Chapter 120: Chapter 120
“How do you know that title…!”
As the residual thought spoke in surprise.
‘It really is the Flying Demon.’
Cheon-hwi could be certain.
If it wasn’t the Flying Demon, he wouldn’t have reacted to those words.
“It’s been a long time.”
Cheon-hwi smiled in gladness.
The identity of the one who had left behind a residual thought even by deploying the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Furnace was his past confidant, the Flying Demon.
“I didn’t expect to see you like this.”
“Do you know me?”
“What? You still don’t know?”
Cheon-hwi’s pure white teeth were revealed.
At the same time, an unapproachable presence emanated from him.
“T-this is!”
The Flying Demon’s pupils shook.
This intense presence.
And that arrogant smile and attitude of naturally looking down on others belonged to the person he had frequently seen during his lifetime.
“I-it can’t be!”
The startled Flying Demon knelt down without delay and slammed his forehead onto the floor.
“Ah. Oh Supreme One!”
“It’s been a long time.”
“I-I’m sorry. My eyes were blind, so I could not recognize the Supreme One.”
“That could happen.”
“Thank you for understanding with a heart as broad as the ocean.”
A smile formed around Cheon-hwi’s mouth.
Seeing the Flying Demon gave him the illusion that he had returned to his past life.
“But you’ve aged quite a lot.”
Cheon-hwi met the gaze of the Flying Demon as he raised his head.
He was once a handsome middle-aged man who shook the hearts of many women…
His current appearance was completely different from before.
His once abundant hair had mostly fallen out, and his face was full of wrinkles.
To the point where he couldn’t recognize him as the Flying Demon at all when he first saw him.
“There is no one strong in the face of time.”
He smiled a wrinkled smile.
“However, it seems the Supreme One has overcome that time… Have you perhaps achieved the legendary Rejuvenation?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then that appearance is…”
“Do you know the Eternal Immortality Reigning Great Art?”
The Flying Demon nodded.
The Eternal Immortality Reigning Great Art was the name of the great art that Cheon-hwi always talked about back in the day.
Not only that.
In the past, didn’t he secretly make him run errands without the Heavenly Demon Cult knowing?
“Didn’t the Supreme One tell me to bring the Ten Thousand Year Ice Crystal in the past in order to deploy that great art?”
“Ah, I did.”
Cheon-hwi recalled the matter he had forgotten for a moment, then spat out the words he couldn’t say earlier.
“Anyway, I deployed it and ended up in this body.”
“Pardon…?”
Seeing the Flying Demon who didn’t seem to understand what he meant, Cheon-hwi shrugged.
“I transferred my soul and went into a different body…”
Cheon-hwi stopped speaking midway.
When he actually tried to explain it in words, it was complicated.
‘And it’s annoying.’
In the end, Cheon-hwi gave up on trying to explain and spoke simply.
“Just think of it as being similar to reincarnation.”
“R-reincarnation, you say?”
The Flying Demon found it difficult to hide his bewilderment.
When it comes to reincarnation, one is bound to be born after losing their memories.
But to have the exact same appearance as before.
However, he soon accepted it.
Who was he?
He was the Greatest Demon of All Time and the Greatest Person of All Time, the Absolute Heavenly Demon, for whom nothing in the world was impossible.
“If it is the Supreme One, it would surely be a possible feat.”
Then he opened his eyes wide.
“But to say that it happened after deploying the Eternal Immortality Reigning Great Art, could it be that the reason the Supreme One left the Heavenly Demon Cult was…”
“What you’re thinking is correct.”
The Flying Demon lost his words.
There was even a fierce rivalry within the Heavenly Demon Cult over the reason why the Supreme One suddenly left.
To think it was just to execute a great art.
“T-then where has the Supreme One been all this time?”
“Me? I was in the Tianshan Mountains.”
The Flying Demon burst with bewilderment.
“But even though we searched everywhere, you weren’t in the Tianshan Mountains…”
“Do you think you could find me if I made up my mind to hide?”
The Flying Demon was rendered speechless.
As he said, if Cheon-hwi made up his mind, who in the world could find him?
Cheon-hwi smirked and asked.
“More importantly, the Shadowless Divine Thief is you, the Flying Demon, right?”
The Flying Demon regained his senses and answered.
“That is correct.”
Cheon-hwi stroked his chin.
The rumor that the Shadowless Divine Thief stole items from the Nine Great Sects and One Gang and the Imperial Family made sense.
With the Flying Demon’s lightfoot technique, he would be able to toy with them to his heart’s content.
However, what was a bit unexpected was.
“You managed to not get caught as the Flying Demon.”
The Flying Demon was a great demonic head who had a history of laying waste to the Central Plains in the past.
Yet, it was strange that his identity hadn’t been revealed even though the Flying Demon had been active in the Central Plains for a long time.
“I used mainly lightfoot techniques instead of martial arts known in the Central Plains as much as possible.”
“What mission was it for you to do that?”
“It was not a mission.”
“Then why did you come to the Central Plains?”
“It was to find the Supreme One.”
Cheon-hwi was slightly taken aback.
“Me?”
