Chapter 214
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Cult Leader Baek Mu-heun
The third day since the start of the Cult Leader selection tournament.
Of the scheduled clashes between the Sword Demon, the Mad Demon, the Blood Demon, and the Dragon Demon,
only the last one remained.
Contrary to the cultists' expectations of a bloodbath that would engulf the Divine Cult in the thick scent of gore, the tournament had proceeded peacefully, without a single death.
No bloodbath occurred, but the mountains and rivers did tremble.
If only for a brief moment.
Mu-heun ascended to the stage on Heavenly Lake for the final duel.
Atop the Heavenly Lake stage.
The Sword Demon's face was pale.
He must have felt it.
Mu-heun's power. His energy.
The Blood Demon was shaken, and that was the end of it.
The Mad Demon had despaired at first, but upon hearing that the Blood Demon hadn't died, he decided to enjoy himself instead.
But the Sword Demon?
Sword Demon Cheon Jeong-mun. He was different. He was the man closest to becoming the great Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Leader. Besides the current Cult Leader, he was the only one to have surpassed the initial stages of Transcendence, the one destined to become the most powerful Cult Leader.
Born and raised in the Sword Demon's family, he had dedicated every moment outside of eating and sleeping to training. From his forties to his fifties, he never wasted a single day.
He had talent and an excellent master.
A powerful family, rare elixirs, divine weapons.
In an environment that lacked nothing, he worked himself to death.
A goal he had dedicated his entire life to.
Cult Leader.
Now, he was just one step away from that goal...
‘What is this bullshit!’
‘What is that energy!?’
‘The Realm of Life and Death? Did he reach the pinnacle of Transcendence and then surpass it with the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon!?’
The Sword Demon's entire life,
after facing Mu-heun,
was crumbling miserably.
‘This... damn it! I can't do this!’
The cry of Jin Mu, the Lord of the Radiant Heavenly Demon Unit, rang out.
“Then, let the duel between Sword Demon Cheon Jeong-mun and Dragon Demon Baek Mu-heun begin!”
Before Jin Mu could even finish his declaration.
The Sword Demon didn't wait.
Boom!
With a single, rough leap, the dueling stage was shattered.
The Sword Demon amplified the energy in his core.
The art of finely processing energy into threads and making them flow.
Extreme balance.
Meticulous control.
He came out with his full strength from the very beginning.
He had lost his reason to boiling rage.
The Sword Demon raised his cherished sword, Mukchi.
And, with the method he had honed over his entire life,
he swung it without a hair's breadth of error.
However.
Despite that.
Clang!
The Sword Demon was sent flying by Mu-heun's strike.
His power had reached the pinnacle of Transcendence,
but Mu-heun was beyond that.
In an instant, the Sword Demon was thrown out of the Heavenly Lake area and crashed into the spectator seats.
Krakooom!
Keuk!
The moment the Sword Demon, crashed into the seats, tried to get up.
Boom!
A black dragon of dense, violet energy swept over the spectator seats, turning them to dust.
Kagagak!
Along with it, the Sword Demon's sword, Mukchi, cracked.
Keuk!
Soaring into the air, the Sword Demon gripped his sword again, and thousands of formless swords made of energy materialized in the void.
However.
Clang!
The Sword Demon couldn't believe his eyes. These were formless swords made to be stronger than famous blades forged from cold steel. They weren't mere clumps of energy shaped like swords; he had dedicated his entire life to creating them.
More dense, more solid, more powerful.
He had mobilized all his experience and senses.
Formless swords created by combining such immense internal energy.
And yet, thousands of those formless swords were shattered in less than a second.
“What! Kind! Of! Bullshit! Is! This!”
The Sword Demon leaped into the sky.
In mid-air, he poured out all his internal energy.
Along with the injustice and rage he felt.
My whole life? My efforts? My achievements? My history?
All because of that bastard Baek Mu-heun!
He poured all his internal energy into his sword.
“Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon, Martial Extreme Heavenly Sword. Demon Severance.”
A dark energy dwelled within the Sword Demon's blade.
It was the maximum power that the pinnacle of Transcendence could produce.
Using Void Steps, he leaped from the sky toward Heavenly Lake.
Towards Baek Mu-heun on the lake.
To cut him down himself.
Just then.
Mu-heun looked at the Sword Demon's blade and admired it.
“Indeed, you are worthy of being the one closest to becoming the next Cult Leader.”
‘But I can't let you win!’
The Sword Demon launched his final strike.
“Baek Mu-heun! If only you weren't here!”
Mu-heun imbued the Sun and Moon Sword with a violet black dragon and replied.
