Prologue
Cheon Seoksan scanned his surroundings with eyes blazing in fury. One by one, his Qi Clan retainers were collapsing under the assault of the Demonic Cult's elite warriors, who threw themselves into battle without a thought for their lives.
Cheon Seoksan yearned to hurl himself at the enemy and cut them down. But he couldn't. Not with the Heavenly Demon and the Supreme Cult Leader staring him down, and the presences of hundreds more lurking just beyond the clan's outer walls.
His own able-bodied fighters numbered barely a hundred. If it came to all-out war, he might survive—but his clansmen would be slaughtered to the last.
A chill seeped into his veins, cooling the hot blood that had surged moments before. After a moment's agonized deliberation, Cheon Seoksan spoke.
"...Heavenly Demon. If I submit to the Demonic Cult as you demand, will you withdraw?"
"Hahahahaha!"
The Heavenly Demon's laughter boomed like an earthquake shaking heaven and earth.
"Now you say this? Very well. A true sovereign must show magnanimity. So be it."
The Heavenly Demon flicked his fingers dismissively.
"Argh!"
Suddenly, his Finger Cannon struck. Clan warriors far from Cheon Seoksan crumpled lifelessly to the ground.
Outraged, Cheon Seoksan roared, "What is the meaning of this? Didn't I say I'd aid the Demonic Cult?!"
The Heavenly Demon shook his head with a mocking sneer. "Heh heh heh. Listen—you seem to be under a delusion. Your lot are like half-hatched eggs. That old man who fled with his wounds, and the rest gathered here... none of you strike me as the obedient type. I have no intention of letting those who glare at me with murderous eyes live."
Stroking his chin, the Heavenly Demon continued. "All I need from you is your spirit elixirs and Qi Arts. Not from your common warriors—from the patriarch's secret arts! So you alone should suffice, don't you think? Why would I spare the others, who might stab me in the back at any moment?"
Grind. Cheon Seoksan's teeth ground together involuntarily.
"In the end, you thirst for blood!"
"Who, us?" The Heavenly Demon flashed a sinister grin and bellowed his command. "Kill them all!"
"Yes, my lord!"
At his order, the Demonic Cult warriors attacked with renewed ferocity. Cheon Seoksan hurriedly rallied his clansmen.
"Everyone, to me!"
He swept his arm wide toward the retainers trapped and surrounded by the enemy. Boom! A ferocious blast of pure inner energy tore through the earth and the Demonic Cult fighters alike.
As his clansmen gathered around him, Cheon Seoksan shouted, "Prepare for death! Protect your families! Protect our house! You are the descendants of the Qi Clan! Show these villains the price of laying hands on us! I'll lead the way!"
"Follow the patriarch!"
"Waaaaah!"
United as one, the Qi Clan warriors charged behind Cheon Seoksan, hacking through the Demonic Cult ranks. Boom! Crunch! The Demonic elites—composed solely of peak masters and beyond—fell like wheat before his onslaught, powerless.
"Tch."
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue at the mounting casualties and leaped lightly forward. He thrust his palm toward Cheon Seoksan—one of his signature techniques, the Heavenly Death Palm.
His hand swelled with the presence of a venomous serpent, overwhelming energy engulfing Cheon Seoksan. The Qi patriarch molded his own energy between his palms and fired it straight back at the incoming strike.
Kaboom!
The clash unleashed a massive shockwave that ravaged the surroundings.
"Gaaah!"
Nearby warriors burst into bloody mist under the infused energy blast. Ally and enemy alike fell victim—no distinction.
Silence blanketed the hall for a heartbeat as every fighter distanced themselves from Cheon Seoksan and the Heavenly Demon.
This time, Cheon Seoksan struck first. Earth Dragon's Repose. He slammed the ground with immense power. The earth around the Heavenly Demon cracked and shattered like an earthquake, swallowing him whole.
"A martial art's foundation lies in footwork, and footwork in a stable stance," as the saying went. When that very foundation crumbled, even the Heavenly Demon faltered briefly. Massive chunks of earth rose, encircling him from all sides.
