Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: A Toast for the Departed
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The succession ceremony for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Leader position had ended long ago.
Former Supreme Cult Leader Heavenly Demon Cheon So-so gazed back at her now completely powerless self while mulling over the information.
She had heard he was dead.
Red Cloud.
"........."
It felt strangely different from the sensation of losing a pet dog she had raised. Was she disappointed because the outcome didn't match her expectations?
No. It didn't feel like that.
"........."
...Somehow.
The very fact of his death felt like a lie.
Cheon So-so lifted her head slightly. She gazed up at the night sky and tapped her foot.
Seventh Demon.
Traitor. Member of Reverse Heaven.
Her thoughts had proven correct. But there was a limit to that power, she had believed.
Enlightened Realm. Exactly that level. No matter how she thought about it, that man's boundary seemed to be the limit...
He defeated the mutt.
Considering his growth rate, she thought he would have reached the same realm by now... but apparently not.
He must have been a step higher. A realm without a fixed form.
In Reverse Heaven, it was probably called the "Transcendence Realm."
"........."
That much made sense. It would be stranger if it didn't, since he stood in the same domain as First Demon.
People often compared the Enlightened Realm to the Entering Divinity stage. But go a bit further from there, and one truly begins shedding the husk of humanity bit by bit.
There was a saying: "feathering into immortality." The ultimate realm sought by Taoists. If one had to define it, the path from the Enlightened Realm onward could be called the road to feathering into immortality without exaggeration.
Detaching one's possessions one by one, distancing from fate.
A realm where one could freely manipulate the world and easily obtain what they desired.
"........."
The Transcendence Realm was the step just before reaching that place.
The time when the vessel of the flesh transcends all, becoming one with natural qi.
A realm ordinary humans could not reach. No matter how talented.
Merely entering it meant no longer being treated as human. Even nicknames lose meaning.
That was the Transcendence Realm. And from the moment one entered it...
Not even Enlightened Realm experts could face it alone.
...He probably didn't achieve it alone.
That one's intervention must have been involved.
With that one's abilities, it was more than possible.
"...Reverse Star."
Was that how they were called?
Cheon So-so quietly mulled over the word. She tilted her head in thought, then let out a sigh.
Beneath Reverse Heaven's master were six Reverse Stars.
And among them, Jin Baek-cheon was said to be the youngest...
The remaining five were undoubtedly Transcendence Realm experts as well.
"........."
Cheon So-so recalled the man who had once visited her.
At that time, she had felt like a child, as if a single gesture from him could kill her.
But what about now?
She stood at the final pinnacle humans could achieve. And because of that, she believed she had no limits.
But if...
The opponent was a god?
"........."
Even so, she had no choice but to do it.
「So-so.」
The Demonic Cult that the previous Heavenly Demon had entrusted to her.
She had laid down the title of Heavenly Demon, but the duties remained unchanged.
She was simply preparing to protect her family, as she always had.
The plan was steadily taking shape. Within the unseen shadows.
The forces rebelling against the gods continued to grow. Now even First Demon, who had learned the truth, had joined them.
"...One cup."
Even so, her mouth felt bitter.
Not because she didn't know how the war would end.
Because of the one man who had left.
"Have a cup, Red Cloud."
With those sparkling eyes. Casually speaking of things others couldn't even imagine...
The man she had chased until the very last moment they met.
Cheon So-so briefly lost herself in memories. It started as simple curiosity, but what happened later?
Affection gradually grew. She even became addicted to watching him. Witnessing him crawl out of near-death situations stirred emotions she had never felt before.
Normally, one wouldn't grow attached to a stray dog...
But this time, she had let herself do it. Was it because he was so good-natured? Or because there was something beyond mere impressiveness?
After losing him, the void was larger than expected, leaving the Heavenly Demon flustered. She filled her cup with alcohol, capturing that passion she would never see again.
"...I'm sorry."
These weren't words for a dog she had picked up out of mere curiosity and raised to use and discard.
...But still.
In truth, she had been regretting it all along.
Wishing for time to turn back, to before she let him go.
"This lady misjudged you."
Placing the full cup on the empty grave without a body, the Heavenly Demon turned away.
The lonely tombstone glimmered in the moonlight.
⋯
The seasons changed.
They kept changing.
The forces emerging from the Demonic Cult began clashing head-on with the Murim Alliance. The Demon Alliance bared its fangs as well.
With wars breaking out daily, people's hearts rotted away.
The unwritten rule of sparing civilians as much as possible began to crumble, creating a sense that invisible blades lurked everywhere in the martial world.
