The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult main hall.
That building was built on terrain where limestone-rich ground was dissolved by water, leaving only hard bedrock, creating a forest-like landscape of stone pillars jutting up.
From the outside, it looks like one massive building sitting atop countless rising rock pillars.
Though it looks like a beautiful palace, in reality it’s a fortress built to prepare against someone’s invasion. Buildings where people live sit atop the stone pillars, connected by passages with walls and roofs.
The structure is so complex that if you thoughtlessly enter, you’ll end up going in circles around the houses on randomly protruding rock pillars.
But even such a structure is no different from an ordinary house to someone who has lived here long.
To the man most Heavenly Demon Divine Cult people call Seong Cult Leader, the main hall is like his own bedroom.
He moved to the deepest part of the main hall with his followers.
“Burn this place too.”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
As soon as Gu Seongyong, the previous cult leader, gave the order, his subordinate broke the wall in a corner of the passage and pushed burning embers through the hole, just as they had been doing.
As soon as the group escaped the passage, it caught fire.
Though it was just an ember no bigger than from a cigarette, there were chemicals that would burn at high temperatures once any fire caught, meant to burn the passage.
“Is it alright to burn this place like this?”
A young man following Gu Seongyong asked him.
“We simply used the device meant to cut off paths by burning them as intended. Why? Are you worried about damaging what will be your future residence?”
When the middle-aged man turned the words back, the young man answered with a hardened expression.
“I’m helping you because of our promise.”
“Yes. That’s enough for now.”
As if Gu Seongyong hadn’t expected much to begin with, he went inside without any particular reaction.
Small things aren’t important.
Gu Seongyong’s goal is to return to his original position after killing the enemy who uses the name Heavenly Demon after driving him out.
So he gathered people and attacked the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
In fact, having already won over more than half of the hall masters, it’s closer to driving out an external enemy than an attack. So with help from people inside the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, they reached where Heavenly Demon was without much fighting.
The innermost room of the main hall.
As soon as they entered the room, they witnessed a scene that would be extremely shocking to people of that era.
A middle-aged man dressed as a woman.
“So it was Gu Seongyong after all. If you survived you should have just run away, then I would have pretended not to know.”
Moreover, he spoke in a feminine manner.
“Jeongha, have you gone mad now?”
Gu Seongyong called Heavenly Demon’s real name with an expression like looking at a disgusting bug. But Heavenly Demon pointed to himself while looking at him.
“The Sunflower Scripture had a fatal flaw. Didn’t you give me the secret manual hoping I’d become like this?”
The people around were very surprised at Heavenly Demon’s words.
“Sunflower Scripture!”
“The peerless demonic technique!”
“The absolute divine technique!”
Gazes naturally turned to Gu Seongyong.
“When you learn the martial art, powerful yin energy rises. So men go mad from the clash of yang and yin energies, and women can’t withstand the rising yin energy. There’s no doubt it’s a powerful martial art that humans can’t learn. But you learned it, didn’t you?”
But Gu Seongyong answered calmly.
Gu Seongyong also knew about Sunflower Scripture’s problems.
He knew it was originally created by a eunuch, and while its power was certain, the conditions for it were very harsh.
And one more thing he knew.
He knew it had a demonic allure that martial artists could hardly resist learning once they saw it.
So he gave it to Heavenly Demon without even looking at it after obtaining it.
He gave it as a gift, certain it would lead to his destruction.
No, of course he hadn’t predicted the mind would become feminine too, but it was sufficiently successful in breaking him.
“Hmph. You speak well. But it’s already too late, Gu Seongyong.”
Heavenly Demon rose from his seat. Attire cumbersome for movement with flowing silk clothes. Moreover, not just weapons, but nothing is within arm’s reach.
While wondering what his intentions could be, Gu Seongyong pointed his sword at Heavenly Demon and asked.
“What do you mean it’s too late?”
The young man and woman around, and the middle-aged and elderly men also held their swords vigilantly. They suspected they might have fallen into a trap at Heavenly Demon’s words.
But there was no trap.
“Now someone who handles the real Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, not the fake one you use, will take the position of Heavenly Demon. Jeonyang.”
While saying one person’s name, Heavenly Demon pointed to the door leading to the innermost room.