“So what.”
“You bastard…!!”
“If you feel wronged, you should have gotten stronger.”
Mu-heun gathered two black dragons into the Sun and Moon Sword and detonated them at a single point.
Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon, Asura's Heaven-Annihilating Art.
Then, he kicked off from the lake and leaped into the air.
Directly towards the Sword Demon.
‘Yes, do you feel wronged and enraged?’
“You bastards, you preach survival of the fittest, but now that someone stronger than you has appeared... you feel wronged.”
The two men's swords clashed.
Craaaaaack!
A massive explosion erupted.
An explosion powerful enough to obliterate the entire Heavenly Lake.
However, as it occurred in mid-air, the lake was fine.
Only the earth-shattering roar and shockwave rippled through the mountain range.
Psssss
After the massive explosion ended and the thick dust settled, a cloud-like mass shot out.
Baek Mu-heun.
He descended, cradling the unconscious Sword Demon in his arms.
The Sword Demon's blade was broken, and his body was in tatters.
Mu-heun made a request to the Grand Protector, Yu Jong.
“Please send him to the Medical Hall.”
“Of course.”
Jin Mu calmed his trembling heart and shouted.
“Th-The winner is Dragon Demon Baek Mu-heun!”
“With this, the final winner of the Cult Leader selection tournament has been decided as Baek Mu-heun. We now conclude the tournament!”
As soon as Jin Mu made his declaration, the Cult Leader descended.
The Radiant Heavenly Demon Unit and the Protectorate gathered before him.
“I will abdicate immediately. Prepare for the enthronement.”
“We obey the Cult Leader’s command!”
“““We obey the command!”””
Cult Leader Cheon Mu-jin approached Mu-heun and handed him the Cult Leader's medallion.
“It is yours now.”
Mu-heun was surprised by Cult Leader Cheon Mu-jin's swift abdication, but he remembered that his time was short.
Soon, he knelt on one knee and received it with both hands.
“You are the Cult Leader now.”
“I accept the command of the Supreme Former Cult Leader.”
At that moment.
The Radiant Heavenly Demon Unit and the Protectorate surrounding them all knelt before Mu-heun and spoke.
“We greet the new Cult Leader of the great Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!”
On this day.
At the summit of Heavenly Lake.
Just like the day he won the Divine Dragon Assembly.
A new Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was born.
***
The day after defeating the Sword Demon.
Mu-heun had been exchanging letters periodically with the Soul-Stealing Immortal. Before he emerged from his seclusion, and after. Even during the Cult Leader selection tournament.
But today, he was swamped.
It was an important day.
He wore a magnificent robe adorned with gold.
Today was the day of his enthronement ceremony.
-The Grand Hall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
A roar that filled the Heavenly Mountains could be heard.
Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap
Thunderous applause, enough to shake the Heavenly Mountains, also rang out.
How on earth could they have prepared all this so quickly?
Had the Cult Leader anticipated my victory...
The flames of the Sacred Fire rose from the altar of the Great Hall, visible to all cultists. Seeing those flames, he felt as if his master, the Heavenly Demon, was with him.
His family, along with Pa-sun, Un-pyo, and his other close associates, were all unable to contain their joy.
The birth of a Cult Leader in his early twenties was an unprecedented event in the history of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Drums beat, and various instruments formed a melody.
Everyone who had been dividing into factions and causing rifts within the Divine Cult accepted Mu-heun as their leader. It was only natural, as defying him after hearing about the selection tournament would have been foolish.
Considering what happened to the Ice Demon and the Flame Demon, they had no reason to hesitate. Moreover, the Mad Demon, Blood Demon, and Sword Demon had also gathered their supporters and sternly warned them never to oppose him.
That day,
the day the Sword Demon was defeated and carried to the Medical Hall.
The Dragon Demon Pavilion was lined with masters of the Divine Cult who came to see Mu-heun.
Furthermore, not a few people visited Baek Gun-hak, the Head of the Heavenly Dance Family, to greet him, saying they had been out of touch. The Heavenly Dance Family could guess what was happening.
A Cult Leader who had pacified everything with sheer power had emerged.
Escorted by the Grand Protector and the Lord of the Radiant Heavenly Demon Unit, Mu-heun appeared before the cultists.
“Heavenly Demon Divine Cult! Long may it live! For ten thousand years!”
A thunderous roar.
The applause grew even louder.
The Cult Leader the cultists had so longed for had appeared.
Mu-heun stood before the cultists. Behind him to his left were Grand Protector Yu Jong, along with the Left and Right Protectors. Behind him to his right were Jin Mu, the Lord of the Radiant Heavenly Demon Unit, and the Left and Right Emissaries.