Earth Dragon's Sky. At Cheon Seoksan's gesture, the debris converged on the Heavenly Demon.
Crunch! In an instant, a colossal mound entombed him.
The Demonic Cult warriors hesitated, unnerved by their leader's inexplicable predicament.
Rumble... Harsh grinding echoed from within the tomb.
Heavenly Demon Sovereign Stride. Heavenly Death Myriad Transformations Palm. The Heavenly Demon's signature arts pulverized the mound to dust. Covered in dirt, his eyes burned crimson with rage—humiliated by the attack and his soiled appearance.
Heavenly Demon Manifestation. Demonic energy materialized around him like a true devil incarnate, roiling visibly.
"I will... kill you."
His voice echoed as if from many throats at once.
"Nor will I forgive any of you."
Cheon Seoksan summoned his Qi Arts, undaunted, matching the demonic aura.
The Heavenly Demon, in his manifested state, unleashed his Sovereign Stride and Myriad Transformations Palm in a single point. History's mightiest techniques converged, splitting heaven and earth. The ground collapsed; the sky filled with colossal palms.
Spiral Annihilation Spheres. Cheon Seoksan calmly forged cannon-like blasts of sword energy from the onslaught. Each one packed enough explosive force to obliterate peak masters instantly. Dozens formed.
"Brace with protective energy!" he bellowed to his clansmen battling at a distance.
He launched the spheres at the Heavenly Demon's assault.
"Fall back!" Even the Supreme Cult Leader urgently withdrew his warriors from the grave peril.
Kabooooom!
The patriarch's chamber, walls, trees, rocks—everything exploded into fragments, reduced to powder. The clan's proud plaques and barriers left only traces. Dozens of unprepared Demonic Cult warriors perished on the spot. Even the Qi fighters, shielded by barriers, suffered heavy wounds. Those farther away tumbled a dozen zhang through the air.
"Urgh!"
The Heavenly Demon groaned in agony from the backlash, his internals shaken, vision blurring. Pain like none since transcending the Transcendent Realm and becoming the Heavenly Demon.
Cheon Seoksan, too, reeled from exhaustion, having expended vast energy to shield his clansmen with a wide barrier after his attack.
Suddenly, a hand shot from his blind spot, slashing viciously. Crunch! He dodged desperately, but a huge chunk tore from his side, exposing muscle.
The Supreme Cult Leader, who had watched silently, had struck with his signature Black Dragon Fang. He withdrew to his lines without follow-up.
"Urk!"
Cheon Seoksan tried to staunch the bleeding, but demonic energy clung stubbornly, thwarting healing. Inner energy depletion and blood loss made his head spin.
"Ugh!"
"Patriarch!"
As he staggered, clansmen rushed to support him, guarding warily.
Even amid pain, he checked them over. Beyond shockwave injuries, they bore countless cuts; some missing fingers or arms yet stood defiant. In the brief exchange with the Heavenly Demon, the damage was immense—proof of the Demonic Cult's fearsome might.
His gaze fixed ahead. The Supreme Cult Leader tended to the Heavenly Demon as their warriors formed a protective phalanx. Though thinned, they still outnumbered the Qi survivors, now easily countable. And he, their linchpin, was critically wounded. Prolonging this would end badly.
Cheon Seoksan steadied his breath. 'I hope Father escaped safely with Ailang.'
Before facing the Heavenly Demon, he'd entrusted his gravely injured father with his young son—the precious child born under the clan's curse.
'He just started calling me 'Daddy.'
Cheon Seoksan pictured Tian Ailang's face. A faint smile touched his lips. 'Live on, and carry the Qi Clan forward.'
With a quiet prayer, he regulated his breathing, relaxed into natural poise, and spoke.
"I'll unleash the Thunder Dragon. Prepare the Cloud Mist. And... I'm sorry. Thank you."
His warriors, sensing the final order, wept.
