The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

Yi-gang froze in place.

Something familiar and something utterly unfamiliar clashed within him.

The voice he heard in his ear was unmistakably Zhang Sanfeng’s, but the content of the words was not something Zhang Sanfeng would ever say.

「Stop rummaging around, dammit—!」

Then came a series of loud crashing noises—bang, bang, boom.

Zhang Sanfeng was a Taoist.

He looked like a hairy brute more suited to the Green Forest Bandits, but still, he was one.

At the very least, his eyes were clear, and his words had always been exceedingly gentle.

Hadn’t he even referred to the Heavenly Demon as “you” in a respectful tone, never once using crude speech?

But now, Zhang Sanfeng was spewing vulgar curses at the Heavenly Demon in real time. As Yi-gang stood there dumbfounded, Dam Hyun prodded his shoulder repeatedly from the side.

“You hear it, right? You’re hearing it too, yeah?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“So what’s he saying? Why do you look so out of it?”

Not just Dam Hyun, but even the lama monks were now curious as to what Yi-gang was hearing from Zhang Sanfeng.

With everyone staring at him, Yi-gang hesitated.

Should he really repeat the vivid stream of curses he was hearing?

Then Yi-gang first decided to protect the reputation of the Taoist Zhang Sanfeng.

“I haven’t… asked him anything yet.”

“What? Then why were you…?”

“Give me a moment. I’ll ask now.”

Yi-gang placed his hand on the Heavenly Demon Plaque and focused his mind.

A ritual pattern was drawn on the altar where the Heavenly Demon Plaque rested, and circuits branched out from it.

On another altar connected through those circuits lay an odd object that didn’t seem to belong in this place.

It was likely a mask the Heavenly Demon had used in his lifetime.

Made of metal, the seemingly ordinary mask was the very one found inside the heart of the Great Desert Yellow Dragon.

Still focused, Yi-gang spoke, “…Sage.”

A voice deep enough to reach Zhang Sanfeng’s soul within the Heavenly Demon Plaque.

“Sage, this is Yi-gang.”

It seemed Yi-gang’s voice had been successfully delivered.

「What the—no way…」

Zhang Sanfeng shouted in what sounded like sheer joy.

「Taoist… Taoist Yi-gang… Gahk!」

And then came the sound of something bursting.

Zhang Sanfeng’s voice could no longer be heard.

Instead, a different man’s voice echoed faintly, one that carried both irritation and relief.

「Hoo… persistent as ever.」

Yi-gang’s throat moved with a hard gulp.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck.

Dam Hyun, who couldn’t hear any of it, grew frustrated and snapped, “Did he answer? What’s he saying?!”

Yi-gang couldn’t bring himself to say that Zhang Sanfeng might have just died because of him.

What on earth was happening inside the Heavenly Demon Plaque?

This was a tale from some time ago.

It was when Zhang Sanfeng had been sealed inside the Heavenly Demon Plaque along with the soul fragment of the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon Plaque was a sacred artifact of the Demon Cult, crafted personally by the Heavenly Demon.

It also contained a fragment of the Heavenly Demon’s soul.

Perhaps because of that, a mental realm existed within the Heavenly Demon Plaque.

And fitting the dignity of the Heavenly Demon’s soul fragment, it was a space so vivid that it was hard to distinguish from reality.

To begin with, there was a sky… and land.

Even just that was already unusual.

Ordinarily, when one entered another’s mental realm, it’s nothing but a void of darkness.

At most, someone with vivid imagination could replicate a familiar room from their memory.

But the Heavenly Demon’s mental realm, true to the name, had manifested an entire world.

“Where… is this place?” Zhang Sanfeng muttered quietly.

Perhaps because this wasn’t the real world, he had been given a physical body.

When he touched his face, it was exactly as it had been in his prime.

His clothing was a Taoist robe from Wudang, and at his waist hung the pine pattern sword he had used in life.

Looking around, he couldn’t see the Heavenly Demon anywhere.

If the mental realm inside the Heavenly Demon Plaque was this vast, then he might be quite far away.

There was no urgent need to rush.

Both the Heavenly Demon and Zhang Sanfeng were nearly incapable of escaping this place on their own.

