Enshrinement as a God

Startled, Agong stumbled backward.

In the not-so-large clearing, brutally shattered skulls were rolling on the ground.

Agong, who had never seen a human skull before, knew that what Tongtian had told him was no joke.

"Stop joking and get me out of here!"

Agong urgently looked up at the sky and shouted, but only a long silence answered him.

Agong sat down on the ground.

He couldn't believe the reality he was in, and the fact that he had been backstabbed by Tongtian, whom he had trusted, was a great shock.

Facing the skulls rolling on the ground, Agong sat there for a long time.

For a moment, he had the vain hope that someone might help him.

But who?

The cold, damp air cleared his head.

No one in the tavern would go looking for Agong just because he had disappeared.

And it was unlikely that Tongtian, who had thrown him here, would change his mind now.

"Let's go."

He couldn't just hope for help here.

Moreover, the silence flowing here and the bones that seemed to be human were stimulating Agong's fear.

According to Tongtian, there would be an entrance to get out of here, and it would surely appear if he followed the dark path spread out before him.

Agong gathered the scattered bones and buried them, then gave a simple greeting and changed Tonglin into a bow and slung it over his shoulder.

The path was not as narrow or rough as he had thought, but he couldn't let his guard down in a situation where he didn't know what might pop out.

'How could he do this to me!'

Agong gritted his teeth and took one step at a time.

He remembered what Cook Li had told him to be careful of Tongtian, and Agong regretted his carelessness in following him to this place of certain death without any suspicion.

One fortunate thing in his misfortune was his much-improved physical condition since meeting Sorin with Master Gongsun, and the martial arts he had been practicing diligently for a short time.

Thanks to that, he was not having much difficulty identifying his surroundings even in the dark cave.

Thump... Thump...

Grrr!

Agong, at the low growl echoing in the cave, held his breath without realizing it.

It was unlikely that a person would make such a growl.

Grrr! Grrr.

One, two...

Agong, whose hair was standing on end, heard the footsteps of at least three beasts in his ears.

Although they were light footsteps like a feather, to Agong's ears, they were no different from thunder and lightning.

'Hmph!'

Agong, to not reveal his location, held his breath and lowered his body.

If they had been ordinary wild animals, they would have passed by without noticing Agong.

But unfortunately, this was the Hermit's Valley, and the beasts roaming the cave were not ordinary beasts either.

"Grrr! Grrr!"

At the sudden movement of the beasts, Agong instinctively used the Nine Palaces Divine Steps and shot out from his hiding place like an arrow.

Pabat!

In a fleeting moment, in the spot where Agong had been crouching, dust suddenly flew up, and three pairs of red eyes flickered.

"Ugh!"

The ghost-fire-like eyes were glaring. Saliva was dripping from their randomly grown fangs, wetting the ground beneath them.

All three of them had bodies as thin as stray dogs that had been starved for days, but their size was like that of a wolf. Their head fur was standing on end, and red smoke was rising from between their pointed molars. They were by no means ordinary wild dogs.

As if they had been starved for a long time, they quickly scattered and tried to surround him, as if not to miss Agong.

There was a way to turn his back and run away immediately, but Agong was not confident that he could shake off these creatures with his lightness skill.

Feeling a sense of crisis at the organized movements of the beasts, Agong hurriedly took an arrow from his waist and aimed it with Tonglin.

"Grrr..."

The beasts slowly, but nimbly, approached Agong.

Pang!

As he released the bowstring, the arrow tore through the air and flew towards one of the three beasts.

That was the signal, and the beasts also flew at Agong at the same time.

"Grrr!"

The beast that was aimed at by the arrow was not so lucky.

Although it had avoided the arrow that was shot at a tremendous speed with an amazing movement, it was not perfect.

One of the beasts, hit in one leg, fell to the ground, but the remaining two were only looking at Agong.

Swoosh!

Agong, to deal with the beasts that had come close, hurriedly changed Tonglin into a fishing rod and swung it greatly.

Swoosh!

"No way!"

Seeing the beasts twisting their bodies in the air and avoiding Tonglin, Agong let out a groan without realizing it.

Moreover, the beast that had been hit by the arrow and had fallen was also getting up, limping.

"Grrr!"

Seeing their rotten mouths and sharp teeth, the Nine Palaces Divine Steps was displayed on its own.

Agong, feeling a chilling sensation from the beast's breath that had grazed his back by a hair's breadth, hurriedly displayed the Heavenly Demon Hand.

Ping!

"Yelp!"

The Heavenly Silkworm Silk of Tonglin, with internal energy flowing through it, made a sharp sound, pierced the beast's shoulder, and cut it.

The creature screamed and rolled on the ground, and as it struggled, thick blood began to pool on the ground.

"Grrr...!"

Then, the one that had been approaching, limping, and the one that was still targeting Agong, turned their gazes and approached the struggling beast.

Crunch!

"Ugh."

The two beasts, without hesitation, bit the neck and waist of the struggling creature that was bleeding, killed it, and began to tear at the still-warm corpse in one go.

To catch and eat a comrade who had been attacking together until just before, just because he was bleeding and had fallen.

Even if they were beasts, such a sight was a terrible thing that he had never heard of or seen.

Agong calmed his trembling legs and carefully turned his steps while the creatures were engrossed in their meal.

Agong, who had avoided the place with all his might for about half a quarter of an hour, sat down on the ground with his tired body.

'I want to go back.'

The sensation he had felt when he had pierced the beast with Tonglin just before.

Along with the sense of accomplishment of having properly displayed the Heavenly Demon Hand, the feeling of cutting the flesh of a living beast felt as vivid as if he had used his own hands directly.

