Chapter 88: Reformation (2)
Chapter 88: Reformation (2)
It was a long time before Woon-seong woke up from his trance-like state.
As he opened his eyes, a colorful flurry of light flashed through the ream.
It was very brief, of course.
The light disappeared in an instant.
The awakened Woon-seong examined himself and tried to guess how long it had been.
It’s been at least four months, maybe six.
Woon-seong estimated the time it took to assimilate all of Chun Hwi’s energy.
Of course, his conjecture happened to be very accurate.
It was the fifth month since the assimilation had begun in earnest, about half a year after the Heavenly Demon had brought him to the Third Gate.
Woon-seong smiled slightly.
I finally achieved full body reformation.
I can feel it myself, just by moving my body.
The body reformation that was only half complete has now been fully completed.
It makes me feel like I can do anything.
Woon-seong shook his head lightly.
No, not yet.
It’s too early to be so confident. This can easily become vanity. And vanity always brings painful mistakes.
On top of that, my body seems to only be 90% complete. I feel a slight sense that says that I’m not quite there yet.
So Woon-seong decided to be reasonably confident.
Of course, that had always been his nature.
Additionally, there was a regal atmosphere surrounding Woon-seong, a pressure that caused the floor and walls to shake and crumble.
The qi emitted from me is crushing my surroundings.
It must be evidence that I achieved the realm of a Semi-Divine Being.
Not wanting to destroy the Palace, Woon-seong reigned in his qi.
And if I take in my qi, it makes me seem like a normal person, as though I have never practiced martial arts my whole life.
It must mean that I can completely cage this power inside my body.
This is the realm of a Semi-Divine Being.
I have become a container that can hold power beyond a human being.
After that, Woon-seong slowly rose from the place where he had been cultivating.
He turned his head to the side.
There was the corpse of Chun Hwi, which had dried like the husk of an old tree.
There was a teacher who had handed over all of his strength to Woon-seong and guarded him until his last breath.
Rather than shed tears in front of Chun Hwi, Woon-seong knelt so that his forehead hit the floor.
Master, please take the bow of this foolish apprentice again.
Once, twice, three times…
Soon Woon-seong had bowed nine times in total.
He had performed the ‘three kneelings and nine kowtows’, acknowledging Chun Hwi as his master once more.
Afterwards, Woon-seong slipped off the outer robe that he had been wearing. With a careful hand, he wrapped the body with the cloth.
This poison loses its edge the moment the host dies.
Woon-seong had lost two masters to this poison.
It could be said that other than the makers and users, Woon-seong was probably the most knowledgeable about this specific poison in the world.
A poison that gnaws upon qi and innate qi.
If it’s a poison that feasts off something, it also means that it dies the moment it no longer has anything to eat off of.
Now that there was nothing left within Chun Hwi’s body, the poison would have also been eliminated.
Woon-seong reached out and picked the body up, gently hugging it close to his chest.
Was it because the body had dehydrated? Or maybe because the soul had left the body?
Either way, Chun Hwi’s body felt too light.
Whew.
Woon-seong slowly walked out of the Third Gate, whose walls and ceilings were still mostly intact.
Soon, he walked out of the Inner Garden and headed to the outer circle.
Creak—
As soon as he walked out into the open, a familiar face waited for him.
“Strategist.”
Woon-seong called out to him first.
The Strategist approached Woon-seong and bowed his head, “Leader.”
Then he looked up and saw the body of Chun Hwi.
“I’m sorry… He has already passed away.”
“Is that so… I’ve been expecting it and preparing for it, but…”
“We just need to let go of the dead, since the living should live on.”
However…
“But before that, we need to prepare for one thing. Prepare for a funeral.”
“I’ll prepare the grandest of funerals.”
Chun Hwi, the living god of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, had passed.
There needed to be a final ritual, allowing him to return to the Earth and Heavens.
Woon-seong nodded.
“The enthronement will take place about a month after the funeral.”
“Yes, sir. And there was something the Leader had left for me.” Sang Gwan-chuk took a small book out of his sleeves and respectfully handed it over. “He had ordered me to pass it to you the day you came out.”
Woon-seong titled his head, but accepted the book.
‘Rare World Chapter’.
The Final Connection to the ‘Dark Flower Red Heart’.
The Dark Flower manifested a Red Heart and achieved a ‘rare world’ through the Flame.
The true name of the final chapter of the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon! The 10% I was missing was because of this.
As soon as Woon-seong read the title, he realized that this had been what he was lacking.
It was only then that he realized that he had truly become the new god of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
Chun Hwi’s funeral was conducted as a divine funeral, the highest order possible in the Cult.
It was a ceremony fit for the journey of a god who dwelled in this world returning to the Heavens.
During the ceremony, Chun A-young could not restrain herself and broke into tears.
It was because her bad premonition had come true in the end. Her father truly had been walking down the path of no return.
Of course, Chun A-young was not the only one who had tears in their eyes.
The members of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon were thrown into a deep sadness.
Though the demonic mourned for their Leader, the funeral eventually ended.
Soon,it was only two weeks before Woon-seong’s enthronement.
Sitting alone under the light of the approaching full moon, Woon-seong picked up the Rare World Chapter.
The pages were crisp, as if the book had just been made.
“Woon-seong. There are a few things you need to know before I leave the Rare World Chapter to you. The Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon is traditionally not passed down as a text like this, but is passed down verbally from the Heavenly Demon to the Young Leader. Unless there’s a special reason, there is no need to leave a text like this. But that also means a text can be made if there is a special reason. Just like the case of you and me, who is reading this right now.”
