Chapter 262: I'll Handle It Myself
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Eun Yi-bi, who had also shifted her gaze, spoke in a whisper-like low voice.
“As expected, they seem to be coming after hearing the sound. I don’t know the exact number yet.”
“Around fifty.”
At Gun Mu-ak’s brief reply, Eun Yi-bi bowed her head.
“Indeed, you are remarkable.”
Soon Gun Mu-ak’s gaze traveled to an even more distant mountain peak.
The highest peak – Zhongnan Sect, which couldn’t even be seen from here.
“So, they even drew in the Taishan and Beidou of the Orthodox Faction?”
The Taishan and Beidou of the Orthodox Faction referred to Shaolin Temple.
“Yes. I climbed another peak and observed the interior. The golden light of Buddhist energy at the pinnacle of sacredness. I presume it was Won-gong. Though the distance was far… However, Shaolin Temple was not among the personnel constructing the encirclement.”
“So he came alone?”
“Yes, the Sect Leader of the Beggar Sect, with whom he shares a close relationship with, must have summoned him. With his participation, Aryun-nan would have struggled as well. In truth, he is an ultra-master who could be said to embody fifty percent of Shaolin Temple’s total strength…”
“No, there is yet another variable.”
“Pardon?”
“The new White Peak Sword Sect Leader.”
“…”
“You’re underestimating him.”
“Ah… it’s not that. But for Cheol Ryu-heun to defeat Aryun-nan in a one-on-one match…”
“You think it would be difficult without help from others?”
“I believe only Won-gong would be capable of a direct confrontation with power. No matter how much of a genius Cheol Ryu-heun may be, it would be difficult for him to surpass Shaolin Temple’s pillar. That is my honest opinion.”
At that, Gun Mu-ak withdrew his gaze with a mysterious expression.
“We’ll find out by watching.”
At that moment, Ya Baek-ji spoke while drawing up her internal power:
“Then I shall finish the rest, Grand Prelate.”
She meant it was now Yeom Sang-ah’s turn.
“Leave her. I’ll do it.”
“Pardon?”
“This is clearly their territory, is it not? So I must make my intentions clear to them. To prevent troublesome matters from occurring.”
“Aha, yes. I understand what you mean.”
Ya Baek-ji quickly grasped his meaning and quietly stood behind him.
Immediately after, Gun Mu-ak’s cold gaze turned toward Yeom Sang-ah’s fair face.
“There is no such thing as an opportunity worth coveting. An opportunity is merely an opportunity. Whether one capitalizes on it or not depends solely on one’s own strength and will.”
“…”
Yeom Sang-ah, collapsed on the ground, flinched.
“But your strength and will failed to make the word ‘opportunity’ meaningful and reached their end. In other words, you never had any opportunity from the start.”
Yeom Sang-ah felt those words strike her like daggers.
A stinging sensation in her chest.
What he said essentially meant that the result was caused by her own inadequacy, so there was nothing to feel wronged about.
Even if she died miserably here.
When Yeom Sang-ah met that gaze, she shuddered once more.
It was a fear that made her bones chill.
Her head told her to hurry and flee, but her body kept refusing.
It had been like that all along.
Ever since she first met that gaze…
Of course, her internal injuries had worsened now and she was out of energy anyway.
There was nothing she could do.
Except despair.
She could only wait for death along with the fear weighing on her heart.
Was this what it felt like to become a living corpse?
Her situation, having fallen to being the weakest existence here, was quite pitiful.
She couldn’t even handle the Demon Heaven Left and Right Attendants with her own strength.
Ya Baek-ji alone was a formidable enemy she couldn’t defeat.
Delusional Seductive Demoness.
A formidable demoness who uses deadly illusion-type demonic arts that stimulate desires to guide targets to the netherworld.
Earlier, Ya Baek-ji had called the art she executed Warring Horse Demon Dance.
She knew the origin of that power.
Pleasure Demon Flower.
She was an existence recorded as a legend of the demonic martial world a thousand years ago, who caused great disturbance as a subordinate of the Heavenly Demon.
Also, along with Sun Moon Great Demon who created the Sun Moon Great Demonic Heaven Art that formed the foundation of Sun Moon Demon Arrival Technique, she was one of the First-Generation Twin Dharma Protectors of the Heavenly Demon Cult at that time.
She had intuitively understood through the Third Apostle’s recent demise.
That Ya Baek-ji had currently mastered at the extreme level the Lascivious Dance Bewitching Demon Art, the authentic transmission of the First Dharma Protector Pleasure Demon Flower.
If that weren’t the case, there was no way the Third Apostle’s upper dantian and his exceptional mental power could have crumbled so easily.
