Chapter 57
The moves and incantations of the Manifest Demon True Art that filled the wall.
Agong turned his head and slowly examined them.
And he realized. Something was fundamentally wrong.
Unlike before, when he had only practiced the Heavenly Demon Hand, after the Taoist Lingbao had left, the Tongtian Cult Master had begun to forcibly teach Agong the other incantations of the Manifest Demon True Art.
Since he was already learning the Nine Palaces Divine Steps and the Nine Gates True Scripture, Agong, who had not even thought of learning the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps or the Heavenly Demon Heart Art, did not seem to feel the need for the complete Manifest Demon True Art.
But what was explained on the wall was the complete Manifest Demon True Art itself, which did not contain Tongtian's understanding.
The foundation of the Manifest Demon True Art prioritized the trinity in its training more than anything else.
Since the Heavenly Demon Heart Art meant the heavens, the Heavenly Demon Hand meant man, and the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps meant the earth, it was only by completing this heaven, earth, and man and practicing the martial arts that one could properly train the Manifest Demon True Art.
Tongtian, who had trapped Agong in the Heavenly Demon Cave, where everything about the Manifest Demon True Art was contained, was not by his side, but he was constantly telling Agong.
To erase everything and burn it in the Manifest Demon True Art.
The Manifest Demon True Art was a fire demon that swallowed everything, and in the end, it was to swallow all the martial arts that Agong had learned and to create a bigger flame.
Agong, who had opened his mind and had the ultimate art of the world before his eyes, began to read the incantations and moves of the Manifest Demon True Art from beginning to end in an instant.
Since he was already practicing the Heavenly Demon Hand and had unconsciously learned the incantations of the Manifest Demon True Art through Tongtian, there was no part that was greatly blocked.
Swoosh.
Following the incantations of the Heavenly Demon Hand written on the wall, Agong took the starting posture and slowly began to display the movements of the Heavenly Demon Hand.
When the study deepened, the Heavenly Demon Hand was something that could be displayed not only with bare hands but also with a weapon.
The Heavenly Demon Hand did not require many changes.
It was a one-hit-kill move in itself, a heavy internal fist, and when it reached the ultimate, it was a supreme martial art that displayed a powerful palm and swung a sword steel.
And the movement of such a Heavenly Demon Hand began from the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps.
Thump!
As the starting posture was displayed, the figure of Tongtian stepping on the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps flickered before Agong's eyes.
The movements and incantations of the moves densely drawn on the wall were swaying as if they were alive, becoming the figure of Tongtian, and following him, Agong began to step on the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps for the first time, not the Nine Palaces Divine Steps.
If the Nine Palaces Divine Steps was a footwork that used secrecy and quick agility, the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps was a footwork created to subdue the enemy in front.
With one step, it cornered the enemy, and when the second step was displayed, the enemy had to sense death.
The Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps was both a footwork and also a kicking art.
The Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps that Tongtian had displayed in one go in front of him took a person's life in itself and burned the life around it.
But even if the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps was the martial art of the supreme one and the Heavenly Demon Hand was the number one killing art in the world, in the end, its root was in the Heavenly Demon Heart Art.
A sacred training to become the center of the ten thousand demons and the most sacred flame.
The Manifest Demon True Art was derived from the Heavenly Demon Heart Art.
The Heavenly Demon Hand and the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps were perfect only when there was the Heavenly Demon Heart Art.
In the end, the Heavenly Demon Heart Art was the essence of the Manifest Demon True Art and everything.
As the incantations of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art, which were located in the very center, beyond the incantations of the Heavenly Demon Hand and the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps, came into his eyes, Tongtian was displaying the most perfect Manifest Demon True Art before Agong's eyes.
The pictures engraved on the wall were also displaying the Manifest Demon True Art in unison, and they gradually began to approach Agong.
"Ugh..."
The pictures that had approached Agong's surroundings as if dancing gradually began to sway.
When Agong was about to operate his internal energy according to the incantations of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art in the end, a clear energy arose in Agong's middle dantian and soon began to push away the energy of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art.
After learning the Crouching Frog Art, which trained the middle dantian, the Nine Gates True Scripture had naturally contained its energy in the middle dantian, and that power was rejecting the Heavenly Demon Heart Art.
'Gasp!'
Agong held his breath.
The pictures that were circling around Agong gradually became faster.