Bang.
The door opened and a large man walked out.
But something was strange.
First, his skin was so white it could be suspected as illness, and between his hair tie, his hair and the beard covering his face were purple.
Though this world had people with various hair colors like in xianxia novels, this was too alien and vivid a purple to be seen on the streets.
When the man with a Zhangfei-like beard covering his face smiled and raised his sword, clear purple energy extended from the sword like a lightsaber.
At the intense energy, Gu Seongyong reflexively channeled qi into his sword to create strong energy. The same purple energy.
But seeing them side by side, there was a difference. Like comparing a stream to lava, the power inherent in the light was clearly different.
“Though we haven’t done the name inheritance ceremony, isn’t this enough to be called Heavenly Demon?”
“The name Heavenly Demon is already mine.”
Saying that, Jeonyang rushed at Gu Seongyong like an arrow.
“Now enter your grave, old man!”
Clank-clank!
Rather than swords clashing, it sounded like heavy machinery colliding.
“The male concubine talks too much!”
Then the man behind Gu Seongyong drew his sword and swung it at Jeonyang. To introduce him, he is Left Light Officer, a person in a position equivalent to head of security.
But Jeonyang deflected that sword.
And he swung with enormous power supplied through the upper dan field channeled into his sword. The Heavenly Demon Divine Technique that uses power received from something rather than one’s own power.
In fact, if following cause and effect, the original Heavenly Demon Divine Technique is the martial art Gu Seongyong uses. But if the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique is the martial art used by the one who was called Martial God after conquering the martial world using the name Heavenly Demon, then what Jeonyang uses is the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique.
Looking at pure qi magnitude, even if all the attackers combined they couldn’t beat Jeonyang. Each time Jeonyang swings his sword, internal energy equivalent to a first-rank master scatters like trash and destroys objects.
However, in fighting, strength alone doesn’t make one strong.
The skill of martial artists who have lived fighting for decades overcame Jeonyang’s power. Meeting strength with softness, meeting straight with curves.
Since martial arts were originally created to fight the strong, when a monster with only strength uses martial arts, rather the techniques become a hindrance.
After assessing Jeonyang’s skill and judging he didn’t need to face him himself, Gu Seongyong immediately passed him to the person behind. Then pointed his sword at Jeongha.
“You. You’ve violated the taboo.”
At those words, Jeongha stood up smiling.
“Yes, that’s right, Gu Seongyong. If you know a way to become Martial God, shouldn’t you use it? Now that Jeonyang has learned he’s not perfect, let’s take your lives.”
Jeongha raised his hand. A small fruit knife was held between the long sleeves.
But the moment ominous energy filled it, the fruit-peeling knife transformed into a peerless weapon for cutting people.
“Oh Myeongseong! I can’t handle this alone!”
At Gu Seongyong’s cry, the young man immediately drew his sword and approached Gu Seongyong’s side.
Kiiing!
Barely deflecting Jeongha’s attack, they pointed their weapons.
Jeongha versus Gu Seongyong and Oh Myeongseong.
Jeonyang versus Gu Seongyong’s subordinates and daughter.
A melee broke out.
The fight between Jeongha and the two proceeded very coldly.
Each strike was like an exquisite artwork made with killing intent as the material. Every principle humans could think of was contained in that small fruit knife, and Gu Seongyong and Oh Myeongseong were barely managing to block it.
There were 2 reasons they didn’t immediately lose.
One was that Jeongha’s weapon was a small fruit knife.
And the other was that the martial art the two used was the Qi Absorption Technique.
It was a martial art that steals the opponent’s power, turning them into a mummy by absorbing their internal energy and vital force like a leech if they show even a slight opening, a martial art on par with the Sunflower Scripture.
So they barely maintained balance.
Could only maintain balance.
Until something special happened.
At the same time.
Jeonyang’s fight was different from theirs. The Heavenly Demon Divine Technique that recklessly scattered power continuously supplied from the upper dan field was closer to a giant monster rampaging than what could be called martial arts.
So at first the opposing side was pushed back heavily.
Though they had numbers, when swords clash they get cut along with the sword. Even if they block, they receive serious injuries as if colliding with a huge boulder.
