Chapter 243 : Reappearance of the Heavenly Demon (3)
Chapter 243: Reappearance of the Heavenly Demon (3)
‘It wasn’t a lie.’
The moment he heard the Heavenly Demon’s words, Sewoon realized they were not false.
Even without the sound arts of the Soundwave Lute Demon, no one other than the Heavenly Demon himself could possibly harbor such a destructive aura.
‘Still… it can’t be that he’s actually alive.’
No matter how much he appeared to have reached a realm higher than even the Life and Death Realm, his essence should still be that of a single human.
He was not a legendary immortal, nor could he have truly survived for hundreds of years.
“So it’s an illusory dream… a reenactment of memories.”
That was the most reasonable conclusion Sewoon could reach.
This overwhelming presence, the being conversing with him, was not a living creature, but a kind of illusory dream.
“Tsk, tsk. It couldn’t possibly be something so trivial.”
At that, the Faint Silver Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue in disdain and flatly rejected Sewoon’s conjecture.
Then, the Heavenly Demon proudly revealed his true nature.
“This body is an Intent Avatar created by splitting my consciousness.”
“……!!”
A chill ran down Sewoon’s spine as he heard those words.
‘…An Intent Avatar created by dividing consciousness?’
It was a level of profound harmony utterly beyond anything Sewoon’s common sense could comprehend.
This was not mere martial strength gained through cultivation, but the act of splitting one’s very consciousness to create an avatar that could persist for so long.
How could he not be shocked?
‘So this is martial prowess… Just when one thinks they’ve reached the end, another beginning appears.’
Though deeply astonished, Sewoon quickly steadied his mind.
Now was not the time to stand in awe of his opponent.
“Why did you create a place like this? What is your purpose?”
Sewoon asked bluntly.
He could no longer avoid acknowledging it.
The Heavenly Demon Cavern was not simply a place meant to leave behind a legacy for future generations.
All of these formations, and even the Intent Avatar itself, must have served a clear purpose.
The Faint Silver Heavenly Demon curled his lips into a strange smile.
A smile like a crescent moon in the night sky—beautiful, yet chilling.
Within it lay a transcendent coldness devoid of any human emotion.
“Since you are not a cult devotee of the Divine Cult, I will tell you one thing.”
“What?”
“In my Divine Cult, to obtain something…”
Kwaaaaarrr!
At that moment, a bluish killing intent ignited within the Faint Silver Heavenly Demon’s eyes.
“!!”
It was not merely the desire to kill, but a primordial force that sought to destroy and devour everything.
Gugugugugu!
Grrrr!
As the white space began to twist under the pressure of the Heavenly Demon’s killing intent—
“One must subdue it and take it by force alone.”
At last, the Heavenly Demon’s words were completed.
Kwaaaaarrr!
The instant he finished speaking, a deafening roar erupted as a Mind Sword tore through the void.
The pure white space ripped apart like paper, pouring forth dark-blue rays of light.
‘Hup!’
Sewoon was struck with horror.
This was on an entirely different level from the Mind Sword imbued with Intent that had been engraved along the passage earlier.
Chwararara!
The Mind Sword split into six, surging toward Sewoon from different directions.
Each one carried the power to annihilate existence itself.
“Ghk!”
Paat!
Sewoon groaned as he focused on evasion—
Kwaaaah!
—and instinctively deployed the Invisible Dagger.
The Invisible Dagger that burst forth from his Upper Dantian shot straight ahead, clashing against the Mind Sword that sought its master’s life.
Kwaaaang!
With the collision, the pure white space shook violently.
As the Mind Sword and the Invisible Dagger collided, the space itself overturned like raging waves upon the sea.
“Hm, how crude.”
“-!”
With the Heavenly Demon’s murmur—
Titing!
Sewoon’s Invisible Dagger was knocked away.
Shrrk!
Shrrrk!
Meanwhile, two of the six blades grazed Sewoon’s left arm and right leg as they passed.
‘Damn it!’
There was no physical wound, but the impact of Intent shook his very soul.
It felt as though his inner energy had been overturned by a massive boulder or iron hammer.
Though his opponent was also a martial artist of the Life and Death Realm, the gap in martial attainment was unmistakable.
‘At least on par with the Blood Demon…!’
The lingering image of the Blood Demon from before his regression overlapped with the Heavenly Demon’s current form.
The Heavenly Demon wielded the Mind Sword as though painting a picture, and Sewoon was driven into a corner without even managing a proper counterattack.
The Faint Silver Heavenly Demon’s gaze grew even colder.
“If you do not fight properly, you will remain here forever and meet your death.”
The Heavenly Demon’s chilling voice drilled into Sewoon’s ears.
It was a solemn warning filled with nothing but truth.
‘Remain here forever…?’
This was a being that had even created an avatar by embedding Intent.
He could not dismiss such a possibility.
Cold sweat ran down Sewoon’s back.
This place could become a prison of consciousness where even death was unattainable.
He clenched his teeth.
For him, surrender was never an option.
‘I must escape and kill the Blood Demon no matter what!’
Sewoon’s eyes flashed as he focused all his will on drawing out the power of the Invisible Dagger.
He ground his teeth until blood nearly seeped out.
‘This isn’t enough! More—more!’
Chwararara!
Kwaaarrr!
The Invisible Dagger spun fiercely like a vortex as it flew forth.
At the same time, the Heavenly Demon extended one hand.
Kwagagagagang!
With that small motion, the six-fold Mind Sword merged into a single form.
Yet within it was an Intent more condensed than all the previous attacks combined.
An instant later, the two Mind Swords collided at the center of the white space.
Kwaaaaarrr!
Kwaaaaang!