“I couldn’t find you in Tianshan and the Outer Realms, so I thought you might be in the Central Plains…”
The Flying Demon swallowed his words and smiled bitterly.
The Supreme One he had searched so hard for was right in Tianshan, so it had been a futile effort.
“You should have just stayed in the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
“The reason I, who was the Sect Leader of the Flying Dragon Sect, joined the Heavenly Demon Cult even by abandoning my sect was solely to serve the Supreme One.”
The Flying Demon’s eyes sharpened.
“Would there be a reason for me to stay in a Heavenly Demon Cult where the Supreme One is not present?”
“The Demonic Brain wouldn’t have stayed still.”
“…”
The Flying Demon closed his mouth tightly.
That was answer enough.
‘He ran away secretly.’
Cheon-hwi didn’t ask further about it.
Instead, he asked something else.
“Why did you deploy the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Furnace?”
“I was at death’s door.”
“So you deployed it?”
Cheon-hwi’s eyebrows shot up.
“Have you lost your mind? I told you not to do it.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“I warned you so earnestly to never deploy it even right before you die because activating the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Furnace would free you from the cycle of reincarnation, so what kind of stunt is this?”
“I am sorry.”
The Flying Demon said while performing a full bow.
“But I wanted to meet the Supreme One again even if it meant doing this.”
“What were you going to do if I didn’t come?”
“But haven’t you come like this?”
“It’s a coincidence.”
“In the past, the Supreme One said that coincidence is no different from destiny.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“It was when I first met the Supreme One.”
“Did I.”
“You did.”
At the Flying Demon’s rebuttal that made him lose his words, Cheon-hwi smacked his lips.
“You used to not be able to say a single word, but you’ve changed?”
“I apologize.”
“Your face has gotten thicker too.”
Cheon-hwi scratched the back of his head at the Flying Demon’s attitude and tone that was slightly different from before.
“Well, whatever. It’s not like you can undo what you’ve already committed on such a grand scale.”
Cheon-hwi stiffened his face and said.
“Raise your head.”
The Flying Demon slowly raised his head.
They met each other’s eyes for a moment.
“Will you be okay?”
Cheon-hwi asked quietly.
“What are you referring to…”
“You will perish now. Aren’t you afraid?”
“I am fine. No, I am actually happy. In exchange for offering my soul, didn’t I reunite with the Supreme One like this again?”
The Flying Demon wore a smile.
It was a bright smile that he hadn’t even seen in his past life.
“Besides, I am now able to deliver the items I have gathered to give to the Supreme One, so what greater occasion could there be?”
Cheon-hwi let out a chuckle.
“You still have a screw loose in your head.”
It was a remark close to criticism, but the Flying Demon opened his mouth with a pleased expression.
“How could a person change so easily?”
“That’s true. Even though my body has changed, my essence hasn’t.”
Cheon-hwi smirked.
Then he opened his mouth, recalling the words he had heard earlier.
“More importantly, what items did you gather?”
“A few martial arts manuals and a sword I managed to acquire with difficulty from the Outer Realms. You will especially like the manuals, Supreme One.”
Cheon-hwi’s eyes sparkled.
As expected of his subordinate, he wasn’t one for nothing and knew exactly what he wanted.
“As expected of the Flying Demon. You know me well.”
“Where would the years I spent serving the Supreme One go?”
It certainly wasn’t an ordinary amount of time.
He had attended to him for well over twenty years in terms of sheer number of years.
“Then what about the things in the secret cave outside?”
“They are bait.”
The Flying Demon’s eyes half-closed.
“As my reputation grew too large, the number of those targeting me increased. So I prepared separate items to deceive them.”
“That’s a method the Demonic Brain used often.”
Cheon-hwi grinned.
“You intentionally wrote the treasure map in secret code too, right?”
“I thought that if I wrote it in a secret code, the Supreme One might show interest if you happened to find it…”
The Flying Demon’s eyes narrowed.
“And even if the treasure map fell into the hands of others, they wouldn’t have been able to figure out the proper location unless they were the backbone of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
Cheon-hwi nodded.
The biggest reason he had shown interest in the Shadowless Divine Thief was none other than the secret code.
“You used your head quite a bit.”
“Thank you.”
“Then you must have prepared several treasure maps.”
“I prepared a total of five.”
“Five, you say…”
Now it made sense why the secret cave had been looted.
‘In that case, it’s highly likely that the one who visited this secret cave first was a believer of the Heavenly Demon Cult.’
At that moment, the Flying Demon suddenly contorted his face and slowly stood up.
“I wish to converse more with the Supreme One, but the world won’t leave me alone.”
Cheon-hwi stared intently at the Flying Demon who matched his eye level.
A residual thought could not last forever.
Because that was providence and the law.
“To be able to see the Supreme One again even like this…”
At that moment, the Flying Demon’s body gradually became transparent before turning into light and disappearing.
At the same time.
Hwaaak!
Color was applied to the surroundings.
Red, blue, and yellow.
For a moment, the colors gradually seeped in as if painting a picture.
Eventually, a single room appeared.
“…”
The Flying Demon disappeared without being able to finish his sentence, but the lingering impression he left behind moved Cheon-hwi’s heart.
