Establishing Discipline at the Construction Site
The Upper Realm is one world under a single guide.
To live a basic life, one needs a physical body.
Immortals have no issue with this.
They ascend to immortality while retaining their original flesh through corporeal transcendence.
Celestials and sinners, however, are different.
Bodies must be provided for them.
For celestials, to let them live in joy and happiness; for sinners, to make them feel pain and despair.
Thus, celestials receive healthy, vibrant, top-grade bodies full of vitality, while sinners get puny, worthless ones.
They're made similarly, but sinners' bodies have limits.
Yet every so often, some try to surpass the limits of their pathetic bodies.
Especially martial artists.
Those striving to reach the realms they achieved in the human world.
Souls that once experienced absolute mastery.
They remember every single martial art formula they learned in their past human lives.
One such soul was the Blood Demon.
The cult leader of the Blood Cult.
A warrior infamous across the martial world long before the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was born.
After death, he fell into the Black Bottom Hell, endlessly digging and laboring without rest, but he was dead set on escaping this hell one day.
The Blood Demon never gave up.
He'd lost his human body, but he had a replacement.
Even if it was a pathetic one.
If anything, that only fueled his thirst for challenge.
Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art.
The demonic inner cultivation method that defies the heavens.
He cultivated it in secret from everyone.
Evading the eyes of grim reapers and judges, dodging the terrifying scrutiny of the overseers, in this horrifying hell—with an unyielding soul and unbreakable will.
The Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art has seven stages.
It begins by planting the seed of pure blood, the Blood Seed. Then it takes root as the Blood Root.
One builds the functions of blood energy as the Blood Chief, harmonizes body and soul with the Blood Harmony, completes the divine art with the Blood Complete, transcends human limits with the Blood Heaven, and finally becomes an omnipotent being as the Blood God.
The pinnacle of the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art is the Blood God.
Become a god and obliterate this damned Upper Realm.
The hardest part in this process was avoiding the Black Bottom Hell's punishment: the compressing press.
If caught in the compression, the current body shatters completely, and a new one is assigned.
Meaning all that hard-earned progress in the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art goes to waste.
He had to avoid it at all costs.
When the press descended, he burrowed deep into the earth to protect his body.
And so, he finally reached the Blood Heaven stage of the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art.
Transcending the limits of his created body.
Reproducing the achievements he'd made in the martial world of the human realm once more.
Time was plentiful anyway.
He'd climb all the way to Blood God.
And in the midst of that, he'd been dragged here to labor in the Immortal Realm.
Out of Black Bottom Hell to work elsewhere?
This was good news.
The Blood Demon had overheard that the Immortal Realm, unlike the gated Underworld, was an open space connected to the surrounding Spirit Beast Realm, demon realms, and celestial realms.
Plenty of places to escape and hide.
But who the hell was this guy?
Pointing straight at him out of nowhere...
"Chun Sam-i, smash your head in!!!"
The Blood Demon was dumbfounded.
He might be a prisoner now, but he'd once been a legend of the martial world—the mere mention of whom could stop a crying child.
This damned immortal bastard...
He had to endure.
He'd reached Blood Heaven, but revealing his power here would draw attention, and attention could make escape harder.
"...Let's stop. I'll do as ordered."
"Your eyes say otherwise. Do well, and I'll reward you."
The Blood Demon felt stifled.
"What's the reason for tormenting me like this?"
"Because you're the most suspicious one."
"Just for that? Among hell's prisoners, how many aren't suspicious?"
Geomseon made a mocking face.
Then he leaned in close and whispered into the Blood Demon's ear.
In a very small voice.
Whoosh!
Geomseon's fist flew in.
The Blood Demon let out a deep sigh.
Better to just take it, right?
His Blood Heaven body wouldn't feel a thing,
But maybe play dead if possible.
Put on a big show of agony.
Naturally.
But?
Thwack!
"...Huh?"
His head spun.
Followed by excruciating pain.
Every cell in his body screamed.
It... hurts? ...It hurts!
The Blood Demon's face twisted in confusion.
It hurt like hell for real.
Just one punch, and his Blood Heaven body felt like it was tearing apart.
Geomseon dropped the dazed Blood Demon with a low kick.
Thud!
"Eek?"
He crumpled to the ground.
"Earth has this martial art called pounding."
Then he mounted the Blood Demon's chest.
"Looks like a dogfight at first glance, but..."
"W-wait a sec!"
Geomseon raised his fist, aiming at the Blood Demon's face.
