Chapter 194
At that moment.
The sky of the Celestial Realm cried out as if it were being torn apart.
CRASH! RUMBLE!
Thunder split the heavens, and multicolored divine light swirled in every direction.
It was not merely a natural phenomenon.
It was the aftermath of a colossal war waged by transcendent beings who had ascended from the human world—celestials, including the Heavenly Demons and the Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin.
In one shadowy, chaotic corner of the battlefield, three Heavenly Demons gathered in a hall shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
They were the founding ancestors of the Demonic Cult and had once stood at the pinnacle of demonic power.
"Kh... As expected, the Sword Immortal is a monster."
The First Generation Heavenly Demon opened his mouth.
Although potent demonic ki still emanated from his body, the signs of decline were just as apparent.
A wound inflicted by the Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin's sword strike had been eating away at his very soul.
The Fifth Generation Heavenly Demon gritted his teeth and spoke.
"At this rate, the leadership of the Celestial Realm may even fall into their hands. We should have secured the world below first. If the energy of the world shifts in their favor, our position will only become more precarious."
The Seventh Generation Heavenly Demon added with a heavy voice,
"What you say is true. If the world below falls into their grasp, we will have nowhere left to stand. That Jaseong, the Heaven's Mandate wielder, is growing at a frightening speed. Now there is only one option left to us. We must bestow our final opportunity, seniors."
A flash appeared in the First Generation Heavenly Demon's eyes.
"The final opportunity... Are you saying we should pour all of our remaining potential into this?"
"Yes. With half-hearted support, we cannot stop that monster-like brat. If we're going to bestow it, it should be explosive. Even if it costs us half our lifespans—we must summon a true demon into the world below."
The three Heavenly Demons looked at one another.
A resolute determination arose in their eyes.
It was a gamble.
But better than being defeated and erased from existence.
"Among our disciples, who will receive this opportunity?"
"It will go to the strongest one. And the greediest among them."
The three Heavenly Demons stretched out their hands at once.
From their fingertips, deep crimson energy shot out and merged as one.
It pulsed like a living heart.
WHUMMM!
A massive light shot up from the sky of the Celestial Realm.
A forbidden opportunity, created as the lifespans of the three Heavenly Demons converged as one.
That black beam pierced dimensions and plummeted toward the human world.
* * *
The Demonic Cult's headquarters, the deepest reaches of the Ten-Thousand-Mountain Range.
Inside a sealed training chamber denied even of light, a man opened his eyes.
His name was Cheon Gwang-hwi.
He was the first disciple of the deceased Heavenly Demon and currently possessed the greatest martial power within the Demonic Cult.
Having reached the verge of the Transformation Realm at middle age, he was considered a monster daunting even to Namgung Cheon-rui, the former Murim Alliance Leader.
"...?"
While deep in meditation, Cheon Gwang-hwi suddenly looked up at the ceiling, almost as if he could see through it.
Something invisible was calling for him.
All the blood in his body boiled, and the demonic ki in his dantian surged violently.
"Whose energy is this?"
As if in a trance, Cheon Gwang-hwi rose to his feet.
Unconsciously drawn by that energy, he made his way to a secret underground cavern deep within the Demonic Cult headquarters—a place even former cult chiefs had not known about.
The entrance to the cave was blocked by a massive boulder, but with a mere gesture, Cheon Gwang-hwi made it collapse like a sandcastle.
"This place is..."
The cave was thick with the stench of rot.
At its center, there stood a huge stone coffin made of black jade.
It was the tomb of the Ancient Generation Heavenly Demon.
On top of the coffin, crimson ancient characters were inscribed.
'Here lies the one who devoured the world.'
Cheon Gwang-hwi shuddered.
This was where the founder of the Demonic Cult—legendary even in the stories—was laid to rest.
With trembling hands, he slowly opened the coffin.
Creeeak—
Inside, there was no corpse.
Instead, there rested an old leather-bound manual.
