Heavenly Demon Returns
Deep in the foothills of Ten Thousand Mountains, countless members of the Demonic Sect stood in ordered rows before a gigantic stone gate.
The damp valley, starved of sunlight, lay heavy under their silence and tension.
Today marked the fifteenth year.
It was the day of the Heavenly Demon’s promised return, the day she had long ago foretold when she entered seclusion.
Rumble—
The tightly sealed stone doors began to move with a deep, thunderous groan.
Every eye in the Demonic Sect turned toward the widening crack at once.
From within, a girl emerged, her naked white body starkly contrasted against the pitch-black darkness behind her.
Who could possibly look at that frail girl and believe she was the Heavenly Demon?
And yet the red hair that marked her identity streamed around her naked form.
The savage aura rolling off her, as though the entire mountain range of Ten Thousand Mountains were trembling, proved that she was indeed the greatest master in the martial world—the very Heavenly Demon who had captivated them all.
Unbothered by her nakedness, the girl strode lightly through the ranks of men lined up on both sides.
"Congratulations."
Left Guardian Sima Cheon stepped in front of her and bowed deeply at the waist.
The girl, Dokgo Ryeon, looked at him indifferently and ignored the clothes he held out, instead asking him a question.
Her voice was clear, but the majesty within it had not changed one bit.
"How do I look to you?"
Dokgo Ryeon raised both arms and showed him her body.
It was not the image of an aging Heavenly Demon that Sima Cheon remembered.
"Have you undergone a cleansing of the marrow and a rebirth of the bones? If so, then you may have reached the Mystic Realm…"
Mystic Realm.
One of the very few realms in martial history that transcended human limits.
There had never been anyone in the current age said to have reached it.
Cleansing of the marrow and rebirth of the bones was a phenomenon in which one shed a frail body and was born anew in a transcendent form.
An uncontrollable smile spread across Sima Cheon’s mouth.
But Dokgo Ryeon’s expression remained dark.
"I am… not sure. Rather, my body…"
Dokgo Ryeon believed the phenomenon she had experienced was not cleansing of the marrow and rebirth of the bones.
She had already undergone one such transformation in the past.
But this time it was completely different.
Normally, the body should have become stronger and harder.
Instead, this time it had become softer and more beautiful.
It was difficult to understand.
Her internal energy had become incomparably clearer and stronger, yet she had suffered an abnormal change in which her physical completion had actually declined.
"You have not yet fully perfected it," Dokgo Ryeon muttered uneasily.
To the world that feared her, she was the Heavenly Demon, the leader of the Demonic Sect, said to have embodied every evil in the world.
Yet the form she now displayed was far too delicate and pure to fit such a being.
Even the followers of the Demonic Sect who had gathered to welcome her back found themselves blushing and unable to decide where to look.
"According to the manual, I should have reached the realm of Regression…"
The manual said this was not limited to her own body, but a heaven-defying phenomenon in which one transcended time and space and returned all the way back to the beginning.
It was the very pinnacle of divine martial art, one that sought to stand above heaven itself.
Dokgo Ryeon had learned of its existence through the manual.
She had spent fifteen years in seclusion to reach that realm, but it had been beyond her.
Instead, she had reached the stage below it.
She had attained Amta—a realm said to be possible only for the Heavenly Demon.
Is this all I can hope for?
According to the manual, the essence of Cheonmashingong was not darkness.
Its meaning might be arrogant, but its foundation was not evil.
To bring Cheonmashingong to true perfection, she had needed to shed the evil Darkness she once carried and fall awau from it.
The moment she had repeatedly turned those words over in the cave, stripping away the darkness in her heart and attaining insight, her body had shone and changed into the youthful form she now possessed.
That was undoubtedly a true breakthrough.
It simply was not the strength she had expected.
Even after reaching Amta, Dokgo Ryeon had remained alone in seclusion, devouring the manual in order to understand its deeper meaning and steadying her wavering heart.
She had wanted desperately to seize even the smallest clue.
As her body grew weaker upon reaching Amta, she had feared that she might have misunderstood the text and was suffering some terrible side effect.
A strong body houses a strong spirit.
A weak body gives rise to a weak spirit.
Lost in confusion, Dokgo Ryeon had searched desperately for something to hold onto.
But there had been no one at her side during seclusion.
Only the faceless author beyond the manual itself.
For fifteen years, Dokgo Ryeon had communicated with one person through a book, nursing reverence and slowly building a deep bond in solitude.
The longer she clung to the pages, the more her curiosity and anticipation for the author grew.
Dokgo Ryeon had lived through a long and painful life, but she still remembered the warmth and happiness of her childhood.
Even as the Heavenly Demon, she spoke with formality in order not to forget her roots.
Those small memories were both the hope that carried her through life and the fuel that fed her vengeance.
If she could meet the author of the manual and receive his instruction to overcome this fear, it would be the greatest joy of all.
The humanity that had been numbed only by despair and terror had revived together with her body.
"…Did you find him?"
Dokgo Ryeon asked Sima Cheon.
At her pleading eyes, like those of a kitten searching for its mother, Sima Cheon could not quite bring himself to meet her gaze.
"Ahem. We have not confirmed with absolute certainty that he is the man in question, but we have found someone who appears likely."
Before entering seclusion, the Heavenly Demon had ordered them to find the author of Cheonmashingong.
Following her command, the entire Demonic Sect had searched high and low for ten years, and in the end they discovered that, long ago, a middle-aged couple had sold off all manner of books at bargain prices.
And their son, they said, was the author of those books.
"This is the manual of Diamond Body said to have been written by that man."