A sense of accomplishment and displeasure assailed Agong at the same time.

Thump, thump, thump!

"No, already?"

Agong, startled by the footsteps he heard from a distance, immediately got up.

The footsteps were approaching at a tremendous speed. One was fast and one was a little irregular. It was clearly the two beasts.

"Grr!"

Agong first started running again to avoid the beasts.

The persistent hunters had filled their hunger and were picking up speed.

As if they were determined to taste Agong's flesh no matter what, the beasts, running at a tremendous speed, were able to catch up with Agong, who was not yet familiar with the terrain of the cave.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have practiced the Nine Palaces Divine Steps more diligently!"

There was no use regretting it now.

As he jumped over the sloping space of the cave in one go, a wide clearing soon spread out.

Swoosh!

"Grrr!"

The two beasts, with their mouths and eyes covered in blood, jumped to a tremendous height and once again revealed themselves in front of Agong.

Agong gave up on running away and held Tongtian firmly.

He didn't know how much further he had to walk, but he couldn't waste his strength being chased by two beasts already.

Hadn't he been practicing martial arts with such blood and sweat to deal with such beasts until now?

"I have no intention of killing you, but if you try to kill me, I have no choice."

As he hardened his heart, he felt his whole body fill with energy and his strength surge.

The martial arts displayed with a shrunken heart and the martial arts with a firm heart could not be the same.

This time, the beasts, feeling that Agong's momentum was different, also became wary and began to circle around him.

Grrr! Grrr!

As Agong extended Tonglin, the two beasts, aiming for an opening, flew at Agong's neck at the same time.

Nine Gates True Scripture

Nine Gates Heavenly Demon Hand

Originally, the Heavenly Demon Hand was the number one ultimate skill of the demonic path, displayed with the Manifest Demon True Art.

But such a Heavenly Demon Hand was being displayed with the Nine Gates Harmonious Heart Art, one of the essences of the orthodox cultivation method.

Tonglin bent smoothly as if it were alive. As the feather-light Tonglin touched the beast's rough hide, a sharp sound of something breaking the air, as if thunder would roll, burst out.

Bang!

Leaving behind the beast that was thrown back at a speed that seemed to be twice the speed of its charge, the heavily bent Tonglin was falling on the other beast.

Crash!

"Yelp! Yelp!"

As a hole deep enough to fit a fist was dug right in front of its nose, a pitiful cry came out from the beast, which could neither go forward nor backward.

His comrade who had gone hunting with him had his body burst and died, and he was about to die soon. His killing intent from until now had disappeared without a trace, and the pitiful appearance of a beast was revealed.

"Go. Don't ever target a person again."

Agong, looking at the beast that was bowing its head and trembling in fear, showed mercy in his hands.

Although it couldn't understand his words, seeing the beast that had been torn to pieces and died in one go, he didn't want to see any more blood.

The beast, confirming that Agong had no intention of attacking, cautiously turned its body and tried to run away from Agong's sight.

Swoosh!

"Grrr!"

"!!!"

At that moment, Agong, startled by a sharp energy that had flown from somewhere, turned his body.

The beast that was running away trembled as if it had been suddenly killed, and then collapsed on the ground with foam at its mouth and was stiff.

"A young brat is already acting like a monk because his prospects are bleak."

Agong, who had not even thought that he would hear a human voice in a place like this, looked around.

Then, he felt someone's gaze from a little distance away.

"Who are you?"

"Bring those dogs over there."

In the place where the voice had come from was a man covered in dirt, half-crushed by a large rock.

Due to the rocks and randomly grown plants in the surroundings, it seemed difficult to find him unless one looked carefully.

"My, my goodness..."

Black skin was revealed through his worn-out clothes, and his beard and hair were disheveled, making it difficult to recognize his appearance.

"I told you to pick up those dogs over there!"

Agong, startled by the gruff shout, collected the beast that had died suddenly and the beast he had beaten to death and carefully brought them to his side.

"Put them down."

Agong obediently put the two beasts down in front of him.

Then, he, with his black and dirty hands, hurriedly began to eat them greedily.

"Ugh..."

His appearance, greedily tearing at the corpses like the beasts that had eaten their comrade just before, aroused disgust and fear.

He, without caring about Agong's disgust, quickly and cleanly ate the two beasts, which he didn't even know if they were dogs or what.

"How long has it been since I've eaten meat, haha!"

"A-are you okay?"

"You're a very lucky brat."

"What?"

"If it weren't for these guys, I was so hungry that I would have eaten you."

He didn't know if it was a joke or if he was serious, but seeing his appearance, covered in red blood, he couldn't just laugh it off as a joke.

"So, who are you?"

"And you... uncle?"

"Did you kill your master and fall here? If so, please tell me that you killed a lot of those bastards."

At the one-way conversation, Agong strongly felt that the answer he wanted would not come easily.

Judging by his half-crushed body and his condition, the opponent did not seem to be a normal person at all.

"A young brat came to the Hermit's Valley and joined the Sea Isle Sect. His talent must have been extraordinary, but it's all over now. Since your dantian was destroyed and you came here, you won't be able to get out of here safely either."

Agong remembered that Tongtian had called this place the prison of the Sea Isle Sect.

It seemed that this man thought of him as a prisoner who had committed a crime in the Sea Isle Sect and had been thrown into the prison.

"Hmm...? Sniff, sniff... what's this smell...?"

The man tilted his head at the familiar and nostalgic smell that had been temporarily hidden by the smell of the beasts' blood.

He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the smell was coming from the basket hanging at Agong's waist.

The man, without knowing why, swallowed his saliva.

Gulp...

(End of Chapter)