Chapter 337 : Change (1)
Chapter 337: Change (1)
Around the time Il-mok was making his way to Lanzhou, Wi Jin-hak was deeply immersed in unraveling the profound martial intent hidden within the secret manual of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
"Ssss... haah."
Sitting cross-legged, he circulated his internal energy according to the arts' circulation method, and the Yang Qi coiled in his dantian surged through every meridian in his body.
It followed a path completely different from the Raging Demon Sword Art.
After running that energy through those unfamiliar meridians for a good while, Wi Jin-hak brought it back into his dantian, then abruptly rose to his feet and drew the Heavenly Demon Sword.
The stored internal energy exploded toward his right hand, and a majestic radiance exploded from the sword that consumed that internal energy.
It looked similar to his usual Yang Qi, but this flame was tainted with an eerie dark hue.
Staring down at the fire that hadn't yet fully evolved into a perfect black flame, Wi Jin-hak sighed in disappointment.
"Haa. Still a long road ahead."
It was clearly going to take quite a while to completely convert the raging energy of his Raging Demon Sword Art into the pure Demonic Qi of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
Swallowing his frustration, Wi Jin-hak began swinging the Heavenly Demon Sword and performed the martial routines of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts one by one.
Just like the other major Demonic Arts within the Cult, the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts were an all-encompassing system that blended various martial disciplines together.
Swordplay. Lightness Skill. Internal Art. External Art.
All of those and several more were seamlessly tied together under this single system named the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
But it had something that clearly set it apart from other Demonic Arts.
"Ha!"
As Wi Jin-hak swung his sword through the air in the training yard, Sword Force was already condensing along the blade.
Tap!
Launching himself toward an imaginary enemy, Wi Jin-hak propelled his body forward by literally stepping on and kicking off the empty air itself.
Every single technique in the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts functioned on this ridiculous level.
Force Qi, Sky Walk, Telekinesis, and many other high-tiered skills that could only be unleashed by those capable of manipulating Qi with their intent were treated as mere foundational basics within the secret manual of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
It meant that a martial artist had to reach the Supreme Peak Realm just to scratch the surface of the text, and they needed to break through to the Realm of Truth to actually barely start to comprehend its profound secrets.
It was a ridiculously demanding Demonic Art, but Wi Jin-hak was running through the opening sections without much trouble. Partly because his martial talent was exceptional, and partly because he had already climbed to a respectable level.
It had been several years since he successfully achieved Transcendence and broke through to the Realm of Truth. At this point in time, he had already solidified his foundation and moved past the initial stages of the Realm of Truth, which was why the first half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts posed no real obstacle to him.
He trained through the sword forms and footwork for quite a while, and when his internal energy had been spent to a satisfying degree, he extended his right hand to form a sword finger and pointed it at the scabbard hanging at his side.
In an instant, the Heavenly Demon Sword, which had been dancing through the air on its own, shot back into the scabbard as if drawn by a magnet.
That was Hand-Controlled Sword, the first stage of the Sword Kinesis Art.
Beyond that was Eyes-Controlled Sword, where one no longer needed a hand seal and could command the blade with the eyes alone. And beyond that was the Mind Sword, where the mere thought was enough.
With his daily practice concluded, Wi Jin-hak let his mind drift to the passage at the very end of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts manual.
Unlike the rest of the text, the ink on that section hadn't dried nearly as long ago, and the handwriting was familiar to him.
He didn't even need to guess who had written down this new martial formula.
‘It's a technique Master added himself.’
Deliberately keeping some energy in reserve, Wi Jin-hak prepared to train the technique left behind by Hyeokryeon Il-hwi.
‘Heavenly Demon Sovereign Stride. Truly a technique worthy of the name Heavenly Demon. I can't think of anything except that it's exactly what I'd expect from Master.’
Reading through the technique's guiding principles made him feel almost as though the Master who had ascended was right there and teaching him in person.
Following the intricate teachings, Wi Jin-hak sharpened his intent and vastly expanded his mental imagery.
He visualized an imaginary enemy standing before him. Then, he painted a mental picture of himself transforming into a towering giant that mercilessly trampled that enemy underfoot like a pathetic ant.
With that image locked in his mind, he took a single step forward.
Thud.
The Demonic Qi that erupted from his dantian began pressing down on the space where the imaginary enemy stood.
‘So this is the legendary feat of Wounding by Intent, huh?’