Just then.
Cult Leader Cheon Mu-jin walked down the path formed by their lines.
Cult Leader Cheon Mu-jin spoke to the cultists, his voice imbued with profound internal energy.
[ Cultists of the Divine Cult. I, Cheon Mu-jin, hereby pass the position of Cult Leader to Dragon Demon Baek Mu-heun. All cultists shall welcome the 18th Cult Leader, Baek Mu-heun, with joy. ]
The former Cult Leader, Cheon Mu-jin, received the torch of the Sacred Fire from the Sun and Moon Divine Maiden. He then passed it to Mu-heun. It was the second Sacred Fire Mu-heun had received.
The violet flame once again rose like a waterspout.
It emitted a brilliant light, like a sun illuminating the sky.
Mu-heun then looked at the cultists and shouted, just as he had when he won the Divine Dragon Assembly.
[ Divine Cult Invincible, Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission, Legions of Demons Reign Eternal, Heavenly Demon's Second Coming. ]
The cultists chanted back, their voices shaking the Heavenly Mountains.
“Divine Cult Invincible, Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission, Legions of Demons Reign Eternal, Heavenly Demon's Second Coming.”
On this day, a new Heavenly Demon was born in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, one unlike any before, who would carry on the will of the first Heavenly Demon.
As the second Heavenly Demon, Baek Mu-heun.
***
Hubei Province, Wuhan. Heavenly Dragon Castle.
The Martial Alliance Leader, Du Baek, was reading a letter from Mu-heun.
[ The pinnacle of the Profound Realm, called the supreme state, can only be transcended through death. The experience of death, of crossing between life and death. Remember that the annihilation of innate true energy is, in fact, its expansion. ]
Though the message was short, the letter was worn from being read countless times.
‘The Realm of Life and Death...’
Three months had passed since he began searching for secluded masters at Mu-heun's request.
Unexpectedly, they were cooperative.
All except one.
The apostate monk from Shaolin, U-jeok, who was excommunicated for succumbing to his inner demon during the war.
He was a master of the Realm of Life and Death, but his deep-seated resentment towards the Orthodox Sects made him difficult to persuade.
Even when Alliance Leader Du Baek, Plum Blossom Sword Venerable Jin Hong, and Taiji Sword Emperor Mu Jin-hyeon attacked him simultaneously, they could not win.
That was why the Soul-Stealing Immortal eventually stepped in, delivered Mu-heun's letter, and succeeded in persuading him.
Of course, Shaolin's opposition was strong. However, even they changed their tune upon hearing that he was a master of the Realm of Life and Death.
Alliance Leader Du Baek prepared for the decisive battle to come.
The letter from Baek Mu-heun and the guidance of the apostate monk U-jeok, a master of the Realm of Life and Death. It was a fortuitous opportunity even for the three figures known as the absolute venerables of the Orthodox Sects.
Alliance Leader Du Baek was at the pinnacle of the Profound Realm.
Plum Blossom Sword Venerable Jin Hong was in the Realm of Life and Death.
Taiji Sword Emperor Mu Jin-hyeon was at the pinnacle of the Profound Realm.
‘Soon, they will all likely enter the Realm of Life and Death.’
For they had all experienced death at the hands of U-jeok.
Clashes with Monsters, Ghost Spirits, and evil ghouls had also become more frequent.
Of course, they won every time.
However, as long as their leader, the Evil God, remained.
They would not just sit back and take it.
‘What must we prepare for, Cult Leader Baek.’
***
After a three-day banquet, Mu-heun returned to his daily routine.
He finished organizing the affairs of the Dragon Demon Pavilion,
and established a new policy to lead the main cult forward.
He declared the Heavenly Dance Family and its Head, Baek Gun-hak, to be an independent institution, and entrusted the role of protecting them, previously held by the Azure Dragon Unit, to the Violet Poison Demon's family.
He also announced a major reorganization of the Divine Cult's structure.
“One year from now.”
Mu-heun held up his index finger.
Then, he slowly folded it.
“After one year, I will reorganize the main cult's structure according to the law of survival of the fittest, which you all so admire. The Three Palaces, the Five Pavilions, the Council of Elders. The Radiant Heavenly Demon Unit, the Protectorate. No place will be exempt.”
Those who currently held great power grimaced. But there was... no opposition.
Mu-heun's power, having reached the Realm of Life and Death.
It was enough to sweep them all away in an instant,
overwhelmingly powerful.
Mu-heun had given everyone a fair opportunity,
while also giving them the motivation to grow quickly.