"Nothing beats it for educating punks."
Thud! Thwack! Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Flecks of flesh flew off too.
"Aaaagh! Aaaaaah! Uwaaaah..."
"You worthless scum, you think you're hot shit? Do you even know where you are?"
Thud-thud! Thwack-thwack-thwack!
The Blood Demon's mind went hazy.
Each fist shook his soul.
One punch scattered the blood energy he'd built up over time, leaving it limp.
His Blood Heaven body began to crumble.
Why the hell...?
Meanwhile, grim reapers and underworld messengers squatted nearby, watching the Blood Demon get pummeled.
"Tsk tsk, Geomseon, you'll kill the sinner."
"Chun Sam-i's actually pretty good at work."
"Nah. Gotta establish discipline. You saw that look in his eyes earlier."
"True? But he won't last much longer."
The Blood Demon realized who this immortal beating him was.
G-Geomseon, huh.
He'd heard the name in the human realm.
But wasn't Geomseon a legendary figure from storytellers' tales?
The legendary Sword God pounding away like a street thug?
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
"Guh! Guh! Khek! S-stop! P-please, st-stop!"
But Geomseon had no intention of stopping.
He had to make a proper example.
Even if the guy's frailty dulled the satisfaction.
The Blood Demon was already a bloody pulp.
His face unrecognizable.
His body on the verge of total collapse.
"Aigoo, hit lighter."
"Need to swap his body?"
"Should make 'em tougher next time."
"Hold on, what's this guy's current level?"
"Lemme check."
One grim reaper flipped through the Hell Registry and spoke.
"Cultivated the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art in a created body. Current stage: Blood Heaven."
"Blood Heaven? Is that the pinnacle?"
"Nah, Blood God remains. That's the ultimate stage of the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art, it says."
"Hah, stupid bastard. Hundreds of years of training and still not mastered it?"
"That's why he can't even take a few hits."
"Hurry and boost him to Blood God. Easier than making a new body."
"Got it."
The Blood Demon couldn't believe his ears.
What the hell?
They knew all along?
Everything, up to his Blood Heaven in the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art?
And moreover...
They're gonna make me reach Blood God?
The grim reaper set the registry on the ground and prostrated.
Then picked up a brush,
"Lemme see, Blood Demon Wang Chun-sam. Current stage Blood Heaven, so change the 'Heaven' character to 'God'..."
No way?
The Blood Demon felt it.
A surge of abundant blood energy rising from his dantian.
All stages of the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art flashed through his mind.
"Aaaah!"
A boiling euphoria.
Reverse Heaven.
The absolute power to shatter the skies.
Vrrrrm!
His entire body roiled with blood energy.
Blood God—the stage transcending human limits toward omnipotence.
Now he understood.
He had become a god.
"You bastard!!!"
The Blood Demon shot up, shaking off Geomseon from his chest.
"Uahaha! I'll kill you all."
That was when it happened.
Slash!
Geomseon suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Huh?"
Then he leaped up, hooking the arm between his legs.
"What the—"
"Yeah, armbar."
Geomseon powerfully arched back.
Crack-crunch!
"Gaaaaah!"
His elbow snapped backward.
He tried to shake off Geomseon's grip with the blood energy filling his dantian, but it wasn't enough.
It didn't even budge.
"Wanted to try this one."
Crunch-crunch!
Not just a plain pounding or simple armbar.
It was an MMA technique from Geomseon.
Even mastery of the Reverse Heaven Blood Demon Art was useless.
"Oh! Doesn't break now. Thanks, grim reaper sir. Now I can feel the impact."
The grim reapers beamed proudly at Geomseon's praise.
"Should be pretty sturdy now."
"He'll work better than the others."
"The rest aren't pushovers either. Think he's the only schemer? Plenty here secretly cultivating martial arts."
"Hmm, true. Might as well boost the others' levels too?"
"Play it by ear. If they're too frail, upgrade 'em."
Sinners cultivating martial arts in created bodies.
There were more than one or two.
One of them was the Heavenly Demon.
Like the Blood Demon, the Heavenly Demon had remastered his Heavenly Demon Divine Art up to pinnacle in the endless hell.
Dreaming of escape from the Underworld.
But he'd witnessed the Blood Demon getting thrashed by Geomseon.
Powerless, pathetic.
...Gotta be careful.
It wasn't just the Heavenly Demon.
The eyes of the unruly prisoners—who'd sauntered out the gate all cocky—changed.
Taught and disciplined.
And perhaps because of that...