The pictures that were rotating at a tremendous speed soon began to change into a single movement.
The Number One Divine Art of the Demonic Path.
Agong felt that learning the Manifest Demon True Art was like an irresistible fate.
In order to display the proper Manifest Demon True Art, he had to circulate the Heavenly Demon Heart Art again.
The Heavenly Demon Cave, or rather, the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, was originally a training room for the Manifest Demon True Art, a place prepared only for the current cult leader.
Since it was designed to help the practice of the Manifest Demon True Art, when one trained the Manifest Demon True Art in the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, it was a mysterious place where the achievement became even higher.
Tongtian had built the Heavenly Demon Cave in the Hermit's Valley for his own training, and when he no longer needed the help of the Heavenly Demon Cave, he had left this place neglected.
But there was one thing that Tongtian had also overlooked, and that was that unlike the Ten Thousand Great Mountains where the Divine Cult was located, this Hermit's Valley was full of a strange energy.
As the place, which was already designed to maximize the achievement of the Manifest Demon True Art, had received the energy of the Hermit's Valley for a long time, it not only had an effect that could not be compared to the original Heavenly Demon Pavilion, but it now had a magical power that even affected the mind and body of the practitioner.
As a hot energy rose from Agong's lower dantian following the Heavenly Demon Heart Art, in response to that, the energy of the Nine Gates True Scripture began to rage.
Agong saw a single blue sword floating alone above his head among the swirling afterimages.
The Taoist Lingbao, before he left, had performed a sword dance and had planted his understanding in Agong's mind.
A single sword that had taken root in Agong's mind.
That was the embodiment of the understanding that the Taoist Lingbao had left behind.
The sword gradually rose to a high place in the air and began to move slowly.
The afterimages that were moving as if competing with each other began to rage around Agong.
Agong's whole body ached.
It felt as if his bones and flesh were being cut and crushed, and the blood and qi in his whole body were boiling like boiling water, turning his insides upside down.
The raging energy in his dantian was not controlled, and his eight extraordinary meridians were screaming.
In order not to die, Agong stopped the operation of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art and began to circulate his energy according to the Nine Gates True Scripture.
For a moment, the pain seemed to ease, and then again, a pain as if his whole body were being pierced by a needle was felt. Agong swallowed a scream and this time began to circulate his energy following the path of the Heavenly Demon Heart Art.
Then, the pain subsided for a while, but this time, a pain that split his head came.
In order to avoid the pain, Agong began to circulate the two divine arts alternately.
Although it was no different from a suicidal act to circulate two heart arts that dealt with the extreme and the extreme at once, both divine arts were the ultimate arts of the supreme, and they also had the power to strengthen and heal the practitioner's body.
Pain and peace came alternately, and Agong, hoping that this time would end quickly, continued to circulate his energy without thinking.
The moisture that had flowed from his whole body soaked the floor.
Agong, in an instant, became like a shriveled mummy, and then his body swelled up greatly as if wind had entered his forehead and dantian, and then soon shriveled up again.
Drip.
As Agong was circulating his energy, a single streak of blood fell from the corner of his mouth, and blood flowed from his five orifices.
The sword and the afterimages that had been shaking Agong's surroundings gradually slowed down, and as they matched each other's movements, they slowed down and merged, and in the end, it became impossible to tell what was a sword and what was an afterimage, and they began to mix together in a jumble.
How could a supreme martial art exist in only one form?
The essence of the Manifest Demon True Art was not just to swallow everything and burn the surroundings.
If the Manifest Demon True Art were to burn the surroundings and become a flame, a new power would sprout even in the ashes.
This was the essence of the return of the four seasons, and it was also the foundation of the Nine Gates Harmonious Heart Art.
Fire is warm and a power that nurtures all things.
The Manifest Demon True Art is not a martial art that only shows a destructive side.
Fundamentally, the Manifest Demon True Art has its roots in a scripture that contains the values of the Divine Cult, so this also had its foundation in guiding the way and benefiting people, like the teachings of Taoism.
All streams return to one.
When one reaches the ultimate, in the end, one reaches one.
The small sword that had been floating around Agong with the afterimages scattered into pieces and began to scatter around, and soon it was sucked into Agong's two nostrils.
Soon, the pictures and incantations that had been circling around Agong also flowed into Agong's mouth, and the two energies began to come out of his five orifices again.
No longer did the Nine Gates Harmonious Heart Art and the Manifest Demon True Art push each other away.