The massive shockwave from the clash shook the very fabric of space itself.
The aftermath was overwhelming.
“Cough!”
Sewoon was sent flying, his body jerking as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
But—
“Is that the end?”
The Heavenly Demon, watching Sewoon, showed no sign of having suffered any damage.
His smile felt unbearably savage.
Kwaaaaang!
A thunderous roar, as if space itself were being torn apart, continued without end.
Crack!
Craack!
Countless fissures spread like spiderwebs across the pure white backdrop formed of Intent.
Sewoon’s body had been reduced to rags.
Absolute confidence that it would never break—yet even the Invisible Dagger was shattered beyond half.
The immense qi he had obtained upon ascending to the Life and Death Realm had already reached its limit.
Yet the Heavenly Demon pressed him relentlessly, as if energy were pouring forth like an inexhaustible spring.
‘So this… is the pinnacle of the Life and Death Realm.’
Sewoon realized it with piercing clarity.
If he had merely crossed the threshold of the Life and Death Realm, then the Heavenly Demon stood immeasurably high at its very summit.
The Heavenly Demon’s Mind Sword was not a simple manifestation of martial arts.
His consciousness and will were given form, directly shaking Sewoon’s soul.
Each blade seemed to carry the lofty Intent of an absolute being cultivated over hundreds—no, thousands—of years.
Kwaaaarrr!
“Ghk!”
Once more, a collision sent Sewoon’s body tumbling across the ground.
His head rang as if it would split apart, and his vision blurred for a moment.
He barely managed to steady his consciousness, but—
“Let us end this now.”
Ssshaaaaak!
The Heavenly Demon’s Mind Sword surged fiercely toward Sewoon’s heart.
Sewoon wanted to evade, but there was not a single mote of qi left anywhere in his Dantian.
And then it happened.
At the moment he faced unavoidable death—
For the first time, Sewoon entrusted himself to the unconscious.
Chwaaaa!
Instead, the world before his eyes began to flow slowly.
Whiik!
And for the first time, Sewoon succeeded in evading his opponent’s attack.
‘I dodged… it?’
Like lightning striking his mind, the seed of enlightenment flashed through his thoughts.
To evade an enemy’s attack, mere movement techniques of the body were insufficient.
This was a space formed of consciousness. One had to understand the very essence of combat.
‘In that case…’
Swoosh.
Sewoon slowly closed his eyes.
‘As expected.’
The Faint Silver Heavenly Demon watched him with a smile he had never shown before.
His gaze seemed to pierce through every movement, every inner conflict within Sewoon.
—How long do you intend to keep fighting while relying on the power of objects?
The Heavenly Demon’s voice echoed within Sewoon’s mind as his eyes remained closed.
—That blade you wield is nothing more than a vessel.
—A true Mind Sword must arise from your very essence.
Those words struck Sewoon’s mind with crushing force.
The Invisible Dagger.
It was certainly a blade formed by Sewoon’s will, yet in the end it was merely an external ‘tool’ manifested outside himself.
It was not ‘essence’ imbued with its wielder’s origin, like the Mind Swords scattered by the Heavenly Demon.
‘Essence…’
Sewoon was confused.
Then what was his essence?
Before regression, he had been a martial artist consumed by vengeance.
After regression, he had been walking the path of a conqueror.
But was that truly his ‘essence’?
‘No. It isn’t.’
At that very moment—
Clang!
Clang-clang!
The sound of hammering resounded within Sewoon’s mind.
A sound of striking, refining.
The sound of hammering.
‘Ah…’
Heating iron, striking it with a hammer to purge impurities, shaping it through relentless blows—
The sound of a blacksmith.
It was the sound he had heard most from childhood until now.
‘That’s right. I am…’
Sewoon’s eyes flashed.
Before being a martial artist, he was a blacksmith.
His body was that of a martial artist, but his soul belonged to one who worked iron.
His essence began with the hammer.
And so, Sewoon’s Mind Sword would be completed through the essence of a blacksmith.
That realization sent a massive ripple through the depths of his consciousness.
Juururuk!
Juuruk!
At the same time, the Invisible Dagger began to melt away, losing its form like molten metal dissolving within a furnace.
His Invisible Dagger had been but a fragment of a Mind Sword—born from a glimpse of the blacksmith’s ultimate state before regression, combined with extraordinary fortune.
Chwaaaa!
Black threads of the Heavenly Net connected to Sewoon’s ten fingers filled the void.
Kwaaaarrr!
As if being cast in a mold, the melted Invisible Dagger was poured into the Heavenly Net, beginning to merge into a single whole.
In that process, all energies emanating from Sewoon’s body—including the Reverse Heaven Qi—grew deeper and denser.
Clang!
Clang-clang!
The hammering sound rang even more vividly within Sewoon’s mind.
The Faint Silver Heavenly Demon did not miss this transformation.
A satisfied gleam flickered within his abyss-like eyes.
—Good. You finally understand.
A faint sense of satisfaction colored the Heavenly Demon’s voice.
It sounded like a master, long devoted to teaching, watching his disciple’s enlightenment with quiet pride.
Ssssshhh!
Chwaaaa!
Within the white space, a blazing energy surged like a newborn sun.
The threads that had been blackened gradually shifted into a crimson hue.
The countless strands of the Heavenly Net adorning the sky began to take on the form of raging flames.
Every characteristic and power once held by the Invisible Dagger seeped fully into each and every thread of the Heavenly Net.
Ssssshhh!
At last, Sewoon slowly opened the eyes he had kept closed.
‘This… is my Mind Sword.’
Chwararara!
The countless threads of the ‘Heavenly Net of the Mind Blade’ he had completed rose up to greet him.