Chapter 154: The End of Childhood (13)

The Young Cult Leader could not understand what had just happened.

Such things had been rare throughout his long life.

He had met the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon, servant of the Malevolent God and ruler over all men.

He had fought in the War of the Righteous and Demonic and committed every kind of atrocity.

He had even wielded absurd evil rites.

He had encountered powerful figures who bent the rules of the world and stood beyond all common sense.

Yet even he...

Could not comprehend this silence.

The sword, covered in cracks and seemingly about to shatter, simply crumbled and fell apart.

It did not explode.

Every trace of Demonic Energy had vanished.

All that remained were drifting petals.

Soyak’s Black Plum Blossoms, glowing a crimson so deep they seemed almost black.

It was not only the Demonic Energy forced into the sword that had disappeared.

Almost all of the Demonic Energy he possessed had been erased as well, save for a small remnant.

For a moment...

Even the Demonic Energy within his left arm and left leg had nearly evaporated, threatening to return them to nothing more than ordinary corpses left to rot.

“What is this...?”

The Harmonization Scripture burned away deathlessness and extinguished immortality.

Falling Plum Elegy was a martial art that symbolized the inevitable end.

By combining the heart method and martial art, then pouring in internal energy at the very limit of Transcendent Apex, Soyak had unleashed a single move that perfectly shattered and nullified the incomplete Young Cult Leader’s full power.

“...Master.”

But that was all.

Soyak had spent every scrap of internal energy she had saved for that one move, and an overwhelming weakness seized her.

She had not emptied even her Innate True Qi as she had against the Dark Emperor...

But she could no longer remain standing.

Calling for Eun Jeong, Soyak sank to the ground.

Eun Jeong understood why she had called him and raised his sword.

Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword, Third Form.

Falling Blossoms, Raging Torrent.

The immeasurable downpour of blossoms in full bloom.

Scarlet plum blossoms bloomed across the sky, then came pouring down.

The Young Cult Leader gritted his teeth and infused his sword with only the barest trace of Demonic Energy as he began knocking aside the incoming petals.

Most of the Demonic Energy he had gathered had vanished beneath Soyak’s strike.

He could no longer summon the fierce storm from before.

“...You did well.”

As the Young Cult Leader retreated, Eun Jeong stepped between him and Soyak.

Then he flowed smoothly into the next form.

His sword tip withdrew and aimed again.

Then it thrust forward in a single, decisive strike.

Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword, Second Form.

Plum Branch Unbowed by Snow.

A plum branch that even a blizzard could not break.

The strike was solid yet supple, sharp yet straight.

Plum blossoms bloomed along the perfect line carved through the air by its tip.

The Sword Qi-clad blade shot toward the Young Cult Leader’s chest.

The Young Cult Leader swung his sword wide and knocked it aside...

But he could not stop the next strike.

“HAAH!”

It was merely a punch packed full of internal energy.

A single fist strike delivered with the hand that did not hold the sword.

BOOM!!!

It carried no particular martial art.

But it was still a powerful attack backed by a trained body, a cultivated heart method, and internal energy.

And that was not something the mere flesh of an ordinary human, stripped of all Demonic Energy, could endure.

Eun Jeong’s fist had plunged to the forearm into the center of Myeongjeok’s solar plexus, the body occupied by the Young Cult Leader.

Blood trickled down.

Eun Jeong’s fist was stained red.

But the most chilling thing of all was the Young Cult Leader’s smile.

“You should have kept your distance. Fool.”

The Young Cult Leader’s hand touched Eun Jeong’s body.

A minuscule concentration of Demonic Energy gathered at his fingertips.

And his hand struck near Eun Jeong’s lower abdomen.

Eun Jeong tried to evade it with his natural agility, but he could do no more than twist the point of contact slightly.

It did not strike his dantian directly...

But from his flank outward, his skin darkened, and a dizzying pain began to spread through him.

“...You still had that much Demonic Energy left?”

“You are quite good at pretending you are fine.”

The Young Cult Leader was right.

The hand gripping Eun Jeong’s sword trembled faintly.

He could not withstand the agony of his insides twisting apart.

Blood eventually spilled from the corner of his mouth.