The opposing forces began to rotate around Agong's dantian, interlocking like gears.
The Nine Gates True Scripture meant yin, so it was cold and stable, and the Manifest Demon True Art meant yang, so it was warm and turbulent.
Since they were two forces that had reached the extreme and could not gain the upper hand, paradoxically, they had become a perfect pair to form the taiji.
Agong began to circulate his energy, sucking in and breathing out the energy that was flowing out through his five orifices.
At first, the two energies of blue and red alternately circled around Agong's body, but as they gradually became entangled, a complete purple energy was now faintly rising around Agong's body.
And when Agong opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was a crazy thirst.
Cough, cough!
As he coughed violently, a thick saliva came out of his throat.
Agong, staggering, ran to the waterway and drank the water without thinking.
Cough! Cough!
Agong, who had drunk the water hastily and had coughed, wiped the liquid on the corner of his mouth as if tired.
Although he had no strength in his whole body, strangely, his mind was more clear and sharp than ever before.
"Do you originally have to learn martial arts so hard?"
Although he didn't know who he was talking to, Agong, who had spat out a word with a dying voice, stood up from his seat.
Although there was no one by his side to confirm it, there was clearly an achievement.
Although he didn't know if that achievement was the Nine Gates True Scripture or the Manifest Demon True Art, Agong was sure that he could get out of this terrible place.
'Perhaps...'
Agong lightly swung Tonglin and put it over his shoulder.
Even though he had not circulated his energy in particular, internal energy rose and naturally began to flow through his whole body.
The incantations and moves of the Manifest Demon True Art engraved on the wall were now to the extent that he could display them even with his eyes closed.
"Ah!"
Agong, who had been recalling the beginning and end of the Manifest Demon True Art with his eyes closed, suddenly let out a short sigh.
The sword dance of the Taoist Lingbao, which had been so vivid before his eyes and had been painful, was now blurry and not clearly visible even if he tried to recall it.
"Why on earth..."
The blurry sword dance was not a simple dance.
Agong, just by recalling the blurry sword dance of the Taoist Lingbao, could tell how high a state it was and what a study of a heaven beyond heaven it was. But even this was just a glimpse of a part of the understanding.
Since he had planted such a thing in the unprepared Agong's mind, it was natural that he had suffered so much.
But now that he was ready to understand it a little, the understanding was now fading as if it were blurry, so he could not examine it well.
"Ah, I don't know. I'll just ask him to show me again when we meet again."
Agong, who had scratched his head, hurriedly moved his feet to the entrance of the Heavenly Demon Cave.
Although he didn't know if he had reached the sixth stage of the Manifest Demon True Art, in any case, it was worth a try.
As Agong composed his posture and circulated his energy, a purple energy soon rose from Agong's hand and began to rise on Tonglin like a haze.
Heavenly Demon Hand!
The Heavenly Demon Hand, which was displayed with a footwork that was either the Nine Palaces Divine Steps or the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps, began to knock on the jade gate, leaving a streamlined trajectory.
Bang, bang, bang!
As Agong's Heavenly Demon Hand knocked on the door, the jade wall and the door took on a blue light and then gradually began to be dyed a deep black.
"Taat!"
Since the wall had never changed color like this before, Agong gritted his teeth and displayed the Heavenly Demon Hand with all his might, knocking on the door.
Agong, who had been displaying the Heavenly Demon Hand for about half a moment, looked at the stone door in a daze with a tired expression, his whole body drenched in sweat.
"No way..."
Although his martial arts had clearly improved, the door did not budge.
Agong, who could not believe it, raised his internal energy and tried to push and pull the stone with all his might, but as before, the stone door did not budge.
Thump.
"You..."
Agong, on the spot, struggled, spewing out the most vulgar curse he knew.
The sense of achievement from his martial arts achievement was nowhere to be found, and despair and anger began to cover Agong's heart again.
Creak... Clank!
"Ah, ah!"
As Agong was spewing out curses, the stone door began to make a loud noise in front of him.
Agong, whose two eyes were wide open, blinked his eyes and then turned his head to avoid the dazzling light that was shining from outside.
"I think I heard a vulgar curse somewhere, but it wasn't you, was it?"
Agong, at the familiar voice, trembled and swung Tonglin at the man who had appeared in front of him.
"Are you saying that as a joke!"
(End of Chapter)