The reason they didn’t immediately lose at first was because Jeonyang hadn’t fought many people who could use martial arts.
Because until he became a harvester, he was just a protector who knew how to use a sword somewhat.
At most he only had experience fighting in line with other fighters.
Though he had experience sparring with Jeongha for several days, that was just sparring.
Such meager experience contrary to his enormous power.
If he had been a mighty monster from the start he would have at least handled power properly, but he was trying to eat rice with an excavator.
That was why he lost.
Because he couldn’t kill them at first, the advantage reversed.
Tiny mistakes accumulated and wounds on his body increased. And those wounds interfered with his movements and prevented him from thinking properly.
Moreover, he wasn’t enough of a genius to grow while fighting.
At some point a blade cut through Jeonyang’s crucial muscles, and he dropped his sword from his hand. But the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique isn’t swordsmanship. He raised his fists saying he could still fight but.
“Kuaaaargh!”
The previous cult leader’s daughter, Gu Milmil, seeing that Oh Myeongseong whom she loved and her father Gu Seongyong were at a disadvantage, observed their fight and deeply stabbed Jeonyang at a critical moment.
A vital point that makes one scream loudly when stabbed.
“Jeonyang!”
At the important person’s voice, Jeongha’s concentration shifted elsewhere.
The deadlocked balance broke.
Gu Seongyong and Oh Myeongseong didn’t miss that opening, cutting off Jeongha’s arms and legs one by one.
Jeongha’s body slammed into the floor.
But his gaze remained fixed on Jeonyang.
Watching him like that, Gu Seongyong clicked his tongue.
“Wearing the name Heavenly Demon yet looking so pathetic.”
Jeongha, whose face had become hideous with makeup half washed away by blood and sweat, raised his head toward Gu Seongyong.
“Cult Leader Gu. Please spare Jeonyang. I’m the one you hate, aren’t I?”
“Of course I’ll spare him. I’m curious about the structure of a human who violated taboo too.”
Jeongha knows what Gu Seongyong’s words mean. Using him as experimental material.
“Run away, Jeonyang!”
Using strength in his uncut arm and leg, not sparing his body, Jeongha ran toward Jeonyang with a scream-like shout.
But with one arm and leg cut off, his body wouldn’t move properly. Enough for Gu Seongyong to see and deal with it.
Just then.
“Heavenly Demon-nim! You must escape!”
Eunchun entered and unleashed the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique. Exactly the same martial art Jeonyang uses.
As soon as they saw that, the people facing Jeonyang noticed the danger and immediately rushed in.
Seeing the people surrounding him disappear, blood-covered Jeonyang immediately ran toward Heavenly Demon. Then after grabbing and embracing him, he threw his body toward the wall.
For reference, behind the wall is a sheer cliff, with water surface far below. It’s so high that it would be strange for a normal person not to die from falling.
Since it was such a place, no one chased after him down.
While falling toward the ground, Jeonyang lifted Jeongha, who was looking at him with a pale face, up as much as possible to minimize injury.
And waiting for death to approach, he suddenly asked.
“Why did you love someone like me?”
Jeonyang held Jeongha in his arms and crashed into the water surface, dying before he could hear the answer.
From a place very far from the water surface, in the room with a hole, Gu Seongyong looked down at that with an expression of having seen something horrible.
“Truly disgusting.”
“Is that so?”
A voice that shouldn’t be heard was heard.
Looking to the side, there was a woman with purple hair. Though tall, she had a childlike figure rather than a woman’s.
But nothing could be sensed of her qi. As if there was nothing beside him from the start. Though to the eye she appeared to be an ordinary person who knew no martial arts.
While Gu Seongyong couldn’t get a read on her, that being jumped straight through the hole.
Unable to understand what was happening, Gu Seongyong could only watch the girl fall.
After falling for quite a while, the girl hit the water surface and shattered to pieces.
He witnessed a nightmare rising to reality.
The shattered corpse on the water surface regenerates as if time is running backwards.
“Purple Mad God of the Four Seasons’ Chaos.”
Gu Seongyong unconsciously spoke the name of something he had seen in records left by the Martial God.
The mad god possessing purple. The chaos that destroys the world.
The taboo set by Martial God is down there.