Chapter 312
Chapter 312
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 312
>Chapter Title: Years (1)
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In response to his master's question, Il-mok sheathed his Soaring Heaven Sword and replied with a cupped-fist salute.
“I’m fine, Master.”
“It’s a relief you weren’t late.”
The Heavenly Demon, standing leisurely with his hands behind his back, nodded with a gentle smile.
Then, someone landed lightly behind him with soft footsteps.
It was the man who always accompanied the Heavenly Demon—the Lord of the Silver Shadow Pavilion.
“I apologize for being late, Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.”
“Ho ho ho. It’s because this old man moved in haste, so don’t blame yourself.”
Having answered thus, the Heavenly Demon turned his head toward the corpse of Taragai, cleaved cleanly in two.
More precisely, a bit farther beyond that.
Il-mok and the Lord of the Silver Shadow Pavilion followed his gaze and turned their heads as well, where they saw the surviving nomadic warriors.
They were the ones charging in to form an encirclement.
In the midst of their spirited rush, they were now scrambling to rein in their horses in a panic. They had stopped about a li or two away.
Though the distance was considerable, these were people of the great plains, each with exceptional eyesight.
The nomadic warriors had watched with their own eyes as their Kagan, Taragai, was pathetically bisected.
Shocked by the sight of their Kagan dying while fleeing, they hurriedly halted their mounts.
Not content with that, shouts in the nomadic tongue rose from afar, and several groups abruptly wheeled their horses to flee.
As the Lord of the Silver Shadow Pavilion rose swiftly to pursue them, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
“Enough.”
“Those men dared to raise arms against the Divine Cult.”
“We already know where their stronghold lies, so is there any need to chase them now? Besides, considering the nature of nomads, with their leader gone, they’ll soon splinter and merge repeatedly, tearing into each other.”
At the Heavenly Demon’s explanation, Il-mok recalled the matter with the Mangot tribe.
‘The Oirat tribe forcibly merged various tribes under that Kagan’s power, so it’ll fracture into pieces soon enough.’
With the central figure gone, the coercive force would vanish as well.
“We shall obey Your Lordship’s will.”
“We will follow Master’s will.”
As Il-mok and the Lord of the Silver Shadow Pavilion each offered their respects and replied, the Heavenly Demon smiled warmly.
Instead of stroking his elegantly groomed white beard as usual, he maintained his posture with hands clasped behind his back.
Neither Il-mok nor the fanatical followers bowing fervently from afar noticed it.
The subtle trembling in the Heavenly Demon’s clasped hands.
‘Ho ho ho. In the end, no human can defy the natural law of aging.’
Wielding power akin to that of an immortal, the Heavenly Demon’s body—well over a hundred years old—was utterly frail.
Even after undergoing bone transformation twice.
* * *
The Cult’s followers came to their senses belatedly and began cleaning up the battlefield.
They backtracked slightly along their path and retrieved the carriage they had abandoned earlier.
Since the Oirat tribe’s raid had targeted the goods in that carriage, material losses were almost nonexistent.
As the situation seemed to settle down, Il-mok finally posed a question to the Heavenly Demon.
“Master, why did you come here?”
“Ho ho ho. Didn’t you mention it before, Il-mok? That the Oirat tribe’s recent movements were suspicious.”
According to the Heavenly Demon, he had afterward instructed the armed units traversing the Heavenly Myriad Mountains to keep watch on the Oirat tribe.
“And two days ago, a report came in that the Oirat Kagan and about a thousand warriors were moving east.”
The report had arrived only two days prior. Accounting for the time it took for intelligence to travel, they had actually mobilized four days ago.
“Aren’t there other armed units or people who could handle it? Why did you come personally…?”
Thanks to the Heavenly Demon’s arrival, they had survived easily, but Il-mok hadn’t expected the leader himself to appear.
“Ho ho ho. Everyone else is occupied, so the idlest one—this old man—had to step up. Besides, with the situation urgent, it seemed a swift traveler was needed.”
Only then did Il-mok understand.
Come to think of it, the main headquarters was quite a distance from here. To cover that in just two days meant his master might have truly sprinted here, soles sweating.
The Lord of the Silver Shadow Pavilion’s tardiness was probably because he couldn’t keep up with the Heavenly Demon at the end.
“We are grateful for Master’s grace.”
“A master rescuing his disciple—what’s so special about that?”
The Heavenly Demon smiled softly, his expression saying it was only natural.
It was a look brimming with a master’s affection.
Gazing at that smile for a moment, Il-mok cautiously opened his mouth.
“Master, may I ask about martial arts?”
“Ho ho. A disciple asking his master about martial arts is only natural.”
“Th-that Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon… how exactly do you execute it?”
That moment was still seared into Il-mok’s mind like a branding iron.
The sight of the nomadic warriors collapsing one after another with every step his master took.
It had been more shocking than the mighty strike that killed Taragai at the end or even the Peerless Swordsmanship.
At Il-mok’s question, the Heavenly Demon furrowed his brow and muttered for some reason.
“Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon?”
Il-mok thought, as expected.
‘The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is a technique permitted only to the Cult Leader, so it must be hard to answer.’
