Seol-hyang, Master of the North Sea Ice Palace, had recently immersed herself in closed-door cultivation.
Having spent far too long away from active duty, she was sharpening her dulled senses and refining the Ice Soul Divine Energy within her body by absorbing the pure essence of ice crystals.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. A commotion outside had broken her focus.
"Those damn pests..."
What was it this time? If they were going to fight, they should have just stuck to pulling each other's hair. Lately, the disputes among her disciples had been growing increasingly violent.
Intending to give them a good thrashing, Baek Seol-hyang leaped to her feet. But a split second later, she recoiled in horror and threw herself forward with desperate speed.
Fwaaaaah!
A massive hole had just been blasted clean through the structure. Considering this was the main hall of the Ice Palace, such destruction was utterly unthinkable.
Crackle—
The surrounding area froze instantly as frigid qi erupted from the enraged Baek Seol-hyang. Without a moment's hesitation, she kicked off the ground.
"You crazy bastards...!"
Boom! Baek Seol-hyang burst through the ceiling, only to be greeted by the sight of Great Demons at the Extreme Demon realm.
"Uh...?"
The sheer absurdity of the situation left her momentarily stunned. The Great Demons, however, showed her no such consideration.
One man was flying around the perimeter of the Ice Palace, while three other bastards were raining relentless attacks down upon him.
Naturally, the Ice Palace—caught directly in their crossfire—had been reduced to an absolute shambles.
Rumble—!
Grand buildings were pulverized into flying debris. The defensive formations protecting the Ice Palace held little meaning before masters of the Extreme Demon realm.
Her peaceful Ice Palace had been devastated in the blink of an eye. Baek Seol-hyang’s eyes twitched uncontrollably.
Soon, her face flushed a deep crimson, and the veins in her temples throbbed violently.
"Every single one of them... I won't spare a single one..."
Since when had the North Sea Ice Palace become such a pushover? First that brat Baek Seo-jun, and now these insane Great Demon bastards. She wanted to slaughter them all.
Completely losing her reason, Baek Seol-hyang unleashed her Ice Soul Divine Art with everything she had.
"Fine... I see how it is! I shall restore the dignity of my North Sea Ice Palace this very day...!"
Fwaaaaah!
A biting gale swept through, momentarily halting the Great Demons' movements. Baek Seol-hyang thrust her palm forward. It was the Ice Soul Divine Palm.
The Sword Demon swung his blade against that massive river of frosty energy.
Slash—
He cut through the torrent cleanly, but frost immediately began to form on his hand. He furrowed his brows.
"Do not interfere, Palace Master."
"Interfere...? Where the hell do you think you are standing right now?!"
Baek Seol-hyang realized something in that moment. It was indeed possible to become even angrier when one was already at the absolute peak of rage.
Hovering dangerously on the verge of Qi deviation, Baek Seol-hyang roared.
"Ice World Winter Earth...!"
Without hesitation, she deployed her domain. Everything in the vicinity began to freeze solid. The Sword Demon felt his very breath turning to ice, forcing him to rapidly circulate his internal energy.
Whoosh!
Demonic qi violently pushed back against Baek Seol-hyang’s domain. Scowling, the Sword Demon barked a command.
"Greed Demon, you deal with her."
"Good grief... I don't think I'm exactly at the level to be doing petty chores like this."
The Greed Demon lunged at Baek Seol-hyang. Devouring the freezing air with the grotesque mouths scattered across his body, he spread his hands wide and descended upon her.
"Kaaaah!"
Baek Seol-hyang did not back down. Consumed by rage, she thrust both palms forward to meet his strike.
Crack!
The skin on the Greed Demon's palms burst open from the impact. Yet, he only grinned. He curled his fingers, locking hands tightly with Baek Seol-hyang.
"Thanks for the mea—"
"Die!"
The internal energy within Baek Seol-hyang’s body surged violently. It was the ultimate secret technique of the North Sea Ice Palace, passed down only to its masters: the Beiming Divine Art.
'Beiming' referred to the dark, fathomless northern sea; thus, the Beiming Divine Art absorbed an opponent's internal energy and made it one's own, much like the vast sea that embraced all rivers.
"The Star-Absorbing Great Art?"
As the Greed Demon’s expression soured, Baek Seol-hyang bared her teeth in a savage sneer.
"Do not compare this to that half-baked technique you lot copied!"
Sluuuuurp! As she siphoned the Greed Demon’s energy, the foreign qi and the energy of her Ice Soul Divine Art achieved perfect harmony.
It was on a completely different level from the Star-Absorbing Great Art, which often caused 'indigestion' from mindlessly consuming incompatible internal energy.
The Beiming Divine Art allowed one to make the opponent's energy entirely their own. It worked flawlessly, even against that infamous demonic qi!
