Chapter 337
Chapter 337
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 337
>Chapter Title: Change (1)
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While Il-mok was en route to Lanzhou in Gansu Province.
Wi Jin-hak, who had become the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, was immersed in the martial intent contained within the manual of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“Sip. Haa.”
Seated in the lotus position, he circulated his internal energy according to the incantations of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. The blazing solar energy in his dantian raced through the acupoints of his entire body.
How long had it been since it coursed through completely different acupoints from those of the Explosive Demon Net Sword Art?
Wi Jin-hak gathered the energy back into his dantian and abruptly stood, drawing the Heavenly Demon Sword.
The stored internal energy surged explosively toward his right hand, and soon a majestic aura enveloped the Heavenly Demon Sword, forming a blade of energy flames.
It resembled the usual blazing red solar energy, but the flames carried a subtly darker hue.
Gazing at those flames, which had yet to fully transform into black flames, Wi Jin-hak let out a sigh of regret.
“Whew. Still a long way to go.”
It seemed it would take quite some time to fully convert the energy of the Explosive Demon Net Sword Art into that of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Easing his inner disappointment, Wi Jin-hak soon began swinging the Heavenly Demon Sword, demonstrating the forms of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Like the other demonic arts of the cult, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art incorporated a variety of martial techniques within a single art.
Swordsmanship, footwork, internal energy cultivation method, lightness skill, and more—all bundled under the name Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
However, there was one clear difference from the other demonic arts.
“Haat!”
As Wi Jin-hak swung his sword through the air in the training hall, sword energy gathered along the blade.
Paht!
Leaping toward an imaginary foe, Wi Jin-hak cleaved through the empty air as he moved.
This was true of every form in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Sword energy, treading the air, pulling objects from afar, and more.
These were feats achievable only by those who could wield qi through sheer will, and in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art manual, they were treated as mere basics.
One needed at least the Absolute Realm to even superficially comprehend the manual, and only upon reaching the Profound Realm could its true meaning be grasped.
Despite its absurd difficulty, Wi Jin-hak was effortlessly demonstrating the forms from the first half.
His exceptional talent for martial arts played a part, but more importantly, he had already ascended to a considerable realm.
Several years after successfully Transcending Demon and entering the Profound Realm, he had surpassed its early stages. Thus, the forms in the first half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art were not difficult for him to understand and execute.
After practicing the sword forms and footwork of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art for a good while.
With his internal energy somewhat depleted, Wi Jin-hak flicked his right hand, which he had been holding with only his index and middle fingers extended like a mudra, toward the scabbard at his waist.
Then, the Heavenly Demon Sword, which had been dancing in the air, was sucked into the scabbard as if drawn by a magnet.
This was the first stage of Imperial Sword Control: Hand-Guided Sword.
Advancing further, one could perform flying sword arts with just the eyes without forming hand seals—that was Eye-Guided Sword. And when mere thought sufficed to wield it, that was called Mind-Guided Sword.
Having mastered Imperial Sword Control, Wi Jin-hak recalled the passage written at the end of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art manual.
Unlike the rest of the manual, the ink on that writing was still fresh, and it was familiar to Wi Jin-hak.
Thus, he immediately knew who had added that incantation.
‘A incantation added by Master.’
Deliberately conserving some energy, Wi Jin-hak decided to practice the incantation left by the previous Heavenly Demon, Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi.
‘Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon. Truly a technique worthy of the Heavenly Demon name. It only makes me think, as expected of Master.’
As he reviewed the incantation in the manual, Wi Jin-hak felt as if he were receiving direct instruction from his ascended master.
Following the teachings in the incantation, Wi Jin-hak honed his will and nurtured his mental image.
Visualizing an imaginary foe and himself grown vastly larger, crushing it like an ant, he took a step forward as if stamping the ground.
Boom.
Demonic energy emanating from Wi Jin-hak’s dantian began to crush and shatter the space where the imaginary foe stood.