Sima Cheon took an old book from within his robes and held it out.
He had fought a tremendous battle with the monks of Shaolin to obtain this manual, but he did not bother to mention that achievement.
Dokgo Ryeon paid no attention to Sima Cheon’s pained expression as he grimaced, thinking of the injuries from that day, and snatched the book up in a hurry.
At once, the gazes of the gathered sect members fell on her trembling naked body.
Sima Cheon saw those men and clutched his head, barely containing his rage.
How dare they lust after the Heavenly Demon’s jade body? I’ll lock every one of these bastards away in solitary confinement.
Apparently he had forgotten altogether that he, too, had just been shaken by her delicate form a moment ago.
Dokgo Ryeon carefully examined the cover.
Its elegant handwriting.
The cheap paper that looked ready to crumble apart.
Everything was exactly the same as the Cheonmashingong she had carried in her heart for fifteen years.
Suppressing her pounding heart, she flipped the pages open.
What is Diamond Body?
It refers to a strong body that cannot be shattered, with a heart as hard as diamond.
Where does strength come from?
It comes from the mind.
Take your stance with the will not to be pierced, and cry out “iron golem” …
It is his.
Dokgo Ryeon was certain of it.
This was unmistakably the manual he had written.
The distinctive style, the unruly yet unique phrasing—it matched her own manual perfectly.
"Where is he!"
Dokgo Ryeon asked Sima Cheon, her face alight with joy.
She looked like a woman reunited with a long-lost lover.
No, more like a dog finally seeing the master it had not laid eyes on in years.
"He is said to be on Mount Hua."
"Mount Hua? Did he take refuge with the righteous sects?"
"I do not think so. There were no signs of any closeness with the Mount Hua Sect."
"That is enough."
Dokgo Ryeon’s heart swelled with expectation.
If she met him, surely he would be able to resolve this strange unease and the problem with her body.
No, more than that, simply being able to speak with him directly after all this time would be happiness enough.
Did he hate the righteous sects too?
Would he recognize my level?
Would he consider me his disciple?
She had so many questions.
Dokgo Ryeon, bright with excitement, smiled and said to Sima Cheon, "I must meet him at once."
"I shall bring him here."
"Do not be impertinent. I shall go to him myself."
Humming softly, Dokgo Ryeon trotted away with light, buoyant steps.
It was as if she were walking on clouds.
"You’ll go to him yourself?"
Sima Cheon wondered if his ears had deceived him.
Who on earth was this person, that even the Heavenly Demon, who had always looked down on the world, would react like that?
He covered his forehead.
There were questions everywhere, but questioning the actions of the Heavenly Demon was not allowed.
His role was to make sure she was comfortable.
Then there was something he had to do first.
Sima Cheon glared at the Demonic Sect members, who were still dazedly staring at the Heavenly Demon’s retreating white backside.
That night, the Ten Thousand Mountains echoed with the pitiful screams of more than a dozen Demonic Sect guardians until very late.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Dokgo Ryeon had never asked anyone for a favor in her life.
When she was young, her wise parents had given her what she wanted before she even knew to ask.
After that, there had been no need to beg for anything; it was simpler to subdue others with force and take what she wanted.
In such a desiccated life, feeling someone’s pure kindness was an enormous value in itself.
And when that kindness became the force that renewed her life and arrived in her hour of crisis, it meant even more.
The manual explained in detail the profound subtleties of Cheonmashingong that she had never fully inherited because she had rashly killed the previous Heavenly Demon too soon.
In particular, it had plainly made an effort to add kind annotations to the passages whose meanings were difficult to decipher.
Of course, those notes were still full of incomprehensible words and could not be fully interpreted, but Cheonmashingong was, after all, such an extraordinary martial art.
It was only natural that ordinary people could not understand it easily.
And so, over the last several years, the manual had become her teacher, her companion, and her unshakable scripture.
She had lived a long life, but the kindness she had felt directly through the book over the past fifteen years was enough to shake the heart that Amta had made weak to its core.
Now a new memory she no longer needed to burn away had taken up a great part of her heart.
The author of Cheonmashingong—her teacher—had already become the only person who gave her happiness.
That was why Dokgo Ryeon wanted to meet him.
She marveled at his vast knowledge.
She had trained in his heart method while thanking him for his kindness.
And whenever she got stuck, she opened the book and found her answer there.
That level of understanding was something even Dokgo Ryeon, who had used Cheonmashingong for decades, could not dare to rival.
Teaching someone was several times harder than learning.
Just how strong must the man be who could explain such miraculous principles so clearly through a manual?
By then, even who he was no longer mattered.
If she met him and spoke to him in person, it would surely be far happier than anything she had felt from the book alone.
By tomorrow…
Dokgo Ryeon spent the night restless with anticipation.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day.
As soon as dawn broke, Dokgo Ryeon informed the guardians that she was going out and set off in a hurry.
She unleashed her full movement art and, in less than two shichen, reached Mount Hua, where she began her search by spreading her qi.
But within Mount Hua, she sensed no formidable aura strong enough to oppose her.
If she kept probing by spreading her qi further, she feared the Mount Hua Sect would notice.
Of course, fighting them would not be a problem, but she did not want to rampage anywhere near her teacher’s residence.
It would not do if the teacher were inconvenienced.
It was far too considerate a thought for something the Heavenly Demon would say.
That only showed how sincere she was.
She absolutely had to meet her teacher.
Clutching that resolve, she began to search Mount Hua on foot.
A bright smile lingered on the face of the Heavenly Demon as she wandered the mountain.