Humanity's benevolence vanished. People grew wary of each other, and acts of helping one another disappeared.
In the barren world, only blades remained.
But even so, benevolence hadn't completely vanished from the world.
"Even so."
Fire was set to the grass.
"If you feel like you should help, then help people. Got it, Hae-won?"
"Yes, Dad."
Farmer Yuk Nam-pyeong stared blankly at the burning grass.
He had chosen this spot as his plot for the year. A forest few people passed through.
It was somewhat removed from the main roads. But he hadn't chosen it just because it was sparsely populated.
The surrounding trees were inexplicably cleared. As if a storm had flattened only the center of the forest.
Thanks to that, there was no need to chop trees or anything. It felt like discovering an ancient, untilled field.
Yuk Nam-pyeong straightened his back. Clearing the remaining weeds and plants with fire meant he could gain a vast slash-and-burn field without much effort.
It must be the blessing from helping others all his life. But even so, there was a slight concern.
Even planting fast-growing crops, would they have enough food to last until harvest?
They had eaten almost all the remaining provisions to survive winter. What little they had, he had shared with people he encountered along the way.
He was used to enduring hunger.
But he didn't want to force that on his daughter too.
He would ration the remaining food carefully for her. Hunting wild game along the way would help too. Yuk Nam-pyeong nodded slightly.
His daughter, Yuk Hae-won, tugged lightly at his clothes.
"Dad, can I go dig up some edible stuff?"
"It might be dangerous alone..."
"I'll stay close. I won't go far!"
She's a diligent child. Yuk Nam-pyeong nodded slightly.
"Don't go too far, okay?"
"Yes!"
Despite losing her mother early, she had a spirited toughness that kept her alive.
Yuk Nam-pyeong watched the burning plants and began tilling the already extinguished areas.
He moved diligently. For the sake of protecting his sole remaining family.
⋯
Yuk Hae-won observed the new sprouts emerging from the earth during the spring after winter passed.
Most were inedible. But some among them could be eaten.
That... two years ago? She thought she had heard that.
The day Heavenly Dragon Society clashed with the Demon Alliance. Adults said countless people died that day.
"........."
Chilling.
Yuk Hae-won rubbed her arms for no reason. She glanced at her father's position, then moved busily.
She liked what Dad did. She liked helping others.
But she hated how he always tried to bear the consequences alone.
Her bowl always had plenty of grain, while Dad's had just a thin layer at the bottom. So at times like this, she had to find something edible.
Since Mom passed and it's just Dad and me, I need to stay sharp.
Yuk Hae-won moved busily. The sun, high in the midday sky, was slowly setting. While tracking traces of edible herbs, she suddenly realized she had gone too far.
Time to head back. Her waist made a cracking sound as she turned. Dad's probably looking for me by now. So turning back here...
---Rustle.
"......?"
Yuk Hae-won flinched. She turned her head toward the sound.
Something made noise. Definitely.
A mountain beast? But it felt different from that.
Like something calling her... that kind of...
"Hae-won?"
A voice came from afar. Dad's voice. But Yuk Hae-won stealthily moved her feet.
She headed in the opposite direction. She kept walking, following the sound of the wind.
For some reason, the vegetation and forest felt heavier. That particularly overgrown spot was densely covered in grass and trees.
To the point of feeling like a wall. She couldn't see inside. Yet the sound came from within.
Something... is there... so here...
"Hae-won!"
In an instant, her body was yanked backward. Startled, Yuk Hae-won turned around.
Her father was yelling furiously.
"Why didn't you answer!"
"S-Sorry, Dad... that inside there..."
"It's getting dark! What if you run into a mountain beast...!"
He flinched. He seemed to have heard it too, glancing inside.
"...Beast?"
"Doesn't feel like a beast, Dad. Just... something feels different..."
"........."
He scanned the surroundings. His expression hardened.
"Of all places, something like this near our field... Hard to find another spot like it..."
"...Dad?"
"Hae-won, let's head back first."
After stopping by home, her father emerged with a heavy sword. Handing her a lantern, he began clearing a path inward.
"We need to check what's inside. For safety's sake. Daughter, if something happens, run to the hut we built temporarily. Got it?"
"D-Dad, come with me!"
"Don't worry. Just trust this dad."
The dangling vines and dense plants began falling one by one. A path opened inward.
Yuk Nam-pyeong and Yuk Hae-won. The two soon confirmed with their own eyes what lay inside.
"...This is."
"D-Dad...?"
A slightly dug pit. And plants spreading over it.
At its center, a man was buried among the foliage.
Motionless, like a corpse...
Quietly.