Chapter 140: The Sound of Winter Fading (7)
Chapter 140: The Sound of Winter Fading (7)
The blood ghosts and jiangshi withered and crumbled into dust. The flames fueling the formation were stained black before flickering out. This ancient, grand array—one that the Hongwu Emperor himself had ordered to be constructed over two hundred years ago—was now being dyed by the will of a single man.
Such was the nature of the Harmony Realm. An individual’s mental image is called a microcosm; it is the process of projecting the universe contained within one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit onto the world, painting over reality itself.
These were beings who could seize the harmony of heaven, earth, the nine provinces, and the four seas, making it their own. They were those who could mold the martial arts they had spent a lifetime perfecting into a singular form, twisting the very laws of providence.
They were those who could turn the domain reached by their will into the new laws of the world.
Thus, it was called the Harmony Realm.
And yet, even by those standards, this scale was extraordinary. An ordinary master of the Harmony Realm could never commit such an act. How could a single human perform such a miracle alone?
"This is impossible... This cannot be. He is but one man! A mere commoner who hasn't even lived a hundred years! How can such power be permitted to a human?"
Jin Hoe-seong stared at the distant outer fortress with eyes full of horror.
There was a land where the screams of demons and the sighs of sinners echoed—a land where black chains that bound them sprouted from the earth.
The intent of the Harmony Realm was the culmination of one's entire life. How could a man who harbored such a providence even exist?
"The Three Evils Beyond the Great Wall..."
He already lived in hell himself. Because he did not view that hell as a mere punishment, but instead reigned over ten thousand demons and ten thousand evils, he was the Heavenly Demon.
The King of the Sixth Heaven. Mara Papiyas, who prevents liberation. The Demon Lord of the Heaven of Controlling Others' Emanations.
The Venerable of Taprimok in the Great Desert. Or...
The god of all demons who had reached the ultimate peak of martial arts: the Limitless Divine Demon.
The Sixth Heaven Esoteric Buddhism literally belonged to an esoteric Buddhist sect from the ancient Western Regions.
They were those who worshipped the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Papiyas, as a god. Consequently, they referred to their own cult leader as the Heavenly Demon, imbuing the title with the meaning of a "Living God descended to earth."
What kind of human could reign while claiming such an arrogant name?
The answer was right before him. Yes, it was undeniable.
However—
"If I kill you here and now—!"
Jin Hoe-seong gnashed his teeth and leapt into the sky. He had no time to bicker with mere flies. He resolved to pour every ounce of his remaining strength into the formation.
"Today, I shall bring the gods of these petty ghosts to their knees and crown the King of Ten Thousand Ghosts!"
If that man wished to claim the title of a Living God, so be it.
The feat of slaying a god would be a glory that only he and the Sword Demon could possess in this era's Martial World.
His title was Heavenly Killer, One Soul, Ten Thousand Spirits.
He was a ghost who killed across a thousand li, a man who could summon ten thousand monsters with a single command.
All the heterodox methods accumulated by the five-hundred-year history of the Ghost Gate and the Taoist sorcery of the Quanzhen Sect were in his hands. He commanded the wind and rain, and ruled over ten thousand ghosts and gods.
In this very place—
"Heavenly Demon! If you can kill him three times in a single strike, then try!"
The Sword Demon’s charred body began to revert as if time were flowing backward.
From his mangled vocal cords, screams, shrieks, curses, and shouts erupted once more.
It was the secret art of the Blood Cult. It ground up the lives of tens of thousands who had resided in Paxian, along with the souls of countless warriors from the Dragon Slaying Alliance and the Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance.
By funneling all that power into the ancient grand array designed during the very construction of Paxian...
It was a Great Law that granted temporary immortality to a single person.
From the Heavenly Demon's perspective, this forced a battle of attrition against a Harmony Realm master who would keep coming back without end.
"I will restart this as many times as it takes until you die!!"
This was the power of man—honed and sharpened specifically to oppose a god.
As if he had heard that voice even from such a distance, the old man’s gaze suddenly shifted toward the Ghost Gate Meridian Lord.
His voice rang out through the Six Harmonies Resonance, piercing the vast distance.
[Then, behold.]
*
At the deepest part of the inner fortress of Paxian in Chongqing sat the Paxian Government Office. Or rather, it had been there once.
Now, the place was so distorted that no trace of its former self remained.
In the wide courtyard where prisoners were once interrogated, a formation that twisted the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams was deeply engraved. Blood flowed across it, forming a solitary pool.