Nearly incapable—but not entirely. That’s why Zhang Sanfeng had entered this place in the first place…

He began walking, hoping to get a sense of his surroundings.

It was actually rare for a mental realm to be entirely nonexistent or abstract.

This place was clearly the Central Plains.

And for some reason, it felt familiar.

The chill in the air.

The vegetation was gradually thinning out.

“Qinghai Province… or maybe Xinjiang?”

It wasn’t the Xinjiang region where the Demon Cult resided.

But it did seem to be Qinghai, the passageway from the Central Plains to Xinjiang.

“Then that must be the Kunlun Mountains.”

If that majestic range was the Kunlun Mountains, then it all made sense.

Why had Zhang Sanfeng ended up in this place?

There had to be a reason.

And it certainly wasn’t a trap set by the Heavenly Demon.

A mental realm was not something that could be consciously constructed.

This place must have formed as a reflection of the Heavenly Demon’s unconscious mind.

Zhang Sanfeng suddenly turned his head.

His current abilities were nearly equal to his prime in life.

His senses, too, had reached a level beyond the Absolute realm—superhuman.

He picked up the signs of a disturbance happening dozens of li away. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱

Zhang Sanfeng leapt lightly into the air.

Then, as if there were stepping stones in midair, he casually took a step forward and rose even higher.

It was Heaven’s Ladder, the legendary light footwork technique whose name meant ladder to the heavens.

Zhang Sanfeng soared higher than the mountain peaks in an instant.

Then, turning his head in the direction of the detected presence, he bent his thighs.

Sure enough, he kicked off from invisible footholds in midair, propelling himself forward.

Pahng!

This was a heavenly ascent.

Zhang Sanfeng moved through the air faster than a flying hawk.

And at last, he arrived at the source of the commotion.

Landing halfway up a mountain, he looked down below.

Between two peaks was an extremely narrow path—a mountain pass.

And several people were running along it with great urgency.

They wore the clothes of commoners, but something about the middle-aged men gave off an air of nobility. The boy, too, though dressed in worn clothes, clearly came from a noble lineage.

One of the middle-aged men was dragging the boy along by the hand as they ran.

“Huff, hah! You must keep running!”

“I-I can’t run anymore!”

None of them looked particularly fit.

The young boy, still small, seemed to be in pain from his wrist and legs, but he grit his teeth and kept running with tears in his eyes.

“Your Highness, if we continue straight, we’ll reach Xinjiang soon! We can take refuge with the White Lotus for now!”

Watching silently, Zhang Sanfeng quickly reached a conclusion.

That boy was none other than the Heavenly Demon, Zhao Guang, in his youth.

And those running alongside him were likely the civil and military officials who had supported the deposed crown prince.

Even if the situation was dire, this was the Qinghai region, far from Beijing.

And yet they ran as if pursued. Was it because the soldiers’ pursuit hadn’t let up?

Zhang Sanfeng turned his gaze and flinched in surprise.

Those chasing through the mountain pass were not soldiers.

In fact, they weren’t even human. Black, writhing monstrosities were chasing after the group of the deposed crown prince.

Zhang Sanfeng coolly analyzed the situation.

Had he encountered this in life, he would not have stood by idly.

Because he never turned away from the weak in danger.

But he was no fool.

This was not actual reality.

“Crown Prince! Please, take care!”

“N-no!”

Neither the fleeing Zhao Guang nor the loyal officials throwing their lives down for him were real.

Nor were the black monsters chasing behind them.

They were fears that remained in Zhao Guang’s unconscious mind.

Naturally, the officials swinging their swords at the monsters couldn’t do a thing to stop them.

The monster that had devoured the officials grew even larger.

Soon, rendering their sacrifice meaningless, it swallowed Zhao Guang and those beside him in an instant.

“Uwaaahhh!”

Zhang Sanfeng frowned at the boy’s dying scream.

It was not a scene one could enjoy watching.

If anything, it was a relief.

The black monster that had consumed Zhao Guang’s group soon scattered like mist.

That alone was proof enough that this wasn’t reality.

In actual history, Zhao Guang had shaken off his pursuers and eventually reached the domain of the White Lotus.

“…So he carried this kind of fear.”

Despite his current inhuman nature, scars like these remained in the Heavenly Demon’s unconscious.

Then came a low voice echoing through the air.