At that moment.
Gun Mu-ak’s pupils transformed.
CHYUCHYUK.
The whites of his eyes vanished in an instant.
His two eyes had changed as if entirely dyed in ink.
Yeom Sang-ah, seeing that, shuddered with a pale complexion.
It was chilling.
An inhuman appearance.
Suddenly.
FLOATING.
The terrified Yeom Sang-ah’s form rapidly rose one zhang into the air.
“KKEUKEUK…!”
Drawn by a force invisible to the eye.
A struggling motion.
Her face, quickly flushing red, represented her agony.
Indeed, it was difficult to breathe.
That wasn’t all.
From the moment she saw those dark eyes, the energy channels and pressure points throughout her body lost order and wildly convulsed.
Her internal injuries were rapidly worsening.
Her wildly pounding heart seemed about to explode.
WALKAK!
Yeom Sang-ah, who had been writhing, finally coughed blood.
Her pretty lips were stained with blood.
Her chin below, her neck, her chest were all dyed red.
An irresistible force continuously constricted her throat.
‘I don’t want to die, I want to live!’
The desire for survival boiled up.
The intense pain stimulated that instinct.
This was the first time experiencing something like this.
What kind of ability could this possibly be?
She had seen earlier the amazing power that deployed Telekinesis and Samadhi True Fire simultaneously with just eye movement.
But this was of a different nature.
This felt as if part of Gun Mu-ak’s soul had infiltrated her upper dantian to control and manipulate her body.
Some kind of spiritual eye technique?
Suddenly, the name of one demonic martial art flashed through her mind.
‘HEUUUK… C-could it be… Black Sky Demon Eyes…?’
The eye technique of destruction that only five out of all the Grand Prelates in the Heavenly Demon Cult’s history had ever executed.
That’s right.
Most likely, it was the Black Sky Demon Eyes.
That implied one thing.
The fact that Gun Mu-ak had mastered the essence of an Ultra-High Vacuum Configuration technique, the ultimate stage of Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
It was crystal clear.
History proved it.
Because all five Grand Prelates who had executed the Black Sky Demon Eyes in the past were recorded as Absolute Beings who had mastered the essence of Ultra-High Vacuum Configuration Techniques in their respective eras…
Before she knew it, Yeom Sang-ah’s lower garments had become wet.
It wasn’t blood.
Urination.
It was a natural response.
Setting aside the physical pain, the fear in her chest had been maximized.
Gun Mu-ak, eyes flashing darkly, let out a soft voice:
“Long ago, the great Demon God said… A true demon shall despair but not submit, shall rage but not fear, shall suffer but never give up.”
“KKEU… KKEUKEUK…”
“But look at yourself. Don’t you present a disgraceful sight that fits none of those?”
“KKEUK… S-save… me…”
“You’re even begging.”
“Please…”
“How unseemly.”
“KKEU…”
“You are disqualified as a demon practitioner.”
At that moment, a series of wind sounds came from the front.
PAPAPAPAT, PAMPAPAPAT-
A group that had emerged through the dense bushes moved as if flying and landed not far away.
CHEOCHEOCHEK, CHEOCHECHECHEK, CHECHEK…
It was the appearance of the pursuit party including Ximen Yue, Seol Hu-yong, and Woon Ja-heon.
Immediately after, everyone wore surprised expressions at the unexpected scene.
‘NO…!’
The mysterious figure who was subduing Yeom Sang-ah.
One person immediately let out a cry raised with wariness.
“Wait! Who are you!”
It was Ham Chong, the StarFire Sword Master, Sect Leader of the Falling Star Sword Sect, positioned in the front row.
However, Gun Mu-ak’s gaze remained fixed on Yeom Sang-ah.
“Welcome.”
He merely greeted them with such brief words.
Simultaneously, Yeom Sang-ah’s vision turned to darkness.
HWAAAK-
Endless darkness flooded her two eyes.
She couldn’t see anyone.
Only she could see it.
She finally understood.
That this was the deep shadow of death.
The moment Gun Mu-ak’s two eyes regained their original light.
“AAAK!”
Yeom Sang-ah’s body, having screamed, burst.
PPUDEUDEUK, PPUDUDEUDEUK… CHYUHAAK, CHYUHAAAK, CHYUHAK…!
Chilling sounds beating against the eardrums.
Thus Yeom Sang-ah, her entire body torn and shattered, scattered flesh and fresh blood and departed this world.
Silence descended upon the space.
SEUK.
Only then did Gun Mu-ak’s gaze shift forward.
Ximen Yue, seeing that gaze, immediately raised his Wind Blowing Sword before his chest.
