chapter 319

When the Sky Changes, the World Changes as Well (1)

The Divine Demon Temple was located in the deepest part of the Celestial Demon Troupe.

It was the most heavily guarded area within the Celestial Demon Troupe, primarily because its master was Jin Gwang-hon, the supreme ruler of the Celestial Demon Troupe.

Among the numerous martial artists in the Troupe, only a handful had the authority to enter this place.

The only person who could enter the Divine Demon Temple without specific permission was Jin Gwang-hon’s disciple, Go Geom Wol.

He alone could come and go freely, unhindered by anyone.

Gu Mun-hye and the Moon Shadow Six Fairies could not follow him and stopped outside the Divine Demon Temple.

Leaving them behind, Go Geom Wol opened the door to the Temple.

When he opened the door, he saw an elderly man sitting on the throne.

He looked to be in his mid-fifties, with docile eyes, a plain appearance, and a friendly smile. Nothing about him seemed extraordinary. However, no one in the Celestial Demon Troupe considered him ordinary.

Jin Gwang-hon was known as the most powerful man after the first leader of the troupe, Geom Yul-cheon.

He had mastered the exclusive Thunderstream Flow, a technique only the leader could learn, reaching the realm of the Thunder supreme-ruler Therefore, instead of his nickname “Solitary Demon,” he was also called by the nickname”Thunder supreme-ruler” within the Troupe.

When Go Geom Wol abruptly entered, Jin Gwang-hon lifted his head to look at him.
Go Geom Wol bowed his head in greeting.

“Disciple Go Geom Wol greets the master.”

“Did you just come out of your seclusion training?”

“Yes, just now.”

“You must be tired from your training. Did you come straight here?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Do I need a reason to see my master?”

“Hmm!”

Jin Gwang-hon slightly frowned.

His eyes emitted a terrifyingly sharp gleam.

Even the leaders of the Celestial Demon Troupe could not bear to look directly into his eyes. However, Go Geom Wol faced his eyes calmly.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

“It’s all thanks to you, master.”

“You were a disciple who hardly needed my care, so I always felt regret. There was little chance to show you my affection.”

My apologies.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s because you were so gifted.”

Jin Gwang-hon’s smile carried a note of bitterness.

Go Geom Wol quietly watched him. Although more than twenty years had passed since they had become master and disciple, they had rarely conversed in private.

Their bond was not very deep.

Jin Gwang-hon’s gaze then shifted to the sword at Go Geom Wol’s waist.

“That’s a fine sword. Did Gu Ya-jamake it for you?”

“Yes.”

“Gu Ya-ja has outdone himself this time. May I take a look?”

“Of course.”

Go Geom Wol easily unfastened the sword from his waist and handed it to Jin Gwang-hon, who drew the blade and examined it closely.

“Well-made indeed. This could certainly be considered Gu Ya-ja’s masterpiece.”

He flicked the blade with his finger.

Ding!

A clear metallic ring reverberated through the air.

Strength, balance, and sharpness were in perfect harmony.

Gu Ya-ja had poured his heart and soul into making this sword. Its appearance was extraordinary; the blade flowed smoothly, and its black scabbard of dragon skin gave it a powerful presence.

By melting down the finest metals with his family’s secret techniques, he had created a blade so solid and keen that words could hardly describe it.

It was more than just a masterpiece—it was practically a supreme weapon.

Go Geom Wol had named this sword the Heaven’s Blade.

After a thorough look, Jin Gwang-hon returned the sword to Go Geom Wol.

“I’ve seen enough. A sword like this should be more than adequate for you.”

“How about as the symbol of a supreme leader?”

“You…?”

For a moment, Jin Gwang-hon’s expression hardened.

Go Geom Wol stared at him intently.

“Am I lacking?”

“You’re far too greedy.”

“Not as much as you, Master.”

“You dare mock me?”

“Why did you do it?”

“…….”

Jin Gwang-hon remained silent, his lips tightly sealed.

Go Geom Wol continued to look directly into his eyes.

“The three-year agreement with Ja Hong-cheon. Was that always planned?”

“It wasn’t planned.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I just wanted to see if he could really unite the Ten Sects under one. If he truly had the ability.”

“Is that the only reason? Just watching the war among the Ten Sects?”

“What else do you think there is?”

“I was hoping for another reason. It would make it easier for me to understand.”

“Understand?”

Suddenly, Jin Gwang-hon’s eyebrows twitched.

His eyes flashed fiercely.

“How dare you, Geom Wol. How dare you speak to your master like that.”

“Did that upset you? I felt the same. Although pushed to the margins in Jianghu, the Celestial Demon Troupe has never once colluded with foreign forces. That has been our proud tradition, and I was proud of it too. But your wrong decision disappointed me.”

“Wrong decision?”

Thud!