The Flying Demon had changed a lot.
From a handsome middle-aged man to an old man.
How could those years be short?
It must have been at least several decades.
And he must have rushed about trying to find him during those long years of endurance.
However, the result was a failure.
Yet, he even deployed the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Furnace, waited for him, and met him.
In the end, they were reunited across three hundred years, but he disappeared.
Both his soul and his residual thought.
Nothing was left behind.
His earnest desire was fulfilled, but it was no different from not being fulfilled.
However.
‘Is it fine since the Flying Demon was satisfied?’
Cheon-hwi closed his eyes and opened them.
“I was glad to meet you too.”
Cheon-hwi, who was whispering, collected his emotions and looked around.
The extravagant room, completely different from the secret cave, was so neat that it was hard to believe it had been neglected for a long time.
‘Is it those?’
Six wooden boxes present in the front.
The wooden boxes, which looked extraordinary at a glance, were boasting their presence.
However, Cheon-hwi pretended not to see them and quickly turned his gaze elsewhere.
Since the moment he entered the room, there was something constantly exuding a familiar energy.
Cheon-hwi walked to the center of the room.
A single sword thrust into the center of the table.
It wasn’t an ordinary sword just by looking at it.
No matter how you looked at it, it was clearly something that surpassed a famous sword at the very least, because eerie demonic energy flowed out from the blade.
Cheon-hwi reached out his hand and grabbed the sword.
“A sword harboring demonic energy is rare.”
While he was looking at the blade for a long time.
Uwoong!
Suddenly, the sword began to cry.
At the same time, thick demonic energy flowed out and wrapped around the hand holding the hilt.
‘Is this guy crazy?’
Cheon-hwi’s expression distorted.
Not satisfied with just wrapping around his body, the demonic energy was full of intent to completely dominate Cheon-hwi.
The gaze looking at the blade turned cold.
There was no insubordination like this insubordination.
To think that a mere sword harboring demonic energy was trying to usurp his body, the Supreme One of the Demonic Path!
“You dare attack me?”
Cheon-hwi’s eyes flashed.
At the same time, an intense energy started to flow out from his entire body.
That energy was the Absolute Reigning Art, the peerless demonic art that made him the Heavenly Demon.
Uuwoong…
Then, as if the sword that was madly exuding demonic energy felt that something was going terribly wrong now, it shook its blade.
‘It’s too late.’
But Cheon-hwi was faster than that.
As the energy of the Absolute Reigning Art was not satisfied with just returning the demonic energy but tried to suppress it, the sword trembled violently.
… Kkiiiiiik!
An unpleasant noise erupted.
It was a desperate howl that sounded like a scream.
Just as the Absolute Reigning Art encroached on the soul of the sword with an ego and tried to destroy it.
Thud.
The sword, which had been trembling for a long time, swallowed its demonic energy and fell silent.
It had eventually yielded.
‘It should have done so earlier.’
Cheon-hwi looked at the quieted demonic sword with a satisfied gaze and brought it up to his eyes.
A smooth blade whose sharpness could be felt just by looking at it.
Along with that, a terrible demonic energy faintly flowed out from the blade.
The appearance of a divine sword whose value would be coveted by anyone who learned a demonic art.
‘I do like it, but…’
However, for that reason, it was inappropriate for the current Cheon-hwi to carry it around.
It might be different if it were his past life, but wasn’t he currently a Taoist of the Mount Hua Sect?
“Can’t be helped. I’ll just abandon it…”
The moment he was about to let go of the sword.
Click-
The table opened, and a scabbard appeared.
Cheon-hwi let out a laugh as he looked at the pitch-black scabbard that looked unusual even at a glance.
“You mean for me to put it in here?”
Cheon-hwi sheathed the sword in the scabbard.
At that moment, the demonic energy that had been constantly flowing out in all directions completely disappeared as if washed away.
Not only that, even the loud crying of the sword died down.
“As expected of the Flying Demon.”
A smile formed around his mouth.
In fact, the disappearance of the demonic energy was probably not what the Flying Demon intended.
What the Flying Demon intended was likely to end the loud ringing, but as a result, it even erased the demonic energy.
Cheon-hwi strapped the demonic sword to his side.
“Then what’s left now…”
Only then did he look at the wooden boxes.
Unlike the five wooden boxes in the back, a roughly made wooden box was placed at the very front.
“I suppose this means to look at this first.”
He approached the wooden box placed at the very front.
Looking at the thick layer of dust piled on top of the wooden box, Cheon-hwi slowly opened it.
The moment he saw inside the wooden box that was revealed with a click, his eyes narrowed.
“Huh? This is it?”
His inflated expectations quickly cooled down.
There was only a single book inside the wooden box.
Looking inside the wooden box with a disappointed face, Cheon-hwi shook his head.
‘Ah, come on. It’s the Flying Demon after all. This might be a peerless divine art.’
Holding onto a little bit of remaining expectation, he slowly read the title of the book.
“Jianghu Martial Arts Rankings?”
Enjoyed the chapter?
If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!
Support on Ko-fi