The Young Cult Leader slowly stepped back several paces, but Eun Jeong could not pursue.

Still, the Young Cult Leader was in no condition to kill them both.

After releasing so much Demonic Energy just now, people nearby would have noticed something was wrong.

His senses had already detected several Transcendent Apex masters racing toward this place.

Now that most of the Demonic Energy he had gathered was gone, confronting them head-on would be impossible.

The Young Cult Leader’s judgment was swift and precise.

“Then we shall meet again.”

The Little Heavenly Demon.

Should anything happen to the Heavenly Demon...

He was the one meant to succeed him.

For a successor, was there any virtue greater than survival?

The Young Cult Leader launched himself down Mount Hua.

Soyak, having exhausted all of her internal energy, could not pursue him.

Jeongbeop, Myeonggon, Myeonggwang, and Eunsong arrived only after he had gone.

“...What happened here?”

Jeongbeop, the highest-ranking among them, asked Soyak and Eun Jeong.

But Soyak could not answer.

She was scraping together the last scant traces of internal energy remaining in her meridians and forcing them into Eun Jeong’s blackened flank.

“Judging by the situation, it seems what we feared has happened.”

Myeonggon spoke in a low voice.

Jeongbeop furrowed his brow, unaware of what this “thing they feared” was.

The explanation fell to Eunsong.

“Not long ago, this child saw something strange at the foot of Mount Hua’s South Peak.”

“Hm?”

Jeongbeop’s brow furrowed.

South Peak was Mount Hua’s highest and holiest ground.

That meant Sect Leader Jeongyang had never told even his own fellow disciples about its secret.

“What did she see on South Peak?”

“A cave full of Demonic Energy.”

“...What?”

Ordinarily, Jeongbeop would have exploded in anger.

But now...

Had he not just sensed that chilling trace of Demonic Energy himself and rushed here?

Everyone present had come without a word of discussion, simply because they had felt Demonic Energy.

Eunsong was about to explain why that cave had been full of Demonic Energy...

But it was no longer his place to do so.

Because Jeongyang had just arrived.

“What is all this commotion? In the middle of a council meeting.”

“Did you not feel it too, Sect Leader? That dreadful Demonic Energy spreading from here!”

Jeongbeop raised his voice.

Jeongyang merely looked down at him in silence.

It was an order to shut his mouth.

But Jeongbeop did not.

“This is no time to preserve your dignity, Sect Leader. Demonic Energy. Unless it was one of the Demonic Cult’s men, who else would scatter Demonic Energy here? And with this much Demonic Energy...”

Just as Jeongyang was about to roar at Jeongbeop to be silent—

Myeongjeok spoke first.

“It is the Young Cult Leader.”

Silence followed.

Jeongyang stared at Myeongjeok.

But now that the truth had been laid bare, he could no longer avoid everyone’s questions.

“What do you mean, Myeongjeok? The Young Cult Leader?”

Jeongbeop narrowed his eyes.

His gaze shifted back and forth between Jeongyang and Myeongjeok.

“Do you know what is sealed beneath Mount Hua’s South Peak?”

“Myeongjeok, you bastard! That is known only to the Sect Leader—!”

“The left arm of the Little Heavenly Demon, the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”

Jeongyang ground his teeth.

Then, suppressing the fury boiling inside him, he continued.

“...After the War of the Righteous and Demonic, the Little Heavenly Demon’s body was divided into pieces because of his deathless nature, and the prominent righteous sects each sealed a portion. Is that truly so strange?”

“You are saying you hid that from us until now, Senior Brother Sect Leader?”

“That was decided among the heads of the various households and sects. With power like that, someone might succumb to a corrupt temptation!”

Jeongyang’s shout seemed to silence everyone for a moment...

But not for long.

Myeongjeok spoke again and pointed out the contradiction.

“As I heard it, this child said the cave was empty and that there was a corpse inside. What happened there, Sect Leader?”

“...What corpse are you talking about?”

Jeongyang pretended ignorance.

But events did not unfold as he wished.

Everyone’s eyes...

Turned toward Soyak.

“That corpse was...”

Jeongyang’s eyes shook.

He knew the truth.

But the situation had already spun beyond his control.

“...It was Master Eunbyeok. His left arm had been severed.”