"Send the signal."
Cheon Seoksan advanced toward the enemy formation, ignoring their tears. The recovered Heavenly Demon scowled at his dignified bearing—that gaze overlooking the world should be his. Mortified at hiding behind his men due to injury, he forced himself up to face him.
"Today, I will slay you, Qi patriarch, right here. And I'll personally kill your clansmen in the most agonizing ways."
Cheon Seoksan met the taunt with serene eyes, maintaining perfect composure. He extended both hands toward the dantians of the Heavenly Demon and Supreme Cult Leader—over five zhang away. They frowned in puzzlement.
For Transcendent Realm masters, this range was ample for attack, but they trusted their defenses equally. Blood poured profusely from Cheon Seoksan's side wound; his end seemed near. They weren't the desperate ones.
"Hup!"
He closed his eyes briefly, focused, then clenched his fists.
"Wh-what?!"
Inner energy in their dantians stirred against their will. The Supreme Cult Leader blocked the Heavenly Demon and roared, channeling his Heavenly Demon Divine Art to the utmost.
"Begone!"
The Heavenly Demon writhed, the squeezing agony compounding his prior injuries; without the shield, his dantian might have ruptured.
Blood trickled from Cheon Seoksan's mouth. His grasp of the sixth-stage Qi realization was imperfect—the technique incomplete. No time for regret. His body crumbled in real-time from the mental strain. Time for the final blow.
"Now!"
At his cry, the surviving Qi warriors unleashed every ounce of energy, innate and otherwise. In an instant, energy mist blanketed the battlefield.
Within the fog forged from his own heart method, Cheon Seoksan moved like a dragon amid kin. Rumble! Lightning flashed as he materialized amid the clustered Demonic warriors.
To him, the mist was friendly; to them, a hindrance—sticky, vision-obscuring, slowing reactions. He rampaged through their ranks, striking wildly.
Rumble! Like a true thunder dragon incarnate, he blazed through the haze. Their formations crumbled uselessly against the overwhelming Qi assault. Most perished in moments—less than a quarter-hour.
In that span, as the Supreme Cult Leader dragged the Heavenly Demon from the mist, the Demonic elites were nearly annihilated.
Startled, the Supreme Cult Leader plunged in, targeting Qi warriors first. As they fell, the mist thinned; he pressed with confident lethality.
Cheon Seoksan felt his clansmen dying but gritted his teeth, slaying as many foes as possible. He'd kill them all and take the leaders with him.
Turning after wiping out the Demonic warriors, he saw the Supreme Cult Leader had just finished the last Qi fighter. They charged simultaneously.
Cheon Seoksan dodged the Black Dragon Fang and embraced the Supreme Cult Leader, channeling all his energy. Using his body as conduit, he detonated pre-formed Spiral Annihilation Spheres, squeezing every drop of innate essence.
The explosion defied imagination. Far off, the dazed Heavenly Demon, tending his wounds, glimpsed it and hastily erected a barrier. The blast hurled him down the mountainside.
* * *
The martial world erupted in chaos. The Beggar Clan leader stared incredulously at the report.
[Battle between Heavenly Demon Divine Cult elites and Qi Clan results in Qi Clan's annihilation. Supreme Cult Leader dead, Heavenly Demon missing, 500+ elites wiped out. Demonic Cult retreats to main headquarters in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains for regrouping.]
Sightings near the mountains came much later. These events shook not just the martial world but the realm's politics.
Cheon Seoksan, who single-handedly faced the presumed supreme Heavenly Demon and his master, was etched as the era's greatest. The Qi Clan's fame resounded everywhere.
With the Demonic Cult—backers of the Yuan imperial court—weakened, the court's finances crumbled. The emperor's death sparked princely strife.
Amid unrest, endless imperial extravagance drained the people. Starving corpses littered streets. Han Chinese uprisings flared nationwide to right these wrongs, led by Zhu Yuanzhang and the Orthodox Alliance.
Turmoil descended upon the land.