Jin Gwang-hon rose from his seat.

A formidable presence filled the hall.

“Are you now challenging my decisions?”

“Master! The Celestial Demon Troupe has stood firm until now because it upheld its identity.”

The Celestial Demon Troupe pursued the path of Dominance—pure, unadulterated might.

True dominance never uses trickery or underhanded alliances; it shines only when one advances boldly with sheer power.

Go Geom Wol cherished this path of dominance.

He admired the Celestial Demon Troupe for embodying it.

But Jin Gwang-hon’s collusion with Ja Hong-cheon, the leader of the Jade Heaven Alliance, had tainted the troupe’s purity.

Sure, one could find reasons to justify it. But Go Geom Wol refused to force himself to understand.

The cold look in his disciple’s eyes unleashed Jin Gwang-hon’s killing intent.

“Shut up! What do you know to stand against me? Don’t you realize all of this was for the sake of the Celestial Demon Troupe? Don’t you know that by waging war, the Jade Heaven Alliance

is weakening itself?”

“When did you become someone who watches from behind? When did you stop fighting at the front and resort to sowing strife from the shadows? The master I remember always believed in his own power, always led from the front lines. I respected that master and followed him.”

“So… you no longer respect me now.”

“Have you gone out to see the Jianghu?”

“…….”

“I’m sure you haven’t set foot there, not even once. That’s why you don’t understand.”

“What do I not understand?”

“How the Jianghu is flowing. How the world is changing. Jianghu constantly evolves and grows stronger. Sure, the Jade Heaven Alliance has thrown it into chaos for now, but once this period is over, Jianghu will flourish again. In contrast, what of the Celestial Demon Troupe? Its virtue of ‘the strong stand at the top’ has vanished, and the older Martial Artists have lost their ambition. We may still stand on the strength built over a hundred years, but if we continue to drift along, we’ll end up a caged, toothless tiger.”

At that moment, a man’s face rose in Go Geom Wol’s mind.

It was Lee Gwak.

The Jianghu had taken someone inconsequential and molded him into an absolute master.

Such a phenomenon would never occur within the Celestial Demon Troupe as it was now.

Go Geom Wol felt a real sense of danger from Lee Gwak—not simply because of Lee Gwak’s martial prowess, nor because he had once wounded him.

Rather, he felt fear toward the Jianghu that had given birth to Lee Gwak.

Right now, it was just that one Lee Gwak. But the Jianghu would undoubtedly produce a second or a third. Then the gap between the Jianghu and the Celestial Demon Troupe would only widen.

Before it was too late, he had to leave this place.

A lethal edge bled into Jin Gwang-hon’s voice.

“It sounds plausible, but ultimately, you want to drive me out and become the head of the Celestial Demon Troupe, don’t you?”

“The times are changing, master!”

“My time is not over yet.”

“For the sake of a new era, please step down.”

From a certain point, the Celestial Demon Troupe had stagnated.

At its center was Jin Gwang-hon.

A massive rock named Jin Gwang-hon was blocking its life force, causing stagnation.

It could maintain the status quo, but that was it.

If things continued this way, the Celestial Demon Troupe would slowly wither away.

For the sake of the Troupe, the massive rock that was Jin Gwang-hon had to be removed.

I will shoulder the consequences. I’ll bear the curse of a disciple who ousted his master, or the stigma of a traitor—whatever it takes.

A mountainous aura flowed from Go Geom Wol.

His presence intensely pressured Jin Gwang-hon.

“How dare you!”

Jin Gwang-hon’s gaze sank deeply.

Go Geom Wol had always been a burden, as exceptional as his martial skills were.

He was born with the gift of creating something out of nothing—so much so that he developed brand-new martial arts from thin air, astonishing even Jin Gwang-hon.

One could rightly call his potential a Heavenly Gift.

Even Jin Gwang-hon found Go Geom Wol’s talent frightening.

While it might be difficult for him to challenge Jin Gwang-hon’s lair now, no one could predict what would happen as time passed. Thus, Jin Gwang-hon subtly ostracized him.

He bolstered his second disciple, Gwan Il-hyeon, to keep Go Geom Wol in check. However, once Gwan Il-hyeon lost his life to Lee Gwak, Jin Gwang-hon had no means of suppressing Go Geom Wol’s rise.

Jin Gwang-hon thought it might actually be for the best.

“I will show you that there is another sky above the one you know.”

Kwarureu!

Thunder cracked across his entire body, a sure sign that Jin Gwang-hon had achieved total mastery of the Thunderstream Flow.

Like Go Geom Wol, who had spent three years in seclusion training, he too had not rested and continuously honed himself.

Lightning flickered around Jin Gwang-hon.

He was the Thunder supreme-ruler himself.

In contrast, Go Geom Wol remained calm.