However, the Greed Demon’s Greed God's Final Devouring was also a technique that stood far above incomplete arts like the Star-Absorbing Great Art.
Crunch!
The maws on the Greed Demon's palms began to gnaw away at Baek Seol-hyang’s astral qi.
"Hmph...!"
Startled, Baek Seol-hyang quickly refined the energy she had absorbed from the Greed Demon into astral qi and blasted it right back out from her palms.
The Greed Demon devoured that energy again, and Baek Seol-hyang used the Beiming Divine Art to suck his energy back in once more.
This seemingly endless cycle of consumption was finally broken by Baek Seol-hyang.
Crackle!
Inside her domain— Swoosh! —hundreds of thousands of tiny ice needles materialized in the air and swarmed the Greed Demon.
"Mmm...!"
The Greed Demon’s body was instantly riddled with holes. Frowning, he used the mouths all over his body to eat the incoming ice needles.
Crunch!
Soon, new flesh sprouted, repelling the Palace Master's ice needles. He had already gained a certain level of resistance to her cold.
"You think you can block this?"
Baek Seol-hyang responded by pouring an absurd amount of astral qi into their joined hands.
"Let's see just how much you can stomach!"
The most terrifying aspect of the Beiming Divine Art was that a practitioner could pass down their internal energy to their successor without any loss.
The accumulated internal energy of the Ice Palace Masters over generations was arguably the greatest in the world when considering sheer volume alone. It was simply far too much for the Greed Demon—who was among the younger and weaker of the Seven Demons—to handle all at once.
"Uh... wait...?"
The Greed Demon’s eyes widened in panic. Normally, he wouldn't be pushed back this much, but because of the 'Seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons,' he had already consumed far too much demonic qi.
Furthermore, she had somehow modified her martial art on the fly to bypass the resistance he had gained through his Greed God's Final Devouring. The compatibility was disastrous; he was already reaching his absolute limit.
Perhaps the outcome would have been different if he had fought the Ice Palace Master before facing him? Regardless, what was done was done.
"No...!"
Just as the Greed Demon’s body was about to— Pop! —explode, the Sword Demon intervened.
"You pathetic fool."
Swish! Forced back by the Sword Demon's sudden strike, Baek Seol-hyang released the Greed Demon's hands and retreated.
Gasping for breath, the Greed Demon asked, "W-What about the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons...?"
"He's hiding inside the building. First, we dispose of the Palace Master—"
"Palace Master!"
At that moment, a man burst out from the ruined interior of the palace.
"What...?"
Baek Seol-hyang stared blankly at the man before her eyes practically bulged out of her skull. Somehow, she knew exactly who he was.
"You... you absolute son of a bitch...!"
Drip. Blood trickled from Baek Seol-hyang’s nose. It was the onset of Qi deviation. She glared at the man with bloodshot eyes, radiating murderous intent.
"Fine, you! This is perfect. I'll take care of all you vermin at once right here!"
The man she was pointing at—Baek Seo-jun—merely smirked.
"Did you hear that? It seems the Palace Master intends to deal with you all in one go. Naturally, I shall assist her."
"What...?"
"Ah, Palace Master. I have safely hidden the Seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons within the palace. Those Demonic Cult bastards won't be able to take him easily."
"You... you viper...! What kind of gibberish are you spouting...!"
Ignoring Baek Seol-hyang, who was raging and spitting blood, Seo-jun looked at the demons and laughed heartily.
"I am Baek Seo-jun, the Young Palace Master of the North Sea Ice Palace. Come at me. I shall show you the true terror of the Beiming Divine Art."
* * *
Seo-jun had slipped into the Ice Palace the exact moment the Sword Demon left to save the Greed Demon.
Currently, not only his essence, qi, and spirit, but his very existence was tainted by demonic nature.
Removing demonic qi once it was embedded so deeply into one's existence was theoretically impossible, but common sense didn't apply to Seo-jun.
Whoosh!
As he transmuted the demonic qi into Ice Soul Divine Energy, his aura shifted entirely.
His essence, qi, and spirit—which had been fused into one by his demonic nature—separated and regained their proper balance. The horns that had sprouted from his head retracted, vanishing without a trace.
And the left arm he had replaced with demonic qi? That had regenerated long ago. While learning the Greed God's Final Devouring, his already exceptional regenerative abilities had evolved even further.
As a finishing touch, he unraveled the threads of his Heavenly Silk robe to change the patterns of his clothes, and even altered the physical shape of his Demonic Sword.
Yes, the one standing here now was not the Future Heavenly Demon Cheon Seo-jun, but Baek Seo-jun of the North Sea Ice Palace.
Stepping out of the ruined palace, Baek Seo-jun looked at Baek Seol-hyang with a bright smile.