“You’ve got a nasty hobby. Peeking into someone’s past like that.”

By instinct, Zhang Sanfeng unleashed a flawless strike in the direction of the voice.

Every tree in the path of his sword was cleanly sliced and came crashing down.

It was a sword wind of unbelievable force.

But the one who spoke, the Heavenly Demon, was nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Sanfeng paid the price for his mistake.

Kwahhh!

The ground where he had been sitting collapsed in an instant.

Massive boulders flew through the air, and a landslide shook the mountain.

Dust rose high into the sky, and thousands of birds resting in the mountain range took flight in panic.

When the cloud of dust finally cleared, Zhang Sanfeng’s figure was revealed.

“Huff.”

Letting out a rough breath, Zhang Sanfeng’s right arm had been crushed by intense pressure, completely gone.

In its place, the pine patterned sword he had been holding floated in midair, suspended by the Qi Sword Control Technique.

“Zhao Guang!”

“Zhang Junbao.”

Opposite him stood the Heavenly Demon.

Just like Zhang Sanfeng, he appeared in his prime.

Wearing the lavish robes of a cult leader, the Heavenly Demon looked about the same age as Zhang Sanfeng.

“Tsk, I was aiming to crush your head.”

The Heavenly Demon muttered regretfully as he lightly stomped his foot.

And once more, the same phenomenon occurred.

The ground collapsed, and the terrain shifted.

The Heavenly Demon was born in a human body, yet became powerful enough to strike fear into the heavens.

In other words, his level had grown so immense that he inevitably came under the constraints of causality.

However, this place was not reality.

Thus, the Heavenly Demon could unleash the full extent of his power.

With a single step, the earth split open.

With a wave of his hand, mountain peaks bent.

“Not a chance!”

But Zhang Sanfeng, too, was free from the bounds of causality here.

A sword flew out from the dust cloud, shining with radiant light.

Kaang!

Even the Heavenly Demon’s body was wounded.

Yet the Heavenly Demon did not falter and charged through the rising dirt.

With a ferocious gesture, he whipped up a storm that blew the mounds of earth away.

And there, charging toward the Heavenly Demon, was Zhang Sanfeng.

Then, a clash.

Jjeooeong!

The shockwave knocked down all the trees around them at once.

This was the true battle of transcendent beings.

Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon fiercely clashed.

The two truly lived up to their titles as old nemeses, displaying an incredible battle.

No words were wasted.

A duel of overwhelming level, unseen in the present world.

But unfortunately, the start had been far from ideal.

The one caught by surprise at the beginning was Zhang Sanfeng.

Critically, he began the fight with his right arm already lost.

With every exchanged move, Zhang Sanfeng became slightly more disadvantaged.

At the point they had traded over a hundred blows—

The Heavenly Demon’s right hand finally pierced through Zhang Sanfeng’s chest.

“So, this is your limit?”

“Hah… arrogant bastard.”

The Heavenly Demon’s merciless face, and his left hand flying in—

That was the last thing Zhang Sanfeng saw.

He died hearing the sound of his own skull shattering.

And then, moments later, he opened his eyes.

His body was perfectly fine, as if he had never died. Even his crushed right arm and broken sword had returned.

He was on a different mountain peak now.

Some time must have passed—the sky was now bathed in sunset.

And in the direction of the setting sun stood a half-collapsed mountain peak.

It was the very place where he had fought the Heavenly Demon.

And the Heavenly Demon was still there.

Unlike Zhang Sanfeng, his clothes were torn, and his expression looked weary.

Across the great distance between them, their eyes met.

Zhang Sanfeng somehow felt that the Heavenly Demon smirked faintly.

As if he had been waiting, the Heavenly Demon charged toward Zhang Sanfeng.

Zhang Sanfeng likewise soared up to meet him head-on.

His sword gleamed as it shot forward with radiant light.

And thus began another duel.

This time, it was Zhang Sanfeng’s victory.

One win, one loss.

The dead Heavenly Demon came back to life again.

And Zhang Sanfeng realized anew that in this place, even death would not be the end.

From then on, it was battle, and more battle.

Few words were exchanged.

At last, it was around the time their decisive battle had passed three hundred rounds.

「…Sage.」

From the sky, Yi-gang’s voice could be heard.