Thump, thump. The mist scattered like a heartbeat. Each time it did, the corpses hanging from poles swayed, their jaws clattering.
A total of seventy poles held jiangshi, each chanting a different incantation to maintain the grand array.
This was a furnace where Essence, Spirit, Vitality, Soul, and Ghost were extracted and mixed together.
It didn't just restore the ancient array; it was designed to pull all the power of the formation and concentrate it into a single person.
In this furnace, the souls of all the commoners of Paxian were melted and forged.
All of it was driven by the will of a middle-aged man sitting in the center of the array, his hands submerged in the pool of blood as he chanted.
"Cough—!!"
The man coughed repeatedly, continuing his incantation with trembling hands.
The speed at which the forged souls were being consumed far exceeded his expectations.
A master of the Harmony Realm. A monster of supernatural strength who had strayed from the heavenly principles. It was a power that should never have been permitted to a human.
Only now did he realize how much material wealth and power were required to continuously heal such a being.
Could they kill the Heavenly Demon? Well, he couldn't be sure. Without this level of preparation, they wouldn't have even dreamed of facing him.
But things were different now. They had poured in years of time, vast amounts of wealth, and countless living souls.
"Even if we fail, it won't be so bad."
What did it matter if tens of thousands of Han people died? He had learned that the desire for eternal life could be realized. Having fully understood the grand array of Paxian, he would gain much even if he simply returned to the Cult now.
The Sovereign of the Blood Cult would return.
This was merely a test to confirm that single fact.
Compared to that, what did it matter how many more of those monsters reigning in the sky died? The Sword Demon was nothing more than a pawn for the Cult's Sovereign.
No matter how many puppets were lost.
—Whoosh!
Just then, the sound of something tearing through the air was heard. The jiangshi stopped their chanting. Had the Ghost Gate Meridian Lord been defeated? Had the underlings of the Dragon Slaying Alliance reached this far?
The Outer Gate Grand Elder furrowed his brows and turned his head.
At that moment.
—Pshhh!
—Boom!
A black arrow flew in and stopped right in front of his brow.
The jiangshi lined up around him simultaneously shut their mouths and stared at the gate of the government office.
Through the blood mist settling over the grounds, a young man slowly walked in.
"Who are you!"
"Peng Hyeon-hwi of the Peng Family. My home is Hebei, my courtesy name is Mun-ryong, and my pen name is Blade Earl."
He rested his blade casually on his shoulder.
Standing with a crooked posture, he beckoned with his fingertip.
"The Beheading Blood Wolf of the Dragon Slaying Alliance, the Blood Wolf Blade Ghost, Peng Hyeon-hwi. I have heard your name."
The Outer Gate Elder slowly pulled his hands out of the pool.
Pointing straight at Peng Hyeon-hwi with fingertips dripping with viscous blood, he spoke.
"From the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering to the Jinju Eon Family, you have been quite a nuisance."
"I agree. Those mosquito-like bastards were clinging to me so persistently."
An ordinary martial artist would have been consumed by fear at this sight—the sight of corpses simultaneously clattering their jaws, chanting, and rolling their dull eyes to glare.
Especially with the addition of a middle-aged man in red robes performing sorcery while bleeding into a pool of blood.
However, the young man stepped forward without a hint of fear.
Thump, thump, thump...
His heart pounded like a drum. His Middle Dantian stirred, and a wave of energy spread out.
At the same time, his black Peng Family robes fluttered violently. Crackle, crackle... Lightning snaked across his skin. It was the Protection Aura generated by the Thunderbolt Art, the direct lineage martial art of the Hebei Peng Family.
"I heard you haven't even reached twenty yet. To be in the Peak Realm at that age is undoubtedly a talent that could shake the heavens. I can understand why you are so arrogant."
The Outer Gate Grand Elder of the Blood Cult was a master of the Super Peak Realm who was challenging the Upper Dantian, as well as a master of the Blood Cult's heterodox arts. Since the Outer Gate of the Cult was responsible for proselytizing and protecting the faith, he was a formidable foe.
Though he might not have inherited all the secret arts of the Blood Cult, he was a martial artist worthy of being called the face of the Cult.
He had dedicated his entire life to the cause, sacrificing everything to protect the Cult's influence amidst the contempt of the Central Plains' Han people.
The fruit of his Great Law was right before his eyes. And yet, the one who dared to stop him was a mere youth not even twenty years old.