That was why he had asked so cautiously.
The Heavenly Demon, who seemed to ponder something, then burst into hearty laughter.
“Ha ha ha ha. Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon. A fine name indeed.”
Sensing something off, Il-mok asked again.
“…Did it not have a name before?”
“It seems it just gained one thanks to you. A new incantation has been added to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
Il-mok felt a strange dizziness.
A technique without even a name—didn’t that mean it was just spontaneously performed?
Whether Il-mok was surprised or not, the Heavenly Demon, as if organizing an incantation in his mind, spoke belatedly.
“Right. You’re curious how to execute the Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Now that you’ve entered the Harmony Realm, you can somewhat grasp what this old man said in the past. Do you remember what I said? That upon reaching the Harmony Realm, one can somewhat commune with the world?”
“When intent moves, qi follows, allowing communion with the world. It was the first thing that came to mind after entering the Harmony Realm.”
“As expected of my youngest.”
Nodding as if he had believed it, the Heavenly Demon added,
“A martial artist who has entered the Harmony Realm can move qi through intent, and after crossing several more walls from there, at some point, they can interfere with the principles of the world through that qi. For example—yes—like killing an opponent simply by intending to do so without swinging a sword.”
“…Is that the Intent Manifestation?”
“That’s a common term for it. Those who reach such a realm as swordsmen first realize what’s commonly called the Mind Sword. Because swords are most familiar, merely envisioning the mental image of slashing the foe with a sword allows one to cut them.”
Hearing the Heavenly Demon’s explanation, Il-mok had a sudden thought.
“Then, Master, you simply envisioned trampling them—that was all?”
“You’ve understood precisely.”
At the Heavenly Demon’s reply, Il-mok nearly let out a hollow laugh.
To realize such a miracle just by envisioning trampling one’s enemies.
At this point, maybe it should be called Mind Step instead of Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon.
Naturally, Il-mok recalled himself when he first entered the Harmony Realm.
‘…Looking back, I really was no different from a child.’
After gaining freer control over his qi, as he crisscrossed the plains experimenting alone.
He had thought himself like a child with a new toy—qi being that novel plaything.
But witnessing his master’s realm, Il-mok realized his own efforts had truly been child’s play.
Reflecting briefly on his past arrogance, Il-mok then noticed something peculiar.
“Master, but what do you mean by adding that Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art’s incantations?”
It couldn’t mean writing down an incantation like ‘envision trampling the foe in your mind, and they die on their own.’
Grasping the intent behind Il-mok’s question, the Heavenly Demon issued an abrupt command.
“Youngest, imagine a virtual enemy before you. Then swing that sword and strike once.”
Though puzzled, Il-mok first followed his master’s instruction.
Screeeech!
Il-mok’s Soaring Heaven Sword, drawn and thrust, tore through the air in a swift, beautiful arc.
After Il-mok sheathed it, the Heavenly Demon asked,
“When you swung that sword just now, did you think about every muscle and joint in your body, every meridian where inner energy flows?”
“No. I simply followed the motions I’ve trained…”
Answering the Heavenly Demon’s question, Il-mok soon found the answer himself.
“You intend to add the Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon incantation to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art as a guide to Intent Manifestation?”
The sword Il-mok swung was the fruit of his training.
Thousands, tens of thousands of times—sometimes slow, sometimes fast—seeking the optimal path until it became ingrained in his body.
Naturally, his first swings had been far slower and less efficient than now.
But now, with the training’s results, just intending ‘swing the sword to cut the enemy’ produced the optimal path without special thought.
And according to the Heavenly Demon, the same applied to qi.
By repeatedly training to trample foes with qi and envisioning it, one day, mere envisioning would allow true Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon.
As if affirming Il-mok’s conjecture, the Heavenly Demon nodded.
“Exactly right. Anyone who reaches this old man’s realm can do it, but conversely, training it this way brings one closer to this old man’s realm, no?”
“…If it’s Master’s realm, does it have a specific name like the Harmony Realm?”
“Ho ho ho. Those who reach this old man’s realm are generally the supreme of their era, so there’s no common name like Harmony Realm. Taoist sects call it the Immortal Entry Realm, Buddhists term it Supreme Enlightenment. And in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art manual, it’s called the Heaven Communion Realm.”
Having answered thus, the Heavenly Demon paused as if pondering, then added,
“Moreover, the true essence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art lies there. By freely deploying the techniques available in the Heaven Communion Realm through training, one succeeds in Transcending Demon and enters the Heaven Communion Realm.”
The symbol of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which only those selected as Cult Leader through the leadership struggle could learn: the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The Heavenly Demon was now imparting its teachings to a disciple who wasn’t even a Cult Leader yet—barely in his early twenties.
‘He hasn’t taught the incantations directly, so it doesn’t violate doctrine.’
Reassuring himself thus, the Heavenly Demon smiled softly at Il-mok and said,
“Come to think of it, you wanted to learn the Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon? Since the incantation for Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon hasn’t been added to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art yet, I’ll teach you a bit now.”
It was a loophole, not quite a loophole.
Perhaps the favoritism of an aging Heavenly Demon.