‘Heart Instant Kill, is it.’
Having executed the Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon as written in the incantation, Wi Jin-hak easily grasped its true essence.
‘…If it were Master, he probably would have visualized slicing someone in the next stage.’
Wi Jin-hak wielded the sword as well, but the essence of his demonic art was closer to blazing solar energy.
‘Burn it.’
Taking one step beyond Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon, Wi Jin-hak visualized incinerating the imaginary foe.
And as that focus reached its peak.
Black-tinged flames bloomed in the air.
“Keuk….”
The excruciating headache that followed shattered Wi Jin-hak’s concentration.
“This too is still beyond me, it seems.”
Shaking his head lightly to push away the pain.
“I will surely master all of Master’s teachings.”
Muttering words that could have been a vow to himself or to his ascended master, Wi Jin-hak sat back in the lotus position.
To refill his nearly depleted dantian, he began Qi Circulation and Breath Adjustment according to the incantations of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“Sip. Hooouu.”
After dozens of deep breaths.
As Wi Jin-hak delved deep into his inner world, his eyes reflected the image of a blazing red flame.
Black energy surged toward the small flickering flame from all directions, and the tiny flame grew fiercely in size.
How long had he gazed at the flame turning black?
- Burn the world.
From the opposite side of the flame, a man identical to him spoke.
- The world is steeped in evil. I am the flame that purifies the world, the greatest demon that incinerates all evil. I am the Heavenly Demon.
- Burn the world. Use their blood and flesh, their sins as fertilizer, and open a new world.
For a moment, he stared at this other self, whispering like a temptress while glaring at him.
“Gal!!”
Roaring like a lion in his mental world, Wi Jin-hak’s eyes snapped open.
For an instant, black energy swirled in his pupils, but it quickly returned to normal.
“…So this is the side effect of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art I’ve only heard about.”
It had been a long time since he last suffered such an effect, forgotten after entering Transcending Demon.
But Wi Jin-hak did not find the side effect unpleasant.
“Still, it seems my achievements have risen considerably.”
The emergence of side effects meant he was properly cultivating the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
With a satisfied smile, Wi Jin-hak left the training hall and headed to the Cult Leader’s Hall.
While Wi Jin-hak was receiving a report from the Silver Guard Leader in the Cult Leader’s Hall, a visitor arrived.
“The head of the Hyeok-ryeon family, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, has come at the Cult Leader’s summons.”
Wi Jin-hak greeted Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, who showed respect by kneeling on one knee, with a smile.
“Hahaha. Welcome, Hyeok-ryeon Family Head. Truth be told, there’s a task I wish to entrust to you.”
“Command me.”
“Due to this Cult Leader ascending to the throne, the position of Demonic Affairs Pavilion Leader is currently vacant. These past few days, I tried handling the Demonic Affairs Pavilion duties myself, but from my position overseeing the entire cult, it doesn’t seem right.”
The pretext was that if the Cult Leader also headed a specific division, power would concentrate too much there.
In reality, it was to delegate work.
Handling both Cult Leader and Demonic Affairs Pavilion Leader duties made it hard to properly cultivate the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Having worked as Demonic Affairs Pavilion Leader for years.
Wi Jin-hak had grown very adept at passing tasks on, lessons learned from the Heavenly Demon and Il-mok.
“…Selecting a new Demonic Affairs Pavilion Leader is wise, but this old man knows nothing of the Demonic Affairs Pavilion’s affairs. It would be better to choose from those who originally worked there.”
As if reading Wi Jin-hak’s intentions, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang subtly refused.
“Hahaha. No need to worry about that. The Gu Yang Family Head, who became Protectorate Leader, was the same, and so was the Baek Family Head who took Illuminated Faith Leader.”
Wi Jin-hak pressed him by citing precedents.
“The actual work will be handled by those who originally shouldered it. Isn’t the role of division heads in the New Cult to keep the cult members from running wild?”