"The arrogance of the Central Plains Han... Child, even if you have no rivals among your peers, know that the world is vast. If you had grown for another ten years, perhaps things would be different, but as you are now, you cannot dare to discuss life and death on the same level as me."
"You talk too much. Usually, that's the habit of someone who's scared."
Splash. Peng Hyeon-hwi’s foot stepped into the pool of blood. As he did, the Astral Energy flowing through his body burned away a corner of the formation.
It was the "Exorcism of Evil" unique to martial arts imbued with lightning energy. In Taoism, lightning power carried the meaning of a prayer to drive away the wicked.
The Elder’s teeth ground together. Just as he clenched his blood-soaked hands to fire a wave of energy—
"And what's this about 'talent that shakes the heavens'?"
Peng Hyeon-hwi smirked.
"I lost my lead a long time ago."
With those words, pitch-black threads wound around the Elder's arm and climbed upward.
They were threads of Astral Energy, pulled taut. The Elder’s gaze shifted to the side. Following the tip of the thread to the top of the office wall...
Under the moonlight, a woman spoke softly.
"Do not approach my husband."
*
As the middle-aged man moved, the black threads snapped one by one.
The level of her Astral Energy Skill was by no means low, but her realm was simply insufficient.
One cannot overcome everything through the principles of martial arts alone.
Even if one uses the simple Three-Talent Sword, if the wielder's realm is transcendent, they can easily handle any secret technique performed by someone of a lower realm.
Thus, the Elder was neutralizing Hwa-yeong’s Astral Energy Skill without much effort. It was like trying to catch a hawk with a spiderweb. With a single flap of his wings, the threads snapped and flew away.
"The Heavenly Demon Divine Art! I see. I wondered how the Little Heavenly Demon of the Western Regions reached this distant Chongqing!"
He spoke while glaring at me with shimmering eyes.
Wait, why me?
"It was you. It was you all along! Now that I think about it, it was always the case. Whenever our Cult's plans were thwarted, you were always there... You weren't just a nuisance. I must make sure to kill you here!"
It seemed he had finished his calculations the moment Hwa-yeong called me "husband." He was likely thinking something like this:
Only the direct disciple of the Heavenly Demon can use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. In this era, the Little Heavenly Demon is the only one.
And if that Little Heavenly Demon is calling me "husband" and has appeared in Chongqing, a place that should have nothing to do with her...
Then the Heavenly Demon, who is currently tearing the Sword Demon apart in the outer fortress, must have come here solely because of me.
If that's what he thought, he was right. He wasn't wrong.
When the Jongri Family used jiangshi techniques to plot in Cheongheon County, I was there.
When Eon Do-cheon tried to ruin the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, I was there.
When Eon Se-jeong tried to sabotage the plans of the Dragon Slaying Alliance and the Martial Alliance, I was there.
And even now, I am still here.
Of all the many plots the Blood Cult spread across the Central Plains, I was present for every plan involving the Black Path Demonic Alliance.
And every single one of them failed by my hand.
There was nothing wrong with the resentment he spewed.
"I've always been curious about that."
I placed my hand over my heart and straightened my fingers.
"Why do you people always talk like that?"
I struck my acupoints to forcibly draw out my Middle Dantian. Lightning exploded along my bloodstream.
A tingling sensation, as if my nerves were being scrambled, washed over me, and the wicked energy of the blood mist settling on my skin quickly dissipated.
Electric currents sparked and flew from my entire body. Along with this, every single strand of electricity burning atop my Protection Aura became a new sensory organ, feeding me information about my surroundings.
"You're the ones who plotted schemes, murdered people, and set traps to harm countless others. So why on earth do you prattle on as if you're the victim?"
Is it because your education was lacking?
Perhaps.
Those who have learned proper Taoist philosophy do not fall into such dark arts.
Contrary to modern imagination, ancient Confucianism was a study of reason and logic.
There was a reason Confucius did not speak of "monsters and supernatural spirits."
During the Warring States period, Ximen Bao of the Wei State threw the shamans of the River God into the river to abolish the custom of human sacrifice.
Therefore, as a scholar who has read the classics...
"I'll collect the blood debt."
For the warriors of the Dragon Slaying Alliance who are still dying.
For the commoners of Paxian whose very souls were ground up to fuel this formation.
And.
For my great-uncle, who is dying at the crossroads of life and death, unable to even stop his bleeding. I'll collect it all, with plenty of interest.
You might not know this, but loyalty, filial piety, and love for the people were the fundamental ideologies of Confucianism.