"Alright, move out! Time to work."
The prisoners sprang into action the moment the words fell.
Patpatpat!
The Heavenly Demon ran smartly too.
"Whoa!"
Until he tripped over someone's foot and face-planted.
Splat!
"This fucker? Tripping over my foot?"
"Arrogant prick! Should've dodged when Kunlun Immortal stuck his foot out."
"Plum Blossom Immortal's right. No manners, that's why."
"Agh, my ankle hurts."
"Lemme see. Tsk tsk, my sneakers are dirty."
"Three Peaks Immortal, should I hold back?"
"Hey! Holding back builds stress. Let's have some fun."
Kunlun, Plum Blossom, Three Peaks—the three immortals representing the martial world.
They surrounded the fallen Heavenly Demon, closing in slowly.
"Wh-what's this about?"
Kunlun Immortal spoke first with a chilling smile.
"You wiped out our Kunlun, right? I cut mortal ties to forget, but seeing you here? Can't hold back."
Plum Blossom Immortal too.
"Mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to the end? Let's see how long you last."
Three Peaks Immortal as well.
"I'll loosen your Wudang limits."
Despair filled the Heavenly Demon's eyes.
Meanwhile, regardless of the chaos outside,
Yeomra and the high judges finally stepped into the Multiplex's first floor.
Their eyes went wide.
"Hoho, the famed Multiplex."
"Even the first floor is impressive."
"Who's that portrait on the wall?"
"Name's there: Kim Taeju."
"Ooooh, what a handsome young man."
"Great King, let's head upstairs."
The second floor was the shopping mall.
Yeomra gaped and exclaimed the moment he arrived.
"Th-this is paradise."
They'd called hell home.
Lived eons in dark, damp, filthy conditions.
No wonder their eyes spun.
"Where's the smokes?"
"Piles right here."
Gwigok Seonin quickly said,
"Can't smoke here."
"Hoho, I know that much. I'll smoke in hell."
The goods on display in the shopping mall.
Yeomra and the judges grabbed baskets and swept them clean.
"I'll handle payment."
"Here."
Yeomra pulled out the credit card Dokseon gave him.
No coins deposited yet, so it'd go negative, but...
Anyway, after filling baskets to the brim,
"Right! Heard there's a place to experience other worlds' culture through stories and videos."
"Floors 4, 5, and 6."
"R-really?"
Yeomra and the judges rushed to the fourth floor.
And didn't emerge for a good while.
Not until the sinners finished work and returned to hell.
※ ※ ※
Dictator Mintanu's house sat in the heart of the military base.
The capital defense command, where Burma Republic's core forces concentrated.
All his closest aides were here too.
Take this place, and 90% of the military power vanishes.
Subduing them was easy.
Ilbaek transformed into his true form for the first time in ages.
The massive three-headed white tiger filled the parade ground.
"Grrooooowl..."
A chilling roar that sapped even Masters' will to fight.
It echoed across the capital defense command—no, all of Burma's capital, Nepia.
The entire command fell silent in terror.
No one could move, trembling in fear.
In that gap, Taeju scoured every corner of the building, capturing Mintanu's inner circle and military bigwigs, poisoning them.
Then tossed them into the same room as Mintanu.
The rest would handle itself.
After that.
A dictator's gotta have a secret vault somewhere...
Time to grab some travel expenses on the way out.
Definitely inside the mansion.
What valuables in this era?
Gold bars? Gems? Art or antiques?
Valuable, sure, but elite mana crystals top everything.
If there's a vault, it'll be stuffed with crystals.
Let's hunt around.
Taeju expanded his senses.
Maybe he'd pick up crystal energy.
From Mintanu's residence top floor, slowly descending layer by layer.
Not here.
Lower floors, then basement—finally.
"Oh!"
The energy grew clearer.
First door to the basement.
Locked, but smash it open.
Drew a Talmyeongbi.
Scrape, crunch-scrape!
Sliced out the lock area.
Weeeeeng!
Alarm blared through the whole house.
So what?
Anyone left to respond?
Opened the door—stairs appeared.
Down to another door.
Crunch-scrape!
Sliced again.
Finally reached the bottom.
Here it is.
A massive vault loomed before him.
The entire lowest basement turned into a vault.
Perfect!
A dictator's secret vault should be like this.
Now, open the vault door.
Thick vault door.
Taeju drew Geomseon's sword, the Myeol Sword—a thousand-li flying sword.
Vmmm!
Intense sword aura gathered.
Stab!
The thick door sliced like tofu.