Thanks to the information he had gathered from Baek Yu-ryeon, the Ice Palace martial artist he had met previously, pretending to be the Young Palace Master wasn't difficult at all.
Hadn't she said that the Beiming Divine Art, which only the Palace Master could learn, felt like a superior version of the Star-Absorbing Great Art?
While he didn't know the specific oral chants of the Beiming Divine Art, Seo-jun could simply emulate it by using the Star-Absorbing Great Art through his own innate abilities.
In fact, unlike the true Beiming Divine Art—which merely dyed the opponent's internal energy with Ice Soul Divine Energy—Seo-jun knew how to transmute internal energy into entirely different elemental types...
In a way, the 'Beiming Divine Art' Seo-jun was currently using had reached a stage even higher than the original.
"Baek Seo-jun...?"
The Divine Priestess’s expression turned peculiar as she watched him.
"Come to think of it, the Ice Palace martial artist who appeared at Kunlun was definitely..."
The Divine Priestess’s mind raced. Cheon Seo-jun. Baek Seo-jun. If she couldn't find a connection here, her head was nothing more than a useless decoration.
However, she soon shook her head. The aura emanating from Baek Seo-jun was unmistakably that of the Ice Soul Divine Art. A strange sense of unease remained, but it was logically impossible for those two to be the same person.
"I shall help you, Palace Master!"
Seo-jun was simply brazen.
What if someone who could see the hierarchy of souls recognized that Baek Seo-jun and Cheon Seo-jun were the same person?
He didn't care.
If his 'friends' from the Demonic Cult were martial artists of that caliber, he would have already been dragged back to the cult by his hair long ago.
Seo-jun’s Ice Soul Divine Energy surged toward the Greed Demon.
"Eeeek...!"
The Greed Demon desperately vomited out what he had eaten to empty himself. The regurgitated energy shot out, threatening to overwhelm Seo-jun.
'For now, I'll play it safe.'
Though he had reached the Extreme Demon realm, he had not yet attained the Transcendent Realm. Naturally, in his current state, it was difficult to face even the Greed Demon alone.
Somehow, 'Baek Seo-jun' had become the weakest among all the 'Seo-juns.'
However, since he still possessed the enlightenment of the Extreme Demon realm, he was capable of holding his own to some extent.
Swish!
The energies fired by the Greed Demon were absorbed directly into Seo-jun’s hands. Seo-jun converted that chaotic energy into Ice Soul Divine Energy, channeled it into his palms, and unleashed a devastating palm strike.
It was the very essence of the Beiming Divine Art.
K-Boom!
The Greed Demon, barely managing to block it, leaped backward.
Before they knew it, the Super Peak masters of the Ice Palace had gathered and surrounded the area.
"Divine Priestess, what do you intend to do?"
"Nothing changes. We shall escort the Seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons back to the Cult."
"Tsk."
The Greed Demon clicked his tongue. Baek Seol-hyang, however, wasn't just clicking her tongue; she was gnashing her teeth until her gums bled, screaming in unhinged fury.
"Kaaaaah...! Baek Seo-jun...! Who the hell are you?! How! How do you even know the Beiming Divine Art...?!"
"Palace Master, get a hold of yourself. What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Baek Seol-hyang clawed at her hair until her scalp bled. Her eyes gleamed with a feral madness through her disheveled white hair.
'He isn't that man from 300 years ago. Is he a descendant? But how? Did he inherit that man's constitution? No, even so, even he shouldn't know the Beiming Divine Art...'
Hehe... Laughing as if she had completely lost her mind, Baek Seol-hyang coughed up a glob of dark blood and ignited her Primordial True Qi.
"I don't know anymore. Just everyone... die."
Even if it meant her own death, she would kill every single person here. Then all her problems would be solved.
That son of a bitch impersonating the Young Palace Master, whoever he was.
And these vermin-like demons who dared to invade the Ice Palace and shamelessly destroy everything.
She would freeze them all and display them as decorations at the highest peak of the Ice Palace...
"Uh...?"
Gush! Blood poured from Baek Seol-hyang’s mouth once more.
She didn't even think to wipe it away. Her eyes trembled violently.
Decorate the top of the Ice Palace with ice statues? How?
Rumble—!
The Ice Palace had finally, completely collapsed into ruins.
Along with the fallen palace, Baek Seol-hyang’s heart shattered as well. He... hehe... A hollow laugh escaped her lips; her sanity had completely snapped.
With her eyes rolled back, Baek Seol-hyang burned her Primordial True Qi without a single shred of restraint.
"You... sons of... bitches...! If I don't kill you and grind your bones to dust, I am no longer human...!"
The boundless grudge of the maddened Palace Master became a biting gale that swept across the entirety of the North Sea.