Having run through the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Stride as written in the manual, Wi Jin-hak easily grasped the true essence of the footwork.
‘...Knowing Master, he probably visualized a giant sword vertically cleaving the opponent in half for the next stage of this technique.'
While Wi Jin-hak was also a swordsman, the true foundation of his personal Demonic Art was deeply rooted in the category of Extreme Yang Art in nature.
'I will burn them to ash.'
Taking one step further than the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Stride, Wi Jin-hak pictured his imaginary enemy being consumed in flames.
And at the peak of that concentration, a dark-hued flame flickered into existence in the empty air.
"Ugh..."
And a splitting headache crashed into him immediately after, shattering his focus entirely.
"Guess this one's still out of reach for now."
Wi Jin-hak shook his head lightly to push the headache out.
"I swear I'll master everything Master left behind."
Whether he was making that vow to himself or to the Master who had ascended, it was impossible to say, but he murmured the words either way and settled back into a lotus position.
He began circulating his energy according to the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts' breathing method and began refilling his nearly depleted dantian.
"Huuu..."
After cycling through the breathing exercises dozens of times, Wi Jin-hak sank deep into his inner world where a vivid red flame appeared before his eye.
Dark-colored Qi closed in on that small flame from all sides, and the flame swelled and grew fierce in response to that energy.
He watched as the flame slowly bled to black.
Then, from the other side of that flame:
—Burn the world to ash.
Standing on the opposite side of the roaring flame was a man whose face was identical to his.
—This world is already tainted by evil. I am the Sacred Fire destined to purify the world. I am the Ruler of Demons. I am the Heavenly Demon.
—Burn this world to ashes and use its flesh and blood as the foundation for the new age!
Wi Jin-hak looked at his other self for a moment as it stared back at him.
"Begone!!"
The roar he unleashed in that inner world snapped his eyes open.
A flicker of dark-colored Qi swirled through his irises for just a moment before fading back to their natural color.
"...So this is the side effect of the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts that I've only ever heard about."
It had been a while since he'd dealt with the alter ego he thought he'd left behind after achieving Transcendence.
But Wi Jin-hak didn't find it unpleasant. "Well, it seems my progress has gone up quite a bit."
The side effect appearing meant he was genuinely making progress in the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, so there was nothing to complain about.
A satisfied smile crossed his face, and he left the training yard and headed toward the Lesser Sun Palace.
Wi Jin-hak hadn't been receiving the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord's report in his quarters for long when a visitor arrived.
"Head of the Hyeokryeon Family, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang, has come at the Cult Leader's summons."
Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang offered a salute and Wi Jin-hak welcomed him with a smile.
"Haha! Come in, Head of the Hyeokryeon Family. Truth be told, I called you here because I have a task I'd like to entrust to you."
"Your orders, Cult Leader."
"Now that I've taken up the position of Cult Leader, the seat of the Grand Teacher has been left vacant. I've been trying to manage both roles these past few days, but considering I need to oversee the Divine Cult as a whole, holding both jobs doesn't seem like the smartest move."
If the Cult Leader directly manages a specific branch, it risks creating a dangerous monopoly of power within that institution.
Of course, that highly noble reasoning was nothing but a convenient political excuse. In reality, he just wanted to dump his extra paperwork onto someone else.
Trying to juggle the massive responsibilities of both Cult Leader and Grand Teacher meant he had zero free time left over to properly practice the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
After several years of suffering as the Grand Teacher, Wi Jin-hak had finally mastered the ultimate administrative art of 'dumping your responsibilities onto others,' a flawless technique he had learned directly from his Master and Il-mok.
"...Appointing a new Grand Teacher is certainly reasonable, but this old man knows nothing of how the Grand Teacher's office operates. It would be more appropriate to appoint someone who already works within it."
Sensing that Wi Jin-hak was just trying to dump a mountain of annoying paperwork on him, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang politely and subtly tried to decline the job offer.
But Wi Jin-hak pressed on by bringing up precedent. "Haha, no need to worry about that. The Head of the Ouyang Family had become the Law Enforcement Hall Master and had done an excellent job in his position. The same goes for the Head of the Baek Family who had become the Hall Master of the Missionary Hall.”
"Besides, all the actual work will be handled by the subordinates who already work there. Let’s be honest, the role the heads of each institution have always been to keep the members from going off the rails, am I wrong?"