The others were the same.
They all assumed drawing stances with tense expressions in unison.
It was because of a pressure difficult to describe in words.
Anyway, one thing was clear.
That the opponent was not of a caliber to be beneath anyone…
Gun Mu-ak, quietly clasping his hands behind his back, opened his mouth again.
“I am Gun Mu-ak, the Grand Prelate of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
His low voice felt as if it shook the entire forest.
Astounding.
Not just his aura, but even his status.
The person who had just annihilated Yeom Sang-ah was surely the head of the contemporary Heavenly Demon Cult, the Grand Prelate…
Tension rapidly intensified.
Woon Ja-heon, the Kunlun Divine Palace Master, was inwardly impressed.
‘Huh! What a formidable presence. At such a young age…’
While thinking so, he glanced at Ximen Yue’s face beside him.
‘Astounding. The Celestial Wind Sword Youth feels small in comparison.’
Their ages appeared similar, so he had naturally compared them.
In truth, the intangible aura that Ximen Yue emitted was outstanding, befitting a rare sword talent.
It was truly the force of Sword-Body Unity.
Literally.
It was the bearing of one who had realized the ultimate principle of the sword path.
It was a talent that transcended the gap of experience.
Just from holding a sword, the flow of the surrounding atmosphere seemed to sink heavily.
But Gun Mu-ak, presumed to be of the same age, was of a different dimension.
A genius?
He wasn’t at that level.
Didn’t he make one feel the majesty of subjugating all under heaven with a single word?
Even with hands clasped behind his back at that.
Ximen Yue himself was also keenly feeling it.
GULP.
He swallowed dry saliva and muttered internally.
‘It’s the majesty of an absolute Being!’
He too had compared the opponent with the powerhouses of his own camp.
There were none.
Anyone who surpassed Gun Mu-ak.
Not even Seol Hu-yong of the Five Supreme Martial Experts of Hunan Province, nor even Woon ja-heon the Kunlun Sword Crane…
Soon.
CHEOK.
Gun Mu-ak took one step forward.
In an instant.
-KUKUNG!
At that hallucinatory thunderous sound, Ximen Yue and the entire party all flinched simultaneously.
It was shocking.
He had merely slightly moved his foot, yet it felt as if the world shook and rang out loudly.
“Calm yourselves. I did not come to fight.”
A low and calm voice.
At that moment, the party saw.
A vision following the auditory hallucination.
Dense darkness was rapidly descending.
Both sky and earth seemed submerged in the emptiness of darkness.
It was an illusion created by his presence.
With the bright sun conspicuously hanging in the sky, endless darkness was wildly wrapping around their bodies.
The mood swirling in their chests was exactly like that.
Was this the descent of a demon god who ruled the Infinite Abyss?
However.
Little-Face Bell Demoness Eun Yi-bi and Delusional Seductive Demoness Ya Baek-ji, who had been standing side by side in the rear, revealed startled expressions.
Why.
The party who noticed that had questioning looks.
Gun Mu-ak spoke again.
“Tempting.”
What did that mean?
Tempting?
The direction of his gaze was ambiguous.
They couldn’t tell whom he was looking at.
Suddenly, an indifferent voice flowed from behind the party.
“Don’t covet in vain. It’s something you could never have even if you died and came back to life.”
The startled party immediately turned around.
The owner of the indifferent voice who had appeared at the very rear before they knew it.
It was Cheol Ryu-heun, who had come riding Divine Wind.
Upon discovering him, the party’s expressions instantly brightened.
‘Ah…!’
Each of them trembled from great shivers.
The darkness that had been terrifyingly pressing down from above their heads and below their feet seemed to lift at once and recede.
Precisely because of Cheol Ryu-heun’s presence.
He was brilliant light.
Something that no matter how dense the darkness, could never approach…
Also, everyone belatedly realized.
Why those two women over there had been startled earlier.
The reason was Cheol Ryu-heun, who had suddenly appeared without even a faint hint of presence.
A smile spread on Ximen Yue’s lips.
‘Hoot. As expected of Sect Leader Cheol…’
The tension that had been expanding rapidly subsided the moment he saw him.
Before they knew it, Cheol Ryu-heun, who had stepped onto the ground, walked forward and made a hand gesture.
It meant he would handle it, so they should put away their swords.
At that, Ximen Yue, Seol Hu-yong, and everyone else sheathed their weapons.
That was no different than proof of their absolute trust in Cheol Ryu-heun.
CHEOK.
Soon, Cheol Ryu-heun, having come to stand at the very front, asked expressionlessly:
“If you didn’t come to fight, did you just come to get beaten up?”