Blood-red letters, vivid and clear, adorned its cover.
[Heavenly Demon Great Star-Absorbing Art]
The moment he opened the manual, Cheon Gwang-hwi's eyes flashed like a wild beast's.
The contents were shocking in the extreme.
This... was a forbidden demonic art capable of absorbing the internal power of living martial artists directly and making it one's own.
"Such a martial art... actually existed?!"
Line by line, Cheon Gwang-hwi read through the manual.
The more he read, the madder his smile became.
With this, he felt certain he could break through the wall of the Transformation Realm and reach the legendary Profound Realm.
"Kekeke... Kuhahahaha!"
His mad laughter echoed through the underground cave.
Several days later.
Cheon Gwang-hwi emerged from his seclusion.
Though his reappearance was quiet, the aura he exuded was enough to crush the entire Demonic Cult.
"Elder brother, it has been a while."
It was Yeom Musa, the deceased Heavenly Demon's fourth disciple, who had previously clashed once with Jaseong.
Standing behind him was Hwa Mu-ja, the Heavenly Demon's second disciple.
They were rivals of Cheon Gwang-hwi for the position of the next Heavenly Demon.
"Have you both been well?"
Cheon Gwang-hwi smiled gently.
'Why is he suddenly acting so friendly?'
Hwa Mu-ja looked at Cheon Gwang-hwi with a puzzled face.
The next moment, something shocking occurred.
THUD!
Before Hwa Mu-ja could say anything, Cheon Gwang-hwi's hand pierced through his chest.
"Se... Senior brother?!"
Hwa Mu-ja looked down at his chest in disbelief.
Cheon Gwang-hwi's hand was clutching his heart.
"Forgive me. To ascend to a higher realm... I need you both."
Cheon Gwang-hwi's pupils turned black.
"Absorb!"
The Heavenly Demon Great Star-Absorbing Art was unleashed.
The immense internal power stored in Hwa Mu-ja's dantian surged into Cheon Gwang-hwi like a broken dam.
"Arghhhhh!"
Hwa Mu-ja's scream rang out in agony.
His body shriveled and dried in an instant, becoming like a mummy.
Yeom Musa's face twisted in shock.
"W-What are you doing!"
Yeom Musa tried to escape in a hurry.
But Cheon Gwang-hwi was already behind him.
Click.
Cheon Gwang-hwi grabbed his nape.
It was as if he were handling a child.
"You're coming too. That way your brother won't be lonely."
"Ugh... Let me go! Aargh!"
Yeom Musa met the same fate as Hwa Mu-ja.
The internal power he had accumulated throughout his life became Cheon Gwang-hwi's.
Having absorbed the power of both his juniors and rivals, Cheon Gwang-hwi killed them, making their strength entirely his own.
The demonic ki radiating from him became even denser and darker.
But it did not end there.
Shaking the blood from his hands, Cheon Gwang-hwi stepped outside.
With internal power laced into his voice, he projected his command throughout the Ten-Thousand-Mountain Range.
"Demonic Cult experts, assemble at the main training yard! I have an important announcement!"
At Cheon Gwang-hwi's order, warriors of the Demonic Cult swarmed in like clouds.
Elders, protectors, and dozens of unit leaders packed the main training yard.
Cheon Gwang-hwi stood atop the stage and looked down upon them.
His gaze was that of a predator.
"Listen well, all of you."
"At your command!"
"From today, you will all become my nourishment."
"W-What...?"
"... What's that supposed to—?"
As the cultists looked up—
KRAKOOOM!
The massacre began.
Cheon Gwang-hwi's body flashed from east to west in an instant, appearing and disappearing before the eyes of countless Demonic Cult experts.
Those whose hearts were pierced by his hand had all their internal power stolen and shriveled into mummies.
"Chief! Spare us!"
"Arghhh!"
Screams filled the Demonic Cult's headquarters.
But Cheon Gwang-hwi did not stop.