He naturally radiated a heavy aura, like Mount Tai, yet his gaze was as tranquil as a forest.

Swoosh!

He quietly drew his sword.

The extraordinary sword crafted by Gu Ya-ja sang its blade song.

Go Geom Wol aimed his sword at Jin Gwang-hon.

The disciple pointed his sword at his master, and the master revealed his killing intent towards his disciple.

After a moment of staring at each other, both moved almost simultaneously.

Snap!

Their figures blurred and then clashed violently in the center of the hall.

Boom!

An explosive sound shook the entire Divine Demon Temple.

“What’s happening?”

“What’s going on?”

Startled by the sudden commotion, the martial artists of the Celestial Demon Troupe rushed over.

They froze in horror at the sight of the Divine Demon Temple—the quarters of the troupe’s leader—shaking as if it might collapse at any moment.

The Lord’s residence?

“Could it be that the Jade Heaven Alliance has launched a surprise attack on our leader?”

Responding to their questions, Gu Mun-hye spoke,

They turned to run towards the Divine Demon Temple, but a woman stopped them.

“Stop.”

The woman who spoke with a voice that was simple, but filled with irresistible majesty was Gu Mun-hye.

She was the Celestial Demon Troupe’s Saintess.

Though she held little real power within the Celestial Demon Troupe, her spiritual influence over others was immense.

Halted by her presence, the Martial Artists asked:

“What is happened is happening?”

“Could it be that the Jade Heaven Alliance has ambushed our Leader?”

Gu Mun-hye replied:

“The Leader and the Young master are locked in a life-and-death duel. Do not intervene—simply watch.”

“A life-and-death duel…?”

Their faces turned pale with astonishment. This was not a friendly bout—it was a fight to the death.

That Jin Gwang-hon, the leader of the Celestial Demon Troupe, and his disciple, Go Geom Wol, were battling in mortal combat could only mean one thing:

A struggle for leadership.

Such a thing had never occurred in the history of the Celestial Demon Troupe.

At that moment, an angry voice resounded.

“Did you say the leader and the Young Master are engaged in a life-and-death duel?”

Gu Mun-hye turned towards the source of the voice.

An old man with blue hair, blue eyebrows, and a blue beard was glaring at her.

In the Celestial Demon Troupe, there was only one person with such distinctive features.

It was Yang Guang-baek, the Single Moon Demon Sword, head of the Origin Demon Palace and the leader of the Ten Blood Demons.

The Origin Demon Palace housed the Celestial Demon Troupe’s retired masters, among whom the strongest ten were called the Ten Blood Demons.

Though these were retired masters, their influence within the Celestial Demon Troupe was tremendous.

Yang Guang-baek was the spiritual pillar for both the Ten Blood Demons and the other retired masters.

Excluding the leader of the Celestial Demon Troupe Jin Gwang-hon, no one could match him.

At his arrival, the Martial Artists hurriedly backed away, but Gu Mun-hye remained where she

was.

“Elder!”

“Did I not ask? Is it true that the Leader and the Young master are truly fighting to the death?”

“It is.”

“How can this…?”

Yang Guang-baek looked bewildered.

He had suspected something amiss in the three years Go Geom Wol had vanished, yet never imagined the young man would challenge Jin Gwang-hon to a death match the very moment he reappeared.

“Hurry and put a stop to it. No matter who dies, the loss to the troupe will be enormous.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Are you defying me?”

“You may not know this, but as the Saintess, I have that authority.”

“What authority?”

“The authority to oversee any battle for the position of Leader.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When the Saintess gives her recognition, one may challenge the Leader’s seat.”

“But hasn’t that clause been shelved for a hundred years?”

The founding Leader of the Celestial Demon Troupe, Geom Yul-cheon, had indeed set such rules in place as a check against a Leader who might go astray—and granted the Saintess the right to preside over life-and-death duels.

Yet in the hundred years since, not once had anyone used that clause.

The Leader’s power was simply too great, and no one had ever dared vie for the position.

Drawing upon her internal energy, Gu Mun-hye shouted:

“No one is allowed to interfere with the duel between the Leader and the Young Master! Anyone who attempts to interfere in this sacred duel will be branded a criminal of the Celestial Demon Troupe under the authority of the Saintess!”

All the Martial Artists flinched.

The thought of being declared criminals of the troupe frightened them more than any other punishment could.

At that moment, small as she was, Gu Mun-hye’s figure appeared to them like a towering wall.

Then it happened:

Boom!

A tremendous explosion shattered the grand hall.

After a torrent of qi and dust swept the area, the scene inside was laid bare.

“Ah!”

“This… this can’t be!”

The Martial Artists of the Celestial Demon Troupe shuddered at the sight before them, unable to believe their eyes.

On that day, a new sky opened above the Celestial Demon Troupe.