Woon-seong swept over the pages with his eyes closed, using his consciousness to read instead.
It was said that writing was a window that showed the result of a scholar’s cultivation.
It wasn’t much different for a martial artist.
I can feel a vigorous spirit from Master’s words.
Master Chun Hwi’s spirit can still be felt within his writings.
Even though he had been weakened by poison, the true unyielding nature of the former Heavenly Demon appeared in the ink.
“I still have a long way to go.”
Although I’m in the realm of a Semi-Divine Being, I don’t think I can show the same splendor as Master Chun Hwi.
Maybe it will be a bit different if I learn some of the Rare World Chapter?
Looking for the answer to that question, Woon-seong continued to read.
The Rare World Chapter.
The most important portion of the Final Chapter of the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon was about controlling the Divine Flame.
To the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, the Divine Flame was the symbol of god itself.
Woon-seong happened to learn how to use the Divine Flame through the records of the Unrecorded Heavenly Demon.
However, that didn’t mean he had nothing to learn from the Rare World Chapter.
If the Unrecorded Heavenly Demon taught him how to manifest the Divine Flame and keep it under control, the Rare World Chapter showed him how to make it usable in combat.
The ‘Ruling Step of the Heavenly Demon’, the footwork belonging solely to the Heavenly Demon.
The ‘Palm of the Heavenly Demon’.
There were numerous skills that drew out the strength of the Divine Flame recorded in the final chapter.
Woon-seong engraved each and every skill into his mind.
How to optimize his muscles, how to move his body, how to handle qi.
He did not forget anything.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
It only makes sense considering the Divine Art is one of the oldest and most powerful martial arts in history… But it’s difficult to understand it only through reading. It’s hard to imagine how difficult it would be to learn physically.
But ever since I became a Semi-Divine Being, my knowledge as a martial artist has also become vast.
The many theories and skills I have known have all combined into a martial theorem and become a large sea of knowledge.
Woon-seong decided to call it his martial sea.
Literally, a sea of martial knowledge.
Even the highest cliffs of martial knowledge will crumble, little by little, if battered by the waves of my martial sea.
Thanks to that, it only took ten days for Woon-seong to understand all of the skills written in the final chapter.
There was some other information that might have been useful for other Heavenly Demons, like calculating lifespan or consolidating a perfect foundation.
But that was basically useless for Hyuk Woon-seong, whose foundation was based on the Unrecorded’s Tempered True Blossom and was barely in his early twenties.
It’s over.
Once Woon-seong had read through all the pages, he picked the book up.
Fwoom—
With just a thought, the book burst into flames.
As one of the few legacies left behind by my master, I would love to keep this… But I shouldn’t.
The Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon is not meant to be inherited through texts. That’s the unspoken rule passed down by the generations of Heavenly Demons.
As the next Heavenly Demon, I cannot destroy this rule because of my personal feelings.
Woon-seong stared at the copy of the Rare World Chapter, which was now a pile of ashes.
Looking out the window, he could not help but notice the view outside.
So it’s happening soon…
Since his rebirth into the Demonic Cult, Woon-seong had been eager to become the Heavenly Demon.
But now, he somehow felt bitter.
In the corner of my heart, I feel lonely and stifled.
When he first set his goal all those years ago, he had not expected this situation. I didn’t become the Heavenly Demon to feel such emotions.
Woon-seong could only smile bitterly.
At that moment, he felt a presence beyond the door.
“Come in.”
Woon-seong didn’t even bother verifying the person.
The door opened and the Senior Strategist walked inside.
I don’t consider myself a rookie in hiding my presence…, mused Sang Gwan-chuk. But it looks like he has successfully entered the realm of a Semi-Divine Being.
Even before the energy transfer, Woon-seong had been adept at distinguishing people based on their qi presences. Now that he had reached a new level of cultivation, even the Ten Demonic Masters were unable to hide from him.
Woon-seong naturally asked the elder why he was here.
“What is it?”
“I’m here with a report.”
Woon-seong nodded, motioning for the Senior Strategist to sit with him.
“A report…”
“It was something the former leader had commanded. It has to do with pursuing the man who fled on the day of the attack on the Divine Palace.”
These words caused a glint to flash through Woon-seong’s eyes.
The Strategist felt his skin prickle as flames danced in the new Cult Leader’s eyes.
Those were flames of anger.
The man who controlled Shadow, a member of the Unrecorded Demonic Group, and left an irreversible wound on the Heavenly Demon’s body!
The man who hastened the Heavenly Demon’s death!
The man full of mysteries!
It was only natural for Woon-seong to emanate anger and killing intent.
“Did you catch him?
“We searched every nook and cranny of Mount Heaven, but it looks like he has already escaped.”
“That’s a shame.”
Woon-seong chewed on his lips, sinking into thought.
He was our best chance at finding out who was behind all this… It looks like we just lost a major clue.
Wait… it’s not all lost.
Woon-seong closed his eyes.
In my previous life, Master Nok Yu seemed to have a clue of who was behind this.
If the one behind Jwa Do-gyul, who killed Master Nok Yu, is the same one behind those who killed Master Chun Hwi… I might find the answer there.
I need to go to the Secret Vault of the Spear Master Sect in Gansu and see if Master Nok Yu left something there.
But before that…
“Search one more time with additional manpower, just in case.”
“Understood.”
There was nothing wrong with one more search.