On the contrary, he seemed to revel in their screams, moving as if in a dance of madness.
Thus, he slowly became a one-man legion.
About one shijin later.
Having absorbed the internal power of hundreds, Cheon Gwang-hwi's body floated into the air.
The energy radiating from his body pierced the heavens.
RUMBLE—CLAP!
At last, the wall of the Transformation Realm shattered.
At that moment, he broke the human limits and stepped into the legendary Profound Realm.
"This... is the Profound Realm..."
The black energy radiating from Cheon Gwang-hwi's body blotted out the sky.
Clouds scattered, and black lightning struck down.
The entire headquarters was so suffocated by his aura that even breathing was difficult.
A new Heavenly Demon had been born.
Cheon Gwang-hwi gazed at his own hands.
He overflowed with power, enough to destroy all things.
"Now... it is time to devour the world."
* * *
Some time later.
Having become the new Heavenly Demon, Cheon Gwang-hwi summoned Chu Hyul-gwang, the Blood Cult Leader.
The Demonic Cult's main hall.
There, in the thick darkness, Chu Hyul-gwang entered.
He had set aside his usual arrogance and looked cowed.
"It has been a while, grand young master."
The Blood Cult Leader, Chu Hyul-gwang, knelt.
Confronting Cheon Gwang-hwi for the first time in ages, he continually flickered his eyes.
'This is not the Cheon Gwang-hwi I once knew... What is this aura...?'
He had always been strong, but the presence before him was on another level.
It was as if a massive mountain range were looming over him.
Before the new Heavenly Demon's energy, he felt a primal terror.
"Blood Cult Leader."
The Heavenly Demon's voice resounded low.
Even that alone made Chu Hyul-gwang's heart constrict.
"The Blood Sacrifice Grand Art I returned to your Blood Cult in the past—do you still possess it?"
"Yes, but... why do you ask so suddenly...?"
"I know full well what sort of sorcery the Blood Sacrifice Grand Art is. A forbidden art that amasses enormous power by offering up countless humans as sacrifices."
At that moment, the Heavenly Demon's eyes shone red.
"In truth, it is a manual for creating 'jiangshi'—the undead corpses—an art lost since ancient times, is it not?"
"...!"
Chu Hyul-gwang's face froze.
He had never imagined anyone would know the true identity of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Art.
It was a secret known to only a rare few in the Blood Cult.
The Heavenly Demon slowly rose from his throne.
"The time has come for the Demonic Cult to upend the world once more. And I offer your Blood Cult a choice."
"A choice, you say...?"
"Under the banner of the Demonic Cult, drench the Central Plains in blood."
"...!"
"What's wrong? Does your pride hurt at being asked to submit to our banner?"
"......."
"Heh. Will you let your pride lead your cult to destruction, or will you become one just under me, above thousands?"
In truth, Chu Hyul-gwang had no choice.
The overwhelming energy of the new Heavenly Demon who had reached the Profound Realm was too much.
He knew he would lose his life without question if he defied him.
"... I will obey your command."
Chu Hyul-gwang bowed his head to the ground.
"Good."
The Heavenly Demon nodded, visibly pleased.
"Secure the corpses of the masters who died in the War of Orthodox and Unorthodox. The countless warriors slain recently in the war between the Murim Alliance and the Evil Path Association... The resentment and flesh of those dead will be excellent materials."
"You want me to raise them as a jiangshi army?"
"That is right."
A cruel smile played at the Heavenly Demon's lips.
"Understood. I will set the Blood Cult in motion at once."
"Hurry. The bodies must be secured before they rot. And..."
"...?"
"That Evil Path Association Leader who toppled the Murim Alliance. We'll need to prepare a special gift for him as well."
Darkness began to engulf the Central Plains.
The birth of a new Heavenly Demon, the creation of an army of the dead—a jiangshi army.
While Jaseong rested after defeating the orthodox factions, yet another disaster—far more horrifying—was approaching the Central Plains.