"...If it must be someone who has achieved Transcendence, would it not be better to give the role to the Head of the Dokgo Family rather than this old man?"
Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang brought up Dokgo Ryong, who had pledged his loyalty to Wi Jin-hak, but Wi Jin-hak just laughed heartily.
"Haha! The Head of the Dokgo Family's temperament doesn't quite suit the Grand Teacher's office. I have a separate task in mind for him, so there's no need to worry."
"...I will follow the Cult Leader's will."
With Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang finally accepting, Wi Jin-hak decided to lighten the mood and tossed out a remark.
"Ah, since the Head of the Dokgo Family came up, I heard a rather entertaining story from him. About the conversation you and he had on the last day of my late Master's Ascension Ceremony."
"A story about him and me?"
What the hell did that crazy Dokgo tell him about?!
Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang felt an unease he couldn't quite shake.
"That's right. I heard you said that the real reason you didn't bother participating in the succession struggle was that you believed the 'true vessel' of the Cult Leader had already been chosen. Hahaha. According to him, you were referring to me when you said that. Was that true?"
Hearing Wi Jin-hak's extremely amused question, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang had to use every ounce of his willpower to bite down on the vicious curses bubbling up in his throat.
That crazy Dokgo had actually set me up!!!
***
Meanwhile, in Gansu.
"A guest? For whom? Me?"
Il-mok asked with a bewildered expression, and Ouyang Mun answered.
"Hwangbo Yeon and Hwangbo Se-hui of the Hwangbo Family have come to visit."
Hearing those two names, a half-forgotten memory surfaced in Il-mok's mind.
'...Oh right. I think she did mention something about coming to visit later.'
He couldn't quite remember the specifics since it had been in a letter he'd skimmed and tossed aside.
"The Maitreya Luminous Cult currently has a fairly amicable relationship with the Hwangbo Family, so I couldn't just see them out. But I couldn't keep them waiting forever either, so I was just about to send a messenger to the main headquarters."
Ouyang Mun gave an awkward smile, and Il-mok nodded.
"I'll go meet them myself."
Just as he had in the past, Il-mok put on a mask before heading to the Maitreya Luminous Cult's manor. The maids following him had masks on as well, just in case.
"This way."
Following Ouyang Mun's lead, Il-mok arrived at a pavilion tucked into a quiet corner of the manor, where two women were waiting for him.
One was Hwangbo Yeon, a towering martial artist who boasted a height of over six feet and an incredibly sturdy build despite her gender.
The other was a woman who was reasonably tall for a woman but clearly much smaller and slimmer than Hwangbo Yeon and with a veil covering her face.
"It's been a while, Fist Phoenix, Miss Hwangbo."
Il-mok greeted them with a martial salute, and Hwangbo Yeon quickly rose and returned it.
"My deepest apologies. We honestly didn't expect our promised visit to be delayed for this long either."
"It looks like you've made quite a bit of progress in the meantime."
"I had wanted to go into closed-door training until I reached the level I was aiming for, but those Blood Cult bastards forced me to come out before I could finish."
Despite her seemingly regretful words, Hwangbo Yeon's eyes were burning with undeniable confidence.
"And yet it looks like you've already broken past the Peak Realm."
"It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Fighting those Blood Cult bastards in real combat made me realize why I'd been stuck at that wall."
Il-mok gave a deeply understanding nod.
After all, Il-mok was intimately familiar with the concept of gaining sudden martial enlightenment while desperately fighting evil bastards to the death.
‘The scar on her face must be from the war with the Blood Cult too.’
A scar on a woman's face was a sad thing by any measure, but Hwangbo Yeon didn't seem to care in the slightest.
If anything, the look on her face was one of pride, and combined with her build, it gave off a strong impression of a capable woman who didn't need anyone's pity. She is, by any measure, the complete package of a Jianghu heroine.
Right after Il-mok and Hwangbo Yeon finished exchanging greetings, the veiled woman suddenly reached up and pulled the veil right off.
The face hidden underneath was so incredibly gorgeous that it looked like a literal celestial maiden had descended from the heavens. She truly lived up to her title as Shandong’s Greatest Beauty. And she had clearly come prepared, with a delicate makeup on her face.
"I thought it would be rude to exchange greetings with my face hidden."
As she whispered her convenient little excuse, her glossy red lips curled into a highly alluring smile.
From behind Il-mok, Hyeokryeon Seon-ah began radiating a very blatant killing intent directed straight at her.