“…If it must be someone in Transcending Demon, why not entrust it to the Dokgo Family Head?”
Mentioning Dokgo Ryong, who had sworn loyalty to Wi Jin-hak, Wi Jin-hak laughed heartily.
“Hahaha. The Dokgo Family Head’s temperament doesn’t suit the Demonic Affairs Pavilion. I have other tasks for the Dokgo Family Head, so no need to worry.”
“…I shall obey the Cult Leader’s will.”
As Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang finally accepted, Wi Jin-hak lightened the mood with a jest.
“Oh, speaking of the Dokgo Family Head, I heard an amusing story from him. On the last day of Master’s ascension ceremony. The conversation between you and the Dokgo Family Head.”
“Between me and the Dokgo Family Head?”
Wondering what that bastard Dokgo Ryong had said, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang felt an inexplicable unease.
“Yes. I heard you said the vessel for Cult Leader was someone else, so you didn’t enter the struggle. Hahaha. The Dokgo Family Head said that the vessel you mentioned was this Cult Leader. Is that true?”
At Wi Jin-hak’s following words, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang barely swallowed his curses inwardly.
‘That crazy old bastard Dokgo Ryong did it after all!’
* * *
Lanzhou, Gansu Province.
“A guest? What guest?”
Il-mok asked with a bewildered expression, and Gu Yang-moon replied.
“Kwon Bong Hwangbo Yeon and the Shandong’s Top Beauty, Hwangbo Se-hee, have come.”
Hearing their names, Il-mok recalled a forgotten memory.
‘…Come to think of it, they said they’d visit later.’
He didn’t remember the details. It was from a letter he’d skimmed and discarded.
“The Maitreya Illuminated Cult has formed a somewhat friendly relationship with the Hwangbo family, so it’s hard to just chase them away. But we couldn’t keep them waiting forever, so I was about to send a messenger to the headquarters.”
Il-mok nodded at Gu Yang-moon’s sheepish smile.
“I’ll meet them first.”
As before, Il-mok donned a mask over his face and headed to the Maitreya Illuminated Cult’s main compound.
The maidservants following him also wore masks in case of trouble.
“This way.”
Guided by Gu Yang-moon, Il-mok arrived at a secluded pavilion in the corner of the compound, where two women awaited him.
Hwangbo Yeon, boasting a sturdy frame and height of over six feet despite being a woman. And beside her, a woman of decent height for her gender but markedly smaller and slimmer than Hwangbo Yeon, sat veiled.
“Long time no see, Kwon Bong, Lady Hwangbo.”
Il-mok greeted with a cupped-fist salute, and Hwangbo Yeon hastily stood and returned the gesture.
“We didn’t expect to come so late.”
“You seem to have made considerable progress in the meantime.”
“I wanted to enter closed-door training until reaching my goal, but the Blood Cult bastards forced me out before the time was up.”
Yet Hwangbo Yeon’s eyes brimmed with confidence as she replied.
“For someone who says that, you’ve already surpassed the peak, haven’t you?”
“It was a blessing in disguise. Fighting the Blood Cult in real combat let me realize why I’d hit a wall.”
Il-mok nodded as if understanding.
He too had often gained enlightenment amid life-or-death battles with villains.
‘That scar on her face must be from the war with the Blood Cult.’
A scar on a woman’s face was tragic in many ways, but Hwangbo Yeon seemed utterly unconcerned.
Rather, her proud expression, combined with her build, exuded the aura of a resolute heroine.
Right after Il-mok and Hwangbo Yeon exchanged greetings.
The veiled woman abruptly removed her veil.
Revealing a fairy-like face befitting the title Shandong’s Top Beauty.
She had even applied full makeup, as if determined to make an impression.
“It would be rude to greet while hiding my face.”
Excusing herself as she removed the veil, her cherry-red lips moved alluringly.
Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a, standing behind Il-mok, began openly radiating killing intent toward her.